Loki wasn’t particularly fond of this realm, especially considering the way things had played out for him during his last appearance. Yet, his quest for power and the throne had led him to Midgard; and New York City to be precise, again. He took in the sight of the city around him, bustling with people on every street, going about their short and meaningless lives. He sighed with disdain before disguising himself as a nondescript middle aged human man. He didn’t think it wise for him to openly show his actual form anywhere within this world, and definitely not within this area in particular. Midgardians were such ridiculous creatures, that even though quite some time had passed since his conquering attempt, they probably still weren’t over it. He refused to allow something as trivial as humans with grudges interfere with his rise to the position of absolute greatness he so justly deserved. He just needed to locate his scepter, preferably sooner rather than later, so he could make his return to Asgard to claim his rightful place as the ruler of all the nine realms, completely unchallenged. The Infinity Stone that powered it ensured his obtaining and remaining in that position. He was stripped of both of the stones in his possession by the team of slightly enhanced vigilante instigators known as the Avengers. Even more absurd was the fact that his adoptive brother, Thor, had allied with them. There was a good chance his scepter was in their possession, so Loki made his way to the Avengers Compound. 

Upon arriving, he noticed that security was especially tight. He needed a way to get inside without detection and he also needed assistance once inside. He decided that wearing a friendly and familiar face might help. He took on the likeness of his foolish oaf of a brother, Thor, before making his approach to the structure. Thor was well liked on Midgard, and just about everywhere else, to Loki’s annoyance, but it could prove to be helpful in his situation. The humans would practically trip over themselves in their eagerness to assist their “hero“; the mighty ‘God of Thunder’. 

Before too long, a young man exited the building, then picked up his pace upon seeing the easily recognizable Avenger just beyond the premises. Loki thought it was pathetic how quickly the man made his approach over to him, just as he imagined; overly eager about the chance to help Thor. Loki, as Thor, greeted the imbecile with a disarming smile. 

“Thor! Hey! I didn’t expect you to be back so soon, what’s up?” The man greeted when reaching conversational distance. 

“I wondered how things were going here in my absence. I fell victim to my curiosity and it led me here.” Loki replied, giving the man one of his brother’s iconic charming grins.

“I don’t think there’s been much lately to really worry about, but is there anything I could help you with since you’re here?” The man offered. 

Loki thought for a second. What would best help him? He remembered humans had technology that recorded large amounts of information, the version of that system used in the Compound probably held all he needed to know about his scepter’s whereabouts. 

“Actually, yes! Just with something that would help ease a concern, if you know of anyone familiar with the...er... the information storing...accessible system...within the compound.”

“You need someone familiar with the computers, you mean? Well, you’re looking at him. I’m mostly in charge of sorting the files saved within the system and updating the security on them to keep them under lock and unable to be hacked into or altered. I’m sure I can find whatever you want to know. How about we go to my main office and I’ll see what I can do?”

 The man replied without hesitation before leading the way, using his employee badge to access through security borders. 

Loki quickly followed, pleased with his choice to masquerade as Thor, with his brother being nearly as unfamiliar with human technology as he himself was, his blatant ignorance of it didn’t raise any suspicion. 

They ended up in a dim room with multiple desks and several electronic screens. The man sat in front of one in the center and began typing in the several access codes required to approve his entry. Loki observed intently behind him as he did...whatever it was he was doing. Loki couldn’t figure it out. 

“Alright, I’m in. What was it you wanted to know?” The man said as the screen came to life, bright and inviting. 

“Regarding the Mind Stone... or my brother’s scepter. I and everyone back on Asgard want to be certain that it’s still within good hands.” Loki explained, nodding with a reassuring smile. 

“The Mind Stone? Last I checked, The Vision still had it. I’ll check now just to be sure, but I’m sure I’d have known if something happened. Let me see here.” The man began typing into the database. 

“A Vision?” Loki questioned aloud, obviously confused. 

The man pulled up the latest information related to the Mind Stone. The top of the page displayed a picture of the synthetic human AI known as The Vision. 

“Uhh yeah. Your Vision, that you directly helped bring to life?” 

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Loki stared at the image, baffled as to what this thing was and why his brother had assisted in its creation. Then, something he noticed in the image demanded his complete focus. Adorned in the center front near the top of the head, was a yellow gem that Loki immediately recognized as the Mind Stone. His Mind Stone. 

The man closely watched his guest’s reactions to the picture on the screen, and felt himself getting some weird vibes. Thor suddenly returning unannounced after not even being gone long while there was no case of emergency. A sudden interest in the Mind Stone which he knew was imbedded into the Vision and was unlikely to have gone anywhere else in such a short time. To top it all off, he also appeared to have no recollection of said creation, even while directly viewing a picture of him. Dread filled him as he realized it couldn’t be Thor, and he only knew of one person who alter their appearance like this...the focus and interest in where the Mind Stone was sealed and confirmed it. 

