"The Tesseract has awakened." "It is on a little world, a human world." "They would wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will." "He is ready to lead and our force, our Chitauri, will follow." "A world will be his." "The universe, yours." "And the humans, what can they do but burn?" "All personnel, the evacuation order has been confirmed." "How bad is it?" "That's the problem, sir." "We don't know." "Dr Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago." "NASA didn't authorise Selvig to go to test phase." "He wasn't testing it." "He wasn't even in the room." "Spontaneous event." "It just turned itself on?" "Where are the energy levels now?" "Climbing." "When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered evac." "How long to get everyone out?" "Campus should be clear in the next half-hour." "Do better." "Sir, evacuation may be futile." "We should tell them to go back to sleep?" "If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance." "I need you to make sure the Phase 2 prototypes are shipped out." "Sir, is that really a priority right now?" "Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on." "Clear out the tech below." "Every piece of Phase 2 on a truck and gone." "Yes, sir." "With me." "Talk to me, Doctor." "Director." "Is there anything we know for certain?" "The Tesseract is misbehaving." " Is that supposed to be funny?" " No, it's not funny at all." "The Tesseract is not only active, she's behaving." "I assume you pulled the plug." "She's an energy source." "We turn off the power, she turns it back on." "If she reaches peak level..." "We prepared for this, Doctor." "Harnessing energy from space." "But we don't have the harness." "My calculations are far from complete." "And she's throwing off interference, radiation." "Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation." "That can be harmful." "Where's Agent Barton?" "The Hawk?" "Up in his nest, as usual." "Agent Barton, report." "I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things." "Well, I see better from a distance." "Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?" "Doctor, it's spiking again." "No one's come or gone." "And Selvig's clean." "No contacts, no IMs." "If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end." ""At this end"?" "Yeah, the Cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right?" "Doors open from both sides." "Not yet." "Sir, please put down the spear." "You have heart." "Please don't." "I still need that." "This doesn't have to get any messier." "Of course it does." "I've come too far for anything else." "I am Loki, of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose." "Loki, brother of Thor." "We have no quarrel with your people." "An ant has no quarrel with a boot." "Are you planning to step on us?" "I come with glad tidings of a world made free." "Free from what?" "Freedom." "Freedom is life's great lie." "Once you accept that, in your heart," "you will know peace." "Yeah, you say "peace,"" "I kind of think you mean the other thing." "Sir, Director Fury is stalling." "This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us." "He means to bury us." "Like the pharaohs of old." "He's right." "The portal is collapsing in on itself." "We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical." "Well, then." "I need these vehicles." " Who's that?" " They didn't tell me." "Hill!" "Do you copy?" "Barton has turned." "They have the Tesseract!" "Shut them down!" "Okay, let's go." "No, leave it." "Go!" "We're clear upstairs, sir." "You need to go." "Director?" "Director Fury, do you copy?" "The Tesseract is with a hostile force." "I have men down." "Hill?" "A lot of men still under." "I don't know how many survivors." "Sound a general call." "I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase." "Roger that." "Coulson, get back to base." "This is a Level Seven." "As of right now, we are at war." "What do we do?" "...you may have to write it down." "You're at 1- 14 Silensky Plaza, 3rd floor." "We have an F-22 exactly eight miles out." "Put the woman on the phone, or I will blow up the block before you can make the lobby." " We need you to come in." " Are you kidding?" "I'm working." "This takes precedence." "I'm in the middle of an interrogation." "This moron is giving me everything." "I don't give everything." "Look, you can't pull me out of this right now." "Natasha..." "Barton's been compromised." "Let me put you on hold." "Where is Barton now?" " We don't know." " But he's alive?" "We think so." "I'll brief you on everything when you get back." "But first, we need you to talk to the big guy." "Coulson, you know that Stark trusts me about as far as he can throw me." "I've got Stark." "You get the big guy." "You're a doctor." "Please." "You should've got paid up front, Banner." "You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress you picked a hell of a place to settle." "Avoiding stress isn't the secret." "Then what is it?" "Yoga?" "You brought me to the edge of the city." "Smart." "I assume the whole place is surrounded." "Just you and me." "And your actress buddy?" "Is she a spy, too?" "They start that young?" "I did." "Who are you?" "Natasha Romanoff." "Are you here to kill me, Ms Romanoff?" "Because that's not going to work out for everyone." "No, of course not." "I'm here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D." "S.H.I.E.L.D." "How did they find me?" "We never lost you, Doctor." "We've kept our distance." "Even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent." "Why?" "Nick Fury seems to trust you." "But now we need you to come in." "What if I say no?" "I'll persuade you." "And what if the other guy says no?" "You've been more than a year without an incident." "I don't think you want to break that streak." "Well, I don't every time get what I want." "Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe." "Well, those I actively try to avoid." "This is the Tesseract." "It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet." "What does Fury want me to do, swallow it?" "He wants you to find it." "It's been taken." "It emits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace." "There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do." "If there was, that's where I'd be." "So, Fury isn't after the monster?" "Not that he's told me." "And he tells you everything?" "Talk to Fury." "He needs you on this." "He needs me in a cage?" "No one's going to put you in a..." "Stop lying to me!" "I'm sorry." "That was mean." "I just wanted to see what you'd do." "Why don't we do this the easy way where you don't use that and the other guy doesn't make a mess." "Okay?" "Natasha?" "Stand down." "We're good here." ""Just you and me."" "This is out of line, Director." "You're dealing with forces you can't control." "You ever been in a war, Councilman?" "In a firefight?" "Did you feel an overabundance of control?" "You're saying that this Asgard is declaring war on our