Over the rainbow

The Skrulls did not look happy at their machine activating, and several of them seemed to be arguing. Danvers, hee suit now in tatters and barely hanging in to her, landed next to Natasha.

"What's going on?" Natasha asked.

"They programmed it wrong." Captain Marvel explained, "Instead of opening a portal to where their friends are waiting to come through, they've just made a door to a random corner of space in the middle of nowhere. And it's unstable- I give it about thirty seconds before it collapses in on itself."

"So we should get out of here?"

"I think it's a good idea to be a bit further away when it happens."

"Is the city in danger?"

"The city, no. This building, probably. Come on, I can round up the Skrulls as they flee, then we can find someone from SHIELD to sort out your problem."

In all the excitement, Natasha had almost forgotten she was naked. She turned to follow Captain Marvel, who sped off flying in order to be outside before the Skrulls were. Natasha lost sight of her, but she knew which way she had come in.

She began to walk, but found to her astonishment that she was not moving forwards; her feet slid on the floor, and then she actually began to go backwards.

"Oh, hell!" Natasha exclaimed, glancing over her shoulder at the Skrull device which was brighter, noisier, and above all closer than she remembered. A momenr later and her feet left the floor entirely.

Natasha somersaulted backwards in the air, and suddenly the grey walls and ceiling were gone, replaced by a rainbow of colours swirling around her.

This time took longer than the Zola Tube had, and Natasha felt like she was being pulled in ecery direction at the same time. A wave of dizziness came over her as her body tried and failed to identify up and down.

Then, suddenly, she was wet.

Natasha realised she was in some sort of pool. She pulled herself to the surface, gulping down air. She wiped her hair from her eyes and looked around. Then she rubbed her eyes and looked around again, because she did not believe what she was seeing.

Aliens. Lots of aliens, of all different sizes, shapes and colours, milling around like she had wandered into a crowd scene from Star Wars. Neon signs flashed above doorways, what looked like bars, shops and restaurants. Natasha got to her feet in the water which turned out to be ankle-deep, and tried to take in what she was seeing.

A sharp poke landed in her rear end, causing Natasha to yelp.

"See? These pink squishy bodies, disgusting."

Natasha turned and looked down. It was that annoying raccoon thing she had met in the future.

"Hey! Rude!" Natasha exclaimed.

"Rude?" Rocket replied, "You're the one standing her naked."

Natasha gasped, realising he was right, and she threw her hands over her damp body.

"I am groot?" Rocket's companion was an awesome sight, an eight-foot creature made of wood, with branches for limbs.

"I'm sure she knows where her clothes are." Rocket addressed the tree.

"Actually, I..."

"Maybe she's aiming to join up with the hooker bots." Rocket jerked a thumb towards an establishment where yellow-bodied feminine robots were trying to attract trade.

"I am groot."

"We've got a lift to Sakaar, I don't want to miss the Contest of Champions match." Rocket continued, walking off with his friend.

Natasha stepped out of the pool, hoping to follow the only slightly familiar face, but she had already lost sight of Rocket. The tree creature disappeared into a hangar building.

Natasha looked around helplessly, hands still held firmly to cover her naked body. Aliens walking past glanced at her, those with readable facial expressions looked mocking, or disgusted at her nudity. It was apparent that female standards of beauty were not universal.

She picked a street at random to head down, hoping she might run in to Rocket again, or maybe another human, but the creatures seemed to just get stranger in appearance.

"Oh, beautiful!" a voice came from behind her. Natasha spun, to see a white-haired and oddly-dressed man looking at her in admiration. "A Terran! My dear, you must come with me!"