Chapter 10- An Uneasy Alliance
Reed stood next to Lisa, his arm around her thin shoulders as one of General Hager's aides put together equipment to show the video footage that Victor had brought.
"Dad, are you sure we shouldn't regret this? He blamed you for his condition and said that you ruined our lives," Lisa said softly as she looked at Victor.
"I don't know yet, but keep on alert. I don't trust Victor. I don't think he's changed his ways," Reed said, hugging Lisa with one arm as he looked at Victor along with her.
Victor looked smug and arrogant; very much like the cat that swallowed the canary. Victor had always looked like that. Even when Reed was younger he always acted as if he was better than everyone else. He had looked like that when he was Reed, Sue, and Scott's friend in high school. Reed had never really noticed it then, but looking back he did now.
"It's ready, Sir," the aide said. The screen was grainy; a perfect proof that Victor von Doom's video crew were lousy cameramen.
"Mr. von Doom, I would fire your camera crew. The quality of this footage ain't worth much," Lisa said, causing Victor to glare at her. Reed refrained from correcting her grammar. As much as Reed hated it when she used bad grammar now wasn't the time to rail at her for it.
"I think the little girl is right, von Doom. The quality is not that great," General Hager said, agreeing with Lisa for the first time since this whole thing started.
"Well, I really don't know what to do about it," Victor said, his voice hard and his words clipped.
"I could probably help with that. Dad let me invent a disc for a science fair last year that cleans up the grainy quality. It's only a prototype though. I just need my disc. I carry it in my carryon bag and I also need a computer hard drive. I'll put in the disc and connect the video equipment to the hard drive. It'll take at least five minutes," Lisa said, removing her gloves as she put in the disc and typed in encryption codes.
The screen cleared in less than three minutes. Lisa had worked hard on this particular science project with a limited amount of help from Reed and it looked as if it was successful.
"Wow! It works!" Reed said, putting his hands on Lisa's shoulders as she typed in another code, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes
"Yeah. It surprises me that I made that too. Maybe I should repackage it for when I'm in high school," Lisa said dryly as the footage started.
A cloaked figure- which Reed knew was Victor- faced the Surfer. "As you can see I made a detailed recording of our little encounter," Victor said as the Surfer flew by on his surfboard.
"All that you know is at an end," a deep voice from the tape came through the sound system. A surge of power shot out of the Surfer, knocking Victor back.
"Well?" Victor asked, glancing at Reed.
"I like the part where he knocks you on your butt," Ben said behind Victor. Reed smiled briefly.
"Look at where the energy levels surge when he attacks me," Victor said as the footage rewound to when the Surfer hit him. Victor froze the screen. "There. You see what happened?"
"It looked as if it came from the board he's on if I'm not mistaken," Lisa said, leaning forward and squinting slightly.
"True enough. The energy was channeled through him, but it originated from his board," Reed said, mulling it over.
"If we can separate him from his board we can cut off his power completely," Victor said smugly.
"And that's what we have to do," General Hager said.
"How?" Johnny asked.
"He has a point, General. If he can cause problems with Johnny's powers and take away Mr. von Doom's, then how do we stop him?" Lisa asked, looking at first Reed and then Victor.
"If I knew that, I wouldn't need you people, would I, Little girl?" Victor asked rudely. Reed felt his jaw tense at that statement. Lisa was only wondering how they could stop him. Reed would talk with her later. He would rather that she directed the questions to him than Victor if Victor was going to talk like that to her.
"You two should get started right away," General Hager said quickly, standing up before anyone said anything else.
Victor smiled as he looked around at all of them. "I'm glad we have the opportunity to collaborate again," Victor said.
"Oh, brother. Give me a massive break," Reed heard Lisa mutter under her breath.
"I'll try to talk slowly so you can keep up," Victor said. Reed turned to glare at him. Victor was mocking all of them; Reed most of all. That much was clear from the look of veiled hatred in his eyes. He hadn't changed from the last time at all.
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They entered the Baxter Building three hours later. Lisa was starting to feel tired and her carryon felt as if it had bricks in it.
"You okay, Shorty?" Johnny asked as they all stepped into the elevator; Dad and Victor talking through new plans.
"Tired. I feel like I could sleep for a year. I also want to get out of this costume and into my regular clothes," Lisa said, rubbing her eyes.
"I agree with you there, Lisa," Sue said.
"I can't believe we're working with Victor von Doom again. Considering what happened last time this is a disaster waiting to happen," Lisa said, changing the subject and keeping her eyes on Victor and Dad.
"Yeah, but I don't see as we have no choice," Sue said.
"I just hope we don't regret this," Lisa said as the elevator stopped and they entered the living quarters.
Lisa tossed her carryon onto the couch. "Lisa," Dad said, interrupting himself as he talked to Victor.
"I'm coming back for it. I'm just getting some food," Lisa said, walking towards the kitchen.
"Reed, you always get upset over that," Sue commented.
"I just don't want her to become a slob. Scott was. I'm trying to break her of that hereditary trait if I can," Dad said as Lisa came back.
"Too late, Daddy," Lisa quipped as she came back, a slice of leftover pizza in her hand.
"Uh-uh. I don't think so, little girl," Dad said dryly.
"See you in a few hours. I'm going to bed," Lisa said, picking up her bag. Lisa knew her father wasn't cross with her. He never could be. Unlike her real father he never got upset when she did something he didn't like. If he did get angry it never lasted long.
Lisa changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Right now she wanted sleep. She didn't want to think about their working with von Doom again or the surfer.