planet?" "Not Asgard." "Loki." "He can't be working alone." "What about the other one?" "His brother." "Our intelligence says Thor is not a hostile but he's worlds away." "We can't depend on him to help, either." "It's up to us." "Which is why you should be focusing on Phase 2." "It was designed for exactly this..." "Phase 2 isn't ready." "Our enemy is." "We need a response team." "The Avengers Initiative was shut down." "This isn't about the Avengers." "We've seen the list." "You're running the world's greatest covert security network and you're going to leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks." "I'm not leaving anything to anyone." "We need a response team." "These people may be isolated, unbalanced even but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need." "You believe?" "War isn't won by sentiment, Director." "No, it's won by soldiers." "There's not enough time." "I got to put her in the water!" "You won't be alone." "Oh, my God." "This guy is still alive!" "Trouble sleeping?" "I slept for 70 years, sir." "I think I've had my fill." "Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world." "When I went under, the world was at war." "I wake up, they say we won." "They didn't say what we lost." "We've made some mistakes along the way." "Some, very recently." "Are you here with a mission, sir?" "I am." "Trying to get me back in the world?" "Trying to save it." "HYDRA's secret weapon." "Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you." "He thought what we think." "The Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy." "That's something the world sorely needs." "Who took it from you?" "He's called Loki." "He's not from around here." "There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in." "The world has gotten even stranger than you already know." "At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me." "Ten bucks says you're wrong." "There's a debriefing packet waiting for you back at your apartment." "Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?" "You should have left it in the ocean." "Good to go on this end." "The rest is up to you." "You disconnected the transmission lines?" "Are we off the grid?" "Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy." "Well, assuming the arc reactor takes over and it actually works." "I assume." "Light her up." "How does it look?" "Like Christmas, but with more me." "We've got to go wider on the public awareness campaign." "You need to do some press." "I'm in DC tomorrow," "I'm working on the zoning for the next three buildings." "Pepper, you're killing me." "The moment, remember?" "Enjoy the moment." "Get in here and I will." "Sir, Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. Is on the line." "I'm not in." "I'm actually out." "Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting." "Grow a spine, Jarvis." "I got a date." "Levels are holding steady, I think." "Of course they are." "I was directly involved." "Which brings me to my next question." "How does it feel to be a genius?" "Well, I really wouldn't know, now would I?" "What do you mean?" "All this came from you." "No, all this came from that." "Give yourself some credit." "Please." "Stark Tower is your baby." "Give yourself 12% of the credit." "12%?" "An argument can be made for 15." "12%?" "My baby?" "Well, I did do all the heavy lifting." "Literally, I lifted the heavy things." "And, sorry, but the security snafu?" "That was on you." " My private elevator..." " You mean our elevator?" "...it was teeming with sweaty workmen." "I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?" "It's not going to be that subtle." "I'll tell you what." "The next building is gonna say "Potts" on the tower." "On the lease." "Call your mom." "Can you bunk over?" "Sir, the telephone." "I'm afraid my protocols are being overridden." "Mr Stark, we need to talk." "You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark." " Please leave a message." " This is urgent." "Then leave it urgently." "Security breach." "It's on you." " Mr Stark." " Phil!" "Come in." ""Phil"?" "I can't stay." "His first name is "Agent."" "Come on in." "We're celebrating." "Which is why he can't stay." "We need you to look this over as soon as possible." "I don't like being handed things." "That's fine, because I love to be handed things." "So, let's trade." "Thank you." "Official consulting hours are between 8 and 5 every other Thursday." "This isn't a consultation." "Is this about the Avengers?" "Which I know nothing about." "The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought." "And I didn't even qualify." "I didn't know that either." "Apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others." "That I did know." "This isn't about personality profiles any more." "Whatever." "Ms Potts, got a second?" "Half a mo." "You know, I thought we were having a moment." "I was having 12% of a moment." "This seems serious." "Phil's pretty shaken." "How would you know if it's..." "Why is he "Phil"?" "What is all this?" "This is this." "I'm going to take the jet to DC tonight." "Tomorrow." "You have homework." "You have a lot of homework." "Well, what if I didn't?" " Lf you didn't?" " Yeah." "You mean when you've finished?" "Well, then..." "Square deal." "Fly safe." "Work hard." "So, any chance you're driving by LaGuardia?" " I can drop you." " Fantastic." "I want to hear about the cellist." "Is that still a thing?" "She moved back to Portland." "What?" "Boo!" "We're about 40 minutes out from home base, sir." "So, this Dr Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?" "A lot of people were." "You were the world's first superhero." "Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking" "Erskine's original formula." "Didn't really go his way, did it?" "Not so much." "When he's not that thing, though, the guy's like a Stephen Hawking." "He's like a smart person." "I gotta say, it's an honour to meet you officially." "I've sort of met you." "I mean," "I watched you while you were sleeping." "I mean, I was present while you were unconscious from the ice." "You know, it's really just a huge honour to have you on board this..." "I hope I'm the man for the job." "Oh, you are." "Absolutely." "We made some modifications to the uniform." "I had a little design input." "The uniform?" "Aren't the stars and stripes a little old-fashioned?" "With everything that's happening and the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned." "The Chitauri grow restless." "Let them gird themselves." "I will lead them in the glorious battle." "Battle?" "Against the meagre might of Earth?" "Glorious, not lengthy." "If your force is as formidable as you claim." "You question us?" "You question him, he who put the sceptre in your hand?" "Who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated?" "I was a king!" "The rightful king of Asgard, betrayed." "Your ambition is little and born of childish need." "We look beyond the Earth to the greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil." "You don't have the Tesseract yet." "I don't threaten." "But until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words." "You will have your war, Asgardian." "If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you." "You think you know pain?" "He will make you long for something sweet as pain." "Stow the captain's gear." "Yes, sir." "Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers." " Ma'am." " Hi." "They need you on the bridge." "They're starting the face-trace." "See you there." "It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice." "I thought Coulson was gonna swoon." "Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" "Trading cards?" "They're vintage." "He's very proud." "Dr Banner." "Yeah, hi." "They told me you would be coming." "Word is, you can find the Cube." "Is that the only word on me?" "Only word I care about." "It must be strange for you, all of this." "Well, this is actually kind of familiar." "Gentlemen, you might want to step inside in a minute." "It's going to get a little hard to breathe." "Flight crew, secure the deck." "Is this a submarine?" "Really?" "They want me in a submerged, pressurised, metal container?" "No, no, this is much worse." "Hover power check complete." "Position cyclic." "Increase collective to 8.0%." "Preparing for maximum performance takeoff." "Increase output to capacity." "Power plant performing at capacity." "We are clear." "All engines operating." "S.H.I.E.L.D. Emergency Protocol 193.6 in effect." " We are at level, sir." " Good." "Let's vanish." "Engage retro-reflection panels." "Reflection panels engaged." "Gentlemen." "Doctor, thank you for coming." "Thanks for asking nicely." "So, how long am I staying?" "Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind." "Where are you with that?" "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet." "Cell phones, laptops..." "If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us." "That's still not gonna find them in time." "You have to narrow your field." "How many spectrometers do you have access to?" " How many are there?" " Call every lab you know." "Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays." "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition." "At least we could rule out a few places." "Do you have somewhere for me to work?" "Agent Romanoff, could you show Dr Banner to his laboratory, please?" "You're gonna love it, Doc." "We got all the toys." "Put it over there." "Where did you find all these people?" "S.H.I.E.L.D. Has no shortage of enemies, Doctor." "Is this the stuff you need?" "Yeah, iridium." "It's found in meteorites." "It forms anti-protons." "It's very hard to get hold of." "Especially if S.H.I.E.L.D. Knows you need it." "Well, I didn't know." "Hey!" "The Tesseract has shown me so much." "It's more than knowledge." "It's truth." "I know." "What did it show you, Agent Barton?" "My next target." "Tell me what you need." "I need a distraction." "And an eyeball." "I mean, if it's not too much trouble." "No, no." "It's fine." "It's a vintage set." "It took me a couple of years to collect them all." "Near mint." "Slight foxing around the edges, but..." "We got a hit." "A 67% match." "Wait." "Cross match, 79%." "Location?" "Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Königstrasse." "He's not exactly hiding." "Captain, you're up." "Kneel before me." "I said kneel!" "Is not this simpler?" "Is this not your natural state?" "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation." "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." "Not to men like you." "There are no men like me." "There are always men like you." "Look to your elder, people." "Let him be an example." "You know, the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." "The soldier." "The man out of time." "I'm not the one who's out of time." "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." "Kneel." "Not today!" "The guy's all over the place." "Agent Romanoff." "You miss me?" "Make your move, Reindeer Games." "Good move." "Mr Stark." "Captain." "Is he saying anything?" "Not a word." "Just get him here." "We're low on time." "I don't like it." "What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" "I don't remember it being that easy." "This guy packs a wallop." "Still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow." "What's your thing, Pilates?" "What?" "It's like calisthenics." "You might have missed a couple of things doing time as a Capsicle." "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." "Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you." "Where's this coming from?" "What's the matter?" "Are you scared of a little lightning?" "I'm not overly fond of what follows." "What are you doing?" "And now there's that guy." "Another Asgardian?" " That guy's a friendly?" " Doesn't matter." "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost." "Stark, we need a plan of attack!" "I have a plan." "Attack." "I'd sit this one out, Cap." "I don't see how I can." "These guys come from legend." "They're basically gods." "There's only one God, ma'am." "And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." "Where is the Tesseract?" "I missed you, too." "Do I look to be in a gaming mood?" "You should thank me." "With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here to your precious Earth?" "I thought you dead." "Did you mourn?" "We all did." "Our father..." "Your father." "He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?" "We were raised together." "We played together, we fought together." "Do you remember none of that?" "I remember a shadow." "Living in the shade of your greatness." "I remember you tossing me into an abyss." "I, who was, and should be, king!" "So you take the world I love as a recompense for your imagined slights?" "No." "The Earth is under my protection, Loki." "And you're doing a marvellous job with that." "The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret." "I mean to rule them, as why should I not?" "You think yourself above them?" "Well, yes." "Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother." "A throne would suit you ill." "I've seen worlds you've never known about!" "I have grown, Odinson, in my exile." "I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it..." "Who showed you this power?" "Who controls the would-be king?" " I am a king!" " Not here!" "You give up the Tesseract!" "You give up this poisonous dream!" "You come home." "I don't have it." "You need the Cube to bring me home." "But I've sent it off, I know not where." "You listen well, brother." "I'm listening." "Do not touch me again." "Then don't take my stuff." "You have no idea what you're dealing with." "Shakespeare in the Park?" "Doth Mother know you wear-eth her drapes?" "This is beyond you, metal man." "Loki will face Asgardian justice." "He gives up the Cube, he's all yours." "Until then, stay out of the