Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Soon after, Scott Lang aka Ant-Man, stood in front of Kara, Steve and Nat, pacing. He acted like someone who was lost or overwhelmed.
"Scott, are you okay?"Steve asked him.
Scott had a hard time formulating his words, and finally asked:
"Have you ever studied Quantum Physics?"
"Only to make the conversation," Nat said, obviously not knowing anything about it.
"I'm not a scientist, but I know about science and math," Kara said.
"Very good," Scott said. "Five years ago, right before Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe. To get in there, you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she's my… She was my… She was supposed to pull me out. And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there."
"For five years ?" Kara asked, wondering how a man like him could endure such a wait in a microscopic dimension.
"I'm sorry. That must've been a very long five years," Nat replied.
"Yeah but that's just it," exclaimed Scott, "For me, it was five hours. See the Rules of the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here, Everything is unpredictable."
Kara looked stunned, then understood what Scott meant. Apparently, from what she had just understood, time and space didn't have an impact in the Quantum Realm. Exactly like with her in the Phantom Zone, when she was there after the end of Krypton. And when she came out, her cousin had grown up, but she had remained a twelve-year-old.
Which meant that to get out Ant-Man had to use a time portal, which had made it cross the time. A sudden thought came to her mind.
Scott grabbed Nat's sandwich, while Steve was confused in his explanations:
"Scott, what are you talking about?"
Scott took a mouthful of sandwich before answering:
"What I'm saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm. The only problem is right now, we don't have a way to navigate it. But what if we did? I can't stop thinking about it. What if, we could somehow control the chaos, and we could navigate it? What if there was a way to enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time but then exit at another point in time? Like... Like before Thanos. "
"Like a time machine, that's what you mean!"exclaimed Kara, who was very excited, all of a sudden.
"I know it sounds crazy, but that's it," he replied.
"It's okay, Scott, it doesn't seem to me crazy for me," answered the kryptonian smiling. "I come from a universe and I have seen things that seem to me much more crazies than that."
"And me, I get e-mails from a raccoon, so nothing sounds crazy anymore," explained Nat.
"As for the Multiverse."
"The what ?" Scott confused.
"You don't know the Multivers?" Kara wondered.
"The Multi-what?"
"Never mind. This isn't the point."
"Excuse me, but who are you?"
"My name is Kara, and I come from a parallel world. I am an alien, but of another universe than yours.
"Oh man! You're a real alien?"
"But to time travel, we need a scientist. All that goes beyond my knowledge. We need someone who understands the subject. My friend Barry Allen could have helped us, since he has already traveled in time, unfortunately, he's gone."
"So who do we talk to about this?"
Later, all four had gone to Tony Stark's small residence in the woods. Kara hadn't seen much of the billionaire during those five years. She knew that he had married Pepper Potts and that he had a child, a girl named Morgane.
When they found him, Tony took his daughter home. Seeing his former companions, Tony understood the reason for their presence. After leaving her daughter inside, everyone was talking about what they had just find out. Kara hoped that Iron Man would help them.
At least, it's good that there was one who could be happy for five years.
But to his disappointment, Tony was no more excited than she was by their plan.
"Now, we know what it sounds like… " Scott said.
"Tony, after all we've faced, what still seems impossible?" Steve added.
"On other Earths, I've seen people who can travel back in time," Kara said quickly.
"On other Earths, yes, but here… it's a bit more complicated," Stark explained. "Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale, which then triggers the Deutsch proposition. Can we agree on that?"
All four looked at him, having trouble understanding.
"In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home."
"I did," Scott said.
"No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull off a... What do you call it?"
"A time heist," Ant-Man replied, trying to hide his pride.
"A time heist, of course," Tony said sarcastically. "Why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?"
"The Stones are in the past," Steve says."We can go back and get them."
"Right," said Kara excitedly."We travel in time, we find the stones. We collect them and we use them."
"We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everyone back," Natasha added.
"Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?" Tony retorted.
"I don't believe we would" said the super-soldier.
Kara was both amused and upset.
"After all that I lost in five years, I really don't see what could be worse. Personally, I've nothing left to lose."
"Gotta say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism," replied Tony wanting to appease everyone. "However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist. I believe the most likely outcome would be our collective demise. Or the disappearance of the Multiverse, for example."
Scott intervened by sitting in front of Tony:
"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events… "
"I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back To The Future?"
"No," Scott said, puzzled.
"Good, You had me worried there. That's not how quantum physics works."
"Tony," Nat added, "We have to take a stand."
