#Mobius is one lucky guy indeed

[rumble-bee-art]

Loki surprisingly is a morning person. Mobius… is not that

[mimisempai]

You are making every day a little less ordinary

Summary:

During one of their usual lunches in the TVA cafeteria, Casey, curious about his friend's datinf life, wonders what a date between Mobius and Loki is like. Loki remembers and recounts his most memorable dates.

Or

5 times where Mobius surprises Loki and once where Loki returns the favor

Notes:

Tumblr request : 5+1 about their dates with one being a picinic

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32863855

3042 words - Rating G

"Hey Loki, mind if I ask you a question?"

Casey and Loki were eating lunch in the TVA cafeteria, as they regularly did. Loki was still surprised at how Casey had somehow grown fond of him, where many people kept their distance. Which he couldn't blame them for, given his past.

So he was enjoying these moments with Casey.

"Since when do you need to ask?"

Casey looked a little hesitant, "well, it's a little bit of a personal question."

"Go on and shoot." Loki replied, curious as to what the man was going to ask him.

"Ahem... you and Mobius are together."

"I think that's obvious, since we don't hide it."

"Yeah, yeah, and so considering it's been over a year, um... I guess... you guys have dated already... and uh... I have a hard time imagining what you and Mobius can do on a date." Casey paused, his cheeks on fire before continuing, "No, forget it. I should never have asked you something like that."

Loki shook his head and laughed, "No, no, I have no problem talking about this. You're talking to someone who didn't even know what a date was until a few months ago..."

Loki straightened up a bit in his chair and continued talking, "Looking back, I'd say our first date took place here."

"Here?"

1.

After their return from Pompeii, Loki had fallen asleep in the middle of their research. Mobius had woken him up and taken him to the cafeteria. Thinking back, even if at that moment they were not together, for Loki it was still a first date.

There were only them in the cafeteria, the light was rather dim, which had given even more of an impression of intimacy and in addition there was the close way they were sitting, their legs touching.

Loki remembered perfectly all the details of that moment.

Those few minutes of respite, where they had gotten to know each other, or rather where Loki had gotten to know Mobius.

"By the way, at your desk, that magazine?"

"Yeah. The one on jet skis?"

"Yes. Why do you have that?"

"Because they're awesome."

There was something touching about Mobius as he spoke of his passion, a passion he had never practiced.

"So, why read about them?"

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

"I mean, you really believe in all this stuff, don't you?"

"I don't get hung up on, "Believe, not believe." I just accept what is."

He was surprised by what followed, not by the content, because it was clear that Mobius really believed in the cause he was working for, but he was surprised that Mobius did not feel attacked, that they both left the dialogue open, without judgment.

"Actually it's exactly the same thing. Because if you think too hard about where any of us came from, who we truly are, it sounds kinda ridiculous. Existence is chaos. Nothing makes any sense, so we try to make some sense of it. And I'm just lucky that the chaos I emerged into gave me all this... My own glorious purpose."

Mobius' arguments, in the context in which Mobius lived, had held up surprisingly well.

They had not agreed, but they respected each other's opinions. If not for the context, of Loki in captivity of sorts, and the lie upon which the TVA had been built, the evening could almost have ended in "My place or yours." Because undoubtedly they had gotten closer at that point.

So yes, it was indeed for Loki their first date and that's what he told Casey.

**********

"Honestly Loki, I have to say that this is an original first date, but ultimately a true reflection of your couple." reacted Casey with a wink before continuing, "but now I'm curious what your other dates were like, if there were any at all."

Loki laughed softly, "Oh there were, many. Mobius, knowing that the concept of a date was totally unknown to me, redoubled his creativity and used this pretext to make me live all sorts of unknown experiences."

"You don't want me to feel sorry for you, do you?"

Loki smiled again, "Oh no, I have nothing to complain about at all. I'll tell you the most memorable ones for me. One of them was a picnic."

"Oh?" Casey's eyes sparkled with interest, as he settled down to listen to Loki's tale.

2.

Loki was reading on the couch when Mobius hugged him from behind, kissing the top of his head.

Then Mobius had said in his ear, "Sweetheart, don't be scared, I'm going to blindfold you, because I'd like to take you somewhere and keep it a surprise until the end."

Loki trusted Mobius completely so it was easy for him to agree.

"I'm really curious though."

Once the blindfold was tied, he felt the light caress of a kiss on his lips and Mobius took his hand.

He let himself be guided.

He heard the typical sound of a timedoor appearing, and then letting himself be pulled by Mobius' hand, he recognized the usual sensation that accompanied the crossing of the door.

He felt a difference in the ground under his feet, like grass perhaps.

Deprived of sight, his other senses were alert, so he also felt the warmth of the sun on his face and the smell of flowers reached his nostrils, while he heard birds chirping around them.

Mobius was now holding him by the elbow and guiding him gently.

"You still okay, sweetheart?"

Loki simply nodded, a smile on his face because he could feel the excitement in his lover's voice.

After a while, Mobius stopped him, and made him sit slowly on the floor, on something soft. Then Mobius gently removed the blindfold.

Loki's eyes adjusted to the radiant light even though they were in shadow, and he took in the sight.

77_Frigga... the little planet Mobius had already taken him to when Loki had told him he missed the starry skies of Asgard.

Loki looked around, he was sitting on a blanket spread on the ground, under a tree that while providing shade, did not deprive them of the beautiful light. They were in a field of flowers, the same paradisiacal vision as on their first visit here. Mobius sat next to him and clearly waited for his reaction.

Loki leaned in and put his lips to Mobius', letting him know in a slow, passionate kiss how much he enjoyed his surprise.

Mobius turned to a basket that Loki hadn't noticed and began to pull out everything needed for a perfect picnic.

"Did you pack all this?" Mobius nodded his head and Loki kissed him gently again.

They enjoyed the meal peacefully, chatting about everything and anything. Once the leftovers were put away, Loki lay down on his back, his head on Mobius' lap

"Thanks love, that was amazing."

Mobius, a little embarrassed, leaned over and kissed him tenderly.

They had finished the afternoon while enjoying the heavenly surroundings and each other's presence.

**********

Loki lost in his memories, was brought out of his reverie by Casey's whisper of admiration, "Aww, Mobius is really dedicated, you know you are lucky right?"

"Don't worry Casey, I'm totally aware of how lucky I am."

This reminded him, another original date, another surprise from Mobius that he was quick to tell Casey about

3.

