As Loki, Sylvie, and Thor get closer to Alioth, the sky gets darker and the winds get louder. It's easier to see his true form from this distance. No longer is he just an overarching cloud of destruction; he has a distinct face, illuminated by the lightning flashing within. He seems to grow bigger the longer Loki looks at him, and not just because they're getting closer. It's almost enough to make him wonder if going after him is the best course of action.

Almost.

But if there's even a small chance they could get past this monster and tear down the TVA, he's going to take it. He's certainly not letting his friends do this alone.

Much of the walk is in silence, and it's not until they're standing in front of the beast that the silence is broken, with Thor asking, "Do we have a plan?"

"We're going to wait for a branch," Sylvie says. "Alioth will go eat it, and while it's distracted, that's when I'll enchant it."

"Oh, wow," Thor says, almost to himself, "that actually does sound like a plan." He pauses. "Are you sure you're a Loki?"

Loki scoffs. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You never actually have a plan," Thor says. "You just do a thing — you know, a disguise or some sleight of hand or —"

"That is not true!" Loki says indignantly. Why does everyone keep saying that? He does make plans and he's not just a magician. "Do you think I became King of Asgard without a plan? That the throne just fell into my lap?"

"That's exactly what I think," Thor says. "In my timeline, you told me you didn't even want to be king."

"Well..."

He did say that, didn't he? And he meant it at the time. In hindsight, he's actually not quite sure why he's been trying so hard to take over Midgard and to take over the TVA. No throne is actually going to make him happy.

But he can't admit that. He would essentially be admitting that his plan to convince Thor to go to Jotunheim did not go at all how he wanted it to and that maybe it wasn't as well-thought-out as he'd hoped (though had Sif and the Warriors Three not gone to Midgard against his wishes, it absolutely would have worked out in his favor, thank you very much). All he says is, "It was an adaptable plan for an unpredictable circumstance — and I still got what I wanted." Briefly. And he didn't really enjoy it.

"It's not a plan if you keep changing it," Sylvie tells him.

"And what did you get out of it?" Thor asks. "What was it you wanted? The respect of Asgard? The whole realm shuddered when they heard word from their new king."

Loki crosses his arms. "I'm not having this conversation with you."

"Because I'm right?" Thor asks mockingly.

Yes.

"No, because you're obnoxious," Loki says.

"It wouldn't be obnoxious if you didn't believe it," Thor says.

"I don't believe it," Loki lies. "That's exactly what makes it obnoxious."

"Uh, guys?" Sylvie says, and the nervousness in her voice is enough to shut them up. "I don't know if we're going to get that branch in time."

Loki turns his attention back to Alioth, and the cloud is looking over them, as if ready to strike at any moment. He wants to look back to Sylvie for instruction, but he doesn't want to take his eyes off of the beast.

"What do we do?" Loki asks.

"I don't know," Sylvie says. "We need a distraction, but without a branch..."

Thor takes off running without another word to them. That's enough to draw Loki's attention; he stares at his brother in disbelief. Is he really...?

"Hey!" Thor yells, waving his arms in Alioth's direction. "Over here!"

"He's going to get himself killed," Sylvie whispers.

"I've said that more times than I can count," Loki tells her. "Somehow, he's still standing."

Thor's distraction does seem to work; Alioth slowly begins making his way towards the god. Thor stops running, jumping and waving for a few moments, before he takes off again. Alioth just follows.

"I take it back," Loki says. "He absolutely will get himself killed doing this." He puts a hand on Sylvie's shoulder, a small smile on his lips. "But that's what I'm here for."

"What —"

Loki runs in the opposite direction, yelling at Alioth from his side of the field. He pulls out the dagger his younger self gave him and ignites itself, the weapon engulfed in flames. He waves it around above his head, calling Alioth's attention to himself instead. "Come and get me!"

Alioth begins to move towards him instead. Loki risks taking his eyes off of the monster to take a glance at Thor. From this distance, it's hard to tell how he feels, but he looks a little less tense now that the evil cloud monster isn't going towards him.

Alioth starts getting a little closer to Loki than he'd like (which was, admittedly, his goal, but it's much less comfortable now that it's actually happening), and he starts to run away, trying to get further from Sylvie than he already is. He risks a glance behind him just in time to see Sylvie grab hold of the cloud's tendril.

Loki almost trips over his own feet, and he decides he should probably watch where he's going if he's going to keep running. He takes the occasional glance at Alioth as he does, and he's uncomfortably aware of the fact that the beast is getting closer.

