DATE: APRIL 26, 2015, RUMWAY OF HUNTER SPECTOR'S SECRET ISLAND, PACIFIC OCEAN, 17H23M
After a few minutes of waiting, the Avengers finally saw the Helicarrier above them. After a while, smaller vehicles like floating lifeboats have been ejected from the Helicarrier and landed near the Avengers, revealing some agents of SHIELD.
As they emerged from the lifeboats, agents began to put the bad guys inside the vehicles, while a medical team left one of the boats, accompanied by a light-skinned man who looked about twenty-five years old. He had black hair cut in military style, and a disciplined approach. He headed for the Avengers, saluting the team leader.
"Sir, I am Agent 46, in charge of the Helicarrier 37. It is an honor to meet the man who built the device that killed the Hulk."
The young heroes looked at their mentor with some astonishment, as they couldn't see the Ant-Man as someone who would do something so extreme. However, Pym just looked at the agent seriously, realizing that something was wrong.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Agent." Pym held out his hand amicably, despite his sternness. "No offense, but I think there is a mistake."
"Sir?" The agent looked confused, although he was starting to sweat.
"I did not request a medical team, and this is not part of the standard procedure."
"We brought a medical team to treat the injured minor." One of the doctors said, slightly offended. "I do not know what the level of your credentials, but we have orders to treat the boy."
Agent 46 looked at the doctor with a murderous look, leaving him and the other members of the medical team concerned. The agent focused again on the leader trying to think of something to say, when the scientist gestured him to shut up.
Pym looked at the agents around, watching every move they made. Although they were putting the thugs inside the boats, they seemed to be apprehensive, as if they were waiting for a command to start another mission.
"They are forty-five, all armed despite being a prisoner transport operation. They were already on the way and this agent clearly tried to flatter me. In addition, they brought a medical team to a b-."
It was then that he realized what was happening and he looked directly at the Helicarrier above they. He folded his arms and looked up defiantly.
"This is how you both want to do this?" Pym shouted loudly, making all the agents, criminals, and young heroes stare at him. "You know very well how I am, so have a minimum of decency and come talk to me as real men."
Everyone stared at the man in red suit, until Agent 46 put a hand to his ear, clearly receiving an order from his superior.
"Proceed with the extraction agents. Operation Little Red Riding Hood canceled." With a brief gesture with his hand, Agent 46 made the others relax, focusing on putting the prisoners inside the boats.
The agents continued their task, while the doctors saw that the situation was getting tense and they went back to their boat.
"What's going on, Dr. Pym?" Lincoln asked, with a highly worried look.
The Leader looked at him sadly, knowing that things would not end well. "(Sigh) I'm sorry to say this, kid, but it looks like things ended before they really get started." He looked at the young heroes in a comforting way, trying to reassure them. "No matter what happens, know it's not your fault."
The youngsters were perplexed to hear their mentor talk as if he had been defeated, but they tried not to show how much that made them worried. After the doctors stepped back inside the boat, Agent 46 approached the Avengers again, this time without needing to hide how scared he was.
"It's all ready to go up, sir. They're waiting for you on the bridge."
"Thanks, son." Pym put a hand on the shoulder of the agent, making it slightly uncomfortable for him. "And do not worry, they can not demote you for following a stupid plan they've done. That would only show how incompetent they are."
The agent was a bit confused, but he was relieved by what he heard. Pym took a cell phone from one of his miniaturized pockets and typed a text message as he walked to the boat. As he sent the message, Skystalker positioned to land on the Helicarrier, leaving some of the agents in the runway confused.
The young heroes followed their mentor into the boat, although they was still a little apprehensive about the situation. Among them, the one who looked most uncomfortable was Ronnie Anne.
Since virtually all her family had connections with the SHIELD, she knew that an agent in charge of a Helicarrier could not be outranked in the chain of command, except for the director of SHIELD or even higher.
"Please, just be a coincidence."
...
Although it was not long before they reached the helicarrier, the avengers had a problem running through the agents who ran from one place to another taking the prisoners. Even so, they were already familiar with the internal geography of a helicarrier, so that they soon arrived at the command center.
Unlike the Watcher, this space seemed a bit tight because of multiple computers and agents circulating in the area. Although not surprised by the number of agents, they get surprised to see that they all come out quickly from there. As soon as the agents left, only two men remained, two men the young heroes did not expected to see. Lynn Loud Sr. and Director Roberto Santiago, the fathers of the young heroes.
"Dad!?" The four thought at the same time, immediately paralyzed.
The Avengers stood still, the young heroes out of astonishment and their mentor for maintaining an inflexible attitude. Everyone remained silent until one of the parents moved.
