A mundane assignment that wound up anything but mundane! Ant-Man and Wasp have uncovered something most incredible that's well and truly out of this world! Join in, true believers, as the Avengers seek to unravel the mystery behind-
Chapter 9: 459
"…and then I completely totaled his suit, like it was nobody's business. So, yeah, good times had by all."
"Wow. Who knew the hero life could be so… smashy. Oh wait, I did. Because I fix that stuff all the time."
"That contractor work still paying off?"
"Big time. Especially since you and your Avengers friends have a habit of breaking half the city during your hero-villain brawls. So, yeah, thanks to you I've got plenty of work to do."
"Who would've guessed. Alright, I gotta get ready for touchdown. This lab won't look after itself."
"Alright alright, go be the big ol' superhero. Just don't forget about your kid brother, alright?"
"Drinks on the weekend?"
"We better hit up an arcade or something while we're at it."
"Deal. Catch you later, Matt." Connor agreed before hanging up. Slipping his cellphone back into his pocket, he leaned back in his seat as the Quinjet soared through the night sky.
"Matt is your kid brother?" Janet asked from a forward seat.
"Well, it's short for 'Matthias'. Me and others just call him Matt for short." Connor answered. "He lives just outside New York but works in the city as a contractor."
"That's… actually kinda cool." Janet mused. "Oh! I have this one room in my penthouse I've been dying to get remodeled. Do you think he'd do it?" She wondered with a big, pleading grin and wide eyes.
"He might, depending on the job. I can get you his number." Connor replied.
"Cool! Thank you!" Janet eagerly thanked him.
"What room could possibly need to be fixed up, Jan? Your penthouse has always been immaculate." Hank queried from the pilot's seat.
"I'm thinking of having the guest bathroom redone. Feels old everytime I walk into it. Needs to be freshened up." She replied.
"What? Since when?" A shocked Hank responded in dismay. "Ugh, nevermind. Not the first time a perfectly fine room has been completely altered."
"What, I like to spice things up!" Janet replied. "And that reminds me, I need a vacation. I haven't set for outside of New York since becoming an Avenger. And no, the missions don't count!" She added, wagging her finger in Hank's direction. "What's say you and I go find a change of pace for a bit, Hank?" She asked. Behind them, unseen, Connor slumped in his seat as his expression fell.
"Why? We can't take time off, especially when we're needed so often." Hank responded.
"I'm just saying it doesn't have to be work work work. We could get away, take a break, have some fun! You know, the kind that isn't tied to being an Avenger." Janet suggested cheerily.
"Well, uh, they say all work and no play makes you dull, or… something…" Connor quietly mused, trailing off and staring out the window. Outside, mountainous forests gave way to the twinkling lights of a large facility built into the side of a mountain, complete with a massive satellite dish high above on the peak. Hank guided the Quinjet to an open area and touched down, landing rear extending to cushion the slight bump of impact.
"Science is fun." He remarked, to which Janet sighed and rolled her eyes as the trio got up from their chairs.
"To an extent." Connor chipped in. "After a long day in the lab I sure could've used the beach right after… if I didn't work too late."
"See? You get it!" Janet stated emphatically. "Come on, Hank. Let's do something that doesn't involve a lab!"
"Maybe after we finish dealing with this lab." The biochemist responded as he made for the boarding ramp.
"After this lab it'll be another lab," Janet grumped, following right behind him. "Maybe Tony will go with me." She muttered, just loud enough for him to hear. At that, Connor felt the sudden urge to burst and shout 'I'll go with you!' But he held his tongue.
"Tony? Why would you ask Tony?" Hank pried in mild bewilderment.
"You mean aside from the good looks, money and super-armor." A feminine voice answered, approaching from the lab. Their gazes drawn towards the woman, revealed was tall blonde with bright blue eyes, glad in baggy Air Force garb complete with a long red scarf around her neck.
"Carol!" Janet squealed, racing over with a smile. "I'm so glad you called! I missed you!" She cried, throwing her arms around Major Carol Danvers and giving her a hug. The two had met years ago when Janet's father, Vernon Van Dyne, was contracted by the government to conduct experiments and perform research on behalf of the Air Force's
Special Investigations division. Despite the age gap and differing tastes, Carol being five years older and joining the military right out of high school, the two hit it off and remained good friends.
"I missed you too, Jan." Carol replied with a smile, returning the hug. "But, actually, Hank's the one I need to see. I need his help." She clarified, causing Janet to shoot her a quizzical look.
"I figured as much from your call, and given the nature of this place I've brought along someone who be even more helpful." Hank replied. "Major, this is Connor Peterson. Fellow Avenger and something of a tech whiz." He introduced, turning to gesture to their grey-scale comrade.
"I go by 'Cybernaut' too. Pleasure to meet you, Major Danvers." Connor greeted, running a hand through his hair. It concurred to him that his mask was down but there was no point raising it now. Carol raised an eyebrow.
"Good with tech, you say?" She mused.
"Working with technology is certainly my strong suit." Connor replied simply.
"He can talk to computers. Like literally." Janet whispered in a tone that very much was not a whisper. Brushing off her friends antics, Carol very much liked the prospects Connor had to offer.
"Then maybe its your help I need." She determined, leading them deeper into the facility.
The complex was filled with technological devices and all manner of computers, Connor able to sense dozens of transmissions and data feeds swirling around him. This place was truly a complex network and a powerful one at that, he could feel it with every fibre of his being.
Leading them up a flight of stairs, Carol directed the trio to a monitoring room with a vast skylight to reveal the starry sky above.
"Wait, what's this place again?" Wasp wondered as she looked around in awe.
"Try to keep up, Jan," Hank remarked as he dutifully followed Carol towards a computer bank. Huffing in annoyance, Janet put her hands on her hips.
"Try to keep up, Jan. Ugh!" She repeated in a sarcastic, mocking tone. Placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, Connor offered her a soft and assuring look before Janet started walking again, Connor's hand lingering on her bare skin as long as he could before she left his touch.
"This is a joint military-SHIELD facility working with one of the most advanced space-based telescopes ever designed." Hank described, his voice nearly vibrating with giddiness.
"Sounds like ol' Hubble's got some competition." Connor mused with a whistle.
"Has been for the past ten years." Carol answered, pausing by the central console where a man was seated at the controls. "This is Doctor Philip Lawson. Our lead scientist." She introduced. Rising from his seat, the dark haired, green-eyed man was clean shaven and wore a crisp, freshly pressed blue Air Force uniform. Pristine and perfectly composed in every sense of the word.
"I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am to meet you. Major Danvers has told me a lot about you." He said, shaking Hank's hand. Janet approached Carol, sizing up the new individual.
