Hey! Thanks to everyone who's been reading for the reviews and I'm really, really glad you like it so far! I hope you like this one!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fantastic Four, just Lily!

Ignite

Chapter Seven: The Fantastics

"Alright, Ms. Min. You may sit up now." Lily slowly sat up, the world still slightly fuzzy around her. She sighed as she rubbed her head and looked around.

After the "incident" on the bridge, the five were taken into a tent, set up by the police and firemen, to be examined and aided to.

'Thankfully, everyone's alright.' Lily stood up and walked over to her four friends and frowned, seeing a shattered look on Ben's face. 'Well, almost everyone.' She took a seat next to the boulder-like man as he glanced at her. She smiled softly at him as he nodded and stared back down at the ring that had been returned to him. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and surprisingly enough, found the position quite comfortable. Ben looked down at the girl as she sighed and patted his knee softly. He smiled a bit, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. They sat in silence and for a moment, Ben's heart began to lift, just a tiny bit. Sadly, the moment was broken by a certain bonehead.

"..Where are your ears?" Both, Ben and Lily, glared up at Johnny as he gave Ben a serious look, his question obviously not a joke.

"Sir, there are some folks outside that want to talk to you." The five looked up as they saw the chief of the firemen walk into the tent. Reed glanced at the others, his eyes lingering on Susan. She quickly shook her head as he looked back at the fireman.

"We're not going public with this," Reed stated as the man gave him a very confused expression. "We're scientists, not celebrities."

"It's too late for that, sir," the chief stated. He walked over to the television on the table and turned it on, the news playing before them.

"See that?" Susan and Reed both approached the screen with astounded looks on their faces, the description of them at the bottom of the screen. Lily and Johnny both stood to their feet as they walked up to Reed and Susan and watched the news. The five of them read the description, the level of shock only rising.

"That's what they're calling you." Lily couldn't help but gape. The whole day was just so much to handle and now this?

"The Fantastic Five."

"Cool." Johnny quickly turned, wanting to face the media and as if it were a reflex, Lily grabbed his wrist, making him stop and turn back to them.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked him exasperatedly as he looked at her with a look on his face saying that she should already know.

"I'm going to go talk to them."

"Wait!" Susan called out as she looked at her four friends "We should think this through," she explained as Johnny pulled his arm from Lily's grip. He backed away as he motioned towards them.

"Alright then, start brainstorming!" He headed out the tent and without a second though, Lily went after him, knowing someone had to get him before it was too late.

"Johnny!" Reed and Sue stared at each other as they glanced at Ben. He stared back at the two and quickly rose to his feet, running after Johnny and Lily.

"Johnny, get a grip!" Lily snapped as she reached over and grabbed him once more. The flame-ball looked back at Lily and smirked as he began to pull her along. Her eyes widen as she tried to pull away from his iron grip.

"If you can't beat them, join them!"

"Johnny!" He ignored his name as Susan, Reed and Ben quickly walked after him.

"Get back here, right now!" Susan sternly muttered as Johnny glanced back at and ignored her. Lily tried to pull away from him, wanting nothing to do with the media, but failed again.

Finally, the two stopped in front of the cameras and Johnny released her wrist. She rubbed it slightly and glared at the back of his head. He raised his arms up to the crowd as they soaked him in and he smiled slightly, entertained by all the hype.

"Believe this?" Johnny asked as Reed and Susan walked up beside him and gave him a very tired expression. The chief followed after them, walking in front of them and looking mostly at Reed.

"Which one of you is the leader?" he asked as Johnny puffed his chest out and placed his hands on his hips, as if to make himself look stronger.

"That'd be me," he said. The man chuckled as he shook his head.

"No, seriously." This brought a quiet laugh from Lily's lips as Johnny frowned. Susan glanced at Reed and nudged him slightly. He glanced back at her and the look in her eyes made it clear what she wanted. He hesitated, but looked at the chief, nodding his head. The man moved aside as he nodded his head towards the crowd.

