Wow, just WOW! The response to the last chapter was incredible, beyond anything I could have hoped for! I'm so sorry this took so long, I'm extremely busy with play rehearsals at school and homework, blah, blah, blah. I would love to write a personal thank you to all my reviewers, but it would just take so much time that I'm only able to respond to a select view. I'm so sorry. But I love all of you, and thank you so much for the support. Here is the next chapter of:

Cosmic Storm

By Robinyj

Infinite white light, darkness, explosions, vision expanding, encompassing millions of miles, in the same instant vision retracting and magnifying down to the atom. Beauty, cruelty, expansion, simplicity, understanding - it was all there. He saw everything. He knew everything. And then …

"Johnny!"

The transfer was complete, but the connection was severed abruptly when Sue ran up the last few steps onto the roof and immediately created a forcefield in between Johnny and the Surfer, forcing them apart. They hadn't told the rest of the Fantastic Four what they had been planning, therefore when Sue saw the Surfer glowing and her brother screaming as he was bombarded with white energy, she could only imagine he was under attack.

Norrin dropped to one knee, exhausted and disoriented from what he had just done and from having their connection disrupted so abruptly. As for the Human Torch, he was completely unable to support himself. When the connection was lost he stumbled backwards, very close to blacking out from being so overwhelmed; he would have crashed into the ground if Sue hadn't transferred her forcefield to catch him instead.

"Johnny!" Sue yelled again as she ran towards her brother and knelt by his side. "Johnny, can you hear me? Are you all right?"

Johnny could hear her, but also thought he could hear every sound in the universe. He was breathing hard, gasping as if his lungs were bottomless and simply couldn't get enough oxygen, and his eyes were wide, staring straight ahead at nothing but seeming to see more than anyone else.

At the door Reed hung back for a moment to try to get a grasp on the situation, but Ben was quick to move menacingly towards the Silver Surfer.

Grabbing the former-Herald by the shoulder, Ben slammed the Surfer into the wall of the stairwell casing and had to fight the urge not to slam his fists into him, "What the hell do you think you're doing? The world's gonna end in a few hours and you decide this is a good time to take us out? I knew it, you did lead that thing here didn't you? You're working for it!"

Norrin had no response as he was gasping for oxygen as viciously as Johnny was. When he didn't reply Ben pulled back a fist, angry beyond all reason for what he saw as an unprovoked attack - after all, only he got to mess with the matchstick!

"Why you …."

"Ben … no!" Johnny shouted, speaking in starts as he continued to try to pull in oxygen. "I asked … him to …"

"What?" Sue asked, now cradling her brother's head. "Why? What were you thinking?"

It was as if she hadn't spoken. Johnny continued to look into the sky, his eyes wide with disbelief and astonishment, so much so that Sue was starting to think his gasps for breath weren't from pain, but it was more like he was being amazed by something he saw, over and over again.

"Johnny."

"Sue … I see everything … it's …."

"I know Johnny, you flew around the world, you saw everything. Now, what were you doing up here with Norrin?"

"No, not just the world," Johnny corrected her as his breathing seemed to finally even out. "I can see everything, every molecule, every atom, and beyond that, past the stars … it's beautiful. And it all fits together, connected, everything, it's all one."

"What the heck did you do to him?" Ben asked the Surfer harshly as he pushed him up against the wall once more. "He's talking gibberish … wait a minute, why are you still here?"

"You are holding me here," Norrin replied, he didn't have the strength to fight Ben after what he had just done. Truly, he no longer had the strength to take on any of the members of the Fantastic Four, especially its youngest.

"That's never stopped you before. I mean, we didn't take your board or anything so why aren't you running away, shifting through walls or something?" Ben pointed out, trying desperately to figure out what was going on.

"The beacon no longer belongs to me, it goes with the master of the Power Cosmic, the Herald of Galactus, a position I no longer hold," Norrin explained.

"Yeah, then who holds it?" Ben asked before thinking it all through.

"Johnny," Reed answered before Norrin could pull in a breath. He had been standing in the doorway this whole time, observing and his genius mind had easily pieced it all together. "Johnny has the power cosmic."

Reed wasn't asking a question, but Norrin nodded anyway. Sue and Ben looked astonished, and in response the Thing released his grip on the Surfer as Sue slowly helped her brother to his feet, not knowing what to say.

"Johnny?"

Johnny's breathing was now completely normal and he stood up straight and tall. He looked his teammates in the eyes and they were astonished at the serene calmness there, along with a deeper, wise sparkle in his eyes, which shifted to the Surfer before he addressed his friends.

