Steve landed only a mont after Luke. He ca down with his shield raised, prepared for a confrontation… and then realized there wasn't one.
Nobody paid attention to him — not the crowd, not the reporters, not even Loki.
He blended right in with the bystanders since Luke had finished everything before he even had ti for action.
Steve looked at Loki hanging upside down, rope glowing faintly, and he couldn't hide the surprise.
"That… is one way to do it," he said quietly. He finally understood what Fury ant when he said Luke gets things done, even if the thods weren't exactly standard.
Up in the Quinjet, Natasha let out a long breath. "Every ti," she muttered. "Every single ti he does sothing like this."
Then—
WHOOSH.
Repulsors roared across the plaza as red-and-gold armor shot downward at full speed. Iron Man landed beside Steve, tal boots thudding against the stone.
The armor straightened, the faceplate slid up, and Tony Stark looked out—
Right at the scene in front of him
Loki hanging upside down like he was being stored for later.
Blue rope wrapped around him like so magical duct tape.
Luke holding the scepter casually, almost like a stick he picked up off the ground.
Dozens of civilians taking pictures like they were watching a street show.
Tony blinked once.
"…Okay. What did I miss?"
He looked around again, just to confirm he hadn't hallucinated sothing on the flight here.
Fury sent Coulson to bring him in because so clown had stolen S.H.I.E.L.D.'s precious glowing cube thing. He suited up expecting a chase or a fight… and instead he was greeted by this.
Everything looked wrapped up already.
"Romanoff, what am I looking at?"
Natasha answered, tone completely dry. "He's one of the helping hands we got for this ss."
Tony's eyes shifted back toward Luke, who lifted the scepter slightly in greeting.
"Hi," Luke said with a relaxed smile.
Tony didn't return the smile.
"JARVIS, I want all the data on him," Tony said.
All ant everything—public, private, buried, or supposedly erased. If Fury actually invited soone, they were either useful or dangerous, and Tony wasn't a fan of blind spots.
JARVIS paused.
Not the usual blink-and-done microsecond pause Tony had designed into him. This one stretched, lingering just long enough for Tony's brow to tighten.
"…JARVIS?" Tony pressed.
"Apologies, sir," the AI replied. "I attempted a full-spectrum search — background, digital footprint, encrypted records. Sothing is blocking ."
Tony blinked slowly. "Blocking you?"
"Yes, sir."
Tony's frown deepened. "Alright, try sothing stronger. Run a deep trace — military-grade, Stark-level clearance."
Another silence. Longer this ti.
"Negative, sir," JARVIS said. "If I push further, they may detect the intrusion and reverse-track the signal. It could compromise the suit."
"…Hold on."
"You're telling there's soone out there who can stonewall you?"
His voice had dropped, quieter, sharper. Even S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't completely keep JARVIS out. Fury's best firewalls slowed him down, sure—but stopped? Never.
JARVIS, perfectly level, answered, "Yes, sir. Whatever firewall or encryption is masking his data is beyond anything I've encountered. It does not resemble human technology."
Tony's eyebrow lifted. "Not human? Like alien?"
"Possibly, sir," JARVIS replied. "Or sothing else entirely."
A beat of silence followed.
Tony stared at Luke again—really stared this ti. The annoyance was gone.
The snark was gone. What remained was pure, unfiltered curiosity—the kind that made him build suits inside caves and create new elents in his basent.
"…Okay," Tony muttered, more to himself than anyone. "That's new."
As for the one responsible for blocking JARVIS — well, that was Red Queen and White Queen.
They had already scanned and mapped every digital system on Earth. Every network. Every database. Every classified file. If it existed on the internet or any connected server, they had it.
And why did they block Jarvis?
Simple.
They were bored.
So, they toyed with Tony's AI just to entertain themselves — two hyperintelligent super-AIs treating one of the most advanced systems on the planet like a puzzle box.
Even Luke didn't know they did it.
If he did, he'd probably just shrug and say sothing like, "Eh, saves the trouble."
Tony glanced at Steve, taking in the blue uniform with a raised eyebrow.
"…So Cap" he said, voice casual but clearly judging, "you're still going with the stars-and-stripes look."
Steve looked down at himself, then back at Tony. "It works."
Tony gave a small shrug. "Sure. Just feels a little… old-school."
Steve didn't rise to the bait — just folded his arms. "So things don't need updating."
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