Chapter 133: Soldier Boy Is Too Powerful
He leaned back in the leather swivel chair in his office. After hearing the report, he did not get up right away. He only narrowed his eyes slightly.
Homelander was in Russia.
The Deep and Black Noir II were tracking The Boys. The other combat-capable Supes in the company were too far away to get there.
Butcher had clearly picked this exact moment to make his move.
The corner of Benjamin’s mouth lifted slightly into a cold smile.
He had to admit, that cuckolded bastard did have some brains.
But taking someone away and actually getting away were two very different things.
He stood up and sent Homelander a brief message.
After that, Benjamin pushed open the office door.
He decided to go meet Butcher himself.
Come to think of it, in this world, the two of them had never officially met.
...
Butcher was tearing down the highway in a dark SUV.
Mother’s Milk sat in the passenger seat, his face grim. Becca was curled up in the back seat with Ryan in her arms, while Ryan buried his face against his mother’s chest.
Frenchie leaned against the window on the other side of the back seat, constantly checking the road behind them through the rearview mirror.
"No one on us yet," Frenchie reported. "But this shithole only has one main road out. They’ll catch up sooner or later."
Butcher did not answer. He only pressed the gas pedal down harder.
The needle on the speedometer had already passed ninety miles per hour.
Then a heavy rush of air came from up ahead.
Butcher only had time to spit out half a "Fuck" before a massive shield came spinning from the opposite direction and smashed straight through the SUV’s windshield.
Glass exploded everywhere under the impact, scattering like a burst of tiny hailstones.
The shield buried itself directly into the passenger seat back, less than three inches from Mother’s Milk’s head.
The whole SUV shook violently from the force.
Butcher yanked the steering wheel hard, and the vehicle skidded sideways to a stop on the highway.
In front of the car, beyond the shattered windshield, a figure in a dark green combat suit was walking slowly toward them.
He moved at an unhurried pace, each step steady and heavy.
"Soldier Boy..."
Butcher forced the words out through clenched teeth.
Sure enough, Benjamin had found them without any trouble.
With Benjamin’s superhuman tracking ability, he could find anyone he wanted.
He was in no rush. He simply stood there.
Butcher shoved the car door open and quickly got out.
"Butcher!"
Becca leaned out from the back seat and screamed his name.
She knew what Butcher was about to do. He was going to stay behind, face the strongest Supe in the world alone, and buy time for her and Ryan to escape.
Mother’s Milk got out too, and Frenchie pushed open his door as well.
The three of them stood in front of the SUV, blocking the way between Soldier Boy and Becca.
"Finally get to meet you, Cuckold."
Benjamin spoke first.
His gaze swept twice over Butcher’s dark, furious face, his tone as casual as if he were greeting an old friend.
In the original series, he and Butcher had indeed worked together against Homelander.
But that was another world.
In this world, this was the first time they had stood face to face as enemies.
"An old dumbass who got played by Vought for forty goddamn years," Butcher shot back, just as vicious. "Then your own people sold you to the Soviets as a lab rat for another forty. You came back, and instead of getting revenge, you joined Vought and took it over. What, did the radiation fry your fucking brain?"
Benjamin was not provoked. He only shrugged and said, "That’s why I purged all of Vought’s former upper management. Now I own Vought. Every person you’re cursing at has already been killed by me personally. What, are you upset on my behalf?"
"Is that supposed to be impressive?" Butcher sneered. His bloodshot eyes locked hard onto Benjamin’s face, his voice hoarse. "All I see is you becoming the boss of a bunch of assholes in tights. New master, same Vought. You put a pile of shit on a gold plate, it’s still fucking shit."
"Still beats being a cuckold," Benjamin said lightly.
After being called a cuckold twice, Butcher was almost shaking with rage, though he had no idea why Benjamin insisted on calling him that.
"What the fuck are you two still standing there for?" Butcher jerked his head back and roared at Mother’s Milk and Frenchie. "Get Becca and Ryan out of here!"
Mother’s Milk clenched his jaw.
His rational mind told him Butcher had made the right call.
But leaving his brother here alone to face Soldier Boy felt like hell.
Still, he had no other choice.
He yanked open the car door and pulled Becca and Ryan out of the back seat.
"Move!"
He growled, one arm locked tight around the struggling Becca while the other held Ryan, then ran toward the woods beside the highway.
"No! No! Butcher!"
Becca, slung over Mother’s Milk’s shoulder, kicked and struggled desperately, tears blurring her vision.
She fought to twist her head around and look at the figure in the dark shirt standing in the middle of the highway.
He stood there alone in front of the SUV with the smashed windshield, facing the most powerful Supe of an entire era.
She struggled with everything she had, but Mother’s Milk’s arm held her like an iron clamp, dragging her farther from the road step by step.
Frenchie followed close behind. His gaze kept flicking between Butcher’s back and the woods ahead.
Several times, his steps faltered, but in the end, he still followed Mother’s Milk.
Benjamin drew a pistol from his waist, aimed it at Butcher’s chest, and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The gunshots cracked across the empty highway, startling several crows from the distant treetops.
The bullets struck Butcher squarely in the chest with dull impacts, then bounced off.
The warped, twisted slugs clinked onto the asphalt.
Butcher’s body only swayed slightly. His feet did not move an inch. Three blackened bullet holes had been punched through the chest of his shirt, but the skin underneath did not have so much as a scratch.
Benjamin looked down at the gun in his hand, then at the three smoking holes in Butcher’s shirt, before calmly holstering the pistol again.
"Looks like you used the V24 Adana gave you," Benjamin said slowly. "You do know this stuff was developed by Vought, right? That shit they burned tens of billions, maybe hundreds of billions, on in the lab was built by my company with a mountain of manpower and resources. And now you’re fucking using Vought’s stuff, my stuff, to fight Vought?"
Butcher’s mouth curled into a wicked grin.
"If I can’t beat you, I’ll join you for a bit. Yeah, you lot made V24. But once it’s in my veins, it’s mine."
"Join us for a bit? Heh."
Benjamin let out a low, cold laugh, then started walking forward.
"Then let me show you the gap between us."
Benjamin charged.
The pavement under his feet cracked like a spiderweb from the force of his first step.
Butcher’s pupils shrank, and he instinctively crossed his arms in front of his chest, but Benjamin’s fist was already coming down.
There was nothing fancy about the punch.
It was just a simple punch.
A heavy blow, pure to the extreme.
The fist slammed into Butcher’s crossed arms with a brutal impact.
Bang!
Butcher was sent flying backward.
His back crashed hard into the hood of the SUV behind him, denting the metal into a deep human-shaped crater. The remaining shards of windshield rattled loose and fell.
Butcher rolled off the hood, braced one hand against the ground, and dropped to one knee on the road.
He shook his head. The world spun violently in front of him, and his ears rang so hard it was unbearable.
The blow had left Butcher dazed.
Soldier Boy was simply too powerful for him, even though Butcher had tested V24 before and used it to gain strength close to Homelander’s.