Small Victories

The She-Hulk and Hellcat are visiting R&R&R&R Labs, that shares workspace in the same building as Jen's law firm. There their friend Rufus Randall shows off his latest invention, a new more affordable method of shrinking objects. When Jen asks if he called her to draw up legal contracts for potential buyers. Rufus explains that the only problem that he has right now is convincing his partner, Reza, to sell the invention. Unfortunately, he doesn't know where Reza had disappeared. She-Hulk and Patsy quickly realize that Reza had shrunk himself and Rufus wants them to search for him. Rufus explains that Reza shrank himself and the plans and hid somewhere in his back yard. She-Hulk agrees to take the case but insists on bringing in an expert on shrinking to help them out. She puts in a call to Giant-Man and explains the circumstances. Pym tells her not to do anything and that he will meet with them shortly after he finishes installing a wind turbine off the coast of Long Island.

Pym changes into Ant-Man and joins Jennifer, Patricia, and Rufus at Reza's yard in Queens. After comparing notes with Rufus, Ant-Man shrinks himself, She-Hulk and Hellcat down to ant size. After the two women take in the environment around them, Hank warns them that they are in a very dangerous place and warns them to be careful. He also explains that he discovered a flaw in the Shrinko device, that it cannot properly reduce living organisms properly, resulting in organics becoming explosive after a period of time. Pointing out that there are a few apartment buildings and a hospital nearby that are at risk of being destroyed in the blast. Just before Hank can put on his helmet and use it to communicate with the local ants and locate Reza, he is swept away by a passing bird searching for food. Unable to do anything for Pym, Jennifer figures that he knows how to handle situations like this and tells Hellcat that they should keep looking for Reza before he explodes. To this end, Patsy picks up Hank's Ant-Man helmet and convinces Jennifer to let her try and use it to communicate with the ants. However, she doesn't have quite the refined control that Hank Pym does, and the ants begin attacking them. About to be overwhelmed, She-Hulk grabs Patsy and leaps onto the top of a barbecue.

Patsy is hurt by such a sudden leap and she tells She-Hulk off for taking control of the situation, saying that she could have taken control of the situation. However, Walker tells Jen that they can sort their differences out later and they should focus on the task at hand. Looking across the yard, they spot three cats that have surrounded a pop can. She-Hulk figures Reza is trapped in there and leaps off without Patricia because she figures there is no time. Frustrated with Jennnifer, Hellcat puts on the Ant-Man helmet and tries to contact the ants again. She-Hulk holds her own against the cats, but one of them gets the drop on her, but the timely intervention from Hellcat, sends this cat packing as well. They are then joined by Ant-Man, who managed to take control of the bird and redirect it. Their hunt proves correct, and Reza is found inside the pop can. Returning to normal size, Reza protests selling the Shrinko device, especially after he learns that Pym is the buyer. When they explain the design flaw, he refuses to believe it. That's when Hellcat realizes that Reza has one of his fingers wrapped up. He explains that the tip was cut off while he was fleeing with the cat. With seconds left to spare, She-Hulk picked up and tosses the can into the sky where it harmlessly explodes.

With the reality of the situation, Reza grudgingly sells the invention to Pym. As Jennifer deals with the paperwork, she is interrupted by her landlord Sharon King who tells her that she has a visitor. When She-Hulk asks what the big deal is, Sharon explains that she thinks the man is Captain America. Downstairs, an elderly Steve Rogers waits patiently for his meeting.

Recurring Characters

She-Hulk, Hellcat, Giant-Man, Rufus Randall, Sharon King, Steve Rogers

Continuity Notes

• Steve Rogers was reduced to his proper age in Captain America Vol 7 #25 a condition that lasts until Captain America: Sam Wilson #7.