Before Loki could react, Sylvie had already rushed in. She looked at Loki and said, "Quick, let's get out of here!"
"Did I not tell you earlier? That mysterious Director won't be back anytime soon, so we have time to plan," Loki replied.
"How can you be so sure he won't be back instantly?" Sylvie asked anxiously, pacing around the room and blurting out crucial information that Loki had not been able to find out earlier.
"You don't know how powerful he is! He can travel through time and space at any moment. In other words, if he wanted, he could appear before us in the next second. Thor is severely injured right now. If he were to face the Director, his odds of winning would be slim," she explained.
Sylvie had a pained look on her face. "Opponents who can manipulate time and travel through the cosmos are the most difficult to deal with. Even if my sister is very powerful, fighting the Director of the Time Management Bureau would be like punching cotton; all effort will prove futile," she said.
Finished with her speech, she dashed forward to grab Loki's arm. "So, we must leave quickly. Even if he chases us, we can't let Thor face him," she insisted.
Loki gently removed her hand from his arm and looked her in the eye. "I don't plan to confront him here, but we need to decide where to go and what to do next. Also, you have to tell me his weaknesses. Sylvie, you said he is powerful. We will have no chance of success if we don't unite," he reasoned.
Sylvie took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She then said, biting her lip, "We need as many reinforcements as possible. They won't be from anyone else, but ourselves."
"During my travels through the timeline, I've encountered other Lokis. As I've said, we're habitual offenders of timeline chaos," she explained.
"To my knowledge, a group of insane Lokis was once arrested by the Time Management Bureau and later managed to escape. Despite their craziness, their strength is undeniable. They should be able to help us," she added.
"Are you saying that...you encountered...other Lokis?" Loki asked, somewhat puzzled.
Sylvie nodded gloomily and said, "Apart from them, there should be no others. They likely heard about my uniqueness from the staff of the Time Management Bureau. So they came to my world, hoping to find and use me to deal with the Director of the Time Management Bureau... "
"Excuse my impudence, Miss Sylvie, but given the circumstances, you should tell us what makes you so special," Loki appealed, stepping closer and looking her in the eyes. "If you keep hiding it, I'm afraid no one will be able to help you."
"The problem is, I don't know what makes me unique!" Sylvie almost broke down. "One day, that psychotic Director found me and asked how I was able to break through the barrier. God, what on earth is the 'barrier'?!"
"At that time, I was just a little girl. I had no idea what he was saying. And all these years, I've never encountered any 'barrier', nor have I exhibited any abilities beyond those of other Lokis," Sylvie confessed, perplexed.
Seeing her expression, Loki realized that Sylvie genuinely didn't know. Yet, it's not surprising. The Director was about to torture her, but Sylvie didn't give any useful information.
Although she was young at the time, it wasn't like she didn't understand the implications. If she knew a significant secret, it would have been forced out of her under duress.
Suddenly, as though she remembered something, Sylvie exclaimed, "Exactly, we need to find that bunch of Lokis. Let's go now!"
Loki held onto her with a puzzled look. Sylvie looked back into his eyes and said, "You don't know how special that group of Lokis is. They escaped their own fate and disrupted the timeline with their power. I guess...they might know more about the so-called 'barrier' the Director mentioned."
"But how are we going to convince them?" Loki asked. "After all, they're just alternate versions of us. And if there's one thing I know about myself, it's that I wouldn't help others without sufficient benefits..."
Years of struggle had sharpened Sylvie's fast thinking, even in her agitated state. After brief consideration, she said, "They're different from me. They escaped the Time Management Bureau on their own, but they didn't entirely evade the grasp of time, nor do they have a time-traveling device."
"Their escape was due to the particular properties of the timeline. They can't freely travel through time. Even if they can travel through time, it comes at a great cost," she added.
Staring at Loki, Sylvie continued, "A significant number of the Lokis in that group wish to return to Asgard, just like you. As long as we take advantage of that, they won't refuse."
After a brief pause to think, Loki admitted that Sylvie had a point. Ultimately, the one who understood Loki the best was Loki himself. The best match to cooperate with Loki would also be Loki. If they could band together to confront the Director of the Time Management Bureau, their chances of winning would greatly increase.
What's more important: they had a common enemy. As long as the Director of the Time Management Bureau was alive, Loki would always be harassed. Since that's the case, they might as well unite and fight against this formidable foe. If they could indeed kill the Director of the Time Management Bureau, everyone would benefit from it.
