Frenchie

Frenchie finally lowered his fist, still hesitating.

With no fight to watch, Ryan grew bored. He sniffed the air and noticed the bloody smell had grown stronger.

"Billy, aren't you going to clean up?"

Billy thought it over and nodded. He grabbed some cleaning supplies and had Frenchie bring over a Zinc Box.

Curious, Ryan asked what he was doing.

Billy gave him a cheerful answer.

"I heard there's a game where you land and end up in a box. Thought I'd do the same for Translucent."

He clearly didn't mean that, but Ryan kept his patience.

"What's the real reason?"

"Zinc blocks Homelander's X-Ray Vision. He's looking for Translucent, isn't he? Let him search the ocean."

"The ocean's huge. Aren't you making things difficult for him?"

"If he can't find him, that's Homelander's problem."

"You've got some nerve."

Ryan's mouth twitched. His powers were much like Homelander's.

He knew better than anyone how terrifying it was to have X-Ray Vision, far-reaching sight, an indestructible body, Laser Eyes, and all those other powers together.

And now Billy was calling Homelander incompetent.

Translucent's death seemed to have put Billy in a good mood. Humming an off-key tune, he happily picked up a rag and began wiping away the traces left in the basement.

Afterward, he put Translucent in the Zinc Box. Frenchie watched Billy clean, with nothing else to do.

Ryan asked how he and Billy had met. Anger crossed Frenchie's face.

"Last night, this guy told me he had something worth eighty grand to pay off his debt."

"Where's the eighty-grand item?"

"In the Zinc Box."

"..."

Ryan fell silent. He hadn't realized his coworker was worth that much.

He kept quiet and let Frenchie continue.

"When I saw Translucent tied up, I was stunned. But they'd dragged me into it too."

"You're all in the same boat now."

"Yeah."

Frenchie looked at the Zinc Box in frustration. Thanks to Translucent and Billy, his peaceful life was a thing of the past.

He was just an ordinary man. He had never imagined going up against a giant like Vought International.

But now he knew that was exactly what he was doing.

"By the way, Hughie questioned Translucent last night about where A-Train usually goes."

"So A-Train's your next target."

"A-Train killed Hughie's girlfriend, after all."

Frenchie continued as though the answer were obvious.

"Translucent spent his time sneaking around invisible and spying on people. He knew plenty of secrets. He told us a place A-Train visits a lot."

"Where?"

"The Female's home."

"That's a scandal for a superhero."

The familiar name made Ryan pause. The woman A-Train had said he was going to meet was The Female.

Ryan's impression of The Female hadn't changed.

She was a washed-up actress who had made a few films, none of them box-office successes.

Frenchie saw her differently.

"I've seen The Female's movies. She's got an incredible figure. No wonder A-Train fell for her."

"Sounds like you fell for her too."

The look on Frenchie's face gave him away. Ryan glanced aside and saw that Hughie was listening closely too.

So closely his ears might as well have been pricked up.

Anything involving his late girlfriend had Hughie's full attention.

This was no exception.

"We need to investigate The Female. Even if all we do is expose the affair, it'll wreck A-Train's reputation."

Ryan had to admit Hughie's idea could work. He had a fair idea of how Madelyn and the others thought.

As long as A-Train made money and people loved him, Vought had no reason to remove him from The Seven.

But once the scandal broke and people turned on him, A-Train would lose his value. Vought International would drop him and distance itself from him at once.

To protect the shining image of its other superheroes, Vought would make A-Train pack his bags and leave The Seven.

Ryan thought about how proud A-Train always seemed to be of his place on The Seven.

Losing that place might hurt him more than dying.

As Ryan and Hughie talked in the basement, Billy complained, "Why isn't anyone helping me?"

Considerate enough not to get in his way, the three of them left the basement. Billy remained behind, scrubbing hard at the wall.

In the shabby room outside, Ryan asked Hughie to contact him if the investigation turned up anything beyond the affair.

Hughie agreed, though something else was on his mind.

"Aren't you going to arrest me?"

"No need. I barely knew Translucent. Besides, superheroes and Vought International aren't always on the same side."

Without knowing whether Hughie understood, Ryan left the room. His feet lifted from the ground, and he flew into the sky.

He knew the seven superheroes at Seven Tower weren't teammates. They were just coworkers.

Some stood with Vought International; others stood for themselves. With their interests so different, sooner or later,

conflict would break out. Just as Homelander had said, superheroes like them—too powerful and too unwilling to obey—would eventually be dealt with.

Ryan felt he should prepare for that day.

When it came to powers, Ryan believed he had few equals. But Vought International could clone people. Against several copies of himself, he stood no chance.

That was why he had begun to crave powers strong enough to put him beyond Vought International's control.

A-Train was where he needed to start looking for the source of that power.

What he had asked Hughie to investigate might bring him a pleasant surprise.

