Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, The Boys or Invincible
Marvellous World
Under
SeVen
Chapter 3
"Tragedy, just tragedy…"
The cameras rolled, aimed at Firecracker as she sat at her desk in the Vought studio. Behind her was a board with the title of her show 'Truth bomb'. Dirt was on her cheeks and her eyes shined with tears. In truth it was all just additional make up giving to her for the show.
On televisions, phones and computers across the country, people were forced to watch the Truth bomb and Vought's version of the truth. Buy a phone now and receive a subscription for the Vought News network and if you don't, then you're breaking the law. Photos were shown of the carnage that had been wrought across the city block, and then came 'amateur video' of Aeon fighting the Vought heroes.
"No, no please stop!" Swing Wing was shown begging.
'ADR could have been better but the intent is still there. Hell it's basically the truth, if that do gooding bastard hadn't shown up then the fire wouldn't have happened,' Firecracker thought.
She wiped the false tears from her eyes, taking a deep breath.
"This day was supposed to end with everyone being saved, but people still died, because one man was not satisfied. He risked people to make himself look like a hero and when exposed he resorted…resorted to murder," Firecracker trembled as she spoke.
"But the truth has been unveiled by our glorious President and Saviour Homelander!"
Homelander looked down at the fires, at the people who had survived, those who had fought together to live another day and those who had needed help to be pulled up. Spider-man was working magnificently, looking down in the dumps as he was supposed to. Maybe they could create some casualties, AI was great for mug shots of generic people the masses would cry over and then go back to their Vought approved ready meals (new recipes available now, the Noir Gateau, Firecracking fries and Crimson Chicken Curry). Behind his back, Homelander's crossed hands shook when he saw Aeon emerge from the fires again, holding a child in his arms.
'This isn't supposed to happen, this isn't supposed to happen,' he thought.
Stormfront's Quarters-Unknown time
Swatstika's decorated the walls of Stormfront's room. The décor also included some of Hitler's paintings, but there were also paintings long lost, the property of Jewish families. Stormfront's desk was adorned with framed photos of her previous life as the wife of a Nazi, and her elderly daughter. The woman herself was sat on a chair, sipping a drink with a straw in it. She faced an unseen camera with the same casual regard she usually had for being filmed.
"Madness and brilliance are two sides of the same coin, yes, yes Hitler was barmy but brilliant in his vision, my John is no different. But that insanity was all Vought's doing, treat a child the way he was treated and of course he'll end up damaged, desperate for attention."
…
"Manipulating him? No of course I'm not manipulating him, I love John, he is the epitome of Aryan perfection," Stormfront gushed as she spoke, rubbing her sides. "When we first kissed, when we fucked in the office, I remember, I remember, I love John, I would have loved his son too, been a proper mother to him. But that bitch's influence was too strong, I don't blame Ryan."
…
"What happened to me after? What has that got to do with anything? I'm here for John now, he needs me, he needed me when another fucking Earth was floating over ours, threatening to crash into us. Oh it had its heroes of course, but they were all flawed, garbage, impure, their Patriotic Captain was a black man, their wizard a faggot, they even trusted the protection of their world, our world to half breed aliens. Our world was going to die, but John, John saved us."
New York-Disaster area
'This shouldn't be, we accounted for all the heroes, this is a young world, it shouldn't ram crammed like any of the other worlds,' Homelander thought.
'Just let it go, everybody is safe, we can use this.'
'He is no threat to us, not if we use that!'
'We can't use it again, we can't, you remember what it nearly did to us last time, we aren't strong enough!'
'We're the ONLY ONES strong enough, you are Homelander, you are the fucking Homelander and you can do whatever the fuck you want, well now its truer than ever before.'
'It's cheating, if we use it we'll always be weak, maybe this is our chance to be better.'
"Babe," Homelander looked to the woman at his side.
'She cares; we need to let her know…"
'Her place, she only loves you because you're white and blonde, if you were black you would make her skin crawl. All she wants is a master race when you are the master, especially now.'
'She'd stab you in the back, don't trust her.'
"Everything is fine," Homelander put on a smile, before narrowing her eyes at Aeon.
A devious smirk crossed the President's mouth as he lowered himself to the ground.
Vought Tower-The Deep's quarters, unknown time
A green peace poster was one of the most prominent pieces of decoration in Kevin's room. Most of the corners of the wide room, its numerous tables stands had on them tanks. Fish of numerous species filled these tanks, one tank also contained lobsters whilst another had an Octopus in it. Deep ran his gloved hands over the surface of the tank with the Octopus in it, kissing it affectionately as he turned to his chair. He cleared away the bottle of oil and the photos of the blue skinned Namorita and Shark Girl.
"Sorry bro, if I knew we'd be doing this I would have cleared things up," Kevin sat, rubbed his head together and sighed. "So, the Seven, the apocalypse, our final performance, the day we finally knew that our loyalty to Homelander was justified? Yeah things were pretty disastrous, those 'heroes' on that other Earth, yeah they were pretty powerful but fuck were they as preachy as Starlight was.
…
"What happened to her? I think she died, I think…" doubt crossed Kevin's face.
…
"The Incursion? Oh yeah, that's what those guys called it, those guys who were trying to save our Earth," the Deep put his hands to his head, his pupils dilated and his body trembled. "Bro, I'm just the fish guy, I've got no right to be here, yeah I know there are fish guys out there three times stronger than me. The world was about to end, or be saved, I don't know, I was too busy…too busy," Deep hesitated. "What was I doing when our world ended?" he asked the room, looking at the floor, lost and confused.
Vought Office-Present time
Howard walked into the big guy's office; the man was sitting at his desk with his back to Howard. He was facing a screen in the corner that showed the latest trailer for Homelander's new film. Stark rolled his eyes when he heard a sniff from the man when the trailer showed a boy putting up a flag with an H on it.
"Homelander," the boy whispered.
"The music is good at least," Stark said.
