"The dragon swoops towards the palace, the Valkyrie flies over, defeats the dragon, and saves Asgard." Loki simulated what she was describing with the small toys she had in her hands.

"Defeated doesn't mean dead, does it?" Olivia asked her with concern in her voice.

"If you don't want it do, it doesn't have to." Loki held up the small dragon toy in her hand and made it fly around in arcs. "Maybe Asgard keeps the dragon as a guard so other bad things can't happen to it."

An odd golden door opened behind the two girls, three figures in black and orange armor emerging.

"There's our Variant." The woman at the head of the small team said coldly. The other two went over and snatched Loki by the arms, dragging her through the portal.

"What are you doing? Who are you? Loki!" Olivia cried, but the soldiers didn't look back. One of them left a small cylindrical device on the ground that began to fill with purple smoke.

The next thing Olivia knew, she was alone in the room with toys scattered around. Frigga came inside with a gentle smile.

"Dinner's ready, darling." She said.

"Where's Loki?" Olivia asked.

"He's already at the dinner table. Now, come along. We don't want to keep the others waiting." Frigga took the child's hand in her own, Olivia following obediently. She briefly glanced back where the toys were, a little confused. Oh well, it didn't matter. She was always excited to see Loki.

He was her best friend, after all.

***

Loki and Olivia found Sylvie sitting alone on a rock in a clearing. The planet was close to crashing into the surface of the moon and imminent death was at hand. Loki sat down on the rock, Olivia between them. Sylvie barely glanced over, a forlorn expression on her face.

"I'm sorry." Loki apologized. Sylvie gave a short nod of acknowledgement before speaking.

"I remember Asgard. Not much, but I remember. My home, my people, my life... my best friend." She glanced at Olivia with a small, sad smile. Olivia returned it, though she honestly wasn't sure what Sylvie meant. The Variant continued. "The universe wants to break free, so it manifests chaos... like me being born the Goddess of Mischief. And as soon as that created a big enough detour from the Sacred Timeline, the TVA showed up, erased my reality, and took me prisoner. I was just a child. I escaped. Stole a TemPad and I ran for a long, long time, which really sucked. Everywhere and everywhen I went, it caused a Nexus event. Sent up a smoke flare, because I'm not supposed to exist. Until, eventually, I figured out where to hide. And so that's where I grew up. The ends of a thousand worlds. Now... that's where I'll die."

The planet began to crack and break further, larger chunks hurtling towards the surface of the moon.

"Not long now." Olivia muttered. Sylvie took a breath.

"Do you think what makes a Loki a Loki is the fact that we're destined to lose?" She asked.

"No." Loki replied. "We may lose, sometimes painfully. But we don't die. We survive."

"I mean, you did." Olivia added. "You were just a child when the TVA took you, but you nearly took down the organization that claims to govern the order of time. You did it on your own. You ran rings around them. You're amazing!"

Sylvie flushed, the glow of the moon hiding it well. Olivia grabbed Sylvie's hand and reached for Loki's as a large meteor crashed into the Mesa a few hundred yards away from them. The ground began to collapse, throwing rock and dirt into the air. The three of them held hands tightly, bracing for the sudden death that came for them. They shared last glances that spoke more words than they could say.

Behind them, two Time Doors suddenly opened up. All three of them shot to their feet, shocked. How could the TVA find them during an apocalypse? Especially one of this magnitude? Minute-Men came through with none other than Mobius, slapped collars onto them, and then dragged them back. Sylvie tried to fight off the hold on her, hating the idea of being taken prisoner again more than death. She was then taken away from Loki and Olivia to a separate room for interrogation.

"Well?" Mobius asked.

"Well what?" Loki snapped back.

"I know you've got some quip you're dying to say."

"Oh, I don't have a quip. I've got nothing to say to you."

"Come on."

"By the way, we should have an equal amount of security, this is insulting." Loki was referring to the large imbalance of guards in Sylvie's favor.

"Loki, please, don't make this worse." Olivia sighed.

"You just can't help yourself." Mobius replied.

"You betrayed us!" Loki cried.

