The Tragedy of Living

06

AVENGERS COMPOUND

Scott opened the portal as Steve stated, "Breakers are set, emergency generators are on standby."

"Good. 'Cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose Tiny here in the 1950's." Scott, Natasha and Steve gave Bruce a panicked look.

"Excuse me?" Scott asked.

"He's kidding," Natasha reassured before speaking in a hushed tone to Bruce, "You can't say things like that!"

"Just... It was a bad joke," Bruce reassured.

"You were kidding, right?"

Bruce whispered to Natasha, "I have no idea. We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is." He gave Scott a thumbs up. "We're good! Get your helmet on, Scott. I'm gonna send you back a week, let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in ten seconds. Makes sense?"

"Perfectly not confusing," Scott replied.

"Good luck, Scott," Steve told him. "You got this."

"You're right. I do, Captain America."

Bruce pressed a button and Scott disappeared into the Quantum Tunnel as the former said, "On the count of three. 3... 2... 1!" He pressed a button, and someone in the Ant-Man suit came back. A teenager appeared from it.

"Uh, guys?" teen Scott called. "This... this doesn't feel right."

"What is this?" Steve asked.

"What's going on?" Bruce wondered.

"That... who is that?" Natasha questioned.

Bruce pushed another couple of buttons, trying to fix the problem. "Hold on." He began panicking.

"Is that Scott?"

"Yes, it's Scott!" teen Scott exclaimed before getting sucked in back into the Quantum Tunnel, and it appeared to be an old man in the Ant-Man suit.

"Ow! My back!" old Scott protested.

"What is this?" Steve asked again.

"Can I get a little space here," Bruce said.

"Yeah yeah. Can you bring him back?"

"I'm working on it!" He tapped the side of the button pad, trying to pull back Scott.

After a moment, another person appeared in front of them. This time, it was a baby in the Ant-Man suit.

"It's a baby," Steve said.

"It's Scott," Bruce corrected.

"As a baby!"

"He'll grow."

"Bring Scott back!"

Bruce motioned to Natasha. "When I say kill the power, kill the power."

"Oh my god," Natasha muttered as she rapidly walked near to the generator.

"And... Kill it!"

Natasha pulled down a lever, and everything shut down. Adult Scott got spewed back out again.

"Somebody peed my pants," Scott said.

"Oh thank god," Natasha stated.

"But I don't know if it was "baby" me or "old" me... Or just "me" me."

Bruce held up his his hands in a dramatic way before exclaiming, "Time travel!" Steve said nothing. He shook his head and walked away. "What? I... I see this as an absolute win!"