Chapter 352: Controlling Ant-Man
Peter had no idea how to face Harry now. His best friend was the Green Goblin—the very villain he had sworn to bring to justice. Suddenly, everything clicked. When Harry spoke of his "father," he wasn't just talking about a businessman; he was talking about Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin!
"Oh no..." Peter's head throbbed. He was at a complete loss on how to handle this.
At the Lab
Back on the ground, Harry lifted his foot off Kingsley. He calmly pulled out a handgun and said, "I can choose not to kill you, but you must give me the identity of that person."
Harry could not allow anyone to hold his secret over his head. He had to show them that he wasn't a "fat pig" waiting to be slaughtered.
"Impossible. If you kill him, I'm in danger," Kingsley chuckled. He wasn't stupid enough to give up his only insurance policy.
Harry wasn't surprised. This was Kingsley's life-saving charm. He wiped the barrel of the black pistol and aimed it directly at Kingsley's head. "I'll give you ten million dollars. Tell me who he is."
"Ten million? Now that is tempting..." Kingsley flashed his signature, punchable grin.
Queens
It was nearly lunchtime. Aunt May got up to prepare a meal, while Silas headed upstairs to his room.
"Hmm?" Silas had just reached the second floor when he received a message from Tony Stark.
"What the...? He wants me to go to the Avengers base and wait for him?" Silas was confused. Why would Stark need him now? Was there a problem he couldn't handle? Based on the current timeline, Stark should be relatively trouble-free, spending most of his time tinkering with new armor.
Still, Silas didn't refuse. He turned and teleported to the Avengers headquarters.
Avengers Compound
"Not a bad construction," Silas muttered, looking at the sprawling facility.
"Of course it's not." A voice came from behind him as a man with metallic wings glided down. It was Sam Wilson, also known as Falcon.
Sam extended a friendly hand. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Sam Wilson. Joined the team recently."
"Hello. I'm Destiny," Silas replied, giving a brief handshake.
"Target identified as Destiny. No other threats," Sam immediately reported into his comms. He had been patrolling when the sensors picked up a sudden heat signature. When he arrived, he was surprised to see the mysterious "Destiny."
Though Destiny wasn't an Avenger, his reputation within the group was legendary. His terrifying power was not something to be joked about.
"So, you're here for..." Sam started, looking Silas up and down.
"Stark invited me for a meeting," Silas said simply.
"I see." The two stood there in silence for a moment.
"Captain and Stark are having a bit of a rough patch lately," Sam said, trying to break the ice.
"That's normal. One is a fossil, the other is cutting-edge tech. Friction is bound to happen," Silas chuckled. The Ultron incident wasn't that long ago; the relationship between Steve and Tony was far from perfect.
Sam felt a slight twinge of annoyance at hearing the Captain called a "fossil," considering how much he admired Steve Rogers. Silas knew this, of course, but he said it anyway. Don't like it? Try doing something about it.
Before Sam could defend the Captain, his wrist device began chirping a warning.
"Crap! Intruder alert!" Sam's wings snapped open, and he quickly flew toward one of the nearby buildings. Silas followed with curiosity.
On the Roof
"Hank, you son of a bitch, you said this was a 'deserted warehouse'!" Scott Lang looked at the high-tech compound in disbelief. He had actually fallen for Hank Pym's lies.
"Sorry! I don't know what happened, but leave! Now!" Hank's voice crackled through Scott's earpiece.
Scott shrugged. "Well, I'm already here."
Thump! Sam Wilson landed directly in front of Scott.
"Get out of there!" Hank shouted frantically.
Scott stayed calm. "Relax, he can't even see me."
"Actually, I can see you just fine, little bug." Sam's goggles had auto-focus and magnification. He could see the ant-sized Scott perfectly.
"Oh no..." Scott was stunned. This was the first time someone had spotted him while shrunk.
Sam didn't hesitate. He pulled out his submachine gun and began spraying the area. Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Scott scrambled away, jumping off the roof while yelling, "Ant-ony!"
Bzzzzzt! A large carpenter ant flew into view. Scott leaped onto its back. Sam immediately took flight to give chase. Obviously, the ant's wings were no match for Sam's mechanical ones.
"Go down!" Scott steered Ant-ony into the tall grass of the lawn. Sam landed and used his goggles to lock onto the heat signature.
Scott saw him coming. He rapidly enlarged and delivered a powerful kick to Sam's chest. The sudden change in size caught Sam off guard, sending him sprawling.
"Listen, I don't mean any harm! I'm just here to grab an old antique. Some old guy said it was just a discarded piece of junk!" Scott tried to explain.
"He's an idiot," Hank muttered to his daughter back at home, hearing Scott blab his motives.
Sam wasn't listening. He opened fire again. Scott shrunk down, leaped onto the barrel of the gun, and began climbing. Sam didn't notice him and stopped firing after thirty seconds.
"Where'd he go?" Sam panted.
"Right here!" Scott enlarged right next to Sam's neck, grabbing him and throwing him toward the ground.
But Sam was a trained soldier. He countered the move, grabbing Scott's arm and flipping him over his shoulder. Slam!
"Ow..." Scott groaned, rubbing his back. "That was fun."
"Ready to go?" Sam moved in to apprehend him.
Scott used the distraction to shrink again. Ant-ony swooped in, carrying him into the warehouse. Moments later, an explosion rocked the building. Sam was blown out of the entrance, looking disheveled.
"Sorry!" Scott was currently inside Sam's wing pack, pulling out wires. The wings began to malfunction, and Sam's goggles flickered.
"Bye!" Scott jumped back onto Ant-ony and made his escape.
Sam stood up, defeated. "Don't tell the Captain about this."
From the rooftop, Silas watched everything. "Scott Lang, the Ant-Man." Silas hadn't expected this surprise. He was very interested in those Pym Particles.
"Who is that?" Scott asked, noticing the figure on the roof.
"Leave! Run!" Hank's voice was more frantic than before. He recognized the figure. "That's Destiny!"
"Oh, come on, you said that about the last guy too," Scott rolled his eyes.
"Hello, Scott," Silas called out.
"You know me?!" Scott was shocked. He had planned to ignore the stranger, but the man knew his name. He hopped off Ant-ony and enlarged. "How do you know who I am?"
"That's not important." Silas began walking toward him.
Scott felt a surge of alarm. He reached for the shrink button, but suddenly, his entire body froze.
"I... I can't move..." Scott strained with all his might, but he was paralyzed.
Bzzzzzzzt! A swarm of flying ants lunged at Silas to protect their master.
Without even looking, Silas waved a hand, and the entire swarm was frozen mid-air.
"Uh oh..." Scott realized he was in deep trouble.
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