It happened like this.

Considering they were all freshmen, there was no point in any of them to be particularly cocky, but as it was, they were. Loki figured that the fact that they were all now in high school, as compared to junior high, it boosted all of their confidences and made them bigger jerks than normal.

And by 'they', Loki meant the entire freshman student body.

Mainly because the love fest that was elementary school had been divided up into cliques in junior high and Loki had not found a place in any of them, particularly because he had skipped junior high completely.

It was a bit unusual, to say the least, but he had requested to be home schooled over the summer and quickly found himself completing two grade levels within two months. His parents were proud. His brother was happy, knowing that the two of them would have classes together.

Loki was not too pleased with that.

So, being the youngest person in his grade, not to mention the school, Loki was completely and utterly alone.

He wasn't even bullied, which was more upsetting than Loki would have liked to admit. At least that way he'd have some sort of social interaction that wasn't his brother trailing after him like a puppy. And, of course, Thor was the reason no one even tried looking at him funny.

It was very, very, upsetting.

The idea had occurred to him as he was building his Lego model of the Millennium Falcon. If he could give himself a reputation, one that wasn't as Thor's dorky little brother, than he would be set.

It began simply.

Disdainful glares, biting comments, a general disregard for other human beings. A surly attitude that Loki always had, but never really let show. One of his most triumphant moments was when, in English class, he was paired up with Patsy Walker to discuss 1984, and she refused to make eye contact for fear that he'd insult her. He did so anyway, but the fact that she knew that that would happen was quite pleasing.

Now this was all good and wonderful, but it didn't satisfy Loki in the least. He needed… well to be perfectly honest, he needed more. He needed everyone to know that he was not one to be messed with. He was someone to be feared and a person with whom one must approach with caution.

Biology class brought the answer.

Though they probably didn't remember, Loki had sat at a table with Clint, Tony, and Steve from January to early March. And he was there for every god damn, annoying conversation they had ever had.

That time Tony accidently locked himself out of his car and he explained how he had managed to disable his alarms and get inside.

Or when Clint screamed like a little girl because a spider swung down from the ceiling and landed perfectly on his hand.

He couldn't forget the amusing forty five minutes Clint and Tony badgered and bothered Steve because he was making eyes at Peggy Carter, poking fun at his lack of experience. Though Loki was very much aware that Clint was just as virginal, if past, hushed conversations between his pals was accurate. Clint, but more importantly, Steve, was quite popular. Tony was too, but he didn't give away much about himself in order to perfectly humiliate him as he was planning the other two. So he settled.

Their association with Tony Stark was enough.

Frigga was rather confused when Loki began gathering spiders and putting them in jars, placing them in a strange little habitat he had made out of fish net, cardboard, and plastic tubes. But she didn't question him, seeing as she was glad he had found a new hobby.

The condoms, however, were a little more difficult. True, he could go to the store, but he wasn't looking forward to the strange looks he was bound to get if he just strolled into a Walgreens and plucked a couple boxes off the shelf. He clearly was not old enough to be sexually active.

But the solution was given to him in gym class.

Oh, gym class. How decidedly helpful (for once).

They had taken a break from actual physical exercise and were given a week to learn about sexual health. Loki just rolled his eyes, along with the other students, seeing as they started teaching this stuff in elementary school, which, not that Loki thought about it, was kind of creepy. Why would fifth graders be sexually active?

That aside, Loki perked up when Mrs. Robinson mentioned that the nurse's office offered free condoms. Free condoms meant a supply source. Boxes and boxes worth, no doubt. He grinned.

Perfect.

It was easy breaking into the nurse's office. He always got to school early, particularly because his mother dropped them off prior to going into work. Not to mention the nurse didn't get in until noon.

Loki didn't even try to sneak. He walked right up the door, made use of his paper clip lock pick, and entered. Easy peasy, lemon squeazy.

The most difficult part was figuring out when to commit his heinous crime. He knew he wanted it to happen after spring break, but whether to do it before break, or the day of return, was bothering him to no end.

