Fantastic Five || Johnny Storm

Chapter 27

Reed had successfully designed a pulse machine that would separate the Surfer and his board, with Veronica's help, but the General refused to let them execute their plan after the whole London fiasco.

And now they were listening to him degrade them.

"Let me make this clear to you and your pack of freaks here. I'm the quarterback, you're on my team. Then again you never played football in high school."

The General had begun to walk away when Reed began speaking again. "No, you're right, I didn't. I stayed in and studied like a good little nerd. And 15 years later, I'm one of the greatest minds of the 21st century, I'm engaged to the hottest woman on the planet. And the big jock who played quarterback in high school, well, he's standing here in front of me asking me for my help. And I say he's not going to get a damn thing unless he does exactly what I tell him to do and starts treating my friends and me with some respect."

The General and Reed had stood toe to toe, the General amazed at Reed's nerve but also angered by it as he backed down first.

"Give him what he wants," the General ordered.

"Hottest woman? Please. I'm dating the hottest woman on the planet," Johnny had muttered into his girlfriend's ear during Reed's speech.

And she'd given him a teasing smirk. "Think you got game, Hot Shot?"

"You know I do."

"We'll see," she smiled as Sue said to Reed,

"I am so hot for you right now."

"Baby you know I'm always hot for you," Johnny said to Veronica who laughed at her boyfriend as he sizzled, mocking his sister while endearing his girlfriend.

"Alright," Reed then said. "Let's get to work."

The five of them had split up, all going to four different points to create a perimeter where the Surfer would be separated from his board.

Since there wasn't one for Johnny, he accompanied Veronica as she set up hers, the two chatting idly as she worked.

She'd just put the last element in, turning the lights blue when Sue said over the comms that the Surfer was with her, and everyone ran.

They watched as the Surfer protected Sue from the inbound missiles fired by the General, the blonde girl rushing back to finish her task and then the Surfer fell from his board.

He wasn't silver anymore, more like stone, without his board. Something Veronica caught her brother eyeing when they found him standing over the Surfer's body, a burning smell lingering in the air, no doubt meaning that Victor had fried the Surfer with a bolt of electricity.

The military then surrounded the area, guns drawn as they moved him out to a remote base in Siberia. But that's when a thought floated across Veronica's mind.

They were all so eager to find the Surfer and stop him that they never stopped to wonder what would happen to him after they did.

The General was having him questioned but refused to let any of the team join him and now they were sequestered into a room.

"Are we prisoners?" Johnny asked as he surveyed the surveillance camera near the door. "How did that happen?" he laughed.

"Beats me, baby," Veronica said from where she sat around the table, legs pulled to her chest.

"Apparently they don't want us interfering with their methods," Reed said.

"I can't even imagine what they're doing to him in there," Sue said, having been the one who'd spoken to the Surfer, she felt some sense of sympathy for him.

"I say he gets what he deserves," Ben piped up.

"Oh sure, the Surfer gets to be tortured while my brother runs around Scott-free," Veronica interjected as Sue asked,

"How can you say that?"

"I'm just saying that maybe the General is right about this. The guy was about to destroy the planet, said so himself," Ben explained

"It doesn't make any sense. He protected me from the missile. Why would he do that?" Sue said.

"Maybe he thinks you're cute," Johnny suggested and was met with a series of rolled eyes and glares as he sat next to Veronica.

"Uh, baby, not helpful."

Johnny just winked at her as Reed said, "There's a lot more going on here. He said he wasn't the destroyer."

"Uh, maybe he lied," Ben said.

"No. Doesn't seem like the type and what reason would he have to lie?" Veronica said.

"We need to get inside there and talk to him, but under the Radar," Reed said as he gave his fiancée and knowing look.

Sue smiled.