Factors to be Considered
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zMisplaced Stories [ADMIN use only] › Fantastic Four
Rating:
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Chapters:
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Category:
zMisplaced Stories [ADMIN use only] › Fantastic Four
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
4
Views:
270,585
Reviews:
29
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own The Fantastic Four, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Factor #5: Acceptance
Sorry guys, took a bit longer than expected. Thanks for the reviews they were very inspiring :)
Chapter 4 – Factor #5: Acceptance
It was around 8 am the next morning when Reed woke up alone in the uncomfortable hotel bed. The rest of the night had passed rather uneventfully, much to Reed’s disappointment. Johnny, as far as Reed knew, was still in the bathroom. Reed stretched painfully, hearing his back pop a few times.
‘Not even my elasticity is any match for that god awful bed,’ Reed thought, ‘Ah well, time to go see if Johnny is still here or if he flew back home.’
Reed reached out and knocked lightly on the closed bathroom door receiving a bit of unintelligible mumbling from the other side.
“Johnny?” he called softly.
When he got no response Reed slowly turned the handle and entered the bathroom. Reed nearly collapsed laughing at the scene in front of him. Johnny, still wrapped in a sheet from the bed was curled up in a very burnt looking bathtub.
Reed tilted his head and stretched out his arm to quickly tap his slumbering teammate on the shoulder.
“Hn?” Johnny muttered, closing his eyes tighter, “I dun wanna get up yet.”
Reed peered down at his watch, “Well, you don’t really have a choice. We have to be out of here in an hour.”
Johnny grumbled a reply and gave Reed a dirty look as he clambered out of the bathtub, nearly ripping the shower curtain down as he did.
“Great! Well, just go ahead and get dressed and then I think I saw an IHOP across the street!”
“Reed,” Johnny sighed, “You are way too chipper in the morning.”
Reed just gave Johnny a warm smile and nodded.
After checking out and getting a bite to eat, the pair headed towards a warehouse about half an hour away. The warehouse was where they were directed to pay for and pickup the telescope pieces Reed needed.
“So,” Johnny said slowly, breaking the silence, “D’you know this guy…”
“Not really” Reed answered, never taking his eyes of the road.
“… did you at least talk to him on the phone or something? Write him an email?”
“Not really.”
“So, you have absolutely no idea who this guy is?” Johnny said looking at Reed incredulously.
“… not really,” Reed said frowning. For once Johnny had actually made a legitimate point.
“Dude, what if this guy is a drug dealer? Or maybe he’s baiting us here cause he hates The Four!”
“…baiting?”
“Yeah… ye know, like luring.”
“I know what baiting is,” Reed replied angrily, “But I don’t think anyone is ‘baiting’ us here… plus, he’s Canadian.”
“What?!”
“What? I’ve heard from many people that Canadians are generally very nice.”
“…”
“What?” Reed cried indignantly, “I have!”
“We’re gonna get killed!”
“Some Canadian scientist guy is not going to kill us, Johnny!”
“How do you know he’s a scientist, huh? Actually, come to think of it, how do you even know he’s Canadian?!”
“… look, he’s not going to kill us… so just …calm down.”
“Fine, I’ll try to calm down, but at least tell me you know his name?”
“Of course I know his name! Jeez, do you think I’m an idiot?”
Johnny just gave him a blank stare, “So?”
“It’s Paul Smith, happy?”
Johnny raised an eyebrow suspiciously, “Sounds fake to me.”
Reed just sighed, “Well, we’re here. So, let’s just get the equipment and get back home.”
“Dude, you freakin’ never listen to me,” Johnny whined eyeing the large plain building that they were walking towards, “I think maybe we should call the guy, get some real I.D., maybe some references, and…”
“Oh, hey there, eh!” laughed a short pudgy man decked out in plaid, “You Richard Reed?”
“Actually, it’s Reed Richards.”
“Oh, sorry about that,” he smiled extending his arm into a hand shake, “You’s guys here to look at the telescope parts I’s got, eh?”
“Yes, of course,” Reed said with a big smile, then he leaned back towards Johnny and whispered, “And you said he wasn’t Canadian!”
Johnny just looked sulky.
“Well, here they are,” the man said in his ridiculous northern accent.
At the sight of the equipment Reed’s eyes lit up like a child’s when they see a new toy that they just can’t live without. Reed picked up one of the pieces looking it over dreamily.
“This is perfect, exactly what we need, and this piece will do nicely for… oh, and this will be good, too…” Reed went rambled on.
Reed had just finished completely analyzing a flawless piece of glass that he was planning to use for the lens when he heard an odd thud behind him. Reed’s eyebrows knit together in confusion as he turned around to inquire what the sound was. To Reed’s surprise, the chubby Canadian man was gone and Johnny appeared to be unconscious on the ground.
Reed hurried to Johnny’s side and turned him over to lie on his back on the cement floor. When he did Reed caught sight of a small silver and red dart that appeared to be embedded in Johnny’s arm.
“What the,” Reed muttered before feeling a sharp pain in his torso. Then everything went dark.
