"That's impossible." Thor gasped. Thor glanced back at his adoptive brother, who didn't look any more pleased or less surprised than he did. Thor turned back to the captain, but then he slowly and menacingly grinned. "Finally: a worthy opponent!" Thor shouted. He lowered his voice and added, "I shall enjoy this."
Captain America swung Mjolnir, aiming for Thor's head, but he dodged and kicked him back. Thor tackled him, blocking his hammer. Thor headbutted Captain America, who then headbutted him back, hoping to restore the demigod to his right mind, but he was too thickheaded to succumb to the attack.
Cap looked around, noticing Iron Man flying around while Hulk jumped after him, while Barton and Romanoff were still trying to catch Loki. Then he spotted his shield still wedged in the ground and knocked it loose with Mjolnir. He tossed it to Romanoff. "Natasha, Clint, stay behind this!" She caught it and motioned her friend to get behind her.
Captain America charged a huge electric blast and struck the ground, electrifying Thor, Hulk, and all of the Lokis at once. "Now!" As the true Loki was revealed, Natasha quickly disarmed him while he was still in shock. She tossed the scepter to Iron Man, who touched it to the Hulk's chest. The Hulk's pupils expanded the same way Thor's did, though they returned to their bright blue color.
Tony Stark blinked, hoping for the best. "Hulk? Me, Tony Stark… friend?" Hulk nodded. Stark sighed in relief, and he subsequently pointed the scepter in Loki's direction. "Hey, big guy, remember him? Puny god?" Hulk snorted. "He needs another smashing." Loki's eyes widened in panic as the muscular monster gave a loud battle cry. "Oh shit."
Steve Rogers continued to fight off the mind-controlled Thor. Although Steve had a powerful weapon, the unarmed Thor was clearly a much more experienced fighter, giving him an advantage. While the Hulk chased Loki, who tried to confuse the beast with duplicates, illusions, and shapeshifting, Iron Man flew over to Thor, ready to use the scepter on him, while Cap struggled to keep him from moving around. Suddenly, glancing past the metallic man, Thor noticed the Hulk hit Loki, sending him flying and skidding across the ice. Then the Hulk leapt at an incredible distance, landing painfully on Loki's back.
Thor grabbed the scepter that Stark aimed at him, his fingertips sparking, and the whites of his eyes going fully light blue. Thor backhanded both of his opponents at once and stormed at the Hulk, stepping between Hulk and Loki, growling in rage. "YOU SHALL NOT TOUCH MY LITTLE BROTHER AGAIN, GREEN BEAST!" The Hulk roared in response, and Thor roared even louder as he summoned a mighty blast of lightning, without the aid of Mjolnir, and the Hulk went flying backward. "Brother, are you hurt?"
"I've felt better." Loki admitted. "Yet I've felt worse." Thor helped his brother to his feet. In a moment, the Hulk was also up again and stomped furiously towards the Odinsons. As Thor readied himself, Loki whispered his plan. "You just keep the beast occupied while I take my scepter back from that iron-clad imbecile."
"It shall be my pleasure." Thor grinned, his warrior and brotherly instincts combined to the maximum. Loki turned to face Iron Man, who stood at Captain America's side.
Loki strode up to the duo, drawing his daggers. "Bring it on, Rudolph." Stark countered, emitting an electromagnetic pulse through his gauntlet to keep the scepter firmly grasped in his hand. He fired a repulsor at Loki, who leapt over it to toss his telekinesis-boosted daggers at Iron Man's hand. The third dagger shattered his gauntlet, and Loki sped to take back his scepter, grabbing it at the same time as Stark and Rogers. "Woo! You should advertise those knives on the Cooking Channel; you'd be rich enough to really rule the world!" Stark commented.
"Funny you should mention cooking." Loki replied. "Because as soon as I get the Hulk back under my command, I'm going to gut you like a fish!"
Stark winced. "Well… aren't you just a Scream?" Loki smirked, not understanding the reference, but pleased that his enemy got the picture. Loki soon overpowered both Captain America and Iron Man, but Rogers knocked the scepter from his grip with Mjolnir before he could turn anyone else to his side. Loki kicked Rogers' hand, forcing him to release Mjolnir, and he armed himself with his scepter again. Loki quickly blasted Iron Man away with a beam from his scepter before Stark's repulsor could charge. Captain America countered his next energy beam with a lightning blast from Mjolnir, summoned back to him, and the colliding blasts exploded, knocking them both to the ground.
