Well, this was an honest-to-God surprise for me to be posting another chapter. I have been on the high-tail since rebinging through The Boys (Season 2, currently) as well as keeping up-to-date with Gen V (not watching the new episode until Sunday). For what it's worth, I've been having a lot of fun with this idea. Don't know when the next one will begin since I need to work on my sleep schedule that I've fucked up thanks to my insomnia and drive to write this story. I haven't had this much fun since when I first started DOOM: End Times (still on hiatus due to burnout). Anyways, all of your questions will be answered at the end of this chapter. Enjoy!
(Word count: 8809)
Samantha ran frantically through the dark alley. She could hear her pursuers trailing close behind her. Her adrenaline was at an all-time high, and both her legs and lungs were burning like hell on Earth. Tears were beginning to well up as she tried to outrun them only to hear them come ever close. She rounded the corner only to crash into another body and was thrown onto the ground.
"N-No! Please!" She faced her pursuers with a tearful plea. There were five hoodlums now leering down at her. Though they hid their faces under their hoods, she could see the white of their teeth clearly.
"What's wrong baby?" The one Samantha crashed into mocked, "Never had a real man in your life?"
"Who's gonna get first pickings?" The one on his left asked, eliciting anger from the first.
"Me, motherfucker!" The first snapped. "Ain't no fucking way I'm having sloppy seconds after you, Mal!"
"We're all gonna play with her, Tyrese." The one on the right to the first spoke, "Why don't we just do her all at once?"
"Da hell's wrong with you, Ricky?!" One spoke in outrage, clearly a woman under the hood and holding a handheld camera, "I ain't gonna play with some faggots!"
"Shut the fuck up, Crystal! All of you!" The fifth spoke up, showing some authority as the others quieted down, "Fine. Tyrese got her first. You go ahead. Crystal, start the camera. You two, grab her."
"Thanks, Ramon." Tyrese chuckled as he started to unbuckle.
"No! No!" Samantha cried out as two of the hoodlums pinned her down while Ramon began pulling down his trousers. Just as the hoodlum reached to his knees, Mal suddenly fell to the ground, startling his friends amid their activity.
"What the fu-" Mal didn't have time to react before he was dragged away, screaming into the darkness behind him. His friends backed away and watched in abject terror. They could not see Mal but they could still his screams in the dark… until he stopped. Everyone present froze where they stood, paralyzed by the scene they just witnessed. Without warning, something flew straight into Ricky's way. The hoodlum fell to the ground and screamed as he held Tyrese's head over him. A burst of fire appeared suddenly and Ricky was later impaled in the mouth with a sword passing through Mal's maw. The other hoodlums realized it was a yellow-clad figure who appeared killed their friends.
"Motherfuc-!" Ramon took out a pistol but the mysterious stranger caught and twisted his wrist before he could make a shot. He then pulled out his sword from the head and Ricky's corpse, which now burst into flames and lit the street they were in. Ramon didn't even get to scream before the stranger bisected him from groin to head instant. Both halves fell apart on the ground, though, the stranger threw one directly at Tyrese; pinning him to the ground. Crystal, meanwhile, dropped her camera and made a run for it. The stranger in yellow saw her fleeing and vanished in smoke and fire. Not long after, Samantha watched as the stranger appeared before Crystal and grabbed her; vanishing once more. The girl stood frozen in the ground, looking all over and wondering where they went.
And then she heard it. At first, it sounded like a faint whistle. And then it got louder and quickly started to sound like a scream. Samantha realized it was coming from the sky and looked up in time to find Crystal crashing to the pavement and exploding in a pile of gore. Samantha shrieked as blood sprayed all over her face. Not even a second, the stranger appeared before her with a haunting golden mask and white eyes and roared,
"GET OUT OF HERE!"
Samantha ran into the night without thought, screaming in sheer fright of her savior.
Watching her run to safety, Scorpion turned to the last member. The coward freed himself from his friend's corpse, only to trip with his pants still down. This gave the spectre time to close in and hamstring the rapist. Tyrese cried in pain, then pissed himself in fear as Scorpion kicked him over to meet eye-to-eye. The weeping hoodlum saw Scorpion was about to stab him and covered his eyes, only for the spectre to plunge his katana deep into the pavement between his legs. For a moment, Tyrese was confused until the sword burst into flames… with Scorpion grabbing his legs and pulling towards it. The hoodlum frantically pushed himself away but the spectre was far too strong to resist. Tyrese could only scream in terrifying agony all while Crystal's camera kept rolling the brutal death not far from them.
The video still kept recording, even after the man's screaming died down once it was clear Scorpion released the legs. Scorpion shot his kunai towards his katana, grabbing it in mid-air before disappearing. Soon, police sirens draw near the scene.
Madelyn shut the TV once more before she could stand seeing Cameron's stupid smile appear. She clenched the bridge of her nose and looked at Ashley.
"Any updates?"
"Still elusive, ma'am." Her ginger assistant answered, "Crime Analytics is hard at work."
"Hard at work?" Madelyn parroted. "It's been four days, for Christ's sake! And already he's just bagged his seventeenth streak. And none of the guys down at the labs have found a single trace of his location?"
"I know, Ms. Stillwell, but this Scorpion guy just keeps teleporting in and out. It's off the charts and they are struggling to catch up with him."
"What about the Seven?" Madelyn was reaching for other avenues and options.
"Not a single one of them has him."
"Not even A-Train?"
"Not even A-Train." Ashley looked down in shame, "He's been running circles and still no evidence."
Madelyn breathed sharply in disappointment.
"Alright, that'll be all today." She said in content, "You may leave, Ashley."
"Thank you, ma'am." The assistant left her boss' office immediately. Madelyn quickly went for the mini-fridge and pulled out a can of club soda. The pop opened and she quickly downed at least a third of it in one go. She would've gotten an alcoholic seltzer had she not had a bit of a baby bump at the moment. It wasn't Fresca at least. The door to her office opened once again and Madelyn turned to see Homelander come in.
"Hey, Maddy!" He greeted in a chipper tone, "How's the search going?"
Judging by the way his smile was stretching, Madelyn could tell he was losing patience and growing restless. Gingerly, the head of Hero Management played cool and eased him.
