A/N: Welcome back fans, readers and comic book enthusiests of all ages. Given the way things ended in the last chapter, I figured it was only a matter of time before Matt would be coming forward with his origin story. And given that I had to do a bit of research about a few sources to make sure everything was as accurate as possible. But I think I'll let you all be the judge here.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Matt found himself in the familiar situation of being in the small 'interrogation' room, sitting at the same table with Hank, Alex and Supergirl all seated around him. The Director had moved them all there after the hero had removed his mask and revealed his face to them, with the vow of telling them more than what they already knew about him.
As for the Danvers sisters, neither of them could believe that someone they had come to know was actually Spyderman. A hero from another dimension, right under their noses the whole time.
They had already been on a bit of a mental rebound given what Eliza had told them about their father/foster-father, and how his connection with the DEO and Hank Henshaw had something to do with his death. Having this dropped into their laps had been another blow that neither were expecting. Especially Kara, given how close she had gotten to Matt since they met.
"Is there a particular reason why you revealed your identity to us now?" asked Hank, starting off their little impromptu meeting.
"Like I said back in the op center," Matt said leaning back in his chair, his costume still on save for the mask, "If we're all going to be working together I thought it best to get it out of the way. It's been a couple months since I was first brought here to the DEO, and since then you and your agents haven't given me a reason to distrust you."
He smirked at the Director, "That, and I've had the feeling that you would have found me out eventually. So why not meet you halfway?"
"How were you able to keep secret for so long?" asked Alex, curious at how he had been able to keep his identity secret from both her and Kara so easily.
"It's easier to do when you have a mask, no one knows who could be behind one until it comes off." came the reply, "It's harder for those that don't wear them back home to keep hidden, though a lot of people out there aren't as perseptive as others."
He swung his head toward the girl of steel and grinned, "Ain't that right, Kara?"
Kara's eyes widened and her jaw dropped again, sputtering in an attempt to defend the accusation. But the look on his face told her that no matter what she said he knew the truth. She ended up sighing and looking back defeated, "How did you know?"
"If you're a hero yourself, you know what to look for in those you surround yourself with." said Matt, holding up his hand with three fingers raised, "And there were three connections between both your personas I picked out right from the getgo." he lowered all fingers but one. "The first is the near identical looks, height, everything. Easily explainable, however."
He raised another finger, "The second is your eyes. Despite your good acting when your out in public, your eyes give you away. You have the look of determination and strength that only comes from someone who spends their time protecting others. I have the same look, as do the countless heroes I've met. But it was the last connection that tied everything together for me."
Matt pointed above his left eyebrow, "The small scar above your left eye. Only noticable if someone's standing close to you. Even if there could be someone out there that's your exact duplicate, you can't replicate scars or other marks caused by another source."
The kryptonian sat back slowly and realized for the first time how easy it was for someone to see through her disguise. Swallowing dryly, she looked at her fellow hero and asked a loaded question. "How...How long have you known?"
"About two weeks, I had suspicions when we started hanging out together. Even more so when I met Alex since we met when you brought me here the first time." Matt saw how uncomfortable she was and reached out to hold her hand on the top of the table. "You have nothing to worry about. I only figured you out because I worked around superheroes for the last year before coming to this universe. Some didn't even bother to hide their identities. Infact, one of them who owns a billion dollar corporation came out to the world on live news."
Kara smiled back at him and gripped his hand a moment before releasing it. The spider-hero turned to Hank who had remained quite through the conversation. "Getting back on the original topic, I figured letting you all know more about me and my past would make it easier to strengthen trust. So long as we stick by the deal we had in the beginning."
The Director nodded and Matt took a deep breath before starting. "I wasn't always a hero, just a regular kid living a mundane existence. But it all changed in one night. Though, in order to understand the full length of my story I'll need to give you a bit of backstory to my mentor and a couple villains he had faced. Kara already knows the cliffnote version, but there's a lot more to it."
"My mentor's name was Spiderman as well, and as the name suggests he had powers that matched very similar to how mine are. Around the time he started out as a hero, he encountered an entity from another world that crashed on our Earth in a meteor, called a symbiote. A symbiote can't survive without a host, so it attaches itself to the first living being that it can find that can keep it safe. Granting the host with an array of abilities and strength as a way to protect them both."
