Johnny reached for the surface of the water, spluttering as he gasped for air. He coughed as he turned back towards the fiery pit that was once a garbage barge. He swam to the nearest shoreline he could find and crawled out of the water, tired and coughing. He stood up and stumbled as he turned to look at the fire again.
"That was too close" He thought. He turned back towards the city and ran. "Flame on!" he cried. He burst into flames and flew into the air.
Johnny
He stopped suddenly in mid-air. He looked around, his orange eyes scanning for where the unseen voice came from.
Johnny!
He heard it again and this time his heart clenched in pain. He cried out and put his hand on his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut as the pain intensified. The fire surrounding his body extinguished and he fell. He could only feel his pain. Sirens filled his ears as he looked down. In that moment he knew, he knew where the pain came from and sirens were for. He flamed back on and flew above the fire trucks and the police.
"Nat" He thought.
The fire trucks and the police cruisers finally stopped in front of a burning building. The copes got out and watched above as Johnny aimed straight into the fire. Johnny crashed through the broken window, gaining a few scratches along the way. He tumbled to the ground as he became himself, his flames gone. Totally in his element, he looked around for Nat.
"Nat!" He called out. He got no response. He ran through the burning house as he called out for her. Smoke filled his lungs with each call of her name. He stopped to look around and noticed a dark figure on the ground through the smoke filled air.
"Nat!" Johnny cried as he ran towards the figure.
Natalie lay unconscious, not breathing. Johnny caressed her cheek, wiping away some of the soot that stuck to her. Tears fell from his cheeks and landed on hers. Debris fell as he held her in his arms, crying. He looked around into the fire and picked her up. He stood there in the fire holding onto Nat, not wanting to leave her to a fiery death. He looked out of a broken window and he looked into the direction that he had come from. In the distance he spied the water that made waves as boats moved across them. In that moment he made a decision. He ran and jumped out of the window. People cried out below in fear as he flew towards the ground.
"Flame on!" He yelled and immediately fire surrounded him, and only him. Nat was unaffected by the fire. He flew into the air as the building behind him exploded, causing people to scream and scramble away.
He went back to the exact same spot that he had crawled out of the water. He landed on the ground and sat down, Nat still in his arms. He was so close to the edge of the water that it softly hit his legs and Nat's hand. The cold seeped into his uniform as he rocked her back and forth, crying softly. He kissed her forehead.
"Please don't go...please..." Johnny pleaded. No response came from her motion-less body.
He cried even harder, and held tighter to her. Nat's head sat under his chin.
"I love you" Johnny said before completely breaking down.
As Johnny sat mourning his lost love, Sue still sat next to Reed, where Doom had thrown her. They all had heard the garbage barge explode.
"Three down and two to go." Doom said, looking out the window. He turned back to the frozen Reed and the fallen Sue.
Sue and Reed locked eyes.
"I...Love...Y.." Reed tried to say.
"Me too, Reed, me too" Sue said, knowing full well what he meant to say.
Doom stepped towards Sue and Reed. "And so five became none. It's my time now."
BOOM!
The wall broke down and in came Ben...or instead....The THING!
"Vic! It's Clobbering time!" Ben roared as he stomped to Vic and slammed a rocky fist into Doom.
Doom flies into the opposite wall and crashed into it. Debris fell on top of him.
Ben turned towards Reed and said "Victor's 'not that bad' huh? Just 'a little larger than life'? Maybe you'll listen to me next time before, as he unhooked Reed.
A clatter of noise interrupted him. Ben turned towards the noise. Doom emerged from the debris and now angry as ever, he charged for Ben and they both crashed through the glass window into the air. They plummet to the ground and crashed through another building. They landed in the hotel pool and they punched and kicked each other in the water. Doom landed a punch and Ben slammed into the floor and the floor cracked open.
The water and the men all went through the crack into the hallway below. The wave of the water pushed them to a closed window and they crashed through it. They flew out and crash landed in a garbage truck.
The truck rocks back and forth as they punched each other. All of sudden the truck stops moving and a dark figure flies out of it. Ben lands on a car, and his head cracks the window. The two old ladies inside the car scream as Doom gets out of the mangled truck. His hands crackle with energy as cops aim their gun at him.
Ben looks at the ladies, and ask "Excuse me Ma'am, Can I borrow your car?"
The driver nods and gets out of the car. "The clutch sticks a little" she said, shaking.
Ben lifted the car and grunted. "Not gonna be a problem" he said as he threw it at Doom.
The car crashes into Doom and he flies back onto an oncoming bus. Doom steps out as electricity sparks around him. He grabs a broken pole and swings it towards Ben. Ben flew back onto the road, making a crater as he continued backwards until he finally stops. Ben lays there as Doom walks up to him, the pole still in his hand. He raises the pole, about to swing it down and before he hits Ben, a voice called out into the screaming noise of cars and people.
"I can't let you do that" Reed said.
Doom turned towards Reed, who is slowly walking towards him.
"And you can't stop me" Doom said, turning back to Ben and raises the pole, and as he swung it, resistance met the pole. He looks at the pole in mid- air and smiles behind his mask.
"Hello Susan" He said, turning towards the visible Sue.
Sue, using the force field, pushed the pole out of Doom's hand. Ben gets up from his position and goes to stand in between Sue and Reed.
"What is this? The pitiful three?" Doom said, stepping towards them. A voice called out from above.
