(no subject)
Title: Fall of the House of Richards (Part 6)
Author: Diana
Rating: R
Summary: In the end, it wasn’t a supervillain that destroyed them.
Warnings: Slash, dark futurefic. Narrative structure borrowed from “Memento”. Multiple parts.
Disclaimer: The Marvel Universe would probably be a much nicer place if I ruled it. But I don’t, which is why we have fanfiction. :) I do, however, take credit for redesigning the Big Bad in this part. The song in the chapter’s title is by REM.
Edit: Oops, forgot the date!
Part 6: It’s The End of the World As We Know It
August 10, 2010
Armageddon had begun. And the only thought running through Johnny Storm’s mind was My God, Spidey has an amazing ass.
It wasn’t really his fault. He was still in denial. He’d always thought the end of the world would be more… colorful. Not some giant black sphere hovering over Manhattan. And in an effort to look anywhere but at that endless void, he found Spider-Man swinging into battle above him. And… oh yeah. The spandex thing was really working for him.
“Johnny! Move!” Reed shouted, and Johnny snapped back to attention just in time to dodge a hail of ice shards hurled at his head. They buried themselves in the street where he’d been standing a moment ago.
That would be Kryo, or “Frosty the Snow Bitch” as he called her. A blue-skinned, almost translucent female clad in white, she looked like Death frozen over. Which, in a sense, she was.
“FLAME ON!” Johnny shouted, lifting up into the air with the Water Herald giving chase. As he led her away, he made sure that the other three henchmen were occupied - Terrax was duking it out with Cyclops and Daredevil, using his axe to make flying fists out of asphalt; Sue, Ororo and Spider-Man (oh my GOD I’ve got to get his number if we get through this) had cornered the Air Herald on his silver surfboard; finally, Reed and Ben were dodging Nova’s fireballs, trying to get close enough to lay a hand on her.
He started counting down from twenty, like Reed planned. It was just him and the ice queen.
“SUBMIT TO THE WILL OF GALACTUS, INSECTS. I HUNGER, AND I MUST FEED.”
Oh, and that guy. Johnny risked a brief glance at the featureless colossal orb hovering over Manhattan and wondered what they’d do once they got past its guard dogs. According to Reed, this Galactus thing didn’t seem to have any mass, any structural weak points - but the energy readings seemed to indicate it could probably crack the Earth open like a coconut and slurp the insides out.
Four, three, two… one.
“Now!” Reed yelled, stretching himself across two lampposts on different sides of the street. Ben ran straight into his best friend, pushing as hard as he could before letting go. The slingshot effect catapulted Ben into the air.
“IT’S CLOBBERING TIME!” Ben hollered as he tackled the Surfer. A cyclone engulfed them as they plummeted towards the earth, slowing their descent.
With their opponent removed, the Invisible Woman and Storm turned their attention to Nova. With a gesture, the African mutant summoned a concentrated monsoon, instantly dousing the Fire Herald. As the alien woman staggered, Sue encased her in a force field, preventing her from lighting up again.
Now all Johnny had to do was melt Terrax’s axe, and let Cyclops take care of Kryo. As he darted towards the combatants, he could almost sense the Water Herald behind him.
“Summers!” he called. “Some help here!”
Cyclops turned, instinctively firing an optic blast at Johnny’s foe. As the crimson bolt lanced towards her, she clapped her hands together, forming a body-sized pane of ice.
As Johnny watched in disbelief, the beam struck the ice… and rebounded off it.
Heading straight to him.
“Hey! No fai…” he began, before the optic blast caught him full in the stomach. The blow hurled him backwards, helplessly spinning in the air.
Wait, was Galactus getting… bigger?
Oh, fu-
* * *
WHO ENTERS INTO THE PRESENCE OF GALACTUS, DEVOURER OF WORLDS? WHO TREADS WHERE NO OTHER LIVING BEING HAS DARED?
Um… hi. My name’s Johnny.
JONATHAN SPENCER STORM.
Okay… creepy. Now you sound like my mother.
WHAT ARE YOU, LITTLE ONE?
I’m… well, I’m human, I guess.
HUMAN… YET I SENSE A POWER WITHIN YOU, BORN OF COSMIC FLAME. DO YOU NOT TREMBLE BEFORE GALACTUS, THAT NONE HAVE STOOD BEFORE HIM AND LIVED?
Yeah, I’m scared. I mean, Reed says you’re going to destroy the whole world.
I HUNGER, AND I MUST FEED.
Isn’t there anything else you can eat instead? There’s this great place on Fifth…
MORTAL SPECK, YOU BORE ME. RETURN TO YOUR KIN AND PREPARE FOR OBLIVION.
