Unjust Game

[Congratulations on completing a standard mission. Please choose one of the following three abilities within thirty seconds.]

[One: Invisibility, but your clothes will remain visible, and you will let out a loud fart every five minutes.]

[Two: Reinforced skin that is impervious to blades and bullets.]

[Three: Unjust Game. By clapping your hands, you can swap the positions of people or objects with a "Singularity." This consumes stamina equivalent to the work required to move that distance. Limited to seven uses, within a range of twenty yards.]

"What is this?" Rorschach narrowed his eyes at the three options.

"Are you even pretending to give me a choice? You might as well just hand me the third one."

Invisibility was out unless he wanted to cosplay as Translucent from The Seven. And in a quiet place, it would be useless—a surefire way to humiliate himself.

The second was even worse. Reinforced skin did not mean reinforced muscles or organs. If he suffered internal injuries and a scalpel could not cut through his skin, he might die in agony.

Only the third looked remotely viable, despite all its restrictions.

With mixed feelings, Rorschach chose the third option.

The reason was simple: as an ordinary person, he could not live with the first two.

There would be other rewards later. The third ability came with limits and costs, but used well, it could still make a difference.

And with enough points, he could exchange them for other useful things.

For now, armed with seven uses of Unjust Game, he would make a name for himself in vast New York City.

All right. More precisely, he would make sure he survived and completed his mission first.

At this stage, the distant tower and the ever-growing Vought International would be formidable opponents.

Or rather, he was nowhere near qualified to play against them. All he could do was put himself on the board.

Still, the information he had was enough to justify taking the risk.

After all, every one of those "heroes" had a weakness, and Rorschach would not expose his own through panic like Hughie.

Interestingly, the points on his phone were specifically called "Defense-Break Points."

Perhaps he should try getting under the skin of people with a "Singularity" and see if it earned him extra points.

"What?"

Starlight stared at The Deep in confusion, stunned by how quickly he had changed.

They had been chatting just moments ago. She had even made a somewhat inappropriate joke about having a crush on him.

The next second, his pants were off.

"What's wrong?" He looked perfectly at ease.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa..." Seeing Starlight storm toward the exit, The Deep made a small concession.

"This is about how much you care about The Seven!"

When Starlight kept heading for the door, The Deep brought up the thing that mattered most to her.

"What did you say?"

The monitors on the wall flickered. Starlight's eyes lit up with fury, a sign that she was about to use her powers in a fight.

"You know what happens if you attack The Deep, the second-in-command of The Seven, right here? I can make sure you never work in the superhero business again."

"Think about all those kids who look up to you. Do they want to see you run home to Mommy with your tail between your legs?"

"So relax. Maybe it'll only take three minutes, if..."

The Deep strolled toward Starlight, but before he could finish speaking, he vanished from the spot.

"He's the second-in-command of jack shit." Rorschach appeared where The Deep had stood and gave a derisive laugh.

Was it a relief that this wasn't the comic-book world? Otherwise, Starlight might have been facing Homelander, A-Train, and Black Noir.

She would have felt even more hopeless then.

"Who are you?"

"Rorschach."

Starlight's eyes filled with confusion. A moment ago, she had been ready to crouch down in humiliation.

But this man's sudden appearance had thrown her off.

"What the fuck! What's going on?"

The Deep stormed back in through the door. He had been ready to receive the newcomer's services. How had he ended up outside in the blink of an eye?

This was not A-Train. The Deep could just barely make out A-Train moving at speed, and A-Train did not have the precision to open the door and shut it again.

"Hey! You'd better explain what the hell just happened."

The Deep looked ready to attack. He would have done it already if he had not just appeared in the hallway in an instant and confirmed it was no hallucination.

"Starlight's image is that of a wholesome girl from Beautiful Plains, with that small-town innocence."

"What's more, she's a rising star with formidable powers, and the second woman to join The Seven."

"She's not someone a 'second-in-command' whose talents amount to breathing underwater, swimming fast, and talking to sea creatures gets to lay a hand on."

Rorschach smiled, his eyes full of mockery.

"Am I right, Mr... What was your name?"

In Rorschach's hand was an enormous Boston Lobster. His arrival had been so startling that Starlight and The Deep had both been too busy staring at his face to notice it.

"Nicholas." The Deep's chest heaved. To anyone else, the lobster was a luxury ingredient.

To him, it was a friend, albeit one he barely knew.

His empathy made every marine creature's death a source of torment.

That was why seafood was rarely served anywhere in the tower.

"How about we both give a little? You stop making that inappropriate request of this rising star, and I won't subject the two of you to my terrible cooking."

"Mr. Edgar would probably be pleased with that outcome too, wouldn't he?"

The lobster in Rorschach's hand flicked its tail. Its tiny eyes really did turn toward The Deep.

"Between superheroes, it's all about mutual consent..."

The Deep had been humiliated in front of the newcomer. Of course he wanted to argue back.

But when Rorschach raised his hand, poised to snap off the lobster's claw, The Deep drew a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"Killing the ingredient in one go while the newcomer's friend prepares it..."

Rorschach shrugged and smiled.

"You know, The Deep, underwater robots can do your job a lot of the time."

"And no one has to listen to them ramble. You're only still here because you're popular enough for them to keep you afloat by pulling a few strings."

Every word hit home. With each sentence, the veins on The Deep's forehead bulged a little more.

"So, are we clear?"

Looking at that smiling face, The Deep wanted nothing more than to punch Rorschach in the nose.

But he could not do it in front of Starlight. This man might be using her to bring him down, treating him as a stepping stone.

That naive girl might not want that, but how many heroes coveted a place on The Seven?

There was plenty of dirty business within Vought International, but heroes still could not do whatever they pleased.

After all, plenty of "partners" would jump at the chance to buy the company if its stock price crashed, then take over its valuable IP and run it themselves.

Heroes could be replaced.

Vought International alone could not afford to be shaken.

"Everything all right, folks?"

A warm, commanding voice rang out. Homelander, sunny smile in place, strolled through the door and into the conference room.