A Little Hint

"I can't tell you. If I let it slip, I'll never be able to show my face in the superhero world again."

Ezekiel couldn't fathom what the man in front of him was thinking. He was actually threatening him with footage of his intimate encounter at the club!

He was insane! He had to be! Ezekiel could see it in his eyes!

But what about Ezekiel's reputation? Killing him would be easy, but the man had laid his cards on the table: he had teammates outside.

If Ezekiel dared kill him, the video would go out, and Vought International would have another scandal trending.

Then it wouldn't just be Ezekiel's reputation at stake. The congregation he had worked so hard to build would likely be ruined too.

And if Vought International's credibility took another hit, its stock price, which had only just stabilized...

The more Ezekiel thought about it, the worse his headache got. Looking at the man he had just baptized, he felt as though he were facing a demon!

Rorschach hadn't wanted to live off someone else's money.

But he needed a ticket to the Diamond Club to get close to Ezekiel and have a chance to speak with him alone.

The baptism was only one event, and Ezekiel probably spent less than an hour meeting people one-on-one.

Rorschach's turn might not even last a minute.

And it cost a full fifteen thousand dollars!

Rorschach would gladly have paid for the ticket himself, but the thought of spending fifteen thousand dollars suddenly made his stomach turn.

Letting someone else foot the bill felt much better.

What surprised Rorschach, though, was that Homelander hadn't come. The rising star Shockwave had attended instead.

Then again, no amount of concealer could hide the injuries on Homelander's face. He could only tough it out for the press conference.

Homelander probably didn't even feel like leaving the house right now.

Vought International knew which horse to back. It had given the main event to Shockwave, who had won the race and set a new record.

It was also an unspoken announcement: A-Train's commercial value was finished. Shockwave was the one getting the big push now.

Even A-Train's branded merchandise was making one last desperate bid for sales.

The campaign leaned on lines like "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away" and "Even the fastest runner can't outrun time."

Combined with A-Train's dark skin, the merchandise sold especially well in Black communities.

But both A-Train and Vought knew this last flash of glory would never come again.

A-Train was thirty-four, after all.

And since joining The Seven, he had neglected his training. He had long since fallen from peak condition.

"Let me think. Since we're already here..."

Rorschach watched Shockwave give his speech, then glanced at the people nearby as he considered his next move.

His earlier bout of physical defense-breaking had cost him two thousand points, but he had earned more than seventeen hundred back.

That worked out to roughly two Defense-Break Points per life saved. It was quite a bargain.

The downside was that he had tipped his hand, putting Vought International much more on guard.

Still, it wasn't as though Vought would notice a nobody like him.

There were a ridiculous number of armed guards, but Rorschach's eyes darted around, and another idea came to him.

As a stand-in for Homelander, Shockwave was barely managing to deliver his memorized speech. The audience wasn't giving him much to work with, either.

The atmosphere was chilly, but if someone gave him a nudge, things probably wouldn't turn out too badly.

After all, he had just broken a world record. The public liked him well enough.

In marketing terms, it was time to turn that goodwill into devoted fans—and sales.

"Um... excuse me..." Rorschach raised his hand, conspicuous in the subdued crowd.

"I was listening to the previous speaker, Ezekiel. His words were powerful. 'Those who believe are my followers'—that was well said."

"But I still have one question: if God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and God the Son have such power, and grant it to us, why don't they simply wipe out evil and darkness?"

Rorschach had been doing reading-comprehension exercises since childhood. Naturally, he understood what Vought International was trying to do with that speech.

The heart of Shockwave's address—its most stirring passage—was meant to celebrate the great virtue of this beacon of a nation: freedom!

But the cold reception had kept him from reaching that point. He was afraid of botching it.

Now Rorschach had handed him the perfect question. Marvin and Frenchie, meanwhile, wore matching expressions that said, We don't know him.

Shockwave's eyes lit up at the question. The point of his speech suddenly became clear to him.

"Why, that's because..."

Rorschach didn't need to see the eyes behind Shockwave's goggles to know he had let out a long breath and relaxed.

It looked as though he had made contact with another potential ally.

"Mom, I think the slogans were a little extreme this time. The speeches too."

Something felt off to Starlight. None of the faith expos she had attended with her single mother had been like this.

This gathering was more fanatical, more extreme, and far more uncomfortable.

"Haven't the slogans always been like that? Besides, you were wonderful..."

Starlight lowered her head without answering. Earlier, in the tent, every time she had given a measured response to a question, the pastor beside her had added something.

He hadn't just wanted to show off his knowledge. He had wanted to make those young believers more certain that they were right.

That absolute certainty was what Starlight found so strange.

"If the doctrine is true, there's no need to keep insisting that it is."

A voice came from ahead, resonant and full of conviction.

"Yes! That's exactly what I mean!"

Starlight looked at Rorschach in surprise. She had been the one to invite him to the gathering, after all.

From his habits, she had never thought he had any intention of believing in God.

Yet he had put her feelings into words perfectly, even though he was contradicting... her mother.

"Well, perhaps you can offer the organizers some suggestions afterward."

Ashley came up from behind and gave Rorschach a nod of acknowledgment.

Donna was a woman who worked on a rural farm. It was only natural that she didn't always know how things worked in the city.

Ashley, however, had seen the video. That man had switched places with The Deep in an instant, and Vought still couldn't figure out how.

"Thanks, man."

A red figure flashed over. It was Shockwave, fresh off the stage.

His speech had been a resounding success. Once he had found his focus and told the story of his comeback, the crowd had erupted.

The cheers had been almost louder than the ones Ezekiel had received.

And Ezekiel had been heavily promoted, not to mention that he was an accomplished speaker.

Rorschach's question had given Shockwave the opening he needed at exactly the right time.

"Oh, you know Starlight too? Want to exchange numbers?"

Shockwave seemed easy enough to get along with. Fortunately, The Seven hadn't added an LGBT member just for political correctness.

Otherwise, Rorschach had a feeling he might lose something in that peculiar conference room—or in the bathroom.

"Of course. That race of yours was incredible."

Rorschach smiled sincerely and took out his phone.

Shockwave was surprised that he knew Starlight. He also wanted to return the favor and form a little alliance for mutual support.

Anyone who could make it in New York, human or Supe, had to be quick on the uptake.