Fuck you.
WHAT?
You heard me, Eight-Ball. I don’t care how powerful you are. I’m going to stop you.
THESE WORDS HAVE COME FROM MANY VOICES, MANY WORLDS. YET I ENDURE, AND THEY DID NOT. THEY EMBRACED MY WILL IN THE END, AS SHALL YOU.
Never. I’m not giving up. I’m not going to let you hurt them.
I HURT NONE. MINE IS THE GIFT OF THE VOID, OF PEACE EVERLASTING.
I don’t want the gift. Really, you can keep it.
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND, LITTLE ONE. I CAN SEE INTO YOUR HEART. IT IS NOT FOR YOUR OWN LIFE THAT YOU FIGHT, IT IS FOR THE LIFE OF YOUR LOVE.
What? You mean Spidey? Hey, I just met the guy! I know I’m kinda fast, but…
YOU KNOW OF WHOM I SPEAK. WHAT ARE YOU, LOST SOUL, TO CLING SO STRONGLY TO THAT WHICH IS NOT YOURS, NOR EVER SHALL BE?
… Reed. You’re talking about Reed.
WHY DO YOU LINGER HERE IN MISERY? DO YOU NOT WISH ESCAPE? DO YOU NOT CRAVE SERENITY?
Even if I did, that's not the point. I know… I know I’ll never get what I want. But… if you can really see me, then you know I’m okay with that. I choose… no, I want to live with my pain. I don’t care that I can’t have him. I’m here because I can’t have him.
YOU CHOOSE YOUR FATE? YOU, WHO IS INSIGNIFICANT? YOU, WHO IS BUT HUMAN.
Yeah… I guess so. I’m happy. I’ve got a life, and a lot of reasons to live it. I can deal with not having everything I want.
INDEED. AND CAN GALACTUS DO NO LESS? YOU HAVE BESTOWED UPON ME A NEW THOUGHT TO CONSIDER. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A MILLION YEARS, SOMETHING NEW. I THANK YOU, LITTLE ONE. ASK A BOON OF GALACTUS.
A boon? You mean, like, a favor?
YES.
Oh man… uh… I…
...
...
Reed says you can see everything. The future, the past… even other universes, things that could have been.
SUCH IS THE POWER OF GALACTUS.
Could you… could you show me a world where Reed and I… somewhere we’re together?
AS YOU WISH.
* * *
… and then I’m in my apartment, and Reed’s there with a guy who looks exactly like me. It all looks the same … and it bothers me to think that the world doesn’t have to be upside-down for this stupid crush of mine to come true.
They’re talking, but I can’t hear anything. It’s like watching a silent movie without subtitles. Too bad I can’t lip-read well.
I’m telling Reed something… something about messing up, and I think Ben’s name. But I - the other Johnny looks into Reed’s eyes and the next words are slow and deliberate:
“I’m glad it was you.”
Reed asks why, and I tell him. “Because I like you. A lot.”
We’re kissing now, and I pull my shirt off while dragging Reed to the floor. I’m on top of him now, taking my clothes off, and I watch them fuck and oh Jesus I want this so bad, I can feel it, I can almost feel him inside me. The other Johnny is rocking back and forth, begging Reed for more, and Reed rolls us over and I’m grinning like an idiot because at least somewhere out there, someone like me got what he wanted
* * *
“-nny? Johnny? Are you okay?”
Sue. Sue’s voice. Hard pavement against his back. Johnny opened his mouth, but for a few moments no sound emerged.
Finally, he managed to take a deep breath and reply. “Uh… yeah. I can’t see, but I’m okay.”
Ben sounded amused as he said: “Try opening your eyes, matchstick.”
Oh. That helped. They were standing over him - Sue, Reed and Ben. The other heroes were already dispersing.
Sue knelt down. “Can you stand?”
“You mean I’m not?”
Reed reached a hand out, pulling Johnny to his feet. The younger man stumbled, disoriented, but when he looked up he saw only a clear blue sky.
“Galactus…?”
Sue shrugged. “He just disappeared. The Heralds too. One minute we’re fighting, the next it’s like they were never here. Johnny, what happened?”
The Human Torch stared at his sister for a long moment, slowly realizing he had no idea. “Last thing I remember was hitting him with my face. Also, feeling really inferior.”
Reed looked thoughtful as he produced a pen-light from his boot and flashed it in Johnny’s eyes. “Short-term memory loss. Interesting. Looks like you got off lightly considering you went head-to-head with a cosmic entity… we should head back to the Baxter Building and analyze these readings.” Sue nodded, and she and Ben started following Reed back towards their home.
Johnny paused. “Uh… guys?”
The others turned back to him.
