Into the Multiverse || Marvel

Chapter 35: No selfless acts

"Hi bunny!" I say, noticing the person shuffling through the pile of cases is Loki. He appears to be in deep research mode, unfazed by the blaring sounds of car horns outside. The room, cluttered with scattered documents and scattered objects, seems to mirror his frenzied state.

As he turns, his expression briefly registers confusion before a fleeting smile graces his face, quickly replaced by a look of distress. "I'm in trouble," he blurts out, his words sending a jolt through my chest.

Concerned, I scan the disheveled room, taking note of the chaos surrounding us. "What happened?" I ask, searching for clues amidst the disorder.

"I lost Sylvie after you exited the Citadel at the end of Time. The branches are growing. I am timeslipping from the past to the present in a loop, and it hurts like hell each time I do it," Loki confesses, his voice tense with the weight of his predicament. The frantic rhythm of his speech accentuates the gravity of the situation. "The temporal loom cannot withstand the branches' debit, and I timeslipped right when Mobius was supposed to help me stop this timeslipping problem. I am supposed to be pruned when this thing goes green," he gestures to a flickering pocket watch emitting a red glow, "but I have no idea where I am. I do not have a tempad on me. Everything is going to shit. Y/n, how did you get here?" His grip tightens on my shoulders, desperation seeping into his voice.

Witnessing Loki's distress is jarring; I've never seen him so agitated and vulnerable. "Woah," I manage, my mind racing to process the gravity of his words. "Okay, let's slow down."

"I don't have time to slow down!" Loki's voice raises, and I catch a glimpse of the bustling LA streets through the window. "Help me get there," he pleads, a subtle shift in his tone tugging at my heartstrings. It's clear he's grasping at any chance for salvation in this tumultuous storm.

"I wish I knew how," I admit, a sense of helplessness creeping in. His desperation triggers a surge of empathy within me, but the complexity of the situation feels overwhelming. "I cannot do this," I add, shaking my head, grappling with my own inadequacies in the face of his crisis.

"Yes! Y/n, you can! You have to! Get me out of here!" Loki's fervent plea reverberates through the room, accentuating the gravity of the situation. My sense of powerlessness intensifies, compounded by the weight of his expectations.

Exhausted and overwhelmed, I long for a moment of respite, a chance to silence the cacophony in my mind. I grapple with conflicting emotions, torn between my own inner turmoil and Loki's urgent need for assistance. The weight of the world collides around me, and I yearn for a semblance of calm amidst the chaos.

In a sudden rush, a surge of energy emanates from within me, causing the clasp on my necklace to sear against my skin before it clatters to the ground. The intensity of the moment engulfs me, and as the whirlwind of emotions subsides, a profound stillness settles in the room. I open my eyes to find Loki gazing at me, his expression a mix of astonishment and relief.

"No, stop!" Loki intercepts as I reach for the fallen necklace, his sudden urgency causing me to hesitate. "The clock's not moving," he observes, a trace of bewilderment in his voice. Glancing at his pocket watch, he exhales, visibly calmer. "It worked. We have time," he whispers, a glimmer of hope surfacing amidst the chaos.

Baffled by the inexplicable turn of events, I'm at a loss for words. "What did I do?" I murmur, my gaze shifting around the now eerily quiet room. An unsettling sense of power tingles through my veins, leaving me grappling with the implications of my newfound abilities. Amidst the silence, I find myself drawn to the unsettling stillness of the world outside.

Lost in the whirlwind of my own thoughts, I struggle to comprehend the magnitude of what I've just experienced. "This should not be possible," I confess, grappling with the implications of my sudden display of power.