Kayla felt her stomach drop at the sound of the explosion, her hazel gaze immediately turning towards the window where the combustion could be seen over the waters of New York. No, Johnny wasn't..
He couldn't..
As her mind began racing, she hadn't even noticed that the restraints holding her down to her chair had been loosened. Well, that wasn't until she heard a rustling behind her brother, which made her look down to see that she was free.
'What the hell?' She thought to herself, looking towards her brother as the switch of the canister was turned off and Reed's own restraints had been loosened.
That meant one thing.
"Sue.." Her brother croaked, his voice barely above a whisper before he was silenced by the invisible being.
"What has he done to you both?" She asked quietly as she glanced between the siblings, relieved to see that the brunette was alive and okay.
"How romantic." A voice drawled out from behind them which made Susan turn around to the assailant as her powers made her visible. "And I see Sleeping Beauty is awake."
"Well, seeing your face would have made me believe that I was still in a nightmare." Kayla fired back with an icy glare as she got up and stood beside the blonde. "Although, the mask, I have to admit, is a step up from seeing your ugly mug."
"I see you haven't learnt your lesson." Victor said with a glare.
"Victor, please.." Susan pleaded, in hopes that his crush on her would give them some leverage.
Victor stepped into the light, revealing himself to Susan which made her look at him in shock. "Call me Doom." He insisted.
"The machine works." The older Storm sibling said after a moment of shock. "It worked on Ben, it can work on you. We can turn you back."
Out of the corner of her eyes, Kayla saw a large flickering of light at the top of the Baxter Building as her heart began to race at the thought of what was happening. Was Ben okay?
Victor let out a scoff. "Do you really think fate turned us into gods so that we could refuse these gifts?" He asked as he slowly began to approach the two women.
It was the blonde's turn to let out a scoff. "Victor, you always thought you were a god." She said with narrowed eyes as both she and Kayla took up defensive positions. "Now back off!"
"Now, girls, let's not fight." Victor, or as he preferred, Doom, tutted.
"No." Susan replied with a tilt of her head. "Let's." All of a sudden, she drew in all her energy and threw it at him, making the masked man stumble backwards from the force while several items of furniture and artifacts where knocked down with the windows shattering.
"Nice." Kayla said to the seething blonde as she kept her up her defensive position.
"Susan." Victor paused as he mustered up his own powers; an energy much more powerful the Invisible Woman's. "You're fired!" With that, he sent a blast of electricity forward towards her.
But Kayla threw up a wall of water in front of them, this time having managed to do so quickly. She managed to hold it for a few seconds but the force of the blast sent both women flying back into the wall and landing in different areas of the room
From her position in the corner of the room, Susan let out a painful groan before she looked up to see Victor approaching with a dark chuckle. She stared up at him as he neared her before she quickly turned herself invisible.
Victor stopped with an irritated sigh, listening for any sound of movement as his green eyes looked around the corners room. "Marco.." He taunted casually. "Polo.."
His eyes stopped at one corner of the room, his eyes narrowing as he began approaching it.
"Marc--" He was silenced as his body was restrained. Looking down, he saw that he was being restrained by a force of water before he turned his attention to the 5'2" brunette, who glared at him fiercely.
She narrowed her eyes dangerously as Victor began to struggle in her watery grasp before she slowly clenched her left hand into a fist, making the water hot to boiling point which made him writhe. There was no way that he'd chance using his powers unless he wanted to get electrocuted himself, which she wouldn't mind one bit.
After all, water and metal were good conductors of electricity.
As Victor writhed against the boiling water he was blasted by several flocks of blue forces, each one getting more severe as the invisible being neared him.
During it all, he shot his hand outward managed to grasp onto something only to find that he held onto Susan's neck, the blonde groaning as she slowly began to turn visible once again.
She grabbed onto his hand, gasping and choking as he leaned towards her. "Did you say goodbye to your brother Johnny?" He asked, loud enough for Kayla to hear as he knew the younger Storm sibling was a soft spot for the brunette.
Kayla's eyes widened and her powers faltered just enough for Victor to turn and throw Susan into her, both women landing next to Reed who was still seated in his chair.
The brunette let out a shakey breath before she met the pained and sorrowful gazes of her brother and the older Storm sibling.
"It's time to end this." Victor announced, readying himself to finish both women off before he got started on Reed but before he could strike, a loud crash sounded from behind him with plaster and debris flying past him.