The man hurriedly turned the screen off and span his chair around. Stan Edgar wiped his eyes and put on the face many in Vought were familiar with, stone edged, ruthless, as if he could call down thunder from the sky or just a disapproving word would destroy you. But Howard had met men like Stan Edgar, he had been Stan Edgar sometimes. Work was about personas and Stan Edgar embodied that perfectly. A CEO could be your enemy, your friend and your father; it was all about knowing the right approach for each person you were manipulating.
"Howard," Edgar said.
"Mr Stark, Mr Edgar," Howard pointed at himself and then at Edgar. "Now that we've got the lesson on etiquette out of the way, what can I do for you Mr Edgar?" he asked.
He'd never be Edgar's friend, Edgar's frown showed that he realised that very quickly.
"You've done good work in our pharmaceutical division, but we are first and foremost a…" Edgar paused, licking his lips as if they had gone dry.
"Something wrong Mr Edgar?" Howard asked.
"Super hero company, we are a super hero company, and we need new heroes, please sit, look at these concept designs," Edgar said.
Howard sighed in annoyance as he sat, taking the print outs from Edgar's desk.
"First one looks like it came out a trash heap, the second one is basically the first but gold, why does this third one have muscles? This is just the same as the others but a girl."
"Ah yes Ironheart, our marketing department thinks it'll be a great success, in fact we were thinking of Sister Sage, she's a genius and…"
"A complete and utter bitch, unlikable isn't a character trait Edgar, hasn't Vought already got an armoured super hero, what does it need another one for?" Howard asked.
"We have some problems with Tek-Knight," Stan said.
"Problems translating to sexual harassment cases," Howard said.
"Nothing that can't be buried, but with the date for the announcement of the new Seven approaching, we are in need of members guaranteed to hook people in, a new armoured super hero, perhaps even an ordinary man underneath it would be ideal," Edgar explained.
"I do like this one," Howard said, holding up one design that had a military look to it with a gatling gun on the shoulder. "But we need something better than 'Machine of War' something simpler."
"We're still work shopping."
"I'd even have an ideal test pilot for it," Howard said.
"So you can make it?" Edgar asked.
"I can't promise it would operate for a long time."
"We don't need it to operate for long, just long enough for some army, air force and navy recruitment campaigns," Edgar said.
"Since when was Vought interested in army recruitment?"
"Since Homelander our President and Saviour made it his intention to invade Latveria," Edgar said.
"What?" Howard widened his eyes slightly.
"I know, brilliant, we give democracy to the people of Latveria, true democracy and prove Vought's worth in the defence department, no more regular soldiers, more compound V," Edgar explained.
"Repeated exposure to Temp V gives…"
"We won't be using Temp V, don't worry Mr Stark, I want you to prioritise the creation of…I think I've just come up with a brilliant name for Vought's newest hero, Armoured Patriot," Edgar stated.
Howard nodded his head, turning to the door.
"Oh and Mr Stark, forget that troublesome data you found on our pharmaceuticals, I think we should handle this like most people should handle dementia, live every moment to the fullest," Edgar explained.
"Until you can't remember those moments," Howard retorted.
"Just remember Mr Stark we provide the treatment that helps you to remember, that helps you to be like everyone else," Edgar said.
Howard looked back at Edgar with a smirk on his face.
"No one ever did anything by being just like everyone else," he said.
Stan Edgar's office-Unknown time
Stan Edgar was stone faced, sitting at his desk, looking directly at the camera. He rubbed the sides of his head, and took deep breaths with his eyes closed. Suddenly, he slammed his fists into the table, hard enough to draw blood. Then he brought his head down, again and again, the sound of blood spewing and bone crunching echoed through his office.
"Nadia, Nadia, NADIA!" he screamed with increasing volume as he smashed his head again and again.
He opened his mouth wide, looking at the edge of his desk. Stan Edgar swung his head forward, hitting the edge of his desk with such force that he cut through the webbing of his mouth. His body hit the floor, shaking as blood spread across the floor. A deep sigh filled the room, fingers clicked and Stan was suddenly sitting at his desk again, this time with a friendly smile across his face.
"Hello, welcome to Vought, the premier super hero company of this Earth, the greatest Earth in the Multiverse, all because of our greatest hero, a man who I consider a son, Homelander," Stan explained, standing up with the camera following him, showing the city behind him.
"Here at Vought we are dedicated to making the best version of the world possible, inclusive but not Woke, profitable but not soulless, and proving once and for all that heroes have power and that only heroes can truly influence the world. All of our heroes are a result of the ingenuity of Frederick Vought, the most brilliant scientist in all the world. Whilst Abraham Erskine changed only a dying skinny child from the streets, and Phineas Horton created an abominable and combustible robot, Frederick Vought created one super hero after another, and we have only improved Compound V since then. This little vial will allow you to be the hero of the story, but not too great a hero, after all Homelander is our greatest success," Stan finished with a laugh.
A laugh that slowed until he looked at the camera the same way he had before.
"Oh god, Nadia," he whispered.
Present time-Somewhere in New York
He woke up with a start and immediately regretted it. His vision blurred, and his eyes became like plates spinning on a straw, he barely registered he was in the office for a garage of some kind before his head hit the pillows again. Then the bile rose out of his mouth, he scrambled to grab the bin nearest to him and proceeded to vomit.
"Welcome back to us Anthony, such as you are," a British accented voice, finer than the last British man Tony listened to sounded.
The balding man was in a black turtleneck with pads on the elbows. The top hid arms Tony knew were muscular and toned from a military career, but did little to hide the slight girth the man had gained from retirement. He had still dedicated himself to service though, at least in one world, going from an assistant to head of security for Tony's foundation. Memories came back to the hung over man as he heard the sizzling of a tablet in water.
"No aspirin, Vought bought Wall Mart so we can't trust even the cheap brand medication," Tony slurred.
"Your counterpart in this world was smart enough to keep an eye on stocks, here I was thinking he was a drunk loser living off of his father's stipend," Edwin Jarvis said, crossing his arms as Tony sat up.
