Aboard the Helicarrier.
After Stark and Li Ming left one after another, Steve was left alone to face Fury's impassioned speech.
As Fury went on and on about how great Coulson was, whether it was because Steve found it increasingly hard to stomach or simply didn't want to endure Fury's spittle any longer, he stood up and left the command room, leaving Fury behind to monologue to himself with growing enthusiasm.
Stepping out of the command room, Steve felt somewhat lost. Though his acquaintance with Coulson had only lasted minutes, he had to admit that under Coulson's natural charisma, his impression of the man had been quite favorable—a kind-hearted, capable, and responsible individual.
With a heavy heart, Steve found himself wandering to the place where Coulson had fallen.
Originally, Steve had only intended to quietly pay his respects, but he discovered Stark was already there.
Seeing Stark lost in thought, Steve assumed he had also come to mourn Coulson. Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Steve asked, "Was he married?"
"No," Stark replied without turning around, having come here for some peace. "Coulson had a girlfriend who played the cello."
After a moment of silence, Steve said quietly, "I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man."
"The problem is, I'm not sorry. I know Coulson will be revived." Stark glanced at Steve. "He was too reckless."
"Why?" Steve frowned. "Is dying for your beliefs reckless?"
Regarding Coulson's beliefs, Stark chose not to comment—faith was too abstract a concept to debate. But purely from a practical standpoint, did Coulson even know S.H.I.E.L.D. could bring him back? Given Fury's nature, it was likely Coulson had only limited knowledge of the resurrection process.
Had Coulson never considered the possibility that S.H.I.E.L.D. might fail to revive him? If so, wouldn't his sacrifice have been in vain?
With a trace of confusion, Stark murmured, "He shouldn't have gone after Loki alone."
"He was doing his duty," Steve countered.
Stark shook his head. "But it was beyond his capabilities. He should've waited for backup."
Before Stark could finish, Steve cut in with deep conviction, "Sometimes, you don't have a choice."
"I've heard that before," Stark muttered irritably under his breath.
No matter how effective resurrection spells might be, they still had unresolved flaws. And a person only had one life—no matter how "unavoidable" the situation, they shouldn't gamble with it.
Noticing Stark's distracted demeanor, Steve grew concerned that something might be troubling him psychologically.45. Concerned, he asked, "Is this the first time you've seen a soldier die?"
A soldier? Have you ever seen a scientist and billionaire as a soldier?
"I'm no soldier," Stark said irritably. "That's why I never intended to follow Fury's orders from the start."
Steve: I may be a soldier, but I'm way past retirement age. Besides, I'm Captain America, not Captain S.H.I.E.L.D.
"I didn't plan to obey Fury either. Both Fury and Loki are responsible for Coulson's death. But right now, we need to focus on the bigger picture." Pausing, Steve rubbed his temples and asked, "Loki needs an energy source to activate the Teleportation Gate. Any thoughts?"
Stark shrugged, about to say 'no idea' when something suddenly clicked in his mind: An energy source? Damn it, my company has a high-powered energy source!
And Loki is the epitome of arrogance—he needs an audience, flowers, applause. And my company is now one of New York's landmark buildings.
Is my damn company about to become Loki's stage?
Realizing this, Stark cursed, "That bastard," and hurried toward the warehouse where his battle suit was stored.
Seeing Stark rush off in panic, Steve could guess with his toes that Stark had figured out where Loki would appear. Without hesitation, he ran to grab his Shield and notified the team to prepare for the mission to capture Loki.
Meanwhile, as Stark hurried toward his company, he spotted Shavig on the rooftop from afar, along with some kind of device being activated.
Seeing this, Stark flew up to the rooftop and looked down at Shavig, commanding, "Shut it down, Dr. Shavig."
Shavig, under Loki's control, glanced up at Stark and sneered, "Too late."
With the fervor of a brainwashed devotee, Shavig gazed lovingly at the Tesseract and said, "It's going to show us a whole new universe. You're a scientist too—don't you want to see it with your own eyes?"
Before Shavig could finish, Stark had already concluded that reasoning with a brainwashed man was pointless.
With the machine about to activate the Teleportation Gate, Stark had no patience for a verbal sparring match with Shavig.
Ordering Jarvis to channel all the Arc Reactor's energy into his palm, Stark raised his hand and fired a high-powered Energy Cannon at the machine.
Compared to the battle suit in the movie, which was battered from fixing the turbine, Stark's suit was still pristine and fully charged. The destructive force of this Energy Cannon was unimaginable.
Unfortunately... the Arc Reactor was developed based on research from the Tesseract. Ethically speaking, you could say the Reactor was the Tesseract's child.