"You betrayed me."

"Grow up!"

"You grow up!"

"Boys, please!" Olivia cried to break up the argument.

"You know, it occurred to me that you're not really the God of Mischief."

"Oh, here it comes. The folksy, dopey insult from the folksy dope. What am I? The god of self sabotaging? The god of backstabbing?"

"Just kind of an asshole and a bad friend. You're not much better." Mobius pointed to the struggling Olivia. "For a Goddess of Dreams, you've been a real nightmare for me. Both of you have! Yeah, chew on that for a little bit. Alright, they're ready."

Two red tinted Time Doors opened in front of Olivia and Loki.

"What is this?" Olivia asked.

"You'll see."

"Mobius!"

"Okay, no no no no, let them one last desperate trick from the desperate trickster and his beloved girlfriend. Go ahead."

"The TVA is lying to you!" Loki cried.

"Put em in."

The two of them were shoved into their respective red Time Doors, Olivia suddenly somewhere else entirely. Though, it wasn't an unfamiliar place, per se. It was the hallway in Stark Tower. Specifically, the hallway leading directly to the control room. Now Olivia remembered. She was sent to disable Tony Stark's AI, JARVIS. But, she never made it because...

"Olivia!" A voice cried. Thor himself came around the corner with an enraged expression.

"Thor?" Olivia asked. How was Thor here?

"Why have you done this? What sick spell has Loki put upon you?"

"Loki did no such thing! I chose to help him." Olivia suddenly remembered the Time Theater. How her life was supposed to have played out. She faltered to continue arguing.

"He's made you his pawn!"

"I was... going to be... Queen." The words sounded foreign once Olivia heard them now.

"There's only one way to break this magic. I'm truly sorry for this."

Thor suddenly shoved Olivia into the wall, causing her head to collide with it. She cried out in pain, but Thor wasn't there to recieve any hits back. She clutched her head in pain, though it dissipated a little rather quickly.

"Stupid clumsy oaf-" She grunted.

"Olivia!"

There Thor was again, turning around the corner. Olivia was struck with confusion.

"What? Again?" She asked.

"Why have you done this? What sick spell has Loki put upon you?" Thor asked, the exact same diction as before.

"What spell am I trapped in?" Olivia cried into the air.

"He's made you his pawn!"

"I'd rather not relive this, thanks!"

"There's only one way to break this magic. I'm truly sorry for this."

Olivia didn't even notice Thor winding up to shove her again. Her head collided with the wall again, the headache growing worse. Thor was gone again as fast as he had appeared.

"Am I going crazy?"

"Olivia!"

"Not again..."

"Why have you done this? What sick spell has-" This time, Olivia cut him off.

"NO SPELL! NONE! I did this! I made my own choice! I am in control of my actions as much as you are." She snapped.

"But you usually wouldn't do something so rash." Thor replied, confused.

"People change, Thor. They evolve. Who I was yesterday is not who I am today, and who I am today is not who I will be tomorrow. I mean, look at me. Never in my life did I ever expect to work for the organization that dictates the flow of time or meet another version of Loki, yet here we are!"

"I think you're going mad."

"Am I? Am I going a little crazy? It's not outside the realm of possibility, but I don't think I am. At least, not yet. I might if I have to stay here much longer."

"Is Loki doing this to you?"

"No! No, Thor, Loki isn't--" Olivia dodged out of the way of Thor's attempt to recalibrate her brain this time. Thor tried again, Olivia moving out of the way in time. She went to punch Thor, but he caught her wrist and tossed her into the wall. Olivia crumpled to the ground as Thor left her again. "Mobius! Let me out this instant!"

"Olivia!"

"Son of a bitch."

***

How long had passed? Hours? Days? At this point, Olivia was on the floor against the wall. Each time Thor came to her, the headache reset itself. Otherwise she'd probably be knocked out cold by now.

"Olivia!" Thor roared for probably the hundredth time.

"Thor, please, stop. I get it. You think I'm out of control of my actions. I am. Right here, I am. Please, just stop hitting me." She said, raising her hand in defense.

