Black Widow and the Marvel Girls (2010 series) #3

As one of her first assignments for SHIELD, Black Widow is assigned to gather intelligence on the superhero Ms. Marvel. Natasha traces her to Ashdod, Israel, where she follows her trail, feeling the uneasy position of being a non-powered agent in a world of superpowered beings. And then there’s a truck bombing and Natasha shields a mother and daughter from the blast. Making sure they are all right, Nat shows her American credentials at the bombsite and is admitted, with the warning that Russians are not usually welcomed at the best of times. Nat moves throughout the rubble and wreckage, tending to the injured and saving lives. In a basement she finds a young woman trapped in a hole. Nat brings her out and the young woman calmly walks away. Nat enters the hole and discovers a secret Nazi room, complete with a portrait of the Red Skull. She returns topside but the woman is long gone. She contacts Nick Fury with news of the Nazi room. Then Ms. Marvel arrives and the soldiers threaten to shoot her; Natasha tells the soldiers that MM is with her. The commander informs her that he is not compelled to recognize either the Russians or Americans. He is searching for a friend who was lost. So the two women heroes search through rubble, rescuing those trapped, an easy mission with MM’s strength….

The next day, in full costume, Black Widow and Ms. Marvel walk along the beach, sharing notes on the terrorists being sought. MM tells Nat she knew Nat was following her; Nat reveals she let herself be seen and shows MM her spy cameras disguised as flying insects. MM wishes to retain her secrets for now but they agree to work together, meeting at the secret room in one hour….

One hour later, Israeli scientists tell the heroines what they know. The woman, Thera, was a sleeper robot, programmed by the Red Skull to activate at some time in the future. But she was a mother robot, programmed to create others. Then Ms. Marvel has a flash of precognition and orders everyone out just as a spider-like robot enters and destroys the place. Natasha reasons such a distinctive robot could not have traveled far and her drones have seen Thena releasing it from a red van. Ms. Marvel lifts Natasha and carries her around the city until they spy the red van. Thera releases more spider-robots and MM and Natasha fight them. From the inventor’s journal they know that stopping Thera will shut down all of the others. But they also know that Thera has a self-destruct mechanism that will destroy half the city with her. MM is ready to sacrifice herself to save the city but Natasha has found a failsafe in the journal, gives the order to Thera and she shuts down, along with all of the robots. So MM asks BW what she wants to know. Natsha responds that all of her questions have bene answered. 1) What powers does Ms. Marvel have? Clearly demonstrated. 2) Whose side is she on? Again clearly demonstrated. 3) Can she be counted on when the chips are down? She was willing to sacrifice her life for strangers so it seems yes. MM asks Nat whether she found the deactivation code in the nick of time or if she was holding onto it, waiting to see what MM would do? Nat declines to answer.