"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony." Rogers tried to reason.

Tony didn't want to hear it. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see Mr. Star-Spangled start preaching. "Right. I've heard that before." The hanger that was meant to contain The Hulk was now empty, of both cage and all life besides them. Coulson's blood was already gone.

Tony was angry at Coulson for what he had done, but he was even angrier with himself. Despite what he had said to Cloud, and what Cloud had said to him, he was upset that he hadn't been able to save him, not that he would admit it to the Capsicle. There had to have been some way for him to find a work-around, to have stopped Loki.

"Is this the first time you lost a soldier?" Rogers asked, face as cold as the metal beneath their feet.

"We are not soldiers." Tony replied, getting angrier by the minute. Rogers didn't change his expression.

"Look, I'm not marching to Fury's fife. We both know he's got ulterior motives."

Steve met his gaze. "Yes, we do. But that doesn't change the fact that we have to put that behind us and get this done."

Tony rapped his fingers on his arm, until it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Loki made this personal."

"That's not the point-"

"No, no, that is the point. That's Loki's point." Tony's mind was working at a hundred miles per hour. "He hit us all, right where we live, but why ?"

Rogers was catching on. "To tear us apart."

"Right, right, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right?" Understanding seemed to dawn in Rogers' eyes as Tony slowly puzzled out the solution. "That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, but he needs to be seen doing it."

Rogers rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "An audience."

Tony began to pace. Loki's ultimate goal is to draw some sort of attention, and with everything that's happened with the Tesseract, I'm willing to bet it won't be the friendly kind. "Germany was just the opening night. The intel we got may have even been his doing."

He turned to Rogers, eyes wide. "That was just a preview. This is going to be opening night."

But where, but where? Tony paced up and down the stairs, hands clasped behind his back and mind whirling like a well-oiled machine. "Loki is a full-tilt diva, right?"

Rogers nodded, clearly a little dumbfounded.

"He'll want flowers, he'll want parades, he'll want a monument with his name plastered on it built to the sky-"

Tony stopped pacing. "Son of a bitch."

A storm was brewing outside. Thor's out. Tony was welding his creepy mask back into its proper shape, since it had apparently been dented in several places while he and Steve had repaired the engine. Cloud thought it was a miracle Tony's brain was intact. He had offered to help him repair it but Tony seemed scandalized he would even think of touching his armor. Cloud really couldn't fault him for that. He got the same way with Fenrir.

Clint had rejoined the team with a minor concussion, Steve was suiting up, Bruce was coming with them to bring the The Hulk (despite Fury's thoughts on the matter), and Natasha was charging up a pair of gloves for close quarters combat. Cloud would have to ask her later, to see if he could get a pair for Tifa.

Tony had figured out that the location of Loki's next attack would be New York City. From what Cloud understood, that was basically this world's version of Midgar, a bustling metropolis and economic center of the world. The key difference was that this place hadn't degraded yet, and the Avengers were going to make sure it stayed that way.

Cloud finished cleaning First Tsurugi and reassembled it. Steve entered through the door on Cloud's right. His eyebrows rose steadily higher the more pieces Cloud put together.

"And you can seriously swing that thing?"

Cloud smirked, swinging First Tsurugi in a victory pose before sheathing it. Steve ducked to miss it, grinning at the admittedly impressive feat of strength.

"We should have a spar some time. You'd probably be a little bit better partner than a punching bag."

Cloud raised a hand to his mouth, but he was still pretty sure Steve caught his eyes crinkling up in the corners.

"What?" Steve asked, as though he didn't know.

Cloud lowered his hand, but the ghost of a smile was on his face. "Only a little?"

Steve laughed and clapped him on the back. "Everyone is suited up. Let's go."

Cloud shied away from the contact, but, surprisingly, he was finding that he didn't mind spending more time with these people. He still wanted to see his friends back home, of course, but he was happy . It was so weird to feel comfortable with people other than AVALANCHE.

Barton piloted the stolen jet while Stark flew outside. Rogers, Strife, and Romanoff would be sitting in the back, relaxed yet still on guard.

Fury knew this, and watched their departure from the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft from the glass floor beneath his feet. Agent Hill was next to him, her face still bloody from fighting off Loki's men. She had her arms crossed, stern face made even more severe by the slowly purpling bruises. She wasn't happy.

"Those were in Phil Coulson's locker, not his jacket." She notified him, as if he hadn't gone there himself to wipe blood on them.

Fury didn't respond at first, slowly shuffling the red-dyed trading cards in his hands. "They needed a push."

Agent Hill turned away.

"Get our communications back up, whatever you have to do. They found him."

Tony soon outstripped the small jet flying beside him, pushing his thrusters to max as he raced to Stark Tower. That was his tower damnit, he was not going to let Loki use it to summon aliens.

Dr. Selvig was priming up the portal, the Tesseract spinning faster and faster as the energy built up.

