Everyone Had Their Own Agenda

Queen Maeve, seated nearby, sensed something was wrong and hurriedly said, "Homelander, you're scaring her."

Seeing someone speak up for Starlight, The Deep tried to smooth things over. "She's just joined us, and that's a lot of pressure to face. Anyone would have trouble adjusting. I didn't think she'd show up today."

He looked at Starlight, trying to appear friendly.

But Starlight did not return the gesture. She did not even glance at him.

Rebuffed, The Deep's expression shifted. He studied her icy face, rocking his chair thoughtfully.

Homelander smiled and took his hand off Starlight's shoulder.

He shrugged. "Just a joke. I even prepared a welcome speech especially for her."

Then an impatient voice cut in. "Now that she's here, can we get started?"

Starlight looked toward the voice and saw something bizarre.

The seat appeared empty, yet a crisp suit stood there. About eight inches above it, a pair of black-framed glasses bobbed in midair.

In front of the seat, a pen hung in the air, scribbling away on a writing pad.

The seat undoubtedly belonged to Translucent.

Translucent went on. "Those damn bootleggers. My new movie, Invisible Force 2, hasn't even come out, and pirated discs are already all over the streets of San Andreas. When are the higher-ups going to take this seriously? After all the work..."

Translucent stopped. No one seemed to care.

He knew what they were thinking.

Your movie got pirated. What's that got to do with us? We don't get a cut.

So he added, "If we don't deal with piracy, I won't be the only one losing money. I just ran the numbers. Piracy costs Vought International over a billion dollars a year. And remember, every one of you gets four percent of the box office from your own movies."

As soon as he said that, A-Train's expression changed.

"What? Four percent? Isn't it three?" A-Train asked.

He looked around at the others.

No one backed him up. They all stayed silent.

Only then did A-Train realize everyone else got four percent. He was the only one getting three.

His face darkened. "Looks like I need to have a serious talk with Madelyn."

Starlight felt a wave of Evil Han.

A few brief exchanges had told her plenty.

How were these people superheroes?

They schemed against one another, each with an agenda of their own.

This was the ugly, brutal reality.

"All right, can we talk about something that actually matters?" Homelander said. "Money, money, money. What's Starlight supposed to think of us?"

Homelander looked around. Translucent set down his pen, while A-Train sat there, his face livid.

"Shouldn't we be talking about how to save more people? How to catch more bad guys?" Homelander continued.

"Starlight, before you arrived, we agreed on your first assignment." Homelander handed her a file.

"It's an international smuggling case. The operation will take place at a harbor near the coast, right in The Deep's element. He volunteered to take the assignment with you."

Starlight glanced at The Deep in surprise. He gave her a forced smile.

"Captain, I can handle it myself—"

"Just call me Homelander. I prefer it," he interrupted. "The Seven always work in pairs, and this assignment is such a good fit for The Deep. We all agreed on it earlier."

Starlight said nothing more. Arriving late had already displeased Homelander, and now that he had made his position clear, she could hardly argue.

The thought of doing her first assignment with The Deep made her feel a wave of Evil.

And according to Homelander, The Deep had volunteered to be her partner. Who knew what he was plotting?

Whatever his motives, Starlight was not afraid of him.

She would gladly send him flying again.

Late the next night, at the fishing docks.

A massive freighter was moored in the harbor, with two neat rows of containers lining its deck.

According to the file, the smugglers would appear there that night to hand over the goods.

Starlight and The Deep stood on high ground, watching the ship. They had been there for half an hour without exchanging a word.

At last, The Deep could not stand the silence. "Listen, Starlight. I went through a lot when I joined, too. Everyone does. Besides, I'm the one who got hurt—"

The dock lights began to flicker.

The Deep promptly shut his mouth. If he kept talking, he was sure he would take another blast of Light Wave.

Just then, a car drove across the metal ramp between the dock and the freighter and stopped in front of a container.

Three or four burly men got out.

The Deep turned to Starlight. "You go in from the front. I'll cut off their escape from behind."

The men fumbled around in the dark, trying to open the container doors.

Suddenly, the entire deck lit up like day.

"Hey."

The men turned to see a sweet-looking Girl greeting them.

Girl seemed to be holding something that shone so brightly they could not look straight at it.

Sensing trouble, they quietly reached for their waists.

A ball of light flew from Girl's hand and burst before their eyes.

Before the men could react, the powerful Light Wave hurled them across the deck, where they lay unconscious.

Starlight found the whole thing dull. She could not understand why it took two of them to deal with a few ordinary people.

She had completed her first assignment as a member of The Seven cleanly and efficiently, but it gave her no sense of accomplishment.

Then Starlight felt the deck tremble.

A massive humanoid monster leaped onto it.

The creature stood ten or twelve feet tall and had a fish's head. Its body was otherwise shaped like a human's, though its skin was dark green and its heavily muscled frame was exceptionally powerful.

Starlight looked around. The Deep was nowhere to be seen.

"That kid, honestly," the fish-headed monster said.

"Did he really need to call in me, the Deep Sea King, for one little girl?"

(The End)