The Boys were all handcuffed with huge shackles covering their entire hands, Annie had the same collar Kimiko wore. Butcher's face was one of pure rage, ready to snap, when the vehicle stopped, he moved. Butcher raced against the exit and once out, but was immediately taken down by 4 guards. Butcher attempted to hit the guards with the heavy handcuffs but kept getting beaten.
"You were right, Batman, this one's a fighter." Pointed one of the guards.
Butcher looked up and noticed Batman on the top of the vehicle he was brought in with.
"Bruce Wayne!" Butcher yelled. "Batman is Bruce Wayne!"
"You think I'm Batman?" He hears a familiar voice saying.
In this moment of distraction, the guards locked Butcher's neck with a baton and held him down. Butcher saw the man who said that, Bruce Wayne himself next to an older black man wearing glasses.
"Please, Mr. Wayne," Warns one of the guards. "It's better for you to not get involved."
The guards pulled the other Boys out of the vehicle as the rest looked confused.
"What is this guy even doing here?" MM asked.
Lucius Fox put himself in front of Bruce Wayne and answered.
"Mr. Wayne is here in the name of the company donating a new security system to the asylum. Now he's leaving."
"Hold on." Wayne said when Batman jumped off the vehicle. "I got to take a selfie with Batman, my kid won't believe this."
Wayne put out his phone and Batman immediately took it from him and aggressively placed it back in his pocket.
"Go home, Wayne." Batman ordered.
Wayne stepped back and left with Fox leaving the Boys surprised. Unbeknown to them, once out of their sight, 'Bruce Wayne' turned back into the Martian Manhunter and flew away. Butcher tried to fight again, but he ended up being knocked out with a baton, the last words he heard somebody say was "Welcome to Arkham, asshole."
"Glad to see you've decided to accept my proposal, Secretary." Stan Edgar greeted Robert Singer.
The US Secretary of Defense looked uneased at the moment.
"In light of recent events, you can understand why I feel nervous being here." Singer said.
"I do, and it is unfortunate. However, I believe what I will show you will be worth the visit." Edgar replied, showing him a vial of V-24.
"Compound V?" Singer questioned.
"V-24. A variant of Compound V that only lasts for twenty-four hours." Edgar responded.
Secretary Singer looked intrigued at the notion.
"Is that what you're going to introduce to the congress today?"
"For now, let's keep this between us. But I'm confident we're going to make a breakthrough in the use of Compound V that will undoubtedly facilitate our efforts."
"But for now it is better that the Justice League doesn't know, am I right?"
"Caution, secretary, caution. You should be more excited about what this means for American defense."
"So what just in case one of your own flips their lid we have a soldier or two to keep them in their place?" Singer asked.
"No, actually. I don't believe our products are suited for work in the field. I believe that the real heroes deserve this." Edgar said.
"I'm surprised you're saying that. Homelander and Stormfront have been itching to lead the charge since last year. I can't imagine they'll be happy to hear this." Singer said.
"Let them. Those two have found a different political battle to involve themselves in." Edgar replied.
"Earth One and the Justice League." The Defense Secretary responded with.
"Exactly." Edgar said.
"I can't imagine the League will be happy about this." Robert said.
"I doubt they'll care too much. In fact, I know this won't end well for them." Edgar said.
"The League's been making your heroes look like jokes. Not to mention their superterrorists have everyone on edge. That Joker maniac from what I heard only managed to contaminate just one bottle of painkillers." Singer said.
"I'm well aware of that. It's time for Vought to move on from the likes of Homelander. This should be a respectable company." Edgar said.
"Billy Butcher wake up!" Butcher heard someone yell.
Butcher opened his eyes and looked up in front of him was a guard with a hook for a hand. He looked around and saw the others lined up against the wall.
"What do they call you, Captain Hook?" Butcher snarked.
The Guard didn't seem to be bothered by his jab.
"Yeah, haven't heard that one before. You'll fit in real fine. My name is Aaron Cash, head of security of Arkham Asylum. As of today, you six will be residents of Arkham Asylum." Cash said.