"Ooooh, he's cute!" She told Carol in a voice that was far from a whisper. Hank shot her a frown while Connor raised an eyebrow, Janet simply waving at the jealous look on her boyfriend's face.
"Subtle, Jan." Carol sighed, rolling her eyes. "Doctor Lawson, Hank's brought along Connor Peterson to give us a hand. Apparently he has some history and skill regarding out current issue." She informed her colleague.
"Well, the more the merrier." Lawson agreed, seemingly ignoring Janet's remark.
"This is what I wanted to show you, Hank," Carol said, striding over to the terminal and keying up a readout, "we're linked to SHIELD's orbital telescope. It spotted the object a few days ago."
"Object?" Connor repeated, raising a brow.
"An 'unidentified object' if you will." Lawson inferred.
"The team here thought it was a comet at first, but it was moving faster than anything they've ever seen. We're trying to get a better look at it." Carol continued.
"Sounds like this is a bit more than an IT problem." Connor mused, crossing his arms.
"And here I thought you wanted help with fixing the place, not… identifying a cosmic anomaly, Carol." Hank agreed.
"Live feed from the telescope is coming in now. The data stream is to the left of the screen, Doctor Pym." Philip told them. Appearing on the screen was a bright violet object, streaking across the starry cosmos. It was shaped strikingly like a star, pulsing and glowing with unseen energy. The screen zoomed in, revealing a fuzzy outline as the telescope reached its maximum limit.
"Hard to make out." Hank mused, stroking his chin.
"Unfortunately this is our best bet. The teams tried tracking it earlier only to find out it was too far away… moving fast but still out of our optimal range." Lawson explained.
"Nah, there's ways," Connor interjected, stepping up beside the seated Lawson, "just need to rearrange some pixels is all." His hand settling on the console, he let his mind intertwine with the data transmissions it was giving off, its every act becoming one with his thoughts.
"I'm not sure if that's-" Lawson abruptly stopped when the screen shimmered, the image slowly crystallizing until the live feed was broadcast in the highest definition imagineable.
"Who would've guessed your extra pixels were hiding behind some excess lines of code?" Connor mused, quite pleased with his efforts. "Used to do this with the family computer all the time."
"Wow! Color me impressed," Carol mused, "any other secret skills I should know about?" She queried.
"I make a mean macaroni casserole." Connor answered. Hank, meanwhile took to studying the image in total clarity. His scientific mind raced for an answer. Stellar composition? A very large comet capable of generating a brighter atmosphere than Halley's or Halebopp? A small planetoid? The possibilities were plentiful but none truly match the description of what he was viewing.
"What're you thinking, Carol?" Hank inquired.
"I think it's extraterrestrial." The Major answered honestly. "But since I'm not a fan of everyone thinking I'm crazy, I wanted an expert opinion." She explained.
"Woah, wait, aliens?" Janet cut in, blue eyes wide. "That's just crazy."
"Seriously?" Connor commented with a deadpan tone. "You see the kind of things we deal with day by day and the prospect of aliens is crazy to you?"
"See what I mean?" Carol remarked. Hank allowed himself a small smirk and returned his attention to the screen.
"Hm… composition includes several unknown elements but nothing that suggests anything biological." He noted thoughtfully.
"Does it have to be biological?" Connor asked. "Could be like something out of The Day the Earth Stood Still." He suggested.
"That's just old television, Connor. And incredibly inaccurate." Hank replied with a shake of his head. "Alien life has to be biological in nature in order to survive in deep space, as well as evolve to environmental conditions. Simply because biology is far more flexible and adaptive, as science has revealed."
"Well… what if they're living machines? Sentient technology? Autonomous robotic organisms, or something like that… Wouldn't that qualify as aliens?" Connor pressed, feeling as if his own specialty was left out.
"You've been watching too many Transformers movies." Hank replied dismissively.
"I'm just a man of culture, that's all." The technopath remarked with a smirk, causing Janet to giggle.
"Anyway, I'm hard-pressed to call this extraterrestrial life of any sort as I'm not seeing any signs of intelligence." Hank continued. All of a sudden, the object swerved, breaking the linear path the telescope had been tracking. It then began to close in, growing brighter and brighter as the gap between them began to dissipate. Those watching were quite surprised by the unexpected reaction.
"I think it heard you." Connor remarked.
"Hey! It turned!" Janet realized. "It looks like its… coming right at us?" The feed was abruptly reduced to static as the satellite telescope was completely annihilated by the anomaly. "Uh… that seems bad." Janet pointedly stated.
"That seems worse." Hank added, pointing towards the glass ceiling as the violet construct streaked by overhead. the five turned to watch it shatter the distant satellite dish, crashing through and causing a tremendous shockwave that shook the entire base, briefly illuminating them all with an unearthly light before the power cut completely and they were lost to darkness.
The computer screen began to flicker as backup power kicked in, creating a slow reboot as the facility's systems were gradually restored. "Philip! What's happening?" Carol demanded.
"One of the radar towers went offline," the doctor reported, "it caused a surge that blew back into our systems. I'm trying to reroute power."
"Went offline? Something blew up!" Janet exclaimed emphatically. Lawson did not react to her and merely turned to the three Avengers.
"Connor, can you do something to fix this?" He inquired.
"I should. Gimme a sec…" Stepping up to the console, Connor pressed his hands to the device and attuned his mind to the data transmissions. He could hear the alarmed cries of programs and signals struggling to reconnect, calling across vast distances as they tried but failed to do as Philip was attempting to command. He helped them, bridging gaps as he rerouted power and pathways as he became the bridge to allow data and signals to connect. The facility's capabilities were directed into his mind, dispelled at his command to reform its systems and bring order out of chaos.
The static gave way to live images and proper scans as power was restored, the lights switching back on and powering up fully. "Whatever disabled the orbital telescope just made earthfall." Hank noted, based on the trajectory numbers. "I'd estimate about three-and-a-quarter miles from the observatory." Jan's eyes widened fearfully.
"Well that's a pretty big coincidence." Carol noted.
"No kidding." Connor agreed as he left the computer and focused on reality. "Based on the data from the satellite, that thing was seemingly able to determine who was controlling it and trailed it right here. The trajectory is scarily precise, like it was following a path." He revealed. Both Hank and Janet could attest to Connor's data-mapping technopathic skills and took his statement to heart.
"So… what're we saying; we're under attack?" Janet asked.
"I'm not saying that…" Hank began.
"I am." Carol cut in, lifting a pulse rifle into her hands and priming the charge, "Who's up for a little 'first contact'?" She asked. Janet and Connor readily volunteered, Hank doing so very reluctantly, while Philip's eyes narrowed in a concerned yet discerning way…
Janet and Carol piled into the base's humvee and drove towards the smoking impact crater, clearly marked by the column of smoke rising into the night sky. Connor took flight using his magnets and metal-lined boots while Hank shrunk down and hitched a ride on his shoulder. With the men alone by themselves, Connor thought it might be appropriate to strike up a conversation about a particularly relevant topic.
