Chapter Text
It had been pure routine.
Until it turned into something else.
The Wizard was wreaking havoc in midtown again, having released what could only be described as a minor horde of robots that were currently climbing all over buildings and traffic lights, melting their way through every inch of construction with acid sprays. Bentley Wittman, the Wizard himself, was in the middle of the chaos, cackling away at the mayhem he had unleashed.
It was actually going quite well.
The Fantastic Four had already cleared off any civilians and making their way through the skittering robot army, steadily getting closer to Wittman in the center.
“Johnny, you need to fry his controls!” Reed yelled over the comm unit in their wristwatches. He was currently wrapped around five robots, rooting them in place while he dismantled them one by one.
The only reason Johnny didn’t roll his eyes at the command was because he didn’t have the time. A robot had climbed onto a nearby roof and just propelled itself onto Johnny’s flying form. He swerved precariously in the air, one arm up to keep the robotic spider-like abomination from spewing him with its acid-container. His burning flames were already steadily melting through the metal.
“I am trying!” he managed to answer, as he fired another bolt of fire towards Wittman, and the clunky control-band on his wrist. Wittman quickly hid behind one of his creations so the blast half-melted through that instead the intended target.
The robot on Johnny fell away, its circuits properly fried, where it plummeted to the ground and smashed into clattering pieces of metal. He took aim again, but another robot just swooped in to take the formers place. Then it was back to square one. He let a flare of fire burst out of him. Once the robot released him, he flew further down to gain another vantage point. The dance continued. Every time Johnny found an opening to Wittman’s controls, another robot would intervene.
It was endlessly frustrating.
The others were equally busy containing the mayhem of the rampaging creations. Slowly they were thinning out, and Wittman looked more and more panicked as his defenses dwindled. Ben tore through three at once and then it was suddenly a clean path straight to the Wizard.
Johnny fried another bot and looked up just in time to see Wittman pull out a laser-like gun. He aimed it straight at Ben, who had only managed to take a single step forward. It was like time stood still.
“Ben!” Johnny called as a warning.
It was way too late. Wittman pulled the trigger, and Ben couldn’t dodge out of the way fast enough. The beam hit him square in the face. Ben staggered at the blow, hands clutching his head. Johnny was already flying towards him.
He didn’t know what the damage would be when he got there. He landed right in front of Ben, who was still covering his face and blindly stumbling away, his breathing heavy.
“Ben?” Johnny tried, etching closer. “Can you hear me? Talk to me, buddy!”
Ben stopped walking. His hands fell away slowly. Then he turned and Johnny inhaled sharply. There wasn’t any damage on his face, but his eyes had turned completely black. They regarded Johnny with nothing but a sudden empty anger.
“Uh, Ben?”
“Johnny, what’s going on?” Reed’s voice filtered through, again.
“You okay, pal?” Johnny tentatively asked, although there was no sign of the Ben he knew looking back at him.
Ben stood still for a second more. Then he surged forward with a primal scream. Johnny flew out of the way as the hulking mass of stone came hurtling at him. He dodged the large, rocky hands and soared higher just out of Ben’s reach.
“I don’t know what’s happening, but Ben’s NOT himself!” Johnny reported into his watch. He never took his eyes off of Ben, who tossed a piece of pavement his direction when he realized he couldn’t reach with his arms.
“Wittman’s running!” Sue yelled.
Johnny risked a quick glance and saw, true enough, that Wittman was in the process of escaping, a couple of robots still at his flank as protection. Another ball of debris whizzed by his ear and drew his attention back to the other matter at hand.
“You guys go!” Johnny said. “I’ll keep Ben distracted.”
Reed, slightly winded, responded with, “Be careful, Johnny. Keep your distance.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Johnny muttered to himself.
Below him, Ben stopped hurtling broken debris into the air. Instead, he just began tearing through whatever he could get his hands on. Cars, lamp posts, pavement, nothing was spared as he tore his way through it all. He threw himself against a pillar of the nearest building. The structure shook precariously as some of the support weakened.
“Okay, buddy, let’s not break the entirety of New York.”
Johnny fired a burst of flame in front of Ben’s path. It worked like a charm. The Thing refocused on the flickering dot of fire in the sky. He bellowed out another frightful roar. Johnny felt a sliver of fear. That probably wasn’t good.
