The Spirit of Contract

To look out for one another, the members of The Boys split into pairs.

Hughie teamed up with Starlight, while Butcher paired with Frenchie.

As an aside.

Aside from the basic Body Enhancement possessed by all Superhumans, Frenchie's personal ability after his first injection of Temporary Compound V was toxin immunity.

As for how Frenchie knew it was toxin immunity...

Before setting out, he had secretly taken some drugs to wake himself up and lift his spirits. But after awakening his powers, their stimulating effects vanished instantly.

Leon guessed that Frenchie had taken so many drugs that the drug resistance he had built up had been turned into a superpower by Temporary Compound V.

All he could say was—

What a talent.

Naturally—

Mother's Milk and Leon made up the remaining pair and waited outside the manor for good news.

As for Kimiko, because this mission required a certain degree of communication skills, The Boys had not brought her along and instead had her stay behind to guard the house.

Before the members of The Boys headed out to evacuate people, Leon pulled Butcher aside.

"Give me a vial of that stuff too."

"Why?"

"You don't need it."

As he spoke.

Butcher tossed a vial of Temporary Compound V to Leon. After catching it, Leon stepped aside so Butcher could see Mother's Milk standing not far behind him.

"I don't need it, but he does."

"What if he can't resist offending me, and I accidentally beat him to death? If possible, I'd like to be a good person. This is for his own safety."

"Makes sense."

Butcher accepted Leon's reasoning. He felt that was a very likely scenario—he trusted Mother's Milk, but he also trusted Leon.

After Butcher left.

Leon returned to Mother's Milk, who was examining the manor through binoculars.

"Hey, bro, now it's just the two of us here."

Leon smiled. "You seem to have some issue with me. We might as well clear the air while we have the chance. We're on the same team now, so there shouldn't be any barriers between us. That would be unprofessional."

At that.

Mother's Milk lowered his binoculars and looked at Soldier Boy, the man he wanted to hate but somehow could no longer bring himself to hate.

"You killed my family."

"Which ones?"

"All of them. In the past."

"Then I really don't remember any of it."

Leon was telling the truth. After all, he was merely using Soldier Boy's name; he was not actually Soldier Boy himself.

Here it came again...

That unsettling feeling...

Mother's Milk's emotions were a tangled mess. His enemy stood right in front of him, yet he still felt strangely empty inside.

"Hey, bro, listen to me." Leon patted Mother's Milk on the shoulder and comforted him. "Maybe the one who killed your family back then was some bastard disguised as me, out doing evil."

"After all, the more famous you are, the more trouble follows. This is a common tactic certain antis use to slander me."

"Stark, you bastard..."

His old memories intertwined with the image before him. Mother's Milk had to admit that he was beginning to wonder whether what Leon said was actually the truth.

He couldn't tell.

He really couldn't tell!

"Shit!"

"What the hell is real?!"

A splitting headache wracked Mother's Milk as he slammed a fist into the lawn!

Seeing this.

Leon curled his lips into a smile and tossed the vial of Temporary Compound V he had gotten from Butcher at Mother's Milk's feet.

"Bro, I think this is what you need right now."

"Because some things can't be figured out just by thinking. You've held yourself back for too long. What you need now is an outlet."

"Once you let it all out, maybe some things will naturally become clear."

Leon's voice sounded like a devil's whisper in Mother's Milk's ears.

Mother's Milk gritted his teeth, steeled himself, picked up the Temporary Compound V from the ground, and jabbed it straight into the artery in his neck. That was the fastest and most potent way for it to take effect.

"Argh!!!!!"

As the Temporary Compound V entered his body, Mother's Milk cried out in pain and collapsed. Then the muscles and veins all over his body began to glow with a translucent crimson light, which eventually converged at two points on his upper body.

In the end.

Two laser beams, comparable to Butcher's Heat Vision, burst forth uncontrollably!

Bang! Bang!

The two camphor trees behind Leon crashed down in response.

Tch! The superpowers awakened by Compound V are way too homogeneous. And lasers shooting out from there? That doesn't make me want to sign in at all!

Leon had thought someone as resistant to superpowers as Mother's Milk would awaken something incredibly strong, especially with Butcher and Hughie as examples.

The facts proved that he had overthought it.

Still, it made sense—

Butcher hated Homelander, so his power was the same kind of laser eyes.

Hughie hated A-Train, so his power was a different kind of speed: teleportation plus translocation.

Mother's Milk hated Soldier Boy, so his power was the little sister of the Chest Cannon. Leon called it Chest Blast.

Although Leon did not seem to have fired his Chest Cannon in front of Mother's Milk yet...

"Leon oni-chan~"

"The scheduled time has arrived~"

A cute alarm voice from Preschool Arcee suddenly came through Leon's Bluetooth earpiece. With a smile, he waved at Mother's Milk, who had become a temporary superman behind him, his nipples exposed.

"Playtime is over."

"Now, let those inherently evil Superhumans feel pain."

Mother's Milk wore a dark expression as he nodded heavily. He had never felt better and was determined to make those Superhuman bastards kneel and sing of their surrender!

Inside the manor.

"What the fuck?!"

"How the hell did you do that?!"

Hughie had just run into A-Train, who had come looking for Blue Hawk to avenge his brother. Hughie threw him a punch with his Superhuman physique, only for Starlight to stop him.

She pointed at her watch.

"It's already been three minutes, Hughie."

"Leon is about to arrive. We don't have time to waste on him."

As she spoke.

Starlight turned to look at A-Train, who was still dazed from the punch.

"A-Train, you don't deserve a warning, but leave this place. Now. Immediately. If you don't want to die!"

With that.

Starlight dragged Hughie away. A-Train's expression flickered uncertainly, and then Blue Hawk happened to enter his field of vision, completely igniting the rage in his heart.

A-Train's heart could no longer bear the strain, yet he immediately activated his full speed without hesitation. He charged at Blue Hawk, pressed his head to the ground, and dragged him away at supersonic speed.

By the time Leon, dressed in the full Soldier Boy Suit, strode openly through the villa's front door with Mother's Milk behind him, his nipples exposed.

Only a trail of paint-like white and crimson remained on the ground, stretching from the entrance all the way outside the villa.