"Relax," Tony said casually. "I guarantee you a comfortable, stress-free work environment. No scares, no pressure."
Then he paused and added, "Besides, we've got Lucas on our side. The Hulk's a little afraid of him, isn't he?"
As he spoke, Stark pulled out a small electric shock device and jabbed Bruce with it.
"Ow—!"
Bruce yelped and stared at Tony in confusion.
"Huh? You didn't transform?" Tony teased.
At that moment, Steve walked in from outside and immediately spoke up when he saw the scene.
"Tony, are you insane?!"
Tony shrugged indifferently.
"Can't you be serious for once?" Steve demanded.
"Oh, you should be saying that to Lucas," Tony shot back without missing a beat. "He's even less serious than I am. I haven't seen him all day—who knows, maybe he's off fooling around with his three girlfriends."
Tony's mouth was as sharp as ever.
"By the way, Captain," he continued, "aren't you curious? Why did Nick Fury suddenly bring us all here? Why didn't he involve us earlier? What exactly is he hiding from us? And what has he been using the Tesseract for? If you think about it, everything started because he opened the portal while experimenting with it. Don't you think he has secrets he doesn't want anyone to know?"
Steve froze for a moment.
"You think Nick Fury is hiding something from us?"
"Hiding a lot," Tony replied flatly. "He's a spy, Captain—and not just any spy, but the head of them all. If he wasn't hiding things, that would be the real surprise. His secrets are like nested rings, one inside another. Isn't that right, Dr. Banner?"
Tony turned to Bruce. He knew Bruce had already noticed something—he just hadn't said it out loud.
Sure enough, Bruce hesitated before speaking.
"Well… I just want to focus on finding the Tesseract and then leave as soon as possible. As for everything else…"
He trailed off.
"Doctor," Steve said, looking straight at him, "you know something, don't you?"
Bruce sighed.
"Alright. When Loki was talking to Nick Fury earlier, he clearly said something that struck a nerve. And if you combine that with yesterday's media reports about Stark Industries—the Arc Reactor is already the most advanced clean energy source in the world."
He paused, then continued, "Logically speaking, Tony is the world's foremost authority on energy systems. So why didn't Fury involve him when researching the Tesseract's energy? No one understands energy acquisition better than Tony does."
Bruce didn't spell it out, but it was more than enough. It gave Steve plenty to think about. Why secretly build a classified research facility instead of working openly with the world's leading energy expert?
"Exactly," Tony said. "In fact, my software uncovered a classified S.H.I.E.L.D. file. I started digging immediately. Want to know what I found?"
He stepped closer and gave Steve a light pat on the shoulder.
"Wait—are you saying you hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s classified files?"
Steve was about to continue, but Tony waved him off.
"I've already got JARVIS and another friend working on it. Soon enough, I'll know exactly what S.H.I.E.L.D. has been hiding."
Tony glanced at a palm-sized tablet. The progress bar was already past two-thirds complete.
"I think I know why Fury didn't want you involved in the research."
"A spy agency afraid of information leaks?" Steve frowned.
"I think Loki is just trying to get us to doubt each other," Steve said firmly. "He wants to sow discord so he can achieve his real objective."
Despite his doubts about Fury, Steve still didn't believe Fury was the kind of man who spoke of justice while acting corruptly behind the scenes. At heart, Steve was a soldier—trained to follow orders, not question them.
"Blind obedience has never been my style," Tony said dismissively. "I'm not some grunt."
"Everyone has their own personality, don't they—playboy?" Steve shot back.
He had never liked Tony's flippant attitude—and Lucas wasn't much better in his eyes. To Steve, those two treated this crisis like a joke.
"Wow," Tony smirked. "Hearing playboy come from you is a first. But really—who's dressed more flamboyantly here?"
He pointed at Steve's outfit.
Ever since boarding the Helicarrier, Steve had been wearing his Captain America uniform—bold red and blue, just as eye-catching as Peter Parker's getup. If Peter looked like a can of soda, Steve looked like a full bottle of cola.
Watching the argument escalate, Bruce finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Steve," he said quietly, "don't tell me you haven't felt it too. Doesn't any of this seem strange to you?"
Steve didn't argue. He had noticed something was off—his sense of duty had simply kept him from voicing it.
"You two keep looking for the Tesseract," he said at last. "I'm heading out."
With that, Steve left the lab. Where he was going was obvious enough.
Outside, he carefully scanned his surroundings. Once he was sure no one was watching, he quickly headed off in another direction.
Back in the lab, Tony and Bruce continued their conversation.
"That guy's a fossil," Tony muttered, leaning on the console. "He never should've been dug out of the ice."
"Maybe Loki was right," Bruce said quietly as he adjusted the readings. "In some ways, Loki really does have the upper hand."
"You mean his so-called alien army?" Tony scoffed. "It's just a military force. How strong could it really be?"
He was full of confidence in his armor—now upgraded with full vibranium plating. Even Mjolnir couldn't break it. And besides, his strongest armor still hadn't appeared yet—the one designed specifically to counter Lucas, forged mostly from Destroyer metal with a touch of vibranium.
"And you could fight alongside us too," Tony added. "Couldn't you?"
Bruce's expression darkened.
"That would be a nightmare. On the battlefield, I wouldn't be able to tell friend from foe."
"I think you can control it," Tony said reassuringly. "That's your talent."
But Bruce shook his head.
"It's not like that, Tony. I can't control the Hulk. Once he comes out, I go to sleep. I can only watch everything happen, with no control over my own body."
His face was filled with frustration. Every memory of the destruction the Hulk caused only deepened his resentment toward that side of himself.
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