Chapter Text
In 2010, Laufeyson Corp completed its takeover of Valaskjalf Ltd and rival company Utgarda Co and moved its headquarters from London to New York.
Most assumed that the move was an indication that Laufeyson Corp was readying itself for the world stage.
Unbeknownst to all except the Board of Directors, the real reason behind the relocation was that company founder and CEO Loki Laufeyson had just bought and consequently screwed over both his adoptive and real father's life's work.
But hey, they'd screwed over his childhood, so they were even now.
Laufeyson Corp specialised in innovation, mostly in the field of electronics and clean energy, which was greatly aided by their CEO's genius intellect and love of creation. Naturally, with a field like that, parallels were immediately drawn between Laufeyson Corp and Stark Industries.
Many more parallels were drawn when people realised that Loki Laufeyson was an arrogant, handsome, billionaire, genius, playboy philanthropist.
Loki gave a presentation at the Stark Expo on his latest advance in sustainable power – micronuclear batteries with a theoretically infinite life, or, more accurately, a half-life of around a third of a billion years. After his presentation, he took home a pair of supermodels and vanished for a half a day.
Very Stark-esque.
Tony Stark didn't actually meet his new competitor until after Vanko died. He'd watched a press conference of the tall, raven-haired man; Loki was a born entertainer, holding the crowd in his palm as soon as he took to the podium.
"I am certain I will be working with Tony in one capacity or another. Thank you and good afternoon." Loki smiled winningly as he left the stage, being followed out by security as his short, exciteable-looking PA gesticulated boldly.
Tony had decided to keep an open mind on Loki Laufeyson; he was obviously smarter than Justin Hammer and maybe he was a nice guy. He'd certainly been the picture of an amiable gentleman in the conference.
He was going to find out soon in a meeting anyway.
-O.O-
It was held in Tony's Malibu home. Loki flew down especially for it, and met Tony in the conference room.
In a break from tradition, Tony was genuinely paying attention at this meeting.
"I'm Tony Stark, and it's good to finally meet you, Mr Laufeyson," Tony said formally, itching to break out the scotch and really get to know this guy.
"Tony Stark, the man behind the mask," Loki purred. "To business. I would rather avoid lawsuits if humanly possible, so working out some rules now is advisable."
Tony quickly learned that behind that cultured accent and those perfect manners lay an arrogant, sarcastic dickhead, and Tony couldn't decide where he liked Loki or wanted to kill him. Either way, Tony was getting a headache, and when Loki finally excused himself, saying "If you will forgive me, I am nearing the completion of my biggest project yet, and coming from me that is definitely something," Tony was almost relieved.
Pretentious asshole.
-O.O-
Loki wasn't sure what to make of Tony Stark. It was like looking at a slightly distorted and far shorter version of himself. Certainly it was more entertaining to speak to Stark that it had been to talk to his adoptive father, Odin Valfodr, or his real one, Farbauti Laufeyson, who both had a way of making business even more boring.
His competition was smart, too, something Loki craved after growing up with his comparatively dull adoptive brother.
His competition was also Iron Man. Even before Stark's adventures in Afghanistan, Loki had toyed with the idea of using his knowledge of energy to build something similar in the field of bodysuits. It had irked him greatly that his idea had taken two years longer than Stark's, but it was now past the final testing stages and well and truly ready to be used. He'd bought a stretch of desert in New Mexico especially for that purpose.
The day after his meeting with Stark, Loki was on-site and being geared up for the first human test run of what he'd mentally dubbed the 'Sparkly Shit Suit.' He'd named it that at 3am, after having to redraft wiring designs for the umpteenth time when he realised that his current design would probably set him on fire, and wouldn't that be a bitch.
Now Loki really hoped he hadn't made a mistake as he dressed in a leather bodysuit and boots with a special rubber polymer for soles. There was every chance Loki could die today testing this, but Loki had make every measure towards his own safety, and it seemed cruel to test it on animals or other people. It was Loki's idea, after all.
