Stepping down the stairs one by one, Batman had just set foot on the floor of the Pym Technologies Building when the ground beneath him abruptly split open.
With a sharp clack, two bear-trap-like devices snapped shut, locking him in place.
Simultaneously, from all four directions around him—front, back, left, and right—four cannons of varying calibers and functions materialized out of thin air, aiming their muzzles squarely at Batman's head: an electromagnetic cannon, a kinetic cannon, a sonic cannon, and a spectral cannon.
"Finally, we meet face-to-face, Batman." Seeing Batman trapped, Ant-Man—Hank Pym—walked out from between two of the cannons with a chuckle, looking at Batman with casual confidence.
"Did you think you could use my absence to steal the rest of my Pym Particles? Or maybe try to plant a virus in my Ultron robots? You even injected my ants with something!"
Resting his arm on the electromagnetic cannon, Ant-Man stared at the expressionless Batman.
"Plunderer, criminal, thief, villain... no words can truly describe your actions. I'm sure the World Security Council would love to lock you away and hand you a century-long sentence."
Batman stood perfectly still. His exposed jaw showed absolutely no sign of fear, despite having four massive cannons pointed directly at his head.
He calmly reached out, pushing the cannon barrels aside one by one, before looking down at the traps binding him. He gave his foot a gentle lift.
Crash!
The traps, strong enough to hold a full-grown male lion, were ripped to shreds by Batman and kicked aside as if they were made of cotton.
Ant-Man's eye twitched. He suppressed the sudden urge to press the button on his suit and shrink down.
"These are S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons, aren't they? You've been gone for half a month just to fetch these cannons from them?" Batman stepped out of the cannons' range, standing directly in front of Ant-Man as he questioned him.
"No," Ant-Man said.
Batman turned, pulled the sonic cannon around, and pointed to the bald eagle S.H.I.E.L.D. logo emblazoned on its back. He didn't say a word, merely staring at Ant-Man.
"..." Ant-Man fell silent for two seconds. Looking thoroughly deflated, he pressed a button on his suit, shrinking the four massive cannons down to the size of toys and tossing them into his pocket.
"What do you want?" Ant-Man asked, pacing back and forth after pocketing the weapons.
"I wanted to verify your identity. To see if you are a friend or a foe," Batman replied.
"You still need to verify that? The ants, the robots, the Pym Particles... is there anything in the Pym Tech building you haven't messed with?" Anger flared within Ant-Man, but he still added, "Except for Janet. So yes, we are absolutely enemies."
"I apologize," Batman said expressionlessly.
"Completely insincere," Ant-Man snapped, glaring at him.
Batman reflected on the past two weeks. He had indeed tinkered extensively with the Ultron robots and the giant ants while Ant-Man was away. Deciding it was best to move past the topic, he said, "I once had a friend who could shrink his body just like you. He could even enter the subatomic realm..."
"Wait, wait."
Ant-Man rudely cut Batman off before he could finish. This time, it was clear that Ant-Man was genuinely furious.
"Who is this friend of yours? Darren Cross? Or Rita DeMara?"
Both of them had stolen Pym Particles during World War II, operating covertly for a time as the criminal "Yellowjacket."
But with the help of Captain America and a few other allies back then, the fallout had been kept strictly contained. Virtually no one outside their circle knew about it.
So the moment he heard Batman say "I have a friend," Ant-Man instinctively assumed he was referring to one of those two.
Batman looked at Ant-Man. While rapidly scanning his mind to see if the names Darren Cross or Rita DeMara had ever appeared in the S.H.I.E.L.D. database, he denied it:
"It's Ryan Choi. The Atom."
"Never heard of him," Ant-Man scoffed. "I can shrink down to a subatomic state. Should I call myself Subatomic-Man?"
"Hank, don't be like that." A crisp, pleasant voice drifted over from the direction of the dining area. Janet, the Wasp, walked over carrying a tray with three cups of coffee on it.
The moment Janet set the coffee down on the table, Ant-Man grabbed a cup and chugged it in one go, as if it were beer rather than coffee.
"Hank didn't use to be like this, but his temper has been growing shorter and shorter lately. I'm sorry," Janet said to Batman.
"Quiet, Janet," Ant-Man snapped, frowning at her. He then turned back to Batman. "Now tell me what you're really up to. And when you're done, return the two vials of Pym Particles you stole."
He was pinning the vial stolen by the young girl, Lunella, on Batman as well.
"Black Widow told me it was Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., who asked you to detain her," Batman said, his gaze dropping to the latte art on his coffee.
"I believe Nick Fury is Hydra." Batman's single sentence sent a jolt of shock through both Ant-Man and the Wasp.
"So you think I'm Hydra too?" Ant-Man's fingers gripped his coffee cup tightly, his blue eyes boring into Batman.
Janet froze, her coffee cup hovering right at her lips, her gaze darting between Batman and Ant-Man.
"Initially, I did. But now I am ninety percent certain that you are not Hydra."
Batman's words eased the tension in Ant-Man's expression slightly. He couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Why?"
Janet took a sip of her coffee, quietly letting out the breath she had been holding.
"Because you only care about Pym Particles."
"If you joined Hydra, they would undoubtedly try to weaponize or exploit your Pym Particles, and that is something you would never tolerate," Batman added.
Ant-Man's face darkened instantly. He wanted to argue back, but he couldn't find a single flaw in the logic.
Batman carefully observed Ant-Man's expressions. It was natural for an ordinary person to experience an emotional shift after a few pointed remarks, but Ant-Man's eyebrows were visibly trembling.
It was clear he was genuinely enraged right now, rather than just brushing it off.
"Janet, you mentioned earlier that Hank's temper has been growing worse lately. How far back does 'lately' go?" Batman stopped addressing Ant-Man directly and turned to the silently smiling Wasp instead.
Janet thought about it for a moment. "About half a month ago."
"A psychological issue?" Batman asked.
"To hell with psychological issues! It's because you stole my Pym Particles!" Ant-Man still couldn't let go of those two vials. "Give them back to me!"
To the utter surprise of both Ant-Man and the Wasp, Batman didn't hesitate for a second in the face of Ant-Man's repeated demand. He agreed cleanly and directly:
"Fine."
"In half a month, I will personally return both vials of Pym Particles to you."
Ant-Man let out a string of cold sneers.
"You want to use this month-long window to analyze the Pym Particles and replicate a sample?"
"Fine, I'll give you a month!"
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