Chapter 13: The Future Natasha Saw
"I told you all not to move!"
Hearing the researcher's screams, Ronak rushed forward and ripped the power cord right out.
As the power was cut, the creatures from the other dimension—the jellyfish and eels—vanished.
The others let out a sigh of relief and immediately went to check on the researcher who had been attacked.
Only Lynn was a little disappointed.
The progress bar for absorbing death energy had been shooting up. If it had just lasted a little longer, he might have been able to fully activate his [Emissary of Death] identity and get new abilities.
But Lynn had gotten a very clear look at those eels and jellyfish.
They were almost identical to the ones he saw floating around that translucent spirit by the shop.
'Could that spirit be Professor Robertson's soul?'
'But why would it be there?'
After a few seconds, Lynn looked over at the researcher.
"He's not breathing!"
The researcher's screams had stopped, and his pulse and heartbeat were gone.
Steve Rogers sat on the floor, his face full of regret.
As death energy filled his pupils, Lynn saw the truth: the researcher's soul had been devoured by the eels and jellyfish.
"I told you. I told you all not to move."
Ronak walked over to the body. "This is how Professor Robertson died, too. Except his head was bitten off by a demon with horns."
He slumped to the floor, grabbing his head. "I was scared stiff. After I pulled the plug, I tried to call for help, but there was no signal."
"The second I stepped outside, I felt this crushing fatigue. I didn't have a shred of energy. I barely managed to crawl back to a room... the signal didn't come back for ten hours."
Hearing this, Natasha patted his shoulder comfortingly. "The resonator proved you weren't lying about everything."
"We didn't see the horned monster, but SHIELD will find a way to get you your freedom back."
"Freedom?"
Ronak looked at his own hands and laughed bitterly. "A monster who eats human brains when he gets hungry? Even if I were free, I'd just end up killing more innocent people."
With that, Ronak just collapsed onto the floor. "I've fallen from a devout believer into one of the devil's pawns. I don't deserve to be free."
Natasha frowned at the demoralized Ronak.
Her gaze shifted to Lynn, who was standing by the window. She got up and walked over. "What are you doing?"
"Testing Ronak's story."
He held out his phone for her to see. "Look. He's right. No signal at all."
She took it and looked. Sure enough, no bars.
Natasha pulled out her own satellite-linked phone and found the signal was blocked, too.
"On top of that... Agent Romanoff, do me a favor and stick your hand out the window."
Though she didn't know why, Natasha did as he asked.
The instant her arm went outside, that same draining, aching weakness flooded her entire limb.
It wasn't until she pulled it back inside that the feeling went away.
"Ronak was telling the truth. Looks like we're stuck in this villa for the next ten hours."
"Too bad. The California FILD. all-girl band is playing in New York tonight. I already had plans to have dinner with their lead singer. Looks like I'm standing her up."
Hearing this, Natasha suddenly smiled. "Is she pretty? Prettier than me?"
"She's not bad. But she's got this wild streak... that's the most attractive part. If she didn't, I never would have encouraged her to pursue her music career in the first place."
"I have something to tell you in a bit. And also, just call me Natasha."
She gave Lynn a light, playful pat on the chest.
Natasha then walked over to Steve and explained the situation.
After she finished, Steve tried it himself.
He found that even with the super-soldier serum, the draining fatigue was still alarming.
"Alright, everyone. Since we can't leave, I want everyone out of this lab."
"After the signal returns tomorrow, I'll have SHIELD transport the resonator."
"Until then, nobody touches this machine!"
Hearing Steve's order, the researchers nodded and filed out of the lab.
***
Half an hour later, in the kitchen.
"I hate macaroni."
Lynn watched as Natasha poured a large amount of milk into a pot of macaroni.
He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "Agent Natasha, you didn't call me over here just to get compliments on your cooking, did you?"
"Of course not."
Stirring the pot with a spoon, Natasha turned to him. "You're not simple, Lynn. At first, I requested you because I thought you were... interesting."
"And because you were the first to discover this case."
"But just now, when the resonator was on, I saw... a lot of things. Did you see them?"
"What do you mean?"
Hearing Natasha say she saw visions, Lynn was immediately interested.
"I don't know... to be precise, I don't know if they were visions of the future."
She shook her head and gestured to the other room. "You know the resonator stimulates the dormant pineal gland, right? Activates it, enhances perception, lets you see those creatures."
When Lynn didn't say anything, she continued. "When it turned on, I just felt a sharp pain in my forehead, and then my senses... expanded."
"And with my senses enhanced, I started seeing all these images... like the future."
"It was a strange scene. In one of them... I think I jumped off a dark cliff."
"Clint—my partner, Hawkeye—was holding onto me, begging me nott o. But in the end... I chose to end my own life."
"Of course, that was just one vision."
"There was another... you saved me. Right as I fell, just as a glowing gem appeared, you... you pulled me away from a skeleton."
"And another... a purple-skinned guy showed up. You were fighting beside the Avengers, and lots of other people. You were... very powerful."
"I also clearly remember you fighting... flying... against a guy in a green hood and an iron mask. And below you, all of the Avengers were down."
Natasha pointed to her own head. "So... do you think that was the future, or just a hallucination?"
Hearing Natasha's question, Lynn was, frankly, stunned.
'She must have seen the future. The cliff jump... that's for the Soul Stone.'
'But... me? Pulling her away from a skeleton?'
'Was that skeleton... Death?'
'And a guy in a green cloak and an iron mask... that can't be Doctor Doom, can it?'
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