OK, I know this may be a little weird for some people but I got such a great response from the 2nd Fantastic Five that I wanted to try and continue it. All the same characters are there (with a couple of new characters), and it picks up right where the 2nd left off. This is what I would have used for the storyline had there been a third film.
Disclaimer: Again, I do not own any of these characters, except for Helena Greene, so please don't sue me Stan Lee! This is merely a "what if."
Chapter 1
After saving Venice from sinking into the Adriatic the Fantastic Five split up for a few hours, Reed stayed with the Italian police to make sure that this kind of disaster didn't happen again. Ben and Johnny went back to the hotel, both exhausted from the rescue; and Sue and Helena went to get something to eat. Helena claimed that because Sue hadn't tried the pizza in Italy ever, she had to drag her to a little place near their hotel that she had remembered from her European travels.
Johnny lay on the freshly made hotel bed that he and Helena shared, as he thought about everything… everything that mattered. They had lived, all of them, it didn't really hit him until now how close of a call that was, and witnessing his sister marrying Reed made him think of Helena. Ben was next to Johnny on his own bed, laying down, apparently deep in thought. Johnny looked next to him and decided that since no one else was here he might as well ask Ben, "Hey big guy," Ben never leaving his sight on the ceiling replied, "Yeah?" Johnny's eyes drifted back to his part of the ceiling, "Remember when the world almost came to an end?" Ben sarcastically replied, "No not at all ... What about it?" Johnny let out a deep breath, knowing exactly what the answer to his next question would be "What did you think about?" Ben took a breath and said the only word that Johnny expected to hear, "Alicia." Johnny nodded, closing his eyes, until he heard Ben ask, "What about you kid?" Ben hoped for only one answer, which he got after a pause, "Lizzie." Ben nodded and replied, "You know how I know that you really do love her?" Johnny replied, "Because I told her." Ben shook his head, "Well, we both know that I knew long before that. But no, after the whole end of the world thing, it's the look that you make when you see her. It's like your trying to remember everything about her all at once, but each time your find something new." Johnny eyes widened, then closed, and he replied, "How'd you know?" Ben chuckled a bit, closed his eyes and said, "Cause it's the same way I look at Alicia. If there's one thing I learned, it's that when you're with the right woman, time really does fly, and before you know it you're living in the future you wondered about so much. Now I may not be a psychic, but I think the trick with the future is not knowing what's gonna happen, but who will be there."
After their little talk, Ben had fallen asleep, and Johnny couldn't take it anymore, he hadn't slept as he had planned, Sue and Helena were still not back, so he decided that maybe a nice walk and some fresh air would do him good. He got up, put on his shoes and left the room, careful not to wake-up Ben.
Johnny wandered through the streets of Venice. It was only 6 pm, so it was still fairly busy and Johnny walked through the crowds with his hands in his pockets. He stopped at an antique shop, looked in the window, and got an idea. He walked in, and up to the shopkeeper, "Excuse me, Signore?" The older man walked up to Johnny and said, "Sì?" Johnny pointed to the item he spotted in the window, "How much for that?" The older man walked over, picked up the item, and looking at it fondly replied, "This piece is 18th century English, it's valued at 2000 Euros." Johnny held the piece and smiled as it reminded him of Helena, "I'll take it." The older man smiled and said, "She's a very lucky woman Sig. Storm." Johnny just had to smile, but as he looked to his side, he couldn't help but notice the very small old book sitting on the shelf to his left. He ran his hand across the title, opened the book to check for an inscription but none had been made, he smiled, getting an even more brilliant addition to his first idea, and said, "I'll take this too."
Johnny walked through Venice with a very small bag containing the antique item and the small, very old book. When he got to a bridge he was reminded of something Helena said around a year ago, she said, "You go there everyday with your coffee and your journal and you listen to the river." He smiled, stopped at the bridge, pulled the item out of the bag and put it in his pocket, then took out the book and a pen. He opened up the book to write an inscription but just closed his eyes and listened to the river. Then his eyes lit open, and he wrote a brief inscription, closed the book and placed it back in the bag.
The girls returned home from dinner to find Reed sitting down in the living room going through some paperwork with the Discovery Channel playing in the background. Sue smiled at her husband, she still couldn't believe it though… husband, she hugged Helena and walked over to Reed, kissing him quickly on the lips and sitting down next to him. Helena smiled at the sight, especially when it made her think of her own love, 'Where is Johnny?' she thought … 'Asleep.'
Helena walked over to the bedrooms and spotted Ben sleeping next to an empty bed, she looked at the clock, which read 8 pm, and thought that Johnny was probably out getting something to eat. So she took out her camera, walked onto the terrace, and started taking pictures of the beautiful Italian scenery. She wore her headphones listening to "Claire de lune," by Claude Debussy, which is most likely why she didn't hear Johnny enter the room, or the terrace.
