Chapitre 21: Chapter 21
[3rd POV]
He was already supposed to be at the plain hotel with pretty thick walls.
A normal-looking man with a slight stomach and a messy beard was in the room.
He wore a simple shirt and jeans. He was barely recognizable as the little-known hero that he was.
"Hello, it's a great honor for me."
He jumped up as soon as Homelander entered the room.
"Let's get down to business, Multiplier."
Homelander sighed, clearly stating he wasn't thrilled to be in such company.
There are so many services that Multiplier can offer.
John was still shocked by how many clients he had even though he knew this.
Apparently, there were enough crazy rich people who didn't mind spending money on Multiplier's services.
"Nobody calls me that anymore. Just Sam will do."
Sam corrected him with a hint of embarrassment, gazing in awe at Homelander.
"Fine, Sam."
Homelander sighed, agreeing to use his name.
"Let's get to the point."
"Alright. Hmm... usually, I rarely get superpeople asking for my services."
He settled on the edge of the bed, bouncing slightly, seemingly delighted that his idol addressed him by name.
"We need to specify how identical the clone should be to the original. We just need to understand what you need it for."
"I need a full-fledged clone with all the resulting nuances."
"It will take more than an hour, and... it will be expensive."
Sam replied hesitantly, feeling awkward as he said it.
"Do I look like someone who would be petty, Sam? What's the price?"
"Three million."
Sam replied, pressing his lips together.
"Usually, this price prevents many and the clone won't have intelligence, just raw instincts."
"That's fine. I need a clone's body to be absolutely identical to the original, and that's all. I'm not asking for more."
"Alright, then let's begin."
Sam said, chewing his lips and sighing quietly.
He then reached into his bag and pulled out a plastic container with tablets.
"I need to be alone for ten minutes."
"I have no objections."
John shrugged, watching as the man locked himself in the bathroom.
He couldn't help but keep an eye on his actions to ensure there was no trickery.
He immediately swallowed two tablets and scowled, holding his stomach for a while.
Then he bent over the toilet, and a foamy substance that had previously been digested food poured out of his mouth.
It seemed the tablets helped eliminate excess organic matter in his stomach.
The whole process took no more than five minutes, and he managed to compose himself.
"We can start now."
Sam said, coming out of the bathroom.
"Did you bring blood, hair, or anything else?"
"Yes."
John replied, pulling out a ziplock bag containing everything.
The samples weren't too hard to get since they were provided to him voluntarily.
"Great."
Sam said.
After a brief hesitation, he took the blood and drank it, then swallowed the hair, and his face contorted, showing that he wasn't enjoying it himself.
However, this was just the beginning, and he would regret his decision even more in the coming hours.
After that, John had to wait about forty minutes while Sam just sat on the bed, looking like he had eaten a lemon and experiencing unpleasant sensations in his stomach.
It was quite a sight.
John watched as a clone slowly formed inside him, emerging somehow from the blood and hair.
It was a strange but fascinating spectacle.
Eventually, Sam jumped up from the bed, stood facing it, and removed his shirt.
Then, an exact copy of Rebecca started to come out of his stomach.
The sight of him writhing in pain and Becca separating from him was not the most satisfying, at least aesthetically.
After this unpleasant process for both of them, the Rebecca clone lay on the bed.
The clone's eyes had no intelligence, just an empty shell.
"You can go now."
John said to the exhausted man who weakly nodded and left through the door.
He then locked the doors and proceeded with the most important task.
He took out the syringe he had brought along with doses of V compound and filled it with the liquid.
He carefully put the needle into one of the clones' kidneys as instructed and waited for the response.
"Mmmmmhhhhh!!!!"
The clone moaned furiously while John held its body, which was actively changing.
John calmly exhaled, waiting for the changes to finish.
After all, one cannot endanger the mother of his child if he is not sure of the result.
The clone would help him with that.
...
The next day, John placed a large weight in front of Ryan with the number ten drawn.
John lifted it with his finger and smiled at him while Rebecca looked on with slight concern.
Nevertheless, Rebecca didn't say anything because she knew he knew what he was doing.
"It's hollow inside."
John explained, placing it on the ground.
"Try lifting it."
"Okay."
Ryan replied uncertainly when noticing his mother's strange condition.