way." "Tourist." "Okay." "Power at 400% capacity." "How about that?" "Hey!" "That's enough." "Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here." "I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes." "Then prove it." "Put that hammer down." "Yeah..." "No." "Bad call." "He loves his hammer." "You want me to put the hammer down?" "Are we done, here?" "In case it's unclear, if you try to escape," "if you so much as scratch that glass," "it's 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap." "You get how that works?" "Ant, boot." "It's an impressive cage." "Not built, I think, for me." "Built for something a lot stronger than you." "Oh, I've heard." "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?" "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." "You might not be glad that you did." "It burns you to have come so close." "To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power." "And for what?" "A warm light for all mankind to share." "And then to be reminded what real power is." "Well, let me know if "real power" wants a magazine or something." "He really grows on you, doesn't he?" "Loki's gonna drag this out." "So, Thor, what's his play?" "He has an army called the Chitauri." "They're not of Asgard, nor any world known." "He means to lead them against your people." "They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." "An army from outer space." "So, he's building another portal." "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." "Selvig?" " He's an astrophysicist." " He's a friend." "Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." "I want to know why Loki let us take him." "He's not leading an army from here." "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki." "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats." "You could smell crazy on him." "Have care how you speak." "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard." "And he is my brother." "He killed 80 people in two days." "He's adopted." "I think it's about the mechanics." "Iridium..." "What do they need the iridium for?" "It's a stabilising agent." "I'm just saying, pick a weekend." "I'll fly you to Portland." "Keep love alive." "It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." "No hard feelings, Point Break." "You've got a mean swing." "Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long, as Loki wants." "Raise the mizzenmast." "Jib the topsails." "That man is playing Galaga." "He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." "How does Fury even see these?" "He turns." "Sounds exhausting." "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." "Something to kick-start the Cube." "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" "Last night." "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?" "He would have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." "Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilise the quantum tunnelling effect." "Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet." "Finally, someone who speaks English." "Is that what just happened?" "It's good to meet you, Dr Banner." "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." "Dr Banner is only here to track the Cube." "I was hoping you might join him." "I would start with that stick of his." "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." "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?" "I do not understand." "I do." "I understood that reference." "Shall we play, Doctor?" "This way, sir." "The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports of the Tesseract." "But it's going to take weeks to process." "If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this at around 600 teraflops." "All I packed was a toothbrush." "You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime." "Top ten floors, all RD." "You'd love it." "It's Candy Land." "Thanks, but the last time I was in New York," "I kind of broke Harlem." "Well, I promise a stress-free environment." "No tension, no surprises." " Hey!" " Nothing?" "Are you nuts?" "Jury's out." "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you?" "What's your secret?" "Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?" "Is everything a joke to you?" "Funny things are." "Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny." "No offence, Doc." "It's all right, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." "You're tip-toeing, big man." "You need to strut." "And you need to focus on the problem, Mr Stark." "Do you think I'm not?" "Why did Fury call us in?" "Why now?" "Why not before?" "What isn't he telling us?" "I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables." "You think Fury's hiding something?" "He's a spy." "Captain, he's "the" spy." "His secrets have secrets." "It's bugging him, too." "Isn't it?" "I just want to finish my work here, and..." "Doctor?" ""A warm light for all mankind."" "Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube." "I heard it." "I think that was meant for you." "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news." "The Stark Tower?" "That big, ugly building in New York?" "It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source." "That building will run itself for, what, a year?" "It's just the prototype." "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now." "That's what he's getting at." "So, why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. Bring him in on the Tesseract project?" "What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" "I should probably look into that once my decryption programme finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files." "I'm sorry." "Did you say..." "Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge." "In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret" "S.H.I.E.L.D. Has ever tried to hide." "Blueberry?" "Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around." "An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence?" "Historically, not awesome." "I think Loki's trying to wind us up." "This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed." "We have orders." "We should follow them." "Following's not really my style." "And you're all about style, aren't you?" "Of the people in this room, which one is, A, wearing a spangly outfit, and, B, not of use?" "Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you." "Just find the Cube." "That's the guy my dad never shut up about?" "I'm wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice." "The guy's not wrong about Loki." "He does have the jump on us." "What he's got is an Acme dynamite kit." "It's going to blow up in his face." "And I'm going to be there when it does." "Yeah." "I'll read all about it." "Or you'll be suiting up with the rest of us." "You see, I don't get a suit of armour." "I'm exposed." "Like a nerve." "It's a nightmare." "I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl its way into my heart." "This stops