Loki: The Series

Chapter 2: Renaissance Fair

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OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN : 1985

Mobius, Loki, (Y/n), and her team travelled through the orange door and came out in 1985 where a Renaissance fair was taking place.

One Minuteman came up next to (Y/n) and checked a device on his wrist.

"Apex of nexus signature located ma'am." He reported, gesturing towards a large tent.

(Y/n) nodded and started heading towards the tent. Loki quickly walked up next to her.

"I have a question. Why don't we just travel back to before the attack, when the Variant first arrives?"

"Because Nexus events destabilize the time flow. This branch is still changing and growing, so you gotta show up in real time. Did you watch any of the training videos you were supposed to? Or did you just spend all your time trying to hit a holographic clock?" She asked sarcastically.

"I watched the videos. Well, as many as I could stand. Your TVA propaganda is exhausting love." Loki defended.

"What do these do?" A Minuteman asked from behind them, holding up a case of reset charges.

"Reset charges prune the affected radius of a branched timeline, allowing time to heal all its wounds." Loki recited. "Which by the way sounds like a nice way of saying disintegrate everything in its vicinity."

(Y/n) nodded, impressed. "Not bad." She complimented as they approached the tent.

"I watched the videos. I mean, some of them." Loki stepped forward and parted the flap of the tent for (Y/n). "After you. Fair maiden's first."

(Y/n) raised her brow at his behavior.

"What? It's a Renaissance Fair. Men are supposed to be chivalrous at these things, aren't they?" He said.

She rolled her eyes but smiled lightly and walked through the tent. Loki watched her enter and smiled as well. He followed her in, closing the tent flap in the rest of the Minutemen's faces.

...

B-15's team also traced the Variant to the large tent, and now they were all standing inside observing the massacre that just happened, and C-20's abandoned helmet and pruning stick on the ground.

"So he's taking hostages now?" B-15 wondered.

"The Variant's never taken a hostage before." Mobius commented.

"Maybe he's upping his game."

"Or be pruned her."

"A Loki couldn't have gotten the jump on C-20." B-15 insisted.

Loki raised his hand. "Now, I think you underestimate..."

"Fan out and search for her." B-15 cut off. "And hurry up because we're at three units until red line."

Everyone went to leave the tent and search the area when Loki spoke up.

"Wait! If you leave this tent, you'll end up like them." He warned.

Mobius approached him. "What do you see?"

"I see a scheme. And in that scheme I see myself. We have a saying in Asgard. 'Where there are wolf's ears, wolf's teeth are near.' It means to be aware of your surroundings. Which is absurd, because my people are, by nature, gullible fools. Well, not all of them."

Loki glanced at (Y/n), who looked slightly confused.

"Anyway, it's a trait that I, the God of Mischief, exploited time and time again simply by listening. My teeth were sharp, but my ears even sharper."

"We're running out of time, Mobius." B-15 said.

"Hold it. Just give him a chance." Mobius requested.

"You remind me of them. The Time Variance Authority and the Gods of Asgard, one and the same. Drunk with power, blinded to the truth. Those you underestimate will devour you. You underestimate me, just as you underestimate this lesser Loki. Which is why you walk into one wolf's mouth after another." Loki ranted.

"Two units. He is wasting our time." B-15 insisted.

Mobius gestured for him to wrap it up. "Okay, come on Loki, make a long story short."

"We need to look for C-20." (Y/n) added.

"That's exactly what the Variant wants you to do. It's a trap. He's waiting for you outside this tent." Loki revealed.

"Should I secure the reset charges?" Someone asked.

"No. He wants me. I'm the key to his plan. He knows that I'm stronger than him."

"Almost one unit."

"And he rightly believes that together we can overthrow and rule the TVA." Loki looked over at (Y/n). "But that's not what I want. I have a new purpose. I'm a servant of the Sacred Timeline." He told her with a wink. "And knowing what I now know about his tactics, I can deliver you the Variant." Loki then looked to Mobius. "But I need assurances."

"Yeah?"

"Assurances that I won't be completely disintegrated the moment the job has been done."

"Right..."

"I could even have a Hunter come with me to make sure I'm not lying." Loki looked around the tent and his eyes 'randomly' happened to land on (Y/n). "How about her?" He came over to her again. "How about it love? Will you help me catch and deliver the Variant?" He leaned closer to her ear. "We'll also need to speak to the Time-Keepers at once. They're in graver danger than they realize."

(Y/n) stared at him for a moment, before letting out a scoff. "He's lying. Just playing games. There's no one out there. Reset the timeline."

The other Minutemen nodded and got to work.

(Y/n) turned back to Loki and pointed a finger at Loki's chest. "You know, I almost believed you for a second. But you're not the only one here with sharp ears. I don't care if Mobius wants you here. You pull something like that again, I'll prune you myself." She threatened.

She swiftly turned around and stormed out of the tent, Loki went to run after her, but Mobius stepped in front of him and placed a hand on his chest, shaking his head.

He grabbed Loki by the collar of his jacket and started pulling him outside the tent and back to the TVA as a Minuteman set down a reset charge and activated it.

Disintegrating the massacre around them.

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