47: The Last Wonder Soldier IV

Eugene was slowly eating his cereal and bread. The Wonder Soldier looked rather constipated than enjoying his meal.

Meanwhile, Jay was looking at him from across the dining table, spoon in hand and scooping corn flakes and canned milk into his mouth. His violet eyes were on the blond man, and he smiled once in a while.

Unlike the other three people who's sitting on chairs normally, Jay is sitting on a bucket on top of the chair so that he could be table level, which gave him the privilege of looking at everyone's face while they're eating.

JJ was dipping her bread into her cereal milk while her partner was sipping the milk like it's soup from the bowl. Both of them were quietly ignoring Eugene. Usually, without the Wonder Soldier, the two teenagers would find trivial things to argue about to fill the silence, or they would entertain the baby with stories of a heroic spoon.

The Wonder Soldier pressed his lips into a hard line before he continued eating. The transmigrator could tell what the blond man was thinking. In a household consisted of two teenagers and a toddler, of course their dinner would be some bread, canned tuna, and corn flakes.

No one mentioned the fact that any source of protein or meat is hard to find in the neighborhood that they shop in, and they have to avoid spending too flashily to avoid being robbed, not to mention the possibility of the authorities catching on to his parents' money counterfeiting and money laundering spree, but the Red King would rather bask in the awkward silence than talk to his brother.

Jay didn't understand why Eugene agreed to stay for dinner when his younger brother suggested it offhandedly, but here they are.

Finally, the Wonder Soldier snapped.

"Do you really live like this?" Eugene uttered after he slammed his hands on the table, startling Jay.

The toddler blinked at him innocently.

"Should've seen us when the war freshly ended, then you wouldn't complain." Red King scoffed as he put his bowl down.

"Was... Were you in a better place during the war? Tell me you had better when the war freshly ended." Eugene looked at his brother, then his eyes moved to the teenage girl in front of the teenage boy.

"No, we weren't in a better place, Eugene." JJ's sharp eyes glared at him once more. "The Superhero Council sent someone to blow up our base. Our home was destroyed, Eugene Romanov. Did you hit your head so bad in a fight with our baby that you forgot your brother was literally declared dead in the rubbles of a slum?" Her hand shook as she tightened it into a fist. "I had to dig him out. If he were a normal man, he'd join two hundred and fifty three people in that mass grave. We had nothing but emergency supplies to support us for months. This house? We only moved here recently, so don't mind decaying walls and dim lights we worked so hard to install."

"If you're gonna say that's what we get for joining the villains, I'm gonna punch you." The teenage boy said rather casually as he reached for the box of cereal under the table.

Jay suspected that the Red King put the cereal box under the table on purpose because usually it's on the table in case anyone wants a second serving. Why under the table this time? The transmigrator was pretty sure his male caregiver was trying to make the dinner as uncomfortable as possible for his older brother.

"For your fucking information, none of us wanted a baby. Like I said, we fuck around, and we find out." His male caregiver began pouring some corn flakes into his remaining milk.

Just like that, Jay grinned. "Fuck!"

"No, KJ..." JJ immediately put down her spoon. She rolled her eyes at her partner, who shrugged in apology. "Don't say that. Say... Duck."

"Duck!"

"Good, good." She cooed at the baby.

"But... You decided to keep your child," Eugene mumbled, his hands moved in circles as he talked. "In that environment. You knew there's a war outside, but you kept your child. When you're working for the most evil people to ever exist, too. If you didn't keep him, he'd have a better life now."

"Are you saying we should've gave him away?" The Red King gritted his teeth, and he slammed the cereal box on the table harder than he should when he finished pouring.

A long silence ensured where only the sound of Jay chewing on his food could be heard.

"Yes." Eugene looked like he regretted what he said.

The transmigrator was drinking the milk from his bowl once spoonful at a time, but internally, he's yelling at the Wonder Soldier.

Is Eugene stupid? Jay tried to keep him alive, but the blond man kept saying shits that anger his teenage parents, who can and definitely will make the man a splatter of blood on the floor.

"And gave him away to who?" JJ wasn't looking for an answer to her question. "To the foster system that would put him directly right back into the chaos? Do you have any idea how many orphans there are in the Villains? How many people we've met whose parents gave them away for a better life only for them to be screwed over by their 'richer' new family? For them to be chewed and spit out after they're no longer useful?"

"No one was born evil." The Red King continued his partner's line of thoughts. "Just like me, just like you. They were f—messed up by the system that raised them, intentionally disadvantaged them, and all they wanted was a better life."

"They were criminals. They steal, they kill, they'll do anything to get what they want. How can you forget we were made to stop that chaos." The Wonder Soldier threw his arms in the air. "They killed me. They made you kill our father—"

"A father who didn't hesitate to kill you or me. A father who murdered my mother. A father who made sure you never met yours. His father before him fu— messed him up, so he continued the cycle. All I ever wanted was to break the cycle of abuse." The Red King didn't pause as he stirred his cereal into the milk. His voice showed that he's agitated, but his actions remained calm. "If you think I regret taking his head off his body, think again."

After his speech, the teenage boy shoved a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"I..." Eugene let out a sigh. "I just want you to come back to our family."

A dry but humorous laugh came from his younger brother. At this point, the teenage boy looked like he was so done with life.

"Go back to the Romanovs? I didn't know we had some left. You really wanna see me dead on TV so bad, hah." The Red King snarled at the Wonder Soldier. "You said you wanna be a part of my life, but deep down, you know that's bull shit."

"Shit!" Jay clapped his hands.

JJ kicked her partner's leg from under the table, causing a loud thump to echo through their small cabin.

"Oh, sh— no, I'm sorry..." The Red King made eye contact with his companion for a second before his head snapped at Jay. "Sorry, buddy. That's not allowed in this house."

"Shit?" Jay repeated himself with a grin.

His distraction seemed to lower the tension for a bit, but it didn't improve the already abyssal impression that the Wonder Soldier has on them.

"Don't say that, please?" The teenage boy pouted a little at the baby.

"Okay." The toddler gave him a thumbs up, which earned him a proud smile from JJ.

The Wonder Soldier stood up from the dinner table, the back of his knees pushed his creaking chair back.

"I still wanna be part of your life, Jay..." His red eyes glanced at his brother before landing on the teenage girl. "And you too, Jay. I can't stand watching your child growing up in this hell hole."

"What do you propose we do then?" JJ lifted her chin to look at the Wonder Soldier. "If you're saying we should give KJ to you, then get out. Never come back. If I see you again, pray to whatever God you believe in."