The Boys reached Mallory's home. Throughout the drive, MM cautiously looked from the back seat at Butcher as though the man was a bomb that could detonate at any given moment.
"Right, 'ere we are lads." Butcher said as they got out of the car.
Frenchie grabbed MM by the arm. MM turned around and saw Kimiko with him both looking concerned.
"Is there something you want to talk about?" He asked.
"You mean the fact Butcher injected himself with some whacked-out sci-fi shit that gave him superpowers?" MM questioned.
However, judging by Frenchie's expression that appeared to not be the case.
"No, about how you were willing to let yourself die back there." Frenchie said.
MM hesitated before brushing him aside. It was there that he saw Butcher meeting with an old friend. Hughie was looking around the place.
"Holy shit!" MM said.
"Marvin, how have you been?" The Legend asked as he shook MM's hand.
"I've been doing better, wish we could stay." MM said.
"The Legend!" Frenchie said practically running up to the man. He kissed him on the cheek.
Kimiko and Hughie looked confused.
"They don't know who I am?" The Legend asked. "Read a fucking book, kids."
"This the Legend." MM explained. "He had Stillwell's old job back in the day, he was our contact inside Vought."
"It's nice to see you all, except this British piece of shit. What are you doing here?" The Legend asked.
"We're staying here for a bit, won't be long though." MM told him.
"Tryin' to get our heads clear and think of a plan." Butcher said.
"We can call Victoria Neuman, she might be able to help us." Hughie said.
"Jesus, were you guys stuck in a cave or something? Neuman's done." The Legend said.
"What do you mean?" Hughie asked.
"That head popper, that was her." The Legend explained.
Everyone was surprised to hear about this.
"You're kidding?" MM asked.
"No, I'm not. The Justice League launched a sting operation, she's in custody right now." The Legend said.
"What if Vought planned this? Made them think she was the head popper to get rid of her for them." Hughie asked.
"There was footage and everything, kid." The Legend said.
"Knew we shouldn't 'ave trusted that bitch." Butcher said.
A dejected Hughie turned to Butcher.
"Now what?" He asked.
"''Ave any of the Justice League popped up 'ere?" Butcher asked.
"Yes, though only Batman. I'm telling you that guy's probably never used a door in his life. He just pops in right the fuck out of nowhere." The Legend said.
"Fuck!" MM cursed.
Hughie tried to get inside the house but Butcher stopped him.
"'He's probably bugged this place." Butcher said.
"You'd think Mallory would have told us that!" MM said.
"She got a CIA team to check the house. Swept this whole place down twice." The Legend said.
"Then we'll have to be a bit more thorough." Butcher said and lifted his finger as if telling the others to hush as he entered the house. He walked up to a photo of Mallory and her deceased grandchildren. MM was worried that would be the first place Butcher would look. However, he stopped himself from destroying them.
"Let's give this place a look around." Butcher moved his lips without saying.
Maeve heard her phone ring. She got up from her bed and picked it up to see who was calling. Her heart soared when she saw who it was: Elena.
She immediately selected "answer".
"Elena, how are you?" She asked. "Is everything alright?" She added her voice full of concern.
There was silence.
"Hello?" Maeve called out once more. She could hear noise from the other end, but her heart started to sink when she listened to it.
It sounded like someone was chuckling that grew ever louder and more energetic with each second.
"I'm sorry Elena can't come to the phone right now." The Joker told her. "She's a little tied up!" He added before he let out a wicked cackle.
She almost dropped the phone right then and there.
"Hello? Hello? Are you there, Maggy?" Joker asked. "Margaret? Mags?" He asked.
Maeve remained silent still in shock.
"For the love of.. Look if you don't answer me in the next five minutes, she dies? Do you hear me?!" He threatened.
"I'm listening, now let her go!" She firmly demanded.
He chuckled once more, sounding utterly unimpressed.
"Did you hear that, Elena? It sounds like your ex wants me to kill you now." Joker said. "Well I wanted to hurt her anyway, so might as well get it over with." He said.
Maeve's blood froze upon hearing that.
"Harley, get me the really sharp knife! Don't worry Maggy, I'll bring her back to you, one piece at a time!" Joker said.
"No!" Maeve told him.
"Harley stop! It looks like she might want to play ball with us after all." He said his voice oozing with malice.
"What do you want?" Maeve asked.
"I just want you to play my little game." Joker simply replied. "You see when I first abducted your ex. I had no idea of that little secret of yours." He told her.
