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Ignite

Chapter Nine: House Arrest

"So, what's the prognosis?" The sound of computers loading and scanners running filled the air as a doctor stared at the test results for Victor Von Doom.

"Your tissue, your organs, your entire biophysical structure is changing," his doctor explained. Victor listened carefully, though most of the words were in one ear and out the other. He was only searching for one piece of information.

"And it's changing into?"

"I don't really know. Some kind of organic-metallic alloid," the man explained as Victor stared down at his hand. Underneath his skin wasn't bone, but metal instead. "It's stronger than steel, stronger than diamonds." Victor gently ran his fingers over his arm, the skin slowly disappearing, leaving nothing but his metal bone structure.

"Just like the shields Reed said would protect us," the wealthy man mumbled to himself. He took a deep breath and looked up at his doctor, wanting more information.

"At this rate, the infection could be complete in maybe two, three weeks," the licensed doctor informed, the news intriguing to Victor.

"What do you mean, complete?" the man sitting on the observation table asked as his medical leader turned to him, leaning against the counter.

"I wish I could tell you. I can't pretend to know what we're dealing with here," he said cautiously, eying Victor carefully. He slowly stood up straight as he walked up a bit closer to the sitting man.

"I'll have to notify the C.D.C." The short statement caught Victor's attention very quickly as the man snapped his head towards the physician.

"What?" he chuckled.

"Center of Disease Control-"

"I know what it is," Victor interrupted, an almost nervous smile on his face.

"If this thing continues to grow, we may have a big problem on our hands." Victor didn't need anymore problems. In just a matter of what felt like seconds, it seemed as though his whole life was falling apart so easily and quickly. He couldn't let things go on like this, he needed to take control. He stood to his feet, hoping to use words to reach the man standing before him.

"Look at me. I have a life, a face of a billion dollar company," he started off, not wanting to resort to violence.

"Victor, this disease is progressive, degenerative." As the doctor continued, Victor's blood began to boil, his more reasonable side of mind quickly burning away. He grabbed the medical practitioner by the neck and squeezed just a bit.

"..That's terrible news." With one swift motion, Victor threw the man into the wall, killing him instantly. He stared down at his metal-like hand and felt a wave of satisfaction run through him. He could feel it, the power and the strength, just flowing through his veins. He quickly grabbed his jacket, walking out of the room with diligence.

"Let me go get a second opinion."

"Lily?" Johnny stood in front of said woman's door, waiting for any sort of reply, but received nothing. He raised an eyebrow and knocked a bit more loudly, his patience quickly wearing thin. "Hey, get up already. If we don't meet Reed downstairs, Susan will probably throw a fit," he called out, knocking once more. After waiting for Lily's reply, he decided to take a chance, and opened her bedroom door, shielding his face from any sort of object that could possibly be thrown at him. He opened an eye, after realizing that nothing was going to hit him, and looked to see Lily still sleeping soundly in her bed.

The night before, Lily and Reed had stayed up, trying to figure out a solution to their problems. She had finally gone to bed a few hours before Reed, the sandman coming for her around four or five in the morning.

Johnny watched Lily quietly, a small smile on his face, and walked over to her bedside. He took a seat on her bed, making sure not to wake her up, and watched, with slight interest, as her chest rose and fell with every breath she took. His eyes widened for a split second as he realized he was staring, and he quickly looked away.

He shook his head, laughing at his own strange behavior, and decided to take action. He leaned over, towards Lily's face, and squeezed her nose shut, her mouth also closed. He waited for a few seconds before a gasp was heard and Lily's eyes snapped open. She quickly sat up, slapping his hand away, and began to cough, surprised at the sudden intrusion as she slept. She growled slightly as she sleepily looked up.

"Who the hell-" Her eyes widened as Johnny stood up, laughing. "Johnny!" she snapped groggily as she caught her breath, her death glare never leaving his face. He gave her an innocent expression as she shook her head.

"What are you doing?" she snapped as he sat on her desk, looking at her as if he hadn't tried to suffocate her.

"Trying to wake you up. Apparently, you sleep harder than Ben,"

"I'm going to disregard that stupid comment. Why are you trying to wake me up? It's only eight-thirty," she pointed out. She was more surprised that the young man was awake himself.