"I have shut off the Arc Reactor," Jarvis informed him, "But it is already self-sustaining."

"Great." Tony muttered. He lowered himself down in the air until he was just above Selvig's head. "I'm gonna have to ask you to stop that thing."

Selvig's eyes were dark, unfathomable galaxies of emptiness. "We can't stop now!" He cried, "It wants to show us something!"

Tony shrugged. "Alright." He fired a blaster at the machine, but his blast was magnified and sent right back at him by a sudden blue forcefield. Tony spun upside down in the air, fighting for balance even as the damaged Mark 6's leg thruster went out momentarily.

"The barrier is pure energy," Jarvis explained, "It is unbreachable."

"Yeah, I got that." Tony blinked the stars out of his eyes, refocusing to see Loki below him, waiting smugly on the balcony of Stark towers. "And we gotta beat him."

"The Mark 7 is not yet ready for deployment-"

"Yeah, so skip the spinning rims. We're on the clock." Tony landed with a dull thud on the roof of Stark Industries, keeping up eye contact with Loki (who was technically loitering, by the way). His stairs deployed the removal gear, but Tony kept walking as Loki did, Tony's expression unreadable from the mask and Loki's from millenia of practice.

They continued their staring match inside, where Tony slid on his usual I-could-care-less face and began mixing a drink behind the bar.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my 'humanity'." Loki asked, mouth twisting into a smirk. Tony continued making himself a nice vodka. "Ah, I'm actually planning on threatening you."

Loki raised an eyebrow, eyes glittering scrupulously. "You should have left your armor on for that."

Tony finished his drink and drank it like a shot. Loki appeared mildly impressed. "Would you like a drink?" Tony asked.

"Stalling won't change a thing."

"No, no, no, threatening." Tony corrected. "You sure no drink?"

Loki glowered, striding to the window and clasping the glowstick of destiny behind his back. "The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that." He spun around, green eyes set fire by the sun. "What have I to fear?"

Tony took another sip, placing the glass down on the counter. "The Avengers."

Loki seemed confused. "That's what we call ourselves. We're sort of a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes', well not Earth's in Cloud's case, but that's a," Tony poured himself another drink, "minor detail, in the grand scheme of things."

Loki chuckled disbelievingly. "Yes, I've met them." He raised his arms grandly. "Is that the best this planet has to offer?" He shouted at no one in particular.

Cool down, crazy man. "Yeah, I'll admit it takes us awhile to get any traction, I'll give you that, but-" Tony gestured towards Loki, "Let's do a headcount here."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the jet hover on a nearby skyscraper and a dark figure jump out onto the roof. I swear Storm Sad, you better not pull anything again.

"Your brother, a demigod, two super soldiers, one who's a living legend, and one who's from another planet and has apparently killed god , a man with breathtaking anger management issues, a couple of master assassins…And you, big fella," Tony clipped on his suit-trackers from underneath the counter, "You've managed to piss off every. single. one. "

Loki still had that smug smirk on his face. "That was the plan."

Tony pointed at him. "Not a great plan." He exited from behind the counter, strolling towards Loki with the rest of his drink in hand, "And when they come- and they will come- they will all be gunning for you."

If Loki was perturbed, he didn't show it. "I have an army."

Tony shrugged. "We have a Hulk."

"What, the beast-"

Tony waved his hands. "No, no, you're missing the point. There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top."

"Maybe the army comes, and maybe it's too much for us, but guess what?" Tony asked, trying to get into Loki's conniving skull just how utterly fucked he was, "It's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth… you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it." Tony finished his drink.

Loki stalked towards him, an angry jungle cat about to pounce. "How will your friends have time for me...when they're so busy fighting you?" He rested the tip of his spear on Tony's chest.

It hit with a dull clang. Tony raised his eyes to Loki's face, trying to pretend to be shocked. Loki's face was utter confusion. He tapped Tony's chest a couple more times, and each time he came away unsuccessfully his brow furrowed a little deeper.

"What is wrong with you?!" He bellowed. He grabbed Tony by the neck and threw him across the floor. Now would be a great time for you to bust in, guys.

Loki hoisted him up by the neck again, one handed. "You will all fall before me!" He snarled, before throwing Tony out of the window.

Tony yelled as the air rushed past him, trying to maneuver his hands in front of his face to protect against stray birds. "Jarvis!"

He spreadeagled, and to his monumental relief the sound of shattered glass reached his ears for the second time in a minute as Mark 7 deployed. The suit unboxed itself, locking onto the trackers on his wrists in order to position itself accurately. Tony was within the 'safe' confines of the suit, and instantly set about orienting his thrusters to slow his fall. He came close to almost burning a few civilian faces, but he managed to upright himself just in time. He set his thrusters to the max and was aiming at Loki's face within the second.

"Oh, and there's one other person you pissed off. His name is Phil."