Maximum Carnage: The Talk

Maximum Carnage: The Talk
Date of Cutscene:	28 July 2023
Location:	Benton Residence, Happy Harbor
Synopsis:	Set during the one-day "Maximum Carnage" event over multiple scenes, Andi Benton finally reveals a big secret to her father: Mania
Cast of Characters:	Andi Benton
Tinyplot:	Maximum Carnage

---

It's been a very long day, one of the longest in Andi Benton's life. Already coming off of a busy night on patrol, there was no rest for the weary as Cletus Kasady, Carnage himself, raised hell around New York City. Already there'd been two encounters with him, one including Venom, a brief chat with Venom and Eddie after that, leading into a recharge with some pizza. And, the day still wasn't quite over yet. She took out her phone, reached out to someone.

-+-+-+-

Andi: Dad, we need to talk. This is important.

Frank Benton: I'm busy right now, but I'll be home the usual time tonight, Andi. Can it wait?

Andi: I guess, but..yeah, just be careful.

-+-+-+-

A brief text exchange was all it took to drive Andi's anxiety up to rare heights. Her 'partner' sensed it immediately.

-+-+-+-

<<Mania>> Why are you apprehensive, Andi?

<<Andi>> Because I'm afraid of how he'll react.

<<Mania>> You should have told him a long time ago. We could have showed him.

<<Andi>> Yeah, but you know mom left after I was born. I keep worrying he won't be able to accept this.

<<Mania>> Accept what we are? He is your sire. He will not throw you away.

<<Andi>> Don't you get it? That's what mom did. She left both of us instead of being there to help raise me!

<<Mania>> But your sire..knows you better. He did raise you. You owe this to him. When the Spider helped...

<<Andi>> I know, I know. I was there, remember? Some things are just hard to explain. And I'm more worried for him now than ever.

-+-+-+-

Andi's internal fears threatened to fester, with Mania trying to assure her that one way or another, everything would be all right. Frank finished his shift and came back to their place in Happy Harbor, where she was waiting in the living room, pacing.

Opening the door, he set his hat down and wiped some of the tiredness away from his eyes. In a hand was a bag of fast food. "Oh, there you are, Andi. Not even waiting for your old man to eat first?"

She was in her usual, which meant that goth/punk style that often left her looking like she wanted to shut the world around her out. Though she was twenty now, only a few months from being legal drinking age, some of that style just stuck in place. She hadn't grown out of it.

"I don't know if you've seen the news, but there's some bad stuff going on in the city. There's this bad guy, Carnage, and he's killing a lot of people. I..just want to make sure you're safe." Andi dances around the bigger topic at first.

<<Mania>> Tell him. Show him. Then talk more.

Frank rubs the back of his neck. "I'm fine, Andi. We're not in the city."

Andi frowns. "But you know I go over there a lot. For work."

Frank nods. "I know, and sometimes you don't come home until I'm leaving. I want to ask what's going on, but I don't know how. I don't want to think my little girl is--"

Andi cuts him off, expression frustrated. "You think I'm doing drugs or hanging out with the wrong people? No, dad. It's not that. It's just.." Both hands run through her hair. "You remember the warehouse? With the guy who, uh, grabbed you?"

Frank turns wary, a guarded look taking shape. "..yes. You never told me what that was all about. I blacked out a lot of it. Did something happen?"

<<Mania>> Andi...

<<Andi>> I KNOW!

She crosses her arms, equally uncomfortable. "Yeah, you could say that. I guess I'd better show you. I've been scared to do this."

Her father's eyes widen as he watches something happen. A black substance, like a cross between a liquid, oil, and some sort of goo, spreads out from seemingly behind Andi before rapidly whipping around her, crossing over itself to take further shape. It covers her from head to toe, leaving the familiar (to some) sight of Mania, complete with all the spiky accents to her design, the solid white eyes, the large spider insignia front and back.

Frank gasps and drops his drink, but Mania quickly sends out a tendril to catch it before it lands and spills on the floor, lifting it back up to him. "Hi, dad," she says, in that dual voice that's both her and something more, something alien. "It is us. We are Mania." The shape of those eyes carries doubt, but also hope.

He turns pale, hands shaking as he reaches hesitantly for the drink, but he can't quite grasp it so she changes her mind and redirects it over to the nearby counter leading to the kitchen, gently setting it down before the tendril retracts back to her, disappearing. "Wh-what..?" he stammers. "What d-did they do t-to you, Andi?"

Holding up her hands, tipped with claws, Mania shakes her head quickly. "No! No, it..it's fine! It's okay!" The voice is a little more Andi's than not, but she holds her distance at first. "The warehouse. I was coming home one day and I felt..something there. I didn't know what it was. This bad guy, Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man's dealt with him before, but he saw me and that's how he tracked down where we lived. He was going to kidnap me, but I wasn't there so he grabbed you. He was trying to lure me out."

Frank slowly and carefully moves over toward a stool by the counter, acting every bit like someone trying not to get attacked by a predator, avoiding looking directly at Mania, at Andi. "I..remember, yes. But why? What could someone like that..possibly want with you? With us?"

Mania continues. "Because he imprisoned a symbiote. That's what this is. It's from somewhere out in space. Somehow it sensed me, and he thought he could use me to get it to respond better to his experiments."

A part of Mania bristles at this bad memory, in the form of the spikes fanning out briefly. Andi forces them back down to a less threatening place. "It was hurting, dad. But he didn't know I'd already met Spider-Man. He'd helped me with some losers who were..eh, it's not important. But he came with me to the warehouse and fought Ock. I was going to get you loose, but they knocked over the container the symbiote was in. It found me. We found each other. You were unconscious."

