He didn't quite know where he was yet. Just that he had appeared here shortly after that bastard Hayden had stolen the Demonic Crucible. Asshole didn't even let him keep his guns. He knew he had been taken in willingly by the idiots in black suits after he had spent a few seconds stopping a bank robbery. He'd seen the assailant pull the trigger before he reacted. In a split second, the bullet had been stopped, and the man was on the floor. He knew that he had chosen to speak with the man in charge. Stan Edgar. CEO of Vought International. He hated him already. He agreed, however, to join the 7 as a replacement for The Deep, a hero who had recently been removed from the team as a result of sexual misconduct of a fellow team member, Starlight. He remembered some of the questions he had been asked by the people Stan chose to interview him.

"Do you have a name?"

He remembered answering that. On paper, of course.

'Flynn Taggart'

It took them a bit to understand his vow of silence. He overheard them talking about "Fitting that into his backstory" or something. Corporate stuff he couldn't care less about.

"Do you have a nickname? Something you go by other than your real name?"

He wrote down a few answers for that one.

'Hellwalker'

'Doom Slayer'

'The Beast'

They muttered something about Hellwalker being "The most profitable."

"Is that armor just for show, or does it serve some purpose?"

He spent a bit on this one.

'No technical purpose. Symbolism. Shield of the people.'

They went on about how easy it was going to be to make him a corporate identity. He was starting to hate it.

"What do you fight for?"

Just one word.

'Humanity.'

They nodded their heads. He didn't remember much after that. The elevator was still going. Floor 66. 67. 68. 69, nice. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. He stopped counting. After a little bit, the elevator hit floor 99.

The door opened.

"Ah," a moderately shorter man than him said, "You must be the new recruit. Hellwalker, was it?"

Flynn nodded.

"Silent type, huh? I bet you'd get along real well with Black Noir. What was your story again? Came straight out of hell to defend the innocent? Originally a demon slayer? Crazy stuff. They'll eat that right up. Nice armor, too. How much of a hit would you say it can tank?"

'Does it matter?', Flynn thought too himself. He shrugged at the question.

"Must be some tough stuff."

Flynn nodded.

"What were your powers again? Enhanced speed and strength? Resilience, too? You sure just the whole package. You're like me, just without the flight. I'm Homelander, by the way, but you probably already knew that. Come on, let's introduce you to the rest of the team."

Homelander walked. Flynn followed.

"Meet the rest of the team. First up, we have A-Train, our resident speedster. Fastest man alive."

"Sup, Hellwalker, right? That was one hell of a debut. Stopped the bullet and caught the criminal in one fell swoop?"

"Next, there's Queen Maeve. She's a good portion of our muscle."

"Hey."

"Of course there's Black Noir, how ya doin'?"

Black noir waved. Flynn nodded.

"And, finally, there's Starlight."

"Hello."

"Unfortunately, Translucent is currently legally considered missing. We can't just let the public know he's been blown to pieces, after all."

Flynn grunted.

"I know! Crazy to think about! One of the seven, the strongest superhero team in America, and one of its members is a pile of chunks. Well, I need to go talk to marketing about your official debut as one of the seven. I'll call you down if I need you. Talk around, or whatever it is you do.