— New York, Vought Tower, General POV —
TV was open at the top floor of Vough Tower.
Cameron Coleman- the host of the #1 prime time news show in the USA- was sitting between two elderly white man wearing expensive suits.
They were heatedly arguing over the Adam West High shooting that took place last weekend.
"Jesus Frank, can't you see the issue isn't the gun control? Chris Stein got his hands on firearm illegally." One of the white elderly guys- James said.
"Come on James, you have to see that is not normal for a kid to get his hand on a military grade M16!" Frank- the other elderly white guy said.
"M16? For our viewers that are not well versed in firearm could you expand on it?" Cameron asked. Putting a pause to the heated discussion.
"Certainly. M16 is an assault rifle, capable of firing 12 bullets per second. It is the standard assault rifle used by 15 NATO countries. Typical M16 magazine is capable of holding 30 bullets, and Chris Stein had 4 magazines on him on the day of the incident." Frank said.
"That would make 120 bullets… to think what could have happened. We can't thank Khan enough. He arrived to the scene 2 minutes and 21 seconds after the initial 911 call, and apprehended the gunman in no time. Ending this would-be tragedy." Cameron said as he closed his eyes, as if praying to God nothing major happened.
"Yes, we are all graceful that Khan arrived shortly and de-escalate the situation. But the issue here is lack of proper gun control laws. How do you explain a 15 year old getting his hands on a military grade weapon?"
The screen suddenly went black, as a man with US flag for cape closed the TV. This man was Homelander.
Standing behind Homelander were A-Train, Deep, and Ashley.
"Everything is going great Sir, this rescue has been great promotion for the upcoming Khan movie, and after releasing the rumors of Khan's induction to the Seven your approval ratings has gone up, you are up 5 points, Black Noir and A-Train are up 3 points and surprisingly even Deep is up a point." Ashley said with the smile of a woman who was both happy, excited and scared at equal parts.
Deep gave her a side-eye look. There was a mutual dislike between the two. He was about to say something when Homelander raised his right hand.
The duo stood in absolute silence as they waited for the Leader of the Seven to speak up.
Homelander turned around and looked at the 'Lord of the Seven Seas'.
"Deep, you went to the Godolkin, right?
"Yes Homelander. I was in the Gamma Epsilon Delta where I served chapter president for record seven years." He said as Ashley rolled her eyes,
'Dumb ass' They all thought to themselves.
Homelander turned to A-Train, "Didn't you also went to God U?"
"Yes Homelander," he said with a curt nod.
"Ashley, get A-Train to be a guest lecturer for this semester. I want to see what the… new generation of heroes have to offer."
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— Milk Residence, General POV —
Monique was home alone, her daughter went to the movies with her friends and her boyfriend had went to an out of city pharmacy that had special condoms for his magnum dong.
*Ding Dong*
"Must be Todd, he must have forgotten something," she mumbled as she opened the door. But once she saw who was behind those doors her heart began to beat faster.
"Grace… Oh no… What happened? Is Marvin alright? Do we need to go into hiding again?" She asked.
"May I come in?" Was all Grace Mallory said to her.
Monique gestured Mallory to come in, they sat down in the living room.
Monique was very concerned but she still offered Mallory something to drink, which the older woman rejected before asking her to sit.
"What I am about to share with you is classified information, sharing it with anyone- including but not limited to your daughter- is treason. And you will face imprisonment for a minimum of 5 years and a fine of at least 10,000 dollars." CIA director said as she pulled out a file from her bag.
"Marvin, Frenchie, Butcher, Hughie, Kimiko, and Starlight were on a mission to secure a target that could have potentially be a game changer in our war against Vought. They failed."
"Is he- Is Marvin dead?" Monique began to shake in fury and anguish.
"I am sorry." She said as she gently placed a hand on Monique's shoulder before passing her the file she was holding.
Monique took her time going over the file. Once she was done a tear fell to her cheek. Even though they were divorced, part of her still loved him. Then that sadness quickly turned to hatred.
"Khan killed him? He's a fucking superhero."
"You know better than most the fucked up shit they get into behind closed doors," Mallory said to her.
Monique did know about it. At least partially. She knew how Soldier Boy apperantly killed Marvin's grandfather. How Homelander supposedly killed Becca. How A-Train ran through Hughie's girlfriend.
But Khan seemed so young, and helpful compared to those heroes.
Monique than asked the question that bugged her. "Why did you show me this? Why now? Why not months ago?"
"President himself had ordered for this information to be suppressed. The reason I am showing you this now is two fold. Marvin and Hughie were the only two decent people in our group. Marvin was the best of us. The reason I couldn't tell you until now is that I did not have the clearance. I am given a new assignment that gives me a far greater degree of autonomy. I am putting on a new team together. Group of people who can stop these people once and for all."
"How is this any different from what the Boys were doing?" Monique asked.
Mallory was quite for a minute, not sure whether or not to tell her this part. Eventually settling to give her the classic answer. "That's classified. And for what's it worth Monique. I am really sorry. Marvin has always been my favorite subordinate, and a dear friend."