Sounds from the kitchen woke Loki from his sleep. He stretched, shivering because the sheet had slipped down to his waist.

"You're awake."

Loki looked up to find Mobius smiling at him, standing by the bedroom door, dressed in just sweatpants and a t-shirt, his longer hair still disheveled and a budding beard. A perfect view to start the day, in Loki's opinion.

What caught his eye was the tray in his hands.

Mobius moved closer, carefully perching himself on the bed and balancing the tray on his lap.

"I wanted to surprise you." Mobius smiled, offering the tray to Loki and laughing affectionately as he watched him contort himself to sit up. "Breakfast in bed or let's call it a breakfast date. I thought it would be a nice change, since it's our day off."

Loki's mouth suddenly watered between what he saw and what he smelled.

Usually they had a light breakfast, but on days off, getting up later, breakfast also served as lunch.

On the tray was a plate of bacon and eggs, buttered toast, a small pile of pancakes covered in syrup, a large glass of orange juice, and an assortment of fresh fruit.

"Oh Love, you spoil me." said Loki, a piece of pancake already in his mouth.

Mobius shakes his head with a small laugh. "I always want to spoil you."

Loki leaned forward to capture Mobius' lips in a sweet kiss. Mobius took the opportunity to sneak his hand through Loki's hair and pulled him to him while being careful not to flip the tray.

When they separated, Loki was out of breath.

"Let's eat."

Mobius sat next to Loki, the tray resting on their knees. They ate breakfast, talking, feeding each other.

Later, Loki hummed over one last incredibly delicious bite, his head resting on Mobius' shoulder.

Definitely, this dating concept was quite interesting.

*********

"Okay Loki, thanks to you, now I'm hungry." Casey paused for a moment and then resumed staring Loki up and down, "But I wonder where you put it all..."

Loki replied with a mischievous smile, " Workout, Casey, workout..." His impish look left no doubt as to what kind of workout he was referring to.

Casey pretended to cover his ears. "I don't want to hear about it!"

Loki chuckled, "Too bad you won't hear about another memorable date of ours."

Casey, calmed down, too interested in what was next.

4.

"Uh, wow, that's... that's gorgeous." said Loki, looking around their living room.

The entire room was bathed in a soft glow from a multitude of small candles, scattered here and there.

"Do you like it?" the voice of Mobius whispered in his ear as his lover took off his jacket, before hugging him from behind.

"Hmm." Loki nodded in the embrace.

"I figured we both needed a little break, are you hungry?"

"I'm starving." replied Loki turning his head to drop a kiss on Mobius' cheek.

His lover directed him to the table that Loki had not noticed, perfectly set, bathed in soft light, and garnished with two steaming plates and glasses of fresh wine.

Mobius gallantly pulled out the chair for him to sit on and took a seat opposite him.

They began to eat, discussing their day, their work, and all the while hardly letting go of each other's hands that were entwined on the table.

Then after the dessert, Mobius got up, took the remote control of the music system and a soft music invaded the atmosphere. Under the eyes of Loki, he approached him and offered his hand, « May I have this dance, sweetheart?"

Loki nodded, smiling softly, and took the outstretched hand. Mobius immediately wrapped his arms around him and they began to sway to the soft notes coming from the speakers.

Loki sighed with contentment, his face buried in Mobius' neck.

They must have looked like the epitome of sap and fluff, but at that moment, Loki didn't care. This was them, here, in the privacy of their lives. Their happiness.

They continued to sway for long moments, so absorbed in each other's presence that they didn't notice that the music had stopped.

**********

"Loki... you know I just feel like I'm listening to a digest of all the romcoms out there?"

"Romcom?"

"Romantic comedy.Haha I know something you don't."

Casey laughed cheerfully at Loki.

"Very funny, but do you know what karaoke is?"

"Yep... I'll remind you, since the fish thing, I've been catching up, and I'm learning every day. So what about karaoke?" Casey frowned for a moment and then exclaimed, "No! Karaoke? Who? Mobius or you? Or both?"

Loki chuckled at Casey's excitement.

"Mobius came up with the idea for the date, but I did the singing.

"Tell me about it!"

5.

"Mobius..."

Loki stood on the stage of the small bar, and pointed to his lover leaning at the bar, "Mobius, my partner, brought me here because he dreams of hearing me sing in my native language for him. No one will be able to say I don't like to satisfy my beloved." He blew a fingertip kiss to Mobius under the whistling and wolf howls of the customers. He waved to the DJ and the music started to play. He began to sing in Asgardian, the words and notes flowing naturally on his tongue.

So many people around me without a meaning or a goal

It's always someone left

Tell me, why does it always be like that

Someone from up above must have seen me

And yet thought that it's his turn,

my turn to meet someone who knows what I need

it seems like my lonely days

For its always gone

As he sang this, he began to walk towards Mobius, his eyes in his. He saw the understanding in Mobius' eyes, who, understanding perfectly all languages, grasped perfectly the meaning of the song for Loki and him.

For I have the heaven around the corner

My own angel in a bed

As if all the heavens tiny stars

Sang for me, sang for you

In a wonderful refrain

You are the heaven

around the corner for me

When he reached the end of the song, Mobius' eyes were filled with emotion.

As soon as the last note came out of his mouth, Loki hugged Mobius and kissed him, ignoring the cheers and applause of the customers.

When they separated to catch their breath, Mobius asked him, his forehead against his, in a joking tone, « Am I your own angel?"

Loki grasped his head in his hands and replied seriously, his mouth against his, "You are Mobius. You are the angel that brought me out of my darkness. You saved me from myself." Then he captured his lover's lips again, putting into the kiss all what Mobius meant to him.

**********

"Loki, I think I'll be fine, I think I've had my fill of sweets for the day, if not for the next month. If I get diabetes, you'll be responsible for it."

Loki laughed again and shrugged, "Hey! You're the one who wanted it."

"Well, at least you have a lot of work to do to be on the same level as him, because apart from the karaoke, he still made the most effort."

Loki smiled cheekily, "Hm, I think I made up for it with our one-year anniversary date, but since you don't want any more sweetness... I'll shut up."

Casey pointed his fingers at him, "Ah no Mr. God of Mischief, you're not getting away with this!"

Loki surrendered and began his last tale.

+1

This time it was Loki who had surprised Mobius by blindfolding him and leading him through a timedoor.

