"Loki!" Thor's bellow was akin to thunder itself as he leaped at his brother with his hammer raised high, only to comically stop in his tracks as Loki pulled a pair of white flags out of nowhere and started waving them.
"Peace brother! I come in peace!" The sheer ridiculousness of the act actually did make Thor stop before trying to smash his brother's, who had been his sister the last time he saw him/her, skull with his hammer.
He, cause he was a he at the moment, would likely have revealed himself to be an illusion even if he had gone through with it anyway.
Loki lowered the white flags, glanced around at the ring of very unfriendly faces, and sighed like a man deeply offended by the lack of trust in the room.
"Now," he said, palms raised in a placating gesture, "before anyone finishes that swing, stabs me, shoots me, freezes me, mind controls me, or does something creative involving gamma radiation; allow me to make one thing very clear."
Thor snorted. "You summoned the trolls."
"I did not summon the trolls."
"You always summon the trolls."
"That is slander," Loki replied sharply. "Sometimes I redirect trolls. Sometimes I merely create circumstances in which trolls feel inspired. But this?" He gestured vaguely outward. "This was not me."
"I am feeling doubtful." Hercules said with a grunt as he hit his palm with his mace. "How about we hit you a few times and then, if you were innocent, say that we are sorry?"
"While the promise of an apology is quite novel, I must decline." Loki said with a sniff. "And all that you need to know in order to be sure of my innocence is right here!" He then clapped his hands and conjured a piece of parchment that levitated itself to Thor and unfurled by itself.
Thor debated on the merits of simply swinging Mjolnir once more as he had been at the end of Loki silver tongue, his 'bullshit' as Midgardian would say, far too many times to actually trust him but he also knew that his brother wouldn't try to attack him while he was reading a document given by him.
It wouldn't be dramatic enough for the bastard.
"...this a royal decree." Thor gritted out. "By my brother Baldur, declaring that Loki is to help with the appearance of trolls on Midgard." So this was how it felt like wanting to hit a brother who was not Loki, how novel.
Loki winced theatrically. "In my defense, Baldur insisted. Something about 'preventing inter-realm incidents' and 'not letting Midgard collapse because my brother is impulsive.' Honestly, I think he was talking about you."
Thor glared at him. "You speak of Baldur with far too much familiarity for someone he exiled."
"Temporarily redirected," Loki corrected. "That counts as mostly exiled at best. Semantics matter in royal decrees. I'm sure that you would know, as someone who has been properly exiled." The god of mischief said with a cruel smile that had Thor tighten his grip on his hammer.
He still was not completely sure that Loki hadn't been behind the appearance of their grandfather, who had been missing since before Odin had started his reign, and the battle that led to Thor killing him. He wanted to think that orchestrating kinslaying that was also regicide was something too far for Loki... but he also knew Loki.
"But that's neither here or there! Now do allow me to take a look around to see if there are any clues about the mysterious mastermind who orchestrated the appearance of these brutes." He then pulled out a spying glass and started walking around.
"Do you actually trust him?" Friend Banner asked as he walked up to him, his finger never leaving the trigger of his weapon.
"Not nearly as much as I wish I could." Thor admitted with a sigh. "But the decree is the real thing. Even with father gone, Loki would not dare to try to forge a royal decree. The magics of Asgard would not allow such treachery."
"But they would allow all the other treacheries he did?"
"...I will keep an eye on him." Thor said with a frown, not even trying to explain the deep connection of the magics of Asgard and the way they worked. He knew that his knowledge of the arcane was far too lacking to do it.
"I thought you said Loki was your sister." Young Kala said as he walked up to them, stopping beside his father.
"Yes but this isn't exactly something new." Thor admitted. "Loki takes the form of a man or a woman or anything between depending entirely on his mood. There have been periods of time where he spent centuries in one form while there also has been times where..."
"I got something!"
"...he changes during the middle of a conversation." Thor said with a sigh at the new form of Loki with a far more feminine face. There were some other changes that Thor would not be looking at along with his boots turning into heels and the upper part of his cape becoming fluffy.
"I heard my name mentioned and am here to amaze you all!"
"Did you find out who summoned the trolls?" Kala asked with a tilt of his head and Loki pointed at him with a huge grin on her face.
"I did not." This little. "But I did manage to track the signature of a spell that the troll had on their armor. So I know where the spell was cast."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Thor asked as he crossed his arms and then controlled his temper as Loki poked him on the nose.
"For my dramatic reveal of course!" The goddess of mischief laughed. "Pack your bags, my far less attractive friends, we are off to Latveria!"
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