Chapter 33 – A night in Stuttgart (4)

(SHIELD Helicarrier – Somewhere off the East Coast – May 3rd, 2012)

"Okay," Carol spoke carefully, her voice in a very neutral tone as she looked Fury straight in the eye after he had informed her of everything that had gone wrong in the last 48 hours with the Tesseract, Loki's arrival, and the threat to the planet.

In truth, Fury was actually surprised by how calm and collected Carol was, given what he had just told her. While never a hothead in any sense of the word, she was also not shy about sharing her opinion when she thought something was wrong and about who she thought was at fault. So given the fact that since her departure from the planet and the last time they spoke, that SHIELD had admittedly failed spectacularly in the one thing she had trusted the spy agency with, he had expected at least a raised voice.

"Alright, okay." Carol let out a deep sigh as she nodded her head a few times in a manner that told Fury that she had already made up her mind about something. "I'm going to find Kal and get this mess sorted, I'll let you know when we're done, maybe we can get ice cream or something."

Fury just blinked slightly at Carol's casual declaration as she turned on her heels and made for the exit. Her statement had been heard by Maria Hill, however, who was fully aware of the standing orders not to involve Kal in the situation unless either absolutely necessary or he involved himself. She started scrambling for the door to put herself between Carol and the exit.

"Hey! Wait, you two, stop her!" Maria shouted after Carol, who was several steps ahead of her, and ordered to the security personnel standing next to the exit.

The guards dutifully moved forward almost without any hesitation, a testament to their training, however even Hill noticed that the men seemed to take a deep breath before moving in. Carol just stopped in her tracks and raised her eyebrows as the two agents took several steps toward her. The expression on her face basically asked if they were serious and really wanted to do this.

"You are not authorised to leave this vessel, nor are you allowed to contact the individual called Kal without permission." Maria Hill's voice sounded out behind Carol causing the cosmically-powered superheroine to turn around.

"Oh yeah? Who's going to stop me?" Carol asked with sarcasm dripping from her voice as she looked at the Deputy Director of SHIELD with her eyebrows raised again.

"Either stand down or I will stand you down," Hill stated firmly, not backing off an inch, her hand going to her side, firmly gripping her own sidearm as she tried to win the staredown she had initiated.

"Okay then, let's dance." Carol gave a little smirk and raised her fist ready for a fight and more than eager to do something fun after literally days travelling through the empty boringness of space.

"Enough!" Fury's voice cut in causing both women to turn to face the now one-eyed and one-armed man. "Hill, stand down."

"But Sir -" She tried to argue her point, not wanting to let Carol go off to warn a potential enemy of their position.

"I said stand down, that's an order." Fury gave Hill a pointed look that caused his right-hand woman to release a sigh as she stood back. "Good. Captain, I know you want to talk to Kal but that isn't an option right now."

"Oh, come on Nick you can't seriously think that Kal is involved with any of this?" Carol asked, raising her hands out to her side as she shook her head.

"Honestly, I don't" Fury stated bluntly but gave her a pointed look just as he had given Hill. "However, I can't ignore coincidences of which there have been too many to just brush aside, nor can I act if everyone thinks I am working with a potential hostile."

Carol grimaced at Kal being called hostile thinking it was crazy, but didn't contradict Fury either as she could see his point. Kal appearing to be stranded on earth, gaining the people's trust, his growing group of followers and his refusal to come in when asked didn't paint the greatest picture. All of which wasn't helped by the fact that Kal's brother Loki had then suddenly shown up killed a number of people and stolen earth's most valuable artefact.

"Okay, so what's the play then Director?" Carol released a deep sigh, willing to trust Fury for the time being and not wanting to make the situation anymore complicated. "We can't avoid him forever; he's going to get involved if he hasn't already."

"I understand I don't intend to keep Kal in the cold forever, but I want to find Loki and his friend in black first and get a handle on what's what before I do anything else. Including calling Kal in" Fury explained his plan as he winced slightly, adjusting the sling that was supporting his amputated arm. "That's why I called you in, if we're wrong and Kal's involved in a bad way, you're our only shot at fighting him, and if we're right you're the one person I know that can talk him into coming a meeting."

Carol was quiet for a few moments, her eyes showing the gears turning inside her head as she weighed her options. She then suddenly had a look on her face as if she was swallowing something bad and let out a frustrated breath from her nose as she crossed her arms. She then sighed and although clearly not happy with the situation gave Fury a nod of agreement.

"Okay, glad that's sorted." Fury released a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding in as he turned his attention back to the team at large. "Everyone, get acquainted then get to work. We need to find the Tesseract and Loki fast."

"Is there a lab for me to work out of?" Dr Banner spoke up from behind everyone having slipped into the background whilst Fury, Carol and Hill had had their little standoff.

He desperately just wanted to get to work so that he could get out of this insanity before it caused his other half to appear. Fury gave the good Doctor a smile that was both appreciative of his professionalism and a little apologetic that he had to be called in at all, knowing how the man hated stressful situations. Fury then turned to Romanoff who had slipped in on one side of Carol with no one noticing that she had positioned herself perfectly to strike at one of the few available blind spots.

"Agent Romanoff, if you could please show the good Doctor to his lab" Fury ordered, giving her a subtle nod that told her it was okay to leave the room.

"Right, come with me Doc, you're going to love it, we have all the toys." Nat moved past Carol giving her a quick glance before she greeted Bruce with a friendly smile and lead him off to his lab.

Steve meanwhile was still standing where he had initially moved to in the room, his face one of slight confusion as he was still processing just how weird the world was now. He released a slight cough that caused Fury and Carol to look at him, Steve however was looking at the interstellar peacekeeper.

"So, um, you work in space?" Steve began awkwardly, not knowing what was normal anymore and wanting to open up a conversation.

"Yep," Carol responded with a slight shrug.

"Okay then, great." The supersoldier responded, completely unsure what to ask or say to that response. 'Really wishing I was still in the ice right now.``

(Ancient Burial Tomb – Fjell Kal- 100 km Northeast of Lakstad)

Loki was casually observing his new follower's work as they prepared themselves for the next stage of his grand plan. He watched as his new mortal soldiers armed themselves with primitive weaponry and watched his more clever mortals assist Doctor Selvig in his preparations for opening the cosmic tear that he required. However, his eyes also subtly glanced at Zod as well; the General had yet to move from his position, apart from the occasional turn of his head as he appeared to observe the room himself.

"Where did you get all these people?" Selvig's voice caused Loki's attention to re-shift towards the main hub of activity in his temporary base.

The question had been directed to the mortal that Loki was finding the most useful out of his acquired servants. The Midgardian archer Barton had proven almost invaluable in gathering people to their cause or more accurately getting people to meet Loki so that he could use his sceptre to show them the truth. Nevertheless, without Barton Loki would not have been able to gather a third of the forces he had nor would he have learnt of Kal's activities on the planet. His little brother had been busy gathering a loyal following and worshippers of his own, as befitting beings of their status.

"SHIELD has no shortage of enemies, Doctor, and having this type of wealth helps," Barton stated calmly as he looked through a pad for the information he required, gesturing with his head towards the gold that had been hoarded in the tomb. "Is this the stuff that you need Doc?"

Barton turned around the digital pad that he was holding showing an image of a crystalline cylinder labelled Iridium and a German scientist named Heinrich Schäfer.

"Yeah, iridium. It's found in meteorites, it forms anti-protons, which apparently are needed to stabilise an Einstein–Rosen bridge, who knew right? Heh heh." Selvig joked, however he had a look of a man that had not slept in days, his hair was unkempt, and his clothes were dirty. "I need at least 200 pounds, which is an issue as it's very hard to get hold of."

"Especially if SHIELD knows that you need it," Barton commented, lowering the digital pad back down as he started to figure out what his plan would be.

"I didn't know I needed it!" Selvig declared and frantically waved his hands as if he was a schoolboy that had just been told an answer to a question that was so obvious now that he knew it.

Loki smirked a little at the interaction, the Tesseract combined with the power within his sceptre had a similar yet varying effect on people. For some like Barton, it created a uniformity of purpose, a singular focus and vision that became that individual's whole reason for existence, meaning that if Loki ordered it Barton would likely skin his own children alive if ordered. However, for a few like Selvig, the effect was more profound as their minds were wrenched open and secrets poured in, secrets of the universe and its inner mechanics. For primitive and underdeveloped minds like Midgardians', this caused, well, Loki liked the term 'issues' as it was most apt and better than the alternative of 'insanity.'

"Hey!" Selvig greeted Loki warmly like a puppy greeting its owner upon his return, as the God of Mischief approached the Midgardians, wanting to see where they were with enacting his plan. "The Tesseract has shown me so much. It's more than knowledge, it's truth."

"I know," Loki said with a small smirk as he cast his gaze quickly at the doctor, whose mortal mind was clearly beginning to fracture under the pressure of the cosmic knowledge within. If Loki were a betting god, he would wager that unless he was freed from his link to the sceptre and Tesseract soon, the mortal would become little more than a mindless drone. Loki then turned his attention to his other most useful pawn gazing at the archer who was faring far better than the mortal scientist. "What did it show you, Agent Barton?"

"My next target, sir." Barton turned to face Loki and stood at attention like a soldier under inspection from his general and spoke with almost reverence in his voice as he looked at the Asgardian Prince.

"Tell me what you need?" Loki asked whilst a confident smirk appeared on his face, as a righteous feeling of completion entered his heart, this is what he was meant to do with his life: rule and lead.

"I need a distraction, sir…" The archer spoke with focus and confidence as he moved over to a case on a nearby table and opened it, lifting out a bow that he then tested by pulling back the bowstring. "... and an eyeball."

"Then I shall provide you with one," Loki stated with confidence as his focus then moved over to Zod who was hovering in the same place he was before.

"Will the General be participating, sir?" Barton's eyes had caught where his master's gaze had moved to and had asked his question with deep respect.

"The General will be…involved soon enough," Loki said as his eyes moved back to Barton giving off an air of confidence and authority. "First we must draw out the sheep before unleashing the 'wolf'"

(SHIELD Helicarrier – Somewhere off the East Coast – May 3rd, 2012)

Steve was standing next to Agent Coulson, mostly due to the fact that the man was the only person that he knew in the room personally, but also because for the moment he felt he was in the way if he stood anywhere else. Although he knew over 70 years had passed for everyone else, to him it was just a few months ago when tracking people down meant talking to informants, reading through files, and physically looking. As he scanned the room that was filled with more technology and futuristic equipment than even his friend Howard Stark could have imagined, he realised just how outdated he was.

