Chapter 49 - Chapter Thirty Six

Join my patreon

Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/MrFlashXO

🔥 **Why join my Patreon?** 🔥

✅ **Exclusive chapters** before the peasants get them

✅ **Vote on story decisions** (Yes, you get to play God)

✅ **Behind-the-scenes madness** (aka my creative breakdowns)

✅ **Possibly a shoutout, definitely my eternal gratitude**

And the best part? **It's cheaper than therapy!** So stop being a freeloader and **support my unhinged storytelling** here:

👉 [patreon.com/MrFlashXO] 👈

Several have already joined them, why don't you try it out too, ehh?

Join now, or I'll make a character based on you… and kill them off horribly. Your choice. 💀

Anyways Happy Reading.

__________

·Welcome to Hell

The tension hung thick, almost suffocating. Butcher stared at me, his wolfish grin frozen—like he was still deciding whether to laugh or put a bullet in my skull. Hughie, on the other hand, looked like he was about to collapse.

"You're a supe," Butcher finally said, voice even.

I tilted my head. "Yeah."

Silence.

Then Hughie snapped.

"You—what the hell, man?! You just—you killed him! Just like that!" His voice cracked, his hands shaking as he gestured wildly at Translucent's corpse. "Jesus Christ, you're just like them!"

I chuckled. "No, I'm worse."

Hughie recoiled. Butcher's fingers twitched toward his gun.

I saw it. Felt it.

The shift in the air, the slight increase in his heartbeat. My heightened senses made everything so painfully clear. He was calculating. Measuring whether he could put me down before I did something he'd regret.

So I stepped closer.

Not fast, not threatening. Just deliberate.

"I don't give a shit about your little war, Butcher," I said, watching his reaction. "Vought, The Seven, your dead wife—none of that means a damn thing to me."

His jaw tightened. A reaction.

"I'm not here to play superhero. Or rebel." I tilted my head. "I'm here to watch the world burn."

Hughie physically flinched "What?"

Butcher's hand was still close to his gun. His face was unreadable, but I could hear his heart. Beating slow, steady. Controlled.

"World's already burning, mate," he said evenly. "You ain't special."

I smiled. "Not like this."

Then I crouched beside Translucent's body, grabbing his limp arm and lifting it like a puppet. "This guy? He thought he was invincible. That he could walk all over humans, be a god."

I gripped his arm tighter. The enhanced strength still hummed in my muscles—Thor's gift. A sickening crunch echoed as I casually crushed the unbreakable bones in his wrist.

Hughie choked on air. Butcher's grip on his gun tightened.

I grinned. "He wasn't invincible. None of them are."

Then I let the arm drop, turning back to Butcher.

"That's what you want, right?" I gestured at the corpse. "To break them? To rip their little illusion of power apart?"

Butcher's eyes darkened. "Something like that."

I chuckled. "Cute."

Then I stepped closer.

"But you're thinking too small, Butcher." I leaned in, lowering my voice. "You want to kill supes? I want to kill everything."

His expression barely changed, but I heard it.

The slightest skip in his heartbeat.

Hughie looked at me like I was a goddamn demon.

"You're insane," he whispered.

I smiled. "Maybe."

Then I turned to Butcher.

"You want to kill Homelander, right?"

Silence.

Then—a flicker of something in his eyes.

Interest.

Hesitation.

Even fear.

I grinned. "Let's burn the whole system down."

The silence between us stretched like a wire—taut, ready to snap.

Butcher was thinking. I could see it in the way his jaw clenched, in the slight narrowing of his eyes. He was measuring the risks, the possibilities. I had just ripped apart Translucent without hesitation. That put me in the category of "dangerous psychopath" rather than "ally."

Hughie, on the other hand, was already breaking.

"Burn the system down?" He laughed—a choked, nervous sound. "Are you hearing yourself? Butcher, are we just gonna stand here and pretend this guy isn't insane?"

I grinned. "Hughie, buddy, I just gave you what you wanted." I nudged Translucent's corpse with my boot. "You wanted revenge? Boom. Done. You're welcome."

Hughie turned away, running a hand through his hair, struggling to breathe.

Butcher finally spoke.

"You're dangerous."

I smirked. "So are you."

He shook his head. "Not like this."

A thrill ran through me. Oh, this was fun.

"You can't control me, Butcher." I took a step closer. "I'm not one of your little pawns. I don't care about your personal vendetta, and I don't give a shit about 'doing the right thing.'"

His grip on the gun tightened.

I heard his pulse spike. Felt the heat rising in his skin. He was angry. That was good. I liked him angry.

"You're a fucking lunatic," he muttered.

I laughed. "Yeah, and?"

Butcher exhaled sharply through his nose. Then, to my amusement, he put the gun away.

"Alright," he said, voice level. "Fine. You wanna play along? We'll see how long you last."

I grinned. That was the right choice.

But Hughie? Not convinced.

"This is a mistake," he muttered. "A huge mistake."

I shrugged. "Probably."

Then, it happened.

Suddenly, I felt everything. The dust in the air, the faint hum of electricity in the warehouse walls. But more importantly? I could hear.

The city. The distant wail of a siren, the faint murmur of a conversation several blocks away. The racing heartbeats in the room.

Butcher's was steady—controlled.

Hughie's was erratic—panicked.

And then—a fourth heartbeat.

Outside.

I turned sharply toward the door.

"Company's coming."

Butcher's eyes narrowed. "The hell are you—?"

Then a knock.

A slow, deliberate one.

Hughie froze. Butcher's hand went back to his gun.

I grinned. "Guess we're about to find out if I'm lying."

Outside, someone was waiting. Listening.

I focused—pushing my new power further.

The heartbeat. Steady. Unafraid.

A voice, barely audible through the door.

"…We need to talk."