Butcher rolled his eyes.
"However, unlike most, this won't be a permanent residence for you." Cash told them.
This got the attention of the Boys.
"You mean we're going home?" MM asked.
"No, you'll be transferred to different psychiatric wards in different states on our Earth. You'll be transferred on different days and we have no plans on letting you know." Cash told them.
"You can't do that. Who's responsible for that bullshit?" MM demanded.
"The same man who brought your sorry asses over here. He told us that it was for your own good." Cash told them.
"Next time that pointy-eared fascist piece of shit brings another one of your residents here, tell him I said to go fuck himself." MM told Cash.
"Will do, hell you keep this up Milk you can tell him yourself. Now get changed." Cash replied pointing to the mental patient attires in the laundry bin.
Ashley entered Homelander's room and realized he and Stormfront were live in front of a camera and speaking to Cameron Coleman.
"There's been a lot of debate over your, brave, I must say, stand against the Justice League and the problems that succeeded their arrival on our Earth, or as we say, the real Earth."
"This is what we've been trying to say for a long time," Stormfront said. "We don't care if Vought is collaborating with them because we're supposed to be your heroes and be here for the interests of our people."
"Very courageous." Coleman fawned.
"I just want to ask a question to everybody watching, in the context of Multiverse with many universes, does anything that you do matter? I'm gonna answer that for you: YES! Absolutely, as long as you take a stance, that's why I urge you to be on the side of your people."
"Very powerful words from Stormfront. Homelander, were you shocked by how much of the population turned their backs to their heroes to worship these foreigners?"
"I was shocked it didn't happen sooner." Homelander answered. "The truth is that we've had a wave of anti-American feeling over this country for a long time. But I'll tell you this, the nice feeling they give you won't last, and if you don't want our world to be obsolete, you need to fight, you need Compound V."
"So many comparisons between the powers we have here to theirs," Stormfront said. "If Compound V is as weak as they say, why not give it to the military!? Or better yet, give it to everybody, so when a freak from Earth One pops up, they at least have a shot at defending themselves."
"Homelander and Stormfront on current problems, folks. This is Cameron Coleman, signing off."
The camera was turned off and Ashley approached the couple.
"This interview wasn't scheduled." Ashley said.
"Just a little bit of improvisation." Homelander explained. "So Edgar or JLA doesn't mess up with our plans."
"These new guys are doing great," Stormfront said. "They're working for free. Not even fucking AirnB cards."
Stormfront referred to new memes, including a picture of the first Teen Titans in their earlier days compared to a picture of African child soldiers and a gif of Wonder Woman murdering Maxwell Lord with the caption 'HYPOCRITES'.
"What do you want?" Homelander asked Ashley.
"You're up by seven points." Ashley told Homelander and Stormfront.
The couple beamed upon hearing this.
"See I told you this was going to work." Stormfront said.
Homelander kissed her.
"What about the League?" Homelander asked.
"We've gotten no response from them so far. They're obviously not happy about this." Stormfront said, smirking.
Homelander then noticed Ashely's change in expression.
"Ashley?" He asked her.
"It's nothing." Ashely replied glared in response to this."Batman managed to capture Butcher, Starlight, and the rest of his gang."
"What?" Homelander asked, taking her iPad.
On the screen was a Gotham Gazette page titled.
"Batman apprehends former Seven member Starlight and anti-superhero vigilante William Butcher."
"Hey come on get over that. Who cares about those guys anymore?" Stormfront said.
"Those guys have been an itch in my ass for the past year. Yet somehow Batman managed to get them." Homelander said.
"So?" Stormfront asked.
"This is their way to get back at us. The team handicap managed to get them before I did." Homelander said.
Stormfront appeared to realize something else.
"Starlight, that little whore, she knows a lot. What if she works out some kind of plea bargain?" She asked.
Homelander seemed to realize this.
"We need to ramp things up." Homelander told her.
"What about Ryan, he's been asking to see some of the Justice Leagues' kids?" Stormfront asked.
"He's not going to see them ever again? All he needs is me." Homelander said.
