He was hanging off the severed end of a bright, multi-colored bridge, dangling over the vast cosmos. He held the end of a staff, while looking into the sky blue eyes of a big blond man dressed in armor. The eyes were caring and concerned. But for some reason, he despised the blond man who was the only thing keeping him up by grasping the other end of the staff. He could not bear to be held by him a moment longer. "Loki, no." cried the man with the long blond hair. The man could see what he was about to do. He let go. "Nooooo!" the blond man cried to him as he fell into the abyss. The darkness of space engulfed him.

He was surrounded by hideous creatures who were big and had gray skin and hideous faces with mouths opened wide with pointed teeth. They were torturing him. All he felt was pain. He knew he had to keep his promise to them. This session of brutality was just a taste of what sort of pain they could bring upon him if he failed. If he succeeded, then he would not only be fulfilling their needs, but his own as well. This thought was enough to make him smile. At that point, he started laughing hysterically while the torture commenced. He was truly insane, and worst of all he knew it... and embraced it.

He was in a fine hall, with upper-class society dressed in fancy clothing. He too wore a suit to match theirs. They were all having a grandiose time, laughing and drinking champagne. He was about to have some fun of his own. He smacked a man out of his path with his cane. He grabbed his targeted victim by the scruff of the neck and flipped him backwards onto an alter. The alter was in the form of an ox that these pathetic mortals once used to worship. How fitting that this man should be sacrificed upon it. He took out a sinister looking device and gouged it into the eye-socket off the man. People screamed in terror. He smiled.

In no time at all, the mortals were running away from him. He flipped a car just for the thrill of it. He was now dressed in his kingly attire of green and gold. He supported a golden helmet with large, curved horns and wielded a staff with a glowing blue gem in it. With a quick spell he multiplied and surrounded the panicking civilians. "Kneel before me!" He demanded madly. "I said KNEEL!"

Loki bolted upright from the bed. He was tangled in sheets and dripping sweat. He had had these sorts of nightmares before. In truth, this was not the worst. Sometimes they were so bad that he would throw up as soon as he awakened. The worst part of those dreams, though, was not what went on in them. The worst part was sharing the same feelings with those of the mad man he was in those dreams. Now that Loki knew it was Loki and that he was Loki, he just felt worse. He had done those things. He had done, evil and terrible things and enjoyed them. What kind of monster am I? Loki thought to himself.

After taking several moments to calm down, he looked at the digital clock beside his bed. It showed 5:43am. He might as well get up. Loki dressed in the only cloths he had and quietly walked out of his room into the living room of the penthouse. Through the vast wall of windows, he could see that it was still dark out. The street lamps and several lights still glowed down in the city. Loki sat down in an armchair by the window, hoping to see the dawn that would soon come. He fiddled with a stack of magazines on a nearby coffee table. Then, underneath a special issue about a new Tony Stark design, Loki saw a half-torn apart envelope with a note attached to it. It read:

Thor,

I know you care for Earth technology just as much as I care for Asgardian magic, but I'm giving one to everyone on the team. Give it a chance and try not to break it.

-Tony

Inside the package was a brand new starkpad. Loki wondered how long it had just been sitting there under all the clutter on the coffee table. Thor obviously had not put much stock into it and Stark probably had hundreds of these just lying around the tower. Deciding nobody would miss it, Loki turned it on and went to the search page. He typed in Loki on the search engine. What he found was mostly news articles, video clips, a Wikipedia page, and some Norse Mythology references. He surfed through the pages, finding videos taken of him in Germany and during the battle of New York. The Loki on the YouTube videos had the same maddening look in his eyes that Loki felt every time he was his older self during his dreams. The news articles typically said something along the lines of:

The alien menace, Loki, adopted brother of Avenger, Thor, led an extraterrestrial attack on New York. Many confirm that the city was only the staging point for what could have become a worldwide catastrophe if not for the heroics of the Avengers…The Loki that came to Earth shares the same evil demeanor as that of his ancient description in Norse mythology as the God of Mischief and Lies… often the villain in many tales, has proven to be a villain in reality…

