Edit: September 2021.

Fixed some Grammar and spelling errors. As well as made some additions to the Lore.

Thor growled, "What do you mean he's dead!?"

Hawkeye shrugged as he bent over the body finding no pulse, "Hulk must have killed him."

"No skin off my teeth," Iron Man shrugged "Anyone want a little celebratory martini." He asked going to the bar.

"This is not the time to celebrate Stark," Thor glared. "This is the worst thing that could have happened!"

Tony sighed, "Look I know he was your brother but he did just kill a few thousand people."

"You misunderstand Stark," Thor shook his head. "I do not speak from grief. Death does not mean the same thing for my people as it does for yours. We are creatures of energy, with our bodies merely a solid shell."

"Whatever comforts you," Tony brushed off.

"Where do you think your superstitions come from?" Thor glared. "When Demigods die, if properly trained, we can build ourselves a new body. Loki might not have been of Odin, but his birth father was still a god, in his own right. So the skill had been taught to Loki.

"As long as he was alive, Loki was trapped in a physical form, but once the body died he was freed and no doubt escaped far away from here. There is no telling what form he will take now or what face he will choose... Loki is still out there, no doubt planning his next move."

He was SCREWED. Loki was panicking as he traveled as formless light, as far away as possible. He was not able to keep his promise to Thanos. He was in debt to THANOS. If he did not think of something of equal value, to an infinity stone, Thanos would utterly destroy him. Unlike humans Thanos actually did have ways to permanently kill a god. Oh hell he lost the staff to. That meant Loki owed the psychopath TWO infinity stones!

Loki shuddered finding a small remote area to hide in, far far away from New York City, but not too far away. Somewhere near enough so no one would think to look for him.

Besides he could go no further, he needed to rest. That Hulk creature had somehow not only killed his body but his fist damaged his very soul. It must be all that gamma radiation.

Under normal circumstances Loki would wait until his spirit had recovered, before attempting to build himself a body, but the risk were too high. In this state he was not only defenseless, but Thor could easily see him for who he is. He needed a shell to hide behind, something unthreatening, something... innocent. Oh that was perfect.

The light became solid, taking on the small form of a child with long black hair and blue eyes. He gave himself the most innocent looking face he could, adding freckles on his cheeks and nose for added effect. Something shamefully adorable to the extreme. His body was skinny and frail, looking as a strong wind could end him. His skin was pale and flawless, looking much the scholar who hid away from the sun.

He was now dressed in baggy Midgardian clothes, appropriate for a child in his early teens, with big round glasses. He could blend in easily like this and Thor would never suspect him. If he did find him Thor would even go easy on him, not being able to harm a child. If only such a trick could work on Thanos.

Loki sighed and started his journey. This would have to be exile for a time. He had to stay hidden. He had to figure out what he was going to do... oh he was so screwed.

• 3 Months after "Age of Ultron":

WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING!? This was the worst possible form he could have taken! It was impossible to move around during 'school hours' as everyone kept asking him why he wasn't there. Apparently school was not reserved for the nobles here, but a mandatory practice for all children.

Admittedly that was a good thing and he intended to keep that system in place, when he finally conquered this planet, but it made it fairly obvious he could not easily blend in during the day.

In addition, finding work was impossible. There were the most useless of laws preventing children from even APPRENTICING for a craft. Something he most certainly WOULD change.

He settled for using a bit of alchemy to turn things to gold, but found shops would not accept anything beyond useless paper, and refused to barter at all. He tried selling the gold to one of those "cash for gold" places, but they threatened to "call his mother for trying to sell her jewelry". He actually had to run out of one of the traders, to avoid getting the authorities called, when that shop keeper accused him of stealing the gold.

Ironically, he had to resort to petty thieving after that. He had no choice, or else he wouldn't be able to eat.

Since he could not rent a hotel room, without drawing suspicion, he had to live in a bloody BOX. Of course, he used magic to make the box larger on the inside, and acquired himself some nice furniture through less then legal means.

He even got a 'Television' which he powered by magic along with some 'videogames' to pass the boring morning hours. While other kids were in school. He also found he had to 'confiscate' more clothing as wearing the same thing every day drew suspicion.