"Hey!" Thor yells. Loki looks over his shoulder just long enough to see his brother running towards him, waving his arms at Alioth. "This way!"

Loki doesn't stop running, and he looks over at Alioth every ten seconds or so to see if Thor has succeeded in drawing its attention away.

He hasn't.

"Sylvie, you better hurry up!" Thor yells.

"I'm trying!" Sylvie yells back. "This isn't easy, you know!"

But that one does it.

Alioth begins to retreat, and Loki doubles over, his hands on his knees. Oh, god, that was a lot of cardio. He'd rather fight with a blade for an hour than sprint for a few minutes. He never wants to do this again.

"No, over here!" Thor yells, and Loki's head snaps up to look.

The goal — the unspoken agreement among the trio — was to keep Alioth running between Thor and Loki until either there was a branch to serve as a better distraction, or Sylvie managed to enchant it. Apparently, Alioth didn't get the memo, because he's going straight towards Sylvie instead.

"Shit," Loki whispers. His rest break will have to take a raincheck. He starts running back towards Sylvie, just as Thor is. "Hey, Alioth! Come this way!"

"I don't think this is working!" Sylvie yells.

"I see that!" Loki yells back.

"What do we do?" Thor yells.

That question is answered by a green glow behind Thor, so bright that the god knows to turn around without anyone pointing it out.

"What the hell is that?" Thor yells.

The light draws Alioth's attention away immediately. Loki can't find it in himself to be relieved. Not until he figures out what's happening. Not until he knows things haven't gotten worse.

But then the light starts to change. They start forming shapes, buildings created from the bottom up. Loki finds himself frozen in place, just staring. Is this...

"Asgard," he whispers to himself.

He takes off running again, and he and Thor reach Sylvie at the same time. None of them speak at first. None of them can find the right words.

Alioth barrels through the buildings, and, in a flash of green, they begin to disappear. From this vantage point, Loki can see inside the city; he can see Classic Loki inside, straining to keep up the illusion.

"This is incredible," Thor breathes.

"This is dangerous," Loki says darkly. "He's going to get himself killed."

"No, he won't," Thor says, and then he takes off running, straight towards the illusion of Asgard and the monster tearing it apart.

"Oh, great," Loki says, throwing his hands up in exasperation, "now they're both gonna to get themselves killed!"

"Loki." Sylvie grabs his hand, holding it tightly within her own.

"What are you doing?" Loki asks.

"We're going to enchant it!" she says.

"I don't know how!" Loki reminds her. She knows this! This is her power, not his.

"You do!" she says. "Because we're the same!"

That is such bullshit logic, but right now, he's willing to do whatever it takes — whatever she thinks it will take — to stop this thing. Too many of his loved ones' lives are at stake to argue.

Sylvie grabs hold of a tendril branching off of Alioth, and, without a moment's hesitation, Loki does the same. Sylvie's hand begins to glow green. She's doing what she's supposed to. Loki isn't. He can't.

He catches sight of Classic Loki, his grip on the illusion fading with each passing moment. He looks weak, like he's going to fall apart at any moment. Loki wishes he could help him, but right now, the only way he could do that would be to stop Alioth, and he can't enchant the thing no matter how hard he tries.

Thor is getting closer, but if he can't help with the magic (and he can't; he's only been doing it for a few years, and magic like this must have taken millennia to perfect), he'll be all but useless.

So, with the pressure of everyone's lives resting on him, Loki tries once more to grab hold of Alioth's mind. If Sylvie could enchant him, maybe he can...

His hands begin to glow, the same green as the light coming from Sylvie's. He and Sylvie share a look, and he swears he can see just the smallest hint of pride on her face. They're doing it. They're enchanting it.

But not quickly enough.

Alioth is still heading straight for Classic Loki, and nothing they do can stop it. Asgard starts to dissipate, and Classic Loki collapses. Loki feels all his muscles tense. This is it. There's nothing they can do.

"Loki!" Thor yells. He runs up to the eldest god, grabbing him roughly beneath the arms and pulling him to his feet.

"What is he doing?" Sylvie whispers.

Thor tosses Classic Loki over his shoulder as if he were nothing more than a ragdoll, and, without a moment to lose, he takes off running. Alioth just follows him, now on both their asses instead of just Classic Loki's.

Loki releases his grip on Alioth's mind, though he holds onto the tendril even tighter. Now that he's not so preoccupied with trying to enchant the cloud monster, he can focus on using his magic in other ways: namely, to hide Thor and Classic Loki. He makes them invisible, shrouding them from Alioth's sight (and his own) to hopefully give them the chance to get away.

