Lost (part three)
Phage backed up until his back was pressed against the cage.
“I’m sorry Phage.” Tyler muttered.
Flames engulfed Tyler’s hands and his mutant ability became painfully clear.
Phage pressed further into the wall of the cage and looked around frantically for some kind of escape. Tyler stalked closer and Phage could feel the heat of his flames growing, Phage hissed and sharpened his talons which made the audience cheer. He didn’t know what would happen to the loser of the match but he knew it couldn’t be good because Tyler suddenly started hurling fireballs in his direction. Tyler knew much more about all of this than he did and apparently not fighting was not an option- Tyler’s fireballs did seem to be missing him by mere inches and he hoped that was intentional. As Tyler got closer Phage panicked and sent a mess of tendrils towards him to push him away. Being pushed sent Tyler off his balance and he flung a fireball through the ceiling.
Outside the warehouse a few blocks away Eddie and Venom were upending everything in sight trying to find some kind of clue as to where their son had been taken. Venom could sense him easily, they were right on top of him but they couldn’t locate him in this broken down mess of old warehouses and garbage. A loud crashing noise pulled their attention to the rooftops where several yards away there was a fire bursting through the sheet metal panels and asbestos insulation of another warehouse roof.
“Venom!” Eddie pointed where they were already looking.
“Let’s go!”
Running straight into fire wasn’t typically Venom’s favorite thing to do but for Phage they’d do it a hundred times over. They did have to be careful though- this body wasn’t theirs, they were borrowing it and it had to be returned in acceptable condition.
The warehouse door was chained and padlocked but Venom tore through it like threads, even from outside it was easy to hear the cheering and yelling inside. Something of a spectacle had to be going on here. Once inside people reacted unfavorably to Venom and they forgot momentarily that they were in a police officer’s body and uniform. Venom, at least, was more than happy to change their appearance to something more natural to them. Something with more sharp teeth and sharp talons and much, much bigger.
In the center of the crowd Eddie zeroed in on the large caged arena where one young boy was producing fireballs and mayhem and the other--
“PHAGE!!” The name escaped Eddie’s mouth as soon as his brain recognized the second child.
“Dad?” Phage looked terribly confused until he spotted him.
“Dad!!” Phage cried and clung desperately to the chainlink fencing.
“Phage!” Before he could stop to think Eddie was scaling the tall fence.
Eddie landed in the ring and was only vaguely aware of the crowd booing him for interrupting the fight.
“Tyler stop! Its my Dad, he’s gonna save us!” Phage yelled over Eddie’s arm at the other boy who stop producing the dangerous flames.
“Venom, seal the exits! Don’t let anyone leave!” Eddie yelled to his other.
Suddenly black symbiote flesh was blocking out all the windows and doors, trapping everyone inside.
“Phage what is this?” Eddie asked his son to help him understand.
“They kidnap kids with powers and make them fight each other, Dad! And they don’t have any family to look for them!” Phage explained urgently.
Eddie looked at the other boy who nodded hesitantly, clearly unsure if he could trust an adult. Eddie thought briefly about calling the police but called his contacts at SHIELD instead- they would be better equipped to take care of superpowered and traumatized children. Venom slithered out of the cop and back into Eddie leaving the man dazed, confused but in the middle of a child fight club bust for which they would let him have all the credit for stopping. It would be very good for the man’s career after all. SHIELD arrived promptly and as a small bit of thanks Maria Hill sent a car for them before they had to answer any kind of questions. Maria texted Eddie that the children would be well taken care of, already promised spots at Xaiver’s School for Gifted Youngsters, and that the perpetrators would be severely punished.
In the car Phage clung desperately to Eddie’s arm and buried his face in Eddie’s sleeve.
“I wanna go home.” Phage’s voice was muffled by Eddie’s arm.
“We are going home, bud. Everything’s okay now.” Eddie smiled.
“You promise?” The muffled voice asked.
“We promise.”