Butcher didn't think the note Locke left was a coincidence. He was certain the damn superpowered bastard had done it deliberately—just to remind them not to do anything stupid.
Clearly, even after being locked up for a year, this bastard knew their group inside and out, just as he knew Vought. It had to be some kind of special power.
Like predicting the future.
At the thought, Butcher's heart tightened. He knew this was bad, but now there was nothing he could do. Whatever the hell this superpowered lunatic had in mind, they had no choice but to go along with it.
"Billy?"
Mother's Milk's voice on the other end of the phone snapped him back. He came to, looked at the note Hughie had laid in front of him, and felt he had to tell Mother's Milk the truth.
"Soldier Boy is Homelander's biological father."
"What the fuck?!"
After a brief moment of shock, Mother's Milk quickly regained his composure. Wait—how did Butcher know this bombshell?
"How do you know that?"
"It's a long story. We went to Elmira and pulled someone out of there. He crumpled the whole place into a ball like a toy eraser right in front of us, and then he used that ball to beat Homelander until he was practically delirious."
Perhaps remembering Homelander's pathetic state at the time, Butcher's tone unconsciously grew cheerful. Still, it was a pity Locke hadn't managed to kill Homelander on the spot—that, he deeply regretted.
"…Right. Well, this time you're actually making sense. So what about Soldier Boy?"
"What about him? That's not something you should be asking me. Don't you want him dead? Think about what he did to your family."
"I thought I did. But now I don't have a weapon that can kill him!!"
At that moment, Butcher understood why Mother's Milk was hesitating. Three people in a foreign country, no backup—even if Mother's Milk wanted to kill Soldier Boy more than anything, he had to think about Frenchie and Kimiko. For now, he had to set aside his vengeance.
Butcher looked at the note again, reread Locke's comments, and suddenly an idea formed in his mind. A trademark crooked smile spread across his face as he said to Mother's Milk, half-jokingly:
"Then bring him back. Let our Mr. Hope deal with him. Looks like he's pretty interested in Soldier Boy anyway. Bring him home."
————————————————————————————————————————————————
While the others were discussing what to do about Soldier Boy, Locke—quite satisfied with his food and drink—couldn't wait to return to his dream.
When he sank back into his dreamscape, he found himself on an endless lawn. Warm sunlight poured down, wrapping him in gentle warmth.
He leaned against a deciduous tree and slowly opened his eyes. The first thing his fingertips touched was a rough, charred black scar on the trunk—as if it had been scorched by raging flames that had never fully healed.
But he wasn't about to dwell on those details now. He just wanted to find the other versions of himself—the ones who would never betray him… his own people.
He walked in one direction. After a while, the seemingly endless lawn reached its edge, merging with other dreamscapes. At the intersection of dreams, a group of Lockes—all dressed differently but bearing the same face—waited for him.
"Hey! Over here!"
At the reply, The Boys Locke deftly sat down next to them. A quick glance through their shared memories told him who each of his other selves was.
The child looked like a Hogwarts Locke.
The one with the hedgehog hairstyle and dead fish eyes was Hokage Locke.
Beside him, in a linen suit, was One Piece Locke.
There were only four of them in total. The fragments of the system attached to their souls had finally been assembled, merging their basic functions so that their second golden finger could finally work.
Without a word, they shook hands in greeting and successfully exchanged memories before they began to talk.
One Piece Locke: "Too bad. Even though Old Man Magneto is a top-tier character, he couldn't break through Homelander's defense fast enough. If only we could give him a speed boost, but whatever. The superpowers in The Boys world are really Schrödinger's powers—hard to kill, both fragile and tough at the same time."
Hogwarts Locke: "Doesn't matter if we didn't kill Homelander. The main target is Stan and Cyfer. Let them tear each other apart along with Homelander."
Hokage Locke: "Makes sense."
Seeing the others trying to comfort him, The Boys Locke waved his hand and said proudly:
"Save it. Who are you trying to impress? Am I really that fragile? We all escaped. What's there to be afraid of?"
Seeing The Boys Locke so open about it, the other three shrugged and breathed a sigh of relief.
Hokage Locke: "Don't blame me for worrying, man. It's all about your attitude. I thought One Piece Locke had it rough being a slave, but I didn't expect you to have it even harder."
One Piece Locke: "Seriously. I was a bit annoyed about owing over 2,000 popularity points. Using the minimum ten points more than two hundred times—that must have been hell for you, brother."
Remembering the misery of the past year, The Boys Locke still felt a twinge of bitterness, but he didn't show it in front of his brothers. After all, he had escaped.
The future was long.
The Boys Locke: "Let's not dwell on that. Let's talk about the system. How's the research coming along?"
Hokage Locke: "After some research, we can now select fixed character cards and earn popularity points by completing quests with those fixed cards."
With that, all four simultaneously opened their system panels, just as Hokage Locke had said.
Hogwarts Locke added casually:
"We haven't chosen ours yet, so we don't know exactly how to earn points. But the good news is, we can still use the popularity point transfer bug from before."
One Piece Locke: "In other words, we can pool the debt onto one person first, take our time paying it off—no interest, no installments—and pay it back whenever we want."
Hearing this, The Boys Locke felt a huge weight lift from his heart. After all, it was because of him that they all owed over 2,000 popularity points. He'd been feeling guilty about it.
The Boys Locke: "In that case, let me take on the popularity debt first—"
Hogwarts Locke: "Let me do it."
The Boys Locke was speechless. Hogwarts Locke, who looked like a child, explained seriously:
"What danger could I possibly be in at school? Even if Voldemort shows up and dares to hit me with Avada Kedavra, I'll just gnaw on a big melon and teach him what a real 'small hole' means."
Hokage Locke: "You're taking the lead, huh?"
One Piece Locke: "What's the matter? Don't think I can handle it? Besides, the little guy is also a greenhorn."
Seeing this, The Boys Locke felt a warmth in his heart. He didn't say much, just opened his panel and looked at the character cards available to him.
Honestly, there were plenty of options. Besides the initial five character cards, the nearly two hundred emergency character cards he had unlocked in the first half of the year were also available.
But despite all these powerful character cards, he wasn't interested in them. Instead, his attention was drawn to a seemingly weaker role:
[Garou]
[Character Type: Manga/Anime Character]
[Race: Human]
[Role Archetype: Anti-Hero]
[Current World Compatibility: 96%]
Though he didn't fully understand what "role archetype" meant, he assumed it related to how well the character fit. And perhaps the rate of popularity point accumulation was also tied to how true he stayed to the character's nature.
In a world full of manufactured superheroes, what role could be more fitting for Locke than that of a hunter of heroes?
After all, this time, he and those heroes shared a deep, personal hatred.
He had said he wanted Vought to feel pain. And that pain would start with the heroes under its command.
[Fixed Character Card Successfully Set]
[Garou]
[Character Quest Unlocked]
[Hunt the Heroes]