Mall Mayhem

Laura's POV

It all started at the mall. I invited Anne to come shopping with me to cheer up. She seemed unusually down this past week, not that I blame her. Between school being back in session and Liberty suddenly expecting the six of us to power train together every day, I've been feeling blah too due to lack of free time. Although neither of our bad moods compare to Liberty's. While she's never been super cheerful, now she seems to be in a permanent bad mood, always yelling at everyone and telling us to train harder. Well, if training harder means turning into a grump like Liberty, then I don't think I want to!

Anyways, I'm glad I invited Anne to the mall. We had a good time talking and relaxing, as well as buying some nice cloths. I bought a new pair of earrings and a nice shirt that I could maybe wear on a date with Joe, while Anne bought a new pair of jeans and a Hufflepuff t-shirt to go with my Ravenclaw one.

Anne is about ready to leave, but I manage to convince her to stop in one last store. It's a fancier store, one that only sells dresses and suits. "Are you sure you want to look here?" Anne asks. "This clothing seems a bit fancy for just wearing on a date," she says, fingering a silken dress sleeve.

"I know, I'm just looking. After all, it's never too early to look for a Prom dress."

"That's true," Anne replies. "That is, if you're sure Joe is going to ask you."

"Of course!" I exclaim. "Things have been going great so far, so why would we break up?"

Anne sighs. "I wish I had your confidence… or a boyfriend."

"I'm sure you'll find someone," I reply. "Besides, having a boyfriend isn't always a good thing," I say, gesturing to an arguing couple who has just entered the store.

"You want to wear a sweater-vest to the banquet?! A SWEATER-VEST?!" the lady yells.

"Babe, chill," the guy replies, holding up his hands. "It's just a banquet. We'll be there for like an hour, tops. A sweater-vest is fiiiiine."

"JUST A BANQUET?!" the lady yells.

"Maybe we should get going," Anne says, glancing anxiously at the couple.

"Uh huh, just a sec," I reply, having found a slimming black dress that might look nice on me.

"Hey, what's the big idea?! Why are you grabbing my hair?!" the guy suddenly yells.

Wait a minute, HAIR?!

I turn around just in time to see the hooded teenager running out of the store!

"After him!" I yell, hoping that Anne can help me without Hulking out. Then I see the male shopper's confused face, and I realize that I've forgotten one important thing. "Are you a superhero?" I ask, since I can't really see his face very well because he is wearing a hat and sunglasses. "Because we are, and that teen used our hair to steal our powers!"

The guy grins. "Finally! A break from shopping." He whips off his hat and sunglasses and I gasp as I recognize him as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch!

"FLAME ON!" Johnny yells, so excited for a fight that he accidently lights the suit he is holding on fire as he rushes to catch the villain.

"EEP!" his girlfriend and/or wife exclaims. "I am so sorry. How much was that?" she asks, shoveling out money to the cashier, whose mouth is hanging open, in order to make up for her husband's irresponsible behavior.

"Meet me at the food court," Anne says, walking away to sit out the fight. I nod, then turn into my Jotun form and sprint after the teenager on the ground, with The Human Torch flying above. Fortunately, the mall's ceiling is high, so he has plenty of space to fly without lighting peoples' hair on fire. Also fortunate is the fact that he is able to fly very quickly uninterrupted, whereas the teen has to dodge around shoppers on the crowded mall floor. It seems like we should be catching up to the teenager… but we aren't.

At first, I think it's just my imagination, but no, the teen is actually outrunning us. But how? He isn't even teleporting. It's like he has super-speed… oh, duh. He must have Liberty's super-soldier powers, allowing him to run faster than most people. In fact, now that I look at him, I thought I remembered his hoodie being a bit baggier as well. It looks like he got some super muscles for super-strength as well.

Before I know it, the teen darts into a store. "Stand guard!" I yell at Johnny, as I rush into the store to find the teenager. I realize a second later that I maybe shouldn't be bossing the older superhero around, plus he's not going to be "standing" guard since he's flying, but oh well. It's a lot easier for me, a teleporter, to search the crowded store than a guy on fire.

Unfortunately, I soon search the whole store and see no sign of him. I guess he must have teleported through a wall or something. Since I'm not sure how thick the walls are to teleport through them, or even if that's for sure what the teen did, I decide to admit defeat.

"No luck?" Johnny asks, still hovering in flame form above the store entrance, where a crowd is starting to gather. I shake my head. Johnny sighs, his flames starting to extinguish as he lowers to the ground. Unfortunately, the casual clothing he was wearing burned away. Fortunately, he must have been wearing his flame-proof Fantastic Four outfit underneath, because that is what he is now wearing.

"Darn, wish we could have caught him," Johnny says. "You say he also stole your powers of… oh, hey, are you one of the High School Heroes?" he asks, after taking a better look at me.

"Yep!" I exclaim, excited he's heard of me.

"You guys did a good job fighting those blue aliens," Johnny grins. "High five!"

I raise a hand to high-five him, and almost get my hand melted off! Though his fire powers are off, his hand is still really warm, and since I'm still in my frozen Jotun form, that doesn't feel too good!

"Never mind!" Johnny yells, rubbing his hands together since I apparently froze him by accident as well.

