Ignite

Chapter Six: Super Sick or Super Heroes

Rain lightly fell to the ground as the night seemed to bring peace to the usually loud and busy city of New York. Most of the people were already locked away, safely in their homes, but there was still someone who had business to take care of.

'Damn, this is such a mess.' A large man stood in front of a pay phone and stared at the tiny buttons.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me," the rock-like man snorted slightly as he tried to press the telephone buttons, but seemed to fail. He growled at the pay phone, making sure that he was still concealed away by his long trench coat and hat.

"Ugh! Little buttons!" he snapped as he tried once more.

"Hello, operator?" He stared up at the sign posted above the windows of his home and smiled softly, the yellow poster saying, "Welcome Home."

"Hello?"

"Debs? It's me.."

"Ben?" Said man watched as the lights to his home turned on.

"Are you alright? You sound a little different?" he heard his fiancée say through the other end of the phone. He smiled weakly and shook his head.

"Listen, I need you to come out front," he said as he looked up and saw the curtain to the windows get pushed aside, a figure peering at him.

"Outside? You're home, baby?" Debs asked happily as Ben quickly turned his face from the window, afraid she'd be able to see him even from that distance.

"Yeah, I'm home." Deb laughed with a smile on her face as she looked at the pay phone and saw her future husband standing in front of it.

"I've got a surprise for you," she sang as Ben tried to smile, tried to sound happy.

"Yeah…I got a little one for you too.."

"Lily.." Silence filled the air as Johnny waited for said woman to reply. "Lily?"

"…"

"Lily!" Finally, Johnny caught her attention as she snapped her head towards him.

"What is it?" she asked as she glanced at Reed, in the front seat, to see him still on the phone. She frowned as Johnny sighed and shook his head. Her eyes widened as he firmly placed his hand on her leg and she looked down as he gave it a gentle squeeze. She smiled weakly as Johnny glanced at Susan to see her with the phone now, Reed watching her intently.

"You've got to calm down," Johnny said as Lily looked at him and rolled her eyes, trying to keep her composure.

"I'm already calm."

"Really?" he asked, giving her a shrewd look. She opened her mouth to object but stopped, sighing.

"Ben hasn't tried calling once. He's been gone for so long and-" Before she could go on, Johnny gave her leg a reassuring squeeze and made sure that she was gazing into his eyes.

"Hey, Ben's a big boy. He can handle himself," he said, trying to help the girl relax. Lily hesitated but nodded her head as she smiled at him. He smiled back and released her leg.

"Don't worry, we'll find him," he stated as she glanced at him and nodded.

"Ok. So, he was there last night." The two looked over at Reed as he shoved the phone back into his pocket.

"Deb's going to meet us at the other end of the bridge," he explained as the other three nodded their heads, hoping for the best.

As their taxi began to head across the bridge, the jitters returned to Lily, her anxiety growing slightly. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the car seat.

'Johnny's right, surprisingly enough. I have to calm down. I'm sure Ben's perfectly fine!' For some strange reason, she couldn't get rid of the bubble forming in her chest.

"Oh yeah, Ben. Few days in space, it'll be great. What's the worse that could happen?" Ben shook his head as he remembered the words Reed had said to him just a few days before the meeting with Victor. He sighed, he couldn't blame anyone for this, no matter how much he wanted to. It was like he had said, a freak of nature. He glanced down at his hands and sighed, the normal color of his skin replaced with a shade of orange.

After dinner at Victor's food court, he had had a strange feeling inside of him. At first, he had thought it was the shrimp he had eaten just a few minutes before that, but after a couple of seconds, he had realized that the pain wasn't the kind of pain a person gets after eating something bad. After that, everything had just turned into a blur. The only thing he could really remember was the searing pain. Through the frenzy of discovering how he looked and what others would say, he needed to escape, back to the one place where he thought he would be accepted. 'Hn, so much for that,' he thought to himself as he sat on one of the pillars to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Suddenly, he felt a light, feathery touch on his shoulder and looked to see a pigeon sitting comfortably on him. He smiled slightly as he decided to make a new friend. "Hey, Little guy," Ben chuckled as the bird tilted it's head at him.

"You're not afraid of me, are you?" he asked playfully as the bird purred at him. He watched as it flew away and sighed. He glanced back down at his shoulder and an annoyed expression appeared on the stone like face.

"Hmm, perfect," he mumbled to himself as he looked up at the sky. "Thanks for that," he said to no one in particular as he wiped his shoulder of the feces the bird had left. As he finished cleaning himself, he looked to his left and saw a man standing on the edge of the bridge, a frightened look on his face. Ben looked at him confused as he watched the business man throw his suitcase into the water beneath them. As he took a step to end his life, Ben quickly spoke up, not wanting to just watch the man fall.

