Tony stood up, looking at the open hatch and complained, "Another one causing trouble."
Natasha, at the controls, shouted, "Isn't he the god of Thunder from Asgard? Why take this alien away?"
Steve Rogers got up and looked at Tony, shouting, "Do you think he's a friend?"
"It doesn't matter. Whatever his reason for taking the alien, we must get the Tesseract back."
Tony, not waiting for a response, headed towards the hatch, and Rogers immediately called out, "Stark, we need a plan to go after them."
Tony replied while walking, "I have a plan: attack!"
With that, he flew out of the hatch to chase Thor.
Rogers, feeling exasperated, grabbed a parachute to follow. Natasha, seeing his intent, tried to dissuade him, "I advise you to stay out of this, Cap."
Steve, already strapping on the parachute, said, "I can't do that."
Natasha continued, "Thor is a legendary figure, the god of Thunder."
By this time, Steve was ready to jump, "There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm sure he doesn't dress like that."
With those words, Rogers jumped out of the plane to support Tony.
…
Meanwhile, Thor landed with Loki on a mountaintop, throwing Loki to the ground. The impact made Loki groan, then laugh.
Thor looked at Loki on the ground and demanded, "Where is the Tesseract?"
Loki, still laughing, replied, "I've missed you, brother."
Thor shouted, "Do I look like I'm in the mood for this?"
Loki, getting up, said, "You should thank me. Without the Bifrost, how much dark energy did Odin have to gather to send you to your precious Earth?"
Thor, placing Mjolnir down, grabbed Loki, "I thought you were dead."
Loki, not resisting, looked at him, "Did you mourn for me?"
"We all mourned. Our father..."
Before Thor could finish, Loki interrupted, "Your father."
Thor continued, "To mourn you, I joined Supreme Merlin and conquered Jotunheim. Even the Mountain Giants perished for you."
Loki, taken aback, asked, "Who is Supreme Merlin?"
"Earth's protector, Charles Doyle."
Loki was surprised. Wasn't he a ninja? How did he become Supreme Merlin?
Despite his confusion, Loki didn't ask further but said, "Did he tell you about my heritage?"
"I killed the Frost Giant king, Laufey. Instead of praising me, he blamed me, but then sent you to conquer Jotunheim."
Loki laughed, "How ridiculous."
Thor tried appealing emotionally, "We grew up together, played together, fought together..."
"We are brothers, don't you remember any of that?"
Loki turned to Thor and said, "All I remember is the shadow."
"I was always overshadowed by your greatness."
"I remember you pushing me into the abyss. I was meant to be a king!"
Hearing this, Thor asked, "So you think I looked down on you, and to get revenge, you destroyed the world I love?"
"I won't allow it. I will protect Earth."
"Loki, Earth is not as simple as you think. Your army won't make a significant impact here."
Loki laughed, "You've protected it well, haven't you? Humans slaughter each other while you stand by and watch."
"I want to rule them, what's wrong with that?"
"As for this Charles Doyle, someone will deal with him. A mere human can't stop me, even if he's Merlin's heir..."
Loki didn't understand Charles Doyle's power, but Thor, who had fought alongside him, knew very well. He knew that if Loki angered that man, he might be killed.
Thor wanted to warn Loki about the man's fearsome strength.
"Loki, listen to me..."
Before Thor could continue, Tony Stark arrived, crashing into Thor and sending him flying.
Seeing this, Loki mocked, "I'm listening."
Tony, in his Iron Man suit, took Thor to a forested area and threw him to the ground.
Thor stood up, glaring at Tony, "One more move, and you'll regret it."
Tony, lifting his visor, retorted, "Then don't touch my stuff."
Thor replied, "You have no idea what you're meddling with."
Tony glanced at Loki on the mountaintop and joked, "A Shakespearean play in the park?"
He then mocked Thor's outfit, saying his cape looked like a curtain.
Thor, considering Earth was under Charles Doyle's protection, tried to explain, "This is beyond your capabilities, tin man."
"Loki will face Asgardian justice."
Tony blinked, then said, "That alien, he's from Asgard?"
"Loki? Is he your uncle?"
"As long as he hands over the Tesseract, he's all yours."
"Otherwise, uncle or not, you're both getting in my way."
After speaking, Tony Stark lowered his faceplate, ready for battle.
Tony's few words immediately ignited Thor's anger. Thor glanced at his hammer and murmured, "Aliens? Uncle?"
Then he hurled Mjolnir directly at Tony Stark.
"Boom!"
Thor hadn't used much strength, but Mjolnir sent Tony flying, crashing through several trees before stopping.
Seeing Thor take action, Tony no longer considered Thor's identity and launched his own attack.
The two clashed fiercely below, exchanging blows, while Loki watched from the mountaintop, secretly laughing without any intention of escaping.
Thor summoned lightning, aiming to destroy the metal man, but instead, it gave Tony an extreme charge, boosting his energy to four hundred percent.
Although the armor sustained some damage, the overall outcome was beneficial. With ample energy, Tony, after his initial surprise, resumed his fight with Thor.
Energy blasts were used generously, both sides exchanging attacks with passion, but Thor had a slight upper hand.
