“Mmm.” I poured myself another cup. “Do you know the other name of the Human/2 Level?” I asked him.

“It’s, uh, the Obsession Level,” he remembered, and I nodded.

“You, John Storm, are a Thrillseeker. You are, and always will be, until the day you die. You took a Racial Level in Elemental Avatar, and you can’t advance your Human Level any more. As a result, you crave excitement, you loathe boredom, and you go out and look for things to do.

“It’s not going to change for you. Normally, that kind of behavior severely falls off after someone reaches twenty-five or so and the brain reaches physical maturity. But you, John Storm, are always going to be up for an adventure, and you’re always going to be looking for the next one.

“I think you can see how that folds VERY nicely into having such a dominating Charisma.”

He pursed his lips, staring at his own Assay. He had the same data, he just hadn’t put it all together. “Hot Rodder...” he murmured.

“Hot Tempered. Roving Eye.” My eyes were laughing at him even as my voice didn’t change, and his hair poofed up again as he blushed hotly. “You enjoy your emotional experiences, and even your romantic conflicts blowing up in your face are fun for you.

“The problem is that you are a walking firebomb if you get angry or lose control at the wrong moment. Otherwise, you’d just be walking entertainment for all your friends at all the stuff you get yourself into.

“You can only fight your nature with more control. Happily, you know an Alchemist of some ability. There are two things I can do to make this easier for you.”

That got his attention. “I’m all ears, Dyna!” he blurted out instantly, his hair going out again as he focused.

“I can help you remake your past, as if you’d made different choices at key times. This won’t actually change anything that happened, but mentally, it will be the equivalent of looking back and saying ‘I should have done this, not that, and I’m going to do so now.’”

“Whoa.” He blinked at me. “That... sounds pretty powerful. Being able to remake yourself on command?”

“Well, it’s not THAT easy. It’s called a Psychic Reformation. It won’t change your foundation, your Core Stats. But it can totally mess around with the stuff you’ve learned and gained over time.” All his altered Stats winked, as did his Traits. “Skills, Masteries, and Feats, too.” I nodded at his Stats. “Now, I haven’t done a Deep Assay on you like you can on yourself. I don’t know what you have, and what you’d like to change.

“Basically, what we can do is wipe the entire slate of your Levels clean, and then start applying them in any order we wish, even if they make no sense in terms of what happened in reality in the past.

“If that somehow means you reached Human/3 before you take your first level in Fire Avatar, so be it. If that means you took Class Levels in something you are totally not trained in now, then that’s what happens. We can chop you down and rebuild you from the ground up any way you like, be it a small amount or a large one.”

He was staring at me in disbelief. “So, like, I could totally make myself over into a nerd or something?”

“Sure. Put all your advances into brains, load up on knowledge and engineering-type Skills, instant John Storm, mechanical engineer extraordinaire.” I shrugged. “We could make you John Storm the accountant, John Storm the playwright, John Storm the clockmaker, whatever you feel is appropriate.”

“Wow...” his face twisted, both impressed and apprehensive. “Can you force that on someone?”

“No. Willingly doing it is the key to the process. Rearranging how one lived their life mentally and balancing the truth with fiction is all part of the process.”

“So I’ll remember what I used to be like.” He breathed a sigh of relief as I nodded. “And if I don’t like it?”

“You’ll feel the same the new way as you do right now, perfectly natural. It’ll be more a case of ‘this isn’t working’ then ‘change me back, I like the way I was!’ or something.”

He took a deep breath, considering what I was saying. “What was the other thing?”

“You might consider taking a Mark.”

-----------

It ended up being something of a long night for him. After all, one doesn’t idly switch up their whole life without trying to finagle out every advantage for themselves.

I had to do a Deep Assay, bring up all the data on his Skills, Traits, Feats, Masteries, and Levels, and then go into why he had certain things. For instance, having four ranks in Skiing and Mountain-climbing was part of the extreme athlete he was before taking his fateful trip with his sister and the others. The pranks he pulled on Ben were his boredom setting in and needing an emotional release, even if it annoyed the heck out of Ben and strained their relationship some.

Did he want to Drive, or did he want to Ride? They were totally different things, but he was good at both, and had been a competitive motocross rider at one point, and participated in some rally car races as a serious hobby. He liked building engines and cars, and working with Reed had actually allowed him to work on some of the most sophisticated engine technology in the world.

Then I told him about The Road, and that really made him think. After all, it had been there as long as human history, and if he was a Rider, that made him a part of a tradition that was literally as old as sapient life, and the first mount and mounted.

It was also something where he could take the lead, different from the skills of Reed, Ben, and Sue, something his own that yet uniquely tied into the mission and goals of the Fantastic Four.

He could DO this...

============

Johnny Storm, The Human Torch, The Fire of the Four

Powered Male Human/3, Avatar of Fire/9*

Scout/4, Rider/5; Melee/2, Archer/8; Sorcerer (Fire)/7

Strength: 12-> 18

Dexterity: 15-> 23

Constitution: 14-> 18 (27)*

Intelligence: 14-> 17

Wisdom: 9-> 20 (24)

Charisma: 16-> 19 (28)*

Notable Talents/Traits: Pyrotechnic; Hot Rodder, Grease Monkey; Slayer: Constructs (robots)

*Fire of the Four Template Characteristics: Alternate Elemental Form**; Fire and Radiance Immunity; Fire Control; Fire Absorption; Fiery Vitality; Fiery Will; Fire Attunement; Heated Flight**; Temperature Sensitivity; Energy Resistance**; Impact Resistance**

=============

==============================

New Jersey...

