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❛ ᴇᴡᴛʀᴛᴡ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐎 ❜  ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʜᴇʟʟᴏ! ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀ
ᴀʀʀᴇsᴛ. ꒱


❝ WELCOME TO  THE TIME
VARIANCE AUTHORITY ❞

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Shooting out of the air at cruising altitude was never an enjoyable experience but was one that Jimin was— thankfully— saved from. Instead, she shot out of a second portal at a decent fifteen feet, low enough to survive the fall but high enough to lay stunned on the ground for a minute, even with the adequately soft sand padding.

Groaning, the dark-haired woman refused to open her eyes, still recovering from the projectile force. Loki— having recovered much more quickly despite his higher drop-off point— sat up and took in their surroundings, his eyes falling on the woman who had unnecessarily joined him. Opening his mouth to demand exactly who she thought she was, his attention was quickly turned to a curious-looking group who stared at them in confusion.

He scrambled to his feet, deciding the woman was unimportant at this time, and made his way to the tallest point in the desert— a nearby outcropping of rock that jutted up from the sand. After gaining the authoritarian height, he began to speak: "I am Loki of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose—"

With a grunt, Jimin sat up and shook the sand from her short hair, turning to give the so-called god a flat glance as she told him monotonously, "it can't be that glorious if it's a burden."

The man sent her a scathing look. "You dare—"

He was interrupted again by the indigenous inhabitants as one spoke in their native language: "why have you come to our home?"

Loki's expression turned briefly puzzled at the dialect before he brushed it off, continuing, "I—"

A warbling noise sounded through the air causing everyone to turn in the direction it came from. A rectangular, golden portal opened a few feet away and three black-clad, armored guards emerged. They surrounded the fallen Tesseract with military efficiency.

"Don't touch that!" Loki demanded, leaving his rock to stalk towards them.

A fourth guard appeared through a second portal and began speaking immediately while looking at the small device in her hands. "Appears to be a standard sequence violation, branch is growing at a stable rate and slope. Variants identified."

Jimin stood quickly and stepped up next to the god, raising her fists in a fighting stance as she watched the newcomers warily. The Asgardian's tone was full of disbelief. "I beg your pardon?"

The woman ignored them. "On behalf of the Time Variance Authority, I hereby arrest you for crimes against the Sacred Timeline."

The sound of weapons powering up caused the Agent to tense, mentally preparing herself in case this turned into a fight. While it appeared that these guards didn't have guns, their arms looked equally deadly and would most likely have the same effect. Their leader continued, unaffected by Jimin's threatening stance: "hands up, you're coming with us."

"I'm sorry," the god narrowed his eyes. "Who's 'us?'"

"You will not be taking him anywhere," Jimin added commandingly. "We are to return—"

"Last chance, Variants," the woman cut her off smoothly, activating her own weapon.

The Asian woman's eyes flicked over each of their opponents while she calculated their odds. It would be four against one— on the assumption that Loki, who had just tried to attack her planet, wouldn't be helping— so, not great. While she was a skilled fighter and had trained for most of her life, she also knew that the chance of escape could be higher than the potential of winning a fight. She might need to conserve her energy for a greater threat; besides, this was a desert— where would they hide?

With an inward sigh— though her expression betrayed none of her emotions— she held up her hands complacently. Loki, however, had other ideas. Instead, he chuckled condescendingly. "It's been a very long day and I think I've had my fill of idiots in armored suits telling me what to do. So, if you don't mind, this is actually your last chance. Now, get out of my way."

The god then took an aggressive step in front of the woman to challenge the lead guard. Unmoved by his warning, she reacted quickly, hitting him in the face with the butt of her weapon. A slightly wet noise was heard as his face seemed to wobble in slow motion from the force of the blow. It seemed that she'd made the right call.

The armored woman walked up to the now-harmless Asgardian and placed a collar around his neck before moving to the more obliging captive. Noticing Jimin's glance over to the slowly-moving god, the woman explained, "he's now moving at one-sixteenth speed but feeling all that pain in real time."

"Can you keep him like that?" the Agent asked interestedly. She was rewarded with a faint smirk as the god fell to the ground, now returning to real time.

Two of the guards hauled Loki to his feet as the woman less forcefully guided her through the portal and a narrow hallway. Jimin took their momentary pause to gain her bearings, studying their new surroundings with calculated scrutiny. It was a mostly bare room with a circular desk in the middle, as if it were some type of hotel lobby. The fluorescent lights gave the space a very hospital-type feeling and Jimin noticed that more than just the desk was circle-themed.