"So… you're going to a banquet?" I ask, breaking the awkward silence.

Johnny nods. "Yeah. While you high schoolers and Avengers were saving New York from the aliens, us Fantastic Four were saving another city from Doctor Doom and his Doombots. They decided to throw us a banquet, so I guess I'll show up," Johnny says, shrugging. "Wish my wife wouldn't make such a big deal about it though."

"Johnny Storm! Can I have your autograph?!" a lady yells.

"Sure thing," Johnny grins, winking at her as he autographs her shopping bag. "I'll let my teammates know about this power-stealer," Johnny says, as he signs another autograph. "Maybe we can stop him."

"Thanks!" I reply. "Well, I better go find my friend," I say, as a crowd gathers around Johnny and people start asking for my autograph. "Thanks for your help!" I exclaim, as I run away from the fans trying to follow me.

After a lot of running and a few teleports, I finally manage to lose the crowd. Ducking down a deserted hallway, I hide behind a vending machine and turn back into my human form. While it would have been nice to have time to change into my superhero costume, turning into my Jotun form at least disguises my face enough that people won't instantly recognize me, I hope.

It seems I am right, as I manage to walk back through the crowd of fans without any of them recognizing me. Soon, I make it to the food court, and spot Anne.

"Did you catch him?" Anne asks.

I shake my head.

"Darn," Anne says, her shoulders slumping. "He didn't… hurt anyone, did he?"

"No, not unless you count hurting Johnny Storm's fashion sense because some of his hair is missing," I tease.

Anne doesn't laugh. "So he didn't… display any Hulk powers?"

"Huh? No," I say, a bit surprised. "I don't think he'd give himself Hulk powers to steal other heroes' hair, not unless he wanted to wreck the whole mall."

Anne's eyes widen, and she starts to tear up. That's when I realize how stupid I am.

"I didn't mean… I mean you wouldn't… not like that!" I babble, as Anne struggles not to cry.

"Let's just go," Anne whispers. I nod, unsure what to say.

"I just don't know how to cheer her up," I conclude, having just finished telling Joe what happened earlier on the phone. "I mean, my jokes won't cheer her up, and I can't really prank her for fear she'll get too scared and Hulk out. What should I do?"

"Beats me," Joe says on the other side of the phone. "Whenever Sam is mad at me I just wait for him to calm down. It might take a few days, but he always comes around."

I sigh. "Yeah, maybe I should just wait. I just hate to see her so sad. I wish we could just catch this stupid teen already."

"You and me both," Joe groans. "I just don't understand how the glove attack happened. If this person doesn't have powers or magic, how did it happen?"

"Well, as Sherlock Holmes likes to say, 'When you rule out the impossible, whatever is left, however improbable, must be possible.' At least, I think Sherlock Holmes said that. Or was it The Doctor from Doctor Who?"

Joe sighs. "Right now, everything seems impossible. Oops, I gotta go, Juni is crying. Goodnight, Laura."

"Goodnight, Joe," I reply, smiling. My smile soon fades though, and when it comes time for bed, I fall into an uneasy sleep, with nightmares about floating hoodies and underground cages.

In the evil lair, Doctor Kraus is having a heated conversation on the phone. "YOU CANNOT RUSH ME!" he yells. "IF MY SUBJECT DIES, THEN OUR WORK WILL BE FOR NOTHING!" He pauses to listen. "No. Yes, I understand. Very well, but that is the absolute earliest! Yes, yes. Hail Hydra," he says halfheartedly, slumping to the ground.

Just then, the hooded teenager bursts into the lab. "I GOT IT!" he yells. "POWERS FROM MY FAVOROTE HERO! WOOT!" he cheers, handing the scientist the hair. "So I'm thinking of going for Spiderman or Deadpool's powers next, since they're my other favorite heroes. Deadpool's healing factor is wicked, but would I go crazy if I get his powers? Like, on a scale of one to ten, how crazy—"

"There's been a change of plans," Doctor Kraus announces. "You will be breaking into Pym Corp to steal Pym particles."

"What? You want me to have Antman's powers? But Antman is so boring!"

"Don't argue with me!" Doctor Kraus replies, but he lacks his usual anger.

"But really though, stealing? That's not very heroic," the teen comments.

"We can pay them back once you are a hero," the scientist insists. When the teen still looks skeptical, he sighs. "Look, the X-Men were born with powers and they save people's lives. The Fantastic Four become empowered by a chance solar storm and they save people's lives. What do they have in common? Powers. It is not about how you get powers, but how you use them that matters. Once people see that you are a hero, they will be willing to overlook a single theft."

"I guess," the teen says, not looking thoroughly convinced. "And once people see how cool I am, you'll give everyone powers, right?"

"Of course," Doctor Kraus replies, sounding tired. "Now go, I must prepare your fire powers."

"Sweet!" the teen exclaims, leaving by teleporting through the wall instead of using the door. The scientist does not scold him as usual however, in fact, he barely notices as he frantically works on sequencing the DNA for fire powers.

AN: The Fantastic Four references are from the Fantastic Four and Rise of the Silver Surfer movies from the early 2000's, not the new movie that I haven't seen. Also, since this story is set in the future, I figured Johnny might be married.