Walking into the Trap

"How did it go? Did you find out?"

Rorschach flipped through a magazine. Marvel and DC, household names in his previous life, had not survived a second year under Vought International's crushing dominance.

When it came to superheroes, Vought International seemed to be the only expert now.

"Those vaccines are bullshit. The Compound V inside them gets shipped to neonatal intensive care units all over the world."

"The nearest one is in Midtown." Rorschach vaguely remembered that detail.

"God... You mean that stuff goes into..."

The news hit like a bolt from the blue, yet a rare smile appeared on Butcher's face.

"Don't think about injecting that blue serum into yourselves. Your heads would explode. It only works on children."

At Rorschach's words, the other three stared at him as if they had seen a ghost.

Was this guy even human? Or had he been a Vought International executive?

"Legend never told you any of this? Damn it!"

Frenchie shouted at Marvin. Legend was Vought International's former CEO, yet he had not told them a word about it.

And that was despite owing Marvin a huge favor.

Only then did Butcher realize that all their efforts so far had amounted to circling the edges.

But since Rorschach had arrived, everything had suddenly become clear.

"What are you planning to do?"

Butcher had completely set his burden down. Rorschach looked capable of carrying it, so he might as well lead the team.

Before, Butcher had thought the young man in front of him was just some bastard with inside information.

Now, though, the kid seemed even more experienced than Butcher at dealing with Supes.

And judging by what Rorschach had revealed, he knew Vought International's secrets inside and out.

Starlight certainly had not told him. She had spent all those years on a farm in the countryside.

But none of that mattered. If Rorschach could lead him to revenge, Butcher would gladly pay any price.

It was then that Butcher noticed Rorschach's fingers tapping lightly on the tabletop.

The beats varied in length, making the veteran agent's heart tighten.

"Grab the paint... throw it at the door..."

As Butcher murmured the words, his blood ran cold.

Behind him was, without a doubt, the room's only door. And if they needed paint, that meant...

"Now!"

Rorschach roared without wasting another word. He snatched up a can of paint and hurled it.

Before the other three understood what was happening, Butcher threw an entire bucket of paint as well.

Something by the doorway had just started to shift aside when the paint splashed all over it.

Translucent slowly wiped his face. He was certain that, completely naked as he was, he should have blended perfectly into his surroundings.

"Did Homelander send you?"

Rorschach drew the Stun Baton and gave him a mocking smile.

"Shut the door. Let Kimiko loose!"

Seeing that he could no longer hide, Translucent quickly switched tactics: a frontal assault!

With skin as hard as his, even the most powerful guns they could use would only send bullets ricocheting away.

The others would be the ones caught by the rounds flying everywhere.

Besides, there were only four grown men and one girl. He could handle that!

But reality had other ideas.

The first thing Translucent saw was Kimiko's almost savage face and the claws she swung at him.

The blow sent him flying into the wall. Before he could catch his breath, the agile Kimiko slammed another strike into his face.

"Move!" Rorschach was ready. As Translucent struggled to clear his head, tens of thousands of volts surged through his body.

Translucent howled in agony. The current passed through his powerful heart, and at last he lost consciousness.

Once it was done, Rorschach let out a long breath.

Even caught off guard and badly hurt, Translucent had put up a powerful last struggle.

If Butcher and Frenchie had not braced Rorschach from behind, Translucent might have shoved him away.

"What do we do now? Kill him?"

Butcher was breathing hard too. He had not expected The Seven to come knocking so quickly.

He had not done anything too outrageous lately.

Or had some other hero exposed their role in revealing the truth about The Deep?

"Drag him away."

Vought International kept close track of its heroes' abilities.

But Rorschach had no doubt that Translucent's visit was an unofficial job.

After all, he had once shown Homelander his ability to switch places with someone, right in front of him and without concealing his face.

At that gathering, he had crossed paths with both Starlight and Shockwave, and Ashley had noticed him too.

Even while recovering from his injuries, Homelander probably could not help being curious about him.

Unjust Game was an extremely powerful ability. If Rorschach could use it without limit, every additional teammate would make it easier to overwhelm an enemy.

Unfortunately, he could only use it four more times.

"Are we killing him?" Frenchie sounded excited.

Every Supe was different, so each time he killed one, he had to devise a new method.

But the ones they had dealt with before were, at best, second-rate heroes who threw their weight around in their own towns.

They were nothing like a star of Translucent's stature.

The Seven had appearances scheduled almost every day, and Translucent's second big movie was coming out soon.

"Keep him. He'll be useful." Rorschach opened the shop interface. To Frenchie, who could not see the system screen, he appeared to be scribbling at something.

That only deepened Frenchie's confusion.

Translucent's skin could withstand high temperatures and could not be broken.

The quickest way Frenchie could think of to kill him was to fire a projectile made from the same carbon material at him.

But Frenchie had no idea whether that would actually work.

When Translucent slowly came to, five figures stood over him, looking down.

"What the hell!" He scrambled to his feet, ready to fight.

"First, relax. You're not locked in a cage with high voltage running through it. That means I don't want to kill you yet."

Translucent recognized Rorschach almost at once. He was the man in Vought International's surveillance footage who had effortlessly switched places with The Deep.

He was also the man Starlight often went on dates with.

Translucent had let his guard down and failed to dodge in time.

Who would have thought that small woman was so strong?

Then the electric current had knocked him out.

"I just made you swallow a new type of Nanobots. They should be in your stomach now."

"And don't think you can pass them naturally. They'll cling to the villi in your small intestine and the lining of your stomach. They won't disappear that easily."

"Lastly, this watch is connected to them. So if you try anything at all..."

As Rorschach spoke, he slowly raised his index finger.

Translucent's entire body became visible. He doubled over and vomited onto the floor.

But even after emptying his stomach, he saw no trace of the Nanobots.

Rorschach lowered his finger, and only then did the strange sensation leave Translucent's body.

"Your colleagues can't remove these robots. You'll only be saved if I order them to crawl out of you."

"They run on bioenergy, of course. If I die, they'll automatically form countless blades and tumble around inside you."

As Translucent listened, the color slowly drained from his face.

He knew what that meant. Surgery would be useless. He would be tortured to death!

"Of course, if you don't want to cooperate, you're welcome to become an empty shell."

"So, what do you say?"

Rorschach was still smiling, but to Translucent, the man before him was worse than a demon.