Tony fought as hard as he could, but he was being pushed back then it all went dark again. A hum that was music to his ears powered up around him.
JARVIS must have sent a suit!
"Oh thank-" Tony froze in horror as he saw Loki smiling at him again, which he was starting to sense was not a good thing.
"You're very welcome, Anthony." Loki looked Tony up and down admiringly. "This is the least I can do for you, after all you have done for me..."
Tony went to shoot the unsuspecting god with his gauntlet, but to his horror, he realized...he was not in control. He could see and hear everything around him like normal, but that was it.
He was a prisoner, forced to just observe what was about to happen...
Steve Rogers knew something was wrong when he landed the Quinjet on the dock of the Tower. For one obvious reason, people were in a frantic mess. Also, the lights were off at the Tower.
"Tony?!" Steve entered uneasily, searching and calling out but found no one. JARVIS did not even answer. "Where are you?"
A strong wind picked up in the living room, and Steve threw his shield up, protecting himself from the flying furniture and decor. A bright light drew his attention, opening up a portal with Loki, who was standing proudly, his staff gleaming.
"Loki?" Steve gritted his teeth. "Where is he?" He stepped back, ready to fight.
Loki snapped his fingers. "You mean Anthony?"
Tony appeared before them, his helmet forced off by an invisible power. He stumbled back a couple steps, then regained his balance. The fear in his eyes scared Steve, because Steve could tell that Tony was being held against his will.
"Steve?" Tony begged silently for help, to get him out of here and as far away from Loki as possible. He underestimated him, and he swore if he lived through this, he would never make that mistake again.
"Let him go, Loki." Steve demanded.
Loki lifted both of his hands in mock surrender. "I'm not holding him..." He circled around them both like a vulture, with Steve carefully maneuvering closer to Tony. "I'm teaching him a lesson he'll never forget-"
He was quick to take aim and fire at Tony, but Steve was like a lightning bolt, intercepting the shot and blocking it with his shield.
"Are you ok?" Steve whispered, who got a shaky nod as a response. He turned around, standing up with a look that worried Tony. He had never seen the good Captain this angry before.
Loki frowned. "You really don't know when to stop, do you? Constantly butting in where you clearly don't belong. I gave you a chance to say goodbye to my dear Anthony, but you-"
"He is not. your. property." Steve threw his shield, but Loki deflected it.
Without a weapon, Loki used his magic to toss Steve aside, crashing into the wall.
"Steve!" Tony kept on fighting to just move, if even an inch...
"And now, Anthony..." Tony's stomach lurched in anticipation. "Your heart can finally rest...in peace!"
"NO!" Steve lunged forward, but was too late, as he collapsed onto empty ground, ashes falling to the ground where Tony used to be. He shot up, twisting around. "What did you do to him?!"
Loki smiled. "You really do love each other, do you?" Steve fought with every ounce of strength he had as the God of Lies kept taunting him. "Willing to just throw yourself after him twice just now? It is inspiring, I must say, to think that someone like him could ever admire someone as pathetic as you. You don't even belong here! It must be hard, knowing everyone you once knew is dead. How can you even-"
Steve tried to drown out the words with cries of frustration, but fear kept building up as his anxiety kept wondering...
Where is Tony?
A blast knocked him down into the present moment, blood oozing out of the wound already. Slowly, Steve pushed himself up, hand reaching across his abdomen to slow the bleeding. He had to get up. He had to find Tony...
Loki pushed Steve's head back down by the bottom of his staff. The numbing pain made his ears ring, as he tried to concentrate. He could faintly hear Loki telling him nonsense he should never believe. With a growl, Steve hit the staff digging into his head away, and in one fluid motion, jumped into the air, swinging a powerful leg around directly to Loki's jaw. Using the little time it gave him, he reached for his shield and struck Loki again, but across the temple. It only dazed the powerful god, but blow after blow Steve went for it, until finally Loki did not get back up.
Panting, Steve paused to make sure he was truly down for the count, then sprinted outside.
"Tony?!" A crash alerted him a couple blocks away. He watched in horror as a building was literally collapsing with Tony stuck in the middle. Why is he not flying away? Steve forced himself to look away just long enough to hop into the Quinjet and race through the air to get to the quickly disintegrating tower.
Tony was helpless. There was no one to talk to through his screen, the repulsers were shot, and the suit weighed a ton. He could not avoid anything falling around him. It was a feat to lift his hands to try to protect his still-uncovered head.
"STEVE?!" Tony coughed and winced as he could barely register what was going on. He just knew this was about to go downhill really fast. Bad time for a pun, idiot. He needed to at least try to get out of the suit, that way he could have more maneuverability. He screamed as the ground under his feet gave out, and he landed roughly on his back. He managed to reach up and find the emergency ejection on his suit, and fought to get out of his prison. Looking around, he knew there was not much time.
"TONY?!" Tony ran towards the voice, but he kept falling through a floor every couple of steps. He was surprised he was not already crushed by a slab of concrete yet. What seemed like hours later, he came up to an opened window, and saw Steve standing on top of the Quinjet, which was on autopilot, hovering in place. "Tony! Look at me!" Steve reached his hand out, "You're going to have to jump!"
Tony shook his head as he looked down to see how high they still were.
"I promise, I will not let you fall!" Steve looked more terrified than Tony probably felt. "Trust me!"
Tony fixed his eyes on Steve, then looked away to step back a couple feet to give himself a running start. Steve nodded his encouragement, ready for him. Taking a deep breath, Tony ran as fast as he could, not realizing a huge chunk of debris was falling towards him about to crush him.
The last thing Tony saw was that beautiful shield spiraling towards him just above his head.