Chapter 34: Holander Cares About Approval Ratings
The sound-activated lights in the corridor flickered on one after another, triggered by the heavy thud of footsteps. Holander wasn’t flying; he was walking. He had just co out of his apartnt, his hands still stained with Madelyn’s blood. Madelyn was dead...
Holander’s feelings toward Madelyn had never been sothing that could be easily sumd up in a few words. Madelyn was like a mother to him. She used to be the closest person to him in this freezing tower, the one person capable of showing him care, even if that care was completely fake. She was the woman who always stood in the front row below the stage, nodding at him whenever he flashed his standard smile for the caras...
He knew it was fake... he had always known. In fact, Holander’s super-hearing had caught the sudden spikes in Madelyn’s heartbeat countless tis... When she lied, when she was afraid, when she was scheming against him, that heart hamred like an engine with the throttle slamd floor-flat. Every single ti, he had heard it crystal clear. Every single ti, he chose to explain it away as "excitent" just to delude himself. Because she was the only mother Holander had. Even if she was just a mother in form, he desperately needed one. A person without a mother was like a ship without an anchor, drifting at sea, liable to be blown away by any random gust of wind.
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But now, he had killed her with his own hands. Madelyn had been lying until her absolute last breath, still throwing mud at his father, trying to make him believe that a traitor wouldn’t give a shit about more than a hundred innocent lives. She had viewed him as nothing but a tool right up until her death. And he, finally, had refused to remain a blinded pussy. A fake mother who had always deceived him, versus a real biological father who genuinely wanted what was best for him. Holander knew exactly how to choose on that multiple-choice question. Yet, he was still grieving because of it.
Inside Vought Tower, the lights in the office of the Executive Director of Superhuman Affairs were still burning.
Holander pushed the door open. Benjamin was leaning back in his office chair, holding a cup of cola. He looked up, spotting Holander standing at the threshold, his cape hanging askew, his eyes as red as if they’d been scrubbed with sandpaper, and a few drops of dark red liquid staining the cuffs of his suit. Benjamin set his cola on the desk, giving him a thorough look-over. "What the fuck is going on with you? Looking like soone just slaughtered your goddamn parents."
Holander ignored the brutal comnt where Benjamin effectively insulted himself. "I killed Madelyn," Holander said slowly.
Benjamin picked up his cola and took another sip, the expression on his face completely unshifting. "Why?"
"She ca to see ..." Holander still stood at the door, not stepping inside, as if waiting for permission. His voice was raspy, his pace slow. "She brought a file, said you’re a traitor, a Soviet spy, and that the only reason you ca back was to replace . She said... you never raised and that we’re strangers. She said my drop in approval ratings is entirely your fault." He paused for a mont. "Then, I asked her if Vought was behind my dropping numbers. I asked if Vought had a hand in it. She said no, and then her heart skipped... I killed her. That’s all."
Benjamin set down his cola. "So you killed her just because she lied?"
"Not just that, but because of you too," Holander said slowly. "She tried to slander you, and Vought tried to slander you. I won’t allow it. You’re my family."
Benjamin leaned back against his chair, falling silent for a mont. Holander killing Madelyn was unexpected, yet it made perfect sense. After all, Madelyn was bound to die sooner or later; even if she didn’t die now, she would have eventually ended up dead by his hands for deceiving him in the future anyway. Holander was already changing because of his arrival.
"The play here is obvious," Benjamin said slowly. "Goddamn Vought decided to self-mutilate just to drive a wedge between us, tanking your approval ratings so they could use Madelyn to reel your weak ass back in. Going to these lengths to sabotage themselves ans they’re dropping a fucking fortune on this play. Looks like my arrival has terrified the company, and terrified Edgar too..."
"I get that."
"Co inside, stop talking by the doorway."
Holander finally stepped in from the door, sitting down on the sofa. His posture was still his habitual straight-backed stance, hands resting squarely on his knees. But he wasn’t as rigid as before; he leaned his back slightly against the sofa cushions. This was the first ti he had truly relaxed his posture inside his father’s office.
"But you did good," Benjamin’s tone softened slightly. "I was genuinely worried you’d let that goddamn old whore reel you back under her thumb. You didn’t. You chose to fight back. For you, that’s progress—a damn good bit of progress."
Holander lifted his head, his eyes still bloodshot. "But my approval ratings..." Holander was no longer grieving for Madelyn, but he was still shedding tears over his numbers. He still cared about his approval ratings, still obsessed over the public’s perception...
"Six percentage points, right?" Benjamin cut him off, suddenly chuckling. "Do you know why your approval ratings have always ranked below mine? Even when you were at your absolute peak?"
