We pulled away from the hug.
"Man, it's good to see you," I said, smiling. "And you went blonde, it actually looks good on you."
Andy chuckled. "It's good to see you, too, Franklin. And thanks."
I crossed my arms, still smiling.
"So what happened? One day you were here, the next you just vanished. No goodbye, no texts, nothing."
Andy rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little embarrassed.
"Yeah… sorry about that. Something came up with my family, and my parents thought it was best for me to transfer schools."
I studied him for a second.
"…This was because of Flash, wasn't it?"
Andy hesitated, then nodded.
"He was definitely part of it."
I sighed, my expression softening.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."
Andy immediately shook his head.
"That wasn't your job."
"You're my friend," I said simply. "I protect all my friends."
He smiled at that.
"And you are a good friend, so—"
"Andy, who is this?"
A female voice cut him off.
We both turned to see the rest of his group watching us.
"Oh—right," Andy said quickly. "Everyone, this is Franklin Fenix."
He gestured toward them one by one.
"Franklin, these are my friends from my new school: Jean Gray, Scott Summers, Anna Marie, Kurt Wagner, Katherine Pryde, or Kitty, and Laura Kinney."
"Nice to meet you all," I said, giving a small wave.
Kurt's eyes suddenly widened.
"Wait… Franklin Fenix? That Franklin Fenix?!"
"…What?" I asked.
"Yes, that Franklin Fenix!" he said excitedly.
"COOL!" Kurt and Kitty said at the same time.
I immediately grabbed Andy and pulled him a little closer.
"Andy," I whispered, "did you tell them about the Halloween party? Because if you did, I would tell them about New Year's."
I whispered… but loud enough for everyone to hear.
Andy's eyes widened in pure horror.
"NO, no, no! They only know about you because I told them what you did to my old bully!"
"Ohhh, okay," I said, nodding. "That makes more sense."
Everyone else just stared at us, confused.
"…Anyway," I said quickly, clapping my hands once. "Nice to meet all of you."
"Nice to meet you, too," they replied, still a bit awkward.
And if you're wondering about the Halloween and New Year's party, don't. Seriously. Don't even think about it.
I wasn't worried about Jean reading my mind—the Omnitrix blocked that.
And I wasn't worried about my friends either. I'd already made them bracelets and a necklace that prevented any kind of telepathy.
Suddenly, Laura walked up to me.
Then she leaned in…
…and sniffed me.
I blinked but didn't move.
"You… smell strange," she said bluntly.
Kitty quickly rushed over and pulled her back.
"Sorry about that! She's still working on… boundaries."
"It's fine," I said. "No harm done. I'm just glad Ava and Yolanda didn't see that, that would've been awkward to explain."
Still…
Can she smell my alien forms?
…That might be a problem.
"Oh! Ava and Yolanda are here, too?" Andy asked.
"Yeah," I said. "Not just them, everyone's here. We decided to hang out today."
I pulled out my phone.
"Hang on, I'll text them to meet us here. I'm sure they'll want to see you."
Andy smiled.
"Yeah… I'd like that."
It didn't take long.
A few minutes later, everyone showed up.
The moment they saw Andy, they rushed him.
"Andy! It's really good to see you, man!" Peter said.
"We missed you!" Ned added.
"I missed you guys, too," Andy said, smiling.
"What have you been doing? You didn't even text the Heroes Analysis and Understanding Club," Kamala said.
Andy blinked.
"The what? Wait, you guys actually picked a name?!"
"…We did," Kamala said, awkwardly scratching the back of her head. "Let's not go too deep into that. Still a sensitive subject."
Ava and Yolanda looked slightly annoyed.
"There's a lot you need to catch up on," Betty said.
"Oh yeah!" Kamala jumped in. "Like, Franklin's grandpa moved back to New York, his cousin is living with him, Betty's way smarter now, we finally named the club, Franklin is good at math now, and he's dating Ava and Yolanda, and I'm learning how to drive—"
"Wait, wait, WAIT," Andy said, holding up his hands.
Everyone paused.
"…Go back."
"To Franklin, dating Ava and Yolanda?"
"No," Andy said immediately. "To the part where Franklin is actually good at math now?"
For a second, there was silence.
Then, everyone burst out laughing.
I crossed my arms, annoyed.
"…Screw all of you," I muttered.
Tony Stark POV
We were in yet another meeting with Fury.
"You should've told me Omni gave you the cure for cancer," Fury said, already sounding like he'd had this argument ten times today.
I groaned, dragging a hand down my face. "How many times are we going to go over this?"
"Until the council stops blowing up my phone!" Fury snapped. "What you and Omni did has the entire government losing their minds."
I leaned back in my chair, unimpressed. "Oh no. We cured cancer. What monsters we are."
"Stark, you know that's not what I meant."
"Then what do you mean?" Clint cut in, leaning forward with that look he got when he was about to stir the pot. "Because from where I'm sitting, it sounds like the council's mad we just wiped out one of their biggest profit streams."
Fury's eye twitched slightly.
Clint kept going, not missing a beat. "It was more profitable to keep people sick, wasn't it? Now Omni come in, cure one of the deadliest diseases on the planet, and suddenly everyone's panicking. What's next, AIDS? Alzheimer's? Multiple sclerosis? Cystic fibrosis?" He smirked. "Hell, at this rate, he might even cure the common cold. Better lock him up now."
