338 The Boys: Crack in The Boys for Payback, Crimson Countess Must Be Captured And Hermione Granger.

Ashley hurried into Homelander's quarters, only to find him naked on the sofa with a beer in hand.

Since the speech the day before, Homelander had secluded himself, not out of regret for his words (he didn't regret them), but because he was afraid of facing Stan Edgar, afraid of seeing disappointment in his eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

Ashley tried to cover her gaze or look away, but it was futile.

"What's going on, Ashley one..."

"Ashley one?"

"Don't you have an assistant also named Ashley? Is she Ashley two?... or would you prefer being the second?"

"No! Ashley one is fine!"

It's seldom mentioned that upon rising to the position formerly held by Madelyn, Ashley needed an assistant. However, perhaps due to trauma, she ended up hiring her own Ashley. No one knows if it's because she still subconsciously sees herself as an assistant.

"You have twenty-seven points..."

"What?"

Ashley smiled while swallowing hard, "You have a 65% approval rating... they loved your speech."

Homelander stood up, pointed at Ashley, and then clenched his fists.

"Yes! Oh! Yes!!"

His approval rating had nearly doubled. Ashley explained that the percentage of disapproval hadn't decreased, but his speech had attracted a new audience that hadn't been interested in superheroes before. People who considered Vought a circus and Homelander a showroom dummy began to see him as a real person.

"Hahaha, that's great!" Homelander nodded and then grabbed his clothes to get dressed, "Do you need anything else, Ashley?"

"Sorry!" Ashley ran out, despite how poorly Homelander treated her and how despicable he was, he was undeniably attractive.

...

Allen, Kimiko, and Annie went to a fair in search of a first-generation Supe. Cate didn't come along and joined Nokotan and Bocchi so as not to fall behind in her studies. Cate had been home-schooled all her life, so she didn't mind doing it.

Tearju wondered if, at this rate, Allen would gather enough girls to create a complete class at some point.

The fair wasn't anything special, but it had the classic attractions, enough for a good family day out.

Allen walked arm-in-arm with Annie and Kimiko. Recently, no girl showed any embarrassment about this, the time they had spent together had done its work.

Allen wouldn't make the same mistake as at Chelsea's school and wore thicker, uglier glasses. This increased the level of his disguise but also began to attract stares for different reasons. People could accept that a relatively attractive guy could be popular, but they didn't like it when someone less appealing was, so Allen received jealous and scornful looks from both men and women.

The collective thought was that two beauties were too much of a luxury for the current Allen; the world is unpleasant and superficial most of the time.

Allen ignored the people and focused on the girls who were looking interestedly at the food stalls.

"How about we have some fun before going after Crimson Countess?"

Annie and Kimiko agreed. Annie went to a stall to buy something. Kimiko looked curiously at a poster of Crimson Countess, who had been a member of Payback.

Back in her day, she had a relationship with Soldier Boy though she hated him.

Allen remained silent, observing the poster. He was secretly amazed at how much the world, fate, or perhaps God, strove to correct the course he altered.

Allen had helped Butcher save Becca Butcher, which reduced his hatred and desire for revenge against Homelander. It was also partly thanks to his wife, who insisted on not dying in pursuit of revenge.

Butcher knew that Homelander was still Homelander, and fighting him could be deadly; he had spent so many years searching for Becca and now couldn't afford to die easily.

All this caused the butterfly effect of Butcher not seeking out Soldier Boy. However, Butcher was driven by Mindstorm's escape to seek information on why he was so frightened and what had happened to him during his time in Payback.

Investigating Mindstorm led Butcher to investigate Payback, and, consequently, Soldier Boy; the butterfly effect was contained to a certain level.

This investigation led him to discover that Grace Mallory had once worked with Payback, consequently, Butcher learned again about the existence of a weapon capable of killing someone of Homelander's caliber.

Allen was not present at Butcher's confrontation with Mallory where he accused her of never telling him about such a weapon. After they argued, Mallory told him how the fools of Payback killed 117 of Mallory's men, and that was the trigger that made Mallory pursue degenerate Supes.

Butcher called Allen and asked him to track down Crimson Countess; he and MM would handle tracking Mindstorm and the TNT Twins. Hughie, Kenji, and Frenchie would watch Black Noir, there was a chance that this Black Noir might be the original.

Allen agreed with Butcher but was disheartened; the world managed to push the plot back towards Soldier Boy once more.

...

"Allen..."

Kimiko called Allen, pointing to a "ring toss" game booth. Allen didn't want to play more of these games as they were unfair, especially with his "Superhuman Accuracy" ability obtained from Gunpowder. However, he saw the excitement in Kimiko's eyes and couldn't refuse, so he secretly decided to pay for any prizes they won.

At the booth, there was a man with a scowling look, clearly annoyed to see Allen with a girl on each arm.

