Inside a dimly lit room, the smell of cigarettes and alcohol filled the air. Freelance writer Dodge Wilson walked out of the bedroom with his phone in hand.
"Listen to me, Mr. Henry, I can definitely handle the travel column job at your newspaper."
"I have been to many places, I have plenty of experience, and I have quite a lot of followers."
"No, what happened that day was just an accident."
"I am absolutely not anti-social."
"No! No! No! I am not anti-hero either."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The call was cut off.
Dodge Wilson let out a furious roar. He lifted his phone, wanting to smash it on the floor, but still managed to restrain himself in the end and threw it onto the sofa instead.
He covered his face and sat down on the sofa, exhausted.
Ever since that failed hype stunt backfired, Dodge's career had almost reached its end.
The newspapers and magazines he used to work with no longer dared to publish his articles, afraid of being targeted by Vought.
His livestream career had also dropped to rock bottom after losing a massive number of followers.
He stared blankly at the ceiling. Then he heard someone knocking on the door, and the landlord's voice rang out from outside.
"Dodge, I heard you!"
"I know you are home!"
"When are you paying this month's rent and utilities?"
Dodge picked up an empty liquor bottle by his feet and smashed it hard against the door as his response.
The landlord cursed loudly, "I will give you three more days. If not, get the hell out!"
Dodge shook his head. He lowered his hands and felt something. He picked it up and saw that it was a credit card bill.
"Damn supes!"
"Damn Homelander!"
Dodge suddenly jumped up, "Why do you not all just go die!"
After venting, he was panting heavily. In a daze, he walked to the window and opened it.
"Hi," A greeting sounded from outside the window.
Dodge raised his head and saw a man on the rooftop of a building across the alley. He was wearing a blue-and-white battle suit and a helmet, waving at him.
Then the man suddenly jumped over.
Dodge hurriedly stepped back, stepped on an empty can, and fell flat on his butt.
The next second, a figure outside the window rapidly grew larger. Then the person smashed through the window, landed on the floor amid flying shards of glass, rolled once, brushed the glass fragments off his body, and stood up.
Only then did Dodge clearly see who it was. He froze for a moment, "You are Blue Hawk?"
"What are you doing here?"
Blue Hawk glanced out the window and sighed softly, "Yeah, this is not my assigned neighborhood."
"You know what? The area I am responsible for is a total dump."
"It is full of blacks. Those filthy criminals do nothing all day but smoke weed, rob people, mess with women, even mess with men." [T/N: He is canonically rac!st.]
"Oh right, I hate it most when they sing."
"That kind of life is like a swamp. I want to get out. You get me?"
Blue Hawk pointed toward the distance outside the window, where a tower spire could vaguely be seen bathed in the evening sunlight.
"Look at that. The Seven Tower."
"How bright it is. How tall."
"That is where I should be, not dealing with those criminals every day."
"But getting there is not easy."
"I am getting old, and I am not that strong."
"If I want to enter the Seven Tower, I need an invitation."
Blue Hawk turned around and looked at Dodge with a face full of smiles.
Dodge's pupils slightly dilated, "I am the invitation?"
"Who says you are not."
Blue Hawk walked toward Dodge, "A few days ago, you put on a great show."
"I really admire your courage. You actually dared to smear Homelander. To be honest, I do not like that guy flying around in the sky either, but I do not dare say it out loud like you did."
"No matter what, you seriously offended Homelander."
"So I was thinking, if I take you to the Seven Tower, maybe I can get an invitation to join the Seven."
He bent down, grabbed one of Dodge's legs, and dragged him toward the window.
Dodge shouted, "No! No! No! It is not that easy!"
"I am just a nobody! Maybe Homelander has already forgotten me!"
"So please, do not hurt me!"
Blue Hawk said indifferently, "Shut up, or I will rip your tongue out. You choose!"
Right at that moment, the apartment door suddenly flew in as a whole and smashed toward Blue Hawk.
Blue Hawk raised his arm to shield his head. The wooden door smashed into him, breaking a chunk off.
Blue Hawk stood there unhurt. He tore the door apart and then looked toward the doorway.
There stood a cold, imposing figure.
Nearly two meters tall, his whole body gleamed with a metallic sheen. The base color was jet black, accented with gold.
An armored man appeared before Blue Hawk just like that.
"What the hell?", Blue Hawk had just started to wonder when a red dot appeared on his face.
Then the red dot quickly slid downward, moving across Blue Hawk's body.
Dodge, lying on the floor, stared at this scene in a daze.
He watched as Blue Hawk's eyeballs rolled with difficulty, terror filling his gaze. Then his body split apart to the left and right.
Blood and internal organs spilled out, splashing onto the floor and all over Dodge.
After a moment, Dodge finally screamed.
Suddenly, his mouth was covered. It was the armored man.
The faceplate on the man's helmet lifted, revealing a rough face and a thick, bushy beard.
"Shut up, sissy!"
"Unless you want to bring the cops here."
"But actually, the police will be here soon anyway."
"These bastards all have trackers shoved up their asses. Once they die, the police know."
The bearded man cursed as he spoke, then stood up and looked at the two halves of the corpse on the floor.
"Heh! A supe's guts are full of shit too. No difference at all."
Then he turned to Dodge, "So, can I trouble you to crawl over here and give me a hand?"
"I am guessing you have suitcases at home, right?"
.
.
.
A short while later, two suitcases were filled with Blue Hawk's body, chopped into pieces.
Dodge curled up in a corner, wrapped in a blanket, watching as the bearded man in armor pushed a sofa up against the front door.
He then looked at the two blood-soaked suitcases and said in a trembling voice, "Sir, please do not kill me."
"Coward!"
The bearded man walked over, "A few days ago in the livestream, you were not this gutless. Where did that man who dared to smear Homelander go?"
"If I had known he was not here, I would not have come."
Dodge looked up, "You are not a superhero?"
"Bullshit. If I were a supe, the one stuffed into those suitcases right now would be you!"
The bearded man pulled out a cigar from who knows where, cut it, lit it, and took a puff.
"So tell me, Mr. Dodge. Do you still have the guts and courage to go up against superheroes?"
"But let me remind you, even if you do not, your good days are over."
"After all, Blue Hawk's corpse was chopped to pieces inside your rented apartment. His cells are all over the place. With any kind of evidence collection, you will never explain it away."
Dodge shook his head, "But you are the one who killed him!"
The bearded man gave a roguish grin, "Do you think anyone will believe you?"
Dodge's face instantly went pale. After a while, he finally asked, "Who are you, really?"
"Let's get acquainted," The bearded man extended a bloodstained hand, "My name's Butcher."
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