Joey heard the distant thrum of helicopter rotors.
Vought's people had arrived, fully armed—just like the first time he had encountered them.
But this time they weren't here for him. Madelyn Stillwell was issuing orders through her soundproof earpiece to the Red River Security personnel aboard the armed helicopters.
They had come to completely wipe out the G-Men.
To be honest, Madelyn didn't want to do this. Not only because the G-Men were an IP worth tens of billions, but also because 'superheroes are bulletproof.'
The so-called 'bulletproof superheroes' was merely a marketing narrative. Vought needed to create that impression in order to push forward its strategy of weaponizing superheroes.
The truth was that nearly all Vought-made superheroes in the world were not immune to bullets. If a bullet didn't penetrate, it was only because the caliber wasn't large enough.
Or the ammunition wasn't the right kind.
Certain specially designed rounds were lethally effective against products of Compound V, and every member of Red River Security was loaded with those rounds for this mission.
In the face of such firepower, these undisciplined, unorganized superpowered individuals were no different from ordinary people. Killing them wouldn't be much harder than slaughtering an entire circus troupe.
Five helicopters split up and encircled the manor. At a single word from Madelyn, they could instantly turn the entire estate into a killing field.
Besides overseeing the operation, Madelyn had already begun laying the groundwork for damage control. Sitting before her were Ashley and two planners from the film division, discussing how to minimize losses as much as possible.
"How about Kevin Feige?" Ashley tapped her notebook with a pen.
"He did a great job on G-Men: World War before. Just let him continue. By the way, who's the most popular member of the G-Men again?"
Madeleine nodded in agreement.
"I think it's Ground Hawk. Perfect. Let's center him in another film—G-Men: Hawk's Homecoming—and give this IP a proper send-off."
"And the casting? CGI or live-action?" the head of the film division asked. "We probably can't expect Ground Hawk himself to play Ground Hawk anymore."
The conflict between Superman and the G-Men had been unexpected. But regardless of the outcome, Red River Security would complete its mission. The destruction of the G-Men was already inevitable.
From the bottom of her heart, Madelyn hoped Superman would walk away from this unscathed. First, from a corporate standpoint, Vought's assets couldn't withstand further turmoil.
Sealing away the G-Men would cause Vought's revenue to plummet, and the stock price certainly wouldn't look good. Major shareholders with inside information might short and cash out in advance, but minority shareholders would obviously be furious.
Second, on a personal level, Madelyn truly hoped someone could completely replace Homelander—just as Homelander had once replaced Soldier Boy—and as soon as possible.
Homelander's pathological obsession with her was of almost no benefit now. And if the things she had concealed from him were ever discovered, the consequences for her would be catastrophic.
From what she had observed so far, Superman was at least far more temperate than Homelander.
"Ms. Stillwell, the situation is a bit unexpected."
The feedback from Red River Security was just as surprising to Madelyn.
The courtyard of the G-Mens' manor was littered with severed limbs and headless corpses. The carnage was so extreme that even the battle-hardened mercenaries were astonished.
They reported that Superman had appeared at the scene, accompanied by several children—likely another batch of expendables abducted by Godolkin.
"No one fires without my order! Turn the cameras to—"
Madelyn had intended to ask more questions when Joey's voice suddenly came through the headset:
"Madelyn, you sent Laurie to the G Sentinels. Do you have any idea what your decision could have caused?!"
Joey had ignored the mercenaries' warnings and flown straight into the helicopter cabin, seizing the communicator.
At that moment, Madelyn wanted to take back her earlier thoughts. In her mind, Superman's threat level had just risen to the same level as Homelander.
When she assigned Laurie to the G-Men, she had no idea there was any connection between her and Superman. She had simply seen a suitable candidate at hand.
After all, the real focus was the agent. That person could stir up friction within the G-Men against John Godolkin and expand Vought's influence. Whichever superhero tagged along with that agent didn't matter—she had merely chosen the youngest one, the easiest to manipulate.
She just hadn't expected that the G-Men, lawless as they were, would not only disregard the law—but even disregard Vought itself.
"It was an accident. I didn't know—"
Before Madeleine could finish explaining, the communicator crackled with static and cut off. As she stood there stunned, the window outside her office was already being tapped.
Joey unlatched the locked panoramic window and floated into the office.
"Go on. I'm listening."
Madelyn explained everything in detail. Joey kept his eyes fixed on her chest as she spoke, waiting for her defense to conclude.
Though the physiological reactions of fear, lying, and anger were similar, there were subtle differences. At this moment, Madelyn's bodily reactions were identical to those of Ashley and the other two present—they were all afraid.
Either Madelyn was a very good liar, or she was telling the truth.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Joey chose to leave.
He could have killed her, Ashley, and the others on the spot. Then the rest of the Seven. Then Stan Edgar. Then everyone connected to Vought.
After that would come the disobedient superhumans, the ordinary people who resisted him, and every earthly governing body that opposed him.
In the process, only 42% of innocents would be affected.
But none of that mattered.
Joey looked into the distance and saw Laurie slowly waking up. Beside her, a well-dressed woman was handing her a pizza delivery. From the badge clipped at the woman's waist, he read her identity—Susan Rayner, Deputy Director of the CIA.
But none of that mattered.
Joey pulled a wristwatch from his coat—something he had borrowed earlier from Deadpool.
It belonged to Deadpool's good buddy Cable: a proper timepiece.
Not for telling time, but for traveling through it.
Almost instantly, Joey understood how the little device worked and how it was constructed. He couldn't help but marvel at Cable's astonishing intellect as an Omega-level mutant.
Cable had bound part of his Omega-level power within the watch, cleverly carving out a closed timelike curve, making time travel possible for the user.
Even geniuses like Lex Luthor or Victor von Doom might not be able to craft something so exquisitely precise.
Joey activated the device. He didn't care about the Grandmother Paradox or the Novikov self-consistency principle. He only wanted to reshape the world into one that suited his wishes.
A world where he had a family.
---
On the other side of the Earth, at the foothills of the Himalayas, Raven sensed the disturbance in spacetime and gasped softly, "Oh no..."
She had just finished drawing the final sigil with yak's blood, constructing the first line of defense against Trigon.
But none of that mattered anymore.