"So let me get this straight. You ran off for 4 weeks and ended up getting even more power than you already have to defeat and organization that's probably less powerful than we think? Just saying, I think you overdid it, Antlers."

Loki gave Stark a dirty look.

"I don't know why I have these powers. The sorceress....She said that I would undergo a series of trials...."

Thor raised an eyebrow and leaned forward on the couch.

"Trials?" He asked.

"Yes! Trials!" Loki exclaimed, glad to have someone's attention.

"She said that I would need these powers to beat the trials and defeat H.O.P.E., but refused to elaborate."

Natasha set the gun that she had been polishing down on the coffee table.

"This doesn't make any sense. What makes you so special that you get all of these abilities to beat trials?"

Loki shrugged, but as he did, his eyes widened and he looked nauseous.

"Brother, are you alrigh-"

He didn't get to finish, because Loki let out a blast of magic from his hands that completely obliterated the living room. The Avengers and Brunnhilde were thrown backward, leaving Loki to stand in the center of the rubble in shock.

"What the hell was that?!" Clint shouted, slowly getting to his feet from the other side of the demolished room.

Tony and Bruce shared a knowing look as they helped each other to their feet.

"You. Me. Banner. R&D lab. Now. We'll deal with the hole in the base later. Let's go." The billionaire said, his comment directed at the horrified asgardian.

Loki, not knowing what else to do, followed after the two scientists.

They made him sit on a metal table while poking and prodding at him with scientific looking devices.

"I don't see how this is going to help the fact that I literally just became a living grenade."

Stark pulled back the leather covering his arm and jabbed a needle into his skin for a blood test, causing Loki to jerk slightly, making the needle rip through his skin. The trickster grimaced.

"You obviously don't have full control over your new abilities yet, which explains the explosion. If we can find a way to stabilize your powers, we can teach you to control them."

Loki stopped suddenly, every muscle in his body going taunt.

"Run." He gritted out through clenched teeth.

Not a moment later, he exploded again, green blasts firing everywhere and knocking the scientists back. Equipment was destroyed, mangled, and disintegrated as it was met with the full force of the trickster's power. When it was over, Loki was out of breath.

"I think we need to try I different strategy." Remarked Bruce as he mourned his iPad, which had split in half.

"What we need is a place where we can work on this problem safely without anything getting destroyed. Somewhere strong enough to hold even the biggest beasts...." Tony said, an idea forming in his mind.

Loki's eyes widened as he caught on.

"Are you suggesting that we....." He trailed off as he saw the look on the billionaire's face.

There was no stopping Tony now.

Bruce, Loki, and Tony darted off for the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, Loki staying off to the side of the road and avoiding pedestrians in case he blew up again.

They managed to successfully make it to the base and were met with an annoyed Fury.

"What do you want from me, Stark? Because every time you come here willingly, it's usually because you want something."

Stark briefly glanced up at Nick, but quickly returned his gaze to the last iPad that hadn't been destroyed.

"We need to borrow the detention block."

Fury raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

Stark finally looked up.

"I mean we need to borrow the entire detention block. You might want to move your agents at least 50 feet away from it on all sides. If Reindeer Games goes kaboom again, we don't want to end up with casualties."

Loki glanced at Bruce warily, who looked equally worried.

"Kaboom?" Fury questioned.

"Loki was hit with a large surge of power a few days ago, and the side effects have included spontaneous combustion without harm to the host of the magic. We need to run a few tests on him so that we can figure out how to help him control his power, but it's not safe to do that back at our facility."

The scientist adjusted his glasses sheepishly, hoping that he hadn't spoken out of turn.

The Director let out an audible sigh.

"You want me to give you an entire wing of my facility so that you can make a crazy god become even more powerful?"

Loki ran a hand through his hair while trying to look as small as possible.

"Essentially, yes." He muttered, hoping that Fury barely heard him.

Surprisingly, Nick gave them what they wanted, and soon they found themselves in the detention block.

"Feeling okay?" Tony asked as they strode through the hall.

The god of mischief shrugged.

"It feels like my senses have been heightened, but for some reason my ears are ringing and I feel a bit nauseous. I'm not exactly shaking, but I don't feel physically stable either."

Bruce grabbed his partner's iPad and began hurriedly recording the information.

Loki entered the circular reinforced glass cell similar to the one where he'd been held what felt like centuries ago.

"I really don't think it's safe for you two to be in here when we run the risk of a third explosion."

They nodded and exited the cell. Tony peered curiously at the monitor on the side of the room.

"Didn't you say that you were a frost giant?"

Loki nodded.

"Yes, why?"

Bruce followed Tony's gaze to the monitor, which showed a strange depiction of the asgardian's heat signature.

"Turn blue." Banner said slowly.

"Why?"

"Just...turn blue." He repeated.

Loki complied and allowed his jotun form to take over. He looked down at his hands in surprise after expecting to see a shade of blue covering them.

His skin hadn't changed color.

"What's happened to me?" He whispered, staring at his hand in shock.

"Try again." Tony told him, a worry line forming along his creased brow.

So Loki tried again.

And again.

And again.

Each time with no different result than the first time.

When he felt like he could put forth no more effort, a familiar feeling swept through him.

"Lovely." He said, before exploding again.

The reinforced glass designed to hold the Hulk shattered around him, and a wave of magic reverberated through the room, almost extending out of the detention block.

"How is this possible?"

Stark was staring at the mess in shock.

"You just broke...." He couldn't finish the thought.

"Does anyone have a plan B?" Bruce asked.

Loki stopped out of the shattered cell and attempted to stop his hands from shaking.

"I think we need to go off-World."