“Did I just save the world?”
end part 6
Author: Diana
Rating: R
Summary: In the end, it wasn’t a supervillain that destroyed them.
Warnings: Slash, dark futurefic. Narrative structure borrowed from “Memento”. Multiple parts.
Disclaimer: The Marvel Universe would probably be a much nicer place if I ruled it. But I don’t, which is why we have fanfiction. :) I do, however, take credit for redesigning the Big Bad in this part. The song in the chapter’s title is by REM.
Edit: Oops, forgot the date!
Part 6: It’s The End of the World As We Know It
August 10, 2010
Armageddon had begun. And the only thought running through Johnny Storm’s mind was My God, Spidey has an amazing ass.
It wasn’t really his fault. He was still in denial. He’d always thought the end of the world would be more… colorful. Not some giant black sphere hovering over Manhattan. And in an effort to look anywhere but at that endless void, he found Spider-Man swinging into battle above him. And… oh yeah. The spandex thing was really working for him.
“Johnny! Move!” Reed shouted, and Johnny snapped back to attention just in time to dodge a hail of ice shards hurled at his head. They buried themselves in the street where he’d been standing a moment ago.
That would be Kryo, or “Frosty the Snow Bitch” as he called her. A blue-skinned, almost translucent female clad in white, she looked like Death frozen over. Which, in a sense, she was.
“FLAME ON!” Johnny shouted, lifting up into the air with the Water Herald giving chase. As he led her away, he made sure that the other three henchmen were occupied - Terrax was duking it out with Cyclops and Daredevil, using his axe to make flying fists out of asphalt; Sue, Ororo and Spider-Man (oh my GOD I’ve got to get his number if we get through this) had cornered the Air Herald on his silver surfboard; finally, Reed and Ben were dodging Nova’s fireballs, trying to get close enough to lay a hand on her.
He started counting down from twenty, like Reed planned. It was just him and the ice queen.
“SUBMIT TO THE WILL OF GALACTUS, INSECTS. I HUNGER, AND I MUST FEED.”
Oh, and that guy. Johnny risked a brief glance at the featureless colossal orb hovering over Manhattan and wondered what they’d do once they got past its guard dogs. According to Reed, this Galactus thing didn’t seem to have any mass, any structural weak points - but the energy readings seemed to indicate it could probably crack the Earth open like a coconut and slurp the insides out.
Four, three, two… one.
“Now!” Reed yelled, stretching himself across two lampposts on different sides of the street. Ben ran straight into his best friend, pushing as hard as he could before letting go. The slingshot effect catapulted Ben into the air.
“IT’S CLOBBERING TIME!” Ben hollered as he tackled the Surfer. A cyclone engulfed them as they plummeted towards the earth, slowing their descent.
With their opponent removed, the Invisible Woman and Storm turned their attention to Nova. With a gesture, the African mutant summoned a concentrated monsoon, instantly dousing the Fire Herald. As the alien woman staggered, Sue encased her in a force field, preventing her from lighting up again.
Now all Johnny had to do was melt Terrax’s axe, and let Cyclops take care of Kryo. As he darted towards the combatants, he could almost sense the Water Herald behind him.
“Summers!” he called. “Some help here!”
Cyclops turned, instinctively firing an optic blast at Johnny’s foe. As the crimson bolt lanced towards her, she clapped her hands together, forming a body-sized pane of ice.
As Johnny watched in disbelief, the beam struck the ice… and rebounded off it.
Heading straight to him.
“Hey! No fai…” he began, before the optic blast caught him full in the stomach. The blow hurled him backwards, helplessly spinning in the air.
Wait, was Galactus getting… bigger?
Oh, fu-
* * *
WHO ENTERS INTO THE PRESENCE OF GALACTUS, DEVOURER OF WORLDS? WHO TREADS WHERE NO OTHER LIVING BEING HAS DARED?
Um… hi. My name’s Johnny.
JONATHAN SPENCER STORM.
Okay… creepy. Now you sound like my mother.
WHAT ARE YOU, LITTLE ONE?
I’m… well, I’m human, I guess.
HUMAN… YET I SENSE A POWER WITHIN YOU, BORN OF COSMIC FLAME. DO YOU NOT TREMBLE BEFORE GALACTUS, THAT NONE HAVE STOOD BEFORE HIM AND LIVED?
Yeah, I’m scared. I mean, Reed says you’re going to destroy the whole world.
I HUNGER, AND I MUST FEED.
Isn’t there anything else you can eat instead? There’s this great place on Fifth…
MORTAL SPECK, YOU BORE ME. RETURN TO YOUR KIN AND PREPARE FOR OBLIVION.
Fuck you.
WHAT?
