A-Train glanced at Popclaw, who stood there in a panic, worried and confused, looking around helplessly in search of them. Without hesitation, he rushed over and pushed her toward the syringe that was already inches away.
Fenris raised an eyebrow slightly but made no effort to stop it.
"Aahhh!" A painful scream rang out as Popclaw collapsed to the floor.
She stared in disbelief at the now-open door and the figure of her boyfriend disappearing into the night. She couldn't believe that someone she loved and trusted so deeply would do such a thing.
He had actually sacrificed her just to escape.
Fenris didn't bother chasing A-Train. While injecting a superhuman with the Super Soldier Serum carried some risks, based on his previous experiences, the chances of success seemed significantly higher.
If A-Train had been the one injected instead of sacrificing Popclaw, there was a good chance that the serum could have solved his heart problems caused by long-term Compound V use. It might have even made him stronger and faster.
Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.
That applies not only to A-Train, who got away, but also to Popclaw, who thought she was as good as dead.
As a side note, the battle with A-Train only yielded 5 system points.
…
On the couch, Fenris waited calmly while checking the system panel, then closed it and turned his attention to Popclaw, who had just regained consciousness.
She lay motionless on the floor, her eyes vacant and lifeless. Sweat rolled down her face, and her previously loose loungewear now fit snugly against a noticeably more toned and sculpted body.
Thanks to the serum, her figure had become more balanced and ideal.
"Good evening. Or not. Doesn't matter," Fenris greeted casually.
Popclaw seemed consumed by the grief of being betrayed by her boyfriend. She neither moved nor responded, lost in sorrow as if the outside world no longer existed.
Fenris rolled his eyes and fired a heat vision blast into the floor next to her face.
The red-hot beam instantly scorched a hole into the floor.
"Keep playing dead and I'll make sure it's permanent," he said coldly.
His voice, along with the heat still radiating from the floor, finally stirred Popclaw. She slowly sat up.
"Pathetic."
Fenris didn't mince words. "Boiling water cools at a hundred degrees. What makes you think a thirty-seven-degree heart won't?"
Popclaw blinked as her emotions began to return. She shook her head and replied with a hoarse voice, "You wouldn't understand."
"I wouldn't understand?" Fenris scoffed. "Oh, I understand perfectly. Most love stories are the same: not too long, easy to tell. You meet, blush, then leave, and cry."
"These days, who can't live without someone else? Was A-Train your first boyfriend? No, right?"
Popclaw instinctively shook her head.
"Then why are you acting like some soulless corpse? Get up and tell me how your body feels. Any changes? Has your original ability been affected?"
His sharp tone snapped her into action. She got up and focused on her body, lifting her arm and extending a long, sharp bone spike.
This was her ability and the reason she was called Popclaw.
"My powers seem fine. I feel like my body's filled with endless energy. I think I've become stronger."
"But something feels strange..." she said as she looked at the muscles on her arms and the defined abs on her stomach. Hesitantly, she asked, "What exactly did you inject me with?"
"At first, I thought you were going to kill A-Train, and that syringe was filled with some kind of poison or virus. But I didn't die. I got stronger instead. It reminds me of something A-Train used to inject..."
"But that stuff only gave him a temporary boost. It made him overly excited, like he was high. I feel totally stable right now, and I even have abs. So... what was it?"
What she was referring to was Compound V.
To reinforce his own importance, Homelander secretly had A-Train deliver Compound V to a terrorist organization. The goal was to inject adults and create supervillains who would then be eliminated by Homelander, boosting his image and influence.
A-Train never met with the terrorists himself, but he had secretly used Compound V and developed an addiction.
Popclaw had tried to stop him several times, but her efforts were in vain.
Incidentally, one of Fenris's goals in taking something from this world back to the Marvel Universe was the victims of Homelander's supervillain program.
Like Kimiko the Female, for example.
If he hadn't been followed by A-Train after parting with Starlight, Fenris originally planned to seek her out. Compared to Queen Maeve or Starlight, Kimiko had fewer attachments to this world. Her only emotional bond was with her younger brother, who later also became a superhuman.
Both siblings had powerful abilities.
Kimiko had an extraordinary healing factor. Since she was injected as an adult, her mind and speech were affected to varying degrees. Her combat style was wild and beastlike, similar to Wolverine, which earned her the nickname "The Female."
Her younger brother didn't appear much in the story and was later killed by Stormfront. His ability seemed to be telekinesis, and his fighting style resembled a mini version of Magneto.