At Loki's command, Hawkeye destroyed two of the Helicarrier's turbines in one swift move. Loki was certain that Clark wouldn't just stand by and let the entire crew crash to their deaths. So the moment the order came down, the brainwashed Hawkeye and his team acted without hesitation—even though doing so might cost them their own lives.
But the turbines were only damaged, not destroyed. After all, they still needed a flying Iron Man. If the turbines were beyond repair, Tony might be freed up to deal with them—and Loki didn't want that.
Having fought Tony before, Loki knew that aside from him, none of his agents—no matter how many—could handle Iron Man alone.
Disabling two turbines would be enough to tie him down.
As for Thor, Loki had a separate plan to trap him—using the very same cage S.H.I.E.L.D. had designed for Banner.
So despite having opportunities to escape, Loki chose to stay, waiting for the perfect moment. He knew his "dear brother" would eventually come looking for him—and when Thor finally arrived, Loki was ready.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Loki smiled as the supposedly "secure" door to the cage opened on its own.
"No!"
Thor cried out when he saw Loki stepping out of the cell. He flew toward him—but his charge missed.
Click!
Before Thor could recover, Loki shut the door behind him, trapping Thor inside the very same cage meant to contain the Hulk.
"Goodbye, brother," Loki said, wasting no time. He activated the drop mechanism and launched the cage downward.
Having locked Thor away, Loki gathered his controlled agents and escaped aboard a stolen Quinjet.
"Finally gone…" Clark muttered as he watched Loki leave, secretly relieved. If Loki hadn't left in time, Clark wouldn't have been able to pursue him—he was still lowering the massive Helicarrier and couldn't afford to break away.
With the ship now under 3,000 meters from the ground, any delay on Loki's part might've resulted in Clark chasing him down.
Yes—Clark was worried for Loki, in a sense. If Loki didn't escape, the entire plot of Avengers 1 might never unfold.
Though Clark deliberately allowed Loki to escape, Loki himself had no idea. Once in the Quinjet, he activated its stealth mode, then used his magic to completely erase its presence from any sensors.
With Loki's departure, the chaos aboard the Helicarrier began to settle. Deprived of their commander, the remaining mind-controlled agents were quickly overwhelmed. Some died, others were captured—but none escaped.
Clark returned to the Helicarrier, only to find that the only fight still going was between Diana and the Hulk.
One had unbreakable defenses, the other had limitless health.
Diana wouldn't let Hulk destroy the ship, and Hulk couldn't calm his rage. Their battle was an endless cycle.
But something unexpected happened.
The moment Hulk saw Clark, he suddenly turned and ran.
Everyone watching—including the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents monitoring from the control room—was dumbfounded.
According to every report they had, the Hulk was a raging beast who attacked anything and everything. In their minds, he only had one setting: Smash. Always smash.
"Hulk, where do you think you're going?" Clark called out, casually flying in front of him.
Hulk froze mid-sprint.
Seeing Clark appear before him, Hulk abruptly squatted down, covered his head with both hands, and began trembling like a child waiting for punishment.
Agents watching the feed were stunned. One even muttered, "Where's all that rage now?"
Clark blinked, equally confused.
Clearly, Hulk was still too undeveloped—possibly due to Banner suppressing him for too long—leaving him with no coherent personality yet.
But Clark didn't care.
So he threw a light punch at the crouching Hulk.
Boom!
Even though Clark didn't use full strength, Hulk was blasted backward, skidding across the deck.
"Ahhh!"
Hulk groaned, then let out another angry roar—only to receive another beating.
"Ahh—it hurts!"
The massive brute whimpered like a child, unable to withstand Clark's fists.
Clark leaned in. "Next time you show up, no smashing stuff. Or I'll smash you."
Apparently, that was enough.
Hulk, trembling, reverted back into Bruce Banner.
"Clark? What happened?! And uh… Diana—can you turn around for a sec?" Banner said awkwardly, having just realized that he was almost completely naked, wearing nothing but a torn pair of shorts.
He glanced down and quickly tried to cover himself.
"Looks like I need to find you some pants," Clark said with a grin.
"Don't laugh… What's the situation?" Banner asked. He remembered the explosion before transforming, and it wasn't hard to guess what had happened.
"Loki escaped," Clark said, cutting to the chase. "His plan all along was to target you—he knew the explosion would trigger your transformation. While we were all dealing with the chaos, his agents tried to break him out."
Banner's face sank. He didn't need Clark to say it—he already knew that his other half had probably made things worse.
"Banner, I think you'll need this," Natasha's voice interrupted. She tossed him a loose pair of pants, saving him from further embarrassment.
Then, turning away, she added, "By the way, Director Fury's calling a meeting. He wants you both there."
She left quickly, not even waiting for a response. The lab had been wrecked by Hawkeye's sabotage—and there was still much work to be done.
Like dealing with Clint Barton, who was now captured and under S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.
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