"It's not another world, I got two sets of memories old man, when did you start to remember?" Tony asked.
"Difficult to say, I woke up six weeks ago, remembering that I work for a rich prick. People were suddenly surprised I wasn't acting like a stereotypical gay man. Afterwards I realised I was working for the wrong rich prick," Jarvis explained.
"I bet Tek-Knight was hell compared to working for me," Tony grinned.
"He paid me considerably more, I will say you never asked me to clean you up after sex, you though did the deed in a lot weirder places than he did believe it or not," Jarvis stated and Tony laughed, clutching his mouth as he burped. "At least have a drink of water."
"How about a fried breakfast?" Tony asked.
"It's twelve o'clock in the afternoon, and we don't have that kind of luxury," Jarvis said.
Tony groaned, hearing the squeak of the office door and the heavy boots of the two who had picked him up.
"Fucking hell, and I thought I used to end up in worse smelling places," the rougher British man said.
"Relative of yours Jarvis?" Tony asked.
"He wishes," both British men said at the same time, glaring at one another.
"Getting your memories back Stark?" Logan asked, standing over Tony and offering him a tin cup.
Tony smelt the inside of it, not wine or coffee but water and honey.
"Two sets, I'm like you now little man," Stark chuckled.
"Trust me bub, you are not like me, I woke up in a Vought mansion, two red heads beside me," Logan said.
"Sounds like heaven."
"My memories said one thing, but every instinct I had told me that something was wrong," Logan said.
"The one time being an animal paid off."
"Same could be said for being a drunk," Logan retorted and Tony huffed.
"The medication they give people, it doesn't do so well when mixed with alcohol," he said.
"My healing factor did the work too," Logan said.
Tony stood up, stumbling towards the desk. As he supported himself, he looked through an observation window and saw they were indeed in a garage; rough concrete walls were behind rows of shelves with tools and greasy parts. Tony took a few deep breaths, taking the water Logan offered and in taking small sips.
"Are we done playing nurse maid or do you need a blow job before you get to work?"
"Oh I see you're one of those English people," Tony huffed.
"What do you mean?"
"The kind that has to swear in every sentence, what are they called, Chaffs, because they chaff at your mind," Tony said.
"Up yours you rich wanker, can't believe you're supposed to be the smartest man on Earth."
"Anthony, this is William Butcher, he has a story to tell," Jarvis said.
"He's from an alternate Earth," Tony said.
"Hang on, they said you were smart but there is no possible way you could know that," Butcher said.
"Well it was a shot in the dark but you kind of confirmed it," Tony chuckled.
Butcher kicked the officer door open, leading the trio to where his car was set. Inside the car was Butcher's bull dog Terror, ripping apart a plush toy of Deadpool.
(Another shot at me Reckless, REALLY!)
Billy motioned to the toys set out on the hood of his car.
"Right so this is Homelander as you know, back in my world he was a right cunt, committed all sorts of atrocities whilst convincing the world he was its greatest hero. But that was Vought in a nutshell lads, anyway pretend these play mobile characters are me and my Boys, yeah I know there's a girl with us but the Boys is a gender neutral term. Anyway Vought and its Supes committed one bad act after another; me and the Boys went from working for the government to keep them in line, to criminals on the run, to supposed terrorists, the latter two of course because Vought convinced the unimaginative masses that they were looking out for them. You know this bloke here is Soldier Boy, Vought's patriotic first supe, bigger tosser than Homelander if you can believe, fitting because it turned out Vought made Homelander from one of Soldier Boy's wanking sessions. Turns out whilst Homelander has daddy issues, Soldier Boy has a daddy complex, was right disappointed in the man child Homelander turned out to be and tried to kill him. Soldier Boy lost, wait, wait, wait…"
Butcher put a hand to his chin, then nodded and picked up the Stormfront toy.
"Nearly bloody forgot, this is Homelander's Gilf, she's actually over eighty years old, her husband Frederick Vought created the compound V that's in every Vought owned Supe. She thinks Homelander is her way to making her own little Nazi master race but here's the thing, she got blasted back to Nazi Germany, burnt to a crisp along with her mind. After wanking Homelander off in the hospital she was supposed to have died. Sometime after Homelander put the Boys back on the run he becomes President and an already disastrous presidency turns into the apocalypse when…" Butcher paused, picking a soccer/football off of the floor. "Another bloody planet appears in the sky!"
"An incursion," Tony muttered.
"Yeah," Butcher said, putting the toys down. "I heard about this 'Cataclysm,' from Logan."
"How did you two meet up?" Tony asked.
"Met in a bar, got into a friendly debate about the English commonwealth," Logan gruffly quipped.
"This ain't the first time I've worked with supes, now I hear about mutants, that you weren't pumped full of drugs, that you're natural born freaks," Billy said.
Logan snarled whilst Jarvis shook his head.
"Here we go," he muttered.
"The incursion, what happened during the Incursion?" Tony asked.
Vought Tower-Firecracker's quarters
Guns (Smoking Gun and Fellow Patriot are now available with the Firecracker Skin along with 'Vought' bundle in Call of Latveria: Secret War for 5000 V-dollars) and far right memorabilia was plastered across Firecracker's room.
"Parker was fuckable even when he was fifteen," she said, looking at a picture of Peter in his Spider-man costume.
She sat on her chair and faced the camera.
"I remember that day, the day everyone proved just how fickle and uppity they are. Homelander was their leader, and they ignored him. Yet they listened to those other heroes, uppity folks, rich pricks, mutant freaks, some of them didn't even look like heroes. It wasn't right that their 'Things' were considered greater heroes than Homelander, that great man, that man I…I know I know, unrequited love is trite, not very attractive in lady protagonists nowadays. There's too many portrayals of perfect women, you need some vulnerability, we need to let ourselves be women, and I know exactly who to let myself be a woman for," Firecracker explained.
She giggled as she traced her finger over Peter's photo.
…
"What happened during the Incursion? Well partner, that's why I know Homelander truly is great, he was chosen by god you see."
