Kapitel 345: 345 The Boys: The Unbeatable Artoria Pendragon, Butcher vs Homelander and The Final Plan Puts Allen in Real Danger.
*Stan Edgar's POV*
Alex Winter... you might not recognize his name due to his complicated family situation, as his daughter took her mother's last name, but he is a highly valuable employee.
He recently received two promotions, and consequently, his salary tripled. He is appreciated at Vought, and it didn't take much to get him to accept our deal.
Don't blame him, humans are weak...
Alex agreed to use his daughter... I know, she's a charming child, a fun child, an adorable child, the kind of girl who could win your heart.
Alice did a good job, don't worry she didn't know anything about this, her feelings are genuine, otherwise, she wouldn't have fooled you. After so much interaction with Alice, I can bet you wouldn't leave her alone in tough times, right?
I know you have a habit of giving accessories to women you like, I know that both Alice and his mother and aunt have your gifts. I assumed they were objects with some kind of power that would protect them from all evil.
But, does that work with her father? Would Alice feel threatened by her father? Would she suspect that her father might take her to a Vought underground facility?
Yes, I know, this might be the lowest of the low... but understand... you are fascinating and terrifying... you are incredible and monstrous... you are a perfect product... no, even more than that...
That's why I want to eliminate you... because as much as I respect you, I fear you...
...
Allen stared dazed at the screen as he listened to Stan Edgar's words.
Alice was in an armored room with walls impregnated with a powerful force field, playing with some toys while a man watched her. Allen assumed that due to the lack of precautions towards the man, he must be Alice's father.
Allen also noticed that Alice had three devices, a bracelet, a necklace, and an anklet, each one independent and each one different.
Various devices are designed to harm Alice, and, likely, others are not visible.
"..." Allen let out a large sigh.
Stan Edgar made sure that no matter what power Allen used, how fast he was, or even if he could bend space, he would never save Alice in time.
"Damn..." Allen's gaze burned as intensely as a volcano erupting and as coldly as the depths of the sea.
To say that Allen was upset would be an understatement. The anger in Allen at this moment was stimulating his power so much that he was trembling. Allen must be careful. If his power goes out of control, it could destroy the Earth.
Allen thought, controlling his emotions with all his might, can I teleport to Alice and remove her from danger? No, definitely there's a great amount of risk that I won't be fast enough. Could I bring Alice here? Yes, but it's most likely that the device Alice has is something more than a simple bomb.
Allen looked at Stan Edgar with golden eyes...
"You better kill me... because if you don't, I'll find you, and you won't get another chance..."
"I know..."
Ashley arrived trembling with a briefcase, she approached Allen.
"Mr. Walker..."
As he opened it, Allen saw a vial similar to Compound V but golden in color...
...
(Allen there are new waifus in the Chat don't look bad. 🍷🗿)
...
Sister Sage, who was observing this, swallowed hard, "That crazy bastard wants to give him the perfect compound!!!"
Sage sometimes hates her mind because it doesn't give her time to be surprised; with just that information, she knew what Stan Edgar's plan was and also how crazy he had to be.
Allen took the vial... he could also see what Stan Edgar was planning...
"Are you tired, Allen?"
Stan's question halted Allen's movements.
"I know... you're tired... you're a man who tends to take on monumental burdens without even blinking, but you get tired too..."
"I noticed, and I'm sure someone else did too..."
"With every power you absorb, you get more tired..."
"It's very subtle and only happened six times, but during those six times, you showed irregular behavior... six times your mind disconnected for intervals of 0.3 to 2.3 seconds at the longest..."
"All of this is due to the load that comes with having so many abilities, isn't it?"
"..."
"You don't have to answer, what you have in your hand is the pinnacle of Compound V, it's the formula enhanced to the max, even its creation is almost an improbability, Sage took 768 attempts to bring together the right conditions for that single sample, and in her words, it's almost a miracle..."
"Use it..."
