Chapter Text
December 2012, Queens, New York.
“Somebody help me!” Black Widow shouted.
She was trapped in a jail cell that was guarded by the Hulk. The rest of the Avengers were trying to come up with a plan to set her free. Thor suggested that they should all attack the Hulk at once to distract him. Captain America said that was too risky and that they should split up and sneak their way in.
“Black Widow is the spy. How are we supposed to get inside the jail?” Thor asked.
“Someone needs to distract him,” Captain America said.
“I can hit him with my hammer! We don’t need to sneak inside,” Thor told the group.
Hawkeye shook his head and said, “No Thor, that’s too obvious.”
“I wish Iron Man was here!” Captain America exclaimed. “He is smart enough to come up with a plan!”
On cue, Iron Man flew into the scene, performing a series of twists and flips in the air. He certainly made an entrance.
“ Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist at your service, ” Iron Man said when he landed in front of the rest of the Avengers.
“I’m glad you’re here, Iron Man! Black Widow has been captured by the Hulk!” Hawkeye told him.
“Oh no! We have to save her!” Iron Man replied.
Iron Man flew towards the jail to scope out the scene. He saw what Hawkeye described. The Black Widow was behind bars with the Hulk standing in front of the cell. Iron Man immediately flew back to Avengers Tower to meet with his teammates.
“Thor, you should use Mjolnir to strike the Hulk with lightning. Captain America will stay with him. Hawkeye and I will sneak in and set her free while the Hulk is distracted,” Iron Man announced.
“Good plan, Iron Man,” Thor replied.
Iron Man flew to the jail with Hawkeye, and Thor flew there with Captain America. Thor hit the Hulk with a massive bolt of lightning, and the Hulk roared in pain.
“Let her go!” Captain America demanded. “She does not deserve to be held captive.”
“Hulk want to keep Black Widow!” The Hulk shouted in response.
While that conversation was happening, Iron Man flew into the scene while holding Hawkeye. Iron Man quietly used his laser attached to his Iron Man gauntlet to break the lock to the cell. The cell door opened, but the creek from the door caught the attention of the Hulk.
“Iron Man!” The Hulk yelled. He was surprised to see Iron Man and Hawkeye.
“You need to stop kidnapping members of our team!” Iron Man responded.
Hawkeye shot one of his arrows connected to a rope out of the window. He grabbed onto the rope along with the Black Widow as they snuck out of the jail. The Hulk didn’t notice them leave.
“Bring her back!” the Hulk shouted. He picked up Captain America and threw him across the room as he roared.
Iron Man fired his repulsors at the Hulk and the Hulk got even angrier. Iron Man flew away from the Hulk, but the Hulk chased him.
“I have an idea,” Iron Man said into his ear piece.
“What is it, Iron Man?” Thor asked.
“He is going to continue to chase me. I’m going to lead him to the jail cell. Once he is inside, one of you will have to close the gate,” Tony told them.
“I’m on it,” Captain America said.
Iron Man continued to fly. He made his way back to the jail and flew into the cell. Once he reached the back of the cell, the Hulk ran inside. The Hulk continued to charge at him, but Iron Man suddenly changed direction and flew out of the cell before the Hulk was able to turn around. Captain America closed the cell door before the Hulk was able to escape.
“Let Hulk out, metal man!” The Hulk yelled as he pulled on the bars of the cell door.
“ I am Iron Man, ” Iron Man said as he joined Captain America and Thor.
“Hulk wants a friend!” the Hulk said.
“We all want friends, Hulk. But you don’t make friends by kidnapping people,” Captain America said.
“Hulk sorry,” the Hulk sat down and said.
None of the Avengers had a chance to respond because they were interrupted.
“Peter! It’s time to come downstairs and open presents!” Aunt May shouted from the living room.
“Coming!” Peter replied and hastily put Iron Man and Captain America back on the ground. He ran out the door without giving his toys another look.
There was a minute of silence in Peter’s bedroom. Nobody moved. Tony looked around the room and couldn’t hear any footsteps from the hallway.
“The coast is clear,” Tony said.
The Hulk opened the jail cell door made out of popsicle sticks and walked towards the rest of the Avengers. Clint and Natasha also rejoined their team and left their hiding spot under Peter’s bed.
“Hulk is tired of being the bad guy,” he said.
“I’m sorry big guy, but Peter makes the rules,” Steve told him and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
“I’m sick of playing the damsel in distress,” Natasha rolled her eyes as she wiped the dust off of her clothes. Peter hadn’t cleaned under his bed in weeks.
“Did Aunt May say something about presents?” Clint asked.
Christmas was not a great day for the toys in Peter’s bedroom. Tony knew that Christmas was today, but decided not to tell the rest of his friends because he didn’t want to deal with them freaking out all day. Clint had some abandonment issues due to his previous owner, Thor had a temper, and the rest of them got annoying about it as well. Tony felt that he was better off keeping it to himself.
