Chapter 25: Fantastic Four part 2.

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(Billy's P.O.V)

I increased my flight speed to match his swinging.

"We should prioritize stopping whatever it is splitting the ground and causing the gap."

I told Spiderman, the both of us approaching a busy intersection up ahead.

There was no way we could save all these people in time. The street was flooded with so many cars it was crazy. The sidewalks were similarly packed.

Spiderman nodded once I told him the same.

"You're right. But I have an idea. What if I can create a net of webs under the cars so that they don't fall within the gap?"

He proposed.

Solomon's legacy came through and expounded on that idea.

"Yeah you do that. Meanwhile, I'll lift all the cars a meter high, giving you room to work with!"

"Okay. Let's do this!"

He said, much more emboldened now that we had a working plan.

I stopped in mid air, spreading out my TK range as far as I could. I sensed the metal chassis and structures that could only be the vehicles we needed to save, using my Magnetic sense.

And within them, were minds.

People leaving for home after work. Kids coming from school. I took it all in and decided no one was going to die here.

The crack begun to approach the intersection, the buildings on the sides trembling as something heavy passed under the street, not straying from its path towards the Baxter building.

I breathed in then out.

On my next exhale I used a combination of TK and Magnetic sense to spread a shroud over every single vehicle in the intersection.

Then I heaved, lifting them all up.

I could feel my mind splitting from the strain. The cars glowed a beautiful rainbow color and slowly rose up in unison.

"Hur-hurry!"

I half yelled half stuttered, my hands trembling from the strain.

Spiderman quickly got to work, shooting his webbing onto the ground and forming a thick pattern of tightly woven web fluid strings.

The strings closed over the widening crack and went on to provide a layer of strong silky fabric, that was attached to the buildings on the side of the streets.

A second later, I literally couldn't hold on anymore and released the cars. Luckily the fabric acted like a net and held them up like a wide and huge container.

Immediately my body was hit with a ton of exhaustion. My flight speed deactivated while I was in midair, causing me to plummet towards the ground.

Trying to call onto my powers only wielded disappointment. I was devoid of Psionic Energy, my tank running on empty. I...I had never exhausted my reserves this much before.

Right as I was about to land on my head, Spiderman swung in, grabbing me, before safely landing on the sidewalk.

"I got you."

He said.

"The trembling...it hasn't stopped."

I noticed, even in the midst of an annoying headache that was causing me vertigo and nausea.

It wasn't anything I wasn't used to, though, annoying was an understatement as it effectively put me out of the fight before we even really knew what we were dealing with.

"Yeah... whatever that thing is, its still moving straight for the Baxter building."

Spiderman stated before leading me to the steps of a store front.

It was a pandemonium before when every vehicle in the intersection had found itself suspended in midair.

But now that an invisible force was moving underground, overturning the tarmac, and causing a lot of destruction to the street, a fresh wave of panic hit.

"Stay here and rest. Shield or my team will pick you up."

Spiderman stated before running forward and jumping, the leap taking him dozens of feet up before he swung away after the thing.

Whispers begun to rise up from the bystanders on the sidewalk. I could feel their gazes on me as I tried to meditate, hoping to regain a little bit of Psionic energy and follow after Spiderman.

The quaking and trembling was getting far away, leaving me behind as I recuperated. Fuck. I hated feeling useless.

"Her mister, do you know Spiderman?"

A soft voice asked from beside me.

I looked up and saw a little girl, about 7 or 8 standing next to a worried mother who was looking at me warily.

I smiled at the two who were part of a few crowd of civilians watching me.

I didn't know whether to be impressed by their bravery at staying behind in an unsafe zone when others had ran away. Or maybe it was just stupidity.

Regardless,

"Yeah."

I told her, immediately enjoying the look of wonder on her face.

"Though not personally."

I added with a little bit of guilt.

To be honest, I'd been avoiding the Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman because of how things got crazy around him. Not exactly heroic I know, but a part of me wondered if it came down to it...

If I suffered just as much as Peter has AND WILL, would I still want to be a hero?

The look of wonder on the girl's face never changed even after my response.

"That is so cool! I wanna be Spider girl when I grow up!"

She exclaimed just as the sounds of the authorities and emergency cars arrived on the scene.

"She huh- She drew a picture of Spiderman."

The mother said tentatively.

"We have it pinned on the fridge door. He's an inspiration."

Her eyes briefly fell on the lightning bolt Insignia on my chest.

