"Let's talk here," Pearl said as she and Maisy exited the elevator. They'd inched into an obvious security camera blind spot, only raising more red flags about the woman who looked just like Maisy's mother.

"What's up?" Maisy asked, casually putting her hands in the back pockets of her jeans… and gripping the handle of the dagger Loki had given her.

"Can I ask you a question, kiddo?"

"Sure."

"Do you think Loki is a bad influence on you?"

"No... why?"

"So, you've just always been a violent person, huh?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Maisy's grip on her dagger tightened and she bent her knees slightly.

"I mean, you stabbed that Asgardian guy, right? I couldn't believe that when I heard it, honey-bunches. I thought your father and I had raised you better than that."

"Well, Mom, seeing as you weren't present for a lot of my upbringing, I'm not sure you are a very good judge of that. Also, how would you have gone about finding out about that Asgardian guy who I stabbed in self defense?"

"There was something about it on the news."

"Oh, I'm sure that the Midgardian news would run a story about a random noble from Asgard who no human has heard of before getting stabbed."

"I have another question for you, sweetums," the mother imposter said, "How do you think it felt?"

"How do I think what felt?"

Maisy was pretty sure she knew where this was going. Maybe she should have just let Loki attack this person while they'd been on the common floor and get it over with.

"Having a knife pierce through his throat," the imposter mused, "And then he had to choke on his own blood the whole night long before he died."

"Must have been terrible," Maisy said, sliding a step back, "Those seem like awfully specific details for a news broadcast."

"It would have been quite painful."

"I can't even imagine," Maisy said, taking another small step.

"Oh, don't worry. You won't have to imagine it!"

The imposter sneered and lunged forward with a knife. Maisy screamed as loud as she could and held up one arm to block and brought the other forward with her own blade, nicking the other woman. The imposters knife sliced through some of the skin on Maisy's defensive arm and she screamed again, dodging the next blow and debating whether or not she should try and throw the dagger or attempt to get close enough to stab.

If she threw it then she would be getting rid of her only weapon, but she really didn't want to get within reach of the imposter's knife again. That was why she preferred fighting with a bow staff. She could keep her enemies away from her while still doing some damage. Besides, blades freaked her out with how they made injuries immediately noticeable. With a staff she could beat people up but she wouldn't see the bruising right away. A blade made some pretty obvious marks.

Speaking of which, her arm was gushing blood onto the floor and starting to distract her as she continued to jump out of the way of the person who was pretending to be her mother. They both had to be careful not to slip in any of the red puddles.

"You are drawing this out longer than you need to, Maisy Sichore," the imposter growled, "Come here and accept your fate."

"I screamed pretty loudly," Maisy panted, "Loki will be here any second and then you're screwed, lady. Or dude. Or whoever you are!"

"Perhaps you are right," the fake mom cocked her head slightly and then held her knife in a throwing position. Maisy's eyes widened and she hastily started to run away, zig zagging down the corridor and hoping she would find assistance soon.

"Come back here, you coward!"

"No thanks!"

The pounding footsteps echoed through the hallways and Maisy wondered if she should keep running or try to duck into one of the doors. She wasn't even sure what was housed on this floor of the building. She thought it would be a residential floor, but there was no living room or kitchen like on any of the other Avengers' floors and there really wasn't much decor beyond the gray walls and ugly patterned carpet. It must have been an empty level that Tony wasn't using.

"Jarvis!"

"I have alerted all appropriate personnel that you are fleeing for your life. Try the door on your left."

Maisy opened the door and ducked inside, slamming the door behind her and screaming again when a knife drove through the wood a few inches away from her. She was half expecting the imposter mother to pry the wood apart and yell "here's Mommy!" like in whatever horror film that was an iconic scene from (Maisy was not a big fan of scary movies).

Looking around her new surroundings, she pushed a modern looking armchair in front of the door and shoved another, identical one next to it. The knife punctured the wood again and then again more quickly. The imposter was poking holes in the door faster than Maisy could find things to build her barricade.

"You'd better stop!" Maisy hollered, "This building is crawling with Avengers and they'll be here any second!"

"But what if they aren't? What if the elevator is broken and the stairs are blocked?" The imposter laughed, "What if I have you all to myself? It's only a matter of time before I get through this door and get you! Might as well give up now and save us both some trouble."

"I'm not an idiot," Maisy huffed as she continued to pile armchairs and lamps in front of the door, "I'm not giving up."

