[Homelander's POV]
The sound of breaking the sound barrier lasted for a moment which slightly annoyed me as my hearing is sensitive.
It didn't take me long to get to the city at that speed, but I had to slow down to the bare minimum so that the shock waves wouldn't break the windows.
There was one incident, but that's not relevant now.
I landed on my balcony.
Then, I headed into the corridor and further into the elevator.
I entered Madelyn's office without knocking, knowing she was expecting only me and couldn't be busy right now.
"Good afternoon, Madelyn."
I smiled as soon as I saw her.
"Homelander."
Madelyn smiled back, pointing to the chair opposite her.
"Sit down."
"It looks like this will take a while."
I sighed and wrapped my cape around my arm as I sat in the chair.
"No, this won't take long. It's just..."
She paused dramatically and immediately put me on edge.
"...I have great news."
"Madelyn, don't keep me in suspense."
I smirked, waving off her attempt to intrigue me.
"Come on, tell me."
"The Seven are now in the army!"
She almost squealed, expecting the same reaction from me.
However, I kept the same smirk on my face even though it froze for a second.
This simply couldn't have happened given the company's situation just yesterday.
"Congratulations!"
I spread my arms as if to embrace her.
"But how?"
"Well, that's the not-so-good news."
She replied with a smile vanishing from her face as she turned her laptop screen toward me and played a recording.
The video quality was pretty bad, but the events unfolded in the video.
It was evident that this was a special forces operation with operatives infiltrating a building and systematically eliminating everyone inside.
They were highly effective and eventually took out the primary target.
The standard sweep followed when suddenly a shirtless man with Arabic writing on his chest appeared in the operative's field of vision.
The operatives didn't hesitate and immediately began shooting at the confident Arab who approached them with a menacing demeanor.
However, they realized that the man in front of them was no ordinary person.
The bullets had no effect despite hitting his bare skin. The man covered his eyes with his hand, but it seemed more intuitive than intentional.
What happened next clearly illustrated why Congress quickly passed the bill.
A soft yellow light ignited within the man's chest, growing to an unbearably bright glow within seconds before an explosion ensued.
The scene cut to footage from a drone outside, showing the same man calmly walking out of the burning building and glaring menacingly at the drone.
"Well, what do you think?"
Madelyn looked at me intently, watching my reaction the entire time.
"How could this happen?"
I frowned, looking back at her.
At that moment, I wanted to kill myself who had orchestrated this whole mess more than anything in the world.
He knew this could happen!
Given the circumstances, there was nothing I could do about what my predecessor had done.
Homelander himself never flew straight to the terrorists. He only used the A-Train to send messages.
Unfortunately, nothing could be changed now, and we'd have to deal with the situation.
"Maybe someone sold the serum recipe."
Madelyn suggested, sighing as she leaned back in her chair.
"Vogelbaum?"
I replied tersely, recalling the retired old man.
"You're too biased against him."
"Really? He was the one who suggested putting Ryan in a random place like an exotic animal."
I got up from my chair and took several steps toward her.
"What do you say, Madelyn? People his age often become senile."
"No, he couldn't have sold the formula."
She said with a strained smile, shrinking back into her chair.
"Oh? But that's not what I asked."
I smiled openly with a mocking look in my eyes.
"Relax, I was joking. When was the last time you slept?"
"I... two days ago."
She responded flustered as she watched me approach her.
"See? You need a break, at least a couple of days."
I suggested and stood behind her.
"You can take Teddy and fly to Harbor Island. It's a wonderful place, and I'll even provide my private jet."
"Homelander, I can't..."
"No refusals accepted!"
I declared firmly, starting to gently massage her tense shoulders.
"While you're resting, I'll be assisting the U.S. Army in dealing with the super... terrorists."
"I can't leave my post."
She tried another argument.
"Since when has that stopped us?"
I continued massaging her shoulders with a smirk in my voice.
"Well, alright."
Madelyn finally relaxed, her body going limp as she leaned back.