Antarctic
People asked him why he was going into the middle of nowhere. He told them not to worry, they took his money anyway. The memories were there, the memories, nothing had truly changed for him. He was still a failure as a scientist, haunted by a father who killed his mother and a demon that trauma created. But he could at least put the monster to work, trekking through the snow, he thought of the one he had to save. The ice caps had melted even more, a result of Vought's ignorance, no, not Vought, Homelander. He didn't need his returned memories to know that Homelander was a monster.
Bruce Banner knew monsters after all.
His father was good at hiding things, far better than Homelander. There was the thing, most monsters had something wrong with them but were able to hide their monstrosity with some basic intelligence, a bit of luck and in most unfortunate cases ignorance from the institutions supposed to investigate them. Movies and books always fancied the monsters as being these brilliant men with charisma. Most were the kind of people others dismissed as 'weirdo's'. But there were those who were good at pretending they were charismatic, or just like everyone else. David Banner was that kind of man, he could convince the neighbours nothing was wrong. But deep down inside there was an anger boiling up, an anger that had to be released in the most devastating way possible. Bruce understood that was the kind of man Homelander was from one look at the man smiling for the camera because he had seen the look on his father's face before. He had even seen it in the mirror sometimes.
"Soon, soon," he fell to his knees, rubbing the snow to reveal the ice.
He saw a reflection in the ice, of the other aspect of himself, a larger head and grin flashing back at him.
"You think you'll find him? Puny Banner, pretending you're a hero, going to smash through the illusion they put this world through," the monster said to him.
"No," Bruce said, pulling the revolver out of his pocket.
Bruce checked over the ammo, one bullet should do the trick. Loading it into the chamber, he put the gun to his head, dead centre to the side of it.
"That's your job!"
BANG!
William Butcher's Quarters
"I'm rather surprised you decided to interview me, me, now that is a jolly good treat," William darted about his room, taking the tea pot off of the boil.
"Would you like a cup of tea mate?"
…
"Oh me and Homelander, best friends, the best, he got my wife pregnant you know, but to be fair I wasn't a very good husband. Oh but everything just went wrong after that you know, women can be such teases!"
…
"Raped her? Oh come on now Homelander raping my wife, that's impossible, Homelander is a hero he's, he's my best, best…best…fucking, cunt," William's voice shifted into a snarl.
…
"My dad, my dad was, what was he like?" William asked, looking at the camera with equal parts anger and desperation.
…
"Hughie, who the fuck is Hughie?"
…
"Mother's Milk? Are you having some kind of laugh?"
…
"Frenchie? Kimiko? What are you on about?"
…
"No, no, I'm Homelander's best friend, he's the greatest hero in the Multiverse, chosen by god to perform a miracle, he's…he's, a fucking dead cunt."
Blood sprayed across the camera, 'William's' body slumped to the floor and Homelander came into glow in his eyes faded as he looked down at the body and shook his head in disappointment.
Vought Tower-Six Hours after 'the tragedy'
Peter looked at his mask; he had a lot of things to say about the design flaws in it. But beyond how he would design a suit, he was thinking about how wrong the mask felt. Not just in how Vought was managing its heroes and promoting the idea of heroism, it felt to Peter as if he was wearing the wrong mask. Peter looked up at the TV screen on the ceiling. Every floor and corridor had a screen to show off and reinforce the Vought story, all to make clear to every employee that this was the truth and there would be no fighting it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, for a moment he considered calling his uncle. His uncle always believed that there was more to a story, even after it had been put into print.
"Tragedy, just tragedy," he looked up and saw them replay Firecracker's tearful commentary.
"If you have any information that can lead to the capture of the vigilante called Aeon, please call the Vought hotline on 1610-31916!"
"Peter, your costume is still filthy, get a shower kid you have a meeting with the Sony directors soon," Ashley said, rushing by Peter with multiple files in her arms.
"Okay, thank you," Peter said.
He looked down the corridor as Firecracker walked down it, wiping the dirt makeup off of her cheeks.
"Hey Peter, you were perfect out there today," she said, stopping in front of him.
"Thank you, so you were there when Aeon…"
"Completely went off the rails, there's the problem with vigilantes Peter, I'm glad you did the right thing and joined Vought," Firecracker said.
She brushed Peter's shoulder intimately, not even taking a bit of dirt off.
"There are too many assholes in this company; it's good to have a nice guy like you," she said.
"Thanks," Peter gulped nervously, making Firecracker smile.
"Take a shower and have a rest, you've earned it Petey," she said, patting his chest before brushing past him.
She gave her hips a little sway, smiling as she thought Peter would look. He though only looked for a moment, before looking to his phone. Ben hadn't texted him, maybe it was too late. He was about to leave when he knocked into someone.
"Oh sorry," he said.
The man gruffly ignored him and walked away. Peter recognised the man, he had the feeling he knew him. It was a recollection that made Peter's skin crawl as he saw the man's white hair and glasses.
"Miles Warren," Peter whispered the man's name.
'What the hell is Miles Warren doing here?' he wondered.
Antarctic-2 hours after incident
Blood stained the ice, he was lying on his side in the middle of the crater. His breath came out in struggled wheezing sounds. Arm, ribs, shoulder, left knee, right foot, all broken. Lung collapsing, intestines smashed, skull cracked with brain still shaking. Summarising his wounds, he moved his hand, touching the snow and moved his eye, looking up at the sky. The clouds were clear as if a great force had forced them to part. The concussion was affecting his memory, but he traced the steps, the wounds were all given to him by a fist as small as his. All blows delivered at a velocity akin to a jet plane, by skin tougher than titanium. Maybe he could call for help, but then he realised he couldn't whistle. A shadow suddenly appeared over him.
"Krypto?" he asked.
"No little man, stronger and less cuddly than puppy," Aeon nearly screamed as a big green hand enveloped him.
"Came here to find the captain, must be my lucky day," the Hulk spoke in his gruff form.
'Good,' Aeon thought.
