Chapter 54 Believe it Motherfucker

"You really were Frederick Vought's wife?"

The old black-and-white photographs didn't lie. She looked exactly the same as the woman before him—even a wedding photo showed her in a bridal gown beside Frederick Vought.

These undeniable pieces of evidence made it impossible for Homelander to doubt her. He swallowed, both skeptical and intrigued.

His deeply rooted belief in Vought's unshakable power suddenly cracked.

So what if it was Vought? So what if it was their board of directors? The wife of their founder—the grandmother of those board members—had just been flattering him.

Could it be…?

"So Vought isn't nearly as powerful as you thought…"

A seed had been planted deep within Homelander's heart. Stormfront was about to strike while the iron was hot—when her phone buzzed.

Ding.

"Half an hour from now, in the woods beside the Sage Tree Psychiatric Hospital. Madam Vought, I wish to discuss something with you in person. After that, your request to join the Seven will be approved."

The message was from Edgar.

As she expected, Edgar didn't dare reject such a minor request—letting her into the Seven.

The black butler that her descendants hired to manage the family business had now come to speak with her personally. Glancing at the location, Stormfront instantly understood and smiled coldly.

That place was Vought's secret research facility for adult Compound V testing—filled with unstable superhumans.

It was a highly sensitive and dangerous site. Clearly, Edgar had yet to find a suitable person to manage it.

Stormfront already knew what Edgar wanted from her—a trade. He would let her join the Seven, and she would oversee the security of the facility.

It didn't matter. As long as she could join the Seven and get close to Homelander, nothing else mattered.

This was the first step toward building her envisioned new Aryan superhuman world.

"I have to go," Stormfront said, walking to the door.

"Now? Can't this wait?"

Homelander was finally hooked, his curiosity about Vought's real power just ignited. He didn't want her to leave yet.

"Don't worry. We'll have plenty of time to talk in the future." She smiled mysteriously with her hand on the doorknob. "Oh, right—"

"Did you know you have a son?"

"What?" Homelander froze. "I have a son?"

Before he could react, Stormfront was already out the door.

Whether man or woman, a touch of mystery always fuels desire and curiosity. She wanted Homelander to keep thinking about her until their next meeting.

But what she didn't know was—there might not be a next time for her.

.............

The World of Invincible

Russell returned from The Boys universe and took a sip of water.

He'd been checking in regularly, just in case Omni-Man made a move. If that happened while only Debbie and Mark were home, he'd lose the chance to stop it.

He went downstairs to get a drink and found Aunt Debbie standing in front of a bundle she'd uncovered. Her brows were furrowed, and she seemed completely lost in thought.

"Aunt Debbie?"

She didn't respond at first. He walked over and gently patted her shoulder.

"You scared me! Oh, it's just you, Russell." Debbie snapped out of her thoughts and sighed in relief. She pulled him over to the table.

"Russell, your uncle Nolan and Mark are both out. The Global Defense Agency said a meteor might hit Earth, so they went to stop it.

I found this…"

Debbie opened the bundle, revealing a blood-stained, damaged superhero suit.

After that fateful day, Russell had told Debbie about Cecil's suspicions that Omni-Man was the killer—and asked him to protect her and Mark.

She'd started noticing all sorts of odd behavior in her husband, and couldn't help but suspect the worst. Since then, she and Russell had become silent allies in this house.

She wanted the truth. If she was wrong, she'd clear Nolan's name. But if she was right…

"Nolan used to give me his suits to clean and repair. But that day, he demanded this one back—and I never saw it again. I found it hidden in the air duct."

Now that she'd uncovered possible evidence of her husband's crime, Debbie was in turmoil, unsure what to do.

If he were innocent, why hide the suit?

Why didn't Uncle Nolan just throw it away…? Russell thought, staring at the blood-soaked fabric.

Maybe he kept it as a memento—or as a grim reminder of the point of no return.

"Aunt Debbie, are you going to turn it over to the Global Defense Agency?"

"No… I want Arthur to analyze it first," Debbie said with tearful determination. "Russell, maybe your uncle was being controlled—or threatened. Maybe he didn't have a choice…"

Old Arthur could tailor battle suits for any superhero; his technical skills were leagues beyond a mere tailor.

If anyone could interpret the suit's condition, it was him—not the GDA.

"I understand. I support you, Aunt Debbie."

Russell hugged her gently, patting her back. This poor woman was being crushed between love and justice, nearly torn apart.

