They are all in the plane. Fury, over the radio, asks if Loki is saying anything.
Natasha says he isn't.
Fury tells him to get him there because they're low on time.
Steve says he doesn't like it.
Tony asks if he's talking about Loki giving up so easily, calling him Rock of Ages.
Loki rolled his eyes at the nickname.
Steve says he doesn't remember it being so easy and says Loki packs a wallop.
Tony says that Steve is spry for an older fellow and asks if he does Pilates.
Steve questions him.
Tony says its like calisthenics and says Steve might have missed some things when he was doing time as a Capsicle.
A few people held back laughs. "Do you nickname everyone?" Gamora asked.
"Pretty much." Tony said.
Steve finally looks at him and tells Tony Fury didn't tell him he was calling him in.
Tony tells Steve that there's a lot that Fury doesn't tell him.
Thunder crashes outside, Loki looks up, asks where its coming from.
Steve asks Loki if he's scared of lightening.
"You?" Valkyrie guessed. Thor nodded.
Loki says he isn't fond of what follows. Steve and Tony look at each other, confused.
Thor made a face.
Thor lands on top of the plane. Tony grabs his helmet and puts it on, ready to attack. Tony opens the back on the plane. Steve asks him what he's doing. Thor lands. Loki looks scared. Tony gets ready to fire a repulsor at him, Thor hits him back before he has a chance, he grabs Loki by the neck and leaves.
Tony stands back up and makes a comment about Thor showing up.
Natasha asks if he's another Asgardian.
Steve asks if they think Thor's a friendly.
"I am not hostile." Thor said, mildly offended.
Tony says it doesn't matter and the tesseracts lost if Thor frees or kills Loki.
Steve says that they need an attack plan.
Tony says that he has a plan, the says his plan is attack.
"Not a great plan." Loki says, mimicking Tony's words from the tower. Tony scowled at him.
Natasha says Steve should sit out.
Steve says he doesn't see how he could.
Natasha says that Thor and Loki come from legends and that they're basically gods.
Steve says that there's only one god and he's pretty sure he doesn't dress like that. Steve jumps out of the plane.
"You should open your mind to new possibilities, man." Sam says.
Thor throws Loki to the ground and asks where the tesseract is.
Loki tells Thor that he missed him too.
A few people reluctantly laughed.
Thor asks if he looks like he's in a gaming mood.
Loki looks up at him and starts to stand. He says Thor should be thanking him. He says asks Thor how much dark energy Odin had to muster to send him there without the tesseract.
Thor drops Mjolnir, and drags Loki to his feet. He tells Loki that he thought he was dead.
"I was dead for... actually I don't know how long." Loki said.
Loki asked if he mourned.
Suddenly everyone felt as if they were intruding on a private conversation.
Thor says that they all did.
"Forgive me if I have trouble believing that. You remember what happened, I would think that the majority of them were glad to be rid of me." Loki said.
Thor tries to talk about Odin, calling him their father. Loki cuts him off.
Loki holds out a finger and corrects Thor, saying that Odin is his father and asks if he told Thor his true parentage.
Thor says that they were raised together, they played together and they fought together. He asks if Loki remembers none of it.
Loki says that he remembers a shadow, he says he remembers living in the shade of Thor's greatness.
"Is that really all you remember?" Thor asked, sadly.
"For a while it was, then you told one of the snake stories-." Loki joked.
"What snake story?" Tony interrupted.
"I'm sure you'll hear about it later." Loki said.
He says he remembers Thor tossing him into the abyss.
"You let go. You let go." Thor said, voice cracking.
"I know that now, a lot of my memories have been... altered in order to fuel my rage against you and father." Loki said.
"I guess that's what he meant by mind games." Coulson told Fury, over-hearing the conversation between the brothers.
Loki says that he was and should be king.
"No, maybe that's a bad idea." Quill said.
"It was, I never even wanted it, but I felt like I had something to prove." Loki sighed.
People were really starting to see the change in Loki now, if they hadn't before. I mean sure, he went into a jealous rage, made a deal with someone he probably shouldn't have, but all the same he was this guy who didn't want to be pushed around anymore and would go to extreme lengths to prove it, even if it wasn't entirely him. Point being: Loki from 2012 and the Loki that they're talking to now are 2 different people. His actions are still unforgivable though.
