The immediate aftermath...
"What happened?" Bruce demanded.
"Is that?" Clint questioned.
"Brother!" Thor boomed, trying to break free from his Queenie duplicates.
"Holy hell," Tony muttered, staring in shock at the little kid who sat where Loki had stood.
Natasha cursed in Russian.
"Guys, what just happened?" Bruce demanded.
"Uh, friendly fire on their side?" Tony offered. "Loki seems to have been de-aged."
The silence on the comm was telling and Tony had to flip open his mask to make sure he was seeing things correctly, but yeah, there was a black-haired kid in the middle of Loki's too big clothes.
The Queenie duplicates vanished and Thor was charging for the little guy.
"Loki!" Thor cried out once more, making the kid turn to him which caused the horned helmet to fall off his head.
"Thor?" Pipsqueak replied, looking around confused.
"Brother," Point Break said as he dropped to his knees before him. "Are you alright?"
To his credit, Loki seemed to consider his response, looking down at the pool of clothing around him and raising his arm to reveal far too long sleeves.
"I... feel fine, but I am not, am I?" Reindeer Games inquired.
"Nay, Brother, you are not."
Tony would be the first to admit he was shit at guessing kids ages, but he was rather impressed there were no waterworks when the little guy's face scrunched up.
"Where'd Karnilla go?" Cap suddenly demanded.
"Damn!" Natasha exclaimed as they turned back to the Go-Kart racing track to find her gone.
"Bruce, Clint, Tony, do any of you have eyes on her?" Steve demanded.
"Nope," Tony replied, closing his face mask and scanning the area.
"Negative," Clint added.
"She didn't come this way," Bruce replied. "The cops are coming in and can do a sweep."
With JARVIS saying the danger had passed, Tony flew down to land near their miniaturized God of Lies.
"How old was I?" Loki asked.
"How old do you think you are?" Tony countered, drawing the little guy's attention.
Wow, those eyes were green. And big.
Tony hated to say it, but little Loki was adorable, especially with a far too big, large green tunic all but falling off him.
"Are we on Miðgarðr?" Loki questioned, looking around.
"Aye," Thor confirmed.
"Why?"
"How old are you, Brother?"
Rock of Ages pressed his lips together and thought about it. "Three hundred and eighty-nine?"
It sounded much more like a question than it did a statement, but Tony could understand that.
"What does that mean?" Steve asked.
Thor frowned. "What do you mean?"
"In human terms?"
"Oh. Uh..."
"When do you come of age, Thor?" Tony asked.
"A thousand years," Loki replied.
"So, seven or so."
"Oh," Steve commented, looking at a loss as to what to do now.
Yeah, join the club, Cap.
"How old was I?" Loki repeated.
"One thousand and forty-eight years old," Thor informed him.
"Hey, why is his hair short?" Natasha questioned, making the little guy reach up to touch it. "It was long a moment ago."
"I do not know," Thor admitted.
"It depends on the type of working used," Loki replied. "As I have no memory of anything beyond the age I gave and, since my body has returned to how I was, I assume 'twas a time reversal spell."
"Instead of what?" Tony questioned.
"A de-aging working which affects the body only."
"Can you undo it, Brother?" Thor asked.
"I... do not think so. It feels quite powerful. But it may wear off on its own. Who cast it?"
"Queen Karnilla of Nornheimr."
"Why?"
"I do not know, she wished to cast it on Lady Natasha and you intervened."
The little guy looked over at Black Widow and frowned.
"Are you mortal?" Loki asked.
"Yes," Natasha replied.
"And mortals still do not reach a century of age, aye?"
"Some do, but most don't," Steve said.
Loki nodded. "Then it would have killed her."
"Wait, what?" Tony demanded, shocked.
"Reversing her by over six centuries would have taken her so far back she no longer existed," Loki explained.
Oh, yeah, several hundred years was a bit further than most humans could claim to have lived. To be honest, Tony was still trying to process Loki's real age and what it meant for Thor's. He'd never asked that particular question before for a reason.
