The Boys: Evil Ryan, Plundering The Metaverse Chapter 7 7: 07: The Deep Goes Offline, No Cap On God Bro

After Holander finished his whole loving-father performance full of promises, the top-floor office of Vought Tower went quiet again.

Ryan sat still in the oversized boss chair that scread power and status.

He still didn't give a single fuck about the mountain of fancy snacks or the brand-new ga consoles the assistants had rushed in.

His feet didn't even touch the floor. His small body was practically swallowed by the soft leather seat, making him look kinda ridiculous.

But those ice-blue eyes of his held a deep, cold glint that had no business on a kid's face.

His super hearing picked up every bit of the chaos and shouting from the lab explosion deep below the tower.

He could even hear his cheap-ass father standing in front of the caras right now, delivering a righteous speech about the "terrorist attack" in that smooth, magnetic voice.

A faint smile tugged at Ryan's lips.

He had already seen through the whole thing—Holander blowing up the lab and setting up Hughie Campbell to take the fall.

He knew that for the next while, the entire Vought Company was going to be obsessed with this fake terrorist attack that Holander himself had staged.

And his ambitious cheap father would be running around "investigating," using the ss to purge anyone he didn't like and tighten his grip on power.

All of it handed Ryan the perfect window of total freedom.

His eyes went back to the computer screen.

The report about the new supe Starlight joining The Seven caught his attention again.

His X-ray vision sliced through dozens of floors of reinforced concrete and locked onto her in the building's atrium, where The Deep was giving her the onboarding tour.

Ryan stared at The Deep's handso, sunny, fake-as-fuck face on the feed and his smile grew wider.

The Deep.

He rembered exactly what kind of sick, low-down shit this so-called King of the Seas was going to do to that hopeful country girl standing next to him in the next few hours.

But Ryan didn't feel even a shred of sympathy.

He wasn't so savior. Definitely not a hero.

What he saw was a golden fucking opportunity ready to be grabbed.

The Deep. One of the current Seven.

Sure, the guy could talk to fish and kick ass in the water, but his brain and raw power sat right at the bottom of the team.

No, he was basically the weakest supe on the roster.

More importantly, his private life was a total dumpster fire and his behavior was straight-up disgusting. Perfect target. Easy to replace without raising too many eyebrows.

Maybe… I can knock off one 'superhero' right now.

Then use my powers to step into his spot.

A bold, batshit, but seriously tempting plan clicked into place in Ryan's head.

His fingers danced across Holander's keyboard.

Copying that sa arrogant, short, no-bullshit tone Holander always used, he fired off an encrypted ssage to The Deep's internal comms.

The ssage was dead simple. One line:

"The new girl is pretty. Co to my office first. We'll take her on the tour together later."

...

Down in the atrium hall of Vought Tower, The Deep was laying it on thick, bragging to his new blonde, blue-eyed, smoking-hot colleague about all the amazing shit he did for marine life.

His smooth voice and caring face had Starlight looking at him with pure admiration and respect.

Just as The Deep was soaking up the rush of playing big-shot senior and showing the rookie around, the special communicator on his wrist buzzed.

He glanced down, saw the sender was Holander, and his smile froze for a split second.

Him again.

When he read the actual ssage, he kept the perfect grin plastered on his face, but inside he was seething.

This fucking pervert. Control freak asshole.

Does he seriously want to get his hands on the new girl I'm into?

He really was interested in Starlight. He'd already planned to give this innocent little country girl so very personal, very hands-on onboarding once the tour was done.

But Holander's order hung over his head like the Sword of Damocles. The Deep didn't dare disobey for even a second.

Even though he was pissed as hell, he slapped on a professional smile packed with fake apology and told Starlight,

"Sorry, Starlight."

"Holander needs for sothing urgent. I gotta go right now."

"Go wait for in The Seven's lounge on the top floor. The view up there is the best in all of New York. You can get familiar with the place first."

After he sent the confused Starlight into the private elevator, The Deep took a deep breath and straightened out his stupid dark-green uniform with the fins on it.

Then he marched straight toward the top-floor office of the deity he both worshipped and hated.

He thought he was heading into a little chat about the hot new girl.

He had no clue he was walking straight into the slaughterhouse that had been set up just for him.

Thump thump!

The Deep gave a quick, fake knock on the door and pushed it open.

The huge office was completely empty. Only sunlight from the window spilled across the floor, and the silence felt way too heavy.

"Holander?" he called out carefully. No answer.

While he stood there confused, his eyes finally landed on the big black boss chair turned away from him.

The chair slowly spun around.

Sitting in it wasn't Holander like he expected. It was a blond little boy he had never seen before.

The kid looked about seven or eight years old. He stared at The Deep with a cold, weird look, like he was sizing up an object.

That kid's stare… it sent a chill straight through him.

An inexplicable, bone-deep cold crawled up his spine and kept climbing.

The Deep's superhero combat instincts started screaming danger at full volu.

The Deep knew sothing was fucked up. This kid was definitely wrong.

No hesitation, he spun around to yank the door open and bolt out of this creepy fucking office.

But it was already too late.

The second he turned, Ryan's body blurred into sothing the human eye couldn't track.

The Deep only caught a flash before an unstoppable, terrifying force slamd into him.

That small, innocent-looking fist carried the power of a goddamn freight train and smashed straight into his throat with perfect precision.

Crack!

The sharp sound of bone shattering rang out.

The Deep's throat bone got pulverized in one hit.

Every scream for help, every cry, every plea that was about to rip out of his mouth got crushed and trapped deep in his ruined throat.

"Shh! Sorry, but the world will be a better place without you. Heh~ No cap on god bro~"

The pain made his eyes bulge out of his skull, but he couldn't make a single sound.

His final monts of awareness stayed locked in those wide, shocked, agonized eyes.

He saw the red glow he knew and feared more than anything light up in the boy's eyes, like divine judgnt coming down.

Sizzle~

A blazing heat vision beam punched straight through his skull and cooked his brain and every last thought into black charcoal.

[Plunder successful! Target 'The Deep' killed!]

[Obtained: Underwater Breathing, Stamina, Communication with Marine Creatures…]

[Obtained: All target mories and physical form.]

The cold system prompt rang out in Ryan's mind.

He stood quietly in front of The Deep's still-warm corpse as it slowly crumpled to the floor, a cold, hungry smile on his face.

With a single thought, the body of the seven-year-old boy started twisting and expanding in a way that laughed in the face of biology.

Bones creaked and popped, muscles rearranged themselves like they were in a fucking blender, and skin stretched tight.

In just a few seconds, his height, build, face, and even the clothes on his body beca a perfect copy of the dead The Deep.

He was now the new "The Deep."

He flexed this fresh body, feeling a weird, natural connection to water running under his skin.

He could even clearly "hear" a dolphin squealing happily several kiloters away at the New York Aquarium while tourists fed it.

He walked over to the big floor-to-ceiling window and looked at the reflection of The Deep's handso but kinda dumb face in the glass. A cold smirk that was pure Ryan curled on his lips.

He gave the stupid dark green uniform with its gill decorations a disgusted tug to straighten it.

Then he turned around and walked out of the office with steady, confident steps.

He was heading to the top floor.

To et the new Miss Starlight, who was still waiting for "The Deep" in the lounge.

_____

We will miss you, Deep 🥀 Everyone type RIP in the comnts.