"I guess what they say must be true; opposites attract." Connor mused, masked up and embracing his 'Cybernaut' look.
"What's that?" Hank wondered, his silver Ant-Man helmet in place.
"Just watching you and Janet tonight." Connor explained. "You two are definitely opposites." Every word was like a searing burn lashed across his heart, his emotions trapped in a tug of war between reality and fantasy.
"Well, yeah… she doesn't really share my passion for science." Hank slowly agreed.
"She's interested primarily because you are." Connor replied, having seen similar situations unfold throughout his high school and college days. "But it's not her strong suit."
"I know. If only I could bring her around, show her the fun side of science." Hank mused aloud. For some reason, Connor felt really irritated by that. Hank wanted Janet to change for him?
"Well… look at it from her side. She wants to do stuff that she finds fun." He suggested, keeping his cool. Some more thoughts came to him, ones that would be the right thing to say but not what he wanted to say. And yet… "I… It may not be my place, but could I offer you some advice?" He hesitantly asked.
"Well… alright," Hank said with a slow nod. Exhaling softly, Connor kept his eyes on the treetops whizzing past him as the glowing column of smoke grew larger in the background.
"If you want to show a girl you care, if you want her to know you well and truly love her, then you need to give of yourself. Sacrifice some time in your lab to do something she wants to do." Hank offered a thoughtful hum.
"Did this work for you?" He eventually asked.
"Well, as you can see, I'm quite single." Connor responded with a slight chuckle. "I'm hoping it'll work out better for you two."
"Erm… right…" Hank slowly replied, his voice lacking all confidence.
Meanwhile, in the humvee, Carol saw fit to have a similar heart-to-heart talk with Janet. Connor was not the only one to clue in on their relationship struggle. "You're being kinda horrible to him, you know that right?" She stated.
"Who?"
"Hank, genius." Carol clarified. "You can tell he's upset."
"Oh no no no! You actually have to have emotions before you can get upset!" Janet emphatically responded. Carol sighed.
"Jan… you have to know you've got him wrapped around your finger." She proffered, holding up her pinky for emphasis.
"Whatever. From day one it's always been 'strictly business'. Well, strictly science." Janet replied, sounding annoyed.
"Yeah, well, if you keep playing your little jealousy games with him, he is going to strictly hate you." Carol said, her words spoken almost clairvoyantly.
"Well… that would be better than not getting noticed at all." Janet huffed. No matter what she did, Hank was always nose-deep in a microscope, always looking at anything but her. She wanted the attention, for the man she had feelings for to do something in return. The lip-service was no longer cutting it for Janet. She wanted action from Hank and he wasn't giving her what she wanted. She wanted to be seen, to be noticed, to not be treated like some lab assistant.
Heck, Connor seemed to be giving her that more lately…
"Call me silly, but I'm thinking we're close." She suddenly said as he eyes locked with the smoking edge of a crater just in front of them. Carol pulled the humvee to a halt as Connor and Hank touched down beside them.
"Well… that's hard to miss." Cybernaut mused, staring at the glowing purple epicentre down below. Hopping off his shoulder, Hank grew to full size as Janet and Carol stepped out, looking around for signs of the new arrival.
"Also kinda disappointing," Carol remarked, seeing nothing.
"And you're sure this isn't aliens?" Janet asked, looking to Hank.
"There was no biological component and that means no life." He replied.
"Robots in disguise…" Connor hummed, nudging him. Hank merely sighed and rolled his eyes. "Think about it." Connor pressed.
"You think we should call in the other Avengers?" Janet asked nervously.
"For what?" Carol questioned. As they spoke, Hank stooped down to investigate a symmetrical dark spot on the ground. A much smaller crater, it appeared to be lined with ash and some softer, possibly biological compound.
Had something been killed right here? An animal perhaps…
As he investigated, Connor let his mind drift, reaching out with his technopathic senses. The familiar thrumming rhythms of Earth-based technology had been left behind at the facility. Out here there was very little for him to tap into; the irregular chittering from Hank's helmet, the choir-like hum from melded systems in Carol's rifle, the communal chatter and harmonious back-and-forth from the humvee's internal systems… as well as something else. Something he could not yet discern.
"Alright Hank, talk to me." Carol inquired.
"There's something here…" Hank mused thoughtfully, checking out the forest around them.
"Yeah, aliens!" Janet determined emphatically.
"Let's keep moving… and it's not aliens." Hank concluded. "Connor? Anything?"
"Something… just on the edge of my peripheral. I can't make it out, but it doesn't seem… normal." The technopath described. A sudden crackling of branches sent a jolt of shocked alertness through them all, Janet shrinking instinctively and firing off several stings that struck only trees and nothing more.
The group hesitantly relaxed, believing the noise to stem from nothing more than a fallen twig. Then, Connor's mind came to life with a sudden surge of data transfer as he detected a new system powering up. It was like a foreign language, suddenly rising in pitch and revealing its presence… behind them. "Down!" He cried, grabbing Carol and hurling them both the ground as a sizzling bolt of emerald energy shot past overhead, impacting with the forest with explosive force. Hank and Janet moved incredibly quickly to avoid getting hit, Wasp whirling around as her hands glowed with powerful bio-electrical energy.
"Where is it?!" She frantically asked, seeing nothing. No one responded, unable to give her a positive affirmation. Her gaze swept the forest, blue eyes wide with fright, her heart was pounding almost as loudly as the buzz from her wings.
Suddenly the air shimmered slightly, and Wasp swore she could see a pair of glowing green eyes amid the dark woods.
Firing off a volley of biostings, she struck the trees and the groud with a concentrated barrage, hoping to nail whatever that thing was. But the forest remained still and unmoving, offering no reaction to her attack. "Connor! Where is it?!" The technopath was focused, his irons in hand and forming batons as he swept the greenery with his eyes and their surroundings with his mind. Something was here, but the foreign nature of the data skewed his attempts to locate it. It was almost like it was all around them.
"Alright, I changed my mind, call your team in." Carol urged, aiming down the sights of her rifle. "Especially invisible-monster-detector man." In response, Hank adjusted the settings of his helmet, the optical array shifting to a spectroscopic view that allowed him access to infrared and thermal scanning. It allowed him to trace the radioactive energy from the crater towards the tree line… and right to the same glowing green eyes.
Loosing a gasp as the glow intensified, Hank shrunk down as Carol and Connor rolled out of the way, the energy blast exploding mere feet from where they'd been standing. Surging ahead, Wasp unleashed dozens of biostings in retort, striking forest but nothing more.