"You all are. Thank you for saving this city."

"Yeah! Whoooo! Thanks lightning guy!"

Another civilian, this time a man whose truck had just barely avoided getting caught up in the web, said.

And then the small crowd broke out into cheering and applause.

They were cheering for me, I realized.

I couldn't believe it. I had to check their minds to see if they were being genuine and they were.

Their praise and adoration was urging me not to give up. To keep on pushing.

I looked at the far away Baxter building and the news chopper following after a swinging Spiderman who showed no hesitation or fear.

I got to my feet. Moping wasn't going to help. Just because I was weakened didn't mean I wasn't useful. There was one thing I could still do.

I stretched my hand out, dipping it into my Hammer space before pulling out Neptune's Trident.

"I didn't think I would be forced to rely on this so soon."

I muttered to myself as the crowd gasped in awe at the golden weapon that had appeared out of nowhere.

There was a lot of water flooding the streets due to the broken pipes and destroyed fire hydrants.

With my hand around the shaft of the three pronged weapon, I could sense all water in more than a mile radius. And control it.

The crowd begun to get back as streams of water swam through the air, the dying light of the sun making the liquid shimmer beautifully.

The water gathered under me in a vortex before it rise up in a wave under my feet, carrying me up.

My eyes locked onto the faraway building.

It wasn't over just yet. I wasn't done. Not by a long shot.

"Hey mister!"

The little girl from before called out again.

"What's your name?!"

She asked.

I smiled, reveling in the mystical might contained within the trident.

My hands tightened on the shaft, mind and soul connected to a vastness that boggled reason.

"Shazam."

I answered, voice ringing with conviction. With a final smile, I tore down the wrecked street, avoiding the net of webs holding up the cars we'd saved.

It wasn't easy riding on top of a massive Tsunami. For starters it made no sense I was doing so in the first place. I mean what was I even standing on?!

The best part waz the looks of absolute shock I was receiving as I quickly got the hang of using the Trident, hot on Spiderman's tail.

My feet were firmly anchored to the water by magic, guaranteeing stability even as I weaved through overturned cars on the street.

I leaned forward, thrusting out the Trident which had the effect of increasing my speed even more.

It wasn't comparable to my normal flight speed which was steadily approaching Supersonic but it was close.

Close enough that it didn't take long before the distance between the Baxter building and I shrunk.

Soon enough the Fantastic Four Logo highlighted above said building grew prominent.

Then something big appeared before the entrance.

"Whoa..."

I said in shock.

That 'Something big' turned out to be a massive green skinned creature standing on two limbs. The other two were being used to fight against what looked to be ants compared to its size.

It was more than 50 feet tall and possessed a bulky body.

It's back was covered by a layer of tough looking crystals and it's chest rumbled like an airplane engine as it smacked away...

Holy shit, that's Ben Grimm! The Thing had been smacked away like a baseball, sent tumbling through the ground and upheaving a few cars in his path.

Creating a crater with his body upon landing, The Thing was too slow to evade the creature's leg stomp.

But then the limb landed on an invisible shield, the clash producing a loud impact. Standing before The Thing was a blonde Woman with her hands outstretched, who could only be Susan Storm, the invisible woman.

The Creature came back for a second blow on Sue's shield, only to be interrupted by a shower of flames.

Another familiar face darted around the monster, body burning with orange flames.

"Flame On!"

Delivering one of the most iconic catchphrases ever, Johny Storm aka the Human Torch unleashed a swathe of flames right on the Creature's face.

The already sweltering heat increased, managing to reach me even at my distance.

To the creature though, it must have been unbearable as it released a loud roar, shattering all the glass panes of the windows nearby and throwing away The Human Torch, Invisible Woman and the Thing who had taken a jump in a bid to attack it.

A thwip! Sounded out with Spiderman diving for a few bystanders, grabbing them from the path of a car thrown by the Creature's roar.

The Invisible Woman managed to slow down her and The Thing's momentum in the air. Then she manifested a construct for them to stand on.

The Human Torch on his part, took flight, flying around the monster while looking for openings.

In reality, all this took a few seconds to happen.

Meanwhile, I had been preparing for my reintroduction into the fight by gathering as much water as I could.

A shadow appeared before the Creature. All eyes turned towards me and the towering Tsunami of water behind me. Towering even over the Creature.

I stared into its enraged eyes, twirling the Trident in my hands.

"Ready for round 2?"