"Norrin, thank you. It's … it's incredible, the entire universe laid out before you so simply … You've given up so much for us, thank you for being willing to do this, to risk even more," Johnny said, his voice now deeper as his body was adapting to its new power.

"Do what? What's he talking about Matchstick," Ben demanded, as the implications of everything so far were too much to take in.

"It's true, I have the power cosmic, I needed it," Johnny answered, then he looked at Sue, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I couldn't risk that you might try to stop us."

"What? So, you've just decided to take on this amazing power without telling us? To fly around the universe and see even more?" Sue asked, looking from her brother to the Surfer and back. "Why would you do this? The world's going to end and you're just going to leave us?"

A great sadness replaced Johnny's wise glimmer as he affectionately pushed his sister's hair behind her ear, "No Sue, I'm going to save you."

"Save me? How? If Norrin can't then you can't. Johnny, what's going on?" she demanded.

"You know what's happening, you just don't want to face it. There's only one reason why I would take this power and you know that, only one reason why I wouldn't tell you what I was doing: I'm going to stop this, I'm going to save everyone."

Tears pricked Sue's eyes, "What about you?

Regret joined the sadness pooling in the depths of Johnny's eyes, "You can't save me Sue. Not this time. I'm sorry, but this is going to be a one way trip I'm afraid."

With these words Johnny extended his arm and flexed his fingers. The Fantastic Four watched in amazement as Norrin's silver board responded to Johnny's call and moved to hover inches above the ground in front of him. "I've already said good-bye. I'll miss you all, and I'm sorry, but there's not much time."

Johnny stepped onto the board and smiled sadly to his sister as he whispered, "Flame on."

Instead of the usual shifting, roaring flames Johnny's entire body began to radiate with pure white light that seemed to be coming from his very core. The board did the same and everyone shielded their eyes for a moment until the light lessened. Johnny nodded to his teammates and without a word the board lifted him into the air and turned to take off.

"No!" Sue shouted as she created a forcefield directly in his path. Johnny stopped the board and put a hand against the field, then turned back to his sister. "There has to be another way, just wait … Norrin can …."

"He can't. I have to, I'm the only one that can. Sue, you have to let me go," he said softly. He easily could have passed through the field, as Norrin had done months earlier, but he knew she was already feeling vulnerable and he couldn't take away from her the little power she thought she had in the situation.

"No, you can't just leave like this. You can't leave me, you're my family … we're each other's family." The forcefield dissolved as the tears finally fell and Sue lost her emotional composure. Johnny didn't take the opportunity to leave though, he flew the board directly in front of her and took her hand into his glowing one and looked her in the eye.

"I'll try to come back, I promise, I'll do everything I can. But this thing has to be stopped or there'll be nothing for me to come back to. I'd never leave you alone Sue, you have Reed and Ben, they'll take care of you. You're so strong Sue, you don't need me anyway, but the world does."

"I do need you," Sue corrected him. "I need my stupid kid brother."

"And I need to take care of my stupid older sister for once. I have to go."

A pause as she nodded, "I know."

Her head was down now, looking at the ground to hide her tears. Johnny smiled as he put a finger under her chin and lifted up her head to look at him, "I love you." The board started to glide smoothly away from her as Johnny finally started to take flight, "Smile sis, I'm gonna be a star."

Then he turned in mid-air, set his focus on the sky, knew where he had to go and set off for space, leaving his world, life and family behind him.

"Good luck, Kid," Ben muttered as Johnny took off. He and Reed had not wanted to intrude on the siblings' farewell and had stayed silent throughout their exchange, but they had heard everything and knew exactly what Johnny and Sue were being asked to give up.

Sue kept from completely breaking down until she felt Reed's hand fall on her shoulder. She turned into his chest and collapsed, trying to find any kind of comfort while she cried.

"Shh, it's all right. He'll be all right," Reed said, though he was far from certain about it.

"It won't be all right. He didn't tell us what he was doing because he knew we wouldn't let him, because he wouldn't be coming back. He's not coming back," she cried, then turned to Norrin and demanded accusingly, "Is he?!"

Norrin shook his head sadly, "The Gorgun are without thought or emotion, only an instinctual hunger and powerful drive for survival. Johnny should succeed in saving your world, but it is unlikely he will have the strength to return."

"Why?! Why, you coward!?" Sue's grief had quickly changed to anger and she tore herself from Reed's arms to pound on the Surfer's chest, "Why him?! You said you couldn't fight the Gorgun! You meant that you wouldn't, because you were afraid, so you sent my brother! Why?"

