Despite Johnny Storm's efforts, while his control over his fire abilities had indeed improved, he still made no progress on the fundamental issue of using his flames in a vacuum. However, he did manage to test his powers underwater, where he could still generate flames, though at a much higher energy cost. In these conditions, his flames had no inclination to coexist with water; in fact, the intensity of his fire could evaporate the entire pool in a short time.
Unfortunately, this powerful flame could not be released in a vacuum, which continued to frustrate Johnny. But upon witnessing the emergence of another fire wielder, Johnny thought that perhaps he could make contact with this individual to see if their fire abilities differed from his own.
Originally, Johnny could have sought advice from Robert, who had guided him when he first gained his fire powers. However, Johnny's flames had evolved through his own training and experimentation, leading him down a path slightly different from Robert's. As a result, his future growth depended solely on his own exploration.
This situation was somewhat akin to Peter Parker's journey. Had Peter not merged with Venom and later absorbed Carnage, his path to becoming stronger would have been much more difficult. Originally, Peter's power progression involved the gradual enhancement of the thunder force he had gained from Thor's hammer, merging it with his own energy—a unique power that differed from both Thor and Odin's.
Given that his power was unique, Peter found it hard to seek guidance from others, leaving him with the daunting task of slowly strengthening his thunder force step by step. This was his path before he encountered Venom, and clearly, it was a difficult one. Now, Johnny was beginning to feel the same kind of difficulty in his journey.
"Jarvis, keep an eye on that fire wielder. Let me know when there's news; I want to make contact with him…" Johnny decided after mulling it over and instructed Jarvis.
Based on the information provided by Jarvis, it seemed that the fire wielder had killed a man armed with alien weapons who was about to commit a crime. This suggested that the fire wielder might not be a bad person, and there was a chance that he could be guided into joining the Avengers.
After all, the Avengers were short-handed, and it was rare to find someone who gained extraordinary powers and still maintained their moral compass without resorting to evil. Few could meet the Avengers' standards.
Meanwhile, the Avengers had also recently recruited a few more genius researchers like Reed Richards, primarily to study Chitauri technology. After learning about Thanos, the Avengers understood that even if they couldn't search the universe for him immediately, they needed to develop the capability to survive and navigate in space.
These new researchers might not be as brilliant as Reed Richards, but they were certainly more competent than Ben Grimm when it came to studying Chitauri technology. However, the number of qualified researchers was still limited, not only due to the scarcity of geniuses but also because anyone joining the Avengers had to have a clear background and no hidden agendas.
After all, the Avengers had just recently discovered the Skrulls, and if a Skrull infiltrated the research team, it would be problematic. Fortunately, although the Skrulls were skilled at memory manipulation, they couldn't completely conceal their thoughts all the time. After a period of observation by Martian Manhunter, it was confirmed that there were no Skrulls among the researchers.
"I've noted it. I'll inform you as soon as the fire wielder appears," Jarvis responded promptly, allowing Johnny to return to studying his abilities with peace of mind.
However, neither Johnny nor the watching Pietro and others anticipated that this fire wielder was not as simple as they had assumed. In fact, there wasn't just one fire wielder. As the circulation of alien technology and weapons increased, several different fire wielders were recorded by the Avengers' intelligence system.
"What's going on?" When Jarvis relayed this information, the small group of Avengers gathered, their expressions confused. Johnny, in particular, stared at the footage showing various fire wielders of different sizes and temperatures, muttering in disbelief, "How did fire wielders suddenly become so common? Why do I feel like my ability just lost its value?"
"This isn't as simple as it looks. Even if some extraordinary event caused people to gain fire abilities, there shouldn't be this many," Tony Stark, who had just arrived after receiving the news, spoke with a serious expression.
"Could it be possible that a fire dimension has taken an interest in Earth, and these people are all its followers, granted powers by it?"
"A fire dimension?!" Johnny's eyes lit up with excitement.
Tony's hypothesis was quite plausible. After all, there were already known dimensions like the Hell Dimension, which granted some individuals demonic powers, the Dark Dimension, which gave its hosts control over shadow armies, and the Shadow Realm, which empowered vampires and werewolves. Who's to say that a fire dimension didn't exist?
Although Johnny didn't get his abilities from a fire dimension, and while gaining powers from a dimension typically came with a price, a fire dimension could be the source of ultimate fire powers. Such a place could potentially guide Johnny on his path forward.
After all, the vacuum of space was a harsh environment, but some dimensions were even more hostile. It would be unreasonable for a fire dimension's flames to fail in such places, as that would imply a weakness incompatible with the dimension's survival.