Thinking of this, Loki didn't delay any further. While Sylvie was saying goodbye to Thor, Loki took Helen and the two used the time travel device to return to the Time management Bureau, where they met Mobius.
Upon seeing Sylvie, Mobius was taken aback. He stammered and said, "Oh my god, little Sylvie how...how did you grow so big? My God! I... I am truly sorry, we shouldn't have..."
Mobius seemed very apologetic but Sylvie didn't seem to care much. She waved her hand and said, "Let's not talk about the past issues, I know you had no choice. I came back this time to ask you how those Loki's, who had escaped from the Time Management Bureau, managed to leave? And where did they go?"
Upon hearing this question, Mobius was stunned and then a bit embarrassed, saying, "I'm just a record keeper, B15 is in charge of supervision. During that time, I happened to be away on business and so, I am not aware of the specifics. How about...I take you to B15?"
Loki and Sylvie rolled their eyes at each other. Mobius scratched his head and took them both to B15's office. Upon hearing their purpose, B15 seemed a bit embarrassed too. She tapped her shield and said, "Actually, I don't know much about it either. At the time of the incident, only Ravona was present throughout."
Sylvie and Loki exchanged glances, sensing something amiss. After seeing their expressions, B15 reluctantly said, "Alright, it's highly likely that Ravona orchestrated this. I'll take you to her."
In the court, they found Ravona packing up some documents. As if knowing they would come, the female judge sighed lightly and said, "I know you have many questions. Ask whatever you want."
"I thought out of all of you, you were the most loyal to the Director." Sylvie narrowed her eyes. "What is going on actually?"
"Indeed, I am loyal to the Director," Ravona looked at them with a cold stare and said, "But the one I owe my allegiance to is not this Director…"
Ravona raised her head, looked ahead and said, "My family and friends died in a time accident. I was saved by the Director, so I am loyal to him and work for him."
"But, one day I discovered that this Director leading the Time Management Bureau is not the one I knew before…" Ravona gently shook her head and continued.
"The previous Director, though not very well-ordered in his work and had some shortcomings, was humorous and somewhat well-intentioned. Most importantly, he was indeed carefully maintaining the stability of the timelines and rescued quite a few victims like me."
"However, the day the sacred timeline split, he disappeared." Ravona's tone became somber, reflecting her sadness that everyone clearly understood. She slowly closed her eyes and continued, "One day he returned, retaking the control of the Time Management Bureau, but he was no longer himself…"
"Now, the Director ruling over the Time Management Bureau is a Tyrant, completely heartless, and is not even carefully working. He no longer cares about the stability of the timeline, he only cares about his own benefits."
Ravona's tone became quite angry as she slammed the documents on the table and said, "He wants to transform the Time Management Bureau into his own private army. Every action of his is destroying the achievements of the former Director!"
"So, you had actually defected long ago?" Mobius looked at Ravona in surprise and said, "I thought…"
"You thought what? Don't think I don't know, you are not avoiding work because you hate the Director, it's purely because you are lazy." Ravona retorted, "Although I am not loyal to the current Director, I believe that any offenders who frivolously play with the timeline must be punished."
"Alright, calm down." Loki stepped in to diffuse the situation, then he looked at Ravona and said, "So, those Lokies were actually released by you? Where did you take them?"
Ravona sighed lightly, relaxed her shoulders, and sat back down in her chair. Looking at them, she said, "Because I know how strong the Director is, I started preparing early. Those trash, albeit obnoxious and ruthless, still have some capabilities."
"I tried all means to contact them, and created a time-slicing accident within the Time Management Bureau, thereby banishing them to the end of time, the place of oblivion."
"It's a wasteland independent of all timelines. Over many years, I have constantly used my authority to help them traverse the timelines and investigate the Director's secret." As Ravona got to this point, her gaze landed on Sylvie.
"I guess, they must have visited your cosmos. All their actions happened under my tacit agreement."
"I know, you want to look for them, unite with them, and confront the Director of the Time Management Bureau together. But you must know one thing …"
Ravona walked out from behind the judgment stand, looked into Loki's eyes and said, "Even with us, we are still no match for him."
"If you don't find more powerful allies, it's best not to choose to wage a war against him ... That's akin to seeking death."