Loki and Sylvie sat back down in their chairs, seeing as there was nothing else to do for now except listen to what He Who Remains had to say.
"I understand your moral objections to what the TVA does." He said. "And my methods are deceptive. But the mission, it never was. Without me, without the TVA...everything burns."
"Then what are you so afraid of?" Loki asked.
"Me." He Who Remains answered.
"And just who are you?" Sylvie probed.
"Oh, I've been dubbed many names by many people." He explained. "A ruler, a conqueror. He Who Remains. A jerk. But it's...it's not as simple as a name."
He pressed a few buttons on his TemPad and then flicked something that looked like goo onto his desk. But then it materialized into a person. Him.
"Eons ago," He Who Remains began, "before the TVA, a Variant of myself lived on Earth in the 31st century. He was a scientist and he discovered that there were universes stacked on top of his own. At the same time, other versions of us were learning the same thing. Naturally, they made contact and for a while, there was peace. Narcissistic, self-congratulatory peace. 'I love your shoes.' 'I love your hair.' 'Oh, man, nice nose.' 'Thanks, man.' Et cetera."
The images from the TemPad changed as he kept talking as if they knew what he was going to say.
They did know what he was going to say. Loki had to keep reminding himself that this was all just a game to him.
"They shared technology and knowledge." He Who Remains continued. "Using the best of their universes to improve others. However...not every version of me was so pure of heart. To some of us, new worlds meant only one thing, new lands to be conquered. The peace between realities..." he imitated an explosion, "erupted into all-out war, each Variant fighting to preserve their universe and annihilate the others."
"This was almost the end," he chuckled, "ladies and gentlemen, of everything and everyone."
"And then the Time-Keepers came along and saved us all." Said Sylvie, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Amen." He Who Remains sang, clasping his hands together. "No." He chuckled. "No. Nope, this is where we diverge from the dogma. That first Variant encountered a creature created from all the tears in reality, capable of consuming time and space itself. A creature you both know."
"Alioth," Loki concluded.
"Bingo!" Said He Who Remains. "I harnessed the beast's power and began experimenting on it. I weaponized Alioth and I ended, I ENDED the Multiversal War."
"Once I isolated our timeline, all I had to do was manage the flow of time and prevent any further branches." He explained. "Hence, the TVA. Hence, the Time-Keepers and a highly efficient bureaucracy. Hence, ages..." he climbed up on top of his desk, "and ages of COSMIC HARMONY. HENCE,"
He squatted down, eying Loki and Sylvie cockily. "You're welcome." He said, his tone returning to normal as if he wasn't insane.
"You came to kill the devil, right?" He asked. He hopped down from the desk, leaning against it as he stared at the two of them. "Well, guess what? I keep you safe. And if you think I'm evil, well, just wait until you meet my Variants."
"And that's the gambit." He Who Remains said. "Stifling order or cataclysmic chaos. You may hate the dictator, but something..." he let out a sigh, "far worse is gonna fill that void if you depose of him."
"I've lived a million lifetimes." He explained. "I've gone through every scenario. This is the only way. The TVA, it works."
"Or," said Sylvie, "you're a liar."
YOU ARE READING
Mischief and Enchantments
Fiksi PenggemarALL RIGHTS GO TO MARVEL!! Loki series rewrite because the ending broke my heart hahaha...🥲 Loki, the God of Mischief, has felt like an outcast all his life. Always in his brother's shadow, barely noticed by his father, and only loved by his mother...