"Thank you, sweetheart." To Debbie, Russell was the first one Cecil had trusted with the truth. She now hoped he would pretend not to have seen the suit—for now.

After comforting her, Russell's eyes suddenly lifted toward the sky.

"What is it?"

"Uncle Nolan and Mark… they're back."

His extraordinary hearing had picked up the sound of two figures flying back at supersonic speed.

Aunt Debbie quickly stashed the bundle under the cabinet and wiped away her tears, pretending nothing had happened.

The two landed on the lawn one after the other. Mark came running back to the house, beaming with excitement, and shouted,"Russell, Mom! You won't believe what I did today!"

"I saved a country!"

He puffed out his chest proudly.

"Really?" Debbie smiled. Mark didn't notice how forced her smile was. He turned to his cousin and began animatedly describing his experience.

"That meteor that flew in from space today—dozens of meters wide. According to calculations, if it had crashed into that unfortunate little country in the Pacific, the impact would've been tens of times stronger than the Hiroshima atomic bomb."

"That was a small one," Omni-Man said as he walked in from the front entrance.

"Dozens of meters is small?" Mark asked, shocked. It had taken everything he had just to stop it.

"You should've seen the one I stopped last time. It was even bigger than the one that wiped out the dinosaurs."

"But it was different. I detected it while it was still far from Earth, floating weightless in space, not yet caught by Earth's gravity. If it had been pulled in and accelerated, I might not have been able to push it away in time."

Omni-Man shared the memory of one of his many times saving the Earth, smiling with his family.

Anyone watching this would never suspect that such a decorated hero could be the murderer of the Global Guardians.

Russell was momentarily silent.

This was just one of many, almost insignificant deeds in Omni-Man's long history of saving the planet. He had saved the world many times.

If not for the massacre in Chicago—when he dragged Mark into a slaughter that stirred public outrage and empathy—then even after killing the Global Guardians, public opinion might still have been complex, maybe even calling for leniency or sparing his life. At least, he wouldn't have ended up a fugitive who couldn't even show his face on Earth.

"Militarism truly destroys lives."

In a sense, Uncle Nolan didn't have much of a choice. If he hadn't taken action, another Viltrumite would have—killing both Mark, the half-blood, and his wife Debbie in the process, before taking Nolan back for trial and execution.

Russell looked at this still-whole family—still laughing and smiling—and sighed inwardly.

When Nolan eventually made his move, he would do everything he could to stop him. Ideally, he'd prevent Nolan from killing anyone else.

At least then, Nolan might still have a way out.

"With Aunt Debbie's gentle yet unyielding character, once she gets that suit analyzed and confirms her husband is truly the killer, she won't be able to suppress her grief and anger. She'll confront him for the truth."

"At that moment, Uncle Nolan won't be able to keep up his act, and he'll start his campaign to conquer the world."

"It's probably going to happen in the next couple of days." Russell decided that after this, he'd return to The Boys world to assess those two temporary superhumans.

If they showed even the slightest potential, he'd make a move on Homelander.

"It's worth a try.

Even if I can't take him down, there's no way he can take me down either. No real danger—at worst, I'll just alert him prematurely."

Still, given Homelander's flaw—his endless need for love and attention—he wouldn't be able to leave Earth anyway.

...............

In the forest beside the Sage Grove Center, fallen leaves blanketed the ground.

A sleek black luxury car was parked among the trees. Stormfront, crackling with lightning, descended from the sky. She saw a young man sitting in the back seat of the car, door open, as if he had been waiting for her.

Another man stood nearby respectfully like a servant—it was Edgar, whom she had seen not long ago in Vought's executive office.

Infinity?

Though she had been living in Germany, the ever-restless Stormfront kept a close eye on Vought International.

Nothing had come from her family's side, but there were rumors within Vought that the newly added Infinity in The Seven was actually a Vought board member.

"Edgar's deference makes that seem likely."

However, when she saw Russell remain seated even after her arrival—like a superior awaiting a subordinate—her face grew cold.

"Edgar, you were never this careful or respectful with me. Is it just because I was expelled from the board? You really do judge a book by its cover."

As she approached, she threw a cold jibe at Edgar.

"And you—young man. The younger generation really has no manners. I've been away from the family for years, but I've never heard of you. Judging by your age, are you Franz's or Müller's grandson? Didn't they tell you you still have a great-grandmother?"

Stormfront crossed her arms and stood firmly in place, lifting her chin to coldly gaze at Russell in the back seat.

.....

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