Early the next morning.
Benjamin and Starlight got dressed and returned to Vought headquarters.
Holander, anwhile, had flown out of headquarters before dawn to hunt down the Supervillains causing chaos all over the world.
After all, back when he wanted to force Supes into the military, he was the one who ordered A-Train to spread Compound V to terrorists across the globe.
Aside from seeing his son, Holander spent most of his ti dealing with that ss.
He also had to search for Kimiko and her brother...
Though Holander still had no idea why Soldier Boy cared so much about those two...
Nor did he know whether Soldier Boy was just looking for sothing new...
And so, the days passed.
Benjamin’s life beca unusually regular and "fulfilling."
Every now and then, he would go to the Peninsula Hotel with Starlight and enjoy the company of this new-generation Supe Arican sweetheart.
Other tis, Benjamin would push open the door to Stormfront’s apartnt and have a hard-hitting, "hardcore sparring session" with her.
Perhaps because Benjamin refused to agree with Stormfront’s grand ideals, Stormfront had clearly started slacking off during this period.
She stopped going out onto the streets to fight cri. Instead, she half-assed her way through each day, shooting lousy films in Vought’s studio, or putting on that black uniform to appear on talk shows and give speeches about female empowernt and the like.
To be fair, Stormfront really was good at giving speeches. Her approval among won of every age group rose sharply, and her popularity even began to faintly surpass Starlight’s.
Stormfront and Starlight also beca more active in the public eye. Together with Maeve, the three of them were hailed as symbols of female empowernt. Of course, aside from the tis when Starlight and Maeve were tracking down Supervillains, the rest of their ti was mostly spent joining Stormfront at various events...
So of Stormfront’s speeches were even more forceful than Benjamin’s.
Benjamin was not angry about Stormfront’s passive resistance. On the contrary, he was more than happy to see it.
He understood this old woman’s true nature far too well. She might be saying she would follow the rules now, but deep down, she was still an extrely radical racist lunatic.
If Stormfront were allowed to go out on missions, and she ran into a few Black or Asian criminals, the massacre and destruction she caused would probably be a hundred tis worse than anything those Supervillains could do.
Keeping her caged under the spotlight as a pretty prop was actually the greatest protection society could get.
Stormfront had made promises before, sure, but this woman was anything but honest. She and Starlight were complete opposites. When it ca to scheming, there were few Supes who could compare to Stormfront.
anwhile, The Deep and A-Train, the two forr outsiders in The Seven, were frantically investigating the Church of the Collective.
...
A few nights later.
Sowhere in the Middle East, at an abandoned militant camp choked with smoke and gunpowder.
"Splat!"
Holander expressionlessly lifted his glowing red eyes, and a crimson beam instantly blew apart the terrorist leader’s head.
This was the third Supervillain he had cleaned up today.
"These disgusting bugs just never fucking end."
Holander looked at the corpse in disgust.
...
As the final scream faded, the violent crimson glow in Holander’s eyes gradually died away.
He took a deep breath, and that terrifying aura around him receded.
Holander carefully reached into the blood-free inner pocket of his Supersuit and pulled out a beautifully packaged, limited-edition Holander LEGO set.
Looking at the toy in his hand, the tyrant who had just slaughtered dozens of people actually broke into a soft, goofy smile.
"It’s almost ti to see Ryan again. The little guy’s gonna love this."
"Boom!"
With a thunderous roar that tore through the sound barrier, Holander hugged the LEGO box to his chest and impatiently burst through the clouds, flying at top speed toward a secret community in the United States.
...
In the Arican Midwest, inside an abandoned church.
Two groups stood facing each other.
On the left was Grace Mallory, forr Deputy Director of the CIA.
She wore a washed-out gray trench coat, and her wrinkled face was etched with vigilance.
But from the shape of her features, it was still easy to tell that Mallory had been beautiful when she was young, with an exceptional presence.
The original Soldier Boy had even flirted with her once, only to get thoroughly shut down.
Behind Mallory stood Mother’s Milk, William Butcher, Frenchie, and their only Supe, Kimiko.
The last ti Butcher’s group had planned to expose Compound V to the public, Soldier Boy beat them to it and released the news first, catching all of them completely off guard.
On top of that, because they had killed Translucent and were sold out by sr, they had beco fugitives. Superheroes, police, and plenty of others were hunting them down. As a result, Butcher’s situation was far worse than in the original series, forcing him to seek shelter under Colonel Mallory.
As for Hughie, because events had gone differently from the original series, he had not been present when sr was threatened. That ant Hughie had not beco a wanted man. Right now, he and Robin were living a relatively comfortable life.
...
Standing across from them was a man in an immaculate custom-made white suit, his hair slicked back, a gentle smile at the corner of his mouth.
He was none other than Alastair Adana, leader of the Church of the Collective, a cult leader with millions of fanatical followers across the United States, who had amassed a fortune through brainwashing and ntal control.
Behind him stood several expressionless Supes in sharp suits.
These Supes did not belong to Vought. They were a backup plan Edgar had left behind.
"Colonel Mallory."
Adana was the first to break the silence.
He gave a graceful, slight bow.
"To be honest, when I sent the invitation, I assud that with your stubborn old-fashioned nature, you would never co to this eting. And yet... here you are."
"Cut the nauseating bullshit, you fraud."
Mallory looked at him coldly.
"I have nothing to discuss with a cult leader who lives by sucking people dry, mind and marrow. If that intel hadn’t ntioned Vought, I’d put a bullet through your head right now."
"But you did co, didn’t you? Because you don’t have a choice."
Adana was not bothered in the slightest. He spread his arms.
"Co on, Colonel. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Right now, we have a common enemy, and an unbeatable one at that... Vought!
According to my intelligence network, this The Boys Patrol you secretly assembled is almost the only force that has ever truly hurt Vought. Translucent, for example. You killed him."
"Fuck you!"
Butcher, standing behind Mallory, could not stop himself from cursing.
He stepped forward, his stubbled face full of violence, and jabbed a finger toward Alastair’s face.
"You cultist cunts are just the sa rotten filth as Vought, wearing a different suit!
How many compromised superheroes have you cleaned up for Vought? How many dirty little jobs have you done for them? What, now the split’s gone bad, so you’re crawling out to bite your master?"
Facing Butcher’s abuse, the smile on Adana’s face finally faded a little.
He sighed and gave a helpless shrug.
"Mr. Butcher is right. We really were the best of allies once. Vought needed us to clean up after the Supes, and we needed Vought to provide money, protection, and even status."
"But now... tis have changed."
A flicker of fear passed through Adana’s eyes.
"That crafty bastard Stan Edgar is dead. Madelyn’s gone too. Vought is under completely new managent now.
Soldier Boy and Holander, that terrifying father-and-son Supe duo, control the entire company.
They don’t play by the rules at all. They don’t need the Church to take in their mbers. They don’t need our Church to clean up their image. They... might simply want to reshuffle everything through absolute violence."
"Just the day before yesterday, they officially removed the Church of the Collective from their list of partners and cut off every funding channel we had. They may even have sent Supes to hunt down our Church."
Adana gritted his teeth.
"If we don’t strike first, the Church of the Collective will soon be erased by that father and son through every thod imaginable, disappearing completely from public view. And I... will have nothing left."
"Ha!"
Mallory let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"Well, looks like Vought actually did sothing good for humanity for once. Scum like you, who use a cult to control people’s minds...
In so ways, you’re even more disgusting than Vought. You want to use us as your gun? Keep dreaming."
With that, Mallory turned to leave.
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