Banner's Lab
Fury walked in surprised to see Tony and Banner stopped working on the scepter.
"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury said.
"Uh...kind of been wondering the same thing about you." Tony said.
"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract." Fury said.
"We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile." Banner said.
"And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss." Tony said, and suddenly his monitor showed a collection of secret files. "What is PHASE 2?"
Suddenly, Steve dropped a hydra assault rifle on the table causing Fury, Banner and Tony to turn around. Steve looks pissed.
"PHASE 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons." Steve said. "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow."
"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're..." Fury said.
"I'm sorry, Nick." Tony said.
Tony moved the computer screen towards Fury which showed plans of the weapons.
"What were you lying?" Tony said.
"I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve said.
At that moment, Loki and Billie walked into the lab. Billie kept her eyes right on Banner. Banner looked at her, pissed.
"Did you know about this?" Banner said.
"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" Billie said.
"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed." Banner said.
"Kuri's manipulating you." Billie said.
"And you've been doing what exactly?" Banner said.
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you." Billie said.
"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction." Banner said.
"Because of them." Fury said, pointing at Loki and Thor.
"Us?" The brothers chorused.
"Last year earth had visitors from another planet who had a grudge match with a primordial deity that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned." Fury said.
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor said.
"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled." Fury said.
"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve said.
"You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Kuri to it, and her allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war." Thor said.
"A higher form?" Steve said.
"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something." Fury said.
"Nuclear deterrent. `Cause that always calms everything right down." Tony said.
"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury said.
"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor said.
"Excuse me, did WE come to YOUR planet and blow stuff up?" Fury said.
"Did you always give your champions such mistrust?" Thor said.
As the "team" argues, they didn't realize the blue gem on Kuri's scepter was glowing brightly.
Aircraft Carrier
Outside the Helicarrier, a lone carrier slowly hovered over the ship.
"661 Bravo, please relay your pass code. What is your hull, over?" The SHIELD base voice said.
"Arms to ammunition, over." Barton said.
Inside, Barton and his crew suited up and armed themselves. Barton pulled out his hi-tech bow and arrows.
Banner's Lab
Back in the lab, the egos of these people kept rubbing off each other and they were fighting.
"You speak of control, yet you court chaos." Thor said.
"It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... we're a time-bomb." Banner said.
"You need to step away." Fury said.
Tony put his arm around Banner. "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?"
Steve pushed Tony off. "You know damn well why! Back off!"
"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." Tony said.
"Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Steve said.
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Tony said.
"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. Yeah, I've seen the footage." Steve said.
"The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."
"I think I would just cut the wire." Tony said.
"Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero." Steve said.
"A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!" Tony said.
Outside the Helicarrier
The ramp of the carrier opened. The carrier maneuvered next to one of the large turbine engines. Barton stood at the base, holding out his bow. He pulled out a grenade tipped arrow. He pointed right at the engine.
Then...Barton moved his aim and pointed the arrow about a hundred feet from the engine. He releases. The arrow flew out, but then sharply headed for the engine. The arrow was punctured onto the engine. It had a visible timer which is counting down.
Banners Lab
Back in the lab, Steve puffed up his chest at Tony, who just stood there, unmoving.
"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds." Steve said.
Thor laughed at them.
"You people are so petty... and tiny."
Tony rubbed his head. Moved away from Steve.
"Hold on a moment..." Loki tried.
"Agent Kitsune, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his..." Fury said.
"Where? You rented my room." Banner said.
"The cell was just in case..." Fury said.
"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know! I tried!" Banner said. "I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out! So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!
Banner slowly gets upset as he looked at Rei, who got unnerved.
"You wanna know my secret, Agent Kitsune? You wanna know how I stay calm?" Banner said.
Kitsune and Fury had their hands down to grab their guns.
"Doctor Banner... put down the scepter." Steve said.
Banner looked down and was shocked to see he was holding Kuri scepter. The computer beeped. They all turned to it.
"Got it." Tony said.
Banner put down the scepter and walked over to the computer.
"Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all." Banner said.
"Located the Tesseract?" Loki said.
"I can get there faster." Tony said.
"Look, all of us..." Steve said.
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it." Thor said.
Tony turned to leave, but Steve stopped him.
"You're not going alone!" Steve said.
"You gonna stop me?" Tony said.
"Put on the suit, let's find out." Steve said.
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man." Tony said.
"Put on the suit." Steve said.