"We did stand. And yet, here we are," Stark replied flatly.
"I know you got a lot on the line," Scott continued."You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did. And now, now we have a chance to bring her back. Bring everyone back. And you're telling me that won't even… "
"I won't, Scott…"
Kara intervened in turn:
"Tony, we have to do it. I'm glad for you. You married, you've a child. A lot of people don't have the same luck as you. I met children who are alone in the world. Children who are the age of your daughter, who have no parents. Either children who have lost their parents, or parents who have lost their children. You can imagine what they can feel. I lost everything I had. My family, my friends, my identity, and even my home… As a kryptonian, and under your yellow sun, I will live much longer than any human. And I can't continue like this. I won't to spend the rest of my life wandering like a lost soul in this destroyed universe. Sooner or later, I will go crazy. If it isn't done yet. You have to help us. I researched you, I know why you became Iron Man. You became a hero because you wanted to make a difference. That's what we want to do, too. We want to change this world. Not based on Back to the Future, but use the past for a better world than that. Returning families to those who don't have any more."
Tony remained neutral, however, seemed touched by what Kara was saying. But before he could retort, his daughter Morgan came to throw herself into his arms.
"Mommy told me to come and save you."
"Good job. I'm saved," Tony said, taking his daughter in his arms.
With a sorry look, he addressed his companions.
"I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else. I missed you, guys."
"Tony, I get it," Steve added. "And I'm happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance."
"I got my second chance right here, Cap." retorted Tony taking his daughter with him to his house.
Unhappy, all four returned to their car.
"I get it that Tony is scared of losing his family," Kara said."But we need him, Steve. We need a man of science. I thought about Harrison Wells, but he's gone to ashes, too… we can't do it without the help of a scientist."
"I know, Kara," Steve replied.
"But what are we gonna do?" Scott said. We need him."If he doesn't want to help us, are we gonna stop?"
"Off course not," retorted the kryptonian dryly.
"No, I wanna do it right," added the super-soldier, "We're gonna need a really big brain."
"Bigger than his?"
"Yes, bigger." Kara said.
Later, our four heroes were in a restaurant, along with Bruce Banner. Scott was stunned by the sight of Professor Hulk, who was eating quietly. It was no longer Hulk screaming with rage like a ferocious beast.
Professor Hulk quietly ate dishes, as he was told what they had find out.
"I feel like I'm the only one eating. Have some eggs."
"No thanks, Bruce, I'm not hungry," said Kara
"I'm so confused," Scott said, staring at the greenish colossus.
"These are confusing times." Bruce said quietly, looking like Hulk.
"No, no, that's not what I meant," Scott replied, embarrassed.
"No, I get it. I'm kidding! I know. It's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now."
"Oh yes, luckily we're still doing the big clothes," Kara said, glad that Professor Hulk wasn't constantly undressed.
"Yeah! How? Why?"Scott asked.
"Five years ago, we got our asses beat," Bruce explained, wiping his mouth with a towel."Except it was worse for me. Because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost. Then, we all lost."
"No one blamed you, Bruce." Nat remarked.
"Off course, we didn't," Kryptonian said gently.
"I did," Bruce retorted. "I did. For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma the help of Kara's scientific knowledge. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me. Best of both worlds..."
"Hulk and Bruce Banner became Professor Hulk," Kryptonian added proudly.
"Thank you Kara," said the green giant.
Then came three children. A tall girl, followed by two boys who shyly approached their table.
"Excuse me, Mr. Hulk," said the girl with a mobile phone in her hand. "Can we get a photo?"
"100%, little person." Bruce exclaimed, smiling.
Then he passed the girl's phone to Scott, asking him to take the photo. Kara had a feeling of nostalgia. She remembered what it was like to be admired by many people. Be a model for children. She still remembered the young children who idolized her. The good old days.
To say that at one time, Hulk was considered a terrifying monster sowing terror and destruction wherever he went. And today, everyone loved Professor Hulk.
"Bruce, about we were saying…" Steve said.
Bruce greeted the children with big hand signs.
"Bruce, focus, please," prompted Kara.
Then Professor Hulk resumed his seriousness by addressing his friends.
"The time travel? Guys, it's outside my area of expertise."
"Well, you pulled this off," Nat remarked. "I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible time, too. "
Kara also added:
"Guys, on this Earth, you managed to do things that even on my planet Krypton, you never thought possible to exist, or on the Earth where I come from. I'm sure together we can make it happen. We have another chance to save the Universe, we shouldn't waste it."