"Mr. Greevs, the CEO wants to see you," a suited staff mber said, knocking on Ivan’s office door.
"Got it. I’ll head over right away."
Ivan stood up, smoothed out the wrinkles on his jacket, and turned to Baruch. "Sorry, give a bit. I’ll buy you coffee later."
"No problem. I’ll hold you to that coffee."
As Ivan was about to leave, the staff mber handed him a folder. "Mr. Greevs, here are the eting docunts. You can take a quick look."
"Thanks." Ivan took the folder and skimd through it. In short, Stan Edgar was going to personally negotiate the military bill details with the Departnt of Defense. Ivan was just there to sit in and listen.
He followed the staff mber to the conference room.
The eting hadn’t started yet. Ivan sat down at his assigned seat according to the naplate.
"Greevs, I have so very unfortunate news," Edgar said in a heavy voice. "Last night, Madeline was the victim of a terrorist attack. After investigation, we can basically confirm she’s dead."
Edgar sat at the head of the long table. Ivan was seated to his right. In the past, only Madeline had the right to sit in that spot. Now that she was gone, Ivan had taken her place.
"Mr. Edgar, my condolences. May God rest her soul," Ivan said, matching the somber tone. His expression was serious. "I never thought those terrorists could be so fucking insane. They must pay for Madeline’s death. I suggest Vought investigates this thoroughly to the end."
"What if this has sothing to do with Holander?" Edgar didn’t continue. The eting had officially begun.
As the Defense Departnt officials arrived one after another, Edgar kicked things off with his opening remarks.
As expected, once a eting like this started, it was at least two hours minimum. Edgar even thoughtfully ordered takeout for everyone halfway through.
"Who ordered the double beef special wrap?"
Ivan raised his hand and took the takeout box from the staff.
He barely had anything to do in this eting. It was mostly a power play between Edgar and the Secretary of Defense.
"When your supes actually go into combat, who exactly do they report to?" Defense Secretary Sten Leonard asked.
"Vought and the Departnt of Defense. After all, they are valuable assets of Vought International. We need to know their movents and ensure their safety," Edgar replied calmly, putting on his rimless glasses.
anwhile, Ivan kept his head down, reviewing the eting notes while devouring his double beef wrap.
Two hours later, the eting ended with a handshake between the two leaders.
The final agreent was clear: the Departnt of Defense would pay Vought hundreds of billions of dollars annually. In return, Vought would send supes to help the U.S. military wipe out super-terrorists scattered around the world.
On top of that, to maintain local security, mayors from every state would also have to pay hefty commissions to hire Vought’s supes.
Clearly, the negotiation ended in a complete victory for Vought.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Sten Leonard looked utterly humiliated, but he had no choice. He swallowed his rage and signed the contract with Vought.
The mont the final letter of his na hit the paper, it marked the official beginning of the Vought era.
...
After the eting ended, Edgar asked Ivan to stay behind. He pulled out his phone, played a video, and slid it across the table.
The footage ca from the security caras in Madeline’s villa.
It captured everything — including the mont Holander burned Madeline’s face off with his lasers.
"Holander is Vought’s most ...second.. valuable asset. He is, without question, our most perfect product. I assu you know what needs to be done?" Edgar said, staring at Ivan with cold intensity. He took off his glasses, expression blank, and waited for an answer.
After watching the full video, Ivan smiled. "With Vought’s technology, we can easily edit Holander out and use video synthesis to create a new version."
"Excellent. I’m putting you in charge of this. The U.S. governnt will cooperate. We’ll issue nationwide warrants for the terrorists and their accomplices shown in the video."
---
Right after the contract was signed, Vought imdiately sent Black Noir to Syria. Black Noir didn’t disappoint.
When the super-terrorist Nachiber attacked with his signature cry of "Burn in truth!" and triggered a massive explosion, Black Noir only got a chunk of his chest scorched.
He walked out of the flas carrying Nachiber’s severed head.
The shocking display of supe power didn’t make Secretary Leonard happy. If anything, it made his face even darker.
...
A few days later.
The video of Butcher kidnapping Madeline and pressing the detonator exploded across the internet.
Ivan had successfully redirected all the public anger toward Butcher and his crew, painting them as terrorists.