"Neither am I!" The imposter was singing jovially, which made Maisy fear that the Avengers were actually unable to get to her.

"Jarvis, what's the ETA on anyone who can help me?"

"Look out the window."

Maisy turned and saw that Iron Man was floating outside the window and motioning for her to move to the side. She did so quickly and a small blast broke the glass, letting in a chilly breeze.

"Alright, kid," Tony said, moving forward and removing the barricade, "Let me handle this."

Once the barricade was gone, he opened the door right as the imposter jabbed the knife through it again. The blade was stuck and the imposter forgot to let go and so she slammed right into Iron Man's chest.

"Hey, how's it going?" Tony sounded like he was smirking under that mask and his hand shot the imposter with a blast that sent her flying into the opposite wall.

"Man of Iron!" The fake mother groaned.

"That's me," he took a step forward, holding out his open palm as a threat, "I like a good remodel as much as the next person, but was that really necessary to do to the door?"

"Stop protecting her. She is no longer of this planet. She has staked her claim and she will die like an Asgardian."

"You know, I don't care."

Maisy peeked out of the room and when she saw the situation was under control she stepped out into the corridor.

"You okay?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, totally fine. Everything's fine."

"You're bleeding."

"Oh," Maisy looked at her forearm and saw a bloody mess, "Oh my."

"Let's get you upstairs," Iron Man stepped forward and clamped his hand on the imposter and dragged her over to the elevator, "And figure out who the hell this lady is."

"I'm pretty sure I know who sent her."

"Lord Tyr sends his regards!" The imposter laughed.

"That's what I thought," Maisy sighed and got on the elevator with Tony and the crazy woman. They went back to the common floor where Thor was physically restraining Loki in a headlock. When the elevator doors opened Thor released his younger brother and they both rushed over to see what had happened.

"Why was Reindeer Games in a headlock?"

"He heard Maisy's cry for help and swore he'd kill Pearl Franklin. Jarvis suggested that I hold Loki back so he did not interfere with your plan to stop the woman."

"A plan that would have been executed much more quickly and thoroughly if I had been allowed to assist," Loki spat, pulling away from Thor and turning to look at Maisy. He smiled briefly and then he spotted the blood smeared and dripping from her forearm.

"It's not as bad as it looks!" She said quickly.

It didn't matter what she said, he was on her in an instant, pulling her arm away from her torso for him to examine. Maisy rolled her eyes good naturedly until his thumb brushed the cut and then she hissed and pulled her arm back.

"You need to see a physician immediately," Loki said, "I shall hear no protests."

"But-"

"Maisy, I will carry you to the medical level if I have to."

"It's fine for a minute. I want to know who the hell is parading around as my mother."

"That can wait. Physician. Now."

"Chill out, Loki. I'm not going to drop dead from one scratch."

"Yeah, Loki," Stark said pushing the imposter into a chair, "Don't get your royal panties in a bunch."

Maisy knew she shouldn't laugh, but a small snort escaped her. This earned her a glare from Loki and she soon found herself being carried back toward the elevator.

"Hey! Hey, put me down!"

"Not until your wound has been tended to."

"Ugh," Maisy sighed, resigned to her fate, "Who would have thought that the God of Mischief would be such a worrywort?"

Once the doctors on staff had stitched and bandaged the cut on her arm, Maisy and Loki went back upstairs to see who was pretending to be Pearl Franklin. When they got there Maisy couldn't help feeling a little bit like she was part of the Scooby Doo gang about to unmask a villain.

Now that she was no longer in immediate danger from the imposter and her world wasn't being turned upside down by a long lost mother she was actually enjoying herself. Since the threat had been dealt with she wasn't too worried, but she knew she should be concerned that Tyr had sent someone all the way to Midgard - and that Heimdall had allowed it. Still, it was hard to be terrified with Loki at her side and Iron Man and Thor guarding the fake mother.

"Alright, evildoer," Tony said to the imposter when he saw Maisy and Loki re enter the room, "Time to show yourself."

"I don't think you want me to do that."

"It's okay, we won't judge if you're hideous."

"I wouldn't want the little murderess to have a fright when she sees my face," the imposter smiled at Maisy. It was odd to see such a sinister expression on her mother's face.

"I'm not too worried," Maisy said, crossing her arms and sharing an amused look with Loki, "It's not like your face can be any scarier than a lindworm."

"I wouldn't be too sure, love," the imposter's voice changed and Maisy felt a chill run down her spine at the man's voice that now came from what appeared to be her mother's mouth.