"Eh, you think you got problems?" The man looked over and his eyes widened, a new kind of fear developing inside of him. "Take a good look at me," Ben said, partially joking. The man gaped at him as he pointed and took a few shaky steps in the other direction.

"I mean, how bad could it be?" Ben asked as he looked at the man to see nothing but fear and confusion on his face. He sighed and shook his head, standing to his feet.

"Alright, pal. Take it easy." The man backed away, only putting himself in more danger and Ben quickly shook his head. "No! Don't go out there," Ben warned, trying to correct the man. The once suicidal man was now trying to escape for his life, but was putting himself in a worse situation.

"Stop, you fruitcake!" The man continued to back away, trying to keep his balance.

"No, no, no! Come closer." The man ignored Ben and backed further away. "No, that's further," the stone man pointed out.

People began to gather around to watch, not really sure if they should call for help or let things play out. The man took a faulty step back and began to fall. Ben's eyes widen as he tried to think quickly. The man reached out and grabbed a lose cable, his heart pounding like a jackhammer. His grip failed and he hit the ground, a taxi swerving around him. Ben shook his head and counted to three. After that, he took the plunge and landed on the ground, safely. He turned his attention to the flabbergasted man, but quickly span around to see a truck heading in their direction. He braced himself and as the truck hit him. He found no pain whatsoever and it was pushed back, the front having a dent. He turned to the man and pulled him by the arm, saving him from the taxi that almost ran into him. The two watched as all the cars around them began to crash into one another, a huge accident now blocking any sort of passage through the bridge.

As the cars began to stop, the people driving through grew confused and anxious, some having important places to go, and others looking for important people. Reed raised an eyebrow as he stared out the windshield of the tax to see an endless line of cars stopped. He glanced back at everyone else as they nodded and quickly climbed out of the car, searching for the source of the problem. Lily glanced at Susan as the woman gave her a confused glance back.

'Ben, I hope you're ok.'

"Alright, calm down." Ben tried to soothe the man as he watched him back away. He shook his head, his patience almost completely gone.

"You want to be scared?" Ben took a deep breath and glared at the man. "FINE!" he shouted as the man quickly turned and ran away for his life. The people around him all began to climb out of their cars, mystified by the sudden accident that had occurred. He glanced up at the truck he had stopped with his body and looked to see the driver slowly raise his head up, his vision still blurry and his ears ringing. Ben frowned as he shook his head.

'Oops.'

A large crowd began to form, trying to discover the cause of the accident, as the police tried to hold the people back for their own safety. As four figures approached the crowd, they stopped, seeing the sea of people. They frowned. There was no possible way they'd be able to get through the people and the police.

"What are you we going to do now?" Susan asked with a worried look on her face. Reed frowned as he stared at the police and thought.

"There's no way we'll be able to get past these guys," he explained as he thought for a moment. As he thought, his eyes widened, an idea abruptly coming into his head.

"But you could..." Susan couldn't help but frown inwardly as she saw the gleam in Reed's eyes.

'Oh boy.'

A loud thud noise filled the air as a pair of eyes tried to focus in on its surroundings. The truck driver did his best not to fall back into black oblivion as he blinked a few times. Out of nowhere, his door flew open and there, standing before him, was a man made of pure rock, it seemed. His eyes widened at the sight and for a short moment, he thought he was going to die. The apprehensive thought disappeared with ease as the man saw the innocent and weak shine in the monster's eyes.

"Sorry about that," Ben said apologetically as the driver just shrugged, his senses slowly returning to him. His terror slowly dissipated, allowing Ben to feel slightly relieved for a moment.

"Here we go," Ben announced as the driver nodded his head. He reached down for the seatbelt and tried to release himself from the binding, only to find himself stuck.

"I'm stuck." This caused Ben to sigh.

'Great.'

A pair of blue eyes closed as they concentrated on trying to seem invisible to the crowd. Lily, Johnny, and Reed watched with amazement as Susan's body disappeared from their sight, her clothes looking as if they were floating on their own. The people around them began to gasp as Reed glanced around.

"Sue! You're clothes! Lose them," Reed suggested as Susan nodded, although no one could see it. One by one, articles of clothing began to fall, a lump forming in Johnny's throat. He turned his head slightly, as to not watch his invisible sister strip down, and shook his head.

"This is so wrong." Lily couldn't help but smirk slightly as she glanced up at Johnny to see a very disturbed look plastered on his face. Before Susan could get to her bra and underwear, she slowly began to phase back, the people now chuckling at her. Lily bit her lip as Reed couldn't stop himself from staring, Johnny now completely disgusted at the situation.

