[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ZfvPPwT.png[/img][/center]
[b]Manhattan, New York[/b]

[color=#ffffff]It had been easy enough for Johnny Storm to slip past Guy that morning. Try as he might to pretend otherwise, it was clear that the SHIELD agent was running on fumes. His journey to Central City with Reed was meant to be routine but they’d found themselves in the middle of an international incident. And from the looks of things Gardner had caught a bit of a beating while he was there. It was fair to stay that he was distracted – and that Johnny had been sneaking his way out of the house since long before he became the Human Torch.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The old Johnny Storm had made a living out of sneaking past his sister so he could take part in drag races against his friends. He’d always win – not because he was a better driver than any of his pals, but because he took chances that they would never dare to. Growing up, as far as Johnny was concerned, he was untouchable behind the wheel. God had taken both of his parents from him in a car accident. There was no way he could go that way too. It was impossible.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]He was wrong, of course, and worse still, he was stupid. He was too young to remember the way he felt after his parents had died. If he had done, he’d never have taken his life into his own hands like that. He’d never have risked leaving Sue all alone. But now Johnny understood what loss felt like – and there was one loss that he felt more acutely than the rest.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Peter Parker.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]It was missing Peter that lead him to sneak out that morning and take to the streets of Manhattan. Before leaving he’d thrown on some civilian clothes and an old hoodie with the Baxter Building crest on it over his Fantastic Four uniform. Thankfully, this world’s Johnny Storm had died before being catapulted to global fame so he was able to walk around without arousing suspicion.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The sounds and the smells took Johnny back. The street vendors were hollering at the top of their voices, tourists were monopolising the sidewalk, and beeping horns followed Johnny everywhere he went. In almost every way, this world seemed like his own – but it wasn’t. Every few minutes he reminded himself of that fact, as he had reminded Reed and Harrison Wells of it last night.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]And yet here he was pounding the streets of Manhattan in search of the one person that might be able to help him. Peter knew what it was like to lose someone – he knew what it was like to feel like you could have done more – and he overcame it. He used that feeling as fuel and became a better man for it. So far all Johnny was doing was hurting himself and the people around him.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Perhaps if he spoke to him, Johnny could feel whole again. Perhaps he’d stop hurting Reed and Ben and Sue. Perhaps he could accept that maybe their world was gone.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Johnny winced as soon as he thought it and banished the thought from his mind. In the distance stood the Daily Bugle building. If Peter was to be found anywhere, it would be there. Johnny patiently made his way through the crowds of tourists stood outside of the building and entered it. There were men in suits making their way through a suspiciously corporate-looking lobby and past him. Sat at the front desk was a heavy-set black woman.[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“Excuse me,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Johnny said as he leant towards the receptionist. [/color][color=#ea9999]“My name is Johnny Storm. I’m a friend of Peter Parker’s – he’s a photographer at the Daily Bugle. I was wondering whether you could tell him that I’m downstairs.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]One of the woman’s grey eyebrows cocked in confusion. “The [i]what[/i]?”[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“The Daily Bugle,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Johnny said with a sigh. [/color][color=#ea9999]“You know, it’s only the most-read newspaper in New York. Edited by a cigar-chomping shock-jock with hard-on for attacking Spider-Man every time a train pulls into Grand Central a few minutes late.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The receptionist shook her head. “I think you have the wrong building, sir.”[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“No, I’m definitely in the right place,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Johnny responded. [/color][color=#ea9999]“I’ve been here a thousand times before.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The receptionist lent back in shock.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“Could you lower your voice, sir?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Johnny let out a bemused laugh. [/color][color=#ea9999]“What the hell are you t-”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“Please, sir, that kind of language isn’t called for.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Around the woman’s neck Johnny noticed a gaudy cross. A sideways glanced towards the inside of her desk revealed a picture of Jesus and several patron saints messily given pride of place. He rolled his eyes and tried his best to police his own tone, so as not to be accused of ‘raising his voice’ or using bad language again.[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“Just get Peter on the phone, would you?”[/color][color=#ffffff] Johnny said with his fingers still pinched around the bridge of his nose. [/color][color=#ea9999]“Tell him that Johnny Storm is downstairs and that he has some [i]very[/i] important information for him about Spider-Man.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“Sir, I’ve already told you that I think you have the wrong p-”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The receptionist’s tone proved too much for Johnny this time and he reached over the desk towards the telephone.[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“Oh, for god’s sake, I’ll do it myself if you’re going to be so goddamn anal about everything.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]As he did so the receptionist cried out and Johnny felt what felt like half a dozen hands wrapped around his arms and legs. He struggled against them wildly for a few seconds, the receiver of the telephone still in his hands, before finally realising he was overmatched. People stopped to watch as he was dragged from the building and sent heaving through its heavy front doors and onto the steps outside.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Johnny landed with a heavy thud and was sure that he felt one of his ribs break beneath him. Tourists grouped outside of the building flocked towards him but he shooed them away and climbed to his feet. There were a few small scrapes on his chin and along his hands where he had attempted to break his fall.[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“Thanks for nothing,”[/color][color=#ffffff] he muttered in the direction of the retreating security guards. [/color][color=#ea9999]“You fricking jerks.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]He glanced down at the scrape on his hands with a sigh.[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“What the hell are you doing, Johnny? The woman said there was no Daily Bugle. Maybe Pete works somewhere else on this world. Heck, maybe Parker Industries is actually a real thing here.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]For as long as Johnny had known him, Peter Parker had struggled to make ends meet. He was one of the smartest men that Johnny knew, Reed aside, but he just about managed to hold a job down at the Bugle – and sometimes did some tutoring for a high school on the side. “Parker Industries” was a pipe dream they’d discussed more times than Johnny could count. If a nerd like you can end up with a smokeshow like Mary-Jane Watson, anything is possible, Johnny would say to him.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]And it was.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]A defeated sigh slipped through Johnny’s lips and he considered his options.[/color][color=#ea9999] “There must be [i]some[/i] way of getting in contact with him.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]High above him, Johnny heard the sound of a telecopter noisily passing by. He looked up at the logo of the TV channel printed on the side.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]There was one thing, Johnny thought, as he mulled over the ramifications of the only course of action he could see before him. He undid his hoodie and threw it to the ground. Johnny’s fingers tugged at the first two buttons of his shirt clumsily before settling on tearing it open. The shirt fell to the ground and the buttons skittled along the pavement. By the time Johnny took down his trousers, people were watching on.[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“Sorry, Sue,” [/color][color=#ffffff]Johnny muttered as he burst into flames.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]There were murmurs of shock from the people around him and cameras flashing in his direction as Johnny took to the skies. Just feeling the wind whipping past his head as he climbed through the air and above New York’s towering buildings gave him a rush. The movements came naturally to him – the mask etched into his memory so deeply he could recall it in his sleep. Finally, once Johnny had come to a stop, he was stood proudly beside a flaming Spider-Man mask that burned brightly and proudly above all else.[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“If you’re out there, Peter, now would be the time to make yourself known, because I’m going to be in for a whole world of trouble when I get back to the Baxter Building.”[/color]