"Reed has some 'interesting' news," he explained as he threw up air quotations. Lily gave him a bitter stare and rolled her eyes. She sighed and ran her fingers through her silk-like hair. She slowly stood to her feet and sighed once more, looking over at Johnny. She stretched and nodded, heading out of the room, not before grabbing Johnny's hand, and dragging him out as well. He rolled his eyes, but didn't fight against her grip, and the two headed down the hall.

"Our uniforms were exposed to the storm like us, so they can transform, like us." Five figures stood in the sitting room, their old space uniforms back on their bodies. Lily frowned as she looked at herself in the mirror and turned back to Reed.

"You know, when I was helping you last night, this wasn't the result I expecting." Reed rolled his eyes as he ignored her comment and continued to explain his discovery.

"You guys look like an eighties rock band," Ben laughed as Lily gave him a playful glare.

"You know, Ben, this material stretches. I'm sure I can figure out a way to make it fit." Reed suggested. The bulkier man of the two laughed as he shook his head.

"Nah, I wouldn't be caught dead wearin' that," he insisted as he took a chug of his water. Lily sighed as she glanced down at herself and frowned more.

'What have I done to deserve this punishment?'

"I love these costumes." The four looked over at an enthusiastic Johnny as he grinned at himself. "They're missing something though, like some spice,"

Lily shook her head as she decided to ignore him and sit down on the couch. "They're not costumes."

"You can't just use your powers in public, Johnny," Susan reminded him as he gave them a tired look. He shook his head and turned around to face the mirror.

"You guys are worse than NASA."

"You could burn somebody," Susan pointed out as Johnny shrugged. Lily rolled her eyes and stood up, her sleepiness still not completely gone.

"I'm going back to bed, wake me up later," she stated as she began to walk up the stairs. Johnny smirked as he watched her walk up each step, the view more than perfect for him. Lily glared ahead as she felt Johnny's stare on her be hind.

"You're an idiot."

"Don't be like that!" Lily stomped away, leaving a laughing Johnny, and shook her head.

A soft voice hummed into the air as a pair of blue eyes smiled at the world. Susan sighed as she took a deep breath of fresh air and looked around the city, content with everything around her.

She hadn't been out for a few days, so it was nice to finally walk around and be able to interact with the people around her, or so she had thought.

"..What.." Susan quickly approached a magazine stand and her eyes widened as she stared at different magazines, the covers plastered with pictures of herself, Reed, Ben, and the two youngsters of the group.

"It's The Invisible Woman!" Susan looked around as she heard a voice call out her new name. She glanced around the small crowd that began to form around her and almost started to panic, the many faces causing her to feel cramped. She quickly walked away from the stand, hoping to escape without trouble, of course, hopeful wishing can only get a person so far.

"Look, my kid's a big fan of yours!"

"Please, can you give me an autograph?" As people began to crowd around Susan, she quickly span around and began to run away from her assailants. She glanced over her shoulder as she shook her head and began to shed her clothing.

"Why am I doing this again?"

'What is that obnoxious sound?' Lily slowly blinked her eyes open as she winced and looked around her room.

She had been sleeping for a couple hours, when something had rudely woken her up.

"What…" She listened closely as the thunderous rap music filled her ears. She growled, closing her eyes, and stood to her feet. She stomped out of her room as she walked across the hall and shoved a door open.

"JOHNNY!" she screamed as said man raised an eyebrow. He turned to face Lily, the only thing covering his body being a towel wrapped loosely around his waist. Lily's eyes widened as her mouth fell open and she quickly span around. Johnny smirked as he walked over to his stereo and turned the music down.

"Do you usually walk in on people that just get out of the shower?" Lily turned back around and glared at Johnny as he gave her a playful smirk.

"Why the hell do you have the music blaring?"

"Why are you walking in while I'm changing?" Lily blushed as she quickly turned around, closing the door behind her. She leaned against the hallway wall and shook her head.

"I was sleeping, you know!"

"I know."

"Ugh! You are so unbearable!" she snapped as the door opened, Johnny's head poking out to look at her.

"You love me."

"Hn, don't get ahead of yourself," Lily mumbled as Johnny laughed slightly, pulling himself back into his room.

"Did I really wake you up?" he asked as Lily rolled her eyes, walking into her own room.