At that moment Banner who was looking at the monitor noticed something about the Tesseract.
"Oh, my God!" Banner said.
Outside the Helicarrier.
Barton pulled the trigger on his bow. The arrow then exploded the engine right off the Helicarrier.
Banner's Lab
Everyone was thrown in every direction. Steve, Fury, Thor, Loki and Tony are thrown across while Rei and Banner were down in the lower equipment room. Steve looked up at Tony.
"Put on the suit!" Steve said.
"Yep!" Tony said.
Steve helped Tony up and out of the lab. Fury sat up, clutching his ribs. He put on his earpiece.
"Hill?!" Fury said.
Helicarrier Bridge
Pandemonium erupted. Emergency alarms were set off, fire extinguishers activated near surrounding fires and every agent was in a spinning scrambled for their positions and armaments. Agent Hill kept the bridge as calm as possible.
"Turn up that engine! Number 3 engine is down! Can we get a run in?" Hill ran over to the Galaga player. "Talk to me."
"Turbine's loose. Mostly intact, but it's impossible to get out there and make repairs while we're in the air." Galaga player said.
"We lose one more engine, we won't be. Somebody's got to get inside and patch that engine." Hill said.
Banner's Lab
"Stark! You copy that?!" Fury said.
"I'm on it!" Tony said.
"Coulson! Initiate official lock down in the detention section then get to the armory! Move out!" Fury said.
Helicarrier Bridge
Agent Coulson ran out of the bridge.
Lower Equipment Room
Billie looked over to Banner, who was breathing heavy, having landed hard. He was gripping the grated floor to maintain control, but his eyes were green, his face intense.
"I'm okay. We're okay, right?" Billie said.
Helicarrier Deck
Barton lead his men into the air ducts of the ship. They rappelled down into a corridor.
"Get that engine down! Detention! Get him through the dark! Come with me." Barton said.
Two of his men followed him. They headed towards the bridge.
Hallway
Tony and Steve ran through a dim, debris filled hall.
"Find engine three. I'll meet you there." Tony said.
Steve peeled off as Tony approached a tech room. Inside, Tony's Iron Man suit stood waiting, lit above in all its glory.
Lower Equipment Room
Banner, in the dim light struggled to suppress the rage, but his face was growing, changing slowly.
Rei was pulling herself painfully free, talking to Banner...
"Doctor... Bruce, you gotta fight it. This is just what Kuri wants. We're gonna be okay. Listen to me." Billie said.
Two approaching SHIELD soldiers arrived to check on her. She furiously waved them away. They bolted out of there.
"We're gonna be okay. Right? I swear on my life I will get you out of this, you will walk away, and never..." Billie said.
"Your life?" Banner said.
His voice had the change in it - the bitter amusement is morphing to a growled threat. Another explosion rocked the carrier - and he turned to look at her, transforming just as the lights went out.
"Bruce." Billie pleaded.
Banner suddenly gave Billie one last knowing look. Billie struggled free of the rubble. She stopped.
The Hulk, sensing her, turned his head and put on a face of a disturbed monster. Billie jolted up the stairs with the Hulk chasing after her. Billie maneuvered like she was trained.
She rolled under a turbine, started to crawl within the maze of pipes. The Hulk pulls them out from above the catwalk.
Billie fell through under the catwalks and quickly and stealthily escaped. The Hulk let out a roar of rage unlike anything. Primal. Not human.
Helicarrier Detention Section
Kuri looked up, face a mask of pain.
Helicarrier Bridge
Fury ran in and saw the chaos had increased even more than before. The helmsman was in complete disarray.
"Bring the carrier inwards and head south. Take us to the water." Fury said.
"Why water? Navigations recalibrated after the engine failure." The Helmsman said.
"Is the sun coming up?!" Fury said.
"Yes, sir." The Helmsman said.
"Then put it on the left! Get us over water! One more turbine goes down and we drop." Fury said.
Helicarrier Port Side
Captain America, pushing with all his strength the door to portside, saw SHIELD tech in full oxygen masks shot fire extinguishers and covered sparks - largely unable to do anything.
Engine 3 was totally dead. A large chunk of the port side was torn off.
"Stark, I'm here!" Captain America said.
"Good. See what we got." Tony said.
Tony flew in his Iron Man suit and got close to the damaged engine.
Tony observes within his viewscreen at the damaged engine and its layouts.
"I gotta get this super conducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors and work on dislodging the debris." Tony said.
