In the morning, my father finally decided to return home. It seems today is some kind of holiday—perhaps "World Domination Free Day"—otherwise, I can't imagine why he showed up. Previously, he'd return once every two or three months and stay no longer than a week. I was curious why he'd summoned me, but I never expected what I heard next.
"Come in, sit down."
"I'm fine standing..."
"I said, sit!"
"Alright, alright. What's the problem? Why all the shouting?"
"Rain, answer me honestly: are you a mutant?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked. How does he know about mutants? Is this definitely the MCU? And if they exist here, who else should I expect? The Fantastic Four? Namor? Blade? Throg?
"You don't have to deny it. I wanted to hear the truth from your own lips, of course, but it seems I'll have to be the one talking."
"How did you find out?"
"Did you really think there were no cameras in the gym? Or do you think I'm not briefed on your training results? At first, when I watched the tapes, I thought something was wrong with the camera—that the frame rate was glitching. But on the recording of your spar with Brooks, it happened again, only he didn't suddenly start moving faster. Did you think you could just write it all off as 'suddenly awakened combat skills' or, as you put it, a 'voice in your head,' huh?"
"Nothing to say?"
Alright, time for the Skipper tactic: smile and wave... and show total ignorance on the subject.
"I wanted to tell you, but I didn't know what was happening to me. It started after that incident on the bus." I let my gaze waver, and even managed a single tear.
He didn't look convinced. Damn, the tear was too much.
"Has the Brotherhood or the School contacted you yet?"
"Who? I don't know anything about a Brotherhood, and I assume you don't mean my actual school?"
"Yes, they are two very dangerous organizations. You see, what happened to you has happened to others. It's all connected to a single gene that appears in some people. This gene gives them abilities beyond human limits. There are two societies actively recruiting mutants: the Brotherhood of Mutants and the School. The Brotherhood views mutants as the next step in human evolution and seeks to destroy or enslave humanity. The School is not much better: though they avoid radical measures and pretend to seek cooperation, their real goal is to infiltrate the government from within and spread mutants across the planet. They don't even consider that social norms and the rule of law would collapse the moment every third person is reading minds, teleporting into banks to take what they want, or leveling several city blocks on a bad day with uncontrolled radiation. Believe me, they are all extremely dangerous individuals. You must tell me immediately if any of them try to contact you. You are my son, Rain, which means you have access to the highest circles of politics. While you aren't fully grown and your views can be influenced, they will use any lies to get into your head. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, father." Wow, he really knows how to spin a narrative.
"So, I assume your mutation is speed-related?"
"I can accelerate myself, but it hits my stamina hard. You probably saw how exhausted I was by the end of the spar. If it wasn't for that trick, I likely would have lost again."
"You're lucky Brooks is a reliable man who knows how to keep secrets. But from now on, I hope you won't use this ability in front of others."
"Okay."
Whew. It seems he isn't going to lock me in a lab for experiments. Son or not, he's Hydra—you never know. And really, how could I forget about the cameras? Living in this house for years and not remembering stuff like that... maybe I didn't fully recover?
After our "pleasant" conversation, I spent a few more hours on shooting practice and went into the city later that day. I needed to find something. It would look suspicious if a guy who supposedly knows nothing about mutants started searching for Xavier's School from his home PC right after talking to his father. Fortunately, I know enough internet cafes where I can look up my bald friend's school without issue.
Funnily enough, it was incredibly easy. There was an address and even coordinates. I really don't get why they're surprised their mansion gets destroyed every third Friday when they're that easy to find. What did make me happy, though, was that searches for "Baxter Building," "Reed Richards," "man in scale-mail trunks," "Atlantis," and "unknown sea attacker" yielded nothing.
I returned home with a head full of thoughts about the Phoenix, Apocalypse, and Magneto's Brotherhood.
Fortunately, the following days were peaceful. All I did was train, sleep, and check the news. After 12 days of this, I finally saw the headline: the famous billionaire, philanthropist, etc.—Stark—had been taken captive. Hilariously, the company's stock didn't even drop by 10% after the announcement that their lead inventor was gone. Looking at this, I suspect Obadiah intentionally let the stock crash later after Tony's return announcement; if he'd tried to stabilize it, a 30% drop would have been the max. But for now, I decided it was time to meet another genius and make him my debtor.