When they reached their destination, he slowly untied the blindfold, "You can open your eyes, love."

Mobius opened his eyes and gasped. Then he laughed softly.

Loki hugged him from behind and whispered in his ear, "Happy Anniversary my love. It was here a year ago that I started to fall in love with you."

They were in the TVA cafeteria. Alone, because Loki had made sure of that.

A table, THE table was elegantly set.

Mobius let himself be guided by Loki, who said softly, "I know it's unconventional, that we weren't a couple yet, not at all, but-"

He could not continue, Mobius had closed his mouth with a tender kiss.

Pulling back, he placed a finger on Loki's lips and replied, "Don't justify yourself.First of all, since when are we conventional?" he raised an eyebrow before continuing, "Secondly, you weren't the only one who was already feeling something at that moment sweetheart."

It was he who pulled Loki to the table.

They sat there, almost the same way they had that day, their knees touching in a familiar way. But this time the rest of their bodies were close. They shared the meal, interspersed with renewed oaths, smiles and casual conversation. Just savoring the joy of being together.

Mobius noticed, however, that the closer they got to the end of the meal, the more excited Loki seemed, almost as if he couldn't wait for the dinner to end. So much that once the last bite of dessert was swallowed, he stood up and bounced over to Mobius and held out his hand.

"Our night is not over, I have one more surprise. Can I put the blindfold back on you?"

Amused and intrigued by Loki's excitement, Mobius nodded.

Loki tied the blindfold behind his head, placed a kiss on his forehead and took his hand.

He felt them pass through a timedoor again, then suddenly felt a great warmth around him. He recognized Loki's magic that passed over him, and suddenly felt warm sand under his naked feet.

The blindfold came off and he let his eyes adjust to the light.

For the second time that evening, he gasped, and then almost cried with emotion at the sight before him.

He realized he was in a bathing suit when Loki made him put on a life jacket. Then his lover gently pushed him towards the jetski that was waiting for him at the end of the pontoon. "Go my love, go..."

He moved forward a few steps and then turned back to Loki who was looking at him with a loving smile. "And you? Don't you want to come?"

"You deserve to have your first round alone, don't worry, I'll be there."

Winking at him, Loki pointed to two lounge chairs under an umbrella.

"Go my love."

Loki went backwards to settle on the deckchair and with a cocktail in hand, he did not leave the eyes of his lover who listened to the instructions of the instructor before finally making his first ride of jet-ski.

Long minutes later, he saw Mobius coming towards him, a bright smile on his face, he whispered again, "Happy Anniversary my love."

________

As always, bear with me as it is not beta'd and english is not my native language I hope you enjoyed it 🥰

Song used for the karaoke date : Himlen runt hörnet by Lisa Nilsson

Whole series of oneshot here : X

[sserpente]

Synopsis: After his lucky escape, the Tesseract takes Loki on new adventures--but unfortunately, his journeys through space do not go unnoticed and he soon ends up on TVA’s radar. The deal is a simple one: Become a recruit and help the Time Variance Authority fight time crimes to earn your freedom again eventually or die. Loki accepts the challenge. It would not be long until he could use their own weapons against them, after all. If only that, however, were his only concern. Least of all did he expect that with his reluctant arrival at TVA, a woman would step into his life and wreak havoc in his heart. He does not know what it is about her that he seeks her presence like a bee hunting for honey--but he is determined to find out.

A/N: Gaaaah, I haven’t nearly pre-written as many chapters as I would like to have pre-written before starting to post but I just can’t wait any longer! I finally want to share this story with you guys, I am so hyped about it! So, without further ado--enjoy the first chapter of “Pastel Blue”! I hope you like it! ♥

Chapter 1

Tick Tock. That clock on the wall was driving her crazy, it had been ever since she had been assigned to this dull office. She spent most of her time in the lab, working in midst of dangerous and highly sensitive equipment and delicate devices.

Tick Tock. She was going to smash it—with a big hammer, perhaps, or even better, a jackhammer. It was ugly too. Made of wood and obviously antique, late 18th century probably. What had Mobius been thinking?

Oh yeah, him. Mobius M. Mobius, her I-am-not-your-father-but-I-will-treat-you-like-my-daughter supervisor and babysitter, thank you very much. Granted, he was old enough to be her father, taking into consideration that in her mid-twenties, there wasn’t much need for a parental figure in her life anymore.

Tick Tock. She sighed. The pile of paperwork she had been handed this morning had seemingly not shrunk by even an inch. She could swear she had not been stalling today. Breakfast, work, lunch break, work… Tick Tock. She rolled her eyes. No. This was unreasonable. Grunting a few not so decent swear words, she gathered the spreadsheets and dozens of handwritten notes, sending the calming ruffling of paper through the air and exited the room without so much as thinking about what Mobius would think about her wandering places around the TVA during work hours again.

Besides, the kitchen and common room right around the corner of her desired destination was equipped with the best coffee machine modern technology had to offer. Hot chocolate with mint and a hint of vanilla? Oh yes, please!

At this time of the day, the lab in question was deserted. Pens, pliers and other small tools lay scattered all over the metal tables as if someone had just finished their work for the day. Some of the devices in here could cause major damage if activated accidentally or even at the wrong time. Now there was the thrill, the proximity to endless possibilities.

After turning a few laps around the tables to see if anything had changed or improved at all since the last time she was here (which would be yesterday), she eventually made herself comfortable at the huge desk fully equipped with a cup holder, sockets and a fancy table lamp. The chair was the best part, enabling her to swirl around whenever she felt like she needed a refreshing spin.

She had just pulled out her burrow from her hair, having twirled it around one of the lighter strands. Her guess was the sun had bestowed its warm kisses upon her chocolate brown hair in the summer. Leaning over her papers, she got back to work.

But it was only five minutes until she heard the heavy metal door with the see-through glass panel being pushed open, followed by someone clearing their throat.

“Jess, do you have a moment?” Mobius asked. Jess tilted her head, the slightest frown accompanied by a gentle smirk decorating her face. What, no chastising for changing work locations today? She swirled around on her chair, expecting to see the man in question in his grey suit and the signature scar across his nose stare her down with arms akimbo. Instead, he was holding on to the door tensely, right next to him, seemingly out of place in the threshold, a man with raven hair and the most stunning pair of blue eyes she had ever had the pleasure to lock her gaze with. Her eyes were blue as well—Loki’s, however, seemed to shimmer green in the artificial light of the lab. She didn’t get much daylight, all the way down here.