"Well, so much for not causing us real harm," Clint stated, arriving on scene.
"Except it didn't quite happen, now did it?" Tony shot back, not really wanting to say more out loud.
If Reindeer Games truly had no memory of what he'd been like only five minutes ago, then the kid wasn't going to learn it from him.
"Oh, my," Bruce said as he too arrived, a whole slew of cops behind him.
"Thor?" Loki questioned, eyes widening as he looked at all of the newcomers.
Clearly hearing the note of uncertainty too, Thor reached forward and scooped up his little brother, wrapping the large tunic around him like some sort of swaddling. They'd need to get the little guy some new clothes.
"I have you, Brother," Thor reassured, tucking Loki into his side.
"Hey, it's okay," Tony hastened to reassure, flipping up his face plate. "We won't hurt you."
"Stark!" Clint hissed.
"What?" Tony muttered lowly, so Loki hopefully couldn't overhear. "You want to hurt a kid?"
"He could be faking it!"
"To what end?"
"Who knows with him?"
"He has not reacted even once to being called brother by Thor," Natasha pointed out, and Tony was surprised she was taking his side here.
"We treat him as a child until proven otherwise," Steve stated.
"I'm not saying to hurt him, but to keep in mind it's Loki we're talking of here," Clint protested.
"Regardless, it's my tower and both you and Little Prince are welcome there," Tony declared more loudly, looking at Thor.
"Thank you, Man of Iron," Point Break replied.
"Well, I guess you now have a stronger weapon, if necessary," Natasha said, leaning down to pick up Reindeer Games' scepter.
"Is that mine?" Loki asked with a frown.
"Aye," Thor confirmed. "You wield it well."
That was one way of putting it.
The thought immediately left him as the little guy's face crumpled.
"Why do I use such a dishonorable weapon? Am I incapable of wielding a proper one?"
Dishonorable? Proper? What the hell?
Thor's face quickly followed, suit before flushing with shame.
"Nay, Brother, we were wrong about that," Point Break rushed to reply.
"Wrong about what?" Clint asked. "What's so dishonorable about a scepter?"
"'Tis a long-distance weapon," Loki explained. "All weapons which do not make you face your opponent in close quarter combat are deemed cowardly and dishonorable."
Oh, ouch. That pretty much ruled out all of them, Thor included if the big guy used his lightning. Except the Hulk.
"Is this true?" Steve questioned, looking at Thor in disapproval.
"'Tis how we were raised, but since coming to Miðgarðr I have learned better," Thor responded, before looking back to his brother. "Loki, much has changed since we were young and you are a capable warrior who has saved my life on many an occasion, either with your weapons or your seiðr."
The words seemed to perk Little Prince up and Loki pulled insistently at his too long sleeves to keep them from covering his hands.
"We'll need to get you some proper clothes," Tony stated. "J, can you order a few sets, then Loki can choose the rest later."
"At once, Sir," JARVIS replied.
"You have an invisible servant?" Little Prince asked, eyes darting about.
To his credit, miniature Rock of Ages did not look alarmed.
"No, he's an artificial intelligence, a machine I gave the ability to think on his own," Tony replied.
"A non-magical construct?"
Tony blinked. How could the kid get it so quickly when Thor didn't?
"Yeah, a non-magical construct, you hear that, JARVIS?"
"I would be intrigued to meet a magical one," JARVIS responded.
"Oh," Tony said. "So would I."
"I hope to make one someday," Loki declared, before glancing up at his brother. "Have I already done so?"
Thor winced.
"There's a story there," Bruce noted.
"Aye," Thor agreed. "And, aye, Loki you did create one called Jörmungandr. He took the form of a large serpent."
"What went wrong?" Loki asked.
"Let me guess, he wouldn't stop growing?" Natasha offered.
Thor nodded, looking surprised.
"We have tales of Jörmungandr in our mythology," she explained. "We call him the World Serpent as he was said to be so big, he could wrap around the earth and bite his own tail."