"Okay… we're officially in trouble!" She said, shivering slightly.
"Ya think?!" Carol remarked as she picked herself up. Connor soon joined them and they watched as trails of ants began to move along the forest floor, drawn towards a singular point in numbers too vast to be natural. Carol took aim…
"No! Wait," Janet stopped her, having seen such things before, "it's Hank." They kept watching as the ants began to seemingly crawl on thin air, forming a condensed wave of biological matter that wrapped around an invisible structure. They crawled higher and higher, revealing a body that was very gangly and all limbs with a squat torso and a small, dome-shaped head framed by glowing green eyes.
It raised its ant-covered hands, curiously examining them as if confused and surprised. "Invisible-monster-detector man has the day off." Hank quipped as he grew back to full size.
"This is probably your idea of having a good time, isn't it?" Janet accused with a grumpy look on her face.
"Except for the shooting… yes." Hank affirmed, causing her to huff in annoyance.
"Guys… what is that?" Carol questioned, her gaze ensnared by the glowing green eyes of this thing. Suddenly they intensified, but no beam shot forth. Instead, they generated pulsing waves of sonic disruptor energy, bowling over the foursome and purging the ants from its body with a single sustained blast. As the heroes crawled to their feet, the creature finally stepped into the light.
Revealed to them all was a body of metal and circuits, purple and silver bound together with ribbons of green energy flowing across its frame. Long arms dangled almost to the ground as equally long legs allowed it to tower over them all.
"Aha! A robot! Score one for Transformers!" Connor whooped with a smirk.
"More like War of the Worlds." Hank corrected. "Ow!" A sudden pain surged through his shoulder as Janet kicked him.
"I thought you said it wasn't aliens!" She questioned with a frown.
"I never said it was an alien robot..." Hank tried to explain in his defence.
"No, but I did." Connor remarked, feeling quite pleased with himself. The mechanoid stalked towards them, heavy footfalls causing the ground to shudder with each step.
"No sudden moves." Hank urged in a whisper.
"What? Are you on its side or something?!" Janet protested. "It's an evil robot!"
"Yeah, I'm gonna shoot it now if that's okay with you all." Carol cut in, raising her rifle as her finger rested heavily on the trigger.
"Between the eyes, it's gotta have a brain." Connor quickly suggested.
"No, wait! It might've been acting in self-defence." Hank countered, gently pressing down on the barrel of her gun in an effort to lower it. "It might not even understand what's happening here, so don't make any threatening moves."
"Hank, in case you haven't noticed, we didn't shoot first. It did!" Connor retorted. Suddenly affirming their suspicions, the robot unleashed an energy blast from its eyes, causing them to scatter as it struck the ground with a fireball of energy. Wasp immediately went on the offensive, buzzing its head and unleashing a barrage of biostings that struck its armored helm. Carol did similarly, firing from a kneeling position and landing scattered hits that merely ricocheted off its chassis.
"You may wanna stop that, I think it's focusing on your weapon!" Hank exclaimed.
"What, like Predator?" Connor wondered, using his magnets to sent his irons hurtling towards the mechanoid at breakneck speeds.
"I'll give it a better look!" Carol retorted, unleashing a rapid-fire volley just before the robot shot her rifle out of her hands and knocked her over with a quick blast form its optic beams. Janet took up the slack, firing sting after sting as Connor did his best to find a weak point in the head. But given he was unable to devote his whole focus, the robot remained a mass of indecipherable data written in a gibberish script he could not comprehend. Just like the Zodiac Key, it would require some intense concentration in order to crack.
Shrinking down, Hank mounted a flying ant and zipped over to Wasp. "Jan, Connor, stop! Stop attacking it!"
"Why? It attacked us first!" Wasp shot back
"She's got a point there, its intentions are obvious!" Cybernaut added in agreement.
"Please!" Hank shouted in a pleading tone. Pausing, but not really wanting to, Janet weighed the options in her mind before relenting with a frustrated growl, the glow around her hands fading. Seeing she had stopped, Connor recalled his irons and held them tight. A tense silence ensued as they watched and waited for the robot to act. Eventually it simply turned and started walking, passing between them all without further confrontation.
"Huh… that was embarrassing." Janet muttered, watching it go with a slightly puzzled look on her face.
"It has to be heading for the observatory." Hank realized. "Carol, drive ahead and evacuate everybody. We'll buy you some time." With a nod, Carol sprinted to the humvee and hopped in.
"You guys better be alive when I get back." She called out before throwing the vehicle into reverse and barreling away at top speed.
"Buy some time?" Janet repeated, sounding incredulous. "Let me guess, you're gonna try and talk to it." She surmised.
"We don't even know if that thing is capable of sentient speech. Could just be a war droid for all we know." Connor added.
"I know. But I'm going to be very firm and hopefully get my point across." Hank replied, toggling the opposite particle regulator on his belt. Hitting himself with a blast of blue, Hank grew into his colossal Giant Man form to match the size of the robot. "Connor, slow him down for me?"
"Here's hoping alien metal is magnetic." Connor mused as he stowed his irons and took flight, giving chase with Hank and Janet right behind him.
Not long after…
By himself in the observatory, Philip Lawson considered the situation presenting itself. It was unfortunate, the timing off and his efforts too little. Sliding back the sleeve of his uniform, a strange device around his wrist was revealed and he contemplated using it… and the truths that would be revealed if he did.
Were they ready for such a thing? Or did he have no choice but to do as he saw fit and hope for the best? The arrival of this sentry was not in the best interests of anyone…
"Philip!" Carol's cry startled him as he hurriedly fixed his sleeve and turned to her. "We're evacuating, you've got to clear out! We've got a big problem." She breathlessly explained.
"What kind of problem?" He wondered, feigning naivety. A shadow suddenly fell over him and he looked up in shock as the hulking form of Giant Man came hurtling down from above. Carol caught sight at the last minute and hurriedly shoved them both out of the way as Hank crashed through the skylight, slamming into the floor with a groan.
Flowing him through the same hole, the robot descended via jets of flame sprouting from the soles of its feet as it touched down before the two. "Huh. Nevermind." Philip remarked, sizing it up. The robot began to advance, Wasp and Cybernaut flying in through the skylight hole to attack the mechanoid.
"Carol! Get outta here!" Wasp urged, barraging it with her stings.
"We'll buy you some time!" Cybernaut echoed, his irons ricocheting off its chassis in a rapid attempt to try and pierce its hide. Carol joined in to do her part, firing on the robot and placing herself between it and Lawson.
