Mint and Chocolate

Next thing I blinked I was standing over a headless body reeling back. I looked around wildly, seeing an alley and blood spray on the walls. I fell tits over ass onto my back, away from the body. ET was purring in my chest. I put a hand over the sound, noticing a couple of women cowering behind a dumpster peeking out at me. 

“Venomette save,” ET declared, nuzzling my hand. “Man wanted to violate them, like your unc–” 

“Enough,” I ground out. “You went into my mind? You went into my private thoughts? My memories?”

“Galen, your new name, we want to protect you, needed to be stronger to face all six,” ET was confused clearly, as I wheezed. “He can not hurt them.” 

“Look, I am so confused too, and hurt,” ET whined at that. “I would rather find Otto again, he needed help. Like serious mental help. My half-sister could see him, she’s like high up in SHIELD… or whatever it is now. I can’t keep track”

“Doc Ock is with Spider…” ET said begrudgingly. “We have to let the Strange capture us.”

“You’re speaking in riddles! What the hell does Dr. Strange have to do with this–wait is this all magic? Are you fucking magic ET? Did–did you lie? Are you really an alien?” I was waving my hands around, ignoring the women all staring. 

“No, I am an alien,” ET said so blandly I paused. “From another space.” 

“Living inside me,” I wheezed. “Oh by Thor’s beautiful blond locks you, you’re some kind of symbiotic alien? I remember that from freshman biology! Oh me, oh my gods, you’re beautiful but like… heads, so do i eat heads now? Do you actually like lemon candy? I make an awesome key lime pie but–” 

“Galen,” ET whispered, breaking my thoughts. Somehow it sounded sexual. 

“R-right,” I started again, strangled by the wave of emotions. “Take us to Otto, I want to help him.” 

“I do like lemon candy,” ET said with passion. “Better than chocolate, though not as useful. Can we get some on our way to Doc Ock?” 

“Sure, sure,” I patted my chest, the veil of black overtaking me as the women shrieked again. 

“Venomette saved you!” ET yelled which was for them the last straw because they ran down the alley. We leapt onto a roof, running across it. I had us make a detour near Times to get the lemon candies which had ET giggling and salivating excessively. They decided they loved the sourest ones. 

We landed heavily in the alley across from the Sanctum Sanctorum or whatever Dr. Strange called it. ET had found it easily enough with the proper artificial yellow encouragement. I walked up the steps, keeping ET as a hoodie. I saw our reflection briefly, there was a waxing moon shape on the middle of the jacket. 

“Um, hello?” I spoke to the door. “I’m looking for Peter Parker?” A golden whip came out of nowhere, lassoed us and then I blinked into some sort of cell. Venomette was bubbling up, I had to clamp it down, my fear of closed spaces making me vomit into the corner. Somehow no lemon candies were harmed. 

“How do you know Peter?” His girlfriend was pointing something at me through this cage. I saw Otto perk up when he saw me get deposited. I realized I had just upchucked on a tree which was still shaking. 

“The fuck?” I said, puking again. Whatever they had done was dysregulating Venomette, both of us felt like static replaced our bodies. I put a hand on this barrier, dragging myself up as ET continued to recover. 

“Is she okay?” Parker’s friend sounded genuinely concerned. 

“I, we, go by they or them,” I wiped my mouth, locking eyes on Otto who’s tentacles were red now and not moving in that natural rhythm anymore. He looked impressed for only a second before he looked away. 

“Oh sorry, sorry,” The other teen floundered, Ned, that was his name from the news. And Michele Jones, the girlfriend. I pushed the hood back, my hair sticking up in a mess. 

“They look like Meirda,” MJ whispered, and Ned nodded. 

“Look you two,” I laced my voice with anger. “I don’t want Parker ok, I was trying to finish a conversation with someone else, who you also have rudely stuck in this lock box. Which in case you hadn’t noticed, mine was already occupied by this tree!” 

I heard Otto snort, immediately covering his face when I shot him a look. There was an honest to Captain America lizard in the cell next to Otto. I squinted at him, flinching when a black guy who sparked appeared next to mine. Then a sandstorm in another. I ended up on the ground holding my head as a migraine from the depths of capitalism ripped into me. 

I felt electrocuted myself when Parker stepped through some kind of rift. I looked at him through watering eyes, we were not oblivious that Otto hadn’t looked away since I hit the ground again. 

Parker pointed at the tree and was talking, babbling really. MJ was saying something else, pointing at the base of the tree, where I was. Peter walked over, MJ and Ned trailing. 

“Who is that?” Parker asked, his black suit looked like it was inside out. 

