Dr. Henry
Pym is working for Dr. Curt Connors, analyzing American Indian drugs for the US
government. He is assisted by college student Peter Parker the day the
Southampton lab explodes. As they are cleaning up, they receive a visit from a
gangster called Goldie (because of a prominent gold tooth) who informs them
that his buddies have kidnapped Dr. Connors’ son and are willing to trade him
for the drug samples being analyzed. He orders them to be at Eagleneck Point at
ten PM that evening. Peter starts to say something but stops, Hank sensing he
is holding back a secret. But Connors is at his lab in Florida so Hank and Pete
visit Martha Connors and tell her about Billy’s being kidnapped. She makes Hank
promise not to tell Curt. At Pete’s suggestion, Hank becomes Ant-Man and rides
his dog Orkie to the rendezvous while Pete takes the car and stalls the bad
guys. When Ant-Man arrives, he has his ants attack the crooks while Pete throws
punches (and Hank can tell he’s holding back). But the gang boss M’Sieu Tete
forces the heroes to surrender by holding a gun to Billy’s head and informing
them that the boy has been injected with a fatal disease and will die without
the antidote. The heroes are taken to the bad guys’ hideout inside a mountain
where Hank and Pete are taken to a sophisticated lab. But Tete is then told
that Billy has escaped. Pete suggests that he be held hostage while Ant-Man
uses his powers to find the boy. Tete agrees but insists that Pete and Hank
also be injected with the poison (which Hank recognizes from the label as a
deadlier strain of rabies) to ensure their cooperation; without the antidote,
they will die in four hours….
Outside,
Ant-Man shrinks down and rides on Orkie’s back as the dog sniffs out the boy’s
trail. It leads to a construction site where Hank finds Billy at the bottom of
a shaft. He tries to enlarge but discovers he can’t, deciding the rabies
injection must have interacted with his growth formula. His immediate reaction
is panic but he soon recovers and, at his tiny size, he is able to tie a rope
around Billy and attach the other end to Orkie and let the dog pull him to the
surface. He manages to put the boy in a nearby pickup truck (unseen) and drive
it, the dog working the pedals while Hank steers, back to the hideout….
Meanwhile,
Peter Parker, ignored by the crooks, breaks his bonds, changes into Spider-Man
and clobbers the bad guys, claiming to have been trailing them, to throw suspicion
off Peter. M’Sieu Tete flees the lair with the antidotes where Ant-Man is just
arriving in the truck. A sharp turn hurls the tiny hero out of the truck and
Tete is about to step on him, Ant-Man raises a long rusty nail and the villain
steps on it, halting his flight. Spidey dashes back inside to return to his
Parker identity and be “rescued” by Ant-Man. Pete gives Billy the antidote and
takes it himself but Hank declines, asking Pete to take Billy to the hospital.
After they are gone, Hank takes the antidote, neutralizing the poison but he
still can’t grow….
Characters:
Ant-Man (HP), Spider-Man. Doctor Nemesis