Work Text:
“Wow, Ben. You didn’t tell me your mom was in town” Johnny Storm quips, as he and his three other teammates approach a large creature that terrorizes the people in the center of Manhattan. “Ah, shut it, Torch” Ben shouts back as he charges towards the creature, pounding his fists into its sticky, mud-like exterior. Johnny grins merrily, flying forward in the same direction. His eyes go wide as he approaches the creature. Whoa, this thing’s larger than I thought. The creature is enormous and appears to be some sort of over-sized moloid. Definitely the Mole Man’s doing. No doubt about it. Johnny proceeds to throw fireballs at the gargantuan creature, still poking fun at Ben during the process.
Reed and Sue finally arrive on the scene, ready for battle. “Ben, Johnny, fall back!” Sue calls out to her other teammates, who willingly comply as their defenses prove ineffective. Sue positions herself with her knees slightly bent and holds up her hands, projecting a large invisible sphere around the moloid; keeping it at bay. Johnny ‘flames off’, landing beside his sister. He cocks a brow, overviewing his sister’s stance. “Sis, are you actually doing something with your powers or… because, I mean, you look constipated” Johnny jokes. “Shush, Johnny. I need to concentrate” Sue reprimands her brother and Ben chuckles in retribution. Johnny makes a face at her before turning to Ben, who stands a few feet away from him.
“So, what’s the plan, braniac?” Ben asks Reed, whose currently fiddling with a small device he holds in his hands. Reed looks up at Ben, but before he can respond, a fireball explodes against the back of Ben’s head. “Hey, what the--“ Ben shouts as he turns around, coming face to face with another torrid splash of bright colors blended in a mixture of red, orange, and yellow. Ben staggers backwards, shaking his head side to side, ridding himself of any temporary disorientation. Johnny doubles over; laughing hysterically, “Oh, man. You should’ve seen your face.” The other man’s cackle was enough to rile him up; “That’s it”, Ben Grimm darts towards the younger hero with every intent of causing as much bodily harm as possible, without fatality of course.
Johnny remains unmoved, serenely watching Ben rush towards him at full speed; smoke steams from his body as he prepares to bathe himself in flames once Ben reaches a certain distance. He smiles in amusement. This is gold. Benjamin’s reaction is exactly what he expected. Johnny is always somehow victorious in getting underneath Ben’s rock hard skin, generally without any effort at all. He knows every button to push, every word to say that will undoubtedly push him over the edge; he can crack any code when it comes to Ben. For him, annoying Ben is obligatory, almost as if it gives his existence a sense of purpose. And it’s so easy for him, he can’t resist doing so. This is way too easy. After all, making fun of Ben was his job, and his job only; a fictive, non-profitable occupation serving the sole purpose of generating his own exhilaration.
Johnny, inflaming every part of his anatomy, evadingly takes flight, moving out of the way just as his pursuer lunges forward, swinging a large, solid, orange fist. Ben strikes again and the blazed hero victoriously dodges him once more, this time swooping behind his adversary, displaying his proficiency in such an immaculate manner. “Oh, come on Benjie, you gotta be faster than that!” the blonde hero mocks, just as he produces another fireball to hurl at his current component.
“Ben, Johnny, that’s enough!” Reed shouts, stopping both heroes in their tracks. The two heroes stare at Reed for a moment, who bears a manifesting look of downright disappointment. Johnny simmers down as his flames extinguish around him and he settles back down onto the ground, pointing a finger in Ben’s direction, “He started it.” Ben begins to protest, but is interrupted by Reed, who proceeds to announce his plans that could potentially eradicate them from their current state of affair. Johnny flings his head back apathetically, “Oh, here we go” he mutters under his breath; dreading the state of confusion that awaits him. Both Ben and Johnny share bemusing glances as Reed elucidates a detailed proposal with words so sophisticated, that neither heroes could possibly decipher. The scientist continues on, presenting four fairly large tube-like mechanisms, “Ben, I need you to place each of these contraptions along the circumference of Susan’s force field, approximately one-quarter distance away from each other.” Ben nods heedfully and sprints off with all four contraptions.