A month passed, and Loki had an alarming amount of spiders decorating his desk and five concealed boxes of 100 count condoms underneath his bed. If he didn't act now, he would look like an arachnid loving, hormone crazed teenager, of which he was not.

When Loki got into the car and sat his spider habitat on his lap the Friday before break, Frigga didn't comment. She put it down as one of Loki's many quirks. And when he said he needed to meet with a classmate to discuss his spiders – "ten minutes, I promise" – when she came to pick him and Thor up after school, she smiled and ruffled his hair, happy to see him making friends.

Loki worked quickly, knowing that many students still loitered around the building despite the fact that they had an entire week of freedom. He didn't even break a sweat as he quickly twirled the dial on the lock, smiling as the first locker opened.

He started with Steve, tucking condoms in every nook and cranny, ensuring that it would take weeks until they were all gone. He stuffed three boxes worth into the locker before slamming it shut, and stuffing the rest of the condoms through the slits of the locker. That would make a lovely avalanche.

Clint's locker was on the opposite end of the hall and Loki nonchalantly walked up to it, unlocked it, and opened his little spider habitat. The spiders quickly scurried out, happy to be somewhere that wasn't as dark and cramped as the home Loki had made for them. They quickly made themselves at home, crawling over the books and papers.

A job well done, Loki walked back to his mom's car, a grin firmly planted on his face.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Clint had decided that this was the day. He was going to ask out Natasha. He had struggled with the decision all break and this was it.

She was pretty, and smart, and totally perfect. She was also kind of frightening, but Clint found that attractive rather than put off by it. The fact that Natasha looked like she could kill him ran a chill down Clint's spine that was surprisingly pleasant.

It was with jitters and nerves he approached his locker, hoping against all hope that Natasha wouldn't reject him. She smiled at him once, though, so Clint was going to take that as a good sign.

This was his day. Nothing could ruin it.

And then he opened his locker.

Spiders were everywhere. On his books, in his papers, nesting in his notebook spirals; webs in the corners and around the lock. The worst part: at least a dozen fell on him as the door opened.

Later, Clint would swear the screams he let out were not as shrill and girly as Rhodey claimed they were. They were in fact, more so.

To make matters worse, Natasha had walked past just as Clint opened his locker, and bear witnessed his emotional breakdown.

The horror was intensified by infinity when she smiled at his traumatized face. He was never going to have a shot with her now.

Across the hall, Steve paused just as he was going to pull open his locker. Clint's screams were rather loud and he wasn't sure whether he should go to him or just let him panic in peace. If Tony's guffaws were any answer, it was probably best to work damage control.

Steve abandoned his locker and shuffled Clint away from the crowd – and the spiders. Tony was laughing loudly against Rhodey who was clutching onto his friend for dear life. At least Bruce was – never mind; the quietest boy of the five was laughing quietly, but at least he was pulling spiders off of Clint.

Honestly, Steve thought, this was highly immature behavior.

In his head, he put together a plan of action. He would get his books, lead Clint away from the still laughing students, and convince him that this was not the end of the world.

Of course, things did not go according to plan.

When he opened his locker, a waterfall of condoms poured out. The laughter in the hall grew louder and Steve knew that he was turning redder than a freshly picked strawberry.

o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0

Loki smirked as he watched his victims drown in a puddle of embarrassment, exacerbated by the adolescent environment and expectation put upon themselves.

Maybe they wouldn't know he did it, but it felt good, knowing that he was able to cause such mayhem. Such beautiful chaos.

It made him stop and think.

He could be the prankster. The mischief maker. Loki grinned.

He could live with that.

Author's Note: I know I said Saturday, but my family literally does not let me do anything. I also went out last night so... yeah. I hope you enjoyed this story. Also, I might write more I kind of enjoyed exploring my little world. Loki does, of course, get caught. But I didn't want to write that cause that's boring. Okey doke.