Opposites ➤ Johnny Storm

Chapter Twenty Five

I put my head against Johnny's chest as my tears flowed faster. His arms tightened around me and I could tell I wasn't the only one of us crying. Sue was his older sister, his only family, and she showed me what it meant to have a real friend. Now we were both about to lose her. All of us were about to lose the one person that held us together.

His voice was slightly hoarse as Johnny spoke, "He's here." I moved my head and followed his gaze to the sky. There was a giant dark cloud moving towards Earth. We knew it was Galactus as we watched the black hole move closer. And in that moment we also knew we had to fit him, without Sue.

"Reed?" He didn't even turn at Ben's voice. Reed just stared at Sue, not crying just in shock. She was trying to smile at him and be strong, but we all knew how much pain she was in.

There's no way he's going to be able to help us with the love of his life...dying. So it was up to the rest of us. "Doom's gotta have a pulse emitter linking him to his board. We take it out, we can separate him from his board."

Johnny released me and ran his hands through his hair. Rubbing his arm, I tried to comfort him as I switched our powers back, not comfortable without mine in this situation. "He's too strong for me."

"I could whale on him if I get close, but he could see me coming from a mile away."

Frustration was even stronger than my heartbreak as I felt hopelessness creep into my heart. "It would take all of us."

"Or maybe just one of us."I knew exactly what Johnny meant and it made me sick to my stomach. Flashes of when I thought he had been hit by the missile entered my mind.

I know it might be incredibly selfish, but I couldn't risk him. Especially not with Sue like this. If I lost both of them, I wouldn't survive it. "We don't know what it could do to you."

"Let's not make this about me."

"No, we definitely should make this about you! It's incredibly dangerous, fighting him alone and taking all of our powers could do so many things to you. We still don't understand how this works!"

"Rory, I have to do this. If I can get the board maybe we can save the world. We don't have another option. I have to keep you safe." He put his hands on my cheeks and looked straight in my eyes. I knew this was the right thing, but I was terrified of what could happen to him.

"What about me? I can't lose you, Johnny. If anything happens to you, I won't make it through that. How am I supposed to let you go, knowing I might never get you back."

"You are the strongest person I know, you can survive anything. And you won't just be giving me your power, but giving me your strength. I love you, Rory. So I'm gonna come back to you, no matter what."

"I love you too. No matter what." I kissed him, trying to put everything I was feeling into it. I wanted him to know everything I was feeling: the worry, the pain, the fear, but most importantly the hope, the trust, and the overwhelming love.

I felt his powers leave me and everything in me felt wrong as I lost what made me who I am. Pulling back, I put my forehead against his before moving away so I wouldn't stop him from leaving.

Watching him absorb all the powers was too hard so I looked at the Destroyer as he slowly moved towards our world. When Johnny was ready, he looked at me and mouthed 'I love you' before turning invisible.

With him gone, I was able to move back to Sue. Kneeling at her side again, I grabbed her hand, but this time there were no tears. "You love him?"

"So much, Susie. But I'm sure you figured it out long before either of us did."