"..Are you recording."
"Yes."
"As you know, the subject's skin has demonstrated remarkable durability. Which includes internal tissue."
"BANG!! BANG!! BANG!!"
"Ahhhhhhhh!!!!"
I continued to watch with a complicated look as the man who had haunted my waking and sleeping moments underwent torture way beyond anything I could have imagined.
'How was he able to survive this?'
Despite feeling sick, I could not pull my eyes away from the horrors on screen. Maybe it was a morbid fascination, a sense of victory or even perhaps a speck of sympathy.
"How the fuck's that cunt still breathin'," Butcher suddenly interrupted from behind me.
After everything he had done, I didn't bother giving him the satisfaction of a reply.
"Twenty sieverts of radiation, sulphuric acid cocktails. More or less shoved Chernobyl right up 'is arse." He continued whilst watching over my shoulder, "I'll wager that's how he got 'em nasty new powers."
'Fucking hypocrite.'
I stayed silent and stared intently at the video before me for what felt like the millionth time.
'He deserves this.'
Or that's what I kept telling myself as I analysed every piece of footage repeatedly. The acts were so disgusting that only the most fucked up person would wish this on anyone, and before today, I would've watched it all with a smile.
'It would have been so much easier just to carry on hating him. Why did he have to apologise? Why.'
After he looked at me with those eyes of fire, I could not deny the guilt and pain they held.
'Have you really changed?'
"What am I thinking? Of course, that racist piece of shit hasn't changed," I angrily whispered as my eyes grew stern.
'I almost fell for that motherfucker's bullshit.'
I was shaken from my thoughts by Butcher patting me on the shoulder.
"Listen, mate. Don't let 'im get in your 'ead. He's the Ivan's problem now," he said with false concern as if we hadn't just made the world a worse place.
'How can he act like this?'
"You don't give a shit about who gets hurt, do you? All you care about is Homelander. Fuck anyone who gets in your way, right?" I bitterly said as I paused the video and shrugged his hand off me.
'I always knew he was an asshole, but never thought he was a cruel one.'
"Oh, come off it, mate. You and I are two fuckin' peas in a pod. The only difference is I'm willin' to do what it takes. So it all went belly up, and I took a fuckin' drug? In case you forgot, I saved your ungrateful arse," He replied with a smug look.
His response and how easily he used his abilities made me come to one very quick conclusion.
'This isn't the first time he's done this.'
With that realisation, I finally stood up and gave Butcher a hard look.
"You killed gunpowder, didn't you." I spat with some disbelief before adopting a sneer of disgust, "Did you use your little laser eyes?"
"You're too fuckin' right I did, an' it felt good," Butcher arrogantly said as he leaned in close, "For once, I levelled the fuckin' playin' field."
'Does he not get it.'
"Butcher, the whole point of what we do, the whole goddamn point. Is that no one should have all that power," I said as I looked him in the eyes, hoping to get him to understand that compound V should never be an option.
We can't allow ourselves to stoop to their level. It would be spitting on the memory of my father and everyone we've lost if I ever permitted us to cross that line.
"Well, ain't that just fuckin' fairies and dancin' dildos. You fuckin' saw how easily that cunt took us out. Now, imagine if I weren't suped up. I happen to live right down 'ere, mate, on planet Earth." He angrily said before walking out of the room.
I stood there for a few minutes, staring at the door whilst a battle raged inside my head. A part of me knew that without compound V, we would have been dead. Another part was scared of what a man like Butcher could become with that power, or worse, who I could become if I ever let temptation take its hold.
'Am I wrong about compound V?'
Letting out a sigh of frustration, I was about to sit down to watch more of the torture fest when a slight noise in the corner caught my attention.
'I'm surprised I didn't notice the smelly frog and his newly neutered puppy sooner. He's gotten better at snooping.'
"How long have you been there, Frenchie." I slowly said as I sat back down and rubbed my head at the headache that was this clusterfuck of a day.
"Long enough, mon ami. Do not let Monsieur Charcutier get to you," Frenchie warmly stated as he and Kimiko came out from behind the side door they had been leaning against, "He's a stubborn imbécile. Trust ton cœur and you will find a way."
'So he's come to a decision.'
"When are you leaving?" I questioned as his face twisted due to guilt. Before he could say anything more, I stood up and grabbed him in a crushing hug, "Don't let that motherfucker convince you to stay. This has never been about what's right. It's about what's right for him."
A few moments passed before I pulled back and gave him a weak smile, "Don't be like me and lose what makes you happy. Especially for a fight that's not yours."
'If only I could do the same and get that racist fucker out of my head.'
