"Whatever do you mean, Loki?" Thor asked.
"You can't fool me, you Skrull!" hissed Loki.
The other Avengers watched the brothers, in shock.
"No one but Thor has the strength to wield Mjolnir," he announced as he threw the hammer at Thor's chest.
"Is that so?" In an instant, Thor, along with Mjolnir, transformed into Skrulls.
"They can take on a weapon's appearance, too?" Hawkeye grabbed his bow from off the bar stand and shook it around.
"How did you get in here?" Steve demanded. He grabbed his shield that had been strapped to his back and held it out before him in defense.
"More importantly, where is Thor?" growled Loki.
One of the Skrulls decided to speak up. "It would seem your security needs to be checked."
"Bruce, give Fury a ring!" ordered Steve.
"How many more of you are in here?" wondered Tony.
Before the Skrulls could answer any more questions, Loki ran off. The thought of Natasha seized control of his thoughts. Knowing she was defenseless and unaware of what was happening worried him. Although he still worried on his Brother's behalf, she meant so much more to him. He made his way up to her floor and burst through the doors to her bedroom. "Natasha," he breathed. There was no sign of her in the bed.
"All your running had me worried for a second," she announced as she appeared from her bathroom. She was already back in costume. In her hand, she had her gun held out and ready to shoot.
"We're under attack!" he warned her.
"Just got word from Fury," she replied.
"Does he know where Thor is?"
"Fifth level," she began, using her professional tone. "Fury was getting a static reading, so Thor's probably been tied up…"
Loki raised a hand, not wanting her to finish. Deep down, he couldn't help but fear that his Brother had been killed again.
"Let's go get him. The others can handle the Skrull."
"There are two, actually," he informed her as they fled her bedroom. "They can take on the form of inanimate objects. Or so it seems…"
"Oh, wonderful," she sarcastically droned.
His brows knitted together as he continued to keep up with her pace. "I'm sorry? There is nothing 'wonderful' about that at all…"
"Sarcasm," she quickly told him as they reached the elevator doors. She pressed a button, but the lights were out, indicating that it was out of order. "Jarvis really has this place on lockdown," she muttered to herself. They moved towards the staircase and made their way up two flights until they reached the fifth level where Thor resided. Natasha found herself going into stealth mode as she wandered the empty halls with Loki. She tightly grasped her gun and kept her finger on the trigger. "This room." She pointed to a nearby door and went to open it. The door had been locked and before she could kick it down, Loki had magically summoned his scepter and broke the handle.
Loki's scepter pushed against the door. Inside the room, Thor had been chained to a desk. His hands were cuffed at the wrists and he had also been gagged and blindfolded. Quickly, Loki advanced towards his brother and removed the blindfold and gag.
"Loki!" exclaimed Thor.
"The mess you've gotten into! Mighty!" Loki laughed as he knelt down to attempt to loosen the chains with magic.
"Be careful-this is no chain!" Thor warned him.
Natasha grabbed Loki's shoulder to pull him aside. "A Skrull?"
Thor nodded and attempted to help Loki remove the chains, but to no avail. "They had appeared at my window upon my return here," he explained. "In the form of my Father's ravens with a note."
"Deceived again," growled Loki.
"Grab the chain and pull it as far as you can from his body," Natasha ordered Loki.
He grabbed a piece of the chain near Thor's arm and pulled. "Care to tell us the plan?"
"Easy. Just shoot it." A shot rang out as a bullet fired at the chain, followed by a scream. "Don't move!" Natasha warned the Skrull that was lying beside Thor.
It had a hand grasping its side as blood oozed from the wound.
Thor sprang to his feet and grabbed the real Mjolnir.
"These guys are gonna be just as big a pain as the Chitauri, aren't they?" remarked Natasha.
The Skrull began to laugh, despite its pain. "Could the Chitauri do this?" His hand transformed into a hammer similar to Thor's. He stood to his feet and swung his arm towards Natasha and Loki. Both had evaded the attack and they readied their weapons, ready to fight.
Loki shoved his scepter into the green-skinned alien's chest without any mercy. Blood spewed from the wound and the three stepped back. Loki withdrew the bloodied scepter from the creature. "We should see how the others have fared…"
Downstairs, the remaining Avengers had killed off the remaining two Skrulls with ease. Hawkeye had shot arrows at one, while Tony had blasted a hole through one with an iron glove. Steve had his back turned to the creatures, avoiding the blood. Bruce was off in a corner, rubbing his hands together and trying to keep his mind at ease so the other guy wouldn't appear.
"Did you get to see their special trick?" wondered Natasha.
"If by 'trick' you mean transforming hands, then yeah," replied Clint.
"They are far more clever than we had conceived," Loki noted.
Tony kicked at the pile of blood and guts on his carpet. "We're gonna need to amp up security… And get some clean-up. Jarvis?" he called out.