Thor asks if Loki would take the world he loves as a recompense for his imagined slights.
"'Imagined slights.' Tell me Thor, was it imagined when you constantly told me to 'Know my place' as if I was and always would be beneath you? Was it imagined when Odin ignored all of my accomplishments in favor of yours? Was it imagined when I was hanging on for my life and Odin's last words to me were a denial?" Loki said, angrily.
Thor didn't know what to think. Was this really how Loki felt?
Thor says that Earth is under his protection.
Loki says that Thor's been doing a marvelous job. He says that the humans slaughter each other in droves while Thor idly frets. He says he means to rule them and asks why he shouldn't.
"Do you really want an answer to that question?" Clint asked.
Thor asks if Loki thinks he's above them.
Loki says he doesn't.
Thor tells Loki that he's missing the point of ruling and that the throne would suit him ill.
"Indeed it would, too much work." Loki said.
Thor looked confused, his Loki only had the throne for a few days, did future Loki take it again?
Angry, Loki shoves Thor aside and walks back up the hill. He says he's seen worlds Thor's never known about and that he's grown in his exile. He says he's seen the true power of the tesseract.
Thor asks him who showed him that power and who controls the would be king.
"You knew that he was being controlled." Coulson asked.
"I suspected it, I know my brother and that was not him." Thor said, referring to the attack.
Loki says he is a king.
Thor says he isn't a king there. He tells him to give up the tesseract and his poisonous dream and tells him to come home.
Loki says he doesn't have it. He says that Thor needs it to send him home but he's sent it off he knows not where.
"But I was lying, I did know where." Peter said in an English accent.
Loki glanced at him. 'What a strange child.' He thought.
Thor points Mjolnir to Loki's chest and tells him to listen well. Tony tackles him, and they fly away.
Loki says that he's listening.
"Impeccable timing." Quill said.
"I try." Tony laughed.
Tony and Thor land. Thor tells Tony not to touch him again.
Tony tells Thor not to take his stuff.
"So apparently I'm stuff now." Loki said.
"Fine by me, Stuff." Valkyrie said and turned to put her legs on his lap. He shoved them off. "You're no fun anymore."
Thor tells Tony that he has no idea what he's dealing with.
"Oh look another person who understands." Clint said.
Tony rhetorically asks if its Shakespeare in the park. "Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?"
Loki started laughing.
Thor blushed in embarrassment.
"There's a story behind this isn't there?" Tony asked, eager to hear it.
Loki opened his mouth to speak Thor interrupted him.
"Please don't." Thor said.
"Weren't you the one who just asked me if I remember our childhood as you do? I'm telling it *Thor looked ready to protest again but soon relented* Mjolnir was missing.I found out that some frost giants had taken it and buried it. So the plan to get the hammer back was to dress Thor up as Freya and he would go and pretend to marry Thrym because that was what Thrym wanted in return for the hammer." Loki said.
Everyone started giggling, wishing that they could've seen that.
"I went with him as a lady in waiting, after dinner Thrym called Mjolnir to him and it was placed in Thor's lap. He killed Thrym and the guests and we left. The end."
Thor says that this is beyond Tony and calls him Metal man. He says that Loki will face Asgardian justice.
"Metal man." Rocket snickered. "He called you metal man."
"Hey, its more accurate than Iron man is." Tony said. "Doesn't have the same ring to it, though."
Tony says that if Loki gives up the tesseract Thor can have him. He tells thor to stay out of the way until that happens and calls him a tourist.
"Tourist?" Thor frowned as he repeated the word.
"Someone from another place who visits for fun." Steve explained.
Thor throws his hammer, knocking Tony into a tree. Loki watches them fight, Thor glances up at him. Tony fires his chest repulsor at Thor, before he can get away.
"I see what you mean about first impressions now." Sam said.
Thor summons lightening and directs it to Tony's chest. JARVIS says that the suits power is at 400%.
"Oh damn." Scott said.
"Supercharged." Peter said.