"Hey Homelander," Madelyn greeted back, "We're still on the search. Hard to track down a guy without a chip on his shoulder. The fact he can vanish in an instant is annoying."
"So I've been told," Homelander placed his hands behind his back in disappointment, "I take it A-Train told you the bad news?"
"Yep," Madelyn deflated on the couch, "Zero on his end. And so did Black Noir. Which is a surprise to be sure."
"Hmm…" Homelander pursed his lips, "That's not good. Definitely not good…"
"You can drop the act." Madelyn sipped her soda, "Even a blind man can see you're not fine about this."
Homelander dropped his act as soon as she suggested. That fake smile he wore quickly vanished and turned into a grimace, grinding his teeth in frustration.
"Okay, just who the fuck is this guy with his Harry Houdini acts?" Homelander vented, "Is he trying to gain traction or something? If so, why hasn't he just walked up to Vought? Supes like him should know better than to fuck with us with those shit stunts of his!"
"Easy, big guy," Madelyn spoke to him with a soft tone, "Who cares about what he does? Sure, he's killing bad guys, left and right, but so what? In the long run, that wouldn't matter."
"Yeah, but…" Homelander was looking upset, "He's now up to thirty-two points! And he's making the Seven look bad! Making… me… look bad."
"No, Homelander," She stood up and hugged him, "You're not bad. Don't think you are bad. You are Homelander. The Homelander. The greatest Supe in the entire world. That other guy, screw him! He's a shrimp. You can easily swat him down. That, I believe in."
Homelander's foul mood slowly eroded as he returned to form with a bit of confidence.
"You're right." Homelander conceded. "He's just some uppity douchebag ninja. He'll probably just sting me like his namesake. And I can just squash him in less than a second. Easy!"
"Good. Good!" Stillwell encouraged, "I'm glad to hear that!"
Homelander nodded firmly, "Which brings me to another thing to discuss."
Curious, Madelyn waited expectantly, "And that is…?"
"Let me go find him." Homelander suggested.
"Oh, that's not necessary!" Stillwell dismissed, "We have plenty of resources here. Besides, I'm thinking of sending back Noir with Tek Knight."
"Fuck that!" Homelander snapped before correcting himself, "Well, not Noir. But Tek? Fuck him! Have you heard what he's been up to? Guy's literally fucking every hole he finds. No, let me do it. Let me go find him. He's operating in New York anyhow. Won't be too hard to find."
"Homelander…" Madelyne's tone was that of concern, "If you're gonna do what I think it is you're doin-"
"I'm not gonna kill him!" Homelander protested, before backpedalling his words, "Well, I thought about it but I'm not! Not after he screws up in the team or something."
Madelyn remained silent before giving the go, "Okay, fine. But as soon as you find him, get the whole team ready to welcome him. Or don't, actually. Maybe send one of our own. Shit, I'll have to think about this."
Madelyn was soon back to business mode as she started going through her calls. "Call me still when you do, though!"
"On it! You're the best, Maddy!" Homelander spoke with eagerness, leaving the room on good terms and flying off once he reached his home's balcony.
Scorpion arrived at his base of operations unseen, just outside one of New York's many rivers —lighting his katana on fire as his only light source in the dark tunnels. The tunnel was not known by the public and was obscure to the point of being long forgotten—a place good for any unseen activities. He walked a great distance until he arrived at his destination, walking towards a generator connected to a breaker panel and flipping the switch, turning all the lights of the station on.
The area was vast, having once been a fully operating station when it first came to life at the height of New York's influence. It was only accessible through the tunnel system, which only a few brave souls could know in its obscurity. A few cars were here long since disused in favor of the modern versions. Grime and filth were present which attracted the rats yet the spectre had the decency to spruce up the place somewhat. Scorpion went up to one of the defunct escalators to the upper levels. He passed by the empty token machines and the ticket office, before finally arriving at his room. He opened the heavy door before him, revealing a room consisting a simple mattress, a floor mat and several candles that lit up in his presence. Many of which he stole unnoticed. There was neither food nor water to be found, for the spectre no longer required sustenance given his undead state. A spartan room which proved serviceable enough for the spectre.
Scorpion set his weapons against a wall, his body turning tranquil from his most recent attack spree. Despite his restlessness, Scorpion had not forgotten the practical benefits of establishing a hideout, a place where he could rest and make quick stops before venturing off once more.
The spectre knelt on the simple floor mat and began his meditation. The process, however, was not peace but concentration. Concentration on channelling his powers to get to where he wanted most. He thought of the Fire Gardens. He thought of the lush red leaves that blossomed from the ancient oak trees of his home. The feeling of his skin bathing in the warm sun and the cool air grazing across his skin. The spectre, despite his displacement, was desperate to see if this world still had its own version of the forest he remembered. A place he could call home. Try as he might, Scorpion strained for his Hellfire abilities to home in on the Gardens. Struggling to maintain focus, Scorpion stopped himself from further strain.
"Still…" He sighed sullenly, taking a light break as he composed himself. It was not the first time he had tried to get home. For four days straight, he had tried to find a way to get to his ancestral home to no avail. The harsh reality now washed over him; the Fire Gardens never existed in this reality. He could go to Japan, yes, and navigate his way there but it would prove a fruitless endeavor. Seeing his options growing smaller by the day, Scorpion grimaced an idea he kept last for a good reason.
"If not my home…" Scorpion grimly said to himself, "...then to Hell it is."
Scorpion meditated once more, regaining his focus. This time, he did not think of the calm and serene forest. Instead, he looked into fire and blood. The raging noise of violence deafened his ears. Billions of souls in eternal torment as their captors made their sport. Sword and claw clashed as demons fought over the scraps of flesh of their prisoners. No longer was there the thought of the serene home, but the hellish landscape of the Netherrealm. The land of death and torture in which Scorpion sprung from as a place of rebirth. And the more he thought of the hellish place, the more his body began to change. His entire body was slowly lighting up, with sparks flying until small bursts erupted. Surrounding him was a small circle of fire which increased in size. The connection felt stronger for sure. Even so, Scorpion struggled to maintain it. It was like reaching out to the light at the end of the tunnel. Scorpion kept pushing despite the strain on his body. The fire was beginning to go wild, uncontrollable. The toll was too much and the spectre let go, prostrating on the floor after. The fire in him had slowly dissipated into smouldering embers. Taking big gulps of air, Scorpion steadied himself and rolled onto his bed.
