( chapter six ! )
- the day of the fantastic five -
From her seat in the emergency holding area, Rebekah watched Ben with sorrowful eyes. The rock-turned man held Debbie's ring in the palm of his large hand, moving it around with an equally-large pointer finger. Reed paced back and forth while someone was checking Sue's vitals because of the bloody nose. Sitting next to Rebekah, Johnny looked at Ben in curiosity and confusion.
"Where are your ears?"
Ben turned to him, and Johnny rose his eyebrows, silently asking again. Ben didn't answer. Rebekah elbowed Johnny in his side. He glanced down at her, reading the expression in her eyes before she turned away. Then he realized why she's been so silent since the incident on the bridge--what happened to Ben also happened to her. Given, they're not the same circumstances, but Rebekah knew what it's like to have the person you love suddenly leave you. Johnny opened his mouth to speak, but someone coming into the tent interrupts him.
"There are some folks outside that want to talk to you," the chief fireman said as he entered the tent.
Reed shook his head. "We're not going public with this. We're scientists, not celebrities."
"Too late, son. Look," the Chief turned on a little TV monitor in the corner. News footage played on all stations with the tag line: The Fantastic Five.
"...Then a New York department ladder truck became part of the tragedy. The rescue itself is not the story. One of the five stretched to an amazing length..."
The Chief turned back to them. "That's what they're calling you. The Fantastic Five."
"Cool," Johnny breathed. He hopped off the table he had been sitting on, walking towards the tent's entrance.
Rebekah slid off of the table, where she had been sitting next to Johnny. "Where are you going?"
"To talk to them," Johnny shrugged as if stating the obvious.
Sue shook her head. "No. We should think this through."
"That's great. Brainstorm," Johnny said, motioning to everyone else as he hurries out.
The four left exchanged glances, knowing Johnny cannot be their spokesman. They took off after him.
"Get back here!" Sue commanded her brother. "Johnny!"
Of course, he didn't listen. He approached the press, his hands up. "Settle down, settle down!"
The other four froze, shocked by the crowd, but Johnny ate up the attention. Ben turned away, self-conscious, and Reed and Rebekah noticed his reaction, giving each other glances; they must turn him back.
"Do you believe this?" Johnny asked Reed.
The Chief walked up to the group of five. "Which one of you's the leader?"
Johnny didn't hesitate. "That'd be me."
"No seriously," the Chief raised an eyebrow.
Ben, Sue, and Rebekah turned to Reed, and the Chief turned to him. "Okay, son. You're on."
All eyes went Reed, cameras and microphones extended towards him. He looked out and gulped hard. "Uh, during our recent mission to the Von Doom space station, we were exposed to as-yet-unidentified radioactive energy."
Nobody came for a science class. A crush of questions overwhelmed Reed.
"What happened on the bridge?"
"How far can you stretch?"
"Were you really on fire?"
"Is it true that one of you can fly?"
Johnny popped in. "Yeah, actually, it's really difficult-"
Sue took that as her cue. "No, actually, we don't know much more than you do, at this point. Which is why we will be going directly to the lab, where we can diagnose our symptoms and-"
"Symptoms? So it's like a disease?" A reporter asked.
Rebekah looked at Ben's face, feeling the guilt. Ben was lost in thought, looking at Deb's engagement ring.
Johnny leapt in to correct the reporter. "No, no, not a disease. Not symptoms... If having special powers is a disease, then yeah, we got it bad."
"That thing doesn't look too fantastic," a reporter nodded toward Ben. Ben's fists tightened, the sound of rocks crushing together.
Rebekah came to Ben's rescue. "Ben Grimm is a genuine American hero."
"What she means is every team needs a mascot," Johnny cut in.
Reporters laughed, and Ben turned his head away. Rebekah elbowed Johnny, missing his ribs but scoring right above his kidney. He groaned for a second, but he recovered quickly.
"There's a new day dawning," he exclaimed. "The day of the Fantastic Five!"
Rebekah stepped up. "Look, look, we went up to space to understand DNA, to cure disease, save lives. Well, now it's our DNA, our disease, our lives on the line."
"Thank you. No more questions," Reed said, and everyone turned to leave.
