The tutoring session from Hell

It usually took a lot of effort for someone to annoy Reed Richards. Either that, or for you to be Johnny Storm. Oh, that’s not to say that Johnny was constantly annoying him, but it usually took much (much much much much) less effort for the fire-boy to annoy the young genius. One of the main reasons was somewhat simple : Reed was 85% certain that the younger member of the Fantastic Four had an IQ at least fifteen points above average, indicating, at least according to a Normal Distribution, that he was smarter than at least 84% of the regular population.

Thus, knowing that without someone pushing him, Johnny would most probably fail all of his classes annoyed Reed to no end. That was also the reason why Reed was now waiting outside the gym, looking at his watch, making an annoyed beat with his foot. Johnny was late for his first tutoring session. Sue had asked Reed to help her brother, and he had agreed, seeing as the two of them were his friends.

However, he had been going under the assumption that the youngest of the Storms would be cooperative. Which, obviously, was not the case. Taking out his heavily modified cellphone, he scrolled through his contacts, and selected ‘Heat God’ (not what he had entered at first, but Johnny had been bored one day, and he had let him play with his cellphone… Baaaad idea).

He typed “Are you going to get here soon? Or should I find you and drag you by your ear? –RR-” and waited for an answer.

…Reed felt his left eye twitch as he read the answer. He had NOT answered that. Glancing outside, Reed tried to see if is the hot-headed teen had done the obvious thing : lighting up to use his powers and get away as fast as possible. Sighing, Reed rolled up his shirt sleeve, having now access to his costume’s gauntlet. This was one of his masterpieces. The suits were partially Sue’s designs, mixed with his technological additions. The suits were basically wearable computers, keeping them informed of the physical condition of the others (were they unconscious? Was their heart beating too fast? Too slow? Were they using their powers or resting?) as well as their geographical locations, using the display integrated in the suit.

It would appear Johnny had forgotten about this little tool implemented into the suits. That would mean another debriefing on all the characteristics of the suits, the possibilities as well as the limitations (which were few, yes, but still existed). Sighing once again (Johnny seemed rather good at making him do that), Reed took out his tablet (his powerful baby~ He was even thinking of naming it the rPad… And apple wouldn’t be able to sue him, that tablet was years ahead of the iPad in terms of technology) and, once more, hacked into the school intercom.

“Johnny Storm! I know exactly where you are going. You should come to the gymnasium immediately, unless you would prefer I call your sister and inform her of your rather uncooperative behaviour? If I do not see any change in your trajectory in the next two minutes, that threat will come true. Thank you for your attention.”


(Info on the costumes taken from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] )

Well, at least Johnny had come nearly all the way to him… Which was much better than expected. You had to trust the Human Torch to listen to you if you only mentioned his sister. But, as always, he had found a way around the specified instructions, only following them as far as was needed so you wouldn’t talk to Sue about him. That boy either adored his sister and didn’t want to disappoint her, or he was deathly afraid of her. Most probably a mix of both feelings. Reed took out his cellphone once he felt it vibrate, and read what Johnny had sent.

Shaking his head exasperated, Reed simply put his tablet into his backpack, along with his phone, and made sure it was adequately closed. He then put it on his back, clasping two straps on his chest, making sure it was secure. He then went to a window, opening it as wide as he could. It was lucky his powers made him more nimble than a regular human being, because he would not have otherwise been able to squeeze through the small opening. He then stretched his arm upwards, grabbing onto the strongest handhold possible. He did the same with his other hand and pulled himself up. He kept at it, holding himself with one hand and stretching the other arm a few more times, reaching the top of the building.

Finally reaching the roof, he dusted himself off, throwing a small smile towards Johnny, dropping his bag onto the floor.

“Johnny… I…. am NOT old!” he said, still smiling. “I’ve got to say, you are getting much better at going around my words. I’m still not sure if it’s a good or bad thing.” Laughed the older of the two, sitting beside the fire-user. He took off his jacket, the temperature outside (and beside Johnny in general) was much warmer than inside. “So… You ready to work a bit?” finally asked the scientist, a corner of his mouth rising upwards.

The scientist ruffled the youger's hair, rather happy to hear the compliment. His hair had been somewhat complexing him, making him feel like people would mistake him for an older man, seeing as he was more serious than people his age and his vocabulary covered a wider spectum than most 18 years old. Trust Johnny to make him feel better, even happy to have hair like he did.

Now came the time to motivate the fire-user, because if making him sit in front of his books was a harsh task, having him truly concentrate on them was a completely different story. Let's see... Ah ha! This might work.

"You could go back to your car, but I've got an offer for you : if you get over 90% in you next three history exam, I'll install a bonus to your car. Don't worry, the only thing it'll have to do with it is the fact that it'll use a bit of the battery. How would you feel about having an artifical intelligence installed, one to remind you of you schedule, the name of the next girl you have a date with, with total access to the internet. But all the details don't need to be all worked out right now, after all, you might not even score 70 on your next test" Reed said, smiling to hide his inner smirk.

Johnny-baiting was so much fun. The younger boy was always so easy to read, and so easy to please. Simply mentioning a bonus for his car, and the fiery blond was close to eating in the palm of his hand. Reed started subconsciously petting the boy’s hair, like one would a puppy… Ah darn it… Those eyes… Sighing inwardly, Reed turned to face the fire user.

“Johnny, I’m not going to install it now, it’ll be a bonus if you study and do well on your exams. I COULD lower the criteria for you to be able to get it if you don’t think you’re good enough to get over 90% three times. But I’m not installing the AI right this moment. We could also add a different way for you to get it. For example, if you spend five hours each week, studying with me, until you’ve done your next three history exams.”

Reed smiled a bit. He had already thought of giving an AI to Johnny for his birthday, but that was months away. If he could use this incentive to not only make the younger one study, but also see his beaming face as he installed the AI, he wouldn’t mind having to find another gift. Hmmm… Maybe an apparatus that would let Johnny use his powers over fire to charge his electronic devices… That would be worth looking into…

The darker-haired one of the two let his mind drift, thinking of ways to convert the thermal energy into watts, while not needing a large facility like a thermal electric facility… As his mind jumped from one idea to the next, his hand stayed in Johnny’s hair, using the repetitive action of petting and scratching as a grounding point, keeping him somewhat connected to reality.