two Black Widows and an Amazon princess

The wind was still howling across the rooftop. Natasha and Diana hadn’t let go of each other’s hands yet when a familiar voice cut through the air behind them:

“Wow… are you serious? I went through all that trouble to claw my way into this ripped-up reality, and you’re over here holding hands with a woman in a crown?”

They both turned.

Yelena Belova sat on the edge of the neighboring building, blonde hair cropped short, black leather jacket zipped up. Her legs swung lazily over the side as she pointed at them with one finger. That same mischievous smirk Natasha had known for years was plastered across her face.

Natasha narrowed her eyes.

“Yelena… how the hell are you here?”

Yelena hopped down, landing lightly on the rooftop. She shrugged.

“Your worlds got mixed up, sister. So did I. One of those glowing rifts yanked me straight out of Budapest. Thought I was dying for a second… turns out I just fell into a war between mythology and spies.”

Her gaze slid over to Diana. She studied her for a few seconds, then let out a low whistle.

“And who’s this? Looks like one of those Greek statues they put in museums. Except she’s alive. And really easy on the eyes.”

Diana raised an eyebrow, but the small smile didn’t leave her face.

“Diana of Themyscira. Most people know me as Wonder Woman.”

Yelena grinned and stuck out her hand.

“Yelena Belova. People know me by a few different names… most of which I probably shouldn’t say out loud. They’re not exactly legal.”

She gave Diana’s hand a firm shake, then turned back to Natasha.

“So what’s the deal? You two teamed up already? Or are you still sizing each other up, waiting to see who shoots first?”

Natasha let out the exact sigh she always did whenever Yelena crashed into the middle of a situation.

“The worlds are colliding. Things are crawling out of the rifts. We’re trying to keep at least this piece of reality from completely falling apart.”

Yelena rolled her shoulders and pulled her pistols free. Her eyes lit up.

“Perfect. Then I’m in. Three dangerous women. One with a magic lasso, one with poison and lies, and me… who mostly just knows how to make a mess.”

At that exact moment the sky shuddered again. A wider rift tore open, and more shadows poured through. This time there were more of them — some shaped like Amazon warriors, others twisted versions of the Black Widows from the Red Room… broken, angry hybrids of both worlds.

Yelena stepped up beside Natasha and nudged her with an elbow.

“Like old times? You take left, I take right?”

Natasha’s mouth curved into a small smile.

“Like old times.”

Diana spun her lasso, the golden light cutting through the dark.

“And I’ll take the middle.”

The three women charged forward at the same time.