Chương 59

Adam, M. M., and Hughie were sitting inside Butcher's aunt's house. Adam kept checking the area with his senses, but he could not detect anyone else nearby. He already knew Black Noir would come. Vought had not sent him to search for Butcher without a reason. Adam kept his attention on the roof because Noir had been watching Butcher for Vought. The front door opened without a sound. Butcher's aunt stayed near the room while Adam waited for the person he knew was coming.

A quiet conversation stopped inside the house, and the three men turned toward the entrance. Adam watched the roof before the visitor appeared. Butcher stepped inside and stopped when he saw the three men. He looked surprised, but the expression disappeared quickly.

"We're here to help you," M. M. said. Butcher showed no interest.

"I don't need your help." He placed the stuffed toy he had brought onto a table. Butcher's aunt looked at Hughie.

"You look just like Butcher's little brother." M. M. glanced at Hughie. Adam was surprised too. He had remembered the main events from the series, but small details like this had never stayed in his memory. Butcher got inside the car. Before starting the engine, he looked toward the roof. Black Noir was sitting above the house. Butcher understood that Noir had probably been following him for some time. He stepped out and went back inside. Adam had already sensed Noir when the man reached the roof.

The moment the movement had reached him through the house, Adam had turned his attention upward. Butcher returned inside the house.

"Black Noir is here." M. M. and Hughie tensed as they looked toward Adam, and Butcher did the same. Hughie and Butcher's aunt moved behind M. M., who waved them back while Butcher waited for Adam to judge the danger.

"I know," Adam said.

"He's above us." Adam raised his head. His eyes began to glow red. Black Noir sensed the attack before it reached him. He jumped to the side, but Adam's red beam cut through the roof and struck his shoulder. Noir lost his balance and fell through the damaged section. He broke through the roof and landed on the upper floor inside the house. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Adam shut off the beam.

"I need to clean my hands," he said. He rose into the air and moved toward the upper floor. Butcher pushed his aunt and Hughie toward M. M., then pulled all three toward the basement.

"Get into the basement," Butcher ordered, then looked at Adam.

"Don't destroy the whole house." Adam had planned to fly straight into the room where Noir had landed. After hearing Butcher, he changed his mind and went toward the stairs instead. He reached the upper floor at high speed. Black Noir drove a knife into Adam's chest. The blade bent against Adam's skin like a piece of steel. Adam let it stay there while he waited to see what Noir would do next. Noir threw the bent knife aside. Noir drove his fist into Adam's face. Adam let the blow land and did not defend himself.

The punch struck his cheek, but his head did not move even an inch. Noir's attack had no effect, and Adam did not even step back. Adam smiled.

"Come on," he said.

"Let's trade a few blows." Black Noir understood the challenge, but he did not get time to react. Adam hit his cheek and sent him through the floor. Noir crashed into the level below and continued through the damaged section. Adam looked down at the broken floor.

"Shit. I have to get him outside." The hole below them was wider than Adam had expected. More concrete was still falling around it, and Adam forced himself to control the next move before the house took more damage. He followed Noir through the broken floor. Power filled Adam's arms as he tried to control it, but the force kept building. He had wanted to move through the opening Noir had made. Instead, he reached down and caught Noir by the shoulder.

Black Noir pulled out his gun and fired two or three rounds at Adam's forehead. Adam did not stop him. The bullets struck and fell away. Adam sent Noir through the glass. Noir shattered the glass and hit the pavement. Two or three bullets fell beside Adam, the same rounds Noir had fired only moments earlier. Adam kept moving because he wanted the fight away from the house. Noir rolled across the street and pushed himself up. On a monitor inside Vought Tower, Edgar watched the fight. Adam looked toward the camera.

"Mr. Edgar," Adam said, raising his voice, "this is the person you sent to fight me. You were talking pretty big. You said your heroes were six feet under." Adam walked toward Noir.

"Let me make that true." Adam seized Noir by the neck and drove him onto the asphalt. Before the impact, Adam struck the ground with his foot. Cracks spread across the concrete beneath Noir's head. The road broke apart under him, and half of Noir's chest sank into it. The force drove him down through the concrete while his legs remained above the concrete. Noir could not rise before Adam turned back toward the house. Adam released his neck and shouted, "Take your heroes with you!" Then he returned to the house.

"The job is done. You can come out now." Butcher, M. M., Hughie, and his aunt came out of the basement. Butcher looked at the damage first. M. M. and Hughie stared at the broken rooms and the hole in the roof.

"I said minimum damage," Butcher said. Adam looked toward him.

"This is minimum damage. More power would have destroyed the house. Adam looked toward the street as if the answer were obvious." Butcher faced the street. Black Noir lay upside down in the broken concrete, half buried from the chest down. After several seconds, his legs went still. Then they started again. Everyone looked back at Adam. Adam frowned.

"What? What happened?"