Loki had fought their guards the whole way, not bothering to stay calm as he spat, "what is this place?"

Before his question could be answered, another entrance opened and a man with his own guard was brought in, shouting threats to anyone who would listen. Pressing her lips into a thin line, Jimin crossed her arms as she watched the other captive react violently in an effort to escape. Loki took a leaf out of the prisoner's book and tried to run off— stupidly, she added— only for the woman to press something on her control panel to have him return to the same spot, looking more irritated.

His second attempt was no better and Jimin couldn't hide her eyeroll at his efforts. Not wanting to waste anymore time, their guard pushed them forward to approach an overly happy receptionist. "Hello, ma'am, uh—"

"Log this as evidence," the woman interrupted him, placing the Tesseract on his desk.

"Oh. . ." he trailed off as they walked away. "Can you at least tell me what it is?"

Loki paused. "It's the Tesseract. Be very careful with it."

He was pushed back into motion and they continued down another hallway. Two doors opened, one in front of them and one to the right. The god was sent to the first while Jimin was given the second.

The room was small and gray with a similarly-colored orange floor. A robotic being was positioned against one wall, activating as the door slid shut behind her. Clawed arms reached out to pick at the dark clothes she was currently wearing and the Agent slapped them away. "I can undress myself, thank you."

The robot's orange face curved up into a rather menacing smile and the dark-haired woman peeled off her clothes quickly before the floor opened up underneath her, a prison uniform all but forming around her. She landed, cat-like, on the next level and stood, only to be greeted by the sight of another room.

A man sat at a tall desk, a stack of papers in front of him and a printer on his left. "Please sign this to verify that this is everything you've ever said."

Jimin picked up the pen resting next to the pile and signed the top sheet, raising a rather mocking eyebrow as she set the writing utensil down with an unnecessary flourish. Yet another trapdoor opened underneath her, sending her to the next room.

The Agent landed with a similar position, standing to study what looked like a metal detector. An employee was standing on the other side and didn't bother to look up from his clipboard as he spoke in a droning voice, "please confirm to your knowledge that you are not a fully robotic being, were born an organic creature and do, in fact, possess what many cultures call a soul."

In a similarly flat voice, the Asian woman replied, "of course I'm not."

The man looked up finally to give her a suspicious once-over. "Thank you for confirming. Move through."

Straightening, Jimin stalked through the detector, pausing as the machine gave off a blinding flash. She looked down at him. "Are we done here?"

"Please move through the door," he responded, studying the printout that the burst of light had produced.

She followed his instructions and found herself in a room that strongly reminded her of a security line at an airport. Loki appeared seconds later and they both watched as the prisoner in front of them put up a fuss about taking a ticket. The man refused and continued on to wait in line without one.

"Take a ticket," the guard repeated.

"There's only three of us in here," the god protested.

"Take. A. Ticket."

Jimin did as instructed with Loki reluctantly following suit, sarcastically showing the slip of paper to the guard as the stepped in line. She kept an eye on the Asgardian, uncertain as to what tricks he could pull but knowing he would if there was an option.

As they wove through the dividers, the god stopped abruptly and shouted to the room: "this is a mistake, I shouldn't be here!"

"Keep moving," the Asian woman snapped, prodding him in the back. That earned her a furious glare, though before the god could retaliate, someone else spoke.

"'Hey there!'" a female voice played over the speakers. "'You're probably saying 'this is a mistake, I shouldn't be here,' or blaming someone else.'"

A nearby box TV turned on, causing both the tense Agent and unnerved god to jump as the screen showed an animated, humanoid clock. "'Welcome to the Time Variance Authority. I'm Miss Minutes and it's my job to catch you up before your stand trial for your crimes.'"

The pair watched the short video that explained the organization and why they— the Variants— were there. Apparently, Jimin only doing her job had somehow violated the "proper flow of time."

"Time Keepers? The Sacred Timeline?" Loki repeated with disbelief. "Who actually believes this bunkum?"

At the other end of the room, the man had reached the end of the line. The guard spoke, "ticket, sir?"

"He didn't give me a ticket. I asked."

"Ticket, sir!"

"I tried to ask that guy for a ticket!" the man protested.

"Sir—"

"What, you're raising your voice at me, bucket head?"

The guard, fed up with his argumentative behavior, activated his weapon and touched it to the man's shoulder, which caused him to disintegrate into thin air. Loki quickly patted his jumpsuit to locate his ticket while Jimin— though slightly shaken from the man's vaporization— couldn't help the faint smirk that appeared as she watched him panic.

"'Thanks for visiting the T.V.A.. Don't hesitate to let us know how we're doing!'"