There was no need to think further, Stan Edgar was trying to make Allen self-destruct. If many of Allen's skills are already capable of adversely affecting him or are difficult to control and considering many he stole in their early stages from babies and children, would he be able to withstand the pressure of all that power?
Of course, he refused, Allen himself was not sure of this.
Stan Edgar did not make his move and deliberately let Allen steal all the abilities possible, including those from his most powerful Supes, like Stormfront, Golden Boy, Andre Anderson, and Sam Riordan, even hoping that Allen would absorb Soldier Boy's power but it was not possible, and more than anything the powers of Homelander.
Allen looked coldly at Stan Edgar, "You're crazy... what if you lose the bet?"
Losing the bet means that Allen will get a total evolution of all his powers, he will become infinitely stronger.
Stan Edgar knew even this plan was just a bet, a bet against Allen that was the best Stan Edgar could obtain, however, Allen was truly in a tight spot.
Did he care? No!
Did he make mistakes? he did things that could have been done better, but overall, no...
Does he regret getting involved with little Alice? Never...
And that's why this crazy plan deserves recognition.
Allen smiled with hatred and respect for Stan on the same level, it was amazing what Stan could accomplish against such an unfair existence as Allen.
...
Allen does not have a self-sacrifice mentality; in these situations, he tries to find a way to achieve a perfect victory, one where Alice is saved, one where he survives, and one where he defeats his opponent.
Allen's mind raced as information flowed.
'Priorities, don't die and don't let Alice die... with that in mind, Alice's father is secondary, he might have used his daughter, but I don't want Alice to see her father die; I can also discard defeating Homelander, Soldier Boy, and Sam Riordan... I can always look for them later...
'System, can I endure it?'
[Impossible... but]
Allen finished spinning the gears of his mind; in less than a second, he had thought of his next moves.
Allen took Compound Ω and injected it without hesitation. The Chat was scared for a moment, but seeing Allen's expression,n, they calmed down.
'Stan Edgar, your tactic was perfect; according to the system's estimates, neither my body nor she would endure an evolution of all my powers... however, I'm sorry, as you said, I am an unfair existence... at a higher level than you think...'
'System, deactivate all my powers...'
[Understood...]
Allen thought of the simplest and most unfair tactic possible, it was impossible for Stan Edgar or Sage to know, probably not even someone like Rick could deduce at first hand that Allen or rather his system was capable of isolating and deactivating Allen's abilities as if it were a switch...
Checkmate...
"...!"
The moment Allen was preparing to increase his powers slightly he forgot an important detail, that he possesses powers that do not belong to the system...
Sentry...
That man who regretted his own life...
That man who felt unworthy of having so much power and never using it properly...
That man who decided to inherit all his power to Allen...
At this moment he became the person who put Allen in the greatest danger.
Allen held his head as the Compound (Ω) coursed through his system and stimulated the inherited power at the same time.
Allen Walker did not know...
Allen could not imagine that the power of the zombie hero could be so great and, at the same time, so unstable!
Allen had experienced the power of a god of destruction but even that power was not so difficult to handle.
Allen felt as if his head was trying to split in half.
"..."
Allen did not scream; he did not let out the slightest hint of pain. He did not want his Chat to see him suffer, so he only held on in silence.
Stan Edgar won his bet, for a moment, it could be seconds, it could be minutes, during which time Allen was unable to act... even to defend himself. At this moment his mind was totally focused on controlling his power... and that's why it was his most vulnerable moment
...
Homelander opened his eyes, "NOOOW!"
No one told them, but they knew at the moment that Allen used Compound (Ω), there would be an opportunity to defeat him.
The first to move was Homelander who did not hesitate. Stomping on the ground and creating a crater with his force, he gained enough momentum to break the sound barrier four times in a time of 0.2 seconds. It was the greatest speed he had ever achieved in his life and it was all to kill Allen.
Homelander had already arrived before anyone could move or almost no one.
