Chương 51

Kenji looked at Frenchie and answered in English.

"No." Frenchie had expected resistance, but the refusal still disappointed him. He placed a soda can and a bag of chips beside Kenji.

"You should eat something," Frenchie said. Kenji pushed the chips away with his foot. Frenchie sighed and walked toward the front of the boat. The tape around Kenji's hands appeared secure, so no one noticed one finger moving against the edge. Kenji worked until the finger slipped free. The soda can rolled toward him without being touched. Kenji bent it without touching it, and one torn edge stretched into a blade. Kenji guided the torn edge toward the tape around his wrists.

He positioned himself between the blade and the others. Each movement cut another thread. Kenji waited whenever someone turned toward him, then continued after their attention moved away. A police helicopter appeared over the water before he could finish. Its speaker came to life.

"This vessel has been reported stolen. Reduce speed and prepare for verification. All occupants must surrender." Everyone looked at Butcher.

"Already?" Butcher muttered. He had stolen the boat, but he had expected more time before the police traced it. M. M. moved toward the controls. Before he or Butcher could answer, Kenji raised his freed finger. Metal twisted at the rear of the helicopter. The tail folded inward. Its rotor broke apart as smoke burst from the damaged section. The helicopter began to spin toward the water. Inside the cockpit, both officers fought the controls.

Their commands no longer reached the tail, and the horizon rolled across the glass each time the aircraft turned. M. M. grabbed Kenji from one side as Frenchie caught the other. Kimiko dropped over her brother and pinned his arm before he could attack again. Adam stepped onto the rear rail.

"Hold him." He jumped. The force of his launch pushed the rear of the boat into the water. Spray rose over the deck as Adam crossed the distance to the falling helicopter. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. He caught its nose with both hands. The weight pulled him down, but his flight stopped the spin. Adam looked past the cockpit and saw flames spreading along the crushed tail. He drew in a breath and blew toward the fire. White air struck the tail.

Frost spread over the wreckage as the flames vanished beneath ice. The damaged section stopped moving. Adam kept one arm under the nose while he looked at the water below. He breathed out again. Ice formed on the surface and spread outward in a circle. The center thickened until it could carry the helicopter. Adam lowered the aircraft onto the frozen platform. The landing gear settled into the ice, and the helicopter stopped shaking. Cracks formed below one wheel.

Adam blew across that section until another layer sealed it. He kept hold of the nose until the weight spread over the platform and the cracks stopped growing. The officers forced open a side door and climbed out. One of them started to raise his gun toward Adam.

"Don't," Adam said.

"No one here is going to hurt you. We will return the boat, and this ice will keep floating toward shore. Stay on it until help reaches you." The officer looked at the helicopter, then at the platform beneath his feet. He lowered the gun.

"You expect us to trust you?" he asked.

"No," Adam replied.

"I expect you to stay alive. Call the rescue team and tell them where this ice is moving." Adam rose from the ice and flew back to the boat. When he landed, every member of the team stared at him. They had seen his heat vision and strength, but none of them had known he could freeze things with his breath. Butcher watched Adam as if the rescue had answered a question he had been carrying for some time.

A man who could hold a helicopter in the air and build a landing platform from seawater might be capable of more than Adam admitted.

"Adam," Butcher called. Adam raised one finger and shook his head. This was not the time. Butcher understood the warning. Adam might be able to fight Homelander, but he would not kill him before the public while his own plan remained unfinished. At Vought Tower, Queen Maeve stood apart from the meeting table and spoke to Elena on her phone. She ended the call when Homelander entered.

"Did you hear about Compound V?" Maeve asked.

"Yes," Homelander replied. Stan Edgar entered before the room could settle. He faced the Seven and called the leak a crisis for Vought and for every hero under its name. The company would respond together, he told them, because Vought protected its family. Edgar said the public needed reassurance from every member. Their personal reactions would wait. For now, the Seven would follow the company response and avoid feeding the story with careless comments. Homelander interrupted him.

"Family? Vought cares about profit and loss. That's it. If one of us dies, the company replaces the costume and keeps selling the name." He looked around the table before turning to Edgar.

"We must answer this crisis. The Seven should stand together like a family, because no one upstairs will do it for us." Edgar met his stare without answering. Back on the boat, Butcher's phone rang again. Mallory had changed the delivery point.

"Bring Kenji to the CIA safe house," she said.

"The location is on your phone. Do not stop anywhere else."

"We'll be there," Butcher replied. Hughie was looking past him toward the water.

"Uh, guys?" Fish were racing beside the boat in numbers that covered the surface. More gathered ahead until the water rolled beneath them. The Deep appeared behind the fish, riding on the back of a whale. He smiled as the whale gained on the boat. This was his chance to prove that he belonged with the Seven again. The whale moved ahead and turned across their path. Butcher looked at Adam.

"Freeze them too." Adam looked back at Butcher.