“We don’t know, we assumed you zapped her–” Ned got a glare from MJ. “Them here.” 

“Maybe Strange did,” Parker got closer to my wall, peering down at me. He was a child, made to look older in a well tailored suit. Even with a crushed phone in the center. 

“Look Spider,” I said haughtily, ET was finally coming back online. “I don’t want anything more to do with this.” 

“Do you know a Peter Parker from your universe?” He asked solemnly. “Am I him?”

“Only because of Mysterio!” I roared, and they all stepped back. Electric guy laughed greedily, like he thought a fight was coming. 

“Wait, are you from here?” Parker looked genuine. 

“Yes, Spider-man, I’ve lived in this city since before the Avengers had their dance with the Chitauri, you three go to my high school, and you know everything was fine before that flying ogre blew up my job!” I let the rage come out, felt ET basking in it.  

“Wait, were you that, um, person who ran the baking club?” MJ got a look from the boys and she shrugged. I stared at her, truly dumbfounded. Another snicker from Otto earned him the quick glance from all four of us before he casually looked away again. 

“Uh, yes, w–I was,” I offered, shrugging. “We aren’t here to hurt you, but you have some–something we have taken responsibility for. I would like hi–them, it, back. But I suspect you’re keeping me for the long haul.”

“I mean, they don’t seem dangerous,” MJ was standing up for me which was odd. “Just a regular person like me or Ned.”

“Then why did Strange send them here?” Peter looked at me skeptically. Then with intense focus when ET squirmed under my hand as I pushed them back into the jacket. 

“What is it?” Ned asked, looking at Parker as he walked closer to my cell. He was fixated on my hand, so much so I stepped back which broke his focus. 

“This is Peter Parker?” ET whispered in the back of my skull. “He’s… smaller than I thought.” 

“She’s dangerous, I just don’t know how yet,” Peter squinted at me. I furrowed my brows, letting ET ruminate on whether we could get through the barrier. I put that hand on it again, letting them flow over my finger tips to look like nail polish, hoping that was enough exposure to get whatever they needed. 

The part dread, part elation I was coming to recognize as normal over having an alien ride along was starting to lean toward the latter. I liked having this power, literally at my fingertips. And ET made me feel safe, something I thought I’d lost forever. Yes, my day had been horrible, many of my friends were dead I think, I realized I actually had no idea. I certainly needed a new job now too, in this economy, good luck to me. 

And then there was the octopus. I felt compelled to help him. I had always wanted to help people who wore pain so heavily painted into their features. Which is why MJ knowing about my baking club was suspicious. I had started it to help people who needed time from home, to study, to do things without scrutiny. Of course I also taught them to bake staples. We sold it a few times a year, and provided things to the cafeteria for holidays. I’d even taught the lunch people some things. But that had been all under my dead name, before college. Before I really became me. Not to mention it was during the Snap. I had no idea it had been upkept. 

“You have come far, Galen,” ET nuzzled my neck in the hood. 

“Hey,” I said out loud, watching the trio turn to me again in disjointed unison. “Are you guys gonna freak out if I eat some lemon candy from my pocket?” Otto whipped towards me, those eyebrows making the sharpest V yet. Clearly someone had a good memory. 

“No,” MJ answered, before they returned to their huddle. 

I held a lemon candy up, looking pointedly at Otto and throwing it in my mouth. He narrowed his eyes at me, the lizard person coming closer to the front of his cell, looking between us.

“Are you trying to woo the octopus man?” I heard the zappy guy say in disbelief. I turned very slowly over to him, another lemon candy in my hand that I crushed into dust and blew towards him. 

“What is your deal anyway,” Sandman was forming and reforming in his cell, arms crossed. “Are you just an emo kid?” 

“I for one am also curious about you,” The lizard spoke and everyone, including the trio, turned to stare at him. “Yes, I can talk… she smells odd.”

“The lizard can talk,” Almost all of us said it in a variety of tones. Ned seemed the most excited while Peter looked disturbed. 

“I smell odd? You’re clearly a charmer,” I ground out, face puckered from the candy and him. “And no, I am not just an emo kid.” I did air quotes at the end, glaring. 

“So what are you?” Peter boomed, arms folded over his chest. 

In that glorious moment a swirl of light and sparks deposited none other than Dr. Strange into the basement. He looked around at the cages, settling on me for an uncomfortable amount of time. He had some cube in his hands, which he dropped to one to point at me. 

“Mistake, there, Peter, they’re from here,” Strange swiped a finger down and my barrier went down. I pinned myself to the tree though, unsure what to do. This was a magic boy, an Avenger, responsible for bringing a lot of my family back in the Snap. I was torn between hugging him and encouraging him to put the barrier back up so I didn’t have to think about this. 