The Hulk was smarter than most gave him credit for. It was like a lottery over whether you'd get the 'caveman Hulk', 'Savage Hulk' or 'horror villain Hulk'. But then you had the one Aeon liked to call 'hero Hulk'. Gamma energy began to spread across Aeon's body.
"Come on Aeon, do your thing," Hulk said.
'Fusion, fuse with the spirit of a hero, make two bodies one, give your armour new form and power,' Aeon repeated the mantra in his head.
Green lines glowed across his body, the same thing happened across the Hulk's rippling muscles. The green beast chuckled, finding the experience ticklish. The green behemoth turned into pure light that swirled around Aeon's hovering form. Plates of green and purple armour began to spread across Aeon's body. A purple guard slammed over his shoulder with plates running down his right arm resembling gladiator armour. Thick gloves covered his hands, with just as thick boots on his legs, purple shorts and skirt armour appeared at his waist and legs whilst a green helmet covered his head, the face visor resembled a gladiator's helmet with dark green Mohawk style hair running down the top of his head. With his fused form completed, Aeon drew the gamma energy into himself and remembered what had happened.
New York-Two hours ago
"This all happened because of him," Firecracker said, pointing at Aeon.
The vigilante raised his head, Spider-man looked at him for a moment, eyes wide in shock.
"But he was saving these people," Peter said.
"That man," Firecracker sniffed, putting on the tears. "He carried out unprovoked attacks on the heroes I was working with," she said.
"This fire started because of you, because you used unchecked power to attack me," Aeon snarled, pointing at Firecracker.
"You see, he'd make any accusation to defend himself, but Swingwing and the others have been taken to the hospital, before rescue work in the fire began," Firecracker explained.
Homelander hovered to the ground, drinking in the looks of the people around him.
"Everyone please, let us let cooler heads prevail, officers," Homelander called for two uniformed policemen.
"I hope you believe me officers that it was Firecracker's attack that started the fire," Aeon said.
"You're still a vigilante son," one of the cops said.
"Indeed, a vigilante who escaped after viciously murdering these fine officers," Homelander said.
They were in an alleyway, out of sight of the rest of the people being tended to by other first responders. Both cops looked at Homelander as he stared at them. Aeon tensed, sensing the increase of heat around Homelander's eyes. The man's eyes glowed and Aeon moved forward.
"Nope, I don't think so," a voice said behind him.
Arms wrapped around Aeon's neck, gripping him in a head lock. Invincible felt the armoured hero tense, yet he still didn't have the strength to break the Viltrumite's grip. Aeon suddenly fired a blast from his eyes, hitting Homelander in the chest and knocking him into the wall.
"RUN!" he yelled.
The cops began to make a break for it. But Homelander rose. When Aeon tried to fire his optic blast again, Invincible moved his head, redirecting the blast into the wall. It pounded through one of the buildings, making occupants inside scurry. Dust swept over the alleyway and Homelander fired his laser vision. The thin red lines cut through the belly of one of the officer's, melting his skin and organs. The second officer had both of his legs cut off by the beams. He screamed in agony, crawling across the floor.
"Fucking dust in my eye, damn it," Homelander sneered.
"HELP!" the officer yelled. "HOMELANDER…"
But Homelander fired his laser vision again, cutting through the middle of the man's head. Aeon widened his eyes, seeing the grin on Homelander's face. He lowered his arms, his body shaking as a flood of memories came back to him.
'Sven, I'm sorry but your dad…he was trying to help people, he had been shot in the back and...'
'Slade Reilly dedicated his life to stopping evil and to protecting the innocent, he distinguished himself on the field as much as he did in the office.'
'If you can help someone Sven you should, because there is far too much darkness in the world.'
"YOU BASTARD!" Aeon roared.
Dark tendrils poked out of his shoulders as he snarled, struggling against Invincible.
'What the hell,' the Viltrumite thought. 'His strength,' he noted how he actually had to increase his grip strength, how Aeon's feet shuffled across the floor, and how Mark struggled for a moment. 'It's like his strength is increasing, and his temperament too, like he's a different person no…' Mark's train of thought was interrupted when Aeon slammed the back of his head into his nose.
Homelander heard two cracks and he looked at both Aeon and Invincible in shock.
'That kid cracked his own skull to break Invincible's nose,' Homelander realised.
Aeon pulled his fist back, hitting Invincible's nose with his elbow. Then, he appeared in front of Homelander as fast as a blink. Ready to punch the man. Aeon stopped though, fighting back the anger and darkness, realising if he hit Homelander, he'd send the man crashing through the fire engine behind him and possibly hit the people behind that too. Suddenly Invincible grabbed Aeon by the neck and threw him into the sky. Homelander sighed in relief, looking at the bodies he had left behind and taking a deep breath.
"NOOOO!" he yelled dramatically.
Europe-7 hours after the incident
Mark looked over the shoulder of one of the tourists, seeing the Vought news feed.
"You make your dad's costume look good," Eve whispered beside him.
"It's not really me, the costume or the guy," Mark said.
Aeon, he remembered the version of Aeon that visited their world, accompanied by a super man and bat man. Mark was no expert on the man, but he looked at the headline 'Aeon murders two cops' and knew there was something strange about it.
"When it's almost exclusively one organisation responsible for most of the news you see, it's difficult for you to trust them," Agent Spider said.
He was elsewhere in the city, out of his costume, just an average looking brown haired man with a camera.
"Or difficult for you to trust them even more," one of Kate's duplicates said.
One was walking with Ray, whilst on the other side of the town two duplicates walked together as twins. Robot had managed to secure the group some V-dollars, enabling Angstrom to get a coffee to go. Instead of drinking it though he gave it to Robot, who was concealing his identity with a hologram. To the rest of the world he was dark haired man some could have mistaken for Zachary Quinto, or maybe the late great Leonard Nimoy.
"Chemical analysis of this coffee does indicate an additional compound, mind altering, not dissimilar from the stuff Cecil puts in bottled water," Robot said.
"Wait, our government spikes our water?" Mark asked.