“It’s Christmas,” Tony mumbled.
“What?” many of the Avengers screamed in unison.
“December 25th,” Tony clarified.
Tony wasn’t particularly worried. He had made it through four Christmases already. He had been Peter’s toy the longest out of everyone in the room. Sure, he had seen toys come and go throughout the years, but Tony knew that all of the Avengers would be safe this year. Peter played with them too much to disregard them so quickly.
“Someone should go down there,” Thor suggested. “We must know who will be a new resident of Peter’s room before he returns.”
“Steve and I will go,” Natasha offered. Steve didn’t look too thrilled about it, but it made sense. They have worked together a lot and snuck downstairs on his birthday earlier in the year.
“I don’t know if that’s a great idea. We might get caught,” Steve said.
“Don’t be such a baby,” Tony told him.
Tony opened one of Peter’s drawers and retrieved two walkie talkies. They were bigger than the Avengers, but surprisingly easy for them to carry. Natasha and Steve took one and the other one stayed in the bedroom. Tony, Clint, Thor, and the Hulk huddled around it as they waited for Natasha and Steve to arrive downstairs.
“We have eyes on the presents,” Steve informed them through the walkie talkie once they were downstairs.
“What has he gotten so far?” Tony asked calmly. He could see the nervous looks on his friends’ faces and he wanted them to feel better.
“I see socks, comic books, and a blanket,” Natasha answers. Tony heard Clint let out a sigh of relief.
“That does not sound alarming,” Thor stated. Tony agreed.
“Hulk does not want replacement,” the Hulk huffed.
Tony rolled his eyes. “We’re not getting replaced, big guy.”
“That’s what the red Power Ranger said on Christmas two years ago,” Clint refuted.
“Peter is opening another present,” Natasha said. The rest of the Avengers paused as they waited for her to tell them what it was. “It’s a board game called Monopoly.”
Clint and the Hulk cheered in excitement and Tony rolled his eyes for the second time in five minutes. He hated how worried his friends got on birthdays and Christmas.
“There is one more present,” Steve announced through the walkie talkie. “Peter looks really excited about this one.”
“What is it?” Clint asked.
“It’s…” Steve said and paused. Clint groaned. “It’s Loki.”
Tony choked on his breath. Peter got a Loki toy? Why would he want that?
“A villain?” Tony asked in surprise.
“My brother,” Thor muttered.
“Hulk does not have to be bad guy!” the Hulk shouted in excitement.
“Peter doesn’t have villian toys! He has never had one before,” Clint said.
It was true, Peter had never had a villain toy in his bedroom. Peter was never a fan of any villains, so he did not ask for any villain toys from his aunt and uncle. He usually used one of the Avenger toys as a pretend villain or a random toy from his closet. Tony didn’t have much experience playing the villain part, but Peter had used the other Avengers in the past.
Loki wasn’t exactly a real villain. Tony saw on the news on Peter’s TV that he was recently proven innocent for his attack on the planet. He was mind controlled by someone named Thanos to do the dirty work for him, but Tony still didn’t think that Loki was a toy that Peter would want.
“I’m sure he is a nice toy. It’s not like he’s actually a villain,” Tony responded. “And he can’t replace any of us if he’s a villain toy.”
“That’s easy for you to say, you’re Peter’s favorite,” Clint said.
Tony wasn’t going to outright say it, but Peter did play with Iron Man more than the rest of his toys. When Peter was able to bring one toy with him anywhere, he usually brought his Iron Man action figure. Peter was really proud of Tony, because he wore his Iron Man suit without his faceplate. Peter admired both the real Tony Stark and Iron Man, and his toy represented both.
“Peter loves all of us. He plays with all of us,” Tony reassured him. Clint was bought by Peter at a garage sale, so he was very afraid of being replaced and abandoned.
“Loki is my brother. He is the god of mischief. He just likes to have a bit of fun, he is not evil,” Thor told them.
The door creaked open as Steve and Natasha ran back into Peter’s bedroom.
“Peter’s coming!” Steve shouted.
The toys all ran back to their spots where Peter left them earlier in the morning. Peter ran into his bedroom with heavy footsteps and his new Loki action figure in hand. He began to set up a play scenario, but he was interrupted by Aunt May saying that they had to leave to visit his grandma.
“I’ll play with you guys later, I promise,” Peter said before walking out of his room.
The toys all waited a minute to make sure that Peter was gone before standing up. Tony saw Loki blink in surprise when he noticed the Avengers looking at him. He looked at each one of them before stopping at Thor.
“Thor,” he snarled.
“Brother! I am glad you are here!” Thor exclaimed.
