Chapter 38: The Livestream Boils Over
From the mont he stepped out of Crimson Countess’s trailer, Benjamin had pressed the livestream button on Vought International’s official account. As the original superhero returning to Vought, Benjamin naturally had his own exclusive streaming channel. Vought’s PR departnt had set up the channel for him on his very first day on the job. The profile picture was that black-and-white photograph from the shores of Normandy, and the bio read: "Arica’s First Superhero."
Except this account had never gone live before; the follower count had just been sitting there idling. Of course, those corporate fucks at Vought never expected a centenarian to know how to use this kind of "high technology," but the thing was, Benjamin handled high-tech just fine.
Though the livestream feed wasn’t perfectly steady, the cara swaying slightly with Benjamin’s strides, it was clear enough. In the fra, monts ago, the mbers of Payback had stepped out from the shadows of the trees, and those stranger Supes hired by Vought closed in from the resort’s main road—everyone’s faces were captured crystal clear. Over thirty people ganging up on a single Soldier Boy. The viewer count in the top-right corner of the screen was already on the verge of breaking ten million; at this rate, even those who missed it live would absolutely hear about this nationwide bombshell by the end of the day.
anwhile, the live chat exploded.
"What the fuck is going on?! Why is Soldier Boy getting ambushed by Payback and Vought’s Supes?"
"Wait, what did he just say? He was sold out by Vought? Sold out by Payback? Sold to the Russians and tortured for forty years? And now he cos back, and Vought wants to sell him out all over again? What the fuck are you doing, Vought?!"
"Holy shit, I believe every single word out of Soldier Boy’s mouth. Look at how those people are positioned—they’ve already boxed him in. This isn’t a spontaneous confrontation; it’s a pre-planned ambush! Crimson Countess is his ex-girlfriend! Leading a mob to jump him! Is this how humans fucking behave?"
"Soldier Boy fought for this country! Normandy! The Ardennes! A World War II hero! And this is how Vought treats him? Selling out their own founding father? This company is rotten to the core! And they fucking did it twice, holy shit."
"I kind of feel like Soldier Boy is getting played like a clown here."
The comnt section inside the stream was scrolling at a breakneck pace, every single ssage dripping with fury. Before long, a massive wave of users started spamming calls for Holander: "Where the fuck is Holander?! Isn’t Holander Soldier Boy’s son? Why isn’t he there yet?! Your dad is surrounded, where the hell are you?!"
"@Holander Your father is getting jumped by dozens of people in Pennsylvania, and you’re still sitting around in Vought Tower?!"
"Holander, look at the goddamn stream! Your dad is broadcasting from his chest pocket. Click it and you can see him facing an entire squad of Supes all by himself!"
"I don’t care what kind of shady shit Holander pulled in the past—if he doesn’t fly out there to back his dad up today, I’m never supporting him again for the rest of my life."
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anwhile, Holander stood before the long table in the conference room, still turning over how to track down Translucent’s killer.
The next instant, the door was violently thrown open. Ashley burst inside, her high heels catching on the threshold as she nearly wiped out flat onto the carpet. She was holding a tablet with a live feed flickering across the screen, her face twisted in a complex mix of absolute panic and frantic urgency.
"Holander! Quick, look at the livestream! Soldier Boy is being ambushed!"
Holander turned his head, his blue eyes locking onto the tablet she held out. On the screen was a maple forest in the suburbs of Pennsylvania, with a mob tightly surrounding his father’s live broadcast feed. Crimson Countess, that old hag in the cheap red dress—his father’s ex-girlfriend. The TNT Twins... and Mindstorm. Along with over thirty unfamiliar faces he had never laid eyes on, closing in from the periter of the maple forest and the resort’s main road, the dragnet tightening inch by inch...
Holander’s pupils violently contracted. Of course he recognized those people. The pack of traitors who had sold out his father all those years ago, gift-wrapping him for the Russians. And now, they were joined by a cohort of Supes hired by Vought.
Benjamin’s voice drifted from the tablet speakers, coarse and steady: "So, have you all thought this through? You’re going to ambush a national hero right under the watch of the Arican public?"
And then ca the comnts...
"I don’t care what Holander pulled in the past—if he doesn’t fly out there to back his dad up today, I’m never supporting him again for the rest of my life."
Holander stared dead at the comnts scrolling across the screen, the rims of his pupils beginning to flare red. His pupils trembled slightly as a searing, dark crimson light began to emanate from the edges of his irises. Holander’s fingers clamped down hard around the edges of the tablet, the glass screen shattering instantly under the structural pressure before he ripped the entire device cleanly in half.
My tablet! Ashley shrieked internally, stumbling back a step until her spine slamd against the conference room door fra. She saw that red glow. Having spent so many years at Vought, Ashley knew exactly what that red glow signified.
"Good job, Ashley."
After all, Ashley acting like this ant she had completely defected from Vought’s camp to align herself with Holander and Soldier Boy. Spitting out his words, Holander spun around, bent his knees slightly, and with his cape billowing behind him, crashed straight through the conference room’s floor-to-ceiling window. The mont his flight velocity broke the sound barrier, a white sonic boom cloud detonated in his wake, rattling several windows on Vought Tower’s top floor until they buzzed aggressively. In an instant, Holander transford into a straight red line, slicing clean through every layer of clouds hanging over New York.
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The suburbs of Pennsylvania. The edge of the maple forest.
Crimson Countess’s face was completely contorted with rage. She glared dead at the blinking cara lens poking out of Benjamin’s chest pocket. Soldier Boy was broadcasting live. The entire nation was watching them.
"When—when the fuck did you—"
"The exact mont I stepped out of your room," Benjamin’s voice was completely flat. "Goddamn Vought set up this streaming channel for , and it looks like the follower count is pretty healthy. What do you say, bitch? Want to say hello to the cara?"
Crimson Countess’s lips trembled violently. She was finished. And not just her—every single person standing here had their face broadcast straight to the world.
"What the fuck are you all standing around for?!" The leader of the Supes dispatched by Vought was the first to snap out of shock. Shouting frantically, he threw his hand forward: "Move! Are we just going to wait around for Holander to co slaughter us? Knock Soldier Boy out cold, cage him up, grab him, and run!"
The Supes along the periter of the maple forest snapped out of it like waking from a dream. The entire mob closed in.
"If I had the balls to show up here alone, it ans I didn’t give a solitary fuck about your numbers. I’m going to blow you pieces of shit to hell!" A searing, golden incandescence ignited across Benjamin’s chest.
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A/n: Next bonus Chapter at 500 ps!!
Want to know what happens next? You can read up to 20 Chapters ahead on my p@tr~on:
/ForgottenDaoist (@ = a, link is in my profile).
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