Maeve nearly felt her heart pause. "What is that?" She asked, although she already knew in her heart the answer.
"I know about Flight 37, Elena needed some persuasion, but boy oh boy did she confess everything! I mean I already put the puzzle together in my mind of what actually happened on that fateful flight after reading about it, but it felt great to hear her speak about what actually happened. I mean seriously, milk chugger save the day, HA!" Joker told her, she could practically see his twisted grin when he said "persuasion". She wanted to rip him in two.
"I just wanted to let you know ahead of time before my big announcement and don't you think of telling anyone else about our little convo. Think of it as a matter of privacy, or one of life and death because if I suspect that you tattled on me. Well, I hope you're prepared for Elena's funeral, and spoiler alert: expect a closed casket." Joker threatened.
"How do I know you have Elena?" Maeve asked desperately, trying to cling onto some form of hope that he was trying to trick her.
"Still trying to cling to hope! Fine, I'll dash that little dream! I'll Facetime with you." He said.
He hung up for a moment until the phone rang again. She hesitated for a moment before pressing the green button. Almost instantly, whatever futile hopes she once held were utterly dashed as she saw Elena tied up. It looked like she was tied to a dunk tank with her mouth taped. There was a red line drawn on the tape that made it look like a smile.
"Here she is!" The Joker announced. "Say "Hi" Elena."
Elena could only muffle out a cry for help.
"As you can see, she's here with my merry band and me," Joker said. "Hoping that you make the decision to save her life."
Maeves' eyes were open along with her mouth. Her heartbeat started to race so fast she could hear it echo throughout her bedroom. Tears started to form in her eyes. She tried to speak, but could only let out gasps.
"Well?" Joker asked.
Maeve tried to form words, but could only speak in choking sobs.
"Oh for the love of…" Joker groaned as he started to rub his temples. "Y'know, at least Wonder Woman doesn't crack whenever her beau gets kidnapped! So listen here, crybaby! I'm not going to kill her unless you do one simple thing."Joker informed her.
"What is it?" Maeve asked.
"Show the video about how Flight 37 went down!" Joker said. His more stern attitude disappeared as he let out an amused chuckle that soon turned to laughter.
Between his maniacal laughter, Maeve could only discern three words: "flight" and "went down".
"Oh, I just kill me." Joker said once his fit of laughter stopped.
"I'm not going to waste any more of my time speaking with you. So see you later tonight, oh and if I think you ratted me out to Batsy and his little friends…" Joker said as he held something out in the palm of his hand. It looked like a baseball, which he chucked at a target causing Elena to drop into the dunk tank.
"She won't be getting up!" Joker added before hanging up.
Maeve just sat there motionless. All sorts of thoughts clashed with one another. Her stomach started to churn as she looked for the bathroom. She collected herself and got out her phone.
"Donna it's me, I need your help." Maeve said.
"Gladly." Circe said and Maeve was brought outside the tower.
MM was looking around in the basement when he saw Frenchie now having Hughie and Kimiko with him.
"Don't." MM warned him.
"We just want to talk." Frenchie said.
MM realized it would be pointless.
"Strange got to me, he straight up asked me what kind of a father would leave his family just to end up a fugitive. Maybe Monique and Janine would do alright without me." MM said.
"Don't listen to that psychopathe." Frenchie said.
"The guys like Hannibal Lecter without the cannibalism." Hughie remarked.
"Yeah, but everything he said was true. I couldn't think of anything else to say, the guy clearly doesn't care that he's a horrible person." MM said.
Frenchie looked down.
"He said that I work with Butcher for the thrill of how I like to be treated like shit. It's like a drug." Frenchie said.
"And how accurate would you say that is?" MM asked.
"Maybe I deserve it with all I have done. The Colonel's grandchildren." Frenchie said.
"Look I get it you had to save your friend, I'd probably do the same." MM said.
"You're a soldier, would you be willing to drop everything?" Frenchie asked.
MM was silent. However, Kimiko nodded holding Frenchie's hand.
"He mentioned Butcher's brother and how I might remind Butcher of him. Did any of you ask about him?" Hughie asked.
"We never asked, it was just like Becca. Hell, I didn't know about his brother until years in." MM said.
"He committed suicide, their dad was abusive to them." Hughie said.
There was an uncomfortable silence in the room.
"I figured Butcher must've had a fucked up childhood. I'm guessing Lenny was his original canary." MM said.
"Yeah, my Mom left me when I was a kid. Since then my father coddled me ever since. The reason why I cling to Butcher and… Annie is because I'm afraid they'll leave too." Hughie explained.
