A/N

Inspired by that one MLP episode where Rainbow Dash gets a little nuts with the pranking and the townspeople are just so done with her shit lmao

***

"ADAMS!!!" Loki roared from the upstairs bathroom. Maya sat next to Olivia in the Asgardian's room, sketching a few things for her art class. Maya snickered without meeting Olivia's worried eyes.

"Maya, what did you do this time?" Olivia asked.

"Who said I did anything?" Maya asked, hiding a smile. Olivia opened her mouth to reply before Loki burst into the room. In one hand he held a towel around his waist, having just come from the shower. In the other, he held a half empty bottle of Aunt Jemima's syrup. Maya collapsed onto the floor in laughter, noticing the extent of the damage. Loki's hair was solidly held in crazy directions, looking much like a Sonic the Hedgehog-type character. Not to mention his anger-contorted expression seemed to make it even funnier to Maya.

"Care to explain this, Adams?" Loki hissed. He only ever addressed her by her last name when royally pissed off.

"I dunno what to tell you. Mr. Stark must have bought the wrong shampoo." Maya said.

"This is the completely wrong product. Stark is daft as anything, but I think he knows the difference between shampoo and a bottle of syrup."

"Hey, I think it's partially your fault. The amount of syrup needed to do that kind of damage means you must have used like, a third of the bottle. What do your actions say about your habits? No wonder Mr. Stark needs to buy you shampoo every two weeks, if that."

The pair stared at each other for a long, drawn out moment, Olivia resting her head in her hand. It was too early in the morning for this. She stood up and took the syrup bottle out of Loki's hand. She passed it to Maya with a heavy sigh.

"Maya, put this back in the pantry, please. Loki, I'll get the syrup out once Maya leaves." Olivia said.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Couple's time. I'll go. But don't think I didn't notice you oggling that towel, Livvy." Maya said with a cheeky grin before walking out of the room. Loki and Olivia both rolled their eyes in response.

***

"Okay, just a little more fine-tuning and... Voila!" Tony said, putting down the welding tool. The latest upgrade to his suit was as good as finished. He dusted off his hands before testing out the helmet first and foremost. "JARVIS, start the recallibration procedure."

"Yes, sir." The AI replied. There were a few assorted beeps and schematic changes before the view went back to the typical default view.

"Okay, running tests. JARVIS, activate the heat signature test."

"Activating Heat Signature Scanner." The room lit up in a wide array of colors, mostly blues and greens to indicate cold. There were a few orange and red spots to show heat, but everything looked largely in-tact. "Test complete."

"Great. Okay, activate the Suit vitals test."

"Activating Suit Vitals Diagnostic." The helmet showed a schematic of the suit, showing each main part in green to indicate prime condition. "Test Complete."

"Just a few more. JARVIS, can you zoom in on the whiteboard over there?"

"Activating Old Man Bifocals."

"I'm sorry, the fuck did you say to me?" Tony snapped.

"I merely said that your zoom procedure was activated, the Old Man Bifocals." JARVIS said as if nothing was wrong.

"Well, I sure as hell didn't call it that. Override that name, JARVIS."

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, now send the test distress signal to the team if my thrusters stop working and I can't get off the ground."

"Yes, sir. Activating the I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up protocol."

Tony ripped the helmet off in utter anger.

"JARVIS, run me by when those protocol names changed." He said.

"It seems like the names were altered last night at 5:27 PM, sir." JARVIS reported.

"I wasn't in the lab at the time, but-" It suddenly hit Tony. "MAYA, GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!"

A minute or so later, Maya came prancing down into the lab with a smug smile on her face.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?" She asked.

"Why did you change my protocol names?" Tony asked bluntly.

"Who said it was me?"

"JARVIS."

"JARVIS, you snitch." Maya muttered. "Sorry, I just wanted to label them in a way that seemed more... Age appropriate."

"Are you calling me old?"

"I'm just saying, you put Peter on a Baby Monitor protocol." Maya shrugged, waltzing back up the stairs.

"You're out of control, kid." Tony muttered.

***

"I'm back!" Maya said cheerfully. "Sorry, Mom needed my help moving the old couch to the curb."

She was met with relative silence except for the sound of distant yelling from the lounge. Confused, she followed the noise. She poked her head around the corner to see Loki, Olivia, and Tony all in a large argument.

"...Irresponsible! I don't understand why anyone would trust you!" Loki yelled at Tony.