He grabbed the thick handle with both hands and slowly pulled it towards himself.
He slowly raised the weight to his chest and threw it to the ground, showing tension on his face.
"Ha... It's a heavy thing. Why?"
"I just wanted to check something. Now you can go home and play with something."
John smiled, patting him on the head.
Ryan smiled carefreely and ran home while Rebecca approached the weight and tried to lift it.
She tried hard but couldn't get it even a centimeter off the ground.
She stared at John in shock.
"It weighs seventy kilograms or a hundred fifty-four pounds."
John clarified immediately in response to her questioning look.
"Twice his weight."
Rebecca murmured in astonishment when finally realizing how strong her son was.
"Over time, he'll be able to lift much more. It's just a matter of time."
John continued, drawing from his own experience.
"But let's not forget that he's still a child and not capable of standing up for himself just yet."
"And that's why you're suggesting I take the drug?"
Rebecca asked warily, knowing from John's stories that it was not recommended for adults.
"I won't always be with you, and you need to understand that, Becca."
"And side effects? Are there any?"
She asked, seeking the key details that would help her decide.
"I've checked everything. There won't be noticeable side effects if you're worried about significant body mutations."
"If you say so."
Rebecca sighed when realizing that refusing now would be foolish especially when her son's peaceful life depended on it.
"Does it hurt?"
"It's unbearable."
John didn't lie to her.
"That's where you should have lied."
She murmured, rolling her eyes.
"I don't want to lose your trust."
"As if that's so important."
She smirked, but she was pleased by his words despite their grim nature.
"To me... it is."
John replied with a smile.
She didn't respond, but the quickened beat of her heart spoke volumes.
John had certainly earned Rebecca's trust.
"When can we start?"
Rebecca exhaled loudly, bouncing on her toes as if preparing to leap into the abyss.
"Whenever you're ready."
"Then what are we waiting for? Since it's going to hurt anyway, why delay?"
Rebecca responded while trying to lift the weight again with no success.
"Since you're asking."
John nodded and brought out the syringe with the dose of V, along with some cotton and alcohol.
"We'll move a bit away to avoid any noise."
"You realize that sounded extremely ambiguous, right?"
Rebecca smirked, heading to a more secluded part of the forest.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
John smiled while following her. He would have been much more anxious in her place.
The forest wasn't particularly dense but was enough to conceal the two engaged in who-knows-what.
They quickly found a secluded spot, and Rebecca had to lie on her stomach on a fallen log.
"Is this clean?"
She asked belatedly as if only just realizing where the injection would take place.
"We're in the forest, surrounded by dirt, germs, and animal droppings. Of course, it's hygienic."
John snorted with sarcasm and wiped the area around her kidneys with alcohol-soaked cotton.
He then handed her a wooden spatula from the kitchen.
"Bite on this."
"Ha... ha... ha... Very funny, John."
Rebecca flinched as she felt the needle slowly penetrate her skin and the substance being injected.
She quickly clenched the spatula between her teeth.
"It's done."
John removed the needle immediately after noticing the changes in her body.
Rebecca practically roared, clenching the spatula tightly between her teeth, causing a distinct cracking sound.
John quickly positioned himself on top of her to hold her in place.
The pain she felt was excruciating as if molten lava was flowing through her veins.
She was very hot, and she was thrashing around furiously, scratching the log's surface that looked like claw marks.
It was no wonder as black claws quickly grew from her fingertips, each at least eight centimeters long.
The damage wasn't just to the log. John's clothes were also destroyed.
In a few minutes, Rebecca managed to shred his shirt into tatters with her claws.
She got very angry, and her eyes turned red. She was unconscious for about ten minutes before she finally passed out.
"It looks like... it was successful."
John said uncertainly, watching the claws retract back into her hands.
Without much hesitation, he picked her up and carried her toward the house.
She needed to get some proper rest especially after such a painful experience.
Rebecca slept for almost thirty minutes, and John stayed by her side the entire time.
He examined her thoroughly to see the differences compared to the clone's transformation.
There were minimal differences, given that the mutation was identical.
"Don't tell me you sat here all day waiting for me to wake up."
Rebecca glared as she turned her head toward him. She no longer felt the pain, but the memory of it was still quite vivid.
