Outside the banquet hall, Loki walked out onto the plaza.

The surrounding citizens watched him in terror, but no one dared to approach.

"Kneel!" Loki suddenly shouted.

His scepter struck the ground heavily, the oppressive force of magic radiating outward. The people were forced to their knees.

"You were born to be ruled," Loki said. "You crave subjugation, you crave someone to tell you what to do. Do not resist. Accept your fate!"

"Someone like you?" a frail, elderly voice rang out.

From within the crowd, an old man shakily stood up. "I've seen too many men like you in my lifetime. In the end, they all failed."

Loki smiled and raised his scepter, energy beginning to coalesce. "You're a brave old man. Then you shall be the first to die."

A beam of blue energy blasted toward the old man—

"Boom!"

A round shield suddenly descended from the sky, blocking the energy beam.

Steve Rogers, clad in a brand-new uniform, jumped down from the Quinjet and landed steadily. He caught the rebounding shield.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Captain America said, "I think this party's over."

Loki narrowed his eyes. "Oh? A soldier in a tight suit?"

"The last guy in a funny suit, I beat him up." Steve said.

"That guy didn't have an army." Loki sneered.

Before the words had fully left his mouth, Iron Man descended from the sky, all weapons trained on Loki.

"Drop the scepter, put your hands up," Tony's voice came through the speakers, "or I'll be more than happy to give a demonstration of Stark Industries' latest weaponry."

Loki looked at Captain America, then at Iron Man, and finally raised his hands.

"Wise choice." Tony said.

...

On the Quinjet, en route back to the Helicarrier.

Loki was confined to a specially designed restraint chair, with Steve and Tony sitting nearby, keeping watch.

"It was too easy," Steve said. "He surrendered too quickly."

"Maybe he just knows when he's outmatched." Tony said.

"No," Steve shook his head. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Loki smiled at them, saying nothing.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky and struck the aircraft.

"What's happening?!" Tony exclaimed.

The hatch was suddenly torn open. A tall figure leaped inside—Thor, holding Mjolnir, surrounded by crackling lightning.

"Loki!" Thor grabbed his brother and was about to leap out.

"Wait!" Steve shouted, but Thor had already vanished into the night sky with Loki.

"I'll go after them!" Tony activated his thrusters and flew out.

Steve picked up his shield. "Land the plane. I'm going too."

Natasha: "Captain, that's a god!"

"I don't care if he's a god," Steve said. "We can't let him take Loki."

...

In the forest, Thor threw Loki onto the ground.

"Enough, Loki!" Thor said angrily. "Hand over the Tesseract. End this farce!"

Loki stood up, brushing the dust from his clothes. "Farce? Brother, this is my grand design!"

"You're mad!" Thor said. "Do you know what you're doing? If you continue, I will have no choice but to..."

"But to what?" Loki sneered. "Kill me?"

Thor fell silent.

At that moment, Iron Man charged in, slamming into Thor and sending him flying.

"You wanna touch my stuff, you go through me first!" Tony said.

Thor, enraged, swung his hammer at Tony. Tony retaliated with an energy blast. The two instantly became locked in combat.

"Stop!" Steve arrived, trying to intervene, but was caught by the lightning and knocked to the ground.

He got up, raising his shield. "I said, stop!"

The shield blocked Thor's lightning, the rebounding energy blasting away the surrounding trees.

The three men stood in a tense standoff.

"Listen," Steve said. "We all want the same thing—to stop Loki. Fighting amongst ourselves only helps him."

Tony's faceplate opened. "He's right. We should work together."

Thor looked at the two of them, and finally lowered his hammer. "Very well. But Loki must return to Asgard to face judgment."

"Before that, he answers our questions." Steve said.

Having reached a consensus, the three of them escorted Loki back to the Helicarrier.

...

On the Helicarrier, inside a specially designed glass cage.

Loki was imprisoned within. Fury stood before the control console.

"You know what this cage is for?" Fury pointed at the floor. "It's a three-thousand-foot drop straight down. Push this button, and you go for a ride."

"This cage wasn't built for me, was it?" Loki smiled.

"That's right," Fury admitted. "It was built for something a lot more dangerous. But it'll hold you just fine."

"You really think keeping me locked up will stop me?" Loki laughed. "I've already won."

"How so?"

"Everything you're doing—assembling these so-called heroes, studying the Tesseract—it's tearing you apart."

Loki sat down leisurely. "Soon, you'll all be at each other's throats over your lack of trust."

Fury said nothing and turned to leave.

But Loki's words had already planted a seed of unease in his mind.

...

In the conference room, the Avengers assembled for the first time.

Steve, Tony, Banner, Thor, Natasha...

The atmosphere was tense.

"We need to figure out Loki's plan," Steve said. "What does he need the iridium for?"

"To stabilize the portal," Banner said. "He wants to use the Tesseract to open a massive spatial gateway for his army to come through."

"What army?" Tony asked.

"The Chitauri," Thor said gravely. "An alien race. Brutal. Powerful. If they come to Earth..."

"It's the end of the world." Natasha added.

"So we stop him before he opens the portal." Steve said.

"Problem is," Tony brought up a holographic screen, "the Tesseract's energy signature is too strong. We can't get a lock on it."

"I can try," Banner said. "But it'll take time."

Just then, Steve noticed some data on the screen. He frowned. "What are these?"

Tony glanced over, and his expression changed. "That's... damn it."

He quickly operated the controls, pulling up more data.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to develop weapons?!" Tony looked at Natasha incredulously. "Did you know about this?"

Natasha remained silent.

Thor stood up. "You seek to craft weapons from the Tesseract? Are you insane?"

"Wait," Steve said. "Let's all just calm down..."

"Calm down?" Tony turned to him. "Do you know what this means? S.H.I.E.L.D. has been lying to us!"

"Maybe they have a reason..."

"What reason could justify making weapons out of something that dangerous?"

The argument grew more heated.

Banner, too, began to feel uneasy. His breathing became ragged.

Just then, Fury walked in.

"Yes, we're developing weapons," he said. "To protect the Earth!"

"Protect?" Tony scoffed. "Or to control?"

"Ever since Thor came to Earth, we've known there are more powerful threats out there," Fury said. "If we don't prepare, what will we use to resist the next invasion?"

"So your preparation is to start an arms race?" Steve said, disappointed.

"I'm preventing a future conflict!"

"You're sowing fear!" Tony retorted.

Everyone was arguing fiercely, completely unaware of Banner's condition—his skin was starting to turn green, and he was holding Loki's scepter.

The Mind Stone on the scepter emitted an eerie, dark blue glow.

...

At the training base, Levi suddenly opened his eyes.

"It's here." He stood up.

His three Apprentices looked at him. "Teacher?"

"The Helicarrier is about to have an incident," Levi said. "Hawkeye is going to launch an attack."

"Then we..." Peter said anxiously.

"Don't rush," Levi shook his head. "This is something they must go through. Only by experiencing betrayal and sacrifice can they truly unite."

"But..." Kamala said worriedly.

"Don't worry, no one will die," Levi paused. "At least... not too many."

He looked out the window. "Get ready. The real war is coming soon."

System Notification:

【3 Days Until the Battle of New York】

【Helicarrier Incident Imminent】

【Recommend Preparing for Combat】

Levi looked up at the sky: What is to come, will come.

...