In the first-floor cafeteria of the Pym Technologies building, the giant ants that once resided there had all been driven away to perform manual labor. In their stead, Ultron sentinels took charge of all the relatively delicate tasks—such as preparing two slices of buttered toast for breakfast, paired with a fried egg.
Janet van Dyne, the Wasp, and Hank Pym, Ant-Man, sat on opposite sides of the dining table enjoying their breakfast, as if the river of blood flowing through Manhattan had absolutely nothing to do with them.
"The fried egg needs to cook a bit longer. I'll go modify Ultron's directives." Having eaten his fill, Ant-Man stretched lazily. "Actually, no. I should give him the capacity for autonomous machine learning. That way, I won't have to constantly spend time debugging him."
"Ultron, clear the table." The Wasp stood up as well.
However, she did not leave the cafeteria. Instead, she stared at the television mounted on the wall, which was broadcasting breaking news from Manhattan in real time.
In the exclusive news footage from the Daily Bugle, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four were locked in combat with Hydra. However, they were not dealing with ordinary Hydra foot soldiers, but rather a few individuals whose durability and sheer strength far exceeded that of average humans.
The news footage was peculiar; it did not feature the typical setup of a cameraman holding the camera while a reporter rambled into a microphone inside the frame.
From beginning to end, a single reporter was carrying the camera himself, keeping himself out of the frame while continuously broadcasting the battle into the microphone.
"...As you can see on your screens, participating in this battle are the widely known playboy Iron Man, Tony Stark, as well as the man hailed as the smartest person in the world, Reed Richards, along with his team."
As the voiceover played, the Wasp frowned as she watched Reed Richards get shot squarely in the neck. Yet, his neck was not pierced; instead, it bizarrely elongated in the direction of the bullet's momentum before snapping violently back into place.
"Unbelievable!" The reporter bellowed at the top of his lungs. "Friends in New York... no, friends all over the world, the footage you just witnessed is real news footage!"
"Faced with the assault from these armed forces of unknown origin, Reed chose to step up and become a superhero. No, perhaps we ought to call him 'Mr. Fantastic'!"
As he shouted the title "Mr. Fantastic," the un-faced reporter seemed to grow rather excited, moving even closer to the fray with his camera propped on his shoulder.
This time, he panned the camera toward the sky, aiming it at the individual engulfed in flames:
"That is Johnny. Allow me to follow convention and give him a resounding name: the Human Torch!"
The Thing, Ben, was glossed over quickly. The reporter shifted the lens to Susan, who was continuously deploying translucent force fields with her hands, using them alternatively for defense and offense:
"And this is the 'Invisible Woman.' Although the audience can currently see her appearance, I witnessed her achieve true invisibility with my own eyes just a few minutes ago... Invisible Woman! Could you perform it for the people of the world?"
Nobody paid attention to him. The reporter simply stabilized his camera on a flight of stairs and squatted down, allowing his familiar face to fill the frame:
"I am Daily Bugle reporter Eddie Brock, and you are currently watching—"
Zap!
A stray bullet flew out of nowhere, shattering the camera.
In an instant, the hearts of countless people across the globe watching the Daily Bugle news skipped a beat.
This battle against the Hydra invasion of Manhattan had been raging since the early hours of the morning. Hydra soldiers—or their corpses—were scattered loosely across numerous streets, primarily centered around Fifth Avenue.
Under these conditions where corpses littered the ground, nobody would dare be bold enough to head out to work, not even the media reporters who were notorious for their recklessness.
Reporters stationed in regions outside of Manhattan could at best scramble helicopters to shoot footage from a distance up in the air.
But within Manhattan itself, Eddie Brock was the only person carrying a camera and engaging with the battlefield at absolute zero distance.
It was precisely due to his death-defying determination to become famous that J. Jonah Jameson, the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Bugle, had no choice but to place Eddie Brock in a position of vital importance once more. The footage he broadcasted while carrying that camera was entirely unique in the world.
Seeing his camera blown apart at this moment, Eddie Brock did not panic in the slightest. He pulled his smartphone out of his pocket, logged into Justin.tv, and initiated a web livestream:
"...Of course, aside from Iron Man and the Fantastic Four, there are many other superheroes currently fighting a bloody battle in Manhattan. Keep following the Daily Bugle..."
The Wasp tapped an Ultron sentinel passing beside her, gesturing for him to turn down the volume of the television.
She then turned her head to look at Ant-Man, who had already stepped out of the cafeteria door while stretching his arms:
"Are we heading out? Countless casualties have already occurred out there. Though the dead are all Hydra, what if innocent civilians get caught in the crossfire?"
"What does that have to do with me?" Ant-Man did not care in the least.
"No, I believe this battle concerns us," the Wasp said, shaking her head. "That crazed reporter is filming the combat footage at close range, completely exposing the concept of 'superheroes' to the entire world."
"I'm no superhero." Ant-Man stopped his stride.
"But in the Quantum Realm where absolutely no one is aware, you have already saved the world multiple times." The Wasp walked up to Ant-Man's side, looking up into his blue eyes. "If even you aren't a superhero, who else deserves the title?"
"Perhaps only he deserves it." Ant-Man's voice carried a faint tremor.
"He? Who? Batman?" the Wasp asked, bewildered.
Ant-Man grabbed the Wasp's hand, and she realized her husband's hand was shaking as well.
She followed Ant-Man's gaze and spotted a figure standing in the shadows.
Seeing both Ant-Man and the Wasp looking over, the individual in the darkness took a few steps forward, revealing his true appearance.
He was unshaven, his clothes were covered in stains and dust, and the original blue, white, and star-spangled banner pattern was entirely coated in a dull layer of grime.
His hair was matted, his blonde locks hanging down greasily, but his mental state was incredibly elevated, his eyes shining so brightly they seemed to emit light.
In his hand, he held a circular shield. Although it had been completely painted black, Ant-Man recognized at a single glance that it was the vibrantium star shield.
Captain America, Steve Rogers—a World War II veteran. After being frozen for seventy years, he was discovered by a Japanese Kamikaze Group Arctic expedition dispatched by John Garrett. Following a secret meeting with S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury, he had been deployed to execute the mission in Latveria.
"Steve," Ant-Man called out Captain America's name, his voice trembling. "Is that you?"
"Hank." Captain America nodded at Ant-Man and the Wasp. "The battle outside goes far beyond this. I need your help."
"Alright!" Without another word, Ant-Man immediately turned around to fetch his helmet and put it on.
He had entirely forgotten that just a few minutes ago, he had uttered the words, "the battle outside has nothing to do with me."
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