The flight didn’t last long, barely ten minutes.
By the time I arrived, I had lost all my clothes because they simply couldn’t withstand the strain.
My shirt tore easily enough, as did my pants, but I didn’t really care anymore.
I entered my apartment at a much more reasonable speed, although I was practically naked by then.
Changing into my suit didn’t take long.
After that, I flew to New Jersey.
All in all, the entire trip took about twenty minutes.
By then, I had already reached the deserted beach.
I landed smoothly in front of the person who had called me and immediately scanned the area for anything suspicious.
Nothing seemed out of place, except for a suitcase lying on the sand.
More specifically, I was bothered by the fact that I couldn’t see through it.
“What’s in the suitcase, Deep?” I asked the guy sitting on the sand.
He hadn’t even noticed me arrive.
“Homelander!”
He shot to his feet, apparently relieved that I’d arrived so quickly.
“I… Hitch told me he’d found a suspicious suitcase, so I brought it out here.”
“Who’s Hitch?”
“It’s… a sea lion I talk to,” Deep admitted sheepishly.
Interesting.
“So Hitch found the suitcase deep underwater?”
I made no indication that I’d noticed anything strange about that.
“Yes, that’s right.” Deep nodded, visibly relieved that I wasn’t making fun of him for his ability again.
“Then what does that have to do with what I heard over the phone?” I asked irritably.
“You told me you’d found Translucent and that this wasn’t something we could discuss over the phone.”
I was gradually realizing that there had been no reason to rush here.
“So where is he?”
“Uh…”
Deep pressed his lips together before walking over to the suitcase and opening it wide.
“Jesus fucking Christ.”
I couldn’t help myself when I saw what was inside.
Human organs.
A hell of a lot of them.
My eyes immediately caught sight of the transparent shards scattered among the remains.
They looked like the pieces of a shattered glass, except they were much larger and covered in blood and chunks of flesh.
There was also a message written in Translucent’s blood on the inside of the suitcase.
You’re next.
“How the hell did they do this?” Deep cried out, almost hysterically.
“He’s invulnerable!”
I simply stared at what remained of one of the most effective Supes around.
And the worst part was that I had no idea who could have hated him enough to do something this… inhuman.
Translucent had never really had anything on his record that could tarnish his reputation, apart from spying on everyone.
Of course, every member of the Seven had their own sins, but none of them were serious enough to warrant murder.
Well, that’s no longer true when it comes to A-Train.
I had a feeling these incidents were connected somehow, and I really didn’t like it.
I took a deep breath.
Then I caught the scent.
It was one I could recognize almost anywhere.
“They put a bomb inside him,” I muttered, finally answering Deep’s question.
“What kind of psychopath could do that?” Deep asked in shock.
“An intelligent psychopath,” I replied flatly.
I closed the suitcase.
It was made of zinc, the only material I couldn’t see through.
“So what do we do now?” Deep asked, clearly at a loss.
Considering he’d probably never dealt with anything like this before, the question was only natural.
My next job was to become an airborne courier.
I grabbed both packages and took off.
It was quite the experience, especially because of how loudly Deep screamed the entire way.
Apparently, the sky wasn’t really his thing.
Maybe I should’ve slowed down.
Still, I had no intention of putting this off for long.
I left the matter to the people responsible for keeping their employees safe and monitoring them around the clock.
“Why did you call me, Homelander?” Madelyn asked irritably as soon as she entered the conference room.
“I just wanted to ask you something directly. Where is Translucent right now?”
“He’s in New Jersey.” The woman rolled her eyes as if I’d just asked the most ridiculous question imaginable.
“Drinking and hiding from us again. You know how he is.”
“Really?”
I kicked the suitcase across the floor, drawing her attention to it.
“Then what’s this?”
“A suitcase.”
Stillwell gave me an irritated look.
“Deep, if you would.”
I smiled at him.
Deep obediently opened the suitcase and revealed its contents.
“Oh my God!”
Madelyn raised her voice before immediately turning away and trying to steady her breathing.