Casting a glance over to the other side of the room he saw that Captain Danvers was standing off to one side with an arm raised in front of her which was projecting a holographic screen that she was interacting with. He even felt outdated in terms of abilities and heroics, he had only just gotten use to the sense that he was the only 'super' person in the world, well, the only one not a crazed Nazi bent on world domination. However, now there were beings with fantastical powers from outer space, doctors who turned into monsters, men in metal suits that flew, and in the middle was Steve, a guy with a shield that could punch harder than most men did.

"I mean if it's not too much trouble." Coulson's voice brought Steve out of his slight depressive thoughts.

Coulson's statement caused Steve to smile a little bit, a small sense of normalcy returning to the world. The man had nervously just asked one of his greatest heroes to sign his trading card collection. Which Steve was happy to do as it reminded him of his brief stint as a USO show promoter and star act for the war bond drive, signing cards and comics for his fans. Although, in truth, he was used to his fans either being a lot younger than Coulson or a lot more female, but still it made his life feel a little familiar again.

"No, no. It's fine." Steve assured Coulson, trying to calm down the Senior SHIELD agent that looked as nervous as a schoolboy next to him. However, although Steve appreciated that the request made his world feel more mundane, he was also focusing on the mission at hand so had yet to really look at Coulson.

"It's a vintage set, you know." Coulson let out a small breath as he spoke, that he had clearly been holding in fear that his idol, The Captain America was going to refuse him. "It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint."

"Uh-huh," Steve let out a small noise as he lost focus on what Coulson was saying as he turned his attention to a station that had several agents moving around it as if someone had found something of note.

"Slight foxing around the edges but…." Coulson continued on, slightly less sure than before, causing Steve to blink and look at the man in confusion as he had missed the last thing Coulson had said.

"We got a hit." Coulson was interrupted by Agent Olsen who was seated at the console that Steve had just been looking at, turning around to look at his boss. "67% match on the target known as Loki. Wait, revising. Cross-match 79%."

"Location?" Coulson became all business again, shedding his starstruck attitude in a split-second as he moved over to Olsen, looking at the man's console.

"Uh, yeah I can do that," Olsen stated, blinking slightly as he unsteadily started typing on his console. "It's, ah, GERMANY, uh I mean, it's Stuttgart Germany. 28 Königstrasse. Sir."

"Well, he isn't exactly hiding," Coulson stated as a concerned and confused look formed on his face, observing the image of Loki who looked dressed to attend a high-end business function. "Any sign of Barton, Selvig or the man in black?"

"Uh, no sir. No sign at all." Olsen replied after quickly typing on the console and skimming through the security report that had been generated.

"Hmmm, I don't like it, Sir. Smells of either a trap or a distraction." Coulson rose up from looking at the console and addressed Fury who was now also looking at the image and report on his own screen.

"I agree, Agent, but at the moment we can't afford to let this opportunity slip through our fingers." Fury spoke in an authoritative tone that showed there was no room for argument, he then turned his gaze to Steve who was looking at the console as well from where he was standing. "Captain, you're up."

Steve let out a shallow breath as he then gave Fury a singular nod and headed off with Coulson that gestured for him to follow as he led his idol to the suit that he had prepared. Whilst Steve moved off Fury quickly typed out a message and sent it to Romanoff's personal communicator with an order to get herself and a Quinjet prepped. As he did so he heard an audible cough from behind him and turned to find Carol stood there with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"Nick let me grab this idiot up, I'll fly him into the upper thermosphere and threaten to drop him if doesn't tell us where the Tesseract is." Carol offered causally while clearly thinking that anything else would be a waste of time. "Save you sending out the living American icon."

"And if Loki doesn't tell you where the Tesseract is?" Fury queried, raising an eyebrow at Carol's offer, knowing full well what her answer was going to be.

Carol gave a very unconcerned shrug as she uncrossed her arms. "Well, then you have one less crazy person problem to deal with."

"Until we have the Tesseract back, we need Loki…... alive" Fury sighed, however, he knew that he needed to give her something otherwise Carol was likely to go off half-cocked. "I want you to go in as backup, be there just in case Loki does have a trap set or our not so friendly man in black shows up."

"Or Kal?" Carol stated bluntly, knowing full well that she would also be there to potentially fight her old friend if it came to it.

"Yes, or if Kal shows up." Fury let out a small sigh but nodded seeing no reason to try and lie. "BUT only if he is hostile. Carol, I know it's against your nature, but I need you…."

"I get it, Nick." Carol cut off her old friend as she let out a sigh of her own, clearly not happy with what she was agreeing to. "I'm your Big Gun and you don't want to show the enemy what you have until you need to, so I'll play ball ….. for now."

"Thank you, Carol." Fury gave her a rare appreciative smile that few people had ever seen on his face. "Go see Agent Romanoff and make sure we don't lose the icon."

"No promises Nick but I'll try my best." Carol stated in her usual playful tone as she backed away from the Director giving him a playful salute before heading off.

