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Monica stared for a moment—but a moment was all they needed.
Tai grinned. She pushed a joystick forward on her controller. From behind her, through the portal, an entire colony of Bee-Boi drones flooded the room, buzzing loudly.
And strapped to each one of their backs was a Wasp’s Stinger.
Monica’s mouth dropped open.
“Aim for the quantum oscillators!” yelled Nadia.
The Bees opened fire.
Nadia jumped on top of Priya, pushing her flat against the ground and shielding her from the debris as the Bee-Bois annihilated every inch of the room’s servers. The electric blasts destroyed row after row, decimating VERA’s brain from the inside out. They spared a few blasts for Monica and her agents, too, of course; Nadia hoped that other colony members were able to find Roger Bain before he escaped. But destroying VERA was the primary concern right now, and they were taking care of that effortlessly.
The blasting stopped; the buzzing went silent. Nadia lifted her head, coughing even through her helmet. There were sparks and small electrical fires and dust and twisted metal everywhere. Janet helped Ying to her feet while Bobbi and Jarvis checked to ensure all A.I.M. agents were sufficiently unconscious and zip-tied.
“Did they work?” came Alexis’s voice over the radio.
Nadia looked around the room at the total and complete carnage where VERA’s servers and core used to stand. “Yes,” Nadia responded. “I would say they did. Nice one, Taina.”
Tai shrugged, trying to play it cool, but Nadia knew she was proud. “Just glad Wasp Senior and the Golden Oldies were able to show up with us in time,” she said.
“Watch it, kid,” Bobbi muttered, but Nadia saw her smiling, too.
With a pop, Margaret materialized next to Nadia—full size again. She opened her mouth to speak, but Nadia grabbed a zip tie from her dedushka and had it around Margaret’s wrists before she even knew what was happening.
“Wait, I just—” Margaret began to protest, tugging her wrists away—but it was too late. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were already pouring into the room, examining the decimated servers, dragging incapacitated A.I.M. agents out by their buckets—and coming for Margaret.
“This her?” the suit that approached Nadia asked.
“It is,” Nadia confirmed. “But she’s not entirely at fault. A.I.M.—Roger Bain—”
“On the lam,” said the suit. “But we’ll find him.”
Nadia sighed. “Or we will.”
Margaret looked at Nadia—and stopped struggling. Her helmet retracted, and Nadia did the same. She looked into Margaret’s eyes, and against all odds, still saw her friend.
A friend who had screwed up really, really badly.
But a friend nonetheless.
“Thank you,” Margaret said to Nadia.
Nadia was surprised. “Thank me? For what?”
“For understanding me,” Margaret said simply.
It was the right thing to say, the one thing Nadia could relate to most.
Nadia squeezed Margaret’s hands one more time—and tore off Margaret’s Wasp gloves, including the access to her Pym Particles. “Limits are important.” Nadia gave a signal to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, who took over Margaret’s restraints. “I hope you learn to respect that. I know I will. So thank you, for that lesson.”
“Think they’ll let me use my powers for good?” Margaret joked. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent didn’t smile.
“I think VERA should stay buried,” said Nadia. “But there are rehabilitation programs. If you could learn to use your brain to help instead of harm…”
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent turned. “Let’s go.”
Margaret looked behind her one last time before walking out the door. She left the remains of her life’s work around Nadia’s feet. She looked, suddenly, very small.