At her age, she really shouldn’t be getting this worked up. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“I hope you understand that this is your fault,” I said coldly, giving her a heavy look.
“If you’d acted in time, none of this would’ve happened.”
“You want to blame me for this?” Madelyn frowned, clenching her hand into a fist.
“Relax. I just want you to deal with it. That’s all.”
I waved toward the remains of the Supe.
“That’s your job, isn’t it? And preferably, I’d like you to find the people who did this. We’re not talking about some second-rate hero whose death can simply be ignored.”
I looked at her.
“And once you find them, let me know. If that’s not too much trouble.”
“It won’t be.”
Stillwell spat the words through clenched teeth.
She gave Deep a sharp look before leaving the room.
Someone might think I didn’t care about Translucent’s death.
That wasn’t true.
I was simply relieved that I wouldn’t have to deal with him myself.
Yes, that transparent Supe had one of the cleanest reputations among the group, but he also knew far too much because he loved spying on everyone.
That’s exactly why he had enough dirt on the company and a huge number of heroes, including the entire Seven.
And that voyeur only ever cared about himself and his own skin.
I didn’t want someone like that on my team.
With him, you could never tell what he might do.
So honestly, I didn’t care.
It’s strange how easily your attitude toward death can change after you’ve experienced it yourself.
Knowing there’s something on the other side makes it difficult to see death as the absolute end.
I couldn’t explain my presence here any other way, especially considering the problems I’d had with my heart.
“She’s seriously pissed,” Deep commented.
He didn’t seem nearly as confident anymore that calling Homelander had been the right choice instead of going straight to Stillwell.
“That’s putting it mildly, buddy. But trust me, she won’t do anything.”
I smiled and slapped him on the shoulder.
“Now, I’ve got to go.”
Deep barely had time to recover from the painful slap before I disappeared from sight, shooting out of the building and leaving him alone.
At full speed, I flew straight upward, toward the part of the sky where there were no insects, and certainly no birds.
Over the short time I’d been doing this, the sky had become something of a thinking space for me.
It was where I could properly consider what I should do in different situations.
And now, once again, I was flying toward Ryan and Rebecca at what was, by my standards, a leisurely pace, thinking about who could have done something like this.
My thoughts eventually led me to one conclusion.
I didn’t have enough information.
I didn’t know when Translucent had disappeared, who had a grudge against him, or who could have carried out the attack.
The only thing I knew for certain was that it had been a group of people who had made it very clear that money wasn’t what they wanted.
This was personal.
The first person who came to mind was Campbell.
The guy whose girlfriend A-Train had turned into minced meat.
Translucent’s death was almost too symbolic.
Then again, it could have been one of the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people the Seven had hurt over the years.
There had even been support groups for people who had suffered because of Supes, practically like Alcoholics Anonymous.
Homelander had been keeping an eye on several of them, if only because he enjoyed laughing at how stupid people could be when they blamed themselves for what had happened.
So ultimately, I had no real leads.
Except for the guy who had recently lost his girlfriend.
I should probably keep an eye on him, if only to be thorough.
I stopped in midair and spent a few seconds thinking it over.
Then I turned around and flew back toward Vought Tower.
“Hello, Ashley.”
I smiled at the woman, who flinched at my sudden appearance just as she stepped out of Stillwell’s office.
“H-Homelander.”
Madelyn’s assistant stammered helplessly.
“Could you help me with a little problem?”
I smiled as I placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Yes, of course.” Ashley forced an awkward smile.
“Very good.”
I nodded.
“Find me the address of someone named Campbell, please.”
“Who?”
She genuinely didn’t understand, which irritated me.
Yet another reminder that ordinary people weren’t even considered human around here.
“The guy whose girlfriend was killed by A-Train while he was chasing some robbers.”
I patiently explained.
Recognition immediately flashed across her face.
“But why do you need his address?” she asked uncertainly.
“I’ve decided to personally apologize for the tragedy.”
I gave her my most sincere expression.
“Really?” Ashley looked at me in surprise.
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll send the address to you by email.”
She tried to smile again, but she wasn’t very convincing.
I nodded and calmly walked away.