***********************
Reed slowly opened his eyes and stared drowsily upwards. Then, with a grunt he stiffly pushed himself up into a sitting position. Reed slowly gazed around the dank room.
‘Cement walls, only one light, a heavy duty metal door with a huge lock, and it would be really pushing things to even call that a window,’ Reed thought trying to keep down his panic.
“Oh! Johnny! Are you okay?” Reed said inquisitively having just noticed the other man.
Johnny had his back against one of the walls and his legs tucked up to chest. He rubbed his arms with his hands irregularly.
“Johnny?” Reed questioned softly.
Johnny seemed to snap out of his trance like state, “Whoa, look who’s awake,” Johnny said with a grin, “I was starting to wonder about you, Mr. Canadians-are-nice-people-and-this-is-in-no-way-a-trap.”
“You okay?” Reed said, ignoring the last comment, his voice overflowing with concern.
“Take it easy, man. I’m fine… just really cold.”
“Feels fine in here to me,” Reed replied moving closer to Johnny and feeling his forehead.
Johnny pushed his hand away playfully, “I said ‘I’m cold’, old man, not ‘I’m sick’.”
Reed shrugged, “You don’t feel feverish to me… wait a sec!”
Johnny sighed, “Yup, have you tried stretching?”
“You mean you don’t have your powers!?” Reed sputtered as he attempted to extend his arm. His eyes went wide with shock as his arm stayed the same length as it was.
“Yea, it sucks, big time,” Johnny muttered rubbing his arms to try and get warm again.
“Well, maybe I can repay the favor you gave me last night and try and warm you up,” Reed said jokingly and inching toward Johnny.
Johnny chuckled but didn’t move away, “Nah, I think I can handle this myself. Plus, we wouldn’t want a relapse of last night.”
“Look,” Reed began suddenly getting serious, “I didn’t mean to… I dunno… to… well, what was that exactly anyway?”
Johnny gave Reed a mischievous look.
“I dunno… but I enjoyed it,” he replied honestly.
Reed’s jaw dropped, “Wha… then why did you? And the bathroom?”
Johnny shrugged, “Ye kinda took me by surprise… and I thought maybe you’d wanna kick me out of the Four for kissing you, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that you were the one who started it.”
“Oh, well, so, you’re okay with…”
“Look, man, I don’t think this is exactly the best possible time to be talking about... this… we really need to figure out how to get out of this box and how to get our powers back,” Johnny replied in a serious voice, but Reed was sure that he detected panic behind the statement.
Reed nodded in agreement and started to search along the walls. Johnny jumped up and started copying Reed’s actions. After about an hour of randomly feeling along the four walls that made up their cell the lock on the door clicked. Both men turned to stare at the newcomer.
Through the door stepped a very smug Dr. Doom.
........................................................ to be continued (as usual)
Keep reviewing... I love feedback :)
Chapter 4 – Factor #5: Acceptance
It was around 8 am the next morning when Reed woke up alone in the uncomfortable hotel bed. The rest of the night had passed rather uneventfully, much to Reed’s disappointment. Johnny, as far as Reed knew, was still in the bathroom. Reed stretched painfully, hearing his back pop a few times.
‘Not even my elasticity is any match for that god awful bed,’ Reed thought, ‘Ah well, time to go see if Johnny is still here or if he flew back home.’
Reed reached out and knocked lightly on the closed bathroom door receiving a bit of unintelligible mumbling from the other side.
“Johnny?” he called softly.
When he got no response Reed slowly turned the handle and entered the bathroom. Reed nearly collapsed laughing at the scene in front of him. Johnny, still wrapped in a sheet from the bed was curled up in a very burnt looking bathtub.
Reed tilted his head and stretched out his arm to quickly tap his slumbering teammate on the shoulder.
“Hn?” Johnny muttered, closing his eyes tighter, “I dun wanna get up yet.”
Reed peered down at his watch, “Well, you don’t really have a choice. We have to be out of here in an hour.”
Johnny grumbled a reply and gave Reed a dirty look as he clambered out of the bathtub, nearly ripping the shower curtain down as he did.
“Great! Well, just go ahead and get dressed and then I think I saw an IHOP across the street!”
“Reed,” Johnny sighed, “You are way too chipper in the morning.”
Reed just gave Johnny a warm smile and nodded.
After checking out and getting a bite to eat, the pair headed towards a warehouse about half an hour away. The warehouse was where they were directed to pay for and pickup the telescope pieces Reed needed.
“So,” Johnny said slowly, breaking the silence, “D’you know this guy…”
“Not really” Reed answered, never taking his eyes of the road.
“… did you at least talk to him on the phone or something? Write him an email?”
“Not really.”
“So, you have absolutely no idea who this guy is?” Johnny said looking at Reed incredulously.
“… not really,” Reed said frowning. For once Johnny had actually made a legitimate point.
“Dude, what if this guy is a drug dealer? Or maybe he’s baiting us here cause he hates The Four!”
“…baiting?”
“Yeah… ye know, like luring.”
“I know what baiting is,” Reed replied angrily, “But I don’t think anyone is ‘baiting’ us here… plus, he’s Canadian.”
“What?!”