Tony fires repulsors at Thor. They fly toward each other and start fighting in the air. They land and Thor punches Tony, then grabs both of his fists squeezing as the metal bends. Tony fires at his face. Thor head butts him. Tony throws Thor into a tree. Thor picks up Tony and throws him on the ground then summons Mjolnir. He goes to hit him with it but Tony gets away.
Steve throws his shield and it hits both of them and says that that's enough.
"A voice of reason." Pepper said.
Steve says he doesn't know what Thor plans on doing.
Thor says he's come to put an end to Loki's schemes.
Steve tells him to prove it and asks him to put Mjolnir down.
"That was the wrong thing to say." Loki said.
Tony says that that was a bad call and Thor loves his hammer.
Thor hits Tony away with Mjolnir. Thor asks if Steve wants him to put the hammer down then Jumps and brings Mjolnir down on Steve's shield, sending off a massive shock-wave.
Tony stands up, Steve and Thor follow suit. Steve asks if they're done.
"I should hope so." Peggy said.
Loki is being escorted by a large group of soldiers. He glances at Bruce through the window.
Loki is now inside of a glass cage. Fury says that if he tries to escape or if he scratches the glass - He presses a few buttons, the floor beneath the cage opens, you can hear the wind beneath. Loki walks to the edge and looks down- he says that its 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap. He closes the floor back up. He gestures to Loki and calls him an ant, then gestures to the controls and calls it the boot.
The avengers laughed at the call back. "In hindsight, you probably shouldn't have shown him how that works." Coulson said.
"Probably not, but it was easier to explain it with a reference, than without one." Fury said.
Loki says that its an impressive cage and that it wasn't built for him.
Fury tells him that it was built for something stronger than Loki.
Loki looks into the camera, the others all watched the footage. He mentions Bruce, calling him a mindless beast that makes play he's still a man. He asks Fury how desperate he is that he would call on such lost creatures to defend him.
"He still beat your ass, when he needed to." Fury said. Loki cringed at the memory.
"I'm well aware of what he did." Loki said.
Fury says that Loki threatened his world with war, steals a force that he can't control and talks about peace but kills because its fin. He tells Loki that he's made him very desperate and he may not like that he did.
"A lot of contradictory actions, dude." Quill said.
Loki says it burns Fury to have come so close to having unlimited power and to have a warm light for all of mankind to share only to be reminded of what real power is.
Fury says to let him know if real power wants a magazine.
"Am I the only one noticing that his eyes are getting brighter as this goes on?" Bruce asked.
"Maybe its just the light." Natasha said.
Bruce makes a comment about Loki growing on him.
"Well, I'm glad you think that." Loki said.
Bruce looked confused. "Is that supposed to mean something?"
"Not now...later." Loki said.
Steve says that Loki's going to drag it out and asks Thor what his play is.
Thor says that Loki has an army called the Chitauri and that they're not from any known world. He says that Loki wants to lead them against the humans and they will win him Earth.
"I'm surprised you managed to gather that much, you're not as dumb as you make yourself out to be." Loki said.
"I suspect that's as close to a compliment I'll receive from you, isn't it?" Thor asked.
"You know me so well." Loki said.
Steve asks about the army from outer space.
Bruce says that Loki's building a portal and that that's what he needs Selvig for.
Thor questions him.
Bruce explains that he's an astrophysicist, mistaking Thor's concern for confusion.
Thor says that Selvig is a friend.
Natasha says that Loki has Selvig under a spell anlong with one of theirs.
Steve says he wants to know why Loki let them take him because he's not leading an army from there.
Bruce says he doesn't think they that should focus on Loki.
"He is correct, you should be focusing on the 'why' the 'what' and the 'where' instead of the who'." Nebula said.
"Well, he wouldn't give us the 'why' so we focused on everything else." Fury said.
"Honestly, I doubt he would have admitted to anything, had we not all been brought to this place by Loraine." Coulson said.
Bruce says that Loki's brain is a bag full of cats and that you could smell the crazy on him.
Thor tells him to have care how he speaks. He says Loki may be beyond reason but he if of Asgard and they are brothers.
Natasha says that he killed 80 people in 2 days.
"Technically..." Rocket started.
"I'm not in the mood for technicalities." Fury said.
Thor says Loki's adopted.
"That doesn't justify or change anything." Gamora said.