"Um, sir?" Fury turned his attention to Maria Hill, a grimace on her face as she looked up from the pad she was holding.

"What is it Hill?" Fury asked quickly, fearing that another thing was about to fall out of the sky on his watch.

"Sir the 'Technical Advisor' that the Council sent has just arrived," Maria said quickly, the aforementioned grimace only deepening. "You are really not going to like who it is."

(Luthor Crop Gala -Staatsoper Stuttgart – Stuttgart, Germany – May 3rd 2012)

Loki tapped his hand steadily on the cane which he had disguised his sceptre as. The sound of the string quartet serving as the entertainment for the evening met his ears: a selection of Mozart and Brahms. While Loki generally disliked everything about Midgard, he did find their musical compositions pleasant. However, he supposed that was only because of the limited melodies Asgard provided, which was mostly skalds, poems and the Norns-dammed flute playing that he was sick to death of.

He allowed himself a quiet moment as he listened to the mortal music below him, closing his eyes and appreciating the tranquil yet powerful notes washing over him. 'Something that I will certainly keep once I rule this realm', Loki thought to himself with a smile gracing his face at the thought. However, he let out a small sigh as he opened his eyes and began to move, there was no time to delay, and Loki had to provide the right distraction.

Cracking his neck he started to move down from the balcony from where he had been observing the event, he twirled his cane in his hand as he moved down the final flight of steps. As he approached, he could hear the man he was there for speaking in a crisp clean German accent addressing the crowd before him. Loki suppressed a scoff at the pitiful mortal as he tried to sound and act respectable, something that was beyond a feeble being such as him.

"My friends, I would like to welcome you to the annual Luthor Crop Gala, for the European branch of our parent companies and its subsidiaries here in Deutschland." Doctor Heinrich Schäfer spoke cleanly and with obviously-practised enunciation as he read from prepared cards, he let out a small cough as he continued. "I would like to offer the apologies of Mr Luthor who could not be here today due to a last-minute me-"

Doctor Schäfer was cut off by the sickening sound of Loki cracking the head of a security guard that had moved to intercept him on his path towards the podium where Schäfer was speaking. The act caused several gasps of shock as well as a general murmur, which turned into shouts and screams when Loki walked over the unconscious guard and viciously brought his foot down on the man's head, crushing it like a piece of ripe fruit.

The brazen act of violence produced the desired result for Loki. Firstly, it caused the other security guards in the room to back away instead of swarming him, clearly not used to this level of violence. Secondly, it gave him control of the crowd who were paralysed with fear with several people actually fainting as he moved past them. Lastly, it cleared him a path to his target while everyone moved out of his way, leaving the approach open to Doctor Heinrich Schäfer.

"What do you wan- AHH!" The German's voice was cut off as Loki effortlessly lifted him off the ground by the throat and slammed him down on a large stone table in the centre of the room.

Loki smacked his disguised sceptre across the mortal's chest, pinning the man to the table whilst causing an audible snap as Doctor Schäfer spurted blood from his mouth. Loki had broken nearly all the man's ribs and punctured his lungs in several places, had the mad god needed the mortal alive he would have needed immediate medical attention to do so. However, Loki did not need Doctor Schäfer's body alive,merely a piece of him, namely his eye.

Loki reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out a metal device with a large blue camera in its middle and a wicked trio of prongs jutting from its sides. Without hesitation or explanation, Loki jammed the device into Schäfer's right eye and a nauseating whirling sound of metal sounded out. The crowd that had been quiet before exploded into panicked screams and started running for the door as Schäfer started shaking as his eye was ripped out.

As Loki looked up from his victim and saw the pathetic mortals run from him, he experienced a rush of both power and vindication. His plan was not only working as this was sure to draw all eyes to him, but he also felt that his belief in mortals was proven. They were weak-willed, pitiful beings that could only amount to something when guided by a stronger hand. His brother Kal's actions since arriving on Midgard had proven that.

As Loki moved off of Doctor Schäfer knowing his need for the mortal was at an end he was enveloped by a powerful golden-green glow as he moved towards the exit the mortals had rushed from. His high-fashioned mortal clothes transformed into his divine golden and green armour, along with his high-horned helmet. His cane transformed as well, back into a sceptre with its sharp jutting metal point, he twirled it once more as moved out into the fresh air.

'Truly pathetic and wretched creatures, almost not worth conquering. Almost.' Loki thought to himself with a smirk as he exited the opera house watching the mortals flee before him.

Their screams of panic and fear were both exhilarating for Loki as he felt the rush of battle all Asgardians long for washing over him. However, the shrillness of their voices and the irritation of noise that came from their warriors' vehicles was damping the thrill Loki was getting. To rectify that, the god casually lifted his sceptre and unleashed a beam of crackling blue light that struck the oncoming police vehicle.

The blast tore through the car like it was made of tissue paper, causing it and the several vehicles that were behind it to explode in a massive fireball. Loki grinned slightly, but barely took notice of his small triumph as he pushed onto an open plaza where dozens of mortals were fleeing before him. He waved his hand slightly, projecting a dozen images of himself around the edge of the plaza, causing the mortals to recoil in fear and stay within its confines as the alien conqueror moved forward.

