Chapter 226: Going Crazy! There's Another TVA!
"Let's move, Ant-Man." Seeing that Past Tony Stark was about to clash with Alexander Pierce and his team, Tony Stark, disguised as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, quickly informed Scott Lang to take action. "The situation here is getting complicated, hurry up!"
"Are you sure you won't die?" Scott Lang asked while standing amidst some components.
"We just need to give me a minor arrhythmia," Tony Stark whispered.
"That sounds pretty violent." Scott Lang picked up a pipe and pulled hard.
"I know you have a lot of power, but I just want to talk about jurisdiction..." Past Tony Stark was arguing with Alexander Pierce when suddenly, he grimaced in pain and collapsed to the ground.
Iron Man is such a heavyweight character. When he fell, everyone's attention was focused on him.
Scott Lang slipped out from past Tony Stark, bounced off him, and kicked the fallen box beside Tony Stark with a jump kick. The box slid over to Tony Stark.
Although there were quite a few people on the scene, a box moving on the ground drew attention, even if it was just Loki, who was handcuffed, noticing it – it was out of the ordinary.
Not to mention Tony Stark's disguise – he changed clothes, but wouldn't people recognize his face? Even celebrities wearing masks can still be recognized. Iron Man is way more famous than most celebrities, yet no one noticed his uncovered face.
Outrageous.
"Nice job, meet you in the box, I'll go grab something to eat." Tony Stark picked up the box containing the Tesseract and walked away briskly.
Just as he was about to successfully steal it, as he approached the door, it was violently thrown open. Tony Stark was sent flying backward, and the box slipped from his grasp.
"Don't take the stairs!" Hulk Baby shouted as he burst out.
Although Hulk is a superhero, he's also pretty scary when he's angry. Chaos erupted on the scene as everyone hurriedly scattered.
But that wasn't really important.
What was important was that the box, after hitting the ground, opened up, and the Tesseract fell out, sliding to Loki's feet.
Seeing that nobody was paying attention, Loki bent down, picked up the Tesseract, and immediately opened a portal, disappearing on the spot.
"Where's the box? Where's Loki?" Thor, after using his hammer to shock Past Tony Stark back to consciousness, realized that Loki was gone from the spot where he was.
"This is completely off-plan, isn't it?" Scott Lang remarked.
"We messed up," Tony Stark lay on the ground and said.
While he messed up here, Steve Rogers succeeded on his end. He walked briskly, carrying the Mind Stone scepter. As he walked, he asked, "Tony, what's wrong?"
"Tell me you found the cube," Tony Stark could only pin his hopes on Steve Rogers.
"Are you kidding me!" Before Steve Rogers could answer Tony Stark, he froze in place. He saw someone he knew all too well.
Someone was him.
His past self!
"I saw Loki, 14th floor," Past Steve Rogers immediately notified the others. He thought the future Steve Rogers was actually Loki in disguise.
"I'm not Loki." Steve Rogers placed the scepter on the ground. "I don't want to hurt you either."
Past Steve Rogers didn't say a word; he just lunged forward with his shield, smashing it towards Steve Rogers. Steve Rogers blocked the attack with his shield, a loud clang sounded as their shields collided. The two Steve Rogers engaged in a fierce battle of fists and legs.
"I could do this all day." After a few rounds, Past Steve Rogers kicked Steve Rogers to the ground.
"Alright, I know." Steve Rogers knew this line all too well because he often said it himself.
Swoosh!
He threw his shield.
Swoosh!
Past Steve Rogers threw his shield as well.
Clang!
After their shields collided in mid-air, they both fell to the lower floor.
Soon, the Mind Stone scepter was also knocked out of their hands and fell down.
Then, both Steve Rogers fell down.
It's fortunate that it was Steve Rogers in the fight; if it were someone else, falling from that height would have been a game over.
Steve Rogers had never let go of Peggy Carter's memory. He had always carried the pocket watch that contained a picture of Peggy Carter with him. Now, after the fall, the pocket watch was knocked out of his possession.
"Where did you get this?" Past Steve Rogers saw the pocket watch and questioned Steve Rogers.
Steve Rogers didn't answer; he suddenly bent down to grab the scepter on the ground. But Past Steve Rogers reacted quickly, grabbing Steve Rogers' neck from behind and causing both of them to tumble on the ground.
