A S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft equipped with both helicopter and jet propulsion systems carved a streak of light across the night sky.
Loki, wearing restraint cuffs, sat there calmly, not saying a word.
Colonel Rogers and Tony stood a few steps away, watching over the prisoner.
Aside from Agent Natasha occasionally communicating with headquarters over the radio, the aircraft was filled only with the sounds of operating equipment and engines.
The atmosphere was strange and oppressive.
"Something feels off."
Colonel Rogers, still in his combat suit, said softly near Tony's ear.
Captain America, who had just fought Loki at close range, knew very well how strong this guy was.
And yet he surrendered without warning the moment Tony arrived. There had to be some kind of scheme behind this.
"What? The rock singer surrendered a little too easily?"
Tony was full of confidence in his newly upgraded armor. But smart as he was, he naturally knew that Loki surrendering so easily was definitely not normal.
Still, something this obvious didn't really need to be dragged out and discussed on purpose.
Although Colonel Rogers' words weren't wrong, they still triggered Tony's resistance.
In Tony's eyes, he himself was the embodiment of modern technology and intelligence.
Becoming a superhero, building armor, creating a new element, all of that meant that he, the darling of this era, and this seventy year old antique in front of him were never going to pee in the same pot.
A washed up hero should stay in a museum.
At that moment, faint thunder rumbled from afar.
When Colonel Rogers, out of goodwill, tried to warn Tony, he ran straight into a soft nail.
"For someone your age, your observation skills aren't bad. Though the way you fought just now looked like you were doing aerobics."
Captain America was a little annoyed. Of course he wasn't going to let Tony keep teasing him.
"Director Fury didn't say they invited you too."
And Tony fully leaned into his annoying personality.
"Yes, Fury didn't tell you a lot of things."
Outside the aircraft, the thunder grew louder and louder, as if it were closing in on them.
"Where is all this lightning coming from?", Agent Natasha, piloting the aircraft, was baffled by the sudden change in the weather. Just moments ago, the sky had been completely clear.
Thunder and lightning raged outside. The once calm night sky became unusually noisy, as if foreshadowing something.
At this moment, Loki's face no longer carried the calmness from before. He looked slightly tense as he watched the lightning encircling them outside the window.
"What? Afraid of thunder?", Captain Rogers asked casually.
'This guy who calls himself a god, is he actually afraid of thunder and lightning like a little kid? No way, right?'
After staying silent the entire way, Loki finally spoke, his tone unusually sincere.
"I don't like the guy who does the thunder."
Tony and Rogers looked at each other. There were way too many things to complain about in that sentence, so much so that neither of them knew what to say.
Clearly, Tony, who worshipped technology, didn't believe Loki's claim of being from the realm of gods at all. Rogers felt the same.
The scene shifted. A gaze locked onto the aircraft from above, and a massive figure suddenly landed on top of it.
BOOM!
The aircraft shook violently from the impact. Lightning tore across the night sky, illuminating the figure standing atop the plane.
It was Thor, holding the hammer of the God of Thunder.
Heimdall, through the All Seeing Eye, had discovered Loki on Earth and informed Odin.
Upon learning that his troublesome younger brother wasn't dead, Thor couldn't wait to return to Midgard.
But the Bifrost had been destroyed, and Odin had gone to great lengths to send him here.
He was going to take his brother back to Asgard to stand trial.
Tony instantly judged the situation. This was clearly a jailbreak. He put on his helmet and opened the aircraft hatch.
Just as he was about to fly out to engage, he was smacked straight back in by a massive flying hammer.
———
[The Helicarrier]
Corin and Banner were waiting in the command room for Tony and the Captain to escort Loki back.
Banner was still curiously studying the carrier's control systems.
Seeing that Corin looked a bit bored, Agent Coulson suggested taking him to tour the facilities inside the carrier.
Aside from the massive anti gravity engines and stealth coating, Coulson proudly introduced their specially reinforced containment system.
It was a cage shaped like a can.
Made from a special material, containing no metal at all, with crystal like transparency but strength far exceeding crystal.