“They’re dangerous!” Peter objected, shooting a web at both my arms in quick succession, pinning me to the tree. ET assured me we were not really stuck though. 

“They,” Strange sounded furious. “Are not here because you sucked them in from another universe, they are fromhere, they are someone who has already suffered from the Snap, and I will not let you cage someone who has no part in this!” 

A quick flick of his wrist and I was released only to be re-webbed in the torso and legs. Back to the tree. ET surged against me, but I just sighed heavily. I folded my arms over my chest. 

“Parker,” I snarled and he looked at me incredulously, as if confused my voice did that. “If you web us again, after Dr. Strange let us go… I’m not sure it’s such a friendly neighborhood thing you’re doing anymore.” 

“What?” Parker just webbed my face, seemingly by accident, but I walked through the webs, blessing ET, showering them in praise as I ripped the webbing off my face. This earned me a weary look from Strange who frowned more. Otto was watching me walk out of the cell, just like the rest of them. But I felt his gaze the most. 

Rolling my shoulders, I walked right up to Parker, who looked like he wanted to push me away. Strange hovered nearby, just waiting. ET was making me salivate, so I swiped my mouth furiously with a sleeve. 

I made a dramatic show of putting my hands on my hips, looking him up and down. MJ was hovering too, Ned by a computer. 

“Look pal,” I slammed a hand down onto Parker’s shoulder, my nails black, and he looked ready to jump out of his skin. “I would love to explain to you how involuntary holding is illegal, though you’re an Avenger so y’all fly by the seat of your pants on legality, but you have someone I want. You’re holding them essentially illegally too.” I looked past his flushed face for a moment, seeing a device lit up with Otto’s tentacles. When I focused on him again he was looking my face up and down rapidly. 

“Who are you referring to,” Strange asked, and I swallowed when my mouth went dry. I turned my eyes to him before my face, my hand squeezing Peter gently. 

“Uh, hello… Dr. Strange, you, um,” I swallowed again. “You all did save most of my family. And I never thought I would meet one of you, but from most of the world, I guess half of all worlds, thank you for that. Uhhhhh yup. And sorry.” 

I let ET swallow my hand, Peter moving almost as fast as us. We threw him into the tree, wincing as it cracked in the middle. Then we shot a web of our own from the wrist, grabbing the cube. Then in the span of the same breath, Strange was just starting a spell as reality caught up. Gods I was grateful he was really just a human. 

Venomette expanded out of us from the web, and we enveloped his hands in black, then his mouth. His eyes were panicked, and I heard Ned and MJ gasping. 

“Holy shit!” I heard the electric man as sounds hit my ears again. I rolled my eyes, letting some of the goo down from Strange’s face when he took on a blue tint. I saw those damn tentacles trying to move in the corner of our vision. 

“What the devil are you,” Lizard was suddenly very interested in us. 

“Put him down!” Parker roared, slamming into us, punching. We felt him holding back though, saw it in the way he subtly pulled backat the shoulder . We turned to face him, Strange still attached to us. He looked furious, holding onto us. We cocked our head, smiling with teeth. 

“We’re not hurting him,” We said casually. “Dr. Strange is made of tougher stuff… you though, holding punches? Not exactly smart if you really did consider us an enemy. Look, all of you, let us go and this can be done.”

“Why?” Peter caught on we were not actually doing anything to the wizard but preventing spell casting. Though they both looked plenty mad.

“Ooofff, well, since you asked nicely,” We sneered. “I–we, don’t take kindly to cages. And to be honest, I’ve had my own kind of horrible day which got there on its own. I just want the flying green ogre.”

“Flying green ogre?” I heard Otto, Sandman and Sparky say in unison. I tilted towards them. 

“Osborn is here?” Sparky said breathlessly, almost in a revered tone. 

“Norman Osborn is dead,” Sandman added, also looking pointedly at Otto. 

“He became the Green Goblin, died by his own glider,” Otto turned away from the center of the room. “Years before my accident. You must be mistaken.”

“I know what I saw,” I snapped. “Some green flying man, who threw orange bombs at unprotected civilians. He destroyed a packed movie theater. Do you know what the bodies looked like? There was blood, my friends, crushed, in pieces. I survived because of the dumb luck, and I want to crush his skull!” By the end ET had swirled around me, tripling our size, I glared down at Peter now. 

“Killing him won’t bring them back,” Otto said desperately, dragging a hand down his face. 

