Superman from the comics: Starting with the Black Robe

Chapter 26 A Fragmented Hero

After Joey's house was razed to the ground, Laurie was initially unable to accept it when she woke up.

Superpowers can significantly amplify a person's emotions and desires, something Laurie has already experienced.

But she completely disbelieved her father's claim that Joey's family was destroyed because of his own superpowers going out of control; there must be some hidden story behind it.

Because she had witnessed Joey's composure and restraint, which was beyond his years.

He controlled his own power so precisely when he knocked himself unconscious. How could such a perfect person not be able to control his power?

She mustered her courage and asked the police in the town, but everyone kept quiet and she couldn't get any answers from them. She didn't even know if Joey was dead or alive.

Until a few days ago, Laurie, who was running around and unable to eat or sleep, skipped another day of class and happened to see the news about the new members of The Seven on TV.

Even before the face of the red and blue figure that had fallen from the sky was shrouded in shadow, she recognized who it was at a glance.

Joey isn't dead! She has to head to New York and find Joey!

~~~~

Madeline has been finding it increasingly difficult to get along with her at Water Company lately.

If it were merely an external business issue, she could easily handle it. However, the current situation is that a huge storm is brewing within Water Corporation, and her views on some of the struggles differ from those of the people on the 82nd floor.

In her view, many things are negotiable. The Vought Corporation itself is a product of the exchange of interests and political compromise. Even though the company possesses what is arguably the most powerful superhuman weaponry in the world, it has never relied on this power to solve problems.

Now, the 82nd floor is clearly breaking this precedent. Sending people to investigate the G-Men's dirty deeds is simply not helpful in declaring war. Madeline had expected the other side to take such an extreme action.

Putting herself in their shoes, if some ignorant fool insisted on investigating Homelander's origins or the whereabouts of the Lamplighter, she would also find a way to make them disappear without a trace.

Ring ring~

Just as she was thinking this, the landline on Madeline's desk rang. Madeline answered it, and the voice of John Godotkin, the head of the G-Men, known as Professor G, came from the other end:

"Madeline, I'm glad you've been so concerned about the lifestyle of our G-Men members lately! You know, these superhumans under my command are disorganized and undisciplined. If they aren't properly disciplined, they're bound to do things that endanger society."

"No, how could that be, John?"

Madeline, hearing these words that were practically a demonstration, merely chuckled lightly, her words dripping with obsequiousness:

"Who doesn't know that you G-Men are the most popular superhero group in the country?"

"Of course, the G-Men are dedicated to uniting society and building consensus; our superheroes are mostly orphans, people with disabilities, sexual minorities, Black people, Native Americans, and LGBT people. They are role models and examples for the American people in terms of inclusion and diversity..."

Listening to Professor G's formulaic self-praise, even Madeline, who was usually very good at maintaining appearances, could hardly keep up at this moment:

"You can say these things when the media is relentlessly attacking you over the #G-Too scandal, Professor G."

The other party was clearly also stung by Madeleine's words, and tore off their facade of friendliness:

"This is the last warning, Madeline. Don't push us too far. Our G-Men IP brings Vought more profit than The Seven and The Avengers combined. I don't want you interfering in our personnel management and brand operations."

"No, personnel changes for the G-Men must be managed by Vought's Human Resources Department. The old methods are too risky and cannot continue."

Madeline is absolutely not going to back down on this point.

For decades, Professor G has relied on his independent production line for Compound V to manage the G-Men like an independent kingdom, impenetrable and a major headache for Vought's management.

However, this organization is not without its flaws. For a long time, the G-Men organization has had some rather...unique ways of recruiting and training new members.

No secrets stay hidden forever. If this were to be exposed, it would be devastating for Vought Corporation. She had to eliminate this threat before everything came to light.

The recent #G-Too hashtag on Twitter is not only due to the G-Men's own questionable nature, but also largely due to the fact that the G-Men themselves were instructed by Vought International's online trolls to fuel the movement.

The purpose was to give the other party a warning so that they would peacefully relinquish control of the G-Men—especially given that problems were also arising within the G-Men itself.

Madeline's threats escalated further:

"Don't be too confident. Your G-Men aren't a monolithic team. Nubia and SilverAsh proved that a few months ago. I went to great lengths to suppress their affairs. Don't let my efforts go to waste, Professor G."

"Of course, please convey our gratitude to Vought's public relations department on my behalf and that of the entire G-Men."

Professor G's attitude softened immediately when Nubia and the Silver Maiden were mentioned on the other end of the phone.

"I've made proper arrangements for the replacement for the Silver Woman you found a few days ago. But next time you're going to plant outsiders in the G-Men, you'd better let me know first. After all, the current practices of the G-Men might be a bit... hard for outsiders to accept."

Madeline didn't care about any of that. The young rural girl who had been planted there was obviously useless. To sabotage the G-Men from within, she would mainly have to rely on her agent, who was tied to her.

"It's a pleasure working with you, John."

At this moment, the two sides reached a compromise once again, and after Madeline hung up the phone, a smug smile appeared on her face again.

But this good mood didn't last more than a few minutes before Homelander stormed in, his face grim, and he spoke through clenched teeth:

"Come out and see, Madeline!"

Madeline quickly got up and gently patted Homelander's chest, comforting him as if he were an angry child:

"Don't worry, my darling, tell me what happened."

Homelander, unusually, didn't buy into this. Instead, he forcefully dragged Madeline to the Seven's meeting room and showed her a sealed box:

"Remember the invisible man who went missing a few days ago? This morning, Deep Sea found this in New York Bay—a galvanized box, and the invisible man is inside."

Homelander gestured for Deepsea to open the large galvanized metal box. Madeline looked inside, and although she was mentally prepared, she only glanced at it before gently covering her mouth and nose and disgustedly turning her head away.

Boom~

A sonic boom echoed from the distant horizon, and Joey, who had been rushing back to New York from Kansas, arrived at Water Tower.

When he first met Stan Edgar and Storm, he sensed the rift between them.

Therefore, he was certain that even if Stan knew what had happened, the entire Vought Corporation might not immediately react in an extremely drastic manner.

But even if the other party decides to turn against me immediately, I will still come.

After all, Laurie had come straight to him a few days ago, and according to that text message, she was likely in extreme danger at the moment.

If he wanted to find Laurie's whereabouts, going through Walter was the fastest way, and he didn't care whether the process was gentle or violent.

"What smells so bad?"

Joey, who had just committed murder, swaggered into the conference room through the window, but before he could even greet Homelander, he was hit by a mixed smell of rotten eggs, a combination of houttuynia cordata and stinky tofu.

Joey wouldn't have cared what the three were discussing, but he couldn't ignore the large box in the room that was emitting an astonishing stench, especially since his senses were more acute than the average person's.

The stench even involuntarily activated his super vision; his eyes swept across the box, instantly revealing its contents, and he couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Is this thing invisible?"

I had just glanced at the transparent man's body structure when my super vision was triggered, and I was deeply impressed by his strange skin.

If I'm not mistaken, the box contains hero fragments and hero skin fragments of the Invisible Man.