Iron Man began pulling on the stuck rotors. Looked over at Steve.
"I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position." Iron Man said.
Iron Man flew into giant cooling conductors. Captain America jumped over to the other side of the broken railing. Captain America got himself to the control panel and opened it up.
"What's it look like in there?" Iron Man said.
"It seems to run on some form of electricity." Captain America said.
"Well, you're not wrong." Iron Man said.
Lower Equipment Room
Billie continuously crawled under the catwalk. She stopped.
Then...BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The room vibrated. Rhythmically.
Billie pulled out her gun and slowly walked out onto the catwalk and spun...and then a ROAR. The Hulk. Billie fired a shot into a liquid nitrogen pipe that hit the Hulk in face. The Hulk smashed it. Billie began to run through the maze of corridors. The sound the monster was coming.
Finally, she reached a long corridor. As she ran, behind her, the Hulk tore up the hallway, coming at her.
Billie turned to see, but the Hulk slapped her into the wall, smashing into the ground.
The Hulk marked his territory. Billie looks up. A fear she had never felt begins to seep out. The Hulk raised his hand and was knocked off his feet by Thor who tackled him into the next room.
Helicarrier Aircraft Port
Both Thor and Hulk rolled across the floor. Thor looked up at this magnificent beast. The Hulk
stands up and moving like a boxer, wanted Thor to make his move.
The Hulk made his move.
Swing and a miss. Thor swung his massive hand and almost knocked Hulk off his feet. Hulk kept swinging and missing, pissing him off. Finally, he brought down his arm, but Thor grabbed it and wrapped around it.
"We are not your enemies, Banner! Try to think!" Thor said.
Hulk lifted his arm up, to Thor's surprise, and he sent him flying as he punched Thor's face with his fist.
Helicarrier Port Side
Iron Man continuously blasted broken debris off the turbine engine. It was bad, but still fixable.
"The relays are intact. What's our next move?" Steve said.
"Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump. I'm gonna have to get in there and push." Tony said.
"Well if that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded!" Steve said.
"Then stay in the control unit and reverse polarity long enough to disengage mag..." Tony said.
"Speak English!" Steve said.
"See that red lever? It'll slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it, wait for my word." Tony said.
Captain America looked over at the other side where he was. He saw the red lever and jumped towards it.
Helicarrier Aircraft Port
Thor crashed into another stack of crates. As he raised his head, he felt something on his lips. Blood. As he swiped it off, the roar of the Hulk was not too far. Thor extended his hand out.
The roar got louder and closer. Thor focused. His hand strained toward mid-air. His eyes tight in concentration. The Hulk ran right at him. At the last second, Mjolnir flew into his hand and Thor uppercutted Hulk, who crashed into a fighter jet. Hulk stood up, shaking his head.
He shook it off and angrily ripped off the tail of the jet, and threw the massive plate at Thor.
Thor slid and ducked under the tail. Jumping up, he threw Mjölnir with all his strength, knocking the Hulk head over heels. Hulk fell down, hammer in hand. He tried to lift it, but couldn't. Mjölnir rested atop his hand.
Struggle as he may, Hulk wrapped his hand around the hammer. The hammer didn't move. To no avail - he strained with all his might, screamed from the effort, bellowing.
Thor jumped up again, kneeing Hulk in the face. Thor grabbed his hammer, jumped on him, using the hammer as a lock for his chokehold. Hulk tried to pull him off.
Helicarrier Bridge
Fury and Agent Hill looked over their monitors.
"We need a full evac on the lower hangar bay." Fury said.
Agent Hill nodded. She left to exit out, but a sliding grenade appears.
"GRENADE!" Hill said.
The grenade went off, sending her down the steps. Fury fired a shot at the open entrance. He moved over behind the side of the entrance. A handful of Barton's men entered. Watchful, ready, waiting... Fury stepped out, his gun drawn.
A shoot out and hand-to-hand ensues, but Fury was unable to stop one of them, which is why he is shot in the head by Agent Hill, who looks hot and sexy holding her gun.
Helicarrier Armory Section
Agent Coulson walked up the armory door. He placed his head into a facial recognition scanner. Walked into the room.
"We got perimeter breach! Hostiles are in SHIELD gear. Hold on to every junction." Sitwell said.
Helicarrier Aircraft Port
Hulk crashed from under the floor, sending Thor on his ass. Hulk grabbed him by the neck.
