Peter still had no idea that someone was plotting to offer him a little "special treatment."
The three of them did not stay at Plymouth for long before heading back.
The school had been attacked again, and even though they had already been rescued, they still needed to show their faces at least once and go to the police station to give their statements.
This time, Captain George Stacy personally took the record.
The moment he saw Peter, his expression turned unpleasant, his eyes practically saying, Kid, why is it you again?
As for what had happened, Bant and the others had already gotten their stories straight. There was not a single flaw in their account.
After leaving the police station, Bant told Peter to prepare a gift for Jameson.
That old guy was usually mean and sharp-tongued, and he had never gotten along with Spider-Man, but in truth, he was a genuinely good person.
Just the fact that he had not sold Peter out this time was already worth a proper thank-you.
Peter naturally agreed.
But before that, they planned to visit Flash first.
Kraven had smashed through the walls of two classrooms. While the actual damage was not too serious, the students in class had been badly frightened, and making them go back to lessons right away was obviously unrealistic.
So the school was on break yet again.
Still, this time it would probably only last a few days.
At the hospital, Flash still had not woken up.
Kraven was a superhuman. Even without deliberately going for the kill against an ordinary person like Flash, a casual strike from him had still left Flash gravely injured.
At that moment, he was in the ICU receiving emergency treatment.
His parents waited anxiously outside, helpless and powerless.
"The situation isn't very optimistic."
The doctor stepped out of the operating room looking exhausted. They had spent hours trying to save Flash, but all they had managed to do was barely stabilize his vital signs.
"Although the patient has stabilized, he suffered damage to the head. There's a very high chance he could end up in a vegetative state."
The moment they heard that, Flash's parents felt as if their hearts were shattering.
Flash's mother clutched the doctor's arm tightly, tears filling her eyes as she begged, "Doctor, please, save my son!"
"I'm sorry. I've already done everything I can."
The doctor let out a sigh before continuing, "If you can get ahold of an Oscorp Pharmaceuticals regeneration serum, it might be able to heal him... but the price..."
He opened his mouth, but in the end, he still did not say the hopeless number out loud.
In truth, while the regeneration serum was priced very high, the good thing was that it worked fast. One dose, and the illness was gone. In the long run, it would not actually impose too heavy a burden on ordinary people.
The only problem was that production had not yet ramped up.
The overwhelming majority of current orders had already been taken by the military and S.H.I.E.L.D., so there was very little serum available on the open market. And whatever little leaked out was naturally sold at absurdly inflated prices.
After all, getting that serum was the same as getting a second life. The rich and the politicians who lived every day worried about assassination were all watching it closely.
In different versions, Flash's family background varied.
Some Flashes came from rich families.
But the Flash in front of them was just a kid from an ordinary household.
It was not that they had no money to buy the serum.
It was that they simply could not buy it at all.
Flash's mother instantly went dim, collapsing to the floor like all the bones had been pulled out of her body.
"Maybe in a few years... it will become more common."
That was all the doctor could say to comfort her.
But a few years meant Flash would have to remain in a hospital room the entire time, kept alive by expensive machines. Not to mention the cost, the best years of his life would be wasted as well.
Seeing this, Bant stepped forward without hesitation and said, "Plymouth will take responsibility for healing Flash."
At his core, Flash was not really a bad person, and he and Bant could barely be counted as friends.
Sure, in many universes Flash was a school bully who loved tormenting people, but in this universe, because Bant had been "educating" him since they were young, Flash had never really gone around bullying other classmates.
More importantly, this time he had been injured by Kraven while trying to save Peter.
By every measure of reason and emotion, Bant could not possibly just stand by and watch him become a vegetable.
Besides, brain damage was extremely serious. The structure of the brain was far more complex than limbs, so the regeneration serum alone might not even be enough to heal him.
But no matter what, Plymouth's medical capabilities were absolutely far beyond those of an ordinary hospital.
Whether Flash could really be cured or not would depend on the analysis results.
And if that still did not work, then Bant would have no choice but to turn his attention to the symbiote.
Perfect timing.
Agent Venom could finally make his debut.
The Plumbers could gain one more member too.
"Eunice, monitor the Life Foundation's network and satellites. The moment anything happens, contact me immediately."
"Yes, sir."
After handling Flash's discharge paperwork, Bant brought Flash and his parents back to Plymouth together.
He explained to them that the regeneration serum might not immediately improve Flash's condition, but also promised that he would cure him as quickly as possible.
The current Plymouth Tower was already several hundred stories tall, and not every floor was completely off-limits to visitors.
After settling their emotions, Bant found Connors. Under Eunice's scans, the two of them carried out a general analysis of Flash's condition.
"The regeneration serum can heal him."
Connors gave a definite answer.
"However, repairing his injuries in such a crude and forceful way will cause problems with his memory."
Connors raised a finger and pointed at his own head.
That did not surprise Bant.
