Outside a budget motel on the outskirts of the city.
An old sedan slowly braked to a stop, parking steadily by the roadside.
Billy Butcher pushed open the door and got out, with Hughie hurrying after him.
Butcher looked down at the photograph in his palm, then up at the motel's weathered sign. After comparing the two, he gave a slight nod.
"Yeah, this is the place."
After obtaining the lead on Soldier Boy's hiding place, Butcher immediately decided how to divide up the work.
Mother's Milk, Frenchie, and Kimiko formed a team responsible for tracking down the fugitive Supe terrorists.
He personally brought Hughie here to find Soldier Boy.
At first, Mother's Milk refused to budge, insisting on coming himself to kill his enemy. With decades of blood debt before him, no amount of persuasion from the others did any good. Nobody could stop his obsession with revenge.
In the end, Butcher intervened personally, reaching the CIA through various contacts. In exchange for helping eliminate the Supe terrorists, he secured an opportunity for their warrants to be withdrawn and their freedom restored. He even promised that Mother's Milk could see his wife and child again.
Only with that weak spot holding him back did Mother's Milk finally relent, gritting his teeth as he led the team off on their tracking mission.
Hughie followed Butcher into the motel, walking all the way to the room marked in the photograph.
Butcher raised his hand and pushed open the door. The room was empty, its occupant long gone, with not a soul in sight.
Soldier Boy wasn't here at all.
Hughie's brows knitted tightly as he quickly surveyed the furnishings.
Uncleared food wrappers were still scattered across the table. The surroundings, furnishings, light, and shadows were all exactly the same as in