Times Square on
New Year's Eve: Black Widow and Captain America are searching for a
gang of terrorists threatening some mayhem. As Cap walks through the
crowd to a hotel, he is jeered and catcalled by various revelers,
mocking him as the Hydra leader; in the elevator, Nat fills Cap in on
a Captain America impersonator who is part of the gang, and some
rumor about a robot army. And she tells Cap that the hostiles in the
crowd don't matter—but Cap knows they do....
As Cap enters the
party to confront the impostor denouncing democracy and learns that
most of the crowd is the robot army as it opens fire on him, Nat
discovers a hidden floor where a giant tentacled robot waits while
guards keep an eye on hostages. Since she is supposed to be dead, the
Widow dons a mask, takes down the guards, and frees the captives. Cap
stops by as she is examining the robot but she knows instantly he is
the faker and clouts him. He triggers the robot and Nat guides it up
through the floor to rescue the real Cap and moments later she stops
the bad guy from detonating a madbomb—and Cap has to stop her from
killing the baddie. He lectures her on how killing isn't their way
but Nat reminds him that killing is her way—and he killed her
(during CIVIL WAR II)....
Still full of
anger over her death and revival by the Red Room (TALES OF SUSPENSE
#100-104) she sets out to find a place to use it and flies to
Madripoor. She wears a white suit and an eyepatch, recalling Patch
(a/k/a Logan/Wolverine) to attract attention. She gets it when she is
attacked by a flashy gang of thugs and she kills all of them. She
connects with Jessan Hoan a/k/a Tyger Tiger, owner of the Princess
Bar and the island's chief good guy. Tyger needs Nat's help and has
her sidekick Tech Ed explain the situation: a site on the dark web
called “No Restraints Play” has the wealthy site members bidding
to direct the torture of small children. Nat is horrified but
realizes that now she can let her inner killer loose on these
monsters. But as they leave the bar, Nat and Tyger are confronted by
the Pirate King, the gangster whose men Nat killed earlier that night
and he wants revenge, calling it “no restraints play”....