As Thor struck Tony, he asked, "Iron Man, don't you take orders from Charles Doyle?"
"I'm holding back because of him. Aren't you afraid of my wrath for obstructing me?"
Thor's power had increased significantly after the Jotunheim campaign. And right now, he wasn't going all out against Tony.
Tony was taken aback by Thor's words. He knew Thor's identity and assumed Thor had no connection with Charles.
After thinking for a moment, he asked, "You know Charles Doyle?"
Hearing that Iron Man knew Charles Doyle, Thor halted his attack and said, "He is a comrade I fought alongside with."
Tony, puzzled, replied, "I'm also good friends with Charles Doyle, but you didn't meet him last time you came to Earth."
"Are you sure we're talking about the same person?"
Thor frowned slightly and then said, "You're also his friend?"
"He's the Supreme Merlin of Earth."
Hearing this, Tony nodded and said, "Then there's no mistake, that's indeed one of his identities."
Because of Charles Doyle, Tony and Thor paused their fight and stopped attacking each other.
Tony said, "Since we're both friends of Charles, let's take your brother to S.H.I.E.L.D. so he can explain the location of the Tesseract."
"Then you can take him away. I'll honor Charles's face."
Thor sighed, "By the way, he's my brother, not my uncle."
"Your bards are completely fabricating our stories and relationships."
Tony casually replied, "That's what Norse mythology says, and I don't know any better."
At this moment, Captain Steve Rogers ran over. Seeing the two talking, he said, "Guys, it looks like you've come to some sort of agreement."
Tony and Thor exchanged glances, and then the three of them escorted Loki back to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
…
With soldiers escorting him, Loki was locked in a large transparent glass cylinder.
At this moment, Nick Fury walked over and said, "Just to be clear, if you try to escape, even if you lightly touch the glass, this cage will drop from nine thousand meters in the air."
"Got it?"
"Loki of Asgard."
Loki smiled and said, "This cage is nice. I guess it wasn't built for me, was it?"
Nick Fury didn't argue and simply said, "It's built for something much stronger than you."
Loki smiled, "I've heard about it."
"A mindless beast, yet pretending to be a normal person on the surface."
"How desperate must you be to resort to such an uncontrollable monster?"
At this moment, in a conference room, Natasha, Chen Haoran, Brock Rumlow, Steve Rogers, Kabuto Yakushi, Thor Odinson, and Bruce Banner were gathered.
The conversation between Loki and Nick Fury was transmitted to the conference room for analysis.
Nick Fury retorted, "Desperate?"
"You threaten to wage war on my world. You steal power you can't control."
"You claim peace but take pleasure in slaughter."
"You have indeed driven me to desperation, and you might regret that."
Loki, who hadn't seen Charles and other ninjas since his arrival, was curious about why Nick Fury hadn't summoned them. Nonetheless, he continued to mock, "Losing something you've treasured, that must make you very angry."
"Obtaining the Tesseract and harnessing its power."
"Infinite energy, what can we do with it?"
"Instead use it to light a beacon for all mankind, then show them the real power."
Nick Fury stared at Loki expressionlessly, wondering how much S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets he had uncovered.
After a few seconds of silence, he scoffed and said, "Real power? If you want to be delusional, just say so."
With that, Nick Fury turned and left.
…
In the conference room-
Dr. Banner, looking at the surveillance screen on the table, was the first to speak, "This guy sure talks a lot."
Rogers explained, "He's stalling for time. Thor, what exactly is his plan?"
Standing to the side, Thor pondered before replying to Rogers, "He has an army of Chitauri. They're not Asgardians but from an unknown planet in the universe."
"He plans to lead this army to attack you. They will help him take Earth."
"I guess he will use the Tesseract as a trade."
Thor then looked around at the others and said, "But what I don't understand is, why isn't Charles Doyle here?"
"If he gets involved, the Chitauri army shouldn't be a big deal."
Steve Rogers asked curiously, "Charles Doyle?"
Natasha, Chen Haoran, Brock Rumlow, and Kabuto Yakushi all remained silent, not explaining who Charles Doyle was.
Even Bruce Banner seemed to recall something terrifying, taking off his glasses to wipe them.
Seeing no one responding, Steve Rogers asked again, "Can someone tell me who he is? If he can deal with the enemy, why don't we contact him?"
Thor, also curious, looked at the group, sensing something strange in the atmosphere.
Natasha finally spoke, "He's not part of S.H.I.E.L.D. This operation hasn't been reported to him yet because the situation hasn't reached an irreversible point."
Steve Rogers, thoughtful, nodded and continued, "If the person Thor mentioned doesn't intervene, how do we resist the Chitauri army, an alien force from the universe?"
Bruce Banner said, "Loki captured Erik Selvig to build a portal for this army."
Hearing the name, Thor asked, "Selvig?"
Banner explained, "He's an astrophysicist."
Thor said, "He's my friend."
Natasha added, "Loki has cast a spell on him, controlling him and one of our agents."
Kabuto Yakushi watched the discussion in silence, simply observing.
Rogers continued, "Why did Loki surrender so easily? He can't control his army from here."