"Four" Johnny said, landing on the ground. He hurled a fireball at Doom.
Ben looked towards Johnny. "Nat?"
Johnny looked at Ben and sadly shook his head.
Doom smiled. "So I did knock off a team member. Five down to four now. Pity"
Ben roared.
Doom laughed as he filled his body with electricity. "This is going to be fun!"
Doom starts to fire off electric spurts at the team and the surrounding bystanders.
"Sue!" Reed called out.
"Got it!" Sue said, as she created a force field that expanded to cover the bystanders from harm. The field couldn't last long as blood started to trickle down out of her nose. She started to shake, and slammed one knee down to the ground.
Reed, noticing Sue's efforts, called to Johnny. "Johnny! Supernova!"
"What? I thought we agreed it was bad!" Johnny yelled.
"Now!" Reed commanded.
Johnny took off on a running start and flamed on. He flew into the air and circled around Doom, creating a vortex.
"Sue, I know you're tired but I need you to contain his fire!" Reed said.
Sue nodded and she created another field, enclosing Doom and Johnny.
Ben looked on, and smiled. "Flame on kid" he said.
The fire intensified as the light became a blinding white. Johnny flies out of the vortex and landed on the ground, smoking as he panted. He stayed on the ground as he cried for Nat. The force field faded away as Sue collapsed to the ground.
"Is that the best you can do?" Doom asked, "A little heat?"
Reed, calm, shook his head. "Time for your lesson, Vic. Chemistry 101: what happens when you super cool hot metal?"
Ben got the idea and he stomped over to a fire hydrant. He kicks it and it smashes open. The water shoots into the air and Ben put his foot over the opening to re-direct it towards Doom.
"No" Doom said.
The water hits him and steam rises from his body. He brings his arm up as he tries to deflect the water but fails. Ben closed the water hydrant and went over to stand next to his team. They all watch in shock as Doom continues to move.
Doom starts to laugh. "You failed! You will never defeat me!"
A voice came out from above, "I don't think so Doom."
The crowd gasped as a light blue figure gracefully landed on the ground in front of the team. The figure was encased in Ice. Shiny, silvery blue Ice. The ice melted from her body as her features were revealed.
Ben looked at Natalie in shock, "Nat?"
Natalie looked back at Ben and smiled. "Hi Benny"
Johnny looked up from the ground at her voice and was speechless for once in his life.
Nat looked back to Doom and walked towards him. She stood in front of Doom. Doom growled as he grabbed her throat. His efforts didn't faze her. She gripped his wrist with one hand while the other rested on his chest.
"I thought I managed to kill you" Doom growled.
She smiled sweetly as she said, "You did."
She squeezed her hand on his wrist and twisted it off her neck. Doom looked at her, surprised at her new-found strength.
"Surprised? So am I. And now it's time for you to lose" Nat said.
Her dark blue eyes became icy blue as she slowly encased herself in ice once again. The ice spread from her eyes out to her face, over her shoulders, and down her body until it reached her feet. The hand that lay rested on his chest was ice too as she willed her power to expand. The Ice spread along his chest and over his shoulder, down his body. The last part of his body to freeze was his eyes as it glared at her hatefully.
Now Doom was a frozen statue.
She removed her hand as she exhaled an icy breath. Nat turned away from Doom and towards the team. The ice melted away from her body as she took several steps. Ben walked towards Nat and they both met in the middle. Ben smiled big as he gave her a big hug, picking her up into the air. Nat giggled. Ben set her back down on the ground.
"I thought..." Ben said before trailing off, a tear trailing down his rocky cheek.
"I know" Natalie said in reply. She kissed his cheek. She hugged him again.
Sue and Reed hugged each other before going to stand with Ben and Nat. Johnny had stood up by this time but he didn't move from his spot.
Reed stood beside Nat and hugged her. "I'm glad you're back"
"Me too" Nat replied. She looked over to Sue and hugged her tightly as well. She spied over Sue's shoulder to see Johnny standing alone, staring at her. She smiled as she left Sue's embrace.
Natalie ran towards him and Johnny caught her. He twirled her in the air, just as Ben had done. He set her back down and they stared at each other in silence.
"I...I thought I lost you" Johnny said, tears trickling down his cheeks.
"You did. Just for a moment." Natalie said.
He clenched her hands to his chest, afraid that she was a mirage.
Natalie took her hand out of his, and placed it on his cheek. Johnny turned into the hand and sighed. She smiled at his actions.
"There is something I've wanted to do since I came back. I guess that's the best way I can describe it." Natalie said.
"What?" Johnny asked.
"This" Nat said, right before standing up on tip-toe and kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as the kiss deepened and Johnny wrapped his around her, picking her up.
The crowd cheered loudly and clapped.
Nat laughed as she broke the kiss. Back on the ground, she took his hand and guided him back to the rest of the Fantastic 5. Sue and Johnny hugged each other as Reed and Ben shook hands. They stood together and faced the cheering crowd.
"Damn, I love this job" Johnny said.
Nat giggled softly as Ben looked at Johnny. "Job, huh?" Ben asked.
Reed looked at his team members and said "Well, we do have the uniform"
"Yes!" Johnny said, thrusting his fists in the air.
Natalie smiled as she held hands with Ben.
"Funny how things turn out, isn't it?" Ben said, looking down at Nat and putting his arm over her shoulder.
"Hilarious" Sue sarcastically said.
The crowd watched as the Fantastic 5 stood together.