𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄'𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐊𝐄 // 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐎𝐘

CHAPTER 11, shadows of what was

"Break glass in case of emergencies, you know, like this one," Butcher calmly explains his situation to the others. They all disapproved of his idea of shooting himself up with what turned out to be Temp V.

"And you give this to petite Hughie?" Frenchie exclaims, clearly not happy with the fact that Butcher was spreading his drug agenda to the kid. Or was he still a kid? Not exactly, but he was the youngest and most innocent out of them all. As if killing is a wonderful job to evolve in...

"I didn't give it to him! The thieving git must have broken into the case and nicked it!" He says, his head turning towards Hughie. Who's going to tell this guy that he's in America?

Hughie just stood there with a gaping mouth, not daring to answer Butcher.

"Let's just find this thing and get the fuck out of here, all right?" Butcher continued after it became obvious that Hughie was not going to give an answer.

"You're better than this, kid," MM remarks, his words aimed at Hughie before he walks off.

The boy scoffed, in a state of some disbelief. MM was right though, who knows what this Temp V can do, what its side effects or long term effects are, Vi couldn't disagree with this. But she had more important things than this right now, they weren't here to talk or hang out. They were after whatever the Russians, or Payback used on Soldier Boy. On Ben. Butcher was ready to find Ben's corpse, he was convinced that they killed him one way or another, but Vi? She knew Ben and his abilities. There wasn't a thing in the whole wide world that could end his life.

She picked up another piece of paper from a stack, while eyeing what seemed like a smaller gas chamber on the side of the room. It seemed like Butcher had similar thoughts as he walked up to the chamber, his fingers brushing over its metal surface. The rest of the group was caught up in robbing the place blind, in hopes of any sign or help in defeating Homelander. Vi didn't care too much about Homelander. Yes, her deal with Butcher did include her helping them out in taking him down, but he also said that they will look more into Soldier Boy and his disappearance in hopes of getting a lead to defeat Homelander. That was why she agreed to this all.

The sound of hissing steam and metal caught the attention of the group immediately. It was Butcher, tearing off the gas chamber's locked door with his bare hands. Temp V really did its thing with this guy. Light emanated from inside, an orangish hue. The curiosity of Vi was spiked up immediately, her hopes skyrocketing. Butcher lifts the door he just tore off, tossing it to the side, almost impaling Kimiko in the process. The metal lands on the floor with a loud thud. If there are more of those guards, this sure alerted them.

The steam from inside the chamber slowly flows out. The group's members leisurely saunter closer to the chamber, heartbeats rising with each step. There was something inside there, that was for sure.

"I think we found our weapon," Frenchie silently states. They just had to wait for the smoke to clear, because enough horror movies proved that you should never, under any circumstances, run into a fog or mist absentmindedly.

Vi's heartbeat started to rise. She was less scared of facing the Russian guards than facing whatever was behind the steam. Maybe a superterrorist, maybe some weapon, maybe, and hopefully, Ben himself, fully intact. Some seconds later, they could make out a shape in the midst of the steam, a large one at that. If this was a weapon, then they'll have to get another van to get it to America.

No, because the smoke was now gone enough that it was obvious that it was a person. The filtered breathing coming from inside gave it away. Yes, they were able to hear somebody's breathing, that's how silent they were at that moment. The picture got clearer with each second. Dark hair, long beard, seemed like a man.