"The only thing to compare it to is a parasite, but the bonding between the two is symbiotic, like the name suggests. The two work together. Without realizing it, my mentor had come in contact with the symbiote and it bonded with him. The symbiote gave his powers a huge boost, but at the same time it became addictive and made him more aggressive. It fed off his darker emotions and began turning him into something he wasn't, and when he discovered this he managed to remove it before any more damage could be done."
Hank nodded, "It was a smart move, something that gives you power but alters your actions isn't worth the trade off."
"But it wasn't over." Matt continued, "The symbiote found its way to someone named Eddie Brock, a man who had it out for Spiderman and his alter ego. Angered at being cast aside by its previous host, the two bonded, all of Spiderman's powers, memories, all of it became part of Brock and the two transformed into a villain named Venom. Both the lifeform and the host wanting the hero's life in ruins and his death. "
"So, this thing had all of his powers and knew everything about him?" Alex asked, a little dread seeping into her stomach at the thought of an enemy that could learn everything about another person due to a vindictive creature.
The hero nodded slowly, "And he became one of the most dangerous foes my mentor had ever faced. You see, one of his powers was an advanced warning sense he called spider-sense. This thing was able to bypass it, since it copied his powers and memories, his 'spider-sense' didn't consider Venom a threat since it was almost as if he was facing himself."
"That's messed up." Kara threw in.
"Preaching to the converted on that one." said Matt. "But there's much more than that. You see, at one point the symbiote was seperated from Brock and he was thrown in prison. But one day, it found its way back to him...and in the process it reproduced."
Seeing the confused looks he decided to explain more on that, "Symbiotes, I guess you can consider them like blood cells. They reproduce asexually after a certain amount of time. And Venom happened to do so while breaking out its host."
"This newborn symbiote found its way to the closest host it could locate. Which happened to be a man by the name of Cletus Kasady." The way he said the name was almost as though he were spewing a poison, fists clenched on the table that eased slowly open again as he relaxed. "The man was a psychopath in every definition of the word. He was in prison for killing a dozen people...though he bragged happily about killing many more than that..."
A chilled silence weighed in the room, Kara looked sickened as did Alex, Hank's face remained passive, but his eyes became sharp when he heard about what the criminal had done.
Matt took a moment to collect himself and pushed on, "The newborn symbiote bonded with him instantly, the man's psychotic persona imprinting on it and they became a new villain named Carnage. A creature that was capable of so much death and chaos that he was on SHIELD's top ten list in no time at all. He was even deadlier than Venom was."
"You see, in terms of genetics, each symbiote that is born becomes stronger than the ones that came before it. So in short terms, Carnage turned out to be stronger than Venom in many ways. The two fought for supremacy more than once, but in some cases they worked together which in of itself was pretty bad."
"This is all...informative." Hank said after letting the information soak in, "But you have yet to explain how all of this ties in with you."
The young hero leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. "It's how my story begins..." he said before leaning forward and looking at them all again, "I was on my way home from work one night when I heard an explosion down an alleyway, against my better nature I went to investigate and found Carnage just after it had given birth to it's own offspring."
"The problem was, Carnage hated the idea of being 'pregnant' and giving birth considering that the host was male. But more than that, with the capability of the new life form becoming genetically stronger he didn't want to have something around that could destroy him. He wanted his child dead, but was too weak to do so after the birthing process. So it searched for a host for the offspring to implant it so that he could come back and kill them both later..."
His last statement hung in the air and he could see everyone tense up, eyes trailing down to his suit and he could see the Director and Alex unclipping their weapon holsters.
Matt raised his hands, "Before you pull out your guns, Toxin isn't a threat."
"Toxin?" asked Kara, snapping out of her surprise at finding out what her fellow hero had within him.
"It's the name I gave him." the spider-hero replied with a shrug.
"How are you sure that this, thing, isn't a threat?" asked Hank with a sharp edge in his tone. "It could be altering your mind!"
Matt fixed the man with a sharp glare of his own, "Because I've been with him since the day he was born. And he isn't like his grandparent or parent. Venom was vindictive and carried a grudge and bonded with someone with the same emotions. Carnage imprinted on a deranged mass murderer with never ending bloodlust. Toxin imprinted on me, a kid in college who had dreams of doing good in the world. Do you not see the significant difference?"