The exertion of his stunt took too much out of him, both physically and mentally. A quick rest would be more than enough to regain his life energy. The spectre slowly closed his eyes, sleep befalling him immediately.
His crusade would continue, but even warriors need respite.
Cops were still securing a perimeter and keeping the crowd away from possible until Homelander showed up at the crime scene. The crowd beamed up but the police stopped them from running further.
"WE LOVE YOU, HOMELANDER!"
"And I love you too, random citizen!" Homelander smiled back at his adoring fans, "But give it to the police for doing their work! They're the real heroes!"
The crowd went wild, taking pictures and video recordings of him strolling into the scene. The police were quite receptive as well, though, more restrained with their excitement.
"Hey guys!" Greeted Homelander, "Figured I stop by and help out. You know? Speed the process and shorten the paperwork for you guys."
"Of course, sir!" One officer spoke with joy. "It would be an honor to work with you! I'll notify the Sergeant that you're here!
"You do just that…" Homelander looked at the man's badge, "Keith. But I'll be out of your hairs real fast. Quick search, y'know."
The office nodded excitedly and left to report to his superior. Homelander walked over the scene, passing by the gruesome display in which the corpses were left.
One officer pulled up a white veil, showing a… 'pile' of gore which seemed to get past through the sheet's spread.
"Yikes," Homelander almost winced at the way it was displayed. "I feel bad for whoever's gonna clean that up."
One by one, he walked past the carnage until he stood before the one that was recorded last. A police officer was there, securing the covered body from outsiders.
"Hey there." Homelander greeted him politely as he approached. "Mind if I take a look at what's underneath the blanket?"
"Sure thing, boss." The officer complied willingly, pulling up the sheet to reveal the two of the rapist's body. The sight was definitely grisly. Between the cauterized wounds and the rancid smell coming off of it, it was no wonder the guy was screaming so badly in the video. Starting from the groin all the way to the head was a painful way to go. As he investigated further, he looked into the hole that was formed just between the corpse's split head. There was a peculiar smell that Homelander took notice of and homed in the scent.
"Sulfur…?" He quickly identified. Making his own judgement, Homelander deduced that the supe's powers more than likely produced the chemical. Which meant there could be a possible trail for him to lead on. The widely-renowned hero stood up and prepared to leave when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned to face another officer.
"Greetings, Sergeant… Mahoney," Homelander spoke formally.
"No need for the formalities, sir. Pitt is just fine." Mahoney humbly spoke, "Keith told me you were here. Did you find anything you were looking for?"
"Actually, yeah." Homelander answered, "Found some traces of sulfur left behind. But don't worry, I'm on the trail now. So consider this case closed. But I won't take credit where credit is due."
Homelander looked at the cops around him, "After all, you guys are the real heroes here!"
The police clapped and cheered as Homelander quickly flew away. Sergeant Mahoney couldn't help but smirk.
"That man really sure does keep the paperwork light."
"But he takes all the credit, don't he?" Mahoney flinched a bit, turning to find a bearded man in a dark trenchcoat.
"Can I help you, sir?" The sergeant addressed. The stranger went through his coat and pulled out his badge.
"William Butcher," The man addressed, "FBI sent me to investigate the killing spree."
"Didn't realize it was that serious?" Mahoney remarked, "Never heard of a Fed with your accent either?"
"Ever heard of dual citizenship?" William talked back, "Like I said: the bigwigs want to know what's up and get enough to start a manhunt."
"Well, do as you please, Mr. Butcher." Sergeant Mahoney replied noncommittedly, "But I'm afraid Homelander already beat you to it."
"Ain't that right?" Butcher soured at the mention. With nothing to discover, the mysterious man left without a word; leaving Mahoney wondering what the hell that was about.
The strange noise - however faint and subtle it was - was enough to wake Scorpion from his slumber. He carefully crawled on all floors and pressed his head against the floor. He could hear footsteps coming from one source. Not wasting time to make second guesses, Scorpion quickly grabbed his weapons and set about to take down the interloper from the shadows.
"Hello? Anybody home?" Homelander's voice echoed throughout the empty station, having quickly spotted the lights from a distance. He was standing right next to the generator that powered the entire place, indicating that someone was living here.
Homelander was familiar with supes having secret lairs but nowhere near as dirty as this shithole. It came as a surprise that this 'Scorpion' was going the extra mile with his act.
"Your, uh, door was open and I saw your lights were on. I hope you don't mind I came in." Homelander continued. He wandered the platforms, looking through all the empty cars that littered the tracks. His X-ray vision revealed nothing within the cars; just more filth and cobwebs within. Seeing no point being here, Homelander quickly up to the upper levels.
"If you're upstairs, then I just want to give a heads-up and say that I'm coming up. Nothing to worry, I'm not armed."
The renowned supe quickly surveyed the entire level. Again, no traces of his target. Homelander did, however, pick up the scent of candles nearby as well as the sulfur residue. Turning to the room that seemed heavily fortified, Homelander approached and opened the door. Inside, he could only find a rather spartan room with just a mattress and candlelight. The sulfur was a bit strong here, forcing him to pinch his nose and walk out due to his sensitive nose.
"Find anything worth your attention?"
Homelander flinched in surprise at the sudden appearance of Scorpion standing before him, white blank eyes glaring at him.
"Jesus!" He exclaimed, "I thought no one was home! How the hell did you go unnoticed? A lot of people usually don't sneak on a guy with super-senses. Nor X-ray visions either."
"I have my ways." Scorpion spoke cryptically, "Who are you? And how did you come to find this place?"
His voice seemed to have a strange echo effect with a baritone quite deep. To Homelander's admission, it was pretty badass. Speaking of badass, the man was decked in black and yellow ninja garbs, though, with more details upon closer inspection. Bits of armor and protection around the head, chest, arms and legs. They were quite strange to behold. Especially the chest and mask which resembled a hard carapace of unknown material. Beyond the armor, the man was relatively tall. Roughly around Black Noir's height, if not taller perhaps. He was also well-built and in good shape. His biceps showed him to be athletic and in excellent health.