"He's left you here, hasn't he?"

"No, of course not. Loki would never..."

"He's trying to make me let down my guard, but it won't work. As long as you're here, neither of you can cause any more damage. I'm going to find Loki. Your justice will be swift."

Thor ran down the hall, finally giving Olivia a moment of solace.

"Okay. Are you ready to talk yet?" Mobius' voice asked as he came around the corner. Olivia looked up at the Agent with contempt before she pulled herself to her feet and followed him out. She was back inside the Time Theater, but this time, Loki was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he?" She asked, gently taking a seat.

"Oh, just having a little chat with Lady Sif. I figured I'd like to have a conversation with you... alone. You often let Loki do all the talking, so I'd like to hear what you have to say." Mobius replied, taking the seat across from her. "You said the TVA is lying to me. What's that all about? Or was that just a... spur of the moment thing Loki came up with?"

"Maybe if you promise to stop having Thor repeatedly slam me into the wall, I'll tell you." Olivia snapped.

"Spur of the moment thing it is. Okay. How long have you been working for the Variant?"

"Working for her? Mobius, we just met her. We were as surprised as you were to know who she was."

"Okay, so if you're not working for her, what does that make you? Partners?"

"Acquaintances. If a planet was exploding around you, you'd do whatever you could to survive for as long as possible, even use the people around you."

"Okay, so what caused the Nexus event?"

"Mobius, I know less than you do. We were about to die and then suddenly you come along. Nexus events don't happen in apocalypses."

"Which is why it's so baffling. So I guess this is a dead end, then."

"It is."

"Alright." Mobius grabbed his files and stood up out of the chair, opening his TemPad. "Say hello to Thor for me."

"Wait, Mobius, please, I can't talk if my brains are bashed in." Olivia protested.

"Okay, so what else do you have to say?"

"Look, I don't understand what happened on Lamentis. It was just supposed to be a partnership to survive a little longer, then we would be through with her."

"Well, no worries there, we've already pruned her."

"You've what?"

"She tried to break out of her Time Cell, B-15 got her before she could run. So, no more worries about her."

Olivia took a moment to consider this before putting on a hard expression.

"Fine. Okay. It's fine. We didn't need her." She said shortly. There was a long, awkward pause shared between the two, Olivia glancing around the room. She bit the inside of her lip and focused her attention on the freshly cleaned floor. Mobius began to chuckle at her. "What's so funny?"

"That was in no way a we situation. You like her, don't you?"

"What are you implying?"

"One Loki wasn't enough for you, was it? A nice change of pace from this one who keeps stringing you along on all these wacky adventures."

"Mobius, did you prune her?"

"Oh, now it all makes sense. What Loki said earlier."

"You spoke with Loki already?"

***

"So what's with you two and the Variant?" Mobius asked.

"We just needed to help each other get off Lamentis. Believe me, it wouldn't mean much to me if she were pruned. I mean, I suppose you already did, but... but good riddance." Loki replied. Mobius just smiled.

"Right, because that little green-eyed monster is saying so."

"What do you mean?"

"You're jealous. You're so worried that this new Variant of you is gonna sweep your lady off her feet and leave you behind. Is that it?"

"Of course not!"

"Alright, if you're sure."

***

"Mobius, I have loyalties. I've known Sylvie for a day at most."

"Ah, Sylvie. That's her name. Is that with an I-E or just an I?"

"Mobius, is she alive?" Olivia shrieked.

"For now." Mobius put the pencil down and stared at Olivia directly. She dared not squirm. "You say you have loyalties, but you're not above sleeping with other women? Particularly blondes?"

"That's not what that is, Mobius. It was mutual. You're taking that out of context."

"Alright, if you insist. But I saw the way she looked at you. I mean, it makes sense. She's a Variant of Loki, you're always destined to end up with him. She was taken out of her reality, so it's like she was seeing her soul mate for the first time. But nevermind that. So, did you all produce a plan to overthrow the Time Keepers?"

"Maybe they need to be overthrown."

"Jeez, I don't know what it is about this Variant of you, but you're always so awfully keen on overthrowing something. Earth, the TVA. What's next?"