The two DEO agents looked to one another and slowly eased off their sidearms, Kara voicing her next question. "So the...symbiote, is affected by the host they bond with?"
"Only the first host they bond with. Much like a newborn animal imprints on the first thing they see when birthed. And with the way the other two symbiotes treated him, and by extention me..." he trailed off.
"What else happened, after you were implanted?" asked Alex.
Matt went on to explain the rest of the night after his encounter with Carnage. How Venom crashed into the home he and his mother shared with the intention of taking the newborn symbiote to use for his own means before they were saved by Spiderman, only for Carnage to reappear and kidnap him with the intention of ripping the newborn symbiote out of him.
He also spoke how they were saved by Black Cat, a villainess turned hero, and the events that followed in the days after. Leading to when he met Toxin for the first time and how the two had bonded and started their life as a hero themselves.
After a while, Matt started to become more solumn as he reached the darker point of his past. Reaching up and running his fingers over his mother's cross. "Matt?" he blinked and looked over at Kara who looked back concerned.
"Sorry, just...thinking about everything made me remember certain things I've still been trying to get over."
The girl of steel looked at where he was touching the necklace he never took off, she remembered telling him that it belonged to his mother and that it was very important to him since it was the only thing he had left of her. She also remembered how emotional and angry at certain points in his story.
Looking back up at him, and hoped that she wasn't overstepping too far. "Matt? What happened to your mother?"
Matt froze, eyes becoming unfocused before coming back with a dark fire burning within them. "She was murdered...by Carnage." he growled with so much hate and malice even the veteran DEO agents flinched slightly.
Standing up, he turned and faced away from the table with his arms crossed over his chest. "He did it to send a message to me...the fact that he killed the only family I had left crippled me emotionally to the point of nearly breaking. Had Spiderman not found me that day, had he and his family not been there to steer me back from the brink...I don't want to think what could have happened to me."
The spider-hero turned back to the three of them, "Through him, the man I had been happy to consider like a big brother, I learned how to be the hero I am now. Overcoming everything in my path and helping to save not only my home city of New York, but the planet as well when I fought beside the other heroes of my world...until the incident in the lab that brought me here."
Kara had tears in her eyes, the similarities between herself and Matt coming becoming even more apparent. Both of them having lost loved ones and having to restart their lives in another world they knew nothing about in the beginning. Though it was still very much fresh for him, he seemed to be handling it all to the best of his abilities.
"Can you explain a little more about how that happened?" asked Hank, seeing how the conversation was upsetting the young man and directed it elsewhere.
Sitting back down, Matt took a deep breath to calm himself. "It was a routine night patrolling the city when Spiderman and I got a call from Tony Stark, the billionare I told you about when this conversation started. Apparently Venom and Carnage broke into one of his facilities where he had been doing research for SHIELD where he kept a serum that could kill a symbiote."
This bit of news made everyone else straighten in their seats, "Naturally, we went in to investigate. Finding the place a mess and most of the security dead. So we wasted no time in fighting what we had dubbed the 'gruesome two-some'. Everything had been going our way when one of the machines in the lab activated, the wormhole appeared and started sucking everything into it."
"Venom disappeared into it first, and my mentor and I were almost out of danger when Carnage grabbed my leg. Spiderman had grabbed me and tried to pull me away, but the vaccum was too strong and was just going to take him as well...he was going to be a father, his daughter was due within the month...I couldn't allow her to grow up without her daddy. So...I did the only thing I could do..."
"You sacrificed yourself." Alex breathed out, shocked and in awe at the devotion Matt had toward the hero who had taken him under his wing.
Matt gave a small smile, "For everything he and his family had done for me, I was willing to repay the favor and then some. And in the process, I took Carnage with me. Pretty sure you all know the rest."
Hank ran a hand over his head, taking in everything they'd been told before voicing a concern after hearing the last piece that had been said. "What of these other two symbiotes? Is there a chance they wound up in our world as well?"
"Don't know. I've been keeping a close eye on the news, but so far nothing has come up that matches their description or their MO." said Matt. "I'll be more than willing to give your agents descriptions and detailed lists of their abilities, just incase. Extra eyes and ears would be better than just two sets."
The Director nodded, "Agreed, and thank you. I can understand how difficult it was to tell us everything you have. And only a select few things will leave this room, your past is your own, you have my word on that."
"Thank you, Director." Matt blew out another slow breath, "So...where do we go from here?"
