2 Days Later
I was in the Overwatch room of my base, watching the security cameras focused on Flash's cell.
It had been two days.
And, Venom finally let go of control and went back and Flash.
I was starting to get worried, about Flash's health, but now since he is back in control.
I needed to know if Venom could behave or not.
Right now, the base was quiet. Everyone else was off doing their own thing, which meant this conversation would stay private.
I activated my suit and headed down to the prison level.
The elevator doors opened with a soft hiss, and I stepped into the hallway lined with reinforced cells. Flash's cell was at the end.
When I arrived, Flash was still wearing the same clothes he had on when we brought him here. His hair was messy, his face pale, and he looked both tired and nervous.
When he saw me standing outside the cell, his eyes widened.
"Omni?"
"Yes," I said calmly. "And I'd like to talk to you… and Venom."
The moment I said the name, black liquid suddenly crawled across Flash's back, and form a head with white eyes and sharp teeth.
Venom's white eyes narrowed as he looked at me.
"You want to talk," Venom growled, "after locking us up?"
"That was your fault," I replied evenly. "If you had behaved peacefully, you wouldn't be sitting in that cell right now. Because of your violent actions, both you and your host ended up here."
Venom didn't look happy hearing that.
His sharp teeth showed in a slow grin.
"So now you want to negotiate?"
"Something like that."
I crossed my arms, looking directly at both of them.
"Depending on how this conversation goes… both of you might walk out of here."
Flash immediately looked hopeful.
Venom tilted his head slightly.
"And if it goes the way you don't want?" Venom asked.
"Then you stay here," I said simply.
Venom chuckled darkly.
"You would keep us locked up forever?"
"Of course not," I replied. "That would be illegal in Flash's case."
My gaze shifted toward the symbiote.
"But for you… The law isn't nearly as concerned."
Venom's grin slowly faded.
"If you continue to be a threat," I continued calmly, "I'll separate you from Flash. He walks free. You stay here."
The cell went silent.
Flash looked nervous.
Venom stared at me for a long moment.
Venom seemed genuinely surprised by that.
For a moment, he just stared at me, his white eyes narrowing as if trying to figure out whether I was bluffing.
"…Fine. We're listening," Venom said.
"Good," I replied calmly. "Because I know a lot about your species. I know how symbiotes operate… and I know your preferred food."
Flash looked between us nervously.
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Flash asked.
"You need to eat brains."
Flash's head snapped toward me.
"What?!" Flash yelled. "Why?!"
"Relax," I said, raising a hand. "You're not craving brains because you're monster."
He both stared at me.
"There's a chemical called Phenethylamine," I explained. "It's naturally present in human brains. venom, species needs it to stay stable."
Flash tilted his head slightly.
"It's also found in chocolate," I continued. "But in much smaller amounts."
Flash blinked.
"…So Venom doesn't actually need to eat people's brains?"
"No," I said. "He just needs the chemical."
"That's good to hear," Flash said with obvious relief.
"Indeed," I replied. "In fact, I already made something that can help Venom. Something with plenty of Phenethylamine."
I reached behind my lower back and pulled out a small bag. Walking over to the cell, I placed it into the food chute and pushed it through until it slid inside.
Flash picked it up and opened the bag. Inside were several small brown balls about the size of marbles. He grabbed one and looked at it closely.
"What's this?" Flash asked.
"It's something I developed specifically for symbiotes," I explained. "Each one contains a concentrated amount of Phenethylamine, enough to sustain them for a couple of days. Eat one, and you won't have to worry about cravings for brains."
Flash blinked in surprise.
"Oh."
Without hesitating, he tossed the small ball into his mouth.
He chewed for a moment.
"…Huh."
Venom's voice rumbled from his shoulder.
"…That actually tastes good."
"Good," I said with a small nod. "Now that we've settled the food problem, there's something else I want to discuss with you."
Flash looked at me, confused.
"My future?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "Even though Venom can be a bit of a chaotic wildcard, I believe the two of you have potential."
Venom tilted his head slightly.
"With the right training and discipline, both of you could become great heroes."
Flash's eyes widened.
"Really?"
"Yes, really," I said. "If you want, I can arrange for some people I trust to train you."
Flash stared at me for a moment, clearly surprised.
"You'd actually do that for me?"
I shrugged slightly.
"Everyone deserves a chance to be better."
Venom's white eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at me.
"…And what do you get out of it?" Venom asked.
"Knowing someone bonded with a symbiote doesn't automatically mean they're destined to become a villain," I said.
Venom didn't look like he believed me.
But after a moment, the symbiote simply slid back into Flash's body.
Once we finished working out the details, I released him and escorted him back home. For now, that was the best option.
Later I'd contact him again after I set up a throwaway training base somewhere else. I couldn't keep bringing him here every time he needed training.
And when Ted and Hector trained him, they'd be wearing their costumes. Flash didn't need to know their identities yet.
A day later I found an empty warehouse across the city and upgraded it into a temporary training facility.
Galatea POV
"This is really boring," I said as I casually lifted a hydraulic press with one hand.
"If you want more of a challenge, we could go to the Holo-Room," Dad suggested(Emil Hamilton). "I can generate some enemies for you."
That would be boring too.
"When can I go out and do real missions?" I asked.
"When you're ready," Dad replied.
I rolled my eyes.
"And when exactly am I going to be ready?"
Dad looked directly at me.