"Cecil uses a minor perception altering compound, the compound in this coffee makes the brain susceptible to suggestion," Robot said.
"It isn't completely mind control, on its own it's essentially useless," Angstrom said.
"It might respond to certain stimuli, words, colours, sounds, specifically micro-frequencies," Robot explained.
"Words can act as a kind of hypnosis, it would have to be the right circumstances, mental vulnerability," Angstrom said.
"I mean if the people of this world are being mind controlled…"
"Then it's still not a valid reason to get involved, we're carrying out reconnaissance, the presence of an Invincible doppelganger is cause for concern I will concur with that. But what is the limit of our interference, should we continue to rule over this Earth if we do bring down Vought?" Robot asked.
"I mean things might not be that bad under Vought," Ray said.
"Something tells me it really is that bad," Agent Spider said.
Homelander's Office
Homelander scrubbed his hands, splashing the water over his face. He pulled open his fridge, taking out a bottle of milk. As he walked to the middle of his lavish apartment, he opened the bottle and smelled the contents. Milk taken from Firecracker's breast, the smell made Homelander's mouth water in ways the woman's body never would. She was loyal, but Homelander wasn't that desperate. He drank, pushing his tongue into the bottle and feeling some of the milk leak out of his mouth and stain the collar of his uniform. Homelander continued to drink, even as his boot touched the pool of blood left from 'William's' body. The President sat on the chair, looking first at the body and then at the camera.
"You know it isn't uncommon for people to go back to the drawing board, even when they're in the middle of a series. So many shows change because they have to, of course the actors want to do different things or someone points out that one racist tweet a cast member made years before they were on the show and then boom your off, despite their character's entire arc being about redemption and becoming a better person but nooo, of course the CW doesn't actually believe in that crap despite shoving it down our faces. Because the truth is no one actually believes in becoming a better person. First rule of show business is you've got to please your audience. Except, you don't have to please your audience, you can bring out whatever content you want because you are the creator," he explained.
…
"Exactly, exactly, do whatever the fuck you want, that's always been my philosophy. I'm better, I have power, I am far stronger, we at Vought are all stronger than any of them. Those ants walking out on the streets now, those faggots in spandex held back by morality, ashamed of their power. With great power comes great responsibility? Fuck that, power had always been the only justification one had needed to do what they want, to take what they want, to fuck who they want or to live their life the way that they want."
Homelander looked at William's body again.
"I just wanted one thing, one thing that was ideal," he said, nodding his head.
…
"No, things didn't go my way, even after Butcher was put on the run, even after his friends were in my custody, even with my father back at my side and even with Ryan finally beginning to see that our power entitled us to do what we wanted…nothing, nothing went my way," the blonde haired man dropped his bottle and put his hands to his eyes and cried.
"Why, why couldn't anything go my way, I wanted to be the hero I really did, I really did try, I wanted to stand for truth, justice and all that crap about better tomorrows, the AMERICAN FUCKING WAY! But everything went wrong, everything went wrong, why should I be judged for my mistakes, I'm better than a cop or a politician, of course I shouldn't be accountable. I was president, and it still wasn't enough, I still felt EMPTY INSIDE! And then another fucking planet appears over ours, an Incursion or whatever, a Cataclysm as this world called it. I could do nothing, I could do nothing," Homelander shook his head, rubbing his eyes.
…
"Of course they were going to save the world, but nothing would have changed, my world would have kept spinning until maybe, maybe I would have lost, Butcher would have gotten his scorched Earth, or perhaps some bitter sweet ending that left me with nothing. Because when I looked at those heroes I realised, I was the villain of the story, I was the bad guy. AND I DIDN'T FUCKING LIKE THAT!"
…
"You ask me what happened? What happened? A miracle, the one thing I needed when I needed it as if I was being watched. But there is no man in the sky, no god, just me, and I SAVED WHAT WAS LEFT! I TOOK WHAT WAS LEFT AND MADE ANOTHER WORLD IN THIS MARVELLOUS WORLD!" Homelander yelled.
He sighed, lowering his raised fist, picking the bottle up off of the floor and licking at the specks of milk still inside. Then he looked at the camera again.
"Pandemonium, I heard a voice in my head and they called it a cube of pandemonium!"
Antarctic
He remembered, remembered because Hulk remembered. But he wasn't angry because of the Hulk or Banner. No, he remembered what happened to the cops, he remembered the way the world should be, and he remembered Homelander's vicious smile. Green flames spread across Aeon's body, he looked down at the ice and saw Bruce and Hulk looking back at him.
"That's it Aeon, you know what this place is and you know what they have done, let's take it back, starting with this world's true icon!" Bruce said.
"SO GET MAD AND SMASH!" Hulk roared.
One smash to scan the area, another to crack the ice, confirming there was no life, just the scattering fish that would be long gone before he unleashed his full rage. Aeon slammed his fists into the ground multiple times, yelling as he did, roaring and letting out the hatred of these fake heroes and all they were doing to sully the name. Bruce's calculations were in his head, directing him, but Hulk's rage was there too just telling him to let go and smash. Aeon sensed it, sensed the one life form not in the water, but the in the ice, stuck, waiting, in need of a hero.
"Onward and upward, ever onward, to greater things, EX-CELSIOR!" Aeon yelled.
He slammed his fist into the ice, shattering the surface, creating quakes across the land mass. The shockwaves echoed through the sea, triggering the sonar of nearby ships. Operators on Naval ships widened their eyes, seeing that the destruction wasn't random but targeted. Light passed over Aeon and he felt the Hulk carrying him through the water, both swimming towards who the Hulk sought.
24 Hours since the Incident
Howard tapped his medication against his bedside cabinet, the tapped water was ready and his watch's alarm was going off. The hump beside him turned, draping the covers over her breasts, pushing a hand into her blonde hair and leaning on her elbow.
"The medication is mandatory you know," Madelyn said.
"You can't bypass human rights with a contract, that's what we call slavery," Howard said.
"Careful what you say, Homelander watches," she said, her expression dark despite the humour in her voice.