"Bucky... is alive." Steve Rogers quickly said.
"What?" Past Steve Rogers was taken aback and released his grip.
Bang!
Taking advantage of Past Steve Rogers' distraction, Steve Rogers punched him in the face.
Even towards himself, Steve Rogers could be ruthless at times.
Past Steve Rogers was about to retaliate, but Steve Rogers had already grabbed the Mind Stone scepter and stabbed Past Steve Rogers in the chest. With a thud, he fell to the ground.
His backside was raised high.
Steve Rogers stood up with the scepter, looked down at his past self, and couldn't help but admire, "Now that's an American rear."
The scene faded to black, and the video ended.
"Captain, do you remember what you said before?" Tony Stark immediately said, "No matter who that person is, you must do what you said, right?"
"Captain, you're Captain America, with an impeccable character. I don't think going back on your word is your style," Stephen Strange chimed in, worried that chaos might ensue. "You must uphold what you just said."
"What did I say?" Steve Rogers looked puzzled. "I didn't say anything."
Alright, even Captain America's moral integrity wasn't so noble anymore – he had turned into a person who talks nonsense with his eyes wide open.
"Suspecting this, suspecting that, in the end, the clown turns out to be yourself!" Tony Stark added, "Captain, let me ask you, are you blushing?"
"But Captain does have quite a nice rear," Clint Barton said. "It's truly envy-inducing."
[Question 4 begins. Please prepare.]
[Among the following characters, who has seen the most Infinity Stones?]
[A. Thor]
[B. Loki]
[C. Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel]
[D. Tony Stark, Iron Man]
[For a correct answer, the reward is 'Eternal Mana,' granting the user the ability to use magic that cannot be taken away by any means. For an incorrect answer, one year of lifespan will be deducted.]
"Eternal Mana? What a useless reward!" Loki looked at the reward and grimaced, "Can this thing actually be used?"
"It's obvious that this reward is given for situations where magical abilities are restricted," Thor said, "but we haven't heard of anyone with that capability."
"So this reward is just mediocre," Loki wasn't impressed.
"Mediocre?" Stephen Strange said, "When you don't need it, of course it seems mediocre, but if you ever encounter someone who can restrict your magical abilities, this reward could save your life. When your magic is restricted, you're like a piece of meat on someone else's chopping board."
"Mediocre or not, it's your turn to answer the question." Nick Fury said, "Only you are a mage among the options; the others have no magical abilities, so how can their magic be restricted?"
"That's why I'm annoyed. Finally, I get a chance to answer a question, and they give me such a lousy reward," Loki felt unfairly treated, "They should at least give me a few spells like the Ninjutsu they gave Thor."
"Don't complain; having a reward is already good," Nick Fury said, "Just answer the question."
"This question is quite peculiar," Tony Stark said. "There are six Infinity Stones in total. I snapped my fingers while wearing the gauntlet and saw all six. But Thor and Carol also saw them, as they were involved in the fight for the complete gauntlet. The exception is Loki; he was killed by Thanos on the spaceship and didn't see the complete gauntlet with the Stones."
"Yeah, among the options, apart from Loki, the other three have all seen the six Stones," Thor added.
"No, it shouldn't be that simple," Bruce Banner interjected. "Remember, our future selves have traveled through time, so the number of Stones is more than just six. Besides the Stones we saw in the current normal timeline, we also saw them in the past."
"That's right, our future selves went back in time to collect the Stones, just like in the previous video," Stephen Strange explained.
"In that case, this deduction won't work," Tony Stark said. "Who knows how many Stones each of us saw in the past? From the previous video, I know I saw the Tesseract at least, and Captain saw the Scepter."
"Wait a second, Tin Man, did you really only see the Tesseract?" Loki chimed in. "When you were hiding and spying at the beginning of the video, you didn't just see the Tesseract but also the Scepter. It's just that later you and the soldier divided the tasks – you went for the Tesseract, and he went for the Scepter."
"Can a quick glance from a distance count as 'seeing'?" Natasha Romanoff questioned.
"I really don't know," Clint Barton added, "but the issue at hand is about the task distribution for 'collecting Stones in the past.' There are six Stones, and many survived after Thanos' snap. We already know that Captain, Scott, Tony, Thor, Bruce, James, Natasha, and Nebula were involved. It's unlikely that only Captain and Tony went for the Stones; others must have participated as well. How do we determine who collected which Stone?"