"Mobius, if what Sylvie told us is true, this is way bigger than what we could have ever thought."

"Oh, what's that?"

"You're all Variants! Every single one of you! You could have had a family! The Time Keepers kidnapped you and erased your memories. Maybe you had a jetski!"

Mobius looked at her for a long moment.

"Right. That's what Loki said, too. Great collaboration by the two of you. Very creative lie."

"Mobius, I swear! It's not a lie!" Olivia cried just as two Minute-Men came inside to restrain her.

"Very cute. Now, I need to close this case, so I'll be seeing you around. The Time Keepers created all of us, and you're not gonna suddenly change my mind."

Olivia struggled against the grip of the Minute-Men as the Time Door opened. Mobius gestured for them to let her go. Olivia stared daggers into Mobius with a firm stance.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." She said cooly, walking into her Time Cell by herself.

***

An even longer time passed, Olivia managing to avoid getting hit most times by acting injured on the floor. Thor passed by time and time again, each time assuming Loki had done something horrible to manipulate Olivia. Each time. Olivia denied it. Once she got so fed up she tried to kick Thor's legs out from under him. That was one of the only times she wound up with her head against the wall.

She was asking for it that time, she knew. At least it was something different.

Thor left yet again and Olivia started playing with the ripped hem of her kerchief, completely bored and waiting for Thor's arrival yet again.

It never came.

Who would emerge but Mobius, in a frantic state and pulling her off the ground.

"What do you think you're doing? I'm supposed to spend the next millennium avoiding concussions, aren't I?" She asked briskly.

"Come on, we need to talk." Mobius replied, opening the Time Cell and leading her through. This time, they went into an Asgardian hallway. Loki was knelt on the floor, shaking and tired.

"I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times. 'You. You conniving, craven, pathetic worm. You did this.'" He muttered. Olivia assumed this was Loki's time loop. Reliving the beating he had gotten from Sif after he chopped off half of her hair.

"What are you doing?" Mobius asked him.

"Passing the time."

"Mobius, what is this?" Olivia asked, going over to stand next to Loki with her arms folded.

"Do you care about this Variant?" Mobius asked.

"Sylvie? I'm not sure if care is the right word." Loki replied. Olivia snorted.

"Do you care about her?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you better figure it out quick! Because the Nexus event the three of you caused, I think whatever that connection is can bring this whole place down. So we better hurry--"

"We?" Olivia asked.

"Do you swear she didn't implant those memories into Hunter C-20?"

"Mobius, no, I believe her."

"I do, too. She can't create memories. She just pulls from what's already there." Loki added. Mobius sighed.

"So I guess I just have to trust the word of two Lokis and an Olivia?" Mobius asked.

"How about the word of friends?" Loki offered. Mobius gave a short nod.

"You were right. About the TVA. Both of you were. You were right from the beginning. And if you wanna save Sylvie, you have to trust me. Can we do that?"

"We can." Olivia replied with a smile.

"Okay. You can be whoever... whatever you want to be. Even someone good. I mean, just in case anyone ever told you different."

Loki gave a warm smile as he and Olivia followed Mobius out of the Time Cell and into the Time Theater. They didn't really have a plan, but they could probably make one up as they went along.

Their path was blocked by a squad of Minute-Men and Ravonna Renslayer. She didn't look very happy, holding a TemPad in her hand that probably didn't belong to her.

"I think you have something of mine." She said cooly.

"Yeah, I got all the way down their before I realized I picked up yours." Mobius said, digging another TemPad out of his jacket pocket. So that's how he figured it out. Something on Ravonna's TemPad probably proved the TVA had a few large secrets to hide. Mobius handed the TemPad back to Ravonna, who took it gently. "What's going on? What's the problem, Ravonna?"

The judge didn't give an answer. She just stared at Mobius harshly.

She knew.

Mobius looked to his companions and sighed. He turned back to Ravonna.

"You know where I'd go if I could go anywhere? Wherever it is I'm really from. Wherever I had a life before the TVA came along. Maybe I had a jetski." He shot a glance at Olivia, who gave a short smile. "That's what I'd like to do."