"Phil, Go! I'll cover you!" She ordered as its optics began to glow. Unleashing another energy beam, it would've struck them had Hank not suddenly recovered and grappled the robot from behind, trapping it in a head-lock and forcefully guiding its beam away from the two. It impacted with a wall, detonating a power source and triggering a potent explosion that engulfed Philip and Carol. Lawson moved swiftly, grabbing Carol and using his body to shield her from the blast. As he did, a green aura expanded to surround them both, Lawson's clothes oddly flickering as if they weren't real…
The energy surge combined with the concussive shockwave from the explosion struck Carol in the most direct way possible. The energy radiation flooded her body, filling her with such potent power that she gasped and fell unconscious… but not before her eyes glowed for a brief moment.
Hank struggled to contain the mechanoid, stumbling backwards as its beam cut through the room uncontrollably, slicing through walls, the roof, even a large ventilator system that quickly fell to pieces and collapsed… right on top of Janet.
Seeing the trouble and acting instinctively, Connor caught the diminutive woman in his hand and held out his free arm, using his magnets to create a barrier between them and the debris. In spite of its protective qualities, he was almost crushed as the heavy metal drove him down into the floor, pinning him and obstructing Hank's view.
"Jan!" He cried in alarm, his focus lost just long enough to allow the robot to reach behind and grab him, unleashing a powerful electric shock that made Hank scream in pain before collapsing. The robot's head rotated around 180 degrees, its eyes aglow as it prepared to unleash yet another deadly blast.
But then something shot it from behind… something that wasn't Carol's rifle. The robot spun its head around and registered a different attacker.
Standing over Carol's body, a man in white and green armor held a pistol in hand, his face mostly concealed by a white helmet topped with a broad mohawk but allowed his glowing green eyes to shine through.
Shunting the rubble off of them, Connor released Janet as they both got a good look at the newcomer, his weapon morphing into a fluid substance and disappearing into his gauntlet. "Everyone stay down." He commanded in a familiar voice.
"Ngh… L-Lawson?" Connor stammered.
"Why are you blue?" Janet queried, seeing hints of blue skin beneath his helmet. The robot lumbered over to him, its every footstep shaking the now-unstable observatory.
"I am Generis-Halason Mar-Vell. Blue Commander of the Kree Void Science Navy." 'Lawson' declared. "I order you to deactivate all weapons and shut down, this is a direct order!" The robot paused, seemingly processing his words and analyzing their meaning.
"Order not found." It replied in a monotonous voice, eyes glowing once more. Behind it, Hank stirred, piecing everything together.
"Lawson… the power core…" He warned. Realizing the massive circular device next to him was the key to the observatory's destruction, Mar-Vell wasted no time scooping up Carol and taking flight as the robot unleashed another blast that created a deadly feedback loop, pouring explosive energy back into the bowels of the facility. One explosion chained into another as the place was blown to smithereens, carving out a healthy chunk of the mountainside as fire and smoke filled the air, the massive column able to be seen for miles around.
Leaping free of the smoke cloud, Hank landed on his feet and coughed, still recovering from getting manhandled by the robot. Connor floated beside him, Janet in hand as she left his protective grip and took flight. Mar-Vell finally joined them, his body awash in a green aura as he carried an unconscious Carol in his arms.
"You've got a lot of explaining to do, blue guy! And to think I said you were cute…!" Janet huffed, thoroughly annoyed and put off by the fact a hidden alien was in their presence. Mar-Vell cocked a brow in response…
Later…
The foursome took Carol to the nearest hospital, where Hank paged the rest of the Avengers. Iron Man, Thor and Hulk showed up to offer assistance and were soon brought up to speed by Connor. The men waited outside Carol's room, the Major hooked up to an IV and heartrate monitor as Janet stood by, ever watchful and worried for her friend.
Outside, the Avengers were most suspicious of the newcomer, the former Lawson having to explain himself. "My name is Mar-Vell, and I'm what you would call a captain in the science division of the Kree Navy." He said
"I don't like him." Hulk rumbled.
"You don't like anyone." Hank retorted derisively. "Uh, please, go on. The Kree?" He asked. At that, Mar-Vell turned, his expression grim and serious.
"The Kree are one of the galaxy's most ancient civilizations, one of the superpowers. We're at war with another one: the Skrulls. Both empires are looking for strategic footholds as well as resources to fight the war. Your system is in a strategically desirable location." He explained.
"What about the robot?" Connor inquired.
"The Kree send out a sentry drone to 'defang' any natives; to eliminate long-range detection, any space-faring capabilities, and to eliminate all potential threats." Mar-Vell described.
"But… the robot was destroyed." Hank said. Mar-Vell shook his head.
"No. It wasn't. Kree Sentry's cannot be stopped." He countered. "If the sentry drone sees that a planet's population is going to be a problem, it's designed with the capability to… eliminate the problem."
"I don't like the sound of that." Connor muttered.
"Join the club." Iron Man concurred. The door to Carol's room opened and Wasp emerged just in time to hear Mar-Vell's words.
"Eliminate?" She repeated fearfully. "What do you mean?"
"Each sentry is equipped with a nega-bomb," Mar-Vell answered, "a device designed to exterminate a species on any targeted planet. And given the fight you just put up, I'd say you've got about one hour before you experience the nega-bomb first hand." He stated gravely. With a shocked look on her face, slowly processing the thought of extermination, Janet's expression hardened as her pent-up emotions of the night came to a bubbling head.
"Hulk? Smash him!" She tasked. The green giant grinned.
"Finally!" He roared, grabbing Mar-Vell in one meaty hand and slamming him into the wall enough enough force to shattered the concrete behind it. Instinctively, Mar-Vell snapped up his hand as his gauntlet transmuted a pistol into his grip. The Avengers tensed, ready for a fight, Iron Man charging his repulsors as Thor charged up Mjolnir while Connor drew his irons and spun them around his hand.
"Okay everybody! Just breathe!" Hank pleaded, trying desperately to separate Hulk and Mar-Vell. "Let's all remember that Captain Mar-Vell here saved Carol's life." He implored them all.
"Hey, you know what? I'm also remembering that he's an alien spy! And just told us that his people are gonna wipe out our planet!" Janet cuttingly remarked in response. Hank sighed, lost for a reason to defend Mar-Vell any further apart from his own beliefs and convictions.
"What is it you want, Mar-Vell? Why are you here?" He asked, hoping a proper explanation from the man would be enough to halt his teammates. Mar-Vell paused, weighing his question and his answer to it. The truth might push them further away, but it could also bring some closure and cement a temporary alliance.
Lifting his arms in a show of passivity, his pistol liquified and transmuted back into his gauntlet. "I want to help. I'm a scientist, a xenobiologist. I'd heard rumors of a genetic anomaly on Earth and I came to investigate. I've been studying you for three years now."
"Studying us? Charming." Iron Man scoffed, crossing his arms. Cybernaut, meanwhile, was hung up on a very different part of his words. Genetic anomaly…? Does he mean mutants? He wondered to himself.