Three minutes later, the address arrived on my phone.
“Yeah, Dad. What’s up?”
Hughie answered the phone, turning his attention away from the group gathered around him.
There was the huge, muscular black guy everyone called Mother’s Milk, or MM.
Then there was Frenchie, who, as it turned out, was an expert with explosives.
And Butcher.
The man who had literally blown Translucent apart inside an iron box, like an egg in a microwave.
All three of them were watching Hughie with interest.
Nothing particularly exciting had happened during that time, and spending an entire day watching a Chinese restaurant wasn’t exactly thrilling.
“Yeah, I’m glad to hear from you too, Dad.”
Hughie sounded uncertain.
He still couldn’t understand how he hadn’t already been kicked out of the group.
“You have no idea who came to visit us,” his father said cheerfully.
“Homelander!”
The man shouted the name, and everyone present immediately tensed.
Hughie pressed his lips together when he saw Butcher silently mouth two words:
Put it on speaker.
Hughie looked at the men staring at him with intense concentration.
None of them exactly looked like model citizens.
With a sigh, he switched on the speaker.
“Dad, please don’t tell me you called an entertainer.”
Hughie desperately hoped that was all this was.
“What are you talking about? I’m completely real, Hughie.”
The voice coming through the phone sent a shiver down his spine.
And he wasn’t the only one.
Frenchie and MM wore equally shocked expressions.
Only Butcher simply frowned.
“He’s real! He even signed your comic and your T-shirt!” Hughie’s father continued excitedly.
Hughie’s mouth went dry.
He immediately grabbed a bottle of water and began gulping down the disgustingly warm liquid.
Only after emptying the bottle did he finally start breathing again, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm his violently pounding heart.
“Hughie! Are you there?” his father continued.
“Answer him!”
Butcher tried to snap him out of it with a painful slap.
Hughie simply stared at him.
He didn’t react.
“Hughie! I think we lost the connection,” his father said, sounding annoyed.
“Should I call back?”
“No need. I simply wanted to apologize for what my colleague did.”
Homelander’s voice suddenly came through the speaker, smooth and almost soothing.
“I know that during times like these, people need support. Without it, there’s a very real chance they’ll fall under the influence of less than respectable people.”
“Really?” Hughie’s father replied in surprise.
“Hughie… has been acting strange these past few days.”
The group tried not to breathe too loudly.
They were incredibly lucky that the forty-year-old man wasn’t particularly good with technology and never hung up the phone himself.
They needed to take advantage of the opportunity.
“How has he been acting?” Homelander asked with interest.
“Recently, he packed his things and left with some guy. Before that, he tore down all the posters in his room.”
Butcher clenched his teeth in fury.
They could be found because of this.
Frenchie grabbed his head, anxiously waiting for what would come next.
MM was tense as well.
He was seriously considering abandoning their entire plan to fight the Supes.
There was no way he was going to put his wife and children in danger.
Hughie, meanwhile, had finally recovered enough to listen in shock to his father’s words.
“Do you remember what that suspicious man looked like?”
“No. My eyesight isn’t exactly great, as you can see.”
Hughie could have sworn his father adjusted his glasses at that moment, even though he couldn’t actually see him doing it.
“I couldn’t even recognize his car.”
“That’s a shame. It would’ve been very helpful.”
Homelander’s voice was followed by the sound of footsteps moving away.
“Thank you for your hospitality. I’ll see you soon, Mr. Campbell.”
“See you soon.”
The man’s reply was followed by the sound of the door closing.
For several minutes, they instinctively listened to the sounds coming through the phone’s speaker.
Eventually, the sound of some kind of comedy show became audible.
Everyone finally let out a sigh of relief.
Hughie quickly hung up.
“You’re not going back there,” Butcher decided, frowning as he looked at the young man.
“You’ll stay at my place for now.”
Hughie could only nod.
Going home was definitely out of the question now.
There was too much of a chance that Homelander had connected the timing of Translucent’s disappearance with Hughie’s visit to Vought Tower.
All Hughie could do was hope that nothing happened to his father.