He turned around, shock entering his body as he stared at Ben Grimm who had turned back into his rocky self.
"No, Vic." Ben said with a growl and a roll of his shoulders. "It's clobbering time!"
Victor's eyes widened and before he knew it, he was flying across the room with pain erupting in his stomach area before he felt his body hit the large silver 'V' on the wall, denting it in the process. Before the masked man could get himself up off the floor, the entire thing tumbled from the wall and fell on him.
"Damn, I've been waiting to do that." The rocky man said with a satisfied grin before his eyes landed on the two women, who looked back at him with a smile.
"Susie!" He exclaimed, making his way over. "And Kayla, you're alright!" He said in relief as he helped them up.
Kayla mustered up a small grin and gave a light shrug. "Can't get rid of me that easily." She said and watched as Ben moved towards her brother.
"Victor ain't that bad, huh? He's just a little larger than life, right?" Ben questioned the frozen scientist as he ripped the cords of the canister that were connected to the chair as the women began untying the restraints. "Maybe next time you'll start listening to Kayla and I before.."
He trailed off as the lights in the room went out completely. Silence ensued before both Kayla and Susan heard fast approaching footsteps.
"Ben!" Susan yelled but it was too late as the dark figure grabbed the rocky male and threw them both out of the window.
Kayla ran towards the shattered window and looked down to find both Ben and Victor fighting in mid-air before they crashed into the neighbouring building, plummeting into the pool.
She turned around and ran over to Reed and Susan. "Come on.." She said and helped the blonde with her brother.
Victor approached Ben, who lied in the middle of the street in a crater, flipping an iron beam in his hands.
Ben shook his head, having felt dazed from the impact, only to widen his eyes when he saw the masked man standing over him with the raised iron beam. Sure he was invincible but he doubts he's that invincible to survive being impaled.
Just as Victor was about to make his move, a voice sounded behind him, making him pause in his advances. "I can't let you do that!"
"Reed?" The masked man questioned in surprise and glanced over his shoulder to find the man in question standing behind him, normal and unfrozen. "I'll be right with you." He called to the scientist, and turned back in attempt to impale Ben.
But on his second attempt, a force of blue light blocked his strike before the beam was knocked from his hands by a watery force.
Victor rolled his eyes in annoyance before he turned around. "Hello, ladies." He greeted the women with gritted teeth, while they glared back at him coldly.
He looked between the remaining four of the Fantastic Five with a scoff. "You four are pathetic!" He said and began making his way towards Reed and Susan but was stopped when a fireball hit the side of his body, making him stumble back in surprise.
The four turned their gazes towards the sky to see, what appeared to be, a fireball flying towards them only land beside Reed. The flames dissipated from the figure to reveal Johnny Storm as Victor looked at his arm to find it completely covered in metal.
"You missed me." Johnny said with a pissed off expression which shocked the older Storm sibling as she had never seen her brother this angry before.
Kayla stared at the blonde male with unshed tears in her eyes as her heart began pounding in her chest. "Johnny.." She breathed out in relief, all the anger she felt towards him prior instantly melting away.
And that was when Johnny set his gaze on her. "Kayla.." He whispered before he went over and pulled her into his arms. He held her small frame close to his with no intention of letting her slip away from him again.
How could he not fight for this woman when she was so worth it? He loved her! But just the thought of her..
No, none of that! She was safe and she was here, wrapped in his strong arms.
"I'm never letting you go." He said, whispering into her ear." I'm not making that mistake again. I can't.. Not after almost losing you.."
She cupped his face as a single tear slid down her cheek. "I'm here, Storm." She replied with a soft smile. "I'm not going anywhere."
Victor cleared his throat impatiently. "If you're all done with the little family reunion, I'd like to wrap this up." He said.
Pulling away from Johnny, Kayla turned her attention to figure. "Finally, something we agree on!" She exclaimed with sarcasm, standing between the playboy and her brother. "But in case you haven't noticed, Vicky, your chances of winning are zero to none."
With a scoff and a smirk forming under his mask, Victor tilted his head slightly as he stared at the five heroes. "This is gonna be fun!" He said and raised his arms, allowing the nearby electricity to fill his body as bolts of lightning took over the street in the process.
After having absorbed as much energy and electricity he could muster, he began firing jolts towards Ben and Johnny before they could even get close enough to attack him..
The next bolt was sent towards both Susan and Kayla.