it." "This little circle of light, it's part of me now, not just armour." "It's a terrible privilege." " But you can control it." " Because I learned how." "It's different." "Hey, I read all about your accident." "That much gamma exposure should have killed you." "So you're saying that the Hulk..." "The other guy saved my life?" "That's nice." "It's a nice sentiment." "Saved it for what?" "I guess we'll find out." "You may not enjoy that." "And you just might." "As soon as Loki took the doctor, we moved Jane Foster." "They've got an excellent observatory in Tromsø." "She was asked to consult there very suddenly yesterday." "Handsome fee, private plane, very remote." "She'll be safe." "Thank you." "It's no accident, Loki taking Erik Selvig." "I dread what he plans for him once he's done." "Erik is a good man." "He talks about you a lot." "You changed his life." "You changed everything around here." "They were better as they were." "We pretend on Asgard that we're more advanced but we come here, battling like bilge snipe." " Like what?" " Bilge snipe." "You know, huge, scaly, big antlers." " You don't have those?" " I don't think so." "Well, they are repulsive." "And they trample everything in their path." "When I first came to Earth, Loki's rage followed me here, and your people paid the price." "And now, again." "In my youth, I courted war." "War hasn't started yet." "You think you could make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?" "I do not know." "Loki's mind is far afield." "It's not just power he craves, it's vengeance, upon me." "There's no pain would prise his need from him." "A lot of guys think that until the pain starts." "What are you asking me to do?" "I'm asking, what are you prepared to do?" "Loki is a prisoner." "Then why do I feel like he's the only person on this boat that wants to be here?" "There's not many people who can sneak up on me." "But you figured I'd come." "After." "After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm." "And I would cooperate." "I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton." "I would say I've expanded his mind." "And once you've won, once you're king of the mountain," "what happens to his mind?" "Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" "Love is for children." "I owe him a debt." "Tell me." "Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L. D..." "I..." "Well, I made a name for myself." "I have a very specific skill set." "I didn't care who I used it for, or on." "I got on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar in a bad way." "Agent Barton was sent to kill me." "He made a different call." "And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" "Not let you out." "No, but I like this." "Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man." "Regimes fall every day." "I tend not to weep over that." "I'm Russian." "Or I was." "And what are you now?" "It's really not that complicated." "I got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out." "Can you?" "Can you wipe out that much red?" "Dreykov's daughter," "São Paulo, the hospital fire?" "Barton told me everything." "Your ledger is dripping." "It's gushing red and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?" "This is the basest sentimentality." "This is a child at prayer." "Pathetic!" "You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers." "You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors." "But they are part of you." "And they will never go away." "I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you." "Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear." "And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work and when he screams, I'll split his skull." "This is my bargain, you mewling quim." "You're a monster." "Oh, no." "You brought the monster." "So, Banner." "That's your play." "What?" "Loki means to unleash the Hulk." "Keep Banner in the lab." "I'm on my way." "Send Thor as well." "Thank you for your cooperation." "What are you doing, Mr Stark?" "Kind of been wondering the same thing about you." "You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract." "We are." "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now." "When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile." "Yeah, then you get your Cube back." "No muss, no fuss." "What is "Phase 2"?" "Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. Uses the Cube to make weapons." "Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me." "Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract." "This does not mean that we're making..." "I'm sorry, Nick." "What were you lying?" "I was wrong, Director." "The world hasn't changed a bit." "Did you know about this?" "You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" "I was in Calcutta." "I was pretty well removed." "Loki is manipulating you." "And you've been doing what, exactly?" "You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you." "Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." "I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D." "Is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction." "Because of him." "Me?" "Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that levelled a small town." "We learned that not only are we not alone but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned." "My people want nothing but peace with your planet." "But you're not the only people out there, are you?" "And you're not the only threat." "The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled." "Like you controlled the Cube?" "Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies." "It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war." "A higher form?" "You forced our hand." "We had to come up with something." "A nuclear deterrent." "Because that always calms everything right down." "Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark." "I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep..." "Hold on." "How is this now about me?" "I'm sorry, isn't everything?" "I thought humans were more evolved than this." "Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" "You treat your champions with such mistrust." "Are you boys really that naïve?" "S.H.I.E.L.D. Monitors potential threats." "Captain America's on threat watch?" "We all are." "Wait, you're on that list?" "Are you above or below angry bees?" "Stark, so help me God, if you make one more wisecrack..." "Threat!" "Verbal threat." "I feel threatened." " Show some respect." " Respect what?" "Transport Six-Six-Bravo, please relay confirm codes." "I've got you on the computer, but not on the day log." "What is your haul?" "Over." "Arms and ammunition." "Over." "You speak of control, yet you court chaos." "That's his M.O., isn't it?" "I mean, what are we, a team?" "No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos." "We're a time bomb." "You need to step away." "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" "You