You heard me, Eight-Ball. I don’t care how powerful you are. I’m going to stop you.
THESE WORDS HAVE COME FROM MANY VOICES, MANY WORLDS. YET I ENDURE, AND THEY DID NOT. THEY EMBRACED MY WILL IN THE END, AS SHALL YOU.
Never. I’m not giving up. I’m not going to let you hurt them.
I HURT NONE. MINE IS THE GIFT OF THE VOID, OF PEACE EVERLASTING.
I don’t want the gift. Really, you can keep it.
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND, LITTLE ONE. I CAN SEE INTO YOUR HEART. IT IS NOT FOR YOUR OWN LIFE THAT YOU FIGHT, IT IS FOR THE LIFE OF YOUR LOVE.
What? You mean Spidey? Hey, I just met the guy! I know I’m kinda fast, but…
YOU KNOW OF WHOM I SPEAK. WHAT ARE YOU, LOST SOUL, TO CLING SO STRONGLY TO THAT WHICH IS NOT YOURS, NOR EVER SHALL BE?
… Reed. You’re talking about Reed.
WHY DO YOU LINGER HERE IN MISERY? DO YOU NOT WISH ESCAPE? DO YOU NOT CRAVE SERENITY?
Even if I did, that's not the point. I know… I know I’ll never get what I want. But… if you can really see me, then you know I’m okay with that. I choose… no, I want to live with my pain. I don’t care that I can’t have him. I’m here because I can’t have him.
YOU CHOOSE YOUR FATE? YOU, WHO IS INSIGNIFICANT? YOU, WHO IS BUT HUMAN.
Yeah… I guess so. I’m happy. I’ve got a life, and a lot of reasons to live it. I can deal with not having everything I want.
INDEED. AND CAN GALACTUS DO NO LESS? YOU HAVE BESTOWED UPON ME A NEW THOUGHT TO CONSIDER. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A MILLION YEARS, SOMETHING NEW. I THANK YOU, LITTLE ONE. ASK A BOON OF GALACTUS.
A boon? You mean, like, a favor?
YES.
Oh man… uh… I…
...
...
Reed says you can see everything. The future, the past… even other universes, things that could have been.
SUCH IS THE POWER OF GALACTUS.
Could you… could you show me a world where Reed and I… somewhere we’re together?
AS YOU WISH.
* * *
… and then I’m in my apartment, and Reed’s there with a guy who looks exactly like me. It all looks the same … and it bothers me to think that the world doesn’t have to be upside-down for this stupid crush of mine to come true.
They’re talking, but I can’t hear anything. It’s like watching a silent movie without subtitles. Too bad I can’t lip-read well.
I’m telling Reed something… something about messing up, and I think Ben’s name. But I - the other Johnny looks into Reed’s eyes and the next words are slow and deliberate:
“I’m glad it was you.”
Reed asks why, and I tell him. “Because I like you. A lot.”
We’re kissing now, and I pull my shirt off while dragging Reed to the floor. I’m on top of him now, taking my clothes off, and I watch them fuck and oh Jesus I want this so bad, I can feel it, I can almost feel him inside me. The other Johnny is rocking back and forth, begging Reed for more, and Reed rolls us over and I’m grinning like an idiot because at least somewhere out there, someone like me got what he wanted
* * *
“-nny? Johnny? Are you okay?”
Sue. Sue’s voice. Hard pavement against his back. Johnny opened his mouth, but for a few moments no sound emerged.
Finally, he managed to take a deep breath and reply. “Uh… yeah. I can’t see, but I’m okay.”
Ben sounded amused as he said: “Try opening your eyes, matchstick.”
Oh. That helped. They were standing over him - Sue, Reed and Ben. The other heroes were already dispersing.
Sue knelt down. “Can you stand?”
“You mean I’m not?”
Reed reached a hand out, pulling Johnny to his feet. The younger man stumbled, disoriented, but when he looked up he saw only a clear blue sky.
“Galactus…?”
Sue shrugged. “He just disappeared. The Heralds too. One minute we’re fighting, the next it’s like they were never here. Johnny, what happened?”
The Human Torch stared at his sister for a long moment, slowly realizing he had no idea. “Last thing I remember was hitting him with my face. Also, feeling really inferior.”
Reed looked thoughtful as he produced a pen-light from his boot and flashed it in Johnny’s eyes. “Short-term memory loss. Interesting. Looks like you got off lightly considering you went head-to-head with a cosmic entity… we should head back to the Baxter Building and analyze these readings.” Sue nodded, and she and Ben started following Reed back towards their home.
Johnny paused. “Uh… guys?”
The others turned back to him.
“Did I just save the world?”
end part 6