Loki stopped reading. It wasn't doing him any good to dwell on the same things that his dreams had confirmed. After touching Thor's hammer, Loki new they were not just dreams, though. Along with that unsettling fact, Mjolnir had also restored memories of things he had never dreamed about. Loki could now vaguely recollect his childhood growing up on Asguard. He remembered many of the adventures he and Thor had gone on. He remembered Sif and the Warriors Three. These memories were not truly whole, though. They were faded like the photos from a scrapbook that was forgotten in an attic for decades. They were bent, boxed around the edges, and some had succumbed to damage with no hope of restoration. Still, looking at them, he could remember himself doing all those things. And with a small glimmer of hope, he could see that not everything in those memories were bad. He had always had Thor. They were brothers. Or at least that was what he had been told most of his life. Maybe that is why it had had hurt so much to find out it was all really a lie. But was it? Despite everything, Thor still claimed him as a brother. Even if the Loki in his past life would deny it profusely, Loki would still like to believe they were still brothers.

The sun started to rise over the horizon, outlining the cityscape. The sound of a door opening caught Loki out of his daze. Steve Rogers walked past the living room, not noticing Loki, who sat motionless in the corner chair, and strode strait into the kitchen. Obviously he was the morning riser in the bunch. Loki looked on as Captain Rogers took a carton of milk from the fridge. After a quick glance over his shoulder back towards the hallway, the captain took a long swig striate from the carton.

"Ever think about using a glass, Captain?" Loki called from the living room. Steve jumped a little and choked a bit on the milk. Loki could not resist catching Captain America doing something immoral, though ever so small the act was.

"Oh, hey… didn't see you there," said the captain guiltily, wiping milk off his chin. "Did you sleep well," asked Steve, trying to change the subject.

Loki's face fell. "I've had worse nights." He said evenly.

Steve looked at Loki for a while. It was obvious by the way Loki's face had hardened that it had been a really bad night. Deciding not to pry and let the kid keep it to himself if he wanted to, Steve asked, "Did you want some breakfast? How do pancakes sound?"

"I've never had pancakes before," admitted Loki.

Steve's face lit up. "You're gonna love them," He promised. "Trust me."

Once the pancakes were made, both Steve and Loki sat at the breakfast table to enjoy them. Not too much later, Bruce came in followed by Natasha, Clint, Thor, and finally Tony. Bruce greeted them cheerfully and fixed himself a cup of calming tea. Natasha simply sat at the table and acted as if it was just any other ordinary morning. Clint came in and upon seeing Loki, grew a sour expression on his face as if he had just sucked on a lemon. Thor greeted Loki enthusiastically with a hug that nearly squished all of the air out of Loki's lungs, and then sat down to gobble up a heap of pancakes. Tony had obviously been up almost all night in his lab as usual and had about four cups of coffee before fully regaining consciousness.

"So kid," Natasha said, turning her gaze upon Loki. "Those the only clothes you have?" she asked, gesturing to Loki's rather medieval looking Asgardian clothing. Loki just stared at her, wondering what she was getting at. Natasha stared back and said, "I think Thor and I should take you shopping for something a little more… normal."

Loki agreed. Tony and Clint both started to protest about taking Loki out of the tower, but with a frightfully stern look from the Black Widow, they silenced their protests. After all, a demigod and a mater assassin could surly watch over a child.