Thor, who expected Loki to be angry with him, looked over to his brother wearily. "At least they chose to take me, they got stuck with you." Loki said.
"Oh. Burn. I like this one." Shuri said. T'Challa looked wary.
"You cannot adopt every broken ex- murderer you meet." He says.
"Please." Shuri asked. T'Challa rolled his eyes, exasperated.
"Fine." He conceded.
Loki stared at here. 'Another strange child.' He thought. 'But I like this one'
Bruce asks what they need Iridium for.
Tony walks in and says that its a stabilizing agent. He turns back to Coulson and says he'll fly him to Portland and says to keep love alive.
Steve frowned. So he did care, why did he make it sound like he didn't?
Tony says that it means the portal won't collapse like it did at SHIELD. He walks up to Thor and says no hard feelings and says that he has a mean swing and calls him Point Break.
Thor grumbled at the nickname.
He walks over to the screens and says that it also means that the portal can stay open as long and as wide as Loki wants. He presses a few buttons, then addresses the agents and tells them to raise the mid-mast and ship the top sails. "That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."
A few people laughed. "But was he really?" Scott asked.
"Actually, yes." Tony said.
"You're trying to distract them." Peggy noticed.
Tony covers one of his eyes and asks how Fury sees the screens.
Maria says that he turns.
Tony says that that sounds exhausting.
"Not as exhausting as dealing with you is." Fury said.
He says that Clint can easily get his hands on the rest of the raw materials and that the only thing he still needs is a power source of a high energy density -He places a hacking chip on the underside of the screen- He says it would be to kickstart the cube.
"I'm surprised I got that past you." Tony says to Natasha.
"I had a feeling you would try, didn't think you would succeed." She says.
Maria asks when Tony became an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics.
Tony tells her he did last night.
"Wait, really?" Ned asked.
He mentions the packet of Selvig's notes and the Extraction theory papers and asks if he was the only one who did the reading.
Steve asks if Loki needs a specific power source.
Bruce says that he'd have to heat the cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break the Coulomb barrier.
Tony says that that's unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.
Bruce says that if Selvig could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet.
Tony makes a comment about finally finding someone who speaks English.
"You mean to say 'Finally someone who speaks my freaky version of English." Rhodey corrected.
"You mean science babble." Natasha said.
"You leave me and my science babble alone." Tony said.
"Yeah." Bruce, Shuri, Peter and Ned said.
Steve asks if that just happened.
"'Fraid so, cap." Tony said.
Tony goes to shake Bruce's hand and tells him that its good to meet him. He tells Bruce that his work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. and he says that he's a huge fan of the way Bruce loses control turns into enormous green rage monster.
Bruce thanks him awkwardly.
"Tony. You can't just say that." Pepper scolded.
"Actually its fine, he was one of the few who didn't actively avoid talking about the other gut, could have been a little more cautious, though." Bruce interjected.
"I'm not really one for caution." Tony said.
"Really? We couldn't tell." Clint said.
Fury says that Bruce is only there to track the cube and tells Tony that he was hoping he could join him.
Steve says to start with Loki's scepter. He says that it may be magic but it works like a Hydra weapon.
"And that is because the stones all have similar energy signatures." Strange said. "Seeing as the Hydra weapons were powered with the tesseract, it makes sense that they would be similar to the scepter."
Fury says that the scepter is powered by the tesseract and he says he'd like to know how Loki used it to turn Clint and Selvig into his personal flying monkeys.
Thor says he doesn't understand.
"Its a reference from a movie called The Wizard of Oz." Coulson explained.
Steve says that he understood the reference. Behind him, Tony rolls his eyes. Steve looks proud of himself.
"You look so proud." Peggy said.
Tony asks Brue if they should play. They leave. The agent goes back to playing Galaga.
"Incompetent." Fury said under his breath, in reference to the agent slacking off. "He has a job to do."
Bruce and Tony are now in a lab, examining the scepter. Bruce says that the gamma readings are consistent with Selvig's reports on the tesseract. He says that it'll take weeks to process.
Tony, no longer in a suit, is on his computer. He says that if they bypass the mainframe and direct a reroute to the homer cluster, they can clock it around 600 teraflops.
Bruce says that all he packed was a toothbrush.
Everyone laughed laughed.