"Don't you dare call that thing over here," Sylvie growls.

"I'm not," Loki says quickly. "I just don't want them to get killed because they decided to help us."

Sylvie eyes him for a moment, then gives a single nod. She drops his hand and grabs hold of Alioth with that one, too, and instantly, it begins to glow.

Apparently it doesn't matter that he didn't call Alioth over; the monster heads their way anyway. Loki waits for a few seconds until he thinks Thor and Classic Loki are out of the way, and then he drops the illusion, fortunately proving him right. Alioth doesn't even notice them reappear.

He grabs hold of Alioth once more, and his hands begin to glow, just as Sylvie's are — and in a fraction of the time it took him the first time around.

His hands are glowing, as are Sylvie's. They have a firm grip on Alioth's mind. He knows they do. So why can't they stop him?

As Alioth grows nearer, Sylvie lets go of Alioth with one hand, holding it out. Loki does the same, and he takes Sylvie's hand in his. It's an oddly comforting movement. Loki has "died" many, many times, but never has he done it with someone he loves.

He squeezes his eyes shut and prepares himself for the inevitable.

...

...

...

And it doesn't come.

"Loki," Sylvie says softly, "open your eyes."

Loki slowly does as he's told, and he's met with the beautiful sight of Alioth slowly disappearing, like the cloud going away after a bad storm. He's letting them pass.

"We did it," Loki whispers.

"We did," Sylvie says.

Their moment of triumph doesn't last long; it's interrupted by Thor yelling their names frantically.

Loki immediately takes off towards him. Sylvie follows right behind him.

Thor gently lays Classic Loki on the ground, kneeling by his side. Loki finds himself fearing the worst, and as soon as he reaches them, he does the same, looking down at his older self with a frown.

Fortunately, Classic Loki is very much still alive. He looks between the three gods above him, and a small smile appears on his face. In a hoarse voice, he says, "We made quite the team, didn't we?"

"It won't count for anything if you're not okay," Thor tells him.

"I'll be fine," Classic Loki says. "Unfortunately, I do believe this is as far as I go — genuinely, this time."

"Good," Sylvie says, earning less-than-pleasant looks from everyone else. She continues, "You've already done far too much for us. We can handle it from here."

"I don't doubt that for a moment," Classic Loki says. "I just wish I could see it myself."

"Loki!"

Loki, Sylvie, and Thor all look up to see Kid Loki running towards them, Lokigator in his arms like a baby. He only slows for a moment, just to gently put the alligator down, before he pulls Classic Loki into a tight hug. Classic Loki hugs him back, albeit more weakly.

"I told you you were going to get hurt," Kid Loki says, and though he almost sounds like he's mad, he's clearly just relieved to have his friend back.

"You told me it was suicide," Classic Loki corrects him. "But, as far as I can tell, I'm still very much alive."

"Barely!"

Kid Loki lets him go, but not before very carefully sitting him up and making sure he won't fall over. Kid Loki doesn't take his eyes off of his friend, worry still written all over his face. Lokigator crawls over Classic Loki's lap and plops down across him.

Thor puts a hand on Classic Loki's shoulder. "You saved our lives."

"And then you saved mine," Classic Loki says. "I think that makes us even."

Loki looks down at him with a wary frown. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Of course," Classic Loki says. "I'm a Loki, after all."

Kid Loki lets a small smile slip at that.

Sylvie pushes herself to her feet. "We should go."

Always with the mission, that one. It's an admirable quality, though one Loki himself could never possess.

"Yes, you should," Classic Loki agrees. "Good luck. I suspect you're going to need it."

"As do I," Loki says. He stands up, and Thor does the same. "Thank you. Truly."

"And thank you, too," Thor adds, ruffling Kid Loki's hair (and almost knocking his horns off in the process).

"Stop that!" Kid Loki hits his hand away, which just makes Thor laugh.

Loki looks over to where Alioth once stood. He'd barely taken a moment to look at it before. This is the first he's seeing of the Citadel that lies beyond it; beyond the end of time itself. It's dark and gloomy and more ominous than most everything he's ever seen. He'd almost feel better staying here and talking to his Variants for a little while longer, just to put off heading toward it.

He feels a hand take his, and he glances down to see Sylvie holding it. He looks at her, barely concealing his nerves despite his best efforts. She gives him a small, reassuring smile, and he'd be lying if he said it didn't make him feel a little bit better.

"Are we ready?" Thor asks.

"Not at all," Loki says. He reaches over and grabs Thor's hand in his other. "Let's go."