Hey everyone! I'm glad you all like the story so far! I've been thinking up an end cause it's getting there =P but I think I'll be making sequel! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you all enjoy this one. If you have any suggestions or comments, just let me know!
Disclaimer: I don't own FF or the characters
Ignite
Chapter Eleven: Conflict
'What the hell are you thinking, you damn idiot!' Lily paced back and forth as she stared at the TV screen with a very baffled look on her face.
If she knew Johnny, and she did know him, he was heading straight to the stadium for the X-Games.
"God! How could I have let this happen! Susan specifically put me in charge for this exact reason!" Lily snapped at herself as she stood in front of the large television. She bit her nails as she tried to think of a way to handle the situation.
She could tell everyone that Johnny had left, but that would get not only herself in trouble, but Johnny as well, and for some reason, she really didn't want to have to do that. She could also just go out and get him herself, but she knew that if she did do that, it wouldn't work and the situation would probably only get worse.
"Alright everyone, put your hands together for a special guest." Lily's pupils dilated as she heard the host speak up. She stared at the screen as she prayed to God.
'Please, PLEASE, don't let it be-'
"Mr. Johnny Storm!"
"Damn it." Lily watched as Johnny rode his motorbike and flew through the air, his experience showing through his moves. For a second, she had forgotten about her rage towards the man and was distracted by his skill.
"He's not half ba-oh, what am I saying!" she snapped as she crossed her arms and glared at the screen.
"Come on, John! That's old school! Show us something new." At that statement, Lily could already see what was going to happen, and there was absolutely nothing she could do. 'Johnny, if you have any sort of intelligence you won't-'
"Hey, where's matchstick? And what are you watchin'?" Lily span around as she saw Ben walk into the room. It looked as though he had just woken up from his nap and was looking for some company. Lily, too flabbergasted to think, stood with a weak smile on her face. Ben raised a brow as he leaned over to the side to look at the screen.
"…Is that…Johnny?" Ben's eyes widened as Lily held her arms up.
"I can explain-" Lily's mouth fell open as she watched Johnny let go of his bike.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?"
Ben stood there with the same shocked look on his face as Lily gapped at the TV. The two watched as Johnny lit himself on fire and began to soar through the air for a short moment.
"Johnny!" Lily said with a gasp. She and Ben watched as Johnny began to fall to the ground. She winced as he fell hard, into the dirt.
Everyone in the crowd stared as they waited for Johnny to get to his feet. He groaned loudly as he pulled his helmet off, the plastic slightly melted. He stared up as the crew loomed over him, wanting to make sure that he was still in one piece. "It's good, I'm ok," he mumbled as he quickly stood to his feet.
"He's ok! He's alright!" Lily sighed as she watched the Host motion towards the perfectly safe Johnny.
"That damn moron!" Lily snapped as she shook her head. She sighed and rubbed her forehead, a tiny smirk on her face.
'The bastard's lucky, that's for sure.'
Ben shook his head as he looked over at Lily with a disappointed look on his face. She looked back at him and immediately frowned, feeling a bit ashamed of herself. "Ben-"
"You know, he's starting to rub off on you," he snapped, throwing Lily off guard.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she exclaimed as she followed after Ben, who began to make his way towards Reed's lab.
"Why do you think you just let him go, without even sayin' a word to the punk?"
"If I had known he was going to leave, I would have-"
"The kid's got a one-track mind, you knew he'd end up tryin' to get out," Ben pointed out. Lily's hand balled as her anger began to boil.
"That's not fair, Ben!"
"Alright then, if you're so convinced you ain't like the kid, why didn't you go and tell Reed and Susan that he went off like an idiot?"
Lily stared at Ben with a shocked and flustered expression.
She tried to think of an answer, but couldn't say a word. She, herself, was confused at her own behavior. It wasn't like her to speak out against Ben. He was someone she really trusted and believed in and for her to actually feel angry towards him made her unsure of everything. Everything was becoming so dysfunctional so quickly, Lily just couldn't get her head together.
Ben rolled his eyes as he began to walk towards the lab. Suddenly, before she could think, a wave of rage drove through Lily's body and soul.
"Maybe I didn't say anything because I understand how he feels!" Ben stopped as he looked back at Lily. "Being cooped up in here isn't the best thing, you know! It's not fair that we have to stay in here just because yo-" Lily stopped herself and covered her mouth as Ben blinked a few times, not able to actually register the whole situation. The two stood in silence for a moment as everything settled in, their hearts beating rapidly for two different reasons.
"…Ben-"
"Now I really know the kid's rubbed off on you," Ben snapped bitterly. Lily shook her head as she took a few steps towards the man.
"No, Ben! I didn't mean to say, what I meant was-"
"You made it pretty clear." Ben turned around and stomped towards the lab, not giving Lily a second glance. The woman leaned against the wall and fell to her knees, taking shallow breaths. She closed her eyes and frowned.