"I never knew about your mom. Does anyone else know?" MM asked.
"I told Annie around the time all this shit has happened." Hughie said.
"You're a good man, Hughie. Better than all of us put together." MM told him.
Hughie remained silent.
"Speaking of Annie, how do you plan to find her?" MM asked.
"I'll turn myself into the League." Hughie said.
Everyone is silent.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" MM asked.
"I can't take it anymore, okay! We're back to having nothing. Only now we find out that Neuman was never on our side! I was going to ask her for a job when our names were clean! We now have Soldier Boy and a prison filled with god knows how many super criminals on our tails too!" Hughie said.
"We're not going to stop you, but you might get yourself killed. The Seven are still going to kill you." MM said.
"I know, but I don't think Butcher's going to find that bug. If it is even here." Hughie said.
"Butcher's not going to be happy about that." Frenchie warned him.
"I know, I'll have to think of something. I'll try to help you out." Hughie said.
MM and Frenchie motioned Kimiko to the door to keep watch.
"Speaking of Butcher, I still have a bad feeling about that V24 shit." MM said.
"What do you mean?" Hughie asked.
"Vought was unable to make a formula that works one hundred percent on adults, but now the CIA has a formula that does that and only lasts twenty-four hours." Frenchie explained.
"You don't think Vought or the CIA made it." Hughie guessed.
"Yes, and I don't think that is something the Justice League would make. If anything they could just drag Homelander in a jail cell like he's a toddler being put in time out." MM said.
"So any guesses?" Hughie asked.
"Someone from Earth One definitely, but from what I've heard there are a lot of amoral eggheads there." MM said.
"So what do we do about Butcher?" Hughie asked.
"If that shot makes him crazy or whatever, we run." MM said.
Hughie knew that was a very broad strategy, but they were all at the end of their rope. However, he did have a way he hoped would subtly nudge Butcher in their direction. Just then, Butcher walked through the door. He was smiling in a proud manner.
"Good news, I've found the bug." Butcher said.
The Justice League was watching footage of Homelander's fight with Soldier Boy and Billy Butcher. Footage that was live-streamed involved Soldier Boy whereas Butcher was from security footage.
"So Soldier Boy is working with Waller?" Superman asked Batman.
"Yes, Butcher and his gang were too, but now they've gone AWOL." Batman said.
"I don't get it, why hasn't Waller just you know blow their heads up like she usually does?" Flash asked.
"Oracle did some investigating, but it only raises more questions." Batman said.
"Like what?" Flash asked.
"From what I gathered their bombs disappeared, they were not disarmed, even though they attempted to do so." Oracle explained.
"Like they just vanished into thin air." Green Lantern remarked.
"This is not the only coincidence you've found centered on them?" Martian Manhunter asked.
"We looked into their activities prior to their arrest. Hugh Campbell and Annie purchased their airplane tickets with debit cards from Keystone Bank. The accounts opened the same day they appeared in our world, unlike other people from Earth Seven who entered ours." Oracle said.
"This all seems so contrived." Aquaman said.
"Which is why we should bring them here." Wonder Woman said.
"They're not going to like that, Diana." Batman said.
"Perhaps, but they have no other choice. I think a different approach is in order." Diana said.
"Diana is right, we need to prove to them we are not the Seven." Superman said.
"They're likely now being targeted by Waller and Vought. Even with all of the luck they've had so far I can't see them getting out of this unscathed." Batman said.
"You're thinking they might have some sort of part in this?" Aquaman asked.
"I think it's very likely with everything that has been going on." Batman said.
"It might not just be them, there's also Ryan and Becca too. The Shark appeared in the middle of Smallville and nearly killed Ryan. Why would a sea-based villain be in the middle of Kansas?" Superman brought up.
"I don't mean to sound like a complete downer, but I really don't like your odds." The Joker told Elena. "I can totally see why you dumped her, though." He added.
"Yeah! You could do so much bettah." Harley added. "You don't think she'll come, puddin'?" She asked.
"Who knows, even I'm at a loss," Joker said before turning to Elena. "Not to mention the wicked witch clearly trying to set me up." He added.
"Ya really think she's going to do that, puddin'?" Harley asked.
"I know it's what I'd do. Well with me it's just for laughs, but with her, it's tying up loose ends." He said.
"So what are we supposed to do?" Harley asked.
"Simple, really let me call some old friends." He said before handing over a plant to Harley.
