AN: So, I have exams, and instead of studying I elected to start writing fics from a random prompt generator. This is an AU Marvel-verse fic, based on a prompt where the villains and protagonists switch around. It doesn't have a proper ending because I ran out of steam. This is a one shot which will not be continued.

AVENGERS ATTACK AGAIN! screamed the newspaper headline, in block print.

The shadowy group known only as "the Avengers" have struck again. New York was terrorised yesterday by a series of bank robberies perpetrated by the masked villains. The robbers were eventually…

'Why do you still read that nonsense?'

Loki lowered the newspaper and raised an eyebrow. 'If you cannot understand the importance of knowing what your enemy is doing, I am not going to explain it to you.'

Red Skull drew himself up. 'Listen, you Asgardian oaf, I don't have to take that from -'

The communicator Loki had left on the countertop buzzed and the demigod snatched it up. 'Well?'

'The Avengers are moving again,' Doom's voice echoed through the speaker. 'Coordinates are in your comms. Go.'

'You got this?'

Natasha rolled her eyes and drew her gun, dropping two guards with practised efficiency. 'Of course I have this. Who do you think you are talking to, Clint?'

Clint grinned sharply and nocked an arrow, frying a camera without even looking. 'I'm talking to Naomi Brooks, Junior Clerk. Of course.'

Natasha sighed, adjusting the hang of her wig as she strode around a corner, heels clicking on the marble flooring. 'Next time, I leave you on the roof.'

There was a loud explosion.

'That's Tony,' Natasha said quickly.

'And that's our cue.' Clint hopped up on a handy plant pot and popped a ceiling tile, boosting himself into the crawlspace. 'See you in the archives.'

The courtyard was crowded. Tony surveyed it from a few hundred metres up with satisfaction. Plenty of civilians, plenty of screaming. Perfect distraction.

'I feel like heat-seeking missiles today,' he said aloud. 'What do you think? I feel like maybe people are getting too used to the repulsors.'

'Sir, your ego notwithstanding, repulsors are a more effective weapon here. They will cause far more instant chaos,' Jarvis responded.

A beat later Steve's voice sounded in his ear. 'Stark, just do whatever makes the most noise, mess and casualties. Distraction means distraction, not weapons test.'

'Distraction, weapons testing, what's the difference?' Tony said with a shrug. He glanced down at the courtyard and fired a few blasts. The screams sounded faint from this distance and he grinned. 'Fun and mass casualties either way.' Cutting the power to the flight stabilisers, Iron Man dropped like a stone and landed with a crash in the center of the courtyard, shattering the paving stones. He straightened up, bullets pinging off him, and took out three guards and a tree with a blast of the repulsors. 'Distraction is in progress. That's your cue, Hawkeye.'

'On it,' Hawkeye responded. 'Widow and I are on route to the archives, we should have the Hydra research files in five.'

'Make it three,' Steve cut in. 'We have Avengers coming our way.'

Tony swore. 'Send Thor.'

'His brother's going to get there first,' Steve said grimly. 'Get ready to take him out, Stark.'

'Not a problem,' Tony grinned, blasting the building's frontage with a missile. 'ETA?' There was a swirl of light in front of him and Tony rolled his eyes, jumping back into the air. 'Nevermind. I got him.'

Loki stepped out of the swirl of light with a grim expression and Tony rolled his eyes. 'Loki. Let me guess, we need to think about what we're doing.'

Loki raised an eyebrow and stepped forwards and off the ground, floating to Tony's height. 'You have one chance, Iron Man. If it were my choice, you would not even have that, but our fearless and overly moral leader has decided that scum that you need a warning.'

'Go to hell,' Tony said, and grinned fiercely. He spun, firing repulsors from both hands at Loki, who dodged them easily and shook his head.

'You were warned, Stark,' he said with a grin of his own.

Natasha jogged down the last corridor leading to Hydra's archives, her gun in one hand and her heels in another. She holstered the gun and slipped her feet into her shoes and turned the last corner, immaculate as always.

The last two guards stood in front of the doors. One of them stirred.

'ID, please, ma'am.'

Natasha smiled and held up the ID she had swiped from the desk of the head of Hydra's local research division. The guard glanced at it, then at her, and nodded, placing his hand on the blank wall behind him. The double doors slid open, and Natasha strolled through with a smile.

The doors closed behind her with a hiss, and she drew her gun, walking briskly through the rows of computer terminals .

The evac alarm sounded with a wail. Natasha sighed. 'Tony. What did I say?'

'Slightly busy – ow! – right now, Widow,' Tony snapped back at her through the comm. 'Loki's here and he's being kind of a spoilsport about the whole stealing data and selling it to the highest bidder thing.'

'Fine.' Natasha glanced around coolly and noted the lines of civilians hurrying for the doors. 'I'll deal with this.'

There were only three other people left in the archives now; herself, and two security guards. Natasha shot them without breaking stride and headed for the terminal she wanted, jamming the data drive into it.

'ETA, Widow,' Steve said tersely.

'Two minutes. I'm in, it's just downloading.'

A slight thud sounded from overhead and a ceiling panel vanished. Hawkeye landed on the ground behind her. 'Widow?'

'I'm on it. Going to need an overhead exit.'

'No problem.' Hawkeye glanced at the exit. 'You want those guards?'

Natasha glanced at the security guards from outside, who had clearly come to check on their buddies. 'Nope.'

Hawkeye coolly shot off two arrows, spearing them both between the eyes. 'Done.'

The courtyard was a scene of destruction, littered with rubble and bodies. Hydra agents scurried back and forth, calling for backup.