However, the appearance was severely undercut by the supe's disrespectful attitude, which actually irked Homelander quite a lot. Very, very, few supes would dare talk like that to the number one superhero in his entire life. Said few would later find out what happens when they don't give Homelander the respect he deserves.
If that wasn't bad enough, Homelander was quick to notice that the supe was carrying his chained dagger quite dangerously. His body language was clear to Homelander that he was itching for a fight. A really suicidal fight.
Even so, Homelander tried to hear his heart beating to see if he was bluffing. Strangely, he heard… nothing. At all. Not even one single beat. The sheer balls of this guy must have been heavy since he had damn good control of his heart rate. And it was actually terrifying in a way.
Seeing how calm and in control this supe was despite the urge to kill him, Homelander decided to play it cool and show his award-winning smile.
"Well, since you seem to be ignorant of things around here…" He started, "I am Homelander. The Homelander, officially speaking."
"And you…" Homelander slowly approached him, "Must be Scorpion."
"That name is not familiar to me, I'm afraid," Scorpion admitted, much to Homelander's surprise and vexation.
"Homelander?" The latter repeated, "Number one hero of America? World's strongest supe? Leader of the Seven?"
The last title seemed to click Scorpion's memory. "The Seven…? Yes, I seem to remember your face. It's all over the city."
"Well," Homelander relaxed, "That's one of the many perks of being the greatest superhero there is. And you seem to be causing quite a stir around New York"
"I anticipated my name would reach out soon." Scorpion expected, "But I assure you that those I've killed were deserving of their fate. Which begs the question as to how you got here and what your intentions are."
"Well, Scorpion," Homelander started, "I just took a stop at your most recent streak. Brutal finishers, by the way, and I quickly noticed the scent of sulfur on your kills. After some quick deduction and tracking, that scent led me here."
"Interesting," Scorpion looked slightly impressed with a raised brow, though, began to reach for one of his katanas, "but I suppose that means you are here to put an end to my crusade."
"Woah, woah, put an end to your-?" Homelander took a double-take, "What are you talking about? I'm not here to stop you. I actually want to invite you to the Seven!"
Scorpion paused and flatly said, "What?"
"Yeah," Homelander repeated, "Vought saw your work and they want you! The press fucking loves you and you even have a fanbase!"
Scorpion stared blankly at Homelander.
"I… do not know the words that just came out of you." He admitted, much to Homelander's surprise and boggled mind.
"Jeez, you have really been living under a rock, haven't you?" Homelander was genuinely befuddled.
"I am not so reliant on technology." Scorpion admitted, "Nor am I exactly familiar with most of them save for transportation and phones."
"Well, that… that's going to change." Homelander quickly took out his phone from his pocket. Unfortunately, there was no signal on his phone, leaving him in an awkward.
"Crap. No signal." He brought up to Scorpion, putting his phone away as an idea formed in his head.
"Actually, if you could come with me-"
The latter quickly backed away, showing a bit of distrust despite the initial positive impression. Homelander not only noticed him backing away but also the sudden change in the air. As if the temperature grew mildly hot.
"Woah. Take it easy." Homelander carefully backed away, "Didn't mean to spook you. I was just trying to convince you to meet your fans back on the surface. Show that everyone loves you."
"I see," Scorpion understood, "Then there's no need to take the entrance. Allow me to transport us."
"Wait, where exactly are we-" Scorpion had already surrounded the both of them in a fiery tornado instantaneously and teleported back to where he had found himself arriving: in the centre of Times Square.
"-going?" Homelander finished mid-teleportation. As soon as everyone around them saw the fire tornado die down, the people recognized the duo.
"Is that Homelander?!"
"Yo, it is! And he's with Scorpion!"
"That's insane!"
"Quick, get the camera ready!"
Immediately, the two were flooded by fans in different directions. Both reacted in different ways to the crowd. Homelander basked in the adoration of his loving fans, happily taking selfies and photos with them. Hearing their praises increased his dopamine levels like a drug. Scorpion, meanwhile, was apprehensive by the sudden acclaim. He was sincerely surprised by just how many people there were to welcome like this. Still, he was respectful and had enough courtesy to not tear them apart in a fit of rage as he did with his enemies.
In the midst of this fan swarm, Homelander felt his phone ringing in his pocket and quickly took it out. The screen on his phone read 'Stillwell' and she was calling him. He immediately knew what that meant.
"H-Hello?"
"Hi, Homelander!" Madelyn greeted in a polite tone, "So how was the search?"
"Great, actually!" Homelander tried to talk over the sound of his excited fans, "I found Scorpion!"
"That's wonderful! I'm glad to hear!" Madelyn praised, "Though, I do recall our conversation earlier that you were supposed to call me before you found him. Right now, the both of you are trending on Twitter as we speak."
"Y-Yes, I know." Homelander quickly smiled for a selfie with an excited fan, "But it would have taken a bit longer for PR to come and find him. Plus, I wasn't sure if he'd take kindly to a surprise visit by them. Impressions were a bit rough, but I got it all under control. How about you get everyone at the Seven to form a welcoming committee?"
"I can definitely get it to happen right now. It might take a bit of time. But I'll have A-Train get everyone back at the tower. Think you can hold it off for a bit?"
Homelander looked back at Scorpion, who was slowly becoming receptive to a fan asking for a slowly.
"Sure, I can look after him for a bit."
"Great! Won't take long!" Madelyn finished, "I'll call you back."
"Thanks, Madelyn!" Homelander ended the call, returning to Scorpion and resuming the little fan press.
"Who was that?" Scorpion inquired.
"Our manager!" Homelander replied, waving at the cameras, "She's preparing a welcoming party!"
"How long will that take?" Scorpion awkwardly waved back at the crowd. Homelander simply wrapped his arm around the spectre's shoulder and smiled at all the fans before them.
"Just smile and wave."
Half an hour later…
It did not take long before Homelander brought the spectre to Vought's headquarters. Scorpion grumbled to find more photographers standing near the entrance. If that's not bad enough, there were the reporters and cameramen closing in on them. Homelander - having first-hand experience of the heat Scorpion emitted - was quick to intervene and told everyone to keep their distance. Scorpion was appreciative of the gesture but it would have been a lot better if the cameras would stop flashing.
