(Logan POV)
"So how are we going to get him to Grace?" MM asks once I get off the phone with her.
"I have a friend with a boat, we can meet her offshore," Butcher says as we all turn to him.
"Your friend is okay with us using their boat for this?" Frenchie says as Butcher nods his head after a thoughtful look.
"Ok, then let's go," I say as we drive to the docks after loading Kimiko's brother back into the van from the hideout.
We then arrive at the docks where we carry a struggling young man to the boat that Butcher brought us to. The boat was actually a yacht with a bar inside, several rooms, and an onboard shower. We then load up the young man into one of the rooms before securing him to the bedpost and duck-tapping his hands together since they are the source of his powers.
"Butcher call Grace, I'll keep watch on Kimiko's brother," I say sitting inside the room with him as Kimiko and her brother talk.
However, Kimiko started teaching me her sign language too a week back since I needed to talk to her as team leader, I was a quicker learner than Frenchie. So I knew what she was saying to her brother and her brother spoke in Japanese not knowing I knew what he was saying either.
'Remember back in the camp you were so hungry you'd cry all the time and I snuck into the storage room to steal you rice? I took care of you… I still will,' Kimiko says to her brother with a hopeful look.
"I also remember the time they came after you for stealing. I said no, it was me, and they broke my hands… You might be my big sister. But I protected you too. We protect each other," her brother says while giving her a sorrowful look.
"You know the Americans will torture me, this dog here already is glaring at me like he wants to," her brother continues while giving me a glare, as I roll my eyes.
'I won't let them and he is more bark than bite,' Kimiko says while motioning to me, as my mind wanders to the many people I've brutally killed over the centuries. Her brother lets out a snort of disbelief in response.
"And how will you stop them? Hmm?" her brother says with a knowing look.
"You have to let me go… I won't attack anyone, I won't hurt anyone… I'm your brother we only have each other now… Please," her brother says while giving her a pleading look.
Kimkio stares at him for a few seconds with a saddened and desperate look, before a few tears escape her eyes.
'I'm sorry,' Kimiko says before giving him a squeeze on his shoulder and leaving, she gives me a small smile and leaves.
"Cut her some slack," I say to him in Japanese making him give me a surprised look.
"Fuck you!" he says in return as I just grunt ignoring him now.
"Logan! Come quick!" Frenchie says after a few minutes go by and he opens the door with a very excited look.
"They are here already?" I say standing up and checking my phone to see that no one has reached out to us yet.
"No, the news! You won't believe it!" Frenchie says as I quickly follow him up to the living room where the TV is.
"And if you are just tuning in, we have some major breaking news. Superheroes are not born but made, in fact, created by a chemical serum, called Compound V. Which is produced and administered by Vought International, the company that has been the corporate face of superheroes for decades," the newscast man says on one of the major news Outlets of the country in this world called National News Center (NNC).
As I'm seeing this my mind runs wild with thousands of different thoughts, I look at the others who all look just as surprised, except Hughie. He gives an excited and proud smile, as I connect the dots.
"With the provided evidence, proving Vought has been administering Compound V to children for decades. Our very own reporting suggests the parents also received a very generous payment. Now, after the kids were treated with Compound V, they were then monitored very closely. However, early reports seem to suggest the first manifestation of powers can cause fear and anxiety in affected children, especially if they are not carefully guided through the process," the newscast man continues as everyone thinks of the insane supes that litter this world.
"So far, Vought has refused to release a statement. Likewise, Dr. Jonah Vogelbaum, former CSO at the company, also refused to comment. He's been in seclusion since an undisclosed accident left him paralyzed. Dr. Vogelbaum all but disappeared from public life. Vought International's stock price which is already falling today, signaling a huge trend that could be potentially catastrophic to Vought's bottom line," the newscast man continues to talk about Vought.
"You did this?" MM says seeing Hughie's face like me now.
"Uh, yeah… Well actually, Starlight did mostly, I'm pretty sure. But I just gave her an old alley-oop," Hughie says with an excited smile.
"Holy fucking shit! You guys did it!" MM says laughing and picking Hughie up in an excited hug while laughing. We all then celebrate excitedly, all except Butcher who seems indifferent to the news.
"What crawled up your ass?" I say to him as he grunts in response.
"I will bring our new friend a drink," Frenchie says before Butcher can respond and walks off with two cans of sodas.
"Nothing, just he did a real good job. However, Homelander is still no closer to being exposed," Butcher says showing his real feelings before walking back to the deck of ship controls.
"Next we have some of the Seven's parents who commented on the news. Here is Queen Maeve's father," the newscast man says stealing my attention which then shows a recording of Maggie's father. At the same time, I got a call from Maggie, which I answered while watching the TV.
