Starlight entered the bathroom, quickly freshened up, and left. Hughie exhaled in relief, retrieved the device that had fallen to the floor, and hurried out of the restroom.
After both had departed, the invisible man couldn't suppress his curiosity any longer.
"What the hell was that about?"
He walked out of the bathroom with a puzzled expression, completely unconcerned about his nakedness. As a superhuman capable of invisibility, as long as he remained silent, no one could detect him.
His carbon-infused skin was as hard as diamond—walking barefoot posed no risk of injury from debris on the floor.
The invisible man followed Hughie, intrigued by whatever scheme the nervous young man was executing. He had no idea that a metallic butterfly was tracking him, its compound eyes flashing with blue light.
"Hmm? The butterflies found something interesting."
Marcus gestured with his fingertip, and void energy unfolded to display the razor butterfly's feed.
"A naked man?" Marcus paused in recognition. "Ah, that's Translucent!"
Marcus had almost no impression of the invisible supe. The character died too early in the series—his only memorable scene involved The Boys shoving a remote-controlled bomb up his rectum before the protagonist detonated it, spreading him across several city blocks.
Still, the man's skin properties were fascinating. Marcus vaguely recalled that The Boys couldn't destroy Translucent's diamond-hard hide with conventional tools, so they'd dumped his remains in the ocean.
Marcus had always found that decision puzzling. Even if Translucent's skin was extremely durable, it wasn't truly invulnerable. Why not use an industrial incinerator instead of delaying with ocean disposal?
"So that must be the protagonist in front of our invisible friend."
Through the razor butterfly's transmission, Marcus watched Hughie signing documents. The young man's actions were laughably obvious—who holds papers under the table while signing?
Marcus understood Hughie was planting a listening device, though it would prove useless. Translucent would discover and remove it shortly.
The razor butterfly held position rather than intervening immediately. Marcus's gift for Vought would require proper timing.
Moments later, Hughie exited Vought Tower in a nervous sweat. The instant he reached his car, a massive explosion erupted inside the building.
"What did you do?" Billy Butcher demanded, staring at his young recruit in shock.
He'd only asked Hughie to plant a bug. How had this kid managed to blow up Vought Tower? And how had he smuggled explosives past security?
Questions flooded Billy's mind. He'd clearly misjudged Hughie—the boy was more unhinged than he'd realized.
"It wasn't me!" Hughie protested, equally stunned. "I only planted your listening device!"
Billy stared at the burning corporate headquarters and began to laugh—the first genuine laughter he'd experienced since Homelander had assaulted and disappeared his wife.
"Let's go! Hahaha..."
Billy started the engine, cackling as they drove away from the chaos.
Inside Vought Tower, Translucent had just removed Hughie's surveillance device when blue energy struck him without warning. He exploded instantly along with the bug in his hand.
The invisible man was vaporized in seconds, the listening device and surrounding area obliterated in the blast.
"Ha! Was that surprise enough?"
Marcus chuckled, a spinning energy orb materializing in his palm.
"Here's another one!"
As the void energy activated, the orb vanished. Inside Vought Tower, Translucent's scattered remains and debris levitated into the air, rapidly condensing into a floating sphere of blood and tissue.
Witnesses screamed in terror at the grotesque sight.
Suddenly, the ceiling shattered as Homelander crashed through multiple floors, responding to the emergency.
"What is..." Homelander used his x-ray vision to examine the crimson sphere.
"Someone explain what happened here!"
The explosion had been too violent—he couldn't identify the sphere's contents through the scattered destruction.
"Homelander, that's Translucent! He just exploded and died!" a brave employee reported, having witnessed the entire supernatural event.
Translucent? Homelander studied the blood sphere, then fired his heat vision, instantly piercing it with twin laser beams.
The moment his lasers struck, the rotating sphere detonated, spraying gore across the entire floor.
"Haha! I didn't expect the first responder would be this mother milk-obsessed Superman."
Homelander was Compound V's most perfect creation, but the lab-raised supe suffered from severe psychological issues—particularly an Oedipal complex so intense he'd shown jealousy toward newborn infants.
Through the razor butterfly's feed, Marcus watched the remaining Seven members arrive in succession.
"Now they're all here. Except for our transparent friend, that makes seven total."
The mother milk-fixated Homelander; Queen Maeve with her secret girlfriend; A-Train with his corrupted soul; Black Noir with his deadly combat skills; the perverted Deep who communicated with sea life; and Starlight, whose heroic dreams were about to shatter.
"Time to have some fun!"
Light emanated from Marcus's fingertip, crossing dimensional space to reach the razor butterflies positioned throughout Vought Tower.
"Consider this a greeting gift, everyone."
The razor butterflies launched instantly, trailing blue energy arcs as they dove toward the assembled superhumans.
Swish~
Sharp metallic wings sliced through Homelander's star-spangled cape, the patriotic fabric fluttering to the floor.
Bang!
Seeing his costume destroyed, Homelander lashed out with tremendous force, his punch creating a whirlwind that struck the razor butterfly with devastating power.
Though the butterfly's durability was limited, it withstood Homelander's attack, flying backward before recovering and resuming its assault.
Twin red heat beams erupted from Homelander's eyes, striking the damaged butterfly and destroying it completely.
But Marcus's void energy wasn't so easily dismissed. The razor butterfly exploded upon destruction, releasing contained void energy in a violent shockwave that engulfed all of The Seven.