It was night, on top of a building.
V-25 saw, from a distance, a car following him.
He didn't hold back and jumped—but before doing so, he calculated the distance and how high he needed to leap.
Luckily, the car was heading straight toward his position, so he landed perfectly on the back of it.
After landing, he flipped the car over using his strength.
After doing that, he heard murmurs—noises he couldn't understand.
"Everybody out, now," Billy Butcher said from inside the overturned car. He was the first to free himself.
"I'm stuck, my seatbelt won't come off," MM said, trapped inside the vehicle.
Billy smashed the car window—which was already badly cracked—with an elbow strike and climbed out.
Meanwhile, V-25 remained standing outside. Right after Butcher shattered the glass, V-25 felt something strange before he could even react. His head started spinning.
Butcher crawled away from the car and said, "Back off."
(Boom)
He kicked the window, shattering the glass everywhere. MM turned his face away before the kick so none of the shards would hit him.
"Help me out, Butcher," MM said.
"Come on," Butcher replied, extending his hand and helping MM out.
Frenchie, who was sitting in the front seat, managed to get out on his own.
They stepped away, and when they turned around, they saw the boy kneeling beside the car.
He had his hands pressed tightly over his ears.
"Stop—make it stop!" the boy screamed, clearly in pain.
The three of them stood there, completely confused.
What the hell was happening?
V-25 was in pain—not because something was hurting him physically, but because he was hurting himself.
Specifically, his hearing.
He was hearing everything from kilometers away.
He was awakening another one of his powers.
Super hearing.
He heard everything: voices, whispers, cars, heartbeats of people nearby.
His newly awakened ears couldn't filter what should come in or be blocked out.
He heard things so far away he couldn't even imagine what those sounds were.
That infinite amount of strange noises flooding his mind caused unbearable pain and total confusion.
Imagine hearing thousands of different sounds at full volume.
Anyone would go insane.
He couldn't take it anymore and dropped to his knees, pressing both hands over his ears, trying to block the sounds.
"THE VOICES—THEY WON'T STOP! STOP IT! MAKE IT STOP!" the boy screamed.
The three watched in shock.
The being who had clearly slaughtered many people stood before them, completely exposed.
He thrashed back and forth, unable to control himself.
"What's happening to him?" Frenchie asked, terrified.
"I don't know. All I know is this is our chance to kill him," Butcher said.
"SHUT UP—STAY QUIET!" the boy shouted.
Without saying a word, Butcher suddenly crouched near the car window. Before he could kneel to grab something inside, MM asked:
"What are you doing, Butcher? The kid—we need to help him."
"You two figure something out. I'm grabbing something important," Butcher replied.
It was obvious what it was.
A weapon.
The noises didn't stop. Sounds of animals, insects, people crying, people laughing, talking—everything poured into his mind.
It hurt.
It hurt so much that he started crying.
Frenchie saw it and felt pity. Even he didn't fully understand what he was feeling.
"The kid… he's in pain. He needs help. Let's help him," Frenchie said.
"And what are we supposed to do? What's your brilliant idea—take him to a hospital so Vought can find us and kill us?" MM snapped.
"I've got a better idea…" Butcher said, suddenly reappearing with a gun in his hand.
"Hey—hey—don't do that," Frenchie said, putting his hand in front of the gun.
"For fuck's sake, Butcher, put that thing away," MM said.
"Let's end his suffering…" Butcher said, aiming the weapon.
"No, Butcher. I don't agree with that. We're taking him to Grace alive, got it?" Frenchie said, stepping in front of the gun.
"And yeah, Grace wants him alive," MM added.
Butcher rolled his eyes, holstered the gun, and said:
"I was just kidding, you bunch of pussies."
"Frenchie, figure out how to help him. MM, help me flip the car. We can't stay here."
"Alright," Frenchie said, turning back to the boy.
Frenchie and MM exchanged a glance.
"How are we supposed to flip the car?" MM asked, visibly worried.
"I don't fucking know, but we can't leave it here," Butcher snapped, clearly pissed about the damage to his car.
"Push from this side," Butcher said.
Meanwhile…
Frenchie crouched near the boy—carefully—and asked:
"What's wrong with you, mon cœur?" he asked, concerned.
Looking at the situation, the conclusion was obvious.
"You can't control what you're hearing. It's the voices in your head, mon cœur?" Frenchie asked.
Then he did something risky.
Very risky.
He reached out, grabbed the boy's arm with one hand, then took the other arm with the second.
"Look at me, mon cœur. Look at me," Frenchie said.
V-25 felt someone touching him and instinctively almost reacted—but he didn't.
He simply opened his eyes.
When he did, he saw someone looking straight at him, holding his arms.
He could've thrown that person halfway across the street if he wanted to.
