Rise of the Hero

4: 07

"I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?" Bruce wondered.

"It's a stabilizing agent," Tony answered, walking in with Coulson and said to him, "I'll fly you there. Keep the love alive. Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." He said to Thor, "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." He then referred to the Iridium. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants." He said to the group, "Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails. That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did." Steve and Elisabeth looked around as Tony covered his eye, and looked around. "How does Fury do this?"

"He turns," Hill answered.

Tony looked around the monitors and placed a button size hacking implant under Fury's desk, without anyone noticing before saying, "Well, that sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component they still need is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube."

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve questioned.

"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Bruce replied.

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Tony said.

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks English."

"Is that what just happened?" Steve and Thomas muttered.

Tony and Bruce shook hands. A glimmer in their eyes shined as the mutual respect for each other showed.

Maritza chuckled softly, seeing their expressions.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner," Tony said. "Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Bruce looked down and replied, "Thanks."

Fury walked in and said, "Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him."

"Let's start with that stick of his," Steve suggested. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor repeated. "I do not understand."

"I do!" Steve and Thomas exclaimed, sharing an excited grin. "I understood that reference."

Tony rolled his eyes while Steve and Thomas looked proud of themselves.

Maritza smiled. "It is a good movie."

"Shall we play, doctor?" Tony asked.

"Let's play some," Bruce replied.

As Bruce and Tony walked out, followed by Maritza, the Galaga player turned ever so discreetly, watched as everyone else dispersed and went back to playing.

INT. BRUCE'S LAB - NIGHT - LATER

Bruce continuously scanned with a gamma ray detection scanner on the scepter for radiation. Tony and Maritza looked at the monitors, shifting and solving as many algorithms and equations.