The wind tore across the open terrain. Dust swirled behind two fast-moving shadows that streaked over the sun-baked ground.
Yelena was ahead by half a bike length, crouched low over the handlebars. Her matte-black machine humd like a beast on a leash, suspension eating every bump in the uneven terrain like it wasn't even there. The heat didn't faze her. Neither did the roaring engine just behind her.
Johnny Storm was close. Too close. The engine roared as he gunned it harder.
He gritted his teeth behind the helt. Sand sprayed past his visor. The sun beat down on his back. Yelena wasn't even breaking a sweat.
"Co on, co on," he muttered. "I am not losing to a blonde in eyeliner."
She glanced back, her braid snapping in the wind like a flag of victory.
Johnny growled and twisted the throttle to max. The engine howled. The bike surged forward, cutting into Yelena's lead. The speedoter flickered red. He passed ninety... then one hundred... then more.
Yelena's smirk vanished. She leaned in. Her bike's reactor kicked up a level, sending out a visible heat shimr as she pulled ahead again.
They hit the halfway point and spun around a dry riverbed, just outside the town. A sharp drift. Dust clouded the air as both riders skidded and powered into the turn.
Heading back now. Horizon Base was just visible in the distance.
Yelena widened her lead.
Johnny slamd his hand down on the console. "Oh, co on!"
His vision blurred slightly. The heat wasn't just from the bike. His arms were burning. Tiny flickers danced along his sleeves. Gold-orange licks of fire crawled over his shoulders, trailing from his skin like smoke from a fuse.
"What the hell..." he started, but his voice broke off.
The flas spread fast.
It started at his fingertips, then crawled up his arms, along his chest, and down his legs. His whole body glowed. The air around him shimred. His visor darkened automatically, trying to compensate for the light.
The fire didn't hurt.
But the bike couldn't handle it.
The engine coughed. The wheels buckled. A sudden hiss burst from the energy coils and the tal beneath him warped, the temperature spike frying the stabilizers.
"Uh-oh—"
The bike snapped sideways at two hundred kiloters per hour.
It exploded in sparks and shattered plating as it slamd into a low ridge. Johnny was thrown through the air, a cot in human form. He hit the sand, bounced once, rolled, then skidded to a smoking halt.
A deep trench carved itself in the dirt behind him.
Silence.
Then...
A gasp.
Johnny stirred.
His eyes opened slowly, blinking against the intense light still glowing off his skin.
He wasn't dead.
In fact, he wasn't even scratched.
The fire just disappeared as if soone turned off the switch. But more importantly, he was now naked, and the bike was in flaming scraps.
"Ah! Crap! She's gonna kill ."
...
[Back to the base] [d bay]
Tony reviewed the latest scan on a floating screen. Holographic layers of Johnny's body rotated slowly, data streams glowing across his skeletal structure and vascular system.
Johnny sat on the edge of the exam table, wrapped in a thermal blanket, legs swinging like a bored teenager waiting for bad news. He had a slight smirk on his face.
Tony tapped a few commands, watching the cosmic energy levels fluctuate.
"Well," Tony said, "your vitals are fine. No burns or any type of internal injuries. Heart rate's a little high, but I'm chalking that up to ego and adrenaline."
"Don't forget raw talent," Johnny said with a grin.
"Good luck explaining that to lina," He turned the display to show Johnny.
"Moving on to you. So, here's the deal. The cells of a normal human body convert energy from foodstuffs into a form of energy usable by the body, adenosine triphosphate. The cosmic ray bombardnt triggered a specific genetic code rearrangent that caused your ATP production sites to generate a new form of energy-containing molecule dubbed adenine ribo-heptaphosphine. This complex molecule is a much more efficient fuel source and not only provides ordinary bodily energy but also contains large stores of latent chemical-bonding energies."
"Wow! Wow! Stop with that long explanation. Give the short version," Johnny said, raising his hands.
"In short, you can turn into a living plasma and control fire," Tony said, closing the console. "It's unstable now, but the rhythm's syncing. Given a few days, your body will learn to regulate the output. You'll stop lting your pants every ti you get excited."
Johnny raised an eyebrow.
"That a dical term?"
"Only when you're the patient."
Tony stepped back and crossed his arms.
"Question is... can you do it again?"
Johnny shrugged and lifted his hand. He flicked his fingers like he was snapping a lighter.
A fla burst to life above his index finger. It hovered there, dancing just above his skin, flickering like a living ember. Warm light reflected in his eyes.