“M?” Jess smiled. She rose, ignoring the slight trembling of her knees as she approached the two, keeping a safe distance. Her heart skipped a beat with every single step, her chest resembling a magnet pulling her towards Loki like a powerless needle.

“I’ve told you, repeatedly, to stay in your own office.” Ah, there it was.

“I have asked you, repeatedly, to re-locate my office here.” She retorted with a smug expression, eyes darting over to Loki. Mobius shook his head. “An introduction is probably redundant. Jess, this is Loki.”

He was wearing the orange prison clothes TVA had manufactured a few years back. She had to admit, orange suited him rather well, bringing out his cheekbones and the dark hair framing his flawless face. His lips were thin, his jawline to die for. She would be lying if she denied his attractiveness. Loki was a god, after all. Most prominent to his appearance, however, were the shackles around his naked wrists and the metal collar hiding most of his long neck—a chunky but firm reminder his powers were all but a myth as long as the light was blinking bright red like a traffic light screaming stop at him like a sleep-deprived police officer.

Loki lifted his chin, allowing pride and confidence to flood his aura. Out of all the people he had encountered in this strange place so far, alterations of his very own self on an old-fashioned projector included, she was by far the oddest. Jess, so he learned, wore a colourful choker around her neck as well as two bracelets of the same kind. They reminded him of sugar pearls. If he had asked her about them, she could have revealed to him that they were indeed candy necklaces—and that she wore them because Mobius had stressed there were no edible snacks allowed at work. The elegant pieces of jewellery hanging down her earlobes, however, appeared to be non-edible. Two delicate silver charms, holding what Loki identified to be moonstones. They suited her, complementing the long brown hair and the outstanding colour of her eyes. Blue—just like his.

“The God of Mischief.” She completed, the fraction of a second after he had studied her conspicuous appearance. She added a court but polite nod. “I was kind of hoping to meet you one day.” And so she was. The rumours had spread across the entire facility like wildfire, reaching even the Minutemen based in different timelines. Loki, the Norse God of Mischief, had stolen an Infinity Stone and escaped his respective timeline—a timeline reaching all the way back to 2012—creating a new branch of reality entirely. Unsupervised, he could have caused serious damage to the very fabric of time and the multiverse. He had to be stopped, had to be captured, had to be persuaded.

Mobius had expressed his interest in getting the infamous Trickster to work for him frequently. Loki was skilled, intelligent, witty, a talented fighter and most of all, one of the most capable users of magic the multiverse had to offer. His stories of victory and defeat were known to most of the TVA and yet, they resonated with her to an extent her colleagues could never fathom. Above everything Loki had had to experience—above all Loki will have had to experience—there was a thick layer of loneliness clouding his aura like a blanket of ice-cold snow. It was a suitable comparison, given his heritage.

“I didn’t just hear that.” Mobius intervened. He sized her up like an unpredictable teenager. “The God of Mischief has retired. Loki here has just agreed on working for us.”

“With you,” Loki interrupted. “Not for you. Reluctantly.” That would leave her wondering what exactly it was Mobius had offered him in return.

Jess chuckled. “Now that is a matter of opinion, trust me. I would know.” Raising an eyebrow, she gave Mobius a challenging glare.

“I need you to cover a shift.” He responded matter-of-factly. Jess’ eyebrow rose even higher. “Reese just jumped back from 1792.”

“And?”

“He almost made his personal acquaintance with the guillotine. They’re patching him up in the hospital wing right now.”

Sucking in a deep breath, Jess took a step back, realising just what kind of favour, no, requirement Mobius would ask for. Reese had been in the TVA for more than three decades—he had not aged a day since his accession as a matter of fact—and his experience and excessive excitement over the Avengers had made him the perfect candidate to keep an eye on Loki while he was still not to be trusted—if he was ever going to be trusted, that was. He was the God of Mischief, after all.

“I’m on probation, remember? What makes you think I should cover for him of all people?” Loki rolled his eyes and for a moment, you almost felt sorry for excluding him from a conversation that was clearly about him.

“Call it an experiment. Prove to me that we can rely on you and I’ll end your probation.” Jess resisted the urge to shake his hand off her shoulder when he leaned forward to touch her in a fatherly manner.

“Sir, do you have a moment?” A Minuteman had appeared behind them. Jess had never quite figured out how they moved so quietly. Their shoe soles must have been made of feathers. In turn, the stilettos she usually wore to smuggle a few more inches to her height were loud and made satisfying noises ricocheting through the hallways when she walked, emitting confidence and even smugness. She needed that boost every once in a while.

Mobius nodded. As he released Jess’ shoulder and pushed past Loki—who did, much to her amusement, not move an inch for the senior manager—he pointed a finger at him. “Behave.”

The lab door fell shut behind him, drowning all noises from the outside like a soundproof recording room. Jess gaped at Loki for a second, her body once again threatening to overwhelm her with the magnetic pull she felt towards the Trickster, fascination setting her veins ablaze.

“You do not look human.” Loki suddenly said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Jess pouted.

“Excuse me? I am hoping you meant that as a compliment, I am as human as I’ll ever be.” Loki frowned, then responded with a hum.

“I take it you hop timelines for him too then, fixing the damage others have done.”

“Me? No.” Jess shook her head. “I am not a Minuteman. I wish I was, trust me, but I have got nothing to do with that, unfortunately. I work in the linguistics department, spending all day translating protocols and time recordings from all sorts of languages. Now I know what you’re thinking. With its technology, shouldn’t TVA be able to translate everything using a smart computer program?” She shrugged. “Well, technically you’re right. But there’s a bunch of languages out there that simply don’t exist either here on Earth or any other known realm. We’re only human—and a computer program is only as smart as its creator. It can’t translate a language that does not consist of words, for example, that would go against the very human comprehension of its programmer.”

“Then how do you speak them?” Loki probed.

“That’s my superpower. I don’t know why I can understand them, I just… do. And what did it get me?” She raised her hands in a dramatic motion. “Paperwork. Lots of paperwork. The only way for me to get in on the real action is this place here. Take a look at this.” Loki watched her move towards what resembled a toaster, shaped like a metal suitcase that had been left open. Smiling, she reached for a shining red apple on the table and placed it on the black surface before activating the switch. She had seen the scientists do this dozens of times before. In fact, she was sure she could handle most of the devices in here in her sleep. As the small machine hummed to life, it sent a deafening vibration through the room and then, just like someone had hit fast-forward with a remote, the apple shrivelled and rotted.

