"The way to achieve your own success is to be willing to help somebody else get it first." - Iyanla Vanzant
New York City. The one that Never Sleeps. The usual hustle and bustle aside, the city is also known for its famous landmarks. Often pertaining to its great history in regards to the United States as a whole, but more recently, to its legendary, super-heroic protectors of the past.
The year is 2016.
Spider-Man, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men. All regarded as gods in the Age of Man.
It's hard to imagine them as just... people. People with faults. With emotions. With imperfections and desires all the same.
More to the point, it's hard to realize how much we took them for granted once they're gone...
The typing of the keyboard on the computer is the only sound that can be heard in the office, and the glow of the laptop's screen is the only source of light in the dimly-lit room.
Her fingers type away at a lightning quick pace. Enough to make Uncle Pietrojealous, perhaps. She wasn't the type of person to fear anybody, much less a politician in his mid-60s, but when that politician, specifically one by the name of Steward Ward, proves to be the only reliable source of her income, outside dear old dad's government pensions, it's hard to not feel a little bit intimidated.
When money talks, people listen, as the old saying goes...
Just then, she feels a vibration in her pocket. She reaches down to grab her phone. Dad... fantastic...
With a sigh, she presses the green answer button and raises the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?" says the girl.
From the other end, the voice of an older man is heard.
"Hey, sweetheart." says the man.
The girl rolls her eyes, annoyed. She manages to repress her annoyance and puts on a happy face.
"Hey, dad. What's up?" responds the girl.
"Not much. Just wanted to check up on you." says the man.
"I'm good. Just doing another bout of research for Mr. O'Connell." says the girl.
A pause of silence for a few moments.
"How's Mom?" asks the girl.
From the other end, the man lightly sighs. The discussion of Mom was never a comfortable one.
"She's... the same as usual. The doctor actually came by earlier this morning and gave her another round of medication." says the man.
The girl merely grunts. This wasn't news to her. This was... actually pretty par for the course.
"So, hey. Listen. Um... do you maybe wanna come by on Saturday? I invited Hank and Jan over for dinner and I wanted to know if you wanted to join." says the man.
The girl bites her tongue. She desperately wants to say yes. Spending time with her family and friends is one of the few things she genuinely enjoys doing in her personal life.
Unfortunately, life, as it always does, has... other plans for her.
She lets out a sigh.
"Dad, I wish I could, but I'm busy on Saturday. There's a finance meeting then, and then a fundraiser in the evening that I have to be a part of, and-" starts the girl, before being cut off.
"I understand, honey. I just thought I'd ask." says the man.
She looks to the door, then back to the illuminating computer screen in front of her. She sighs again, albeit lightly this time.
"Look, Dad, I... I have to go. I have to finish this report and-" starts the girl, before she is cut off by her father.
"I understand, sweetheart. You can always call and talk to me anytime." says the man.
She smiles a little bit at that. It was always nice to hear from her father, even if the timing wasn't always convenient.
"Thanks, Dad. I love you." says the girl.
"Love you too, sweetie." says the man.
She lowers the phone away from her ear and taps the red icon on it to end it. She then places her phone in her pocket and buries her head in her hands.
Is this really all she's been reduced to? Doing paperwork as the day job?
Is this the destined path of life for Amanda Rogers? The path of the daughter of Captain America?
The world of science is not something known for being mundane. Especially in a universe of superheroes and supervillains, cosmic entities, aliens, and gods. In fact, science is the reason most of the most major, exciting moments of the last 30 years have happened. Whether it be through the creation of superhumans, to the various alien invasions, science has been used to explain most of these events.
Long story short, whether the results of your experiment result in big or small advances, they're advances nonetheless...
...and if your name is Pym, that sentiment can be taken very literally.
"...musculoskeletal structure is stable... for now..." says a woman with short, brown hair with some grey streaks within it.
In spite of her age, her eyes still shine with a deep, striking shade of blue. Beside her is a man with platinum-colored hair. Above both of them is a girl whose body is currently expanding. She is wearing a blue uniform with a black Y-shaped pattern emblazoned on her chest, black boots and gloves, and a specialized belt on her waist. She is wearing a mask with 2 curvy antennae coming off from the forehead. Her short, dirty-blonde hair is revealed from the back of her mask.
Her physical stature slowly grows in size as she becomes almost as tall as the walls will allow, at least 45 feet in height.
"You doing alright, hon?" asks the older woman.
"Ngh... doing fine, Mom! Just... g-get me to 46 feet!" says the giant girl.
"Sweetheart, don't strain yourself! I'd rather the test be a failure than you being hurt!" says the older woman.
On the other end of the room, a door opens. An older man with pale blue eyes and platinum silver hair walks out. He's wearing glasses and has a slight goatee.
"We gotta abort, now." says the man.
"Gh! What?! Why?!" asks the giant girl, somewhat upset.
"I got some diagnostics back from studying the belt, and... the defractor coils are cracked. If we don't lower down now, we might rip the muscle tendons in her torso apart." says the man.