Ben grumbled from the corner. He was hunched over in a reinforced seat, arms crossed, legs like two massive tree trunks. His voice rumbled like gravel in a cent mixer.
"Lucky bastard."
"You jealous, Big Red?" Johnny asked, still watching the fla.
Ben didn't respond. Just scowled.
Sue stood near the table, arms crossed, eyes locked on her brother. There was tension in her shoulders. Like, she knows him better than anyone, and she probably knows what he was planning to do with that power.
"Don't play with it, Johnny. You barely know what it is."
Johnny turned to her, still smiling. He closed his hand slowly, and the fla winked out. Then he flicked his fingers again, and another wisp of fla appeared over his fingers. He was grinning like a kid who just discovered the taste of an ice cream.
"Relax. I'm not gonna go nuclear. Not unless soone brings up karaoke night again."
Sue didn't smile. Her eyes stayed serious.
"Promise you won't be reckless with it."
"I promise," Johnny said. Then added, "Mostly."
She shot him a look.
Tony stepped in between them before the sibling deathmatch could restart.
"Look," he said. "The point is, we're two for four now. Ben's rock solid. Johnny's running a personal bonfire. That storm rearranged our genetic codes. I don't know what the final form looks like yet, but I know this..."
He turned to the screen.
"We're not normal anymore. And we never will be. But thanks to Johnny's power, I can create the cure for Ben even faster."
Silence hung in the air for a mont.
Then Johnny leaned back and grinned.
"So… does this an I get a cool na now?"
"No," Ben said imdiately.
"Fla King? Torch Lord? Burn Master?"
Sue groaned.
"You're going to be impossible to deal with now, aren't you?"
"Already was," Ben said.
Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"I swear, if you na yourself anything with the word 'fire' in it, I'm revoking your dessert privileges."
Johnny grinned wider.
"You just lit the fuse, Stark."
Tony pointed toward the hall.
"Out. All of you. I need to recalibrate the scanners before soone else decides to spontaneously combust."
Johnny hopped off the table, still shirtless, still glowing faintly under the skin.
"Best. Checkup. Ever."
Ben followed him out with a muttered, "Showoff."
Sue lingered a mont, glancing at Tony.
"Keep an eye on them, please, Sue," He said with a sigh.
"Yeah, I'll keep an eye on them."
She nodded, then turned and followed the others.
Tony stayed in the d bay, eyes on the screen, watching Johnny's residual fla signature slowly fade. He tapped one last command and archived the scan.
Then he whispered to himself.
"Two down. Two to go."
...
[Evening] [Living room]
Tony stepped into the living room with a cup of coffee. He took one sip, rounded the corner, and stopped.
Johnny was on the couch with an ice pack pressed to his eye. A large purple bruise was already blooming across his cheekbone.
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Let guess. lina?"
Johnny didn't move the ice pack. He just grunted.
"She said I disrespected the bike's soul. I said the bike was already dead. Then I winked. And now I look like this."
Tony took another sip.
"Fair."
Ben was in the reinforced corner seat again, watching sothing on the TV. Sue sat at the table, a tablet in hand, scrolling through the latest system sync reports. She glanced up when Tony entered.
"Sothing wrong?"
Tony walked over, sat in the chair across from her, and set his cup down.
"No. Actually… maybe sothing very right."
Johnny peeked out from behind the ice pack. "Please don't say we're flying back into the sun."
"No sun," Tony said. "But I've been thinking about what triggered your transformation."
Ben turned the volu down on the TV.
"You an him turning into a fireworks factory?"
Tony pointed at Johnny.
"He awakened during the race. When he pushed his limits. Stress, adrenaline, danger. His body responded to a survival-level threat. What about you, Ben? Anything you rember?"
Ben quickly pointed his finger at Tony, "I had a bad nightmare last night."
"Yeah, nightmare works too," Tony said as he put the cup down on the table.
Sue narrowed her eyes and stood up, "If we can recreate such situations, then..."
Before she could finish speaking, Tony took out a handgun out of nowhere. Sue's eyes widened. He shot her. Sue, caught by surprise, raised her arms. A faint blue shield appeared, but instead of a bullet, a little jet of water ca out, striking the shield.
Everyone was stunned and silent...
Then...
"Mr. Stark," Sue said, her left eye twitching.
"Miss. Storm," Tony was already backing down.
"I just had a mini heart attack."
"I'm sorry about that."
"Oh, no. Don't worry. I'm gonna hit you now. Just a tiny bit. Please accept it," She narrowed her eyes and launched forward.
Tony ran.
"No, thank you. I'm good."
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