Fortunately, Captain America was there. With Steve's encouragement and conversation, Tony forced himself to calm down. His brilliant mind raced, and he instantly saw through Loki's choice of a final stage.
"That guy is a complete showman. He needs flowers, he needs an audience, and above all, he needs a towering monument from which to proclaim his rule to the entire world!"
Tony abruptly raised his head, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
"He's set his sights on my Stark Tower! Dr. Selvig needs an enormous supply of clean energy to activate the Tesseract. Loki must be after the Arc Reactor at the top of the tower. He's going to open the portal in the busiest part of New York!"
With that, Tony hesitated no longer. He donned his damaged armor and streaked off toward Manhattan, New York, in a blur of red and gold!
On the open-air platform atop Stark Tower in central Manhattan.
Dr. Selvig, thoroughly brainwashed and controlled by the Mind Stone Scepter, was busy making adjustments to a complex array of equipment.
Within the metal framework at the center of the platform, the deep-blue Tesseract had already begun its initial charging resonance. Violent spatial energy stirred faint arcs of electricity in the air, leaving only the final step before the wormhole opened completely.
Meanwhile, in the top-floor living room below.
Dressed in magnificent green Asgardian battle robes and a golden horned helmet, Loki stood elegantly before the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, holding his faintly glowing scepter. He quietly awaited the arrival of those losers from the Avengers so they could witness the glorious moment of his coronation firsthand.
Yet before the Avengers arrived, the living room received an uninvited guest who was entirely beyond his expectations.
Without any warning, Solomon's figure appeared silently beside the bar's