One of the Minute-Men activated his baton as Mobius spoke.

"Mobius..." Olivia said in a warning tone.

"Just riding around on my jetski."

"Prune him." Ravonna ordered. Before anyone could jump in the way, the Minute-Man jabbed his baton forward, poking Mobius in the chest with it. The Agent cried out as he was suddenly disintegrated into a cloud of colorful smoke and sparks.

"NO!!" Loki and Olivia cried at the same time. Mobius, their only ally, their friend... just gone in an instant. Four of the Minute-Men went over and grabbed Loki and Olivia by their arms. The pair glared at Ravonna as the judge stepped aside to let them pass.

"Wait for me at the elevator." She ordered her soldiers. They led Loki and Olivia down the hall in a death march. They knew they were on their way to be pruned as well... but Mobius didn't deserve it. Olivia tried to fight back against the Minute-Men who held her back in a fit of rage, but they just jerked her forward as if she were nothing. They were loaded into the elevator, standing silent for a long time. Eventually, two Minute-Men came with Sylvie to them. Her hair was wet, something neither Olivia nor Loki understood. It didn't really matter.

"You okay?" Sylvie asked them. They just looked at Sylvie forlornly. She figured it was best to not ask. Ravonna then came up behind them and stepped inside the elevator.

"I've got them from here." She said. The Minute-Men let go of the Variant's arms and the doors shut behind them. The elevator gently lulled upwards as the four of them stood in silence for a long time.

"Do you remember me?" Sylvie asked.

"I do." Ravonna replied. "What do you want to say to me, Variant?"

"What was my Nexus event? Why did you bring me in?"

"What does it matter?"

"It was enough to take my life from me. Lead to all of this. Must have been important. So what was it?"

Ravonna paused before attempting to hide a small smirk.

"I don't remember." She said snidely. Sylvie took a sharp breath in as the elevator continued.

"Someone cut the film." Olivia said. Loki and Sylvie looked at her oddly. "Loki's film was cut with scissors. What was cut?"

"Nothing that concerns you, Variant. What I cut from that film has no bearing on what happens now." Ravonna replied. The elevator stopped and the gold doors slid open. On the other side was a blue tinted environment, steam coming out from an unknown source. Guards in elaborate uniforms stood at attention in front of a wall with a red neon light illuminating three figures sitting on chairs against it.

"Gracious Time Keepers." Ravonna started as they all filed inside. "As promised. The Variants."

"After all your struggle, at last you've arrived before us." The one in the middle started.

"What do you have to say for yourselves before you meet your end?" The one on the left asked, his speech garbled as though he were speaking from under-water.

"Is that the only reason you brought us here? To kill us?" Loki asked. "I've lost track of the number of times I've been killed. So go ahead. Do your worst."

"You and your bravado are no threat to us, Variant." The Time Keeper on the right said shortly.

"Oh, no, I don't think you believe that." Olivia said.

"I think--" Sylvie tried to step forward, but was rewound by Ravonna back to her spot. "I think you're scared."

"No, Variant, you're nothing but a cosmic disappointment." The middle Time Keeper said. "Delete them."

"Oh, no, I'm not done with you yet!" Sylvie said. She stepped forward again, and Ravonna tried to rewind her... yet nothing happened. The elevator slid open to reveal Hunter B-15 with a Time Twister in her hand and something else behind her back. She pressed a button and Loki, Olivia, and Sylvie's collars all fell to the floor, deactivated.

"For All Time. Always." B-15 said. She tossed Sylvie her sword before getting knocked out by the guards. Sylvie grabbed her sword and started fighting against a few guards of her own. Relying on nothing but hand to hand combat, Loki and Olivia had their own guards to deal with.

"Protect the Time Keepers!" Ravonna cried. All three Variants stood with their backs to each other before engaging in a fight with all the guards at once. One of the batons cut Loki on his upper arm, Olivia getting punched right to the floor.

