Chapter 86: Opening One's Heart

“Your mother persuaded me at the time to let her join my mission. Everyone called her the Wasp. Not a day goes by that I don’t regret agreeing to her request,” Dr. Pym said to Hope.

“It was 1987. Separatists had seized a Soviet missile silo in Kursk and launched an intercontinental ballistic missile toward the United States. The only way to get inside the missile was to pass through solid titanium. My regulator malfunctioned, but your mother didn’t hesitate for a second…” Dr. Pym’s voice choked with emotion.

“She disabled her regulator, shrank to the subatomic level, and dismantled the bomb. Then she was gone. Your mother sacrificed herself with great bravery. For the next ten years, I did everything I could to study the quantum realm,” Dr. Pym said.

“You wanted to bring her back,” Hope’s eyes shimmered with tears. At last she understood why her father had never visited her when she was young, even sending her away to boarding school.

“But after all these years, we still know nothing about the quantum realm,” Dr. Pym said, his voice heavy with loss.

“It’s not your fault—it was her own decision! But why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Hope asked.

“I wanted to protect you. I’ve already lost your mother. I didn’t want to lose you, too.” Dr. Pym embraced his daughter.

Arthur and Scott watched this scene and exchanged smiles. Scott left to continue his training, and Arthur followed, not wishing to disturb the father and daughter.

…

After several days of training, Scott had grown rapidly—he was now truly Ant-Man.

Dr. Pym was busy constructing an atomic bomb, shrinking a football-sized device and fastening it onto the back of an ant.

“I need to retrieve the prototype for this signal device. I invented it when I was at S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s gathering dust in a warehouse belonging to Howard Stark in northern New York,” Dr. Pym explained.

“Excuse me, the warehouse you mentioned is now one of our Avengers bases… Should I have someone bring it over?” Arthur offered.

“No need, I’ll go myself. It’s the perfect chance to test the results of Scott’s training!” Scott replied, brimming with confidence.

“You’re sure? There are several Avengers there now. Aren’t you worried about being caught?” Arthur asked.

“That’s what you’re for, isn’t it? If I get caught, you can explain for me,” Scott said.

“All right.” Arthur nodded, and Dr. Pym agreed it was good for Scott to practice.

Dr. Pym, Hope, and Arthur watched the monitor in the lab. After shrinking, Scott had secretly boarded a plane and arrived at the target area.

Scott rode Anton the ant, leading a swarm of flying ants to approach Avengers Base No. 2, landing on the rooftop.

At that moment, the Avengers detected an anomaly in their sensors and reported it to Falcon, Sam. Falcon went up to the rooftop to investigate, but found nothing.

“OK! He can’t see me,” Scott said.

“But I can see you!” Sam could hear Scott’s voice through the communicator.

“Hey, I’m Scott!” Scott had no choice but to enlarge himself and appear before Sam.

“What are you doing here?” Sam demanded.

“I’m your biggest fan!” Scott replied.

“What are you doing here?” Sam repeated.

“I’m Ant-Man! I need a high-tech device. You know Arthur, right? He sent me to retrieve it,” Scott explained.

“Arthur sent you? Ha, we’ve got an intruder!” Sam didn’t believe Scott. Arthur was notorious for shirking duties—even when the headquarters was being built, he never showed up. Sending someone else to fetch something? Impossible!

Sam lunged for Scott, but Scott instantly shrank and dodged Sam’s grasp, landing a punch on Sam’s chest. Sam unfolded his metal wings and soared into the air.

“Wow! They’re fighting! Go, Scott!” Arthur shouted with reckless enthusiasm at the monitor.

“Aren’t you going to call and explain? Scott could get hurt,” Hope said, worried.

“Relax, he won’t die. Besides, this is a good test for Scott’s training,” Arthur replied, unconcerned.

Scott leapt from the rooftop and ran toward the grass, but Sam’s high-tech goggles locked onto his tiny figure. Sam flew overhead and stomped down, trying to crush Scott.

