"First of all, the image you project is important, the public will judge you at first glance. You must reflect a welcoming, reassuring image. So avoid aggressive tones. Depending on the audience you are targeting, change your style. Find out about fashion trends or choose a style that is deliberately offbeat. But don't forget that you have to feel good. You will immediately notice if you wear clothes without feeling comfortable. So if you want to change radically, take the time to get used to it before exposing yourself to others".
Loki yawned and blinked as he put his chin on the desk. He looked up to follow the man talking on his computer screen. How annoying that mortal was... And to think that he was supposed to be one of the best in his field. Loki stood up and pressed the space bar on his keyboard, pausing the video. Basically he wasn't supposed to come in red and with blond hair? Well... Red and blond? That was exactly Thor. Of course he wasn't supposed to be like his brother! You don't need to be a so-called expert to know that! The Jotun scratched the back of his head, he had been preparing his campaign plan for weeks, which he then wanted to present to the Avengers. They were humans, he wanted an opinion from the people of Earth. But he wasn't going to talk to mere mortals on the street! So he had come to the conclusion that Thor's friends would be perfect for his first test.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
On an image of Loki posing underneath his slogan, the projector turned off and the room turned on again. Loki, in a neat suit and tie and with his hair neatly combed, presented himself to the group of humans, proud of his presentation. He had mastered the PowerPoint tool! What a brilliant breakthrough! It was not his brother who could do that. He didn't even know what a telephone was for.
- So? What do you think? he asked with eyes shining with curiosity.
Tony dropped his pen to the floor, Bruce scratched the back of his head, Natasha elbowed Clint who had fallen asleep, Steve lifted his head from the notebook in which, as the top of the class, he had carefully taken notes and Thor remained silent, also waiting for the Avengers' opinion on his brother's project.
- Uh... How shall I put it, began the Russian who did not really want to offend the god because he could be angry and resentful. "Let's live well, let's live without humans" is a bit... Extreme.
- Is it?
Loki seemed destabilized by this information. He thought it was a good slogan. It rhymed too*. Anything that rhymes is good, right?
- You can't become president by promising to kill those who voted for you, Tony explained. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make sense that I'm telling you how to succeed in politics either. I'm not even a professor of Political Science and besides... Why do I keep talking to you?
Tony interrupted himself and engaged in an inner dialogue with a frown. Clearly Tony left hemisphere was in conflict with Tony right hemisphere. The question was who would take control. The super-soldier jumped at the opportunity, Tony, who was silent, it was too rare not to take advantage of it.
- I really like the colors of the posters, said the Cap'tain putting the tip of his pencil on one of the pages of his notebook. The layout too, they are very sought-after. It reflects an image of movement, of change. And change is important.
- Steve! cut Tony off, preferring to postpone his discussion with himself until later, while Loki smiled cheerfully delighted that someone was appreciating his work.
- What?
- We mustn't encourage him, he wants to kill humans. The. Humans. Us! We are humans!
- Yes, we are. The slogan, said the blond man turning a page.
He reread several times what he had written down.
- Indeed, I think we need a more singing one.
- Singing? repeated Thor who didn't see what his friends might have to say about his little brother's project.
- Yes, when I made public appearances to encourage the troops...
- That was propaganda, Steve, Bruce interrupted him.
The super-soldier looked down for a moment and preferred to silently plunge back into his notes. He blackened a corner of the page with a pencil. He didn't really feel like getting into a debate. For him it wasn't propaganda. He had just been able to serve his country and encourage people to do the same. It was a generous act. No? Loki played for a moment with the projector's remote control before speaking again.
- Then you wouldn't vote for me?
- Absolutely not, Tony and Clint answered in unison.
- No," Natasha sighed crossing her arms.
She still didn't understand why she had agreed to come.
- Me neither, Bruce said.
- Of course brother, Thor smiled affectionately.
- Well, if we change the slogan, Steve began before taking a murderous look at himself from the rest of the team.
The soldier coughed and closed his notebook.
- We'll have to see," he finally says.
Loki sadly lowered his shoulders. While he had made efforts to try to take control of the Earth in a perfectly legal and democratic way, the Avengers still didn't offer him any support. Except for his brother and the walking Star-Spangled Banner.
- What if I promised not to hurt the midgardians?
- We wouldn't believe you Loki.
- But what if it's true? And then all politicians make promises, don't they?