After all, even after Connors's right arm had regrown, it still took him a period of adjustment before he could use it freely. In fact, even now, when carrying out experiments, Connors still trusted his left hand more.
If even an arm was like that, there was no need to mention the brain.
"Looks like it still has to be the symbiote."
"Symbiote? What's that?" Connors asked curiously.
Symbiotic relationships were not uncommon in biology, but the term Bant had used sounded more like the proper name of some specific species.
"An alien lifeform," Bant said.
Connors already knew more than enough secrets, so Bant did not mind revealing a little more.
"They're amorphous by nature and can attach themselves to other living organisms."
"That sounds like a parasite."
Connors frowned.
"The difference is that the hosts also benefit. They can heal near-fatal injuries, grant immense power..."
In truth, symbiosis with a symbiote had always been a positive relationship by nature. It was only because their first appearance in the movies had cast them in a negative role that they seemed otherwise.
Venom's branch in particular had made the impression worse, since one descendant after another had turned out to be villains.
But in reality, based on the information Bant had gathered earlier on Sakaar, most symbiotes were actually good people.
According to Brunnhilde, symbiotes lived on Klyntar in the Andromeda Galaxy, and so most of the time they were called Klyntar.
They were intelligent, liked helping others, and nobody had ever heard of them going around eating other people's brains.
When Bant brought that up, Brunnhilde had actually been confused about why he had the impression that symbiotes liked eating brains.
All Bant could say was that a certain black gooey guy had done severe damage to the species' reputation.
And it was not just Venom. Even in Venom's solo movie, several of the other symbiotes had also appeared as villains.
"I never imagined a lifeform like that existed."
Connors clicked his tongue in amazement, then said, "In that case, we can heal him first. As for the memory issues, we can repair those gradually later."
After all, amnesia was only a minor problem.
The important thing was getting Flash to wake up.
Meanwhile, Peter brought his gift to visit Jameson.
Jameson was in the hospital too, but his condition was far better than Flash's.
At that moment, he was already awake, while Robbie and Betty were taking care of him in a high-end private room.
The moment Peter walked in, he heard Jameson cursing Robbie with full force.
"You two little spendthrifts!"
"Why the hell did you put me in a VIP room? Do you know what this place charges? It's like cracking open my bones and sucking out the marrow!"
His head was wrapped in bandages and his face was flushed red. But the moment he saw Peter walk in, he froze for a second, and his tone softened a little.
"Peter?"
Robbie and Betty also looked up at once.
"Are you alright?" Jameson asked in a tone Peter had never heard from him before.
At that moment, he was like a gentle grandfather worrying about his grandson.
"I'm fine. Thank you, Mr. Jameson."
Peter put down the flowers and gift he had brought, then spoke.
He looked a little shy, clearly unsure how to handle Jameson's sudden change in attitude.
"Since you're alright..."
Fortunately, after giving Peter a quick once-over and confirming he really was fine, Jameson instantly reverted to his old self and began firing off again.
"Then where are my photos?!
"You were completely irresponsible! You didn't capture Spider-Man brutally murdering those criminals so the world could see that pest's true face!!"
Peter was instantly scolded from top to bottom.
"But Spider-Man saved me..."
"Shut up!"
Jameson almost jumped off the hospital bed as he jabbed Peter in the forehead with a finger.
"He didn't save you. He ruined you!"
"He ruined you, and he ruined me!"
"He got my newspaper attacked! Got me injured! Got me stuck in this high-end room that costs thousands of dollars a day and is completely useless, letting these white-coated demons bleed me dry!"
Jameson cursed from beginning to end. After finishing his tirade against Spider-Man, he moved on to cursing the New York police for being useless freeloaders. Then he actually jumped out of bed and kicked Peter out of the hospital, telling him to hurry up and go home.
In truth, Jameson was worried that Peter's family still did not know he had been rescued.
But the reality was that even now, Uncle Ben and Aunt May still had no idea Peter and Bant had been kidnapped.
The moment the two boys had been taken, Harry had immediately sealed off the news.
Only a very small number of people knew that Kraven's real target had actually been Peter.
Afterward, the two were rescued very quickly, and for the sake of protecting the students, the official statement naturally did not loudly publicize Bant's and Peter's real names.
So when Peter got home, neither Uncle Ben nor Aunt May were there.
Now that they were no longer under financial pressure, Uncle Ben was no longer in a hurry to find work. He and Aunt May had both started taking part in community service, planning to become volunteers and devote the rest of their energy to helping others.
Both kids supported that.
Peter thought helping others was a wonderful thing. Even if Uncle Ben was not some Spider-Old-Hero, he was still a hero.
As for Bant, all he cared about was that the two of them were happy.
However, although Uncle Ben and Aunt May were not home, another visitor had arrived outside the little house in Queens.
"Uh... and you are?"
Standing by the door, Steve Rogers looked at Peter as he approached and gave him a bright, sunny smile.
"Hello, Peter Parker."
/-\
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