"You're one to talk trust, Loki!" Tony yelled back.

"What's going on?" Maya asked.

"It doesn't concern you, Maya."

"No, I think she has every right to know of your complete incompetence." Olivia snapped.

"Well, it's not like you could do any better!"

"No, actually, I think we could. Perfectly well, in fact." Loki argued.

"Uh huh, yeah. Sure." Tony rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe you." Olivia hissed, throwing up her arms in exasperation. She stomped a few feet away from Tony, folding her arms like a petulant child.

"Now look at what you did." Loki snapped at Tony. He too split away from the billionaire and whispered a few things to Olivia that Maya couldn't hear. Tony tapped his foot impatiently as Maya watched Loki gently brush the hair from Olivia's face and kiss her temple. "It's no use continuing to argue. We'll go upstairs and cool down before finishing this conversation when we're not as riled up."

"Yeah, good idea. I feel like a good, intimate screw ought to put you guys in a better mood." Tony said, rolling his eyes.

"That's not-" Olivia started.

"No, it's not what you said. But it's what you meant. Now go and blow off some steam."

Olivia growled at Tony before taking Loki by the wrist and leading him up to their floor. Tony sighed and left Maya alone in the lounge, utterly confused.

***

~Later That Night~

Maya was jerked awake in the middle of the night by the sounds of muffled talking and some... Slamming noises? She cautiously sat up in bed and got out. Surely the Compound wasn't being attacked, was it? She pressed her ear against her door to try and listen in on what was going on. Hearing nothing, she shrugged and went back to her bed. Before she could fall back to sleep, Peter suddenly burst into her room in a panic.

"Maya? Are you in here?" He asked.

"Yeah, what is it?" Maya replied groggily.

"Oh thank god you're okay." Peter said, relieved.

"What do you mean 'I'm okay?'"

"I mean, I'm just glad they haven't found and turned you yet. I think only a few of us on the team are still okay. Everyone else has been corrupted."

"Peter, you're scaring me." Maya squeaked. "What's going on, is this a joke?"

"I wish it was."

"Is it HYDRA? AIM? Who?"

"I wish it were them, that'd be preferable to betrayal."

"Peter, what-"

"Shh!" Peter suddenly cut Maya off by covering her mouth to get her to stop talking. Maya tried to peel his hand away, but then she heard a voice coming from down the hall. Feminine, that's all she knew. "Oh god, no. Okay, shh, hide."

Peter dragged Maya out of bed to hide in her closet, shutting the sliding dark wood doors behind them. He ushered her into the far back corner and moved a few boxes to conceal them further.

"Peter, what the h-" Maya again tried to speak, but Peter again shushed her when he heard her main bedroom door open. There was some shuffling for a few moments.

"She's not in here, milady." A voice that sounded an awful lot like Nat's said. Maya's eyes had adjusted to the dark closet so she could sort of make Peter out. Not enough to read his expression, but she could see his defensive stance on the ground.

"Well, then check Parker's room. They're both most likely hiding out there." Another female voice that sounded like Olivia's said. Maya and Peter heard receeding footsteps and Peter eventually let Maya's mouth go.

"What the hell was that?" She whispered. "Why would they be trying to find us? And why would Nat be addessing Olivia like that... Unless."

It slowly dawned on Maya and she felt her stomach drop like she was on a particularly high roller coaster.

"Don't tell me they..." Maya asked Peter before trailing off. She could sort of make out his dejected nod.

"No one knew about what they were doing behind closed doors, but apparently saving Earth as Avengers wasn't enough. A surprise takeover months in planning. I heard them saying something about "It'll take some planning, but I think if we pull this off, it will be well worth it." We have to find a way out of here and contact SHIELD so Loki and Olivia can be taken down." Peter said grimly.

"Oh my god, and I syrup haired Loki three days ago. I'm so dead." Maya squeaked in fear.

"Not if we escape. We can get out if we make a break for it." Peter said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. He slid the closet door open and led Maya out very cautiously. They scanned around the dark Compound for hostile activity. Peter nodded for them to keep going, and they slowly crept down the hall, too scared to make a sound.

"It's them!" Maya heard Wanda call. They heard running footsteps headed right for them.

"Oh damn it all." Peter said as they started running.

"How many of the team are still okay?" Maya asked.