Helicarrier Bridge
A gunfight opened up. Agents exchanged fire with brutally efficient tactical soldiers.
"Sir, the Hulk and Thor are in shuttle levels 2, 3 and 4!" Sitwell said.
"Sir, the Hulk will tear this place apart!" Hill said.
"Get his attention." Fury said.
"Escort 606, proceed to 270 MAIN SHUTTLE! Don't get too close." Hill said.
"Copy." Escort 606 pilot said.
Sky
Escort 606'S jet banked to the right, heading towards the shuttle.
Outside Shuttle
Escort 606 pilot slowly made his way in and saw the action going between Thor and the Hulk.
"Target acquired. Target engaged." Escort 606 pilot pulled the trigger; fired guns at Hulk.
A shower of bullets sprayed the Hulk everywhere. Thor ducked for cover. The Hulk turned around, letting out his Primal Roar. He jumped up, took a running start and leapt... "TARGET ANGRY! TARGET ANGRY!" Escort 606 pilot said.
Hulk landed on the jet's nose. The jet skinned wildly. As the Hulk tore it apart, Escort 606 Pilot pulled his ejection seat.
The Hulk caught him, waved him around and then threw him away. Escort 606 Pilot pulled his parachute. The jet exploded. The Hulk plummeted to earth, roaring his swan song.
Helicarrier Port Side
Iron Man laser cut a big piece of broken metal. He then jumped on it, relieving the rotors.
On the other side, Barton's men enter the port side. Captain America looked down, pondering if they were help. Evidently not as they began shooting at him and throwing grenades.
Captain America jumped to the other railing and down with Barton's men. He began to take them down, even went as far as throwing one off. A few more entered, firing.
Captain America grabbed a Noveske Rifleworks Diplomat and jumped back up to his position, firing down at them.
Helicarrier Bridge
The gunfight had gone down, but more of Barton's men entered and were taken by Fury, who was confused as to why they keep coming.
"They are not getting through here, so what the hell..." Fury said.
Suddenly, Barton lot an arrow down to the bridge and exploded critical spots. Barton released a multi-tipped arrow towards Fury, but instead hit his command desk, right above a USB outlet.
Fury fired at Barton, but was already gone. The arrow then self-activates and inserted itself into the outlets, hacking every single monitor and main frame. The hacking caused Engine 1 to shut off. Suddenly, the Helicarrier began to dangerously tilt to one side.
"Sir, we've lost all power in Engine 1." Sitwell said.
"It's Barton. He took out our systems. He's headed for the detention level. Does anybody copy?" Fury said.
Weapons Room
Mana Ningyo, Sorceress, was gathering weapons from the walls.
She had flawless alabaster-white skin and long, rich black hair that fell past her slim waist, which was often tied into a loose ponytail with a ribbon and had big, brown eyes.
"This is Agent Ningyo. I copy." Mana said.
Mana sprang up and ran for Barton.
Helicarrier Port Side
Iron Man began to push the rotor using boosters from his boots.
"Stark, we're losing altitude." Fury said.
"Yeah. Noticed." Iron Man said.
The rotors started propelling faster and faster as Iron Man's boosters got more and more bright.
On the other side, Captain America continuously shot at Barton's men. Blinking at the wrong moment, Captain America lost the upper hand and slid off the railing, but grabbed onto a loose cable.
Helicarrier Detention Section
Loki ran into the detention section where he found Kuri, escaping.
"NO!" Loki said.
Loki charged at Kuri. Kuri walked up to him and crouched down to attack. Loki only went through her. The false Kuri dissipated into nothingness. The real Kuri comes out from behind the cell door, which closed on Loki, locking him up. Kuri smiled.
"You taught me that," Kuri said.
Lower Equipment Room, Carrier
Barton walked alone down the catwalk. In a lightning fast move, Barton nocked an arrow, and pointed it at Mana. A hand-to-hand fight ensued. Mana crawled her way around Barton, making Barton to drop his bow, but pulled out a knife on her.
Helicarrier Detention Section
Loki, in a fit of anger, slams Mjolnir onto the glass cell. To his surprise, the cell door only cracked, but violently shook the ship. Kuri stood there in caution, as did his guarding soldier.
Kuri smiled; walked over to the control panel. "The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?"
Suddenly, the guarding soldier fell down like a tree. Agent Coulson stood there, holding Phase 2 Weapon Prototype.
"Move away, please." Kuri said.
