Chapter 1: The Verdict

Loki's shackles rattled in time with his footsteps as he walked down the Great Hall of Asgard, a small army of armed guards prodding him along with spears. His expression was blank, fearless, remorseless, uncaring, and he refused to acknowledge Frigga, his own mother, until she uttered his name.

"Loki."

He turned toward her, straightening his shoulders, expression still neutral. "Hello mother. Have I made you proud?" His tone was sarcastic but Frigga could tell it was strained.

"Please," the goddess asked with stern desperation, "don't make this worse."

"Define worse?" her son's tone turned cutting, and his facade seemed to tighten, a blank face on a tortured young man.

Frigga wanted to comfort her son and yell at him at the same time, but before she could utter a word, her husband, the Allfather, cut in from his seat on the throne.

"Enough!" he declared. "I will speak to the prisoner alone."

Prisoner. The word brought bile to Frigga's throat. Loki, her own son, a fugitive, a killer, a murderer. She knew it was true but, as she strode away, listening to Odin declare the life sentence…

By the Nine Realms, there had to be a better option.

Only five minutes after Loki's sentence, Odin strode out through the large golden doors, knuckles white, expression furious. Undeterred from her husband's anger, Frigga followed, strides brisk and graceful under her ocean blue robes.

"Odin, my love," she caught up to him, the tempo of her footsteps changing to match her husband's. "You can't just lock Loki up for the rest of his life. He's just a boy, and he's our son."

With a grimace, the All-Father stopped and turned around to face his stern wife, "Frigga, my dear," his voice was tired, upset. "Loki is no longer a child. He is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent people and must be locked away for the good of everyone in the Nine Realms."

"And what of his own good?" her question hangs in the air like frigid fog.

"His own good?" Odin repeated, voice louder, heckles rising. "He should have been executed, but his life has been spared! That is mercy enough."

"Mercy wasn't what I was referring to," Frigga tone carried a melancholy calmness. "His own good is his health, the wellbeing of his soul, his own inner peace-"

"He won't find he peace!" Odin argued. "He just wants to be king!"

"Yes," Frigga's tone was like venom. "And who told him that kingship was his destiny?"

The All-Father paused. After a few heavy moments, he sighed in defeat, his one good eye a pool of sadness and grief, "So, what do you propose I do instead of locking our son up in the dungeon?"

"The same as you did to Thor: strip him of his power and banish him to Midgard," Frigga's voice never wavered, and her eyes were like steel. "The experience should humble him, as it did Thor."

"And if Loki escapes?" Odin's voice was testy.

"He won't escape. We have Thor's new allies in Midgard to watch over him."

Odin's face formed an expression of deep contemplation. "I will think about it," he decided. His cape fluttered through the air as he turned back to leave.

Frigga smiled sadly as she watched her husband leave. Odin would likely implement the plan, but it was ultimately up to Loki to develop a willingness for change.

And it wasn't in the Mischief God's nature to change…

oooOOOooo

Loki stood in front of the Bifrost, still chained, glaring daggers at the All-Father, whose very presence caused the air to restlessly stir. The Bifrost glowed and flickered, a barrage of multi-colored light, and Heimdall's golden eyes watched their every move. Thor stood behind silently watching as well.

"Loki Laufeyson," Odin's voice roared like a lion, a sound of power, a sound of strength. "You have betrayed Asgard. You have betrayed your king. Through your arrogance and stupidity, you have spread chaos and destruction across the Nine Realms, killing innocents with the horrors of war!"

"Using the same speech as you did with Thor?" Loki put up a smug façade. "How pathetic."

Ignoring the trickster, Odin continued. "You are unworthy of these realms. You are unworthy of your title!"

Loki's armor peeled off into the air, leaving a green cotton shirt in its place. The God of Lies watched in horror as his flashy vestments were reduced to simple clothing.

"You are unworthy of the loved ones you betrayed!" Odin continued. You are unworthy of your power!"

Green magic was siphoned from Loki's fingers, entering a small dagger in the All-Father's hand.

"Lastly," Odin's voice seemed to roar even louder. "You are unworthy of your status as an Aesir! I hereby remove your longevity. Until you are worthy of it, you will live as a Midgardian."

"What?!" Loki's voice was shocked. He looked down at himself, at his shifting form. He grew shorter, younger, until he was in his late adolescence, a teenager in Midgardian years, around seventeen. "Why?" he snarled. "Why did you do this to me?"