know damn well why." "Back off!" "I'm starting to want you to make me." "Yeah." "Big man in a suit of armour." "Take that off, what are you?" "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." "I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." "I've seen the footage." "The only thing you really fight for is yourself." "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you." "I think I would just cut the wire." "Always a way out." "You may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero." "A hero?" "Like you?" "You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers." "Everything special about you came out of a bottle." "Put on the suit." "Let's go a few rounds." "You people are so petty and tiny." "Yeah, this is a team." "Agent Romanoff, would you escort" "Dr Banner back to his..." "Where?" "You rented my room." "The cell was just in case..." "In case you needed to kill me." "But you can't." "I know, I tried." "I got low." "I didn't see an end." "So, I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out." "So I moved on." "I focused on helping other people." "I was good." "Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk." "You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff?" "You want to know how I stay calm?" "Dr Banner, put down the sceptre." "Got it." "Sorry, kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all." "You located the Tesseract?" "I could get there fastest." "The Tesseract belongs on Asgard." "No human is a match for it." " You're not going alone." " You're gonna stop me?" "Put on the suit, let's find out." "I'm not afraid to hit an old man." "Put on the suit." "Oh, my God." "Put on the suit." "Yeah." "All hands to stations." " Hill!" " External detonation." "Number three engine is down." "We've been hit." " Can they get it running?" " Fire in engine three!" "Talk to me." "Turbine looks mostly intact but it's impossible to get out there to make repairs while we're in the air." "If we lose one more engine, we won't be." "Somebody's got to get outside and patch that engine." " Stark, you copy that?" " I'm on it." "Coulson, initiate defensive lockdown in the detention section then get to the armoury." "Romanoff?" "We're okay." "We're okay, right?" " Keep that engine down!" " Yes, sir." "Detention, wait for cameras to go dark." " Got it." " Stay close." "Let's go, Level 4." "Engine three." "I'll meet you there." "Doctor?" "Bruce?" "You got to fight it." "This is just what Loki wants." "We're going to be okay." "Listen to me." "Are you hurt?" "We're going to be okay." "All right?" "I swear on my life, I will get you out of this." "You will walk away and never ever..." "Your life?" "Bruce." "Bring the carrier about to a 1-8-0, heading south!" " Take us to the water!" " We're flying blind." "Navigation's recalibrating after the engine failure." "Is the sun coming up?" " Yes, sir." " Then put it on the left." "Get us over water." "One more turbine goes down, and we drop." "Thanks." "Stark!" "Stark, I'm here!" "Good." "Let's see what we've got." "I got to get this superconducting coolant system back online before I can access the rotors, work on dislodging the debris." "I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position." "What does it look like in there?" "It seems to run on some form of electricity." "Well, you're not wrong." "We are not your enemies, Banner." "Try to think!" "Okay, the relays are intact." "What's our next move?" "Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump." "I'm going to have to get in there and push." "If that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded." "That stator control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that could..." "Speak English!" "You see that red lever?" "It will slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out." "Stand by it." "Wait for my word." "We need full evac on the lower hangar bay." "Grenade!" "We've got a perimeter breach!" "Hostiles are in S.H.I.E.L.D. Gear." "Call-outs at every junction." "We have the Hulk and Thor on Research Level 4." "Levels 2 and 3 are dark." "Sir, the Hulk will tear this place apart!" "Get his attention." "Escort 6-0, proceed to Wishbone and engage hostile." "Don't get too close." "Copy." "Target acquired." "Target engaged." "Target angry, target angry!" "They're not getting through here, so what the hell..." "Engine one is now in shut-down." "We are in an uncontrolled descent." "Sir, we've lost all power in engine one." "It's Barton." "He took out our systems." "He's headed for the detention level." "Does anybody copy?" "This is Agent Romanoff." "I copy." "Stark, we're losing altitude." "Yeah, I noticed." "No!" "Are you ever not going to fall for that?" "The humans think us immortal." "Should we test that?" "Move away, please." "You like this?" "We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer." "Even I don't know what it does." "Do you want to find out?" "No!" "Natasha?" "You're going to lose." "Am I?" "It's in your nature." "Your heroes are scattered." "Your floating fortress falls from the sky." "Where is my disadvantage?" "You lack conviction." "I don't think I'm..." "So, that's what it does." "All hands to crash stations immediately." "Cap, hit the lever." "I need a minute here!" "Lever now!" "Help!" "Sorry, boss." "The god rabbited." "Just stay awake." "Eyes on me." "No, I'm clocking out here." "Not an option." "It's okay, boss." "This was never gonna work if they didn't have something" "to..." "Agent Coulson is down." "A medical team is on its way to your location." "They're here." "They called it." "These were in Phil Coulson's jacket." "I guess he never did get you to sign them." "We're dead in the air up here." "Our communications, the location of the Cube," "Banner, Thor..." "I got nothing for you." "I lost my one good eye." "Maybe I had that coming." "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract." "I never put all my chips on that number, though because I was playing something even riskier." "There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative." "The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more." "To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could." "Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea." "In heroes." "Well, it's an old-fashioned notion." "You fell out of the sky." "Did I hurt anybody?" "There's nobody around here to get hurt." "You did scare the hell out of some pigeons, though." "Lucky." "Or just good aim." "You were awake when you fell." " You saw?" " The whole thing." "Right through the ceiling." "Big and green and buck-ass nude." "Here." "Didn't think those would fit you until you shrunk down to a regular-size feller." "Thank you." "Are you an alien?" "What?" "From outer space, an alien." "No." "Well, then, son, you've got a condition." "Clint." "You're going to be all right." "You know that?" "Is that what you know?" "I've got no window." "I have to flush him out." "You got to level