"Why?" Holander had always viewed Benjamin as his idol, not just because Soldier Boy was powerful, but because Soldier Boy’s approval ratings had always been the highest—far higher than even Holander’s best trics!
"Because... you pussy, you’ve never shown your real self," Benjamin said slowly. "Aside from a few recent interviews... outside of those monts, you’ve spent every waking second talking according to the PR departnt’s scripts. I’ve seen it... your smiles are rehearsed, the angles of your waves are calculated, and when you say ’I love you guys,’ even your pitch is probably corrected by an audio engineer... When you’re this fake, pathetic, and weak, it’d be a miracle if your goddamn approval ratings were high."
Holander said nothing. His lips parted slightly, wanting to talk back, but he couldn’t find a single point to counter with.
Benjamin leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping into a low, heavy register. "Only when you stop giving a shit about those useless trics, stop giving a shit about a goddamn approval rating, stop getting upset because one or two reporters corner you, and stop losing sleep just because so nobody on Twitter calls you a fraud—only then can you beco stronger and get what you actually want. Otherwise, for the rest of your life, you’ll just be constantly controlled by Vought, by rich fucks, by people in power, and even by the very fans who support you... You’re a real superhero, not so puppet to be pulled around forever. You aren’t like those whores who spend every single day catering to n, sleeping around with countless people, only to catch a disease and die a miserable fucking death."
A real superhero... Holander was stunned; it was the first ti he had ever heard that phrase used this way. Being your true self, rather than performing a fake persona. Vought had never taught him that. Then again, those corporate fucks at Vought... were never his family. In their eyes, he was likely just an excellent product.
"I understand," Holander said, staring at Benjamin, his gaze steadily growing dead-serious. From this day forward, he was going to be his true self, not a puppet manipulated by Vought.
"Good. Then rember that: be real."
Holander stood up from the sofa. He walked to the door, paused in his tracks, and cast a final glance back at Benjamin.
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Holander pushed open the door and stepped out. The sound of his footsteps echoing down the corridor was no longer the heavy, dragging thud from when he arrived.
Sitting alone in his office, Benjamin leaned back against his chair, suddenly recalling sothing. In reality, even in the original show, Soldier Boy’s peak approval rating had always remained higher than Holander’s. It wasn’t because Soldier Boy was better at managing a public persona—quite the opposite, it was because he never managed one at all. It wasn’t until the original show’s later tiline, when Holander completely abandoned approval ratings, stopped giving a shit about those trics, and delivered that classic line during a speech—"I’m stronger, I’m smarter, I’m better"—that his raw aura of absolute indifference caused his approval ratings to skyrocket, even surpassing Soldier Boy’s peak numbers.
After Holander left, the system’s notification chi echoed in Benjamin’s ears. Benjamin was filled with anticipation; he desperately needed Super Speed and Super Flight.
[Ding!]
[You have made Holander feel a father’s guidance and teachings. Although he still cares deeply about approval ratings, your instruction has made him realize that only by being his true self can he break free from Vought’s control. Holander deeply envies how you are completely free from Vought’s grip, and envies your lack of personality flaws... But along with that envy, he loves you deeply. Reward acquired: Anesthesia Immunity Lv6.]
[Current Abilities:
Nuclear Energy Blast Lv4 (Can release high-intensity radioactive energy capable of incinerating anything and burning away the Compound V inside a target’s body.)
Super Strength Lv6 (Possesses the top-tier super strength of elite Supes.)
Super Defense Lv5 (Invulnerable, immune to conventional firearms and most Supe attacks.)
Self-Healing Lv5 (Extrely high cellular activity, capable of rapidly repairing fatal wounds.)
Radiation Resistance Lv5 (Completely immune to nuclear radiation and all harmful rays.)
Super Speed Lv1 (Possesses the speed of a standard Supe.)
Anesthesia Immunity Lv6 (Immune to the vast majority of toxins and anesthetics, including Novichok.)
Eternal Youth (Physical form permanently remains at its peak.)]
"Where the fuck is my Super Speed and Super Flight? Fuck you, system, fuck you!" Benjamin’s face was freezing cold as he hurled curses. Still, on the bright side, one of his major shortfalls had been patched over; he wouldn’t get knocked out by Novichok, the military-grade nerve agent used to incapacitate Soldier Boy in the original show. From this day forward, aside from flight and speed, he no longer possessed a single weakness.
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A/N: Next goal: 400 Power Stones = 1 bonus Chapter!
And if you want to read ahead and find out what happens next right away, you can get up to 20 Chapters ahead on my p@tr~on:
/ForgottenDaoist (@ = a, link is in my profile).
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