It naturally triggered widespread panic.
Suddenly, the slogan "Supes protecting Arica" dominated every major news outlet.
Ivan wasted no ti capitalizing on the montum and announced a joint funeral for Madeline and Translucent.
The attending supes included Holander, Starlight, The Deep, and Queen Maeve. During the service, Holander gave a deeply moving speech.
"First, please join in ten seconds of silence for our fallen colleagues..."
"They died at the hands of terrorists, but their sacrifice had aning. Because of their deaths, the military bill was able to pass. But that doesn’t an the sacrifices are over... The next one could be any mber of The Seven."
"So please tell my son Maverick... that I love him."
In the front row, Ivan sat with a faint smile on his face, watching the performance.
Holander continued, "Oh, and my son once told , ’Dad, you have to find those super-terrorists.’ Actually, we should call them super-villains. He said, ’You have to hunt them down, Holander. You have to stop them from hurting more people. You’re a great hero.’"
"Right here, right now, I want to make a promise to Maverick. I will fight for you... for Arica... and for our two fallen friends." Holander pressed his hand over his heart, then placed it on the golden coffin in the center of the stage. His voice cracked with emotion.
He tilted his head slightly upward, as if fighting back tears, and spoke through what looked like overwhelming grief. "Finally, I want to make the slogan ’Supes protecting Arica’ a reality."
The acting was flawless. Ivan couldn’t help but applaud. The mont his clapping started, thunderous applause erupted throughout the venue. Everyone looked excited and deeply moved by Holander’s speech.
"Your speech was incredible. All that applause was for you," Ivan said with a grin as Holander sat down beside him.
"Thank you." Holander basked in the praise, flashing his signature bright, all-Arican smile.
Next up was Starlight. She had fully embraced the sexy route now. The second she stepped on stage in her new revealing costu, the crowd went wild.
She grabbed the microphone and began singing a song specially made for The Seven.
"Greevs, do you rember Ashley?" Holander asked, watching Starlight perform.
Ivan smiled. "My forr boss? How could I forget her?"
"I heard you’ve been promoted to Acting Vice President of Vought. Must be a lot of work on your plate now."
Ivan caught the hidden aning behind Holander’s words imdiately. It looked like Holander had also realized how powerful Edgar’s faction had beco inside the company. He wanted to build up his own people too.
"I’m planning to suggest to Mr. Edgar that we bring Ashley back to Vought," Holander said, clapping for Starlight with a smile.
"I have no problem with that. She can be my vice president assistant. With Translucent dead and A-Train still out cold, she can handle the new mber selection process. She’s got plenty of experience with that."
Ivan had zero intention of giving up his position as head of Public Relations just because Holander made a casual suggestion.
"Looks like her fate is to be the vice president’s assistant. It was before, and it still is now," Holander replied. He didn’t push the issue. He didn’t really care about the details as long as he had people he could use.
After Starlight finished her song, the applause was almost as loud as Holander’s. She looked out at the screaming crowd with a surprised, delighted expression. anwhile, in the backstage lounge, Queen Maeve watched her on the TV screen and slowly shook her head. She saw her old self in Starlight.
"Starlight! The Deep! Starlight! The Deep!"
The second The Deep stepped on stage, so of the couple fans started screaming.
The Deep gripped the microphone, looking nervous as hell. But when he saw Ivan nod at him from the audience, he managed to pull himself together. "Everyone, as much as I hate to admit it, this beautiful lady isn’t mine. But I’m not sad about it. I’ve decided to dedicate everything I have to the cause of environntal protection."
His speech went over surprisingly well and earned a strong round of applause.
Queen Maeve, who perford after him, got noticeably less hype. She also sang, but the reaction was clearly weaker than Starlight’s.
...
anwhile.
Hughie was huddled inside a tiny, rundown room. Loud noise from the streets above leaked through the ceiling.
While the sexy new Starlight was blowing up everywhere, he was stuck hiding in a filthy basent, staring at a shitty twelve-inch TV screen.
The thing looked like it was from the fucking Stone Age. Starlight’s image kept blurring and cutting out.
Hughie let out a long, tired sigh. There was nowhere better he could go. Vought and the CIA were hunting him like rabid dogs.
___
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69
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