Earth M-698794 -- Invisible Woman/Black Widow

Earth M-698794

"Rrrghh..."

Natasha struggled against the metal restraints, but her strength had been all but extinguished. She silently cursed under her breath, looking around her surroundings. The last thing she remembered was being swarmed by AIM agents after infiltrating a secret research facility hidden in the Oregon forests, where they had been experimenting with interdimensional travel. Now she found herself strapped to a chair, with what appeared to be a bizarre set of electrodes attached to her body, connected to an apparatus that hummed with electricity. She tried to move, but could barely get her wrists or ankles to even budge.

"Where...where am I...?" She moaned.

The lights suddenly snapped on, revealing a dark metal room. Of course, none of this was new to the Black Widow; she'd endured some of the most rigorous interrogation training imaginable, and over the years, she'd had plenty of opportunity to use that experience. She scanned the room, trying to find anything she might be able to use to escape. All she found was the figure of a man standing in a shadowy corner, holding a clipboard.

"Good morning, Miss Romanoff." He said politely. "It's a shame we had to meet under these circumstances. I know this is going to sound disingenuous given your situation, but I'm actually a big fan."

"Sure," Natasha muttered dryly. "And you are..."

"Dr. Erik Burchill," The man said with a friendly smile. "AIM's top quantum physicist, if I do say so myself."

Natasha chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Don't let MODOK hear you say that... with his ego, he'd probably liquefy your brain on the spot."

Burchill raised an eyebrow at her remark, but just shrugged. "I'm well aware of my superior's self-important tendencies. But I'm not here to talk about him, or myself... what I'd like to know is how you found my little underground lab?"

"Probably the same way she did?" Natasha remarked. She motioned over to another corner of the room, where Susan Storm uncloaked and knocked the scientist senseless with a **** field-powered fist.

The doctor crumpled to the floor and Sue began to undo Natasha's restraints.

"Where did you come from...? Not that I'm complaining," Natasha muttered in surprise as Sue helped her up.

"The Negative Zone," Sue explained, pulling the electrodes off Natasha's head. "I saw a pair of AIM scientists messing with some kind of portal and went to check it out, and next thing I know, here I am."

"Uh-huh. I hope you weren't fighting with Annihilus or anything like that," Natasha mused.

Sue shook her head. "Nothing like that, actually. Just running some tests and conducting some experiments there."

"Well, you couldn't have come at a better time," Natasha said appreciatively, rubbing her wrists. "I could use the backup."

"So where are we, exactly...?" Sue wondered, looking around the dark chamber.

"The Pacific Northwest. SHIELD got tipped off that AIM had built a secret lab here doing extradimensional research," Natasha replied.

Sue shook her head. "That sounds ominous..."

"No kidding," Natasha muttered, "The good news is that before I was caught, I managed to get into their mainframe and upload everything to SHIELD. It'll take a while to analyze, but my job's half done now... all that's left is to blow this place to hell and get out of here."