Norrin allowed her to hit him until she exhausted herself as her blows did not affect him and when she collapsed against him he put a hand on her shoulder, "Susan, I said I could not fight the Gorgun, which was the truth, and even with the power cosmic, your brother cannot fight it either."

"Then where's he going?" Ben asked for all of them.

"Johnny Storm is not going to fight the Gorgun," Norrin told them. "He is going to feed it."

Sue looked so upset.

Johnny had only had a few minutes so far to try to adapt to his new powers and abilities, but the Power Cosmic was such that its master innately knew how to completely control it. In truth the Power Cosmic was not omniscient as it seemed, the limits of its abilities were finite, but it consisted of amazing power, mainly of understanding and the manipulation of matter.

We've relied on each other for so many years, I don't think either of us realized how much we need the other.

As he flew into the ionosphere Johnny instinctually understood everything about his surroundings, the composition of atoms in the atmosphere, the exact barometric change in the air as he flew higher and the chemical composition and temperature of the space around him. He didn't have to access this knowledge, he simply felt and knew all of it.

But she'll survive without me, she's strong. She has Reed and Ben, and if I don't do this she won't survive at all. That's not an option.

The ability of the Power Cosmic was that of manipulation. Johnny understood all chemicals, all scientific equations and had the power to change and manipulate anything he came into contact with, into anything else, into what he most needed. The power was such that he barely noticed as he automatically changed the entire physiology of his own body to be able to survive in the cold recesses of space as easily as he had lived on Earth. And so he flew from the atmosphere of his home and headed to face the greatest challenge of his life.

The Gorgun.

If that means I have to become the world's biggest buffet for this Gorgun, then so be it. The world will survive. My sister will survive, even if it is without me.

Johnny flew directly into the massive entity's path, stopped and waited. It was very close, only a few hours away from the sun, and only a few minutes away from him. He was running out of time, but there was time. With one final look of longing he turned to Earth and remembered everything and everyone he loved about it and was almost overwhelmed by what he was about to sacrifice, but he also knew exactly what he was about to save, and it was so much more important. He turned to watch the Gorgun's approach - it was a trillion microscopic lifeforms travelling together across the universe, with no face, no personality, but he could feel its hunger, its drive for sustenance, fire, energy - and that's exactly what it was about to get.

It's lunchtime you great mass of destruction, you.

All thoughts of Earth, home and family left Johnny's mind as he focussed entirely on the task at hand. At drawing in every loose particle and atom in the area towards him and manipulating everything into what he needed - helium, hydrogen, and so forth, but he didn't need to call in a catalyst, he was more than enough. The energy built inside him and he kept it in, could feel it churning and growing until he felt his body might be pulled apart by it, but he had to make sure it was enough, he only had one chance.

People used to say I wasn't too bright. Wait until they see me now.

Everything was ready - fuel, mass, energy and the Gorgun was almost upon him. As the energy inside him built to its peak he saw only one face, pushing him to give everything to ensure this worked, even his life. It was the face he knew best in the world, and the one he would miss the most. Power and energy ripped through him, igniting, living through only his will, and he had to remain to ensure it was enough to satisfy the great beast that was barreling down on him.

Good-bye Sue.

Flame on.

"What do you mean he's going to feed it? As in, feed himself to it?" Reed asked in response to Norrin's cryptic reply.

"The Gorgun come to feed off the heat and energy of your star and from it will take the energy needed to sustain their journey through the universe and into the next star system. However, the Gorgun are not insatiable and will not devour all to the point of extinction if there is an excess of what they desire," Norrin said, though his answer was clear to Reed it was obvious Sue and Ben were slightly confused.

"So, if Johnny can create enough heat and energy to satisfy the Gorgun's needs in this system, it will move on and leave the Sun untouched and life in this solar system will continue uninterrupted," Reed clarified.

"Yes, but the energy, the strength that will be required to create and maintain such a mass is incredible by all standards. Johnny Storm must be willing to push himself, perhaps even beyond the boundaries of the Power Cosmic," Norrin continued.

Though the Surfer's explanation was calm, Sue's emotions were still in turmoil and the despair she felt at the sacrifice her brother was making was coming out as anger and confusion.

"But why Johnny? You said he has the Power Cosmic now, but so did you and you didn't say anything about this. You could have done this, or one of us, it didn't have to be my brother!"

Again, Norrin took no offense to her anger, "It did Susan. He understood the terms of this plan of action and accepted them, which is fortunate, as he is the only being on your planet capable of any chance of success."

"Why's that? What can Johnny do that your fancy Power Cosmic can't?" Ben asked, who was angry, like Sue, that they had not been told of Johnny's plan, or given the chance to sacrifice himself in Johnny's place.

