"Who's there!"

Loki's voice came out sharp, while Yang Luoluo peered curiously over his shoulder from behind.

The words had barely landed when three figures slowly stepped out from behind the tree line, moving into plain sight under the wary gaze of the two of them.

"I—!"

Yang Luoluo swallowed the curse back just in time. Her eyes went wide, her mouth dropped open on instinct, and she stared at the three newcomers in flat disbelief.

Loki beside her wasn't faring much better. If it wouldn't have done such damage to his image, he'd have already raised a hand to rub his eyes.

He must have pushed himself too hard these past few days. He was hallucinating. There was no other explanation for what he was seeing.

The three figures walked toward them.

The man on the left had salt-and-pepper hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and a brown suit that made him look like some kind of organization staff member. The woman on the right had golden hair with a few dark strands visible at the crown, and vivid green eyes combined with a half-smiling expression gave her an air that told strangers to keep their distance. And the man standing in the middle, a sharply pressed black suit, a matching tie hanging naturally down the front, dark hair combed neat. What drew the eye, though, was the face.

It was identical to Loki's.

Loki only froze for a few seconds before snapping back. His brow furrowed. His expression said everything and said nothing at all.

"You're... the Loki who ran away after the Battle of New York?"

Calling someone with his exact face by his own name. That was genuinely a little hard to get out.

The Loki across from him, God Loki, shrugged and turned to the two beside them. "I knew it. Every single Loki is impossible to listen to."

The salt-and-pepper-haired man gave a helpless smile. The golden-haired woman let out a cold snort.

Only after venting did God Loki turn back around. God Loki's eyes narrowed at Loki, every word heavy with irritation at the word "ran."

"Let me correct that. I did not run away. The Tesseract came to my feet on its own. And besides..." A low murmur. "I left openly. Above board."

"Don't think that just because you're the Loki of the Sacred Timeline you can insult me like that..."

Loki took a deep breath and decided not to argue. They were both Loki, each one knew exactly what kind of person that made the other, and each knew precisely how dangerous a silver tongue could be. Starting something would only be a waste of time.

God Loki clearly agreed. The two identical men, who could have passed for twins, simply stood in silence and stared each other down.

Finally, Loki broke first. He'd watched the relevant episodes with Yang Luoluo, so he already knew who the other two were.

"Then I imagine these two must be Mobius M. Mobius—" The salt-and-pepper-haired man gave Loki a friendly wave, expression so amiable it bordered on absurd.

"—and Sylvie?" The golden-haired woman leaned against a tree with arms crossed and said nothing.

"Mm-hm."

God Loki raised an eyebrow as if that counted as an answer. But the next second, God Loki's gaze drifted past Loki and landed on Yang Luoluo, still reeling from the sudden appearance of the three of them, not quite back to herself yet.

"And what about her — aren't you going to introduce her?" God Loki lifted a chin toward Yang Luoluo, directing the question at Loki.

The moment Loki caught the direction of that gaze, alarm bells went off. He shot God Loki a sharp look and in the same motion pulled Yang Luoluo firmly into his arms,

It wasn't without reason. There were now two Lokis standing in front of Yang Luoluo. Given that he had fallen for her, what if... what if the Loki from another universe felt the same way?

The anxiety hit before he could stop it. God Loki, standing opposite, read Loki's expression at a single glance and responded with a thoroughly ungraceful roll of the eyes.

Yang Luoluo had just gotten her bearings back and was about to take a closer look at the other two, when the Loki of this universe pulled her straight into his arms, a firm grip locking around her waist.

Then his voice came from somewhere above her head, tight with tension.

"My girlfriend. Any other questions?"

"..." Yang Luoluo looked up at Loki's deeply furrowed brow, then over at God Loki's complicated expression, then finally at Sylvie, who looked like they couldn't bear to watch any of this.

What was happening?

"Sorry, but..." She blinked, and slowly raised a hand. "I have a question."

"How did you end up here?"

The later episodes hadn't aired yet by the time the worlds merged, so Yang Luoluo had no idea how the story was supposed to go from here, let alone whether the appearance of these three was a normal part of it or not.

