◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 50 chapter ahead on P@treon of which 10 are free Chapters. if you're interested: patreon.com/Heroicverse
------------------------------------------------
"That settles it." President Ellis made the call.
"Anthony… I need a full proposal. Costs, staffing, jurisdiction—every detail. Give me something airtight enough to shut those fossils in Congress up."
"Of course, Mr. President." Anthony's grin could have powered the capital.
"Vought… at your service, any time."
He strolled back to the desk, lifted a pen, and scrawled a number on Ellis's notepad.
A ten-digit number.
"What's this?" Ellis asked, puzzled.
"Oh, that's Vought International's projected tax payment for next year."
Anthony's smile carried galaxies of meaning.
"We're a patriotic company, Mr. President. We believe in giving back."
"We'll pay every cent we owe the IRS…"
He tapped the desktop with the pen—soft, steady, like a heartbeat.
"…and we'll also pay our 'friends' every cent of 'tax' they're due."
"…"
"I see." President Ellis blinked, then flashed an equally radiant smile.
"Mr. Starr, I believe we're going to get along splendidly."
"I never doubted it."
Anthony pocketed the pen and headed for the door.
"Oh, one more thing." He paused at the threshold, glancing back.
"About that treasonous Vice-President—need me to take care of him? Heat vision… quick, clean, zero evidence left behind."
President Ellis's heart skipped a beat.
He stared into Homelander's sapphire eyes and felt an inexplicable chill.
"N-no… unnecessary. We… we're a nation of laws. He'll stand trial!"
"Such a shame."
Anthony shrugged and pulled the door open.
Click-click-click—!!
Outside, camera flashes obliterated everything. 5 a.m., South Lawn, an impromptu press conference.
Matthew Ellis, freshly suited, looked exhausted yet electrified.
He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Homelander.
"Tonight was one of America's darkest hours," Ellis boomed to the cameras, "but also our finest!"
"We witnessed betrayal—and true heroism!"
He turned to the man beside him.
"I, Matthew Ellis, President of the United States, extend my deepest gratitude to this hero—Mr. Homelander!"
Flashes detonated again.
Ding! Popularity +115,420!
Ding! Popularity +125,781!
Ding! Popularity +135,688!
…
He stepped forward, took the mic, and offered a modest smile.
"Thank you, Mr. President…"
His gaze swept every lens.
"I'm just an American who did the right thing."
"The threat tonight is over, but new threats rise every day."
"Therefore," he paused, dropping the evening's bombshell, "I'm delighted to announce that my company, Vought International, will partner closely with the Ellis administration…"
"We…" he spread his arms as though embracing the entire nation, "…will safeguard America. Coast to coast, sky to sea. With us around… you're safe."
Cheers swallowed his final words.
High above, aboard the Helicarrier, Nick Fury killed the feed without expression.
"Hill."
"Sir?"
"Raise Homelander's threat level," Fury's single eye narrowed, "to maximum."
"…Yes, sir."
Ashley's call caught Anthony mid-flight out of D.C.
"Sir! Oh my God… sir!" Ashley shrieked, too excited for formalities.
"Anthony! You did it! You fucking did it!!"
"Calm down, Ashley." Vargas hovered in the stratosphere, sunrise turning the cloud-sea below into liquid gold—just like his mood. "Just work."
"Work?!?!" Ashley screamed from the top floor of Vought Tower.
"Sir! You call that work?! You saved the President! Saved America!!"
"Our PR department's losing it! CNN, Fox, MSNBC—they're all running our copy! Time scrapped next week's cover and slapped on your 'lifting-the-wreckage' shot! Headline—'Atlas for a New Age'!"
"Pre-sales for Homelander: Origins…" her voice quavered, "…tripled in the last hour. Industry guys say it could break box-office records!"
"Good." Vargas basked in the dawn, arms wide, the star-spangled cape snapping behind him.
"Now that's living."
Ding! Popularity +540,812!
Ding! Popularity +612,404!
…!
Current popularity: 31,202,524!
Ding! North America popularity rank upgraded—Household Name!
Ding! Power boost: Super-strength (1,500 tons), Steel-body (planetary+++), Heat-vision (6,000 °C), Super-speed (Mach 55)! …
"Ha… hahahahaha!!"
Ten kilometers above Earth, Anthony laughed with wild abandon.
Avengers Tower, top-floor lounge.
An 8K screen looped Homelander's "humble" White House speech.
"…I'm just an American who did the right thing."
Crash!
A thirty-thousand-dollar whiskey tumbler shattered against the screen, courtesy of Tony Stark.
"Fuck!! Fuck!! Fuck!!!" Tony's eyes were bloodshot; his pricey tee still reeked of dockside oil and blood.
He'd just flown back to New York in a backup armor, Pepper still warm beside him, a wreck in every sense.
This was his welcome.
"Look at him! Look at that gel-slicked smug face!" Tony jabbed at the frozen perfect smile, trembling with rage.
"Goddamn… 'did the right thing'?! That bastard was there early—twenty minutes at least! He saved the President, then parked his ass in the sky and watched!"
Tony jabbed his own chest. "He watched Killian's flambe crew tear my babies apart like scrap! Watched me get pounded into the dirt! Watched me stew inside a tin can! He let it happen—on purpose!!"
Steve Rogers, in a tank top fresh from morning training, stared grimly. "Tony, calm down. What exactly happened?"
"Calm?!?" Tony sprang like a scalded cat. "I'll tell you what happened, capsicle!"
"That golden prick beat me to the site by twenty minutes! He saved the President, then hovered overhead spectating while my dozen suits got shredded like tinfoil! He let me get my ass kicked and left me to rot in a can! Deliberately!"
Natasha Romanoff stepped in, fresh from a SHIELD call, looking equally grim.