The next day.
Madeline received a joint summons from the FBI and CIA. She didn't think much of it at first. She'd been dragged in for questioning before and always walked out clean.
"Madeline, we have solid evidence of criminal activity by Vought International. We expect your full cooperation and for Vought to halt all current operations immediately," Susan said, sitting across from her with a cold stare.
Susan had waited years for this chance to take down the Vought beast. Thanks to Butcher's evidence, she finally had the knife at their throat.
"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I follow," Madeline replied, keeping her calm, professional smile firmly in place.
"Your company is finished. Done. Kaput. Does that make it clear enough for you?"
If the staff weren't watching, Susan would have popped a bottle of champagne right there to celebrate.
Her words finally wiped the smile off Madeline's face.
In the past, the Feds had been hostile but never this blunt about Vought being over. The fact they were talking like this meant they probably had something serious.
Seeing Madeline's expression crack, Susan pressed on. "For the last fifty years, you've been feeding Americans the lie that your supes are God's chosen children."
"You need to understand how fucking serious it is to inject babies with illegal drugs." Susan slammed the vial of Compound V onto the table.
The second Madeline saw that familiar blue liquid, her face went pale.
"And that's not even the worst part. What the hell did you do to this girl? Why?" Susan slapped a photo of Kimiko down in front of her.
"I've never seen her before," Madeline said truthfully. She genuinely had no idea who the girl in the picture was.
Susan then demanded that Madeline pull the military bill. She refused to let supes anywhere near America's armed forces.
"Impossible. The bill is already in the full Senate vote stage."
"Then find an excuse and kill it. If you agree, we can go back to how things were. We stay the government and military. You stay a bunch of overpaid assholes in capes running around."
If Madeline refused, Susan made it crystal clear she would leak every piece of evidence to every major media outlet.
Vought would face public outrage across the country, their stock would crash to zero, and they'd drown in civil lawsuits and criminal charges.
Right then, a CIA agent walked up to Susan and whispered something in her ear. The news wasn't good.
"We'll leave it here for now. Think it over."
Susan stood up and walked out of the interrogation room. She stepped into the monitoring room next door.
On the screens, footage from a Navy SEAL operation was playing.
A staff member briefed her: about twelve minutes earlier, the SEALs had taken down the mastermind behind the Flight 37 incident. But during the raid, they ran into a man with the word "Nachiber" tattooed across his chest.
The staff pulled up the video.
The man's chest suddenly lit up with blinding white-red light that spread across his entire body. Then hell broke loose.
Massive flames exploded outward, turning the whole building into an inferno.
Not a single SEAL made it out. What came next shocked Susan even more — the man casually walked out of the raging fire completely unharmed.
"Nachiber means leader. That must be his supe name," the staff member explained.
Susan stared at the screen in disbelief. "You're telling me they have a super-terrorist?"
When she returned to the interrogation room, her face was dark. She looked at Madeline and said, "I didn't think even Vought could be this fucking insane. But congratulations, you win this round. Still, I believe a company with no limits will get what's coming to it one day."
Susan had no idea how many super-terrorists Vought had created. The thought of those monsters loose in America made her blood run cold.
"I don't understand," Madeline said, genuinely confused.
Had Homelander threatened them?
"You will. Defense Department people will be contacting you again tomorrow."
With that, Susan left the FBI building, brow furrowed. Once she got back to Vought Tower and pulled some strings, she finally learned what the hell had happened.
She sat at her desk watching a grainy video. "Nachiber…"
"Could it be because of the leaked Compound V? Actually… this might be good news." Madeline's lips curved into a smile.
Talk about a plot twist. The Pentagon and FBI would now have no choice but to push her military bill through because of the super-terrorist threat.
...
In a villa on the outskirts of New York.
Butcher called Ivan. Susan had just told him the situation had changed. She could no longer guarantee the team's safety, so they were on their own. Right then, Butcher thought of the mysterious Frenchman.
"Hey, listen up, mate. We need your help." While calling Ivan, Butcher jerked his chin at Hughie. "Go find Starlight."
"Why?" Hughie asked, confused.
Butcher pulled the phone away from his ear and snapped, "Use that fucking peanut brain of yours. Pretty soon Vought's gonna pin Translucent's death on us. Homelander will send Starlight and the rest of them after us in broad daylight."
"Go tell Starlight everything about Compound V. Make her understand what these so-called 'God's children' really are. Keep her too busy to come after us."
He put the phone back to his ear.
"What do you need?" Ivan asked calmly.
"Find us a safe place to hide or tell me that cunt Homelander's weakness!"
Time was running out. Butcher wasn't about to run off to some foreign shithole with his tail between his legs. He wanted blood.
"I can't help with the first one. But I might have something on the second."
Butcher perked up instantly. "You know Homelander's weakness?"
There was real hope in his voice.
Ivan's answer killed it fast. "No, I don't. But there's one person who probably does. Inside Vought, the only one Homelander actually trusts is Madeline. His feelings for her are messy — part mother, part lover. If anyone knows his weakness, it's her."
"Madeline? The Vought VP?" Butcher frowned.
"That's the one."
Madeline needed to die if Ivan was ever going to move up. Better to let Butcher and his crew take the risk.
"Thanks." Butcher hung up. He had made his decision.
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69