Johnny wrapped his arms around her waist and stood behind her kissing her neck. Helena smiled at the feeling of Johnny's warm touch and took out one of the buds that held such beautiful music, as she did she smiled when she heard Johnny say, "You're soaked." Helena turned around, wrapped her arms around Johnny's neck, and replied, "You're hot." They both had a small laugh, and Helena continued, "So did you manage to get some sleep?" Johnny smiled, he really loved the fact that she fussed over him, no one else really had, not even his own sister. He looked to Ben fast asleep behind him and said, "Enough; I had to get out for a little while, Pebbles was keeping me up with his snoring." Helena laughed, remembering when the name calling between the two boys used to be an insult, but now it was more of a running gag. She laughed, saying, "Well it's always the softies that snore the loudest, which is why I wear earplugs to bed." Johnny had to laugh and reply, "Ouch, Hydra – 1; Torch – 0; I was wondering when it was gonna start." Helena shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows saying, "Well it's a tough job, but someone's gotta keep you on your toes; besides, any other woman would get a 3rd degree burn." She smiled at her very apparent victory and had to laugh, Johnny would never learn. Johnny laughed at her victory, wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up, spun her around saying, "Well I guess we'll never know that for sure, will we." Helena tilted her head, smiled and replied, "Yup, I guess it's one of life's great mysteries, like why the sky is blue, or how Ben can hear anything without ears." They both laughed and looked at Ben fast asleep behind them. Johnny fiddled with the antique item in his pocket and thought of Ben's words, 'the trick with the future is not knowing what's gonna happen, but who will be there.' Johnny looked into Helena's beautiful green eyes and couldn't resist, he held her head gently and tenderly kissed her; Helena reciprocated instantly, a little confused at the reasoning behind the kiss, but all confusion just melted away.
The two released from their dreamy kiss and Helena looked again to the beautiful Italian landscape, sighing as she picked up her camera and began to take pictures. Johnny stood behind Helena and wrapped his warm arms around her body. Helena leaned into Johnny's embrace as she continued taking pictures; she asked Johnny "Do we really have to leave tomorrow?" Johnny nodded replying "Unfortunately. But you know we have a lot of work to do, besides Reed and Sue need this more than we do." Helena turned to her loving boyfriend and fellow superhero, nodded, and replied, "You're right, but it's ours for the night so we might as well enjoy it, right?" Johnny quickly kissed Helena's lips and thought he couldn't have asked for better timing than this.
The two left the hotel and were walking through the streets of Venice, enjoying their gelato. They both settled on a bridge and watched the gondolas float by, Johnny thought, 'This is it! Just ask her! Don't wimp out now!' When Helena turned to Johnny, anxious with the news she was about to present, "Johnny there is something I need to talk to you about." Johnny nodded, feeling a little nervous himself, Helena continued, "When I was at dinner with Sue, we ran into Alexander Holden, the director of the Royal Ballet in London, who offered me a place in the company." Johnny was caught completely off-guard, and felt at a complete loss for words except to reply, "Did you take it?" Helena grasped Johnny's hand and said, "Well I didn't want to be rude, so I told him that I would think about it." The breath that Johnny was holding in finally released, but had to ask, "Is this something you're considering?" Helena bit her lip, and looked away for a moment, which caused Johnny to fiddle with the antique item in his pocket, afraid that he'll never get to give it to her now. Helena saw Johnny's unease and took his other hand, she looked at him with softness but determination, "I'm not gonna lie to you Johnny, it was a tempting offer, and with Victor gone, it made me really think about where I wanted to be." Johnny for the first time in his life was really nervous, Helena had almost left him for Europe before, but he again, had to know, "So, where did you decide?" Helena smirked, threw her gelato in the river, and jumped into Johnny's arms, wrapping her arms around Johnny's neck, and saying, "Does this answer you're question?" Johnny just smiled, threw his gelato in the river, wrapped his arms around Helena and lifted her in the air, spinning her around. Helena giggled into Johnny's arms, until he put her down. The question was right there staring Johnny in the face, all he had to do was to look into the eyes of the woman he loved and ask her, but she had other plans in mind. Helena took one look at her man, kissed him, and said, "Take me home Johnny." Johnny put his arm around Helena, and felt confident that he'd have another opportunity to ask her another time, as she leaned into his embrace and the two walked back to the hotel.
In another part of the world known as Brooklyn, Owen Reece, a weak-willed, disgruntled laboratory technician, working in a nuclear plant, made his way into work. His feet trudged the harsh pavement that led to his low-level job run by the Acme Atomics Corporation. Owen had always been a small, frail and timid child who obsessively clung to his mother for protection from anything and everything. When his mother passed away, Reece became bitter and lonely, and became full of fear and hatred for the world that he felt would never accept him.
There was only one thing that kept Owen going to a job he hated day in and day out, and that was Celia. Celia was another laboratory technician that Owen worked with, very beautiful, with long dark brown wavy hair that flowed past her shoulders, brown eyes, and a seductive smile that made Owen weak. Owen, of course, never spoke to Celia, except for occasional "hi," and of course work-related conversation, but he desperately wanted to tell her how he felt.
One day while staying late at work, Owen spotted Celia leaving and tried to get her attention to say goodbye, but inadvertently activated an experimental particle generator, which bombarded him with an unknown form of radiation. The radiation had a mutagenic effect on Reece, releasing his potential for psionic powers on a cosmic scale. Reece could now control all matter, even down to the molecular level, and all energy. The radiation also left markings resembling lightning bolts across Reece's face. The day after the accident, the president of Acme Atomics fired Reece for his carelessness. Angered, Reece covered the president and his desk with ice that he formed from molecules in the air. Reece named himself the Molecule Man after his power to control molecules. Reece became a criminal and was now out to use his powers to take revenge on a world he believed had belittled and persecuted him. Yet Reece was so filled with self-doubt, fear, and self-hatred, that he rendered himself vulnerable by unconsciously imposing limitations on his powers. He believed himself to be able to affect only inorganic molecules (and hence unable to affect living beings with his powers).
Now the Molecule Man set his sights on New York City, where he had tried to get a job working with the great Reed Richards, but as brilliant as Owen was, Reed was in no financial state at the time to afford an employee and Owen was refused the job. Though not knowing that Reed didn't hire him for financial reasons, Owen automatically assumed that Reed thought he was not capable enough. Therefore determined to pay a little visit to Reed Richards, Reece made his way towards New York City, and the Baxter Building.