//------------------------------// // Chapter 101 // Story: Infinity Era // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// PART II “All right, Scott, this is a mic check.” Ant-Man opened his eyes and stared out into the limitless expanse known as the Quantum Realm. It had no end, no beginning, just endless space that flowed, breathed, danced and lived in vivid and unique colors unimaginable to the human mind. Especially for Scott Lang, just staring into the unnatural blues, reds, orange, yellows, and… whatever color that just flowed past him making him already feel nauseous. He floated, drifted aimlessly in the endless. Scott tried to remain as still as possible, refusing to even move a muscle until he knew for sure he was safe. His mind rattled, finally returning to the voice in his head. In his helmet, but it was close enough. “Mic check 1, 2! 1, 2! How’s everybody doin’ tonight in the Quantum Realm?” Scott announced loud and clear. The response was immediate. “Scott, we read you,” Hank Pym’s undeniable voice chimed in his ear. Ant-Man continued to gaze out into the swirling lights of the Quantum Realm. His left palm gripped the small containment unit while the other drifted softly by his side, swaying against the nothingness, Scott almost trying to swim in the weightlessness. “Ah, I just… I just wanted to make sure,” he stated, eyes falling down to his left hand. He reared forward with his right palm and loosened the containment unit, the small vessel expanding and instantly absorbing nearby particles that Scott didn’t even realize he was bathed in. The container devoured the yellow slivers of light and energy like a black hole, Scott Lang slamming his right palm on its head and sealing it tight. “Okay, healing particles secured for our… new ‘Ghost’ friend,” he informed the three on the other end of line. Those three just so happened to be Hank Pym, Janet van Dyne, and Hope van Dyne, daughter to the previous two mentioned by name. After a rather intense, deeply intriguing, and way too complicated series of events that Scott couldn’t even begin to describe with the amount of time he had, their little team of miscreants just so happened to find a way to contact and save Hank’s wife Janet from the Quantum Realm. Trapped for thirty years in the swirling emptiness of energy and… well… nothing else. Scott couldn’t even imagine being stuck in there for that long, let alone less than a minute. It was about time to come out. The Ghost, Ava Starr, needed those healing particles now more than ever. Hearing the assuring voice of Hope made Scott tingly in his happy place, but he kept himself under control. It was going to be a while before he could get there with her in their relationship. Still, Scott held his breath, listening to her warming voice tell him, “Great. Preparing for reentry in… 5… 4… 3—” The abrupt and startling sound of static followed. Then dead silence. Scott flinched at that. His brow furrowed, eyes narrowing as he looked back and forth and darted his stare in almost every single direction, as if by some faithless chance he would be pulled out. Or find their voices again. Only there was nothing. For several seconds on end and even nearly into a minute… still nothing. The Quantum Realm was dead silent and Scott really didn’t like how quiet it was. “Hello?” he called out, hearing that continued quiet on the other end of the line. Scott closed his eyes, breathing a sigh. “Ha, ha, very funny. Hank, quit screwing around; you told me yourself not to screw around.” A lone walkie-talkie dangled by its wire and swung lifelessly back and forth. Back and forth. A slew of computers and other scientific equipment lay on the rooftop and were used for analyzing, powering, and controlling the Quantum Tunnel resting in the back of Scott’s van. They were all seemingly abandoned, nothing but a pile of ashes floating, descending, falling dead to the rooftop where Hank, Janet, and Hope once stood. “Hank?” the walkie-talkie questioned, Hank Pym’s particles falling over it. “Hope?” Hope van Dyne’s ashes floated away, leaving but a mark forever stained on the roof. “Janet?” Janet van Dyne remained as nothing but dust. Even that faded away. “Guys… Guys… Okay, seriously, don’t joke around; bring me up, let’s go.” The world outside the Quantum Realm, beyond the roof and even further still… didn’t respond. Nothing but silence and distant screams for miles and miles and miles. “Guys!” The Quantum Realm swirled and breathed, lived and grew, forever traveled on and on with light and darkness in every corner. Vivid colors for as far as the eye could see, if any eye could see. If anyone could pay witness to the endless space and see it all. For thirty years, Janet never witnessed it all. There was not a chance in hell she could ever observe it all. Scott Lang was stuck in the Quantum Realm for two minutes, fourteen seconds and counting… and he already believed he saw everything there was. “Uh, oh…”