The next morning, Loki wandered through the halls, searching for her brother, Thor. She'd been up all night scheming, but a carefully placed illusion hid any sign of it. As she walked, Loki ran over the plan(s) in her mind one last time.

Option A: Make Thor into a worthy king. Get the people to see it. Thor becomes king, everyone is happy, and Loki could spend her days studying magic in blissful solitude.

Option B: Make Thor a puppet king and rule from the shadows. Tricky, but doable.

Option C: Replace Odin - or Thor, depending on the timing - with an illusion, and rule Asgard that way.

Option D: Ingratiate herself with the people, get rid of Thor somehow, and take Asgard for her own. A last resort, to be sure, but the most likely one, Loki thought ruefully.

Loki found Thor in the drill yard practicing with Mjolnir. Debris was strewn across the field, and electricity crackled through the early morning air. The poor soldier assigned to spar the God of Thunder was struggling desperately to hold his own, but one well-place hammer blow knocked his spear out of his hand to spin away into a corner.

"I yield!" the soldier cried, throwing his hands up in surrender. Thor lowered Mjolnir, and the static electricity in the air died away.

Loki clapped slowly as she walked onto the lawn. "Bravo. Defeating a hapless foot soldier; what strength you possess."

"I'm not in the mood for this, Sister." Thor said with a growl.

"So I see. Forgive me; my tongue ran away on its own."

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to apologize," Loki told him. "I overreacted last night. It was wrong of me to lash out at you for other people's mistakes, and I should not have thrown you in the moat."

Thor stared at her incredulously. Loki was not known for feeling any sort of remorse for her actions. "Apology accepted." Then he smiled at her. "I do believe that's the first time in many years I've heard you say those words."

"Yeah, well, don't go getting used to it. I don't intend to make it a habit." Loki replied. "Now, how would you like a real challenge?"

"You?" Thor snorted. "Forgive me for saying this, Loki, but you have nowhere near the strength to best me; you will only embarrass yourself in front of our subjects.

"Care to bet? Usual stakes?"

Thor's grin widened. "As you wish, then."

A few minutes later, brother and sister stood on opposite sides of the sand-covered arena. They could not have been more different. Thor, in his silver armor and red cloak, gripped Mjolnir tightly. His stance reminded some of the onlookers of a bilgesnipe about to charge. Loki's black hair and green eyes were a sharp contrast to Thor's blond-haired, blue-eyed visage; from looks alone, no one would have guessed they were siblings. Loki wore a set of green and gold armor she'd designed herself, a golden helmet with a pair of horns that curled back up over her head, and twirled a pair of daggers in her hands experimentally. She was much smaller than her brother, but she carried herself with a delicate grace that belied her agility and speed.

Loki smirked to herself as she held Thor's gaze from across the arena. What her brother didn't know was that Sif had been teaching Loki how to fight for close to a year now, and that training had paid off. This was going to be fun.

With a cry, Thor rushed at her, swinging Mjolnir for her head. Loki ducked and kicked out at his leg, then spun away, daggers up and gleaming in the early morning sun. Thor swung again, and Loki dodged again. Mjolnir's handle gave her brother a longer reach than Loki's daggers afforded. It was a battering weapon, designed for wild, crushing blows, not the delicate almost surgical strikes Loki preferred. One good hit would be enough to knock her out of the fight; this early on she needed to be careful.

Thor swung again. And - again - he missed. This time, Loki vanished from under the incoming strike to appear behind him, lashing out with a savage strike that tore a gash in Thor's ruby-red cape but glanced off his armor. Loki hissed in frustration, then vanished again, reappearing off to the side. This time, her dagger found a weak spot between the armored scales on Thor's arm, earning her a bright trickle of gold.

"First blood," Loki said with a smirk as Thor looked down at his arm incredulously. Loki heard Sif cheering and turned to wave at her. Thor, seeing his chance, swung Mjolnir in a brutal arc down from over his head, roaring with the effort...only for Mjolnir to thud into sand where Loki had been only a moment ago.

"Loki! Stop this cheating at once!"

"There were no rules," a chorus of Lokis said in unison. Thor blasted one with a bolt of lightning. It vanished in a spray of green sparkles, but the other twenty or so illusions just laughed. "Therefore, it's not cheating."

Thor spun angrily as pain laced down his arm, but by the time he turned around nothing was there but another gash. The illusions were still laughing and spinning around the arena as Loki came in for another stroke, this time chopping a large chunk out of the side of Thor's hair. She chuckled as Thor watched it drift to the ground with fury in his eyes. It was just an illusion, but of course he didn't know that. Nor did he know that the real Loki was standing less than two feet from him, invisible, watching with silent mirth as he tried to figure out which illusion was real. Finally, in frustration, he blasted them all with lightning and discovered the deception.

"Show yourself, sister!"

"Very well." Loki dropped her illusion, and Thor jumped away with a curse.

Loki chuckled. Thor was far too predictable when he was angry. "Is that the best you've got?" she asked with a smirk. Thor didn't reply; instead, he swung Mjolnir around until the hammer was only a blur and launched himself at her. Loki took one step to the side and winced as her brother smashed into the arena wall, having been unable to stop in time. "Come and get me if you can," she taunted. Loki summoned her magic inside her, willing her body to change as she wanted it to. A tingling sensation started in her shoulders as she changed. It was a strange feeling - one she was still getting used to - but not unpleasant, and the look on Thor's face was 100% worth it. In fact, everyone gawked as Loki's jet-black wings took shape. Even Sif, Loki's best friend, hadn't seen this trick yet. With a grin, Loki launched herself into the sky with a powerful stroke of her wings. The morning sunlight glinted against the feathers, revealing shimmering bands of underlying colors. Loki let out a cry of delight as she flew higher and higher, circling above the arena.

Finally, Thor shook himself out of his shocked stupor and took off after her. Loki laughed as she spun through the air, dodging bursts of lightning, and she lamented having avoided dueling for so long. This was surprisingly fun! A few minutes later, she got the opportunity she was hoping for. She swooped around behind Thor, crashing into him from above. He lost his grip on Mjolnir, and they plummeted out of the sky like a falling star, smashing into the arena floor below. When the dust settled, Loki was on top of Thor, a dagger at his throat, grinning like a maniac.

Seeing no other choice, Thor sighed. "I yield."

Loki's smile grew even wider.