"How long is that gonna take? If we try and lower her back quickly, that might make the problem worse." says the woman.
Suddenly, the giant girl clutches her stomach, causing the 2 smaller people on the ground to turn around, startled.
"Sweetheart... ?" says the man, cautiously.
"My stomach's... on fire!" shouts the giant girl.
The woman runs back over to the control panel. But then, the giant girl puts up her hand in protest.
"No! I... I can do this!" says the giant girl.
"Kid, if we don't stop, you could damage your nervous system!" says the man.
"Dad, you always said... science comes..." starts the girl, trailing off.
Her height suddenly pushes forward, extending past 46 feet and extending all the way to 50 feet in height.
"...with risks." finishes the girl.
The man turns to the older woman.
"Alright, take her down, now!" shouts the man.
"Dad... no need... I figured it out..." says the girl, who then clicks a special button on the belt of her suit.
She slowly begins shrinking back down, stopping only at around 25 feet in height. The man looks up at her, bewildered and wide-eyed.
"H-how... how did you-?" stammers the man, struggling to find the words.
The building-sized teen smirks.
"I recalibrated the belt when I noticed the damage to the coil. Because it's an older model, and it hasn't aged well, the only way I could feasibly stabilize it was if I pushed past the height threshold you and Uncle Bill set." explains the girl.
The older man clutches his chest, letting out a sigh of relief. His wife comes over and looks at her.
"You could have told us before giving us near heart-attacks!" says the woman.
Her daughter grins, removing her mask and revealing her beautiful face.
"I could have, but then again, it was worth it to see the reaction on your guys' faces! Ha!" says the girl, chuckling.
The 2 parents look at one another, visibly annoyed, but hey. The experiment was a success, and their daughter was alive.
Just another day in the life of Angela Pym, the daughter of Giant-Man and the Wasp.
Ansonia, Connecticut. Small town in the county of New Haven, established 1889. Known as the Copper City, Ansonia is known for its history of heavy machine production. Its most noteworthy fame comes from the fact that it is the birthplace of the nation's first pedal-operated bicycle.
It also happens to be the current residence of one of the few high-profile mutants living on the East Coast of the country. A certain hairy, blue fellow...
Clothes, check.
Toothbrush, check.
Phone chargers, check.
Blue hair, check.
Non-human body proportions, check.
She rummages through her clothes as she tries to process anything else she would need for the next few days. Looking around her room, she sees one of her favorite books on the shelf. The Catcher in the Rye. Great informal text into the psychology of the teenage mind, and how a young person might view society.
Her phone's already packed, though. She could just read the electronic version of it when she gets bored.
Then again... there's an allure to physical copies.
Quick reflexes and timing allow her to grab it and stuff it in one of the side pockets of her suitcase.
She slowly peeks her head out of the door to her room.
"Dad? Are you ready to go?" asks the girl from around the corner.
"Just a second, hon! Where's my pack of cigars... ?" says her father, sounding impatient.
The girl narrows her eyes in an unamused manner. Her father, bless his mind and soul, couldn't keep track of things in his old age.
"Cigars are in the dining room, Dad." says the girl.
A few moments of silence pass.
"Found them!" shouts the older man.
One might say that car rides were as simple as watching grass grow or the sun shine in the bright, morning sky. And for most people, they very much are.
Too bad when you have blue hair atop your head, your elbows, and behind your calves, and your father is COVERED in blue hair, it makes it hard to go anywhere in public. Even when you're wearing a shirt and jeans like a normal person, mind you ones that have been specifically tailored to match your unique physiology, it's hard to avoid the stares of curious, awestruck, or just confused onlookers.
She occasionally looks down at her phone, reading the latest news about the election in a few months, Brexit, and all the sorts of environmental tragedies and new sorts of technology that debut every day of the week. She can't look down at it for too long, though. She had a bad history of carsickness, stretching back to when she was a little girl.
Her father sits to her left, eyes focused on the road. He's currently wearing a grey sweatshirt, khaki pants, and a pair of sneakers. He had a tux packed away.
"So..." starts her father.
"Yes?" replies the girl.
"Any new things going on in the world in this jolly ol' day and age?" asks her father.
She pauses for a moment. While she could appreciate that, like any parent who grew up in a different era, he wanted to be more well-versed in modern-day culture, it was hard because he still talked and acted like he was living in the 1990s. Old habits die hard, as the saying goes...
"Uhm... well, that Batman vs. Superman movie's doing pretty terrible, all things considered..." says the girl.
There really wasn't much happening in the world, pop-culture wise. The political extremes were all anyone could really think about.
"Batman versus Superman, is that right?" asks her father.
A moment of silence.
Great.
A moment of silence is all that's needed to fuel the awkward tension.
Then again, there's nothing else new in the personal world and life of Tora McCoy, the daughter of the Beast.
I SINCERELY apologize for the long delay! Life caught up with me and I had to postpone writing this chapter! Rest assured that I'll be more active with writing the story out as I possibly can! Thank you all for your patience!
-Anonymous