Fury narrowed his eye at him.
"Fury," Natasha said calmly, stepping in before Clint could escalate things further, "what Tony and Omni did helped millions of people. You can't deny that. The reason I didn't tell you is because I knew it would go straight to the council."
She crossed her arms, gaze steady. "And we all know they care more about maintaining the status quo than actually changing the world. This wasn't about profit, it was about helping everyone, not just the people who can afford it."
A subtle jab at the rich. Not subtle enough to miss.
Fury let out a long sigh, like he was choosing which battle to fight. "Fine. We'll move on."
That alone told me he wasn't letting it go.
"What I do want to know, and what the council wants to know, is this: what are your plans for recruiting Omni to the Avengers? And do you think he'd be willing to work with S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"We don't have a plan," I said honestly. "I've offered him a spot a couple times. Made it clear the offer's always open. It's his choice."
"That's not good enough," Fury said immediately. "Have you tried finding out his identity?"
"No," Steve said firmly before I could answer. "We all agreed not to dig into who he is."
Fury's expression hardened. "I need you to reconsider that."
Thor leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing. "You seem to forget, we do not work for you. We work with you. Do not mistake the difference."
Fury didn't even flinch.
"You seem to forget the target Omni just painted on his back," he shot back. "Curing cancer isn't a small achievement. He made it look easy."
He stepped closer, voice lower, more dangerous.
"Someone with that kind of capability? He could build a weapon that hits any country on the planet. A bomb that wipes out a nation. He could hack every classified system and leak everything overnight."
The room got quieter.
"Now imagine a villain finds out who he is," Fury continued. "They go after the people he loves. Use them against him. Break him."
Yeah… that hit harder than I wanted to admit.
Because I'd seen what that kid could do.
Amazing… and a little terrifying.
Fury's gaze swept across all of us. "We cannot afford for someone like Omni to become an enemy. Do you understand that?"
No one answered right away.
Then he added, almost casually.
"If we know who he is, I can put protection in place. Quietly. Keep his loved ones safe before anyone else even gets close."
We all exchanged looks.
That… was different from how he started.
I exhaled slowly, then looked back at him. "We'll think about it, Nick."
"Think fast," Fury said as he turned toward the door. "The longer you wait, the more dangerous it gets."
And just like that, he was gone.
"We all know that's bullshit, right?" I said.
"Tony," Steve warned immediately.
"Yeah, yeah, language," I waved him off. "But I'm not wrong. Fury doesn't want his identity to 'protect' him. He wants it to control him."
Bruce adjusted his glasses, thoughtful. "Maybe. But that doesn't mean he's wrong about everything."
I glanced at him.
"What happens when, not if, when, someone figures out who Omni is?" Bruce continued. "No one stays hidden forever. And honestly? He's already done an incredible job keeping his identity secret this long."
The room went quiet for a second.
Then Bruce added, more serious, "Let's be honest… do any of us actually have the capability to take him down if things go bad?"
Clint snorted. "If I know Tony, he's already built something for that."
Everyone slowly turned to look at me.
…Traitors.
I raised my hands. "Okay, first of all, rude."
No one looked convinced.
I sighed. "Alright, fine. Yeah, I've got a few contingency suits."
Steve closed his eyes like he already regretted asking.
"But in my defense," I added quickly, "it's not paranoia if the guy can casually pull off things that break every known rule of science."
Clint leaned back, smirking. "How many are we talking?"
"…A couple."
"Tony."
"…A few."
"Tony."
I exhaled. "Okay, I may or may not be working on an updated Humungousaur Buster after that 'ultimate form' stunt he pulled."
Silence.
I looked around.
Blank stares.
"What?"
Franklin POV
We'd been hanging out at the mall for a while, but it was getting late, so we decided to call it a day. Before splitting up, we all made sure to grab Andy's number.
Everything was cool…
Until Andy opened his mouth.
"Man, I still can't believe you're dating Ava and Yolanda," he said, shaking his head. "That's crazy."
I shrugged, trying to play it cool. "Yeah… sometimes I can't believe it either. I mean, two beautiful girlfriends? I must be doing something right."
Then Andy kept talking.
"And that's not even counting the fact you used to have a crush on my sister."
…Oh no.
He said that loud.
Way too loud.
In front of everyone.
I didn't even need to turn around.
I could feel Ava and Yolanda staring holes into the back of my head.
"…Wait a minute," MJ said slowly. "You had a crush on Lauren?"
Andy blinked, confused. "Wait, you didn't tell them?"
I turned to him, deadpan. "Why would I ever tell them that?"
Yolanda's hand suddenly grabbed the back of my collar.
Yeah… I was cooked.
"We need to have a little talk," she said sweetly.
That "sweetly" was fake. Very fake.
Before I could even react, she started dragging me away like I weighed nothing.
"Ayo, wait, hold on!"
I looked back at Andy as I was being pulled away.
"You just screwed me!" I yelled. "You absolutely screwed me, Andy!"
Andy raised his hands like he was innocent.
Ava just smiled.
…That was worse.
Way worse.
"Franklin," she called, way too calm, "we're just going to talk."
Yeah.
I was not surviving this.
____________________________________________________________________________
AN: I'm thinking about taking a little break I'm starting to get burnt out