“What can you tell us about it?” the doctor asked, her voice crackling over the radio.

The Atom; AKA Ray Palmer, stood staring at the spindly creature as it seemed to stare right back at him.

“Well, it’s got long limbs that are spread out all around its small body.”

“How small?” Doctor Wexler asked.

“Its body is so small I doubt it would be visible with the human eye, but its legs are incredibly long and spindly. It almost looks like it’s made for navigating intestines.”

“It might be,” the doctor said, her voice continuing to crackle with interference.

“What is it doing?” Wonder Woman asked, her voice also crackling.

“It’s staring at me.”

“Come again?” Wonder Woman’s voice crackled. “You’re breaking up a little.”

“The parasite is staring at me,” he repeated. “At a guess, it is trying to figure out what I am and honestly I’m doing the same.”

The parasite started to move slowly toward him before stopping around twenty feet away. Well, from his point of view it was twenty feet. In reality, it was more like half an inch or less.

“Not hostile so far,” he said.

The response he got was filled with static. “…ome…you’re…eaking…”

“I can’t understand you,” he said, continuing to stare at the eldritch creature before him.

Ray supposed the interference was being caused by the parasite. It had only started once it came into view and now that it was closer communication was all but impossible.

“I guess I’m on my own,” he said out loud. Not that he was under any illusion otherwise. It wasn’t like if something went wrong that anyone would be able to come and get him.

“So,” he said to the creature, despite knowing there was a slim chance it could understand him. “I guess this is where I try and figure out a way to destroy you without turning this into a long drawn-out affair.”

The last thing he wanted was for this to become a battle. He needed to quickly find its weakness and strike it, taking it down as quickly and efficiently as possible. Anything else and he risked causing potential harm to Wonder Woman.

As to how it was causing interference with his radio, he wasn’t sure. What it did tell him was that there was more to the creature than what was readily apparent. That alone was enough to warrant caution.

“What are you,” he whispered as he slowly and cautiously moved towards it.

The creature continued to stare at him. Since it wasn’t attacking, that meant that it likely didn’t see him as a threat.

Ray checked his radio. “Can you guys hear me?” he asked.

All he got in response was static.

Regardless of whether those on the outside could hear him or not, he had a plan. All he had to do was set it in motion and hope that it survived execution.

Even so, he was prepared for the worst.

*

The only thing the two of them could hear was static with the occasional high-pitched whine and it was starting to wear on Diana’s nerves.

“Can you please switch that off?” the amazon asked.

The red-haired doctor looked at her with concern. “What if he needs to contact us?”

“Even if he does want to get in contact, he can’t. Not with all that static.”

“I wonder what’s causing it?” the doctor wondered.

“I would think it is the parasite.”

“You think he’s okay?”

“I don’t know,” Diana said. “But can you please switch off the radio? We can turn it back on later to see if the static is gone. But for now, I need some peace.”

The doctor reached over and switched it off.

“Thank you,” Diana said.

Doctor Wexler ran her hand through her red locks. “So, what now?”

“I suppose we wait,” Diana answered as she webbed her fingers, placing them gently on her stomach.

“I hope he doesn’t run into trouble.”

“As do I,” Diana said with a sigh. “Unfortunately, there is very little we can do except hope for the best.”

“Yeah,” the doctor agreed. “Even if he did there is little we could do about it.”

“Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea,” Diana said as she stared at the back wall.

The doctor smiled at her. “Have some hope.”

“Hope is all we have. But you are right. The Atom is a smart and capable man. I am certain he will succeed.”

The doctor’s smile turned into a grin. “That’s more like it.”

Diana turned her attention back to the wall. She just hoped that all of this effort wasn’t for nothing.

*

Ray approached the entity slowly and carefully. He wanted to get as close as possible before he made his move. He wanted to take it out quickly and efficiently. A prolonged battle could end up hurting Wonder Woman and that was the exact opposite of his goal. Though, he figured that since it had survived inside her thus far, it must be tough considering she was an amazon.

Then again, he might be able to crush it with ease. He hoped so, because then this would all be over pretty soon. However, being a superhero had taught him that nothing was ever quite so easy. There was also the possibility that there were more of them. He dreaded to think what might happen if there were.

That last thought gave him pause. Up until that moment he hadn’t really considered it. What the good doctor had said had made him believe there was only one, but she herself had said that they didn’t know all that much about what had infected Wonder Woman other than it was believed to be parasitic and even that had been shaky.

“You have any brothers or sisters?” he asked.

He actually received a response, though unfortunately, it came in the form of one of its limbs whipping at his body.

With a shout of surprise, he was flung backward where he skidded across the mucus that lined the intestine before he came to a stop.

“That wasn’t very nice,” he muttered as he climbed back onto his feet.

“Maybe we should try that again,” he muttered.

The creature screeched at him before it rushed forward, its many legs propelling it at intimidating speed. Unconsciously, Ray took a few steps back, before he raised his arms and shot off a blast of energy from his cutters.

It struck the creature dead center, stunning it for a moment. It then promptly turned around and fled into the darkness.

Ray took in a deep breath. “Well, that was scary,” he said. “But I suppose with it gone, the radio should work.”

He shone his light ahead of him just to make sure it was really gone. Satisfied, he tried to contact the outside world.

“Atom here, I had an encounter with the entity.”

No response.

“Can you guys hear me?”

No response.

“Did it bust my radio?” he asked as he gave himself a once over.

Apart from being covered in slime, both he and his equipment appeared fine, which meant something else had happened.

“I guess I’m on my own,” he said.

With no other choice, he pushed on. He needed to find the entity again and this time he had to end it.

As to how he was going to do that though, he had absolutely no idea. It had taken a shot from his energy cutter dead center and all it had done was stun it. All he could hope was that its long wiry legs were weaker.

He tried his radio one more time to no avail.

“This sucks,” he muttered as he rounded a bend in the intestine.

He could already tell that it was going to be a long, long day.