"Ah, now that is quite the long story." God Loki began with an air of practiced mystery, and was promptly cut off by Loki, who had precisely zero patience for it.

"Then make it short."

Stone-faced.

God Loki was caught off guard, mouth already opening to fire back, when Mobius M. Mobius, who had been watching the whole spectacle from the sidelines, smoothly and expertly stepped in. Praise here, soothing words there. Within a matter of minutes, Mobius M. Mobius had coaxed God Loki, who had been one breath away from blowing up, back to a state of complete calm.

Loki watched with a contorted expression. He would never admit to detecting a strangely unmistakable father-and-son dynamic between those two.

Yang Luoluo gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. After all, watching another version of yourself get managed so thoroughly by a near-stranger, and so successfully at that, the complexity of what Loki was feeling inside was easy enough to imagine.

Sylvie, the only one who hadn't moved from where they stood, had an even more complicated reaction. Watching both Lokis get coaxed back into good tempers with such embarrassing ease, Sylvie felt, for the first time, a genuine hatred for the fact that Sylvie was also a Loki.

"All right. Short version."

Successfully placated, God Loki decided to be the bigger person and let it go.

The corner of God Loki's mouth curved into a mysterious smile. Then God Loki raised a right hand and gave it a slight turn,

The world seemed to stop.

A sparrow mid-wingbeat. Branches mid-sway. Passersby mid-sentence. Everything, everything, except for the five people standing right here, froze in a single instant.

Absolute silence fell over the world. So quiet that Yang Luoluo could almost hear her own heartbeat.

"Allow me to re-introduce myself. I can control time. I can rewrite stories. You may call me, "

"God Loki."

The corner of God Loki's mouth lifted into a confident arc. God Loki looked every bit like the untouchable Loki from a few years ago, yet the steadiness behind those eyes was something that Loki back then had never possessed.

"..." Loki and Yang Luoluo both went silent.

Pausing time alone was enough to make Loki see this other version of himself in an entirely new light.

It was common knowledge that time magic was the most profound and most difficult magic in the universe to master. Even Stephen Strange could only manipulate time through the Time Stone. Yet the Loki standing before him had paused time with the barest flick of a hand, without showing the faintest trace of fatigue. Combined with the title "God Loki," a theory was already forming in the back of Loki's mind,

The power this Loki had grown into was difficult to fathom.

Loki and Yang Luoluo were still standing in stunned silence, completely unaware of the smile slowly spreading across God Loki's face. God Loki lowered a hand. Everything snapped back to normal.

The sparrow beat its wings again. The branches swayed. The passersby picked up right where they left off, as though nothing had ever happened.

"I'd bet anything, right now that one is absolutely thrilled," Mobius M. Mobius said quietly to Sylvie. "After all, just pulled off an impressive show in front of another version of themselves."

Based on how well Mobius M. Mobius knew God Loki, a smile that bright on the outside meant the smugness on the inside had probably gone stratospheric.

Sylvie let out a sigh and nodded.

The exchange had been quiet, but everyone here had sharp ears. God Loki had just turned back around and shot them a look that very clearly said don't you dare call me out, only to turn forward again and find both Loki and Yang Luoluo staring back with identical blank expressions.

God Loki:...Damn it!

Sensing the sparks beginning to crackle between the two Lokis, Yang Luoluo stepped in quickly.

"So... next question." She raised a hand. "Did you come here for something?"

This time it was Mobius M. Mobius who answered.

"Two timelines suddenly merged with the Sacred Timeline, of course we came to see what this new world looked like." A warm smile.

Yang Luoluo nodded slowly, and instinctively shifted to half-hide herself behind Loki.

She couldn't say exactly why, but she had a nagging feeling that the world merger had started with her. And if that was true... what if the reason God Loki's group had come here was to put everything back the way it was?

Loki felt the shift in her immediately. His arm tightened around her. Then, without much grace, he looked at the three of them.

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"...The Avengers Compound."