Lynn Sr. hastily drove to the young heroes, looking closely at Marvel Boy. He looked at the boy from head to toe, surprised to find no harm in the boy's skin, apart from the odd fact that the uniform had no mark on where he should have been wounded by the thorns. He gave a slight pinch on the boy's arm, just to assess the material of the suit, who generated a ripple all over Lincoln's body, like a bristling cat.
"This stuff is really fascinating. It's almost as if this could really think by itself." The Loud patriarch was distracted, wondering what he could do with a technology like this.
"Lynn, now is not the time to admire their clothes." Roberto rebuked him, despite being curious too.
"Hey, it's not his fault." Pym crossed his arms and smiled smugly, attracting everyone's attention. "My resources often arouse the curiosity of people with low intelligence."
Once he set eyes on Pym, Lynn Sr. remembered the reason for being there, and stood up, holding the other scientist by the collar of his uniform.
"Do not push your luck, Pym! If the kids were not here, I'd put an end to you! When we get back to the country, I'll make sure to get President Ross to acknowledge how reckless you are."
Everyone looked at Lynn Sr. with concern. None of them had seen the Loud patriarch so angry, and it looked like Pym did not care. Instead, he acted as if he was waiting for it.
"Lynn, if you really think Ross will care about this, then you're dumber than I thought."
The patriarch was furious, and without stopping to think, dealt a powerful blow against the Ant-Man, who got on his knees. He just looked up and looked at the Loud patriarch with some disappointment.
"Is that the best you can do?"
In a fraction of a second, the young heroes pulled away, while the diretor of SHIELD tried to run to keep his friend from doing something crazy. Lynn Sr. stared at the man before him, and the air around Pym seemed to be distorted. Immediately, the avenger leader lay on the ground, while his weight seemed to be causing him to sink to the ground.
"Lynn! Stop it now!" Roberto tried to make his friend return to reason, worried that he did something he would regret. "He's not worth it."
At the words of his friend, Lynn Sr. began to calm down, realizing that he was scaring the children. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, making Pym back to normal.
"I confess I'm surprised." Pym began to rise, as if nothing had happened. "I knew about your power to control gravity, but did not think you had that control after so many years locked in a laboratory."
Lynn Sr. started to get irritated again, but Roberto stood between them, staring at the Ant-Man with severity.
"We're not here to entertain you, Dr. Pym. At the moment, the priority is the fact that you have put the lives of our children in danger."
The young heroes looked at the director of SHIELD in amazement, thinking they had heard it wrong.
"Sorry, sir, but what are you talking about?" Lincoln tried to talk seriously, but it was clear that he was scared.
"You can stop the act, kids." Lynn Sr. looked at them with a serious expression. "We already know everything." He looked at Lincoln sternly, as if disappointed with him. "And you, Lincoln Loud, are in too much trouble. When I tell your mother what you've been doing, she'll be extremely disappointed in you."
The four young heroes were perplexed, while the leader of the group only smiled slightly with the irony that Rita already knew all this.
"How did you find out?" Lynn Jr. asked suspiciously. "I myself only found today."
The Loud patriarch and the director of SHIELD looked at each other, wondering if it would be a good idea to reveal what they had done. However, they did not need to, since the Ant-Man walked to the girl, smiling amicably.
"You told them, Lynn." He put his hand on the girl's shoulder, looking reprehensively at both fathers. "Not on purpose, of course. It was thanks to this."
He squeezed the girl's shoulder tightly, making her outfit turn black and cover her entire body, making the girl look like a living statue of tar. He then placed his hand inside Lynn's gooey body, pulling out a tiny device the size of a grape. As he withdrew his hand, Lynn's body returned to her Quicksilver look, despite the girl now being a little nauseated.
"Despite my helmet give me the ability to communicate with insects, I get little signs from my Synthetic Klyntar costumes that tell me the user's health. The first time that Lynn used the her costume, it said that there was a small device hidden inside her chest, behind the first rib on the left. Thanks to that, those two not only knew where Lynn was going, but also what she was listening to." Pym smashed the device, dropping the pieces on the floor.
The kids looked at the Loud patriarch with a mixture of surprise and disgust. They could not believe what he had done.
"When did you do that?" Lynn stood before her father, looking at him angrily.
The patriarch tried to stay serious, but was overcome by shame. Watching one of his children look at him as if he were a monster made him feel awful.
"(Sigh) On the same day I suggested you to join the Avengers. While you were asleep, I drugged you and took you to the lab."
The young heroes were shocked by what they heard. Despite everything Lynn Sr. had done in recent years, they did not saw him as a mad scientist from a horror movie. Now he seemed to be as crazy as Hunter Spector and his plan for commanding ghosts.
"You do not seem very surprised, Pym." Roberto crossed his arms, looking at the scientist with some suspicion. "It's almost as if you've ever expected such a situation."