Kuri moved away from the switch.
"You like this? We started working on the prototype after the pale goddess sent the Destroyer Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?" Coulson said.
A loud gasp as Kuri fired a black ball into Coulson's chest.
"Nooo!" Loki said.
Kuri sent Agent Coulson against the wall. Agent Coulson slumped down, breathing fast. Kuri made her way to the control switch.
She gave Loki one last pained look. Loki looked at her, hopeful.
Kuri opened the hatch. Loki still hoped. Kuri hit the button and dropped Loki out of the ship.
Lower Equipment Room
Barton and Mana continued attacking each other. Mana kicboxed Barton's face. Feeling that, Barton took a swung at her, but she grabbed his arm, twisting it. Barton writhed in pain.
Using his other arm, he tossed the knife over and began to slash at Mana. She dodged every move, but found herself in a lock hold with him. As he forced the knife down, she bit his wrist. Barton let go of the knife.
Mana wrapped her legs around his neck, flipped him over and arm locked him. She slammed his head into a pipes rail. Barton went down, hard. He looked up at her, almost coming to his real senses.
"Mana..." Barton said.
Mana hit him. Barton was out.
Sky
Loki, trapped in the glass cage, bounced off the jumbling cell pod. As it drew closer to land, Loki drew Excalibur and tried to swing at glass, but missed. Land drew closer.
In a final attempt before crashing, Loki positioned himself onto the glass door and leapfrogged just as the cage was about to hit the ground. The cell crashed into the shore as Loki crashed out into the meadow.
Helicarrier Detention Section
Kuri had no remorse as she looked down. She closed the hatch and proceeded to leave. A weak voice.
"You're gonna lose." Coulson said.
"Am I?" Kuri said.
"It's in your nature." Coulson said.
"Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky...where is my disadvantage?" Kuri said.
"You lack conviction." Coulson said.
"I don't think I..." Kuri said.
Agent Coulson shot Kuri with his Phase 2 Weapon Prototype, causing Kuri to be blown through the wall behind her.
"So that's what it does." Coulson said.
Helicarrier Bridge
Back in the bridge, Fury saw on his viewscreen that the hatch had been open. Knowing Agent Coulson was sent there, he went to.
Helicarrier Port Side
Iron Man continuously spun Engine 3, giving it all he had. The rotors were propelling properly and fast. The Helicarrier leveled itself
"Cap, I need the lever!" Tony said.
"I need a minute here!" Steve said.
"Lever. Now!" Tony said.
Tony let go of the rotors. They spun by themselves. Tony was then caught in one. Iron Man slipped into the rotors, getting chewed up.
Captain America climbed up the loose cable and reached the railing.
Barton's man opened fire once more. Captain America pulled himself up and finally pulled the lever.
A vent opened up from Engine 3. Iron Man fell out, but the suit was heavily damaged, hardly keeping him up. Iron Man headed for Cap. Barton's man turned his aim to Iron Man, who tackled him into the wall. Iron Man rolled over, tired. Cap let out a sigh of relief.
Outside the Helicarrier
The carrier that brought Barton and his team now left, taking Kuri and her scepter. The carrier flew into the distance.
Helicarrier Detention Section
Fury ran in finding Agent Coulson still alive, barely.
"Sorry, boss. They got rabbited." Coulson said.
"Just stay awake. EYES ON ME!" Fury said.
"No. I'm clocked out here." Coulson said.
"Not an option." Fury said.
"It's okay, boss. This was never going to work... if they didn't have something... to..." Coulson said.
Agent Coulson looked away. Sighed his last breath. Nick Fury looked on grimly at Coulson. The medical team arrived.
Helicarrier Bridge
"Agent Coulson is down." Fury said.
Agent Hill was being treated for a gash on her head, listened on her headset, standing up.
"Paramedics are on their way." SHIELD agent said.
"They're here." Fury said.
Helicarrier Port Side
Steve and Tony listened in as well.
"They called it." Fury said.
Helicarrier Bridge
Fury gathered Tony and Steve back into the briefing room. Everyone there had a look as if in a daze. A look of numb shock was on their devastated faces.
"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them." Fury said.
Fury threw Coulson's Captain America Trading Cards on the table towards Steve. Steve picked them up, stained with blood.
"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Loki. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." Fury said. "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called The Avenger Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes. Tony gets up and walks off, not wanting to hear it anymore."
"Well, it's an old fashioned notion." Fury said.