With Thor changed into proper Midgardian attire and Natasha dressed like any other woman gone shopping, they took Loki a mall not far from the Avengers Tower. Loki picked out a series of hoodies, t-shirts, cargo shorts, some jeans, a pair of pajamas and some sneakers. He favored mostly green and a few dark colors. "What? I have a signature look," was all he said. They purchased the clothing with a credit card Tony had set up for Thor, which basically converted Asgardian gold into a form of cash usable on Earth. Loki changed into some of the new cloths before leaving the store, so as to avoid the curious looks he had gotten upon entering the mall with his Asgardian cloths on. He now wore a yellow t-shirt underneath a dark green hoodie and some black cargo shorts. Loki walked out of the store with his hood pulled up, hands in his pockets, and a hint of swagger.

Loki spent the next few days at the Avengers tower mostly locked in his room, surfing the Internet and reading books on the starkpad. He recalled his first childhood spent on Asguard, mostly spent reading the vast amount of books the libraries the great halls of Oden had to offer. Loki had never been as keen as Thor to spar with weapons against the other children. He much preferred to study all the nine realms had to offer on knowledge and magic. The starkpad may only draw information from just one realm, but it was a vast collection indeed. With the starkpad, there was no limit to the amount of knowledge he could acquire. And knowledge was a trickster's ultimate weapon, that, and of course magic, which Loki still cursed for not having.

Loki could not spend forever just reading though. He became restless one day and decided to venture to other parts of the tower. At first, he tried to be stealthy so as not to run into anyone. After much intriguing exploration, he ran into nobody. "Jarvis," Loki spoke out in the hallway, not sure where to direct his voice or that the AI would even listen to him. "Where is everybody?" he asked curiously.

"They are in the gaming room, Sir," replied the AI.

"Game room?" Loki wondered out loud.

"Yes sir, on floor seventy-six," Jarvis clarified.

Deciding to pay the Avengers a little visit, Loki hopped into the elevator and punched in floor seventy-six. Besides, he was interested in checking out this game room too and possibly having a little fun. Loki was about to enter the room. But then, he had a thought. A mischievous smile spread across his face.

The game room was equipped with a wall sized TV and a wide assortment of video games and their consoles. There was also a pool table, Ping-Pong table, air hockey, and a foosball table. And no state-of-the-art game room was complete without a fully stocked snack bar. Clint, Natasha, and Bruce were playing Super-Smash Bros. It was clear that Natasha was winning. Tony and Steve were at the Ping-Pong table, the captain having served a winning fast ball right past Tony's head. Thor sat at the snack bar, eating popcorn and questioning the details of the video game and how it proved who was a stronger warrior.

"Hey guys!" Loki exclaimed, seeming to appear out of nowhere right behind the couch of now startled video gamers. Everyone seemed to jump a foot high in surprise. Clint had dropped his controller and started to instinctively grasp his bow that was, at the time, not with him. Thor dropped the bowl of popcorn, spreading it all over the floor.

"What the Hell! Where did you come from?" asked a befuddled Stark. "Thor," Tony immediately turned to Thor. "I thought you said he couldn't use magic!" he accused.

"Who said I used magic?" Loki said nonchalantly, flipping over the armrest and stretching himself out comfortably on the couch and grabbing a potato chip from the bowl on the coffee table. He wore his best poker face.

"Then explain how you just seemed teleport yourself in here," demanded Tony.

"Trade secret," was all Loki said, giving the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist a wink. In truth, Loki had climbed through the air vents from the hall, into the room. He had come out on the far side of the game room next to the air hockey setup and had stealthily sneaked behind the couch. It had not been that hard. The video game was blasting loud enough and everyone was so engrossed in what they were doing to even notice him.

"What are you doing here?" asked Clint bitterly.

Loki looked up at him and smiled. "Well this is a game room, so I thought we could have a little fun."

"It's about time you got out of your room, if you ask me," stated Natasha.

"So what cha playin'," asked Loki, popping another potato chip in his mouth.

"Super Smash Bros," replied Bruce. "You want to play?"

"No way am I playing with kid psychopath over there," said Clint stubbornly.

"What? Afraid I'll beat you, Robin Hood?" taunted Loki mischievously.

"You wish," snapped Clint. There was no choice. He had to beat that little brat now.

