"This'd better be good, Stark, I cancelled a date with a model for this." Says Captain America as he swaggers into the meeting room, taking his usual seat and placing his feet atop the table. The room was only occupied by Captain America's fellow Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man, and Bruce Banner. Their other teammates were nowhere to be seen.
"I promise, Rex, what I have to tell you is more important than any model." Replies an already annoyed Iron Man.
"Doubt it." Mutters Captain America under his breath.
"Why did you call the meeting, Tony?" asked Giant-Man, attempting to get back on task.
"Glad you asked, Hank. Despite what Director Coulson and his team have been telling us, JARVIS's scanners have detected an energy source extremely similar to the one that was emitting from Loki's staff."
"Impossible." Interjects Thor. "Loki was destroyed, I saw it with my own eyes."
"I know Thor, believe me. But I didn't say it was Loki, I said it was similar. The one from Loki's staff had more of a mental vibe, while this energy source seems to be altering the very reality around it. I went to Phil with this as soon as I found out, and he sent Carol and Rhodey to investigate."
"Shouldn't we have sent a little more than just the two of them?" asks Bruce Banner. "If the energy source is hostile I don't know if they'd be able to hold their own. Yeah, they're powerful, but the whole team was barely able to defeat Loki last time, even with the Hulk."
"Are you bragging about the Hulk, Banner?" asks Captain America.
"No, all I'm saying is that the Hulk is the most powerful Avenger." Thor huffs in disagreement. "And if he couldn't take down Loki, neither could they."
"How many times do I have to say this isn't Loki?" asks Tony.
"Could we please stay on topic here?" asks Giant-Man.
"Thank you, Hank." Says Iron Man.
"Where are the others?" asked Rex.
"What the hell happened to staying on topic?"
"It's a valid question!" he argues. "If we all have to be here for something this important, why don't they?"
"Fine, Rex! Fine! I called Hawkeye, and I called Janet, and I called Jane the same time I called the rest of you, but since Captain America wants something, everything needs to stop until he gets it." Shouts an aggravated Iron Man.
"That's the way I see it. Glad we're finally on the same page." Says a smug Captain America.
Iron Man gets up and begins walking towards Rex, fully ready to fight him, but both Giant-Man and Bruce get up to hold Tony back. Thankfully, just at that moment the girls walked in.
"Sorry we're late." Says Hawkeye. "We got held up at lunch."
"Women." Mutters Cap disdainfully.
"What was that?" asked Sif, as she leaned closer towards Cap, making her sword very visible.
"I said, women." Says Cap, leaning in even closer to Sif. In the next second he was on the ground with his cheek throbbing. He gets up to retaliate, but everyone pauses as Iron Man takes off his helmet and walks to the wall. A scanner takes his retinal scan and opens a secret hatch in the wall, revealing a whole stash of alcohol. Tony grabs a bottle and begins to drink it.
"Tony…" says a concerned Bruce as he and Hank walk towards their friend.
Tony continues to drink his beer before placing the rest of it on the table. He sits down and says "You all need to get it together. If we can't even handle each other how are we supposed to handle a threat like this?"
"What threat?" asked Wasp.
"Oh, that's right! You three were too busy at lunch to attend a fucking mandatory meeting so you missed the exact reason I called this meeting! There's an energy source similar to Loki and War Machine and Captain Marvel were sent to investigate it." He finishes his beer and throws the can into a trash can, which incinerates it then powers off. "Now, we need to be prepared in case it turns out to be hostile. Understand?"
Lady Sif, Wasp, and Hawkeye all nod their heads simultaneously, not wanting to upset Tony even further.
After about a minute of awkward silence, War Machine crashed through the ceiling and landed on the meeting table.
"Rhodey! What happened?!" asked Tony.
With a fainted breath, War Machine said "Loki… was there… he's alive…"