Dr. Banner suggested, "I think we shouldn't focus too much on Loki. His mind is erratic, he seems like a madman."
Hearing someone insult his brother, Thor immediately retorted, "Watch your words. Even if Loki has lost his mind, he's still an Asgardian, and he's my brother."
Brock Rumlow said, "He killed 80 people in two days."
Thor glanced at the man, paused for a second, then said, "He's adopted."
Chen Haoran, standing nearby, almost couldn't hold back his laughter at Thor's comment.
Dr. Banner intervened, "We should focus on the main problem. Why do they need the Tesseract?"
At this point, Tony Stark and Phil Coulson arrived, with Tony saying, "The Tesseract can be used as a stabilizer."
"It can prevent situations like the one at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base and allow Loki to control the portal as he wishes."
"He can make it as big and open for as long as he wants."
As Tony approached the group, he discreetly placed a cracking device under one of the computers.
With Tony's arrival and his and Dr. Banner's explanation, the group was left somewhat bewildered, feeling like they were listening to a foreign language.
Eventually, Dr. Banner and Tony agreed to study Loki's scepter.
As they left, Nick Fury, who had arrived, looked at the group and asked, "What are your thoughts?"
At this moment, Flame Warrior Chen Haoran spoke up first, "If an alien army does arrive, I'll use fire to show them the ferocity of Earth's superheroes."
Brock Rumlow and Kabuto Yakushi said, "We'll follow the organization's orders and do our best to eliminate the enemy."
Natasha then said, "I'll try to get some information out of Loki, see if we can learn anything."
Nick Fury nodded, "Alright, do your best. See what you can find out."
Seeing that everyone had tasks, Rogers went to the lab where Dr. Banner and Tony were.
As he entered, he saw Tony poking Banner with an electric pen.
Seeing Tony's nonchalant attitude, Rogers confronted him.
"You should focus on your work."
Tony retorted, "You think I'm not?"
"Why did Fury only call us now, and not earlier?"
"What is he hiding from us?"
"Why don't I see Charles Doyle and the others on the team? They are some of the most powerful people on Earth."
"Without complete information, I can't give an answer."
Hearing Charles Doyle's name mentioned again, Rogers realized that Nick Fury was indeed hiding many things from them.
"It seems Fury has been keeping something from us all along."
Tony said, "He's a spy, Captain, the king of spies."
"His secrets have secrets."
Then he looked at Banner and said, "Doctor, you feel the same way, right?"
Banner was silent for a few seconds before saying, "I just want to finish the work at hand..."
Though he didn't say it outright, Banner's meaning was clear.
But Rogers wasn't satisfied with the ambiguity, so he asked directly, "Doctor."
Seeing this, Banner said, "Loki's taunt to Fury regarding the Tesseract and…."
Banner pointed to Tony, "I think he was referring to you."
"Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about Stark Tower, it's all over the news."
Rogers remarked, "That big, ugly Stark Tower?"
Banner continued, "That building uses the Arc Reactor, a self-sustaining energy source that doesn't need any external power, right?"
Tony nodded, "Yes, I am the leading figure in clean energy today."
Banner continued, "So why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring you into the Tesseract project?"
"Moreover, why would an intelligence agency be involved in the energy business?"
Tony said, "Once my decryption program cracks all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s encrypted files, I'll know all their dirty little secrets."
"But that will take some time."
Rogers, still puzzled, said, "You're just curious why they didn't bring you in."
Tony smiled, "Intelligence agencies afraid of a genius?"
Rogers said, "Don't you think this is Loki's ploy to make us anxious?"
"He's trying to distract us so he can defeat us individually."
Rogers added, "We just need to follow orders."
Tony replied, "Following orders isn't my style."
"You only care about your style, huh."
"Who in this room was the first to wear a flashy, useless outfit?"
Banner interjected, "Steve, aren't you curious about why?"
Rogers glanced at Tony and said, "Just find the Tesseract."
He then turned and left the room, heading to the secure vault on the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft.
…
Elsewhere-
Natasha approached Loki, trying to extract information.
During their conversation, Loki taunted Natasha, but she managed to discern his plan.
Natasha reported directly in front of Loki, "Loki wants Banner to transform into the Hulk. Keep Banner out of the lab. I'll get Thor over there right away."
Before leaving, Natasha sarcastically thanked Loki, "Thanks for your cooperation."
Meanwhile, Tony had successfully used J.A.R.V.I.S. to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system, and Steve Rogers had found energy weapons developed by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the secure vault.
Nick Fury walked in, questioning, "Mr. Stark, what are you doing?"
Tony replied, "I could ask you the same thing."
Nick Fury said, "You should be searching for the Tesseract's location."
Dr. Banner added, "Yes, the search model is built and scanning for signals. Once we get a hit, we can narrow it down to an 800-meter radius."
Tony agreed, "Right, then you can retrieve the Tesseract. Have Patience."
At this moment, Tony looked at the information that popped up on the computer in front of him and asked directly, "What is Phase Two?"
Just then, Steve Rogers entered with an energy gun and said, "Phase Two is S.H.I.E.L.D. using the Tesseract to develop weapons."
"Sorry, but computers are too slow for me."