Tony walked through the golden palace. He was doing his best to find his room again. This trip hadn't started out so great. He'd really put his foot in his mouth when he'd met Odin, and now all he wanted was to go back to his room and pull out the flask of scotch he had hidden in his suitcase.
Damn, he really needed a tour guide. There were more twists and turns in this palace than a maze. Tony heard Odin's sharp angry shout. Shit! The king was coming towards Tony. He darted in through an open door, into a huge bedroom. Odin's voice came nearer, and Tony realized his choice of hiding places was none other than the King of Asgard's master suite. He backed into a small alcove and hid behind the curtains.
Odin paced in his chambers mumbling to himself. He seemed angry. To a point, Tony could understand the god's irritation. Thor had brought them all to Asgard unannounced, and of course there had been Tony's poor choice of words but this seemed to go beyond just being annoyed by an inconvenience.
"If you're going to grumble about Thor, you should do so aloud so I can hear it as well."
Odin seemed completely unfazed by the disembodied voice that sounded remarkably familiar. Odin made a small motion with his hand and a toothy smile appeared just to his right. Slowly, like the Cheshire cat, a face appeared, followed by the long lean form of Loki.
Tony had to cover his mouth to hide his gasp of shock. Thor had mentioned Loki's heroic death almost right after they had seen each other once again. Loki leaned against the wall, unafraid. The younger god had a sharp predatory smile. "Oh come now. Surely you have some complaint about the golden child, some little thing that you could share." Loki goaded. "Say it for me, I'd be ever so pleased to hear it."
Odin scowled at his former son. "I have nothing to say to you."
"Yes, because mumbling to yourself was so much better. You know, they say a sure sign of madness is talking to oneself."
Odin gave Loki a dirty look and made a slightly larger flourish with his hand. Tony saw what seemed to be a force field come over the room and the small alcove in which Tony hid.
Loki rolled his eyes. "Really? As though you are in any danger from me." He scoffed and walked over to the edge of the barrier. Holding his hand very near it, his eyes narrowed and then he let out a scornful laugh. "A silencing barrier, a restraining barrier, and a truth barrier, what is your true motive for that particular combination? Are you keeping me in, the guards out, or perhaps both?" He didn't even attempt to hide the mockery in his tone.
Loki lounged in a chaise as Odin continued to pace in silence, his irritation building.
"Who are you angry with really... Certainly not Thor, he's done nothing but what you've asked of him. So he's brought his foolish little mortals here. I doubt your ire is really about that."
Odin made a noise of anger.
Loki seized on the obvious sore spot. "I was right. You're not mad at him at all." Loki inhaled sharply and sat forward, "That's why you sent him to Midgard. He reminds you of her."
Odin grabbed a vase from a nearby stand and threw it at Loki. "Shut up!"
The vase missed Loki by a few feet. He laughed as it broke. "You missed."
Odin walked towards the door; he hesitated as he neared the barrier he had created.
Loki's eyebrow lifted. "I wouldn't. Though I hope you will. I'd so love to see what happens when you touch a truth barrier. You'd probably burst into flame from the number of lies you've told in your lifetime." The dark haired god watched, almost excited as Odin reached towards the barrier. Loki's shoulders slumped as Odin's hand dropped without touching it. "Too bad. It might have done you some good, purged away some of those lies."
"Leave me." Odin stood with his back to Loki.
"And why would I want to do that? It's so much more fun to bother you, to pick at the kinks in you armor. To find the weaknesses and see if I can't unravel them a bit more. You're angry. Tell me why." Loki demanded. He stood and stalked over to Odin. "He reminds you of her. His honesty, his sincerity. He reflects her goodness, her strength. Having his shining light here reminds you of her. Do you miss her that much? Surely not. You are not capable of that depth of emotion."
Odin turned abruptly and grabbed Loki by the throat. "You know nothing. You are a vain cruel boy and you have no love for anyone or anything beyond yourself."
Loki smirked as he struggled against the older man. "I loved her more deeply than you could ever understand." Loki's words were strained as he tried to speak around the hand crushing his windpipe.
"Be silent." Odin commanded. "I'll hear no more of your lies."
"My lies?" Loki snarled. He pressed back; they pushed back and forth for a moment, before Loki was able to turn their positions. Loki pushed Odin back towards the barrier.