Loki took on each of the Avengers in the video game and won every time. He almost lost to Natasha though on several occasions and again when the others decided to team up against him. Loki was fast and anticipated their moves. He memorized every fighting style the video game avatars had and was quick to find their weaknesses. Loki always made sure to rub his victories against Clint right back in the Archer's face. After one particularly nasty victory over Barton, Loki bust into a new round of taunts. "Didn't see that that one coming, did ya, Hawkeye?"

"I am so done with this game!" declared Hawkeye, throwing down his controller in defeat.

"Don't be such a spoilsport, Clint," chided Widow.

"Yeah, bird brain, I'm sure if we played again you could win." Loki said, trying to reel the archer in for another beat down.

Clint just got angrier. "If this were a real fight, I'd totally whip your sorry butt."

"Is that a challenge?" asked Loki, now intrigued.

"Guys, lets not fight here," said Captain America, placing himself between the two.

"Cap's right," said Tony, stepping forward. "There is a better place we can resolve this."

Despite the protests of Captain Rogers, Tony led his team and Loki to the sparing floor on the gym level of the tower. Thor protested as well, not wanting to see his little brother get hurt.

"So this is how it's gonna go down," explained Tony. "Thor, Steve and Bruce have all expressed their objections to making this a real fight. So, instead of the usual 'whoevers first down and stays down' sparing, we're going to do something a little different. We're gonna do a game of keep away. I have a starkphone right here." Tony lifted up a sleek looking black smartphone. "Hawkeye, catch." Tony tossed the phone to Clint who caught it in midair. "The objective is simple. Loki's just got to retrieve the starkphone from Barton. Well put a time limit on it. About fifteen minuets."

"What do you say we make this more interesting?" inquired Loki a smile split his face.

"I'm listening," replied Barton.

"Winner gets the last box of Pop-tarts all to himself," said Loki. "Loser is on cleanup duty for a month."

Hawkeye smiled. "Deal." He turned to Tony. "Start the clock."

As soon as those words left Clint's lips, Loki came at him with speed Clint didn't even think possible. He blocked the first few attacks, holding the starkphone out of reach. Loki pressed on. Clint knew he had to step it up. He struck a few blows at Loki who cleverly evaded them. This was getting on Clint's nerves. Sure Loki was a kid, but he was making the master assassin look like an armature. Loki actually got a good kick at Clint's ribs. Clint got a little bit angrier and started to fight Loki with all of his skill, no holding back. He started to hit some glancing blows at Loki until Clint finally punched the kid strait in the nose.

Loki stumbled back a bit and fell to the floor, clutching his nose that was now bleeding. All Clint could think was Oh shit! Thor's gonna beat the shit out of me with his hammer. Indeed Thor was enraged and started to walk towards the now panicking archer with a deadly look on his face.

Clint knelt by Loki. "Kid! Ya gotta get up! You're all right, right? Please tell you're brother that I didn't mean to—"

Slowly, Loki's sobs turned to laughter. Thor stopped in his tracks and everyone stared at Loki who's laughter seemed mad given the current situation. Then, Loki held up the starkphone and declared, "I win."

"You little shit!" cried Hawkeye, forgetting that Thor was right next to him. "You're insane! Did you purposely take that blow just so you would win?"

"If that was my plan, then I'd say it worked perfectly," stated Loki, trying to stop the blood running out of his nose. Bruce came over and handed him a towel.

"You're insane, kid," was all Clint could say.

"Actually I'm hungry," said Loki, pressing the towel to his nose. "I could go for a snack. I think all have some pop tarts." Loki turned to exit the room. "Oh, and Barton," Loki called over his shoulder, "have fun with the cleanup." And with that said, the little trickster took his leave.

The crowd of Avengers had amused looks on their faces. Thor ran after his little brother to make sure he was OK. Clint was left with some blood to wipe off the floor. Well played kid, he thought, well played.