The warehouse was old, sprawling, and generally ignored. Occasionally there were some cars seen to be going in and out of it, but those many curious souls who’d investigated had never found anything of interest inside, aside from a lot of tire tracks and large-caliber bullet casings on the ground, a good way to deter casual investigators from poking their noses in if the cars were there.

Some of those investigating went in, and never came back. That did an even better job of warning off the locals.

I was riding behind Johnny as he rolled up to the doors on his motorcycle, Ben standing behind us on a thick Disk attached to a chain on the back of the bike. With a dark helmet on, spiked pauldrons on his shoulders, and his rocky hide blackened while gleaming with Runes all over, he did not look at all like the lovable blue-eyed Rock of the Fantastic Four, especially given that his eyes were the hue of lava.

I waved the door open, and Johnny motored inside calmly.

There were half a dozen vehicles inside. Their owners all looked up as he came riding up, his engine purring, while I waved at everyone familiarly.

Dealer, Blade, and Mr. Hill were here, hanging out with Chopsaw and Frank Castle near their monster truck and battle van, respectively, with Microchip over at the side running diagnostics. Jennifer Kale and the Mick were present, she riding shotgun for his very non-standard model Mustang. Shotski and Wheels were checking over the Charger they drove, while Gun and Bunny were fussing over their Jeep with the machine gun mount in the back. Johnny Blaze and Wanda were discussing things near the cookfire in the middle of the place, where Natalya Romanova had taken over the barbecue because everyone else but Dealer was totally crap at making the stuff right.

“Would you look at that,” Mr. Hill grunted, coming over as Johnny glided to a halt. Johnny didn’t kick down the stand, simply getting off and letting the gryos balance the bike as it stood there. I hopped off, and Ben stepped down to look up at Mr. Hill and take the extended hand. “Looking pretty grim there, Grimm,” Mr. Hill said for everyone, looking over the burning Rock, lava lines crawling all over him and his eyes red-hot.

“Dyna said a certain attitude is required for this bunch. Turn it on, flamebrain.” Ben extended a stony palm, and Johnny slapped it before Flaming On.

The black neo-armor stole over the whiteness of his new flames, both containing them and making them hotter. Also, they were much more intimidating to look at.

“Nice look, but can he ride?” Blaze instantly spoke up, looking the pair up and down.

“Yep. Rider/5 and a Ten, can hit a 35 every time,” I replied to Blaze, patting him on the shoulder as I walked by. “You should take a look at his bike,” I told him softly, before giving Wanda a palm. Magic crimson tinkled against my lightning, perfect identifier. “Is this wandering hobo giving you any trouble?” I asked her, cocking a thumb at him.

“He is extremely rough around the edges,” she replied, reaching out to tuck his hair over his ear fondly. “Sharing his soul with a Spirit of Vengeance does that to a man, I’ve been told.”

“Ah, yes, yes, the sob story of the ages, repeated who knows how many times. Has he understood the dire fate of all the Scarlet Witches, yet?” I riposted merrily, turning to look at him.

He shuffled uneasily, looking between us. “Well, we’ve come to an agreement about that,” he said roughly.

“Oh, please tell!” I clapped my hands and smiled at him.

“She saves me from Hell, and I save her from Chaos.”

“That sounds like a wonderful arrangement to be able to lean on, Mr. Blaze.”

Despite himself, he took a long breath, stretched out his hand, and she moved naturally into his arm. “Let me say, they are trying REAL hard not to let us.” Fires flickered in his eyes for a moment, instantly matched in hers.

“I trust you are pissing on them properly, then?”

“Properly, improperly, inappropriately, propitiatingly, professionally, especially pissing on them,” Wanda agreed with a nod. “It has been very cathartic, Dynamo. Thank you for introducing me to the team.”

“You needed SO much work,” I chided her, tapping her nose, and she looked both chagrinned and offended at the same time.

“I am MUCH better now!” she said defensively as I walked off.

“Good job then, Mr. Blaze! You are a much better teacher than I am!” I said over my shoulder, and he grinned and blushed again all at the same time as they started after me.

“What brought the two of you into this?” Frank Castle spoke up, as everyone began to gravitate towards the middle. Natalya was turning the ribs a final time.

Ben cocked his big thumb at me. “Dyna says we need more tempering, told us the kinds of things you been fighting, and what your goal is.” He held out his hand to Frank. “57th Air Wing, Air Force. Ran paratroopers a lot there, but don’t remember you, sorry.”

Frank took the gauntleted two fingers and shook them without hesitation. “Just another body to be delivered. You equipped for this? You’re going to need more than fists on a Hellride.”

“Got me a Monkey Stick for reach and firetop has the range. We won’t slow ya down,” he promised, “Or Dyna might get a little pissed at us,” he added under his breath.

“And you’re right!” I clapped him on his spiked shoulder as I walked up, making him flinch. “Any guidance on tonight?”