There was a plotbunny on the Norse_Kink meme, posted almost a year ago, about Loki being punished for his actions by being banished to Midgar as a human infant, a la comics Thor, and being adopted into a loving family.

The idea I got was Loki being adopted into the Stark family after little three year old Loki somehow comes across Howard and manages to impress the man with his grasp of mathematics. Upon finding out the little boy is an orphan with no known family, Howard bullies the relevant officials into turning over custody, and two weeks later, Lucas Howard Stark makes his debut.

Eight year old Tony is very uncertain what to make of his new baby brother, and suffers from the persistent insecurity that Howard loves Lucas better. After all, Tony was born into the family. Howard didn’t have much choice about his personality or place in the family. But he chose Lucas. The press, vultures that they are, quickly concocts the story that Lucas is secretly Howard’s bastard son he’s adopting to bring the boy into the family without public admission of infidelity.

Maria and Howard die in a car accident when Tony is sixteen and Lucas eleven. Lucas’s ‘mutation’, ice-manipulation, manifests when he’s fifteen, and he goes off to Xavier’s at sixteen. And that’s just background to the art bunny: A three part series of Time’s Magazine cover mockups.

1. Eight year old Tony standing, holding Lucas’s hands as Lucas stands on his feet, reaching up, in the Stark’s living room. Tony is watching the camera warily, and Lucas is looking up at Tony with a wide-eyed, serious expression.
   • The Headline: The Stark Children
   • The Tagline: One abruptly made an older brother, the other newly adopted, the children of the most famous weapons manufacturer in the world attempt to adapt.
2. Sixteen year old Tony stands next to eleven year old Lucas in the lobby of Stark Industries. They’re holding hands, and both of them hold one of their parents’ death certificates up in front of their chest with their other. They are expressionless.
   • The Headline: The Stark Brothers
   • The Tagline: Newly orphaned, they face the challenge of taking over their father’s company. Can they handle it?
3. Twenty seven year old Tony stands next to twenty one year old Lucas in the lobby of Stark Industries, holding hands in a deliberate mirror of the previous cover. Tony in the Iron Man armor with his face mask up, Lucas in his x-man uniform, Tony grinning, Lucas smirking. Between them, they hold a large, stiff copy of a ridiculously complicated blueprint, each one supporting one side with their free hand.
   • The Headline: The Brothers Stark
   • The Tagline: On superheroes, mutant rights, and why everything you know about technology is about to become obsolete.