Tony says that he should come by Stark tower. He says that the top 10 floors are all R&D and says that Bruce would love it.
Bruce thanks him and says that the last time he was in New York he broke Harlem.
"We saw."
Tony says that he promises a stress free environment with no tension or surprises. He pokes Bruce with an electric prod.
Tony look Bruce close in the eyes. Steve walks in, angry and asks Tony if he's nuts.
Tony says that the Jury's out. He turns to Bruce and says that he has a lid on it and asks if his secret if mellow jazz, bongo drums, or a huge bag of weed.
"No, no and no." Bruce answered.
Steve asks Tony if everything is a joke to him.
"It's a coping mechanism." Tony said.
Tony says that funny things are.
Loki, Peter, Shuri, Ned and Scott laughed.
Steve says that threatening the safety of everyone on the ship isn't funny, he apologizes to Bruce.
Bruce says its alright and that he wouldn't've come on the ship if he couldn't handle pointy things.
Tony tells Bruce that he's tiptoeing but he needs to strut.
Steve tells Tony that he needs to focus on the problem.
Tony asks if Steve thinks he isn't. He grabs a bag of blueberries and asks why Fury called them un now and not before. He says that he can't do the equation if he doesn't have all the variables.
Steve asks Tony is he thinks Fury's hiding something.
"I know Fury's hiding something, spies always are and as far as they go, Fury is the definition." Tony said.
Tony says that fury is the spy and says that his secrets have secrets. He eats a blueberry.
"That they do." Fury said.
He turns to Bruce and asks if its bugging him too.
"I wish you kept me out of your little squabble." Bruce sighed.
Bruce says that he's just trying to finish his work.
Steve questions him.
Bruce quotes Loki's jab at Fury about the tesseract.
Steve says he heard it.
Bruce turns to Tony and says he thinks it was meant for him. Tony holds he blueberries out, Bruce takes one Bruce says that even if Clint didn't tell Loki about the tower it is still all over the news.
Steve calls Stark Tower a big ugly building in New York, not going further with the insult when Tony gives him a challenging look.
"That should have been our first clue as to where he was going." Bruce said.
Bruce says that its powered with an arc reactor which is a self-sustaining energy source. He tells Tony that the building will run itself for about a year.
Tony says that its just a prototype and that he's the only name in clean energy at the moment.
Bruce asks why SHIELD didn't bring Tony in on the tesseract project then asks what SHIELD is even doing in the energy business.
"Well at least now we know the answer. They needed to keep this as secret as possible." Tony said.
"Well, that didn't work out." Clint said.
Tony says he'll look into it once his decryption program finishes breaking into SHIELD's secure files.
Steve looks taken aback and starts to question Tony.
Tony says that JARVIS has been running it since the bridge and that in a few hours they'll know every secret SHIELD has tried to hide.
"I'm sure that went over well." Hank said.
He holds the blueberries out to Steve and asks if he wants one.
Steve says that Tony wonders why they don't want him around.
"There's mutual trust issues." Coulson said.
Tony says that an intelligence organization that fears intelligence is historically not awesome.
Steve says that Loki is trying to wind them up and that he means to start a war. He says that if they don't focus he'll succeed. He says that they should follow their orders.
Tony says that following isn't his style.
Steve asks Tony if he's all about style.
Tony asks Steve out of all the people in the room: who is wearing a spangly outfit and isn't of use.
Bruce asks Steve to tell him none of this seems sunky to him. Steve says nothing.
"You just don't want Tony to be right." Bucky observed.
Steve tells him to find the cube then he leaves.
Tony asks if that's really who Howard never shut up about.
Steve looked shocked to hear that, he glanced back at Tony briefly and then back at the screen.
Tony says he's wondering of he should've been kept on ice.
Steve now looked disgruntled. That man has a knack for hitting nerves.
Brue says that Steve isn't wrong about Loki and that he does have the jump on them.
Tony says that what Loki has is an ACME dynamite kit and he's going to be there when it blows up in his face.
Bruce says he'll read about it.
Tony walks over to him and says that he could be suiting up with the rest of them.
"Is that really the best idea?" Quill asked.
Bruce says he doesn't get a suit of armor. He says he's exposed like a nerve and that its a nightmare.
