Chapter 105: Kimiko Plans to Surrender
"Listen, Butcher, you lost this one. Completely. There’s no coming back from it."
Susan started talking faster, impatience and helplessness bleeding into her voice.
"Take a step back and forget Neuman flipping on us for a second. The incident itself still wasn’t wrong. Those two guys Homelander killed in the street really were pieces of shit with records a mile long. That video proves one thing. If Homelander hadn’t shown up like some goddamn savior, if he hadn’t used Heat Vision to cut those two bastards in half, that pregnant woman they were holding hostage would’ve been dead."
Susan took a deep breath, almost pleading with Butcher over the phone.
"So do you understand what I’m saying, Butcher? No matter how bloody it was, Homelander did a ’good thing.’ At least to the public, to everyone online, he saved an innocent mother and her unborn child. His approval rating is higher now than it’s ever been."
Butcher finally broke his silence, his voice hoarse and dripping with mockery.
"He blew two men’s heads apart in broad daylight, brains all over the pavement, blood everywhere, and you’re calling me to tell me that was a ’good thing’?"
"Butcher! You can’t keep looking at everything through that hate-soaked, paranoid lens of yours! You have to look at it from the public’s perspective. From the victim’s perspective!"
Susan finally raised her voice, but it quickly sank back down in defeat.
"It’s over. I can’t help you anymore, Butcher. To get Homelander into that hearing, I already burned through every political favor and every bit of influence I had. I’ve got nothing left. Even the backup plans, the Supervillains, all of it, we’re out of options. Because the world needs superheroes, and it needs Homelander."
A heavy sigh came through the phone.
"But... for old times’ sake, I’ll use the last authority I have to hide your team’s families as well as I can and keep them safe. That’s all I can do, Butcher. Take care."
"Beep... beep... beep..."
Susan didn’t wait for Butcher to answer. She hung up.
Butcher stayed exactly where he was, phone still pressed to his ear.
That was right.
This was supposed to be a perfect takedown.
They had managed to force Homelander into the witness seat at the hearing not only because Thomas had released the video and stirred up public pressure.
The official force Susan represented had pushed things along from behind the scenes, and that had been the deciding factor.
Add to that Congresswoman Neuman, whom they had thought was on the same side...
This should have been a major victory, one that ripped off Vought International’s hypocritical mask.
Unfortunately, Neuman had turned on them.
Susan might not understand why Neuman abandoned every political position she had at the last second and chose to stand with Homelander.
But Butcher knew those high-level politicians all too well. It was either some trade of interests, or Neuman had been threatened with something worse than death.
But digging into the reason didn’t matter anymore. It had already happened. It was done.
Vought International’s stock was climbing across the board, and Homelander’s approval rating was still rising.
And they, the people who wanted to kill Homelander and bring down Vought, had once again become rats hiding from the light.
"Butcher?"
A low male voice broke the deadlock.
Mother’s Milk and Frenchie had stopped whatever they were doing and come over to Butcher’s side.
Mother’s Milk rubbed his face irritably, his big frame tense under the dim light.
Frenchie kept fiddling with the lighter in his hand, the click-clack giving away the anxiety eating at him.
"What do we do now, boss?"
Frenchie looked up, his sunken eyes fixed on Butcher.
"At a time like this, if the CIA cuts us off completely, we won’t just be out of weapons. We’ll barely have a fucking place to hide. And remember, we’re still criminals. Criminals who killed Translucent."
Butcher slowly lowered the phone and tossed it onto the grease-stained table.
He bowed his head, both hands braced against the table’s edge, his broad back looking strangely hunched for once.
A long while passed before Butcher raised his head again.
His gaze swept over the two brothers in front of him, the two men who had followed him through life and death.
"I’m not continuing."
His voice was quiet.
"What?"
Frenchie froze.
Mother’s Milk froze too, his eyes widening in disbelief. He stepped forward and stared hard at Butcher.
"What the fuck kind of joke is this? Butcher, after everything, you’re telling us you’re not continuing? After all the shit you went through, after everything you paid, now you’re saying you’re giving up?"
"This fight can’t go on, Mother’s Milk. Even if we threw every last bit of ourselves into it, we wouldn’t scratch one hair on that bastard’s head."
Butcher turned away, pulled a crumpled cigarette from the pocket of his battered leather jacket, and put it between his teeth without lighting it.
"But this shitshow isn’t your problem anymore."
Butcher spoke slowly, his voice calm with the finality of a decision already made.
"I’m going to save Becca."
Mother’s Milk and Frenchie both fell silent.
They knew what the name "Becca" meant to Butcher.
She was the source of all his anger and obsession.
She was also the last piece of humanity he had left in this rotten world.
"Once I get into that fucking secret base and get Becca out, I’m taking her and leaving America right away. We’ll run. Use fake names. Get away from Vought, away from Homelander, and spend the rest of our lives somewhere he’ll never find us."
Butcher’s eyes flickered in the dim light.
In his heart, he silently added one more thing.
Even if that meant taking Ryan with them.
Just thinking about that boy who had inherited Homelander’s genes made Butcher’s chest ache.
But he had already been there once.
He knew that if he rejected Ryan, he would lose Becca forever.
For Becca, he would give up all this hatred.
For Becca, he would try to accept that "little monster."
Butcher had made up his mind.
...
...
The cells inside Vought Tower.
The upper levels of the tower represented everything Vought International wanted the outside world to see.
But the cells were another world entirely. White corridors, white walls, harsh lights, and an atmosphere that made the skin crawl.
At the far end of the corridor, the access light on the third-to-last cell changed from red to green.
The pressure valve gave a low, muffled hiss, and the heavy alloy door slid open to both sides.
Benjamin stood in the doorway, his body nearly filling the entire frame. He had just finished eating with Homelander when Starlight told him Kimiko was ready to submit.
The corridor light shone in behind him, stretching his shadow long across the floor.
That shadow reached all the way to the center of the cell, covering Kimiko’s pale, curled-up bare feet.
Kimiko raised her head, narrowed her eyes, and calmly watched the person in the doorway.
Benjamin didn’t step in right away.
He shifted aside, revealing the slender figure behind him.
Starlight.
Kimiko’s gaze stayed on Starlight’s face for two seconds before moving away.
Starlight’s expression looked the same as always. Gentle, firm, without that kind of sincerity that made it hard to refuse.
Then Benjamin walked in with Starlight.
His leather boots struck the cell floor, each step ringing clearly and bringing a heavy pressure with it.
Benjamin stopped in front of Kimiko, looked down at her, then tossed two things in front of her.
A digital writing pad with a transparent screen.
A stylus.
Benjamin then asked, "Starlight says you’re ready to submit? Become one of us at Vought?"
That was right. Starlight had spent this entire time trying to persuade Kimiko, and somehow, Kimiko really seemed to have listened.
Now Kimiko was going to become a superhero.
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