The Avengers [ 1 ]

7

"In case it's unclear, you try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass," Fury began as he looked at Loki who was trapped inside of the giant cage. He walked over to a console and pressed a few buttons causing the floor below the cage to disappear. The team watched as Loki looked down in amusement.

"Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" Fury asked as he closed up the floor. "Ant." He gestured towards Loki. "Boot." He gestured towards the console.

Loki chuckled, "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." "Built for something a lot stronger than you," Fury told him. Everyone glanced at Bruce who let out a soft sigh in response.

Maya frowned. She felt bad for Bruce. It wasn't like he had intended to create the Hulk and now he was forced to keep his emotions in check all of the time unless he wanted a giant green beast on the loose.

"Oh, I've heard. The mindless beast, makes play to be the man," Loki said causing Maya to snap out of her thoughts. The group looked back down at the video to see Loki looking right at the camera. He smirked before looking back over at Fury. "How desperate are you? You call on such lost creatures to defend you."

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun," Fury commented as he walked closer to the cage. "You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh. It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A world for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is," Loki said.

Fury wasn't fazed. "Well let me know if real power wants a magazine or something," Fury told him causing Maya to stifle back a laugh while Liv smiled.

Fury then walked away and the team watched as Loki looked back at the camera with a small smile on his face before the screen disappeared. Everyone was silent for a moment before Bruce said, "He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

Maya chuckled at that causing Bruce to smile, but everyone else ignored it. "Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve asked. Liv turned to look at Thor who was still staring at the table where the screen had been only a moment before.

She sighed and reached out to place a hand on his arm. She gently rubbed her hand up and down on his arm. Thor leaned into her touch slightly before saying, "He has an army called the Chitauri, that none of Asgard nor any world know. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. Return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army. . .from outer space," Steve said in disbelief. Maya patted the super soldier's shoulder and muttered, "Welcome to 2012, Cap."

"So he's building another portal," Bruce concluded. Liv's eyes widened in realization. "That's what he needs Erik for," Liv muttered causing the blond god to look at her in surprise.

"Selvig?" Thor questioned. "He's an astrophysicist," Bruce explained, but Thor just waved him off. "He's a friend," Thor explained, his eyes never leaving the brunette who was biting her lip nervously.

"Liv," Thor muttered. Her eyes flickered over to the man before she sighed and said, "Erik was taken by Loki back when your brother first arrived on earth. Loki has him under some kind of spell." She hesitated slightly before muttering, "And one of our own as well."