X
The rest of the day had been spent at the DEO. After giving the intelligence agents detailed information and descriptions of Venom and Carnage should the two villains make any appearences they would be ready to address the immediate threat they possessed, Matt ended up showing Hank, Alex and Kara what he could do in one of the training rooms.
It was here the agents and super heroine learned that there was much more to his abilities than what they had already seen. His enhanced strength, speed, agility and spider-like abilities were only the tip of what he was capable of.
Given his ancestory, Toxin had imbuned Matt with certain traits that had come from the symbiotes before it. He was able to make weapons out of his suit, bladed and throwing, like Carnage. He also had the ability to change into any disguise he could think of, in addtion to being able to track anyone, anywhere as long as he had a bit of DNA from the person made him invaluable for location people of interest should it ever be needed.
Matt also told them about the benefits of phenethylamine and how it works like a mood elevator for symbiotes which was one of the reasons why he made sure Toxin had a steady supply of chocolate since it contained high concentrated amounts of the enzyme. He didn't need to worry about his other going berserk or taking over his body against his will, but it still made the symbiote happy.
It was late in the evening by the time he left the DEO, Kara giving him a lift back to the city where they met up with Alex at the kryptonian's apartment. The three of them sitting around the living room eating pizza as the spider-hero told a few stories of his time in his universe.
The sisters started laughing when he reached the climax of the tale. "And so, Loki stands up like the would-be ruler that he thought he was and shouted," Matt made his voice regal, " 'Enough! I am a God you dull creature!' he barely got the other half of the next sentence out when Hulk grabbed him by the leg and started bashing him into the floor like a ragdoll before walking away calling him a 'Puny God'."
Kara laid on her side laughing so hard tears were streaming down her face. "Oh Rao, I, I can't even..." she burst into another fit of giggles.
"I still can't believe Norse Gods are real where your from." said Alex taking a drink from the glass she had on the table. "What's Thor like?"
"Two words, poptart addict." said Matt shaking his head, "But the man's got a heart as big as his muscles. For such a powerhouse he can be a hell of a softie."
Finally overcoming her laughing fit, Kara looked to her fellow hero and couldn't help but smile. Seeing him talk about his life and the stories he had fighting in his universe and how it made him happy. But she could also see the saddness in his eyes, the idea of never seeing his home and friends again as he thought back on the good times.
She felt the same on occasion, thinking back to her life on Krypton before her parents sent her away. The memories she had and cherished, but at the same time brought her great pain with the knowledge that everything she loved was gone forever.
Shaking her head to rid herself of the familiar dark thoughts, she started thinking about something else that had been on her mind since everything came out about Matt back at the DEO.
There had been so much more to him than she realized, and not just the whole being Spyderman thing.
She was fast, strong, bulletproof and could shoot lasers from her eyes, but Matt had endured battles she had never even though of, fought villains along side other heroes and helped save his world several times.
Even though she didn't want to admit it, despite all her power Matt had a strong advantage over her. He had more experience than she had at being a hero, training from other heroes to become the one he is today, and it was this knowledge and conditioning he brought into play every time he went out into the city to help the citizens.
The perfect evidence for this would be how he handled Livewire. While she had been pinned and was being electrocuted by the metahuman, Matt was there taking her down with quick thinking and resourcefulness.
"Kara?" the heroine blinked and found Matt looking back at her, "You good?"
She nodded and plastered on a fake smile, "Yeah, just got lost in thought." she said before eating another slice of pizza.
"Don't do that." his words made her pause mid-reach for another slice.
"Do what?" she asked, playing ignorant.
The spider-hero leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, "Put on a mask to cover what you're thinking or feeling. I've done it so much myself that I can see it in others. Don't be nervous or scared to ask something, I won't be offended."
His words were honest, and Kara was once again a little awed by it. Clearing her throat, she fidgited with her fingers before voicing her thoughts. "I was just thinking about how things went with Livewire, how she managed to bring me down and how you took her out of the fight."
Matt nodded slowly, "Yes, I was there. What about it?"
"I just realized, that there is a lot more that I still need to learn." she admitted solumnly, "Leslie was frying me and I couldn't do anything about it. Couldn't even use my powers because she had enough power to hurt me, if you hadn't been there..."
