----
"Seriously?"
Reed stared at Johnny, who had without much hesitation, agreed to Nolan's request.
There was an awkward pause between the two. Reed's expression darkened, not out of anger... but disappointnt.
To him, it felt like a betrayal.
"You said it yourself," Johnny shrugged. "You once postponed my sister's wedding for a lab experint. I'll trust soone else, thanks."
He didn't an it with malice. But Johnny had always been skeptical of Reed not of his brilliance, but of his priorities.
Reed loved Susan. That was never in question. But his love for science? Sotis it ca first.
---
Nolan didn't wait. A shimring gold portal swirled open beside him. He casually reached in and pulled out a sleek syringe.
"Want to do it," he asked, "or would you rather handle it yourself?"
"I'll do it," Johnny grunted.
With a wince, he stabbed the needle into his own arm, drew a small vial of blood, then quickly yanked it out and tossed it back to Nolan.
"Just a little, right? That counts as a little."
Nolan caught the vial midair with a nod. "Counts."
He turned toward Susan. "As for your sister have her stop by my lab whenever she's ready. I need a full read on her abilities to help her regain proper control. No strings attached."
"Fine," Johnny said, rubbing his arm.
Nolan turned to Reed. "By the way, Mr. Richards... I recently read your paper on theoretical temporal chanics. Is your frawork on ti dilation using localized gravitational pockets? Genuinely impressive."
Reed blinked. His ego wounded a mont ago instantly inflated.
"You read that?" he asked, taken aback. "I've been working on so refinents to the second equation. Perhaps we could—"
But before he could dive into a lecture, Nolan's expression turned serious. His comm crackled in his ear.
"Intrusion alert. Unknown entry into lab periter. Suspected target: Ant-Man."
Nolan frowned.
"I'll have to take a rain check," he told Reed. "We'll continue this later."
And with that, he traced a glowing ring into the air and walked through it—vanishing into thin air.
The Leader followed, right behind him.
The ring collapsed behind them, leaving only stunned silence.
---
"What the hell was that?" Johnny murmured.
"Magic," Rogers said simply.
"Wait... do we keep fighting?" Johnny asked quietly.
Rogers scanned the field. Red Hulk stood listless. Abomination, once raging, was now oddly docile. The battlefield that was monts ago ready to erupt was now eerily calm.
Everyone had seen what Nolan did to Ross.
One hit. That's all it took.
And then he bargained with Johnny Storm like they were trading baseball cards.
---
Just then, the whir of helicopter blades cut through the air. Press choppers. Lots of them.
"Journalists," Tony muttered. "Told you they'd show up."
His armor began to disassemble midair plates detaching and flying upward until the sleeker Iron Man suit was revealed underneath.
As he turned to leave, Rogers called out, "Tony wait. I need to talk. It's important."
Tony stopped, glancing back.
"I have nothing to say to you," he replied coldly.
The tension between them, still thick from the Bucky situation, hadn't eased. Fury and SHIELD had protected Barnes, and Tony knew there wasn't much he could do about it anymore.
"It's about the Illuminati," Rogers added quickly.
Tony paused.
"...Fine," he said at last. "Co to my office. We'll talk."
With a burst of blue from his boots, Iron Man soared into the sky.
The others scattered. But Ross's team remained behind, frozen in place.
"General," Luke whispered. "Are we leaving?"
Ross remained silent.
He'd been destroyed. Not physically. But ntally. That one slap from Nolan had shattered his self-image.
He clenched his fists.
"...Who can stop him now?" Ross muttered.
No one answered.
Even his n weren't sure if it was a rhetorical question... or if their commander had just broken.
"...Let's go."
---
anwhile, back in Nolan's lab...
He opened a shimring gateway to the Mirror Dinsion and stepped through. His expression hardened.
He knew they were here. Hank Pym. Hope Van Dyne. And their new protege Scott Lang.
They'd infiltrated his lab to retrieve the Pym Particles.
He turned to the Leader. "Stay back. You don't need to be here for this."
"...Okay."
Nolan fired off a ssage to Max: "Track and apprehend Hank Pym. He's nearby."
To Nolan, it was laughable. The Pym Particles had limitless scientific potential. And Pym, possessing one of the most revolutionary discoveries on Earth, had wasted it on household chores and glorified insect cosplay.
---
Inside a supply cabinet...
Scott Lang huddled beside Hope, whispering into his earpiece.
"I thought you said he wasn't ho?! He's HO!"
Hope glared. "Try the comm again."
"No response," Scott said. "Comms must be jamd."
Hope was already trying hers. Nothing.
"...We've been made."
Scott's eyes widened. "Oh God, not again. I can't go back to that cell! I almost went insane last ti!"
"We're not caught yet," Hope insisted.
But it was too late.
Nolan's voice bood through the lab.
"How long do you two plan on hiding? This isn't the first ti, you know."
Before they could react, glowing rings opened beneath their feet—portals. They dropped like pebbles into a pool.
The next thing they knew, they were standing tiny-sized before a gigantic Nolan seated casually in his chair.
"Miss Van Dyne," he said with a polite smile. "If you'd co in through the front door, I would've welcod you. But this?"
He gestured around.
"This is trespassing."
Hope reacted instantly flinging a shrinking disc straight at him.
But Nolan barely moved. A small portal opened mid-air, redirecting the projectile... straight into Scott's back.
Pop! He shrank again. Microscopic.
"I see," Nolan sighed. "Breaking and entering... assault... Is this how Hank Pym taught you ethics?"
The lab door creaked open behind them.
Nolan turned, smirking.
"Welco back, Doctor Pym."
----
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