Hughie had killed someone—with his own hands. And not just anyone, but a globally celebrated public figure, a so-called national treasure, a superhero.
His emotions were a chaotic mess. Instinctively, he wanted to run. He didn't want anything more to do with these two lunatics. Using the excuse of going home to grab some clothes, he planned to leave the group for good.
But Billy didn't trust him and insisted that Frenchie go with him.
Unable to refuse, Hughie reluctantly agreed.
After they left, Billy cleaned up the remains of Translucent and casually tossed two bombs into the crime scene. His style of covering tracks was nothing short of extreme.
Outside the glowing screen, Annie frowned deeply. She glanced between Billy and Hughie and said coldly,
"I feel like you're grooming Hughie to become a killer... a cold-blooded executioner."
Billy simply gave her a glance.
"Call it what you want, sweetheart. But don't forget—Hughie doesn't have sparkly superpowers like you. He doesn't have the luxury of being sweet and innocent. If he doesn't learn to protect himself, he's gonna die an ugly death."
Deadpool couldn't help but chime in,
"Exactly! In your show, guys like Hughie—soft and naïve—don't last more than two episodes without backup!"
Hughie's lips trembled. He looked at Annie gratefully.
"Thanks… but I don't think I can go back to a normal life anymore."
Back in the video.
Hughie returned home to find his bedroom walls still plastered with posters of the Seven and photos of him and Robin.
The sight filled him with rage and grief. He lashed out, destroying everything around him.
His father, hearing the commotion, came in, clearly distressed by his son's behavior. He urged Hughie to see a therapist and try to return to a normal life.
But it was already too late. Hughie had stepped onto a path of no return. After killing someone, something inside him had changed. When his father tried to calm him down, Hughie exploded, shouting at him—something the old Hughie would never have dared to do.
It was clear now: Hughie had come to resent his own former cowardice. For so long, he'd swallowed his anger and never stood up for himself. But not anymore.
After a heated argument, he packed his bags and left.
Frenchie was waiting outside and, having heard the yelling inside, sighed and said,
"I gotta admit, I envy you. You've got a father who actually cares."
He then revealed a bit of his own backstory—how his father had suffered from severe bipolar disorder and used to abuse him as a child. He'd never known what a caring father felt like.
Hughie didn't respond, but his silence showed that he was beginning to understand and relate to his new teammate.
Meanwhile, Billy wasn't sitting idle either.
After recruiting Frenchie, he went to a juvenile detention center to find someone else—a towering, muscular Black man with an unexpectedly adorable name: Mother's Milk, or MM for short.
Like Frenchie, MM was clearly someone Billy had worked with in the past. From their conversation, it became apparent that they had once teamed up to take down Vought and the Seven but failed.
This time, Billy brought with him something more concrete: new leads from A-Train and Translucent regarding Compound V. He hoped MM would help them again.
Watching the video, Hughie asked curiously,
"Butcher… who are you guys, really?"
Billy shrugged.
"Same as you—just regular people. But we've got one thing in common: we all want to take down those superpowered bastards."
Stephen Strange narrowed his eyes.
"You said you used to work for a covert agency. So that means… those agencies are keeping an eye on Vought and the Seven too?"
Billy didn't answer—but his silence said enough.
Hughie looked excited.
"That means we'll get help from the government, right?"
Deadpool chuckled darkly.
"Here's a free tip, pal—don't go trusting those guys too much. If things go well, they'll take all the credit. If things go south? They'll put a bullet in your head first."
Billy gave Deadpool a knowing glance before adding,
"It's just a relationship of mutual exploitation."
Hughie looked disappointed—but strangely reassured. At least now, with official eyes on Vought, he wasn't just some murderer on the run. He was doing something—something that mattered.
Back in the video, MM eventually agreed to rejoin the team after some persuasion—but with one condition: he didn't want to work with Frenchie.
Clearly, they had history—and it wasn't friendly.
Billy agreed without hesitation. He was, after all, the kind of guy who'd say whatever it took to get what he wanted.
And just like that, the trio became a quartet.
They met up in a cargo van, which they planned to convert into a mobile surveillance unit.
When MM saw Frenchie there, his face twisted with rage. Realizing he'd been tricked, he was furious—but there was no turning back. He was already on the boat.
Their next mission was to spy on Popclaw, A-Train's girlfriend, and see if they could extract information about Compound V from her.
And this time, Hughie finally proved his worth.
While the others racked their brains trying to figure out how to sneak into Popclaw's home and install cameras and bugs, Hughie offered a much simpler idea.
"It's easy," he said. "We live in a digital world. No need for all this cloak-and-dagger nonsense."
So, he and MM dressed up as broadband technicians, visited Popclaw under the guise of upgrading her internet, and secretly hacked into her home network—giving them full control of her security cameras.
Everything went smoothly—until they were leaving.
As fate would have it, Hughie ran into A-Train on the street.
And to his shock, A-Train didn't even recognize him. Despite apologizing to his face just days earlier, he looked right past him like a stranger.
Hughie was livid—but MM quickly pulled him away before he could blow their cover.
Back in the surveillance van, it wasn't long before A-Train showed up on the monitors. He had come to see Popclaw for a date night.
During their conversation, they revealed something important: Compound V was enhancing A-Train's powers, helping him prepare for an upcoming speed competition.
But the drug was dangerously addictive—and terrible for his body.
_____
T/N:
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