"Way to go, Lily."
"Please, guys!" Lily tried to break through everyone's shield as the four heroes made their way towards the stadium.
After revealing Johnny's whereabouts to Reed and Susan, the four immediately went after the boy, in hopes of doing some damage control.
In matters of seconds, Johnny had become the face of the superheroes, Fantastic Five. He had even taken the liberty of giving everyone names. He called himself Human Torch and Susan, Invisible Girl. He named Reed Mr. Fantastic and gave Lily, Tide. The worst name of all names was Ben's, his being The Thing. After that, Ben had decided to go show Johnny exactly how he felt, Susan and Reed following after to also talk to Johnny.
"Guys, I'm sorry! Please-" Lily immediately stopped as all three adults turned to her, giving her a cold stare. She bit her lip as she watched the three approach the stadium, Johnny coming out with a crowd around him and a lady in each arm.
"There he is," Susan pointed out as she and Reed quickly walked up to Johnny. Lily sighed as she glanced over at Ben to see him smirk. She followed his gaze and her eyes widened.
"Ben-" He turned his head and gave her a cold glare. She sighed, frowning.
"Johnny!" Susan snapped as she and Reed walked beside the "Human Torch."
"Can we talk about this later, Guys?"
"No, we can't talk about this later." As the three began to bicker, Lily did nothing but watch, not sure what else to do. She glanced over at Ben and her eyes widened as she saw the work he had done.
"Ben-" She stared as the man tossed Johnny's now crunched of car, the ball of metal landing right in front of the three. Johnny gawked, not able to form coherent sentences. Ben laughed slightly as he tossed the license plate at Johnny's head. It hit him with perfect aim, catching everyone's attention.
"You think that's funny, Pebbles?" Johnny snapped as Ben began to stomp his way towards the boy. Lily released a frustrated sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair.
"You know, you're the face of the new Fantastic Five?"
"A face that's about to be broken!" Ben yelled as he rolled his hand up to a fist.
As the argument grew worse, Lily began to feel more and more ridiculous. She reflected on her past behavior and Ben had been right, Johnny had rubbed off on her. What bothered her the most about the situation, was the fact that, deep down inside, she didn't mind the fact that he had rubbed off on her. She actually liked the feeling, and that was something Lily could never and would never say out loud, ever.
She watched, helplessly, as Johnny and Ben broke into an actual fight, Johnny slamming into a billboard. Lily's eyes widened as she took a step forward, but stopped herself from going any further.
On one hand, Lily wanted nothing more than to punch Johnny senseless for his utter stupidity and insensitivity, but on another, she wanted everyone to leave him alone.
'I must be an idiot!' Lily shook her head as she listened to the endless chaos around her. Finally, the arguing stopped, Ben and Johnny more than revolted by the others existence.
The raven haired woman watched as Ben began to walk past her. She gave Ben a torn look as he did nothing but shake his head. She closed her eyes, feeling defeated as Susan walked past her, following after Ben. Lily looked over at Reed as he matched her gaze. His eyes softened as he nodded and looked over at a very angry Johnny.
"What?" Johnny snapped as he felt Reed's gaze on him. The young man walked around his ruined car and kicked it lightly, his disappointment rising.
"You need to control yourself," Reed said, sounding more tired than angry with the boy. "You should think before your act."
"But see, that's your problem! You always think, but you never act!" Johnny exclaimed as he turned to face a shocked Reed.
"What if we got these powers for a reason? What if it's like, some 'higher calling'?"
"Oh, higher calling?" Reed snapped as he shook his head. "A higher calling like getting girls and making money?"
"Is there any higher?" As Johnny asked the rhetorical question, Reed looked over at Lily, a disgusted look on her face. Johnny followed the scientist's gaze and immediately his gaze fell.
"Lily-"
"Don't come near me!" Lily snapped lowly.
Johnny took a step towards her as she took one away from him. His heart raced as he saw the distance between the two. He didn't like it, not one, single bit.
Lily shook her head as she glared daggers at him. "You are disgusting!" she snapped as Johnny tried to intervene.
"Lil-"
"Shut up!" she shouted, her pent up anger now pooling out of her.
"You…I…" She was so angry at, not only Johnny, but at herself, she couldn't really form a sentence that made sense.
"Have you been listening to yourself? You sound like a complete idiot!" she snapped, deciding to ignore everything around her.
Johnny felt his whole chest constrict as he saw the most painful look on Lily's face. He frowned as he took a step forward and shook his head. He hadn't felt disappointed about his actions until he had seen the look on her face. He couldn't believe that he was the one who had done something to make her look so disturbed.
"Hey, if you'd just let-" Lily pushed Johnny away as he tried to grab her shoulders to calm her down.
"Don't touch me!" she snapped.