Delicate gold alloy wire was threaded from the breastplate down to his bare hands in the suit. Loki's heart was pounding under the leather, but outwardly he was calm.
Maybe this was a bad idea.
But, hey, Carpe Diem, right?
"Prepare to activate phase one," Loki said when the wires were in place.
"Are you sure, boss?" One of his technicians said. "You seem a bit nervous."
"Considering I may be mere ashes on the concrete in a few minutes, I have every right to worry," Loki replied smoothly.
"Yeah, I suppose. Thought you'd put a brave face on."
"Bravery is by far the kindest word for stupidity, don't you think?" Loki said. "Activate phase."
A slight yip of pain escaped from Loki's throat as electricity surged through his body. It was a fierce hum of pleasure-pain that made his fingers tingle and his teeth hurt. His heart pounded roughly in his chest, working overtime to keep everything functioning.
It was easy to get used to it, though, like being on a sugar rush. Loki took several deep breaths, making sure he was still alive. Once he was confident everything was working the way it should, he said "Phase success. I still seem to be alive. Activate phase two in two minutes."
"Are you confident you'll survive this? You've done good work today, you could call it quits," Another technician asked. "It's one thing to give yourself a little tingle, another to electrocute the fuck out of yourself in the name of science."
"I'll either succeed, or I'll be killed too quickly for me to feel anything," Loki replied. "Either option works for me."
"It's just, I think if I watched you explode I'd be traumatised for life."
"Fortunately, I wouldn't feel a thing, and I'm sure monetary compensation will cure your trauma. So yes, I still wish you to 'electrocute the fuck out of me'," Loki deadpanned.
There was silence for a short while as Loki readied himself for what he was fairly certain was going to be excruciating pain. It was almost a relief when the countdown started. Anticipation was no mercy.
When they activated the phase, Loki's heart stopped beating, his brain stopped working, and he clinically died for a second as his lithe frame was sent awash with electricity.
Loki knew nothing except the fact that his heart was beating at speeds that had to be illegal as his vision and hearing whited out for a moment. He'd miscalculated, with too much electricity; he'd have to fix that next time. He vaguely registered that he'd been making a few strange noises and baring his teeth. As he grew self-aware again, Loki noted that he was still standing in the vast warehouse, and all eyes were terrified and locked on him.
But fuck, he felt fantastic.
He said that out loud and everyone sighed in relief.
"Running at working capacity?" Loki enquired. The man controlling his suit nodded, disturbed by the fact that his boss really shouldn't have been alive.
"Excellent. Movement test, now." Loki felt surprisingly normal, considering the wattage in his body, though he had was experiencing an odd feeling, like he was vibrating at high frequency or like energy could come off him at any moment. He walked around the warehouse, enjoying the powerful feeling that the electricity was giving him. When he was confident that he was fine (besides his heart, which was beating out of control in a way that couldn't be healthy) he returned to the testing area.
The thing was, Loki was still in a buttload of danger. The next phase was removing control of the electricity from the mainframe and instead tying it to Loki's own brainwaves. There was every possibility Loki's brain would melt and bubble out his ears, and Loki knew that very well.
"Activate phase three in two minutes," Loki commanded, before looking out a skylight at a patch of blue sky. Considering he could be dead in two minutes, the cliche of admiring the view suddenly didn't seem out of place.
Then the countdown started and Loki prayed to gods he'd never believed in that he'd survive.
Instead of death by brain boiling or explosion, all that happened was Loki felt a surge of endorphins and a curious awareness of the energy within himself.
"It all seems to be going fairly well," Loki said assessingly. "I'm going to go outside to test."
As Loki went to walk out the bay doors, he decided to test a theory that he'd formed regarding his current state.
That is, the concept that he could convert himself to light energy and travel anywhere almost instantly.
As soon as he willed it, Loki found himself outside in the searing heat of the Chihuahuan desert. His heart had jumped weirdly on the transit, but aside from that he felt incredible. All his techies started clapping when they saw his shift, and he gave a theatrical bow.