➤ Next: Twice the Loki

Chapter 128 - Twice the Loki

After Loki dropped those words, Yang Luoluo only had time to dash off a quick message on the parchment to Harry and the others, letting them know she had to head back first, before being pulled onto the return flight.

The reply came back almost immediately. All three were confused, but they still hoped she'd return soon. To help, naturally.

Yang Luoluo guiltily stuffed the parchment back into her pocket.

...Better to wait until Diagon Alley wasn't so packed.

"What's that?"

Two figures leaned in from either side. Mobius M. Mobius and Sylvie peered curiously at Yang Luoluo's pocket.

"Just a piece of parchment. — Actually, where's the Loki who came with you?" The question came out as she answered, and Yang Luoluo immediately felt something was off. A quick scan left and right turned up nothing. No sign of God Loki anywhere on the plane.

Strange. They'd all boarded together.

At the question, Mobius M. Mobius's smile went bitter. Sylvie dropped her gaze. The mood in the cabin turned heavy all at once.

Realizing she'd said the wrong thing, Yang Luoluo shot a helpless look toward Loki, not far away.

Loki felt her eyes on him. He took a slow breath, moved his finger to finally send the message he'd been wrestling with for a while, then walked over.

"If I'm not mistaken," he said, tone certain, "the Loki who came with you is a clone."

Sylvie nodded. They were all Lokis. Spotting a clone wasn't exactly surprising.

Loki raised an eyebrow at the grief and heaviness rolling off both of them. "Looks like you're carrying more than a few things you'd rather not say."

Mobius M. Mobius pressed his lips together. Then, finally, spoke.

"You don't need the full story. You only need to know that... God Loki sacrificed himself."

"The short version," Sylvie added, "is that God Loki is trapped somewhere permanently. The only way out is to send a clone, and only for a little while."

"Wait a bit longer, and God Loki will appear."

Yang Luoluo and Loki exchanged a glance. Neither had any idea what that meant, but seeing that Mobius M. Mobius and Sylvie clearly weren't going to elaborate, they both wisely let it go.

Mobius M. Mobius gave a wry smile. Knowing Loki as well as Mobius did, the curiosity buried underneath that composed face was plainly visible.

"If you really want to know, wait until God Loki gets here and ask yourself."

After God Loki had walked alone into the Temporal Loom and held every single timeline in place through sheer force of will, Mobius M. Mobius and Sylvie had quietly accepted that they would never see God Loki again.

Mobius M. Mobius went back to the new Time Variance Authority and picked up where things had left off. Every so often, the two of them would meet up, Sylvie had chosen to keep living out on the timeline, and catch each other up over whatever they'd been doing lately.

Everything kept moving in the right direction.

Until the day an impossible figure walked into their lives. They'd been sitting in a McDonald's, burgers in hand, trading stories about their lives since, steering carefully around the subject of God Loki without ever quite acknowledging they were doing it.

Then someone pulled out the stool beside them and sat down.

"How heartbreaking. Not even a mention of me." God Loki looked at them with a smile, as though nothing had changed at all.

Sylvie nearly dropped the burger. One look told the whole story. "You're... a clone?"

"Mm-hmm." God Loki nodded, and smoothly lifted a fry from the tray in front of them. "Only figured it out recently, honestly. Turns out the real body just has to stay put. The clones can go wherever they like."

Mobius M. Mobius and Sylvie were still processing the fact that someone they'd said goodbye to forever had simply sat down next to them in a McDonald's. God Loki, meanwhile, had already moved on.

"So — I'm a customer here, aren't I? Are you going to order me something or not? Honestly, the End of Time doesn't even have Midgard pudding..."

After that, Mobius M. Mobius, who had the considerable advantage of God Loki being the current head of the Time Variance Authority, started skipping work on a regular basis and with zero shame, citing the very official reason of accompanying the Boss across various timelines. For inspection purposes. Obviously.

Sylvie put life on that timeline on pause and tagged along. Honestly, listening to those two bicker was its own kind of entertainment.

