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❛ ᴇᴡᴛʀᴛᴡ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴀɴ ᴇxɪsᴛᴇɴᴛɪᴀʟ ᴄʀɪsᴇs
ᴡᴀɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴ ꒱


❝ THIS IS HOW THE
WORLD ENDS [. . .] ❞

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There was a part of Jimin that still couldn't fathom that they were standing in 79 A.D. Pompeii, Italy but there they were. One thing, at least, that Loki had been correct on was his desire prove himself right and it was showing in his eager speech. "Here we go."

"Shh, any minute now," Mobius warned.

"Until this entire town is wiped off the face of this planet. Imagine, all that volcanic ash. . ."

The Asian woman pressed her lips together at his enthusiasm, his carelessness about the humans' nearing deaths reminding her of the easy way he'd killed eighty people. Even Mobius was slightly put off by it. "Yeah, we don't want to get too giddy."

"Oh, come on! It's cool," Loki exclaimed.

"No, it is cool, but it's just not in good taste because. . ."

"People are going to die," Jimin finished bluntly.

"Well, they're going to anyway," the god pointed out and she frowned at him.

"I know," the man acknowledged. "Now listen, I'm gonna watch the TemPad for any variance energy because we gotta be careful. If you're wrong— and there's a good chance you are— anything we do can create a huge branch."

"Oh, Mobius! You make even the end of the world sound boring," the Asgardian complained.

"Listen!" he insisted. "We're not meant to be here, okay? Anything we do can impact the course of history, do you get that?"

"Yes, yes."

"So, we're gonna start with very small disturbances. Can either of you make bird noises?"

"No," Jimin answered flatly.

"Come on, it's just like whooshing noises," the man said encouragingly as he mimicked an owl's hoot.

"Oh—" Loki sighed before he took off for the middle of the village.

"Oh God," the woman huffed, crossing her arms.

"Loki, Loki!" Mobius tried— and failed— to reign him in.

The god jumped onto the side of a wagon and opened the back, allowing the sheep to escape. "Go! Be free, my horned friends, be free!" He began to speak in Latin: "my name is Loki, we are agents of the Time Variance Authority. I bring you all dark tidings!"

Jimin watched him continue to explain in the language what was going to happen, a disapproving expression on her face. He then switched back to English: "we are from the future, right? What is the T.V.A.? I mean, it's from the future. It sounds pretty future-y."

She leaned over to speak quietly to Mobius, "are you sure we can't leave him here?"

The man gave her a half-apologetic, half-amused look and shook his head as the volcano behind the god rumbled loudly, causing the nearby townspeople to scream. "Right on cue!" he called, leaping off the wagon to toss food into the scrambling crowd. "Enjoy your last meal while you can! Nothing matters, nothing has any consequences! Dance while you still can!"

"I don't believe it," the man said next to her as he watched the TemPad. "Zero variance energy, no branching in the timeline."

"The T.V.A. would never even know we were here," Loki turned to face them, his back to the dark ash that tumbled from the mountain. "If it were me, this is where I would hide."

✧ ✧ ✧ 

Mobius had vanished some time ago to find a few more files, leaving Jimin and Loki to go over the ones he'd already pulled. The Asian woman had been intent on her task and had only noticed the god wasn't holding up his end of the work a few seconds ago, giving him a faintly irritated look as she caught him sleeping on the job. Rolling her eyes, the woman went back to her files, making a mental note to hold this over his head later.

The T.V.A. agent reappeared shortly after with more stacks of paper which he set on the table. "Hey, you've done some good work. Wake him up and let's take a walk."

Jimin nodded in agreement and stood. After stretching, she walked around the desk and prodded the Asgardian mercilessly in the side causing him to jerk awake. "Nap time's over, let's go."

Loki quickly got to his feet and glowered at her. "You didn't have to poke me."

"Yes, yes I did," she replied, falling into step beside him. The god noticed her smug look and sighed internally, already bracing himself for what she was going to say next. Jimin kept her tone casual as remarked, "so, now that I know gods sleep, how do you sleep with another person?" At his confused look, she continued, "are you the big spoon or the little spoon? Because personally, I can see both—"

"Neither," he replied shortly. "I'm a knife, and if you keep talking about spooning, I'll stab you in the eye." 

The Asian woman smirked and spread her arms in a grand gesture. "With what, exactly? The T.V.A. might be stupid but at least they're smart enough not to give you a weapon." 

Loki glowered at her. "As soon as I get a weapon, I'll stab you." 

✧ ✧ ✧ 

The trio made their way to the cafeteria and took one of the many empty tables. Mobius sat facing Loki and Jimin, the woman explaining that she didn't like to have her back to the door (S.H.I.E.L.D. had worsened her suspicious nature.) It was the god that brought up their next topic. "By the way, at your desk, that magazine?"

"Yeah, the one on jet skis?"

"Yeah, why do you have that?"

"Because they're awesome."

"I suppose they are," the Asgardian allowed.

"You know, some things. . . actually, most things in history are kinda dumb and everything gets ruined eventually," Mobius explained, "but in the early 1990s for a brief, shining moment, there was a beautiful union of form and function which we call the jet ski and a reasonable man cannot differ."

"Right," Jimin said, clearly unconvinced.

Loki nodded. "You ever been on one?"

"No. . . no. I think a T.V.A. agent showing up on a jet ski on the Sacred Timeline, that would create a branch for sure."

"It'd be fun, though."

"You and I have very different ideas of 'fun.'"

"It would be," Mobius countered the agent.

"So why read about them?"

"Just helps remind me of what we're fighting for."