I turned away but was stopped by Frenchie pulling me back into the hug.
"I know that you have lost a lot, mon ami. But not all is perdu. Your daughter is waiting for you," Frenchie slowly said as he held me tightly, "Leave this all behind and be with your daughter while you still can. You owe nothing to anyone. The dead are gone. It is the living we must protect."
'Forgive me, Janine, I wish I were strong enough.'
"I-I-I can't Frenchie. I just can't. You don't understand. That motherfucker didn't just take my grandad that night. He also took me and my dad," I shakily responded as I separated from the hug and locked eyes with him, "Now, I'm just a fucking dead man walking. I won't put this on Janine. I won't let that piece of shit curse her too."
Frenchie gave me a sad look, and I could tell he wanted to say more.
"I appreciate your help, Frenchie. But just like you've made your decision. This is a choice I made long ago," I stated firmly towards him.
I nodded at the slightly injured Kimiko hiding behind him and patted Frenchie gently on the shoulder before sitting back on the chair. As I was going to continue my research, I noticed that a sombre Kimiko began signing intensely at Frenchie.
"No. I will not tell him. It will only upset him and won't change anything. S'il te plaît, Mon cœur leave it alone." Frenchie softly replied as he cupped her face in his hands.
She responded by slapping his hands away in frustration.
'Monique used to do the same thing when I riled her up.'
Reminiscing about a life I once had, I failed to notice that Kimiko had walked off and returned excitedly with a pad of paper and a mangy, chewed-up pencil.
I realised that some tears had begun to well in my eyes and quickly wiped them away before either of them noticed.
'I've made my choices. I don't deserve any pity.'
Suppressing the thoughts of what could have been, I turned to Frenchie to see if he could explain what the fuck was happening with his women. Surprisingly, he wouldn't look me in the eyes and even tried to stop Kimiko in her path.
'I'm not in the mood for some domestic shit.'
Whilst no longer a supe, Kimiko had no issue pushing past the flustered and concerned croissant muncher. Once in front of me, she grabbed a chair and sat down. A few seconds went by as she wrote something on a piece of paper, and then, with a warm smile, she gently placed it into my hands.
'She's a weird one.'
Tentatively smiling back, I took the paper and immediately felt the smile drop from my face.
"Is this a joke?" I asked her slowly as I reread the piece of paper.
She had written on it, 'Soldier Boy has changed. His eyes were nice even when fighting us. Maybe you could speak to him and be free like I am.'
She shook her head and reached for the pad again. However, not wanting to entertain the conversation any longer, I threw it to the side.
"It doesn't matter what you think. What I know is that we just unleashed that motherfucker on the world. Whatever happens next is on all our hands, even yours," I growled before glaring at an apologetic Frenchie to take her away.
'Does she think that because he didn't kill us? That his hands are wiped clean. That the blood and tears of everyone he has hurt, killed, tortured and broken just disappear? Standards are fucking low.'
A now agitated Kimiko tried to once again reach for the pad. However, this time, Frenchie grabbed her and gently pulled her to the side.
"Leave it be, Mon cœur. It's not our business anymore. Once we get to New York, we'll take our things and leave for Marseille. You have your freedom now, your humanité." Frenchie gently whispered in her ear, calming her down and getting a reluctant nod of agreement.
I ignored the rest of their conversation, and with my mood now soured, I focused on watching videos of the tests the Russians had performed.
'I need to find a way to fight Soldier Boy on my terms. Dad would have wanted that. There must be something that will work.'
I knew I would have to sort through hours of footage and files to find something to take him down for good. However, I was more than prepared to do so.
'It can't be a coincidence that Soldier Boy developed the ability to remove powers.'
.....
A few hours passed, and I barely got anywhere with what we had grabbed from the lab. All I knew was that they had used a form of gas, potentially halothane, to sedate and weaken him.
'Shouldn't be too hard. We used it on Kimiko easily enough.'
However, a more pressing issue was plaguing my mind. As much as I tried not to let it get to me, Kimiko's insistence on Soldier Boy had watered a seed of doubt and led to one nagging thought.
'What if he has changed.'
Fortunately, my self-torment was interrupted by Butcher returning to the room all high and mighty, telling us he got us a jet home.
'Finally, I can get back to Janine.'
It didn't take us long to reach the airfield and board a surprisingly luxurious jet. Butcher tried to speak to me, but I walked past him. I had nothing left to say to the hypocrite.
The flight was initially uneventful, with mostly everyone sleeping and keeping to themselves.
However, as we flew across the Atlantic, a small decision would uncover disturbing news.
