Just before the laser fired, violent electrical sparks erupted inside the Wasp Suit.
The tentacles preparing to fire went dead, belching clouds of black smoke.
"What?! What is he doing?!" Darren frantically slapped at his suit.
Then stronger sparks burst out. The suit's resizing mechanism failed, triggering an irregular physical collapse.
"No! Stop! Stop!"
Darren screamed in utter terror.
Under the effect of the unstable Pym Particles, his body began collapsing unevenly.
His limbs and torso twisted and folded inward like cans being crushed.
Crack! Squelch!
"Aaaaah!"
At last, with a bloodcurdling scream, Darren became a tiny point of light and vanished completely.
Silence returned to the laboratory.
Only a few severed wires still gave off faint sparks.
Hope sat dazed on the floor.
She stared at the place where Darren had vanished. There was nothing there.
"Daniel...?"
Hope called softly into the empty air, her voice trembling.
No one answered. There was nothing.
Suddenly, she understood how her father had felt when he lost her mother, Janet.
The pain of watching someone you loved disappear before your eyes and being powerless to stop it.
The man who had kissed her in the sea breeze only hours ago and told her, "I'm yours," would never come back...
"No!"
Hope covered her face with both hands. Her shoulders shook violently as her stifled sobs gave way to wrenching cries.
Pym's eyes were red as he stumbled to his daughter's side and held the grief-stricken Hope tight.
The old man, stubborn all his life, was filled with indescribable guilt.
He had been wrong. Terribly wrong.
For the first time, he thought his instincts had been foolish. He should never have been so wary of Daniel.
That young man had possessed extraordinary talent and had given his life to prove his love for