What if... Loki built a harem on Earth?

A.K.A What if... Loki used the sceptre on Tony Stark's head, not his chest?

I am the Watcher. I see every reality in this vast multiverse of possibility, but I will not - cannot - interfere. In the universe you know, the Avengers defeated Loki's invasion of Earth thanks to Tony Stark's heroic sacrifice.

But what if one small choice could change everything? What if luck was not on the Avengers' side, that day in 2012? Join me, and ponder the question... W H A T__I F ?

The sun's fiery rays scorched the streets of New York, and on top of Stark Tower, a hypnotised Dr Selvig was setting into motion a device, powered by the Tesseract, which would open a void to allow a Chitauri army to stream onto Planet Earth. However, inside the penthouse, Tony Stark was locked in a verbal duel with Loki Odinson, in a **** bid to buy time until his Mark VII suit would be ready for deployment.

"Let's do a head count here," said Tony, sipping his drink. "Your brother, the demi-God." Loki turned away, sighing angrily. "A super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend;" reaching onto the counter, Tony clips on a pair of homing bracelets. "A man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins - and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan," grinned Loki.

"Not a great plan," remarked Tony. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

Loki was undeterred. "I have an army."

"We have a Hulk."

"Oh, I thought the beast had wandered off."

"You're missing the point," persisted Tony, descending a few stairs towards the Asgardian. "There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it."

His eyes widened slightly, however, as Loki slowly prowled towards him, a predatory look in his eye. "How will your friends have time for me -" he raised the glowing sceptre, "- when they're so busy fighting you?"

*Ting!* Tony flinched as the pointed tip clacks against his metal chest piece, the sceptre's ethereal energy fading.

Loki frowned, looking at his sceptre. Realising whatever is in the pesky man's chest was stopping his energy, he raised the sceptre again, and pressed it against Tony's forehead.

There. That's the moment that changed the fate of this Earth - and this universe - forever.

Tony's chest sucked in as he felt the power of the Mind Stone rewriting his loyalties, black ink seeming to spill over his eyes. Finally, they cleared, to reveal unnaturally bright blue irises. Smirking, Loki lowered the sceptre as a receptive expression spread across Tony's face.

"So, Iron Man," Loki grinned. "Where do we stand?"

"Well, I'm not much of a plan man," said Tony. "But we've got your brother incoming, 30 secs tops, and the quinjet with the rest is a minute behind."

Loki turned sharply. "The beast?"

"Unknown."

Loki shrugged. "Excellent. Well, if you don't have a plan, I suppose we'll use mine."

Author's note: if you're looking for smut, don't worry. Lots more mind control and harem-building is planned, as Loki sets his plan into motion. First, though, we've got to have some more combat, if Loki is to conquer Earth. A quick disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters, and most of the lines (and images) here are taken from the 2012 Avengers movie.