Loki looked up at the faces of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, who were both lounging on the couch and had just been watching the television. Both people stared down in bewilderment at Loki's sudden appearance on the top floor of Stark Tower. Tony turned off the TV without looking away from Loki.
'By Valhalla, not Stark's tower…of all places on Midguard…' Loki thought with such disappointment. He was filled with outrage.
"Ehehe…" Loki chuckled nervously.
"Words…fail me…"
A mischievous grin spread on Tony's face, while Pepper remained fixed on their sudden visitor.
"Why, Pepper, I do believe we have a guest!" Tony said with a mocking Asguardian accent directed at Loki, making an unneeded and exaggerated gesture towards him.
Loki rolled his eyes and stood at his full height, looking down on the two mortals.
Tony placed his hand daintily on his chest and gaped up at Loki's height.
"My, so tall…"
"Tony," Pepper scolded, jutting her elbow into his ribs.
"Impudent little jester, aren't you?" Loki said with gritted teeth and a bitter smile. Putting out a hand, he called out a word that somehow caused his golden scepter to materialize in his open hand. He raised the scepter and pointed it towards Pepper.
Tony stood, placing himself in front of Pepper in an attempt to protect her, looking at the scepter warily.
"Pepper, get Banner on the intercom." Tony instructed casually.
"Sure…" Pepper replied slowly; she climbed clumsily over the couch and ran towards what Loki guessed to be an 'intercom', whatever that device was.
"I am surprised at you, Mister Stark, for leaving your woman unprotected." Loki said with a hint of a laugh in his voice. He leapt over Tony and the couch and lunged at Pepper, who was focused on the device in her hand.
"Jarvis, shields up!" Tony shouted, whipping around to see the bluish shields come up around the computers and Pepper just before Loki's bladed scepter could reach her.
Loki's scepter hit the shield with a muffled clang before sinking into and through it.
The blade pierced Pepper.
Pepper cried out in pain and Tony leapt over the sofa, his iron suit on without the helmet. He shoved Loki away with his artificial strength and tore out the blade from the shield, which had barely stabbed Pepper's arm; luckily for her.
"Damn it!" Pepper muttered through gritted teeth.
"It's not too deep." Tony sighed with relief.
Loki glanced at the wound he had inflicted on Pepper. He smiled; his stomach lurched, yet he quickly dismissed the feeling.
"It appears your shield is weaker than you would have wished." Loki taunted with a cruel grin, holding his chin high like a proud child who was getting his way.
Tony turned towards Loki as his helmet covered his glaring face.
"Fuck off." Tony growled before flying into Loki and sending the both of them smashing through the window.
Tony held Loki by his armored shoulders in the air, hundreds of feet from the solid pavement below them, right on the outside of Stark Tower.
"Didn't Thor take you back to Asguard three weeks ago?" Tony asked with a thoroughly annoyed tone.
"Indeed," Loki spat, clutching his scepter tightly.
"Yet Thor and Odin failed to restrain my wit."
Suddenly, Loki shot up into the sky and landed heavily on top of Stark Tower, cracking the surface with his sudden impact.
Loki tried to suppress a feeling of rising panic.
What should I do? He thought frantically. Then it occurred to him. He could travel to another world.
Where would I go? He thought after a moment.
Suddenly there was Tony, hovering in front of Loki.
Loki jumped in surprise as he was abruptly interrupted from his thoughts; he cursed himself for showing even the slightest hint of what Stark could see as weakness.
"Oh, did I scare you?" Tony jeered sarcastically before rushing at Loki at full throttle. Loki pushed off Stark's armor with an agile leap and glided through the air to a safe distance. He turned and glared.
All at once, Loki felt an all too familiar pang of metal crash into his arm. He turned swiftly to his new attacker as his scepter flew out of his hands and landed with a loud clang in front of Tony.
"Brother!" Thor roared and a bolt of lightning struck his hammer which had by then glided back into his hand.
"By the gods!" Loki muttered to himself, rubbing the arm that had been hit. Thor rushed at him with all his rage and promptly fell for one of Loki's old tricks once again; Loki reappeared behind Thor, chuckling to himself.
"Really, Thor, will there ever be a time when you don't fall for that trick?" Loki jeered with a grin.
Thor whipped around and glared.
"I grow weary of your games, brother," he boomed.
"Stop this madness! You walk the path only a fool would walk!"