"A little help here!" Loki asked. Sylvie tossed him her sword to fight off his guards. Olivia picked up a felled baton and started jabbing at two guards that descended upon her. Sylvie did the same, except she was going right up against Ravonna with her own baton she found.

"This time I finish the job." The judge snarled. She and Sylvie started battling with their batons like hand to hand weapons, each one trying to prune the other. Ravonna managed to roll on top of Sylvie, trying to edge the glowing orange end of the baton towards her face. Sylvie kicked upwards, knocking Ravonna off of her and knocking her out. One guard was coming up behind Sylvie, but Olivia managed to prune him before he could prune Sylvie first. Olivia pulled Sylvie to her feet as Loki ran through the last guard with Sylvie's sword. They all took breaths before facing the Time Keepers, Loki passing the sword back to Sylvie.

"You're a child of the Time Keepers, too, Sylvie. We can talk." The middle one said.

"Oh, yeah?" She asked, before hurtling her sword at the middle Time Keeper. It took the alien's head clean off, the others laughing wildly at the action. Sylvie picked up her sword off the ground and poised to throw again.

"No, wait!" Loki said, as the other two Time Keepers seemingly... deactivated. They slumped over with clunky movements, their eyes turning off. Olivia bent down and picked up the decapitated head of the middle Time Keeper. Wires and sparks came out of its neck instead of muscle and bones.

"Fake. Mindless androids." Olivia said.

"It never stops." Loki said as Olivia dropped the head to the floor. "Then who created the TVA?"

"I thought this was it." Sylvie said shortly. All three of them stood in the middle of the room for a long moment, trying to comprehend the situation. Olivia walked up the steps that led to the Time Keeper robots and sat down, her face in her hands. Sylvie looked at her sadly, going over to her. She took Olivia's hand and pulled her back on her feet. She went over and stood next to Loki, Sylvie on the steps in front of her.

"Olivia..." She started.

"Not a pep-talk. Please." Olivia replied.

"No. No, that's not..."

"Then what is it?"

"I... I need to tell you something." Sylvie bit her lip.

"What?" Olivia asked. Sylvie glanced back at Loki for a moment. He gave a short smile and nodded. The Variant looked back at Olivia nervously.

"Look, I... well, back on Lamentis... uh..."

"Sylvie, you can tell me, it's okay." Olivia reached over and put a hand on Sylvie's shoulder. The Variant looked down at her hand and took it off, holding it in her own.

"This is new for me, but, I..."

"What is it?"

"Olivia, I--"

Olivia suddenly felt a white hot pain in her chest. She cried out in pain and looked down at the source of the pain. Her body was disintegrating in a puff of colorful smoke and sparks. Sylvie's eyes widened and Loki tried to reach out for Olivia.

The last thing she saw was their horror-stricken expressions before her world turned dark.

***

Ravonna pulled the baton back from where Olivia once stood.

"NO!" Loki and Sylvie cried. Ravonna twisted the baton around before making contact with Loki's side. He cried out before he was engulfed as well, simply pruned from existence.

Sylvie stood alone in front of Ravonna. She rushed forward, wrestling the baton out of the judge's grip and sending her to the floor. Sylvie pointed the glowing end of the baton at Ravonna, who had her hands up in surrender.

"Do it." She pressed.

"No. You're gonna tell me everything." Sylvie hissed.

***

Olivia gasped, opening her eyes to a weirdly bright environment. It wasn't sunny, per se... But overcast. She felt around, finding she could feel grass under her.

"Where am I? Am I dead?" She asked aloud to no one.

"No, not yet at least." A voice that sounded... oddly like hers replied. It just sounded... meeker. Olivia sat up and her eyes widened.

There in front of her stood three women, all who wore her face. One wore a long gown and a headdress that looked like two moons on the side of her head. Another had actual wings attached to her back. They were blue-ombre colored and the woman wore thick armor with a winged circlet around her head. The last one was just a little girl with a thin dress and a scarf around her neck. She held a tiny blue dragon on her lap that gave a small croak of greeting.

"Who are you?" Olivia asked, straightening her back. The winged woman ruffled her wings and extended a hand down to her to help her stand up.

"You."