The man instinctively slid his chair back, creating distance. Loki shifted his focus from the image and to the cowering man, eying him suspiciously. It was the coldest look the man had ever seen on “Thor’s” face before, he felt a cold chill down his spine. 

“Y-y-you’re Loki.” The man finally choked out. 

Loki smirked at the fearful man, his last expression as Thor before reverting to his usual form. He spread his arms wide and gave a nod in a bow.

“And **YOU**, have been very helpful.”

The man remained frozen in fear, Loki turned his attention back to the computer screen. 

“Though I’m afraid I really must be going. There’s someone I would much like to meet. I shouldn’t keep him waiting.” Loki kept his gaze fixed on the artificial man on the screen while speaking, up until seemingly disappearing from the room using the cover of an illusion of a cloud of smoke. 

The man shook off the fear and gained the ability to move again, and quickly made an emergency call to Tony Stark, hurriedly explaining what had happened. 

~~~~~

After ending the call, Tony called up an urgent impromptu Avengers meeting. He informed the team members of the impending situation. He and the team captain, Steve Rogers, led the discussion on how to handle it. 

“Loki’s going to go after The Vision. Has anyone heard anything from him in the past few days?” Steve questioned the team, receiving somber head shaking all around in return. 

“He’s basically got a target... literally on his forehead. We have to find him before Reindeer Games even gets the chance. That should be top priority: locate Vis, secure him, and bring him in. I have a safe house way off the beaten path we can keep him in. Meanwhile, I say we handle Loki directly, bring the fight to him without risking Vis and the Stone in the process. Cap, as always, we’re going by your orders. How do you want to go about it?” Tony stated to the group before addressing Steve. 

Steve sighed in response, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t know, Tony. How do we go about it? No one has any idea where he is, he can’t be reached by phone, email, or any other means, he technically isn’t human so he’s not in any government registries, there’s absolutely no trail. Nothing to follow or go off of.” He explained exasperatedly. 

“I knew I should’ve implanted a damn tracker into him. Why didn’t I implant a damn tracker into him?” Tony asked the group, but it was mostly rhetorical. 

“Maybe because he is his own person and that would be pretty violating and degrading.” Steve offered. 

“Guys. He’ll come back. On his own. He always does, he still lives here and is an honorary part of the team. It’ll be alright.” Natasha offered reassuringly. 

“But what if Loki catches up to him and intercepts him while he’s on his way back? I mean, he won’t even know he’s being targeted or how to react. Him walking around unprotected could play directly into Loki’s hands!” Bruce countered. 

“I get what you’re saying, and I know The Vision hasn’t been alive very long, but we know he’s more than capable of defending himself. It’s not like he’s completely vulnerable and helpless if we’re not around. “ Steve defended. 

“Yeah, but this is LOKI we’re talking about! ‘God of Mischief’... that title on its own implies the guy doesn’t play fair. I don’t know, guys. I don’t feel entirely comfortable leaving The Vision out in the wind, just sitting back and waiting for him to come to us. There’s gotta be something we can do.”* Bruce pleaded. 

“What if we had a way to draw him out? To get him to come to us when and where we want him?” Steve suggested. 

*“...I don’t know, Cap. I can’t think of any way to do that, that would get to Vis without also getting to Loki. If Loki catches on to it too, that could put both of them at the meeting spot and at the same time. With all the tricks Loki tends to have up his sleeve, we can’t take the risk of him getting that close.” Tony expressed with finality. 

Steve threw his hands in the air. “Then what do we do?” He asked to no one in particular. 

The meeting was reduced to nothing but downcast stares and a hopeless silence.

~~~

Loki wandered the New York streets for hours without particular direction. He adopted another nondescript human disguise as he absentmindedly walked on, frustrated that he was unsure of his next move. 

‘If I were a useless, undeserving, little robot creature, where would I be?’ He thought to himself while looking at the city around him for some kind of hint. No one around paid him any mind, so absorbed in their own lives and destinations. He let out a sigh onto the summer night’s breeze. With nowhere in mind to go, he took solace in sitting on a city bench. Keeping up his human disguise was tiring, on top of everything else. He took one final glance around the vicinity and just as before, no one even looked his way. He relinquished the disguise, reverting to his usual form, though garnished in modern Midgardian fashion, copied from the young man that had assisted him while he was under the guise of Thor. Everyone around him carried on. Feeling alone and without guidance, he looked to the twilit sky, trying to find inspiration and to gather his thoughts. Something caught his eye from atop a tall building across the street. Was that.. a woman? Sitting on the edge of the roof? “Well, that’s an awfully dangerous position. It could take naught more than a particularly ambitious breeze to condemn you to a rather unpleasant yet completely avoidable death.” He said aloud to no one in particular, while keeping watch on the seemingly reckless woman.