"The Power Cosmic is beyond explanation - it is great knowledge, insight. The ability to understand how everything in the universe functions together. This ability magnifies the natural powers of its bearer. My people are scientists, explorers, which is why I was an ideal choice for Galactus's herald, to seek out worlds for his hunger. Johnny Storm creates flame and fire all on his own, the very essence of the Gorgun's life force, and with the Power Cosmic this ability will be increased a thousand fold. Only he will be able to create and maintain what even I could not, a living star."

"That's impossible," Reed muttered, earning stares from Ben and Sue. "Do you have any idea how big the sun is? How massive? It's mind-boggling to even think about, its mass alone is equal to more than 300, 000 planets the size of Earth, it's … it's simply impossible. The heat, the volume, it's … it's just incomprehensible."

"It is the task your team mate has set out to accomplish to save your world," Norrin explained.

Sue suddenly chuckled sadly to herself and drew a confused stare from Reed and Ben, "Smile sis, I'm gonna be a star' that's what he said to me. I didn't think he meant it literally."

Before Reed could comfort her once more the roof's occupants all flinched and shielded their eyes as a massively bright light overtook the entire landscape. The initial intensity lasted only a moment, but when it was done the sky was brighter than it had been a moment before and the temperature had raised almost instantly several degrees. When their eyes finally adjusted to the brightness, everyone's gaze traveled to the sky, and the members of the Fantastic Four gasped at what they saw.

"He did it," Sue muttered, tears stinging her eyes from the light, as well as from pride and sadness.

"A second sun," Reed said in astonishment, "It's … it's not possible. The energy output necessary, the mass … the power required would be extraordinary, to maintain it would be almost impossible."

"Johnny loves doing the impossible," Ben commented.

Indeed, there in the sky was the impossible. Johnny had created a second sun of almost equal size to the original, but appearing even larger to those on Earth because it was several thousand light years closer than the original and also in the direct path of the Gorgun.

"I have to get to my lab," Reed announced. "The repercussions of this are incredible. Two stars of such mass occupying one galaxy in space … it defies all physics, it …"

"Reed, that's Johnny out there, trying to save the planet, not some science experiment for you to study," Sue admonished him, for which he was good enough to hang his head.

"You're right, I'm sorry. Let's … let's go to the lab anyway. We can patch into the satellite feed and observe the Gorgun's approach to see what happens to Johnny," Reed suggested solemnly.

Sue had her arms wrapped tightly around herself, despite the sudden rise in temperature from Johnny's sun, and nodded as she started towards the stairs. Ben wasn't far behind her but Reed hung back to ask the Surfer a question.

"Norrin, I have to ask you something. Please don't think I'm not grateful for what you've done for us, but I have to say that I'm surprised you'd be willing to give up your powers like this, especially after we took them away from you, and what Victor did with them. I'm just amazed you'd be willing to trust a human with a responsibility like this, especially Johnny, it doesn't seem like we've proven ourselves worthy enough of your trust to have earned this."

Norrin thought for a moment before his reply, "Johnny Storm has proven himself worthy of the opportunity to save his world, as I was given the choice to give up my own, in order to save it. Doom was an evil force of your world that your team overcame, proving that goodness exists in humanity. In this, Johnny showed he has the physical and mental ability to withstand great power, such as he did when he absorbed your powers to stop your enemy. Most importantly though, Johnny Storm does not covet power that is not his own, which was obvious to me when he immediately returned your abilities to each of you when he no longer had need of them. In truth, Reed Richards, the reason I feel strongly that I may trust Johnny with this responsibility is that your teammate does not crave power as your enemy did. He merely wants the power to save humanity, and those important to him, which is something I could not deny him."

Reed nodded at this, amazed that he had never once noticed these deeper qualities in Johnny that the Surfer had picked up on right away. Johnny was just so boisterous all the time, so cocky and playful, it was easy to forget there was a serious side underneath his light exterior.

"Thank you, for giving him the chance. We can only hope he succeeds," Reed replied as he led the way to the lab once more.

"Of that I have no doubt."

"Reed, get down here and work this gizmo, we can't see a thing!"

"Coming Ben," Reed promised with a sigh. He raced down the stairs, knowing if he left Ben to try to figure out how a piece of machinery worked, it was very likely to get smashed in the process. Just as he worried, he came in to see Ben two seconds away from putting his fist through the monitor that he couldn't get to change images. "Ben, wait! I've got it, just one second."

Reed sat down at the console and typed in a few commands. The camera on the satellite shifted perspectives panning across open space, but when it got closer to Johnny's star the screen became completely white.