"Do you know how stupid you made everyone feel? How stupid you made me look?" Johnny glanced over at Reed as the man glanced back at him, his eyes agreeing with Lily's words.
Lily laughed with ice in her voice as she shook her head and rubbed her cheeks. "I should have known!" she muttered as she shook her head.
"You know, I actually tried to stick up for you! I tried helping you out because, for some strange reason, I thought you deserved it! And you know what? That was a huge mistake!" Lily hadn't felt this angry in her entire life, she was livid.
"And then, I said those horrible things to Ben." She held her forehead in her hands as Johnny frowned. Before he could say anything, Lily continued on.
"Ben was right," she said quietly. "You did rub off on me, and you know what? I couldn't be more disgusted with myself!"
Johnny stood in the middle of the street in silence as the crowd just murmured amongst themselves, not really understanding the situation at hand. Reed stared with sadness in his eyes, the emotion in Lily's eyes seeming too familiar to him.
"You are a pathetic excuse for a person and a friend, especially a friend." Not bothering to give the "Human Torch" a second glance, Lily walked away, shaking her head.
"Have fun with your higher calling."
The two men watched as Lily pushed her way through the crowd, not wasting another breath on Johnny.
"…I-"
"Don't," Reed said quietly, giving Johnny a warning glance. The fire boy couldn't stop himself from frowning as he stared in Lily's direction. Reed sighed as he began to follow after the girl, not giving Johnny a second glance. Before he disappeared into the crowd, the scientist looked back at Johnny with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Just think about everything, Johnny." And with that, Johnny found himself standing by himself, feeling a bit more lonely than he thought he would.
"Ben!" Said stone man didn't move an inch to look over his shoulder as he continued to make his way down the sidewalk, ignoring the strange glances from other people around him. He held his breath as he counted to ten over and over again, he wasn't sure how long he would last before exploding at everyone giving him a strange look.
Susan quickly ran up beside Ben as she placed a warm hand on his stone-like shoulder, wanting to show some sort of sign that she was with him.
"He didn't mean it! You know Johnny, he's always been a hothead."
"It ain't him, IT'S THEM!" Ben shouted, releasing a tiny bit of his held up frustration and anger. Susan's eyes softened as Ben began to walk down the sidewalk again.
"I can't live like this," he muttered as Susan tried to think of something to make the man feel a bit better.
"Just give Reed a little more time! You know how he is! Always analyzing every little thing."
"Well, it's easy for you to be patient-"
"No it's not!" Susan protested, catching Ben's full attention. She gave Ben a very exhausted expression as sadness seeped through every pore of her face. "I thought I was done waiting for Reed, but..I…" Ben's eyes softened for a moment as Susan shook her head.
"We're all in this together."
"Together? Susie, look at me. You have no idea what I'd give…" Susan's brows furrowed as she frowned more at Ben's distraught face. "..What I'd give to be invisible." Susan's jaw clenched shut as she tried to find the words to say to make all of their problems disappear. She watched helplessly as Ben slowly walked away, his hope slowly draining from his body.
'Ben..'
"Lily!" Said woman ignored her name as she continued to quickly walk down the sidewalk. She didn't dare look back because she knew, she knew if she did, she would just regret it.
"Lily, come on!" Reed frowned as he tried to get the girl to face him, but she only continued to ignore him. Finally, after calling out her name a few more times, Reed caught up to her, grabbing her wrist and jerking her to a stop. They stood in the middle of an empty parking lot, neither wanting to be the first to break the silence.
"Hey." Lily stood silently as Reed frowned, looking down at her frowning face.
"…I didn't mean to let Johnny-"
"We know," Reed said softly. He smiled a little one and tilted Lily's face to look up at him.
"That's the first time I've ever actually seen you scream at someone before." Lily laughed slightly as she shook her head and sighed.
"…Felt kind of liberating," she mumbled as Reed smiled. Lily frowned as she shook her head and found tears welling up in her eyes. Reed's eyes softened as he shook his head and quietly shushed her.
"It's alright." He wrapped his arms around the girl as Lily began to sob. Reed sighed as he felt the fragile woman's body tremble in his arms.
"Everything's all…messed up!"
"Don't worry, once I get the generator going everything will be back to normal," he assured as Lily shook her head, hiding her face in his chest.
"It won't be, though! It's not even about our condition anymore!" she said as Reed release her from his hug. He stared down at Lily as she avoided his gaze. His eyes softened as he realized what was really bothering the woman.
"…Don't worry." He hugged her once more as she sighed. "Everything's going to work out."
"How do you know?" she asked quietly as Reed smiled.
"Because I know you."
Lily smiled slightly as she felt a small wave of relief run through her. She couldn't have asked for better friends, well, with one exception. "..Thank you, Reed."
For the moment, Lily would sit with her closest friend and pretend nothing else existed, no problems, no fights, no genetic mutations, just herself, and then maybe life would unravel itself for the better.