Vought International's reach across New York bordered on total.
For a company like this, the resources were staggering. It was exactly what Homelander had bragged about earlier: street cameras, DMV records, citizen databases, and direct lines into law enforcement systems. Over the years, Vought built that access through a mix of pressure and charm, all under the banner of protecting the city. By now, a good chunk of New Yorkers trusted the company's word about as much as they trusted the NYPD. Maybe more than they trusted the CIA or FBI, if it came down to it.
With Vought feeling its way through every street and alley in the city, word traveled fast in the places the snakes and rats actually lived. Butcher and M.M. sat back and watched the futile search play out.
"How long you figure before those idiots realize they've been chasing their own tail?"
"Probably not until after we've already finished what we came to do."
Butcher let out a low chuckle. "Jude's a slippery bastard, I'll give him that. Got Vought running down a fake ID, a fake plate, and a car that's already been retired. That's ten days minimum before they get anywhere. Two weeks, more likely."
"I'd bet longer than that," M.M. said. "If he covered his tracks clean enough, they could keep investigating for a good while and never actually land anywhere."
The TV in the corner ran through the latest coverage. Homelander, Maeve, and Superman, keeping the city safe. Taking down a terrorist stronghold. Fighting against impossible odds. Every one of the Shining Light members inside that basement was dead, and not one New Yorker on camera seemed to mind. Most were cheering.
A small minority weren't so sure. One clip cut to a woman on the street, frowning at the reporter's mic. "Superman was there too, and he doesn't kill people. So how'd every single one of those terrorists end up dead? Did he finally snap, or what?"
Vought didn't touch the question. They had just gotten a bill passed granting supes legal authority to kill criminals in the field. The last thing they needed was to spend the next six months carefully building Superman a squeaky-clean, no-kill brand, only to have the ground shift under it. Better to leave it foggy.
Clark didn't bother correcting the record either way. Building a persona had never been the point. Give it a few more missions, and the city would work out exactly who he was without any help from a press release.
"Speaking of, how'd Jude and the others even get out there?" Butcher asked.
M.M. rubbed his chin. "Flying's obviously out. Boat, maybe? Though Vought would probably catch wind of that too."
"Who knows. Guy's not normal to begin with. Wouldn't put it past him to have some kind of portal stashed in his back pocket."
"A portal? What the hell—"
Frenchie yanked the doorknob. The door swung shut, then open again. Same door, same handle, and behind it, the same impossibly wide, sealed-off space that had no business fitting behind an ordinary frame.
"Not a portal. It's a safe house." Jude didn't explain further. He shoved him through. Kimiko followed behind, calm and obedient. Her eyes were wide and bright.
She had come a long way since the stronghold. The feral edge the torture carved into her had softened with time back at the workshop. She smiled more now, laughed sometimes, and looked on the surface like an ordinary young woman again. Frenchie seemed thrilled by the change. Jude wasn't as convinced. Something like what she survived didn't just wash out because she smiled more often. Whatever it cut into her was going to stay cut, probably for good.
Frenchie caught the sound first. A strange, muffled noise from somewhere in the room. He turned toward it and found a man on the floor. Bound at the wrists and ankles, mouth gagged. Gaunt and hollow-eyed.
He had no visible wounds. No bruising, no obvious abuse. Just a man whose ruin was entirely in his head. His body was thin, but not starved. Whatever did this to him hadn't laid a finger on his skin.
The second he saw Frenchie, his eyes widened. He started dragging himself forward on the floor, whimpering, crawling toward the new face.
He wanted saving badly enough that he wasn't thinking straight. He didn't pause to figure out who Frenchie was before begging. Or maybe he simply didn't care anymore who did the saving, as long as somebody did.
Things are already this bad. How much worse could it possibly get?
"Uh, what's going on with this guy?" Frenchie turned to Jude. "Looks Asian. You grab him? Who is he?"
Kimiko stepped forward. She studied the man's face for a long moment. Her posture stiffened, and her jaw clenched.
Frenchie started at the shift. He noticed the man's panic spike the instant he laid eyes on Kimiko. The man scrambled backward across the floor, whimpering harder now, trying to put as much distance between them as his bound limbs allowed.
"He's Shining Light." Jude's hand landed on Kimiko's shoulder, holding her back. The same look she wore in the basement cell was creeping back over her face. Her upper lip curled slightly. "I know you're angry. But he doesn't die. Not yet. He's living proof of the connection between Vought and Shining Light. That makes him a witness."
Frenchie understood what was happening, though he didn't say a word to help talk her down. He knew better than to get between her and this.
Kimiko was shaking, but she held herself back. She glared at Jude. Her hands balled into fists, looking ready to take a swing at him if she thought for one second she could win.
"Think it through," Jude said, his voice quiet but firm. "Vought and Shining Light made you into what you are now. Kill him, and taking Vought down gets a lot harder. Keep him breathing, and once Vought's finished, settling the rest of it gets a whole lot easier."
Kimiko went still.
Jude crossed the room and tore the gag away from the man's mouth.
"Joseph Aquino." He pulled out a piece of candy. "Time for your nutrition top-up. Not the bug-flour bread this time. Figured that stuff was a little too inhumane, even for you. Upgraded the menu special, just for this occasion."
"Fruit gummies today. Real fruit, real vegetables, whole grains. Nothing weird in them, I promise. And they melt right down, so don't worry about the chewing."
Aquino curled deeper into the corner. He shook from head to foot, his jaw trembling too hard to properly close. None of it slowed Jude down.
"Here. Have some candy."