"Humanity seems… different from most civilizations we conquer," Mar-Vell continued, turning his head to peer into Carol's room, "humans have potential. She should be allowed to survive."
"Don't you mean 'they'?" Iron Man questioned sharply.
"Your tale rings false, Kree. You claim to be here to study humanity, but were at the observatory when it was attacked." Thor accused, levelling Mjolnir towards the pinned Mar-Vell. "You are in league with the machine!"
"No! I knew the observatory would be a target, I was trying to cloak the facility to keep the Kree from detecting it." Mar-Vell protested. "I failed, but there's still time to save your species. Please, let me help you." He begged them. Although hesitant, his words seemed genuine enough for Hulk to release him, the gamma giant stepping back as Mar-Vell recovered.
"If he does anything suspicious, smash him." Janet commanded Hulk in a whisper, who grunted in acceptance and approval.
"Okay, we need a plan. We have to find this sentry and stop it before the bomb goes off." Hank determined. It was then that an idea came to Connor.
"Mar-Vell, that sentry no doubt has some kind of technology in place responsible for triggering the bomb, right?" He inquired of the Kree.
"Of course." Mar-Vell confirmed with a nod.
"Then let me have a crack at it. You know I can interface with tech, I can try to short out the bomb and keep it fron detonating." The technopath suggested.
"You'll have to bypass its defences first. A Kree Sentry is purposefully designed to repulse anything it deems a threat." Mar-Vell revealed.
"These guys have bought me some space before, I'm sure we can do it again." Connor replied.
Later…
The Kree Sentry was on the move, leaving the observatory ruins behind with nary a scratch, its glowing central core pulsing in time with the nega-bomb's countdown. It stopped for nothing, obliterating anything from territorial animals to cars driven by sleepy drivers that it encountered. It was on the warpath and only Earth's mightiest heroes could stop it.
Flying in from afar, spying a column of smoke as a telltale clue to its location, Thor, Iron Man, Cybernaut, Mar-Vell and Wasp were in the air with Ant-Man hitching a ride on Mar-Vell's shoulder while Hulk used his incredibly leaping ability to bound along behind them, keeping pace with ease… even if he obliterated the odd building or two in the process.
They finally caught up with the sentry in the midst of an abandoned drive-in movie theatre. It was then that Mar-Vell caught sight of the rapidly pulsating core of the sentry, a sure sign that the nega-bomb was in the final countdown stages. "We have to be careful here," he warned, pausing the team in midair, "the nega-bomb is armed-" Hulk suddenly came crashing down in front of him with a roar, slamming feet-first into the sentry and causing it to rock forward.
"You, uh, may have been wrong about humanity showing potential." Hank mused regretfully.
"Speak for yourself." Connor huffed. "Now, what's the plan?"
"We need to open it up and expose the nega-bomb core before it complete's charging." Mar-Vell explained, his pistols forming within his hands. "That will deactivate it." With that, the Avengers moved to engage.
"Easier said than done, I take it?" Hank inquired.
"I appreciate your species' gift for understatement." Mar-Vell remarked with a grin.
Hulk was doing his best to tear off the sentry's head, only to be flung clear across the grounds as the sentry triggered a mass-collider cannon formed from one of its fingers. Thor charged in next, Mjolnir crackling with lightning. He was repulsed as the sentry morphed a hand into a adhesive gel cannon and peppered the Asgardian with sticky containment orbs. The Avengers slowly swarmed the sentry, Iron Man striking with multiple repulsor blasts as Mar-Voll unleashed his twin pistols with repetitive volleys. Wasp circled around him hurling biostings that struck his chassis while Cybernaut used his magnets to uproot lightstands and barrage the sentry with spear-like projectiles.
Finding itself under attack, the sentry fused its legs together as boring bits formed out of its feet, allowing it to burrow into the ground and stand its ground as further weaponized tentacles sprouted from its shoulders. One formed a high-speed fan that blew Wasp out of the air with a cry, her tiny body incapable of withstanding the strong winds. Another formed a high-velocity projectile cannon, Iron Man dodging the incoming volleys with ease until the synced together and, with a mind of their own, turned and attached to his armor, unleashing an electric shock that knocked him out of the air. Cybernaut was forced to move as another tentacle formed an electro-web cannon, firing high-voltage snares that chased him as he circled the theatre grounds.
The all-out brawl raged on, filling the air with colorful bolts of sizzling electrical energy as man and machine battled it out in the name of supremacy. "This is the part I could do without!" Hank complained, leaping off of Mar-Vell's shoulder and triggering his growth serum. Expanding as he fell, Giant Man was soon large enough to grapple the sentry, grabbing three limbs in one hand and stomping the rest beneath his super-sized feet. "Connor! It's now or never!" He shouted. With the sentry thoroughly occupied, Connor could get in close enough to use his technopathic powers and hopefully shut down the machinery.
Dropping down, Connor landed on the sentry's head and took hold. "Okay, big fella, show me what you're hiding…" he whispered, closing his eyes as he focused his powers. Kree data came alive within the reach of his senses, so rich and vast and incredibly foreign. An unknown language, screaming at him from all sides, it was overwhelming. Already struggling, Connor pushed on, hoping to decipher it and gain control over the sentry. But the Kree data proved dense and impenetrable, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't break through the code.
Then it started fighting back.
Connor started shaking and sweating, blood dripping from his nose as the Kree data fought back against his attempts to intertwine with it. "Come on… Come on…!" He rasped, gritting his teeth as blood started pouring from both nostrils. The sheer volume of data pushing back against him was overwhelming, crashing down on his mind like a tsunami of foreign characters, threatening to wash him away. He clung on for as long as he could, but the alien pushback proved to be simply too much for him.
With a groan, Connor fell limp, falling off the sentry in a state of utter mental exhaustion. He hit the ground hard, laying still and unmoving. "Connor!" Hank cried, still struggling against the tentacles. "Someone get Connor out of there!" Answering his cry, Iron Man dove in and lifted the technopath out by his arms, carrying him to safety away from the fight. "Someone… hit this thing!" Hank urged, the tentacles growing increasingly more wild as they flailed in his grip. In response, Mar-Vell summoned the true power of his transmutation gauntlets as his armor joined in the morphing to become a powerful pack-charged proton cannon. Unleashing a volley of explosive rounds, they impacted with the sentry with such force that they sent Hank sprawling from the concussive waves.
The sentry remained untouched, merely turning towards Mar-Vell with a look of simple understanding. Gritting his teeth, the Kree forged a longsword from his cuffs and drove it through the sentry's head with a shout, a shower of sparks erupting from where the metal was rent and torn.
