I appeared back in my base.
"Baby, I'm back! And you won't believe what just—" I stopped mid-sentence. Everyone was still there… plus Kamala's entire family.
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"Man, we all suck at keeping secret identities," I muttered under my breath.
Kamala's mom was glaring at me like she'd just caught me sneaking out her daughter's window.
I slowly turned on my heel toward the teleporter. "Yeah, I'm gonna go ask the Inhumans for sanctuary. I feel like I'm not safe here anymore."
"Franklin Fenix! You come here right now!" Muneeba Khan's voice cracked like thunder.
"Crap baskets," I whispered, turning back around.
"Mrs. Khan, Mr. Khan, Aamir, how's my favorite family doing?" I said with my best 'don't-kill-me' smile.
"Do not try to sweet-talk us, young man. You are a superhero!"
"Would you believe… really dedicated cosplayer?" I tried.
Her glare could melt vibranium.
"Okay, okay," I sighed. My armor retracted into my watch. "To be fair, I couldn't exactly tell you. Secret identity and all that. Seriously, we should keep this quiet. Too many people already know who we are."
Everyone was still staring at me, but their expressions had shifted, worried instead of angry.
"Franklin… your face," Peter said.
"Huh?"
Yolanda and Ava rushed to my side.
"My face?" I repeated, confused, until Ava's fingers brushed my cheek. Pain flared instantly. I touched the left side myself and felt a bruise forming.
"Okay, that makes sense. He did hit me really hard," I said with a wince. "Guess I was having more trouble than I thought."
"Who's he? And how did he even hurt you? I thought all your transformations were indestructible or something!" Yolanda asked, worry lacing her voice.
"Relax, I'm fine. I'll explain later. But first, why is Kamala's whole family here? Somebody please tell me before my anxiety decides to evolve."
"I can," Betty spoke up.
I turned to her, surprised.
"When the blue mist hit me and Kamala, it trapped us in cocoons. We don't know how long we were inside, but when we came out… we were different. We ran to her house, didn't know what else to do. While Kamala's family was questioning her, she freaked out and her limbs stretched. Half her body went across the other room. And I changed, too. My mind feels clearer. Like, I understand things faster now. I don't know exactly what changed, but I know I'm different."
That actually shocked me. Kamala being an Inhuman? Sure. But Betty, too? That was new. Pretty sure there's no version of her being Inhuman in any comic or movie.
"Okay, thanks for that," I said, exhaling. "I can explain everything. Let's head to the medical wing."
I led the group down the hall as I talked, explaining everything that had gone down, Ultron, how Black Widow and Iron Man couldn't stop the device, how they had to swap the virus with Terrigen crystals, and how Ultron had been insanely tough to deal with.
When we reached the med bay, I motioned toward the examination tables. "Alright, both of you, lie down. I'll run a full-body scan to see what's actually going on."
My medical wing was massive, with multiple beds and an array of high-tech equipment lining the walls. Kamala and Betty climbed onto the tables, and I grabbed one of my scanners. After a few moments of quiet humming and glowing lights, the scan finished. I placed the device down, pressed a button on my console, and a holographic projection of their scans appeared in front of me.
"What does that mean?" Muneeba asked, frowning at the display.
"It's just showing me what's different about them," I said, typing in a few adjustments. "We already know they're Inhumans, but I'm trying to identify their abilities, and now I think I've got it."
"Well, don't keep us in suspense," Yusuf said, folding his arms. "What's happening to them?"
"Alright, to put it simply," I said, gesturing at the hologram, "Kamala's got elasticity. Think Mr. Fantastic, but with her own twist, she can stretch, reshape, or enlarge parts of her body, maybe even her whole body. And Betty…" I switched to the other scan, "has a super brain. Her neural activity looks like the Fourth of July in there."
Betty blinked. "That… actually explains a lot. I can completely understand these readings, and I don't even remember studying biology."
"Well, that's gonna be fun to mess around with," MJ2 said with a smirk.
Kamala's eyes lit up. "Wait, so that means I have superpowers now! That means I can be a hero even faster!"
"Why would you say that out loud…" I muttered.
"What do you mean, even faster?" Muneeba snapped. "Were you already planning on being a superhero without powers?"
Kamala froze, eyes wide.
"Franklin was going to give me a super-soldier serum and some high-tech stuff," she blurted out.
I turned to her slowly, giving her my best betrayed look. She mouthed a quick sorry.
"He was going to do what?" Muneeba's voice rose an octave. "Franklin Fenix, you will explain everything, from the beginning. How did you become a superhero?"
"Okay," I said, raising a hand. "Well, once my mom and dad met, they had me. I had a pretty normal childhood—"
"Not that far back," Yusuf interrupted, rubbing his forehead. "You know what she meant."
"Right, right," I said quickly. "Short version: an alien watch from another dying dimension crash-landed near me while I was out for a walk. I picked it up, it latched onto my wrist, and now, boom, I'm a superhero. I've been training with Hector and Ted, who are OG heroes. Oh, and there was also that one mission where I might've saved the multiverse."
The room went silent. Everyone just… stared at me.
Yusuf finally sighed and rubbed his temples. "Okay… now give us the medium version. Not too fast, not too long."
So I did. I went over everything: how the watch came from another multiverse, showed them the recorded message that came with it, explained how Hector and Ted trained me, and told them about my adventures up to this point.
"I need to sit down," Muneeba said, pressing a hand to her chest.
She quickly found a chair and sank into it, still processing everything.
Yusuf turned his attention toward Hector, Ted, and Soledad. His expression said 'disappointed dad energy' in all caps.
