Chapter 14: Holander is a Child
Hearing Soldier Boy insult The Deep, the corner of Holander’s mouth twitched visibly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he barely held it together.
The Deep’s face flushed the color of pork liver. He wanted to say sothing—wanted to defend himself, to argue, to say that those dolphins were willing participants.
But The Deep glanced at Holander, then at Benjamin’s disgusted face, and ultimately chose to keep his mouth shut.
Benjamin didn’t waste any ti on him; he was just a useless piece of shit who liked fucking fish.
Starlight hadn’t arrived yet. If the events of the original show really went down when the ti ca, he would just find an opportunity to bully and discipline him again.
Soldier Boy shifted his gaze to the last person who needed to be called out individually.
"Maeve."
Maeve froze slightly. She had already been called out once regarding the matter with Translucent.
"You need to be a real superhero."
The tone of this statent was completely different from all the previous reprimands.
To be honest, aside from being a lesbian, Maeve didn’t really seem to have any other notable flaws.
And being a lesbian was nothing—certainly better than fucking fish.
Compared to the others, she was still relatively normal.
Maeve didn’t speak; her lips moved slightly, and she nodded heavily.
Soldier Boy really seems different from the rest of my teammates... Maeve thought to herself as she looked at Benjamin’s perfect, charismatic face.
"I will, sir," Maeve said.
Benjamin withdrew his gaze, looking at Holander, who was enjoying the drama from the sidelines. "The rest of you leave. Holander, stay."
The sound of chair legs scraping against the carpet echoed throughout the conference room.
Translucent was the first to stand, quickly turning invisible and slipping away.
The Deep followed closely behind, his head lowered, looking rather upset.
When A-Train turned his wheelchair, a wheel slamd into a table leg with a dull thud, prompting him to mutter a low curse.
Ashley scurried out right behind them.
Maeve was the last to leave.
Her steps paused slightly as she passed Benjamin’s side, casting a quick glance at him before swiftly exiting.
The conference room door slamd shut heavily behind her.
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Benjamin turned around to face his son.
Holander stood beside the head of the long table, his cape draping quietly behind him.
His arms had shifted from being crossed over his chest to hanging down at his sides.
The previous posture of standing with crossed arms and watching coldly was gone, replaced by a stance that even he wasn’t quite used to.
Because everyone else had been reprimanded, leaving him entirely alone in the room.
Will Father lecture ? Holander thought to himself.
Benjamin picked his shield up off the table, its tal edge clicking lightly against the rim.
He hung the shield onto the back of a nearby chair, pulled that chair out, and sat down.
He raised his hand, pointing his index finger at an adjacent chair.
"Sit."
Holander hesitated for less than a second.
Then he sat down.
He didn’t lean against the backrest; instead, he straightened his spine, placing his hands properly on his knees, his ten fingertips just resting on the edges of his suit’s knee armor.
His cape was pressed behind him, draping through the gap between the chair cushion and the backrest, piling into a small pool of red on the carpet.
Benjamin found the posture mildly amusing.
The stance felt sowhat familiar. In reality, he had rarely seen Holander sit like this.
In his mory, Holander either crossed his legs, leaned back against the chair to strike a condescending, lazy pose, or simply stood, staring down at others with those blue eyes, a smirk of effortless superiority permanently etched on his face.
But right now, Holander’s posture—knees together, hands flat, spine straight—was no different from a ten-year-old kid sitting in the principal’s office waiting to be scolded.
An image flashed through his mind.
In Season 5 of the original show, his original body took Holander to find Marathon.
Back then, Holander wore his suit but sat on the sofa, hands on his knees, spine perfectly straight, quietly listening to the old-tirs chat. His posture was exactly like a child accompanying his father to visit an elder’s house.
Even when faced with Marathon’s crude jokes, Holander didn’t imdiately fly into a rage and kill him; he restrained himself, entirely because he was showing respect to Soldier Boy
At his core, Holander was nothing more than a child.
Staring at those hands resting on his knees, Benjamin suddenly realized sothing.
The man in front of him didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, didn’t do drugs, and didn’t frequent prostitutes. He had zero vices.
From a certain angle, he could even be considered a moral role model in the superhero community.
A model citizen... well, aside from his fondness for murdering people.
Granted, his penchant for murder was a problem larger than all of his virtues combined.
But he was still a child.
A child who, after being tortured in a lab by Vought, was plucked out and thrown straight into the spotlight, never having had the chance to truly grow up.
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A/n: If you want to read ahead and find out what happens next right away, you can read up to 20 Chapters ahead on my p@tr~on: /ForgottenDaoist (@ = a, link is in my profile).
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