21: Particles

  John believed he was an adaptable man, with simple and straightforward desires, capable of going with the flow of the situation and ag accly to what was necessary.

  He hought he was a good man; V was right about that. Steve Rogers would always be a much better person than him, something that couldn’t be easily ged even if his mind had acquired something like a sce since he ied the super-soldier serum.

  A weak sce, easy to ig a soheless.

  “Am I a bastard?” he asked himself, though that was a question too easy to answer. He had always been a bastard. His father hated him, his mother bmed him for all her problems all the time, and his life had been nothing but a long, bumpy road with brief straight stretches, mostly due to others but he was also able to accept when he himself created the bumps.

  Well, he should stop self-refleg. His previous life had been shit, but that was fi didn’t matter as muymore. His new life was a fug success, and he o make sure it stayed that way no matter the cost.

  That’s why he sent Raven after Doctor Horton. That’s why, when the maurned with calm steps, a casual smile, and a look of plicity, John smiled.

  "Well, Doctor, I’m gd that you’ve decided to dohis incredible iion and all of your research to a greater purpose. I assure you that your tribution will save tless lives." The “doctor” smiled, shaking his hand; not many words were needed between them.

  After all, Raven was his greatest ally. Together, they had killed thousands, making rivers of blood flow across Austria, not to mention those who died in Italy and the tless more who would die across Europe in the near future.

  John was undoubtedly a bastard, and he k, but that was fine. He just had to tip the bance. Killing thousands? Did that even matter when he was about to save millions and prevent one of the greatest tragedies in human history?

  Someoer, maybe someone like Steve Rogers, might say it wasn’t worth it. It ity. This wasn’t Steve Rogers’ story; this was his story, and no matter how many sacrifieeded to be made, John wouldn’t hesitate.

  Of course, he wasn’t without passion. If Doctor Horton had been a truly good person, then without a doubt, he would have been allowed to join SWORD. But he wasn’t. The man was more of a problem that was better resolved quickly. Even so, John would make sure his name was remembered, at least at the bottom of the pages of the history of the new hero that was about to be born.

  After all, the man had created something incredible, even if his arrogance blinded him along the way, or maybe it was something else? Well, it no longer mattered. Horton may not have solved the problem with his creation, but that was fine. Johhe solution—a solution so simple that he wondered if Horton had really wao figure it out in the first pce.

  Dr. Horto, but before that, he said goodbye to his "colleagues" and spoke with the researittee, making it clear that everything was fine and that he had already reached a "secret agreement" with John. The ittee didn't ask too many questions si was already agreed that any partit was free to choose their own path.

  john supervised that some of his men transp everything Dr. Horton had brought to the SWORD headquarters. It was quite veo be the boss of many people; no one asked unnecessary questions. He was Captain America, a el of the Uates, and the general director of SWORD. All his men looked at him with admiration and obeyed without hesitation.

  Having so mufluence was certainly surprising, and John o get used to it. Even so, as with everything in his life, he knew he would adapt and be able to manage his men as needed, even outside a battlefield.

  He watched his men leave, and soon Raven arrived at his side, having pletely finished her task. The girl remained silent, simply staring into nothingness alongside him.

  “Don’t you want to ask?” John said after a few moments. The girl turo him, fused, raising an eyebrow.

  “Is there something to ask?”

  Yes, that’s why he liked Raven.

  “No, of course not. Let’s go, it's about to start. There’s still one more thing I need from this pce.” She nodded and followed him closely.

  Watg her walk from the er of his eye, Johhat if the moment came, Raven would be the ohing he couldn't sacrifice, although he wouldn't say that out loud, or she’d bee an arrogant brat.

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  The demonstration of the different booths was actually quite b. For the most part, they were iions that John really didn’t care about, with potential more in the long term, very long term. He invited some of the stists there, of course. Some seemed more willing than others, which he expected. Though joining him brought great bes, it alsht obvious responsibilities and risks.

  He didn’t try to foryone. After all, w with people who didn’t want to work with you was always a recipe for disaster.

  “And this is Dr. Hank Pym’s booth,” Vernon said. All the main ittee members were with him, along with John and Raven. Dr. Pym saw them arrive at his booth and quickly began to greet them. John noticed Jaanding not far away and owards the woman iing. She noticed and a smile lit up her face. She waved, greeting him as well.

  “It is a great honor to present myself before you. I assure you, nothing like this has been seen before. It is something that will undoubtedly surprise you pletely,” Hank said with enthusiasm.

  Vernon nodded, knowing that his daughter had been w with the man as his assistant, so he said a few symbolic words of support.

  “I hope so. I’ve heard some good things about you, Dr. Pym.” Upon hearing that, Pym swallowed nervously, not daring to look directly at the man. Oher hand, Ja almost rolled her eyes. She had barely mentiohe professor's name a few days ago at one of their rare family dinners. She knew her father was only praising the professor because she art of the project. Well, if her father knew she had actually done very little, he probably wouldn’t be as pleased.