"You're on." Reed took a few steps forward and the sea of people pulled in even closer. At first, he couldn't find the right words, his anxiety and jitters getting the best of him. He took a deep breath and nodded to himself, gaining his composure.

"Uh…during our recent mission to the Von Doom space station, we were exposed to a unidentified radioactive energy."

"Um, sir." A sigh resonated in the air as Victor looked up at his secretary and gave him a very stern look.

"What is it?"

"Larry King just cancelled," his assistant explained. A very perplexed look crawled up upon Victor's face as he raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently, there's a bigger story." He held the remote the plasma screen TV. up, the screen turning on.

"Here they come now! You had to see it to believe it!" Victor's eyes dilated slightly as he saw five people walk on to the screen. "The band called The Fantastic Five." Victor clenched his mouth shut as his secretary gave him a very weary look from the back of his head.

"We'll be going directly to our lab to diagnose our symptoms." Victor watched as Susan worked with the crowd.

"Is this some kind of disease?" a woman asked, throwing Susan off slightly.

"No, no, no. It's not..a disease," Johnny stepped forward as the four around him gave him a very confused face. He smiled sheepishly as he turned to the crowd with his usual, confident face. "If having special powers is a disease then yea, we've got it bad."

"Um, excuse me. That thing doesn't look so fantastic." This statement caused Ben to flinch as he stepped forward slightly. Reed shook his head as he held his own hands up as if to defend himself.

"Grim is a genuine, American hero-"

"What he means is, every team needs a mascot," Johnny said playfully, Ben now glaring flames at him. Before Johnny could make anyone else look like a fool, Lily stepped in, improvising for the moment.

"A new day has dawned!" she said with a weak smile. The four looked at her as she gave them a "what the hell do you want?" sort of expression. Johnny took the wheel, taking the heat off of Lily.

"The days of The Fantastic Five."

And in that very moment, Victor Von Doom's life came to a utter crash.

"This doesn't feel…right." Lily frowned as she stared out the police car window. Johnny glanced at her as Reed and Susan sighed.

"There's nothing you can do. Ben's weight changed dramatically due to the radiation."

"Still, we made him ride alone in an armored police truck. I think one of us should have gone with-"

"You worry way too much." Lily gave Johnny a glare as the police car pulled up to the Baxter Building, the home of Reed Richards. She shook her head as she elbowed the man in the side. He winced as she opened the car door and gave him one last dirty look.

"You're never going to grow up, are you?" she snapped before climbing out of the car.

Johnny hesitated a moment, slightly taken back by the words, but easily gained his composure back as he drowned in the attention from the media. Lily gave the cameras a smile as she nodded her head towards some of the people. She quickly walked up beside Reed and Susan, wanting to hide away forever. The three looked over as they watched Ben march out of the truck. Lily smiled at him as he gave her a nervous one back. She walked up to him and gave him a pat on the back.

"No worries. Once we're in, we won't have to deal with them," she reassured as Ben just nodded his head. The two walked into the building, Reed and Susan already talking to the doorman inside. Lily stopped and growled as she turned around and found Johnny soaking up the camera shots. She shook her head and stomped over to him, grabbing his wrist, and pulling him away after giving the cameras a smile or two.

"What are you doing?"

"It's like you need a babysitter every hour of the day!" she quietly snapped as Johnny rolled his eyes, letting himself get dragged away. He looked over at Ben and wrapped his free arm around the man.

"Come on, big guy. Give them a smile. They want to like you," he explained as he motioned to the kids cheering for the large man and walk ahead with Lil. Ben hesitated as the kids stared up at him and the thought for a moment before coming up with something priceless to say.

"Don't do drugs." He walked inside the building, the crowd cheering even more than before.