"Mr. Scorpion, what can you tell us about yourself?"
"Homelander, how did you come to meet him?"
"Will he be a new member of the Seven?"
"No comment until the announcement, folks!" Homelander replied to the press, guiding Scorpion to the entrance where security blocked reporters from further entry. Vought staff was there to greet the two with aplomb.
"Forgive my impertinence but how many more sycophants must we go through?" Scorpion whispered next to Homelander.
"Just bear with it," Homelander answered through his grin, "We'll meet the team soon."
Just then, a petite woman with ginger hair approached them with a forced smile.
"Welcome back, Homelander!" She greeted with enthusiasm before turning to the spectre and gesturing a handshake, "And you must be Scorpion. My name is Ashley Barrett, I'm an assistant of Madelyn Stillwell, our Senior Vice President of Hero Management here at Vought. And it is a great honor to meet you, sir!"
Scorpion simply looked at her hand with scrutinized eyes, causing Ashley to lower it in an awkward manner. Homelander smirked at the amusing scene, beginning to like the spectre already.
"Okay, personal hygiene, totally understand." Ashley awkwardly moved on, "Anyway, the rest of the Seven are up at ninety-nine right now as we speak, Homelander sir. Ms. Stillwell had sent me to escort you both personally. She's up there with them as we speak."
"Fantastic!" Homelander smiled, "Lead the way, Ashley."
Ashley nodded firmly and led the two to the elevators, with Homelander standing in the middle while Ashley was on his right, and Scorpion to his left. Once inside, Scorpion sighed in relief now that he didn't have to suffer further blindness from all the flashes he endured. Now, he could just enjoy the pleasant noise of the elevator's music playing in the background. Ashley was about to threaten that moment of peace with her shrill voice when she noticed both heroes staring her down, keeping her mouth shut. Upon closer inspection, the spectre couldn't help but sense an air of anxiety and fear exuding from her. He had thought none of it and presumed it to be from stress.
The ride lasted perhaps a minute before the doors opened, much to Scorpion's disappointment. More men and women greeted them out of the elevator, with an older blonde woman approaching them with open arms and a marketing smile.
"Homelander!" She replied with enthusiasm, "So good to see you again! And back in one piece!"
"Well, Stillwell…" Homelander smirked, "I always come out on top. Anyways, this is Scorpion."
Homelander started introductions, "Scorpion, I would like you to meet my manager, Madelyn Stillwell."
"A pleasure to meet you, Scorpion." Stillwell gestured for a handshake. This time, Scorpion reciprocated - out of respect - and shook it.
"I am honored to be here, Stillwell-sama" Scorpion replied respectfully. "Homelander-sama spoke quite a bit about you, but I am glad we met personally."
"Oh, that is kind of you," Madelyn was genuinely touched, "I am glad myself. However, we at Vought are eager to show you to the rest of the team."
"Please," Scorpion nodded, "Lead the way."
Madelyn took the lead, with Homelander and Scorpion not far behind. Ashley was about to follow but Madelyn dismissed her, to which she was eagerly to leave. Scorpion followed them all the way to where they stopped before two large metal doors. The spectre observed the doors were thick and reinforced as they mechanically slid open.
"And this here, Scorpion…" Madelyn spoke with reined-in excitement, "Is where you meet the Seven."
Scorpion looked beside Homelander, briefly smiling before the welcoming party started.
Inside was a large circular room with an equally large shape like the letter 'V'. There, Scorpion was greeted by five other strangely-colored clothed individuals. The doors behind them closed before Madelyn took the initiative to introduce all of them to the spectre.
"Say hello to the Seven!" Madelyn announced.
The first to come up to Scorpion was a caucasian man in a sleeveless bodysuit with green and gold fish-scales.
"Looks like the first person to welcome you is the Deep." Madelyn introduced, "Deep is our marine-based superhero and one of our premier members of the Seven. He isn't called 'the King of the Seas' for a reason."
"It's an honor to meet you, Scorpion sir." Deep saluted to him. "Your way of handing out justice is welcomed here. And a friend of Homelander is also a friend of mine."
Another sycophant, Scorpion thought before paying his respects.
"I am pleased to meet a friend of Homelander-sama." Scorpion replied, "I look forward to future endeavors."
The Deep smiled at the sense of recognition he had earned.
"I-I am glad to-"
"Deep." Homelander called out, "No need to hog introductions."
"R-Right sir," Deep moved aside for the three to continue the tour. The next one was a dark-skinned man wearing a primarily blue suit. The only form of protection Scorpion noted was the clear-looking chest piece and goggles.
Madelyn introduced, "Scorpion, this is A-Train. He is a speedster and current holder of the 'Fastest Man in the World' title."
"What up, my man?" The speedster stood up from his seat and raised his hand for a shake, sporting a flashy smile. Just the way he expressed and presented himself reminded Scorpion of a certain fighter he once encountered. Scorpion shook hands with the man firmly.
"I dig the black and yellow scheme, man." A-Train complimented, "Wiz Khalifa for life! Just kidding. But seriously, good combo."
"I've heard that same compliment recently," Scorpion stated matter-of-factly, "In truth, the yellow symbolizes my clan's colors: the Shirai Ryu."
"Oh cool!" A-Train spoke with some interest, "I would totally love to meet them."
"They are dead," Scorpion stated bluntly. The whole room went quiet as they reeled in such a revelation. A-Train's smile dropped immediately and quickly said, "Oh shit, so sorry. I didn't know. I was just-"
"It is fine," Scorpion stopped the young man, "A simple mistake. No need to get hung up. Forgive me, I do not know what came of me to bring them up."
"I-It's alright, Scorpion." Madelyn sympathized, "We all have our stories of origin."
Scorpion took it as Madelyn coming to an understanding when really, she was taking mental notes on future investments now that Scorpion was beginning to show his layers.
"Let's move forward, shall we?" Madelyn quickly changed topics, "Translucent, how about you introduce yourself to our yellow-clad friend?"
Hearing his name, the one called Translucent stood up. Scorpion initially thought him to be rather normal-looking. A regular-looking caucasian with short brown hair and square-shaped glasses in gray boilersuit. That was until Scorpion tried to shake hands, only for Translucent's said hand to simply disappear.