The Boys were walked down the corridors of Arkham, not long ago they were changed into the standard patient attires. The cells were blocked with plexiglass. They stopped in front of a cell that looked to be full of crossword puzzles, green question marks, and riddles.
"Serge, this is your stop." The Guard told Frenchie told him.
Frenchie walked into the room and saw his cellmate on the top bunk. He had black hair and looked to be rather thin. He was presently working on a puzzle paying no mind to his new cellmate. Frenchie deduced that this cell was Edward Nygma's, aka The Riddler.
"Bonjour." Frenchie greeted.
Riddler turned to Frenchie, his expression could be described as one of dismissive disinterest.
"Riddle me this. Twelve is six. Six is three. Three is five. Five is four. Four is four. Why is four the magic number?" Riddler asked.
"Pardon?" Frenchie asked.
"I only ask questions. Find someone else to give you the answer." Riddler replied
As this happened, The Boys were walked further down. The cell they were facing was decorated with hats. The inmate sat in front of a table. He had red hair and an overbite.
"Milk!" The Guard told MM.
MM nervously looked at the others, they all had looks of unease. Butcher only had one word on his mind.
"Nonce."
"We're waiting, Milk." The guard told him.
"Yeah I know." MM said.
"Greetings and salutations, good sir." His cellmate greeted. "Would you like a spot of tea?" He gestured.
MM looked over to the cup he was holding and found that it was empty. MM rolled his eyes.
"I don't think so." MM replied.
"Well if you don't think how can you speak?" The inmate asked.
The group walked away as Butcher was brought to his cell. Inside was an elderly man with glasses.
"Butcher!"
Butcher walked into the cell and went over to the bed when he felt something made of wood under the blanket. He pulled the covers off the bed and saw that it was a ventriloquist dummy that resembled a Mob Boss from the 1930s.
"You can't sleep there, Mister Scarface sleeps there." Butcher's cellmate told him.
Butcher responded by grabbing the dummy and chucking it at the other end of the room before getting to the top bunk.
As this happened, Hughie was separated from Kimiko and Annie.
"Hey! What's going on? Where are you taking them?" He asked.
"Shut your mouth and get inside." The guard said and kicked Hughie inside a cell.
There was a blonde man wearing the typical Arkham jumpsuit but he had a golden mask over his face. Hughie heard the guards laughing at him.
"You drew the short stick on the cellmates." A guard taunted. "Enjoy it."
They locked the cell and Hughie was left with this cellmate who was drawing on a desk next to the bunk beds.
"Don't worry, I may be annoying but not dangerous." The cellmate said. "You may call me Psycho-Pirate. You're from Earth Seven? I'm from Earth Two."
"Really?"
"Yes, but my Earth was destroyed during the Crisis and I became part of the history of Earth One. Now there is a new Earth Two after Earth Two Superman and Superboy Prime…"
Psycho-Pirate carried on with the long explanation about the multiverse, revised history, and Hughie quickly understood what the guards meant by 'drawing the short stick.'
Victoria walked past Stan Edgar in the congress, they had less than a minute to talk without being noticed. She could see a few capes walking around the building, specifically from Earth One.
"Why are they here?" She asked.
"They're not going to do anything." Edgar answered. "They claim to have a genuine interest in our politics and are here to observe. Follow as planned."
Despite what Edgard said, Victoria saw that the Batman was also in the couldn't waste this opportunity. She smiled and put her eyes right on his head. POP. Batman's head exploded and decorated the walls with blood. Vic knew exactly where all the cameras were, she avoided every single one of them as she calmly walked towards Batman, whose body was precisely in the viewpoint of a camera. She looked at him apathetically and then breathed deeply and started screaming. She frantically walked into the camera's viewpoint and played a terrified witness of a horrible event.
"No, no, no, no,no, not again!" She said, "Help! Someone help!"
"No one can help you now." Batman's voice echoed, she didn't know from where. "You lost. It's over."
Batman's headless body got up, blood dripping from its neck as the body moved towards her. Victoria walked back, she ran.
"You can't escape so easily." Batman's voice echoed in her head.