Joker said as he started to dial someone else.
"Who is this?" A voice asked from the speaker. One that made Elena shudder: Homelander.
"How's it going, Homeboy?" Joker asked.
"You! Where are you?! How did you get this number?!" He yelled.
"I can't tell you the answer to question numero uno, but for question numero dos, Elena told me. Say Hi!" Joker lied as he turned to the phone to face Elena. Elenas' eyes widened upon seeing Homelander's expression. Unlike all the posters she saw of him smiling, it was one of the most horrifying death glares she had seen.
"What do you want?" Stormfront asked.
"I'm sorry, was I in the middle of interrupting something?" The clown asked with a cheeky smile on his face.
"No! Just tell us what you fucking want?!" Homelander demanded.
"Okay straight to the point, I like that!" Joker said. "Queen Maeve has blackmail on you, so bad your reputation would plummet." He added.
Homelander looked concerned.
"What are you talking about?" Stormfront asked.
"Flight 37, according to Elena, you and her royal lowness were on that flight. In fact, you were the reason it went down in the first place. I've known people who committed mistakes at their jobs but you? You definitely topped them all."" Joker said.
Homelander was silent, his mouth ajar and his eyes widened and not even blinking.
"Yes well, apparently he's the one who caused the plane to go down because you screwed up. Now I have some experience in politics. I ran for Governor of the State and was the Ambassador of Quarac for about a day or so, but oh man if that gets out then your chance of a super-powered army plummets like the Flying Graysons." Joker told them.
"You're lying." Homelander said.
"No, true story. Look it up!" Joker brought up.
"Even if that's true, what makes you think anyone is going to believe you. You're a schizoid freak, no one would believe you!" Stormfront told him.
"Woah! Leave out the slurs, Eva Braun!" Joker told her.
"What did you call me?" Stormfront said.
"I called you the wife of the failed art school dropout who fumbled dub-u dub-u two. I know what you are by the way. I hacked Vought's security the moment it presented itself. How else do you think I got that little milk exposé? Of course, Batsy likely knew that and I've been logged off from your networks. I have to say, I was never really fond of your political party." Joker said.
"What makes you think you are a better person than me?" Stormfront questioned him, sounding amused.
"I'll tell you what I told that noseless nazi bonehead from Earth 616: I'm a criminal lunatic, but I'm an American criminal lunatic! Besides murder is so much more fun when it's random and indiscriminate. Not controlled and prejudiced because of some wackadoodle claims of superiority." Joker said.
Stormfront glared at Joker only for Harley to blow a raspberry at her.
"Harley on the other hand is more invested in this though." He said.
"Well, no one is going to believe either one of you." Stormfront said.
"True, but what if I anonymously drop the video to someone reputable? Sure you and your bigoted band of flying monkeys can swear to high heaven, but the brass won't believe you. Hell, the Justice League most certainly would." Joker said.
"If you release that video, I will destroy everyone and everything." Homelander threatened, catching even Stormfront off guard. The Joker, however, was a different story.
"Good, glad you and I are on the same page." Joker told him.
Homelanders' eyes widened upon hearing that.
"What?" Homelander asked.
"You heard me. Good, have a blast, burn a school, eat a baby if you want, and live your heart's twisted little desires! Ya know you want to!" Joker said.
Homelander and Stormfront were at a loss for words.
"Listen, Homeboy, I'm going to let you in on a little secret and some advice. The secret, I want you to do that. It's my thing, I mean look what the first thing I did here was. Now for my advice, I know it hurts to have everything you have shattered like cheap glass, but don't worry. You see when everything falls apart you tend to see the funny side in life. I know I did. Besides, you want to know something better than love and admiration, fear. I've had my issues with Scarecrow over the years, but he is right on the money with that. It is better to be feared than loved! Anyway, toodles!" Joker said before hanging up.
Homelander turned to Stormfront, both of them equally terrified.
"You find Noir, I'll handle Maeve." Homelander told her.
"Got it!" Stormfront said.
The couple exited the room.
Butcher had managed to destroy the bug planted by Batman. Surprisingly, the room looked to be mostly undamaged.
"Butcher, I have a question to ask you." Hughie said.
"Speak." Butcher said.
"I know this has been quite a fucking mess, but aren't you a little curious about all the weird contrivances?" Hughie asked.
"Like the bombs disappearing." Butcher said.
"Yeah that, the bank accounts we had on Earth One. I never got the chance to ask you this, but did you ever open the app for whatever bank you got?" Hughie said.