  “What you tell us about what you will present today, Dr. Pym?” John stepped forward and asked with extreme i. The man looked at him and shook his hand iing.

  “o meet you, el Vogelbaum. I heard about yreat promotion in the news. I'm gd you’re here. It will undoubtedly be a day to remember, I assure you,” he said with more fidehaually felt, then began to expin his project.

  “You see, some time ago, I discovered something incredible while studying a strange phenomenon that occurred during an experiment I was in charge of,” he said vaguely as he began to turn on his mae. He gestured to Ja, who quickly brought over some of the test objects Hank had prepared for this day on a wheeled cart, moving them to the main ptform.

  “The experiment was about researg the subatomic properties of matter, mainly its particles,” Hank then approached something resembling a turret, with a sturdy metal base and a long on with metalligs around its tip.

  Several cables of different sizes were ected to its sides, and Hank used both hands to correctly aim the on at the main ptform.

  He then began to manipute various levers and dials as well as pressing buttons. Some lights on the device lit up, and a low hum began to fill the pce.

  “I’ll spare you all the extra details. The only thing you o know is that from that strange phenomenon, I discovered something incredible, something that will revolutiohe world as we know it!” he said with enthusiasm, causing some of the ittee members to snicker quietly. Revolutiohe world—words they had heard many times before, words that almost always ended in nothing.

  John raised his hand, calling Hank’s attention, who gestured for him to speak.

  "I was w what this thing you’re talking about could be, Dr. Pym," John said, feeling that no one else would ask. He could hear the disdain in the whispers and, wanting to hurry this along, decided to intervene.

  Hank smiled at the question and decided to expin it before starting the demonstration.

  “Well, I call them Pym Particles, capable of pletely bypassing the square-cube w by altering the distaweeoms of objects, thus allowing us to ge their size at will,” he said, causing several ittee members to scoff and ugh after hearing it.

  “Ridiculous! Do you really expect us to believe that you’ve discovered something capable of vioting the ws of physics as we know them!?” Harold expressed what his colleagues felt. It was simply madness. Everyone present uood what something like this would mean, and therefore, they couldn’t believe it at all. Even Dr. Vernon frowned and looked at his daughter with doubts. Ja just shrugged at his gaze. Although she knew more or less what it was about, she hadn't seen the phenomenon Dr. Pym spoke of.

  John raised a hand, stopping the mockery.

  "Though it sounds impossible, I think we should give Dr. Pym the opportunity to demonstrate it. Only by seeing it with our own eyes will we know if it’s true or not. What do you think?" John said, looking at the ittee members and giving Hank a kind smile.

  Hank oward him in appreciation for stepping in.

  Dr. Vernoated for a moment before speaking.

  “I think the el is right. If rofessor Pym says is true, we will only discover it by seeing it for ourselves.” His words made other ittee members nod, although there were still many doubters who simply thought it was nonsense.

  Hank swallowed, wiping the sweat from his palms as he saw everyog him expetly. He wao check the data again, re-verify every instrument, but that time had passed. So, without further hesitatio into position, grabbed the main lever, and looked at Ja.

  “Miss Van Dyne, if you would be so kind,” Ja nodded and took out one of the objects Dr. Pym had prepared for this presentation, a metal chair of average size. Carefully, she climbed onto the ptform and pced it in the ter, then stepped off the ptform, staying not far away with the other objects. After all, it seemed her most important task in this was moving things.

  Everything was ready. Hank Pym took a deep breath before pulling the main lever down. The hum intensified, and the tip of the on glowed red before a beam of particles shot out at high speed towards the chair oform.

  For a moment, the beam impacted the chair without any apparent effect. Then, before everyone's eyes, the chair slowly began to shrink, elig excmations of amazement. A broad smile began to form on Hank Pym’s face. It had worked! But before his joy could fully settle, something happened.

  An i.

  Sparks flew from the on, the particle beam began to destabilize, and the ge in the molecur structure of the chair became unstable. Its size started alternating rapidly, sometimes smaller, sometimes rger, all withihan a sed.

  “What’s happening?” one of the ittee members shouted, but Hank had no time to respond. Before he could do anything, the beam intensified, exploding in a shockwave of different colors that expanded into a semi-transparent energy dome, sending gusts of air everywhere.

  John easily stood in front of Raven and other ittee members, taking the brunt of the gusts without fling. Dr. Pym was thrown about two meters bading on his back. But Ja undoubtedly had it the worst.

  She had been too close to the ptform. The strange shockwave dome struck her, enveloping her body within it for a moment before sending her flying through the air in the instant.

  The energy dome then dissipated into nothing, having lost its power.

  John didn’t hesitate and jumped into the air, easily catg Ja in his arms and nding smoothly. When he looked at her, she seemed to have lost sciousness. Brief fshes of yellow light appeared on her skin, as if c through her body, before disappearing pletely.

  'Iing,' John thought.

  Hank shakily straightened up using his elbows to sit up and looked at the now broken on in disbelief, why?! why had it failed!!?