"I mean, you really believe in all this stuff, don't you?" Loki questioned him.

"I don't get hung up on 'believe, not believe.' I just accept what it is," the man answered.

"Three magic lizards. . ."

"Three magic time lizards," Jimin corrected him. "You can't forget that part."

"Time-keepers," Mobius informed them.

". . .Created the T.V.A. and everyone in it, including you?"

"Including me."

"Every time I start to admire your intelligence you say something like that."

"Okay, who created you, Loki?" he asked.

"A Frost Giant of Jotunheim."

"Laufey and Fárbauti," Jimin supplied, earning surprised looks. "What? I know my Norse mythology."

"Alright, and what about you, Agent Hui?" Mobius said.

"Hui Jaein and Hui Seul-Gi."

"And who raised you?" this was directed to Loki, who answered, "Odin of Asgard."

"The God of the Heavens," the Asian woman offered.

The man nodded. "Asgard, mystical realm, beyond the stars. Frost Giants. . . and Agent Hui?"

"Far less fairy-tale-esque," she replied. "Seoul, South Korea."

"It's not the same," Loki argued. "It's completely different."

"Not really," Jimin countered. "To the people of Earth, Asgard is just as imaginary and impossible as the T.V.A. is to you."

"You say you like it doesn't apply to you as well."

"It doesn't," she disagreed. "I'm used to bureaucratic organizations trying to cover things up with nearly invisible, all-seeing directors. The T.V.A. and S.H.I.E.L.D. are more alike than you might think."

"It's exactly the same thing," Mobius decided, "because if you think too hard about where any of us came from, who we truly are, it sounds kind of ridiculous. Existence is chaos. Nothing makes any sense so we try to make some sense of it. I'm just lucky that the chaos I emerged into gave me all this. . . my own glorious purpose." He ignored Loki's scoff of disbelief. "'Cause the T.V.A. is my life and it's real because I believe it's real."

"But what you believe is your own truth," Jimin said. "What if I chose to believe it's not?"

"Then to each his own," the man answered with a shrug.

"Alright," Loki allowed. "You believe it's real. So everything is written. Past, present, future. There's no such thing as free will."

"Well, I mean, you know, it's an oversimplification. . ."

"Not really," the agent countered. "Isn't that exactly what the T.V.A. is supposed to do? Which would mean that you, me and him, we're the only ones who are actually free."

"Where are you two going with this?"

"How does it all end?" Loki asked.

"That's a work in progress."

"Oh, those lazy Time-Keepers, what are they waiting for?" the god wondered, amused.

"Au contraire, no. Because while we protect what came before, they're toiling away in their chamber, untangling the epilogue from its infinite branches," Mobius explained.

"Ah, I see. So, when they're finished, what happens then?"

"So are we. No more nexus events, just order, and we meet in peace at the end of time. Nice, right?"

Loki tilted his head slightly at the man's words. "Only order? No chaos? It sounds boring."

"'This is the way the world ends— not with a bang, but with a whimper,'" Jimin recited the quote quietly. "T.S. Elliot was right." 

"To the point, yes," Mobius said. "Though peace must seem boring to the God of Mischief."

"You called me a scared little boy," the god grumbled.

"I called you a 'lotta things."

"You did but you're wrong, though. You see, I know something children don't."

"What's that?"

"That no one bad is ever truly bad and no one good is ever truly good," he said.

"Scared little boy," the man repeated thoughtfully.

"Yes, it was quite patronizing. I thought it was a bit too far, actually."

Mobius was quit for a moment before he stood quickly. "You're very clever."

As he began to leave them, Loki watched, slightly offended. "I know."

✧ ✧ ✧ 

As it turned out, Mobius' piece of evidence was a pack of chewing gum called Kablooie, which they found was sold in a 2050 Alabama apocalypse. The two variants had resumed their previous positions outside the double doors that the man had disappeared behind soon after their discovery as they waited for him to return. It took much less time than their first visit and he was soon emerging between them. "We're on."

The trio hurried quickly to the lockers that held mission gear. "We are doing some good work today."

"I thought so too," Loki agreed.

"I'm tellin' you, you actually help us catch this Variant and who knows, my friend."

"What, good enough for a face-to-face with the Time-Keepers?"

"I didn't say that," he warned the god as he opened his locker and took off his jacket. "One step at a time."

"Alright, one step at a time."

Mobius handed the Asgardian his weapons. "Just in case."

"Absolutely not," Hunter B-15's no-nonsense voice sounded from behind them as she took the daggers away.

"Sorry," he apologized, "but here are yours, Agent Hui."

Jimin accepted her jang bong, whose sheath had straps like a backpack that she slid over her shoulders and pair of sai, which normally slid into pocket openings on either side of her calves, though since she now wore different pants, she couldn't put them there. After a moment's thought, she added them to the pocket that held the stolen blade, the three hilts sticking out of it rather comically.

"Gather around for briefing," the Hunter called out, waiting for everyone to follow orders before continuing, "Roxxcart is a vast superstore common to the era. It consists of three sprawling sections, including a large warehouse. This warehouse is being used by civilians as a shelter as they try to ride out the storm. Remember, this is a class ten apocalypse. While the Variant shouldn't know we're coming, he could be hiding anywhere and should be considered hostile, so stay alert. Every time there is an attack, the variant steals a reset charge. He's planning something, we just don't know what, so keep an eye out for missing charges and if you see a Loki, prune it."

"The bad Loki, preferably," present-Loki added.

A/n: the incorrect quote that inspired Jimin and Loki's conversation about 'spooning':