Homelander, about to impact his fist on a vulnerable Allen, saw from the corner of his eye the reflection of a golden-wrapped metal blade.
Homelander used his hand to block but the beast behind that charge was huge and was sent flying.
"Urgh!" Homelander crashed as his arm hurt; Artoria had cut him, and even though he was invulnerable, she managed to cut him, "What?!"
Allen looked at Artoria who exchanged a look with him. There was no need to talk, Allen knew he could trust her with his life.
Artoria turned to everyone, she planted Excalibur in the ground while releasing her divinity, "My name is Artoria Pendragon. Anyone who wishes to harm my master, step forward... and be prepared to throw your life away."
Stan Edgar squinted; the mysterious woman finally showed herself, but it was something they had anticipated.
Soldier Boy spit out his cigar and prepared to release all his power. It didn't take a genius to see that Artoria, not following Homelander, intended to protect Allen.
"I'm sorry sweety, you're pretty but!-"
Soldier Boy's words were interrupted once again by a black heel that dug into his face.
"Shut up you nasty man..." 2B released her previous frustration with that kick that sent Soldier Boy flying.
"Ahhhh!"
...
Sam saw that neither Homelander nor Soldier Boy managed to attack Allen, but his attention could not stray from Artoria.
– "Sam..." – His brother's voice reached Sam.
"AAAHHHHH!!!"
Sam ran towards Artoria full of hatred. She had killed his brother.
Rebecca appeared in the air with a high-caliber rifle and armor-piercing ammunition.
"I won't lose someone again!" Rebecca's eyes flashed with anger and disgust, just as Sam wanted to avenge his brother, Rebecca would not allow anyone to harm her "family."
At the first shot, Sam fell to the ground with a bleeding shoulder, but he stood up and started running towards Artoria once more.
Rebecca attacked again and again, each bullet specifically designed to penetrate the toughness of a Supe's skin.
Sam was hit by bullets with each step he took, each shot penetrating his skin. He bled, and it hurt, but not as much as the loss of his only family.
– "Don't worry little brother, I'll protect you..." –
Sam didn't have super speed, couldn't fly, and didn't have long-range attacks; if he wanted to end Artoria, he had to get to her.
– "Sam, don't trust Uncle Stan too much, something tells me he doesn't love us as much as he says..." –
Step by step, amid a rain of bullets, Sam reached Artoria. However, he couldn't speak and fell to the ground, his body had been torn apart by Rebecca. His body bled, his skin was full of wounds, and his flesh was bruised. But that wasn't enough to stop Sam, who dragged himself across the ground toward Artoria.
"You... killed... my brother!"
"Don't be a hypocrite..."
Artoria's gaze was calm, and she didn't even look at Sam; her attention was on Homelander and when he would attack again.
"Tell me why your brother died..."
With bloodshot eyes, Sam replied, "You killed him!"
"I'm not asking you that, I asked why did I kill him?"
"..."
"He came to us and tried to kill Kimiko; if you don't know who she is, look at the man behind me..."
Artoria began to feel annoyance but her gaze remained stoic and her heart controlled.
"You come to us to kill and expect not to be treated the same, don't be hypocritical... Allen let him go once and you didn't appreciate that chance..."
Sam couldn't respond to that; it was true Allen had let him go, and it was also true that his brother had gone with bad intentions the day they killed him, but logic cannot contain the heart.
Sam still hated Artoria.
Artoria's gaze landed on Sam, no matter whether he was injured or that he couldn't get up.
Artoria unearthed her sword. It was a pity, but her pity for others could not be bought at the expense of her desire to protect Allen so she would kill Sam.
"...!"
"BITCH!"
At that moment, Artoria looked to the sky as Homelander appeared carrying a giant rock. He planned to crush them all with a single attack.
"DIE!" Homelander threw the meteorite.
Artoria didn't hesitate and used Excalibur.
The sky filled with light, and while Artoria destroyed the meteorite, Homelander attacked Allen.
