The Boys: Viltrumite Bloodline Panel

A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence.

~ David Hume

____

Hughie had told Butcher exactly what happened with The Guardian giving him a job.

Butcher’s instructions had been identical.

Hughie had no choice. He gave up his work-from-home life and, acting as an undercover agent, infiltrated Vought to collect evidence against them.

"Campbell, right?"

Just as he stepped into the elevator, a young blonde woman hurried in behind him.

"Who are you?"

"Cate. Member of The Guardian’s team. We’re in the same department now."

"Ah, hello! I’m Hughie. Nice to meet you!"

Hughie reached out his hand. Cate flashed a meaningful smile and took it.

Using telepathy, she quickly read his thoughts straight from his brain.

Cate looked somewhat surprised.

Butcher? A spy? Collecting evidence against Vought?

Good grief. What kind of weirdo did the boss hire?

Hughie just felt a bit dazed.

But he recovered fast. Looking at Cate in front of him, he subconsciously sensed something was off.

What the hell just happened to him?

"The boss is very easygoing, and the work here is pretty relaxed. You’ll like it."

Cate patted Hughie on the shoulder and headed straight for Hillel’s office.

She pushed the door open.

Hillel sat with his legs crossed, feet propped up on the expensive mahogany desk, lazily scrolling through the combo codes Ryan had sent him.

"Boss." Cate closed the door and dropped her voice. "That new supervisor you hired... Hughie Campbell. There’s something wrong with him."

"Oh?" Hillel didn’t even glance up.

"I shook his hand just now. He’s working for a guy named Butcher. Snuck in as a spy to collect evidence against Vought."

She’d expected this to be some massive bombshell.

Hillel just gave a light grunt, completely indifferent.

It was... pretty damn discouraging for a worker bee.

"I know."

"Unbelievable, right... Wait.. You know?" Cate froze.

"I’ve already got A-Train keeping an eye on him."

Hillel finally looked up. "Just deal with him normally. Even if he digs something up, don’t interfere. Hell, even I don’t know what old skeletons Vought’s got buried, heh, but if they get dragged out into the light we can snuff them early."

Damn.. Cate suddenly got it.

That’s the boss for you.

She suddenly felt like she, a telepath, was always one step behind him.

It left a sour taste of frustration.

"Oh right, how’s your ability training going? Can you use it remotely yet? Should we increase your training intensity?"

Hillel took a second to check on Cate’s progress.

"Oh! I just remembered I forgot to put on underwear when I left the house today. Going back to change." Cate slammed the door shut.

...

Down the other end of the hallway.

Hughie, stuffed into a brand-new suit, felt the tie choking him while his palms stayed slick with sweat.

First day on the job.

Infiltrating the lair of The Seven as a regular human.

He had to be the strongest pressure-resistant member of The Boys by now.

Hughie was still a little dazed and almost walked straight into someone.

A-Train.

Hughie locked up, instinct screaming at him to hide. This was the same bastard who had nearly turned him and his girlfriend into roadkill. If it hadn’t been for The Guardian...

But before he could move, A-Train stopped dead, clearly recognizing him too.

"Hughie Campbell, right."

"Ah... yeah. That’s me!"

A-Train stayed quiet for a second. Then he did something that made Hughie’s entire brain blue-screen.

He lowered his head, voice sincere.

"Listen, man.. I owe you an apology."

Hughie: "???"

A-Train apologizing?

What the fuck? Was this some kind of re-education camp?

"I know saying ’I’m sorry’ doesn’t fix anything."

A-Train’s tone carried real weight. "The old me was a junkie. A piece of trash who didn’t give a shit about other people’s lives. Thank god nothing worse happened, but every day I’m still breathing, I remember that night."

"I won’t make the same mistake again."

Hughie stood frozen. If his jaw could hit the floor it would’ve made a loud crack right then.

It wasn’t like he’d never seen A-Train apologize before.

Back when he was a hardcore fan he had, but even then he could tell the guy was faking every word.

This time felt completely different.

"You..."

Hughie’s throat felt dry. "Is this actually sincere, or is it just another PR stunt?"

"You’ll see."

A-Train’s eyes stayed serious. "Just watch what I do from now on. I won’t let him down again."

Him?

A-Train’s brother?

A-Train once said in an interview that the person who truly influenced him the most was his brother, Nate.

That was from his early debut days.

Later, Vought PR blurred that person out.

Word was, in A-Train’s latest biographical film, the person who truly influenced him the most would finally be revealed.

"You mean... Nate?"

"Nate?"

A-Train looked surprised. "You weren’t a hardcore fan of mine, were you? Not many people know that shit!"

Hughie didn’t deny it.

"Alright, thanks for liking me back then. But I’m not talking about Nate. I’m talking about The Guardian."

"Nate is my brother. My family. But The Guardian..."

A-Train chose his words carefully. "He... is the real hero."

"Us, The Deep, Homelander—to put it bluntly, we’re just ordinary supes wearing the skin of superheroes. We do drugs, we get scared, we even stab each other in the back over rankings."

"But that guy.. Only he is different."

Hughie was completely speechless.

He had come to Vought with a mission: expose the hypocritical faces of the superheroes.

Butcher had brainwashed him all night, telling him not to trust the sugar-coated bullets of those bastards. They’re all lies.

There wasn’t a single good thing among the supes. They were all mad dogs raised by Vought.

The Guardian was especially suspicious. His abilities were ridiculously strong, and his growth trajectory was outrageously strange.

But now a supe who had nearly killed him and his girlfriend was standing right in front of him, telling him in a completely sincere tone that The Guardian was the true hero.

This was fucking unscientific.

Just as the thought hit him, a cold voice came from behind.

"Hughie Campbell, right? The boss wants you in the big conference room." Jordan glanced at him. The guy looked like a complete loser, but the boss seemed to value him for some reason.

"Hurry up. The Guardian and Homelander are both there."

Hughie swallowed hard and followed.

...

The big conference room.

The second Hughie pushed the door open, he almost pissed himself on the spot.

The entire room was packed with supes.

Every pair of eyes locked onto him at once.

"Eh.. ehm.. gulp~"

____

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