After Googling Darren Cross and the location of the Pym Technologies headquarters, I headed there immediately, hoping luck would be on my side and I'd spot Hope, who would lead me to her father.
Two weeks later...
Finally. I mean, I get it, but in the movie, she seemed to spend more time with her father, even while playing the role of someone who didn't care. For a whole week, I sat outside the main office, then another week outside her apartment. Only now is she finally visiting him. I've been through the cafe menu three times; I'm starting to get sick of coffee.
Waiting for her to leave, I rang the doorbell.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
"Hello. My name is Rain Pierce. I'd like to speak with you."
"Well, I don't give a damn what you want, kid! I'm not talking to you!" Clearly, the talk with his daughter didn't go well.
"The Quantum Realm."
"What? How do you know about that? Who sent you, boy?"
"Mr. Pym, I can assure you I am acting of my own volition. No one sent me. I also have information that is quite important to you, and it would be better shared in a more comfortable setting."
After standing at the door for about two minutes, I finally heard the magic words.
"Fine. Come in."
Pym looked just like in the movie—maybe a bit younger, which makes sense since those events are six years away. He met me wearing his ant-controlling earpiece.
"So, what information do you have for me?"
"First, I want to make a deal. Don't worry, I don't need anything from you right now. But in the future... once you've verified what I'm about to tell you, I will need your skills and your intellect."
"And why are you so sure I won't just kick you out once I have the information, hm?"
"I know what kind of man you are. I think once this is confirmed, you won't be able to turn your back on me, even if you wanted to."
"Well then, what is this 'valuable' information?"
"I think you should sit down. Let's start with the easy stuff: your student, Darren Cross, is trying to replicate your Pym Particles formula and build a combat suit. He loves money and power; if he succeeds, I believe he'll quickly contact some 'unpleasant' organizations who will come knocking for your tech. Also, I'm sure you've noticed how he's slowly pushing you out of company affairs. Darren doesn't like being in second place."
"How do you know about the suit?! That data is only known to the high levels of S.H.I.E.L.D.!"
"I know many things, Mr. Pym, but let's not dwell on that. Everyone has secrets."
"Cross won't succeed. He's a bright kid, but he doesn't have the skills to repeat my success."
"Who knows. Given enough time and resources, it might not be such a problem. And after taking over your company, he'll have plenty of resources. Now, for the second piece of news... I think you and Hope will find this one much more interesting. Janet is alive."
If he reacted calmly to the Cross news—though you don't hear every day that your student wants to steal your company and sell tech to terrorists—this news brought a whole spectrum of emotions to his eyes: disbelief, fear, anger, hope. He froze for about 20 seconds, processing it.
"How do you know that?! Where is she?!"
"Again, everyone has secrets, Mr. Pym. But I know for a fact she is still in the Quantum Realm. I won't tell you how to save her, but I can tell you how to roughly verify this information."
"How?"
"I know you have such a thing as an enlargement disk, right?"
"Suppose I do. And?"
"By shrinking smaller than a molecule and inserting it into the regulator, one can leave the Quantum Realm. But this must be done within the first 3-5 minutes; I can't vouch for the chances of returning after that. To bring your wife back, you'll need to build a quantum tunnel and a vessel capable of surviving the journey. By the way, don't worry—her life won't be in danger for another nine years or so, so you have plenty of time."
"And what, I'm supposed to risk my life because of some kid's words?!"
"I think you're smart enough to find a safer way to test my words. I'll be going now. I'll only come back to collect on the debt once you've proven I'm telling the truth."
Leaving Pym, I was glad that hell was finally over. I'd actually started to worry. Even though I'd managed to squeeze out a few more weeks of "rest," my time was running out. High school would soon be ruthlessly consuming my days, and currently, my skills don't give me much confidence that I can pull off my plan.
"Hello, Hank? Hi. You haven't called in a while. What happened that made you remember me?" a man asked with a cheerful voice.
"I need a favor, Jim. Please look into a 'Rain Pierce' for me."