"Huh?!" Translucent freaked out at his disappeared hand, only for his other to vanish as well.
"W-What's happening?!" Translucent was now panicking before Scorpion witnessed his entire head disappear.
"Your head!" Scorpion alerted him, causing the man to go into a major freakout.
"Oh god, help me! Somebody call 911!" Translucent screamed. Scorpion jumped the call and quickly rushed to him, trying to calm him down as much as he could.
"Get help now!" Scorpion told the rest. To his confusion, the other heroes simply laughed or smiled at the whole thing. Looking back at Translucent, the man suddenly turned calm for some strange reason.
"Oh wait, that's right!" Translucent suddenly turned visible and jokingly said, "False alarm."
The man then laughed and said, "Got you! So sorry about that, I was just messing with you. I do that with new faces around here. Figured I lighten things up a bit."
"That is alright, I suppose." Scorpion sighed as he let go of Translucent, both annoyed and relieved at what happened just now.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Scorpion," Madelyn apologized, "This is Translucent. As you can tell, invisibility is his power. Not only that but his skin is also made of carbon metamaterial. Nothing on this Earth can harm him as it's essentially diamond-hard."
"Actually, Madelyn, my body actually bends the light around me." Translucent corrected, "It's more like a cloaking mechanism."
"A useful power, indeed." Scorpion was impressed, "I can see why the Seven sought your abilities."
"Well, that and handling finances," Translucent added, "My skills are actually crunching numbers on profit shares and investments."
"I see…" Scorpion was slightly soured by the mention of money involved, "A useful trait for the mundane applications."
"Er, right…" Translucent was reading Scorpion's face, and it was telling that he was disappointed by it. An awkward pause came and Madelyn cleared her throat.
"Let's introduce you to the last two members, shall we?" Madelyn suggested, with Scorpion noticing the other heroes in the room. The second-to-last to approach him was a woman in a leather cuirass and battle skirt with knee-high boots. She had an Amazonian-like quality to her that gave the spitting image of a warrior ready for combat.
"Scorpion, this Queen Maeve," Madelyn introduced, "She is the Seven's only female member, yet, is one of our strongest. She represents the strength and purity of women all over the world. A symbol of Feminism."
"How do you do?" Maeve shook Scorpion's hand, "Good grip. Work out much?"
"A side-effect of my war against the injustice," Scorpion spoke honestly, "And I can see you are a warrior yourself. Perhaps we can test our might together one day in a sparring match."
"Looking forward to that." Maeve accepted the challenge. Now came the final member of the group. Scorpion observed the last hero approaching in full black armor. The spectre found him to be an intriguing character. His face was completely covered by a black mask, which gave Scorpion no way of reading his emotions.
"And our final member of the group is Black…Noir…" Madelyn's voice slowed to a crawl as she saw Black Noir sizing up the newcomer. The rest of the supes went silent as they noticed quite a standoff going on. Both ninja-themed heroes were at eye level, staring down and not saying a single word to each other.
"Noir…" Homelander called out his name. Even with his x-ray vision, he couldn't read his friend's expression as he kept a stone-cold gaze. If both heroes came to blows, this would have all been for naught, Homelander thought.
No one moved a muscle, as all watched the tense staring contest unfold.
In an unexpected turn, Black Noir raised his hand to Scorpion, and the latter shook it firmly, followed by a nod of understanding and respect to each other.
"A privilege to meet you, Black Noir." Scorpion greeted, earning a firm nod from the dark hero.
Madelyn and the rest of the team could only look blankly at the whole thing ending on such a strange note. Especially Homelander seeing how Black Noir was uncharacteristically respectful after all that built-up resentment prior. Still, it was a relief to see it not end in a fight.
"Well… this was quite an introduction," Madelyn spoke what everyone thought, "Anyways, this is Black Noir. He is the Seven's stealth expert. Our finest in fact as well as one of the oldest members in the group. In layman's terms, a ninja."
"Shinobi."
"Pardon me?"
"Shinobi," Scorpion addressed to Madelyn, "That is the term we use in my homeland for those who fight in the shadows."
Scorpion turned to Black Noir, "I am honored to meet another shinobi. And one of high esteem, for certain."
The spectre placed a fist to his chest and bowed respectfully, with Black Noir following the gesture. Scorpion finally addressed the others and said, "And I am greatly honored to meet the Seven. I am grateful that all of you welcomed me to the fold."
The spectre lowered his head with furrowed brows, "Though… I am confused by one aspect of this group."
"Oh?" Madelyn looked surprised, "Well, ask away."
"You call yourself the Seven, yet, I counted 'six' among you." Scorpion pointed out.
"Oh, that," Madelyn realized, "Well, you see, Scorpion, the Seven are currently doing draft pickings as we speak. Our last member decided to retire for undisclosed reasons. But there are talks of your candidacy to be enlisted."
"I do not quite follow?" Scorpion raised his brow. Madelyn was about to say more before Homelander stepped in.
"What she means is we're currently finding another to fill in the seventh seat in the room. Our last one, in fact." Homelander pointed to the corner next to A-Train's chair, "Now there's a lot of heroes, like you, who are vying for the position. However, after your opening some days ago, people have nothing but rave reviews. They fucking love you, man!"
Homelander grabbed the TV remote and switched on the screens all around them. Scorpion turned to one of them, recognizing the location and the event that happened instantly.
"Your performance just reached 2.5 billion reviews as of today," Homelander praised, "That's insane! No other supe could have reached that height of success in a couple of days! Now imagine being in the Seven. With us, you have full support and friends behind your back. Not only that, but Vought has the resources at your beck and call. In return, you get one hell of a cut. Movie deals, comic books, merchandise, you name it. You got talent, my man. And it would be a shame to have that go to waste."
Homelander placed a hand on the spectre's shoulders, "You join us… and you're gonna go big from there. In fact, consider this whole meeting… a meal ticket to the VIPs. Whaddya say?"
"Homelander," Madelyn called him, forcing a smile that did not match the seriousness in her eyes, "May I have a word with you?"
"Yeah! Totally, Maddy!" Homelander accepted, but not before turning to Scorpion, "Wait right here. You think about the offer! In the meantime, enjoy the view from up here!"