The five walked towards the elevator and climbed in. Lily raised an eyebrow as she heard the sound of something creaking. She looked over at Reed as he looked back at her, just as confused. The elevator door closed and the noises grew worse and louder, causing everyone to look around. Johnny leaned back against the wall and looked up. "Either we're moving really fast or not at all."

Lily rolled her eyes as she looked around. The alarm to the elevator began to rapidly go off, catching everyone's attention. The five looked up and an awkward silence filled the air.

'Exceeds maximum weight...' Ben frowned as he looked from Johnny, to Lily, to Susan, to Reed, to Johnny again. He frowned as he shook his head.

"I'll take the stairs," he said, sounding defeated. He walked out of the elevator as everyone gave him a sympathetic stare before the doors closed. Lily sighed as Reed and Susan gave each other disheartened expressions.

"..Why can't Ben turn it on and off like we can?" Johnny suddenly asked, gaining the attention of the other four.

"That's what we're here to find out," Reed explained as a worried look appeared on Susan's face.

"I mean…if it happened to him.."

"What? You mean, like we won't be able to turn it on and off either?" Johnny asked as Susan gave a nod. He chuckled and shrugged.

"That would save time, hah!"

"You don't really want to walk around on fire for the rest of your life, do you?" Susan asked as Johnny looked at her with a raised brow, a smirk on his face.

"Is that a trick question?"

"Grow up."

"Come on. Am I the only one who thinks this is cool?" The others sighed as the elevator door finally opened. The four walked out as Reed led the way.

"We should stay here until we find the extent of our changes and figure out how to reverse them," Reed explained as he walked deeper into his home. The other three followed, having no objections to his plan. Johnny's eyes roamed around the large apartment and they widened slightly.

"Whoa..." He walked into the middle of the room to find almost an entire lab sitting in front of him.

"I'm going to have to warn you, it's going to be a little crowded in some area," Reed shouted as he walked over to the light switch Susan and Lily stood beside each other as they stared at Reed's personal lab. Johnny approached Lily's side as he stared with slight awe.

"So, what do you think?" Reed asked as he walked over to the three.

"I don't know, Reed. I think you might be bringing your work home with you," Johnny said sarcastically as Reed chuckled. He gave Johnny's back a pat and began to walk out of the lab and down the hall.

"Let me show you guys where you'll be staying."

Johnny followed after the man as he whispered in his sisters ear, so not to let Reed hear. "Busy guy."

Susan sighed as she shook her head with an exasperated smile on her face. Lily gave Susan a slight pat on the back as she followed after Johnny and Reed.

"This is where you'll be staying, Sue," Reed instructed as he opened a door to a spare room. The blonde nodded her head and walked into the room.

"Thanks," she said as Reed gave her a comforting smile.

"No problem."

"So where am I crashing?" Johnny asked as Reed quickly turned his attention to Susan's younger brother. He headed down the hall and pointed to two rooms across from each other.

"Lily, you'll be staying in your old room, and Johnny, you'll be staying here."

"Why is it you curse me with the room right across his room?" Lily snapped as Johnny faked a frown.

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?" he asked as the girl glared at him.

"As in, I don't feel comfortable sleeping anywhere near you."

"That's harsh."

"It's only the truth."

"Guys!" The two broke from their argument as Reed sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"You won't be staying in these rooms for long, just until we're done figuring things out, so until then just try to manage, please." Reed walked past them, wanting to try and set things up as quickly as possible so everyone could leave just as quickly. Johnny glanced down at Lily as she sighed and shook her head.

"So how long are you betting for?"

"I'm going to guess a month."

"I say two." Lily chuckled as she opened the door of her room. She glanced back at Johnny as he looked at her. She playfully glared before closing the door.

"If I catch you even trying to get in here, I swear, you're going to be in a world of pain."

"I'll do my best, but I won't make any promises!" She tried to glare more, but couldn't help but chuckle at the playful look on Johnny's face. She closed the door and leaned back against it, staring at the ceiling.

"What an idiot."