The endless darkness began to contract.
The vast structure, formed from a storm of countless Scott and Pym consciousnesses and an unending torrent of ants, was collapsing at an unimaginable speed.
"Oh, no!"
"What is this?"
"Hiss..."
Countless ants lost control in the storm. They spiraled toward the center, where they were compressed along with one Scott after another, one Pym after another, into an indescribable singularity.
The intricate structure, once vast enough to swallow the entire Quantum Realm, kept shrinking in the storm. Smaller and smaller.
At last... it became a quiet sphere.
Hank Pym slowly opened his eyes.
Through his suit's visor, he found himself lying in a desert.
Not far away, a translucent sphere made of countless intertwined, intricate structures rested on the sand, giving off a faint golden glow.
Is that it?
Kang's Energy Core.
Pym struggled to his feet, staggered over, and took the cool sphere in his hand.
"Unbelievable. We survived..."
Scott hauled himself off the ground. A moment later, his gaze fell on the ants nearby. They were back to their normal size, but they were twitching uncontrollably.
"Wait, guys, what's wrong? No!" Scott cried, sounding as though his children were at death's door.
"Shut up. Stop embarrassing yourself, Scott." Pym rubbed his head, Energy Core in hand. "They're just feeling sick after growing and shrinking so many times in the Quantum Storm. Put them back in the bottle and let them rest."
"Oh, okay!"
Scott obediently took out the bottle and carefully gathered his ant companions inside.
"Hank... what do we do now?" Hope walked up to Pym. Her gaze lingered on the Energy Core in his hand for a moment before she looked up at him.
"Aurora isn't responding." Pym shook his head, then murmured, "Aurora? Miss Aurora? Can you