"You three not only trained him to be a hero, but you let him put himself in danger? Why?"
Hector sighed. "Look, Yusuf, I get your concern, trust me, I have it too. But Franklin's more than proven himself. Same goes for your daughter, my daughter, Yolanda, Peter, all of them. We know they're young, but that's why we're here: to guide them, to help them learn how to navigate this hero world safely."
"Safely?" Yusuf raised an eyebrow. "The boy's face looks like it went twelve rounds with a tank!"
"Okay, first of all, it's half my face," I said, pointing at the bruise. "And second, I completely forgot about that. Give me a second."
I went over to one of the drawers and started digging around. "Nope, not that… wrong drawer… ah, here it is."
I pulled out a small capsule, popped it open, and scooped out some cream. I gently rubbed it on my bruise.
"What's that?" Aamir asked, leaning forward.
"Something that'll help me heal faster," I said. "It'll take about thirty minutes for the bruise to completely fade."
"I've never heard of a cream that can do that," Aamir said.
"That's because I made it," I replied casually.
Kamala's entire family looked at me like I'd just said I built a rocket out of Legos.
"Franklin, dear," Muneeba said carefully, "I say this with love, but I've seen your report card. You're failing math and English. How exactly did you manage to make something like that? I'm not calling you dumb, I love you, you know that, but you do struggle in a few areas."
"Yeah, that's… fair," I said, sighing. "It's the Omnitrix. It's got some genius-level aliens in it that help me design stuff. And for the record, my feelings are hurt, just a little bit. Normally, I'd shrug it off with a smile, but my face still hurts, so… yeah."
Muneeba gasped softly, got up, and walked over to me. "Oh no, come here."
She pulled me into a hug, a warm, mom-level hug, and I hugged her back. It was nice.
"Apology accepted," I said, muffled against her shoulder.
Kamala got up from the table and walked toward her parents.
"Mom… Dad," she said softly.
Muneeba stopped hugging me and turned to face her daughter, Yusuf right beside her.
"I know you both think being a hero is dangerous, which, yeah, it is," Kamala said, gesturing toward me. "Just look at Franklin's face."
"HEY!" I said, offended.
"But," Kamala continued, "Ted and Hector are training us. They've been doing this forever, especially Ted."
"Watch it," Ted muttered.
She smiled a little. "They know what they're doing. And now that I have powers, I want to use them to help people. I need to. Please… give me your permission to be a hero. And even if you don't, even if you ban me from ever seeing Franklin again, I'll still be a hero. And I'll always be Franklin's best friend."
Muneeba and Yusuf exchanged a long look, the kind of silent conversation only parents can have. Then they both sighed and turned back to her.
"Fine," Muneeba said at last. "You can be a hero… alongside Franklin. But you have to promise us you'll be careful, and that you'll always listen to Ted and Hector."
Kamala's face lit up. "Thank you! I promise, I'll listen, I'll be careful, I'll—" She didn't even finish before throwing her arms around them, hugging them both tight.
Yusuf chuckled and hugged her back. "You've got your mother's stubbornness, you know that?"
Muneeba smiled softly. "And her father's heart."
Kamala beamed through happy tears. "Best parents ever."
"Yeah, until you break curfew," I mumbled under my breath.
"And we would never tell you to stop being friends with Franklin," Yusuf said, smiling at me. "We know he's a good kid."
"Aww, thank you," I said, grinning. "I'm glad everything ended on a good note. But seriously, no one else can know our secret identities. Too many people already know."
"Uh, ahem," Aamir spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him.
"I have a wife and I share everything with her. But I can promise you, she can keep a secret."
I groaned, rubbing my face. "Okay, fine. But after her, that's it. No one else. Our 'secret identities' are barely holding up as it is. So everyone in this room, and Aamir's wife, are the only one who can know. Deal?"
Everyone nodded in agreement. For about three seconds, it felt like we finally had a handle on things.
Then a golden portal suddenly opened in the middle of the room.
We all turned as a robed figure stepped through, calm, composed, and glowing with that signature mystical energy.
"The Ancient One," I muttered under my breath.
She looked around at us all, her expression unreadable. "That's an excellent plan," she said. "Too bad it won't work very well."
The room fell completely silent.
"For the love of Thalorion, can this wait till tomorrow?" I groaned, rubbing my face. "Because right now, I'm tired, sore, and very overwhelmed."
The Ancient One smiled faintly. "Okay, you can."
I blinked. "Wait… seriously?"
"Yes," she said calmly. "Don't worry, Franklin, no world-ending events are happening right now. I only wanted to ask if you're interested in learning magic. With that pink humanoid form of yours, you'd excel at it."
"Wait, magic is real?! Can I learn it too?" Ned shouted from the back.
The Ancient One turned to him, studying him for a moment. "Yes. You have potential for the Mystic Arts. I'd be happy to invite you to Kamar-Taj for training."
Ned pumped his fists. "YES!"
I chuckled tiredly. "Okay, look, I'd love to learn magic too. That sounds really useful. But right now, I'm exhausted. We'll talk about this tomorrow."
The Ancient One nodded. "Saving the world will do that to you. Very well, we'll speak tomorrow. Rest well, Franklin."
She turned and stepped back through her golden portal, which shimmered for a moment before closing behind her.
I stood there in silence for a few seconds, processing everything.
"…Is it weird that I'm not even that surprised she just showed up out of nowhere?" I asked.
Ted snorted. "Kid, after a while in this business, nothing will surprise you. Trust me."
I nodded. "Yeah, that tracks. Well, we can pick this up tomorrow. I'm going home and going to bed before another god or wizard decides to appear."