out." "It's going to take time." "You don't understand." "Have you ever had someone take your brain and play?" "Pull you out and stuff something else in?" "Do you know what it's like to be unmade?" "You know that I do." "Why am I back?" "How did you get him out?" "Cognitive recalibration." "I hit you really hard on the head." "Thanks." "Natasha..." "How many agents did I..." "Don't." "Don't do that to yourself, Clint." "This is Loki." "This is monsters and magic, and nothing we were ever trained for." "Loki, did he get away?" "Yeah." "I don't suppose you know where." "I didn't need to know." "I didn't ask." "He's going to make his play soon, though." "Today." "We got to stop him." "Yeah?" "Who's "we"?" "I don't know." "Whoever's left." "Well, if I put an arrow through Loki's eye socket," "I would sleep better, I suppose." "Now you sound like you." "But you don't." "You're a spy, not a soldier." "Now you want to wade into a war." "Why?" "What did Loki do to you?" "He didn't." "I just..." "Natasha." "I've been compromised." "I got red in my ledger." "I would like to wipe it out." "Was he married?" "No." "There was a cellist, I think." "I'm sorry." "He seemed like a good man." "He was an idiot." "Why?" "For believing?" "For taking on Loki alone." "He was doing his job." "He was out of his league." "He should have waited." "He should have..." "Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony." "Right, I've heard that before." "Is this the first time you lost a soldier?" "We are not soldiers." "I'm not marching to Fury's fife." "Neither am I." "He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does." "But right now, we got to put that behind us and get this done." "Loki needs a power source." "If we can put together a list..." "He made it personal." "That's not the point." "That is the point." "That's Loki's point." "He hit us all right where we live." "Why?" "To tear us apart." "Yeah, divide and conquer is great but he knows he has to take us out to win, right?" "That's what he wants." "He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it." "He wants an audience." "Right." "I caught his act in Stuttgart." "Yeah, that was just previews." "This is opening night." "And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva, right?" "He wants flowers, he wants parades." "He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered..." "Son of a bitch." "Time to go." " Go where?" " I'll tell you on the way." "Can you fly one of those jets?" "I can." "You got a suit?" "Yeah." "Then suit up." "Hey, you guys aren't authorised to be in here." "Son, just don't." "Sir." "Agent Hill." "Those cards, they were in Coulson's locker, not in his jacket." "They needed the push." "We have an unauthorised departure from Bay 6." "They found him." "Get our communications back up, whatever you have to do." " I want eyes on everything." " Yes, sir." "Sir, I've turned off the arc reactor but the device is already self-sustaining." "Shut it down, Dr Selvig." "It's too late!" "She can't stop now." "She wants to show us something!" "A new universe." "Okay." "The barrier is pure energy." "It's unbreachable." "Yeah, I got that." "Plan B." "Sir, the Mark 7 is not ready for deployment." "Then skip the spinning rims." "We're on the clock." "Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." "Actually, I'm planning to threaten you." "You should have left your armour on for that." "Yeah." "It's seen a bit of mileage, and you've got the glow stick of destiny." "Would you like a drink?" "Stalling me won't change anything." "No, no." "Threatening." "No drink?" "Are you sure?" "I'm having one." "The Chitauri are coming." "Nothing will change that." "What have I to fear?" "The Avengers." "That's what we call ourselves." "We're sort of like a team." ""Earth's mightiest heroes"-type thing." "Yes, I've met them." "Yeah." "It takes us a while to get any traction," "I'll give you that one." "But let's do a head count, here." "Your brother, the demigod, a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend." "A man with breathtaking anger-management issues, a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them." "That was the plan." "Not a great plan." "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you." "I have an army." "We have a Hulk." "I thought the beast had wandered off." "You're missing the point." "There is no throne." "There is no version of this where you come out on top." "Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you." "Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it." "How will your friends have time for me when they are so busy fighting you?" "This usually works." "Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon." "One out of five..." "Jarvis, anytime now." "You will all fall before me." "Deploy!" "Deploy!" "And there's one other person you pissed off." "His name was Phil." "Right." "Army." "Loki!" "Turn off the Tesseract, or I'll destroy it." "You can't." "There is no stopping it." "There is only the war." "So be it." "Stark, we're on your three, headed northeast." "What?" "Did you stop for drive-through?" "Swing up Park." "I'm going to lay them out for you." "Sir, we have more incoming." "Fine." "Let's keep them occupied." " Nat?" " I see him." "We got to get back up there." "Stark, are you seeing this?" "Seeing." "Still working on believing." "Where's Banner?" "Has he shown up yet?" "Banner?" "Just keep me posted." "Jarvis, find me a soft spot." "Look at this!" "Look around you!" "You think this madness will end with your rule?" "It's too late." "It's too late to stop it." "No." "We can, together." "Sentiment." "We've got civilians still trapped up here." "Loki." "They're fish in a barrel down there." "We got this." "It's good." "Go." "Do you think you can hold them off?" "Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure." "Just like Budapest all over again." "You and I remember Budapest very differently." "It's going to be an hour before they can scramble the National Guard." "National Guard?" "Does the army know what's happening here?" "Do we?" "You need men in these buildings." "There are people inside and they're going to be running right into the line of fire." "You take them to the basements or through the subway." "You keep them off the streets." "I need a perimeter as far back as 39th." "Why the hell should I take orders from you?" "I need men in those buildings." "Lead the people down and away from the streets." "We're going to set up a perimeter all the way down to 39th Street." "Well, we got its attention." "What the hell was step two?" "What's the story upstairs?" "The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable." "Thor's right." "We got to deal with these guys." " How do we do this?" " As a team." "I have unfinished business with Loki." "Yeah?" "Well, get in line." "Save it." "Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need." "Without him, these things could run wild." "We got Stark up top." "He's