Loki headed off the stage, with a twisted grin still on his face. It slipped however, when he saw his brother watching him from the wings. He strode over, more confident now he knew he had the support of all those people.
"Wearing Midgardian rags I see," Loki sneered, the weight of his own armour another assurance to him that he would come out of the fight on top. "I see your mortal harlot has you well under her control," he taunted.
"As bitter as ever I see brother," said Thor, still smiling. "But anyway, we're all going for a drink when we finish for the night. You wanna come?" he continued, in a strange accent, that did not belong to Loki's brother.
"What?" he spluttered, unsure of what was happening.
"We're just going for a quick drink. Come on, it'll be fun. I promise we won't stay out too late," he said, walking off with a mischevious smirk, but friendly eyes.
That had not been what Loki expected.
He turned to go after him, intrigued by the man who was so clearly not his brother, but so alike him at the same time. But as he spun on his heel, Loki noticed the lights begin to grow bright. Loki cursed in Asgardian; he had not counted on their being a time limit to his spell.
As the pressure began to grow in his head, and the tugging began in his stomach, Loki glanced helplessly back towards the stage. He could still hear the crowd chanting his name, and he did not want to give that up. He took a step towards the stage, and as if in retaliation the lights instantly grew even brighter. Loki closed his eyes out of sorrow and dejection, reflecting on how this time, he really had seemed to achieve everything he wanted.
With a sad resolution, he vowed to himself he would find a way to return to this world permanantly. He was not going to give up on a place that worshipped him so easily. His mind made up, he opened his eyes, ready to face all of the obstacles between him and his new goal. A split second later he regretted it.
He was face to face with Bruce Banner, and that meant the Hulk was bound to make an appearance. With a jolt he realised he was in the same place as the last time he had been 'smashed,' as Iron Man had so affectionately termed it. He could see the exact spot, a little his left. It seemed to have been filled in with a different material to the rest of the floor, to make it stand out. A lasting memorial to the last time Loki had been beaten senseless. He thought that did not bode well for him now.
Loki began to panic inside. He no longer possessed the mind gem, or the tesseract, and the spell had drained him. He did still have the Casket of Ancient Winters, but he doubted whether that would be enough to stop the Hulk, and did not want to risk enraging the beast by revealing his weapon. So he decided to rely on his words, determined to prove his title of Silver Tongue.
"Well. It is wonderful to see you again good Doctor-" he began, but was cut off by Bruce.
"You know. I quite liked Tom. I think the Other Guy was starting to get quite fond of him too. I did promise Tony I wouldn't break his tower again, but I think he'll understand that I need to find out... You know, for science."
Loki did not know who Tom was, but he did understand what the green tinge entering Banner's complexion meant. A loud roar from the Hulk obscured a small sigh from Loki. As the Hulk grabbed his legs from underneath him, Loki realised it would be some considerable time before he was worshipped again.