Opposites ➤ Johnny Storm

Chapter Eight

It's been about a week of us being stuck in the Baxter Building and cabin fever was driving us all insane. We were also getting on each other's nerves all the time. We were like a chemical mixture that was bound to explode any moment.

Ben was frustrated with how long plans were taking, Reed wasn't letting me help since I don't know much about genetics, Sue's getting annoyed at Reed, and Johnny just wants to leave. Not that I can really blame him. The tension during breakfast is so dense I don't think a knife could cut it.

"All right, I'm here. Let's make this quick. I got places to go today." And of course, Johnny has to add to it as he comes in. "Oh, wait. I don't go anywhere."

The only thing that isn't going badly is our friendship. And that is shown by him ruffling my hair as he walks by the table. "You know why you can't leave, Johnny. We don't need you burning down half of New York because you see a cute girl."

"I see you everyday and haven't burned anything. Well not accidentally."

"I knew you burnt my shirt on purpose! You're such a perv, Johnny Storm. And you wonder why we're keeping you away from the general public!"

Sue interrupted our banter to be the voice of reason that even I'm getting slightly tired of. "Johnny, it's too dangerous for you to be in public."

"You've been saying that for years."

"She's not wrong."

"Someone's feeling feisty today, aren't we?"

"Children!" The others were definitely running out of patience when it comes to our bickering. Reed hasn't scolded me since I almost broke his spectrometer in college. "What worries me is that our powers are evolving."

"I am so close to flying, guys, I can taste it."

Despite getting on their nerves, I couldn't just let that one slid. "You can't fly, dummy."

"Not yet, princess, but soon." He threw the napkin he was holding onto the counter and ended up setting it on fire. I quickly shot water at it to put it out before the flame could grow. Without saying a word, I raised a brow at Johnny in reference to him saying his fires were on purpose.

In response, he stuck his tongue out at me. We are so mature, aren't we?

"What's going on? How you gonna cure us?" No one could blame Ben for wanting a solution yesterday, but lately he's been snippy with Reed. He's even been a bit brisk with me.

Taking it in stride, Reed showed the plans for his next invention. "I'm gonna build a machine to re-create the storm. The cosmic rays will travel from this generator to this chamber."

"What, no pop-ups?" I shot Johnny a warning look since we finally had to get serious so we could hear the plan to reverse our...condition. He walked over to my chair and leaned against the back of it, signaling he'd at least try and behave.

"If I can reverse the wave signal, it'll return us back to normal."

"But what are the risks?" Having worked side by side with Reed in the lab before I knew from the look on his face he was withholding something from us. Something that definitely wasn't good.

"Even a small miscalculation could increase our symptoms exponentially...or perhaps even kill us."

"Now, dying, that's bad, right? I say we just let sleeping dogs lie, guys." Reaching up I lightly smacked his arm behind my head. Instead of showing remorse, he showed boredom by resting his chin on top of my head as we waited for the plan to continue.

"So, how long till this contraption's up and runnin'?"

"It's hard to say."

"How long, Reed?"