Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want

38

Stan Edgar was aware of the shapeshifter situation with Homelander a little bit after it happened. Vought security was monitoring the cameras and they saw the altercation. The CEO had made extremely clear that if something relevant happened, he wanted to be the first to know. The footage was played back to him, with audio. They had talked about the idea of torturing the Supe until it spilled something, but seeing how Homelander tried and failed miserably, Edgar decided it shouldn't be done by any of the Seven. Of course Homelander was a weak baby that was always in the way of Vought's best interests, but after hiring Nina to help him, his image had improved. He was indeed bad product as they had discussed before, but visiting kids, connecting with average Americans and visiting the president was actually working out in the company's favor.

After Nina started writing his speeches and after she had pussy whipped him, he seemed way more calm and easier to manipulate. A blue eyed puppy dressed up in an American flag. Edgar didn't want to deal with him losing his mind at that moment. He could easily be replaced, his existence wasn't really necessary, and Edgar knew that deep inside, the most powerful Supe wasn't that powerful at all. But it was a matter for another time. He would vanish like Soldier Boy did, and someone else would take his place. Supes didn't last forever. Only power did.

Nina had the idea to take Homelander to visit the President, to which Edgar was grateful for. They were planning a visit with the presence of the Seven, but Edgar convinced Nina that taking Homelander alone was enough. While they were away, he could discuss the shapeshifter incidents with the Seven and Ashley without Homelander's whiny interference. When he was around the assistant, he would mostly pay attention to her and her only. A dog, indeed. Stan brought the footage to the conference room and the remaining Seven watched it with him.

"Well...", said Edgar, "as you can see, this animal has the ability to bring the dead back to life."

As the footage played, the Supes felt really uncomfortable. None of them liked Homelander, and they didn't care about him being mentally tortured, but it meant that probably no one would be safe from its mind games. Every single one of them had at least one skeleton in their closet... or a graveyard full of bodies. Homelander's story with Stormfront was somewhat known by the public, but the state of her body was a Vought secret. So, if that specific shapeshifter knew about it...

"Wait," said Starlight, "how does it know..."

"How does it know what happened to Stormfront?", asked Maeve. The burns were identical to the real thing.

"If could be bluffing, couldn't it?" A-Train looked concerned.

"We can't really know," Edgar sighed, "Homelander left before we could confirm it."

"I could just go there...", Noir began.

"No," Edgar raised his palm. "I will look for a Supe that could mess with his mind."

He paused, "unfortunately, Mindstorm seems impossible to track these days."

"What if it doesn't work?," Asked Deep.

"We need to know if this thing has access to our archives," said Maeve. "There's no point in..."

"What is the problem, miss?" Edgar asked, sarcastically. "Do you have something to hide?"

Maeve rolled her eyes. She did, and he knew. The Deep chuckled.

"There's no reason for you to laugh, Mr. Deep," said Edgar. "We don't know for sure if the creature has access to our data, but it also doesn't need to have access to your personal... mishaps. It could be reading minds, as unlucky as it sounds."

"We could... you know... try to hit it around a little bit...", Starlight began.

"I thought you were against it," said Edgar, remembering their other meeting.

"I'm completely in favor of it," Maeve shrugged.

"God, we are fucked," sighed A-Train, "we're so fucking fucked."

They fell silent for a bit. Maeve looked defeated, Noir looked lost, Deep looked bored. Starlight was thinking about a solution. She bit her lip and it was almost like one could see the gears moving inside her brain.

"We... we already know that it can shift into us and replicate our powers...", she began.

The Seven turned their attention to her, unsure of what to think.

"Homelander said that it shifted into him before, and he's the most powerful of us."

Maeve started to get where Starlight was going to, and it wasn't pleasant at all.

"If it can do it, why didn't it do it yet? It could take the form of Homelander and kill everybody, couldn't it?"

"But isn't the room Supe proof?", A-Train seemed a bit on the edge. "Isn't it Homelander proof?"

"To a degree, yes," admitted Edgar. "The walls are made of zinc, he can't see through them, but he's strong enough to punch a way through it if he so desires. His weaknesses only proved to be of the mind."

"What do we do, then?," asked Noir. "If it has a plan, it will never fucking tell us."

"I've thought about it before," said Edgar. "That's why I need a mind reader. The thing has a motive, of course. Homelander was vulnerable around it and the creature only resorted to torture him psychologically. It has a goal, and we must find out what it is."

That could be possibly the worst scenario. The creature didn't seem to be stupid, so it must have thought about it before. Starlight had a point, and knowing about its intentions would make all of it easier to deal with. Homelander himself would just kill it, and God knew how many of them would keep appearing. The Supes already knew it was a group, but they couldn't risk killing more of them before knowing their true intentions.

"Ashley," called the boss.

The woman, who was mostly silent during the meeting immediately adjusted her posture and looked at him, a bit scared and concerned.

"Yes, sir?"

"Locate any superhero that can help us. Mind reading, telekinesis, manipulation of reality. Locate every single one that can mess with the creature's mind in an effective way. We need to know its motives as soon as possible."

Ashley nodded. He seemed really determined to end it once and for all.

"We're done here, ladies and gentlemen." Stan got up, palms to the glass table. He gave them the last warning of the day.

"Remember: do not engage with it. Stand by for more info."