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"In case it's unclear," Director Nick begins as he strutted into the Detection Section, "if you try to escape, if you so much as scratch the glass..." A hatch opens underneath the large glass cell Loki's being held in when Nick presses a button. Wind gusts from below as Loki peers down. "It's 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap," Nick continues, raising his voice above the loud sound of the wind, "you get how that works?" He closes the hatch, turning back to the god. "Ant," he tells, pointing at Loki. He then turns back to the button that opens up the hatch. "Boot," he finishes.
"It's an impressive cage," Loki smirks, stepping away from the glass, "not built, I think, for me."
"Built for something a lot stronger than you," Nick tells.
"Oh, I've heard." Loki gives a sly smile, turning his head towards the security camera left from him. Natasha looks up from the monitor to Bruce, Hunter follows her gaze. The doctor stands a few feet away from the table, arms crossed as he looks at the footage intensely. Loki continues, "A mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"
"How desperate am I?" Nick questions as he walks up to the glass cage, "you threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate." He looks at him intensely, "you might not be glad that you did."
"Ooh," Loki begins, "it burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power... Unlimited power. And for what?" He laughs, turning back to the camera, continuing, "a warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded what real power is." The left corner of Nick's mouth lifts as he walks away from the cage.
"Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something."
In the briefing room, everyone watches Loki through the monitor until the screen goes black. They stay quiet until Bruce speaks up.
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?"
"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve says, "so, Thor, what's his play?"
"He has an army called Chitauri," the blonde god begins, "they're not from Asgard or any world known." Thor turns towards the table, resuming, "he means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, the Tesseract."
"An army," Steve repeats, glaring Natasha's way, "from outer space."
"So, he's building another portal," Bruce clarifies, "that's what he needs Erik Selvig for."
"Selvig?" Thor asks.
"And who's that?" Hunter questions, turning his chair towards Bruce.
"He's an astrophysicist."
"Right."
"He's a friend," Thor comments.
"Loki has him under some sort of spell," Natasha says, trying to assure Thor, "along with one of ours."
"I want to know why Loki let us take him," Steve interrupts, "he's not leading an army from here." He looks back at Doctor Banner, who starts talking again.
"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," he reasons, That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him." Hunter snorts at his judgment, receiving a glare from Thor that is supposed to warn him.
"Have care how you speak," Thor defends, "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."
"He killed 80 people in two days," Natasha announces.
Thor's eyes flash down at the table. "He's adopted."
"I think it's about the mechanics," Bruce changes the subject, "Iridium... What do they need the iridium for?"
"It's a stabilizing agent," a voice speaks up. All heads turn towards the entrance as Agent Coulson and Tony Stark enter the briefing room. The billionaire turns towards the agent, saying a few words to him before continuing to speak towards the others. "It means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." He walks up to the front, proceeding: "No hard feelings, Point Break," he says to Thor, patting him on the arm, "you've got a mean swing." Everybody watches as he continues his walk to the front and rambling. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." Tony stops at Nick's control panel, "raise the mid-mast, ship the topsails... That man is playing Galaga!"
"Seriously?" Hunter scoffs as everyone's heads, including the crew's, turn towards the direction Tony is pointing.
"Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did," he exclaims, covering his left eye with his hand as he looks down at the screens, "how does Fury even see these?"
"He turns," Maria Hill answers shortly.
"Sounds exhausting," he reacts. He turns around, looking around the monitors as he taps the screen. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy-density." Hunter frowns at the man as he sees him slip something underneath the desk, but decides to keep his mouth shut and keep an eye on the man himself. "Something to kick start the Cube," Tony finishes.
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Maria questions.
"Last night," he informs and she responds to him with a frown. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers... Am I the only one who did the reading?"
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asks, ignoring his comment.
"He would have to heat the Cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Bruce replies.
"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Tony resumes.
"Well, if he could do that," the doctor proceeds, "he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."
"Finally, someone who speaks English!"
"Is that what just happened?" Steve asks confused, looking around to see if anyone else is as lost as he is while Tony and Bruce shake hands.
"It's good to meet you, Dr Banner," Tony greets him, "your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
"Thanks," Bruce responds shortly, turning his eyes away.
"Dr Banner is only here to track the Cube," a deep voice calls and Hunter looks up, "I was hoping you might join him."
"I would start with that stick of his," Steve suggests, "it may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."
"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube," Nick tells, "and I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."
"Monkeys?" Thor questions with a confused look on his face, "I do not understand."
"It's a reference-" Hunter tries to explain, but Steve cuts him off.
"I do!" he exclaims, pointing at the blond god. Tony rolls his eye from behind him as Steve lowers his arm. "I understood that reference."
"Shall we play, Doctor?" Tony quickly asks to get out of the whole situation. Bruce nods and turns around to show him the laboratory.
