Vought International

Soon,

the person's footsteps drew closer to the small villa.

Becca set down her cutlery and ended her meal early. She opened the door and saw the visitor.

Expensive makeup softened the signs of age on the woman's face, while her bearing carried the composure of someone long accustomed to authority.

An elegant woman.

And apparently an old acquaintance of Becca's.

"Madelyn."

Becca's tone was less than friendly, but she said the woman's name without hesitation.

Madelyn had interrupted a rare meal with her son, and Becca was furious.

Madelyn, on the other hand, seemed perfectly calm.

"As welcoming as ever, Becca."

With that, Madelyn pushed past Becca, who was blocking the doorway, and entered the house.

She looked around the room.

The walls, the lamp, the sofa, the television. Finally, her gaze settled on a boy.

"You've grown so much, Ryan."

Ryan kept eating his spaghetti without answering. If someone interrupted him during a meal,

he found it hard to hold back his anger—or the urge to roast the intruder with Laser Eyes until they were charred outside and tender inside.

As his powers grew stronger, Ryan grew less restrained in how he used them.

Madelyn stood in the room with no one paying her any attention.

She showed no embarrassment, though. Behind her, Becca wanted to laugh but forced herself to hold it in.

"Ryan's like that with everyone. Don't be angry, Madelyn."

"You're the one who raised him that way."

"Yes, yes. He's my child. (○ﾟεﾟ○)"

"I don't want to hear you brag."

"Then why are you here?"

"I need to speak with Ryan."

"..."

The conversation stopped short. Like an animal guarding its food, Becca swiftly stepped in front of Ryan at the dining table.

"He's still a child. If he's done something wrong, let me, his mother, make it right. Please."

"Ryan hasn't done anything wrong."

Madelyn shook her head, dismissing Becca's fears, then pointed outside, where several tall bodyguards stood.

"Could you step out and let me talk to Ryan?"

"No."

"Then Ryan and I will go out, and you can stay here."

"Dream on."

"..."

Becca's firm refusal made Madelyn frown. She gave her bodyguards a look.

They understood. They came forward, took Becca by the arms, and dragged her outside.

Becca struggled and shouted, "Ryan, run!" but everyone ignored her.

A moment passed.

Only after Becca had been dragged out and the door had closed did Madelyn say what she had come to say.

"Becca clearly doesn't know. If you got angry, we'd be the ones who needed to run."

Ryan caught her meaning. He had also finished his spaghetti.

He set down his cutlery and looked at Madelyn.

"You've only come to see me now? You have plenty of cameras installed here."

"So you know."

"Yeah. Go wash the plate."

"Huh?"

"You expect me to wash it?"

His tone left no room for argument. Madelyn was furious. She had come to discuss something important with Ryan,

not to wash dishes. She was about to refuse when she looked up and noticed the red glow in the boy's eyes.

A chill ran through her.

"I'll wash it now."

The faucet came on. The elegant, finely dressed woman washed the plate in cold water.

The season was still chilly.

Every moment the water ran over her fingers was bitterly cold.

After a while, she turned off the faucet.

Madelyn returned to the sofa, where the boy sat with his legs crossed.

"I've washed it."

"Thanks for the effort. Dry your hands."

Ryan gently pulled a paper towel from the table and handed it to Madelyn. Her hands were still wet from washing the plate.

As he watched her dry them, Ryan asked what he wanted to know.

"Who are you?"

"Have you heard of Vought International?"

"I read about it. They've turned heroes into brands, made themselves the world's peacekeepers, and brought in hundreds of billions of dollars from movies and merchandise rights alone. They're huge."

"I'm that company's vice president, Madelyn."

Once she revealed her position, Madelyn watched Ryan's face expectantly.

Anyone would react to having someone so influential standing before them.

To her disappointment, Ryan's cold expression barely changed.

"What's a vice president doing at a prison this big?"

"Taking someone out of it. You, Ryan."

"Go on."

"Vought International runs The Seven, a team of seven people with superpowers. You could become one of them."

"Why should I join you?"

"Money, fame, girls. You could have everything you want."

It was a tempting offer.

Ryan could get those things on his own without joining, though his methods might not be as respectable as joining Vought International.

People spent their lives striving for such things, but Ryan did not accept at once.

He sensed that Madelyn had a particular reason for inviting him.

"Tell me the rest. Why invite me?"

"Because Homelander, the leader of The Seven, is a child whose mischief has become outright bad behavior. We need someone who can keep him in check."

"Isn't Homelander an adult?"

"A big child."

Looking troubled, Madelyn sat down on the sofa.

The vice president appealed to Ryan as though she were a vulnerable woman.

"Listen to me."

"Shut up."

"...All right."

"Stand up. Nobody said you could sit on the sofa."

"Talk to your future boss like that, and she might make your life difficult."

Ryan studied the woman beside him. She seemed certain he would not turn her down.

In fact, she was right.

"You're very frank."

"About the parts I can be frank about."

Madelyn gave him a playful wink.

Ryan felt a little sick. Did this woman not know how old she was?

And now she was batting her eyes at him.

Would accepting the job mean being harassed by his female boss?

Uncomfortable, Ryan looked away from Madelyn.

"When are you leaving?"

"Now."

Becca waited anxiously outside. She paced around the house, but the two large men by the door kept her from going in.

She waited for quite a while.

At last, the door opened.

Madelyn came out first, with Ryan behind her.

Seeing her son safe and sound, Becca hurried over and hugged him.

"Are you all right?"

"If anything had happened, Madelyn would be the one in trouble."

"There you go, saying things like that again. Do you know who she is?"

Becca looked at Ryan with an amused smile, only for him to push her away.

She was about to explain who Madelyn was when Madelyn spoke.

"Ryan, the helicopter is about to take off."

"Tell them to bring it down and wait for me."

"...All right."

Their exchange baffled Becca, so she asked her son directly.

"What's this helicopter you're talking about? You know, the thing that flies around? I don't understand."

"I'll come back to see you when I can."

"Why are you talking as if you're leaving?"

"Because children grow up and leave home. Isn't that common?"

"At your age, you should still be in school."

Ryan did not answer. He went around Becca and walked toward the helicopter.

Madelyn was already aboard. The spinning rotors whipped up a wind that tugged at Ryan's clothes.

He climbed in and spoke to Madelyn.

"You actually listened when I told you to wait."

"If I'd flown off, you might have shot the helicopter down with a laser."

"You do understand me."

"Ryan, you really are like Homelander."

The helicopter lifted off and flew into the clear blue sky.

Ryan looked down through the still-open cabin door.

Everything below grew smaller and smaller.

Becca still stood there, stunned. The place where he had lived for so long was a patch of green forest.

Gradually, the helicopter flew over the wall surrounding the villa and beyond it.

Ryan looked away.

He knew who he was.

I'm me. Homelander is Homelander.

No matter how alike they were, they were two separate people.

And Ryan had something else to ask of her.

"For some reason, Becca seems to think she's better off inside those walls. But if she ever wants to leave, give her money, a place to live, and a job."

"Understood."

Madelyn nodded and looked in the direction the helicopter was flying.

Toward the bustling city—and the headquarters of Vought International, grander still than the city itself.