Having backed off from the fight, Hank checked on Connor, the technopath weak and spent but still conscious. "Connor, what happened?" He asked.
"Too… strong," he coughed, "data… indecipherable. It started… fighting back…" Taking that into consideration, Hank realized this situation had permanently taken a turn for the worst. Their best bet had failed, now they needed to find some other way to stop the sentry.
"How's it going with your new BFF?" Wasp asked bitterly.
"You're giving me a hard time now?!" Giant Man incredulously replied. "Mar-Vell is trying to help save us, Jan. Now that Connor's out of commission, he's the only one with the knowledge to do it." He explained, promptly ducking as a shot whizzed past his head.
"Seriously, Hank?" Janet questioned, pausing her attack to turn to him in a state of disbelief. "You know what? I give up! I try and try and try but I'm just not good enough! I can't be as interesting to you as aliens!" She complained, facing him with a frown and crossed arms.
"W-What? What're you talking about?" Hank replied in a bewildered voice.
"We can all… go to counselling… later…" Connor groaned, trying to stand up. The distant booms of multiple ignitions caught his attention and he looked up in time to see the sentry unleash a barrage of micro-missiles from its back… each warhead heading straight towards them. "Hank…!" He shouted in warning, his voice soon lost to a coughing fit. Giant Man caught sight of the incoming missiles and his eyes widened in fright.
"Jan! Look out!" Wrapping his hands around Wasp, his supersized body served to protect her from the explosive impact, his body taking the brunt of the explosion and pitching him backwards with a scream of pain.
The smoke cleared, revealing Hank's battered form had plowed into the ground. His costume was in tattered, singe marks and flames marring the red while his gloves had been torn to pieces, revealing masses of blood pouring from his broken hands. Crawling her way out of his grip, Janet coughed to clear her lungs before laying eyes on her boyfriend's prone body.
"H-Hank?" She whispered in a worried voice.
"Go…" he weakly rasped, "Bomb's… only thing that matters…" he urged. Connor picked himself up, listening to his every word as Janet stood over him. "Jan, I… I love-…" he tried to say, his breath falling short as he lost consciousness and his body stilled.
The moment overtook both of them, tears welling up in Janet's eyes as she feared Hank to be gone for good. But his last-minute proclamation, while only partly spoken, told volumes about his true feelings and how her pestering and jealousy games had been for nought. But now it may have been too little too late and her tears slid down her cheeks mournfully.
Connor felt torn to pieces. He knew the truth, he'd heard it for himself, and it crushed his hopes and dreams to pieces. It hurt like nothing ever had, and his pain ate away at his very soul. But he could not let himself come between them, he couldn't do anything untoward or say anything even remotely close to his true thoughts. So instead, he allowed his pain ti turn to rage… and turned it on the machine.
"Damn you…" he growled, his magnets powering up as veins of white grew bright under his skin, "Damn you!" He roared, snapping out his arms as his technopathy intertwined with his magnets and propelled them to the apex of their capabilities. Magnetic fields formed around the sentry's tentacles, causing them to go rigid as the machine abruptly halted its attack. It took no small amount of effort, natural magnetism proving somewhat harder to employ against extraterrestrial alloys, but that would not stop Cybernaut as his harnesses glowed and thrummed within his arms. Forcibly bending them to his will, Connor turned them on the sentry and plunged one clean through its chassis, using each tentacle to stab itself over and over again as it bore the brunt of the rage of Cybernaut.
The merciless stabbing continued, Connor viciously unleashing the sentry upon itself as its own tentacles tore it to pieces. The remaining Avengers stopped and stared, rather shocked by his display of power. They recovered almost as quickly the moment they realized the sensitive inner-workings had been revealed and joined in his attack. Iron Man unleashed a triple-point blast combining his unibeam and repulsors, Thor generated a column of lightning from Mjolnir that caused the starlit scene to be as bright as daylight, Mar-Vell unleashed a proton beam via his power pack while Hulk charged in to deliver the heaviest punches he could muster.
Everything slammed into the sentry in a massive onslaught not even it could withstand, its metallic chassis melting and coming apart as its tentacles continued to rip into its body. Holes opened up across its body only to slowly stitch themselves back together thanks to advanced sciences. Yet Connor saw an opportunity to exploit and reached out with his magnets, exerting his senses and his tech to their limit to hold open the holes as he released the tentacles.
"Janet!" He called out, Wasp seeing what he saw and flying forward at top speed, performing a suite of aerial acrobatics as she dipped, dived and wove through the writhing tentacles, quickly disappearing through the hole in the sentry's head before it pushed past Connor's efforts and reformed. The intense effort draining him of his strength, the technopath finally collapsed and slipped into unconsciousness.
Within the sentry's head, a mass of sensitive electronics were revealed to Wasp, perfect targets for her biostings. Rocketing through its head, she unleashed a barrage of biostings, triggering explosions left and right as she detonated every piece of technology in range. Outside, the sentry shuddered, sparks erupting from ports and gaps as it short-circuited, central processing functions falling short as Wasp eradicated its brain. Slumping forward and incapable of defending itself, Hulk jumped at the chance and pounced on the sentry, tearing its head off before ripping open its body.
"So, um… I think I'm sitting on the bomb." Janet realized with a nervous gulp, seated atop a massive green sphere. The situation revealed to the Avengers, Mar-Vell stepped forward, only to stop when a large hologram flickered to life from the sentry's corpse. Revealed to them was the head of another Kree, his design and helmet identical to Mar-Vell's.
"Mar-Vell, what are… by Hala!" He roared in disgust.
"Yon-Rogg, Commander, I implore you!" Mar-Vell pleaded. "Shut down the nega-bomb, humanity can be an ally to the Kree, we need not destroy them."
"You've gone soft, Mar-Vell!" Yon-Rogg retorted. "As of now, Earth is a part of the Kree Empire! That does not require humanity, or you, to survive! Burn, traitor…" He growled, disappearing as the hologram faded away. As it did, the bomb glowed brightly, the final stage of countdown underway and seconds from destruction. Wasp quickly evacuated the scene as Mar-Vell stepped forward and went to work.
"Tell me some good news…" Tony said.
"I can defuse it in about ten minutes." The Kree answered. Tony sighed in relief. "It's going to go off in about five." Mar-Vell continued. The Avengers collectively grimaced.
"I know you're not from around here, but that was more like bad news." Tony remarked.
"We have to evacuate!" Wasp cried.
"The blast radius is the entire planet, Wasp. Evacuation isn't an option." Mar-Vell said, unhooking specific ports and plugs while coupling them together with new ones.
"Hmph. Bet I'll survive." Hulk grunted.
"Your compassion is overwhelming, troll." Thor muttered dryly as Janet flew over to Mar-Vell.
