Free Web NovelChapter 108: 108: The Crisis Has Only Just Begun
"Fuck. If he’s been made, I’m screwed." Mother’s Milk rushed to the computer and pulled up his bank accounts. If A-Train had found Hughie, it meant the whole team was burned. His accounts were probably already compromised. He had to move the money fast.
Butcher grabbed his phone and checked the feed from his home security cameras. Sure enough, unknown assholes were already inside his place.
"Oh shit, my accounts are frozen!" Mother’s Milk cursed, but he kept it together. No time to dwell on the money. He needed to warn his family to get the hell out before they ended up like Hughie’s dad.
"Oi. Who the fuck leaked?" Butcher snarled. "Your little supe girly?"
"No way. She doesn’t know shit."
Hughie kept packing while defending Starlight. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
"Doesn’t matter. I’ll kill her," Butcher growled, clearly pissed. They finally had enough dirt to bring Vought down, and now the whole team was exposed at the worst possible moment. All his plans just got fucked.
"Starlight has never even seen me. Not once. So how the hell did I get exposed?" Mother’s Milk asked from the computer.
If Starlight had ratted them out, his accounts wouldn’t have been frozen so quickly.
"Besides her, who else?" Butcher asked, forcing himself to calm down.
"Could be that mysterious French guy," Frenchie said, standing next to Kimiko. "He always seems to know where we are and what we’re doing. He found us too easily. He’s suspicious as hell."
"Yeah, it could be him," Hughie agreed. "Every time he shows up he acts all shady, hiding who he really is. He never even told us his real name."
"No reason..." Butcher muttered, frowning hard. "He killed Translucent himself and got us the Compound V. Doesn’t make sense for him to be a Vought spy."
"People sell each other out for money all the time. You need a bigger reason than that?" Hughie shot back.
"Shut the fuck up, you dick-driven idiot," Butcher snapped. "With his powers he wouldn’t need to rat us out. He could just grab us and hand us over to Vought for a fat reward. That’d be smarter."
Butcher already had a suspect in mind. He pulled up Mesmer’s number on his phone.
First call. No answer.
Second call. Still nothing.
Third and fourth — straight to voicemail.
"It’s Mesmer. MM, call your community friend right now. Find out where Mesmer’s daughter is." Butcher’s gut was screaming that this was on Mesmer.
The guy used to work for Vought and wanted to get back. He had way more reason to sell them out than the others.
Just like Butcher thought, when Mother’s Milk asked his friend, he learned Mesmer’s daughter had been picked up that morning.
"Shit... this is my fault," Mother’s Milk said, voice heavy with guilt. "I shouldn’t have trusted him. This whole mess is on me..."
"..."
"Never mind that now. The priority is getting Hughie’s family to safety."
"Take this." Butcher handed Hughie a syringe full of Compound V. "When you see A-Train, use this to get his attention. Kimiko will smash him from behind. Your only job is getting your dad out alive."
Butcher’s plan went off without a hitch.
A-Train had been staying clean ever since Homelander’s warning. The second he saw the Compound V in Hughie’s hand, his eyes locked on like a junkie spotting his fix. He couldn’t look away.
Kimiko didn’t waste the opening. She grabbed a baseball bat from the corner and cracked it hard across A-Train’s right leg from behind.
A-Train screamed and clutched his shattered leg. "You fucking bitch!"
Without his legs, his powers were useless. He could only watch helplessly as Hughie dragged his father out of the house.
...
Back with Ivan.
He was on a video call with Mesmer. From the background, it looked like the guy was inside some gym.
"I’ve already had your daughter picked up. Valentino, one of New York’s top lawyers, is filing the paperwork to get you full custody and parental rights." Ivan held his coffee, speaking calmly to the screen.
"Thank you," Mesmer replied. His tight gym clothes did nothing to hide his fat, sweaty body.
"I keep my promises. I’ll make sure your daughter gets a normal education too." Mesmer’s daughter was the perfect leash. As long as the fat fuck behaved and did what Ivan needed, his kid would stay safe and taken care of.
Mesmer knew it too. But he didn’t regret it. At least for now he still had value. Ivan wouldn’t toss him aside like Vought had.
After ending the call, Ivan stood by the floor-to-ceiling window with his coffee. He stared down at the city below and took a slow sip.
He knew Vought’s real crisis was only just beginning. Compound V getting exposed was inevitable. But that was exactly what he wanted.
Slowly bring it into the light, let people get used to it. And when the time came, the perfect face for Compound V would be Homelander himself.
...
By evening.
The Deep had already posted his apology video. He claimed he’d been madly chasing Starlight and ended up doing some stupid, impulsive shit because of it.
At first, netizens weren’t buying it.
But then Starlight dropped a comment under The Deep’s video, and people started to waver. With Vought throwing its massive influence behind the story, the "facts" Ivan had carefully manufactured spread like wildfire.
Since both parties were saying the same thing, most people dropped the sexual harassment angle.
Just like Ivan predicted, everyone became way more interested in the drama between The Deep and Starlight.
Some of The Deep’s female fans even jumped in to attack Starlight, claiming she made the whole thing up just for attention.
Thanks to Vought’s heavy push, The Deep’s reputation made a miraculous comeback.
Even The Deep himself was stunned.
"Holy shit, Mr. Greevs, you’re a fucking genius. Your future is definitely bigger than this," The Deep said as he burst into Ivan’s office carrying a gift box. He placed it on the desk with clear admiration.
Ivan knew exactly why The Deep was here. The guy wanted to switch sides and pledge loyalty.
In his eyes, The Seven had clear factions. Homelander ran his own crew with A-Train and the now-dead Translucent. Black Noir was Stan Edgar’s man through and through. Starlight and Queen Maeve stuck together like they had some kind of understanding.
"Hope you’re right," Ivan said with a small smile, accepting the gift.
Once The Deep left, Ivan opened the box. Inside was a set of expensive hand-rolled cigars. The packaging alone screamed money.
[Congratulations, player. You have slightly altered the original plot and earned 220 Fantasy Points.]
...
Meanwhile.
Even though Butcher’s crew had rescued Hughie’s dad, they all knew they were in deep shit. If Homelander decided to get involved personally, they were as good as dead. So Butcher swallowed his pride and reached out to Susan again.
Their last meeting had ended badly.
But right now, the FBI was their only real shot at staying alive.
"No Homelander?" Butcher asked as Susan walked up, still hoping.
"No Homelander. That was the deal. Everyone else is fair game. So are you in or not?" Susan snapped, clearly impatient.
Butcher had no cards left. He pulled out a vial of Compound V and handed it over.
"This it?"
"Yeah. The real deal."
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69