This particular wander had brought them to the Sacred Timeline, where they "happened" to catch this timeline's Loki being extremely couple-ish with his girlfriend. Mobius M. Mobius, caught off guard by the shock, made a noise, and just like that, Loki knew someone was there.

None of which Loki or Yang Luoluo knew anything about. They were still quietly speculating to themselves about what exactly had happened to that other Loki.

And then, almost without noticing, they arrived.

At the same moment, God Loki, having ducked back to the End of Time for a rest, sent out the clone again. Refreshed and apparently in no worse a mood for it, God Loki reappeared among them.

"Honestly, I really don't want to deal with that bunch in their ridiculous getups." Both hands spread wide, expression thoroughly sour.

Which was fair. First, getting beaten up by the Avengers from the original universe. Then getting dragged off by the Time Variance Authority on account of this universe's Avengers. Goodwill had never really had much of a chance to develop.

For once, Loki found himself in complete agreement.

The plane touched down. The Avengers, apparently tipped off, came pushing forward.

Tony Stark stood at the front, arms folded. "Let's see what kind of people our newest Avenger dragged back this time, holy shit!"

"J, J.A.R.V.I.S., I haven't been pulling all-nighters lately, so I can't be hallucinating, right? Why does it look like..." A hand came up to rub both eyes. Whatever composure had been there was completely gone. "...There are two Lokis?"

Natasha Romanoff wasn't doing much better. One hand shot out and pinched Clint beside Natasha. The yelp snapped Natasha back.

Not far ahead, two Lokis stood there wearing the exact same expression of displeasure. Their posture matched so precisely it looked like a mirror had been placed between them.

The Avengers stared. J.A.R.V.I.S.'s calm voice drifted in, unhurried.

"Yes, sir. You are not hallucinating. There are indeed two Mr. Lokis standing before you."

Tony Stark stood there with the expression of someone who had just been struck by lightning. After a long pause, the only response was to scrub both hands down the face in pure defeat. "No. I'm definitely hallucinating. I'm going back to sleep..."

One Loki could already flip New York on its head. Two Lokis? They'd tear the whole planet apart.

Seeing that thoroughly haunted look, God Loki laughed.

"Ha! So Midgardians cope with reality by sleeping."

Mobius M. Mobius quietly leaned over and urged God Loki not to start something.

Weirdly enough, the jab worked in reverse. The shock had rattled Tony Stark's brain back into gear, and that particular brain didn't need long.

"Let me guess." Arms folded again. "You're the Loki who ran."

A perfect hit.

The smile dropped off God Loki's face. The stare that followed was completely flat, the voice that came out tight with restrained irritation. "I've changed my mind. It's not just Loki, apparently every single Stark comes with the same obnoxious mouth."

The rest of the Avengers couldn't figure out what they'd missed. Loki and Yang Luoluo, who knew exactly what had been said and why, both raised their hands and covered their faces.

God Loki was already opening his mouth. Tony Stark was already ready to fire back.

Then a voice rang out behind the Avengers.

"Loki, you're bac — two little brothers?!"

Thor had only just seen the message Yang Luoluo posted in the group chat, smartphones remained something of an ongoing mystery, and had rushed over, arriving just in time to witness something that made Thor's pupils shake.

By Odin. Two little brothers.

Could Loki actually be a twin? Had Odin forgotten to bring the other one back? Had Loki finally tracked down a long-lost twin?

Thor turned this over with the careful, patient effort of someone for whom deep thought did not come naturally, while also quietly grieving the fact that apparently, this whole time, Loki had not only ever had one brother.

Both Lokis knew that look. One glance at Thor's faraway expression and the contents of those thoughts were immediately obvious. They turned to face Thor at the same moment, deadpan, in perfect unison.

"No. Stop. I do not have a twin brother."

The words landed. Then both Lokis turned and glared at each other.

"Stop copying what I say!"

"You're the one copying me!"

"Ridiculous. I would never copy you!"

"..."

The Avengers went quiet.

"Ah," Tony Stark said, eyes falling shut. "Twice the Loki. Twice the headache."

➤ Next: Frigga's Four Children