Fantastic Five || Johnny Storm

Chapter 22

The guests ran as Reed pulled them out of the way, the chopper barely staying up as the blades reduced the chairs to splinters. Sue ran forward, throwing up a shield before Veronica ran and froze the helicopter in place, setting it down before the tail blades could hit Alicia. 

 A silver blur then zoomed across the sky above them and Reed turned to Johnny. 

 "Johnny," he said, telling him what he had to do. 

"But this is Dolce," he said in response as he gestured to his suit. 

 Veronica just sighed, annoyed. "I got it," she said as she took off into the sky, grateful that she wore shorts under her dress as she chased the silver blur. 

 Veronica chased it towards the empire state building, surprised when Johnny appeared next to her, covered in flames. And they watched as a man, completely covered in silver emerged from the building as if he was coming out of water, before flying off on a silver surfboard. 

 "That is cool," Johnny said before he zoomed past the couple, and Veronica was inclined to agree before they went tearing after him. 

They chased him through the streets and into a tunnel, dodging trucks and buses as they flew after him, the Surfer going through the board, hanging onto it by his feet as he turned back to look at them. 

"Show-off," the couple said as the Surfer went through a bus, Johnny barely fitting between it and a truck while Veronica just flew over it.

After emerging from the tunnel, they chased him into the sky Veronica's hair streaming behind her, likely and tangled mess as they raced him around the Washington monument.

"Time to end this," Veronica said and her boyfriend nodded as they pushed themselves as fast as possible, rocketing across the world.

But the Surfer turned.

He knocked Veronica out of the sky with a blast of silver energy while he held Johnny by the throat.

"Veronica," Johnny moaned as his throat was crushed and the Surfer flew him high into the sky, almost out of Earth's orbit.

"Ok, you win," Johnny ceded as no air was cycled through his lungs and he struggled to breathe. 

The Surfer dropped him.

"Flame on?!"

But nothing happened as Johnny plummeted towards the Earth's surface.

"Come on. Come on. Flame on!" he yelled but still, no fire came.

Johnny braced himself for the impact that would likely kill him when he was suddenly stopped in mid-air.

His girlfriend hovered next to him, bleeding from her forehead but otherwise ok, as she flew them both back to New York from whatever desert Johnny had been about to crash land in, trying her absolute best to stay awake.

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"He was a man, completely covered in silver. And he flew on a surfboard, type thing. Look I know it sounds crazy," Johnny said to the assembled party in front of him. His team and the General's, his girlfriend passed out on a bed in Reed's lab after having promptly collapsed when she landed with him, her encounter with the Surfer taking its toll.

"Oh no, not at all," Ben said, still in his suit from earlier, shit open and vest and blazer gone. "So, did you follow the shiny man to Lollypop land or the Rainbow junction?"

"I saw him too Ben," came Veronica's voice and Johnny was about to rush to her side when Sue stopped him, handing him a glass of water as she told him to let Reed look at her first.

"Hey Ronnie, how you feeling?" Reed asked as he checked her pulse.

"Tired. Hungry, the usual," she said as Reed let go of her wrist.

"Your pulse is normal. No fever. No scrapes, other than the small one on your forehead. You seem fine," Reed diagnosed as he helped her sit up.

"Miss Von Doom, are you telling me that your colleague's description of the object is accurate?" the General asked.

"Yeah. We chased him down to DC before he knocked me out of the sky with a blast of energy. And then the next thing I remember is chasing after Johnny only to see him fall from the sky. And then it's just black."

"Ronnie, can you give me an analysis when he hit you with his power?" Reed asked.

"Ok, uh," she began as she tried to think. "It radiates cosmic energy when it exerts itself, randomly affecting matter, he cracked the Washington Monument. Power is projected like mine and Sue's. He, uh, he," she closed her eyes as she tried to remember, but it seemed as if every memory of him was fading.

"Hey, it's ok. That's plenty," Reed promised as he rubbed her back before turning to the General.

"Evidently this entity, this Silver Surfer, didn't want to be found and destroyed the sensor."

"It knew it was being monitored?" Sue asked in amazement and worry.

"And traced it back here. We're dealing with something highly resourceful," Reed continued.

The General nodded as Johnny groaned as he stood.

"Are you feeling ok?" Sue asked, voicing what Veronica was about to.

"Yeah. I just, gotta walk this off," Johnny said to his sister, winking at his girl who'd gone back to lying in her bed.

And Veronica succumbed to sleep.