"No, we were too busy." Frenchie said.
"I was arrested." MM said.
Butcher was silent, which seemed peculiar to MM. He figured Butcher would have looked it up while on the way to Gotham
"Well, Annie and I did. The account opened the same day we entered Earth One." Hughie said.
Everyone seemed to be taken aback by this.
"This shit just keeps on getting stranger by the minute." MM said.
"We've been too lucky as well. In Gotham, Nightwing nearly managed to arrest us, until Killer Croc appeared out of nowhere. This allowed us to escape, just like the Iceberg Lounge and Scarecrow's lab." Frenchie said.
"We've had way too many close calls in that city, even more than with the Seven." MM said.
"You're not suggesting we go to the Justice League is that right?" Butcher asked.
Hughie seemed to be caught off guard by how fast Butcher caught on to him. For a moment, it even seemed like his accent had disappeared too. He walked over to Hughie and stared at him dead in the eye.
"No." Hughie said.
"Good." Butcher said.
Kimiko walked in with glass shards and pictures of Mallory's grandchildren. They all looked at Butcher with anger.
"Why did you smash the picture frames?!" MM asked.
"Batman put the bug in them. I realized that it would be the last place any of us would look." Butcher said.
"You didn't break them before. You stopped yourself earlier, you could have broken them earlier, but you didn't" MM told Butcher.
"I got over it. They're just pictures, not the real deal." Butcher said.
MM and Frenchie looked at one another surprised to hear that.
"What? You have something to say?" Butcher asked.
"It could just be the V24 in his system." Hughie whispered into Frenchie's ear.
"No, something like that being far ahead in CIA human testing wouldn't affect the mind like that." Frenchie told Hughie.
"Something's not right, Butcher. You're an asshole, but not this big of one, and it sure as hell isn't the V making you do this." MM said.
"Watch your tone." Butcher warned MM.
"You were there when we saw the aftermath of the grandchildren's death, you were not pissed. You were sad, like you were fighting back your tears at the sight of those children." Frenchie said.
"I still remember that smell, so how come it feels like you don't remember?" MM asked.
"You tell me?" Butcher asked.
"Because you're not Butcher." Hughie realized.
"Butcher" smiled before he started to clap his hands in a sarcastic fashion.
"So you are slowly grasping the truth, well done. I guess all of you are smarter than I anticipated, but that is of no concern." "Butcher" said his accent now being a clear American one.
"Who are you?" MM asked.
"Butcher" smirked.
"I am Lex Luthor." He replied, now his voice changed to match Luthor's.
Homelander scanned Maeve's room and no one was there much to his anger. All there was in the room were empty bottles of alcohol. Homelander stomped over all of them and the floor was covered in broken glass.
"Maeve, where are you? I just want to talk." He lied.
Soon Homelander tore the room apart. He used his X-Ray and telescopic vision where soon discovered. Maeve was not on any of the nearby floors. Angrily he flew out the window and scanned every floor not minding where the glass landed. His head started to hurt as though his skull was in a vice. He felt hot around the collar. He crashed into the window of the Seven's meeting room.
"WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?!" He shouted, his eyes red.
"Homelander?" Ashley asked, her voice telegraphing her concern and terror.
"What?!" Homelander asked her, sounding stressed.
He saw Ashley was with Stormfront.
"Noir is gone." Stormfront told him.
"Gone?" Homelander asked.
"He cut out his tracker earlier after seeing your fight with Soldier Boy." Ashley said nervously.
Homelander was taken aback by this.
"No… No. Noir wouldn't just walk away, he wouldn't leave me. Not like this and not now." Homelander said as the reality of the situation started to dawn upon him.
"I'm sorry, but he's gone." Stormfront said a look of hopelessness in her eyes.
Homelander collapsed onto the ground and huddled in on himself and pulled on his hair. At first, it sounded like he was sobbing. Stormfront went up to him ready to comfort her lover, until he let out a chuckle:
"Hehehehehehehehehehe!"
Soon the chuckle slowly started to grow into maniacal laughter before he started to lie on the floor. Tears still poured from his eyes despite his smile and laughter. Stormfront and Ashley were disturbed by this yet none of them walked nor looked away.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Homelander laughed madly like he had not a single care in the world. His laughter echoed throughout the entire building, it made the blood of just about everyone who heard run cold. Homelander started to get up, still laughing, he grabbed one of the pillars in the room. His fingers were embedded in the rock before he walked out of the room chuckling.
Maybe there was a funny side to all of this after all?
