บท 38: [37] : I Quit!
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....
After leaving Vought Tower, Roger let out a long sigh.
He had originally thought that Vought would be severely weakened by the various scandals surrounding the superheroes, but he hadn't expected them to find a way to respond so quickly. Roger blamed himself; he should have dealt with the superhuman terrorists earlier. However, he had been so focused on dragging Vought into the public eye that he had temporarily forgotten about it.
Now, everything was in a state of limbo, leaving him feeling deeply frustrated.
Roger could easily predict Vought's next move. They would undoubtedly exploit the situation with the superhuman terrorists to shift the public's attention. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense would likely resume discussions on the possibility of integrating Vought's superheroes into national defense.
Although forcing Vought to let go of some superheroes wasn't a complete failure, Roger was still disheartened by how things had come full circle, undoing much of his progress.
"So frustrating..."
Rubbing his head, Roger felt a surge of irritation. There was nothing more frustrating and infuriating than seeing a carefully laid plan fall apart at the last minute.
However, Roger quickly calmed himself. He intended to contact Tek Knight to discuss their next steps, but just as he was about to dial, a call came in from one of the Boys.
It was from a disposable phone with a burner SIM card. Roger answered, and Mother's Milk's urgent voice came through on the other end: "Bad news, Tek Knight is being watched by Vought! Their secret unit just raided his house!"
"Where is Tek?"
"Not sure. The last time he contacted us, he said he ran into Black Noir... Didn't you hear anything?"
"..."
Roger took a deep breath. He hadn't heard anything. Whether Vought thought it wasn't important enough to tell him or they had discovered something and deliberately kept him in the dark, he couldn't say.
But regardless of the reason, with Tek Knight in danger, Roger had to intervene.
He couldn't let Tek Knight die. The man had a wealth of dirt on Vought and knew many secrets even Roger wasn't aware of. If Tek Knight died, it would make Roger's efforts against Vought much more difficult.
Ending the call with Mother's Milk, Roger took to the skies, scanning for Tek Knight's whereabouts.
Although Roger had super vision and super hearing, their range was somewhat limited.
While Superman could hear sounds from any city on Earth, Roger's range was only about half a city, perhaps just a single neighborhood in New York, and even then, it wasn't entirely accurate. Otherwise, in the original story, Homelander wouldn't have struggled to find Translucent.
The same went for his super vision.
So to find Tek Knight, Roger needed to fly, which would take time.
He prayed that nothing would happen to Tek Knight during that time.
...
In a filthy, foul-smelling alley, Tek Knight lay on the ground in his battle armor. Nearby, Black Noir, covered in wounds, was breathing heavily.
It was clear that the two had just been through a life-or-death battle.
Tek Knight had no superpowers. The fact that he had managed to fight Black Noir to a standstill while wearing his battle armor was impressive, especially since he was still recovering from an illness.
"Cough, cough... It's... still not enough..."
Lying on the ground, Tek Knight chuckled bitterly. "I thought I wouldn't fear anyone except Homelander, but I can't even handle you."
Black Noir said nothing. He had never spoken, as if he were mute. He simply walked over to Tek Knight and handed him a communication device.
Tek Knight took it and asked, "Is... that you, Edgar?"
"It's me. Why did you do this?"
On the other end, Edgar's tone was firm, as he had apparently confirmed that Tek Knight was behind the recent turmoil Vought had caused.
Tek Knight's mouth curled into a smile beneath his helmet. "I couldn't stand you anymore. I figured... I might as well try to be a hero one last time before I die."
"Hadn't you had enough of playing hero?"
"Playing? Do you really think... I was just playing?"
Tek Knight laughed mockingly.
He had spent a fortune on his battle armor and bought shares in Vought to become a superhero. As a wealthy second-generation, if he hadn't genuinely wanted to be a hero, why would he have gone to such lengths?
But because he was too righteous, like Starlight, Vought had targeted him, fabricating scandals with no evidence, making it impossible for him to continue as a superhero.
Tek Knight harbored deep resentment toward Vought. Although he had grown disillusioned, Roger's appearance had rekindled his desire to fight back.
He wanted to see if he could take a bite out of Vought before he died.
But now, it seemed he had failed.
"Enough, Tek. The game's over, for you and your hero fantasies."
Edgar's voice came through the device, ordering Black Noir, "Finish him."
Black Noir said nothing as he put his earpiece back in place and approached Tek Knight, raising his fist to strike.
Bang!!
But unexpectedly, Black Noir's punch didn't land on Tek Knight. A hand had suddenly appeared, catching his fist. Black Noir looked up, and his pupils widened beneath his mask.
It was Homelander!!
"?"
Black Noir looked at Homelander in confusion. He didn't understand why Homelander was here or why he was saving Tek Knight.
Just as he was about to ask, Homelander suddenly wrapped his arms around Black Noir's head and tightened his grip around his neck.
"!!!"
The unexpected attack caught Black Noir off guard. He hadn't anticipated that Homelander would do this, nor had Edgar, who was watching through the micro-camera on Black Noir.
Homelander's grip on Black Noir's neck was unrelenting, his immense strength leaving Black Noir powerless to resist.
Snap, !
With a sickening crack, Black Noir stopped struggling, his body going limp as he collapsed to the ground.
Roger used his x-ray vision to examine Black Noir, and after confirming that he was dead, he took the earpiece from Black Noir and put it in his own ear.
On the other end, Edgar seemed still in shock, but when he heard the commotion on Roger's end, he finally asked, "Why did you do this? Have you lost your mind?"
Roger took a deep breath, looking at Black Noir's body as he replied to Edgar, "Because I'm Homelander, and I'll do whatever the fuck I want!"
With that, he crushed the earpiece and used his heat vision to destroy the camera on Black Noir's body and his head.
After doing all this, Roger stood over Black Noir's body, lost in thought.
He hadn't planned on doing this. When he found Tek Knight, he had been trying to figure out a reasonable way to justify his presence there to save him.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find a good reason. At the same time, Vought's handling of his efforts against them had infuriated him.
So when Black Noir moved to kill Tek Knight, Roger's suppressed rage shattered his self-control, and without thinking, he snapped Black Noir's neck.
He knew he shouldn't have done it, but he couldn't help himself.
And after killing Black Noir, Roger suddenly felt a strange sense of relief, as if... this was what he should have done all along, instead of holding back and playing the good guy.
"You... you were a bit..."
Tek Knight got up from the ground, looking at Black Noir's body as he spoke to Roger.
Roger calmed himself and said to Tek Knight, "What's done is done. It doesn't matter anymore. Now, release all the dirt on the superheroes. Since we've already broken with Vought, let's play this game to the end."
After venting his frustration, Roger felt incredibly satisfied.
He suddenly realized that this was what he should have done from the beginning. Who cared about all the potential consequences? If he didn't have to worry about anything happening to himself and had all that dirt on Vought, he could just flip the table and destroy the whole game!
It was clear that flipping the table was much simpler and faster than a covert, back-and-forth battle!
So forget about being a superhero, or the leader of the Seven. Roger, was done with it!
...
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