There was also an emergency ejection system installed on it.
Looking at the transparent can in front of him, Corin instinctively turned his gaze toward Banner not far away.
"Not sure if this new type of cage could withstand the Hulk going on a rampage inside."
At the same time, the image of a cold, stern old man appeared in Corin's mind.
'It seems like Magneto has also been held in this type of containment cell before, though if you wanted to imprison Magneto, you'd need to keep metal even farther away.'
Seeing Corin lost in thought, Coulson smiled and suggested that Corin step into the spherical cage and experience it himself.
Officially, it was to help S.H.I.E.L.D. test the strength of the cage, so they could further improve the design.
Here, Coulson was harboring a bit of selfish intent.
Although he had accepted the ten billion commission involving Corin, he still felt somewhat unhappy about it.
The new cage was so sturdy that it could withstand an explosion equivalent to nearly one hundred thousand tons of TNT.
He thought this might be a chance to see Corin get embarrassed.
Corin instinctively refused Coulson's suggestion.
Although he was curious about just how strong this exquisite cage really was, no matter how pretty it was, it was still a prison.
Why would he, perfectly fine, go stick himself inside a cage.
He didn't believe Coulson's sweet talk for a second. This guy was definitely up to no good.
But Coulson kept insisting, and even alerted Director Nick Fury.
"Oh?", Coulson's suggestion piqued Fury's curiosity.
The R&D team had bragged this containment system up to the skies in front of him. Now he also wanted Corin to help verify the cell's sturdiness.
Although their hypothetical target when designing the cell was something like the Hulk.
You couldn't exactly slap Hulk awake with two big smacks and toss him inside.
Dr. Banner would be heartbroken.
And Corin's abilities happened to be very suitable for this job.
"Mr. Destiny, since you're free anyway, help us out?"
Seeing both of them looking at him expectantly, the trace of schadenfreude in Coulson's eyes wasn't even well hidden.
Corin changed his mind. He decided to teach them a lesson.
"Let's be clear first. If this transparent can gets wrecked."
"It's not on you, it's not on you… if it breaks, that just means the product quality isn't good enough…"
"Hiss!"
With Director Fury's assurance, Corin stepped into the containment cell.
The entrance closed in response. Surprisingly, Corin didn't feel any suffocation inside.
'Not bad.'
'This thing clearly looks like a sealed structure.'
It was just that there was nothing inside this transparent can. If he wanted to rest for a bit, he'd have to sit directly on the floor.
Didn't matter. He wasn't really a prisoner.
He walked up to the transparent wall and raised his hand to knock on it.
Thump! Thump!
A solid, textured sound reached his ears.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Agent Coulson's smug expression, no longer bothering to hide it.
Corin sneered inwardly.
'So, you want to see me make a fool of myself?'
Corin rolled his shoulders and threw a punch.
Voom!
Thirty percent strength.
His fist struck the transparent wall, causing the entire containment cell to vibrate violently.
The amplitude of the vibration was so large it was visible to the naked eye.
Seeing Corin's seemingly casual punch cause such a massive reaction, Nick Fury's expression stiffened as he subconsciously looked at Coulson.
'This damn idea was yours, huh?'
Agent Coulson could only stare blankly at Corin.
After the vibration subsided, the containment cell returned to calm. There wasn't a single mark on the transparent wall.
Seeing this, Nick Fury felt slightly relieved, his confidence returning.
After all, a lot of money had gone into developing this cell. From the looks of it, not bad.
'Oh?'
'Nothing happened?'
Corin looked at the cell in surprise.
He knew very well how absurd his current strength was. Combined with the toughness of his steel like body, the fact that the cage didn't shatter from a single punch meant this thing really was high quality.
Realizing the nature of that special vibration, Corin fell into thought.
'It seems to be using vibration to disperse force.'
'If that is the case, what if I use a bit more strength?'
Corin threw another punch. Fifty percent strength.
KABOOM! Voom!
Crack!
Under Fury's severe gaze, Agent Coulson's smile looked worse than crying.
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