"The doctor took a serious blow to the head. Will he wake up like Barton did due to the severe brain trauma breaking Loki's control?"
Tony narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. After returning to Stark Tower, he could use JARVIS to replay and analyze the sky screen footage in greater detail.
"It's definitely a possibility we can't rule out! But I'm more interested in that energy barrier! It's composed of pure energy, so conventional repulsors obviously won't work against it. How do we penetrate something like that? What if we encounter similar technology again? We need countermeasures!"
Banner spread his hands and looked around at everyone with concern.
"Absolutely! Our research on the scepter has never stopped. Although the Tesseract was taken away and hidden by Thor, the scepter operates on similar principles. The core structure of both artifacts isn't fundamentally different!"
Tony nodded with determination. He would always prefer to prepare for threats in advance rather than scramble for solutions after a crisis had already begun, so his research never paused for a moment.
"We still need more advanced weapons technology. The Dark Elf attacks caused panic in governments worldwide! Every nation is now engaged in a new arms race!"
Captain America also frowned with concern. Everyone present was worried about alien threats. After all, just a few dozen Dark Elves had caused them to run around frantically trying to contain the damage.
Tony gestured toward his AI system: "JARVIS, please contact Prince T'Challa for me. I want to know when the next shipment of vibranium will arrive! And I'd like to invite Princess Shuri to visit New York - we could use her expertise!"
[JARVIS immediately understood Tony's intentions and responded with concern: "Sir, the Mark VII is not ready for actual combat deployment!"]
["Then we'll have to make do! We're running out of time!" Tony landed on the automated armor removal platform and began disassembling the damaged Mark VI.]
[Seeing this vulnerable moment, Loki also moved inside the penthouse and regarded Tony with obvious amusement.]
[Tony probably understood what Loki was planning, but he had no choice in the matter. The Mark VI was no longer functional, so he had to take this calculated risk.]
[After entering the main living area, Loki immediately began his psychological assault: "Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity."]
[Tony paced casually with his hands clasped behind his back: "Uh... actually, I'm planning to threaten you."]
[Loki laughed with genuine disdain: "You should have left your armor on for that."]
["Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage, and you've got the glow stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"]
[Loki glanced at the Mind Scepter in his hand and smiled coldly: "Stalling me won't change anything."]
[Tony moved toward his well-stocked bar and replied conversationally: "No, no, no. Threatening. No drink? You sure? I'm having one."]
[Tony's casual attitude clearly infuriated Loki. He walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows and gazed out over most of Manhattan: "The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"]
[Tony opened a bottle of high-end whiskey and said with studied calm: "The Avengers. That's what we call ourselves. We're sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type thing."]
["Yes, I've met them," Loki replied with narrowed eyes and a cruel smile.]
[Tony didn't seem bothered by this response: "Yeah, it took us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here:"]
["Your brother, the demigod, a super soldier, a living legend who actually lives up to the legend," Tony said while Loki turned his head away in obvious irritation, and Tony secretly attached the infrared targeting beacon from the bar to his wrist.]
["A man with breathtaking anger management issues, a couple of master assassins..."]
[Tony pointed directly at Loki: "And you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."]
[Loki paced back and forth in front of him and laughed with dark satisfaction: "That was the plan."]
["Not a great plan," Tony said as he walked away from the bar with his drink.]
["When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."]
[Loki looked at Tony with cold calculation: "I have an army."]
[Tony was not intimidated: "We have a Hulk."]
["I thought the beast had wandered off."]
["You're missing the point. There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top."]
["Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it."]
[After delivering this promise, he took a deliberate sip of his whiskey and walked directly toward his opponent.]
["How will your friends have time for me when they're so busy fighting you?"]
[Tony's expression shifted slightly as Loki raised the Mind Scepter and pressed it against his chest, but instead of the expected energy transfer, there was only a metallic "clink."]
[Loki was momentarily stunned and, with obvious disbelief, tried touching the Arc Reactor on Tony's chest again with the scepter's tip, but achieved the same ineffective result.]
["This usually works..."]
["Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon. One out of five..."]
[Looking at Tony's continued sarcasm, Loki suddenly grabbed him by the throat and hurled him across the room.]
[Tony realized the immediate danger and began urgently calling his AI: "JARVIS! Anytime now!"]
[As soon as he managed to get back on his feet, Loki grabbed him by the jaw with brutal force.]
["You will all kneel before me!"]
["Deploy! Deploy!"]
[Just as the Mark VII storage bay began opening, Tony was thrown bodily through the floor-to-ceiling window by Loki, shattering the reinforced glass and beginning a deadly plummet toward the street far below.]
[JARVIS immediately accelerated the Mark VII's emergency deployment sequence. The armor burst through the partially opened bay door and knocked Loki backward with its thruster wash.]
[Tony spread himself into a stable falling position as the Mark VII flew out and began tracking the infrared beacon on his wrist.]
[With a series of electronic beeps, the Mark VII successfully located Tony and began the automated assembly process around his falling form.]
[Tony watched the ground and crowds growing closer with mounting anxiety. Fortunately, the Mark VII completed its attachment sequence just moments before impact with the street.]
[He immediately engaged his palm repulsors at full power, arrested his downward momentum, and immediately pivoted to fly back up toward Stark Tower.]
["Right. Army," he said grimly as he rocketed back toward the confrontation.]
[Just as Loki was about to raise the scepter to attack the returning Iron Man, Tony fired both repulsors and knocked him sprawling across the penthouse floor. The Mind Scepter clattered away from Loki's grasp.]
"Loki never could have imagined that the center of Tony's chest wasn't flesh and blood, but the Arc Reactor! Hahaha!" Natasha couldn't help but laugh at the irony.
"Thank God he didn't know about that, otherwise Tony would have been mind-controlled too! That would have created an even bigger disaster!" Banner was genuinely relieved that things hadn't developed in the worst possible direction.
Captain America nodded in agreement: "Absolutely! Barton being compromised already caused enormous problems. If Tony had been controlled, the situation would have been completely unmanageable!"
"I have to say, Stark almost fell to his death there! He was incredibly lucky!"
After hearing Scott's observation, Tony had to admit that he had indeed been fortunate - he had come within seconds of becoming street pizza.