And now, the child dared to strike its parent? That was outright rebellion!
In its prime, the Tesseract angrily raised a Shield to block the energy from its "child." Following the principle of "idle hands are the devil's workshop," it decided to return the energy to its sender—with lightning speed.8/29/25, 21:45
With the momentum of a thief covering his ears while stealing a bell, the energy from his own son was deflected back toward the reactor on Stark's battle suit.
Let me teach you that a father is a father, and a son is a son. If you dare strike your father, try reincarnating into a better life next time.
This time, Stark, unable to dodge in time, was in trouble. The reactor on his battle suit was drained of energy by a single punch from the Tesseract-wielding old man.
The flung Stark was momentarily dazed, but his brain quickly registered that the thing blocking the Energy Cannon was made of pure energy. With the battle suit's current capabilities, there was no way to penetrate that energy Shield.
Stark's eye twitched as he glanced at the rapidly depleting energy levels of his suit. Well, at least the company is right below me. I won't have to haul this suit halfway across the city to recharge.
As he pondered, Stark steered the suit toward the company, planning to switch to a fully charged one. After all, if he was going to fight, how could he do it without energy?
But fate is unpredictable. Just as Stark was about to land at the company, he noticed Loki in the distance giving him a sinister smirk.
Damn it, is this guy into handsome me? Stark, who had a girlfriend, felt a pang of nervousness, his heart fluttering with tension.
Meanwhile, Loki, seeing Stark actually dare to remove his battle suit upon spotting him, strolled leisurely into the living room with his staff in hand. With a mocking tone, he said, "Have you come to beg for my mercy?"
Stark, now without the protection of his suit, cursed inwardly (What rotten luck) but replied casually, "Actually, I'm here to threaten you."
Loki scoffed, elegantly striding closer like a cat. "Then you should at least be wearing your suit."
I'd love to put on the suit and beat you up, but Jarvis needs time to prep another one. Until then, I'll have to stall.
Stark pretended to pay Loki no mind as he walked to his liquor cabinet. Outwardly relaxed but inwardly tense, he picked up a bottle and said, "Yeah, but the suit's useless. And you're holding that shiny staff—care for a drink?"
Loki seemed to see through Stark's plan. Glancing at his staff, he remarked, "Stalling won't save you."
"No~" Stark poured himself a drink, his tone dripping with disdain. "It's a threat."
"A threat?" Loki turned and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, sneering. "My forces are about to arrive. You're all doomed. What could you possibly threaten me with?"
"The Avengers," Stark replied, his mind racing on how to buy more time. He raised an eyebrow. "That's what we call ourselves. A team—the Earth's mightiest heroes."
"Ah yes, I've met them. A group that doesn't know the meaning of teamwork," Loki laughed.
Stark discreetly slipped on the suit's locator bracelet and said, "True, it took us a while to figure out the 'team' part. Want me to introduce you to the members?""Your brother, that handsome young man, a battle-hardened veteran, a powerful mage, a big guy who'll wreck everything when he loses his temper, and elite assassins—and you," Stark pointed at Loki, speaking with grave emphasis, "you, the unlucky one, have managed to piss them all off."
Loki: "This was my plan."
"Terrible plan," Stark said as he activated the tracker and stepped out of the bar cabinet, ready to receive his battle suit. "They'll come for you when they get here."
Loki: "I have an army—"
Before Loki could finish, Stark interrupted, "We have the Hulk. He'll tear your army apart."
Noticing that his battle suit hadn't flown to him despite activating the tracker, Stark nervously added, "Maybe you don't understand the situation. There's no way you'll sit on that throne—no chance of you succeeding. Maybe your army will come, maybe we can't beat them—"
"But we'll come for you," Stark declared firmly. "If Earth falls, we'll make sure you pay."
Clearly, Stark's words about Loki never sitting on the throne had struck a nerve in his prideful heart.
With a displeased glare, Loki stepped up to Stark, lightly tapping his chest with his staff, attempting to control him. "What if your friends turn on each other? They won't have time to bother me."
But the Mind Stone on the staff was now in Li Ming's hands. As Loki tried to cast his spell on Stark, he felt his magic falter—weak and unstable, as if suffering from some spiritual deficiency—and failed to control Stark.
Baffled, Loki tapped Stark's chest with the staff once more.
Meanwhile, Stark was nearly crying inside.
When Loki first tried to control him, he felt the talisman he'd bought at a high price from Li Ming shatter in his pocket. He knew then that the talisman had fulfilled its purpose, protecting him once.
But he only had two talismans in his pocket. If Loki tried to control him a third time, he'd be done for.
Fortunately, Loki lost patience after two attempts and, grabbing Stark by the throat, threw him out the window.