  “Revolutiohe world, huh? What nonsense!” Harold mocked as he saw Hank on the ground and turned away, along with other ittee members who shook their heads in disappoi.

  Clearly, this had been a failure.

  Vernon ran towards John, looking at his daughter in his arms with .

  “Ja!”

  “Don’t worry, doctor. She’s fine,” John said quickly, though he wasirely sure. Something strange had happeo her, after all.

  As if to help him out, Ja's eyelids fluttered, and then her eyes slowly opened.

  “W-what happened?” she asked, fused. Her vision was a bit blurry, and she felt dizzy.

  John helped her stand up. She almost stumbled but mao stay upright after a few moments.

  Vernon sighed in relief as he saw his daughter regaining her posure, then turo Hank with a frown. He approached the man still on the ground and spoke in a cold voice.

  "I think you'd better pick up this mess professor," he said, theuro Ja’s side to support her.

  “I’ll take her to the infirmary. Thank you for your help, el,” Vernon sihanked John, who nodded and watched them leave with unknown thoughts. He then straightened his tie and approached Hank, who was still on the ground.

  Hank snapped out of his disbelief upon seeing John’s hand in front of his face.

  “e on, professor, the floor is cold.” Clumsily, Hank took his hand and stood up, thanking John for the help. He looked at the ptform with resignation, a long sigh esg his lips.

  “So I failed…” he couldn’t help but say as his gaze fell to the ground.

  All his work, all that time ied…

  “I wouldn’t say that,” John said, walking to the ptform, his eyes carefully searg for something, his superhuman vision easily spotting things others couldn’t.

  He crouched when he found what he was looking for and carefully pihe object between his thumb and forefihen he walked back to Haending his hand in front of him once more.

  Hank’s eyes widened in astonishment at what John showed him. There, between his fingers, was a metal chair the size of an ant.

  “This is!” Seeing his amazement, John smiled, handed him the tiny chair, and spoke once more.

  “A Success, a bit of a bumpy one, but a success heless. I see a lot of potential in this project, Dr. Pym, even if others think otherwise.” Hank emerged from his astonishment, looking at John seriously, already having an idea of what was ing.

  “You know why I’m here, professor, so I won’t beat around the bush. Join me, and I’ll provide all the funding and support you o ensure something like this doesn’t happen again,” he said, pointing to the on still sparking behind him.

  Hank looked at his broken mae for a moment. Remembering everything that had happened, he couldn’t help but grit his teeth. Although it wasly what he had been aiming for, he khat this was now his only opportunity. So without hesitation, he nodded firmly.

  “I will. I’ll do better,” he promised, and John smiled in response.

  “Of course. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

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  Ja blinked as the nurse moved the light away from her watery eye.

  “Everything seems to be in order, Dr. Vernon. Just a mild cussion that should pass soon,” the old her father, who exhaled in relief. Thanking the nurse, he allowed her to leave and walked over to Ja’s side.

  “I’m sorry, Ja, I—” Ja quickly interrupted him.

  “Why are you apologizing? I was just doing my job. It was my fault for staying so close. I shouldn’t have.” Iy, she should have backed off more, but her curiosity had gotteter of her. She wao see firsthand if Professor Pym’s iion would really be a success and ge the world.

  That curiosity could have killed her. She didn’t kly what had happened, but she was undoubtedly very lucky. Only a mild cussion could be sidered winning the lottery when it came to b acts.

  Especially when it involved testieologies.

  “You know the risks this js, Dad. Don’t take it so hard,” she said with a smile. Dr. Vernon her words. Of course, he knew, which was why, even though he was angry with Professor Pym, he didn’t really do anything against the man.

  “For now, rest. No one will bother you here. I have to finish my work, but if anything happens, don’t hesitate to call the nurse,” he said, giving her o look before leaving, leaving Ja alone in the room.

  Ja sighed as she watched him leave. This day had not gone as she expected, but at least her work with Professor Pym should be over.

  She stood up and walked to the bathroom in the room. Looking at her refle in the mirror, she couldn’t help but frown at her pletely disheveled hair.

  “What a mess, it looks like I fought with a pack of cats.” She raised her hands, ready to try and fix her hair, but as she did, she noticed something strange happening on her palms.

  She watched in disbelief as ahereal yellow glow danced between her fingers. Curiosity and fasation took over as she observed the strange phenomenon. The light seemed to intensify for a moment, and instinctively, she moved her hands away from her face, pointing them forward.

  Suddenly, a pair of yellow beams shot out, striking the sink and causing it to explode into pieces. Ja looked at her hands, which had returo normal, with disbelief.

  “What the fuck?!” When she looked in the mirrain, her eyes glowed with a yellow light for a moment.

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  Note:

  Preparations tinue, soon we will meet a familiar telepath as well as an ued surprise, what could it be?

  ents, critiques, suggestions and more are always wele. If you notiy errors, don't hesitate to point them out, and I will correct them.

  You already find the chapter (and several more chapters) of this story on Patreon (patreon.maCruzader) All the support received is appreciated ;D