Loki then turned his attention to the large wooden targets set up a short distance away. How he was controlling the electricity, he had no idea, but it felt – well, rather like he'd thought having an extra limb would feel. In any case, he lashed out with a hand, feeling the energy move as he commanded it, arcing from the tips of his fingers to tear a huge burning hole in his target.
Aw yeah!
Loki Laufeyson was a motherfucking superhuman.
Probably not a hero, but super nonetheless.
Loki spent another 20 minutes blasting the shit out of his targets before he powered down and tugged himself out of the leather suit, his head throbbing. It was rough on his body, but damn, was it awesome.
-O.O-
The next day, Loki was accosted in his office by a Mr Nick Fury, who at first wanted him to hand over the Sparkly Shit Suit, and when he declined, enquired after his future intentions. Loki assured him they centred around pissing Stark off, attracting attention, and promoting his company. And, yes, if he had to, he might help save the world. Loki then asked how they'd found out about the suit, and Fury chuckled enigmatically as he said SHIELD had eyes everywhere, which was no comfort to Loki.
Finally Fury left, and Loki ordered his PA to bring him a bottle of Aquavit to drink while he worked on prettying up the Sparkly Shit Suit.
-O.O-
A few days after that, Loki had practised in the suit again, and his PA Darcy Lewis had suddenly requested holiday time, which she had never asked for before. Needless to say, Loki was suspicious; she was his close friend and she would've told him a lot sooner. Curious, he granted it on the condition she found herself a temporary replacement. She found one in record time, a muscular, middle-aged man she introduced as Bart Clinton.
Loki had a sixth sense for bullshit, and this was tripping all his alarms, especially seeing how overqualified 'Bart' seemed to be.
It took Loki all of three days and a few educated guesses to uncover that 'Bart' was Clint Barton, codename 'Hawkeye' of SHIELD. He was tempted to just throw the spy out of his tower, until he decided to humiliate him first as a warning to Fury.
So he called Barton up to his office on the top floor of Laufeyson Tower and invited have a seat on the couch. Loki sat gracefully on the armchair across from him, a glass of Metaxa in hand and a slightly predatory smile on his face.
"Mr Clinton," Loki said. "I've been meaning to have a proper conversation with you since you arrived, but I've been rather busy."
"It's okay, man; I don't think I'll be here long anyway," Barton replied. "What do you want to talk about?"
"How did you meet Darcy? We've known each other for many years and she's never even mentioned you," Loki felt a tickle of amusement as Barton searched for a response to give. "Never mind. Don't stretch yourself with the tough questions, you poor, beleaguered soul. If it helps, I've an easier one for you."
"What's that-?" Barton was interrupted by Loki putting down his drink and darting, cat-like, to straddle his lap and pull him into a fierce, hungry kiss, to which Barton responded first with confusion, then with a tentative enthusiasm.
Loki pulled away to purr hotly into Barton's ear. "My question is, could you deliver a message to your boss, Agent Barton?" Barton froze, tense, under Loki. "Tell Fury not to spy on my business."
Barton swore a blue streak as Loki climbed off his lap and stood over him smugly.
"Server?" Loki called to his voice-controlled house OS. It wasn't an AI like Stark's, but Loki hadn't wanted another personality around the place. "Server, send Director Fury the surveillance film of Agent Barton's and my interaction, and attach this message: 'Before this agent is allowed to return to undercover duty, he should be reschooled in the fields of cover stories and preventing the tongue of his target contacting his own'."
"Fuck you," Barton snapped, standing up. "Never should've taken this mission; you're as bad as Stark. Do you know what you just did?"
"Yes. I got you demoted to paperwork and security checks. I also don't care. Now get out of my office before I fry you," Loki said sharply.
"Fuck you, you promiscuous bastard." Barton said, calling the elevator and leaving.
Loki threw himself down on the couch and laughed at his reaction.