Lost Our Minds |5| The Ascension

Chapter Forty Two: Endgame-If At First You Don't Succeed...

"Okay, here we go," Bruce said, checking over his equipment. "Time travel test number one. Scott, fire up the, uh... van thing."

Scott activated the quantum tunnel. On the other side of the room, Zosia threw a set of levers. "Breakers are set, emergency generators are on standby," she reported.

"Good, 'cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose Tiny here in the 1950s," Bruce chuckled.

"Excuse me?" Scott spluttered.

"He's kidding," Natasha assured him, then lowered her voice. "You can't say things like that!"

Bruce winced. "Just... it was a bad joke."

She hesitated. "You were kidding, right?"

"I have no idea," Bruce whispered. Zosia looked across at them sharply, then at Scott, hoping his human ears hadn't picked that up. "We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke or none of it is." He raised his voice, giving Scott an unconvincing 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. Make sense?"

Scott made a face. "Perfectly not confusing." He activated the helmet of his suit.

Zosia gave him a warm smile. "Good luck, Scott. You got this."

Scott smiled confidently. "You're right, boss. I do."

Bruce pushed a button, and Scott disappeared into the quantum tunnel. "On the count of three. Three... two... one!" He pushed another button and Scott reappeared. His helmet retracted to reveal a teenaged boy.

He frowned. "Uh, guys? This... this doesn't feel right."

Zosia stared. "What is this?"

"What's going on?" Bruce wondered.

"That..." Natasha hesitated, lost for words. "Who is that?!"

Bruce winced, hastily pushing more buttons. "Hold on!"

Natasha's eyes widened in realisation. "Is that Scott?"

Teenaged Scott nodded emphatically. "Yes, it's Scott!" He was sucked into the quantum tunnel again, then reappeared as an old man. "Ow! My back!"

Zosia's jaw dropped. "Oh my God."

Bruce bit his lip, panicking. "Can I get a little space here?"

"Can you get him back?" Zosia asked.

"I'm working on it!" He sent old man Scott back, retrieving a baby in the Antman suit.

Zosia blinked. "It's a baby."

Bruce tilted his head. "It's Scott."

Zosia stared at him, incredulous. "As a baby!"

"He'll grow," Bruce shrugged.

"Are you insane?! Bring Scott back!"

Bruce made a face, gesturing to a dumbstruck Natasha. "When I say kill the power, kill the power."

Natasha looked like she was about to faint. "Oh my God." She hurried over to the generator.

Bruce activated the controls. "And... kill it!"

Natasha threw the lever, and the power shut off. Scott—in his normal form—stumbled out of the quantum tunnel, breathing heavily. "Somebody peed my pants."

Natasha sighed in relief. "Oh thank god."

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