The group was escorted to a police car where Reed had front, Rebekah was in the middle, Sue on her right, and Johnny on her left. As the police car drove up to the towering high-rise Baxter Building, Johnny placed his hand on Rebekah's. She met his gaze with a look that said she didn't want to be messed with right now. Sue opened the door and slid out, and Rebekah followed. Behind them was the big paddy-wagon that Ben was put into. He stepped out, and it immediately bounced back up to the normal axle position.
The cops held the surging press crowds back. Ben kept his head down self-consciously, trying not to be noticed, which was difficult, to say the least. He passed Johnny, who was smiling for the cameras.
"Smile, Ben. They want to like you. Give 'em your good side. Or your less bad side," Johnny said.
Rebekah elbowed Johnny in the ribs again and hissed at him. "I'll give you my bad side."
"Ooh, feisty. I like it."
Rebekah rolled her eyes and waited for Ben. He turned to a group of little kids. "Uh...don't do drugs," he said stiff and tentatively.
The kids flinched. Ben trudged on as Johnny smiled bright, doing hand-signs for the Fantastic Five. Rebekah sighed, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the lobby. The five were greeted by Jimmy O'Hoolihan, an old-time doorman with a kind smile. "Welcome back to the Baxter, Dr. Richards and Dr. Richards. All that for you?" Jimmy asked, pointing towards the press.
"I'm afraid so..." Reed trailed off, forgetting Jimmy's name again.
Sue stepped up. "Jimmy. Good to see you again." Jimmy smiled at her.
"Good to see you, too," he said, smiling at her before turning back to Reed. "Don't worry, sir. I know how crowded that head of yours is."
Rebekah leaned against the desk on two elbows. "Any visitors while we were away?"
"Just the usual. Told 'em you were circling 'round outer space." Jimmy opened a drawer full of letters from the bank. Rebekah groaned, her forehead hitting the counter with a thud.
Reed looked sheepish. "We had a tough year."
"Yeah, nine straight," Ben mumbled under his breath.
The elevator doors opened. They stepped inside and Rebekah pushed Reed out of the way to get to the button. Johnny chuckled. She still did that.
The doors closed, but the elevator did not move.
"Either we're moving really fast...or not at all," Johnny dragged out.
They looked at the digital readout on the panel: EXCEED MAXIMUM WEIGHT. A sign read MAXIMUM CAPACITY: 2000 pounds. There's the ding of a bell and the doors automatically opened again. They turned to Ben, and Rebekah bit her lip.
"I'll take the stairs," Ben sighed in disappointment. He lumbered out. As the doors closed behind him, he looked back over his shoulder, locking eyes with Reed and Rebekah. They felt for him.
The elevator began to rise. "How come Ben can't turn it on and off we can?" Johnny asked.
"That's what we're here to find out," Rebekah said, huffing.
"I mean, if it happened to him..." Sue didn't need to say anymore. It could happen to all of them.
Reed and Rebekah nodded softly, confirming what she's thinking.
"What? You mean, like, we won't be able to turn it off either?" Johnny asked. "That would save time." He then let out a chuckle.
Sue placed a hand on her hip. "You don't really want to walk around on fire for the rest of your life, do you?"
"Is that a trick question?"
"Grow up," Sue snapped.
Johnny couldn't believe it. "C'mon, I can't be the only one who thinks this is cool."
Rebekah started to consider, about to say something, but Reed and Sue cut her off with a look, telling her not to provoke Johnny's childish behavior. The elevator stopped and the doors opened.
They might have gotten out on the twentieth floor, but Reed and Rebekah owned the building from there to floor sixty. It's a massive atrium, lit by skylights far above the floor.
Reed lead everyone into another area filled with separate apartments and all the amenities of home. "We should stay here until we can define the extent of our changes and figure out how to reverse them."
"Whoa," Johnny mumbled at the sight of the place. Rebekah had forgotten that he'd never been to the Baxter before. He'd only ever been at her old apartment a few blocks away.
Sue nodded. "Believe it or not, they both live here."
"I have to warn you," Reed continued. "It's gonna be a little crowded in some areas."
"So, what do you think?" Reed asked as the four of them gather in the center of the atrium.
Johnny placed his hands on his hips. "I don't know, Reed. I think you and Bekah might be taking your work home with you."
Reed laughed. "Come on, I'll show you guys where you'll be staying."
"Busy guy," Johnny mumbled to his sister.
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Published: 30 June 2020
Last Edited: 29 June 2021