"Hunter B-15, where is the time criminal you captured?" Judge Ravonna Renslayer's voice was sharp as she approached the returned team. "Why hasn't the timeline branch returned to normal?"
When Ravonna saw the look on B-15's face, her stomach dropped.
Mobius M. Mobius looked up from his desk, setting down the files he'd been reviewing. It was the first time he'd seen B-15 look this angry, this... defeated.
B-15 stood straighter, meeting Ravonna's gaze directly. "Judge Renslayer, I'm sorry. My mission failed."
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
"What happened? Didn't you locate the time criminal?" Ravonna's frown deepened, confusion mixing with displeasure.
"No, we found him." B-15's jaw clenched. "To be precise, he was waiting for us. He knew we were coming."
"What?" Both Ravonna and Mobius spoke simultaneously, shock evident in their voices.
B-15 proceeded to tell them everything—Aegir's casual confidence, his knowledge of the TVA, how he'd called her by name before she'd even introduced herself. How he'd reversed their temporal manipulation with a wave of his hand. How Karma's mental assault had been completely ineffective. How he'd casually disarmed her and stolen both the reset charge and her time pad like they were toys.
"You're telling me he knows everything about us?!" Ravonna's voice rose with each word, her composure cracking. "That's impossible! We never leave evidence behind. Our operations are clean. How could he—"
"I don't know how, but I'm absolutely certain that man knows far too much about the TVA," B-15 interrupted, her own anger bleeding through. "He seemed to know exactly what the time pad and reset charge were for. He prevented me from pruning the timeline and took our equipment like souvenirs."
"This has never happened before," Ravonna said, pacing now. "Never. We need to take action immediately."
Mobius leaned forward, his mind already working through possibilities. "Is it possible Loki told him about us? The variant we've been chasing?"
The TVA was almost never caught off guard—except when dealing with Loki, the God of Mischief. Recently, a particularly troublesome Loki variant had been fighting against them, killing tracker squads, stealing time controllers, and causing chaos.
The strange thing was they'd never been able to find her hiding place. The time monitors showed nothing, gave no alerts. It didn't make sense—hiding in a specific timeline should trigger their systems. Yet somehow, this Loki stayed one step ahead, appearing only when and where she chose.
"That... would explain a lot," B-15 admitted grudgingly. "If Loki briefed him on our procedures, our equipment, our methods—it would explain why he was so prepared."
"Damn time criminals," Ravonna muttered. "Do they have any idea what they're risking? The entire Timeline could unravel if—"
She stopped herself, old memories surfacing. A young girl version of Loki, snatching a time controller right from her hands, disappearing into the chaos. One of the worst moments of her career, a shame she'd carried for years.
"B-15, I want you to assemble more hunters," Ravonna ordered, her voice hardening with determination. "Gather our strongest variants. I want that Vanir king brought here in chains. I'll interrogate him personally and get the whereabouts of that Loki."
"Wait, Ravonna." Mobius stood, holding up a hand. "I think we need to consider this more carefully."
"Carefully?" Ravonna turned on him. "Mobius, this is a direct threat to—"
"According to B-15's report, this individual has mastered temporal manipulation through unknown means," Mobius continued, his tone reasonable but firm. "And he's not just some variant—he's a king. The ruler of an entire realm. With our current resources, I'm not sure we pose any real threat to him."
"Mobius is right," B-15 added, though it clearly pained her to admit. "We can't take him with our current strength alone. For someone with his abilities, numbers are just... numbers. We threw everything we had at him, and he treated it like a minor inconvenience."
"Then what do you suggest?" Ravonna asked sharply. "We just let him run free? Let him corrupt the timeline however he wants?"
"We need support," Mobius said. "We need authorization from the Time Keepers themselves. This is beyond our pay grade."
B-15 nodded in agreement. "The intel we gathered makes it clear—this Vanir king has power that makes our standard procedures obsolete. We need a different approach entirely."
Ravonna hated this feeling of powerlessness. The TVA was supposed to be absolute, their authority unquestionable across all timelines. Yet here they were, stymied by a single individual who could manipulate time as naturally as breathing.
Still, they were right. This wasn't something she could handle at her level.
"Fine," Ravonna said after a long moment. "I'll report to the Time Keepers immediately. But make no mistake—we're not letting this go. No one steals from the TVA and walks away."
-----------------
The highest level of the Time Variation Authority was a place of absolute secrecy and control. Multiple guard teams stood watch outside the massive doors, ready to rush in at any sign of threat. Inside, an elite squad of completely brainwashed soldiers maintained constant vigilance.
Only a handful of people in the entire TVA were authorized to enter—Judge Ravonna Renslayer among them.
The chamber itself was vast and imposing. High above, three robed figures sat on elevated thrones. Their faces were lizard-like, expressions stiff and lifeless, eyes cold and utterly devoid of warmth or humanity.
The Time Keepers.
The supposed creators of the TVA, the highest authority in existence.
Ravonna had always believed in them completely, followed their orders with absolute faith and reverence. She had no reason to doubt what they were.
In truth, the so-called Time Keepers were merely intermediaries—robots through which Kang the Conqueror controlled his temporal empire. Puppets with no will of their own.
"Honored Time Keepers," Ravonna began, bowing slightly as she approached. "I come seeking your guidance and authority on a matter of grave importance."
She explained everything—the timeline branch from Vanaheim, Aegir's temporal powers, the failed capture attempt, the stolen equipment, the potential connection to the rogue Loki variant.
The Time Keepers fell silent after her report. Their eyes seemed empty, staring at nothing, as if processing information from some distant source.
Ravonna didn't dare interrupt. She waited, hands clasped behind her back, for new instructions.
The silence stretched on.
------------------------
Far from the TVA's bustling headquarters, at the very edge of existence itself, a place of impossible beauty stretched out beneath an artificial starry sky. An ancient castle stood alone in this timeless space.
Inside, Kang the Conqueror sat behind an ornate desk, his head tilted slightly as he processed the information flowing through his connection to the Time Keeper robots.
"Has someone else mastered temporal manipulation?" he murmured to himself, fingers steepled thoughtfully.
This was... unexpected.
Kang had traveled through countless timelines, killed innumerable variants of himself, pruned infinite branches. In all that experience, across all those realities, he'd never encountered a Vanir king before.
If such a powerful individual existed—someone who could manipulate time without technology, without a device, just raw ability—they shouldn't be unknown. They should have made waves across multiple timelines.
Yet this was the first Kang had heard of them.
He set aside his initial puzzlement, his mind already shifting to different considerations. If this person truly possessed such power, if they could control time as an innate ability...
Wasn't this exactly the kind of individual who could be his successor?
Kang had forgotten how many centuries he'd lived, how long he'd maintained the Timeline's stability. The endless cycle of pruning, resetting, controlling—it had grown tedious beyond measure.
He was tired. So tired of this existence, of this responsibility, of holding the fate of infinite realities in his hands. The power that once thrilled him now felt like chains.
Even controlling the destiny of countless beings across all timelines brought him no joy anymore. It was just... work. Endless, repetitive, meaningless work.
But now, someone interesting had appeared in one of his managed timelines. Someone who could challenge the TVA, who possessed abilities that mirrored his own, who seemed to operate outside the predetermined paths.
For the first time in ages, Kang felt something stir in his chest. Not quite excitement—he'd forgotten what that felt like—but something close. Interest. Curiosity.
A slight smile crossed his face, the first genuine expression in decades.
"Let me find out who you are, Vanir king,"