"What do you think?" she snapped slightly as he chuckled quietly to himself. He pulled on a shirt and pants as he stretched and walked out of his room, walking carelessly into Lily's.

"I'll take that as a yes," Johnny remarked as he sat down on her bed. She rolled her eyes and pulled a shirt on, over her camisole. She walked into her small walk-in closet, and closed the door, not wanting Johnny to get any sort of glimpse of her. Johnny frowned as he watched the door close.

"No fair!"

"Shut up." Johnny chuckled as he glanced around the room and sighed.

"You know, the more I stay here, the more I feel like I'm in prison." Lily buttoned her dark jeans as her eyes softened and she walked out of her closet.

"They wouldn't force us to stay if it wasn't crucial," Lily said as she leaned back against her wall. Johnny shrugged as he stood up and began to walk out of her room.

"They worry way too much."

"And you never seem to worry enough," the raven haired girl argued. Johnny chuckled as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and dragged her out of the room.

"Touché."

Lily chuckled as she crossed her arms, slightly enjoying the warmth from his body. She glanced up at his chiseled face and glanced away. "…I guess I do get what you mean though." That caught Johnny's attention quickly. He looked down at her as Lily avoided his gaze. "It is annoying to have to be cooped all the time,.

"Thank you! I'm glad someone here understands!" Johnny exclaimed as Lily rolled her eyes.

"Doesn't mean I don't think they're right."

"Yeah, yeah." Lily smiled as she shook her head, Johnny glancing down at her with a smirk. The two walked into the kitchen, Reed, Susan, and Ben already sitting at the table. Johnny released his hold on Lily as he walked over to the counter, stealing the bowl of orange juice Ben had freshly squeezed.

"Alright people, lets make this quick. I've got a lot of places to go today." Lily rolled her eyes, waiting for the sarcastic comment to come as she took a seat on the other side of Ben, across from Susan.

"Oh wait, I don't go anywhere!" Johnny laughed fakely as Reed sighed.

"Johnny, it's imperative that we stay inside."

"I know, I know. It's just, when you said that last time, I heard a week." Lily tried to ignore Johnny's incessant complaining as she watched Ben try to eat with a fork, slightly entertained.

"What worries me, is that our powers are evolving."

"I know, I know! I'm so close to flying, guys. I can feel it." Lily scoffed at that as Johnny glanced down at the back of her head, rolling up his used napkin and lightly tossing it on to the counter.

"You can't fly," Susan chuckled as Johnny gave her a smirk.

"Yet."

"Johnny, can you put that out?" Johnny turned around and his eyes widened slightly as he finally noticed his napkin lit in flames. He quickly began to slap them away, only to make everything a bit worse. Lily rolled her eyes as she didn't bother looking back and began to concentrate on the faucet. The water turned on by itself and a large bubble over water popped over the flame, dousing it with ease.

"So what's going on, Reed? How are you gonna cure us?" Ben asked as Reed grabbed his chart. The four listened intently as Reed began to explain his master plan, the basic idea of his strategy simple, yet very complicated.

"What are the risks?" Susan asked as she flipped through Reed's diagrams. The scientist frowned slightly as he glanced at his roommates.

"The smallest miscalculation could increase our symptoms exponentially or perhaps even kill us."

"Now, dying is bad, right?" Johnny asked sarcastically as he took a seat next to Lily. She glared at Johnny as he gave her an innocent look. "I say we let sleeping dogs lie, guys."

"So, how long till this contraption is up and runnin'?" Ben asked, ignoring Johnny as Reed shook his head.

"I don't know."

"How long, Reed?"

"I don't know, I-"

"You don't know?" Ben shouted as he swiftly stood to his feet. Everyone's eyes softened as Ben's desperate look slight broke their hearts.

"You don't want this to get worse."

"Worse than that?" It was almost like a reflex, insulting Ben. Johnny didn't even have to think about it anymore, though he should have.

Lily elbowed the guy beside her as she gave him a "what the hell are you doing," expression. She looked over at Ben as she saw a dark glint in his eyes and she frowned, hoping the two would break it up.

"Guys! We're going to be stuck here for awhile, so why don't we try to get along, ok?" The two men eyed the other warily as Lily sat in the middle of them and sighed.

'This is going to be a long while…'