"How bad is it?" Director Fury asked Agent Coulson as he stepped out of the Helicopter.
"That's the problem sir- we don't know." Coulson replied over the alarms.
Coulson led Nick down to where the tesseract was being held. "We had read an energy surge from the tesseract four hours ago."
"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to go to test phase." Nick said as they walked quickly.
"He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room- spontaneous event."
"It just turned itself on?" He asked skeptically."Where are the energy levels now?"
"Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down we ordered evacuation. The campus should be clear in the next half-hour." Agent Coulson paused. "Sir, evacuation may be futile."
"We should tell them to go back to sleep?"
Coulson sighed. "If we can't control the tesseract's energy, there may not be a safe minimum distance."
"I need you to make sure the phase two prototypes are shipped out." Nick said, ignoring the Agent's previous statements.
'Sir, is that really a priority right now?" Coulson was irritated at how Fury cared more about some prototypes than the people in and around the area.
"Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of phase two on a truck and gone." Fury said with finality.
"Yes sir." Coulson said reluctantly, ordering two men to help him as he walked away.
"Talk to me doctor" Fury said to as he approached the aged man.
"Director! The tesseract is misbehaving." He said as a man poked at the tesseract, which acted violently.
"Is that supposed to be funny?" Nick asked as he studied it.
"No it's not funny at all. The tesseract is not only active, she's behaving."
"I assume you pulled the plug?"
"It's an energy source- we turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level…"
"We prepared for this doctor. Harnessing energy from space."
"But we don't have the harness." Selvig started clicking things on a computer. "My calculations are far from complete, and she's throwing off interference and radiation-Nothing harmful, just low levels of gamma radiation."
Director Fury turned worriedly. "That can be harmful" He corrected."Where's agent Barton?"
Selvig scoffed. "The Hawk? In his nest, as usual."
Fury ordered through the handheld radio for Barton to report, which Barton wasted no time doing, gliding from his high point down to the ground. "I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things." Nick said as they walked together.
"Oh, I see better from a distance." Barton said seriously.
"You seen anything that might set this thing off?" He asked, pointing to the tesseract.
"Doctor, it's spiking again." A scientist working furiously on a computer called out to Selvig.
"If there's any tampering sir, it wasn't at this end." Barton said matter-of-factly as the two stood in front of the tesseract. "The cube is a doorway to the other end of space right?-doors open from both sides."
Suddenly the tesseract was crackling and acting strange, causing the ground to rumble and shake beneath their feet. A small vortex formed on the inside of the tesseract, shooting a thick blue beam in a straight line, opening a bigger, dangerous looking vortex where space cold clearly be seen. A man suddenly materialized through the blue light, stopping all of the commotion from the tesseract. Guards cautiously approached the man as he slowly stood up with a crazed grin, holding a scepter, wearing a suit and cape of shades of green, old, and black.
"Sir…put down the sphere!" Nick called. The man stared at it a moment before blasting Fury backwards with it. Gunshots were being everywhere and it had turned into a deadly fight. Very soon and with almost no effort at all, the guards in the room were all down, leaving Barton, Nick, and Selvig. Barton approached the man in attack but was stopped and taken control of just by a touch to the chest of the man's scepter. -leteral control. His eyes had turned the deepest of sky blue. Nick was trying to run out with the tesseract but was stopped by the man saying he needed the tesseract.
"I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."
"Loki, brother of Thor" Selvig said
"We have no quarrel with your people."Nick said
"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." He said in a mystifying voice.
"Are you planning to step on us?" Fury said with a raised eyebrow.
"I came with glad tidings of a world made free….from freedom. Freedom is life's greatest lie. Once you accept that, in your heart," He placed the scepter on Selvig's chest and controlled him as well, turning his eyes the same icy blue. "You will know peace." He finished.
"The portal is collapsing in on itself, we've got about two minutes before this place goes down in rubble." Selvig said. Loki knocked down the director, who attempted to chase after this Loki, failing in the end, leaving the tesseract in his possession.
"As of right now, we are at war." Fury announced.
Meanwhile, Stella had been exactly the kind of person Nick wanted to be working for him, so he'd been able to convince her to be one of his special agents. Of course Tony would be involved in the Avengers Initiative also, but he wouldn't be doing the kind of work Stella would. After getting new amazingly cool gear and a sexy uniform, Stella was sent on her first mission-to fetch Bruce Banner, also called Hulk.