"I've read about you, you're Superman's arch-enemy." Frenchie said, looking at the others. "Former LexCorp CEO and President of the United States."
"As well as, the smartest man on Earth One." Luthor said.
"You created V24." MM realized.
"Indeed, I must say Marvin, if I am allowed to refer to you as such of course. I applaud your refusal to use my formula. Most men would have caved into sacrificing their humanity for the sake of power. You, however, did not." Luthor said.
MM and the rest of the Boys were shocked to hear about this.
"You know my name." MM said, realizing what this meant.
"I know all of your names and your history with Vought and their menagerie of costumed narcissists." Luthor said.
"What do you want?" MM asked.
"The same thing you all want, an end to Vought and its defective superpowered hedonists. I sense that we all have common ground." Luthor told them.
"What did you do to Butcher?" Hughie asked.
"The V24 in his system allows me total control over a user for twenty-four hours after injection." Luthor explained.
The Boys were all stunned to hear this.
"That's fucked up." MM said.
"You're practically using Butcher like he's some sort of video game character." Hughie angrily told Luthor.
"The man is literally nothing more than a violent psychopath. Believe me, when I say this, you're all better off without him." Luthor said.
"He's still a human being." MM said.
"I won't dispute that, but I can offer you all salvation. You, Vought, and the Justice League are all unknowingly in the midst of the endgame of my plan for your world. I can protect you from the fire." Luthor told them.
"You're a négrier!" Frenchie accused him.
"Excuse me?" MM asked his friend, angrily glaring at him.
"It's French for slaver, sorry." Frenchie apologized.
"He's right. Also, Butcher will completely be free once the serum runs its course." Luthor said.
"What's your plan?" MM asked.
"Imagine a world with no superhumans. Your world will no longer have to deal with disastrous fallouts from intoxicated lechers trying to play hero for a measly paycheck. When I am done your world will share the same views that you do regarding superpowered freaks and how they should not be trusted." Lex Luthor explained.
"You caused all of this?" Hughie asked.
"The dimensional rifts no I am not the source. I merely saw the opportunity of doing this after sending probes to your world before the Justice League took notice. It disgusted me that faulty lab experiments were being treated like celebrities. Their crimes were pardoned by the law and ignored by the public. I knew right then and there that your world needed a savior who would never bend the knee to some superpowered thug, me." Luthor said.
"You?" MM asked.
"Who else? You've seen my world, rampant supervillains running around while the Justice League sit in their satellite looking down on us all. You felt small in your own world, but in mine, you might as well have been microscopic." Luthor said.
"You want us to join you?" MM asked.
"Yes, think of it. I know all about every single one of you, Marvin. I know about your family, I can take you to them. I know Soldier Boy killed your grandfather, how your father slaved away and slowly killed himself trying to get justice for their sake. I can bring you to your wife and daughter, you can be a family again." Luthor told him.
MM seemed conflicted upon hearing that.
"MM don't!" Frenchie spoke up.
Luthor raised an eyebrow at Frenchie.
"He is a charlatan who pissed away a billion-dollar fortune, the man risked his own planet out of ego. I know about the asteroid and how you got impeached. You murdered that entire courtroom out of spite!" Frenchie spoke up.
"I admit, at the time I was not thinking rationally. In regards to your claim about my fortune, I still have it. Just under wraps of course." Luthor said.
"Last thing we need is some rich mother fucker trying to justify himself to us. Just because you hate supes doesn't mean we're going with you." MM said.
"Because, unlike Stan Edgar, I realized something that came with the existence of superhumans. Before Superman, I was rich and powerful. After Superman, I was just rich. You are speaking to the greatest mind on both worlds. Besides despite your grisly methods, I admit that a part of me does respect your little group. I think an alliance between us would be fruitful" Luthor said.
"Bullshit, you have practically been doing nothing, but using Butcher to jerk yourself off." Frenchie said.
Luthor cocked an eyebrow once more.
"Like I said despite your grisly methods, you represent the triumph of the human spirit in the face of wannabe gods." Luthor said.
"The only wannabe god I see here is you, psychotic asshole! You have turned another human being into a puppet." Hughie told Luthor, defiantly.
At this point, Luthor dropped any pretense of affability.
"You do realize with all the information I shared with you all. I will have to kill you, right?" Luthor asked.
"Our luck has been good so far." Hughie said trying to hide whatever anxieties he felt at the moment.
"Luck tends to run out. Farewell." Luthor told them.
Butchers' eyes started to glow yellow.