“Certainly not,” I whispered, ET catching my swing of emotion and pulling inside. “But damn if I wouldn’t feel so much better, Doc.” I looked at him over my shoulder, hanging my head there. I felt exhausted, and Dr. Strange broke my line of sight to glare at me. 

“What are you?” He looked livid. 

“Venomette,” ET growled through my mouth. I felt disconnected, relinquishing the reins to ET for a bit while I tried to process the day so far. 

“And what is that?” Strange tried again, cape billowing. 

“We…are, Galen and ET?” We tried, shrugging. “An alien of sorts with a Galen.”

“Is this funny to you?” Parker bit out. 

“Not particularly,” ET rumbled. “Spider is better where we are from, less childish.”

“Excuse me he’s doing his best,” MJ interjected, glaring at us. I closed our eyes, ET thrumming against me as I meditated for a few breaths in and out. 

“I woke up today me,” I offered, eyes still shut, seeing the bodies from earlier. “Then I met ET, and now we are Venomette, well, we’re workshopping it but that’s what we’ve got.” 

“So you’re Galen?” Strange sounded closer. “Galen Reed?” I immediately opened my eyes to look him up and down. I was a nobody, a part time manager at a run down theater who was pursuing an advanced degree with not a lot of vertical growth. 

“Why do you know my name?” I sounded angry, but truly felt very little. ET was still mostly driving, I felt lightheaded realizing we hadn’t eaten human food most of the day besides stale popcorn which was my usual breakfast. I was getting weaker because of it. 

“Galen Reed popped up in a registry I saw once,” Strange actually seemed nervous. “I can’t say much more than that with the whole complexity of space time. But you’re not my enemy… you’re one of his.” I peered between them looking for some hint of an inside joke. He pointed at Spider-man who looked me up and down again, light on his feet. 

“Not right now we aren’t,” I said too quickly, ET making a sound in the back of our throat. 

“No, not right now,” Strange echoed while raising his eyebrows at the other five villains who were all intently watching this conversation. “I see you found two more, but there’s still one more, maybe the flying green ogre that Galen is concerned about.” 

“Use my name sparingly there, Dr. Strange, we like you for the whole saving earth bit, but we can hardly say we are on a first name basis,” My voice started the statement but it morphed into ET’s, which to Otto seemed an obvious change as he somehow glared even harder at me. It was a hint of gravel, a lengthening of my consonants like someone who didn’t speak English a lot but was very good at it and over compensating. 

“Peter helped save the world too,” Ned said a little too loudly. I closed my eyes again, sighing. 

“Something you seem to misunderstand, as the three non-legal adults here, I care very very little of your opinions,” I was gesturing with my hands, a sure sign I was tired. “I get it you’re in the mutant wheelhouse cause of Parker, you know some people, but ha, yeah, uh, having lived through when they fail, when they’ve failed to save, to save everyone, even when they tried their damndest… I just, you… you don’t have a lot of ground to walk on. I don’t think you all did the math, I was in your grade when it happened. I knew all of you b-before the Snap. Vaguely, like we had homeroom…. So please, for the sake of it, consider me your enemy with a common goal. I will end the Goblin? The flying guy, one way or another. It may not be here, but he will be on my radar for the rest of his life, ET reminds me this may not be in this universe. That’s fine, that’s fine, that is fine, this is all fine” I sank into a squat, holding my head, just wheezing at the ground. 

“Are they broken?” Sparky asked, the lights flickering. 

“Leave them be,” Otto sounded angry, like when he got that dead look. “Clearly they’ve been dealing with things beyond our understanding, loss very few of us understand.”

“Thanks Octavius,” I mouthed the words but just sank lower to the ground, exhaustion flaring behind my eyes. I felt Strange kneel next to me, his cloak falling onto my shoulders. 

“You’re sick,” He murmured to me. “I can see you’re feverish, sweating a lot, and now you’re shaking. Do you need a hospital?” I flinched, clutching at the cloak around me. 

“I don’t know,” I sounded weak. “ET may need to uh, eat. We used a lot of energy just now.” 

“What do they eat?” Strange sounded oddly clinical. I looked at him with great suspicion. 

“Are you a medical doctor?” I saw his face twitch, looking at his hands a moment. 

“Used to be a neurosurgeon,” He seemed especially concerned when I listed forward the cloak stopping my imminent arrival with the floor. ET bubbled under the cloak, touching it. 

“We need a hospital,” ET said in their voice through my face. “Galen is more injured than we thought, there is much of the red liquid in their pelvis now.” 

“Well that’s not good,” Strange sounded exhausted as I slid onto the floor and promptly passed out.