Reed still fidgets with his device while Johnny stands beside him in silence. “So…what the hell is this thing, Reed?” Johnny finally asks, breaking the silence. Reed looks up at the large creature. “Well, I am not entirely sure, Johnny. But it seems to be some kind of mutated moloid. Or perhaps a new species of the sort” Reed suggests. Johnny shrugs it off, not wanting to give it any real thought; although covertly praying this is the first and last one they’ll encounter. But he doubts it, because where there is one there is more. And so far this thing seems to be nearly invincible.
“Reed!!” Sue calls out to her husband as her hands shake and her entire body trembles. “One moment, Susan. We’re almost done” he assures his wife. Ben places down the fourth and final contraption before alerting Reed, who in turn looks to Johnny. My time to shine. With a smile on his face, Johnny lights up in flames, “I’m on it, Reed.” The Human Torch zooms around the creature, activating each of the four contraptions, before landing next to his sister. Reed presses a few buttons on his device, allowing the four contraptions to project a large, blue spherical dome around the menacing creature. Susan’s legs wobble underneath her and her force field falls as she buckles over. “SUE!” Johnny catches his sister before she collapses onto the ground. “Susan, are you alright?” Reed rushes to his wife’s side, kneeling beside her. “I’m fine. I’ll be okay” Sue announces exhaustively, failing to convince any of her teammates. “Suzie, you don’t look okay” Ben remarks. Sue just shakes her head as she stands up, leaning against her husband for support, while the creature bangs its long tentacle-like arms against the dome, attempting to break free of its barriers.
“Reed, is that thing gonna hold?” Johnny asks, pointing to the dome, which flickers each time the creature attacks its interior. “Well…” Reed commences dubiously. Noticing her husband’s sense of doubt, Susan pulls away from him just slightly, “What do you mean?” “Well, Susan, it is just a prototype” Reed confirms. “This was an exemplary scenario to test its stability” he adds, just as the dome fails and sets the creature free. “REED!” Sue scolds her husband, who stares back at her, acknowledging his own miscalculation. Johnny laughs aloud and Reed looks his way, “Hey, I’m just glad she’s not yellin’ at me for once” the younger hero admits.
Reed gawks at the large creature, pondering an alternate solution all the while considering possible variables that could viably assist him in improving his latest invention. “Hmmm, well perhaps we could—“ Reed begins to suggest, when suddenly a voice from behind alterably finishes his sentence with “call for back up?” All four of the Fantastic Four members turn around to see Iron Man. “Anthony” Reed greets in surprise. “Reed” Tony Stark says with a nod, as he lowers himself to the ground. “Hey, tin can. What’re ya doin’ here?” Ben inquires. “Well, it’s Manhattan. And I live here” Tony states indisputably. Ben grunts, granting it an acceptable answer. “No, uh, I was actually having lunch with a couple of colleagues not too far from here. So Jess and Carol should be arriving shortly” he ensures. Johnny’s eyes go wide upon hearing Carol’s name. Uh oh. The last time they’ve seen each other he invited her to a movie night, but other events transpired and he arrived too late. He hasn’t had any contact with her since, and he’d like it to stay that way. Well, for now, anyway.
“So, what should we do about this?” Stark questions about the sizable moloid. “I got this” Johnny announces brashly, “Flame on!” “Johnny NO” Sue shouts just after her brother takes off. He nears the creature, emitting an immense amount of heat. “He’s going to go nova!” Reed shouts. Then suddenly, the creature’s long tentacle-like arm whacks Johnny hard, dousing his flames and sending him careening across the sky. Okay, that was a bad idea. “Johnny” Sue shrieks agonizingly. She holds out her hand, attempting to produce a force field to catch him before he plummets to the ground, but she’s too weak and unable to do so.