He, at least, was able to keep himself, and his things, clean with magic. He had to rely heavily on his craft, but unfortunately this body was too young and had little stamina. He sighed, taking this form was such a huge mistake. It could not handle his full magical power, so he had to practice often. Which quickly tired his body out.

Even physically, this useless body was about as weak as an average Asgardian child, due to the injuries of his soul at the time from that Hulk monster. He was never very good at creating muscles but this was ridiculous.

At least he was still stronger then a human, but he was far more vulnerable in this form. Even the density of his skin was pitiful. One of these mortal's mere bullets could bruise him. Where other weapons could actually make him bleed.

This was possibly the dumbest thing he had ever done, and in recent years that was an impressive list. He also required a large amount of food just to fuel it.

Where an adult body, of such higher beings, could go hundreds of years without eating a thing (although few Asgardians did that with how gluttonous they were). This had just been such a bad idea.

Loki sighed again stepping out into the street. As he was hungry again. He casually walked down the street, his nimble fingers pulling a wallet from a man's pocket.

He could use a spell for that, but he found using too much magic just made him more tired. So he reserved it for emergencies or stamina building. However he only did the latter when he was safe in his heavily warded box... he should have considered using his powers this time.

Suddenly someone grabbed his hand, but it was not the man he stole from. It was a different man, dressed in a red skintight suit with a bit of yellow, and a seal on his chest of a lightning bolt.

"Ah hell," Loki groaned as the superhero, known as "The Flash", took the wallet out of his hand. Then handed it back to the guy the demigod had robbed.

Loki really had no choice now. He'd been caught. Best case scenario was getting his hand chopped off, if this was anything like Asgard. So he turned his hand to ice, made it freeze until it burned.

The speedster gasp in shock as he let go and Loki instantly teleported away. He couldn't get far as this body couldn't handle the strain, but he could get to the top of the roof and hide. Unfortunately he had mistaken this Flash to be as stupid and oblivious as his brother. Another poor mistake.

The man must have noticed the loud 'pop', and smoke, as he reappeared on the roof. As not a moment later the man was right there.

Loki slammed his palms on the rock, or 'concrete', roof and poored his magic into it. Large spikes of rock jet out of it, to impale the speedster. Yet again he was too fast. He was still getting closer. Loki quickly coated the entire roof in ice, and when the Speedster tripped, the boy jumped off the roof.

Loki used a feather fall spell to slow his descent and used an invisibility spell for obvious reasons. The moment his feet touch the ground, he was running. All the while, forcing himself to maintain his invisibility. He could feel the spell quickly eating away at his magic as he ran. His magic depleting quickly.

He ran all the way back to his box but couldn't actually make it inside. His magic was spent, his body was exhausted. His spell gave out and he collapsed. He tried to crawl to it, but it was too much... all went black.

Loki gasped, opening his eyes, to find he was in one of the mortal's healing Chambers. He quickly checked to make sure his limbs were still attached and sighed with relief. He wasn't even handcuffed to the bed, not like such a thing could hold him. Still it was rather foolish to not have some kind of security... oh hell. Loki groaned seeing the runes on the walls. No spell work could be cast in here with those things up.

Loki's eyes turned fearful when the door opened. Without his magic he was completely defenseless! He jumped out of the bed to try and find some place to hide, but all he managed to do was fall on his face.

"Woh, kid calm down," The Flash yelped as other heroes stepped in.

Loki only came to about the waist of the shortest of them. Midgardian children... were short. They physically mature at about the same rate as most humanoid races. However, they grow in height very slowly. They usually stop growing around 30, but don't often have traditional growth spurts. Maybe one when they turn 16, continued through 19, but they only grow a couple feet during that time. Usually it's only a few inches each year, until they brake 7 feet.

Batman was amongst them, and Loki was rather surprised by his aura to see he really was a Vampire, as the Television suggested.

Not because the idea was bizarre, but because it was daytime. Batman must be rather closely related to the devils that bred the first generation of vampire. Otherwise the sun would burn him. Vampires became weaker for every following Generation, as the blood becomes more and more diluted with human.