Thor ran over to Loki and tried to embrace him in a hug, but Loki hit him with his scepter and sent him flying across the carpet.
“Hey! What was that for?” Tony asked.
“He is my enemy, and so are all of you,” Loki told them.
Loki lifted his scepter and pointed it at Tony. Tony raised his arm and aimed his repulsor at Loki, with his other hand on the button that made the light in his gauntlet’s palm flash. If Loki was going to threaten him, Tony was going to threaten him back.
“Lower your weapons! We want to maintain peace,” Steve said.
Tony lowered his gauntlet and Loki hesitantly put his scepter down.
“Peace?” Loki scoffed. “With you?”
“We are all here for Peter. We don’t want to fight with you,” Tony told him.
“Who is this Peter? Is he your ruler?” Loki asked.
“Our ruler?” Clint laughed. “He’s 11 years old.”
Loki furrowed his brows. “I do not understand.”
Tony couldn’t believe how frustrating this conversation was. He was a resident of Peter’s bedroom the longest out of all of the toys here, and he had never seen a new toy react like this.
Loki surveyed the Avengers with a long gaze. “What realm is this?” Loki asked.
Holy shit , Tony thought to himself. Loki thinks that he is the real Loki. He doesn’t know that he is a toy.
“Peter’s bedroom,” Natasha told him with a confused tone.
“Peter’s bedroom? I have not heard of it,” Loki replied. He walked around the floor to further inspect the room. He looked under the bed and coughed slightly because of the dust.
“Well, that’s where we are,” Tony said.
“This is not one of the nine realms. I fear that I will not be able to travel through the branches of the Yggdrasil to return,” Loki said.
Tony honestly had to try really hard not to laugh. This was the most amusing thing that he had seen in a while.
“This is Midgard, brother,” Thor responded.
“Loki is here to play,” the Hulk said.
“I want nothing to do with you, beast,” Loki scoffed. “Our last meeting left my spine broken.”
Tony knew from watching Peter’s TV that the real Hulk smashed the real Loki into the ground like a rag doll, which apparently felt real to Loki the toy.
“Hulk is not going to hurt you, I promise,” Steve told him.
Loki continued to explore the room. He made his way to Peter’s desk and started looking through the drawers. He looked frantic, which made sense because he had no idea where he was. Tony couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy for the guy, as funny as the situation was.
“He thinks that he’s the real Loki,” Tony whispered to the rest of the team.
“I have never seen anything like it,” Natasha said. She had lived in many homes before ending up at Peter’s. She had some not so great kids and had met a lot of toys.
“We have to play along with it until we have a plan. Telling him the truth will hurt him,” Steve said.
Loki closed the last drawer in Peter’s desk and walked back to the Avengers.
“Hey, do you have any buttons?” Clint asked. Steve buried his face in his hands.
“Buttons?” Loki questions.
“Tony and Steve have buttons. Watch,” Clint said.
Clint first pressed the button on Steve’s back which caused him to say, “ Avengers Assemble! ” He then pressed the button on Tony’s back which made him say, “ We have a Hulk. ”
“That is strange,” Loki said.
“New villain toy is funny!” the Hulk grinned.
“Toy? I think the words you are looking for are ‘god of mischief’ or ‘prince Loki of Asgard,’” Loki told him.
“Sure thing, reindeer games,” Tony chuckled softly.
Loki walked up to Tony and stood only a few centimeters in front of him. He looked down at Tony and sneered.
“Are you mocking me?” he questioned.
“No. I’m just calling out your bluff,” Tony replied. He wasn’t going to let a toy with a god complex boss him around.
“Tony,” Steve warned.
“Silence, Captain!” Loki shouted. “Man of Iron, have care with how you speak to me. I am the rightful king of Asgard, the god of mischief, and one of the most powerful mages in the nine realms.”
“A mage? Prove it,” Tony dared.
“Tony!” Steve said, sounding more angry.
Seeing Loki fail at using magic was going to be a funny sight and Tony was excited. There was no way that Loki was going to be able to do anything. That will make him realize that he is a toy instead of the real Loki.
“Loki is one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful,” Thor explained.
“Then it shouldn’t be hard for him to show us,” Tony said. Clint nodded along with him, so at least there was someone that agreed with him.
“Fine,” Loki said.
Loki had a look of concentration on his face as he tried to use his non-existent magic. He reached behind his green cape and pulled out a small toy knife.
“I took this out of a pocket dimension,” Loki explained.
Thor, Clint, and the Hulk clapped at Loki’s trick. Steve looked indifferent. Tony noticed Natasha cross her arms, so at least someone here was smart and didn’t buy it.
“There’s no way,” Tony said. Loki must have a compartment or something behind his cape.
“He is a mage,” Thor turned to him and said.