Homelander winked before leaving and telling everyone, "Recess!"
The doors opened and everyone was dismissed save for Scorpion, who simply walked up to the windows and viewed the whole city from there.
Homelander followed Madelyn to a spot not far from the meeting room.
"Alright," Homelander knew where this was going, "Tell me what I did wrong?"
"Well, nothing…" Madelyn started in a low voice, her smile faltering a bit, "...up until you brought up the 'offer'."
"Oh come on," He scoffed, "He's here! I brought him in, didn't I? Plus, he was quite a hard fish to catch! I mean, if you had seen the way he lived, you'd understand!"
"Wait, what?" Madelyn paused, hearing this revelation just now.
"Yeah. Apparently, the guy was hiding in an abandoned subway station when I found him. Can you believe it? That's something you only find in comic books!"
"That's…" Madelyn was surprised, "...strange. But that's not important. What's important is the 'offer' you gave him. We have been through this already. Vought has not made any decisive action regarding Scorpion."
"Okay, hear me out," Homelander wanted to make his point across, "If he declines, then he'll still have to register as one of us. Hell, let's sprinkle it with a phone, why don't we? From what I've observed, he seems to barely understand how the internet works like some senile grandpa. We plant a chip inside one and give it to him. And done. Problem solved."
Madelyn pursed her lips and studied his words carefully.
"...Alright," She conceded, "I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you, Maddy." Homelander thanked her, "You're the real hero."
"Don't get smart on me, Homeboy." Madelyn smirked, "And since you brought up the subway thing, I'll have Ashley come and bring him to Lamplighter's old room."
"Even better!" Homelander smiled before Madelyn walked off. Homelander turned back to the meeting room and found Scorpion gazing through the window.
"What did I tell ya?" Homelander announced himself, "Great view, ain't it?"
"Indeed." Scorpion agreed, "Humans have come a long way the last time I remembered. The lengths they'll go to never ceases to amaze just how far they can with their minds."
"Oh? The skyscrapers?" Homelander guessed, playing along with the spectre's way of thinking, "Well, I suppose that ambition drives them to leave something behind, don't they? Their way of being immortalized through legacy. But between you and me? They're not like us. I mean, biologically speaking."
"How so?" Scorpion inquired.
"Simple," Homelander explained, "Our powers. Us supes, you and I. To you, we are fellow neighbors. But to them? Down there? We are divinity made in God's image. We're faster, stronger, smarter and all-around better. Remember what I said about movie deals and comic books? That wasn't a hyperbole. That's our way of spreading the gospels around the world. And in return, they give us tribute. Money. Sex. Attention. All the fun things you could ask as long as you do the usual acts of helping them up. Long story short, we are the modern-day Pantheon."
"I see," Homelander could see the spectre's eyes light up in understanding, "That is an… interesting perspective, I must admit. Though, I would never call myself a 'god'. Especially not after what happened in that recording."
"Oh yeah?" Homelander started to see where this was going, "Do you want to… get it off your chest? I got all the time."
Scorpion sighed, face forward to the window as he remembered the dead woman's eyes, "You probably have known that there were casualties involved. And I do not mean the ones that were killed by my hand."
"Six hostages if I recall," Homelander understood, "Not your day, huh?"
"No," Scorpion grimaced, "I remember the look of the woman's face who I just saved right before she was killed. That look of hopefulness and life in her eyes. Robbed by a remorseless murderer. And then came the rage that followed. I allowed myself to be consumed by anger. And in turn, showed the monster that I was to those innocent people. They… hated me is all I can say."
As Scorpion finished his story, Homelander remained quiet throughout; completely empathizing with the spectre's perspective.
"...You know," Homelander began, "My first act of being a hero wasn't… far from where you were."
Scorpion turned to Homelander as the latter continued, "1999: that was the year I made my debut as one of the Seven. The first hero actually goes to Black Noir. Noir and I were partners at the time, and our first mission was a hostage situation at a chemical plant. There was a terrorist group that called themselves 'the Chemical Liberation Front'. Fucking delusional environmentalist who thought the best way to save Mother Earth was to threaten people who were just doing their jobs. I arrived at the first scene while Black Noir was lagging a bit behind due to an early incident. I couldn't wait any longer so I headed into the plant first. It started out fine, subdued some bad guys and made sure there weren't any threats outside."
Homelander's face soon darkened as he came to a head, "And then came the part where I was supposed to save lives. I confronted the remaining terrorists, who were holding hostages at gunpoint. Worse was that one of them had a bomb strapped to his chest. I… tried to negotiate - reasoned with them - to let go of the hostages. But one of them got trigger-happy and killed one right before my eyes. I… I lost it and I killed him with my heat vision. The one with the bomb saw it all happened and detonated himself instantly. I didn't have much time and only managed to grab one person before the explosion happened."
"They didn't make it, did they?" Scorpion made his conclusion.
"...No." Homelander answered somberly, "By the time Noir arrived, the hostage in my arms died from injuries sustained by the explosion. I was… at a loss. My first day became my first disaster. Had Noir not pulled me from the darkness, I probably wouldn't have recovered from the whole ordeal."
"I understand, Homelander." Scorpion empathized, "My deepest sympathies. I appreciate your openness to tell me this. It is fortunate that you have friends among the Seven. I could only wish the same for myself."
"You still can," Homelander quickly changed topics, "By joining us."
Scorpion exhaled sharply, "I… need more time to consider. Forgive my reluctance but is too early to tell, and I have some questions regarding your drafts."
"The drafts? Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Homelander waved it off, "But I get your hesitation. It takes time. But please, at least stay here for the night. We are getting a room prepared for you."
"That is kind of you," Scorpion spoke gratefully, "I will be decisive tomorrow if that's alright?"
"By all means," Homelander acknowledged. The supe heard Ashley walking in before she appeared and addressed the two.
"Homelander, sir," she addressed the supe before turning to the spectre, "Mr. Scorpion, I wish to inform you that your room is ready. Ms. Stillwell has sent me to lead you there."
"I will be with you soon, Barret-san," Scorpion acknowledged before addressing Homelander, "I thank you for your company, but I believe we must part ways here."