Despite his trepidation, he did whatever he could to keep Ben’s attention on him. It was a perilous game. He couldn’t fly too far up, because then Ben would continue his rampage on the nearest part of the city and whatever else he could get his hands on. But Johnny also couldn’t get too close, for… obvious reasons. Ben mindlessly tore through all and every obstacle that crossed his vengeful path. His eyes remained that single, black color. They reminded Johnny of a shark’s; dark and emotionless, just looking for the next kill. It sent chills down his spine every time he caught sight of them. It was so far from the friend he knew.
“Come on, Ben. Snap out of it!” Johnny called as he fired another fireball right in front of Ben.
Ben only responded with another animalistic growl that echoed deeply like thunder and then he pounced into the air. Johnny dodged out of the way. He flew closer to the pavement and then backed slowly away into the open. Less chances of damage. Ben followed like a hungry predator.
“We got Wittman,” Sue reported. “Reed’s working on how to reverse the effects. Keep him occupied a little while longer.”
“Working on it,” Johnny answered into the wristwatch. He regarded Ben cautiously as the man etched closer. “You hear that? Almost there. Are you gonna play nice now?”
Ben responded by tossing a parked car at him. Johnny swerved as he narrowly avoided the flying vehicle from slamming into him. Instead, it wrapped itself around a pole somewhere behind him with a loud crushing of metal and shattering glass.
“That is not very nice!”
Johnny swallowed down the thought that that could have been his body and focused on the task at hand. He kept shooting fire around Ben, careful not to hit him directly but just close enough to garner his full attention. And of course, his rage.
The game of cat and mouse continued far too long for Johnny’s liking. That was probably what cost him, in the end. He forgot just how high Ben could jump when he really wanted to. Ben leapt straight up into the air and Johnny saw him hurtling his direction way too late. He felt Ben’s strong, stony arms wrap around his chest in a tight bear hug. The sudden proximity made him instinctively flame off. Together, they plummeted to the ground. The impact was jarring and Johnny’s teeth rattled in his skull. Even as they were sprawled out on the ground, rather than loosening his grip, Ben started to squeeze. Johnny gasped as he felt his chest tighten. His ribs screamed in protest. His lungs wouldn’t expand. He twisted in the hold, desperate to escape but it was like being submerged in stone. Nothing gave. Panic set in. He had to get out before Ben squeezed the life out of him. Something primal stirred within and it made him react on pure survival.
“I’m so sorry,” he choked out, hoping the words could somehow penetrate through the fog that clouded Ben’s mind.
Then Johnny let out a rapid, violent burst of fire.
The quick flash of hot flames made Ben release his grip and sent him skittering across the pavement. He rolled several times before he came to a stop, the clothes on his back singed and torn. Johnny immediately struggled to his feet and ran towards his friend, his heart hammering in his chest. Ben was sturdy. He could handle some fire. They knew that, they had tested that – much to Reed’s chagrin. But Ben was just laying there, with his back turned and with his stony frame, it was impossible to determine if he was even still breathing.
Johnny’s worry increased with every step he took. He was terrified that he might have just hurt him beyond repair.
“Ben?” Johnny called as he drew nearer. “Ben! Come on, man, please.”
He placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder.
He never saw the stony fist coming.
Ben moved with surprising speed and before Johnny could even register what was happening, the clenched hand slammed right into his cheek. It felt like being struck by a train. Like a bullet fired from a gun, he was suddenly catapulted through the air with breathtaking speed.
Then his momentum was abruptly stopped when his back collided violently with a brick wall. He felt as much as he heard something snap inside of his body. The taste of metal exploded on his tongue. All of the air left his lungs. The world around him was a dizzying mess of color and sound. His legs turned to jelly and he felt himself slide down the wall. His vision zeroed in on a small pebble just past his boot as the surroundings around him blurred. Darkness floated at the edges. Everything sounded muted to his ears. His body felt strangely numb. Gravity pulled at him and he started to tilt to the side. His eyes remained transfixed on that small, insignificant pebble as he flopped limply to the ground.
When his shoulder hit the pavement, it ignited a sharp, fiery pain that suddenly encompassed his entire being.
The world disappeared and Johnny knew no more.