Mark walked out of the park with his hoodie pulled up, hands in his pockets, pace steady.
[For someone who complains a lot, you adapt quickly. You use every situation to your advantage.]
He stopped.
"What did you understand to come to that conclusion?"
[You did all of that so your name would spread. You used them and controlled the outcome yourself.]
[It is night. They could not see your face clearly. There are no cameras in that park. You caused destruction without putting civilians at risk, but showed enough power that, if you chose to, you could destroy buildings. That makes you a threat.]
A brief pause.
[And by declaring you have a bone to pick with The Seven, you leveraged their name to accelerate your popularity. To arrive at this conclusion within minutes—are you certain you are an ordinary human?]
"Didn’t you know?" he said, dry. "I’m just an author who doesn’t write very good novels."
The panel updated without pause.
[Popularity Poll: 47]
Mark glanced at it once, then kept moving.
"Not bad for twenty minutes of work."
He turned the corner.
"So how much do I need for another template?" he asked.
[10,000 for a common pull. You will receive three options. Refreshing costs 500 points.]
"So if my luck’s bad, I get three useless templates and lose 500 just to reroll."
[Correct.]
Mark let out a quiet breath and continued down the street.
"Great system."
***
The next morning, New York was already loud.
The news had picked it up overnight and hadn’t let go.
UNKNOWN SUPE DESTROYS CENTRAL PARK — CLAIMS VENDETTA AGAINST THE SEVEN
Every major outlet was running it.
Footage from nearby street cameras had caught the edge of the destruction from outside the park—red flashes tearing through the dark, trees snapping, concrete launching into the air. Not enough to identify anyone. More than enough to cause panic.
The morning anchors were running it on a loop.
"—authorities have confirmed significant structural damage with witnesses describing concentrated red beams of energy—"
"—the two individuals approached by this unknown supe have spoken to police, stating he made his intentions toward The Seven very clear—"
"—and I have to say, this comes at a particularly sensitive time, just one day after the tragic death of Robin Ward, struck and killed by The Seven’s own A-Train during what witnesses are calling a high speed collision in broad daylight—"
"—Vought has yet to issue a full statement regarding the A-Train incident, but this new development is already pulling media attention in a very different direction—"
The police had cordoned off the section of the park by dawn. The A-Train incident from the day before was already being quietly buried under the weight of this new story, Robin Ward’s name sliding down the ticker as the unknown supe took over the cycle.
Vought’s communications team had their statement out before nine.
"Vought International is aware of last night’s incident and wants to assure the public that The Seven are not involved. Any threat made against The Seven will be taken seriously and we are cooperating fully with authorities."
Clean. Practiced. Said nothing.
What it didn’t mention was that Hugh Campbell had spent the night at a police station giving a statement about watching his girlfriend get torn apart on a public street, and that Vought’s legal team had already made contact with the responding officers before morning.
Two stories. One was getting buried. One was getting amplified.
And somewhere in Vought Tower.
Madelyn Stillwell watched the footage play and said nothing for a long moment.
No casualties. Maximum destruction. A direct public challenge aimed at The Seven by someone nobody had on any register anywhere.
She reached forward and paused the clip.
"This is good for us," she said.
Homelander stood beside her desk, arms crossed, eyes still fixed on the frozen frame.
"Someone just publicly threatened my team," he said.
"And that is exactly why it is good for us," Madelyn said, folding her hands on the desk. "We have been sitting in front of Senate committees for two years trying to make the case for Vought’s role in national defense."
"Trying to explain why supes belong in the military, why the current structure leaves the country exposed." She nodded at the screen.
"And now one unknown, unaffiliated, completely unaccountable supe just destroyed a section of Central Park and told the public he has a problem with The Seven. We don’t need to make the argument anymore. He just made it for us."
Homelander looked at her.
"You want to use this."
"I want to walk into the next DoD meeting and put that footage on the screen," she said. "Unlisted. Unregistered. No oversight, no contract, no accountability. Just power operating completely outside any structure we have." She picked up her coffee.
"Then I explain that Vought has a solution. That is the conversation that gets us through the door."
Homelander was quiet for a moment, jaw tight.
"And the threat against The Seven?"
Madelyn smiled slightly.
"Makes the whole thing more urgent," she said. "Wouldn’t you agree?"
"He has similar powers to me," Homelander said, eyes still on the screen.
Madelyn looked up at him with a measured smile.
"Which makes this an even better story for us," she said. "An unknown supe with abilities comparable to the most powerful member of The Seven, operating outside Vought, outside any contract, outside any oversight." She let that sit for a moment.
"The DoD hears that and the conversation about supes in the military stops being a conversation. It becomes a necessity."