The one who turned him must have been old, given Batman himself seemed so very young, only a hundred years since he was turned would be Loki's guess.

Ignoring him for a moment, a greater issue had to be the Martian Manhunter, who accompanied them. The green skinned alien no doubt here to see into the "Boy's" mind, but Loki could trick such a lower creature easily. Loki saw them, and their 'Justice League', frequently on the news. Although they tried to keep their distance from SHIELD, they had been reported to cooperate with them. This was not a safe place to be.

"Easy now," Flash spoke soothingly as if Loki was some feral animal... perhaps he could use that too his advantage? They obviously didn't know just who they had managed to capture. Or this "Flash" wouldn't be treating him so gently.

"W-where am I?" Loki stammered, acting the frightened boy.

"You're safe," Flash assured.

"You collapsed from magical exhaustion." Another man stepped in, obviously a magic user of some kind. He must have been the one to place the runes.

He felt like a Lord of Order... those couldn't interact with the mortal plane without some kind of host. Regardless of the merits of possession, that guy could be hard to Persuade. He could no doubt taste the chaos in Loki, and if the demigod tried to hide it now, it would just cause greater issue.

Still the Lord of Order spoke gently, clearly believing Loki was just a child dabbling in things he didn't understand. "You almost killed yourself with those spells. They are far too advanced for someone so young."

"I still pulled them off didn't I!" Loki snapped, accidentally letting his true feelings be exposed. He might be the master of lies but he never could handle criticism.

"Yes you did," The mage nodded "Very impressive, though I'm curious... where did you learn such magics."

"M-my parents," Loki stammered again. His face morphing into an expression of mourning, "S-sorta... t-they only taught me basic stuff but... after the... well I had their books so I read them."

"Where are they now?" The mage asked.

Loki pretended to be angered by the question. "What you wanna steal them! They're all I have left! I won't let you!"

Loki tried to conjure a blasting hex, pretending he didn't notice the runes. A few sparks flew out (which even that was impressive under the runes) but nothing actually happened.

Loki made his eyes widened, in shock, and tried to cast the spell again. He then preceeded to visibly freak out, running around the room, screaming his head off. All the while trying to get away from the heroes.

Flash easily caught him, but the boy struggled as hard as he could well shrieking, "Let Go! Let Go! LET GO!!!"

"It's okay," Flash insisted. "No one is going to steal your books, even though you didn't seem to mind stealing from other people."

"How else am I supposed to eat!?" Loki snapped, incorporating the two character traits for this persona, running both hot and cold.

"You seem to have misunderstood" said the mage. "I was asking after your parents, not the books."

"O-oh..." Loki forced himself to blush "I-I... they're waiting for me back home." He made it very obvious that he was lying this time.

"Really," the mage raised an eyebrow.

"Y-yeah s-so you better let me go before they call the police on you for kidnapping. Heroes or not, you can't go abducting kids! Or is that how you get your 'sidekicks'."

They ignored that comment, "So why didn't you ask your parents for money instead of-"

"T-they're busy!"

"In that case could you please give me their number, so we can call them, and tell them what's going on."

Loki cleverly made his eyes water, before shaking his head.

"Why not?"

Loki sniffed and muttered "Please don't send me to an orphanage."

The heroes shared a look, and the mage encouraged, "We need you to be honest with us now. Where are your parents?"

"T-they..." Loki forced a few tears to trickle down his face "They died... at New York. I-I got to Central City using our RV but it broke down and..."

"It's okay," Flash hugged him and he did his best not to pull back in disgust. "Do you have relatives in Central City?"

Loki shook his head. "W-we always went everywhere together. We only came into the cities to resupply. W-we traveled a lot."

"In a caravan?" The mage asked and Loki nodded. "I take it then you've never been to a school."

"M-my parents h-homeschooled me a-and da others," Loki sniffed.

"What's your name?"

"Jivin," Loki lied... he didn't know why he blurted out that name... he hadn't thought about him in millenniums. Regardless, the damage was done. He would just have to deal with that being his alias.

The mage nodded, "You should get some rest." he signalled to the others, obviously believing he got what he needed.

"W-what's y-your name?" Loki stammered.