"Oh, come on," he snapped as Lily covered her mouth, her laughter slipping through the cracks of her fingers. Johnny rolled his eyes as he kept his back completely turned at that point. Reed blinked a few times before speaking up.

"Wow, you've been working out?"

"Shut up."

Lily quickly pulled her jacket off, handing it to Susan, and gave her a sympathetic look. The woman quickly wrapped it around herself as she glared at Reed. "Have anymore great ideas? Why don't you strip down and let everyone see you naked!"

"Sue," Reed said, interrupting her rant. Lily sighed as Sue looked down to find herself invisible, once again.

"Oh."

Johnny sighed as he rubbed his head. "I'm going to need therapy."

Finally, the last piece of clothing was completely off and Sue was on her way. She pushed through the horde of people, the other three quickly following after her.

"Excuse me, sorry." The people stared with complete bewilderment as they looked to see the person who bumped them, but instead found no one. The four easily passed through the police, having easier access to finding Ben.

"Here," Johnny mumbled as he held Susan's clothes in the air. Invisible hands reached out, taking a hold of the clothes and he sighed, feeling as if he had violated some sort of sacred rule. Susan quickly started to change back in her clothes, now visible, and sighed, shaking her head.

"I still can't believe you made me do that!" she snapped as Reed rolled his eyes slightly, walking past her.

"We got through, didn't we? Just find Ben," he ordered as Susan frowned, but nodded. The four went their separate ways, searching for their friend.

"Ben?" Lily ran through the maze like path, looking around for Ben's face. As she listened to the others call out for the missing man, her eyes widened.

"..Is that…" She trailed off, not sure what words to say. Ben stood before her, his whole body and face completely contorted into stone or something of the like. She tried not to stare, but couldn't tear her eyes away from the man. He looked back and a wave of relief ran through him, his friends standing before him, concern in their eyes.

Johnny stared, guilt running through him for all the jokes he had made about the man's appearance previous to the accident and even after.

"Mom? Mom, where are you?" Johnny's thoughts were broken by the sound of the vulnerable voice and as he looked around, his eyes landed on a girl around the age of ten or eleven. His eyes opened wide, a small gas tank ready to explode. He quickly jumped on to the top of a taxi and leaped off of it, wrapping his arms tightly around the girl, to protect her.

Lily stared with complete shock as her heart skipped a beat. She watched as the taxi exploded, the flames engulfing Johnny. She screamed out to him, but could do nothing but back away, the heat too much for her to handle. Susan's eyes widened as she quickly held her hands up to protect herself.

As she waited for the pain, she felt nothing, which threw her off. She slowly opened an eye and they both snapped open as she saw an almost clear-blue shield around the flames, not only protecting her, but the people around the explosion. She concentrated more, wanting to keep everyone from harms way, and a determined twinkle appeared in her eyes.

As the explosion grew, an approaching fire-truck had no time to stop and escape. The firemen's eyes widened as they braced themselves, the truck getting hit and the end of it swinging off the bridge. A shout filled the air as a fireman held tightly to the ladder on top of the truck, his body weighing more than he remembered and the water looking more painful than it should have been.

Lily's ears perked up as she heard the sound of someone screaming, and she quickly looked over to see the fire-truck hanging off the bridge. She stared with shock and began to run over, but stopped herself. She glanced back at the others. She watched as Susan controlled the explosion with her force field. She fell to the ground, a bit of blood dripping from her nose. The two women made eye contact, Lily asking one question. Susan thought for a quick moment, but nodded her head, watching helplessly as the younger one of the two began to run as fast as her feet would take her.

Johnny glanced down at the girl and then at himself to find his body perfectly fine. He turned his attention back to the girl and made sure she was safe and sound. He ran over to his sister and helped her to her feet.

"You ok?" he asked as she nodded, staring at her friend. Johnny looked up and his eyes widened.

"What the hell does she think she's doing?" Johnny almost shouted as he watched Lily sprint as fast as she could towards the falling truck.

'I have to make it!' Lily concentrated as she ignored the burning sensation in her calves and continued to run. Her heart fluttered as the truck began to tip more, but as it did, her face lit up, someone already to its aid.

"Ben!" She watched as the man began to pull the truck down. She quickly ran, but to her dismay, the other end of the truck began to break, the man still hanging helplessly. She thought, looking around and then, she came up with an idea.

The weight of the truck began to catch up with Ben as he felt his feet getting dragged against the concrete. He winced and tried to pull harder. Suddenly, the ladder attached to the top of the truck, began to fall, a man screaming with fear. He jerked, as the ladder stopped, and flipped, holding tightly to the ladder. He winced, his arms feeling weaker by the second.

