Chương 54

Stormfront raised both hands.

"Starlight, help me distract him." Annie came back to herself. She looked from Stormfront to Adam and could not decide what to do. Adam saw the choice tearing at her. His eyes still glowed as he turned toward her.

"Annie, it's me," Adam thought.

"Did you forget me already?" Homelander flew in from behind and punched him. Adam brought both hands up in time, but the hit drove him through the tunnel. Adam broke through one wall and entered another passage. Dust followed him as he stopped before hitting the next turn. Homelander came after him without waiting. Stormfront lowered her arms. A-Train lay near the wall and held his throat while Black Noir advanced toward Adam.

"Come on," Stormfront told Starlight.

"Homelander can handle him. We need the Supe terrorist." Starlight followed her toward another cave entrance. She looked back at Adam before disappearing around the turn. Adam recovered in the air. He swung one arm upward. The shockwave tore through the tunnel roof and opened a hole to the sky. Rock lifted from the ceiling and burst outside. Sunlight entered the passage as the opening widened enough for both of them to pass through. He flew into Homelander and launched him through it.

Adam fired heat vision from below. The beam burned through Homelander's suit and cut into his skin before throwing him away from the opening. Homelander tried to turn in the air, but the beam kept him moving. Smoke rose from his chest until Adam let him fall away from the tunnel. Black Noir landed in Adam's path. Instead of attacking, he opened a tablet. Stan Edgar appeared on the screen.

"Join Vought and name what you want," Edgar said.

"A place in the Seven is already yours." Adam smiled.

"I expected more." He heard A-Train charge from the side. Adam shifted away, and A-Train crashed into the tunnel wall. Adam kept his attention on the tablet.

"The idea is good, but it isn't interesting. Black Noir can leave if he doesn't hurt my friends." Edgar changed the offer. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

"You will be captain of the Seven. Every charge against your friends will disappear, and Vought will provide whatever you need." Adam stopped. The offer tempted him, but it was not enough. Captaincy would place him inside Vought with authority over the Seven. Clearing the Boys would free every team member from both charges and pursuit. Even so, Adam wanted something Edgar had not offered. He moved beside Black Noir and whispered one condition into his ear. Then Adam flew through the hole.

Black Noir did not react to the words. He turned the tablet away from the fight and repeated the request so only Edgar could hear it. Edgar remained silent after Black Noir repeated the condition. Surprise crossed his expression before he answered.

"Agreed. Give him what he requested." Outside, Homelander's fist hit Adam's jaw while his attention remained below. The punch sent Adam across the buildings. Adam steadied himself and sensed Stormfront's lightning. She stood on the ground with Kenji in her grip. Both of his arms were broken, and electricity moved through him. Kenji could no longer lift his broken arms or use telekinesis against her. Stormfront held him upright as each pulse made his legs fail beneath him. Adam's eyes flashed.

His heat vision pierced Stormfront through the abdomen. She released Kenji and fell aside while holding the wound. Kimiko reached them and signaled toward her brother. Adam nodded.

"Take Kenji and go," he told her.

"Move!" Heat struck Adam's back. Homelander had fired from above. The beam left a burning feeling, but it did not break his skin. Adam turned and answered with his own heat vision. Homelander raised his bare hands. The beam burned through his gloves, then scorched the skin beneath them. Homelander pushed against the attack, but his arms drew closer to his head with each second. Adam increased the beam until the smell of burned cloth spread through the air. Adam stopped firing and appeared in front of him.

His fist hit Homelander's cheek. Homelander tried to fly away. Adam caught his leg and pulled him back before punching the same cheek again. Homelander tore through several houses and crashed into the ground. Pain spread through his cheek while his ear rang from the two hits. He tried to rise and lost his balance. No one had struck the same place twice and left his hearing damaged for this long. Adam saw Starlight standing on a building and flew toward her.

Starlight watched him approach without understanding why he had aimed his heat vision at her. She had just seen Adam push Homelander back in a way no other Supe could. The light around her hands faded. She lowered her shoulders, yet kept watching the damaged ground below. Until now she had believed every other Supe would retreat whenever Homelander advanced. From farther away, Butcher watched them. Adam had already made it clear that he would not kill Homelander before finishing his own plan.

The power Butcher needed was standing beside him, yet he could not control it. That thought troubled him. M. M. reached Butcher and pointed toward the escape route.

"We move now." He began leading the team away. Kimiko tried to carry Kenji after them, but Black Noir dropped into her path. A-Train appeared beside him, rubbing his throat. Black Noir held up a note. LEAVE KENJI OR DIE. Kimiko shook her head and tightened her hold on her brother. A-Train moved first. He pushed Kimiko away and took Kenji from her. Kimiko tried to attack, but Frenchie caught her while M. M. pulled her toward the escape route. Adam watched from above.

He could stop A-Train before the speedster took another step. He could return Kenji to Kimiko and change what came next. He deliberately did nothing. Kenji being taken was part of the original timeline, and Adam chose to let it happen.