Guess whose BAAACCCKK!
Me!
Anyways, here's your next chapter! This one is focused on Azari- who was a joy to write, by the way- and Pym, and is set roughly a year or so after the last chapter.
Hope you enjoy!
...
The day Pym first became... big was a long day for everyone, but it was longest of all for Azari.
From morning to night, Pym was complaining of feeling sore and achy. It was a strange occupation, to whine, for the youngest, for normally he was of the bright and chipper sort, never to be brought down long by pretty much anything. So, to hear the young boy mewl all day long was… odd, to say the least.
But perhaps the oddest thing of the entire situation was when Tony finally caved in to the child's constant whimpers of pain and took him to the medical bay, only to come back claiming that he could find no physical acclamation affecting him. Tony had then suggested Pym go to bed and sleep off whatever milady that he was plagued with, to which the child had miserably agreed.
Azari had thought that was the end of it.
It wasn't.
It was getting later in the evening, and Azari was in his Bungalow, quietly- and, more importantly, peacefully- reading when their was a loud, jarring knock on his door.
Azari frowned, curled a bit more into his chair, and went back to book. Someone else could deal with it.
But the knock came again, and again, and then it was a near constant pounding.
Azari frowned and stubbornly turned to another page of his book, acting as if he could make the nuisance go away through sheer force of will.
He initially thought he succeeded when the knocking stopped, and his grin was triumphant when he turned to yet another page of his book, believing that he would be left in peace.
He was soon proven wrong.
"Azari? A-Are you in there?"
That was Pym. Except, it wasn't Pym because Pym never sounded this upset or bothered. Ever. Pym's voice didn't crack. Pym didn't randomly show up at other people's bungalows in the middle of quiet time.
Pym never sounded uncertain.
"A-Azari?"
And so, with a reluctant sigh and a longing look at his book, Azari stood up and headed to the door. He threw it open and stared down at the younger with an annoyed expression painted across his face, only for it to melt upon seeing Pym's tear streaked face.
The younger boy was standing in his usual custom made yellow suit that Tony made for him upon the realization of the younger's shrinking abilities, which was created to shrink and grow with the youth. Except, instead of his usual bubbly, expressive posture that Azari was so used to seeing he had slightly curled into himself, hand wrapped around his stomach as if he was afraid that it might actually physically burst. Pym's face was screwed up in pain- tear tracks trailing down his cheeks- and his breathing was labored and scared and way too fast.
Needless to say, Azari felt the first tinges of panic creep up and down his spine. The electricity sparking up and making his tattoos glow before he forced it back down; now was not the time to play with his powers.
"Pym? Pym, what's going on? What's hurting? Pym!?"
The younger boy heaved in three deep breaths and grabbed on to the stair railings with his free hand for support. The boy clenched his eyes shut only to open them again, pain and panic and confusion and fear shining in the hazel orbs without any censorship.
"I d-don't know! Everything , and it's n-not stopping."
Pym grunted suddenly, hand slipping from the metal railing as he collapsed to the ground and thoroughly curled into himself, breaths shaky and fast and small whimpers escaping his mouth. Azari, panicked, dropped down besides them and placed a hand on a small shaking shoulder.
What was he supposed to do?
"Pym? Pym, c'mon. Pym, you need to breathe. PYM!"
The boy had arched back, crying out in pain, and then collapsed, shuddering and coughing and making loud whimpers of pain.
He didn't respond to Azari's prodding after that.
The prince himself was in full out panic mode and his hands were fluttering nervously all over Pym's slumped form. Finally, he quickly stood up and rushed to hit the emergency button that was in every child's bungalow. Pym needed Tony. Tony would make things better. Tony would know what to do.
Azari sat impatiently by Pym for several minutes, nervously checking on the overly tensed up ball of pain next to him every few seconds. Pym had curled up into a fetal position and was not breathing properly even as his eyes remained tightly clenched shut.
The time dragged on, and still Tony was nowhere in sight. Azari bit his lip, glanced at Pym as the younger gave another whimper, and then made up his mind.
If Tony wasn't going to come to them, Azari would bring Pym to Tony.
Slowly, as to not disturb the boy, Azari stood and picked the younger up. It was a good thing that Pym was so small, otherwise he would have never managed it.
From there, he made his laborious way down the steps and across the way, following the path that would eventually take him to Tony's lab. It was weird though, it was almost as if Pym was getting heavier with every step. As if he was getting bigger with every step.
But that was impossible… right?
Suddenly, Pym cried out and arched again, pushing himself out of Azari's arms and landing with a solid thunk on the earth below. Azari let out a whispered cursed and rushed forwards to check on him only to backpedal rapidly when Pym suddenly started to grow.
It was sudden and quick, and as much as Azari cared for his younger brother he also cared about not being squashed like a bug. Which was how he found himself turning tail and running down the path that led to Tony at full speed, the ominous noises of crashing and of Pym's oddly magnified sounds of pain following behind him.
And when at last the crashing stopped, Azari turned around to the sight of one giant Pym curled up in fetal position, the boy's stuttered breathing unnaturally loud.
The prince was even more lost as to what to do than before.
He took a deep breath. And another, and then made his way up to the giant Pym's face, where he placed a tentative hand on one oversized cheek.
"Pym?"
Nothing.
"Pym!?"
No response.
Azari frowned.
"PYM!"