"Many have come to call me, Doctor Fate."

"So?" Flash asked, as they stepped out into the hospital's hallway.

Martian Manhunter shook his head, "I sensed no deception from him. Apart from when he told us his parents were waiting for him, but I doubt you needed a telepath to know that was a lie."

"His background is consistent for why there are no records of him," Said Doctor Fate. "It sounds like he was part of a gypsy caravan. It isn't uncommon for magic users to be amongst them, and it also explains why his skin and muscles are so dense. Gypsy Sorcerers often cast spells on their children to give them an advantage over others, and his physical abilities do seem to be rooted in magic. He has a great deal of potential to become an extremely powerful magic user, but right now his body can't hold the strain of spell casting. A common problem with children that he will be able to overcome with practice. We need to keep an eye on him to insure he does not become a threat."

"A threat?" Flash sneered. "He's a little kid!"

"Who, by your own admission, is already showing signs of becoming a super villain," Fate insisted.

"A 'Super Villain'?" Flash glared. "Why? Because he wanted to get breakfast?"

"Food was not the only thing I found in that box," Doctor Fate informed. "Just because he is starting small, doesn't mean it won't become an issue when he's older. He is already in the habit of simply taking things that he wants."

"So what do you suggest we do with him?" Flash glared, "Lock the kid up!?"

"It would be dangerous for you if the Rogues got a hold of him." Fate thought he provided an irrefutable argument.

"Okay first off," Flash held up his hand. "The Rogues are Outlaws, not Super Villains, and second, the kid is just trying to survive on his own. You try to lock him up, that's a guaranteed way of turning him into something dangerous, as a coping mechanism!"

"Then what do you propose?"

"I'll just take him with me like I did with Trickster!"

"And how is that working out for you? Didn't 'Trickster' join the Rogues?"

Batman finally spoke up, "If the kid is kept in this city, it is inevitable that he will meet the Rogues, and 'Super villains' or not they will undoubtedly become a bad influence. So a compromise is needed. Enroll the boy in school here, but afterwards have him report with the rest of the Titans. There he can learn how to use his abilities for more productive means... and invite the Junior Rogues as well."

Flash blinked, "You'd be okay with that, Bats?"

"They're just kids," Batman replied. "If we start trying to influence them now, they could still become productive members of society."

Flash smiled, "Thanks," but then groaned when he realized something. "Unfortunately they're going to need some kind of incentive. They are being raised by outlaws after all."

"I can give them a decent payment, per mission, but training will be mandatory and they won't see a cent for it."

Flash nodded, "I can probably swing that. Captain Cold won't like them playing hero but if enough money is involved he'll allow it. Like I said, he's an outlaw. He might not like cops, and most capes, but if I tell him the deal is on the up and up he'll trust me."

"He trust you?" Fate eyed.

Flash glared at the body snatcher, "We've got a weird relationship." Then turned more appreciative eyes back at Batman, "but that means you can't try to use the kids to catch the other Rogues. Our relationship is delicate and complex. If you do something to jeopardize that, he might want to start playing for keeps. Instead of just trying to get away, like he does now. It will also mean any hope I have of talking some sense into those kids, or them ever trusting me again, will be completely gone."

"I won't do anything unless necessary."

"... then no," Flash informed. "Thanks for the offer to help with them, but the only way that could work is if you left things alone, even if it was necessary."

Batman eyed him for a moment, "Alright, you have my word. I won't interfere, beyond giving the kids some much needed guidance."

Doctor Fate looked outraged, it could even be seen through his helmet "Batman!?"

The vampire reminded, "Jivin will undoubtedly form a relationship with the Rogues. He is far too great a potential threat to allow ourselves to hold no influence over the situation. The Junior Rogues will undoubtedly be the ones he will interacte with the most. If we do not get to them we will lose him."

Loki eyed the mortal accommodations and couldn't help but feel his box was better suited. He found a closet, which had nothing more in it then a vacuum cleaner and found it would serve his purpose. He dragged the vacuum cleaner out and closed the door behind him before getting to work. They didn't appear to have an extra room for him, and he was hardly willing to share. Besides they should be grateful for what he was about to do.

