Part 5.
Abandoned Building. New York City.
Serge or Frenchie as he was called was not someone who I had originally cared enough about to take out because with Billy Butcher there were no The Boys to get in my way.
Alas for poor Frenchie I'd come across him because among other things he was a weapons dealer and thanks to my AI I knew that the city's new crime lord was using money taken from the drug trade to purchase weapons.
Cortana hadn't been able to track down the Red Hood himself, he was the off the grid and used to hiding, but she was able to work out some sort of pattern for his movements based on his interactions as other criminals weren't so careful about who they spoke to.
This had brought me to a boarded-up Tony Cicero's restaurant that really should have the police swarming given how many crooks I'd seen coming in and out of the place.
Spoiler
"You never take me anywhere nice" complained Cortana.
I rather liked having an AI companion with a sense of humour.
"We've been to the moon" I pointed out "Some women tend to think of it as romantic".
I'd needed to go there to find a suitable site for my moonbase. Cortana had ordered the creation of a few specialised prefab buildings from many different companies that I would later be able to move from Earth to its only natural satellite.
Before Cortana could finish pointing out that the moon was an airless lump of rock covered in craters and therefore not romantic, I spotted my target.
"Someone went to a lot of trouble to delete this guy's history" said Cortana "There's hardly anything in his CIA file and I can't find him at all in the police's database".
That made sense since The Boys had worked for someone high up in the CIA. I just couldn't recall who and it didn't much matter since if that organisation ever came after me I could dismantle it with the help of Cortana.
"Looks like they are having a meeting as expected," I said.
Not unexpected given that the Red Hood was known for organising criminals. He would offer them protection from the capes in exchange for part of their profits and access to certain resources.
That was why I'd not already killed Frenchie and his friends, as while it would be good to kill a man known for coming up with ways to defeat sups, he wasn't a big deal compared to the Red Hood.
Once it looked as if everyone who was coming to the meeting they were holding had arrived, I deployed my special armour that covered up the outfit that Cortana had sorted out for me by ordering parts from different companies all over the seaboard.
I didn't really need armour I just wanted an outfit that would stay together as I flew about and fought crime. It was very important that my two sets of armour remain separate as I didn't want anyone to associate Invincible with the guy who was going around butchering criminals.
It was part of my long-term plan for the public to see Invincible, a name that I had supplied to the media as a Superman-like figure and I didn't mind saving people as it was a good way to test my abilities.
"This is where the fun begins" I whispered.
I detached the darksaber from my belt and smiled because I knew that there was no chance of anyone figuring out that it was a type of lightsaber due to Lucus having never made the Star Wars movies.
The superhero genre had grown to dominate the film industry over the decades, starting at the end of World War Two until the point that by now the folks in Hollywood made little other than superhero movies.
As such Lucus had spent his career working on those kinds of films in more of a support role. Sad that no one in this world got to see Star Wars the original trilogy, but at least they were spared from the disappointment that the movie franchise became.
The guard at the door, who pretended to be someone just hanging around having a smoke was the first to die as I swooped down from above and almost bisected him. If not for the feature of lightsabers cauterising wounds then I would have made quite a mess.
I wasn't going to bother with stealth as I had the ability to overwhelm my targets with sheer force. With that in mind, I kicked down the door and headed into the boarded-up restaurant which was as expected filled with weapon dealers.
Because of this I suddenly had a lot of people reaching for the merchandise or guns they carried on their person. Not that it mattered I was on them before the shooting started and no bullet was going to do me any harm.
I simply ran forward and began cutting crooks down with my darksaber, I enjoyed this, the feeling of power, knowing that I could end so many dangerous men with such little effort.
There was a lot of screaming as I killed, I didn't even know if I managed to end Frenchie, who was a target of mine even if he wasn't a very important one.
Any concern I had over that man's fate became unimportant to me when I got hit by something with enough kick to it that I was made to stagger backwards and it left me feeling dizzy.
One weakness we Viltrumites have is our inner ear, which is delicately balanced and part of why we fly so well. Thousands of years of evolution and getting used to moving through a full 360 degrees of motion in the air has its drawbacks. Someone was exploiting this weakness.
As I'd known he would be The Red Hood was here. He'd come out of the kitchen with a grenade launcher that must be loaded with something very potent to have staggered me.
He fired again and again, each time causing me to be pushed back, and the next thing I knew the entire building was collapsing on top of me.
As I quickly dug my way out, I was surprised by what happened, the grenades hadn't done much to me, but the fact they had been more than annoyance meant that the Red Hood had been able to put together some sort of weapon that could at least slow me down.
At the very least he'd been able to buy himself enough time to get away and maybe saved some of his new minions who would now owe him.
"I'll start designing you a person shield" offered Cortana "Something that helps you handle concussive force".
While she did that I was going to go have a drink. I had a headache and I was in a foul mood. It didn't help that I had no idea if the Red Hood somehow knew about one of my few weaknesses or if he'd pulled out that trick because he knew he was dealing with someone with superpowers and screwing with my inner ear had been unintended.
"That would be helpful," I remarked.
I would have another chance to deal with the Red Hood. He was just a mortal man. I would find him and put my fist through his chest.
Vought Tower. New York City.