That would be far more useful than making Hughie turn himself in.

Thinking about his future, Ryan flew back to Seven Tower. As always, it stood over bustling New York.

The surrounding buildings all looked shorter by comparison.

He flew into the tower's meeting room and found two women arguing.

Or rather, arguing again.

Ryan looked at Ashley, who was waving a sheet of paper and shouting in the meeting room, and felt speechless.

Then he looked at Starlight, whose chest rose and fell with anger.

He planned to pretend he hadn't seen anything and walk past them. But Starlight spotted him, ran over, and grabbed his hand to make him judge the dispute.

"Ryan, look at what Ashley's doing! She's assigned me a patrol route for tonight and even decided how many criminals I'm supposed to encounter."

Ryan turned to Ashley.

"Is that true? You're not sending Starlight out to patrol as a superhero. You're making her act in a show."

Ashley met his gaze without flinching.

"It is a show. You think there are that many chances for superheroes to swoop in and save the day? We've already written the script, but Starlight refuses to understand."

She had a point. Ryan turned back to Starlight.

"You heard her. They've already written the script."

"Superheroes should help people who actually need it, not go to designated places and act out her script."

Starlight's words were righteous and hard to fault. Ryan nodded and looked at Ashley again.

"What about people who really need help?"

"They can call the police. Superheroes are mostly there to make people feel safe. Don't they have phones? If they run into a criminal, they should call the police."

She had a point too. Ryan nodded again and turned to Starlight.

"You see—"

"Stop. Whose side are you on?"

"I'm on the side of justice."

"Whichever side you pick is the side of justice, is that it?"

"..."

She had said exactly what he was about to say. The words stuck in Ryan's throat. With no way out, he settled for nodding.

But Starlight grew stubborn. Insisting that they were closer than this and that he should support her unconditionally, she demanded that he say who was right.

Ryan shook his head and refused to choose. She took his face in her hands and kissed him firmly.

When she pulled away, she looked as though she wanted more.

"We've done more than that anyway. So tell me: which of us is right?"

"You've decided to go all in, huh?"

While Starlight made a scene, Ashley saw her using her charms and decided to do the same.

She looked Ryan over. He had handsome features and the freshness of youth—a far cry from her own days spent buried in office work.

By that measure, she would be the one getting a bargain.

Ashley pulled out a key right there in the meeting room.

"If you make a fair, objective judgment, this key to my bedroom is yours."

Starlight was stunned. She could never have done that.

All she could do was protest.

"Shameless! You ugly woman."

Ashley wasn't actually ugly. Ryan looked at her. She was fairly attractive, though she seemed set on getting promoted.

She buried herself in work every day. Her stiff, severe black uniform hid her figure and made her seem intimidating.

Both women looked at Ryan expectantly. Starlight touched her lips, while Ashley shook the key in her hand.

They wanted him to say who was right.

Instead, Ryan pulled his hand free of Starlight's and ignored Ashley's key. He opened the meeting room door and walked straight out.

To be fair, he was the sort of man who stuck with one person. For now, though, he needed to strengthen his powers as quickly as possible to face whatever danger might come.

Women could wait.

Outside the meeting room, Ryan headed for his room. He stepped into an elevator and watched the floors descend.

When it reached his floor, the doors opened. Ryan stepped out and followed the corridor.

From a distance, he spotted someone leaning against the wall beside his door.

The man wore a cape and had his eyes closed. As Ryan approached, he opened them.

A frightening red light flickered in his eyes.

Ryan called him by name.

"Homelander. Why are you standing outside my room?"

"I couldn't find Translucent."

"What does that have to do with coming here?"

Ryan made no move to open his door. He watched Homelander and waited for an explanation.

Homelander thought for a moment before answering.

"There's more to Translucent's disappearance than it seems. Vought International is about to make a big move. Things won't be safe for a while, so be careful."

"You came all this way just to warn me?"

"It's important."

His strange behavior made Ryan smile. Homelander knew Ryan's powers were on par with his.

What was there to worry about?

Still, since Homelander had brought it up, Ryan didn't mind hearing more.

"What happened?"

"Madelyn just gave me a bill."

"A bill?"

"One that could change everything. Madelyn isn't satisfied with the way things are. She's too ambitious. She wants superhumans in the military."

"Who would agree to that?"

"This country is rotten enough to let it happen. Madelyn has bought off lawmakers. It's only a matter of time before her proposal passes both chambers."

"In that case, Vought International will face a lot of controversy."

"If controversy were all we had to worry about, that would be fine. I'm afraid opponents might take down a few superheroes to protest. Right now, we need to find Translucent as soon as possible."

Homelander looked at Ryan. With a face so much like his own and powers much the same, Ryan was perfectly capable of protecting himself. Homelander knew that.

Meanwhile, Ryan thought of Translucent inside the Zinc Box. He kept the thought to himself.

Translucent's already done for.