Out of curiosity and to get my mind off of Soldier Boy, I decided to look up anything they had on his supposed daughter and their suped-up hamster.
To start, I decided to go through what they did to the hamster. As expected, it was a case of standard animal testing taken to new, disturbing heights. I knew our government had probably done worse, but I would never understand the cruel treatment of animals beyond what was necessary. Astonishingly, their vigorous tests led to them creating a version of compound V that worked on animals.
'Knowing our luck, this will bite us in the ass at some point. '
Finished with what little I could find on the hamster, I decided to read up on the child, Aurora. The scientists named her after the fable of sleeping beauty due to her never waking up, only ever stirring in the presence of Soldier Boy or Compound V.
'I wonder what is causing her to be like that.'
From what I was reading, she was indeed the daughter of Soldier Boy and was the product of the Russian's most ambitious goal, Project Scion.
'This doesn't mean he hasn't lied about the rest.'
Pushing aside my doubts, I continued to rifle through more of the files. I noticed that while Aurora had the body of a 4-year-old, she was, in fact, only two years old. The science was beyond me, but I quickly understood that they had used Soldier Boy's fun time juice to forcefully impregnate a female supe prisoner in an outpost outside Russia. Alongside this disgusting act, they somehow manipulated the pregnancy to occur within only a month whilst she was in an induced coma.
'Fucking white people.'
From the notes, I could see that Project Scion aimed to create a supe army using the genes of two immensely powerful supes. A big loss for their project was the escape of the female prisoner, who seemed to be the only viable 'Broodmother' they could find, with their attempts at IVF failing and every other female subject combusting immediately after fertilisation.
'Broodmother? What the fuck is wrong with these people?'
Unfortunately for them, Aurora only grew rapidly to the biological age of 2 before ageing at a regular 'chronological rate'. From what I read in their reports, the scientists would usually terminate a failure. However, with the escape of the female prisoner, Aurora was their only chance at a future project.
'That's fucking disgusting. The scientists were waiting for her to be 'fertile'.'
Fortunately, according to their documents, alongside being permanently asleep, there was also some form of golden light protecting Aurora from harm. This meant that any disgusting act they had in mind was impossible.
'Is that her ability?'
Everything I read was disturbing, exciting and distracting, just like I had hoped. However, that all changed when a seemingly insignificant file fell from the pile. Picking up the document, I casually skimmed through it. My partial interest quickly turned into shock, and that got progressively worse the more I read. On the smudged report, I could see the summarised medical information of the child, and on the top left corner, next to Soldier Boy's information, was the description of the Mother.
'Motherfucker!!'
———————————————————————
Authors note
Hey everyone,
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I would love to know if you want me to do more POV chapters as we move along.
The next chapter will be an interesting POV from an OC, and then it's back to good old SB.
If you have any ideas or plot points you think could be fun, let me know, and I might consider including them in the story.
I would also like to thank the reader evolution-500 for pointing out that I had been spelling Vought as Vaught. That should now be fixed throughout. If not, please let me know.
Once again, thanks for reading :)
Fun fact: Mother’s Milk is the only member of The Boys to not have killed anyone (On screen).
The one constant throughout my life has always been the hate I hold for my name. It felt bland and boring for a world that was so magical. As a kid, I even believed that if I were called something different, it would finally make me important, admired, and most of all, seen. Those childish expectations stopped when I realised that it didn't matter what name I went by. It would never be important enough for anyone to remember.
Coming to terms with my mediocrity was hard. After all, I live in a city of superheroes. Sounds glamorous, right? Well, not for me. I used to be as ordinary as they come in this place: average looks, average family, average life. I've always been the guy who blends into the background, just a speck in a world filled with capes and masks. That all changed five years ago when my parents died in a car crash, leaving me alone to raise my suddenly chronically ill sister.
Now I know what you're thinking; no, I didn't gain any superpowers from some radioactive waste or suddenly awakened my ancestral chi. Of course, at the time I thought it could happen, but that was before compound V became public. Now, I'm just happy I didn't leave my sister alone in this world, especially after I learned the truth.
You see, even in a city of heroes, there's a dark side. One that no one talks about, where you either fight and be devoured or succumb and become a tool. That's where I found my opportunity to survive. While I may be average in almost every department, my work was not.
I am a part of The Firm—a multi-pronged organisation with fingers in every pie of New York City and beyond. Truthfully, I only discovered who I worked for by accident, and if they found out I knew their name, I wouldn't have time to blink before my sister and I disappeared off the face of the earth.
You might be asking yourself, how I'm so sure that would be our fate. Well, because it's my job. My department specialises in cleaning up messes or "cleansing", and we're generously compensated not to ask questions.