Spoiler
Stan Edgar and Madelyn Stillwell sat in Madelyn's office as they watched the video that had gotten the attention of many people around the world.
A new superhero was flying around the east coast, waging a one-man war on criminals and saving people from their own stupidity. Compared to the heroes under the employ of Vought this new cape was very active and also very good at his job.
Not that either Stan or Madelyn cared that his new hero was going out of his way to keep causalities down and reduce property damage when possible. They only cared that this new superhuman wasn't under their control.
"He hasn't stopped to talk to the press much," said Madelyn "We know that he calls himself Invincible, but beyond that, we don't know much other than he's from across the pond".
Of course, she'd found Invinicible's public identity, he was no one special and seemed to have come into his powers recently. Nolan Grayson had inherited his wealth and done nothing with it.
"He's foreign?" asked Stan "So where did his parents get the Compound V from?".
Superheroes didn't just pop up they were manufactured.
"We have no idea" said Madelyn "It's possible that he doesn't even know the source of his powers and he appears to have no interest in discussing the matter when he does bother talking to people".
As Vought's Senior Vice President of Hero Management, it was Madelyn Stillwell's job to manage the world's greatest superhero team, The Seven.
It was also her job to ensure that they were profitable for the company to keep despite the trouble they could cause, to that end, she'd taken an interest in this Invincible.
Her ambitions went beyond merely having superheroes fighting crime on America's streets; she desired to put them in the military, through a multi-billion-dollar government contract, and this Invincible might be able to help her with that.
"I assume you want to bring him under our umbrella," said Stan "You don't need my blessing for that".
He was quite happy to let Madelyn handle the talent while he did the actual work of running Vought.
"I want to bring him into the Seven" stated the Vice President.
That did surprise the CEO of Vought International even if he barely expressed it.
"He's not even part of the company" Stan pointed out "We have entire lines of heroes ready to compete for a place in our flagship team".
This was an odd move, but Madelyn had her reasons.
"I think he might one day be a match for Homelander," said Madelyn "He flies, he's strong, he's fast, he's bulletproof and I think he's still discovering what it is he can do. I think this Invincible could help us keep Homelander in line".
Stan was willing to listen. It had always been a fear that Homelander would grow impossible to control if he ever stopped caring about the admiration of the masses. Thankfully the leader of the Seven was so eager for validation and affection that Madelyn was able to keep him on a leash.
"What if he is like Homelander?" enquired Stan.
She had already thought about that.
"Invincible is still flexing his muscles" she said "I think he's out there learning what he can do and isn't prepared for what it means to be a superhero. He could do with some guidance and I intend to offer that. If I can get to him before he's too certain of himself I think I can guide him in the right direction".
Stan smiled just a little. Madelyn had always been good at dealing with the talent.
"As long as they don't team up we can set them against each other if we have to" he mused.
Madelyn knew that there was no chance of Invincible and Homelander becoming friends as the current leader of The Seven was much like a dog. He wouldn't like having someone around who could challenge his dominance.
"And what if he's worse than Homelander" the CEO wondered.
Madelyn had already thought of that.
"Then we brand him as an enemy and set The Seven on him," she said "We have enough supes on the payroll to bury this Invincible in bodies if we need to".
Stan gave this some thought.
"It's not without risk, however, having someone to pit against Homelander could be useful" he reasoned "But if he isn't strong enough he might not be worth the investment. Still, we can risk anyone else getting their hands on a superhero that powerful".
He wasn't interested in how exactly Madelyn would get this all done and he could trust her to have already thought of the details. She wouldn't have asked him to come to his office if she didn't already have a well-thought-out plan of action for acquiring this Invincible.
"I assume you want Invincible to replace Translucent," said Stan "Is there still no trace of him?".
Madelyn knew that she could get the blame for this and it was part of why she wanted to get a new superhero on the team so quickly. Invincible was becoming a household name and people would forget all about Translucent as soon as she could dangle Invincible in front of them as a distraction.
"None at all" she replied "As far we can tell he isn't anywhere on Earth".
Given that he could turn invisible there wasn't much chance of ever finding Translucent if he didn't want to be found and he seemed to have figured out a way of removing his tracking chip.
"Pity," said Stan without any conviction "He's in violation of his contract so let's wash our hands of him".
Neither of them had ever liked Translucent as he was known to be a pervert.
"This Invincible he dresses like Soldier Boy" commented the CEO as he rewatched the video "But without the iconography".
Compared to what most superheroes wore the outfit was rather practical and sedate.
"My department thinks he's trying to project strength without coming off as overly hostile" the Vice President informed her superior "And he isn't American so he won't be wearing the red, white and blue".
They had entire teams of people who could come up with a new image so it wasn't important.
"He sees himself as a warrior, not a soldier," remarked Stan as he got up to leave "Something to keep in mind. Now if you'll excuse me I do have a meeting after what will sadly be a short lunch".
Madelyn stayed in her office and watched as Invincible tore the door of a van, pulled out the driver and then handed over the crook to the police before flying away.
The superhero didn't stick around to receive praise, or make any statements, he got the job done and then left. He was a very different kind of hero and she would have to figure Invincible out if she was going to get him into the Seven.