"Don't blame me for not giving you a chance. Get on your knees right now, apologize, and take back every word you just said. Maybe then I'll let you leave Vought with a little dignity."
The second Ivan finished speaking the temperature in the room dropped to freezing.
A-Train's face twisted. He'd expected the vice president to swallow it and keep quiet because of his status as a member of The Seven. Instead the bastard pushed right back and left him with nowhere to stand.
So he decided to teach Ivan a lesson.
In a blur he appeared in front of Ivan and reached for the man's pants. On the couch Homelander and Stormfront both cracked matching smiles, already looking forward to watching Ivan get humiliated.
Bang! Their smiles froze solid.
Ivan's single hand slammed down on A-Train's head and drove it into the floor. One! Two! Three!! A-Train's nose bridge shattered on impact. Blood flooded the floor. He was already dazed, but Ivan didn't stop. The hard, wet crack of bone on concrete kept echoing through the lounge.
Bang! Bang!!!
The smiles on Homelander and Stormfront's faces vanished completely. Both of them looked deadly serious, like it wasn't just A-Train getting his face rearranged.
No one could count how many times A-Train's head had been smashed into the ground. The entire skull was a ruined mess of blood and meat. You couldn't even recognize the original features.
The usually sharp-dressed Ivan now looked like a demon. He dragged A-Train over to the television screen.
"I gave you a chance. You didn't know how to take it. Don't blame me for going hard." Ivan's grin was pure menace.
His white suit was already soaked red with blood. The sight was chilling.
"That's enough. You actually trying to kill him?" Homelander spoke up to stop it.
Ivan ignored him. He glanced at the limp body in his hand that looked like a dead dog. The next second the television screen exploded under the impact. Countless shards of glass buried themselves in A-Train's forehead.
Through the ruined flesh you could clearly see the skull underneath, covered in dense spiderweb cracks.
It was sickening.
"Calm the fuck down, Greevs!"
Homelander's face went cold as he stood up.
Boom!
The muscles in Ivan's left arm bulged. His five fingers clenched with brutal force. The final blow crushed A-Train's entire head right in front of Homelander. Thick slurry mixed with bone fragments sprayed everywhere.
"Do I look like I'm not calm?" Ivan wiped the brain matter off his face, turned to Homelander, and smiled.
He held the deflated corpse by the neck with one hand. There was clearly no life left in it.
"A worthless piece of trash with zero utility still dares to talk shit to my face. Did you really think I was the patient type?"
Ivan casually tossed the body aside, then calmly pulled out his phone and dialed the head of security, Blitz.
"A-Train's dead. Send a few trusted guys to clean up the body. And get me a brand-new suit. I've still got to go on stage later." Ivan sounded like he was discussing something completely trivial, not like a man who had just murdered someone.
The sheer contrast left every supe in the room with their skin crawling.
Seeing The Deep and the others frozen in place, Ivan picked up a glass of juice from the side table, took a sip, and said calmly, "A-Train's death was a complete accident. Sudden cardiac arrest caused by his heart. As Vought's vice president I deeply regret his unexpected passing. He was a senior member of The Seven and made outstanding contributions to the company.
Unfortunately, due to health reasons, he has left us forever… How does that sound? Anyone want to change anything?"
His eyes swept across Homelander, Stormfront, The Deep, and Black Noir one by one.
The room stayed silent for several seconds.
Stormfront was the first to start clapping, a smile on her face. "Perfect statement. Absolutely flawless. Greevs, you've really opened my eyes."
"I don't like to lie. I'm warning you, this is the last time."
Homelander's anger wasn't about Ivan killing A-Train. It was the mask Ivan wore that made his skin crawl.
A few security guys soon entered the lounge. They zipped A-Train's corpse into a body bag and cleaned up the blood while they were at it. The whole time they kept sneaking glances at Homelander. Obviously they figured he was the one who had done the killing.
"Appreciate the hard work. Your pay will come through, Blitz. But remember this… forget everything that happened tonight. I don't want to hear any gossip later. If you can't manage that, you already know the consequences. I won't mind personally delivering your death benefits to your families."
Ivan's tone was mild, but the words sent pure fear through the security men. They nodded rapidly. "We know the rules. Nothing happened tonight. We don't know a thing."
"No, no, no. Shouldn't you have found A-Train's body after a civilian tip? By the time you arrived he had already died of a heart attack. Then, at his family's strong request, you sent him for cremation."
"Right, we were so nervous we forgot. Extremely sorry, Mr. Greevs." The security men bowed and echoed the story.
"Go. Tonight's pay will make you very happy."
...
One hour later.
The selection event moved into the second half.
Thirty-six contestants had been eliminated. Only twelve had advanced to the finals. The judges for the finals were Ivan and the remaining members of The Seven.
"And now, please welcome the brightest star of the night, the strongest supe in America… Homelander!!"
"Homelander I love you!" A hot blonde with big tits in the audience screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Homelander!"
"Homelander!!!"
The entire stadium hit peak frenzy. Homelander's popularity needed no explanation. Even the hottest Hollywood stars couldn't touch him. Fans waved American flags and roared for his entrance.
Down below, Homelander's mood was shit.
He had just gotten off the phone with Edgar and learned Ryan had been kidnapped.
No need to guess. It had to be Butcher and his crew. No one else had the balls to snatch his son.
What he couldn't figure out was how Maeve, who had been in the car, got knocked out by a few cans of high-concentration halothane. The whole thing was as ridiculous as an ant beating a lion in an arm-wrestling match.
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69