Scott sprang onto Sam, launching a series of attacks. Sam couldn’t catch the diminutive Scott and drew two guns, flying around and firing at the surroundings.

Scott jumped onto the guns, knocking them away, then continued to attack Sam. Seizing the opportunity, Sam punched Scott, sending him flying.

Forced to enlarge, Scott found himself under Sam’s relentless fists and kicks. Using the martial arts Hope had taught him, Scott counterattacked.

Hope’s eyes lit up—her pupil had finally made good use of her lessons. Scott repeatedly shrank, leveraging his small size to fight Sam to a standstill.

After kicking Sam away, Scott shrank again, saddled Anton, and flew into the Avengers’ foundation warehouse.

Sam followed him inside, but there were no surveillance ants in the warehouse, so Arthur and the others couldn’t see their movements.

After a while, Sam was flung out, tumbling through the air. Scott had sabotaged Sam’s flight equipment inside, pulling wires at random, causing Sam’s wings to malfunction and sending him crashing down.

Sam got up, unable to find any trace of Scott. He spoke to the control room, “Don’t let the other Avengers know about this. It’s important!”

Scott rode Anton away. Arthur and the others couldn’t be sure if he had retrieved the device.

Arthur turned to Dr. Pym, “Could you give me a copy of Scott and Sam’s fight footage?”

“What do you want it for?” Dr. Pym asked.

“Sam doesn’t want anyone to know he got schooled by Scott, right? I’ll post it online to give everyone a good laugh,” Arthur said mischievously.

“Won’t that reveal the existence of the Ant-Man suit?” Dr. Pym asked.

“You blew up the Pym Building, so everyone knows about Ant-Man now. Don’t worry, I’ll wait until the mission’s over to post it,” Arthur replied.

Dr. Pym copied the surveillance video for Arthur, who edited the clips of Sam getting beaten by Scott and saved them on his phone, waiting to share them on the Heroes Video site after the mission.

Scott returned to Dr. Pym’s villa, pulling the signal prototype from his pocket and placing it on the table.

“Done!”

“You’ve passed! Now we can prepare to begin the operation,” Dr. Pym declared.

Dr. Pym and the others devised a series of plans. Arthur, meanwhile, scrolled through Heroes Video, since his role would just be to assist when needed.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Arthur opened it to find a bald man—their target, Darren Cross.

He’d come right to them, Arthur mused, considering whether to eliminate him then and there.

Darren Cross’s expression changed when he saw Arthur at the door. “Sorry, I must have the wrong place. Goodbye!”

He turned and left. Arthur decided not to eliminate him yet, leaving it to Scott to deal with him.

The battle between Scott and Darren Cross was crucial, directly impacting Dr. Pym’s quantum realm research.

“Who was just here?” Hope asked.

“Darren Cross showed up. As soon as he saw me, he left—I think he recognized me,” Arthur said.

Dr. Pym and Scott both grew uneasy. Darren Cross was likely suspicious. At that moment, Hope’s phone rang—it was Darren calling.

“Hello? Hope, where are you right now?” Darren Cross asked.

“I’m at home. What’s wrong?” Hope replied.

“Is the Avenger Aquaman at your house?” Darren Cross pressed.

“Yes, he came to talk to my father,” Hope admitted.

“So the Avengers are watching us. I need to relocate all research data immediately and find a place where the Avengers can’t reach us!” Darren Cross said, agitated.

“You don’t need to worry so much. He’s here to ask my father for help. He didn’t mention you,” Hope tried to reassure him.

“No, you keep him steady for me. I’ll arrange the evacuation now. Please, Hope!” Darren Cross said before hanging up.

Hope looked at the three. “He’s scared and wants to evacuate the research team immediately. What should we do?”

The group exchanged glances. Dr. Pym said, “We must act now! Catch him before he escapes and destroy the research data!”

“But our plan won’t work anymore!” Hope reminded him.

“Then we’ll force our way in. Leave all security to me! Scott, take your ant bomb and let’s go!” Arthur said.

With no other options, the group agreed.

…