This time, he shouted at the top of his lungs and added a little… shock to his words, blue tinged energy flowing down from his tattoos and striking the pale skin underneath his hands.
Pym's large brown eyes popped open and his large, large palm snapped up to swipe at whatever was bothering him. Azari could only watch as the massive hand swung forwards, his face filled with pained resignation, and when the hand made impact, only one thought filled his mind.
I should have kept reading my book.
He flew several feet through the air, the whole world seeming to pass by in slow motion, only to smash- hard- into the trunk of a tree with a resounding thump, bright flares of pain traveling up and down his back and ending with a brilliant white flash that encompassed his vision.
And then everything went dark.
Several minutes later, Azari woke up to Pym looking down at him- and he would never get used to such a sight- with wide, worried, pain filled eyes and one oversized finger fluttering over him nervously.
"-zari? Azari? I am so, so sorry. Are you okay? Azari, please wake up. Azari!"
He groaned, shifted, stilled as his entire back flared with pain, and then slowly sat up. The sight on Pym's face was worth it, though, when the kid gave a huge smile of relief and a happy cry.
"You're okay! I was so worried and I- You are okay, right?"
Azari tried for a smile, although he obviously failed when Pym's joyful expression fell flat and the worried hovering returned.
"Oh, I did hurt you! I am so, so sorry. I, uh, what should I do? I don't know what to do! Azari!?"
He groaned, sat a little straighter despite the burning of his ribs, and looked up.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. What about you? Are you okay?"
The younger, though now significantly taller, boy grimaced.
"It hurts to move; it's like my muscles are trying to crawl out of my skin," Pym shuddered, "but other than that I think I'm okay."
And Azari, tired and sore and bruised as he may be, could not help but let loose a relieved sigh. Anything was better than listening to Pym whimper and cry out in pain, and he never wanted to hear a sound like that again for as long as he lived.
"Good… think you can turn back?"
Pym, who had previously been crouched, fell backwards until he was in a sitting position. The landing caused a shockwave that rumbled the earth below and made Azari fall back down, leaving him laying on the dirt and staring up at the darkening sky.
Pym didn't even notice, instead, the younger boy sighed and buried his face in his hands, mumbling something that Azari couldn't catch.
"What was that?"
Pym looked down at him again, this time his eyes were wide with fear and just on this side of panic.
"I don't think I want to… What if it hurts?"
Azari blinked a couple times, swallowed hard; the idea hadn't even occurred to him. But still, Pym was his responsibility and he was therefore charged in taking care of him, and that included comforting him, at least, until Tony showed up.
Where was Tony, anyways?
"Hey, I'm sure it will be fine. Tony should be here soon, and he'll know how to fix it."
Pym, upon hearing the news, brightened up. And so they sat- or, in Azari's case, laid down- in the dying rays of the sun, watching as the light faded from the sky.
Eventually, they heard the tell-tale sound of machinery and the sight of Tony riding a strange rover-like thing came into view. The man's face was pinched in panic and he was shouting out his questions before he even came into clear view.
Once he saw the scene in front of him, however, he came to an abrupt stop, staring up at the giant sized Pym with a look of dawning comprehension on his face.
The man, upon checking that the larger-than-usual boy was well, walked around Pym's giant foot and came to sit by Azari, who had yet to sit up.
"You alright?"
Azari nodded, eyes closed.
"You sure?"
He sighed, flopping an arm over his eyes.
"I think I bruised my ribs, but other than that I'm alright, Tony. It's just… It's been a long day."
And Tony nodded, as if he completely understood what Azari was talking about, and Azari gazed at the night sky above them, wishing he had his book and had never left his bungalow.
Eventually, with much pleading and the promise of ice cream, they managed to convince Pym to attempt shrinking back to his usual size. The boy took several deep breaths, clenched his eyes shut, and before Azari's very eyes shrunk down into his usual height. He was just about to smile and congratulate Pym on the successful transformation when the boy's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he promptly collapsed.
Luckily for Pym, Azari had fast reflexes and was able to catch him before he hit the ground. Still holding his precious cargo, he looked up at Tony, panicked, and asked, "What happened to him!?"
Tony knelt down besides him, pressing two fingers against Pym's neck to check his pulse and shaking his head.
"I'm not sure. It's probably just the overexertion from transforming, but I'll take him to the medbay and double check, just to make sure."
Azari glanced down at Pym's lax face, noting how very young he looked and the way the boy curled into him, as if seeking warmth.
"I'll carry him."
And so he did.
...
So what did you think? I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the story, and any advice you might have!
I now have some lovely people I should like to thank!
To FangirlExtreme6035 and Fangirlingovermarvel, who Favorited and Followed this story; THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LOVELY SUPPORT YOU WONDERFUL SOULS! :D :D :D :D :D
To Tori and Fangirlingovermarvel, who were my lovely reviewers from last chapter, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Your kind words really made my day and I hope you know how much I appreciate them. Getting this kind of feedback is part of what makes writing fanfiction so lovely.
To Tori (Guest): Hey Tori! Thank you so much for the compliments! I'm so glad that you enjoyed my writing and I hope you like this chapter too! Torunn's chapter is already halfway written, but I think I'm going to save it for the last chapter of this fic; I hope you don't mind! Anyways, thank you for your lovely review and I hope to hear from you again soon. :)
Thanks for reading, everyone!
The next update should be tomorrow!
Until next time,
Mashpotatoe Queen.