"That's something we can't be sure of," Phil Coulson said. "If we don't know the number of Stones each of us saw in the past, then this question is impossible to calculate."
"So, this question definitely isn't calculated like this," Loki shook his head decisively.
"Then how do you think it's calculated?" Phil Coulson asked.
"I have no idea," Loki shrugged.
"You're the one answering this question, so think about it carefully," Phil Coulson said.
"Well, I don't care about this reward anyway, so why bother?" Loki remarked. "Among the four options, the other three were resurrected after collecting the Stones, but I wasn't. I'm different from the others, so I'll choose this different one. I'll choose myself. I choose B!"
[Correct answer! Reward granted!]
A green light flashed around Loki, then he disappeared.
"Indeed, that's Loki for you, even the color of his glow is the same as others'," Tony Stark commented. "It reminds me of a saying, 'Love is a light, green enough to make you panic.'"
"Tin Man, although I have no idea what you're talking about, I'm sure you're not saying anything good," Loki replied.
"The answer is Loki?" Stephen Strange was utterly surprised. "It can't possibly be Loki! In the normal timeline, we all faced Thanos, Earth has all the Infinity Stones, and Thanos had them in his gauntlet. So, we definitely saw more Stones than Loki did. Remember, Loki was killed by Thanos the first time they met. How could he have seen the most Infinity Stones?"
"Moreover, when everyone went back in time to collect the Stones and returned to the present, Loki wasn't among them," Bruce Banner added, equally puzzled. "Why would he have seen the most Infinity Stones?"
"Let's wait and see the video; that might provide some insight," Tony Stark said, equally perplexed.
Soon, the video began.
The scene opened with a vast golden desert against a backdrop of deep blue sky and expansive clouds – a beautiful landscape painting.
Suddenly, a rift in space opened above the desert, and a figure streaked down like a shooting star, crashing into the golden sand.
Undoubtedly, the person was Asgard's third princess, Loki.
As Loki sat up, a few locals approached, curiously observing him.
"I am Loki of Asgard, and I bear a glorious purpose," Loki quickly stood up, addressing the people.
"Who are you? Why are you in my house?" a local resident asked.
"I..." Loki barely got a word out before a rectangular rift in space opened nearby. Several individuals in uniforms with weapons stepped out.
"Seems like a standard temporal violation, stable progression speed and slope of the time branch," the last person to step out, a black woman, held a device and observed. "Time variant confirmed."
"What are you saying?" Loki was utterly baffled.
"Representing the Time Variance Authority, I'm arresting you for violating the sacred timeline," the black woman said, "Hands up!"
As she spoke, the others raised their weapons, aiming at Loki.
"You're coming with us," the black woman ordered.
"Excuse me, who exactly is 'us'?" Loki inquired.
"Last chance, time variant," the black woman wielded a stick-like object at her waist.
"Today has been quite a long day, and I'm fed up with heavily armed idiots pointing fingers at me," Loki chuckled. "So, I'm sorry, but this is your last chance."
"Get lost!" With that, Loki began to walk forward, but the black woman struck him across the face with the stick.
In an instant, Loki was sent flying. His mouth seemed to be made of water, swaying uncontrollably under the impact of the blow.
Strangely, Loki's body appeared to be paused, as if someone had hit the pause button. He hung suspended in the air, slowly tilting over at an incredibly sluggish pace.
"You are moving at one-sixteenth of the speed, yet experiencing pain in real time," the black woman explained, fastening a device around Loki's neck.
Splat!
Only at this point did Loki collapse onto the yellow sand.
Immediately, two individuals approached and escorted Loki away, one on each side.
"Reset the timeline," the black woman ordered, then crouched down and picked up the Tesseract that had fallen on the ground.
On the other side of the portal was a grand hall, where the black woman handed the Tesseract to an Asian individual. "Document this piece of evidence."
"Could you at least tell me what this is?" the Asian person held the Tesseract, clueless about its nature.
"It's the Tesseract, handle with care," Loki said.
"That sounds silly," the Asian person commented on the Tesseract.
"The Time Variance Authority? What is that place?" With the appearance of TVA, everyone was bewildered, and Tony Stark couldn't help but say, "Can such an organization really exist?"