"Someone!"

Lily quickly reached the broken area of the bridge and didn't take a moment to hesitate. 'Here goes everything!"

Susan and Johnny watched as Lily dived right off the bridge. Reed ran up to the edge of the bridge and stared, shocked, as Lily spiraled towards the water.

Lily closed her eyes and focused, holding her right arm out. Her eyes snapped open and she span around, facing the sky. She swung her arm with the motion of her body and as she did, a wave of water followed, shaped like a pillar. She focused more and smirked as a platform of water caught her. The pillar of water pushed up against the truck, holding it still. Lily used her other arm and did the same thing with another pillar of water, and by increasing the density, it was as if the pillars were almost solid. She pushed her arms forward and she could almost feel the weight of the truck on her arms. She concentrated more and helped Ben as he pulled the truck back on to the bridge.

The trucked jerked slightly and everyone's eyes widened as one of the firemen fell from the ladder. Lily gasped as she tried to think on her feet, but before anything happened, the man was caught. He looked up and a sigh was released from his lips.

"Don't worry, I've got you." Lily smiled as she watched Reed slowly reel his rubber-like body back up to the bridge where his feet were firmly planted. She turned her full attention back to the truck and pushed harder. Ben pulled as best as he could, the truck slowly coming back up to the bridge. Lily's eyes widen as the second man hanging from the truck began to fall. She glanced from the man to the truck and closed her eyes.

'I hope you've got this, Ben.' She pulled her pillars of water away from the truck and held her hand out towards the man. Her palm faced the sky, almost as if it had caught something, and a large spurt of water caught the man, the waves soaking both of them. The fireman looked up at her and she smiled weakly at him, her energy almost completely gone. She glanced back up at the truck and sighed, the truck now safely back up on the bridge. She closed her eyes and pictured herself back on the bridge and opened her eyes again to find her platform and the fireman's wave rising until it reached the edge of the bridge. She climbed over the destroyed railing and quickly helped the man over. He sighed and looked up at her with a thankful smile. She returned it with her own smile, but as she did, the world around her began to spin, and she started to fall.

Before she could hit the ground, arms caught her with ease, and she looked up to see a familiar smirk. She smiled weakly as she chuckled slightly.

"That wasn't half bad."

"Please," Lily mumbled as she leaned her head against a perfectly sculpted bicep.

"You almost had me worried."

"How surprising, Johnny Storm actually worried." She smiled up at her friend as he smiled back down at her and shook his head. He helped her to her feet as the two looked up and saw Reed and Susan running up to them.

"Lily! Are you alright?" Reed asked as she nodded her head, Susan holding her by the shoulders, examining her closely.

"Are you sure?" she asked as the raven haired woman nodded her head.

"Don't worry, but what about Ben-"

"Put your hands up!" The four looked over to see a group of policemen surrounding Ben. The rock man did nothing, not wanting to cause more trouble, but as he stood there, the sound of people cheering and clapping filled the air. The firemen from the incident quickly approached the police, making the men lower their guns. Ben looked up as he smiled happily, his friends quickly running up to him. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad for him. As the four began to walk up to him, they stopped, the sight of someone shocking them all.

As Ben's eyes roamed around the crowd of people cheering, he did a double-take, and stared as his fiancée stared back at him. He started to walk over towards her, but she backed away and shook her head. He stared at Deb with pain in his eyes as her own began to fill with tears. She stared down at her engagement ring and shook her head once again. She pulled it off her finger and set the diamond on the ground. Without a second glance, she turned and disappeared into the crowd, leaving a broken and lonely Ben.

Reed slowly began to approach his best friend, his heart filled with nothing but pain. The other three watched from afar, not having the right words to say, but was there really anything that anyone could say?

Ben slowly reached down to pick up the ring, but his rather large fingers hindered him from doing so. He could feel the emotions welling up inside of him, and he fought back the tears threatening to appear. Suddenly, a smaller hand picked the ring up, handing it to the bigger one. Ben looked up to see a forlorn Reed looking back at him.

"..I swear to you, I will do everything in my power, until there's not a breath left in me.." The words hit Ben deep inside, and by the look in Reed's eyes, Ben could tell his friend really did care.

"You're going to be 'Ben' again," Reed reassured as Ben stared back at Reed. He slowly nodded his head as Reed gave his stone like shoulders a squeeze.

"…Ben.." Susan muttered as Lily shook her head. Johnny glanced from Ben, to the direction which Deb had ran off in. Whatever respect the fire-boy had towards the woman was now completely gone.

As they five stood in the crowd, the crowd continued to cheer, the accident and the pain over, for now.