Chương 27

Adam returned to Believe Expo after changing out of the suit. He had removed the cape and zinc covering, so he looked like any other visitor when he walked back toward the team. Butcher saw him first.

"I told you not to stay there," Butcher said.

"Your work was done when you confronted Homelander." Adam stayed silent for a few seconds.

"There is one performance I have to watch," Adam said.

"No matter what." Butcher looked at him and understood.

"Starlight," he said. Adam did not deny it. Butcher's eyes sharpened.

"You are getting too close to her. That is not good for the mission."

"I do not think she will hurt the mission," Adam said. Butcher glanced at the people standing around them and said nothing more. A short time later, Hughie called M. M. and gave him the hospital address he had found. M. M. passed it straight to Butcher.

"That is the lead," M. M. said. Butcher and M. M. left the Expo. Adam stayed behind. He waited in the crowd until Starlight's speech began. Adam had heard it in his old life and had respected Annie for standing up for herself. This time, he wanted to watch it with his own eyes. Annie stepped onto the stage and began reading the prepared words. For a while, she followed the script. Then she stopped and lowered the prepared speech. When she faced the crowd again, none of her words came from Vought.

She said she had once believed becoming a superhero was an honor. She had dreamed of saving people. But the reality she found after joining the Seven was different from what she had imagined. People in the crowd looked at one another. Behind the stage, Ashley waved both hands and silently begged her to stop. Starlight kept speaking. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. She said a hero from the Seven had sexually harassed her after she joined them.

The crowd went silent. No one clapped. No one booed either. Even the people who had been smiling for the cameras simply stared. Ashley looked like she wanted to run onto the stage and drag Starlight away herself. Starlight continued anyway. She said she would not leave her real self behind. She would not forgive what had happened, and she would not hide behind a fake face. Adam began clapping. The first applause came from him, and Starlight noticed him from the stage. The staff ended the speech quickly after that.

When Starlight came backstage, Ashley started shouting at her. Starlight did not answer. She walked away and ignored every word. She moved to another side of the camp and looked around like she was searching for someone.

"Are you looking for me?" Adam asked from behind her. Annie turned toward him. There was worry on her face.

"Are you upset?" she asked. Adam blinked.

"Why would I be upset?"

"Because I did not tell you." Her voice dropped. She watched his face, waiting for anger.

"If you did not want to tell me, that is okay," Adam said.

"You showed me that something was wrong. I should have understood sooner." Tears filled Annie's eyes.

"Everyone just wants to use me," she said. Adam stepped closer and hugged her. Annie held on until her breathing settled, and Adam did not let go before she did. At the hospital, Butcher and M. M. entered a room filled with infants in clear medical boxes. M. M. came to a stop beside Butcher as he looked around the room.

"Why would Compound V come here?" Butcher looked closer and saw a tube feeding blue liquid into one of the babies. The baby's eyes glowed blue. M. M. stared at it. Butcher spoke quietly.

"Adam was right." He had suspected it before, but the blue liquid entering the baby finally confirmed Adam's story. M. M. swallowed while he kept staring at the infant.

"So God is not making Supes. These People are making them." They started taking the Compound V sample. M. M. kept looking back at the infants. The thought that Vought had been doing this to children made his hands tighten. Then armed guards rushed in to kill them. Butcher grabbed the same baby carrier and turned the baby toward the guards. Blue heat shot from the baby's eyes. Butcher and M. M. used that opening to escape with the sample. At Vought Tower, Homelander stood in front of a painting.

He was not looking at the painting. He was looking through it, toward Madelyn Stillwell. Madelyn saw him through her laptop feed and understood what he was doing. She had guided Homelander with affection for years, though she knew she could never control him completely. At the Expo, the masked man had made Homelander hesitate in public. Madelyn had never seen anyone do that before. Vought's board was already discussing the unknown Supe. Vought had records on almost every Supe it had created.

The masked man was not in any of them. If Homelander feared him, Madelyn might use that fear to make Homelander listen again. The board wanted the masked man inside Vought. They could use him to pressure Homelander, then send Homelander after him if he refused to obey. Madelyn had not heard what the masked man said in the sky. She did not need to. Homelander had offered no reply before the man left. To Madelyn and the board, that silence meant the masked man had frightened him.