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Back at a secret location, Selvig and several other scientists were working on creating some kind of device that was sure to be crucial to whatever plan Loki was concocting.
Meanwhile, Loki himself was sitting by himself holding his spear. Blue light glowed from the spear and Loki's surroundings faded away from a building to what looked like a very rocky planet.
A hooded figure appeared in front of Loki. "The Chitauri grow restless." He said in a distorted voice.
"Let them gird themselves. I will lead them in the glorious battle.
"Battle?" The figure scoffed. "Against the meager might of Earth?"
"Glorious, not lengthy." Loki specified. "If your force is as formidable as you claim."
The hooded figure looked at him highly offended. "You question us? You question him? He who put the scepter in your hand? Who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated."
Loki snapped his face to the figure. "I was a King! The rightful King of Asgard, betrayed."
"Your ambition is little and born of childish need. We look beyond Earth to greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil." The figure said.
"You don't have the Tesseract yet." Loki reminded him.
The figure suddenly appeared in front of Loki and raised his hands angrily.
"I don't threaten." Loki reassured. "But until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words."
"You will have your war, Asgardian. If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no Realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you. Or your lady." The hooded figure threatened.
Loki's eyes widened slightly and the man smirked. "Oh yes. He knows all about her, your little lover. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something sweet as pain."
The illusion ended, and Loki was back in the building. He breathed heavily out of worry. Now he had to succeed, because it wasn't just his life on the line anymore. It was hers too.
...
Selvig was working on the machine and glanced at all the people they had working with him.
"Where'd you find all these people?" Selvig asked Barton.
"S.H.I.E.L.D has no shortage of enemies, Doctor." Barton replied, holding up a screen that had a picture of iridium. "This the stuff you need?"
Selvig nodded. "Yeah, iridium. It's found in meteorites. It forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get a hold of."
"Especially if S.H.I.E.L.D knows you need it." Barton added.
Selvig shrugged. "Well I didn't know." He then looked over Barton's shoulder and saw Loki approaching. "Hey. The Tesseract has shown me so much. It's more than knowledge it's truth."
"I know. What did it show you, Agent Barton?" Loki asked.
Barton turned to him. "My next target."
"Tell me what you need." Loki said.
Barton walked over to a case sitting on the table and opened it, pulling out a crossbow. "I need a distraction...and an eyeball."
...
Loki's next stop was in Stuttgart, Germany, where he would retrieve the eyeball that Barton needed.
He was dressed in a fancy black suit, and had a cane in his hand, as he walked around a large lavish building that had some kind of spectacular event going on.
He stood on a higher level balcony in the room, and eyed a man who was speaking into a microphone.
Loki descended the steps that lead towards the main floor, and raised his cane, hitting a security guard in the face. He then grabbed the man who was speaking and flipped him onto a table.
The crowd began to panic and run out of the building while Loki pulled out a device and stabbed it into the man's eye. The device copied the eye and sent a holographic image to Barton, who used it to enter the area where the iridium was.
...
Loki slowly walked outside, using his magic to change from his suit to his armor, with his horned helmet on his head and spear in hand.
He approached the panicked crowd and created illusions of himself to corral them into one area.
"Kneel before me." Loki demanded.
The crowd was still too panicked to hear what him.
"I said..." Loki slammed his spear on the ground, the sound finally gaining the attention of the crowd.
"KNEEL!!!" He bellowed.
The crowd slowly fell to their knees and Loki smirked.
"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a max scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel." Loki told them.
One elderly man in the crowd rose and stood up, gaining Loki's attention.
"Not to men like you." He said.
Loki smirked. "There are no men like me."
The man didn't flinch. "There are always men like you."
Loki pointed his spear at the old man. "Look to your elder people. Let him be an example."
Loki fired the spear at the man, but someone jumped in front of him and blocked the blast with his shield, causing it to bounce off and hit Loki.
Captain America, also known as Steve Rogers, stood up and looked at Loki. "You know, the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everyone else, we ended up disagreeing."
Loki glared at him. "The soldier. The man out of time."
"I'm not the one who's out of time." Steve retorted.
Behind him, the Quinjet flew down being driven by former Russian spy Natasha Romanoff. Natasha lowered a gun from the Quinjet and spoke over a mic.
"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."
Loki did the opposite and fired at the jet, which serves to the side to avoid the blast.
Steve threw his shield and hit Loki in the face, then he ran up and punched him. The crowd dispersed and ran off as Loki and Steve began to battle each other.
Loki hit Steve in the face, knocking him back. Steve threw his shield which Loki blocked and hit off to the side. Steve resorted to using his fists and dodging Loki's strikes.
Loki managed to hit him with the spear, and Steve fell to the floor. He the places the end of the spear against his head.
"Kneel." Loki demanded.
Steve whacked the spear away. "Not today!" He declared, kicking Loki in the face.
Suddenly, AC/DC music began blasting out of the Quinjet. Loki looked up in confusion until he saw something that looked like a comet coming towards him.
Except it wasn't a comet. It was a suit made of iron being worn by genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark.
Tony raised his hands and blasted Loki, making him drop the spear as he flew back several feet.
Tony landed on the ground and pointed all the weapons on his suit at Loki. "Make your move Reindeer Games." Tony challenged.
Slowly, Loki raised his hands in surrender and used his magic to get rid of his sword and some of his armor.
"Good move."
Steve came up beside Tony. "Mr. Stark."
"Captain ."
...
Everyone was on the Quinjet flying back to base with Loki strapped down to a chair.
"Is he saying anything?" Fury asked over the radio.
"Not a word." Natasha responded.
"Just get him here. We're low on time." He ordered.
Steve glanced at Loki and then looked to Tony. "I don't like it." He voiced.
"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"
"I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop."
"Still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow." Tony commented. "What's your thing, Pilates?"
Steve looked confused. "What?"
"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple of things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."
Steve stared at Tony for a few seconds. "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."
"Yeah. There's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."
Suddenly, the Quinjet ran into a storm that seemed to start out of nowhere.
"Where's this coming from?" Natasha mumbled.
Hearing the thunder, and seeing the lightning flash through the windows, Loki sat up and suddenly became very tense.
Steve noticed this. "What's the matter? Are you scared of a little lightning?"
"I'm not overly fond of what follows." Loki admitted.
As soon as he said that, two loud thuds were heard on top of the Quinjet.
Steve and Tony put their masks back on and Tony pressed a button to open the back of the jet.
"What are you doing?!" Steve exclaimed.
Tony didn't answer and just stood by the open hatch. Suddenly, two figures appeared on the door to the Quinjet.
One Loki was not happy to see at all, and the other he was very happy to see.
Thor and (Y/n) entered the jet. Tony raised his hands to try and blast them, but Thor hit him back with his hammer. He then grabbed Loki from his seat and (Y/n) climbed onto his back as Thor swung his hammer and used it to fly out of the jet.
"And now there's those two." Tony sighed.
"More Asgardians?" Natasha yelled.
"You think they're friendly?" Steve wondered.
"Doesn't matter. If they free Loki or kill him, the Tesseract's lost." Tony reminded them.
"Stark, we need a plan of attack." Steve insisted.
"I have a plan. Attack."
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