𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 ˢʸˡᵛⁱᵉ ˡᵃᵘᶠᵉʸᵈᵒᵗᵗⁱʳ

five

in which the variant reveals itself

"Enchantment is a clever trick." Loki spoke up. "Cowardly, a bit amateur-ish, but clever."

The three of them were currently walking through the green house, Hestia being the last while B-15, or better Variant, walked ahead.

"Almost as cowardly as working for the TVA." She turned around, taking a quick look at Hestia who stood next to Loki, before looking at the man again. The agent just looked down and a hint of sadness was visible in her eyes.

"I'm working for me."

She scoffed while Loki continued to walk ahead, causing her to walk backwards. "You really believe that, don't you?" "Yeah." She laughed. "And here I was worried that they'd found a better version of me."

Suddenly a man, who looked like an employee, approached them. "Hi, are you guys looking for the disaster shelter?"

"No." B-15 grabbed his arm and now the green magic was clearly visible before she passed out and fell to the ground too.

Loki and Hestia stopped in their tracks, looking with dumbfounded faces down to the hunter on the ground before looking at the employee again.

Loki turned to Hestia, who directed her head to the Variant, signaling he should follow him. She knelt down next to B-15 and carefully touched her face, moving her head to the side and then laid her fingers on her neck to see if she was still alive.

"Oh, bless." Both turned to look at the man, who was smiling a bit too creepy. "Are you going to call your little friends for help?" A little chuckle escaped him.

The two TVA workers exchanged looks before she stood up and they both slowly followed the variant.

"What's the matter? Are you too scared to meet me, or us, face-to-face? Show yourself. You know, gaining their confidence was no mean feat."

This turned him to stop and turn around to face the two. "Oh my god. You went undercover."

Loki expected Hestia to look surprised or anything else, but her expression kept.. cold, just like always.

"If you could possibly sheathe your smarm for a moment, I have an offer for you. That's why I found you."

"Go on."

"I'm going to overthrow the Time-Keepers."

Hestia lifted the corners of her mouth.

"And, uh, cards on the table, I could use a qualified lieutenant."

She rolled her eyes at the god and watched the variant turn around. "And I assume you mean.. Me?"

"What say you.." He winked. "Loki?"

"Ugh. Don't call me that." This caused the agent to raise an eyebrow and get even more interested. "You can call me... Randy."

"God. Now I understand why Thor found this so annoying. Listen, enough with your games. I've been trying to help you. I kept them vulnerable at the Renaissance Fair for some time."

"Until I exposed you lying." Hestia mumbled while Loki just gave her a: 'shut the fuck up' look.

"Oh, gosh and that was just so nice of you. But after eight to ten seconds of consideration, the answer is no. I'm not interested in ruling the Time Variance Authority."

The variant started walking again, causing them to follow him.

"If you don't wanna rule the TVA, then what do you want?"

"It doesn't matter. You're too late."

"I think you'll find I'm well ahead of schedule. I-" "We." Hestia spoke up. "We found your hiding place like that. I'd say that makes me the superior Loki, wouldn't you?"

Hestia stopped and looked to the side into a shelf, causing Loki to do the same. He sighed. "I see. That's your plan. Lure us all here so you can blow the place up."

They turned to the side again, only to find no one there anymore.

Then, Loki got kicked away by an old, grumpy man.

"I miss Randy." Before he could sit up again, the man kicked him again.

Hestia slowly pulled her dagger out of her inner pocket and wanted to stab the man, but then realized that this was only an innocent man.

"Thank you for helping me stall for time. You really do love to hear yourself talk.

Then, she realized that they were going to die anyway because of the hurricane.

"You're the first person to tell me that."

Loki got thrown onto the floor and glided along the ground on his stomach.

Hestia ran to the man and jumped on his back, stabbing the man multiple times into his back. Then she got thrown off and landed in a shelf.

"You could have done that sooner!" She heard Loki's voice while she tried to stand up again, only to be thrown to the ground again by a flying Loki.

"Seriously? Dude, get off of me." They both slowly stood up again and she looked confused at the little toy dogs on the ground before heading to the variant again, who was now working on some tech things.

"What do you want from me? What is this about?" The two started walking to the man who just chuckled. Hestia placed her dagger in Loki's hands and mouthed a quiet: 'I want it back'.

"Brace yourself, Loki." He chuckled again before his eyes started glowing green and he fell to the ground. The two sighed.

Suddenly Loki's words from before echoed from behind them, causing both of them to turn around.

There he was.

The variant.

He was wearing dark robes and a hood. Due to the shadow the face wasn't visible. His hands were glowing with the green magic.

Slowly the variant stepped near and took its hood off.

Hestia was stunned. In front of them stood a beautiful, blonde woman with dark blue eyes. She looked a bit taller than Hestia but her body was lithe and fit. She had short blonde hair that had clearly been dyed, noticeable by her exposed dark roots. Her hair was done in messy, effortless curls and she wore a gold crown? Diadem? Regardless, it had a horn broken off of it. Her clothes consisted of a woven black breastplate with gold and dark accents, as well as a long black robe with a green lining inside and some simple combat boots. However, Hestia was too awestruck by the woman's beauty to even notice her odd wardrobe.

"This isn't about you."

The lights turned out and the reset charges started glowing one after one.

Mobius and the other hunters arrived by them.

The charges started falling into little time doors.

"Where are they going?"

Hestia looked down, then up, realizing.

"She bombed the Sacred Timeline."

Suddenly the whole room was lit in red. Hestia and Loki turned to the Variant, who knelt down and took the tem-pad from the ground. She stood up and opened a time door, gave the two a little wave before walking through it.

But it didn't close yet.

The agent turned to Loki and nodded, thinking the same he was thinking.

The two headed to the door and could hear Mobius screaming after them to wait, but they didn't stop and ran into it.