"It's only been thirty minutes, and everything went well. I just wanted to make sure... though, you know what, never mind."
John shrugged dismissively.
"You'd better explain, or I'll die of curiosity!"
Rebecca responded, half-jokingly but with genuine concern.
"Alright, I was worried you might go into a rage again."
"Rage?"
"Yeah, with the growling, the red eyes, and trying to kill me. You shredded my favorite shirt."
He admitted honestly, adding a note of reproach to his voice.
"Okay, okay."
Rebecca extended her arm and looked at it with interest.
"I seem to remember how I did it."
John watched with curiosity as she focused and gradually extended long claws from her fingers.
Rebecca stared in shock at the black claws which were intimidating just by their appearance and when used...
"Fuck, I thought it would hurt."
Rebecca muttered, clearly surprised.
"It seems you're genuinely in shock."
John smirked, noting her use of strong language for the first time.
"And how do I retract them?"
She asked, looking for his help, but he simply shrugged.
"Alright, I'll figure it out myself."
"You're quick."
He smirked when seeing how the claws retracted swiftly into her fingers after her words.
It seemed to work on an intuitive level, like his heat vision which cannot be activated without his awareness.
"You know, it's like riding a bike but only even easier."
Rebecca smiled, extending and retracting the claws with no discomfort.
This only confirmed his assumption.
Suddenly, she jumped off the bed and ran downstairs, and he soon found himself in the backyard after her.
She had become much more agile and faster, easily jumping over the stairs.
He had no choice but to follow her.
She smiled as she lifted the weight and started playing with it, tossing it and catching it mid-air.
"This is so cool!"
Rebecca exclaimed excitedly while continuing to play in front of the two spectators.
"What's going on with mom?"
Ryan asked who had also come out to see where his mother had run.
"The first forty years of childhood are the toughest in a girl's life. However, this applies to boys as well."
John smiled under the annoyed look of the "girl."
Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket, and after reading the message, he turned to Rebecca.
"I have to go to work."
"Okay."
Rebecca nodded, not out of breath at all, and he nodded in response and went inside to change.
...
[Homelander's POV]
"A simple girl from the countryside wanted to change the world..."
A voiceover said, under a montage of clips.
"Since when did "full of hope" and "naive" become the same word?"
Starlight's voice sounded.
"Despite all the difficulties, she made a statement so loudly and sincerely that her voice broke through with an unstoppable roar! Hear her story! Before your eyes, she will rise and fight back for all of us! Citizen Starlight! Produced by Vought."
The monologue ended with a pop song by Katy Perry, showing the title of the new show.
"Why do I feel... disgust?"
Starlight pursed her lips, looking at me after watching the commercial.
"Even absolute truth, wrapped in a TV format, can become excessive and even... not so truthful."
I smirked in response.
I was reminded of various scandalous TV shows that exploited the misfortunes of ordinary citizens, showing their difficult and sometimes disgusting family relationships.
I slumped on the couch and sighed.
Annie just smiled at my actions and lay down beside me, looking into my eyes.
"Is this how it will always be?"
"Yes."
"You can't call yourself an optimist."
She huffed and fell silent for a few seconds, simply staring at me.
"What?"
"You have such deep blue eyes... they almost pull you in physically. It gives me goosebumps."
Annie shared her thoughts, gently kissing me on the lips.
"Interesting observation."
I smirked as we pulled away from each other.
"You know, in the Bahamas, there's a beach where the sand is literally pink."
She said thoughtfully.
"And what's it called?"
"Pink Sand Beach."
Annie smiled shyly, snuggling up to me.
"What if we flew there?"
"Why not. Just keep in mind you might freeze yourself."
I teased while recalling our previous flight experience and smiled at her disgruntled face.
"I was talking about a plane!"
"I figured as much."
I smiled, holding her who tried to pull away closer.
"Let's go. I'm ready."
"Really?"
She asked with hope.
"Absolutely."
I answered confidently, anticipating another kiss in thanks.
"Then why are we still lying around? The sooner we get to the airport, the sooner we'll be on the beach!"
She jumped up and looked at me with expectation, not seeing disappointment on my face.
"Alright, you win."
I rolled my eyes and remembered that I supposedly had my own private jet provided by the company.
It's about time I used it for its intended purpose.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone