Chapter Twenty-Four: The Initiation Assessment

"Annabelle Doll? Is that its name?" Nick Fury stood behind Coulson, looking at Natasha as he asked.

"That name just suddenly appeared in my mind. It must be its name," Natasha replied, regaining her composure.

"Was it the one behind that mark’s tricks?" Hawkeye interjected.

At that very moment, the lights in the laboratory abruptly flickered out with a snap, and the emergency lights instantly came on. In the brief darkness, the Annabelle Doll vanished from its containment box. As everyone braced themselves for a possible attack, Natasha's gaze was fixed on an empty corner.

A faint green glow shone in her eyes. In her vision, the Annabelle Doll was hanging upside down in the corner of the wall by a thread of unknown material.

Bang! Hawkeye decisively pulled the trigger, firing a bullet toward the spot Natasha was watching.

With a swish, the Annabelle Doll’s figure began shifting ceaselessly throughout the observation room. Natasha rotated, pointing out directions as she tracked it.

Bullets streaked through the air, but none found their mark.

The doll seemed to realize that these people could do nothing to it. Having grasped this, each of its movements brought it gradually closer to Natasha.

"Catch!" Coulson called out as he tossed a handgun toward Natasha.

As Natasha reached out for the weapon, a thread shot straight for her wrist. Just as it was about to touch her skin, the mark on her right hand burst forth with radiant light. Bathed in this glow, the thread began to dissolve like ice in sunlight.

Click-clack, click-clack...

The wooden jaw clattered with a strange sound. Suddenly, the Annabelle Doll recoiled, slamming into the door and ending up trapped behind it.

Natasha fired several shots in quick succession. The bullets bounced harmlessly off the doll’s body. Though her attack had no effect, the Annabelle Doll reacted as if confronted by its nemesis, retreating further away from Natasha and cowering in a corner.

"Take cover! I think I can catch it!" Natasha called out, suddenly filled with an inexplicable confidence. With a shout, she lunged toward the Annabelle Doll.

In the confines of the small room, the two played a bizarre game of hide-and-seek. Fortunately, Natasha’s body had undergone enhancements; otherwise, even with the doll confined in such a small space, she would never have been able to catch it.

After over ten minutes of pursuit, Natasha managed to grab hold of one of the doll’s fingers with her right hand.

A flash of green light swept through, and the Annabelle Doll became visible to everyone. It howled, flailing its arms, but the green glow clung to it with a viscous tenacity, refusing to be shaken off. The light continued to erode the untouched parts of the doll.

In a matter of seconds, the Annabelle Doll was enveloped in green light. Twisting and writhing, it was then yanked into the mark on Natasha’s hand. Natasha stood frozen, as a flood of information surged through her mind.

[Successfully contained the escaped anomaly—Annabelle Doll...]

[No containment number detected for the handler...]

[Warning! Handler has not passed entry assessment. Unregistered numbered personnel...]

Nervousness flooded Natasha. Were it not for the absence of a knife, she would have considered severing her own right forearm.

[Bzzt... Bzzt...]

[Re-scan successful. Handler identified as pending recruit. Entry assessment scheduled for... bzzt...]

While Natasha was still trying to comprehend what had happened, a black cat emerged from the shadows of the room. Under the gaze of everyone present, the cat leapt onto Natasha’s head. In an instant, everyone in both the observation and research rooms was frozen in place—able to think, but unable to move a single muscle.

"I’ve temporarily disconnected the detection system. I was planning to introduce you properly at another time, but you were lucky enough to encounter an escaped anomaly—one that’s particularly weak, at that," Ann’s voice echoed in Natasha’s mind.

Natasha’s eyes shifted. She tried to look up at Ann but saw only a familiar stopwatch floating above her, ticking away.

"This disconnect won’t last long. Tell me—are you willing to take the entry assessment? There’s a risk of death. If you refuse, I’ll remove both the mark and the anomaly," Ann continued, following the script Yang Qiu had written.

"At least tell me what kind of organization this is before I decide," Natasha replied, stalling for time as she glanced at Nick Fury.

"There’s no time. You have thirty seconds left."

With all his might, Nick Fury managed to blink under the oppressive fear.

"I’ll do it!" Natasha replied at once.

"Good. Contacting you in advance is against protocol. I’ll schedule your assessment for the next group intake. In the meantime, train harder... No, just run more every day. If you can’t win, you can at least try to outrun your opponents," Ann said, then vanished.

[Bzzt... Interference cleared. Assessment channel not yet open. Containment points stored in temporary account. Await further notice.]

Once Ann departed, the room returned to normal. Without a word, Nick Fury initiated the emergency protocol; a team of agents would soon arrive to take charge of all the researchers.

Immediately afterward, Fury took Natasha to one of the most secure locations in S.H.I.E.L.D.—his own office.

After explaining her situation and repeating the words she’d heard, Natasha sat calmly, watching Fury pace back and forth.

In truth, Natasha was anything but calm. Today’s encounter and the one on the cruise ship played over and over in her mind. She glanced down at her arm. The doll impervious to bullets had been captured into a small mark—one that appeared to be compensation from the black cat after it snatched the stopwatch, possibly a credential for entering some secretive profession.

"I’ll classify this as top-secret. All your missions are canceled for now. According to that cat, focus on training," Fury said, turning to her.

Natasha shrugged. If she could still improve her physical condition through normal training, that would be a miracle.

Fury understood as much, but there was nothing else to say—Natasha was already at the peak of human capability, yet in the eyes of that cat, she was still woefully inadequate.

Elsewhere, after playing her part, Ann was leaping excitedly around Yang Qiu. It was her first time acting, and she was exhilarated.

Yang Qiu, meanwhile, placed the Annabelle Doll in a box ringed by miniature hunter’s traps, crafted using Van Helsing’s power. After finishing his preparations, he clapped his hands, ready to reach out to other members.