Chapter 5

Disbelief

Johnny chose to remain where he was until the storm lifted, since he didn't want to have to walk home. He stayed there for several hours, and could've stayed there longer, but then Ben arrived in the Fantasticar.

"There you are!" he roared, bringing the vehicle to a hover so Johnny could climb in. "I've been looking all over for ya!"

Johnny didn't say anything as strapped himself in. He was too depressed.

"Rain foiled your getaway, huh?" Ben asked as they started to fly back to the Baxter Building.

Johnny suddenly remembered that Ben didn't know what had just happened to him. "Well, actually, Ben..." he began to explain.

"I don't hear about it." Ben cut Johnny off. "Save it for Sue when we get back."

"Sue?" Johnny repeated, knowing and dreading what Sue would have to say.

"Yeah, she and Reed are probably back by now." Ben said.

And sure enough, they were. Reed was busy putting a cover over the broken window while Sue stood behind him and watched. They had already figured out their own version of the story, and Sue was just waiting for her brother to return.

"Just couldn't obey the rules, could you, Johnny?" Sue asked the moment Johnny walked into the room.

"Well...er..." Johnny said, not sure how to begin.

"Just like when we were kids." Sue said, stepping up to face Johnny. "Mom would tell you to stay out of the cookies and you'd get into them anyway."

"Yeah, but Mom's cookies are the best on the planet." Johnny retorted. "Who wouldn't steal them?"

"The point is that you didn't follow the rules." Sue said, "You had to break out, and in the process broke a window and ruined my carpet!"

"You'd think that he'd go outside first before taking off." Reed muttered loudly to himself, stretching on arm out to make sure one corner of the cover stayed attached.

"What made you do it, Johnny?" Sue asked.

Johnny paused a moment, unsure how to answer. "Okay, this may seem a little unbelievable," he began, "But it's completely true. See, this kid snuck in here, and touched me, and...well, remember that time in which anybody I touched, my powers got swapped with theirs? Nearly drove me up the wall? Well, apparently that's still around, cause the kid got my power, then flew out the window, and..."

He trailed off for two reasons. One, realized how unbelievable that all sounded, and two, he could see that Sue wasn't buying it. If anything, it only made her angrier, for now she was starting to turn invisible, a sure sign that she was real mad now.

"I'm in trouble." he muttered.

"Yes, you are." Sue said, as sternly as was probably humanly possible for her. "Did you really expect me to believe that story?"

"Well, yes, 'cause it's true." Johnny said, bracing himself for Sue inevitable roaring.

Then, he remembered something.

"Wait, I can prove it!" Johnny said, quickly clamping his hand over Sue's invisible mouth to stop her from speaking. "Check the security cameras! The kid must be all over them!"

"I already did." Reed said, coming to join them. "They had gotten turned off."

"By you, no doubt." Sue added harshly.

"What?" Johnny asked, sensing he was really in for it now, "How...the kid! He must of done it!"

"So now you're saying that this illusionary kid knows the passwords to our security systems." Reed asked. He was getting mad too, Johnny could tell.

"Well, I sure don't!" Johnny pointed out.

"But you would know where to find out." Sue pointed, calming down at least enough to become visible again. "Much more likely that you'd know them than this so-called intruder you keep talking about."

"I don't!" Johnny pressed, looking for something else he could use as proof to confirm his story. "Reed!" he said, "Test me for that power-switching ability!"

Reed looked hesitant. "Johnny..." he began, but Johnny cut him off.

"Please, just do it!" he begged.

Reed resented, but not before getting a dark stare from his wife. It was clear that Sue was not in support of this.

But Ben had been thinking. "Supposing what you say is true, Johnny," he said, rubbing his rocky chin, "How is it that this boy managed to steal your power and yet you still have yours?"

"Who says that I do?" Johnny asked, realizing that he hadn't gotten to that part of his story before getting interrupted.

"How else did you end up nine blocks away and on top of the Empire State Building?" Ben asked.

Johnny went silent for a moment. "Okay, so I don't know." he admitted, "But I was hoping Reed...could...find...out?"

His nerve buckled under Sue's stare.

"I just want you to know, Johnny, that until you have real proof that gives a dang good reason for your actions today," Sue said, "That full blame for all of this falls completely on you!"

And with that, she stomped off.

Reed started to walk off too, but paused in front of Johnny. "If you still want me to do those tests, we can." he said, "But just so you know, I'd be very surprised if they tested positive."

Then he walked off. Johnny felt faint.

Ben noticed. "Hey, don't take it too hard. It'll turn out all right." he reassured Johnny.

"You believe me, right Ben?" Johnny asked.

"No," Ben admitted, "But at least the worse is over now."

"I wish." Johnny said, collapsing into a chair. "How could this day get any worse?"

"That reminds me, I'm the new pinball champ around here." he said as he walked off, chuckling.

Johnny rubbed his face. "It just got worse." he said.