[ Budapest, Hungary ]
"Someone saw Dr. Pym being supported by two men in a hospital. After that? Poof. Gone like my patience at a Sitwell seminar." Sharon's tone was as sharp as her cheekbones. She had clearly briefed Black Widow earlier, and now her intel was aimed squarely at Daisy and Maria.
Sharon handed over a tablet. Maria, still emotionally reeling from last night's accidental full-body 'massage therapy session,' didn't react fast enough. Daisy, ever the multitasker, took it.
On the screen: three shadows darted across a corner of the hospital's surveillance footage. Two tall men dragging a third between them like they were sneaking a drunk buddy out of a wedding.
"Where did they go?" Daisy asked, her tone more impatient than usual. Blame it on the lack of sleep—or Maria's lingering gaze.
Black Widow took over with the practiced calm of someone who's been through too many world-ending missions. "A small island in Costa Rica. Used to be a biotech facility called... wait for it... Egghead Inventions."
Daisy blinked. "Please tell me that's not real."
"Real and ridiculous," Black Widow replied. "Founded by Dr. Eli Hayes Starr—goes by Dr. Egghead. Former colleague of Pym's, now full-time mad scientist."
"Of course he has a PhD," Daisy muttered. "Can't be a proper villain without one."
With no objections raised, the team was airborne to Costa Rica. The plan: covert infiltration. The setting: tropical island with definite 'Jurassic Park, but worse' vibes.
On the flight, they double-checked their gear, set their jet to autopilot, and leapt out one by one into the ocean below. Parachutes deployed. Daisy considered just blast-jumping with her powers, but then remembered Maria might be watching.
Can't flirt if you're unconscious from ocean impact.
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[ Somewhere in Costa Rica ]
Combat suits dried themselves as they hit land. Immediately, they noticed something strange. The trees? Oversized. The ferns? Towering. The grass? Taller than Sitwell standing on a milk crate.
It was too quiet. The kind of quiet that screams ambush.
Daisy, sizing up their situation, quietly pulled out her Rhino revolver. Maria gave her a quick side-eye. "Compensating for something?" she whispered.
"Just being prepared," Daisy replied, smirking. "You know, like when you bring extra underwear."
Maria blinked once. Blushed twice. Said nothing.
Black Widow scanned the perimeter with thermal goggles. Her voice dropped to a hiss: "Incoming. Big one. Scatter!"
A deafening buzz sliced through the air. Above them: a hornet. Not just any hornet—a turbo-charged, SUV-sized nightmare with a five-meter wingspan and an attitude problem.
Hill dove, firing two clean shots. Missed.
The hornet circled and locked onto Sharon. Daisy steadied her breath. If it attacked now...
ZAP. Black Widow flung an electromagnetic patch that jolted the bug mid-air.
BANG. Daisy fired, green goo splattering the jungle floor.
The hornet twitched on the ground. Daisy gave it a coup de grâce shot to its creepy bug-eyes.
Hill stepped up, inspecting it. "Definitely not nature's work."
"Nope. And look," Black Widow said, pointing at a camera embedded in the hornet's leg. "Surveillance. Daisy, can you work your magic?"
"I'll try." Daisy crouched, gingerly reaching for the camera module. The hornet leg twitched.
BANG. Hill shot once. Sharon fired twice. Black Widow stabbed it for good measure.
"Thanks for the support, ladies," Daisy mumbled, sarcasm thick.
"Just making sure my favorite hacker doesn't get bugged out," Maria added with an uncharacteristically shy smirk.
Daisy paused. Was that... flirting?
With the camera removed, Daisy cracked open its feed. "Got it. Their main base is in the northwest valley. Looks like a hidden facility nestled in the jungle. I wiped our tracks, but let's move."
They ran. Through alien-sized foliage, over roots thick as tree trunks, past a rhinoceros beetle the size of a Smart car.
"Detour!" Black Widow barked. No one argued.
After an hour and a half, they arrived.
The facility stood in the valley like a forgotten villain's lair. And guarding it?
Not soldiers. Not mercenaries.
Bugs. Giant, grotesque, twisted insects.
Wasps. Centipedes. Spiders the size of backyard pools. Caterpillars bigger than delivery trucks. Each more nightmare-inducing than the last.
Black Widow hissed: "I hate Nick Fury."
"Same," muttered Hill.
"Double same," added Daisy, inching closer to Hill without realizing.
Sharon sighed, "Triple... ugh, that's just disgusting."
The four of them stared in synchronized horror.
This mission? Clearly one that should've been handled by a guy.
Preferably one without bug-phobia.
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