Tony says that he has a cluster of shrapnel trying to crawl into his heart at every second he tells bruce that the arc reactor stops it and that its a part of him now. He says it isn't just armor but a terrible privilege.
"That's why you have it in your chest?" Howard asked.
"How did that happen?" Peggy asked.
"Sounds painful." Carol commented.
"A bomb blew up too close to me." Tony said.
Bruce says that he can control it.
Tony says that its because he learned how.
Bruce says that his situation is different.
Tony says that he read about Bruce's accident and tells him that that amount of gamma radiation should've killed him.
"That's a nice way of looking at it." Natasha said.
Bruce asks if Tony's saying that the Hulk saved his life then asks what he saved it for.
Tony says that they'll find out.
Bruce says that Tony may not enjoy that.
Tony says that Bruce might.
"So you can be comforting." Happy said.
"When I want to be." Tony replied.
Steve opens an airtight sealed door. He walks into the room and sees that its filled with metal crates. He jumps up onto the catwalk.
"It was bothering you too, wasn't it?" Peggy asked. Steve nodded. When the smartest guys in the room are so sure about something, you start to think that it must be true.
A black semi-truck is driving down the street. Inside, Selvig takes takes the iridium and places it in the machine.
"Doing that in a moving vehicle probably isn't the smartest thing." Shuri said under her breath.
Thor and Coulson are looking at a computer screen which shows a picture of Jane. Coulson says that as soon as Loki took Selvig they moved Jane to Tromso. He says that she was asked to consult very suddenly and tells Thor that she'll be safe.
Thor thanks him and says that Loki taking Selvig was no accident and he dreads what's planned for him when he's done.
"As you should." Natasha practically growled, remembering what Loki said would happen to Clint.
Thor says that Selvig is a good man.
Coulson says that Selvig talks about Thor a lot and that he changed his life along with everything around there.
"Its true." Clint said. "Before you came here we hadn't had contact with alien planets, pretty much refused to believe they existed."
Thor says that they were better as they were. He says that on Asgard they pretend that they're more advanced.
"Which, in some ways, we are but in others we are probably one of the more primitive races, in terms of how we view other races, genders and people in general." Thor added.
Loki glanced at him, Thor really had grown as a person, why couldn't he see that 6 years ago was beyond him.
He says that they came there battling like Bilgesnipe.
Coulson questions him.
Thor describes a bilgesnipe, saying that they're huge and they have scales and big antlers. He asks Coulson if they don't have them on Earth.
"No, and frankly that sounds disgusting." Tony said.
"They are hideous." Valkyrie said.
Coulson says they don't.
Thor says that they're repulsive and trample everything in their path.
"I think the closest comparison would be like an elephant or a rhino." Bruce said. The aliens looked confused, what were those animals?
Thor says that when he first came to Earth Loki's rage followed him and the humans paid the price for it and now its happening again. He says that in his youth he courted war.
"I think it went a little beyond your youth." Loki said.
"Shut up Loki." Thor said.
"Its true, you didn't fully change until, in your time, a year ago." Loki said.
Fury enters and says that the war hasn't started yet. he asks Thor if he could make Loki tell him where the tesseract is.
"Well at this point I don't know where it is, but I know where its going." Loki said.
"Shut up Loki." The avengers said.
Thor says that he doesn't know and says that Loki's mind is afield and he doesn't just crave power he craves vengeance and says that there is no pain that would prize his need.
Fury says that a lot of people say that until the pain starts.
Loki flinched, hearing those words brought back unpleasant memories.
Thor asks what Fury is asking him to do.
Fury says he's asking Thor what he's prepared to do.
"I was prepared to stop him." Thor said. And that much was true. He came to Earth, prepared to stop his brother from doing... everything that he did. He just wasn't sure how far he was willing to go. He also knew that- first and foremost- he would try and bring Loki home above everything else and when that evidentially failed, they fought.
Thor says that Loki's a prisoner.
Fury asks why he feels like Loki's the only person on the ship who wants to be there.
"Because I am, you just didn't know why." Loki said.
"Some of us still don't know why." Quill mumbled.
"Isn't it obvious, Peter? He's on the inside now, everything is going according to plan for him." Gamora said.