Chương 60

A-Train stood on the Dawn of the Seven set and looked angry. The crew moved around him while cameras and lights waited for the next shot. Several people avoided looking at him, as if the decision had already changed the way they saw him. He had already been told that he was leaving the Seven, but seeing it written into the movie made it feel final. He had spent years making sure his name stayed in front of the public. Now the movie was taking that name away before he was ready to give it up.

Ashley stood near one of the production vehicles. A-Train walked straight toward her.

"What the hell is this, Ashley?" he asked. Ashley looked at him.

"What?"

"You cut me out of the movie? How did you make that decision?" His voice carried across the set, and a few crew members turned toward them.

"It wasn't my decision," Ashley said.

"It's already been decided. I can't change it." A-Train looked toward the set. A screen nearby showed the next scene being prepared, and his place in it was already missing. Homelander had already told him that he would be removed from the Seven. He had accepted that part, or at least he had tried to. What he could not understand was why the movie had to announce it too. If the audience heard it from the film, they would believe he had lost his place. He wanted them to believe he had chosen to leave.

He wanted the audience to wait for him, not watch him disappear.

"Then don't make it final," he said.

"Leave some suspense. Let people think A-Train walked away, but he could come back whenever he wants. That way, they still remember me. If I return later, people will wait for it instead of forgetting me now." Ashley glanced at the vehicle beside her and then back at him.

"You're telling the wrong person. If you want to discuss the movie, talk to Homelander. Every page of this script went through him. I can't change a decision that has already been approved." She turned and walked away before he could answer. Her attention was already on the next task. In her mind, A-Train was no longer part of the Seven. That meant his complaints were not her problem anymore. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

A-Train stayed where he was. His hands curled at his sides as he watched her leave. What could he do against Homelander? The answer came before he could build another plan. Nothing.... The scene changed to the street outside Vought Tower, where a large crowd stood behind the barriers. People held phones over their heads as reporters moved along the edge. Victoria led the protest at the front with a microphone. Posters rose around her.

One showed Adam's face, and another showed the masked man who had held the airplane in the sky. Some signs called Homelander careless. Others demanded that Vought bring Adam into the Seven.

"Homelander was supposed to care about people," Victoria shouted.

"He was supposed to protect them, not treat their lives like they meant nothing." She lifted Adam's poster toward the cameras.

"Look at Adam. He saved that entire plane from the hijackers. He carried those people to safety when the Seven refused to do it. He did the job your heroes were supposed to do." The crowd answered with louder chants. Cameras turned toward the posters, and the protest grew around Victoria's voice. A sound rolled through the air. Everyone looked up. Homelander descended from the sky and landed in front of the crowd. Victoria stared at him for a second.

His eyes moved to the posters in her hands, and the muscles near his temple tightened. He wanted to rip the paper apart. Instead, he reached for the microphone.

"People, chill out," Homelander said.

"What's the problem?" The crowd shouted over him. Homelander waited for the noise to drop, but it only grew louder. The cameras stayed on Homelander while each second of silence made him look less in control. The crowd repeated Victoria's words until they became louder than the traffic. He lifted the microphone again.

"We're the Seven. Day and night, we go wherever this country needs us. We put our lives on the line. You watch one short video and suddenly you know everything?" No one became quiet. A man near the barrier pushed an image of Adam above his head. The picture showed the masked figure who had become a symbol of what Homelander had failed to do.

"We don't want you!" he shouted.

"We want Adam!" The chant spread through the street. The crowd began shouting Adam's name again and again. Homelander's hand closed tightly around the microphone. Victoria watched him from the side, her expression tense. For one second, Homelander imagined his heat vision cutting through the crowd. He imagined the shouting stopping all at once. Then he saw the cameras around him. The Vought building stood behind him, and people were watching him. If he lost control here, Vought would lose its image with him.

He could not destroy the company just because the crowd preferred Adam. He smiled while the cameras watched him. All he wanted was to leave. Rising into the air would put the entire street behind him.... Across the city, Annie slipped into Stormfront's van. She looked around and began checking the things inside. She searched the compartments and the back of the van. She did not know what she was searching for, but she knew Stormfront kept answers close.

Annie kept searching for anything that could explain Stormfront's confidence. A voice called from behind her after she had taken a few steps. Annie turned. Stormfront stood near the open door.

"Stormfront," Annie said, keeping her voice steady.

"I've been looking for you. I want to learn how you answer people without backing down." Stormfront's face stayed still as she studied Annie. Then she looked directly at Annie.

"I know what you're doing," she said.

"So stop pretending."