The strong force addles him and as Johnny falls helplessly towards the ground he’s so muddled that he doesn’t even consider ‘flaming on’. Then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a strong hand grips tightly onto his wrists. Johnny’s just about to look up to identify his savior when, “Ouch!” a female voice shouts. The unknown woman lets go of him, and Johnny falls to the not-so-distant ground, landing on his shoulder. “Owwwwww” Johnny over exaggerates, squirming on the ground for a while before sitting up and finally coming face to face with his rescuer. His eyes open extensively and he stares at the woman before him.
Carol Danvers rubs her hands together and shakes them wildly, trying to alleviate the scorching heat and pain she suffered at her own expense. Spider-Woman whizzes by, “Nice catch, Carol” she compliments, but Carol just frowns looking down at her singed gloves, filling her with indignation. She looks back up at the other hero before her, who still sits with his legs sprawled out in front of him. Noting her umbrage, Johnny laughs nervously while clutching onto his left shoulder, “Whoopsy.”
Further away, Susan lets out a sigh of relief as she witnesses her brother brought to safety. She then turns her attention back to the other heroes as Spider-Woman joins the battle. Iron Man releases repulsor rays onto the creature but it doesn’t succumb to his wrath. Spider-Woman’s beams of bio-electric energy markedly fails as well. The Thing attacks the lower regions of the creature, again to no avail while her husband tinkers with his devices, still trying to come up with an achievable solution. Sue exhales fruitlessly as she rests on the ground, slowly regaining her strength, as the idle battle ensues before her.
Captain Marvel glares at the Human Torch, refusing to accept his dimwitted utterance as an apology. Johnny, fallen victim to a momentary speech impediment, flashes her a winsome smile in hopes of redemption, which falters as she turns away. He quickly stumbles to his feet, grabbing her forearm just before she’s about to take off. She rips her arm free from his grasp, “Don’t touch me!” Johnny steps back, heeding her warning carefully. “Look, I just wanna talk” he chokes out. She shakes her head defiantly, “You always want to talk, but yet you have nothing to say.” Johnny rubs the back of his neck, once again at a loss for words. She speaks to him so belligerently, as if she’s mad at him for something. Maybe she did show up after all. After a moment, “Well…that’s a bit harsh, don’t ya think?” he finally speaks up, taking her opine as a personal affront. “No” she states callously, deeming him deserving of such an assertion. Her bitterness angers him and he’s unable to restrain the glower that forms across his face, “Look, I know you’re mad about what happened a few days ago but--” “Don’t” she tells him. “--I didn’t mean to—“he continues. “I said don’t” she interrupts him again, this time silencing him completely. She looks and sounds angry, but he can see the hurt in her eyes and he can’t help but to feel responsible for it. He wants to alleviate her dejection; he wants to make it up to her, the only way he knows how. Acting upon impulse, he leans in, planting a closed-mouthed kiss onto her decently plumped, pink lips. With great strength, she immediately pushes him away, nearly the exact second their lips meet. He staggers backwards, completely stunned and stumbling for balance. Carol’s eyes are wide and she looks around searchingly; glancing back at the other heroes, making sure no one caught a glimpse of their brief, unexpected kissing scene. She lets out a sigh in relief as they are all seemingly occupied; engaged in battle. The Avenger swallows past her now dry throat as she turns back to Johnny, whose face now displays nothing but bewilderment. Her jaw twists as if she’s about to say something, but she doesn’t. Instead, she remains silent and quickly flies away. Okay, now that was a bad idea.
Back at the battle ground, the large creature still stands undefeated. Each hero giving everything they’ve got, but yet still proving ineffective. “Tony!! This isn’t working!!” Spider-Woman calls out to her fellow Avenger, while shooting beams of bio-electric energy. “Uh, yeah. I’ve noticed” Iron Man replies, “Reed!! How’s it comin’ along down there?!” Down below, the FF leader tinkers with his equipment, endeavoring to repair it for moderate effectiveness, “I still need more time” Reed announces. The large moloid moves closer towards a tall building, populated with innocent people. “Yeah, I don’t think we have any more time” Iron Man shouts back. Just then, Spider-Woman turns to see Captain Marvel flying towards her. “Carol, we –“, she begins, but Carol doesn’t stop as she dashes past her best friend, leaving behind the chaos and ruin. Spider-Woman furrows her brow, a bit confused by her friend’s actions. “Tony, what’s wrong with Carol?” she asks with deep concern. But Iron Man pays no mind to her, too focused on finding a new strategy that could possibly avert any further destruction. “Pull back” Stark orders, as he lifts his right arm and launches a missile. The missile darts towards the large creature, housing itself within the moloid’s monstrous, gaping mouth. At first, the creature appears to be unaffected, and then it starts to bubble and fizzes from its mouth. The other heroes huddle together as Iron Man lands on the ground uniting with them, “Uh, that can’t be good.”