She advances closer and while at first Frank starts to recoil, she makes an awkward attempt at a soothing sound, like he used to do when she was a baby, crying. "It's fine, dad. Really! All those times you saw something in the news about Mania? That was me. That was us. Spider-Man taught us how to be a good guy and help people. That's what we've been doing. We..I..I just never could figure out how to tell you, and now I /have/ to tell you because--"

Frank interrupts. "So you..whatever all this is, you're saying you're a hero? My daughter is a hero? And you thought I'd throw you out? Leave you? I'm your father. I'd never." A glimmer of hope shines in eyes that are glistening wet. He isn't running away. He isn't cowering. Instead, he's standing a little straighter.

The symbiote peels away from Andi's head and face, leaving that part of her free and visible while the rest remains worn like a suit or a costume. "Yeah, dad. I am. We are." She's trying not to cry as well, but she's losing that battle. "And that's why you're in danger again."

Frank reaches to pull her into a hug, mindful of the sharper bits. "That's great. The first part, I mean. But I don't get it. Tell me. Help me understand."

Andi moves in for the embrace faster than she ever thought she would, burying the side of her face against her father's shirt. Somewhere within, Mania revels in the strong emotions, but doesn't do anything more than that. "The really bad guy I mentioned, the killer, Carnage? He also has a symbiote and I've been helping deal with him today, and I don't think he's done yet. I need you to get out of town, because I don't want him coming after you. I'm serious. Pack a bag for a few days right now. Go down to New Jersey, or back to Philly. Let me call you when it's safe. If he finds you, there's nothing you'll be able to do. I don't want to lose you too."

Frank just holds her close, this amalgam of Andi and something else, something greater. There's a lot about it he still doesn't get, but he can tell that this isn't the right time for all the questions. When he speaks after some long moments pass by, he says, "I will, right away, but when this is over I want to know all about this. How long has it been? Two years? Three? And you kept this hidden the whole time?"

Andi squeezes her father firmly, then stands back to place her hands at his shoulders. After a moment, he touches an arm and notes the strange feel of this different 'skin.' She says, a little evasively, "Yeah, about that long. I never knew how to do this, but today I knew I had to. I just want you to be safe."

Frank worries, "But what about you? I don't want to lose you, either. No more secrets, Andi. Not with this."

Mania curls back over Andi's face and all, and even without a visible mouth the eyes tell the story. There is a hard set to them, a determination that won't be shaken. "You will not lose us..dad. We are going to kick Carnage's ass, and we will have help doing it."

-+-+-+-+-+-+-

EPILOGUE, LATER

Somehow, they did it. Carnage was defeated and captured.

By the time it was over, Andi Benton was running on fumes. Even Mania, her Klyntar symbiote bond, was weary and in need of a recharge.

Upon returning home to the apartment in Happy Harbor later that night, following a well-deserved meal and ample amounts of chocolate as a bonus, Andi shuffled her way inside with heavy steps. A few of the worst spots Carnage had wounded still bled enough to stain the bandages, but she more than gave as good as she got and helped keep him occupied just long enough for the sonic attacks to do their job.

There'd be hours of sleep ahead of her to rest and recover, but prior to that she had to reach out to someone via phone. This time, she called instead of texting.

Andi: "Hey, dad?"

Frank: "Andi! How are you? Are you safe?"

Andi: "I'll live. Just sore everywhere. Where are you? Did you get a place?"

Frank: "That's good. I'm relieved. I did. I just got to Philly about an hour ago. Uh..how did it go?"

Andi: "I had some help. Spider-Man was there. So was Iron Man. We messed Carnage up. And, cool. You should still stay there a little longer, just to be sure. Get a few extra cheesesteaks."

Frank: "Are you sure? You'll be all right alone by yourself? I can come back tomorrow if you need me."

Andi: "Dad, I'm never alone now. Trust me, it's okay. You needed a vacation anyway."

Frank: "Well, okay. Andi, I just want you to know I'm very proud of you. I'm seeing some of the news coming in. You helped save a lot of lives."

Andi: "...yeah, thanks. Just...look, I need to sleep. I'm really tired. Can we talk tomorrow?"

Frank: "Oh. Sure, whenever's good for you. I love you Andi. I don't get to say it enough and I just want you to know that."

Andi: "Love you too. Night, dad."

Entering her bedroom, she looked at her bed with a frown, not realizing until now how much crap she'd left on it. She was in no mood to deal with cleaning that up.

Sensing her thoughts, a little disembodied head that looked like a caricature of Mania poked up over her shoulder and grinned. "We have an idea, Andi." Most of the symbiote flowed out to create a black hammock, stuck to a few parts of the wall. Forming a hand, it tugged Andi toward it.

"What? You have to be kidding...you know what, fine. I don't have the energy to do anything but sleep." She climbed up to get on her side, and the hammock closed in a little more snugly, ensuring a warm embrace that doubled as a form of protection, watching over and guarding her.

"I'm really glad we stopped Carnage," she added, shutting her eyes.

"Yes, that was good. Important. Necessary. We just hope he does not escape again soon. He will probably try to find us and seek revenge," Mania replied, close to an ear.

"You really know how to kill the mood, you know that?" Andi grumbled.

"Yes, we are very good at killing things. You would not know that as well because you do not like killing, but we respect you trying to find other ways," Mania admitted.

So many things Andi could have said to that, except she just closed her eyes and allowed sleep to take over. She didn't even dream for a good, long while.

When she did, Carnage's horrific, ugly form was there to laugh in her face and lash out with a blood-red hand shaped into an axe and the battle was on again.

Dream or not, Andi Benton knew this wasn't the last anyone would see of Carnage.