Odin's eye widened as he realized what was about to happen. Loki grinned maniacally as he pushed Odin back. Odin shuddered as he touched the barrier and a wave of green magic washed over him. Tony stood in shock as two identically dressed Lokis now stood before him.
The Loki that had been pushing Odin sneered. "God of lies. You claim that you loved her but how many times did you deny her, how many times did you break her heart with your actions? Your love is a poison. You ruin the things you claim to love. You are a bastard, a monster and it's your fault she's dead!"
The second Loki or the former Odin made an inarticulate noise of rage and the two of them grappled until they fell to the floor and fought. Tony lost track of which Loki was which. They were vicious, each drawing blood on the other. They traded blows that would have killed a lesser man. Tony could hear the snap of broken bones. They pushed away from one another and pulled themselves to standing. The arm of one hung limp from the shoulder and the other gagged and spit out blood as it dripped from an obviously broken nose.
Tony thought the fight had to surely be over, but he was wrong. Seconds later the one with a broken nose tackled the one with a broken arm. He wrenched the broken arm back and Tony heard it snap again. The more injured Loki gritted his teeth but made no noise of pain. This seemed to anger the dominate Loki. He threw the other to the ground and pulled him up by the hair. "What no complaint, no pleas for mercy? You weren't this quiet for the Chitauri. You begged like a scared child." He gripped the other's hair more tightly and punched him. "Fight me!"
The submissive Loki whimpered in pain but made no move to pull away or protect himself. "That's right, you want this don't you, you whining pathetic wretch. You know you deserve it." He dragged the more injured version of himself across the room by the hair. He threw the other by the hair to the floor in the middle of the room. He kicked him in the stomach, and stomped on a hand that lay open and vulnerable on the ground. "'I could have done it Father, for you, for all of us!' Yes, because restarting a war that cost Odin an eye was the way to win the All-father's approval."
"You have always been disgustingly weak." He knelt on the ground beside the more injured version of himself. "Always needing the approval of others." He grabbed the copy's hair and smashed his face into the ground. "You hate yourself." He threw the copy back to the ground and began pummeling him with his fists. Tony heard a bone break, likely a rib. The dominate Loki beat the other until him was panting from exertion. He scrambled back and stood over the injured Loki, panting. He flicked his wrist and a wicked looking barbed mace appeared. He stalked around the prone Loki.
"You caved in and allowed the Chitauri to use you." He brought the mace down on the other's thigh and Tony heard the crack of the bone breaking. "You failed to conquer Midgard." The mace came down on his foot. "You allowed yourself to be captured and imprisoned." It struck the already injured arm.
He raised it high above his head aiming for the other's head. "You told the Kurse the way out of the dungeons. Then he was able to lower the palace shields. You were the cause of her death. You may as well have wielded the blade yourself!" He bellowed as he brought the mace down.
He froze in mid-stroke. The Loki on the floor held out his uninjured hand. Tony could see the eyes of the dominate Loki darting about. The injured Loki struggled to stand. He waved his hand over himself and Tony could a grinding sound. Bones snapped back into place and his face hardened. "Yes," he hissed as his leg healed enough bear his weight again. "… it is my fault she died, but I killed the monster the killed her. And, I am now King of Asgard."
He snatched the mace from the other and swung it around. It went straight through the other. The other Loki dissipated like smoke in the wind.
Tony could hardly wrap his head around it. Loki dropped the mace and slumped on the chaise. Tony watched as his injuries healed right before his eyes. Loki waved a hand, the mace and the blood disappeared, and the barrier dissolved.
There was a knock from the outer door. "Sire?" one of the guards called.
Loki grunted as he stood, green magic changing him once again to Odin. "What do you want?" he growled.
The door opened a crack. "Sire, the elders were wondering if you were still coming to the counsel." The guard looked concerned when he saw Odin limping and moved closer to help. "Are you injured Sire, do you need help?"
Loki/Odin caught the young man by the throat. "One of the side effects of growing old. Mention it to no one."
The guard nodded vigorously. He dropped the guard who scrambled to his feet.
"I shall be there when I damn well please, and they shall wait on their king."
The guard nodded once again and left in a hurry to deliver the message.
Loki/Odin hobbled over to a cabinet, and pulled out a small brown vial, uncorked it, and drank it down. He shook slightly and seemed to recover from his injuries.
"He certainly looked frightened of you." Loki's voice spoke from that Cheshire cat grin again.
"It's good to be the King." Odin smirked and left at a leisurely pace.