“There’s probably a storage compartment behind his cape!” Tony was so frustrated.
The Avengers continued to ask Loki questions about his past, his magic, and more. Tony didn’t bother listening to any of it. He didn’t want to be entertained by a bunch of lies. He couldn’t believe that he was the only one that didn’t want to listen to Loki anymore. The toy was too dumb to even realize that he was a toy. It was completely ridiculous. Tony knew that in a couple of days the Avengers would get over it. Loki was new and they hadn’t met a new toy in a while. Tony at least still had the satisfaction of being Peter’s favorite toy.
Iron Man was still Peter’s favorite toy. At least that’s what Tony believed. However, Peter played with Loki a lot too. Peter took both Tony and Loki to school with him on his first day back from winter break. Tony was used to going alone, so he was very annoyed to have to deal with Loki while they were in Peter’s backpack.
In Peter’s bedroom, there were some mishaps since Loki genuinely believed that the Avengers were his enemies. He refused to go anywhere near Thor and the Hulk, and he tried to mind control Clint with his scepter at least five times. Obviously his scepter didn’t work, but it was still a little terrifying. Loki even tried to use it on Tony once, and Tony punched him in the face. He wouldn’t look at Loki for three days, which caused a lot of tension in the room. He finally got over it, but he still hated that he had to speak to Loki when he continuously acted like the actual god of mischief. His ego was so inflated that Tony couldn’t be around him for two minutes without rolling his eyes.
Peter was at school and Tony was sitting on his pillow as he watched Loki and Thor fight on the floor. Thor had tried to convince his younger brother that they did not have to be enemies, but Loki wouldn’t listen.
“Don’t let it get to you, Tony,” Natasha said as she took a seat next to him.
“It’s just so frustrating to watch,” Tony sighed.
“We will tell him one day. We have to get him to trust us first,” she told him.
Tony knew that she was right. If they told him now, he would probably lash out. Then he would be even more annoying to deal with. Most of the Avengers have been trying to spend some time with Loki (when he wasn’t trying to fight them) to try to become friends. Tony hadn’t been spending much time with him because he physically couldn’t without wanting to slap him.
“I know,” he replied.
“You’re not jealous, are you?” Natasha asked. Most of them noticed how much Peter liked his new toy.
“Of course not,” Tony was quick to respond.
Sure, he was a little jealous. He hated to admit it, but he thrived from Peter’s attention. Being the first picked toy made Tony smile and feel needed. When Peter took Loki to Ned’s house instead of Tony the other day, he sulked under the bed for an hour.
“It’s okay if you are. Peter still loves you and it’s important to remember that,” Natasha said.
Tony knew that she was right, but he was feeling a little salty and he would need time to get over it.
Natasha’s advice made Tony feel a little calmer for the rest of the day. He was feeling pretty good. He even drew some sketches of ideas for AIs on Peter’s Etch A Sketch. But when it was time for Peter to go to sleep, he brought both Tony and Loki into the bed with him. Tony had to lay beside Loki on the same pillow all night. Tony was furious that he had to share his alone time with Peter with Loki of all toys. Tony practically shook with anger the whole night.
When Peter left for school, Tony was left on the bed with Loki.
“Your ruler has marked me as one of his own,” Loki said and lifted up his right foot that was marked with Peter’s name in his handwriting.
Tony let out a sound that was similar to a growl. He didn’t understand why Peter would want Loki. The real Loki had done some really evil things. The real Tony Stark was a brilliant man who had saved the planet by flying a nuke into a wormhole. Tony really didn’t know what Peter was thinking.
“Does this upset you, Anthony?” Loki smirked.
“Does it upset you that you are owned by someone else?” Tony responded. He couldn’t let Loki know that he was upset.
“Peter does not own me. He has accepted me as a resident in this realm,” Loki said.
“You are actually infuriating,” Tony told him.
Loki must have taken that as a hostile act, because he charged at Tony. Tony quickly moved out of the way, but Loki quickly changed his direction and shoved him to the ground.
“Why do you always want to fight us?” Tony asked.
“I am the god of mischief and chaos. The Avengers are my enemies.”
Tony sighed. He would have to fight his way out of this one.
“Whatever you say, Rudolph,” Tony replied.
They continued to fight. Tony hated to admit that it felt really good to slap Loki’s face. Seeing him angry made Tony happy in a sick way.
“How will Peter notice you once you are under my control?” Loki asked, and then held his scepter up to Tony’s chest. It was pressed up against his arc reactor.
Loki was standing in front of Peter’s open bedroom window. Without thinking, Tony shoved Loki he fell down to the ground outside of Peter’s apartment building. Tony watched him hit the ground with a thud, but he could see that he wasn’t broken. Loki was made out of a durable material, thankfully. It felt like a weight was lifted off of Tony’s shoulders.