Thor and Hulk continued to battle, matching each other blow-for-blow. The god of thunder was, at this point, having too much fun to notice his adopted brother down. As Iron Man, Captain America, and Loki recovered, Loki was the first to try and stand, struggling as the lightning numbed him. However, the shock had slowed him down before he could stop the scepter's tip from touching his own chest, wielded by Hawkeye, who was waiting to make his move and get a little more vengeance for himself.
"Tell Thor to stop fighting." Hawkeye ordered. Loki grunted and gave Thor his command, both reluctantly obeying. "Now go and provoke the Hulk into smashing you 6 feet under the ice."
"Hold on!" Stark interjected. "Hulk, give Thor a nice big headbutt first!" Hulk obeyed, and Thor was released from Loki's mind control, blacking out. "Okay, now you can smash little Loki!"
"DO YOUR WORST, MONSTER!" Loki shouted, and the Hulk grabbed him, burying him in the icy ground. Iron Man grabbed the scepter and approached the angry Hulk.
"Ahem. Paging Doctor Banner, can we have Doctor Bruce Banner to the battlefield? Please?" The Hulk panted and grunted heavily, wanting to finish his smashing, but he couldn't resist Stark's control over him, and he slowly began to transform back. "Sorry, Tony…" Bruce started, but Iron Man cut him off. "Yeah, me too." He bonked Bruce on the head, completely releasing his mind from anyone's control.
When Bruce regained consciousness, the other five Avengers were sitting around him, while Loki was chained and pinned down by Mjolnir, Thor at his side.
"Hey guys." Bruce looked around, his head still sore but happy to see his friends. "We won, huh? Are- are we still going out for shawarma? Cuz I'm getting really hungry." Stark smirked. "You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry." Bruce finished.
"First, we have to make sure this scepter stays as far away from Loki as possible, so this can't happen again!" Captain America explained.
"Hey, about Loki." Bruce added. "The cats are gone." The others stared at him blankly, wondering if Stark hit his head too hard. "His brain as a bag of cats metaphor: since he kidnapped me and invaded my mind, I got a look into his, and as dark and disturbing as some of his thoughts are, he doesn't have the crazy I felt from him when we first met. I think the scepter was influencing him, in the same way it influenced me into holding it on the Helicarrier, but he was exposed to it for… who knows how long?"
"Yes, I saw it too." Thor agreed. "He had no desire to kill me today, as he did in New York. I felt our brotherly bond renewed, even as I wasn't in control of myself. When the Hulk smashed him in Stark's tower, it must have freed him of the scepter's influence, as it did for us. But as long as that scepter is around, his hatred remains, so it must be kept safe and hidden. After that, my brother and I will return to Asgard with the Tesseract for his trial."
"Anyway, we're just glad to have you back to your right mind, Bruce." Natasha patted him on the back, with the other Avengers joining in. "Yeah, welcome back, Bruce!" Bruce smiled, grateful to have a group of friends who didn't fear him or want to use him as a weapon.
"Here, Tony." Bruce grabbed his device from the ground and typed in a command, and Stark heard a familiar voice in his ear.
"My apologies, Sir. I fell asleep for a bit."
"Hey, JARVIS, welcome back!"
"It is wonderful to be back, Mr. Stark. Is there anything with which I can be of assistance?"
"Yeah: get directions to that shawarma joint in Manhattan."
"Very well, Mr. Stark."
"And send us another jet please."
"Right away, Sir."
"Yes, let us go celebrate our victory! To the shawarma feast!" Thor announced.
"Uh, Thor?" Bruce interrupted. "Isn't there something you need to take care of first?" He chuckled with the others, motioning to Thor's reflection in the ice.
Thor groaned, remembering his temporary pink hair. "Loki." Loki flicked his hand, snickering himself, and Thor's hair reverted to its natural blond color.
The jet arrived, and the group soared away from the cold, dreary landscape back to New York City, where their lunch awaited them.