“Pretty cool, huh? It works the other way around too once it recharged. They haven’t figured out how to make it work for living beings, including humans, just yet, though. This is just a prototype anyway, the real thing is supposed to help re-animate the dead for a short amount of time to solve time crimes and shit. I swear I’d get a major in science if I lived another life. My father was one. Before he died, that is.” Jess wasn’t quite sure what made her open up to the God of Mischief and tell her about her personal family drama. She usually babbled when nervousness got the better of her but this was a new level of openness entirely. They all knew her story, after all, but apart from Mobius, they all pretended they didn’t. “You see? TVA is not all bad, even if it may seem so at first. M can be an arsehole sometimes, I know. He calls our main timeline in which everything began,” Jess continued with a dramatic voice, “the Null-Time Zone. I never figured out why and he won’t tell me.”

“Because you don’t listen, Jess.” Mobius answered, holding the door open with the Minuteman who had asked for his advice impatiently but mutely waiting for his turn again behind him.

“So?” She probed, pointing at the God of Mischief with her chin, her arms crossed. “If I am to play babysitter for a while, where am I staying? Where is Loki staying?”

“Your place.” Jess blinked, incredulousness spreading on her face like a clean swipe of butter on warm toasted bread.

“My place?”

“Your residential unit is supervised and equipped with modern alarm systems, just in case you decide to make trouble again, remember? We’ll position security outside the door in addition to that, killing two birds with one stone. Besides, it’s only temporary. Reese should be up and on his feet again in no time. The blade only grazed him before he made the jump back.”

“That does not sound reassuring!” Jess stood up straight to prove her point and yet, even compared to Mobius, she was nowhere near tall enough to make an impact with her body language at this time.

“You can take the rest of the day off as compensation. Show Loki to your unit. Make yourselves acquainted. I’ll send security to collect him in five minutes—to the second!”

 ~*~

She seems familiar almost… like part of me has known her forever. It was a thought which jumped into Loki’s mind and implanted itself in his head like a parasite. A mere mortal, how could there possibly be a connection between them? But it wasn’t just magnetic fascination and intrigue. Loki felt a need to keep her in his presence much like she was about to be his cherished bride. Irritation crept up the back of his neck as he followed her through the branched corridors and back to the modern lift he had had to use upon his arrival.

He would only love to know just what it was that had gotten her on probation. Abuse of machinery for her own selfish purposes, perhaps? A prank which had gone too far and done damage to the organisation? Murder? No. Despite her toughness, he could not imagine the delicate mortal standing next to him in the elevator being capable of killing anyone.

When the elevator doors slid open again, the young woman gave him an almost sheepish smile. She hardly appeared worried by having to escort him all on her own, across empty hallways which were only too inviting to overpower her and escape. Something held him back. She did, so he realised with another wave of irritation electrifying his body.

“…the most dangerous missions they usually leave to Justice Peace and Death’s Head. Ever heard of them? They are like celebrities around here.” He heard her say just then. But Loki couldn’t possibly take less interest in this so-called Time Variance Authority. All he needed to know was that it was yet another, partially human-led secret organisation imagining with the naivety of a child that they held power over him. SHIELD had made this mistake in the past and they had paid the bitter price. TVA would be no different.

“The units here are labelled with our initials and the department number. This one.” Jess pointed at the first door coming into sight to their right and quite apparently, Mobius had not made any empty promises concerning Jess’ safety and surveillance. As they turned around the corner, they were greeted by a grimly looking security officer clutching one of those small devices Loki identified as a Taser, one which of the like Darcy Lewis had once used on his brother. He kept a straight face even as Jess unlocked the residential unit using her fingerprint and entered but gave him a provocative smirk before following her.

His own chambers back on Asgard—another life entirely, so it seemed now—were a reflection of who he was with their green accents, the countless books, the tidiness and the ancient parchment rolls on his dark mahogany desk from Vanaheim. If anything, analysing her personal living space to the very last grain of dust would satisfy his need to learn just why he felt so drawn her, perhaps.

The first item of furniture he took in was the long bookshelf towering all the way up to the ceiling, every inch filled with clearly read books about as thick as his wrist. He made a note to study the titles later. A coffee table full of empty peanut shells and a new package of peanuts still sealed neatly in their plastic bag, a caramel sofa on which he found more sealed peanut bags as well as a golden cushion with cheesy pom-poms. A drawer, a TV with large speakers and another electronic gadget resembling a fridge and two separate doorways which led to a bathing area, so he presumed, and her bedroom. Even with the overall lack of more furniture in the room, Jess had somehow managed to add her very own personal touch to the sterile residential unit.

“The bathroom is to the right, you’ll find refreshments and snacks in the fridge next to the TV. My bedroom is out of bounds. I hope you enjoyed the tour.” She chuckled, grabbing a blue leather jacket from the hook on the entrance door behind them. “Big meals are eaten in the cafeteria at certain times of the day though. Mobius wants to strengthen the team spirit but the cooks never say no to a late breakfast or a midnight snack if you ask them nicely.”

Loki narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t you feel like a prisoner in this place?” A lackey for someone else to take the credit for your hard work, he added silently. He knew two of that kind—one being his brother, the other his alleged father. Loki suppressed a begrudged growl. Just in that moment and before she had a chance to reply to his provocative remark, there was a vigorous knock on the door.

“That’ll be your cue.” Jess announced. Loki had to force himself not to turn his head and catch one last glimpse of her as the grimly looking security man escorted him back to Mobius and, other than Jess, kept pushing him forward like cattle and yet, he was convinced he could feel her curious gaze resting on his back long after he had turned back around the corner, stepped into the elevator and even when he was reluctantly reunited with Mobius near the lab where they had first picked her up.

He was speaking to the same Minuteman who had interrupted them earlier—quietly, vividly and so engrossed in the seemingly heated conversation that he noticed Loki and his new bodyguard approaching only after his exceptional hearing had picked up shreds of information he made another mental note of using against them, sooner rather than later.

“You do realise that they’ll come after us with a vengeance, right? That could be the end of TVA once and for all, you know very well what he is capable of.”

“Let that be my concern. This is just a temporary solution—one which I am very curious about.”