Loki's grin disappeared instantly and he clenched his hands into fists. He vanished and appeared in front of Stark, scooping up his scepter before Tony could kick it out of reach. With graceful speed, Loki crashed the tip of the scepter into Stark's glowing heart and sent him bolting into another building.
Loki turned and stared at Thor, his face twisted in anger.
"Am I a fool?" he asked quietly. Thor was silent.
All at once, Loki faded and appeared behind Thor and stabbed the blade of his scepter through the strong Asguardian armor and Thor's side.
Thor shuddered and groaned with surprise and pain and swung his hammer back, catching Loki by surprise, as he seemed to be mesmerized by the wound he had just inflicted, and sent him flying to the edge of the rooftop.
Loki jumped up yet just then two iron fists bashed into his shoulders, sending him careening to the other side of the roof; his scepter clanged beside him and slid off the edge.
Loki's head spun from the sudden impact and the realization that the Allfather was in fact on his way to stop him. He fought off feelings of defeat and sat up.
'I am a god!' Loki thought with determination, forcing himself to stand.
Stark hovered nearby, his joints sparking, and his jets shorting out; he landed just before the jets went out for good.
Loki looked at Stark closely, straining to keep his eyes in focus. Tony put a hand to his chest and shuddered.
His glowing heart pulsed weakly; a large crack ran through the middle of it.
Loki felt a wave of triumph rise inside as his head slowly stopped spinning.
"Jarvis, what's the status on the filter?" Tony asked in a very casual tone; Loki, however, could hear the strain in it. Before hearing the reply, Loki shot a quick glance at Thor; he was kneeling, clutching his wound with one hand and gripping his hammer in the other.
"Power at fifty-six percent, sir." The mock British voice of the machine brought Loki's attention back to Stark suddenly.
"Son of a bitch…" Tony growled under his breath.
Tony suddenly bolted towards Thor and whispered something into the injured Asguardian's ear. Thor stood shakily and, with a pity-filled gaze at Loki, he began to swing his hammer in one hand, bellowing his striking call for thunder and lightning, as was his tool for his purpose.
Lightning struck, thunder heaved its mighty roar, and the blaze of platinum light playfully licked at the metal of Thor's hammer, dancing about in an array of vivid and blinding rays as they were soon absorbed by the hammer and its owner. Thor then shot the newly obtained bolts into the iron suit of Tony Stark and allowed them to be entirely consumed in the electric iron.
Loki's heart fell as he remembered what had happened the last time that Thor had shot lightning at Tony Stark. He summoned his scepter back into his hand and smiled at the bit of Tesseract still glowing and hovering about the base of the bladed section; with this he still had the knowledge of ancient magics and that was certainly enough to defeat these two persistent enemies. Recalling lost words and letters, spells formed in Loki's calming mind and the power began to charge quickly within the blue glow of the Tesseract.
"Oh no…not you again…" a tired voice sighed from behind Loki.
Loki whipped around to see Bruce Banner standing calmly with a disgusted look on his face, and, upon breaking his concentration, the spell discharged from the scepter and struck Dr. Banner squarely on his broad chest.
Bruce heaved a muffled cry of pain as his voice grew deeper and his body amplified in size; his skin became the all-to-familiar sickly green stain as the result of the sudden shock of great pain. He could not control his transformation.
Loki sighed in annoyance and rolled his eyes, panic still managing to rise up inside of him, in spite of all his past efforts to calm himself; he had the Allfather, Thor, Stark, and now this green beast of rage all struggling against him.
"That's still just so damn cool!" Tony marveled from behind Loki, dangerously close. He heaved an iron fist at Loki.
Time seemed to slow for Loki.
He turned; Stark's fist flew towards his face with impossible speed; the Hulk roared and rumbled his discontent with everything in sight; Thor watched the skies for the Allfather. Loki felt his blood cool.
Just before Stark's fist smashed into Loki's face, he caught it and, as time slowly resumed its usual pace, a thick layer of ice covered the metal fist.
Loki concentrated.
The Hulk smashed by as Loki stepped to the side gracefully, still holding Tony's frozen fist. The ice seeped into the metal joints of the iron suit, the ice thickening the longer Loki touched it; his eyes shone scarlet and his skin began to change from a chilling pale to a frigid blue. He could feel the ache of cold soak his body, down to his bones. It hurt, yet Loki believed it to be necessity; this pain was the least of his worries; it was only minor.
Soon Tony could no longer move the right half of his suited body.
