[Natasha was piloting the hijacked Chitauri assault craft when she suddenly detected another energy blast streaking past her position, prompting her to check her surroundings.]
["Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" The pursuer was Loki himself, continuously firing energy blasts from his scepter at Natasha's position as he closed the distance.]
[With limited options for evasion, Natasha had no choice but to call for backup: "Hawkeye!"]
[Hawkeye spotted Natasha riding the alien craft and was momentarily confused: "Nat! What are you doing?"]
["Uh... a little help?" Natasha couldn't spare the attention to explain her improvised infiltration plan.]
[Hawkeye had already identified Loki as her pursuer, and thinking of settling both old and new scores with the mind-controlling god, he immediately selected a specialized arrow and began taking aim.]
["I see him!" He fired the arrow with perfect precision, and the projectile flew directly toward Loki at high velocity. Without even turning to look, Loki casually caught the arrow mid-flight.]
[He glanced at the arrow with casual disdain, then looked toward Hawkeye's position with obvious mockery in his expression.]
[But in the next instant, the arrow suddenly detonated with tremendous force. The explosion destroyed Loki's commandeered craft and sent him plummeting back toward Stark Tower, his distinctive horned helmet tumbling away during the fall.]
[Natasha used the explosion's distraction to fly her craft over the building's rooftop and execute a perfect combat roll as she landed on the platform.]
[The moment Loki regained his footing in rage, Hulk appeared from nowhere and tackled him with devastating force.]
[Loki crashed directly into the reinforced wall of Stark Tower. The series of attacks and defeats had pushed his anger to its absolute limit.]
[Hulk pounded the concrete floor and began charging toward the fallen god. Loki rose to his feet and shouted with divine authority: "ENOUGH! You are, all of you, beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by..."]
[Before Loki could complete his proclamation of superiority, Hulk grabbed him by the leg and proceeded to slam him into the floor repeatedly - once, twice, three, four, five times in rapid succession.]
[After the thorough beating, Loki lay completely stunned on the cracked concrete, staring at the ceiling in a daze. Even his eyes seemed clearer, as if the mind control or madness that had been driving him had been literally beaten out of him.]
[Hulk walked away dismissively and delivered his own assessment: "Puny god."]
"That was absolutely satisfying! So incredibly enjoyable!" Tony couldn't help but slam his hand on the table in appreciation.
Although Captain America didn't display Tony's level of enthusiasm, he also smiled approvingly: "Well done, Hulk!"
"Let that arrogant bastard keep trying to invade Earth - he got exactly what he deserved!"
"God? That means nothing when you're facing the Hulk!"
"Yeah! Hahaha! Hulk just gave Loki a direct lesson in the power of 'mere mortals'!"
Rhodes and the others all laughed with genuine satisfaction. No one wanted to see Loki get his comeuppance more than they did.
If Loki hadn't been captured by the Ancient One before he could launch his invasion of Earth in their timeline, this would have been even more satisfying.
It was unfortunate that they were seeing this video too late - Loki had already been taken back to Asgard by Thor. Otherwise, based on what they were witnessing in the sky screen, the Avengers would definitely have given him the beating he deserved.
[Meanwhile, Natasha carefully approached the Tesseract and its energy projection device.]
[Dr. Erik Selvig lay on the ground nearby and called out weakly: "The scepter!"]
[Natasha turned toward him with concern: "Doctor!"]
["Loki's scepter! The energy... the Tesseract can't fight, but you can't protect against yourself!"]
[Natasha moved to his position and knelt down: "This isn't your fault, Doctor. He had you under his control."]
[Selvig was quiet for a moment before continuing: "I know... I built in a safety. The scepter..."]
[Black Widow immediately understood the implication of his earlier words: "Loki's scepter!"]
["It can shut the portal down!" Dr. Selvig turned his head and looked down toward the platform below. "Right there, right there!"]
[Elsewhere in the battle, Thor had commandeered a Chitauri assault craft and eliminated two gunners with precise hammer strikes. Just as he was about to dispatch the pilot as well, a massive Leviathan burst through the building directly ahead of him.]
[The craft exploded immediately upon impact, and Thor was thrown clear without warning, tumbling through the air.]
[Behind the emerging Leviathan, Tony also flew out of the collapsed building structure, quickly gained altitude to match the creature's flight path, and attempted to cut through its armor with sustained laser fire.]
[But JARVIS provided a discouraging assessment: "Sir, we will run out of energy before we penetrate that shell."]
[Hearing this analysis, Tony had no choice but to disengage his laser array to conserve power, instead accelerating to fly around to the creature's front.]
["JARVIS, you ever hear the tale of Jonah?"]
[JARVIS immediately accessed his database for the biblical reference: "I wouldn't consider him a role model."]
[But Tony had already committed to his plan and flew directly toward the Leviathan, aiming straight for its cavernous mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth.]
[Moments later, an internal explosion completely destroyed the massive creature from within, and Tony was ejected by his own missile's blast force, crashing directly through a sidewalk newsstand.]
[He then slammed into a parked taxi and finally came to rest on the pavement. The diagnostic data displayed in his helmet showed that Tony had sustained serious impact trauma.]
[His torso, head, and left arm were all showing red warning indicators on his HUD. He had barely managed to stand when an energy blast struck him.]
[Before he could react, a second energy beam followed. Tony, already unsteady from his injuries, was hit by the laser and sent flying backward into a phone booth behind him.]
[Several Chitauri warriors were advancing slowly toward his position, weapons raised.]
[On another front, Hawkeye eliminated a Chitauri with his final arrow. He reached for his quiver to draw another, only to discover it was completely empty - that had been his last shot.]
[A Chitauri warrior climbing toward his position had already drawn its weapon, forcing Hawkeye to use his compound bow as a melee weapon, striking the alien before kicking it down the stairwell.]
[Just after eliminating that threat, his tactical instincts warned him of incoming danger. He turned to see a large formation of assault craft approaching his position.]
[Without hesitation, he immediately retrieved the arrow he had just fired, placed it back in his quiver, and set it to his last remaining grappling line attachment.]
[Before the enemy formation could launch a massive bombardment on his location, he leaped from the building, spun around mid-fall, and fired the grappling arrow toward the building's wall, successfully swinging to a mid-level floor.]
[After crashing through the window, Hawkeye collapsed to the floor and cried out in pain. The extreme maneuver had clearly pushed his body beyond its limits.]
[Meanwhile, Hulk was grappling with multiple Chitauri warriors, holding one in each massive hand and slamming them into the pavement. He kicked one away, then grabbed another that was attempting to attack from behind, roaring as he hurled it across the street.]
[But Hulk soon found himself under concentrated attack. He looked up to see dozens of Chitauri assault craft surrounding his position in a tactical formation.]
[In the next instant, all the craft opened fire simultaneously, creating a devastating crossfire of energy blasts focused on Hulk's location. Even someone with his incredible durability could only raise his arms to protect his head while being suppressed by such overwhelming firepower.]
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