“But it already—“

“I realise it already happened and that’s exactly why I’m doing this. All we need to do is stop it from happening again by observing the situation intently, stitch up the loop and we’ll be safe. This isn’t my first rodeo, Dave, you of all people should know this.”

“And what about the Tesseract? Wouldn’t it be smarter if we—“

The security officer cleared his throat, announcing their arrival.

“The Tesseract,” Loki interrupted with a glare, strutting towards them like the king he was born to become and despite his shackles, “belongs to me. It called out to me, it is mine.”

“You’ll find a lot of people in this facility who will disagree with you on that. Trust me. We’ll make sure you won’t get your hands on that cube again.” Dave snorted. “I hope you like your new lodging. Now come on, mischief maker. You’ve got a lot of work to do.”

~*~

A/N: And Scene! So what do you think, what do you think, what do you think? 🤯 I’m so excited to dive into this story! I literally recorded myself on my phone in the middle of the night a while back when all the ideas I had finally came together so I hope I’ll be taking you on an exciting journey with me!

Chapter 2

[mobius-prime]

269. Sonic Universe #2

The Shadow Saga (Part 2 of 4): Time & Again

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Jason Jensen

So, do you remember how way back when we got the single-issue incomplete "adaption" of Sonic Adventure 2, I mentioned that the events of the incident would be clarified by Ian Flynn in a later issue? Well, this is the one! Interspersed within the events of the modern story are flashbacks to what happened during Sonic Adventure 2, heavily modified to fit within the comic's world. However, I've elected to tackle the modern half of the story first, and explore Sonic Adventure 2 afterward, mostly because though Ian seems to be trying to draw parallels between the latter story and the former, they don't really… work all that well, nowhere near the level that they did in the first arc of KtE anyway.

The modern story opens with Shadow approaching the Freedom Fighters' camp not far from the Eggdome in the middle of the night, waking Sonic up to invite him along to a little bonus mission.

I mean, while I can understand wanting to invite Sonic on a mission against Eggman, 1. he's already on one, and 2. you'd think Shadow would realize he'd need some sleep before the final battle against his arch-nemesis. What, you can't handle this alone, Shadow? Well, as it turns out he's not actually alone, as Sonic reaches the rendezvous point first (zooming off ahead of Shadow, of course), and finds Rouge waiting for him. Apparently, Eggman's been working on a sneaky plan to turn a telescope in the city into a massive laser capable of wiping the Freedom Fighters' little camp off the map, shield or no… as well as half of the rest of the city. Sonic thinks this is overkill even for someone like Eggman, but as Shadow catches up he explains that GUN doesn't quite think so.

To be fair, Sonic, you haven't been seeing the behind-the-scenes insane ramblings of his that Snively's been subject to recently. They break into the laser control room, and Sonic and Shadow deal with the smaller security lasers while Rouge hacks into the control system, trying to disable the thing. The cannon is already moving into position to fire, and worse still, the console then fries itself, Rouge having accidentally triggered a self-destruct command. Sonic and Shadow try to destroy the cannon directly, but no amount of spindashing or Chaos Spear-ing will pierce its armor, so Rouge suggests going for the bolts holding it in place, hoping it might throw off the shot.

Brilliant job, guys! Shadow, seeing no other choice, removes his inhibitor rings and climbs onto the top of the cannon just as it begins to fire. He uses all of his power to force the shot to misfire outwards instead of straight ahead, wrecking the barrel but saving the Freedom Fighters. This is really the only place where the parallels Ian tries to draw make sense, as then we see a flashback of him using his power a year ago to force the ARK back into orbit, and subsequently falling back into the atmosphere.

Aww, look at 'em! As the sun begins to rise, the three walk back towards the camp, and Sonic asks if they want in on the invasion. Shadow refuses, saying that he believes this is Sonic's fight considering how long he's been fighting against Eggman. As Sonic leaves, Rouge smirks at Shadow, and remarks on how far their relationship has come from before. Shadow, of course, has to defend his ego and insists he merely respects Sonic, to which Rouge teases him even more about how of course he can't admit he's made a friend.

Now, time to take a look at what their relationship used to be like, in the very-condensed Adaption 2.0 of Sonic Adventure 2! Instead of following exactly how it's portrayed in this issue, I'm just going to explain how exactly everything went down starting from the beginning, relying on context clues from this issue and previous ones. In case you've forgotten, during the events of the incident, both Tails and Knuckles were otherwise occupied, Amy was chilling in Mercia with Rob, and basically no one was even aware of where Sonic was at the time, as he was apprehended while sneaking back into Knothole while he was still supposed to be confined there. StH#98 covered what happened leading up to his arrest and subsequent breakout, but naturally, after the GUN truck chase he was rearrested and taken to Prison Island. Meanwhile, of course, Shadow had been released from his pod by Eggman, stolen a Chaos Emerald from Station Square, and presumably explained how the ARK's Eclipse Cannon worked to Eggman. Like in the game, Rouge also showed up at this point to offer her support in procuring more Chaos Emeralds - though as you might remember, at this point in the comic's history the emeralds still hadn't been combined into their distinct seven forms yet, so the Eclipse Cannon only required seven random emeralds to fire. Conspicuously missing is the entire plot point about Rouge stealing the Master Emerald from Knuckles, and the both of them subsequently searching for its shattered remnants all over the world, but if we're being quite honest the entire story still makes perfect sense without Knuckles and the Master Emerald, which I suppose is lucky for Ian trying to make sense out of all of this.

The point at which this issue actually starts recapping prior events begins on Prison Island after Sonic had broken out of prison once again - without the help of Amy or anyone else, mind you, since once again, they were all elsewhere at time. Really, this version of events is so stripped-down precisely because half of the game cast is missing, which is why the events of the game were able to fit into a single day despite several days passing in the game itself. Sonic and Shadow had their famous "faker" exchange in the forest and began fighting each other, with Rouge's voice coming over Shadow's communicator and informing them she'd found the remaining six Chaos Emeralds they'd need. At that point, Eggman reminded Shadow the whole island was about to blow, and at the same time Rouge called for help as she'd found herself stuck inside the vault. When Sonic heard Eggman tell Shadow to leave her and that they'd come back later to "dig the emeralds out of the ashes," he was outraged and offered Shadow a truce so they could rescue Rouge together. Shadow accepted, and they raced back to the facility as the timer counted down, with Shadow Chaos Control-ing them off the island and into the desert just before the place exploded.