"Kneel before me," Loki ordered as he took his place at the entrance, however the crowd was still terrified and recoiling from his projections so no one heeded his command, causing him to lose his patience. "I said KNEEL!"

Loki struck his sceptre on the ground at the same time causing his and his projections sceptres to glow menacingly. The crowd instantly cowered before him, everyone falling to their knees and a few collapsing to the floor completely in fear. Loki looked out at the mortals Odin and his adoptive brothers had spent millennia protecting, and found that they were merely sheep as he had always known them to be, livestock in need of a strong hand to guide them.

"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?" His voice was soothing and calm, as if he was speaking to children while he gestured to the mortals around him. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. My brother Kal has already proven so, you chase and stumble after him, so desperate to stand in his reflected light.

Loki stopped as he reached the centre of the crowd, he could hear that they were murmuring now, whispering, despite their fear of him. Its cause, he guessed, was the mention of Kal and the revelation that their would-be saviour was their attacker's brother. Loki's confident smirk faltered for a moment, and he struck the ground with his sceptre to regain control, taking a deep breath to regain his composure.

"However, what my brother fails to understand is that the light that you so crave, the freedom of choice he grants you, is your folly. Under my guiding hand, you will reach your full potential." Loki began to speak again, his voice filled with confidence and bravado as he stood taller than the cowering mortals. "For I understand that the bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

Loki looked over the crowd, satisfied that his point was proven as there appeared to be not a soul ready to defy him. 'They are all weak not only of body but spirit as well, this conflict will be shorter than even I dared to hope.' The thought caused Loki's smile to widen but it immediately faltered as he watched an elderly mortal man rise to his feet.

"Not to men like you." The individual spoke. His voice was shaky and slow, not due to fear but from age, and he breathed in deep as he stared down the Asgardian prince.

"There are no men like me." Loki quipped back a slightly amused smile on his face as found the old man's statement to be as stupid as it was feeble, he was no man but a god burdened with glorious purpose.

"There are always men like you." The old man spoke again. This time his left-hand rose to grip his lower right arm as if he could physically feel the dehumanising serial numbers that had been etched into his skin so many years ago by men like the one before him.

Loki moved to retort, but was interrupted when several other people near the elder mortal stood up. They were far younger than their elder and looked to be barely more than children, but Loki saw the source of their defiance. Each one of the impetuous youths was wearing blue armbands with his brother's crest imprinted upon them in red.

"We have no need to fear men like you at all." One of the braver youths, a young woman spoke up as she placed herself in front of the old man whose defiance had inspired her. "We have seen true justice. We know that there is no darkness that does not flee before the light."

"Look to your youth and elders, people," Loki spoke with raising indignation in his voice as he felt that even now Kal was stealing his moment. "Let them be an example to you all!"

Loki unleashed a powerful blast from his sceptre intending to tear his brother's worshipper and the foolish old man in half when suddenly a blur jumped in front of the young woman. The energy bolt was deflected back as it struck the man's shield causing Loki to wince slightly in pain as the blast hit him. As he looked up he saw a man in a strange tight blue armour with a star on his chest along with a white and red torso standing in front of him.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Captain America spoke with confidence as he moved forward towards Loki, his arrival causing a stirring in the crowd as people started to get to their feet.

"Nice speech. Practise that on the ride over?" Carol Danvers' voice joked in his ear, causing Steve to glance up at where she was casually sitting on top of a building overlooking the situation.

"Ah, the soldier," Loki remarked as got up off the ground with a chuckle and assessed the man before him. "A man out of time, I thought they would have sent my brother's little blonde strumpet."

"WHAT DID HE CALL ME?" Carol's voice shrieked in Steve's ear causing him to wince slightly as he guessed Loki was referring to her.

"Well I'm the one you've got, and I'm not the one out of time." Steve commented back as he raised his shield, ignoring Carol's outrage as the Quinjet moved into position.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Natasha Romanoff's voice sounded out of the loudspeakers attached to the Quinjet. The aircraft's arrival caused the crowd to panic and flee leaving Loki and Steve alone on the ground.

The god's response was a casual grin before he suddenly lifted his sceptre and fired off a blast at the shuttle, which only survived due to Nat's expert piloting skill. Seeing his chance Steve moved in quickly, rushing forward and hurling his shield directly at Loki which to his surprise did not gouge or knockdown his opponent. Instead it ricocheted into the air. Not one to let the opportunity slip him by, he quickly caught his shield and charged in to deliver a series of quick personal blows.

Steve was slightly surprised since the first time gaining his powers, he met someone who didn't immediately collapse when struck, even the Red Skull had winced or been winded when he had landed a blow. Loki however did not and the rogue prince quickly recovered, letting out his own volley of attacks that Steve barely managed to block with his shield or dodge out of the way. However, even Steve's peak human reactions were not fast enough as before he could block it Loki landed a brutal blow to his stomach that knocked him to the ground.

Before he could get up Steve felt a sharp metallic point press against the back of his head as he saw Loki was now standing next to him. Although he couldn't see Loki's face he could sense that Loki was for some reason deriving immense pleasure from the fight and was enjoying having Steve at his mercy.

"Kneel," Loki stated bluntly trying to sound confident and commanding but it was defeated by the slight panting in his breath. His brief fight with Steve was more exhausting than he had expected it to be.

