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Johnny wheezed where he sat, the cold concrete floor making him shiver. The air seemed to be thinner in this room. He struggled to take in a full breath, and had to settle for short inhales that could never be enough.
He didn’t know how long he had been here. Time seemed to pass slowly, achingly so, with no windows to show him the movement of the sun. He didn’t know the last time he had a full meal. When he had had a full night of sleep. When he hadn’t been chained to the wall by his ankle and could walk around freely.
He had tried to free himself, at the start. Johnny had lit himself on fire, focusing on melting the chain that trapped him, but it didn’t take long to realise that it was a mistake. There was limited air in the room. And, by becoming a living flame, he had burned through nearly all of the oxygen, leaving his human self with next to nothing to live on.
But he managed. He stopped talking to himself, resisted the urge to sing terribly no matter how bored he got. Johnny became an expert at sitting still, staying calm, because exerting energy meant that he would consume more oxygen, leaving him with less for later. Despite how much his body screamed to move, to be active, to fidget, he halted all movement out of necessity. He needed to save the oxygen. He needed to give Sue, Reed, and Ben the chance to save him.
His stomach rumbled, and Johnny tried to ignore it. He could go without Ben’s stew for another few days, or that greasy, cheesy burger from that burger cart on 15th Street.
No. Don’t think about that. No.
Johnny sighed, resting his head on the back wall. He wished that Reed or Ben or Sue would come through those doors, telling him that he was safe, that everything would be alright.
Instead, the last person who he expected to walk through those doors did. Doctor Doom. How did Johnny not see this coming?
“Doom. Pleasure seeing you again.” Johnny said, knowing that at least a little bit of oxygen would’ve come through the door when it was opened, and never letting a smart comment to the villain go unsaid.
“I hear you’re alive,” Doom began, his voice booming around the room. “How…dissapointing. I was hoping to present your cold, starved body to your brother-in-law.”
“Can’t kill me that easily.” Johnny replied. He tried to straighten out, but his vision wavered, and he sat back down. Nausea flipped in his gut, and he swallowed back bile. Has it really been that long since he attempted to sit up?
“You’ve been here for a week. Most people would’ve starved and died of dehydration by then.”
“Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not like most people. Really, you should’ve known this by now.”
Doom scoffed. “Don’t be so proud. It means I have to kill you now. Brutally.”
Johnny frowned, readjusting himself as much as he could so that he could fight back with his arms, at least a little bit. He wasn’t going to go down without a fight. He was never one to give up.
Quickly, too fast for Johnny to register, Doom slammed his fist into Johnny’s stomach, over and over again. All he could taste was blood. All he could hear were screams that dried his throat even more. He kicked out fruitlessly, swinging at air, even tried to flame on when there was no oxygen to take from. He was dying. He was dying and he couldn’t do anything to defend himself.
Doom grabbed Johnny’s hair, and began slamming his head against the wall, once, twice, three times. All Johnny could see was darkness, cutting his vision in and out, pain shooting through his skull. Agony flooded through his veins, and he didn’t have the strength to beg for mercy.
Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone. Johnny found himself lying on the floor, breathless, whining as more and more pain laced through his entire body. He couldn’t do much more than that.
“Johnny!”
Was that Sue? He had to be imagining it. There was no way she found him. Right?
Then something familiar, something comforting, cut through the pain. Someone was running their fingers through his hair. Sue.
His lips formed to say her name, but nothing came out.
“I’m here, Johnny, I’m here. You’re going to be okay.” Sue was saying, one of her hands touching a sore spot on his head, and he groaned.
Everything hurt. Everything was falling into darkness. But at least she found him. At least there was a little hope left for him. Maybe he could actually survive this.
Johnny blacked out, begging that that little bit of hope would be enough.