Alex looked at her sister concerned, patting her hand as the memory of what they talked about before the fight came to mind and the warning she'd given Kara who still went out to put an end to Livewire.
After listening to the heroine's thoughts, Matt leaned back against the couch and picked his words carefully. "You're still new to the hero game, Kara." he said garnering her attention again, "From what I've gathered thus far, you supressed your abilities in order to fit in here on Earth and only just started using them. It'll take time for you to fully come into your own, I may have a year and a half on you in that regard, but even I'm still learning new things here and there."
Thinking back to when he first started training with he Avengers, he recalled something he'd been told; "One of the heroes I trained with told me some good advice when I first started working with them. 'There is no such thing as a perfect hero, we have our flaws, but it's those flaws that make us who we are. We learn from them, improve from them, and in turn they make us better at what we do'."
He kept his gaze locked on Kara who listened to his every word, "The hero who told me this was Captain America, Steve Rogers to those who knew him well. He was our worlds first superhero, he was a test subject in a super-soldier program during World War II to fight against Nazi-Germany's growing power. He helped end the war, saved countless lives, but at a price."
"He was frozen in ice, still alive, but asleep for 75 years. When he was awoke, everything he had ever known was gone with the sands of time."
Kara and Alex both were surprised, to find out about a hero of such caliber being asleep for almost a century and waking up in a completely different era in time. Matt read their looks and continued;
"It took him time, but he readjusted back into the world, and still defends it as only he can. He's the leader of the team of heroes who dedicate themselves to saving everyone, and is one of the most loyal and wise people I'd ever met."
He smiled at the kryptonian, "Being a hero is a learn as you go kind of job, Kara. And at times it can suck when you're on your own. Thankfully though, you're not." Matt motioned to Alex, "You've got your sister here, the DEO...and now me. I told you when we took down Livewire that I'd have your back, and I meant it. Even if that means you and I need to train together to become better individually and as a team."
The blonde heroine was quiet, still in silent shock before a million-watt smile spread across her face. "T-Thanks, Matt." she said with a little blush tinting her cheeks.
"You're a friend, and I do anything I can for my friends." Matt said honestly, "Even though I'm not home, I still have a purpose and people that need me." whatever else he was going to say faded when Alex's phone went off.
She answered it quick and spoke quickly with the agent on the other end before turning to the heroes. "There's a hostage situation near a bank downtown." the words had barely left her mouth when Kara disappeared into her room and reappeared a half second later in her Supergirl costume.
"You coming, Spyderman?" she asked grinning.
Matt grinned right back, his clothes melting and slithered across his body and covered him completely in his costume. "Right behind you, Supergirl." he said back. Kara laughed before flying out the window, the spider-hero leaping off the balcony outside and webswinging after her.
Alex watched him go, shaking her head and smiling as she took her spot back on the couch she had been on and picking up her drink. "I give them a month before the first date..." she said to herself as she settled in.
X
Hank Henshaw stood in his office that overlooked the DEO op center, watching his agents working dilligently below. His mind going back to the long conversation that had been had with their dimension traveling friend.
He admitted he was skeptical of Matt when he was first seen in National City, but now that he had gotten to get to know more about the younger man's past and his experiences he realized just how strong an ally they had all gained.
Though there was still concerns regarding the alien symbiote that took residence within the hero's body, given that it was an unknown variable. But he looked at it the same way when Kara came to start working with them. As long as Matt was in control, he felt that he had nothing to be too concerned about in the end.
However, he'd be watching him a bit closer now when he was in the field. Even more so if he got closer to Kara in the process.
Turning from the windows that surrounded his office, Hank started making his way down the corridor farther into the facility. Along the way, his eyes glowed bright red before fading back to their original color.
A/N: And the plot thickens further, though if you've seen the series it may not be as unexpected as you think.
Now, some of you out there are probably shaking their heads at a bit of what was stated here. But I'll put an end to any arguments before they start. It may be true that Matt might not be able to take on a Kryptonian in a fair fight, but given his training with Spiderman and a few other Avengers he'd figure out a way to maintain himself well enough.
And even though Kara is the star heroine, she still is a new superhero and learning to make her own path in the world. Matt's been at it longer than her and can offer her help that she won't get from other sources. This will help her in the end, and make the bond between them stronger in the long run. Even more so now that they know each others identities.
What say you my readers? Thoughts, comments, burning questions?
