Back in the hospital where Stark was staying, Natasha received a glare from Nick. Nick crossed his arms and looked at his capable lieutenant, saying, "I know you wanted to defuse the crisis, but Stark was just about to wake up, and you knocked him out again. Now, we'll have to wait until tomorrow morning for the results."
"Then wait until tomorrow morning. At least I've incapacitated the culprit for tonight." Natasha snapped her fingers and said, "I need to go back and rest, I'm afraid I'll have to race him tomorrow morning, see you then."
Nick helplessly watched Natasha's figure disappear, while Natasha drove back to her apartment in S.H.I.E.L.D.
But she had no plans to rest, she had a crucial task to do, which was to return the Stark's out-of-control battle armor from earlier in the day to Stark Group and have it examined by JARVIS.
Not just anyone could hack into Stark's battle armor. Once the method was traced, the scope of suspects would be greatly reduced. JARVIS was confident that he could find useful clues from this already scrapped battle armor.
But this could not be known by too many people. If the military and the Federal Bureau of Investigation knew that someone could control Stark's battle armor, they would surely want to get their hands on this armor and find out how to restrain Iron Man.
The battle armor was currently kept in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s warehouse. Natasha pretended to park her car downstairs of her apartment, then flew to the top of the warehouse with Thor's hammer, planning to enter the warehouse from the rooftop to steal the battle armor out.
But as she flew to the roof, she saw several figures lurking in the bushes on the side of the apartment building.
Natasha squinted for a closer look. Weren't they Thor and the three Asgardians? What were they planning to do outside the apartment door? Surely they weren't planning to outright steal Mjölnir?
Although the hammer originally belonged to them, Natasha still needed this magical hammer to compete against the killer. It seemed that the killer was unable to resist the power of Thunder, making this a vital weapon in her hands.
As for Thor, Natasha knew that even if Thor held the hammer now, it would be of no use. Odin was in a dormant period, there was no war in Asgard, and Thor holding the hammer would only cause destruction everywhere. It would be better for her to use it to save people.
Having thought of this, Natasha ignored the people keeping watch and entered the warehouse with no trouble, lifted the battle armor with the power of Thor's hammer, flew to the labs of Stark Group, and handed the armor over to JARVIS for analysis.
By the time Natasha finished, it was already late at night. She returned to her apartment to find those four unfortunate individuals still squatting outside her door.
Natasha got out of the car, carried the hammer to the back of the bushes, crossed her arms, extended a foot in front of her, and lightly coughed twice.
Thor seemed to be startled and jumped up, then scratched his head awkwardly.
"What are you guys doing here?" Natasha asked, knowing the answer.
"Eh, we came to ask you about this hammer." Thor sidestepped the question, he said, "What I mean is... my point is..."
"You want to say it originally belonged to you, but you can't lift it, and I can, why can't I use it for a while?" Natasha spread her hands and said, "Don't worry, I'll return it to you. But I really need it now. You guys should leave, otherwise, I'll have to call in agents."
The Warriors Three looked at each other, contemplating retreat. They knew this matter wasn't honorable. The Father of All Gods originally said, whoever could lift the Mjölnir would gain his acknowledgement.
Thor himself couldn't lift it, but this human could. They should recognize her status, instead of squatting outside her house like thieves, which went against Asgard's spirit of glory.
"I don't want to steal the hammer, I just want to try... I haven't really held it before, maybe I can lift it?"
Natasha didn't want to argue with Thor anymore. She needed to get some sleep in her apartment before dawn, to muster her strength for tomorrow's battle of wits and courage against the killer.
She completely ignored Thor, and began to walk towards the front door. But just then, a figure blocked her way.
The green cloak shimmered with a cold glow under the moonlight. Loki raised an eyebrow at Natasha and said, "Madam, no offense intended. I believe you should put down the property of Asgard."
Natasha frowned, but the Warriors Three marched forward to Loki, saying: "Loki, you cannot do this. Whoever picks it up will own it, that's a rule set by the Father of All Gods. We must honor glory, not engage in blatant robbery or sneak theft."
Loki snorted coldly, glanced at them, then turned to Natasha, "Mjölnir is the property of the Asgard royal family. Miss, if this matter causes a financial dispute between Earth and Asgard, wouldn't your superior blame it on you?"
"Hey, Loki, stop being so mean, don't give this human girl a hard time!" Volstagg stood up, blocking Loki, "Even if we want to discuss, we should talk to the human leader. You can't just steal the hammer, it tarnishes Asgard's reputation."
Loki was unmoved, he blocked Volstagg with his magic wand. Natasha cautiously stepped back, Mjölnir glittering.
Loki's wand also lit up with magic light. The Warriors Three became a bit anxious. They looked at Thor and said, "Thor, say something. We can't resort to such mean tactics..."
"Perhaps...perhaps Loki has a point," Thor clenched his fists, "Mjölnir is the Father of All God's. We are just retrieving it for safekeeping."
The Warriors Three stared wide-eyed, as if they didn't know Thor. Hogun stepped forward, exclaiming in shock, "Thor, what happened to you? Weren't you the one who sought fairness the most? You can't win just because a human picked up Mjölnir, which you couldn't. That's a disgrace!"
"I... I..." Thor seemed a bit at a loss.
Loki sighed, and looked at Natasha, "Fine, to accommodate these stubborn heads, let's each take a step back. You put the hammer on the ground, let Thor try. If he can't pick it up, it's yours. If he can, you need to give it back to us."
Natasha scanned the Asgardians surrounding her and finally stepped forward to Thor with a deep breath and placed the hammer on the ground.
Thor swallowed, he rubbed his hands, flexing his wrist and tensing his arm muscles, preparing to put in all his strength. He then took a deep breath and grabbed the hammer with both hands.
With a surge of his mighty stature, there was a "thump", Thor sat on the ground, the hammer in his hands.
"I picked it up, Father of All Gods! Father of All Gods! Do you see? I can return to Asgard now!!!"
Just as Thor raised the hammer with joyous shouts, a purple light flashed in his eyes, and a streak of the same light shot from his arm towards Mjölnir.
Suddenly, the hammer began to vibrate violently. Thor gripped the hammer tightly, but Mjölnir slipped from his hand with a "whoosh".
Mjölnir flew into the sky, tracing a beautiful arc, then gently fell into… Loki's hand.
"Caught you!"
Everyone gaped at Loki.
The raven perched behind Loki blinked. Through its pupils, Odin lying in the palace opened his eyes.
The Father of All Gods recalled the day when two Lokis appeared. He saw more abundant and powerful energy in the departing Loki than in his younger son.
In the Star Devouring Engine, Loki, who was confined in an energy prison, shouted, "Let me out! I am a god of Asgard! How dare you treat me like this!!! You damned..."
Loki's next words were swallowed back.
Because standing outside the cage was Thor, but not his foolish brother Thor.