The Avengers: Featuring Salem Ridge

Germany

"Put it over there," Doctor Selvig instructs two lab technicians carrying boxes of raw material. He spins a screwdriver offhandedly as he turns to Agent Barton.

"Where did you find all these people?" he asks the SHIELD agent.

Barton stood just outside the lab's curtain door, holding a tablet in his hand.

"SHIELD has no shortage of enemies, Doctor," he says without looking up from the screen. He flips it around so Selvig can see what has captured his attention. Barton looks up at him with pale blue eyes, still under the Tesseract's influence.

"This the stuff you need?"

Selvig squinted to look at the screen, which displayed an image of a metallic material labeled "Iridium," alongside a profile of a man called Doctor Heinrich Schaeffer.

"Yeah, iridium," Selvig said as he started fumbling with the screwdriver and a piece of metal in his other hand. "It's found in meteorites, it forms antiprotons," he tells Barton. "It's very hard to get a hold of."

Barton nodded in response, his expression thoughtful. "Especially if SHIELD knows you need it."

Selvig throws up his hands. "Well, I didn't know," he exclaims.

His eyesight is suddenly drawn to movement behind Barton, where Loki emerges from the darkness of the underground lab.

"Hey!" He calls out to the Norse God like a child would to their parents, desperate for their attention.

"The tesseract has shown me so much. It's more than knowledge, it's truth," he says with a smile, eyes burning the same bright blue as Barton's.

Loki smiles as he comes to a stop in front of the two. It was delicious, having two of the most important minds on the planet under his control.

"I know," he says with a slight smirk. He turns his head toward Barton, interested in the once loyal soldier's newfound perspective. "What did it show you, Agent Barton?"

Barton sets down the screen he had been holding and turns to face Loki, his artificial blue eyes flashing. "My next target."

Loki smiles. "Tell me what you need."

Barton walks past Loki to a nearby table covered in weapons. He selects a black case and opens it, reaching for the folded bow stowed inside.

"I need a distraction," he says as he flicks open the bow with a snap. "And an eyeball."

Loki raised his eyebrows, intrigued by Barton's request.

"Specifically the eyeball of one Dr. Hienrich Schaeffer," Barton continued. "He's hosting a gala at his research facility tonight in Germany. They have iridium on site, but it's kept in a biometrically sealed vault. I need you to get me that eyeball, and then I can get you the iridium."

Loki chuckles, a cold and empty sound coming from the god.

"You had me at distraction, Agent Barton," Loki said with a slight bow.

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Loki walked up the grand marble steps to the entrance of the Schaeffer Research Institute, surrounded by other attendees dressed in ball gowns and suits. He himself had even dressed for the occasion, wearing a black suit and coat with a green tie and scarf ordained with Asgardian symbols. His eyes lulled across the scene, unimpressed. Any Asgardian party would easily put this inferior Midgard gala to shame.

A quartet inside played an old midgardian piece which Loki recognized from his former studies of Earth and music. It was lovely, Loki had to admit, for the creation of a mere mortal. It was reminiscent of old times on Earth, when humans were first learning to appreciate the finer things in life such as art and music.