"Not today!" The Captain declared as he managed to twist his body to swipe Loki's legs out from under him causing the would-be God King to collapse on his back.

However, as Steve sprang up ready to take advantage of Loki's momentary state, he discovered that the Asgardian had already risen and was charging at him. Steve was quicker to respond as he now knew what to expect, going for evasion and surgical strikes over his previous brawling tactic. He wanted to stay close to Loki to prevent him from using his sceptre's ranged attack, but not so far that he couldn't land a hit when an opening presented itself.

"Dodge left, counter right, duck. That's it, bob and weave." Carol's voice sounded in Steve's ear through the comm device giving a running commentary and coaching of his fight, which Steve was finding very distracting. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. You've got this, oh gap right now!"

"Carol, not helping!" Steve grunted out as he landed a well-timed hit with his shield on Loki's face.

"Sorry, forgot this was on, just not used to spectating is all." Carol quickly apologised as she stood up on the roof and started stretching. "If you want a hand, just say, I think I could knock this guy out from here."

"Well I sure can't," Romanoff's voice sounded out now as she piloted the Quinjet trying to get a read on Loki but couldn't due to Captain America's close proximity. "These guys are all over the place."

"Yeah, they are but I think I have a better angle on them than you do," Carol replied to Natasha as she placed one leg on the building's ledge and squinted to try and get a better view of the fight.

"I can still hear you." Steve grunted out at the distraction still ringing in his ear, as he took a blow from Loki that forced him back several steps.

"Sorry Cap, I can tr-" Nat began to offer a solution but was cut off as her loudspeaker and comm device were suddenly filled with AC/DC's Shoot to Thrill.

"Agent Romanoff. Miss me?" Nat had to suppress a smirk and a roll of her eyes as a familiar voice came in over her hacked communication device while she watched its owner rocket in.

Tony's arrival was well timed as Steve expertly rolled out of the way allowing the billionaire genius to unleash a pair of powerful repulsor blasts that hit Loki square in the chest. Tony then landed and lifted both arms, his suit opening up every weapon cache it had to aim squarely at Loki who had been knocked to the floor. The god merely got up on one knee and glanced at the approaching man in the metal suit who was joined by Captain America his shield still raised.

"Make you move Reindeer Rames" Tony stated his voice modified by his external speakers as he stared down at the man dressed from a renaissance fair.

Loki surprised everyone by merely raising his hand in capitulation before dropping his sceptre, which clattered to the ground with a metallic thud. All of which was accompanied by a flash of green light that washed over Loki, removing his armour and leaving him in standard green and golden robes.

"Good move," Tony stated, not yet lowering his arms as he did not want to take chances until they had the threat firmly secured.

"Mr. Stark," Steve panted out, lowering his shield slightly as he caught his breath from the excessive amount of dodging he had just done.

"Cap'n," Tony replied with a respectful nod but did not take his eyes off Loki for a second as the Quinjet began to land behind them.

"Um, I hate to break up the bromance forming" Carol's voice sounded out from their communication devices as she stood up on the building she was on. "But does anyone else find it troubling how that was so easy, and that also no one from his mind zombie team is here?"

Although they didn't respond, both men looked downward with the same thought as a glower formed on their faces. Their collective worries only grew as they saw a sly smile on the God of Mischief's face accompanied by a dark glint in his eyes.

"Get him on board, now," Steve ordered as Natasha approached with a dozen SHIELD agents armed with restraints. "We will sort this out once we have regrouped."

Steve felt a knot forming in his stomach as he had the uneasy suspicion that they had just been outmanoeuvred.

(Quinjet – Somewhere over central Europe - May 3rd, 2012 - Near midnight)

The Quinjet was feeling more than a little cramped as Romanoff glanced behind her seeing not only Tony, Steve and Carol but also half a dozen agents who were basically still surrounding a subdued Loki. However, she quickly returned her attention to piloting the Quinjet, pulling back on the controls slightly to create a rapid ascent as they quickly approached maximum cruising altitude. Fury wanted her to take no chances, so instead of SHIELD's usual low fly and under-the-radar approach, she was under orders to get high and go fast.

A small blinking light drew Nat's attention to the dashboard, she quickly readjusted her headset so that it was comfortable on her head and pressed the button.

"This is SHIELD Craft N808W, receiving you now. Over." Nat stated as she began to level the plane flying above the cloud layer.

"Receiving you loud and clear Agent Romanoff." Fury's voice came in clear through the headset, even over their static Nat could hear the relief in his voice. "Confirmation on the package?"

"Package is secure, sir. Limited civilian casualties before arrival but no losses on our end." Nat gave her report in her usual crisp detached manner, her natural accent seeping in. She then sighed and spoke with more emotion as she felt a weight press down on her. "Also, no sign of any other hostiles or targets sir."

The line was quiet for a few moments before Fury's voice came back, sounding with rare tact. "I'm sorry Natasha. Is he saying anything?"

"Not a word, boss," Nat responded, feeling a nervous frown form on her face that she fought to keep at bay. "I have a feeling that we are being played."

