Except for some minor dizziness and nausea, Mary Jane found the process of shrinking between the quantum foam to be a fairly tolerable experience. Even with the ton of gear Pym had abruptly strapped to her back before beginning the process.
"The shrinking process is based on my own discovery of the Pym Particle," the Doctor droned. "I must warn you that long-term exposure leads to side effects, but short term exposure generally does not."
"What kind of side effects?" she asked.
"In my own case, my DNA has bonded with the particle, and I am able to manipulate my own size without the need for exposure. But that is only after a lifetime of working directly with the particle."
"So tell me about this gear?" Mary Jane said. "What does it all do?"
"You will be equipped with a standard, vacuum style capture device for Harry or any other souls you would like to isolate."
For the first time, Mary Jane wondered about Pym's motives. "Is there any other soul you were hoping to isolate?"
"No. Of course not," Pym said, blinking. "Just better to be prepared for any eventuality."
"Right."
"The other item is the hellfire flamethrower. Superheated particles of their own universe, guaranteed to fry even the toughest demon hide."
"In other words," MJ said, inspecting the equipment. "Don't shoot yourself in the foot."
"To say the least," Pym said. "And be on your guard. Many of the creatures in this dimension are feral animals, but the more intelligent ones will be more devious than you can imagine. Trust no one in this universe, no matter how friendly they may seem."
"Duly noted, Doctor," MJ said coolly. Hank finished last minute modifications on their suits and then they were ready.
Later, MJ reflected, that it was rather like travelling on a bus. Only the bus stops were weird alien cities. And instead of riding in a vehicle, she was tossed into a giant Kaleidoscope between ports.
They arrived on a craggy surface of rock with a strong smell of sulfur in the air.
"This is Hell?" MJ said through her breath mask.
"Yes," Dr. Pym said through his Ant Man helmet. "Remember that Harry's spirit organism is bound by three distinct forces. The first and weakest force springs from this area."
"And this force is…alive?" Mary Jane paused as she saw a pack of doglike demons sneaking up behind Pym. She jumped forward and sprayed the area with hellfire. The demons retreated with howls of pain.
"Excellent," Pym said. "You've picked up on the operation of my weapon quite quickly."
Something beeped on Hank's suit, and soon they were both fending off waves of angry demon dogs, ranging from housecat size to horse size. Just when Mary Jane thought she would be overwhelmed by burning corpses, Pym would shrink them to microscopic scale, effectively clearing the battlefield.
When they had swept the area clean, Pym followed the readouts on his instrumentation to a pile of large rocks. He pushed them aside until he uncovered what appeared to be a large, furry, orange satyr, snoring loudly.
"Mary Jane, meet the Demon of Greed, Belial."
The creature continued snoring.
"Go on, Mrs. Parker. Take him out."
MJ paused. "You want me to shoot a sleeping demon?"
"The operative word here is 'demon,' my dear."
"I can't just shoot someone in their sleep," MJ protested.
"Mary Jane, I thought you understood the seriousness of this matter. We only have a limited time in his realm before Mephistopheles notices us. We must finish our business quickly."
The orange satyr yawned and stretched.
"Maybe we could try reasoning with him first," MJ said.
Pym sighed and sat on the ground. "It's almost as though no one explained to you what a demon is."
Belial was gradually waking up. "Who's that?" he grunted.
"Mister Belial?" she said. "I'm Mary Jane Parker."
"Lord," he coughed.
"What?" she said.
"I'm known as Lord Belial, not Mister," the satyr grunted. "What do you want?"
"I'm here to ask you for the soul of my friend, Harry Osborn," she said.
"Harry," he mused. "Yes, I believe I own a third of that stock. Spoiled rich kid, right? Classic avarice case."
"That's not quite true," MJ said. "Harry gave a large portion of his company's profits to charity. He even founded a charitable foundation."
"Yeah yeah, I know," Belial said. "And he also embezzled a great deal of those funds into manufacturing weapons and chemical performance enhancements."
"He was under the influence of those enhancements," Mary Jane argued. "And his problems all came from his father."
"Look, lady," Belial said. "I ain't no child psychologist, and I ain't a tax lawyer. I'm the guy who gets a stake in the greedy souls. You wanna take my interest, you have to give me something of equal value."
"What kind of something?" Mary Jane asked.
"Okay, that's enough," Pym said, standing up. "We're not making any deals with the denizens of this dimension."
"And who are you, sparky?" Belial said. "What gives you the right to make decisions for the lady?"
"You will not be getting my full name, Lord Belial," Pym said. "You may refer to me as Goliath."
"A clever one," Belial said. "But if you hope to gain my share of your friend's soul, you'll have to give me something."
"Oh, I'll give you something, all right," Pym said and hefted his flamethrower.
"Wait," MJ said. "You're just going to kill him without even giving him a chance?"
"Kill me?" Belial chortled with laughter. "You smell like mortals, intruding in my realm. How do you plan to kill me?"
"The same way we killed all of your minions," Mary Jane answered. "With hellfire."
"What manner of mortals are you that can manipulate hellfire?" Belial asked.
MJ turned the barrel of her weapon to the side and fired a short burst into the air.
Belial smelled the air and widened his eyes. "Okay," he said, raising his hands. "I don't want any trouble. Goliath, Mary Ann, why don't we cut a deal? I'll relinquish my portion of Harry Osborn's soul, if you agree not to kill me or any more of my followers."
Pym spoke. "We agree not to kill you or any of your followers for the duration of our visit. As long as you agree to be our guide."
"Done, done," Belial said. "But you mortals are foolish indeed if you think you will escape this realm with your prize."
"You had better hope that we do," Pym threatened. "Now let's get a move on."