"I'm just speculating. Don't get too excited," Tony quickly clarified as Johnny stood up suddenly. "If it were the old me, I might have thought these people were mutants from some kind of experiment. But given what we know now, the fire dimension theory seems more likely."
"Jarvis, have you tracked these individuals' locations? And has the first fire wielder appeared among the subsequent ones?" Johnny, somewhat calmer, turned to Jarvis for answers.
"The first fire wielder hasn't reappeared. The others are different individuals, based on the analysis. They all appeared within a certain range—they aren't spread out across the country or the world but are concentrated in New York…" Jarvis quickly responded.
"Of course. Where else but the ever-dangerous New York would you find so many alien tech weapons?" Pietro quipped.
As the battlefield of the Chitauri invasion, New York was littered with alien technology, now so common that even street gunfights were rife with alien weapons. Traditional firearms were practically obsolete…
"Jarvis, try to pinpoint their locations. Spider-Man is still on patrol, right? Have him check out the area. With his spider sense and Venom, he's likely to find them," Tony instructed after a brief consideration.
"Yes, sir," Jarvis replied, promptly contacting Peter Parker.
Meanwhile, as the Avengers began to pay attention to these fire wielders, in a secret underground base in New York, a white man named Aldrich Killian stood in a laboratory, his face showing dissatisfaction as he addressed his subordinates. "What's wrong with you? Why do you always use your powers the moment you go outside? Are you trying to get the Avengers to notice you?"
"Boss, it's not like we wanted to. We have to go out and buy supplies, but New York is too dangerous right now. Especially in the black market, everyone wants to double-cross us, and they're all armed with alien tech weapons. If we don't use our powers, we'd get killed right there. Using our abilities is better than dying, right?" One of the subordinates, the last to use his powers, explained helplessly after exchanging glances with the others.
"Yeah, and after that alien invasion, New York has become unrecognizable. Prices are up, and the streets are more dangerous than ever…"
"Exactly, boss. Why are we still in New York? Can't we just move to another city? If worse comes to worst, we could leave the country. Once your research is complete and New York calms down, we can come back."
With one subordinate speaking up, the others quickly chimed in. Even though they had all gained fire abilities, they still found New York too dangerous. Both their ability development and their research were still in the early stages, and they genuinely didn't want to stay in such a perilous place.
Especially since their powers weren't entirely stable—there was a risk they could explode at any moment. If it weren't for the danger they sensed, they wouldn't have used their powers lightly. They would prefer to wait until their abilities were fully stabilized.
"Are you saying that ordinary people in New York can't survive? Then why aren't we seeing a mass exodus? I refuse to believe it's as dangerous out there as you say," Killian snapped, glaring at his subordinates.
"Boss, it's just that you haven't been out in a while. You wouldn't know. These days, everyone on the street who used to carry a gun now has an alien weapon. The world's changing faster than we can keep up…" one of his subordinates timidly responded.
"Shut up!" Killian barked, but then he took a deep breath and calmed down. "But you're right. It's not safe here anymore. You've exposed yourselves too many times, and there's a chance that damned Avengers or that jerk Tony Stark will start targeting us. We need to relocate, and we'll have to advance our plans to get back at Stark!"
Killian's eyes gleamed with deep-seated resentment. If not for his subordinates exposing themselves prematurely, he could have continued his research in secret. Now, his plans were entirely disrupted.
It was clear that Killian had a grudge against Tony Stark, or at least Killian believed he did. He had once been a fanatic admirer of Stark and had hoped to get Stark to invest
in what he considered a crucial project. But Stark had dismissed him during a meeting…
Dejected, Killian had considered ending his life, feeling there was no future left after Stark walked away. But as he contemplated suicide, he saw fireworks in the sky, sparking a desire for revenge. He resolved to continue the research Stark had scorned.
Over the years, Killian had remained in the shadows while Stark's fame grew, turning him into a hero idolized by many, which only fueled Killian's resentment. This thirst for revenge had driven Killian to persist until now.
Yes, these fire wielders were the results of his experiments. Originally, Killian's research on the Extremis virus was intended to enhance the human body, potentially enabling limb regeneration and helping many disabled people regain their health.
However, after his experience, it seemed that the effects of the Extremis virus had changed. While it still had healing and regenerative properties, it also now gave the human body the ability to generate intense heat and flames.
Of course, if these additional abilities were stable and controllable, they would be a blessing, as many people dreamed of becoming superpowered. But the Extremis virus was far from stable; its side effects were severe, often leading to uncontrollable heating and even causing the human body to explode.
This significant flaw had prevented Killian from creating a perfect Extremis virus. His limited funding and the many test subjects who had died in his experiments added to the challenges. Even his current subordinates were still under observation for instability, uncertain when they might suddenly explode…
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