"Your mother believes this punishment will better serve you," Odin said. "And your age… We age faster in comparison to our Midgardian counterparts in relation to our lifespan. In Midgard, you would still be a minor, a youth, which Frigga apparently still considers you to be as well."

He turned to exit, cape billowing in the wind. On the way out, he clapped his hand against Thor's shoulder. His eldest son looked shocked at the display of power, a bit daunted, worried.

"Take care of him, Thor," Odin whispered, slipping Loki's dagger into Thor's hands. "He might be able to use this someday."

"Yes father."

The God of Thunder took a step forward, grabbing old of his now much younger brother's arm. With a little convincing on the part of Thor, the two siblings stepped into the Bifrost and disappeared into the rainbow light.

oooOOOooo

Tony Stark was completely drunk on the Asgardian mead Thor had brought as a present, but somehow, he still managed to speak coherently, as he bartered with Thor over the fate of a certain God of Mischief. "So, your eyepatch-y dad wants us to take care of your asshole brother, who almost destroyed the world and killed us, but is now a powerless wimpy teenager?" He asked, expression amused.

Thor shifted uncomfortably, "Yes."

"Are all expenses paid?" Steve Rogers chimed in, expression more serious, yanking the mug of alcohol out of Tony's hand as the billionaire tried to drink more. Stark let out a disappointed wine, and sunk into the couch, burying his mead-covered face in one of the expensive-looking silk pillows.

"My father claims he is willing to provide money for Loki's academics considering Midgard's strict rules regarding the subject," Thor said.

"We'll have to think about it," Bruce Banner muttered, adjusting his glasses, then shifting to readjust the sleeves of his purple button-down dress shirt. He served as another voice of reason. "I mean he still might have some tricks up his sleeves."

"But under our watch?" Natasha Romanov disagreed with her colleague's statement. "We can beat him. We did last time, and besides," she spared a glance at the teenage God of Mischief as he lingered around the Avengers' "emergency cage" (an electro-magnetic force field, courtesy of drunk Tony). "I know when he's manipulating us, and he's in too much of a vulnerable state to do that now."

"And what about his scepter?" Clint Barton argued. "His magic is gone, but when I was under the influence of that thing. That thing… It was powerful."

"SHIELD can obscure the weapon's location can it not?" Thor's tone turned quieter, to ensure his brother would no hear from his cell. Of course, Tony had included a sound-blocking system in the "emergency cage," but with Loki, one could never be too careful.

"Yeah, I guess we can," Clint still didn't sound convinced.

"Alright let's have a vote," Tony lifted his face from the pillow, apparently listening the whole time. "All in favor for becoming Asshole's nannies?"

He raised his hand, and Steve, Natasha, and Thor followed suit.

"Looks like we have a majority," Stark declared. "Sorry, Clint, Bruce, no hand raising for you."

Hawkeye rolled his eyes, and Bruce bit his lip. "I still don't agree with this," Dr. Banner said. "But I think we can all say that the Big Guy could take Loki down if we really needed."

"Amen to that, Science-Bro" Tony said to Bruce. Then, he turned toward the nearby JARVIS speaker, "JARVIS, unlock Loki from his cell."

Tony's "emergency cage" dissipated into thin air, and with a smug smirk on his face Iron Man walked up to the former god, "Hey kiddo, how does shawarma sound for dinner?"

Loki's expression was one of pure confusion.

And there's Chapter 1, people! Tell me what you think, and please review! I plan on making the chapters longer in the future, so I guess you guys should just consider this as kind of a prologue. This takes place right after the first Avengers, ignoring all the canon from Phase 2 because I am a reminiscent idiot of the one year we all thought that the Avengers were going to be bro-hanging in the Avengers Tower. And yes, based on the numbers/percentages, Loki is seventeen in human years. To make an excuse for this I just figured that the Aesir had shorter childhoods in comparison to their lifespans, et voila! I have an excuse to right a funny high school fic. I hope to continue writing this within the next week or so, but I've been sick, so missed work obviously is my priority right now. And for those who are following my other ongoing stories: She Said, He Said; and Water: In Tide and Time, I'm sorry about the delay. Writer's block is awful!

AGAIN, BECAUSE I'M ANNOYING: PLEASE REVIEW!

-GrumpyCat503