Although Batman and Venom Robin had turned most of the Pym Technologies building upside down, both of them kept their ears sharp, intently monitoring every movement of Ant-Man and the Wasp. They knew the duo was approaching the dining room.
An instant before Ant-Man and the Wasp stepped inside, Batman shot Venom Robin a meaningful look.
Roar!
The symbiotic matter on Venom Robin's body surged violently, lunging out from the dining room like a dark, gathering cloud.
Almost at the exact moment Venom Robin pounced, Ant-Man and the Wasp snapped from their relaxed, dinner-ready state into high alert in the blink of an eye. Without even a second to exchange a glance, they reacted with lightning speed, pressing a button on their suits.
Click-clack!
The metal helmets of Ant-Man and the Wasp snapped into place instantly, and they vanished from the spot.
No!
Venom Robin fully unfurled his symbiotic form, lunging at Ant-Man and the Wasp like a dark shadow, his eyes locked onto them the entire time.
They hadn't vanished into thin air; instead, they had shrunk to a height of less than a millimeter. Janet van Dyne, the Wasp, beat her insect-like membranous wings rapidly, holding the non-flying Ant-Man as she pulled him back in a rapid retreat.
"What the hell is this thing?" the shrunken Janet shouted as she stared at the writhing, pitch-black symbiotic mass of Venom Robin.
"I don't know! But it's definitely after the Pym Particles!" Hank Pym, the Ant-Man, roared back.
Although Venom Robin wasn't maintaining a humanoid form, the way he writhed through the air gave away the fact that he was a living organism. No such bizarre creature existed in reality, but Ant-Man and the Wasp had been to the Quantum Realm and seen far too many strange beings. They could tell at a glance that Venom Robin was alive, not just some rag being tossed at them.
Click, click.
While shouting, Ant-Man opened a control panel on his arm and pressed two buttons. Immediately, the eye-slits of his mask were shrouded in a dark red glow, casting a dark red filter over everything he saw.
Beep, beep, beep...
A ticking sound echoed inside Ant-Man's helmet. As Janet pulled him back through the air, he relied on one of the few functions of his suit: scanning for Pym Particles to confirm whether this "dark cloud" had stolen his most precious invention.
Janet clearly knew what Hank Pym was doing. As she flew backward to avoid the cloud, she asked urgently, "Hank! What's the status?"
"I don't know what this thing is, but it hasn't stolen the Pym Particles!" Ant-Man let out a sigh of relief, but his heart quickly hammered against his ribs again. "Wait! This is a distraction!"
"It has accomplices!" the Wasp cried. "I'll handle this thing—you go check on the Pym Particles!"
"Throw me!" Ant-Man shouted.
At his word, the Wasp grabbed Ant-Man's arm, swung him in a circle through the air, and violently hurled the grain-of-sand-sized Ant-Man toward the kitchen.
"Hey! Look at me!" the Wasp shouted at Venom Robin.
Sure enough, Venom Robin's body writhed as he turned his "head" toward her.
So it is a living thing! Did it escape from the Quantum Realm? Janet thought to herself.
As she thought this, the Wasp extended both arms toward the cloud-like Venom Robin, aiming her palms at him.
What is she doing?
Venom Robin wondered curiously. Then, he saw two bursts of bright yellow electrical light flare up in the Wasp's palms. Unlike the golden lightning of Electro, Maxwell Dillon, the Wasp's yellow electricity didn't dance through the air; it remained concentrated in the small area of her palms.
Since the Wasp was currently less than a millimeter tall, the two sparks of yellow light were barely noticeable.
"Robin, your primary objective is to draw the attention of Ant-Man or the Wasp. Your secondary objective is to evacuate the Pym Technologies building immediately, using the escape maneuvers I taught you."
Batman's words from before the mission echoed in Venom Robin's mind.
However, seeing the electrical glow in the Wasp's palms looking like nothing more than two small flashlights, he didn't see any real threat. Instead of immediately retreating as Batman had ordered, Venom Robin shot out a tentacle, attempting to snatch Janet out of the air.
"Ha!" the Wasp barked.
The moment she saw Venom Robin's tentacle reaching for her, the yellow electricity in her palms erupted, lancing toward Robin. The bolt didn't behave like typical electricity; instead, it struck like two lightsabers, piercing deep into Venom Robin's tentacle.
"Agh!"
The Wasp's attack stung like a literal hornet's stinger. An intense, searing pain shot through the tentacle, making him let out a muffled grunt of agony.
Splat!
The stung tentacle immediately severed from his body, falling to the floor where it continued to twitch.
The shrunken Wasp had seemed utterly non-threatening; even right before the yellow electricity hit, he hadn't taken her seriously. He was a Robin who could trade blows with Batman and even the Hulk. Though he couldn't win those fights, he figured dealing with characters like Ant-Man and the Wasp would be a breeze.
But as it turned out, Venom Robin was dead wrong. He didn't dare be careless any longer. His cloud-like form quickly condensed, shifting in mid-air into the shape of a teenage boy about 1.3 meters tall.
"Oh?" The Wasp let out a surprised sound as she watched Venom Robin transform, then the yellow electricity in her palms flared up again.
Venom Robin wasn't afraid of a fight, but the Wasp's attack was far too painful, and he had no desire to take another hit. He turned to flee without hesitation, only to realize he had been surrounded by a dense swarm of ants at some point.
Why is it that when I'm with the old Bat, I never get surrounded by ants... The thought flashed through Venom Robin's mind.
But he didn't need to think of an answer, because Batman had already prepared a plan for him before the mission started. That plan was "Moonlight"!
Scuttle, scuttle!
Venom Robin dropped to all fours and charged into the swarm like a young bull, sprinting madly toward the Pym Technologies building's lightwell.
The moon hung high in the sky. Though the moonlight hadn't reached the interior when the mission began, it was now casting a direct beam down through the building's massive skylight.
The Wasp pursued Venom Robin. Seeing that the ground ants couldn't stop this mysterious creature, she immediately issued an order: "Surround him!"
As her voice fell, a cacophony of buzzing filled the air. A massive cloud of flying ants appeared out of nowhere, swarming like a dark veil toward Venom Robin as he reached the lightwell.
"Blehh." Venom Robin stuck out his long, crimson tongue and wagged it at the Wasp.
Then, he tilted his head back toward the sky, letting the moonlight wash over him. Within the silvery glow, layers of white mummy-like bandages began to wrap around Venom Robin's body, binding him tightly from head to toe.
This wasn't the "Moon Eclipse Knight" form; rather, Venom Robin was utilizing the abundant moonlight to tap into his greater potential.
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