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Chapter 8

"Ok," Banner wiped his hand using an extra towel. "Everything is under control."

But he knew he wasn't fooling anyone. Beside Nathalie, Clinton, and maybe Steve, everyone was frozen in shellshock. No, perhaps everyone was also unnerved by Loki whom they thought was the evil genius behind the Manhatten invasion and countless death was a mere puppet on the string. They were just better at hiding it.

Who wouldn't after one tried to attempt suicide? Banner looked around the bench; it was a bloody mess. He would have to clean it up if it wasn't Stark's insistent need to have a robot to do so. Banner pointed at Dummy robot number 1, but Stark quickly shook his head. No, it would be done by a cleaner robot. So instead, Banner found himself, once more, sitting awkwardly around a literal 'open' bar where the shattered window blew in late afternoon breeze.

"So, I don't know about anyone, but I could really use whiskey right now." Stark announced. He looked at the weird group that was made up of two deadly assassins, one Hyde and Jekyll, a walking ego of America, a god of 'endless tsundere', and himself, a drunk, potentially sociopathic genius without a literal heart. They came a long way from point A to point B.

And now, they had to get to point C.

"I first propose a toast for surviving!" Stark said maddeningly. He took a bottle of whiskey and gulped it down like water. Thor also grabbed a random bottle and raise it over his head, smashed the top, and drank it.

"Bit mild, but I like the after taste," Thor said as he smacked his lip. The bottle he held was Absolute Vodka.

"Isn't it a bit early for a toast?" Steve said firmly. "It seemed like we have another problem at hand."

"There is no time except now to live you know," Stark replied back, already feeling tipsy. "In fact, you should give it a try!"

"I think Steve is right." Banner said quietly.

"Clearly. Loki is innocent. He has been influenced by Mind gem." Thor said matter of factly. His expression softened. "If only we could find a way to remove it. I already lost my brother once. I cannot bear to lose him once more"

"He was talking to someone," Steve said.

"Are you sure? I thought he was telling us to shut up." Stark quipped. Everyone stared at him pointedly. Stark looked disgruntled. "Ok, ok, I was joking. I'm drunk you know."

"I do not know if the mind gem allows for communication to its master, but it may be likely," Thor said in dismay. "The enemy must have targeted Earth for Tesseract using Loki as a pawn."

No one said about the elephant in the room. They all saw the old scars Loki suffered.

"He probably has more information," Clinton said quietly. "If he doesn't die, he can tell us. If he is sane again when he wakes up."

"It will take time for his tongue to heal," Thor said with rising anger in his voice.

"He can write it down."

"So you are saying we should let him die?"

"I'm not saying that!"

"That is what you are saying!"

Banner stood up. "Hey, guys, guys!" They continued to talk over him. "Guys, honestly, I HAVE A SOLUTION!" He shouted. Silence permeated the room. Stark sipped his whiskey quietly. Banner looked at his hand. The green tinge was fading back to his skin colour. "Sorry," he blushed, "I didn't mean to shout but just listen. There is a way."

"Remember how we tracked Tesseract using a wave sequence? The sceptre was connected to the Tesseract which also enabled mind control. I bet that the same control also applies to mind gem that's imbedded in Loki's neck. We can reverse engineer the wave and have them cancel each other out. After that, Loki should be free from mind control from the gem. It should work theoretically." Banner looked at Stark for confirmation. Stark thought for a moment and then suddenly grinned.

"That's not theoretically! That's totally possible!" Stark stood up excitedly. "Let me write down some formulas. I will be right back."

The blue waves climbed upward innocently, slowly eating away the rocky cliff of the island with grey clouds hanging over the sky. Loki sat on top of the cliff and stared out into the endless blue horizon and felt the winter wind moving inward. Soon, it will reach the island where it will lay those down to fall asleep in its cold embrace and be swept under the blue ocean.

He tried to escape it several times, using any method he could try. But all he had was wreaked ships, even worse than before. The cliff walls were torn down by incoming thunders and rain that came during his escape. And thus, back to him being stranded on the island once more. This time, he didn't even have his fire to keep out the wind. He shivered and stiffened. The creeping blue was settling in like a numb cold once more.

The island was like a sinking ship and one way or another, it will face an end.

Loki was sure, that would end. The end for him to stop staring at the endless encroaching blue waves.