Chương 7: Chapter - 7

Frenchie stared at the unconscious body in the trunk. For a few seconds, he did not speak. Then he turned toward Butcher.

"No," Frenchie said.

"No, no, no. You always do this. You come to me with a problem, and somehow I become the man standing in the fire." Butcher did not look impressed.

"Good to see you too." Frenchie pointed at the trunk.

"This is Translucent. He is one of the Seven. You bring him here? To me?" Hughie stood near the car, pale and quiet. Adam stayed beside him and said nothing. Frenchie looked from Butcher to the car like he was counting how many ways this could ruin his life. Then he started speaking fast, half angry and half tired, but Butcher only waited for the storm to slow down. After that, Butcher leaned closer and spoke in a lower voice. Adam could not catch every word, but he understood the shape of it.

Butcher was pushing the same way he always did. He made the problem sound like it had already reached Frenchie's door, so refusing would not save him. Frenchie looked at the trunk again. For a moment, he looked like he wanted to shut the door on all of them. Then he cursed under his breath. Finally, he gave in. A little later, Translucent was locked inside an electrified cage in the basement. Foil covered the walls and ceiling around the room. Wires ran near the cage. The air smelled of old metal and oil.

Translucent woke with a sharp breath. His body jerked, and the cage snapped with electricity. He groaned and fell back, still half-covered in blood and marks from the fight. Frenchie watched him carefully. Then the tests began. He tried cutting tools first. Nothing worked. He tried a blade, then a stronger tool, then pressure from different angles. Translucent's skin did not give way. Frenchie tried scraping near the shoulder. He tried pressing near the ribs. He even struck the same place twice with a heavier tool.

The result did not change. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Each attempt ended the same way. The tool either slipped off or bent against skin that refused to break. Butcher watched with a hard face. Hughie looked sick. Adam stood a little away from them, quiet the whole time. He knew this scene. He knew the answer too. But he also knew this was not the right moment to speak.

'Should I just end it early?' Adam thought. The thought came and stayed for a few seconds. He could do it. Maybe not easily, but with enough power, he could probably kill Translucent before the others understood what had happened. But that would be a mistake. Adam could not use his power openly, especially not in front of Butcher. Butcher hated Supes. He hated Supe power even more. If Adam showed too much now, Butcher would never trust him. He would think Adam had lied from the beginning. So Adam stayed quiet.

Frenchie kept working. After some time, he came back with a bullet and held it up with a tired smile.

"Special bullet," Frenchie said.

"Same idea as his skin. Maybe it bites." Inside the cage, Translucent's eyes moved toward him. He was awake enough to understand now.

"What are you doing?" Translucent asked. Frenchie aimed. For a second, even Butcher stopped moving. The gunshot cracked through the basement. The bullet hit Translucent's body and bounced away at once. It screamed off at an angle and tore through the foil shielding near the ceiling. A strip of the covered wall broke loose. Everyone froze, and Adam saw it clearly. The original flow had reached the same point again. The bullet had failed. The shielding had been damaged.

This was the exact point Adam had been waiting for. Adam's jaw tightened.

'No,' he thought.

'I am not following the timeline completely.' He looked at Frenchie.

"Why are we always trying to damage the skin?" Butcher turned toward him. Frenchie did too. Hughie looked at Adam like he had missed something important. Butcher asked, "What do you mean?" Frenchie's eyes shifted slightly, as if something had already clicked. Adam walked closer to the cage. Translucent watched him now. Adam stopped far enough from the electric bars and pointed toward him.

"His outside body is hard because of his power," Adam said.

"Fine. But is the inside of his body just as hard?" Translucent's face changed. Sweat appeared on his forehead almost at once.

"No," he said quickly.

"Listen to me, please. I will not tell anyone about this. Just let me go." Butcher and Frenchie looked at each other. Frenchie smiled. Then he moved fast and pulled Adam into a hard hug.

"You are the best," Frenchie said, laughing.

"How did we not think of this?" Adam froze for half a second, then patted Frenchie's back awkwardly. Frenchie let go and looked toward Butcher. Butcher was looking at Adam too. Then he smiled. It was not a kind smile. It was sharp and crooked. It looked exactly like Butcher. Adam saw it and, for one second, forgot the danger around them.

'That is the look,' Adam thought.

'Now it actually feels like I am inside The Boys.' Translucent looked worse by the second. Hughie still did not understand. He looked at Adam.

"Wait. What are you saying?" Adam turned toward him.

"We target his insides," Adam said.

"If his fear is real, then that part should be like a normal person's body." Hughie thought for a few seconds. Then his face changed.

"What are you going to do?" Translucent backed into the corner of the cage.

"Please, just let me go, I swear nothing will happen." Frenchie moved behind the cage and triggered the shock. A heavy electric shock ran through Translucent's body. He screamed once, then dropped unconscious again. Some time later, Translucent woke up. The first thing he saw was Frenchie at the front. Butcher stood beside him. Hughie and Adam were there too. Translucent blinked slowly. Then he touched himself and froze. He could not feel something he should have been able to feel.

Frenchie smiled and pointed toward his own backside. Translucent understood.