"Likewise," Homelander returned, "I am glad we had this conversation. Again, the doors to the Seven are open to you. Speak to either Madelyn or me."
"I thank you again, Homelander-sama." Scorpion gratefully before bowing in respect and following Ashley.
Homelander smiled as he waved goodbye to the new hero. As the two exited the room, Homelander's smile slowly faded as he turned to the window. Pondering about Scorpion's story, he felt some strange kinship with the spectre much to his surprise. They were, in many ways, alike in regard to their past mistakes. Homelander frowned at the choice of changing a few minor details to suit the reaction he needed.
"Of course, there was no bomb." He muttered to himself, "Just my freak out, a tank explosion and Vought to clean up my mess. No way he would ever join."
There you have it, folks!
Surprised to see Homelander striking up a friendship with Scorpion, eh? Hope it continues in the most healthy way in the long term.
Jokes aside, this was fun to write. Setting up the relationship between Scorpion and the Seven (Six, it doesn't matter!) was especially great as I wanted our favorite spectre to have some rep with them before he goes solo and passes the torch to Starlight when the S1 storyline hits. Also, Scorpion and Noir's little staring contest was pretty fun to write.
Anyway, time for our first Q/A!:
LordSamos33: We'll get to it, eventually. But right now, it's just Scorpion navigating through corporate politics until disillusion kicks in.
TheRedRidingMaster: Sure, I don't see why not.
And in regards to other Boys crossovers, it goes like this:
1. A Supe of a Man - ASoaM just blows the others out of the water. No contest. It's not even a joke. I really love the way the author merges both series into one and create its own unique universe. Clark remaining an old-fashioned but ideal hero as he was in his own universe (when he isn't getting sidelined by fucking Batprep that is) is always a breath of fresh air in a dark series that's considered tame compared to its original source material. Definitely, the biggest highlights for me are the romance scenes with Hughie/Annie, Clark/Lois and Butcher/Becca. And there's also the twists that are masterfully crafted in the writing. Especially with the latest update, which I will not spoil but I love what the author did for a certain character who I admire. I really look forward to more updates and I can tell that there's a lot of love and passion put into the writing.
2. The Boys: Real Justice - TB:RJ kinda has a bit of a rough landing at the beginning, and it does have issues like improper grammar that break immersion for me at times. But where it lacks in quality, it makes up for creativity and spinning new twists as well as picking apart each universes' flaws (not to say the author's breaking both of them apart because we all know Barf Anus is a hack writer with a micro-boner for edgelord power fantasies... most of the time). It is quite sad to see the story finally. But all good things must come to... well, an end. Overall, if ASoaM is a slow-burn drama (in a good way) with plenty of intrigue to snare you in, then TB:RJ is the summer blockbuster that basically is all about stupid but good fun.
3. Omni-Man: Vought's Downfall - Oh boy. OM:VD. If the Boys section had more authors doing fanfics that were neither Harry Potter nor Naruto shitfics, I would place it at number 10. And that's just me being charitable. The truth is I can't, for the life of me, continue past chapter 6. It started fine albeit with a strange handling of a crossover with the Time Lord from Danny Phantom just so Nolan has an excuse to enter the Boys universe. Kinda weird and a bit of a red flag but whatever. Honestly, I would've preferred the brain alien in the later Invincible Omnibuses that SPOILERS gives Mark the chance to reboot the entire timeline but pussied out because he didn't get Atomussy in it. Granted, he could've just made it another timeline split from his which would've made his choice to accept his own as an admirable course of action (something a real hero would in a martyr-esque way). But nope, Viltrumussy got him real bad. Not down bad. Just fucking horrible bad.
Anyway, back to VD; it does kinda go down an ant hill with Nolan suddenly venting to complete strangers like Butcher and that theatre crew who I don't know or give fuckall about. It's especially egregious with the latter because Nolan apparently lost his fucking brain cells and walked back to the theatre in his goddamn spandex costume when he was stopping a robbery as a security guard!
And then it goes tits up and straight down into a steep hill at rollercoaster height with Nolan suddenly talking shit and beating Homelander way too fucking early with no build-up prior whatsoever (there is in the first chapter but it's done cheaply). And then, it cuts to Hughie getting his ass handed by right after we have been told Translucent was there when Homelander was getting his ass handed to him by the fucking Don Frye version of Superman!
That whole thing with Omni-Man pulling a Kansas Shuffle was for nothing!
I...That is all I can say about this story!
And the worst part about all of this is the fact the author wrote another Boys crossover (with Spawn) that was shockingly better! And I'd put that one up on my number 3 if they explored it further.
...
...
Okay. Let me be clear. OM:VD is not a terrible story but man, there is no rhythm whatsoever. Jacob, if you're reading this, I do apologize for sounding like a dick trashing your work. I don't like to talk shit about other people's works and I do think you got some good hits like "A Damned Bit of Good", but this one was a complete miss by a long shot. I'm just saying all of this passionate perspective in terms of pacing and hitting the right notes in a fic. On the bright side, it ain't like "The Walking DOOM" with the rape demons; or "Young Justice: The Hunter" with... whatever the fuck it's supposed to be.
Okay, but that's enough with OM. Moving on.
THOTSLAYER9000: Could be. Could be fool's gold. You never know.
Angry lil' elf: Well as you can see, it hasn't happened just yet, but I can see both fighters being on par with each other with powers negating their respective ones. Homelander is no slouch when cornered as shown in his fight with Soldier Boy and Temp-V empowered Billy and Hughie. Scorpion, however, is a supernatural being that can access his Hellfire abilities which he can infuse his swords and kunai with to unseat the supposedly invulnerable Homelander. The fight can go both ways. Homeboy has superior range and can straight punch a hole through a body with ease, but Scorpion has the elements of surprise and has gone toe to toe with various supernatural beings like gods, cyborgs and demons. So, it really depends who I want to win in my story. Can't always be Scorpion.
Guest: Yeah, sad to see the whole thing end. But at least ended on a high note for once. I can predict the Boys Season 4 will end something similar. But let's not speculate.
Anyway, that is it for me. This was fun writing for sure. Really powerhoused through this piece the A-Train powering through Robin. lol
As always, leave a review. Bye! Have a beautiful time!