"Tea," he said calmly, "there are a lot of dangerous things in this world. You might think you're invincible… but you're not. There are plenty of things that can hurt you, and I want to make sure you're prepared for them."
"Come on," I said. "I'm a Kryptonian. I can handle anything the world throws at me."
Dad sighed and started listing things off on his fingers.
"Kryptonite. Red sun radiation. High-frequency sound. Lead. Magic—"
"Okay, the magic one isn't fair," I interrupted. "Have you ever met anyone who's immune to magic?"
Dad chuckled slightly.
"Fair enough. But my point still stands."
"AAAAAAGH!"
I groaned loudly and stomped away, letting the hydraulic press drop from my hand. It slammed into the ground with a massive BANG that echoed through the training room.
"Dad," I said, turning back toward him. "I was literally designed to be like Supergirl… but better. If I got the chance to fight that alien that showed up two days ago, I'm sure I could beat it."
"You don't know that," Dad replied. "You heard what Omni said on TV. That thing had strength equal to Superman."
He crossed his arms and looked at me seriously.
"You're strong, Tea. Very strong."
"But not that strong."
"Not yet."
He walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Your chance will come one day," he said gently. "I promise you that. And when that day comes, when the world truly needs you, you will be there."
He looked me straight in the eyes.
"You weren't just created to be stronger," Dad continued. "You were made to be a hero… the best of them."
"Better than Superman?" I asked.
Dad smiled.
"Better than the entire Justice League and the Avengers put together."
I couldn't help but smile at that.
I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him.
"I love you, Daddy."
He hugged me tighter.
"I love you too, Tea."
Franklin POV
One Month Later
"I don't think we should trust Omni," a man on the TV said. "We don't know the side effects of these cures."
Another man sitting across from him shook his head.
"Iron Man himself is vouching for him. There have already been multiple positive reports confirming the cure works without any negative side effects. It's been tested by several scientists, and every one of them says the cure is safe, there is no reason for you not to trust it."
The first man leaned forward.
"The reason I don't trust it is simple. At Omni's request, Iron Man is giving the cure away for free. Cures for cancer… just handed out for free? I don't buy it. This is America, you don't give something that valuable away unless there's something wrong with it."
"He's a hero!" the other man argued.
I rolled my eyes.
Right now my friends and I were sitting in my living room watching the news.
Peter and MJ were squeezed together on the small sofa. Ned and Betty were sitting on the floor with pillows. Beth and Cindy M had claimed the two chairs.
Yolanda, Ava, Kamala, and I were sitting on the main couch. I was in the middle while Ava and Yolanda leaned against me, and Kamala was practically laying across all of us like a human blanket.
Ever since I gave Tony the cure for cancer, he had been distributing it worldwide.
And ever since then…
Every.
Single.
News station.
Wouldn't stop talking about it.
For a month.
"Man, can they just get over it already and talk about something else?" I groaned. "I'm getting bored of this."
The entire room suddenly went quiet.
Everyone turned and stared at me.
"…What?" I asked.
"Franklin… you do realize you cured cancer, right?" Betty said, looking at me like I was crazy. "That's something scientists have been trying to do since before any of us were even born."
"Yes, I get that," I replied. "But crazy stuff happens every day. We literally had an alien invasion a month ago. Superheroes and supervillains walk the Earth like it's normal."
"That may be true," Ned said, "but people have gotten used to that over the years. You gave the cure to Tony just one month ago, and it didn't take long for him to start distributing it to hospitals all over the world, for free."
"And when he held that huge press conference about it, he gave you all the credit," Kamala added.
MJ raised an eyebrow.
"Honestly, that's pretty surprising considering Tony Stark's ego."
"Okay, fair," I admitted. "But they've been talking about this for a whole month. I'm getting bored listening to the same debate over and over again."
"You should get used to it," Ava said. "They're not going to stop talking about this anytime soon."
I groaned and leaned forward.
"Alright then. Let's stop watching TV. Let's go out. who wants to go to the mall."
Every girl in the room immediately raised their hand.
I smirked.
"They also just opened a new arcade there."
Peter and Ned instantly raised their hands too.
"Good," I said, standing up. "Let's go."
A little while later we all left my house and headed for the mall.
Ava drove with Yolanda, Kamala, and Beth in her new car. Betty drove with MJ in hers. Peter, Ned, and I rode together.
It didn't take long to get there.
Once we arrived, the girls split off to do their own thing.
Which left just Peter, Ned, and me.
We headed straight for the new arcade.
And for the next hour we just played game after game like a bunch of kids who had no responsibilities.
Which, honestly, was kind of the point.
After about an hour in the arcade, we finally got bored and headed to the mall cafeteria.
That's when I saw someone I never expected to see again.
Andy Strucker.
He was sitting at one of the tables with a group of teenagers. There was a redheaded girl, a kid with blue hair, a boy wearing red shades, a girl with brown hair that had white streaks running through it, a smaller girl with a ponytail, and another girl wearing a leather jacket with black hair.
I immediately recognized who he was with.
The X-Men.
The public didn't know about them yet, but I was pretty sure they'd already been operating secretly.
"Andy," I called out.
He turned toward my voice, and his eyes widened in surprise.
I walked over to him with a grin.
"Well, well… as I live and breathe. Andy Strucker. You don't call, you don't text, you don't send letters, you just disappear."
I said it in a joking tone.
"Franklin," he said, smiling.
We stepped forward and hugged each other like we hadn't seen each other in years.
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AN: Sorry for the late chapter something came up yesterday.