"Hey, what's going on? Why can't we see anything?" Ben demanded. Reed held up a hand to calm him down before he spared a quick glance at Sue, to see she still had her arms wrapped around herself and was struggling not to explode with anxiety as she waited for the image to show her what was happening to her brother.

"Johnny's sun is burning as hot and bright as the original, I'm filtering out the excess UV light so we can see what's happening. There!"

The screen suddenly came into focus and they could see the massive sun Johnny had created and was maintaining. At least, they could see most of it, as it was too large to entirely fit onto the screen. Reed pulled the image back a little, and they saw more of the sun, but they also cringed when they saw the Gorgun quickly approaching. The huge sparkling mass of life forms was heading straight for Johnny's sun, reaching for him hungrily. Their appetite was almost insatiable and it was Johnny's job to feed them all he could, no matter what the strain or how hard it became.

Sue turned away, she couldn't watch. Her brother had been given the power of the cosmos, the power to do almost anything, and the only option he had to do with it, was to sacrifice himself to save everyone on the planet from extinction. She could bear knowing that he was giving up his life to save the planet, but she couldn't stand to see her brother devoured, as much as she needed to know what happened.

Reed and Ben however could not turn away from the monitor, what was happening was too important, too encompassing. The entire world depended on what they were watching happen but they knew it was best that Sue had turned away because the Gorgun were starting to feed.

TBC

Not my favorite chapter, but necessary to get to the fun stuff that is coming, which I'm very excited about. And I know it takes 8 minutes for light from the sun to reach Earth, so technically they shouldn't have seen Johnny's sun within the amount of dialogue I provided, but we'll just say it's super-light that goes faster than light. As for my super reviewers, you are all incredible, amazing people, and I love you! I unfortunately don't have time for personal responses to each of you so I'd like to thank : Ashley, SuNkIsSt, marissa, Pog Mahon, nyxlily, you wish you knew me, heartfallen, dietwater, kelseyg, maya, supernatural16, Frozen waterz, LuffysAngel, silverangel83, Danii x2, Susan, Kanny, burnbabyburn123, MeaghanA, Templa Otmena, Twilight Kitsune for your wonderful reviews. And now just a quick note to those of you that wrote something that especially touched me. Thanks so much!

Dark-Angels-Tears - Your threat was very motivational, as I could not bear to be responsible for the loss of your feet. I like capitals, keep using them. Thanks for the review.

Siyavash - Wow, one of the best reviews I've ever gotten. Seriously. It is amazing to think that I made you like a character you didn't enjoy before. I find some people write Johnny really childishly and as a comic reader it bugs me a lot because Johnny has a lot of depth that they do show in the comics quite a bit. I'm very glad you now like Johnny, but you'll have to wait and see what happens to him. Muhahahah.

Rebell - Lol, yeah, I stopped there. I love the cliffhanger, I gotta say. This chapter was actually going to be a page shorter than it is now, but the ending was intense enough so I had to write a little more. It's still not too bad though, I think. In all I think there will be four or five more chapters - there's going to be complications to this simple plan, as will be revealed later. I'm quite excited about them. Hope you survive, thanks so much for the review!

Miarath - thank you for reviewing all the chapters and not just skipping to the last, it was greatly appreciated. And everything you said was so nice, it was short but it was heartfelt and meant a lot. I hope this continues to meet people's standards.

German Girl - You're awesome too. I was also surprised how well those good-bye scenes turned out. Glad you're enjoying.

Pinkchick - Thanks so much. It took awhile to get those inner feelings scenes just right and I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying them. Yeah, Johnny's a master at hiding those feelings until he really can't anymore. Hope you're still enjoying.

Iaveina - Glad there wasn't too much backstory. This cliffhanger doesn't seem nearly as bad to me as the last one but I might not be a good judge since I know what's going to happen. Hahahaha. Ebil me.

Moogsthewriter - There is going to be about four or five more chapters, chock full of what I hope will be surprises. They will be angsty, and they will hopefully rock. Thanks for the review.

Kuriei137 - It's gonna be pretty cataclysmic if all goes all planned. I'm so glad you enjoyed the last chapter, I spent a lot of time on that Johnny and Ben scene so it's good to know that everyone appreciated it. Hope you'll be sticking around for the exciting events to come!

That is it for now. I don't know when they'll be more, but it's a long weekend coming up, you can always hope!!! There will be four or five more chapters before the story ends, so don't walk away thinking Johnny's going to save the world and leave it at that. Nothing is ever that simple for our team. Stick around to find out what happens. Thank you all again, you inspire me to keep writing (you, and Chris Evans's hotness. Mmmmmmmmm). Later, Robin.