Street signs were bent and faded. Storefronts stood empty—some with their doors ripped off, others with graffiti shouting forgotten warnings. The occasional abandoned belongings littered the sidewalks: forgotten toys, a tipped-over shopping cart, a single worn-out sneaker.
Max's eyes scanned the quiet cityscape as he drove. No crowds. No sounds of life—just the distant echo of the wind weaving through empty alleyways.
"This place…" he muttered, "half the population wiped out, and the survivors scattered or hiding."
"It looks scarier in real life," Max mumbled as he continued driving toward the Avengers' new base.
The road eventually led him out of the city, the skyline fading behind him like a memory. He passed more signs of collapse—collapsed highways, overgrown medians, and wrecked vehicles left abandoned where time had stopped.
After some time, he approached a secluded area nestled in the woods. There, camouflaged among the trees and old ruins, stood what was left of the Avengers' headquarters. It was nothing like the gleaming tower he remembered—this place looked patched together, more like a bunker than a base.
Max parked a short distance away, cutting the engine.
He stepped out, the cool air brushing against his face as he took in the structure.
"Alright… let's see who's still standing."
With casual confidence, he walked toward the entrance, hands in his pockets, ready to see what this broken world had left—and whether its heroes still had any fight in them.
Max approached the hidden entrance, casually bypassing the basic security measures with a flick of his fingers—his system easily overriding what little remained of the old Stark tech.
Inside, the base was quiet. Power still ran through the walls, but everything had a tired, worn-down feel. Screens blinked on and off. Paperwork sat untouched. The silence was heavy.
Then, a sudden whirring noise echoed from the lower levels.
Max paused, head tilting slightly. "Well... that's new."
A security camera above him sparked to life and swiveled toward the source of the noise. Max followed it.
Down in the storage garage, a dusty old van blinked to life. From the rear, a small spark of blue quantum energy flickered around the outdated machinery. A compartment in the back flung open, and with a loud clank, someone was ejected from within.
Max watched as a disheveled man tumbled onto the floor—confused, coughing, and completely unaware of the changed world around him.
Scott Lang.
Ant-Man.
Max stood at the top of the stairs, arms crossed, quietly observing the scene unfold.
Scott slowly pushed himself to his feet, rubbing his head. "What the hell…?" he muttered, blinking against the light.
He looked around, noticing the decay, the silence. "Hello? Anybody?"
Max finally spoke, voice calm and laced with dry amusement. "You've been gone a while, Lang."
Scott spun around, startled. "Who the hell are you?!"
Max descended the steps, hands still casually in his pockets. "Let's just say… someone who's very interested in how you're still alive."
Or rather, I'm more interested in the Quantum Realm itself, Max thought inwardly, his gaze fixed on Scott.
Scott, now on his feet, held his Ant-Man helmet under one arm and looked warily at Max.
"What day is it, by the way?" he asked.
Max smirked slightly. "What do you think?"
Scott frowned, doing some quick mental math. "A few months must've passed, right? Maybe five at most?"
Max raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"Let's go outside," he said instead, turning and motioning for Scott to follow. "You're in for a surprise."
Together, they stepped out of the Avengers base—which now looked more like a dumping ground than a headquarters. Weeds had overtaken parts of the structure, broken vehicles rusted in the nearby lot, and the air carried the weight of silence and loss.
Max casually hopped into the driver's seat of his car, the engine already purring. Scott hesitated, then climbed into the passenger seat, still glancing around in disbelief.
"What the hell happened while I was gone?" Scott muttered.
Max glanced at him with a faint smile.
"You'll see soon enough."
The car sped quietly along the deserted roads, the world outside rolling past like the aftermath of a forgotten war. Overgrown trees lined cracked pavement. Houses stood still and lifeless, some with boarded windows, others simply abandoned.
Scott sat silently, gripping his helmet tightly in his lap. He stared out the window, taking in the haunting stillness of the world he'd returned to.
"This… this doesn't feel right," he murmured. "Where is everyone?"
"You'll understand in a minute," Max replied, eyes fixed on the road ahead.
A few more minutes passed before Max turned down a familiar road—one that led to a wide, open park lined with black stone slabs.
The San Francisco Memorial.
Names were etched into the cold stone—thousands of them. Victims of the Snap.
Max brought the car to a stop and stepped out without a word. Scott followed slowly, eyes drawn to the sheer number of names as they neared.
"What is this place?" he asked quietly.
Max gestured toward the slabs. "Names of the vanished. People who were dusted when Thanos snapped his fingers."
Scott stared at the names, walking slowly between the slabs. His eyes scanned the etchings, the realization sinking in piece by piece.
And then… he froze.
His breath caught in his throat.
On one of the slabs, under the "L" section—Lang, Scott.
He stumbled back a step, staring.
"That's… that's me," he whispered.
Max walked up beside him, voice calm. "From the world's perspective, you vanished. No one knew you were stuck in the Quantum Realm. To them, you were one of the half."
Scott's face paled. "Oh god. Cassie…"
"She survived," Max said, reassuringly. "But she's older now. Time didn't stop for her."
Scott ran a hand through his hair, stunned.
"This is insane…"
Max looked at him seriously. "Now you know the stakes. This world is broken. But maybe... we can fix it."
Scott looked at Max, processing everything.
"…Who are you really?"
Max just smiled.
"Someone who wants to set things right—or maybe rewrite them altogether."
***
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