"This is all your fault!" She accused. "First Hank, then Connor, now the rest of us are all gonna suffer because you and your stupid robot!" Mar-Vell sighed.
"I know," he said softly, suddenly taking flight as he grabbed the nega-bomb and shot straight up into space. They watched him go, shocked by his sudden actions.
"Mar-Vell? Mar-Vell!" Janet called after him. "No… I didn't… I-I never…" she trailed off, his bright green aura now a mere speck against the stars.
Flying as fast as he could, Mar-Vell knew Earth's only hope lay in the amount of distance between it and the nega-bomb. The further away from the planet it was, the higher the chance the blast would not affect the population. But his suit was only graded for certain atmospheric conditions and the higher he climbed, the more ice began to build up along his body. It became harder and harder to focus, his body incapable of handling the vacuum of space. Soon it proved far too much and he lost consciousness, his body and the nega-bomb slowly falling back to Earth. It seemed like the end, a futile attempt to stop the inevitable.
It likely would've been… had Iron Man not caught him.
His space-graded armor survived the conditions just long enough to keep Mar-Vell from plummeting back to Earth. With the Kree secured, Thor arrived to catch the neg-bomb and take it even further into space. His Asgardian physiology allowing him to withstand the pressure of space, Thor flew far from Earth before winding up and hurling the nega-bomb with all his strength, sending it past the moon well before it detonated.
Even then, the concussive wave was enough to knock Thor silly, sending him tumbling through space as a glow of purple briefly replaced the sun. The sheer power of the nega-bomb was blinding, brilliant, revealing how devastating it would've been had it been loosed on Earth. But it hadn't… thanks to the Avengers.
Later…
"I would've woken before I hit the ground. You did not need to catch me." Thor grumbled. Tony and Hulk smirked.
"Of course you didn't." The billionaire teased.
"Whimp." The gamma giant goaded, elbowing the Asgardian.
With the threat of the sentry dealt with, the Avengers returned to the hospital where Carol had been interned. Hank now had a bed in the same room as hers while Connor had been placed elsewhere to recover. Wasp stayed by his side, holding his hand as the other Avengers waited outside. "Alright, world saved. Mission accomplished." Tony mused.
"No. The Kree will be back and they won't underestimate you Avengers again." Mar-Vell countered.
"So now what?" Tony asked.
"Now I go to the Supreme Intelligence, our leader, and I make an appeal to Earth's survival." Mar-Vell explained, his hand hovering on the door handle. "You should prepare for the storm that's coming." He warned them before entering the room. Striding over to Hank's bed, he paused before Janet. "I am truly sorry, Wasp," he whispered, his gaze shifting back and forth between the comatose Hank and Carol, "watch over them." He asked, turning to leave.
"Mar-Vell…" Janet spoke softly, drawing his attention. "Thank you." She offered. It was genuine and Mar-Vell accepted it with a smile. His body turned white as a combination of science and energy powers allowed him to teleport away, back to his native Kree and the mountainous job ahead of him.
The night wore on and the rest of the Avengers took their leave, Wasp remaining behind and sitting in solitary silence beside Hank. Alone with her thoughts, they drifted from point to point as she contemplated the state of their relationship. Carol was right; she had been too hard on him. His feelings may be buried behind layers upon layers of, well… science, but they were there and they were genuine. She needed to accept that he wasn't always as up-front as she wanted him to be, but still truly cared for her in his own way.
"Oh Hank… I'm so sorry." She whispered to his unconscious form. "For being so mean, for the way I treat you.. for everything." She apologized. "I just-" She abruptly stopped at the sound of the door opening, turning out to see Connor easing his way in with two cups of coffee in hand.
"I'm not interrupting, am I?" He wondered. Janet's eyes brightened and a smile twinkled across her lips.
"Connor! Shouldn't you be resting?" She asked, sounding concerned. His expression seemed weary and exhausted, like a man who hadn't slept in weeks, but he still smiled.
"Well, I'm not doing anything strenuous. Besides, I wanted to see how you three were doing," He replied, offering her a cup. Janet took it gratefully and sipped. "They fared worse than I did… any change?" He inquired.
"Not really. Doctors say they're not critical, just a matter of when." Janet answered. "Makes me wish I hadn't been so mean to him…" She sighed, looking longingly at Hank. Connor felt a part of himself die a little but he stuffed his emotions down, clearing his throat.
"Hank… I knew a guy like him. Always closed up and focused on his job. But beneath that seemingly impenetrable layer, there was a man who genuinely cared and just didn't have what it took to wear his heart on his sleeve." He told her. "Hank is… a… good man. Just… treat him gently." Janet nodded.
"I think I've learned that now. Thank you, Connor." She softly said. "You seem pretry knowledgeable about this."
"When you're a high school wallflower, you tend to pick up a few points about how men and women behave." He revealed, leaning against the wall. "Helped me out for the brief period of time I had a girlfriend."
"Let me guess, broke up?" Janet queried, to which Connor nodded. "You know… she's single." She mused with a smile, tilting her head towards the unconscious Carol. Connor laughed nervously.
"Is that right…?" He replied, doing his best to downplay it. Deep down, the one woman he did want to be single, the one woman he truly wanted to be with-
"I take it we didn't blow up?" Hank groggily asked as he slowly sat up. Janet gasped in delight, throwing her arms around him in a big hug. "Ow ow ow!" He groaned, still feeling sore after the damage sustained by the missiles. Janet released him shortly, still beaming.
"Welcome back to the land of the living." Connor greeted tiredly. "Yeah, guess Thor helped Mar-Vell take the nega-bomb off world. We get to live to avenge another day." He explained.
"Yeah, another day in the life of the Avengers." Janet agreed. Then she turned back to Hank, "Hey, before you passed out… you were gonna say something really important." Janet implied, hinting at his last words. "Go ahead." She encouraged, leaning forward with big, expectant eyes and a broad, knowing smile.
Connor turned away.
"What?" Hank stuttered, trying to wrap his foggy mind around what she was saying. Then he remembered, and his eyes widened. "Oh! Oh, well, I uh… No, I was just, erm…" He excused, scrambling for a satisfactory answer. The longer he took, the more Janet's expression soured into a frown of disbelief. Even Connor pinched the bridge of his nose. Dammit Hank, don't you realize how lucky you are?! He grumbled internally. "I didn't, uh… i-it wasn't-"
"Guuuuys…" The voice of Carol cut the moment and drew the trio's attention to her bed… where she wasn't. Their gaze drawn higher, Hank and Janet were left slack-jawed while Connor dropped his cup in shock as its content spilt across the floor.
What they were witnessing was simply marvellous…
"Why is the ceiling so low…?" Carol nervously wondered, floating a good seven feet up in the air, right next to the roof, her body aglow with a golden energy aura…