“What? I’ve heard from many people that Canadians are generally very nice.”
“…”
“What?” Reed cried indignantly, “I have!”
“We’re gonna get killed!”
“Some Canadian scientist guy is not going to kill us, Johnny!”
“How do you know he’s a scientist, huh? Actually, come to think of it, how do you even know he’s Canadian?!”
“… look, he’s not going to kill us… so just …calm down.”
“Fine, I’ll try to calm down, but at least tell me you know his name?”
“Of course I know his name! Jeez, do you think I’m an idiot?”
Johnny just gave him a blank stare, “So?”
“It’s Paul Smith, happy?”
Johnny raised an eyebrow suspiciously, “Sounds fake to me.”
Reed just sighed, “Well, we’re here. So, let’s just get the equipment and get back home.”
“Dude, you freakin’ never listen to me,” Johnny whined eyeing the large plain building that they were walking towards, “I think maybe we should call the guy, get some real I.D., maybe some references, and…”
“Oh, hey there, eh!” laughed a short pudgy man decked out in plaid, “You Richard Reed?”
“Actually, it’s Reed Richards.”
“Oh, sorry about that,” he smiled extending his arm into a hand shake, “You’s guys here to look at the telescope parts I’s got, eh?”
“Yes, of course,” Reed said with a big smile, then he leaned back towards Johnny and whispered, “And you said he wasn’t Canadian!”
Johnny just looked sulky.
“Well, here they are,” the man said in his ridiculous northern accent.
At the sight of the equipment Reed’s eyes lit up like a child’s when they see a new toy that they just can’t live without. Reed picked up one of the pieces looking it over dreamily.
“This is perfect, exactly what we need, and this piece will do nicely for… oh, and this will be good, too…” Reed went rambled on.
Reed had just finished completely analyzing a flawless piece of glass that he was planning to use for the lens when he heard an odd thud behind him. Reed’s eyebrows knit together in confusion as he turned around to inquire what the sound was. To Reed’s surprise, the chubby Canadian man was gone and Johnny appeared to be unconscious on the ground.
Reed hurried to Johnny’s side and turned him over to lie on his back on the cement floor. When he did Reed caught sight of a small silver and red dart that appeared to be embedded in Johnny’s arm.
“What the,” Reed muttered before feeling a sharp pain in his torso. Then everything went dark.
***********************
Reed slowly opened his eyes and stared drowsily upwards. Then, with a grunt he stiffly pushed himself up into a sitting position. Reed slowly gazed around the dank room.
‘Cement walls, only one light, a heavy duty metal door with a huge lock, and it would be really pushing things to even call that a window,’ Reed thought trying to keep down his panic.
“Oh! Johnny! Are you okay?” Reed said inquisitively having just noticed the other man.
Johnny had his back against one of the walls and his legs tucked up to chest. He rubbed his arms with his hands irregularly.
“Johnny?” Reed questioned softly.
Johnny seemed to snap out of his trance like state, “Whoa, look who’s awake,” Johnny said with a grin, “I was starting to wonder about you, Mr. Canadians-are-nice-people-and-this-is-in-no-way-a-trap.”
“You okay?” Reed said, ignoring the last comment, his voice overflowing with concern.
“Take it easy, man. I’m fine… just really cold.”
“Feels fine in here to me,” Reed replied moving closer to Johnny and feeling his forehead.
Johnny pushed his hand away playfully, “I said ‘I’m cold’, old man, not ‘I’m sick’.”
Reed shrugged, “You don’t feel feverish to me… wait a sec!”
Johnny sighed, “Yup, have you tried stretching?”
“You mean you don’t have your powers!?” Reed sputtered as he attempted to extend his arm. His eyes went wide with shock as his arm stayed the same length as it was.
“Yea, it sucks, big time,” Johnny muttered rubbing his arms to try and get warm again.
“Well, maybe I can repay the favor you gave me last night and try and warm you up,” Reed said jokingly and inching toward Johnny.
Johnny chuckled but didn’t move away, “Nah, I think I can handle this myself. Plus, we wouldn’t want a relapse of last night.”
“Look,” Reed began suddenly getting serious, “I didn’t mean to… I dunno… to… well, what was that exactly anyway?”
Johnny gave Reed a mischievous look.
“I dunno… but I enjoyed it,” he replied honestly.
Reed’s jaw dropped, “Wha… then why did you? And the bathroom?”
Johnny shrugged, “Ye kinda took me by surprise… and I thought maybe you’d wanna kick me out of the Four for kissing you, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that you were the one who started it.”
“Oh, well, so, you’re okay with…”
“Look, man, I don’t think this is exactly the best possible time to be talking about... this… we really need to figure out how to get out of this box and how to get our powers back,” Johnny replied in a serious voice, but Reed was sure that he detected panic behind the statement.
Reed nodded in agreement and started to search along the walls. Johnny jumped up and started copying Reed’s actions. After about an hour of randomly feeling along the four walls that made up their cell the lock on the door clicked. Both men turned to stare at the newcomer.
Through the door stepped a very smug Dr. Doom.
........................................................ to be continued (as usual)
Keep reviewing... I love feedback :)