"I hope he enjoyed the show," Howard said.
"I can't believe myself, though you're a lot less wrinkly than the men I've had shifter sleep with on my behalf," Madelyn said, reaching for the glass of scotch on her bedside cabinet.
She took a few sips, sitting up and sighing with relief over the taste and the afterglow of the one night stand.
"I maintained a strict exercise regime and diet, physically I was in the best shape of my life, then the car accident and my wife's death," Howard stated, looking at the scotch in disdain. "Do you know what the specific condition alcohol induced dementia is called?" he asked.
"Korsakoff's," Madelyn said.
"Yeah, I tried to drink myself into an early grave and all it did was kill my brain cells, one of the smartest men alive, barely able to get a sentence out, sometimes forgetting how old his son is or when his wife died. Then there's the seizures, but here come our saviours, Vought International and their miracle cures. Dementia, cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, and soon we'll cure your ADHD or your downs syndrome, pay us a little extra and we'll make your autistic kid nice and normal for you. My grandfather was a tailor, my dad did whatever the hell he could as soon as he got off the boat, I was just a kid when I worked alongside Phineas Horton, a great man who was a better teacher to me than any public school I went to," Howard explained.
"Don't forget Frederick Vought," Madelyn said.
Howard climbed out of bed, taking his boxers from the side and putting them on.
"Well, I won't speak ill of the dead," he said.
"Careful Howard, I'm someone you can't trust and yet you've let yourself become vulnerable," Madelyn said.
"I'm at your place, I'm especially vulnerable," Howard laughed.
The TV suddenly came on, another emplacement of Vought. A live show was being presented at Vought tower. Howard narrowed his eyes, seeing the President Standing with a smile on his face, arms raised as if awaiting a hug from the crowd of reporters and photographers.
Tony was working in the garage, using a welding torch when the TV Butcher bought went off. He lifted his face shield up; whilst Logan and Butcher stopped looking over the map they had set on the table.
"Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of the greatest country on Earth, I come before you now to fulfil a promise. I promised you a new super hero team, defenders of Justice and freedom throughout not just our great nation but the world. It is with the greatest pleasure that I reveal the roster of the New Generation of Super heroes, the New Seven," Homelander said.
He drank in the praise and flashes of the cameras.
"First, proud to represent his neighbourhood and the great message of lord, he has already proven himself during his time running capes for Christ and has inspired and guided numerous young supes over the years, you can't burn him, you can't shoot him, you know him as Oh Father," the president raised his left hand and a dark skinned man in a white shirt walked out from behind the curtain.
He had a yellow triangle on his chest with the words 'Oh Father' written in white. He wore yellow gloves, yellow trousers and white boots and wore on his head a crown with a yellow crucifix on it. The man drew the cross over his chest, kissed his thumb and waved to the crowd.
"Sometimes we heroes must make difficult decisions, but there is a nobility in savagery, this savage represents that nobility, he has been a member of the G-men and Canada's very own Maple Flies, he is the best of the best at what he does…"
Logan groaned, shaking his head at Homelander's statement.
"Groundhawk," again Homelander raised his right hand.
The man walked out of the curtains snarling, holding up his hands, a pair of prosthetic hammers attached to studded wrist bands. He was a short man with thick arms and a girth showing in his green, sleeveless costume. There was white fur on the shoulders of his shirt, and his face was covered by a blue cowl based on a hawk's beak and wings.
"Silent but deadly, he is my great mentor and my eternal friend, a stable of the Seven since we first founded the team, Black Noir," Homelander turned to the curtains.
A few seconds passed and no one came out.
"Black Noir," Homelander repeated, his eyebrow twitched and his hand shook with impatience.
Another few seconds passed and Noir did not come out. Homelander grit his teeth together, cracking the side of the podium with his tense grip. He calmed slightly as electricity began filling the sky.
"Is a storm coming," he said, flipping his personality 180 degrees to compensate for the awkward moment. "No, the storm is here, she is the love of my life, the hero of your hearts and mine, Stormfront," Homelander said as Stormfront landed by his side.
"Thank you, thank you, great shirt, is that Speedball56? I love your stream," she said, blowing kisses to the crowd.
"This next member's moment has been a long time coming, he has proven himself again and again, both on the field and at the box office, that's right folks," Homelander put on a smile when he saw the people's excitement. "He is your friendly neighbourhood SPIDER-MAN!" Homelander yelled and his lip twitched when he heard the thunderous applause.
He looked at Spider-man as he came out of the curtains. His legs were shaking and there was a sweat patch on the front of his costume. Though at first Homelander was jealous, he began to glare at Spider-man as the people again whispered amongst themselves.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Is he sick?"
"Must be high, damn actors!"
"Is he taller?"
"Has he got a tan?"
"Fuck," Homelander whispered, maybe they had figured it out.
'Whatever,' he thought, clapping his hands together to catch attention. "And now the final and new member of the Seven, he is the hero who could be one of you, a true American patriot, the common man represented but anonymous," Homelander looked to the sky and the people and cameras followed his gaze.
Engines roared, as something hovered out of the clouds. Howard spat his coffee out, elsewhere Tony laughed hard. The armour hovering in the sky was a hodgepodge of designs, a head like an Evangelion, back hunched joining with small legs fit only for landing. VTOL engines were attached to small wings, and the arms of the huge mech showed off an assortment of weapons, guns, missile launchers and chainsaws crammed together, making it hugely impractical weapon.
"Piloting the best weaponry Vought has to offer, I give you your newest patriot Detroit Steel," Homelander said.
The crowd were intrigued at least, enough to clap their hands together as the red, blue and white armour fired fireworks from its back. It crossed its arms together, revving up the chainsaw blades in a show of force. Suddenly, one of its engines went puff and the mech went down. Spider-man looked up, gulping, the buttocks of his suit became soaked.
Before the chainsaw blade split him in half.
People screamed in horror, Detroit Steel slammed into the stage, throwing Groundhawk up into the air like a catapult. Homelander, Stormfront and Oh Father flew upwards, the president face palming as Groundhawk crashed into several people when he landed.