But he didn't.
He felt that the man meant no harm—and maybe, just maybe, he could help.
He murmured, unsure if he could even be understood:
"The voices… there are too many… and they won't stop…"
Frenchie felt his chest tighten.
The boy felt like a reflection of himself.
Frenchie had done terrible things, too—and he also heard voices. The voices of the people he had killed. And they never stopped.
"I know. I know. It's overwhelming—but it'll pass. Everything passes. You need to focus, mon cœur," Frenchie said softly.
V-25 didn't really understand. The man's words blended with the thousands of sounds flooding his mind.
"Focus on me. Don't pay attention to everything else. Empty your mind, mon cœur. Let the voices go. Focus on my voice," Frenchie said.
He didn't understand—but as the strange man kept talking, the noise slowly began to fade.
It was strange.
His vision narrowed to a single point, and his hearing focused around it.
He fixed his gaze on the man's moving lips.
The voices began to fade.
And the pain began to ease.
"That's it. Just like that, mon cœur. Focus on me," Frenchie said.
Meanwhile—
"Shit, the car won't flip. It's not happening, Butcher. We'll have to leave it," MM said, exhausted.
"Fuck no. I'm not leaving my car here."
They tried everything, but it was useless. Two people weren't enough.
Then Butcher and MM heard it.
A helicopter.
"Ah shit—shit," Butcher muttered.
"Is it Vought?" MM asked, worried.
"We gotta get out of here now!" Butcher yelled.
"Come on, Frenchie—leave him!" Butcher shouted as he turned away.
But when he turned back, he noticed something.
The screaming had stopped.
"He stopped… he's okay now," Frenchie said.
V-25 was lying down. When the ringing in his head finally stopped and the noise faded completely, he heard a conversation.
He stood up slowly and saw three people.
He recognized the man who had helped him—and two others.
"I don't give a fuck. Vought's coming, and if we don't leave now, we're dead. I'm going. You coming, MM? Goodbye, Frenchie—good luck," Butcher said, turning away.
"But… the kid? Are we just leaving him here?" Frenchie asked.
"Sorry, Frenchie, but he's right," MM said, turning his back as well.
Then a voice spoke.
"Who are you?" the boy asked.
Butcher turned. MM did too—both surprised.
"Can you understand us, mon cœur?" Frenchie asked.
"The kid understands us, Butcher," MM said.
"Great. Tell him he owes me a new car," Butcher snapped.
"Sorry about the car. I thought you were with the guys who captured me earlier," V-25 said, still getting used to understanding people.
Now that he had better control over his hearing, he could understand speech clearly.
Before, his super hearing interfered with spoken words—he couldn't separate voices from the noise. The power had likely awakened earlier, but adrenaline had suppressed it. When the adrenaline faded, it fully awakened—and once he learned to control it, things made sense again.
Butcher didn't accept it right away. He understood—but the car still hurt.
"They're still after me. If you help me, I might drag you into this. I don't want you getting hurt," the boy said.
Then he walked over to Butcher's car.
Casually, he flipped it back upright.
The car still worked—it was just badly dented.
"Go. You can't stay here. They're coming for me. And… thank you," he said, clearly to Frenchie.
"My baby," Butcher said, visibly relieved to have his car back. It was "sick," sure—but better than nothing.
"Nice. Very nice, kid," MM said, celebrating.
"Mon cœur, you saved us. I'd kiss you, but I'm afraid you'd crush me like a soda can," Frenchie joked.
Butcher wasted no time—jumped into the car, followed by MM.
Frenchie stayed outside for a moment.
"Mon cœur, come with us. We can help you. Take you somewhere safe. Come with us," Frenchie said.
"I…" V-25 hesitated.
"I'd like to—but I can't. I don't want to involve you in this," he replied.
"…Alright. But if you change your mind, call us," Frenchie said, handing him his phone number—his little card.
"I know a woman who can help you. If you ever want to meet her, call," Frenchie added.
V-25 took the number.
"Let's go, Frenchie—now or never! I'm not leaving you behind!" Butcher yelled.
"Move it, Frenchie!" MM said.
"Bye, mon cœur," Frenchie said as he got into the car.
"Step on it, Butcher!"
"Go, go, go!" MM shouted.
Butcher floored the accelerator and sped off, leaving V-25 behind with the card.
He looked at it, slipped it into his pocket, and thought for a few seconds about where he should go.
Then—
A loud noise echoed in the sky.
A bright light shone down over his head.
V-25 looked up, shielding his eyes, and saw a helicopter hovering above him, a powerful spotlight aimed straight at him.
"Freeze. Don't move. That's an order," a soldier said, aiming a machine gun at him.
V-25 sighed.
"Ah… shit," he muttered.