"What are you?!" Tony wondered aloud, his voice full of more curiosity than fear. Loki was now half covered in the skin and likeness of a frost giant. He felt disgusted by the blue skin and his chilling Jӧten abilities.
"I am Asguardian." Loki growled quietly to Stark.
"Well so is Thor but he doesn't change into a tall icy Smurf!"
'Smurf.' What strange things mortal's talked of.
The Hulk leapt at Loki suddenly with a bellowing roar. Loki vanished and appeared behind the Hulk, lunging at the beast with the blade of the scepter. The gold metal struck hide-like flesh. With the help of the Tesseract, the blade managed to draw purple blood from the green skin. Swiftly Loki placed a cold hand on the quickly-healing wound and began freezing the Hulk from the inside out, letting his ice find its way into the bloodstream, and watched as the Hulk was tamed by the chill. The creature began to shrink and grew sluggish, teeth chattering as the Hulk became Bruce Banner once more. Dr. Banner shivered and hugged himself for warmth against Loki's touch.
Loki grinned; he had tamed the savage beast.
Loki was now covered in the blue skin. He ran a hand through his frost-stiffened hair and turned to face the half-frozen Tony Stark and the injured god. Tony's helmet was off and his face shone with curiosity and bewilderment. Thor stared in disbelief at Loki.
"Brother…" Thor's voice trailed off into a groan of pain.
Loki felt rage rise inside.
"I am not your brother! Look at me!" he raised his hands and gestured to himself.
"We were raised togeth—"
"We were not born together!" Loki spat.
Thor was silent for a moment.
"You are still my brother," Thor croaked, holding his bleeding wound tightly.
"Yet even now I can sense our Father travelling here!"
"Is that him?" Stark shouted from behind. Loki and Thor turned and at that moment, a booming voice blared out in their ears.
"Eurandheim! Send forth your Champion!"
Loki's heart fell; he knew that it was the voice of Odin. But who was Eurandheim; it struck him as familiar…
A bluish-white streak shot down from the sky and landed on Loki with a crash that caused the whole of the building to shudder, even more so than even the Hulk would have been able to manage. The roof gave in and Loki and the mysterious figure bathed in light fell through, falling directly in front of Pepper Potts.
Pepper squealed in surprise and quickly drew her legs to her chest as she leaned into the nearest corner of the wall, struggling to get as far away from Loki as she could.
"Unhand me!" Loki hissed, struggling under the glowing figure's seemingly effortless strength.
Loki found himself staring into the light, bathing in its warmth…
"Refrain from struggle." A calm but fierce voice soothed. Thor and the now unsuited Tony Stark jumped down through the hole in the roof, Thor holding a nude and shivering Dr. Banner over his shoulder. All eyes turned to the glowing visitor and Loki.
Loki stopped struggling and calmed himself almost instantly and sighed. He then focused on staring through the light, striving to see what manner of creature could hold him down with such ease and could keep him from his enchantments.
Black tendrils of hair, piercing violet eyes; healthy ivory skin, lean neck; long and lithe body bent over Loki's slim frame; soft and delicate fingers clutched Loki's wrists and lengthy legs crouched her over him.
Loki was awed by her beauty and had to struggle to catch his breath and wits back. When he again had air in his lungs and his wits about him, he became utterly calm, almost lethargic. He stared with glistening red eyes that soon began to fade into his familiar deep emerald color. Slowly Loki broke his gaze away and glanced and Thor, Tony, and Banner. Thor panted hard from his wound; Loki hadn't known just how much pain he had inflicted on the god. Tony's face was pale and beads of sweat began to form on his brow as the filter pulsed weakly.
"Tony, what's wrong with the filter?" Pepper asked quietly as her attention shifted from Loki and the visitor to Stark.
"Who are you?" Loki asked quietly to the woman. Under her impossible grip, Loki felt helpless and weak; it only puffed up his pride and made his rage burn hotter.
"Your captor," there was a hint of fire in her voice.
"Creature of Jӧtenheim." She spat the last word. Loki suddenly roared:
"DO NOT ADRESS ME AS SUCH A CREATURE! I AM RIGHTFUL KING OF ASGUARD!" his skin was no longer blue but as pale as ever and his eyes only flashed crimson for an instant in his fury. Tears rose to his eyes but he refused to let them fall on his cheeks.
The woman was quiet and a thoughtful look slowly crept its way onto her face; her grip loosened and Loki took that opportunity to slip away and kick her off. As she fell to the ground a few feet away from him, Loki bolted forwards and into the solid figure of Odin.