Chapter Text
Tony was really getting fed up with Asgard being either unwilling or unable to keep Loki contained where he could do no damage. It probably just wasn’t high enough on their priority list, given that Loki’s desire to take over the world was focussed on Earth, rather than threatening Asgard, but Tony knew better than to suggest that to Thor.
This attempt at world domination was centred in outback Australia, with intel from SHIELD suggesting that Loki's plan this time was pulling an Elsa, complete with tower, and creating a knockoff Jotunheim. Why he was doing it in the middle of nowhere was a mystery, but Tony wasn’t going to waste brainpower on Loki’s crazy logic.
There were only four Avengers to take down Loki this time; Black Widow and Hawkeye had been assigned on a SHIELD mission a week ago that they still weren’t back from. Privately, even though it would leave them short handed, Tony was glad Clint wasn't here for this one. The haunted look in his eyes that lingered for days after encountering Loki was concerning to all of the other Avengers.
Of course, the lack of Clint and Nat meant that Captain Tightass would be riding his ass even more than usual today. And now was really not a good time to be thinking about Rogers’ ass, or Rogers riding his. The Glare of Disapproval he’d earn himself for saying the wrong out loud would not be fun, and he would deserve it. For once.
“So, what’s the plan here, oh fearless leader?” Tony asked. He landed the Quinjet a safe distance away from Loki’s ice spire.
Steve didn’t respond to him, instead asking Thor, “how is he doing this, and how do we get him to undo it?”
“Loki likely has obtained a Jotun artifact which he is using to cause this transformation. Out first objective must be to prevent his further use of the object. Once the influence is removed the lands here should return to their natural state after several days, and we should have no more difficulty than usual at apprehending him for return to Asgard.”
“Dr. Banner? I think this might be a Code Green mission.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,’ Bruce replied with a sigh as he stripped out of his shirt and pants, leaving him wearing only the stretchy Hulk-proof shorts Tony had designed for him. He started shivering almost immediately, and Tony made a mental note to work on expanding the range of clothes Bruce had for situations such as this.
Loki noticed them immediately as they exited the quinjet and sent them scattering by using what appeared to be a staff with a jewel on top to send a burst of frozen power their way. It hit the quinjet and Tony really hoped it hadn’t done any serious damage. The last thing they needed was to be stranded out here in the middle of this frozen hellscape.
There were more pressing concerns to worry about at the moment, though, like avoiding the next bursts of power Loki was attempting to hit them with. Iron Man and Thor had both taken to the sky, Hulk had come out to play, which left Cap as the most vulnerable member of the team currently.
Thor was taking the brunt of Loki’s attention by attempting to talk him down and “be reasonable, brother.” They all knew it was a futile effort, but it was keeping Loki distracted enough to hopefully have some chance of taking him down the hard way.
Loki had constructed the tower in such a way as to to provide himself with plenty of cover, making it next to impossible for Tony to get a clear shot at him. And whatever the hell it was made of was far more resistant than normal ice to his repulsors.
Hulk seemed to be trying to bring the spire down from its base, like felling a tall tree, but he seemed to be having about as much success at it as Tony and Thor were with their attempts. From his location in the sky Tony couldn’t see what the Captain was doing, but he doubted he was having any better luck with it.
“Nothing Hulk or I am doing is having any effect here, Cap,” Tony called out after several minutes of ineffective repulsor blasting and smashing. “We need to try something else.”
“What if we get Hulk to climb to the top like King Kong? Once he’s up there he might be able to grab a hold of Loki, and he’s the least likely to be harmed even if Loki manages get a successful hit in.”
Tony took his mind off the fight for a fraction of a second to marvel at Captain America being the one to make a movie reference in the middle of a battle, instead of telling him or Clint off for it. That one moment of inattention was all it took for Loki to get a lucky shot in.
The blast took out his left gauntlet and half the stabilising thrusters on that side of the armour. The sudden loss of balance sent Tony into a tumbling freefall which ended with him crashing into a fortunately located snow bank.
“Iron Man! Report!” Cap demanded.
“Not injured, just grounded. Doubt I’m gonna be much use from here on out.”
Hulk had now reached the top of Loki’s tower, and the ice formations Loki had used to shield himself from Iron Man were no match for Hulk. With a surprising amount of dexterity from such large hands Hulk was able to knock the staff from Loki’s grasp and grab hold of him by the waist. Hulk made his way back down the tower, Loki clutched in his hand like a rag doll.
Hulk all but threw Loki at Thor, and it took no time at all for Thor to have Loki bound by the enchanted manacles he pulled from somewhere under that cape.
“Well, that was easier than I was expecting it to be. How about next time Loki tries this shit we just send Jolly Green in, and the rest of us can stay home where it’s warmer.” Tony suggested.
“HULK COLD,” was Hulk’s only response to that before he took off running in a seemingly random direction. Tony hoped that Hulk knew what he was doing and wouldn’t leave Bruce stranded too far from civilization.
“Guess it’s just the three of us on the flight home.” Tony said.
“Nay, my friends. I must return Loki to Asgard immediately to prevent him from attempting to carry out any more of his schemes. I shall try to impress upon the All-Father the importance of improving the containment of Loki’s prison.”
Thor called out to Heimdall, there was a bright flash of light, and then all that was left was a Bifrost rune on the ground where they had been standing.
“And then there were two. Let’s get out of here, Cap, before you end up taking another 70-year nap.”
Rogers didn’t respond, just lead the way onboard the quinjet. Tony followed a few steps behind, close enough to hear his sudden swearing.
“Language!” Tony couldn’t resist the urge to yank Rogers’ chain, even when it meant something had to have gone seriously wrong to cause him to swear.
If looks could kill, Tony would be a dead man right now, but Rogers just cut straight to the point. “The engines are dead.”
Tony pushed past him to check the instrument readouts for himself, and found nothing but bad news. The torrent of foul language Tony let loose put Rogers’ earlier cursing to shame. “That first shot of Loki’s froze them solid. And there’s nothing I can do about it!”
“I take it the same goes for your armour?”
“Yes. I’ve sent out a distress call to SHIELD, but if this is anything like the last time we faced Loki there’s no guarantee the signal got through. As much as it pains me to say it, until the magic dissipates in it’s own time or Fury sends someone to rescue us, I think we’re stuck here.”