...
"Do it," said Butcher, and a tank fired at Homelander, impacting him in mid-air. Homelander fell to the ground.
"What the fuck..." Homelander suffered no damage but was surprised...
In the middle of the field, a man with a black trench coat and a crowbar on his shoulder walked towards him.
"William Butcher..."
"Hello, John..." Butcher smiled, "You don't know how long I've waited for this!"
Without saying anything else, Butcher took his crowbar and hit Homelander, who was confident and tried to stop Butcher's attack. But he couldn't and was hit and sent flying.
"Urgh!!"
Butcher smiled even more; he already had Compound V in his system but did not hesitate to inject himself with a sample of the enhanced Compound V given by A-Train.
...
...
...
None of the three could reach Allen; at this moment when Allen was vulnerable, he still had powerful allies willing to risk their lives to defend him.
Stan Edgar did not despair...
Regardless of how many allies Allen had and how strong they were, it never came out of Stan Edgar's expectations. That's how meticulous this man was.
That's how cold and terrifying a truly intelligent person could be...
A masterstroke, he still had an ace up his sleeve...
But who would imagine? We are talking about the Homelander of the first, second, and possibly third generation risking their lives to kill Allen.
In this situation, with Sam on the brink of death and Homelander pushing his strength to the limit, who can imagine that all of this was nothing more than a distraction?
Perhaps there are...
But none of those few could know what Stan Edgar's final play was...
The Boys is a world that created a parody/version of each Superhero and Superheroine in DC and Marvel. This was true in the original timeline, in other words, the comics.
In that line, hundreds of Supes probably won't appear in The Boys series, like Jack The Jupiter...
If you were to ask someone who is the strongest Supe, they would respond immediately and without any doubt, Homelander.
But if you were to ask someone who the most dangerous and potentially deadliest Supe is, they might respond the same, or they might give several responses, but overall, there is one who sends chills down your spine when you understand their capabilities.
Malchemical...
In The Boys, he was just a minor antagonist; his appearance did not stand out; a man with skin of different colors that denoted his power, he was an "elemental shape-shifter."
As his name suggests, he could become any element and state of matter...
He was a parody of Plasticman and Morph... just to clarify Malchemical's potential...
He was capable of being anything, every poison, every toxin, every radioactive, corrosive, unstable, dangerous element... every elemental combination in a Supe that could eradicate humanity if he wished...
Why was someone like that just a minor character?
Because he was stupid, not a careless kind of stupid, but a real idiot who turned into one of his teammates to sleep with his girlfriend.
Stan Edgar immediately saw the potential of Malchemical and eliminated Malchemical's real weakness, his mind. Stan Edgar turned him into a mindless, willless weapon and hid him from everyone; no one who knew of his existence was alive except him.
Stan Edgar, from the beginning, had the power to end the Congress, the president, and the world... but he never did it because that wasn't his goal.
In front of Allen was his absolute shield, his knight goddess; she would not move; they would not move her regardless of who or what attacked...
But below Allen... in the micro-fissures of the earth, was a colorless, odorless, and undetectable gas. It was Malchemical... he had no mind for Allen to read, no will for both to feel, and in his gaseous state, he wasn't even a living being.
He was the supreme assassin, the lethal attack that no one could stop, because who would pay attention to dew drops? Who cares about the spring breeze? Who pays attention to the air they breathe?
They don't...
Because that would be paranoid and no one here is... just as Allen discards priorities, everyone discards the insignificant... In this fight against three Homelanders, there's no way someone would notice Malchemical, even if Allen was fully alert, he'd hardly notice him...
Stan Edgar was right...
Not even the spider-sense activated...
Astonishingly, it was not the god-like Homelander but the human Stan Edgar who put Allen in danger...
===
A/N: Malchemical The Boys comics, died a ridiculous death with Butcher burning him in his gassed state, but if he had half a brain he would have been unstoppable.
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