"I told them not to use that design," Howard said.
"Fucking diabolical," Butcher laughed.
"Not funny Mr Butcher, that was Spider-man, my god," Jarvis muttered, his skin going pale as he retched.
"Not the kid," Logan said.
"He's right," Tony said.
"What do you mean?" Butcher asked.
"Spider-man would have sensed the danger coming, even without his sixth sense he would have been fast enough to dodge," Logan said.
"Plus the skin tone, that guy in the suit was latino," Tony said.
"Oh Homelander, you unimaginative prick, they dressed up some drugged up cunt called Web Weaver from my Earth as your web swinging prick," Butcher said.
"So where is the real Spider-man?" Jarvis asked.
Same time
Ben Parker had just finished watching the announcement for the new Seven. He suspected something was amiss when 'Spider-man' walked out instead of swinging. The smart thing to do would have been to make a show of his entrance, yet he walked out as if he was just 'some guy' in a costume. But Ben's chair and mug hit the floor when he saw Spider-man's 'death'. There was a knock at the door and he spent a few seconds staring at the screen, watching several people vomit before the screen cut to the Vought symbol. He opened the door for his apartment and stopped breathing for a moment.
"Hi Uncle Ben," Peter said.
He was standing at the door wearing a red hoodie and rough jeans. Ben let out a deep breath before pulling his nephew into a hug. Peter returned it, squeezing Ben as tightly as he could without breaking him.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he repeated again and again with tears in his eyes.
"You just missed something big, but I could use some context," Ben said, chuckling slightly as he wiped his eyes.
"I should be here to apologise, I should be here to see you because you're my uncle and I love you, but the truth is I'm not even here for the right reasons, there's something I need to tell you," Peter explained.
"Classic Parker habits, we may not always turn up on time, but you can bet we're late for the right reasons, so come inside Pete, what do you need to tell the news?" Ben smiled, welcoming Peter into his house.
Four Hours later
The News
From President-Saviour to Dictator-Conqueror
Before our president had even decided on the roster of Vought's latest attempts to revitalise a dead franchise, he had spoken of plans to invade Russia, bypassing the UN and other national leaders. This would just be the start though, a test run for Vought's use of super heroes in full scale invasions. Not since the Wakandan war were super humans used in an open conflict. The President's ultimate goal would be to invade Latveria, a nation that has a long history of independence from both the EU and the UN, as well as an ever changing monarchy with connections to supposed magic.
A rebellion is already being carried out within Latveria, in fact, Latveria's ruling monarch is scarcely considered the ruler of the country. That role has been given by the people to the rebel leader known as Victor. A man who has taken credit for the creation of advance machines and weaponry that have decimated pro-government forces and mercenaries alike including the Wolf Pack and even the Reavers of Pierce industries.
Sources within Vought have confirmed that Homelander has spoken to both General Glenn Talbot of the US Army and Colonel James Rhodes of the Air Force and already drawn up plans for an invasion. Additional sources within the military confirm that ships have been deployed into Russian territory. The reason behind these invasions is supposedly to bring democracy to these countries.
But one can hope that the President can consider the consequences of such a plan and remember the fate of Wakanda despite the best intentions of our nation's heroes.
By Stan Kirby
"Fucking hell, I love this bloke," Butcher said, putting the tablet down.
The tablet had addition devices plugged into it. Devices like what Tony was making at his desk, all plug ins to keep phones and other electronic devices from being tracked. The inventor took a sip of beer, earning Logan's glare again. The mutant had bought in a few cans for himself, but six so far had ended up on Tony's side of the garage.
"On one hand he's revealed Homelander's plan, but on the other he's potentially stroked Homelander's ego enough to keep him from actually committing to this madness," Tony said.
"Once people call out how insane it is he might change his mind," Logan huffed.
"Only to keep people happy," Butcher added.
The door opened and Jarvis came in, carrying a gym bag with both hands. There was a 'clunk' sound when he placed it on the desk Butcher had put his supe photos on. Butcher unzipped the bag and whistled.
"One thing I love about America, it is so easy to get bloody guns," he said, taking out a bolt action shotgun.
"Courtesy of Cottonmouth in Harlem, and he's already given us a target," Jarvis said, producing a photo from his jacket.
"Fucking Blue Eagle, racist twat is up to his old tricks," Butcher snorted.
"What's so eagle about him, it's a guy in a jacket and a helmet," Logan said.
"We can't all be the size of a honey badger mate," Butcher said and Logan snarled back.
"We aren't assassins," Tony said, taking a few of the guns and going back to his desk.
Butcher narrowed his eyes at the things of the desk, hairdryers, stereo speakers, batteries and an assortment of things that should be mundane. To his shock, Tony began disassembling, even sawing pieces off of the shotgun he was holding earlier.
"OI what are you doing?" Butcher asked.
"Making upgrades, the non-lethal kind," Tony said.
"Why the fuck would you do that?"
"Believe me I'm wondering the same thing, but believe it or not bub once Stark is done with your weapons, they'll be more effective against the supes than they were as slug throwers," Logan explained.
"All right, maybe, but trust me Blue Eagle is one of those cunts that deserves to die," Butcher said, then he shook his head in frustration. "Fucking hell they all deserve it, I don't know why we're turning this into some moral debate, these cunts destroyed my world and they're gonna do the same to yours, this is what we do in fucking war!"
"But this isn't a war!"
Tony widened his eyes and Logan smiled as the group looked to the doorway. Bruce was standing there in a purple shirt and jacket, but he wasn't alone. He had a rough five o'clock shadow and wore a zip up hoodie that only just revealed the white star on the blue scaly shirt he wore.
"This is a rescue mission!" Steve Rogers said.
Next Chapter 4: Villains
So Vought's 'New Seven' if you didn't know had some New Avengers references :)
Next time Vought sends out its super heroes for rescue work with some disastrous consequences as heroes of this world are not the only ones who remember.