It goes without saying some days, I wonder if I'm doing the right thing, and today was one of those days.
.....
It was a typical start to a Monday, with me in bed scrolling through V-bay, trying to occupy my mind whilst impatiently waiting for a call.
'It needs to come soon. Last night was her worst one yet.'
"Ring!! Ring!! Ring!!"
'Finally!!'
I anxiously looked up from my V-phone X and rolled over to open a small hidden compartment on my bedside table that contained a pile of burner phones and a smooth, faceless white mask.
My eyes frantically searched through the pile and quickly located the ringing culprit.
'Please let this be a simple one.'
I grabbed the phone and answered, knowing missing the call would not bode well for my employment status.
"The midnight rain pours heavily on the city," I said carefully, ensuring I didn't make any mistake with this week's code phrase.
"Cleansing the hidden shadows of the filth that festers," A distorted voice responds before relaying the information I needed, "Cleansing on Lexington Avenue. Your ride is the van outside. Don't be late this time, Cleanser 546."
The call cut short before I could reply, and with a small grunt of frustration, I grabbed the mask and closed the compartment.
'I was late one time!!'
Whilst continuing to grumble to myself, I showered, dressed and began leaving the apartment. I was partially out the door when a whimpering sound like that of a kicked puppy stopped me.
It was coming from my sister's room.
'Her night terrors shouldn't be affecting her this early.'
Careful not to make any loud noises, I quietly approached, opened the bedroom door and looked over at the tiny black-haired girl sleeping in her adventure-time pyjamas.
At first glance, she looked like every other 7-year-old girl her age. Yet, at closer inspection, you would notice the thin hair, baggy eyes and sickly complexion.
'She's getting worse.'
With a worried expression, I crossed the minefield of toys and legos strewn throughout the room and reached her bed.
'One of us will slip on all this if she doesn't clean up after herself.'
Having said that, I knew I wouldn't mention it. After all, in comparison to her current state, the mess was trivial. Letting out a sigh, I couldn't bear to look at her twitching in pain any longer and tenderly stroked her hair to calm her down. With a sad smile, I leaned in close to kiss the bird-shaped birthmark on her left cheek that matched my own.
"Please hold on a little longer, Sophie. I almost have enough to help you," I brokenly whispered as I closed my eyes and continued to stroke her hair.
'I'm too weak.'
After countless doctors failed to treat or even diagnose her over the years, the only hope we had left was a supe with the ability to heal. Fortunately, I had saved nearly enough money to afford one of the G-men's discounted child rates.
'Thank god that some real heroes still exist in this fucked up world.'
My melancholic thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a small hand weakly gripping my arm.
I opened my brown eyes to the sight of a vibrant pair of beautiful hazel orbs. My sister had woken up and was staring at me with a scared look that bore a hole into my heart.
'Why does she have to suffer? What fucked up thing did we do to deserve this?'
"Don't go, please. The bad people were hurting me again. I tried not to be scared, but it was so dark, and you weren't there,' she meekly said whilst gripping my arm tightly.
As she continued to sniff and hold me, I felt my heart break even more as I knew I couldn't stay and comfort her like I usually do after her episodes.
'I hate leaving her like this.'
"They're just nightmares, Sophie. I will never let anyone hurt you, okay? Go back to sleep." I warmly stated as I reluctantly pried her hands off me and rubbed away the tears that streamed down her puffy cheeks.
"You promise?" She quietly sniffled as she looked up at me with hope.
'No one will ever hurt you.'
"I promise. Now get some rest, and when I'm back, we can have breakfast and watch TV all day. That sounds fun?" I replied with false bravado to cheer her up.
"Yayyyy!!' She responded, her sad face now beaming with joy.
I kissed her on the head and watched as she cuddled into the stuffed turtle I bought her the day we lost our parents.
'She's going to be ok. She has to be.'
Wiping away a few tears I could not hold back, I hardened my resolve and exited the room and apartment.
Once outside in the glaring morning sun, I immediately saw the van The Firm had provided and realised I would probably be heading to a nice part of town. They had given me the 'Boundless Builders' van and not the 'Plump Plumbers' usually reserved for rougher neighbourhoods.
'Shouldn't be too messy of a scene.'
Entering via the back of the vehicle and into the sleek-looking sterile section, I put on the mask that I had taken from my room and stepped into the white hazmat gear provided.
With everything set, I gave one last look at my apartment before jumping into the driver seat and following the Sat Nav into the city.
....