See, while I understand where Ian is going with this, I really don't like his rewrite of Shadow's motivations here. For those not familiar, in the game, Shadow makes the decision to go back for Rouge entirely on his own, because the thought of her dying alone in the facility made him flash back to Maria's death. Later on, when she tries to talk to him about how he saved her, he avoids her questions, giving a similar excuse to this one, but with it being pretty obvious that that's not the case, as he hasn't stopped thinking about Maria since the mission. Here, Ian makes it seem like Shadow actually didn't care and indeed was only after the Chaos Emeralds, and he only went to the trouble of rescuing her thanks to Sonic's suggestion. However, I understand why this was kind of necessary - with his main allies elsewhere, Sonic needed someone to ally with for the next part of the plot. He ended up teaming up with Rouge, who was quite offended at Shadow's attitude, to break into the pyramid containing Eggman's base, and she piloted the space shuttle within up to the ARK. As I've pointed out before, at no point in the comic is it even slightly hinted that Eggman broke the moon in half as he does in the game - the only indication we have of such an event would be in StH#197, when Sonic recognizes Mobius from orbit by its half-destroyed moon, but in all fairness, the issue doesn't actually state the reason why the moon is broken. Remember, it's canon that Mobius has one hundred moons - that wasn't even retconned! Ian just made up a story behind it and put it in the Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia afterwards, but with one hundred whole-ass moons, it's entirely probable that at least one got bodied at some point in the planet's history, and Sonic just happened to recognize that particular one as he was reentering the planet's atmosphere. But anyway, once Sonic and Rouge made it up to the ARK, Sonic and Shadow quickly got into a fight on the catwalks outside the station, presumably while Eggman slotted the emeralds into their positions in the cannon.

*sigh* One of the biggest problems I have with the preboot is its handling of Shadow's entire story. I don't think Shadow ever got an actual chance to shine from his initial appearance until StH#171, when he had his whole "This is who I am" moment after exploring Gerald's digital diary. Everything about him, his entire backstory, was horribly neglected compared to his actually very rich and deep character arc from the games. This, above, is exactly what I'm talking about. In the game, it's implied that Shadow actually wins his final fight against Sonic (though Sonic obviously doesn't die from it), and then once the Eclipse Cannon is up and running, he moves into one of the ARK's observation rooms to quietly reflect on the past and watch the station crash into the planet. He doesn't snap out of it until Amy enters the room and her subsequent words trigger a flashback of Maria's real final wish. Furthermore, he's the only person in the cast who doesn't actually see the video of Gerald's execution or read his final diary entry. In other words, in the game, he comes back to his right mind organically, by remembering what his purpose is, while in the comic he apparently just got to watch a video telling him outright why he's wrong without him actually having to do the thinking that brings him back to reality. Seeing as Shadow is my favorite character in the entire franchise, this brushing-aside of one of the most important moments in his character arc irks me a little. But then again, I will still acknowledge that Ian wasn't really left a lot to work with here, and if anything the fault lies more with Karl Bollers and Kenders carelessly brushing past Sonic Adventure 2 in favor of their ongoing story about Robotropolis getting nuked or whatever.

Anyway, in the end, Shadow and Sonic went to the ARK's internal chamber that housed the Biolizard, and when it fused with the ARK to bring it crashing down to earth anyway, he and Sonic went Super and defeated it out in space, just like in the game. The game actually doesn't give a very clear reason why Shadow fell from orbit while Sonic was fine, but in the comic, it's shown that the act of teleporting the ARK back into orbit exhausted all his energy, resulting in the loss of his Super form early. As one of the above images shows, Sonic actually reached for him but was unable to catch him in time, hence his remark of not wanting to go through that again (even though realistically a fall from a five-story cannon is hardly going to do the same damage to Shadow as a fall from orbit). And that's it! As I said, the comic's adaption is incredibly stripped-down from the events of the game, but with so much of the cast missing, it kind of had to be. While I don't agree with all of Ian's decisions on how to adapt the circumstances while still retaining the basic gist of the story, I understand his ultimate conclusions, and in the end, they do work pretty well given how different the history of the world is in the comics versus the game. And despite Shadow not having a clear history with Rouge in the comics as he does in the games, Ian's finally saw fit to bring them together as a team in this issue, and they remain as such for the rest of the comic, including through the reboot.

But - hey, speaking of which, remember another adaption that was missing a few key plot points? Say… the first Sonic Adventure? Remember how the conclusion of Gamma's entire character arc was totally forgotten about and ignored? That would seem to imply that he's still out there somewhere… I wonder what he's up to nowadays. And for that matter, with the entirety of Sonic Heroes missing from the comics' timeline, where the heck is Omega in all this? Does he even exist? Gee, I wonder if we'll ever get to see these two important robot characters in the comic - like, say, next issue?

[sonicforcesau]

Forced AU: Jackal Squad Arc, Part 5

It was late evening, and the sky began to turn dark.

Somewhere near a certain jungle in Mobius, an old, black van was currently being driven by Finnigan the Jackal on a lonely, winding road, with four other jackals sat as passengers. Along the way, the jackals made occasional conversation with each other as the journey was long and uneventful.

“We need some gas.” the driver stated after a brief check of the fuel gauge that revealed the fuel tank running low.

“Argh, bad timing.” Cassidy cursed, turning to her two friends. “We should have filled this thing up yesterday - there’s not a single gas station that we passed by!”

Jesse looked ready to retort, but it was stopped by Salvador’s sigh.

“No use saying that now.” reasoned the red-hatted jackal. “There might be a gas station nearby.”

“I’ll try to find us one.” Finnigan replied.

BANG!

The van suddenly jerked, and the passengers screamed at the sudden violent movement - Finnigan had swerved their vehicle instinctively as soon as he heard the gunshot.

A quick glance to the right - driver side - mirror revealed to the mercenary: an old, red sedan muscle car driving up the side of the van. The driving jackal changed to a lower gear and floored the gas, and the engine roared in response as it built up revolutions.

“Shit! They found us!” Cassidy cursed out loud, and the van suddenly swerved and jerked violently once more as their driver slammed their van into the other car, while both vehicles negotiated a right bend on the winding road.

Finnigan felt that the van still handled like before, meaning that the attempt at shooting out their tyres failed; lucky for the jackals.

“Sit tight everyone!” Salvador suggested loudly as tried to keep himself steady.