Susan threw up a forcefield while Kayla brought up her protective water dome. The dome prevented the bolt from hitting her and she'd be damned if she was going to be electrocuted by Victor again.
She felt pressure against the dome beginning to build up before she glanced over at the blonde beside her who seemed to be struggling as well. "Guys, we can't hold it much longer!" She yelled, the pressure forcing Kayla down onto one knee.
Seeing as Victor was distracted by both his sister and Susan, Reed quickly sprung into action and flung his arm out towards a post box on the opposite side of the street. He grabbed hold of it and threw it at the masked man which stopped the pressuring energy for both the blonde and brunette's sakes.
The scientist quickly rolled himself over before he sprung into the air as his body shifted into a cloth like form. He covered Victor with himself, wrapping him up tightly before he shifted his head towards Johnny, who was back on his feet.
"Johnny!" He yelled. "Supernova!"
Johnny arched a brow in question at the elastic man. Wasn't Reed the one who warned him never to go supernova? "I thought we agreed that was bad!" He replied.
"Now!" Reed yelled, clearly having no patience for Johnny wanting to follow the rules now of all times.
Kayla, who panted from over-exerting herself, looked towards the hesitant blonde. "Do it!" She yelled as she got onto her feet.
And that was when Johnny took off, running forward as his body ignited in flames with a roar before he took to the skies.
"Ben!" Reed called, throwing his hands towards his friend, who caught hold of him.
"Gotcha!" Ben exclaimed and ripped Reed off Victor just as the flaming blonde came barreling down.
Johnny began circling around Victor, forming a fiery tornado in the middle of the street. The heat of him having go supernova was so unbelievably hot that Victor's entire body was stripped down to the metal embedded into his skin.
Squinting his eyes through the heat and the harsh bright orange glow, the older Richards sibling looked over at his sister and Susan. "You girls think you can contain it?!" He yelled over the blaze.
Without being told twice, both women threw up similar barriers which would contain the blaze and as well as the heat within it.
Johnny flew out of the barriers as they began crumbling down, both Kayla and Susan sporting identical nose bleeds from exerting themselves. Both of them were drained, the brunette even more so, having pushed her body just moments prior.
The flaming whirlwind died down, revealing Victor in the middle of the melted street, while his metallic body glowed and dripped in hues of yellows and oranges.
"Is that the best you can do?" The masked man taunted. "A little heat?"
Reed stepped forward. "Time for your lesson: Chem 101." He said, mocking Victor's words and the technique used on him from earlier. "What happens when you rapidly cool hot metal?"
Ben suddenly kicked off the top of a nearby fire hydrant which released a gush of water from the city's underground network. He then used his foot and directed it towards the masked man as he made a move forward.
Kneeling on the ground, Kayla watched the sight before her as Victor began struggling against the rush of water that she hadn't noticed that Johnny had moved next to her. It wasn't long before the movement began to cease as did the water pressure.
Her eyes landed onto Ben as he crushed the hydrant in on itself to stop the release of water before her eyes shifted back to the mist which quickly dissipated.
There, in the middle of the street, was a live statue of Victor Von Doom.
The brunette let out a sigh of relief before Johnny helped her to her feet.
"Easy.." He said softly before he slipped an arm around her waist, bringing her in to his side which she gladly accepted. "You okay?" He asked with concern, bringing up a gloved hand where he gently wiped away the blood from her nose.
Kayla looked up at him with a tired smile. "Mmhmm.." She hummed.
Ben walked up to them, his gaze settling on the playboy. "You done good, kid." He said before he looked towards Kayla. "You two, Short-stack."
Kayla glared up at the rocky man playfully. "I will hurt you, Benjamin." She replied. "But thanks."
The big guy chuckled before he gestured for them to follow him as they made their way over to Reed and Susan, the older Richards sibling helping the blonde to her feet.
Once the five were grouped together near Victor's statue, the crowd who had witnessed the entire ordeal began erupting in cheers and rounds of applause, becoming louder by each passing second.
"Man, I love this job!" Johnny said with a grin as he kept a steady arm around Kayla's waist.
Ben turned towards the blonde male and arched a rocky brow. "Job, huh?" He questioned.
"Well, we do have the suits." Reed replied, his tone giving off that he was considering the idea.
Kayla gave a tired smile before she met Susan's awaiting blue eyes. Both women gave a small shrug, not minding the idea at all. In fact, they quite liked the idea of saving lives.
But right now, all Kayla could think about was how much she just wanted her bed.