Loki had been gleefully toying with Tony and the others, never expecting that Steve would actually manage to pinpoint his true location. Caught completely off guard, he was struck head-on by Steve's Swift Wind Pegasus.
Powerful sealing energy surged into Loki's body. Although it didn't have the same special effectiveness it had against the Grongi, it was still extremely unpleasant.
Loki was forced to fully mobilize his divine power to resist the sealing energy. Without divine power to sustain them, the illusions he had cast automatically dissipated.
Although Steve successfully landed the hit on Loki, the overwhelming burden on his senses from the Rising Pegasus Form caused him to immediately to undo the transformation. Cold sweat poured from his forehead, and he was basically no longer capable of continuing the fight.
Seeing Loki revealed in his true form, Tony let out a cold laugh and switched weapon systems, intending to seize the opportunity to beat a man while he was down—venting the frustration of having just been treated like a punching bag by Loki.
A dark glint flashed through Loki's eyes as he thought to himself:
I didn't expect Midgard to have someone this formidable. It seems Barton was right—this so-called Avengers team can't be underestimated. They could interfere with my plans. In that case, I might as well carry out the plan Barton suggested earlier: sow discord within the Avengers, keep them busy fighting each other, and prevent them from getting in my way.
"I surrender," Loki said without hesitation, raising both hands.
Tony froze mid-motion, feeling as if he'd wound up a punch with full force only to hit a pillow—deeply unsatisfying.
"Weren't you pretty arrogant just now? Why surrender so cleanly?" Tony asked, clearly wanting Loki to keep resisting so he could beat him senseless and reclaim his pride.
Loki narrowed his eyes at Tony, seemingly seeing right through his thoughts, and shook his head harmlessly.
"I've basically lost the ability to resist. Naturally, I won't keep fighting."
"Tony, escort Loki back to the Helicarrier. We need to interrogate him and find out his objectives and plans," Nick Fury said, contacting Tony directly in an unmistakably commanding tone.
"Fine," Tony replied, glaring at the fearless Loki as he grabbed the Mind Scepter.
"You'd better behave yourself."
Using the power of the Machine Memory, his armor ejected a device that transformed into handcuffs, locking around Loki's wrists.
Suddenly, lightning flashed across the sky and violent winds howled.
Loki's expression darkened slightly.
"What, are you afraid of lightning?" Tony asked with some surprise.
"I just dislike the person who's about to arrive riding the thunder," Loki replied, shaking his head.
"Loki… so you really are still alive. And you've come to Earth."
A bolt of lightning struck down, and Thor appeared before Loki amid the thunder.
Loki replied irritably,
"Thanks to you, I'm still alive."
Thor's expression was complicated.
"No matter what you intend to do with the Tesseract, it's not too late to stop now. Come back with me and repent before Father."
He reached out and crushed the shackles on Loki's wrists with his bare hand, then grabbed him.
"Hey, hey—he's our prisoner. You can't just take him away," Tony said, raising an eyebrow at Thor's casual behavior.
Thor finally turned to look at Tony, frowning as he spoke firmly.
"Loki is my brother—the second prince of Asgard. He is not your prisoner."
"So it looks like you're on his side," Tony said, raising his hand into an attacking stance.
Thor let out a disdainful chuckle and swung Mjolnir lightly.
"Earthling, I have no wish to harm you. I advise you not to bring trouble upon yourself."
"Who's going to regret it isn't decided yet," Tony shot back.
"Thor really is as arrogantly overbearing as ever—quite irritating," Loki added helpfully, nodding as if in agreement.
"Shut up," Thor and Tony said in unison.
"Thor isn't our enemy. He means no harm to Earth and could be our ally," Nick Fury said urgently as he monitored the situation. Seeing Tony and Thor on the verge of clashing gave him a headache, and he immediately warned Tony.
"Thor, we're not enemies," Kent spoke up at this moment.
"Clark—it's you!" Thor said happily, smiling in greeting.
With Kent and Thor engaging in calm, friendly conversation, the tension eased.
Thor agreed to return to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier together with Steve and the others, escorting Loki back and cooperating in the search for the Tesseract.
......
Loki was imprisoned in the Helicarrier's highest-security detention level. S.H.I.E.L.D. assigned professional agents to interrogate him regarding the Tesseract's whereabouts.
Natasha deliberately displayed weakness to lure Loki into revealing his true intentions. Although she failed to obtain information about the Tesseract, she keenly deduced that Loki was very likely attempting to provoke internal conflict within the Avengers.
She immediately reported this to Nick Fury.
Meanwhile, Tony and Banner—two top-tier scientists—were studying Loki's scepter. When Loki realized that Natasha had seen through his intentions, he directly triggered the spell he had secretly placed on the scepter beforehand.
The Mind Stone flashed with light, and Tony and Banner instantly felt a surge of inexplicable, uncontrollable agitation and rage rising within them.
Although it was merely a simple spell meant to stir emotions, the amplification provided by the Mind Stone made its effects extremely difficult to resist.
Banner, in particular, felt as if a dam had been breached. Unprovoked anger surged like a raging flood, and his rationality was rapidly submerged beneath the overwhelming tide of fury.
"Stark… I might not be able to control myself. You'd better stay away from me," Banner warned as he took out the Rage Memory and immediately transformed.
He tried to use the Memory's power to restrain the surging strength and violent destructive urges born from his escalating anger.
However, even after transforming into a Dopant using the Rage Memory, Banner didn't last long. Or rather, the Rage Memory simply hadn't matured enough to bear such immense power—partly because Banner hadn't used it many times.
In the end, Banner still went berserk, rampaging through the Helicarrier in his Dopant form.
Tony immediately tried to subdue him, but faced with the ever-growing strength of the enraged Dopant, he had no good options.
The interior of the Helicarrier wasn't suitable for using high-destructive weaponry. His close-combat armor was torn apart in just a few exchanges—if not for the abilities granted by the Mechanical Memory, he would have completely lost his fighting capacity. All he could do was engage in evasive hit-and-run combat.
It wasn't until Thor and Steve arrived that the two of them, working together, managed to barely suppress the rampaging Banner for the time being.
At the same time, Hawkeye—following Loki's arrangements—led a team to attack the Helicarrier, directly sabotaging its engines and infiltrating the interior.
Tony then handed Banner off to Thor and Steve and rushed to the damaged engines to carry out emergency repairs—otherwise, the Helicarrier risked crashing.
(End of Chapter)