"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." Fury scowled at Loki.

It's like a colony of ants, they each do their own thing, and it keeps their world running... Nico bit his lip, knowing, judging by Fury's wording, Loki had compared the mortals to ants, twisting Nico's words from when he first met Loki.

"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." Loki smirked.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury said calmly.

"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?" That evil look on Loki made Nico and Thor cringe slightly as they watched the video.

"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." Fury threatened, and Nico tried to focus on him.

"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." And yet Loki's expression, the cruel expression that Nico had never seen before on Loki was ripping both Loki's and Nico's souls apart -- and only Loki knew how to fix it. Nico closed his eyes, and steadied his breathing.

"Well, let me know if "real power" wants a magazine or something." Fury stated, and Nico tore his eyes away from the feed. He couldn't look at Loki in his cage anymore. Steve seemed to read his mind as he switched off the video on the phone.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce said dryly.

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, Nico, what's his play?" Steve asked.

"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." Thor stated calmly.

"Not to mention he's got a plan of escape that will cripple us. If I had to guess, it would be to manipulate, and use someone. I don't know who though." Nico brought up, and all eyes were on him.

"How did you know that?" Bruce asked, flabbergasted.

"I watched Loki grow up." Nico shrugged, "I know him, Sif, Thor, and the Warriors Three well."

"That you do, my friend, that you do!" Thor laughed, clapping Nico on the back. Nico, who didn't even stumble, punched the god lightly on the shoulder.

"Army from outer space?" Steve prompted, and we nodded, getting serious.

"So, he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Bruce said suddenly.

"Selvig?" Thor asked.

"He's an astrophysicist." Bruce tried to explain.

"He's a friend." Thor said worriedly.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Natasha filtered out the pain.

"I told him not to." Nico informed Thor, "I was able to get Jane and Darcy to get moved to another facility, but Erik didn't."

"Thank you." Thor smiled at Nico, and they turned back to the conversation.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here, and if what Nico said is true, then we need to be on our toes." Steve got straight to the point

"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." Bruce stated offhandedly, not seeing Nico's hurt and angry expression.

"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother, and Nico's best friend." Luckily Thor cut in.

"He killed 80 people in two days." Natasha monotoned.

"He's..." Thor trailed off at Nico's expression.

"Under an unstoppable influence of the Casket? Being forced to watch every terror he commits? Silently suffering as he watches his world fall apart beyond repair? Unable to control his own mind while his soul is shoved into his subconscious?" Nico hissed, reminding Thor of the fact Loki was hurting and suffering more than they were, "If you were gonna say adopted, don't, because that's forgetting your brother, who is forced into eternal suffering!"

"Wait a minute." Tony asked, being torn away from the conversation he had with Bruce, "I'm getting sick of saying this but, WHAT?"

"What Nico says is correct." Thor sighed sadly, "Loki forgot the consequences, and touched the Casket, a dangerous relic from Jotunheim. The evil in Casket energy controls his mind, and what he does now, and it is irreversible."

"Not irreversible." Nico sighed.

"But..." Thor started, and Nico held up a finger.

"There is a spell, but Loki's the only one that knows it, and well, he's the one under the influence this time." Nico explained. Thor's eyes saddened, and Nico continued, "He probably did remember the effects, but, since he found out he was a frost giant, he touched it thinking it wouldn't affect him." Nico took a deep breath, "But, what I think the real case is, the Jotuns all have touched the casket so they all are under the influence as well." Thor's eyes widened, and he nodded.

Already bored, Stark turned back to the previous conversation, "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 referred to the many monitors on the screen as he snuck a bug onto them (but only Nico noticed).

"He turns." Agent Hill replied.

"Sounds exhausting." Tony sighed before continuing, "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?" Hill asked, impressed.

"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?" Tony showed his inner genius.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve sighed.

"He would have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Bruce answered.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilise the quantum tunnelling effect." Tony was testing Bruce's intelligence.

"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet." Bruce didn't notice Tony testing him.

"Finally, someone who speaks English." Tony smiled.

"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked.

"It's good to meet you, Dr Banner. Your work on anti electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster." Tony smiled.

"Thanks." Bruce smiled unsurely.

"Dr Banner is only here to track the Cube. I was hoping you might join him." Fury came in.

"I would start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon." Steve suggested.

"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." Fury agreed.

"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor sounded surprised.

"I do. I understood that reference." Steve raised his hand eagerly, before awkwardly putting it down.

"Shall we play, Doctor?" Stark held out his arm.

"Right this way, sir." Bruce smiled, and lead Stark to the labs.