"Are you seeing the news?" Maggie asks me as I absently mindedly nod my head while answering her.
"Yeah… I'm sorry about your father," I say seeing him act like an asshole on TV.
"I don't know anything about this Compound V monkey business. And if someone gave it to my little Maeve, I sure as hell didn't know," Maggie's father says with complete denial.
"Bullshit he didn't know, that motherfucker… I remember this one weekend where he made me do three mall appearances and a photo shoot for 'Teen Vogue', all to get the cash for my braces, which he then blew at the five-dollar table at 'Circus Circus'," Maggie says with a heavy sigh.
"Some people shouldn't be parents… I'm offshore right now, but we can meet when I get back," I say to her.
"I'd like that, we could– I'll call you back," Maggie says to me with a lot of vulnerability in her voice, but turning professional and hanging up before I could respond.
Right after she hangs up I hear a helicopter flying toward us, I rush up to the top of the boat as the others quickly follow after me. We see Butcher staring at the helicopter with an 'oh shit' look while on the phone with Grace.
"This is the NYPD. This boat's been reported stolen and you're all under arrest," a man says over the loudspeaker on the helicopter to us as we all turn to Butcher with an angry look.
"I thought you said this boat belongs to a friend?!" I say with a growl to Butcher.
"Well, a stranger is just a friend you ain't met yet," Butcher says and I then punch him in the face with a quick jab just weak enough to not hurt him too bad or knock him out.
"You've fucked up enough Butcher, after this we are having a deep talk about all the shit you've pulled over the last few weeks," I say grabbing a walkie and waving to the helicopter to signal I want to talk to them.
"Butcher you dumb fuck," MM says as Butcher wipes his nose which is bleeding, and glares at us.
Right before I start talking I turn right as I hear something break the water's surface. We all turn to the Deep jumping from the water and landing on our boat a few feet from us. At the same time, Kimiko's brother got loose somehow and sent the anchor flying toward me striking me in the chest and sending me crashing on the deck below breaking the deck beneath me.
"Get his hands!" I hear Butcher shout as I grunt and push the anchor off of me and run back toward the top deck.
Right as I run up there I come across the Deep who turns to me in surprise and without thinking I kick him in the chest sending him flying off the ship as air gets knocked out of him. I then hear the helicopter crash into the ocean as I see the others have subdued Kimiko's brother without injury.
"We need to leave now," I say as I grab Kimiko's brother and we get onto the small speed boat at the back of the yacht. Butcher then quickly drives us toward the shore, as I call Grace.
"What the fucked is happening?" Grace says as I hear the news in the background now talking about us.
"Butcher fucked up and we are heading off somewhere else, let you know once we find a new secure location," I say before hanging up as we see the Deep behind us riding a sperm whale and several sharks following us behind.
"The storm drain!" Frenchie says to Butcher who changes direction to the storm drain.
But before we can reach it the Deep uses the sperm whale to block the entrance while standing on them with a stereotypical superhero pose. Butcher gives a bloodthirsty smile as we all widen our eyes knowing what he is about to do. But before anyone can stop him we slam right into the whale using the speed boat-like spear piercing its insides.
We are all not literally inside the sperm whale covered in blood and viscera of the whale. We all stand and sit there for a few seconds disoriented for a few seconds processing what just happened.
"Where's Hughie?" Butcher says as we all shake off the pieces of whale from our bodies.
"I'll get him, go," I say as they run into the storm drain.
I then climb back inside the whale to see Hughie sitting inside next to the heart which is now stopped after pumping most of the blood into the speed boat. Hughie is just staring at nothing lost in thought and looks mentally dead inside.
"Hughie we need to leave now," I say stumbling over to him.
"No… just leave me," Hughie says with a dead voice.
"Can't do that, no man left behind. I won't lose another friend as long as I can help it," I say grabbing him as he puts up a small struggle.
"Hate me all you want, but we are leaving," I say grabbing him and bringing him out.
"Why… I'm done," Hughie says to me as I carry him on my back and jog to catch up to the others.
"You're not done until I say you are," I say as I jog with him.
"I fucking hate Butcher," Hughie says with a grunt as I catch up to the others.
"Don't worry I will make sure he understands how much he has fucked up these last few weeks," I say as I place him down with Frenchie putting Hughie's arm around his shoulder to force him to keep walking.
"Shit, run! Now!" I say as I hear the Seven appear outside the Storm Drain.
"What about you?" Hughie says seeing me stand my ground.
"I'm going to hold them off for as long as I can," I say and roll my shoulders as I prepare to kill a few of the remaining Seven.