Victoria walked back, she ran. She hit her body against the wood as she found all the ways out of the hallway had been closed with wooden boards nailed to the walls. Nowhere to run and the headless dark horseman still following her.
Arkham's cafeteria was a disturbing place, looked more like a prison than a mental hospital, despite what it said on paper, it really was a prison. Hughie left the line with his tray of food and timidly walked by the tables filled with the criminally insane until he finally found where the Boys were sitting. He joined them and noticed the absence of Annie and Kimiko.
"Hey, guys, w-where are the girls?" Hughie asked.
"I haven't seen them." MM said. "Matter of fact I haven't seen any supe here, I think they keep them separated."
A familiar pale figure limped to their table and joined the Boys.
"The meta-humans are kept in their own block underground." The Great White Shark said.
They knew who the sharp-toothed deformed man was, they had met him when Penguin, Two Face, Black Mask, and Bane kidnapped them, he was a crime boss and there he was eating with them like nothing had happened.
"How the bloody hell are you here?" Butcher asked.
"Same way as him apparently." Shark said, pointing at Frenchie, his arm had the same dog bite wounds. "Uhm, that sure looks yummy!" Shark teased the Boys eating the Arkham's slop and proceeded to cut his steak and drink his wine. The Boys were all silent, confused with his casualty, he addressed Hughie. "Listen, new fish, I can sneak you in for a conjugal with your girl in the meta-human block, for a price. You can have your people in the outside transfer, you have internet from your Earth here, check under the table."
They all looked and saw he was holding a cellphone, the screen was lit up, all bars and connected to the Arkham staff wi-fi.
"Warren White," Frenchie said, angry and offended. "I know who you were. White collar criminal scammed your way out of real prison and got sent here. But if they know you scammed your way, why did they send you back here?"
"Why the fuck did they sent us here?" MM asked. "We're not crazy."
"Hahaha…" Shark laughed at their naivety. "Blackgate has too much bureaucracy, Batman uses this place to keep people all the time."
"That's fucked up." Hughie said.
"Yeah, it's fucked up! But hey, the game is rigged and I'm the best player. Tell me what you need and I'll tell you how much."
"Alright, call me your new number one client." Butcher said excitedly. "How much to take us out of here?"
"Out of here?" MM said. "How much to send me back to my own universe?"
"Take it easy, fellas." Shark answered. "Organized escapes are more of a monthly thing, you the staff, the cars, it's all about timing. I can't send you back to your home, multiverse stuff is out of my league."
"You're a businessman, say your number." Butcher said.
"To take multiple prisoners and drop them somewhere in Gotham nobody would search? 100 thousand each, 200 thousand for each meta."
"How much for the phone?"
Unbeknownst to Victoria, Mr. Terrific was standing on the other side of the wall outside the congress watching everything on a small computer screen. The windows were all covered with mats taped to the walls, which caused the darkness.
The Flash leaned against the wall of the congress.
"I left money out of my own pocket in the store I got the mats and the tape." Flash said. "You'll have to reimburse me for that. Do you think closing the walls with boards was too much? I don't, it was a bit cartoony."
Screams from Victoria echoed through the windows. Senator Robert Singer walked in on Mr. Terrific and the Flash, confused about what they did to the windows.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Singer asked.
"Pay no attention to those men behind the curtain." Flash said.
"We just caught the headpopper." Mr. Terrific said and gave Singer the computer.
The footage showed Victoria displaying her powers.
"Our security cameras don't catch these angles. You put your own surveillance equipment on a government building?"
"Yes." Mister Terrific answered and touched his earpiece. "J'onn enough."
An unconscious Victoria Newman phased through the wall being carried by Martian Manhunter who gently put Newman on the ground. Mr. Terrific handcuffed and blindfolded her.
"For the love of God, I thought she was on our side." Singer said.
"Every act of hers indirectly benefited Vought." Martian Manhunter explained. "Indirectly was the keyword to fly above suspicion."
"The fake Batman and closing down the building, what was that all about? You didn't have to do it to catch her."