Johnny finally joins the group, still massaging his slightly bruised shoulder. He glances at each of the other heroes before following their gaze leading to the Mole Man’s minion. What the hell--? The creature starts to erupt, transforming into some kind of undefined glob of mud that seems to be growing larger and larger. “Reed…” Ben turns to the FF leader with his eyes still glued to the creature. Completely flabbergasted, Reed shakes his head, “I-I don’t know” he says in almost a whisper. Then the creature suddenly detonates, exploding into a million droplets of mud. Some of the heroes instinctively raise their arms to shield themselves from the oncoming sludge of rain, only to find their reaction to be quite redundant as Susan, with newly regained strength, obligingly shelters them with an invisible screen.
After a while the shower of mud ceases and Sue finally drops her force field and all of the heroes smile at her, expressing their gratitude. Reed crouches down, collecting a sample of the substance for further analysis, while Tony Stark comments on his findings in regard of their “Skrull situation.” Sue and Spider-Woman chatter on about their daily burdens, meanwhile the Human Torch quietly stands beside the Thing, still clutching onto his shoulder although it doesn’t pain him much. He just watches everyone converse, smile, and laugh; and they all look so vibrant and happy. He can’t remember the last time he felt that. Happiness has been so hard for him to come by as of late. Noticing Johnny’s aloofness, Ben turns to him, “Hey, you okay, kid?” Johnny rubs his shoulder for a moment before finally speaking, “Yeah, I guess.” He manages a smile, which he knows for certain will curtail any of Ben’s concern. And hopefully shut him up.
Physically, he’s sure he’ll be fine. His shoulder isn’t that banged up, so he figures it’ll heal and be back to normal within a couple hours. But emotionally, he’s not entirely sure, as Carol’s words still linger in his mind. ‘You always want to talk, but yet you have nothing to say.’ His eyes fall to the ground, contemplating the veracity of those harsh words. He’s positive many have made reticent arguments conjecturing he verbalizes just to rapture the sound of his own voice. Ben has definitely vocalized his opinion of the matter on numerous occasions. And perhaps Ben is right. Perhaps it is true, although Johnny would never willingly admit it. Stupid Ben. As bumptious as he is, sometimes the sound of his own voice does ease him. But he not only speaks to be heard, he mostly speaks to receive a response; just to find comfort in knowing that someone is at least listening. To prove to himself that, in a world so dark and cold, he is not alone.
“Johnny” a familiar voice calls out him, shattering his train of thought and dragging him back to reality. “Are you alright?” Johnny looks up, his eyes landing on his sister. She looks worried. As always. She immediately grabs his head, moving it about, examining him for any cuts or bruises. He pulls away from her, “Oh, come on, Sue. Why must you always do this? I’m not a kid anymore” he whines. “Because…” she begins, tucking an absent lock of hair behind his ear. “You’re my baby brother and I love you and—“, she doesn’t finish her sentence, instead she just smiles. She wants to tell him how scared she was when he was falling helplessly towards the ground. She wants tells him how broken she was when she lost him and how she can’t possibly bear to lose him again. How him just standing here at this very moment is a miracle within itself. She wants to tell him so many things, but she can’t. She can’t even finish her sentence because she knows that if she attempts to, she won’t be able to compose herself. She has to be strong. Not for her sake, but for his.
“I know, Sue” Johnny says, and Susan drops her hand that was resting on the side of his face. Her smile fades and Johnny watches her as she slowly turns away, walking over to her husband, joining the other heroes. I know.