"Understood, Agent," Fury let out an exasperated sigh feeling the pressure he was under starting to mount. "Just get him here. We're low on time. You are authorised to burn hot"

"Understood sir, moving to boosters, see you soon," Nat responded as she heard the line disconnect, after which she called out to her passengers over her shoulder. "Hold on, we're opening her up."

Steve and Tony had to readjust their feet and grab hold of the side of the aircraft as it jolted forwards slightly for a moment. The only two people not affected by the Quinjet accelerating were Carol and Loki, who barely shifted at the increased speeds. Both individuals were glaring at each other with Loki strapped down and chained to his seat whilst Carol was standing directly across from him, her arms across her chest.

"How long until we reach base?" Steve asked as he regained his footing leaning down so that his voice travelled into the cockpit.

"We've just hit Mach 2.5, so we should be hitting HQ in less than an hour depending on weather patterns," Nat responded as she checked her screens tapping the radar that went fuzzy for a moment before clearing up.

"Understood," Steve replied as he stood up and cast a glance at Loki before turning to talk to Tony. "I don't like it."

"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony quipped back, in his usual playboy manner, as he too like Carol had yet to take his eyes off of Loki who was sitting too quietly for his liking.

"I don't remember it being that easy," Steve replied, releasing a small sigh as he still felt on edge like something was going to happen, casting a look at Loki as well. "This guy packs a wallop."

"Still, you are spry for an older fellow," Tony stated, a small grin forming on his face that caused Steve to look at him confused. "What's your thing, Pilates?"

"What?" Steve said completely confused about what Tony was talking about. The last Stark he had known had been eccentric, yes, but Howard was always serious during a crisis.

"Captain America is right; this was far too easy. We are being played." Carol's voice cut into the conversation causing both men to look at her. "Oh sorry, were you two not done flirting? Or can we, you know, go back to saving the planet?"

"And who are you exactly?" Tony stated slightly annoyed as he had just been one-upped, looking at the woman in the blue, red and golden armour.

"Captain Marvel, intergalactic peacekeeper, protector of the Earth and defender of the cosmos. My friends call me Carol." She replied in a matter-of-fact tone, giving Tony a quick glance as she looked him up and down. "You can call me Marvel or Captain for short."

"Look I don't know who you think you are but -" Tony made a move to go towards Carol but was cut off by Steve who placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke.

"What do you mean this was 'far too easy'?" The soldier asked wanting to know what his teammate knew about the situation in hopes of figuring out why he felt they were carrying a bomb rather than a prisoner.

"Loki is a famed warrior across the Nine Realms, a master sorcerer of the highest order, and failing all that is a prince of Asgard, and Asgardians well…...the polite phrase would be that they really enjoy a fight," Carol explained her eyes still never leaving Loki as she spoke. "He should have only submitted to capture once beaten unconscious or else once we ripped off most of his limbs, and even then probably not."

"You sure?" Steve asked his eyes glancing at Loki who had developed a sly grin on his face, that made him even more uneasy somehow.

"Trust me, I've met a few Asgardians in my time, including his brother. I know what they're like." Carol replied, her voice certain about her statement as a memory played in her head of Kal that made a smile.

"Oh yes, the maiden Carol is very familiar with Asgardians, especially my brother." Loki finally spoke with a wily grin on his face, somehow growing larger and more devious. His comment caused Carol's eyes to widen and a sneer to form on her face as she took a step toward him. "Apologies, I guess I shouldn't call someone of your 'experience' a maiden."

"Why you little sh-" Carol made a move towards Loki that put everyone on edge but was halted by the Quinjet jostling.

The sound of extremely heavy rain and thunder suddenly sounded out which caused everyone to quiet and look out the front of the aircraft. The previously clear sky was now a torrent of thunder clouds, massive grey vapours, and lightning streaking across the sky. All of which forced Nat to take emergency action in order to avoid a major accident.

"Where the hell did this come from?" Nat sounded out in alarm as she quickly started to press the controls of her craft and pulled back hard causing a massive deceleration. "There were no storm fronts on the flight paths. Were there?"

Nat's question was addressed to her co-pilot who, like her, was scrambling to decelerate the aircraft not wanting to find out what happens when a craft travelling over Mach 2 is struck by lightning.

"No ma'am, we were supposed to have clear skies all the way home." The man responded as he started tapping the radar screen that sat between them, only to be met with a screen full of static. "Weather's knocked out radar and comms, were blind ma'am."

"Well, that's great," Nat responded sarcastically as she started to try and manoeuvre through the sudden storm. "Switch to backups, and find me a clear path through this."

Whilst Nat dealt with the sudden storm Steve glanced back at Loki and saw that for the first time the apparent god seemed to be on edge. He too was looking out at the tempest and his body language had shifted. Where before there was confidence and brazenness, he was now hunched over slightly, and his eyes were constantly shifting about as if he was looking for something.

"What's the matter?" Steve talked directly at their prisoner causing Loki's eyes to shift from the window to the human champion. "Are you scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki remarked back, however this time his voice sounded muted and no grin appeared on his face.

Steve moved to reply but was cut off by Nat's co-pilot whose voice sounded out as he stared out his side of the aircraft.

"What the hell? It's not supposed to be dawn for another six hours." The Co-pilot's comment caused Steve to glance away from Loki and out towards the side of the aircraft.

