"Well, filling the loft with the same technology you used at Von Doom Industries might take a while, but seen as though the company will go into liquidation, you might be able to pick up Herbie and the other tech for a steal." Amera said to Reed, pointing to the area above her head and smiling.
"Also, maybe some alterations. Unstable molecules are easy enough. The loft in my world had about five floors above this one. We had a garage for our Fantasticar, Herbie's mainframe, a skylight…"
"Wait, a Fantasticar? What on earth…" Susan frowned, and Reed nodded in agreement.
"Oh, it's our plane, I guess…I could help you out with the plans, I helped Reed last time."
Reed and Susan nodded in thanks as they walked around the loft. After Victor and his team were arrested, they had reached the quick conclusion that they needed to modify the loft. Johnny had already burnt holes in the sofa and carpet, and Maria took out half the stainless steel kitchen cabinets by accident.
"Are you going to help Maria and Johnny out with their powers? I think Ben, Reed and I can handle what we got, but they seem to be struggling with the…volatility."
"I did say I'd help them out. I guess I better do that before they really bring this place down." Amera waved to Reed and Susan as she walked down the hallway towards the kitchen, where Johnny and Maria were arguing.
"You're going to burn this place down!" Maria shrieked.
"You're making it worse!" Johnny shouted back. Amera picked up her pace and ran into the kitchen, to see the metal counter top melting from white heat. When Johnny and Maria laid eyes on Amera, they froze and looked at her like helpless pups. Amera put her hands on the melting metal and stopped it melting any further, before bringing it back up to its former state.
"You guys are going to burn this place down before we even get the unstable molecules in here." Amera sighed and Maria and Johnny looked very angry with one another.
"Come on; let's go somewhere so that I can train you a little. I don't want you guys to burn down everything before we get this place done. The north end of Sandy Hook is secluded enough that I can still keep an eye on you guys and you won't hurt anyone."
Maria and Johnny shot each other one glance and then nodded with Amera.
"Susan and Reed are going to be converting the loft with the unstable molecules most of the day, so we can head out. Come on…" Amera nodded towards the door that led up to the roof, gesturing for them to follow her. They walked with her up the staircase to the roof, and she walked over to the short ledge by the stairwell and got onto it.
"First practice. Let's jump off here and see if you can flame on before hitting the ground."
Maria looked scared enough to run back into the loft and never come back up, but Johnny accepted the challenge and stood on the short ledge with Amera.
"Was this a regular thing on your planet? Throwing yourself off a building too see if it worked in time?" Johnny asked, peering down at the street below.
"Uhm, no. In fact we barely went out for the first few days. We basically tested in Reed's lab until we could control our powers a bit…let's call this field testing." Amera smiled, and looked back to Maria.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'll catch if you don't make it in time or if you can't keep it up." Amera tried to comfort Maria, but it barely looked like it was working. Johnny shrugged, thinking that was a good enough reason to try. He turned his back to the street below and grinned at Amera and Maria.
"See you at the bottom." He nodded and tipped himself off the ledge, falling backwards until he fell out of sight.
"Oh my God! Johnny!" Maria shouted as she ran to the ledge. Johnny was falling fast, but it didn't seem to faze Amera.
"Catch him! Please, dear God, catch him!" Maria begged Amera, pulling on her arm so hard that she pulled Amera off the ledge.
"He'll be fine. Just watch." Amera patted Maria's hand and carried on watching Johnny, even though she was getting worried as well. Johnny flamed on just ten floors short of the bottom, coming screaming back up to them.
"Woohoo!" Johnny shouted as he flew past them and carried on into the sky above. Maria rolled her eyes and looked to Amera.
"I'm not jumping off of this building. I'll take off from the Zen garden." Maria told Amera, and Amera threw up her hands in defeat.
"Alright. I just know that it works better with a little jump of adrenaline." Amera shrugged, walking over to the Zen garden with Maria.
"Seeing Johnny jump was adrenaline enough, thank you." Maria retorted. They stood on the river sand, Amera watching Maria curiously. She held her breath and closed her eyes, flushing her cheeks red from lack of oxygen. She breathed out heavily, and looked to Amera.
"Is there some hint you can give me about this? Like concentration or something?" Maria asked and Amera shook her head.
"I gave you enough hints three days ago. I told you that when it came down to it, you wouldn't have time to read it on your laptop. Remember what you can and carry on from there."
Maria scowled angrily at her, and tried her best to ignite her body. In a few moments, her body started to spark and she floated for a second. She carried on until her body was covered in flames, and then lifted off from the Zen garden, trying her best to steer herself in the direction Johnny went.
"Use flame jets from your hands at different intensities to steer. Like jet engines." Amera shouted. Maria took her advice and used a flame or two to direct her body. Amera flamed on, taking off after Maria and flying alongside her. They could see Johnny just ahead of them, making spirals as he flew.
"How did he get it so easy?" Maria whined.
"I have no idea. He came up with the idea on our planet, mastered in mere seconds. Somehow things never change." Amera laughed. Johnny landed on the northern beach of Sandy Hook, smiling to himself. He sat down in the sand for a few seconds, watching the boats pass as Amera and Maria came into land.
"What a rush! Holy cow!" Johnny shouted. Maria frowned at him and launched ball of sand into his face. She gasped when she realised what she'd done, and Johnny tried to blow the sand out of his nose.
"Jeez Maria, keep calm." Johnny coughed one last time, shaking some sand out his hair. Amera went over to Johnny, helping him with a little of her elemental control to get the sand out of his hair. She then turned to Maria and shook her head.
"Well, we know Johnny has at least some control over his abilities, so I'm going to start with you. Come on, let's get to training." Amera gestured Maria over to the waterside and started their lesson. Johnny sat down on the beach, watching the two of them head over to the waterside and start training. He entertained himself by watching them and practicing his powers. Amera helped Maria control most of her abilities, air, water, earth and light. Fire and metal proved to be a problem, as they had no metal to practice with and Maria's fire was a little temperamental.
"You know what, give me a second. I know there has to be some metal at Fort Hancock." Amera said, lighting up and taking off. She returned with some odd metal pieces, but Maria looked concerned.
"This isn't part of the memorial side of Fort Hancock, right?" Maria pointed at the few things.
"Uhm…no? At least I don't think so. I just found it in the sand." Amera smiled at Maria and gestured for her to start with the metal training. They carried most of the day, training between all Maria's elements and Johnny's pyrokinesis. They were on the beach for a good couple of hours until Reed called them up on Amera's communicator.
"You guys are welcome to come back now. We've finished proofing the loft with the unstable molecules."
"Thanks Reed. We'll be back in a few." Amera told him. Reed hung up and Amera looked at Johnny and Maria, joking around between and tossing a fireball between them. Amera smiled for a moment, watching them playing around. She still didn't know what went wrong; she only hoped something like that would never happen between her and her Johnny. It was their powers that kind of forced them together, but this world already had their established relationships and she hoped everything would work out for the best.
"Hey guys, let's head on back. Reed's done with the loft." Amera called. Maria and Johnny's fireball died down, and they flamed o, taking off towards the Baxter building in the evening light.
Hey guys, I know it's been while since I updated. I've been really busy writing a book, and I've just got some time to type this story finished while my book is in editing. This chapter is kind of short; I didn't really know what to do with it as it's coming up to the end of the story. Keep and eye out though, I'm already planning a sequel (or a few) and a couple of oneshots to this series if I find the time. Thanks for reading!