𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲

26) The Ending?

"I understand your moral objection to what the TVA does."

Sylvie was sitting back down, but she didn't like it. Her head was spinning and she felt like everything was a lie. She didn't want to believe that what she did was just use Wanda or Loki, but part of her wondered if that's all she ever did. She just used people, used those apocalypses, used other variants and their weapons, all in the search for this one thing that was now telling her this was a wild goose chase.

"Any my methods are deceptive." The man continued. "But the mission, it never was."

He sat on the table in front of Sylvie. They watched each other, waiting to see what move the other would make.

"Without me, without the TVA, everything burns."

Sylvie's nails edged against the sword she held.

"Then why do you hide? What are you afraid of?" She asked, her tone angry.

A short moment passed, as if the man didn't know how to reply, but he knew what he wanted to say.

"Me."

Sylvie took a breath.

"And just who are you?" She asked.

His attitude immediately changed from slight worry back to it's happy, uncomfortable attitude.

"Oh I've been dubbed many names by many people."

He hopped off the table and began walking around it as he spoke.

"A ruler, a conqueror. He Who Remains. A jerk."

He sat back down in his chair on the other side of the desk.

"But it's.. It's not as simple as a name."

He held up his hand and rubbed a small circle on it, making a device light up a dim orange. He flicked it off his hand and a small sphere shot off, landing on the table.

It formed into an oily like image of himself.

"Eons ago, before the TVA, a variant of myself lived on Earth in the 31st century."

Sylvie looked at the tiny sculpture stood on the desk as He Who Remains explained his story.

"He was a scientist, and he discovered that there were universes stacked on top of his own."

The image shifted to the person giving a curious look at multiple galaxy like photos in front of him.

"At the same time, other variants of us were learning the same thing. Naturally, they made contact and for a while there was peace."

The image shifted again, this time into two oily sculptures of the man, but one was walking through a time door to contact the other.

"Narcissistic, self-congratulatory peace."

The image shifted to the two sculptures shaking hands, no longer showing a time door.

" ‘I love your shoes.’ ‘I love your hair.’ ‘Hey man, nice nose.’ ‘Oh thanks man.’ Et cetera." He mimicked himself. "They shared technology and knowledge."

The image shifted to the two sculptures at a table, examining items from other universes.

"Using the best of their universe to improve the others. However."

He picked up and apple and took a bite out of it, talking while chewing.

"Not every version of me was so.. so pure of heart."

He finished chewing.

"To some of us, new worlds meant only one thing. New lands to be conquered."

The image shifted into one sculpture of himself holding a prune stick while his other hand was up, an image of a planet floating above his hand as if he were wielding it.