Red Skull strode out of the wrecked gates, glancing around with disbelief. 'And these guys are meant to be a government agency. Really? All it took was Iron Man?'

'Do not underestimate him,' Doom said cautiously, keeping place at his side. 'He is rarely seen without the rest of his little gang.'

As if on cue, there was a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder. Thor appeared at the other end of the courtyard, hammer swinging.

There was an almighty smash, and Iron Man was flung against the building, sending cracks scurrying through the stone. Loki landed heavily on the flagstones, glaring at his brother.

'I've got Iron Man,' Skull said quickly. 'You take Thor.'

Loki strode forwards, magic gathering around his hands. 'Thor.'

'Loki,' Thor said, malice glittering in his eyes.

'Brother,' Loki said quietly. 'Leave these foolish Midgardians. Come home to Asgard. Father will -'

'You think they would have me back?' Thor snorted in derision. 'You are deluded, little brother.'

Loki's face twisted. 'I am not of your blood, Thor, but I am more your father's son than you are. You have disgraced Asgard -'

With a roar, Thor flew at him, lightning crackling around his hammer.

Tony struggled upright, repulsors sputtering, eyes flicking over the data readouts. 'Jarvis, report.'

'Power at 80%,' Jarvis said coolly. 'I suggest running away, sir.'

'Screw that,' Tony said, confident. 'Redirect power, get me back on my feet, I have a demigod to take down.'

'I believe that his brother has beaten you to it,' Jarvis cut in.

Tony swore, and the repulsors ignited, bearing him aloft. A flicker of movement caught his eye and he spun into a dive, dodging a stream of bullets.

'Steve, I'm taking fire from Skull and Doom. Thor's got Loki for now, but we need an out.'

'Widow, status,' Steve snapped.

'Download complete,' Natasha responded quickly. 'We're on our way out. Iron Man, we need extraction.'

'I'll do my best. Steve, try and talk Thor out of beating his brother into a pulp today.'

'Go ahead, you try that, see how far you get. Hawkeye, you and Widow get to the extraction point and Stark will get you out.'

Natasha boosted herself up into the crawlspace, ignoring Clint's outstretched hand. She followed him through the cramped space, folding herself easily around the pipes and ducts filling the space.

'You OK back there?'

'Clint, if there was a problem, you would know about it,' Natasha said with a roll of her eyes. 'Put that bow away, you're going to take your own eye out.'

'Who's the expert on confined space again?' Clint glance back. 'Your wig is slipping.'

Natasha cursed and ripped the wig off, shoving it into her pocket. Her red hair tumbled down around her face as she swung herself around an air vent. 'How much further?'

Clint tilted his head and appeared to listen to something. 'Nearly there. Let's see…' He stopped and grabbed at a tile. 'This one.'

Natasha drew her gun and waited for him to remove the tile before dropping through, landing effortlessly on the balls of her feet and shooting a very surprised security guard before he could react. 'Clear,' she called.

Clint dropped down behind her and drew an arrow, hurrying up the stairs to the roof.

The roof was mostly intact where they were, and Clint lowered his bow, leaning against an air vent. 'Stark?'

'On my way.' There was a crackle of static and a swearword.

Natasha folded her arms and shook her head, slipping her heels back on and adjusting her tights, which had a slight ladder down one side. 'What?' she said in response to Clint's raised eyebrow. 'These are Louboutins. I took them from a dead fashion editor myself. They have sentimental value.'

'You are utterly terrifying. I just want you to know that. Also, fashion editor? That's a step down for you.'

'I didn't kill her, Clint, what do you think I am? Some kind of petty assassin?'

'No, you're a terrifyingly amoral assassin, obviously. So what happened?'

Natasha paused. 'I don't think you're ready to hear that story.'

'Not ready, yeah right. I've known you for years, woman, you can't possibly be more terrifying than I think you are.' Clint stretched his arms and slung his bow across his back. 'Here's our ride.'

Iron Man swooped towards them, weaving a little erratically and skittering across the roof on landing. Natasha surveyed him critically. 'I see you lost.'

'I'm sorry, who's giving who a ride here?' Tony demanded, straightening up. 'We need to be gone yesterday. Hop on.'

Clint pulled a face as he stepped up to Tony, slinging one arm around his shoulders and balancing on his foot. 'This is demeaning.'

Natasha rolled her eyes and stepped up, balancing perfectly in her Louboutin pumps and looking as demure as if taking the bus. 'It could be worse. He could be carrying you princess style.'

'Don't give him ideas,' Clint groused.

Tony coughed. 'Everyone ready? Hang on.' With that, he launched into the air with a whine of repulsors.

'Well, that went well,' Loki said, breaking the silence. He was nursing an angry looking burn across his forearm, green light gathering around his fingertips as he prodded it. 'Well done, team.'

'Thank you for your positive attitude,' Doom said with a glare. 'If you had not become so focussed upon your family problems we might have saved some of the data.'

'And some lives,' Red Skull said pointedly. 'Many brave Hydra agents died today.'

Loki scowled. 'My brother -'

'Quit trying to defend him, Loki, you know he's not worth it.' Magneto strolled in, pulling off his coat with a wince.

'Ah, the wanderer returns,' Loki said acidly. 'And where were you today? The Avengers attacked a Hydra outpost earlier, in case you missed it.'

'I was dealing with another problem,' Magneto said, holding Loki's gaze. 'Professor X and his rabble made an attempt to destroy a minor government building today.'

'Where?' Doom leant forwards.

'Jailhouse where a mutant man who had killed his partner was being held. They let him out, along with 300 other high-security prisoners.'

'Did you contain it?'

'Barely.'

Loki sighed. 'We will hear about this from Hydra high command, mark my words.'