going to need us to..." "So, this all seems horrible." "I've seen worse." "Sorry." "No, we could use a little worse." " Stark, we got him." " Banner?" "Just like you said." "Then tell him to suit up." "I'm bringing the party to you." "I don't see how that's a party." "Dr Banner." "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry." "That's my secret, Captain." "I'm always angry." "Hold on!" "Send the rest." "Guys." "Call it, Captain." "All right, listen up." "Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment." "Barton, I want you on that roof." "Eyes on everything." "Call out patterns and strays." "Stark, you got the perimeter." "Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash." " Can you give me a lift?" " Right." "Better clench up, Legolas." "Thor, you got to try and bottleneck that portal." "Slow them down." "You got the lightning." "Light the bastards up." "You and me, we stay here on the ground." "We keep the fighting here." "And Hulk..." "Smash." "Sir." "The Council is on." "Stark, you got a lot of strays sniffing your tail." "I'm just trying to keep them off the streets." "Well, they can't bank worth a damn." "So find a tight corner." "I will roger that." "Oh, boy." "Nice call." "What else you got?" "Thor is taking on a squadron down on Sixth." "And he didn't invite me." "Captain, none of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal." "Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." "Well, maybe it's not about guns." "If you want to get up there, you're going to need a ride." "I got a ride." "I could use a boost, though." "Are you sure about this?" "Yeah." "It's gonna be fun." "Okay, turn, turn." "Less!" "Less!" "Captain, the bank on 42nd past Madison." "They've cornered a lot of civilians in there." "I'm on it." "Everyone!" "Clear out!" "Director Fury, the Council has made a decision." "I recognise the Council has made a decision." "But given that it's a stupid-ass decision," "I have elected to ignore it." "Director, you're closer than any of our subs." "You scramble that jet..." "That is the island of Manhattan, Councilman." "Until I'm certain my team can't hold it," "I will not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population." "If we don't hold them here, we lose everything." "If I send that bird out, we already have." "You." "Hawkeye!" "Nat, what are you doing?" "A little help?" "I got him." "Enough!" "You are, all of you, beneath me!" "I am a god, you dull creature." "And I will not be bullied by..." "Puny god." "The sceptre..." "Doctor." "Loki's sceptre." "The energy." "The Tesseract can't fight, but you can't protect against yourself." "It's not your fault." "You didn't know what you were doing." "Actually, I think I did." "I built in a safety to cut their power source." "Loki's sceptre." "It may be able to close the portal." "And I'm looking right at it." "Sir, we will lose power before we penetrate that shell." "Jarvis, you ever hear the tale of Jonah?" "I wouldn't consider him a role model." "Director Fury is no longer in command." "Override order 7-Alpha- 1- 1." "7" " Alpha- 1- 1, confirmed." "We're go for takeoff." "Sir, we have a bird in motion!" "Anyone on the deck, we have a rogue bird." "We need to shut it down!" "Repeat, takeoff is not authorised." "Stark, do you hear me?" "You have a missile headed straight for the city." "How long?" "Three minutes, max." "The payload will wipe out Midtown." "Jarvis, put everything we got into the thrusters." "I just did." "Package is sent." "Detonation in 2 minutes, 30 seconds, mark." "Are you ready for another bout?" "What, are you getting sleepy?" "Right at the crown!" "I can close it." "Can anybody copy?" "I can shut the portal down." " Do it!" " No, wait." "Stark, these things are still coming." "I got a nuke coming in." "It's gonna blow in less than a minute." "And I know just where to put it." "Stark, you know that's a one-way trip." "Save the rest for the turn, J." "Sir, shall I try Miss Potts?" "Might as well." "The streets of New York City have become a battleground." "The Army is here trying to contain the violence but clearly, it is outmatched." "And I have to say, in all my years of reporting," "I have never seen anything like this." "We have limited information on the team but we do know that billionaire Tony Stark's Iron Man..." "Come on, Stark." "Close it." "Son of a gun." "He's not slowing down." "Is he breathing?" "What the hell?" "What just happened?" "Please tell me nobody kissed me." "We won." "All right, yay!" "Hurray." "Good job, guys." "Let's just not come in tomorrow." "Let's just take a day." "Have you ever tried shawarma?" "There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here." "I don't know what it is, but I want to try it." "We're not finished yet." "And then shawarma after." "If it's all the same to you," "I'll have that drink now." "Despite the devastation of what has been confirmed as an extraterrestrial attack, the extraordinary heroics of the group known as the Avengers has been to many a cause not only for comfort, but for celebration." "It's just really great knowing they're out there." "That someone is watching over us." "I love you, Thor!" "And then these guys were like..." "And then the air goes..." "And this green guy walks up and he goes..." "I don't know." "I don't exactly feel safer with those things out there." "It just seems that there's a lot they're not telling us." "Superheroes in New York?" "Give me a break." "These so-called "heroes"" "have to be held responsible for the destruction done to this city." "This was their fight." "Where are they now?" "Tough questions are being asked about the Avengers themselves." "Their sudden appearance and equally sudden disappearance..." "What, this is all somehow their fault?" "Captain America saved my life." "Wherever he is, and wherever any of them are," "I would just..." "I would want to say thank you." "Where are the Avengers?" "I'm not currently tracking their whereabouts." "I'd say they've earned a leave of absence." "And the Tesseract?" "The Tesseract is where it belongs." "Out of our reach." "That's not your call." "I didn't make it." "I just didn't argue with the god that did." "So, you let him take it and the war criminal, Loki, who should be answering for his crime." "I think he will be." "I don't think you understand what you've started, letting the Avengers loose on this world." "They're dangerous." "They surely are, and the whole world knows it." "Every world knows it." "Was that the point of all this?" "A statement?" "A promise." "Sir, how does it work now?" "They've gone their separate ways." "Some, pretty extremely far." "If we get into a situation like this again, what happens then?" "They'll come back." "Are you really sure about that?" "I am." "Why?" "Because we'll need them to." "Humans." "They are not the cowering wretches we were promised." "They stand." "They are unruly, and therefore cannot be ruled." "To challenge them is to court death."