"But of course I expected a situation like that. Part of your friend's plan involved Lynn Jr. manipulating poor Lincoln to gain my trust. However, thanks to a little trick of mine during that dinner*, you still did not know he was Marvel Boy. So, as soon as Lynn left the room, he asked me to talk privately and told me about their plans."
Lincoln was a bit embarrassed, while Lynn began to realize how long her brother had been lying to her. She did not know what to think about her brother, but to be fair she did not know what to think about herself.
While the others absorbed what had been revealed, Lynn Sr. was quickly reviewing all the facts, arriving at an unpleasant conclusion.
"Did you know she should spy on you from the beginning, but still let her into the group? What would you have to gain from this?"
"In short? Pleasure to know all the time that I'm five steps ahead of you." Pym smugly smiled again, leaving the patriarch angry. "I did not expect it to end so fast, but at least I'm having a good time with all this."
"This is not over, Pym." Lynn Sr. stood in front of the scientist, narrowing his eyes. "I'll make sure you pay dearly for what you did. Not only that, but also I'm going to end your Avengers."
The young heroes were terrified, while the two parents looked at the Ant-Man victoriously.
He, on the other hand, was looking at Lynn Sr. as if he was confused.
"You can't do that!" Lincoln turned off his suit and stepped forward, leaving the adults surprised. "Dr. Pym helped us see what we can do, and how we can be useful to the world."
"It is true!" Leni opened her helmet, looking at her father with a seriousness he had never seen before. "Thanks to him, my dream is no longer a fantasy, but a possibility!"
"Even with all I learned, I only managed to control my powers when I began training with him." Ronnie took off her mask and stood beside the siblings, serious too.
The three looked at Lynn, who did not know what to do. On the one hand, she wanted to defend her siblings and her friend, but she was feeling used by both her father and the Ant-Man. Yet, she knew what to do.
"Of all the teams I've been in, that's for sure the best. It's not just because you do not like Dr. Pym that you may decide to end the Avengers."
The two parents looked at each other, completely perplexed. Lynn Sr. approached the young heroes, trying to appear more reasonable.
"Sorry, kids, but that's not open for discussion. We are your fathers and legal guardians, and we are saying that you can not keep this up."
"What he did is not only reckless but it is also illegal." Roberto tried to sound kinder, despite being furious at Pym be manipulating the kids. "I know you do not understand now, but what we're doing is for your own good."
The young heroes were about to cry when everyone was surprised by a laugh. Looking back, they saw the Ant-Man laughing as Luan when she went through a burst of laughter.
"Can I know what's so funny?" Lynn Sr. turned, looking at the avenger with a look of pure disdain.
"Haha! The funny thing is you think that you can end the Avengers because of permission." Pym wiped his tears, looking at the parents with certain arrogance. "From the beginning, I never needed your permission."
"What are you talking about?" Lynn Sr. was angry again, totally irritated by the other scientist's attitude.
"You are not the great Dr. Lynn Loud, super genius? Find out by yourself."
Lynn Sr. was about to advance against the avenger when everyone was surprised. Pym stopped smiling and began to cough violently, so that blood started to come out of his mouth. The avenger looked at his bloodied hand and was perplexed. Apparently, Spector's machine and Lynn Sr.'s powers had caused more damage than he believed to have suffered.
"(Coff, coff) Well, it seems I literally got the last laugh." Pym gave a small smile, before passing out.
The young heroes and their parents were totally paralyzed. Leni rushed over to her mentor to try to heal him, while the others focused on Lynn Sr., considering it to be a consequence of his gravitational powers.
"What did you do?" Lincoln asked, looking in horror at his father.
Meanwhile, in the Loud Tower...
Rita was reunited with her daughters, debating what they were going to eat. As usual, at Sunday dinner they would order food from some restaurant, but could not come to an agreement. Luna wanted a shepherd's pie; Luan wanted omelet; Lucy wanted spaghetti with extra sauce (preferably blood-red); the twins wanted burgers with fries and milkshake; and Lisa and Lily wanted soup.
Wanting to end the discussion quickly, Rita had an idea that would please everyone.
"How about some pizza with lots of cheese?"
The girls looked at each other, then answered in chorus. "YEAH!"
Rita was pleased to finally come to terms with her daughters. She picked up her phone to order pizza and saw that she had an unread message. She opened the message and read something that made her shocked, letting the phone fall on the carpet.
The sisters were worried about their mother, immediately going to her to see if she needed help. They sat her in the armchair and tried to calm their mother, who was almost hyperventilating.
While they were helping their mother, the girls did not pay any attention to the cell phone, or the message on the screen.
Rita, Lynn and Roberto are here and have discovered about the kids.
We will have to start the operation House Divided.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
*Meet The Louds (CH.13)