Meadow
Loki walked out far into the meadow. He looked down. Excalibur.
Abandoned Building
Banner woke up, in human form. He looked around and saw he was in a pile of rubble
and looked up at the open ceiling he crashed. In. And was completely naked. A security guard stood there, amazed.
"You fell out of the sky." A security guard said.
"Did I hurt anybody?" Banner asked.
"There's nobody around here to get hurt. You did scare the hell out of some pigeons though." The security guard said.
"Lucky." Banner said.
"Or just good aim. You were awake when you fell." The security guard said.
"You saw?" Banner said.
"The whole thing, right through the ceiling. Big and green and buck ass nude. Here..." The security guard said.
He threw Banner a pair of big pants. Banner pulled on his pants.
"I didn't think those would fit you until you shrunk down to a regular size fella." The security guard said.
"Thank you." Banner said.
"Are you an alien?" The security guard said.
"What?" Banner said.
"From outer space, an alien?" The security guard said.
"No." Banner said.
"Well then, son, you've got a condition." The security guard said.
Helicarrier Medical Room
Barton was strapped down. Mana watched over him as Barton tried to shake off Kuri's mind control.
"Clint, you're gonna be alright." Mana said.
"You know that? Is that what you know? I got...I gotta go in though. I gotta flush him out." Barton said.
"We don't have that long, it's gonna take time." Mana said.
"I don't understand. Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out and send something else in? Do you know what it's like to be unmade?" Barton said.
"You know that I do." Mana said.
"Why am I back? How did you get him out?" Barton said.
"Cognitive recalibration. I hit you really hard in the head." Mana said.
"Thanks." Barton said.
Mana unfastened the restraints.
"Mana, how many agents?" Barton said.
"Don't. Don't do that to yourself, Clint. This is Kuri. This is monsters and magic and nothing we were ever trained for." Mana said.
"Kuri, she got away?" Barton said.
"Yeah. I don't suppose you know where?" Mana asked.
"I didn't need to know. I didn't ask. She's gonna make her play soon though. Today." Barton said.
"We gotta stop her." Mana said.
"Yeah? Who's we?" Barton said.
"I don't know. Whoever's left." Mana said.
"Well, if I put an arrow in Kuri's eyesocket, I'd sleep better I suppose." Barton said.
"Now you sound like you." Mana said.
Mana sat next to her partner and friend.
"But you don't. You're a spy, not a soldier. Now you want to wade into a war. Why? What did Kuri do to you?" Barton said.
"He didn't, I just..." Mana said.
"Mana." Barton said.
"I've been compromised. I got red in my ledger. I'd like to wipe it out." Mana said.
Helicarrier Detention Section
Tony looked at the empty cell container. He stood not saying a word. Steve walked in.
"Was he married?" Steve asked.
"No. There was a uh...cellist, I think." Tony said.
"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man." Steve said.
"He was an idiot." Tony said.
"Why? For believing?" Steve said.
"For taking on Kuri alone." Tony said.
"He was doing his job." Steve said.
"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..." Tony said.
"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony." Steve said.
"Right. How did that work for him?" Tony said.
"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?" Steve said.
"WE ARE NOT SOLDIERS! I am not marching to Fury's fife!" Tony said.
"Neither am I! He's got the same blood on his hands as Kuri does. Right now we've got to put that aside and get this done. Now Kuri needs a power source, if we can put together a list..." Steve said.
Tony looked at the blood stained wall. "He made it personal."
"That's not the point." Steve said.
"That is the point. That's Kuri's point. She hit us all right where we live. Why?" Tony said.
"To tear us apart." Steve said.
"She had to conquer her greed, but she knows she has to take us out to win, right? That's what she wants. She wants to beat us and she wants to be seen doing it. She wants an audience." Tony said.
"Right, I caught his act at Stuttengard." Steve said.
"She wants her name up in lights—" Tony said. "Sonofabitch!"
Stark Tower
Selvig worked around the CMS device that had already been set-upon the rooftop of Tony's tower.
Helicarrier Medical Room
Steve walked in full uniform. Rei looked at him, unprepared.
"Time to go." Steve said.
"Go where?" Rei said.
"I'll tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?" Steve said.
Barton walked out of the restroom. Looked at Steve.
"I can." Barton said.
Steve looked at Rei and she nodded her head to confirm Barton was on their side.
"You got a suit?" Steve said.
"Yeah." Barton said.
"Then suit up." Steve said.