When I arrived, I saw my team had already begun cordoning off the street with some scaffolding. Out of the 50-60 people milling around, I quickly recognised the figure of my partner, 'KIA', also known as Cleanser 542, waiting for me. We didn't know each other's real names and never saw each other's faces, as The Firm dictated it was unsafe. However, it made it easier to converse if we used an alias. Turning the numbers into names seemed like the most logical solution.
"Hey, JIM," Kia said, her distorted voice sounding nauseous behind the hazmat suit. "Be prepared. This is a bad one, a really bad one."
'What could have shaken her so much? We've seen some disgusting clean-ups in our time together.'
I followed her around the corner, past a small gap in the weird barricade of dumpsters, and felt the contents of my stomach rise to my throat as I took in the gruesome scene before me. Blood and flesh were splattered across every surface like abstract art, and in the middle was a pool of blood that contained the remnants of a disfigured and dismembered body. The air itself was thick with the metallic scent of violence, and for the first time in a while, I felt genuine fear.
'What being could do such a thing.'
I'd seen my fair share of guts and bloodshed, but this was something else entirely.
I swallowed hard, trying to keep my composure as a shiver travelled down my spine, "What...What happened here?"
'This is not what I signed up for.'
Kia could only shake her head, her eyes locked on the horror before us. I knew she didn't have the answers, and frankly, neither did I. Of course, I could see a supe did this, but honestly, this was a level of violence that, even after nearly two years on the job, I had never encountered.
"SNAP!!"
The sudden snapping of fingers made Kia and I jump in surprise and turn to see our boss, Cleanser 005, behind us.
"Pull yourselves together, greenhorns. Usually, I keep you two for the mundane supe attacks. But we need all hands on deck to return this place to your everyday junkie's paradise asap. This comes straight from head office, so don't ask questions, do your job well, and you'll get paid ten times your normal rate while also looking at a promotion. Understood?" He impatiently said as he dropped a toolbox in front of us.
We both quickly calmed down and nodded our heads rapidly in response.
'Ten times the rate and a raise from a promotion should give me what I need to help Sophie and finally have some money to play with.'
"Good, now there's only one thing you need to know. Do not touch the car. You got that? We have a man coming to collect it in a bit, and until then, you don't even look at it," He sternly said as he pointed towards an impala with a small dent on its side.
'Is that the car from the TV show supernatural?'
Despite our evident confusion, both Kia and I once again nodded and watched as Cleanser 005 walked over to debrief another team.
Seeing that as our cue to start, I opened the toolbox, picked up the equipment, and passed a DNA scrubber to Kia. Nodding one final time at each other, we got to work.
As I broke down the DNA and liquified the flesh, I couldn't help but reflect on my life. How had I ended up here, surrounded by the aftermath of a world I didn't belong to? Growing up, I believed that the heroes in this city fought for justice. No one explicitly told me anything, but after only a few days working this job, I quickly realised that those stories were just a bunch of propaganda fed to the masses. Nowadays, real heroes like those in the past are as common as honest men in Congress, and my job was to clean up their truth.
'At least I got some nice company.'
Turning to check on Kia, I noticed that she had stopped working and had her back to me.
"You ok, Kia? I know this is a difficult one. Do you want a break?" I asked her gently as I lay my hand on her shoulder.
I was surprised to see her jump at my voice and touch, and for a second, I thought I saw a small metal device in her hand. However, just as quickly as it was there, in the blink of an eye, it was gone.
'I must be still tired from spending all night calming Sophie down from her night terrors.'
"No, don't worry, I'm good. Let's get this done and then get out of here. I'll need a long shower after this." Kia said in a lighter tone before taking out the normaliser. A device that makes the sterile environment no longer sterile by introducing controlled contaminants.
I gave her a weak smile in return that she could not see and bowed my head whilst doing my job. One thing was sure: even in this world of the extraordinary, I'll forever be a nobody.
There's no point dwelling on it; my role in this universe is set in stone, and I can do nothing about it. As long as I get this job done, Sophie and I can finally move forward with our lives, and I can spend money on my true passion.
Hopefully, they pay me before someone else buys that limited edition Soldier Boy trading card I've been eyeing for my collection.
'Now that was a real Hero. If only more like him existed."
———————————————————————
Author's note
Hi guys, I'll be releasing another chapter in a few days. This will be the last POV chapter for a while, as I want to get the story flowing. In fact, I was contemplating releasing this later, but it makes more sense for it to appear here in the story, and I've already written it. It is relevant to some ideas I want to implement, so I hope you enjoyed it.
Also,I want your opinions on whether I should use some plot points from the new spin-off TV show Gen V.
Fun fact: The new TV show Gen V is now out on Amazon and will impact the storyline of The Boys season 4.
— New chapter is coming soon — Write a review
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