Mephisto: Hank, Do You Want Your Daughter Back?

Before he knew it, Doctor Pym had arrived at a retro-style bar.

He needed a few good drinks to calm his nerves.

The bartender was an old man leaning on a cane, looking about the same age as Doctor Pym.

Unlike Doctor Pym, whose face was full of hardship and whose spirit was crushed,

the bartender was neatly dressed and full of vigor.

After several drinks, Doctor Pym's eyes grew unfocused.

In his daze, he heard the bartender saying something to him.

"Doctor Pym, I have a way to revive your daughter. But there is one condition."

"As long as you can... hic... revive Hope, any condition... is fine."

The bartender narrowed his eyes, a smile curling across his lips. "Good. Then sign the contract."

As he spoke, the bartender handed over a Parchment Scroll and a pen.

Doctor Pym casually took them, struggling to keep his eyes open as he read the words on the scroll.

'Mephisto. Revive daughter Hope van Dyne. Hank accepts one... condition.'

"Hic, buddy, you're pretty funny. You made it look so real."

Doctor Pym did not take it seriously and casually signed his name.

Then he slumped over the bar and fell asleep.

He kept muttering Janet Hope under his breath.

"Ha ha, hahahaha!"

Mephisto laughed loudly and put away the scroll.

He was quite pleased with himself.

For a devil, a perfect deal was the greatest pleasure.

The full contents of the Parchment Scroll were:

'Mephisto agrees to revive Hank Pym's daughter, Hope van Dyne. Hank Pym unconditionally accepts any condition Mephisto demands.'

What one agreed to do did not necessarily have to be done.

One arbitrary condition could mean countless arbitrary conditions.

In other words,

Mephisto had traded Doctor Pym's entire fortune, including his life and soul, without paying any price.

Well, he had paid a little—the cost of a few drinks.

"Doctor Pym, bring Iron Man Tony Stark and Sorcerer Russell into the Quantum Realm.

I—Mephisto, King of Demons, Lord of Hell, Supreme of the Demonic Realm—

will revive your daughter for you."

The voice entered Doctor Pym's ears, then echoed through his mind from time to time.

Though he had no intention of honoring his promise, Mephisto would not skimp on the bait he dangled.

Otherwise, how could he fully mobilize his contractors' initiative and make them work themselves to death for him?

It was a lesson Mephisto had learned from a certain Ghost Rider—

if you wanted the horse to run, you had to let it see the grass.

The next morning, Doctor Pym slowly woke up.

He first recalled the scene of his family reunited in his dream, and the corners of his lips rose. Then he remembered the strange contract he had signed and could not help shaking his head with a bitter smile.

Sigh. I must miss Janet and Hope too much. I even started hallucinating after getting drunk. There are no devils in this world.

Without warning, Mephisto's voice rang out in Doctor Pym's mind.

"Doctor Pym, bring Iron Man Tony Stark and Sorcerer Russell into the Quantum Realm.

I—Mephisto, King of Demons, Lord of Hell, Supreme of the Demonic Realm—

will revive your daughter for you."

When the words ended, Mephisto's figure slowly materialized before Doctor Pym.

Mephisto extended a hand, palm facing upward, and slowly opened it.

Boom!

A ball of illusory flame appeared, with a figure inside it.

It was Doctor Pym's longed-for daughter—Hope van Dyne.

"Doctor Pym, do you want your daughter back?"

"Give her back to me! Give her back to me!"

Unable to contain himself, Doctor Pym staggered into Mephisto, reaching toward the figure in the flames with cupped hands.

"Bring Iron Man Tony Stark and Sorcerer Russell into the Quantum Realm, and I will revive your daughter."

Mephisto repeated himself, his calm tone overflowing with temptation.

Huff, huff, huff—

Doctor Pym took several deep breaths to calm himself before slowly speaking. "Tony Stark is already dead."

Mephisto said nothing, merely smiled at Doctor Pym.

Seeing that, Doctor Pym asked, "Tony Stark isn't dead?"

Mephisto nodded. "You're not completely stupid."

Doctor Pym cried out in disbelief. "How is that possible? I clearly mashed his brain into pulp."

An idea flashed through Doctor Pym's mind. He secretly suppressed his excitement and continued asking, "Did someone revive him?"

Mephisto nodded. "After you killed Tony Stark, Sorcerer Russell revived him."

He was deliberately guiding the conversation in order to win Doctor Pym's trust.

Look, even a sorcerer could revive the Tony Stark you had killed.

Wouldn't I, the mighty Lord of Hell, be able to revive your daughter with ease?

Doctor Pym rubbed his hands together and paced back and forth excitedly.

If Tony Stark could be revived, then Hope definitely could too.

The task was to bring Tony Stark and Russell. Russell...

The moment he thought of Russell, Doctor Pym's face turned pale and cold sweat covered his body.

After a night had passed, the fear Russell had left in him had only grown deeper.

He could not forget those eyes, eyes that seemed capable of killing—

no, eyes that had already killed him once.

After standing there blankly for a moment, Doctor Pym decided to negotiate with Mephisto.

"One for one. Tony Stark for Hope."

Mephisto raised an eyebrow. Negotiating terms with a devil?

"Fine. I'll wait for your good news."

Mephisto agreed immediately.

Then his figure faded away, disappearing together with Hope's phantom in his hand.

It seemed this sorcerer was stronger than he had expected.

He knew Doctor Pym had attempted to assassinate Russell the night before, but he could not spy on them and did not know what had happened.

Doctor Pym saw his bargaining as a successful price cut.

But to Mephisto, it was merely the difference between an author releasing two chapters at once and releasing one chapter before another.

Unfortunately, Doctor Pym, this "author," could only release one chapter.

The plan needed to change: besiege one point to draw reinforcements.

Trap Tony Stark in the Quantum Realm, then find a way to leak the coordinates to Russell and lure him into the Quantum Realm as well.

Then catch them all in one net!

Within the Quantum Realm, even Vishanti could not possibly know what was happening.

Yao's Place

A man and a woman, one with a buzz cut and one bald, sat side by side on the sofa watching television.

The people on the television were Mephisto and Doctor Pym.

The broadcast was simply somewhat delayed.

The two were Russell and The Ancient One.

Naturally, they had no way to directly spy on Mephisto without being discovered.

But they could retrieve recordings.

That was the wondrous use of the Time Stone. That was the Sorcerer Supreme.

On the television screen,

Doctor Pym watched his daughter's fading figure with great reluctance.

He quickly pulled himself together, steeled himself, put on the Ant-Man Suit, and brought along the Pym Particles.

He set off for Stark Tower.

He admitted that he did not have the courage to face Russell again.

But

Tony Stark, Iron Man?

He was just a playboy, a rich second-generation heir.

An easy target!

Today, he would infiltrate Stark Tower once again.

He would use Pym Particles to send Tony Stark into the Quantum Realm and trade for his daughter Hope.

At that thought, Doctor Pym's face blossomed with a smile.

PS: Doctor Pym's inner thoughts could not be seen by Russell and The Ancient One, who were watching television.

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