"Well, that's creepy," Tony gave the imposter a confused look, "Come on, just show us who you are."

"W-wait," Maisy whispered, but no one heard her.

The imposter glowed orange for a moment and Pearl Franklin was replaced by Egil Belison, grinning like he'd just won the lottery.

Without thinking, Loki pushed Maisy behind him and pulled a dagger from thin air, pointing it at the person in front of him. He knew it wasn't Egil Belison. It couldn't be. That bastard was burnt to a crisp months ago. Whoever this was just meant to unnerve them. They probably didn't even realize that Egil was dead, it wasn't exactly public knowledge.

"Whoa, isn't this Maisy's ex?" Tony asked.

"That's what they'd have you think. It can't be though," Loki snarled, "You will stop with this game immediately and show us your real self."

"How do you know I'm not, Trickster? Surtur said I could have my beloved back and so I've come to take her!"

"Then why'd you try and kill her, hmm?"

"Maisy, my love, come where I can see you!" The imposter cackled, "Come here, dearest!"

"Loki," Maisy gripped his arm, "Loki, you said he was dead. You said you saw the body."

"He is dead. This is an illusion. It has to be."

"Then you can make it go away, right? You can unmagic him?"

Loki tried to do just that, but nothing happened.

"Apparently not."

"It's not actually him. It can't actually be him," Maisy muttered, her grip on Loki's arm growing tighter, "It's not Egil."

"Come here, my sweet, I want to give you a big kiss!" The imposter was laughing like this was the funniest thing in the realms and everyone else in the room kept shooting Loki questioning glances. As if he would have any more explanation for this than anyone else.

"Stop this foolishness," Thor commanded, "We know you are not Egil Belison."

"And how could you possibly know that?"

"Because Egil is dead," Thor stated simply, "Done in by my own brother's hand!"

Loki winced. He'd forgotten that he and Thor had planned the execution of Belison together. His brother had been such a silent cohort until now and Loki hadn't even thought to tell him that he couldn't mention that tiny detail in front of Maisy.

"Oh ho ho!" The imposter laughed and clapped, "That is interesting news! I'm sure Lord Tyr will be interested to hear that. I'll have to relay the message."

Loki didn't dare look at Maisy, but he felt her hand leave his arm and heard her take a step away from him. He'd deal with that in a moment.

"Show yourself."

"Alright, alright, I've had my fun with you," the imposter smirked and shifted into a different male form. This one was green skinned and had many indentations on his chin. His ears were pointed and his eyes glowed yellow. A Skrull. Probably a hired thug with no previous connection to Tyr or Asgard. A runaway from his own species, more than likely.

It was an anticlimactic reveal and Loki found himself wishing the imposter had been someone they knew. Someone shocking that they could have panicked over for a hot minute and kept everyone from focusing on the fact that Thor had just announced that Loki had killed Egil. But it was just a Skrull.

Thor said he'd take the being to Asgard for punishment, but Loki wasn't listening. He slowly turned to face his wife, but found that she was already in the elevator and closing the doors. He swore loudly, earning curious stares from Tony and Thor. Ignoring them, he boarded the other elevator and headed for the lobby of the Tower, already spinning lies and excuses in his head.

A note from the author: Just gonna leave this chapter here. *whistles and briskly walks away, hiding under the bed until next update*

Thanks for reading/following/favoriting! It means a lot to me that you are invested enough in this story to read so much of it!

Special thanks, as always, to my dear reviewers:

Ninja Squirrel: You're too gosh darned smart lol! Yes, it's a Skrull! And I think you're right about Melantha (who actually shows up in a later chapter), she is definitely an honest enemy rather than a fake friend. That doesn't mean she won't back stab when she needs to, but she prefers to let people know that she hates them, it's more polite. ;) I hope your schooling goes well! I totally understand the need to learn something. I took a year off between high school and college and, even though I really needed that year, it was great to get back into learning stuff! Brains are sponges, they gotta have stuff to slurp up lol.

Dragoncat: I too am really interested to see how they'll bring back Mjolnir for Thor 4. I like that Jane is going to take up the hammer, though! I've really enjoyed the few comics I've read of her using Mjolnir, you get to learn so much about the nine realms in them. If you haven't already read any of them, I totally recommend giving them a shot (they do get kind of confusing though, but that might just be because I've read them out of order).

Your encouragement is much appreciated!