Inside the D-2 Ant Farm, Black Widow sat on the floor, hugging her knees. She rested her chin on them, lost in thought.
"Who was it that stole the Pym Particles?"
"Do they know I'm being held here by Ant-Man?"
Natasha Romanoff's first instinct upon hearing from Ant-Man that someone had stolen the Pym Particles was that Clint Barton—Hawkeye—had come to rescue her. But based on the descriptions Ant-Man and the Wasp gave of the intruder, she found herself uncertain.
Hawkeye was a master of all weaponry, whether melee or ranged, but that certainly did not include pitch-black, writhing tentacles.
"Is it Batman?" she whispered to herself.
If there was anyone in New York who fit the description, Batman was the only one she could think of, even though she had never actually seen the mysterious figure.
"Batman can slip into a S.H.I.E.L.D. safehouse without a sound, and he single-handedly reduced General Ross's Gamma Base to ash."
"If he wanted to, I'm sure he could have stolen the Pym Particles right under Ant-Man's nose without being noticed."
"But Batman didn't. What is he trying to do?"
Natasha turned her gaze toward the "sky" of the Ant Farm—which was actually the underbelly of a giant ant pressing down from above.
She didn't believe Batman had come to Pym Technologies merely to steal particles. She was even starting to suspect that the man already knew she was here. Had Batman exposed his actions on purpose, hoping to use Ant-Man as a messenger to notify her?
"No, I can't think of any reason Batman would come for me. He might not even know someone like me exists..."
Natasha shook her head. But just as she lay down on her bed, her eyes suddenly lit up.
"No, Batman doesn't just know me—he's actively looking for me! His heist tonight was a signal!"
Being trapped inside the Ant Farm, Natasha had no way to receive outside information. She couldn't even scrounge together enough electronic components to build a radio transmitter to call for help. However, she had still gleaned one vital piece of information from Ant-Man: Batman was searching for her!
Earlier that evening, when Ant-Man held the Ant Farm in his palm, the second thing he had said was that "two Hydra agents are looking for her, and one of them is Batman!"
"A coincidence, or...?" Natasha couldn't stay lying down. She stood up and walked to the bars of her cage.
She had a premonition that Batman would return to Pym Technologies, and this time, his target would be her.
Creak...
She had to find a way to make Ant-Man return her to her normal size.
The Ant Farm was a prison constructed from toy blocks and glue; an ordinary adult could crush it with a bit of effort. But for the current, shrunken Natasha, it was a massive structure she couldn't possibly budge with raw strength.
"I wonder how Ant-Man and the Wasp manage to maintain their strength while shrunk. Is it related to the suits they wear?"
Every day she was held here, Natasha tried to pry at the blocks, but today ended in failure yet again. Her eyes darted around, settling on the only button in her cell.
The button was extremely simple, consisting of only four parts: a battery, a wire, a switch, and a bell. It was placed there for Natasha to call Ant-Man. In his words: "I don't want the Black Widow dying in my Ant Farm, so if something happens, press the button."
Natasha then looked at another object—the cup of coffee Ant-Man had handed her that night. The coffee was gone, but the cup remained.
She walked over, picked it up, and smashed it violently against the floor. With a sharp crash, ceramic shards scattered everywhere.
Looking at the fragments, Natasha didn't hesitate. She lifted her foot and stepped directly onto them. The irregular but jagged shards pierced her sole, and a scream immediately tore from her throat:
"Aah!!"
But it wasn't enough!
Enduring the agonizing pain, she ground her foot into the shards, twisting it left and right to drive the ceramic deeper into the muscle. The intense pain made her leg tremble. She staggered toward the button step by step and slammed her palm down on it.
Ding-ling-ling!
The bell rang out instantly.
The ants patrolling the interior of the Ant Farm couldn't hear the sound, but the signal receivers equipped on them picked up the alert that something was wrong with the prisoner. Ants began to scurry, waving their antennae as they swarmed the front of Natasha's cage, peering inside through the bars.
Ant-Man wasn't sleeping; he was still busy in the laboratory. Hearing the bell from the Ant Farm, Hank Pym kept one eye on a piece of writhing symbiote matter under the electron microscope and said casually:
"Black Widow, have you finally decided to tell me the truth?"
With an ant outside the cage opening the communication channel, Natasha's voice reached his ears, sounding strained and intermittent:
"Dammit, Pym... perform surgery on me!"
"Surgery?"
Ant-Man pulled his gaze away from the microscope and looked at the monitor displaying the feed from the Ant Farm. His brow furrowed instantly.
Natasha's foot was shaking uncontrollably, and blood was dripping down, staining her entire sole a deep crimson. On the floor of the cage, the coffee cup he'd forgotten to retrieve had been reduced to shards, with a bloody footprint visible among them.
Apparently, Natasha had accidentally broken the cup and had the misfortune of stepping on it.
Ant-Man set down his work, leaving the symbiote matter to writhe in its glass dish.
"Black Widow, are you trying to break out?"
"Breaking a cup and stepping on it—that's a pretty poor trick."
"Break out my ass!" Natasha cursed. "Would I stab my own damn foot to escape?"
Ant-Man pressed a button, and his metal helmet snapped into place. He shrank his body, summoned Antony VIII, and straddled the flying ant's back. As he flew toward the seventh floor of the building, he said:
"You are a highly trained agent..."
Before he could finish, Natasha interrupted him:
"Shut up, Pym! I'm not a masochist, and I never use self-injury ruses!"
On North Brother Island, Batman dropped the Venom-Robin off, leaving him to continue learning emotional control with Dr. Banner and Professor Morbius.
Batman himself stood at the shore and leaped, spreading his cape to glide toward Bat-Island.
"I intentionally exposed myself during last night's action. There's an eighty percent chance Ant-Man will question her."
"I hope she's smart enough to know that I'm heading back to Pym Technologies."
Thud!
Batman landed heavily on Bat-Island, and a few minutes later, he arrived at the island's core.
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