"Not sure, but we better keep running." Peter said. They turned a corner and practically crashed into Natasha with eyes that seemed to glow blue. She grabbed Peter and tried to snatch Maya, but she dodged out of the way.

"I have Parker." Nat said.

"Maya, keep running and don't stop until you're safe!" Peter said, struggling to get free.

"Not without you!" Maya yelled.

"Just go! Before they get you! I'll be fine!" Peter said, before being dragged away by Natasha. Swallowing hard, Maya glanced over her shoulder and saw Clint and Wanda running right for her, their eyes also seeming to glow blue. She had heard the stories from 2012, and the eyes all but confirmed the worst for her. So, she kept running.

Something grabbed her arm and pulled her around the corner into a spare room. She tried to fight back and pull away from whoever had her captive.

"Lady Maya, it's just me." Thor said,

"You have blue eyes!" She shrieked, completely shaken.

"I've always had blue eyes." Thor said. Maya paused for a second before calming down.

"Thor, what happened?" She asked.

"It seems that my brother has taken control of the Mind Scepter, and this time enlisted Olivia's help." Thor said, echoing what Peter had told her.

"But-But, I thought it was gone for good?" Maya asked.

"I thought so too. Apparently we got it back from a HYDRA base that had stolen it after we got it back from Strucker, and Stark didn't call it in because he was too busy re-wiring his helmet because something was messed up. Loki and Olivia got mad at him, presumably because they wanted to seize it for themselves. They've never truly gotten along, so I suppose this was the last straw before they snapped." Thor said. Maya blinked.

"So what do we do? Peter and I were trying to escape the building to report to SHIELD before any damage could be done. They captured him before we could."

"We should get the workers out of the building."

"Good idea. Let's go, but quietly." Maya said. Thor nodded and poked his head out the door to scan for hostiles. Seeing none, he gestured for Maya to follow him. They slowly crept down the stairs and headed for the offices and lobby to find the night staff.

They turned a corner into the office to find bodies strewn about the floor, a few weapons scattered about. Maya held back a scream of shock, covering her mouth with her hand.

"By Odin's beard, what have they done?" Thor asked in misery.

"How many are dead?" Maya whispered.

"At least twenty-five." Thor said, glancing around the room. They heard a shuffle in the corner, followed by a few shushes. Cautiously, Maya and Thor went over to the pile of boxes the noise came from. They peeked around to see three office staff huddled together in utter fear.

"It's okay, it's okay. What happened?" Maya asked. One of the two women fidgeted with the sleeve of her blouse.

"They just came in... And started massacring everyone in the room who wouldn't comply to their demands." She said.

"It's okay. We'll help you get out of here." Maya reached for the woman's outstretched hand... Only to pass right through it. The woman and her two counterparts faded into a green flash. "It's a trick!"

Several hands went in to grab both Maya and Thor from behind. She peeked around her to find at least seven office staff and three SHIELD agents on nightwatch duty with crystal blue eyes. Maya tried to get free, but one agent sprayed her and Thor in the face with an odorless chemical, promptly knocking them out.

***

Maya awoke again as she was being dragged down a hallway by two agents, the tops of her toes dragging along the wood floor. In the rush of adrenaline, she realized she was still in her pyjamas. In her mind she was trying to break free, but whatever she had been knocked out with was some seriously strong stuff. She looked around to find she was alone, no Thor in sight. That scared her even more because she had no one to turn to for help.

"Where are you taking me? Let me go!" Maya said, albeit weakly, to the agents.

"Sorry, we have orders." The one on her left said.

"From who?" Maya asked, though in her mind, she knew the answer already. The doors to the lounge burst open and the first thing she noticed was how all the rest of the team stood at attention, barely moving a muscle. Their bodies almost formed a sort of runway to where the sofa usually would be. Instead it looked like a large throne, to Maya's horror. Sitting upon it were Loki and Olivia, the scepter at their side. Maya tried to avert her gaze both out of fear and the fact that they were... Very uncharacteristically hard-core making out on said throne. One of Maya's captors coughed once and the pair separated, smoothing their hair back down.

"We got the last one." The agent said.

"Very good. You can leave her with us." Loki said, sending the guards away with a wave. They gave short bows before exiting the room. Maya stood alone in the middle of the room, bound by invisible restraints.

"Why would you do this?" She asked outright. "I thought we were friends."

