Loki is somewhat OOC in this chapter, as he isn't as vicious or hostile than he was in any of the movie adaptations.
The ninth time it happened, it made Tony want to write some kind of book called "Everyone Needs to Stop Being Affectionate With Tony Stark - The Memoir of a Genius". Because really, it was beginning to get out of hand.
It was just after breakfast when they got the alarm. Tony had been woken up by Thor and his overly-loud booming that somehow accounted for a voice after actually managing to make it to his bedroom the night before, and had stumbled down into the communal kitchen to reap the benefits of Steve's fabulous cooking abilities. The super soldier had a way with making pancakes that seemed to melt in your mouth. Tony assumed it had something to do with him being from the forties.
The alarm began blaring directly after Steve and Bruce had started picking up the dishes to put in the dishwasher. They had all been fairly annoyed that the comfortable atmosphere they had come to appreciate had been so thoroughly destroyed so early in the morning, but they had suited up and headed out all the same.
Coulson briefed them on the way over in the Quinjet; "It's Loki." Tony rolled his eyes at the news. "He's… somehow managed to transform Times Square into candy."
Clint whistled, "Like a real life 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', huh?"
"Something like that," Coulson admitted, "We haven't managed to pinpoint his magical signature yet, since all of the candy has it as well. He's there, we just need you to get close enough to pinpoint it, find him, and make him reverse the spell."
Natasha spoke up from the copilot's seat, telling them, "In the meantime, the children seem to be enjoying it."
Peering out the windows available on the Quinjet, it was clear that the approaching Times Square was currently swarmed with young children and the frazzled parents that were trying to keep them from eating anything. The street looking like it was made of peppermint, and the cars had been gummified. The buildings were made of gingerbread, frosting and sour gumdrops included, and the windows were made of sugar glass. Street signs and street lights were crafted out of pretzel, crosswalks and fire hydrants molded from chocolate, dark and white alike. Needless to say, it was a child's paradise.
"Hot damn," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I'll be honest – that looks really, really good."
"You're not eating any of it, Tony," Steve told him, and he pouted at him.
"Aw, come on!" he whined, "You have to admit, that looks pretty damn impressive."
"You just ate," Steve reasoned.
"And you don't know what that stuff could do to your stomach," Bruce said, being the voice of science, as always. "It could be poisoned, or when Loki reverses the spell, everything could revert back into metal, and you'll get an infection."
Tony sighed, "Fine," and leant back in his seat, securing his helmet as the latch opened to allow them exit. He jumped out, powering his thrusters midair and curling off to go search the rooftops for the notorious trickster.
He heard the cheers of "Captain America!" and "Thor!" over the com when Steve and the god in question touched down, and he grinned to himself. He and Hulk were equally adored by kids, along with Clint occasionally (something the archer took full advantage of, namely by rubbing it in Coulson's face and carrying around tiny little fans on his shoulders when they went out for PR duty), whereas Natasha tended to stick to the shadows than deal with children. She never turned down an autograph from an adoring little girl when she was approached, though.
Listening to Steve tell the gathered children in front of him to not eat any of the candy was, in fact, a little heart-breaking, but after the blond told them that they would certainly get tummy aches afterward they were easily dissuaded. Nothing said 'behave' like a knowledgeable Captain America. Tony snorted to himself from where he was hovering over one of the buildings, waving to any of the kids who saw him.
At that point, Bruce, who was still stationed within the now parked Quinjet (considering the situation wasn't dangerous enough to let the Other Guy out and that they didn't know how the big guy would take to an edible street) spoke up over the com. "There he is."
"What? Where?" Clint asked from where he was hitching a ride from Thor to his perch.
"He's in one of the buildings, at the corner," Bruce recited, no doubt reading from his tablet. "On the floor under the roof."
"I got this," Tony announced, and began weaving to and from the four different buildings Bruce had pointed out. He was a little wary about whether the gingerbread would hold up under the suit's weight, but it appeared sturdy enough, and didn't so much as bend or crack when he touched down on any of the roofs. Even then, the insides of the buildings were combinations of different candies – nougat and caramel and chocolate and giant sprinkles made up the desks and chairs and computers, and even the workers in the buildings seemed less than impressed. Some of them were still working, even, which he found silently hilarious. Finding the sorcerer after asking a bored looking receptionist was fairly simple; he hadn't been hiding, after all. Quite the opposite, actually.
When Tony walked into the office Loki was apparently 'occupying', he hadn't expected to see the man with his feet propped up on the chocolate chip cookie desk and typing away at a vanilla wafer laptop. The original user of the office was tied up with licorice ropes on the taffy sofa, and that Tony had expected, but not the whole 'casual ruler of New York' look Loki was going for.
The god looked up from his typing, and raised an eyebrow at Tony, who had crossed his arms in much a similar manner as a disappointed parent did to their child. "You're early," he drawled.
"I'm early?" Tony scoffed, "So says the supposedly 'dark and angsty' god of mischief."
"Well, yes, that's exactly what I said," Loki agreed, giving him a sharp smile. "I didn't expect you so soon, though. I assumed you wouldn't be able to track my signal so quickly. As you would say, my bad."
"We learned a thing or two the last time you came around," Tony explained, walking further into the room to make an attempt to apprehend him. The user of the office eyed him as he walked, no doubt more annoyed with the whole situation than frightened. "By the way – candy? Do you know the amount of children we had to prevent from getting sugar highs?"
Loki let out a noncommittal hum, typing something else before closing it and swinging his feet from the desktop, wiping the crumbs from his armor as he made his way back over to Tony. With a snap of his fingers, the office user was released from his binds, and Tony rolled his eyes as the god practically swaggered from the office, but followed after him, all the same, unwilling to let him out of his sight.
"Did you find him?" Steve's voice spoke from the com.
"Yep," Tony confirmed, popping the 'p' as he spoke. He grabbed Loki's elbow, tugging him back to the stairwell that led to the roof. "Not a scratch on either of us, you'll be pleased to know."
"Good." And Steve did sound relieved. "Bring him out here as quickly as you can. Thor's getting nervous, and Natasha's ready to knock him out."
Tony stifled a snicker, and solidified his hold on the trickster when they reached the roof. "So," he addressed him. "Any particular reason you decided to turn Times Square into a kid's paradise?"
"I was bored," Loki admitted with a shrug. "It's also nice to bother you all once in a while. You all know I'll just escape and wreak havoc again eventually, anyway. I do need something to bide my time." He snapped his fingers again and the laptop vanished.
"In the morning? Are you insane? No one likes being awake this early," Tony complained, preparing to take off.
Loki rolled his eyes, and clapped his hand on Tony's shoulder, temporarily halting his thrusters. He eyed his faceplate. "Yes, I know," he said, "Which is why I'm doing this." He raised his other hand, tapping his pointer finger to the front of his faceplate. Green smoke exploded in front of him, seeping through the cracks in his armor that weren't even there, and he stumbled back, sputtering as he breathed it in. It smelt like peppermint, and made him drowsy almost immediately.
He passed out before he could actually manage to think about the consequences of him being unconscious.