Steven's own eyes widened as he could only describe what he was seeing as the bright light of the morning piercing through the blackness of night. The entire horizon was filled with bright golden rays that shone as brightly as the sun, which provided a strange contrast against the still present storm clouds. However, there was one fact about the golden sunbeams that was causing Steve concern beyond the fact that it was still supposed to be night, a fact Agent Romanoff expressed loudly.

"Yeah, there's that and the fact that that direction is North," Nat stated bluntly, as she was about to engage in evasive manoeuvres when she and everyone else became suddenly blinded by a flood of sunlight directed right into the cockpit.

The momentary blindness was then followed by the Quinjet violently shaking as the sound of something hitting the outside hull sounded out. Causing Nat who was still squinting trying to regain her sight to grip her controls dead tight, preventing the craft from spinning out. Tony however just shook his head, trying to clear his vision as he glanced upwards to the source of the sound.

"What the hell was that?" He asked as he heard what sounded like a series of footsteps on the roof of the plane heading towards the rear landing hatch.

He wasted no time in grabbing his helmet and placing it on, still blinking his eyes rapidly as he moved towards the hatch along with Carol who was faring better than everyone else. Meanwhile, Steve was scrambling to equip his shield and redon his own headgear as he made a move over to Loki when Tony suddenly opened up the rear hatch.

"What the hell are you doing?" Steve shouted out, quickly gripping an overhead handrail as the air pressure of the cabin suddenly changed trying to pull people out.

"Let me go-" Carol tried to speak as moved towards the now open hatch having the same idea as Tony to engage whatever had attached itself to the hull of their craft. However, she never finished her sentence as caught unawares, a very large and very blonde blur appeared in front of her striking her on the side of the head, knocking her out of the way.

Tony moved to engage the intruder by raising his hands to let off a blast but he too was prevented from doing so when the large blonde intruder struck him in the centre of the chest with a large grey object. The man-shaped red and gold missile came crashing backwards taking out both Steve and several SHIELD agents that had also moved forward to engage. Steve from his prone position was able to see that the blur was in fact a man, a very tall, muscular man wearing strange armour and wielding a large hammer.

"Stand down!" Nat's voice sounded out and Steve saw out of the corner of his eye that she had whipped out of her seat and aimed her weapon right at the intruder. "I am warning you, stand dow- AHHH!"

Nat's yelp of pain came from the fact that her handgun was suddenly glowing bright red causing her to drop it in pain as a rush of wind jostled the Quinjet. Quicker than a blink of an eye, Steve's vision was filled with not one large man but two, as the blonde intruder was joined by an equally tall sentinel in blue with a red billowing cape.

The second man immediately cast a glance at both Carol and Tony, a slight look of regret on his face as he looked at them, which was quickly replaced by anger as his eyes settled on Loki. Without speaking a word, the second man pulled Loki from his seat forcefully, causing the chains and straps to snap. Once Loki was free the man moved his grip from Loki's chest to his neck, lifting him without care and carrying him to the open hatch, which both men promptly flew out of.

The large man with the hammer gave one last look at everyone in the Quinjet, a grim determination on his face before he too departed into the night, spinning his hammer in his hand. As the second one left the bright golden rays that had been shining suddenly vanished as did the storm that had been raging.

"Great, now there's two of them!" Tony groaned out of his helmet as he stood up glaring out the open hatch that their prisoner had just taken from.

"What the hell was that?" Steve asked as he pushed himself up as checked on the SHIELD agents that had been knocked to the floor, most had bruises but nothing serious.

"That was Loki's brothers," Carol stated as she shook her and rubbed her jaw slightly from the cheap shot Thor just gave her. "Kal and Thor, looks like they wanted to have a chat with him too."

"Doesn't matter. If they free Loki or kill him, the Tesseract is lost." Tony declared not waiting to debate the issue and headed immediately for the hatch to give pursuit.

"Wait! Stark, we need a plan of attack!" Steve called as he readjusted his shield on his arm, he was all for going after Loki but they now needed to contend with two very dangerous people.

"I have a plan: Attack" Tony stated his voice augmented by the Iron man helmet but still filled with raw emotion as he set off.

"Don't worry, I'll stop the idiot from getting killed." Carol sighed as she started glowing and set off after the billionaire in a metal suit, knowing full well that without help the man's smart mouth was going to get him killed.

Steve was left standing almost alone in the passenger area of the Quinjet for several moments before he sighed shaking his head. 'I am getting too old for this' the sarcastic thought passed through his head as he moved over and grabbed a parachute to join in the pursuit. 'Apparently, I am the only one of the new squad not able to fly.'

Steve took several calming breaths before he leapt out of the aircraft, putting his shield out ahead of him so that he could cut through the night sky quicker. Hopefully, in time to be of help in capturing Loki or at least preventing his new teammates from getting themselves killed.

Nat, however, who was flexing her hand still recovering from the burns she had got, looked out of the open hatch that nearly half a dozen powered individuals had just leapt out of and concluded one thing.

'I am so not paid enough for this job.' Nat thought as she balled her hand back into a fist ignoring the pain, as she slammed the button to shut the rear hatch. She then turned and leapt back into her pilot seat and did a sudden hairpin turn to try and start her own pursuit of Loki.