"Would gods like us really ever be friends with a mortal like you? No, it was all just a ploy to gain your trust. A trust exercise, if you will." Olivia scoffed.

"But none of that matters now. Your world will be ours and your mind will be as well." Loki said, gesturing to the scepter in Olivia's hand.

"I'm not gonna let that happen." Maya said. Loki and Olivia shared an almost cruel laugh.

"Oh, Maya, you delusional little mortal... You have nowhere else to go. Though, we really have to thank you." Olivia said, smiling sadistically.

"Thank me? Why?"

"You re-wiring Stark's helmet caused him to be so distracted as to allow us time to get the scepter and destroy the team from the inside out." Loki said. Maya's heart sank and her breathing stopped for a moment.

"This is all my fault..." She whispered sadly.

"Your fault? Maya, it's not a fault, you have allowed a good thing to happen. If it were up to me, you could keep your own mind." Olivia said.

"But, alas, we've studied your behavior and you have shown to be very uncooperative when you don't agree with something. Too bad, you have quite the personality." Loki said, taking the scepter from Olivia and serenely approaching Maya. Panicking, Maya struggled against her bonds.

"Help! Someone help! Oh, this is all my fault! This isn't funny anymore!" She shrieked once Loki was barely two inches in front of her.

"Exactly." Loki said, drawing back. Maya blinked.

"What?" In green flashes, the scepter faded away, the throne turned back into the sofa, and Maya suddenly was able to get free. All the leftover force from pulling back caused her to topple over onto her butt. "Wait, what? What the everloving-"

"It was time we staged an intervention." Olivia said, walking over to help Maya to her feet.

***

~The Previous Afternoon~

"She's out of control." Clint whined. Most of the team was gathered around the confrence table usually meant for mission debriefings. Maya was the exception because she was at her parents' house at the moment.

"Tell me about it." Pietro groaned, grazing his fingers along the bald spot shaved onto the side of his head in the shape of a bolt of lightning.

"She hid all my underwear in this room because it was the 'debriefing room,' which I guess she interpreted as 'no briefs room.'" Steve said.

"She Twinkied my arrows again." Clint said, showing one arrow covered in cake and cream to show his point.

"She took some of those magnetic balls, appropriately called Bucky Balls, and stuck them to my arm in the shape of a d-" Bucky started, before Steve shot him a look.

"Oh, that was me, actually." Tony said, raising his hand sheepishly. Bucky flipped him the bird before slumping back down.

"Point is, Maya's going a little bit nuts with the pranking. It's harmless enough when it's a contest between her and Loki, but when it extends to the whole team..." Nat said.

"Do we have any ideas to get her to stop it?" Carson asked. Everyone looked at Loki expectantly.

"What are you looking at me for? I'm just as much a victim of hers as you are." He asked.

"You're our resident prank master. What've you got? The bigger the better." Tony asked.

"Constructing the perfect prank takes time, Stark. You can't expect-"

"I have an idea." Olivia spoke up. Everyone turned to her with eager expressions. "It'll take some planning, but I think if we pull this off, it will be well worth it."

***

"Pranking is funny enough when it's harmless fun and just to one or two people. But once you start going after the whole team, it can get dangerous. If you can re-wire Stark's helmet to change protocol names, it could mean that he wouldn't know what protocol name to say, or worse, you could disable something vital all together." Olivia explained.

"Hence why we played this as to being your fault in the first place. Actions have consequences." Loki added. Maya finally caught her breath and folded her arms.

"You still shouldn't have scared me like that! Dead bodies, corrupted SHIELD agents?? You're sick." Maya grumbled.

"A mix of illusions and some help from willing agents." Tony piped up. He showed Maya the contact lense that was in his eye to make it look crystal blue. Everyone else pulled their contacts out to reveal their true eye colors.

"So everyone was in on this?" Maya asked.

"After a small history lesson for some of us, but yes." Valkyrie nodded.

"Sorry, Poppy..." Peter said, going over and hugging her. Maya accepted the hug before they let go of each other.

"You guys are fine. It was well crafted, I'll admit. But never scare me like that again. Especially this late. I get tomorrow to sleep in and take a me day." Maya said.

"Deal." Tony agreed.

"And as for you, Loki, expect a large payback soon." Maya said, grinning.

"Just don't let it go out of control." Loki replied, giving her a half-smile.

"Promise."

***

A/N

I don't have a lot to say, tbh. 😂