"Didn't it also say he was Loki's son?" Clint inquired.
Natasha shrugged.
"Hey, I consider my bots my kids," Tony interrupted. "So why wouldn't a magical construct not be Loki's? He made him himself."
"'Tis not a child," Thor protested.
Loki frowned. "He is still mine, though. Why did the lady speak of him as being on Miðgarðr? Why would I bring Jörmungandr here?"
Uh oh. Tony was pretty sure he remembered the details of that particular myth correctly, and he could only hope it was wrong.
"When he grew too big for Ásgarðr, Father cast Jörmungandr out and down to Miðgarðr to dissipate as you could not banish him."
And, nope, the details were right. Óðinn really didn't know how to be a good father, did he?
"When was this?" Cap demanded, sharply. "And did he check with us before doing so?"
"I- 'twas many centuries ago," Thor looked startled. "And I do not believe Father was in contact with your leaders then."
"He can't just keep dumping people or... constructs here. We are a sovereign world!"
"Miðgarðr rebelled?" Loki questioned, clearly startled. "Is that why we are here?"
"Nay, Brother, relax, all is well," Thor reassured.
"Is it?" Natasha demanded. "He asks of rebellion to Steve's assertion of independence. That clearly implies that six hundred years ago, you viewed us as part of your dominion."
"I have said before that Miðgarðr is a protectorate of Ásgarðr."
"Like Nornheimr?" Clint questioned, scathingly.
"Aye, indeed, friend Barton."
Ugh, Tony hated politics for a reason.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's just rewind back to the big serpent thingy," Tony interjected. "Do you know when exactly it happened? Or where he landed? It could explain a few myths or legends."
Like the leviathans perhaps, or the kraken.
Still, Tony frowned as he pondered a conundrum which had occurred to him before. How could Jörmungandr be in Norse mythology if Rock of Ages hadn't even constructed him yet just over six hundred years ago?
Did time move differently between the Realms? It would help explain a few things and line up with some other Earth legends. Like what happened if one travelled to the faery realm, which he now strongly suspected was Álfyheimr- or whatever word Thor had mentioned a few months back. It was actually rather silly of them to have assumed time would be static between worlds given it was relative.
"It must have been just over half a millennium ago now," Thor replied. "But I do not know which ocean Father threw it in."
"I think we had better take all of this back to the tower," Steve said, glancing around. "I think it's safe to say Karnilla has gone, and Director Fury will wish to learn all of this."
Fury, oh boy, that man was not going to like any of this, that was for sure! Tony almost looked forward to watching him blow a gasket. Though, they would need to find a way of keeping Little Prince occupied, at least at first as he didn't deserve to get any of the fallout for what his older self had caused. The way Thor was all but clutching his little brother, however, told him that separating them would not be easy.
Quickly, he stepped back out of hearing range of their miniature God of Mischief.
"Guys," he said into the comms. "I'm going to have JARVIS give Fury and co a heads up so they don't react too badly before Little Prince."
"A good idea," Steve replied. "This is going to force us to rethink a few things."
"At least we'll have the time to do so," Bruce commented.
"Assuming Karnilla doesn't have any plans of her own," Natasha added.
"Fingers crossed!" Tony stated, before he cut them from his comm. "Did you hear that, J?"
"Yes, Sir. Shall I send the entire footage of the fight?" JARVIS inquired.
"Probably best, but rather than send it, link them into the Avengers conference room as usual. Don't want them realizing its easier to access SHIELD than they actually think."
"Of course not, Sir. You would not survive without your snacks."
Tony really was doing to have to find the sarcastic part of his AI's code and delete it. This was getting out of hand.
Your first glimpse at little Loki, what do you think?
And, yes, I couldn't help but add in Jörmungandr, the one kid of Loki and Angrboða's who hasn't appeared in some fashion in the MCU yet. Even if the others have been twisted along with Sleipnir.
For those of you unaware of the Little Prince reference, please see look up the relevant Wikipedia page. I'd link it here, but FF.N really doesn't like links :(