Another Thor

Loki suddenly appeared in my house.

“What the…,” Before I could finish my question he had whisked me off to someplace unknown.

My eyes went wide in amazement at the great hall bathed in golden moonlight I saw before me. The wonderful smell of jasmine on a warm summer night tickled my nose. Loki stood close by, a sly smile on his face as he seemed to watch me with a great deal of amusement.

“Welcome home, brother.” Brother? I wasn’t Loki’s brother. I was from Earth and he was an Asgardian. What did he mean by brother?

“Brother?” I questioned him, only to find the voice I heard was foreign to me: deeper, accented, and quite authoritative I was sure if it had come from someone other than myself at that particular moment. As my mind tried to make sense of all this I noticed I was now looking slightly down at him rather than looking up to him. Had he shrunk?

Just then a slight breeze wafted past, billowing a red cape around my body. Where had a cape come from? I stared down at myself. I was no longer dressed in the jeans and t-shirt I had on before. Instead I found myself clad in armor and maille that clung tightly to muscles that definitely weren’t mine. I brushed away a strand of long blonde hair hanging in my face. Wait… long blonde hair?? I was nearly bald and never had this color blonde hair. What had Loki done to me?

He still stood there, a smirk on his lips. “Still haven’t figured it out yet, brother?” There he goes calling me brother again. Then it started to dawn on me… blonde hair cascading down my neck, the armor, red cape, and the impressive physique… had he indeed turned me into the studly God of Thunder? Loki loved mischief but what would be his motive for making me Thor? As I stared at Loki he began to shimmer and before I knew it I was looking at Captain America. “Do you like me better as your pal Cap? Or maybe you prefer Iron Man?” he asked as he once again changed to another of the Avengers team. “How about your female companion?” as he morphed into Jane Foster before going back to himself.

I held my hand up. “No. Stop. What are you doing?” But as I did so the strangest thing happened: Mjolnir came at me, causing me to shut my eyes, involuntarily grasping for the shaft as it approached and I caught it! I couldn’t believe it! I had Thor’s hammer!

Loki laughed. “Well, you are Thor, brother!”

I couldn’t be Thor. The real Thor had to be around here somewhere and I was sure he would beat me into a pulp when he found me. I had to admit the powerful muscles were awesome and I could only imagine how sexy I looked now, but still I wasn’t really Thor. “Turn me back to myself.” I almost begged him, which must have been strange coming from the Thunder God.

Loki burst out in laughter. “Oh? You don’t like being Thor? How about this?” And in an instant I found myself with an eye-patch and less built than before. “Maybe you like being Odin better?” Crap. Now he had turned me into the ruler of Asgard. While Odin wielded the power of the throne, he was an old man. I didn’t want to be that old after being the young handsome god.

Loki couldn’t control his glee at seeing me so dismayed. One after another he changed me into various forms, including at one point Hulk (having all that rage was truly terrifying). I was getting dizzy going from one body to another so quickly until finally I was Thor once more. He was having fun at my expense.

“Loki, where is Thor?” He grew very serious looking, almost despondent as he must have been thinking about something that had happened.

“Thor hasn’t been here in a very long time.” I could hear the sadness in his voice, somehow pining for the brother he had lost. Siblings often fight and the relationship between Loki and Thor must have been tempestuous yet through it all I suspected they truly did care for each other. As if he knew my next question, he continued. “I have been using soldiers or others to be Thor for a while. They think he is just away and they are helping protect Asgard and the other realms. Of course they aren’t really Thor but the illusion is real enough and they get to enjoy the perks of being a god. Would you like to see yourself, brother?”

“Sure.” I knew what Thor looked like but I still wanted to see myself in the hunky body and hot outfit. I was getting excited just at the thought. Loki perked back up as he led me into another room where there was a full length mirror. I couldn’t help but gasp when I first saw myself. Thor’s body was just so amazing, especially after years of being in my own very unimpressive body. I could see Loki reflected in the mirror, checking me out as I pulled pose after pose.

“Would you like to be in that body you see permanently? Be a god among men?” Was he seriously asking me if I wanted to stay as Thor? Who wouldn’t want to, given the chance? My old life was nothing spectacular and no one would miss me much so why not?

‘Yes.’ was my quick simple reply to him. I should have thought about his question more before answering for I soon learned I should not have trusted Loki. A searing pain wracked my body. I felt like I was being ripped from Thor’s body and thrust into someone else’s. Within seconds I was looking at Thor standing in front of me. Could it be? I rushed to stand beside him, another face staring back at me from the mirror – Loki -  Loki the Trickster.

“No... you… you tricked me!” I screamed at him. He hadn’t just altered my appearance. He had swapped our bodies! He only laughed at me in the deep sexy voice he now possessed. I doubted that he ever missed Thor, that his sadness had all been an act to catch me off guard. Which might also mean he had been lying about Thor’s disappearance. Perhaps he had somehow changed Thor into somebody else to get him out of the way in his quest for the throne.

“Is something wrong, brother?” He smirked at me. “You don’t like being Loki? Is that body not that of a god?”

I had to admit he was right. I was in the body of a god, maybe not quite as impressive as Thor but still overall not that bad.

“Have you not yet figured out the truth? Let me help you. You are the real Thor. I veiled your memories and gave you false ones of a life always lived on Earth when I changed you into the pathetic person you have lived as for many years. While I could have let you live out your life as an Earthling, I decided instead the one fate worse than death for you would be to live as Loki, despised by all. The fun was giving you back your own body just to have it snatched away again.”

Memories rushed into my head. I was beginning to regain my true self. But I was in his body, not my own. Was I now destined to be Loki for the rest of my days?

Loki assumed I hated him, that being him would be the ultimate punishment but I never did hate my brother. He was the jealous one. Jealous of me being father’s favorite. Jealous of everything I was. Now I was him and he was me.

I looked over at Thor to see a perplexed look on his handsome face. “I… I can’t shift! I’m Thor… really Thor. This wasn’t supposed to happen.” Loki had intended to trap me in his body but his spell had the unintentional side effect of trapping him in mine and since I, or rather Thor, didn’t have shifting capabilities, neither did he any more. He was trapped as Thor as much as I was Loki. Ironically, he was now the favored son, his own worst enemy, the one destined to rule Asgard.

I wondered if that meant I had Loki’s powers of transformation. I tried thinking of Thor and instantly my body changed until there was another Thor in the room.

I changed back to what was now my natural body – Loki. I could be anybody or anything I desired. I couldn’t resist a bit of fun with Thor. Revenge is sweet as they say as I tested my new abilities by changing him into various forms, one after the other with increasing rapidity as I learned how to harness my powers. He looked terrified.

“What’s the matter, brother? Don’t you enjoy being different people anymore?” I could tell I had his characteristic smirk on my face as I taunted him. Finally, I turned him back to Thor. I also gave him Thor’s memories and personality. He was fully aware of being Loki but he was forced to act like Thor. He would have to learn to be the hero now, no more trickster.

Of course, I could change him to appear as Loki and myself as Thor but I really didn’t mind being Loki. I wouldn’t have the pressure that Thor always had to protect and save the world. Besides, I hadn’t been Thor for a very long time so I really was not losing anything. I was determined I would be a better Loki, one deserving of Odin’s favor and not the despised mischief maker. Life was going to be anything but dull and boring from now on. Hmmm… I wonder what being Captain America is like…