"Batman scripted has his artistic side. I mean, look at what he wears." Flash said and had Singer staring at his own red suit. "What?"
Elsewhere in Gotham City. The Joker threw a vase at Harley Quinn upon seeing the news.
"Of all the people to immediately go after in this cesspool, he goes after some out-of-towner hooligans!" He complained.
"Calm down puddin'! I'm sure that B-Man only went after them by coinkydink." She said.
"I've told you this a long time ago, nothing is ever a coinkydink with him! Ever!" He said.
Just then, a cloud of purple mist appeared in their hideout. In the cloud stood Circe.
"Well look who it is? If it isn't another former member of the Injustice Gang." Joker said. "Sorry to tell you this, dear, but I already told Lexy I don't need any help with messing up Earth Seven."
"Joker, I see you're doing well. I'm not here under Luthor's, rather I think there's something you can help me with."
"Really? Alright, I'll bite, what is it?" Joker asked, his curiosity piqued. He leaped out of his chair.
"Queen Maeve, she has something on Homelander. Something that will make him putty in your hands." Circe told the clown.
"Oh yes, Wonder Fraud. You know I considered going after their Batman, but he's boring. Can't say the same for Stupidman's though. What is it that Blunder Woman has?" Joker asked.
"A videotape of a plane accident that was caused by Homelander. Maeve planned to use it as blackmail with her girlfriend, Elena, but she left. Wouldn't it be a pity if someone took Elena?" Circe said.
"The address." Joker demanded with an evil grin.
A piece of paper with Elena's address materialized in Joker's hands.
"Thanks, Circe. You're a real doll." Joker said.
"Actually before you go off I need to do one last thing with you." Circe said.
"What would that be?" Joker asked.
Circe whispered into The Joker's ear. Joker stepped back looking appalled.
"Oh no! It's too gruesome!" Joker said sounding horrified. "But I'll do it." He replied with a psychotic grin.
An hour later, the Boys and the Great White Shark were sitting in a hallway, specifically in a blindspot from the cameras and Frenchie was speaking on the phone and had Cherie on facetime, she was walking in a hurry as she spoke and they could see people in the background.
"Fuck you, Serge." Cherie said.
"Maybe if you sell…"
"I'm not selling shit." She interrupted. "800 thousand dollars? You have cum in your brain!?"
"You could…" She turned off the phone before he could speak.
"You won't get your money back if you wanna return the phone." The Great White Shark said, got up, and left. He left the hallway and felt his phone vibrating, so he walked back to the blind spot. The voice was that of a woman's.
"Pass the phone to William Butcher." She said,
"Who is that?" Butcher asked.
"Let me talk to Butcher and you may still make some extra cash, White." The Great White Shark reluctantly handed the phone to Butcher. "Call for you."
"Mr. Butcher, my name is Amanda Waller, I can take your team out of there."
Homelander let himself in Stan Edgar's office. He was on the phone and immediately turned it off as Homelander sat on the couch with a satisfied grimm on his face."Wow, who would've thought." Homelander teased. "It's in every news outlet in the world-worlds- Newman was the headpopper, who'd see that coming?"
"Is there a reason why you're here?" Edgar asked.
"It's just that with this whole thing I'd assume you would've stepped out as CEO already but you didn't, why's that? Matter of fact, I thought you would've stepped out a long time ago since you said you would. Crazy theory, hear me out: I think somewhen between you saying you were going to quit and now you found a new resource, ally, whatever. And that emboldened you enough to face the League. Did I get that right? Anyway, now that you just lost one of your main players, imagine how unfortunate it would be if I walked up to them and told them about your sudden change of plans? What conclusions do you think they would draw?"
"If I was, as you said, emboldened enough to face the Justice League, what threat could you impose on me?"
Homelander's grin vanished.
"Do you think they see any of us as separate?" Edgar asked. "You, me, Butcher, and his men are all on the same boat, you're just accusing me of having a life vest while threatening to sink the ship. Carry on with your little political game, but when they come for you, don't come crying for my help like I'm your daddy."
Edgar walked out on Homelander. Leaving him angry and frustrated, but even more motivated.