I'm a Homelander

Chapter 24: Chapter 25



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***

A couple of minutes later, I was gone from the Stillwell house, and Doppelganger's body was literally turned to ash, by my heat vision. It was not worth even thinking about what that power was essentially capable of. There wasn't a material that hadn't been destroyed by those lasers yet. I grinned and looked down at the ash beneath my feet, which was rapidly being scattered by the wind.

A heavy sigh escaped me at the thought of what I had to do. Morally, it was certainly a very bad thing to do. Not that the action was spontaneous, but I'd thought about it for more than ten minutes before everyone left the house. There were plenty of options without killing, at least intimidation or money. But the first option is effective only at first couple of times, and then.... But I'm not Midas, I'm not a Midas to give out incredible sums of money. But Wout is capable of it, especially for such valuable information. Doppelganger knew that, for the corporation was very generous to its loyal employees. But the decisive factor was a blatant lie from the lips of the fat super, and it decided his fate.

It was possible to find such a super who would erase the memory, as it turned out with Multiplier. The only problem in this case was that there are very few such supers, and those who are, are not left unattended and unfunded. There was only one super I knew of who could actually pull this off. But as far as I know, Mindstorm doesn't like the company of any living creature that has intelligence. And I'm not going near a psychotic telepath anyway. So it turns out the only right thing to do was to kill him. I couldn't risk the people close to me, who were now constantly in the crosshairs.

Exhaling, I closed my eyes and flew sharply into the sky. A short flight and I landed at the hangar where Butcher's captured accomplices were being held. Having entered inside, I freely went towards the prisoners, under the incomprehensible glances of their guards. But nobody stopped me, on the contrary, they let me pass as if it was necessary. But why "as if"? It was the right thing to do.

The prisoners appeared before me not in the best form, sitting in the cage, they looked at me with apprehension. All three of them were handcuffed, but there was enough space for them to walk. There were no signs of beatings on their bodies, and everyone felt fine. Perhaps, only the mood was not the best, I would even say - oppressive.

- Please leave us alone. - I asked the guys guarding them, and they complied without question. What can I say? I like guys who do what they're supposed to do.

Old acquaintances of mine. Huey Campbell, the skinny guy, and Marvin T. Milk, the big guy that was with Butcher at the hospital. The third guy, on the other hand, I didn't know at all. As far as I knew, he'd just been among them and hadn't been caught on camera before, unlike the other three. Except that a whole lot of passports and fake identities said that he fit right in with them. Meanwhile, the black man got up from the floor and looked at me questioningly.

- Is it bad? - He asked, under the incomprehensible glances of his comrades.

- Not that bad," he replied, looking at them thoughtfully. - You will be released, and already today.

- Why should they? - Huey cut in, rising from the floor with a shocked look on his face. His facial expression was quite funny, I thought.

- Because I wanted to. - I smiled at them, seeing the well-founded shock on their faces. Really, why would I do anything for them?

- There's a catch, isn't there? - Marvin suggested, and I could understand his disbelief.

- There's no catch, big guy. It's just that your leader and I made an agreement that requires me to let you go and not pursue you any further. Unless, of course, you provoke me.

- Just like that? They'll just listen to you? - Huey asked a reasonable question.

- Where would they go? - I snorted at his words, then looked seriously at the third prisoner. - But even I am not omnipotent before the law, and as you have already realised, this concerns you.

- Are they going to lock up Frenchy? - Huey asked anxiously, looking even more worried than the man in question.

- Is that what you call him? A rather banal nickname for a man who has dozens of fake identities.

- I'm Serge. - Frenchy finally introduced himself, getting up off the floor.

- Homelander. - Frowned, not particularly happy to meet such a person. - You'll only have one day. After that... you'll be chased. It's the best I can do, and it's all I can do.

- Merci. - He nodded at me.

- Are you gonna let us out now? - Huey asked with hope in his voice.

- There's one more thing to do, and after that you can go on your way," I hummed to myself as I looked round at them. - Where's the Asian girl?

- Just today...

- I let her go. - Serge admitted, interrupting Huey, looking like I was going to have to rip him to shreds.

- I see." I nodded thoughtfully, considering what to do next. - Guys, open the cage and uncuff them.

- But sir.

- You think that was a request? - Abruptly he shifted his gaze to the man who had spoken, frowning his eyebrows. - 'Open the cage and uncuff them.

- Yes, sir. - Obeyed the mercenary, whom Wout liked to hire as much as the US Army.

- You're free to go. I hope we don't meet under similar circumstances again. - He grimly mouthed, then escorted the recent prisoners to the exit, before flying off in the direction of Vaught's tower. I had to hurry.

A couple of minutes and my feet were already touching the floor of the balcony, only to be hurried out of the flat and into the corridor a few seconds later. A lift ride down to the fifty-third floor and I was out in the analytics department, which had access to two satellites that monitored everything from the sky twenty-four hours a day. That's not to mention the cameras in the city that they had access to as well. I immediately headed over to the pretty girl with glasses who was sitting at the computer.

- Hello, Homelander. - The girl was clearly nervous about my presence.

- Good evening," I smiled at her. - What's your name?

- A-anika.

- That's a beautiful name.

- Thank you, sir.

- So, Anika. I need your help, and it's urgent. - He said it softly, looking at her seriously.

- And... what do you need?

- I need to find a girl. Asian, black hair, short, about five feet tall," he listed a rough description. - We need to focus on the east side, need today.

- This could take a long time. - Anika replied uncertainly.

- Then get your colleagues involved, finding this girl is the first priority at the moment. If you can do it, I'll pay a bonus of twenty thousand each. Let's get started.

Calmly sat down on a chair, watching as all the employees fussed, starting to look for the Asian girl. Exhaling, I closed my eyes and relaxed, waiting for the results. I have a feeling that soon everyone in the analytics department will have twenty thousand more money in their wallets. However, I'm not sorry to pinch a little from my billions, it's not easy.

The first results came back in twenty minutes. They promptly recognised the girl who threw the bulky shackles on the ground and then ran away. But her face was already fixed and it took a measly ten minutes to find her location. I had to fly out after her the second I got out through a window on the floor. After flying to my destination, I landed near an unfinished five-storey building.

- Is anyone here? - I asked loudly, going up to the first floor, where the girl was.

I looked around and whistled in surprise. There was blood all over the floor and scattered bodies of people who had been gutted like chickens. Five people had definitely given their lives here, in a battle with a miniature Asian woman. Judging by the smell of blood, junkies. The syringes scattered on the floor hinted at that, too, but I was more used to trusting my keen sense of smell. Grinning, I turned my gaze to the girl, who was frozen in one pose.

She stood in the corner, slightly hunched over, as if preparing for an attack. It strongly resembled Becky's ability, with her instincts, only in the Asian girl's case, it was something wilder. Dishevelled hair, dirty clothes, she was covered in blood, and she didn't even have shoes on her feet. However, the girl's current appearance seemed very authentic, given her animal behaviour.

Before I could utter a word, she lunged at me. Strong hands grabbed my head and tried to wring my neck, but to no avail. Then she tried to scratch my face, and then to gouge out my eyes. But all invariably failed. At some point there was no trace of hostility on her part, only curiosity, with which she tried to harm me. It got to the point that the girl simply broke her fingers on me and was very shocked by it. Though her wounds healed very quickly, but the very fact that such a thing happened caused her stupor. And yes, she didn't even squeak in the whole time.

- What, the first time? You'll get used to it," he smiled at her, showing her perfectly white teeth. - My name's John. Nice to meet you, silent girl.

*** 

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