"It seems to be an organization that maintains the timeline. They arrest those who violate it," Bruce Banner explained.
"Then, when we traveled through time to the past, didn't we violate the timeline too?" Tony Stark questioned. "Will this Time Variance Authority come to arrest us?"
"About this Time Variance Authority, it has never appeared in our future," Steve Rogers said. "And besides, didn't we succeed? We brought back those who were turned to dust by Thanos."
"I must say, I've seen it all now. An organization like this actually exists," Pietro Maximoff remarked. "I've never heard of someone managing timelines before."
"So, what is the Time Variance Authority, and what do they do?" Wanda Maximoff asked.
As if responding to the Maximoff siblings' questions, the quiz space began explaining what the Time Variance Authority was.
"Welcome to the Time Variance Authority. I am Miss Minutes. My task is to be here when you arrive, to give you an understanding of the situation before you face judgment."
"So, let's not waste even a minute. Sit tight, sharpen your pencils, and pay close attention."
"A long time ago, a far-reaching Multiversal War erupted. Countless separate timelines vied for dominance, nearly resulting in the complete destruction of everything."
"But then, the all-knowing Time-Keepers emerged, bringing peace by reorganizing the Multiverse into a single timeline."
"Which we now know as the Sacred Timeline."
"Today, the Time-Keepers protect and preserve the proper flow of time for all time-based entities."
"But sometimes, individuals like you veer off the path the Time-Keepers created."
"We call these individuals 'time variants.'"
"Perhaps you start a revolution, or perhaps you're just running late for work – no matter the cause, deviations create nexus events."
"Without proper management, these could lead to madness and further Multiversal war."
"But don't worry."
"To prevent that from happening, the Time-Keepers created the Time Variance Authority and its remarkable workforce."
"TVA has stepped in to fix your mistake, ensuring that time is restored to its intended path."
"However, because of your actions, you no longer have a place in the timeline."
"Therefore, you must face judgment for your crimes."
This explanation, coupled with an animated segment, made it quite "user-friendly," and the people present finally understood what TVA was all about.
And so, everyone fell into a state of frenzied shock.
"What does this mean?" Phil Coulson spoke up after a long pause. "According to this explanation, are our lives predetermined? Do we all have fixed scripts?"
"Is this 'fate'?" Thor clenched his fist. "Is this an unalterable destiny?"
"So, this is the puppeteer behind the scenes manipulating everything," Stephen Strange murmured, "The Ancient One's original path was to die from an attack by someone far weaker than her, so she had to die like that. If she didn't, it would violate the Sacred Timeline, and she would be apprehended for judgment."
"I don't understand. The people who captured me earlier looked like ordinary humans," Loki spoke up, "Odin, the Ancient One—how formidable they were. Why would they let TVA control them? What gives TVA the right?"
"I thought that after all we've been through, nothing would surprise me anymore," Bruce Banner said, "But this TVA is beyond my imagination. If everything we do is preordained, if our joys and sorrows, our struggles and efforts are all predetermined, then what's the meaning of such a life?"
"Bruce, don't be so pessimistic," Steve Rogers interjected, "I don't care about this TVA. All I know is that each of us has our own beliefs, our own things to protect, and our own sense of justice to uphold. Each one of us is undeniably real, and our struggles, our efforts are equally real, completely unrelated to TVA."
At this moment, the scene shifted, and Loki found himself in a courtroom.
"Loki Laufeyson, Temporal Variant L1130, charged with Temporal Violation 7-20 - 80." TVA's Chief Judge Renslayer sat high above, looking down as she asked, "Do you plead guilty?"
"Madam, gods do not plead. This pantomime is quite amusing," Loki chuckled, "But right now, I'd like to go home."
"Are you guilty, sir?" Judge Renslayer inquired.
"I am the God of Mischief, indeed. Do I find all of this incredibly dull? Absolutely," Loki laughed again, "Did I violate the Sacred Timeline? Absolutely not. You've got the wrong person."
"Oh, really?" Judge Renslayer raised an eyebrow, "So, who should we be apprehending then?"
"I suspect it's the Avengers," Loki said, "The reason I could lay hands on the Tesseract is because they've been time-traveling. It's surely their last-ditch effort to prevent me from ascending to god-king status."
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[END OF CHAPTER]