In the living room, the magical illusion left behind was still exchanging idle banter with Tony.
Tony was likewise using the conversation to buy time. Hidden behind the bar, he quietly slipped the newly developed Mark VII tracking bracelets onto both wrists.
Once he was ready, Tony abruptly turned, walked to the wall, raised both hands, and shouted:
"JARVIS, now!"
Boom!
The next second, the Mark VII armor pod, fitted with streamlined thrusters, shot out of a mechanism in the wall, rapidly separating and unfolding in midair.
Accompanied by a spectacular series of mechanical assembly sounds, it instantly fitted itself seamlessly around Tony!
Seeing this from the sofa, Solomon obligingly let out a loud whistle.
"Cool!"
His confidence soaring in his brand-new armor, Tony raised his right hand without another word and fired a high-energy Repulsor blast straight at Loki in the middle of the living room!
Whoosh-pop!
The searing energy beam passed straight through Loki's chest without drawing a drop of blood. The green-robed figure instantly dissolved into a shower of green motes and vanished!
Staring at the empty living room, Tony froze inside his armor, then turned toward Solomon in astonishment.
"An illusion?! When did that guy leave?!"
Holding his wineglass, Solomon answered leisurely:
"He slipped away not long after you came in."
Tony nearly spat blood onto his faceplate and snapped in exasperation:
"Then why didn't you tell me?!"
Solomon spread his hands innocently.
"You were too busy showing off and changing clothes. You didn't ask me."
Tony was left utterly speechless. Knowing this was no time to bicker, he turned, smashed through the window, and flew straight up to the rooftop platform.
Drawing on all the Mark VII's power, he fired both palm Repulsors and his chest-mounted unibeam at the Tesseract simultaneously!
Boom!
Unfortunately, the result