She may not have acted in my son's best interest, but her value as a coordinator was undeniable.
The past few days had been incredibly stressful for her, pushing her close to a breaking point.
I would have to adjust my plans and deal with those to whom Homelander had sent packages of the serum.
...
[3rd POV]
M.M. impatiently drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, and his eyes never strayed far from the road.
He sometimes looked at the similarly thoughtful person sitting next to him. He had his reasons for rejoining William Butcher's team despite the events that seemed to have happened an eternity ago.
He acknowledged that he couldn't work in some office, watching over juvenile criminals.
Deep down, he was glad this bastard had come to him after all but that was then.
M.M. was angry and didn't know where Butcher's latest scheme would lead, but he still followed.
Once again, he got burned by it.
The look in his wife's eyes when she and their daughter were taken to a safe place was... extremely not good.
So much so that he decided to quit working for Butcher once this was all over to not lose his family because of his mistakes.
"Butcher."
M.M. called out to him who turned to look at him questioningly.
"We're here."
"Got it."
Billy nodded, glancing at the motel they had arrived at.
"Let's go."
Marvin sighed as he exited the van, following Butcher, with whom he'd spent over thirty minutes in the vehicle.
Inside the motel room were Frenchie, whom M.M. couldn't stand due to his chaotic decision-making, and Hughie, the newcomer to their team.
Hughie had proven his usefulness and dedication to their cause in this short time.
"Frenchie, did you do what I said?"
Butcher asked immediately upon entering the room.
"Of course, I did everything."
Frenchie replied with a noticeable accent, and something in his tone didn't sit well with Butcher.
"Did you really leave that psycho there?"
Billy frowned, already suspecting the answer. He could read his team like an open book.
"She... couldn't have survived there. She would've starved to death."
Frenchie started to defend himself, but a slap stopped him and knocked him to the ground.
"Oh, shit!"
Hughie yelled, shocked at the happening scene. He wisely stayed out of the confrontation.
"She was supposed to be picked up by Raynor's people so that psycho could be evidence that Vought is pumping people full of that blue crap!"
Butcher growled, stepping closer to continue his assault.
However, M.M. stepped in to hold back the extremely upset Billy from further attacking Frenchie.
No matter how much of a junkie and irresponsible person he was, he didn't deserve such humiliation.
It didn't take long for Butcher to back off, dialing a number.
Within minutes, Butcher was walking the room, raising his voice on the phone with Raynor.
"What the fuck?! What do you mean the Pentagon classified everything about the compound?"
"Just like that. The emergence of Naqib did its job, and now Supes are necessary in the army."
"What a stupid name."
"It means "Captain," in Arabic."
"They created that little shit themselves."
Butcher fumed, feeling anger boil inside him.
"I've got proof chained up in the basement!"
"The contract is already signed, Billy. They don't care who you've got in the basement anymore. Vought, and the feds are already looking for you."
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Sorry, Billy. But you're all on the wanted list now. Good luck."
"Fuck."
Butcher sighed, realizing that no more help would be forthcoming.
"Time to bail?"
Frenchie asked rhetorically while Hughie still tried to grasp what had just happened.
There was a brief moment of silence before Butcher broke it.
"No, we haven't played our trump card yet."
Billy smirked, putting on his signature black coat.
"We don't have a trump card."
Frenchie said resignedly.
"Wait here, I'll make a call."
Leaving the final word to himself, Butcher walked out the door, followed a second later by Marvin.
It was immediately clear to him that this trump card was highly dubious, even in theory.
"Don't tell me you're going to Stillwell."
M.M. asked, catching up with him at the van.
"I won't."
"What if she's not his weakness? This is suicide."
"Don't you get it, Marvin? We're already dead."
He replied grimly, climbing into the van.
"You won't make that call, will you? You'd die just to spite Homelander."
"Keep an eye on these kids."
He smirked, driving onto the road and leaving the motel behind.
M.M. watched the van disappear into the distance and realized this was their last conversation.
By tomorrow, Billy Butcher would be dead.
...
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