Chapter 59 59: The Web

— — — — — — As the one who personally trained both Natasha— the infamous Black Widow— and Yelena, her would-be successor, Madam B wasn't exactly surprised to wake up from unconsciousness and find them standing in front of her. Once she figured out the situation, she didn't bother with lies or resistance. Madam B knew better than to expect mercy from two women she had shaped into weapons. She didn't try to beg for her life — all she asked was that once Natasha got what she needed, she'd make the end quick. Natasha: "..." Yelena: "..." After confirming that the intel Madam B gave them checked out, the two of them quickly took her—and the rest of her deluded loyalists—off the board, not leaving a single one alive. Then, they returned to regroup with Gwen and the others. — — — "With their headquarters wiped out and only a few loose ends left to tie up, the Red Room is officially history." After Natasha and Yelena dealt with Madam B and her underlings, some intel found in the base made one thing clear: this wasn't the same universe as the movies. The setting of Earth-∞ was fundamentally different — there wasn't some shadowy higher-up pulling the strings behind Madam B. Turning to Gwen, Veyron asked, "So what's your plan for them now?" "You two got any ideas of your own?" Gwen tossed the question to Natasha and Yelena. "If you guys don't have a specific role in mind for us, Yelena and I are thinking about taking over what's left of the Red Room's network," Natasha said after a moment of thought. "Madam B built up quite a bit over the years. Even if we cut off her most loyal freaks and drop the assassin-for-hire operations, there's still enough business to help the other girls survive." "And then we'll work on undoing all the brainwashing," she added. "Decades of mental conditioning don't vanish overnight, but we'll find a way to bring them back to normal." Gwen glanced at the others. "What do you all think?" Selina smiled and waved it off. "This is your business. We're just here to lend a hand when things get messy. Just don't drag us into anything too crazy — in those cases, call in that guy instead." By "that guy," she meant the Ancient One. "Got it." Gwen nodded. "Still, thanks for helping out with this one — and whatever may come next." "No need to thank us," Selina shrugged. "We weren't exactly breaking a sweat. It was more like a field trip." "Veyron was the only one who really did anything — that Conqueror's Haki or whatever it was? Super useful for sweeping out cannon fodder." Yelena, guessing that she herself had been one of the "cannon fodder" knocked out by that blast: "......" "Let's go with your plan then," Gwen said. Seeing that no one had objections, Gwen turned to Natasha again. "Oh, one more thing. That surveillance network the Red Room had— the one that covered most of Europe and reached globally — try to preserve as much of it as you can. I'll need it to track certain... 'incidents.' Think you can manage that?" "Could you clarify what you mean by 'incidents'?" "Stuff that's... outside the normal. Like super-strong mutants, mad scientists inventing tech hundreds of years ahead of its time, or alien invasions. That sort of thing." Natasha did a quick mental estimate. "Maintaining the network at its current scale would burn through a lot of money. But if we're only using it to track specific anomalies like that, it becomes way more manageable." "Factoring in inflation and global instability, Madam B's leftover assets should keep things running for around five years. That gives us a decent window to find a new source of funding." "Funding, huh..." Gwen casually raised a hand—and a neatly stacked pile of gold bars materialized. "I've got over a hundred tons of gold lying around. You can start with that. I'll find more if needed." Natasha / Yelena: "...?" Wait — people actually measure gold in tons!? [Group Notification: 'Ordinary Human' has sent a targeted red envelope to 'Ghost Spider'] Gwen: "???" Gwen tapped it open. One thousand tons of gold were added to her account. She blinked and looked over at Veyron. "Just giving you a little extra," he said. "No point hoarding it. It's just collecting dust." "Thanks a lot, Mr. Veyron," Gwen said sincerely, then turned back to Natasha. "So yeah — use this for now. If it's not enough, come back to me. He just gave me more." "It's... it's plenty," Natasha said quickly. "Honestly, we won't even need this much." "With a reasonable gold reserve, Madam B's assets, and her old channels, we'll be able to keep everything funded through more legitimate means." "Oh, speaking of that — since the Red Room is gone, do you want to rename it? Or keep the name as-is?" Now that was a good question. Gwen found herself thinking up several potential names — only to immediately veto each one before they left her mouth. She looked at the others for help. "Don't look at me — I suck at naming things," Selina said with a shrug. "Me too..." Hancock added sheepishly. Veyron met Gwen's pleading gaze, then turned to Natasha and Yelena. "You guys all used spider-themed codenames, right?" "Yeah," Natasha nodded. "When I graduated from the Red Room, I'd already surpassed all previous top students, so I inherited the 'Black Widow' title. As for Yelena..." "According to Red Room rules," Yelena said flatly, "even though she's technically a traitor now, until I kill her and take the title back, I'm stuck as the 'White Widow.'" "So that's why you thought I was here to reclaim it," Gwen said, remembering that odd question Natasha had asked her back in Sokovia two days ago. "Well, since it's all spider-themed, how about... 'The Web'?" Veyron offered. "A trap so tight that no one can escape — like a perfect net surrounding everything." "Ooh, I actually like that." Gwen's eyes lit up. It fit perfectly. Not only were Natasha, Yelena, and the other former Red Room girls using spider-based codenames, Gwen herself had become Spider-Gwen after getting bitten by a mutant spider. Even the Chat Group's name for her was "Ghost Spider." So yeah — The Web? Perfect name. . . .