BANG! - The front glass of both doors shattered as a shotgun bullet shot through. Fortunately, the bullet didn’t manage to cause harm.

“There’s a gun in my bag - use it!” shouted the Ultimate Mercenary, as he slammed their van into the offending car once more. The road had straightened, and it lead to a left bend.

Jesse wasted no time responding to Finnigan. Trying his best to maintain balance in the shaky van, he opened up the bag mentioned and was greeted with the sight of a revolver along with what seemed like huge amounts of mobium.

“Wow, you’re rich.” Jesse casually commented - offhandedly - as he checked the gun, while managing to keep his balance. “Only three bullets?”

“Gun’s not mine.” came the reply with gritted teeth as another harsh impact from the side shook the van.

“Damn it, just start shooting already, Jesse!” Cassidy shouted at the jackal holding the gun, ticked at the other’s lack of urgency.

Suddenly, the muscle car braked and fell back. Finnigan’s eyes followed, and he peered into the mirrors, revealing the dented muscle car attempting to ram them from the back once more.

Big mistake - With his quick reactions, Finnigan slammed his right foot onto the brake pedal. The tyres screeched as they locked up.

CRASH!

The van violently jerked forward, and the rear axle bounced from the momentum delivered by the impact as the back doors acquired a massive dent.

Engaging the clutch with his left foot, Finnigan put the van in second gear and accelerated, picking back up their lost speed.

“Cover your ears!” Jesse warned as he fired a bullet out the broken back window.

BANG!

“I got the gunner!” announced their shooter. And indeed, the gunfire from the other car stopped.

Speaking of things that stopped...

“Finn!?” Clyde panicked as he realised that the van was losing speed as the engine sputtered, causing the van to vibrate.

“We’re out of gas!” Finnigan hit the steering wheel in frustration.

“That hit must’ve broken the gas tank.” Salvador figured, as their driver hastily shifted the gear lever into the neutral position to keep the vehicle moving.

CRASH!

The jackals screamed, as the van was sent forwards forcefully again. The car had rammed them once more from the back.

BANG!

“Damn…” Jesse silently cursed. “One bullet left…!”

BANG!

Finnigan used whatever momentum the van had left to spin their vehicle. With his right hand, he spun the steering wheel as his other hand pulled the handbrake, converting the van into an effective roadblock.

“Brace yourselves!” the driving jackal instructed as the car approached. The other driver slammed their brakes, but there was not sufficient space to come to a stop.

CRASH! - The car plowed straight into the right side of the van as it failed to slow down in time.

The momentum sent into the van had put another dent in the bodywork, and both vehicles stopped completely. The machines were totalled.

As soon as the jackals bailed from their van, they saw the driver of the other car getting out of the vehicle. He had a bleeding cut on his face; most likely from the shattered windscreen of his car.

And he was a white-furred wolf.

A wolf.

At the sight of the other mobian, Finnigan’s mood turned considerably worse, as his face adopted a fierce scowl.

Before the other could even pull out the pistol to defend himself, Finnigan was already pushing his face into the ground. The jackal had weighed his body onto the wolf, as he grabbed a hold of his right arm.

“Who sent you?” He growled menacingly.

The wolf was obviously in distress, and he was terrified. He tried his best not to cry out in agony as his arm was painfully twisted to the point where it felt like being ripped out of its socket.

“Cy- Cyrus!” the wolf panted out as he fought the excruciating pain. “Please, don’t- ARGH! - kill me! I’m just a driver!”

The rest of the jackals stared at the scene. Cassidy was impassive, while the rest had a troubled look on their faces, especially Clyde.

“Finnigan.” Salvador spoke up with a surprisingly calm voice, causing the named jackal to look at him. “Let him go.”

“Let him go?” came the angered response. Was the other insane? Did he seriously just suggest letting the enemy free?

“Like he said, he’s just a driver-” Salvador tried again. “-getting paid to do work, just like us.”

Finnigan’s hold on the other’s arm slackened slightly. Salvador was right.

“... fine.” he growled as he completely loosened his grip, setting the other’s arms free. He stared straight into the face of the wolf, intimidating the other with his mismatched eyes. “But you must know where Cyrus is, don’t you?”

“Yes!” came the frantic response from the wolf as he was let up. “I’ll- I’ll bring you there!”

With the cars wrecked and unable to drive, they had no choice but to navigate their way to the base on foot.

The bleeding white wolf led the way all the while with Finnigan scrutinising the lupine with a watchful eye from behind. He didn’t trust the enemy.

But before he could continue his attempts to burn holes into flesh with his eyes, Clyde - who was walking next to him - had began to talk to him.

“You seem very interested in the guy.” Clyde commented quietly with a mischievous smile. It was obvious that he aimed to tease. “Is he really that attractive to you?”

Finnigan scoffed. “Don’t be stupid. I’d never be into wolves.”

“Ah, well.” came the reply. “So you might be into guys?”

“What?” his eyes widened and he heard soft snorts ahead of him. The thief - meanwhile - snickered at his reactions.

Unexpectedly, the Ultimate Mercenary smirked.

“Oh, don’t worry Clyde. I won’t steal from you.” he responded.

“What!?” It was the young thief’s turn to get embarrassed. “I’m-”

“We’re here…” The nervous wolf suddenly announced as they came to a stop in the jungle. He pointed in a direction. “It’s... right up ahead…”

“Finnigan, pass me five mobiums, will you?” Salvador requested.

The Ultimate Mercenary, surprisingly, complied - ignoring his bias against wolves - and handed over the five mobiums out of his own earnings. However, instead of passing it to the other jackal, he handed the money straight to the wolf, slapping it onto the other’s hand.

“Go home.” And the lupine ran, making his leave and disappeared from the jackal’s sight as he watched.

Turning around, Finnigan began to walk with the group in the direction of the base. And soon, the jackals hidden by foliage were greeted with the sight of a huge, intimidating, metal shutter gate, moderately guarded with a some men. Embedded into the side of the shutter gate was a door. It was open.

The warehouse itself looked to be built into the cliffside. A truck was currently being unloaded, and packs of goods were being moved by a few mobians. The packages probably contained the cannabis that Vulpes spoke of. There were also three parked cars that they could see.

“Clyde?” Finnigan called.

“Yeah?”

“I want you to stay here.”

The youngest jackal hesitated. “Okay…”

And the Ultimate Mercenary turned to face the rest of the jackals.

“Ready?”

All of them nodded.

“Let’s go.”