The Avengers exchanged glances. Loki really seemed motivated in his political career. Maybe a little support wouldn't hurt. If he were to get into it, he might forget his murderous desires.
- Steve, your turn, said the Russian spy with a small hand gesture.
- Well, I suppose that would simplify everything. If you take away your plan to kill your electorate it should go better.
- And it might work?
- If people are crazy enough to vote for an alien who wants to exterminate them," Tony laughed, shooting at his pen that he hadn't picked up.
But Loki was gone in his dreams.
- That way I would be elected and I would take control of New York, then the United States, then America, then the whole Midgard, he monologued with the look of a child who has just been given a gift. I will enslave the human race and use it to create an army to control the entire galaxy.
The team of superheroes stared at him in silence. The god had just explained that he still intended to take control of the Earth. And the galaxy? And he seriously wanted help?
The door of the room slammed brutally behind the heroes.
- Wait! Acknowledge that my brother is making an effort, Thor said.
The god of thunder looked at the dark-haired man chewing his lips.
- I'm sorry, my brother. But they can't forget what you did.
Loki crossed his arms sulking. One day he would take control of this cursed planet. No matter the means, he would succeed at all costs. Reflecting at full speed, a small smile slowly appeared on his lips. So that... It was genius, it was wonderful, it was magnificent, it was... It was just him. Loki shrugged his shoulders as he walked out of the room. The Avengers were stopping him from playing by the rules? No problem, he was going to play against them. And starting tomorrow.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
Tony's glass crashed to the ground in a thousand shards.
- What the hell is this?!
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
Steve knocked in a bag before turning to the screen that was playing the news.
- Well...
He stopped his workout and removed the bandages protecting his phalanges.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
Clint slowly took his phone out of his pocket.
- Hello Tony?
- At the HQ right away!
- Thanks for asking, it's going very well.
But Tony had already hung up. Clint put his phone back in his pocket and looked down at the knife firmly against his throat. Then on the hand that held the knife, and finally on the face of the redhead whose hand it belonged to.
- Tony need us 'tasha, we're going to have to postpone training.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
- Immediately Bruce! Do you understand? Bring him here immediately!
Tony wiped his forehead on the back of his hand. He couldn't feel it. He didn't feel it at all...
- And tell him to buy a phone, he ended up shouting before hanging up. Bloody asgardians...
Bruce put his phone on the coffee table. To think that he had barely settled in... The scientist grabbed his suit jacket and got up, just when the Nordic god with whom he normally had to spend some time around a beer arrived.
- Thor, good timing, we're going back to the Tower, Tony wants to talk to us. It concerns your brother.
The asgardian frowned and turned back, following in the doctor's footsteps. It had to be about Loki for him to miss a pint of beer.
- Oh, and by the way, Tony would like you to buy a phone.
- What for?
- To... Never mind, forget it.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
- Crisis meeting.
- I'm willing to believe you, Tony. What is this absolute mess? Who let him do this?
- Thank you, Clint, extremely relevant intervention. Anyone else have a comment to share? Preferably something we didn't already know," Tony finished by giving the SHIELD agent a stern look.
Clint shamelessly averted his eyes, putting the philanthropist's remaining vague patience to the test.
- I don't see what the problem is, my brother has found a job. That's all I see.
- ... Are you serious?
The blond nodded calmly and Tony clenched his fingers on the metal table.
- A job! Let's talk about that job. President of the United States? Your brother... Sitting in the White House making a speech on television from the presidential lounge, do you find that normal? You say there is no PROBLEM?
- Calm down Tony, Pepper calmly intervenes.
- CALM DOWN?! THIS MADMAN PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?
- Would you excuse us for a moment?
The rest of the team nodded as Pepper pulled Tony into the hallway. The sliding door cut off the billionaire's whining. Everyone turned to Steve who seemed to be thinking about the meaning of life. Natasha spoke calmly.
- What do we do now?
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
- What do I do now?
Loki, in a dark suit, soberly dressed with snake cufflinks tapped the thick desk with his nails. He moved his chair back and put his heels on a file decorated with the logo of the secret service. The green eyes of the god swept across the oval desk. His fingers tapped nervously on the black armrests. He was getting bored again.
*in the original, yes "vivons bien, vivons sans humains"
I know, I know, in the end Loki doesn't spend so much time as president but who knows, maybe he'll come back later?
So it's at this point that running out of ideas (it happened very quickly) I proposed to the readers to choose what Loki was going to do. If you have any ideas you are free to leave suggestions.