It was... strange. Barry Allen, AKA 'The Flash', revealed to him his 'secret identity'. Such pointless things really, but most Midgardian Champions seemed to rely on them greatly. No what was really puzzling was the man brought him into his home with the intention of letting him live here... he just accepted him so easily. Loki knew he could be charming but this was impressive even by his standards.

Barry Allen had a nephew living with him, who also had the powers of a Speedster. Although the boy was apparently out with his friends, and Loki would be working with the boy and his group of 'junior heroes'. He'd meet them all tomorrow, and then the next day he would be going to the same school as the Flash's nephew. He really had no need of schooling as he undoubtedly knew far more then these mortals, about the nature of the universe, but it seemed it was now necessary for his cover.

This was a good opportunity to learn more about the champions of Midgard.

"Jivin?" Barry called looking around.

"In here," Loki called from the 'Closet'.

Barry blinked and opened the door. His mouth dropped as he looked inside. The door now led to a long hallway filled with rooms. Jivin was in the back, magically stretching the walls further out. The boy was panting as he did so, sweat dripping down his body.

"R-relax," the boy panted, as he stopped stretching the halls, and sank down to the floor. "I'll put up an illusionary wall, to make it still look like a closet. You can use most of these rooms for hero labs or what have you, but that one's mine." he pointed at a room, first door on the left.

Barry awkwardly coughed, "You know you didn't... have to. I just finished getting the bottom bunk in Wally's room ready."

Loki just barely prevented himself from scoffing, "I'm good thanks." The boy panted for a bit before standing up and going to his room. There was nothing in it, as of yet, but that could change shortly, "Can I have my stuff back now?"

Barry blinked shaking his head, and forcing himself to move past the impossible-ness of 42 large rooms, being compressed in a small closet. "You mean all the stuff you stole? Sorry kid, it's been confiscated by the League."

"WHAT!?" Loki gaped, "That was MY STUFF!"

"No it wasn't." Barry scolded.

"But my furniture! MY BED! Where am I supposed to sleep!?"

"With Wally," Barry was adamant.

Loki gaped, "Fine! SEE IF I HELP YOU AGAIN!!!" he stomped out of the hallway.

Barry sighed, "We can buy you some new furniture tomorrow, and Trickster might like having his own room, for when he stays over to... Thank you Jivin, that was very thoughtful."

Loki stopped, looking at the champion a moment. Strange as it was, no one ever thanked him when he tried to help out with his magic. They usually yelled at him for doing something 'Useless' and interfering with 'real work'.

"This is amazing, Jivin," Barry awed walking into the new hallway. "How'd you do this? I mean what's the science behind it."

Loki blinked again before smiling, always eager to show off his knowledge. "Everything is just a matter of perspective. I merely altered the spatial limitations of the interior well leaving the exterior alone."

"So it's a pocket dimension." Barry studied the walls and looked inside the room.

"Essentially yes," Loki nodded.

"Interesting," Barry observed. "Wally is going to flip when he sees this. He always does when he sees something magical, although that might be my fault. I taught him to always look for a scientific explanation behind spell casters, so he can defend against them, but that made him become a bit prejudice against it. Back when he started understanding the science of magic."

Loki snorted, "Why? All magic is, is another word for science. It's just about understanding and manipulating the laws of nature. Anyone can do it with the right know how. Unfortunately there are a few mages who trouble me, as they dabble with the art, while not understanding how it works. Those idiots can cause a great deal of damage."

"Yes they can," Barry nodded. "But your parents taught you?"

Loki sighed, "My mother, father didn't really approve of my studying. He thought I should do something more useful with my time. Mother however was always encouraging me. She taught me everything she knew." A slight smile touched his face, a real smile as he thought of his adoptive mother.

Loki was momentarily lost in reminiscing. "You should have seen her face when I went beyond her abilities." Realizing what he gave away he added a nice lie, "I didn't exactly have the stamina she did but I could cast complex spells she still hadn't mastered."

Barry smiled, "I bet she was very proud to be your mom."

Loki lost his smile, "I'd like to think so." Then he distracted, "Now do you have anything to eat? I'm starving."