"Tsk... five dollars a try..."

"That's expensive!" Annie complained.

"If you don't like it, beat it, blondie, or get yourself a rich boyfriend!"

Allen's expression turned blank, and he lost interest in being polite.

...

"Ahhh! Wait!!"

The man ended up on the ground while Allen walked away with half of his stand in a huge sack. Allen did not pity the guy's tears and walked away without looking back.

"This might have been too much..." murmured Annie, holding five stuffed animals.

"Normally, I would have taken everything, but he wasn't using cheats, so I only took half."

Wede – You're cruel but fair...

Rick – Should have taken it all *Burp*

Nikky – Uh... this...

[I.M] "Haha, Nikky, don't worry, I'll send you one."

Nikky – Yay!

Gwen– Allen, when are you going to tell them that you have enough people to fill a country watching you when you go out and cause trouble?

Allen had thought about having that conversation soon. It's not that he was hiding it from them; Annie, Kimiko, and Cate had been around long enough for Allen to trust them, but he hadn't found the right opportunity yet.

It's not like he was going to tell them his favorite color; it was a heavy conversation about alternate worlds, multiverses, and other crazy stuff.

...

The three sat down, and the show began, featuring her captivating the audience with her voice.

Crimson Countess was fifty-five but strived to maintain a good image. She walked onto the stage dressed in her superhero attire, a cape, and a mask, all in crimson, true to her name.

She looked over the audience, there were only a dozen people, but she didn't seem to mind and began to sing.

Her voice was very good, but the song was... interesting, it alluded to Soldier Boy being a savior and leading the country to freedom.

Tony – Doesn't this remind you of someone?

Thor – Mmm, this Soldier Boy bears much resemblance to someone.

Hulk – HAHAHAHA

Steve Rogers was also aware of Allen's stream but didn't comment because he didn't know how. Nick Fury also often checked the live stream but didn't want to leave any trace of his existence, like Batman. Both men were stunned.

At that moment, more than one person noted that Soldier Boy was this world's Captain America and started laughing.

Maria Hill – Director, you don't have to hold back if you want to comment on something! *She is laughing*

Carol – This can be very funny or very offensive haha.

Steve Rogers was embarrassed; there had been a time when he was forced to be just a commercial figure, moving from one place to another promoting the war to gather funds.

Soldier Boy was as if Cap hadn't rejected that fame and had adopted it as a way of life, radio shows, television, movies, musical performances, etc.

Soldier Boy had become a hero on screen, and many people swallowed that lie when Soldier Boy only touched the battlefield once, and it was to kill his allies.

"AMERICA'S SON!~"

Annie wasn't very impressed, a stark contrast to Annie from the past, who used to be a fangirl of Maeve (Currently, she's aware that Allen visits Maeve's penthouse, and they're on good terms).

Kimiko was a different story; with her level of English, she barely understood anything from the song, so she focused on the voice. Objectively, Crimson Countess was a good singer. Unfortunately for a world as cruel as Vought Entertainment, capable of discarding Popclaw for a couple of wrinkles, the fate of a once show queen was to end up in a second-tier theme park singing songs for ten people.

At the end of the song, Kimiko applauded.

"Can we get an autograph?~"

Kimiko seemed to have forgotten they were there to capture Crimson Countess. Allen looked for help from Annie, but she looked away; he knew rejecting Kimiko's innocent request would feel like kicking a puppy. Not having the heart to do so, Allen nodded, and they approached her as ordinary people.

Kimiko asked for an autograph, "You sing very beautifully..."

"Aww, thank you, dear, ~" she smiled and signed Kimiko's photo.

"Allen~" Kimiko turned around excitedly, showing the autograph to Allen.

"Good for you, Kimiko," Allen smiled.

"It's rare to see young people remember Payback," the woman smiled kindly, the smile of a seasoned actress. If Allen didn't know her true nature, he might think her a kind lady who bakes cookies for neighborhood kids.

Emma W. – I can't fault her; she's a veteran through and through.

Megan – Of course, she's not an actress playing Crimson Countess, she is the real Crimson Countess who spent several decades as the queen of the show.

Allen sighed and smiled, Annie squeezed Allen's arm, seemingly to remind him they were there to capture Crimson Countess, not to be charmed by her.

"You all are a lovely group, how about I show you a photograph of the original team~"

Crimson smiled and exited the room, then dashed out of the building and began to run.

...

"Are you okay?" Allen patted Kimiko on the head, who smiled back with a hint of sadness but nodded.

Allen teleported in front of Crimson Countess. The people who were enjoying the place were shocked.

"The bastard Mindstorm was right, you were coming for me! Damn, why didn't I believe him!"

"Did you recognize me?" asked Allen curiously, but the woman frowned, feeling mocked by his question.

"You're walking hand in hand with Starlight... do you think I'm stupid?"

Allen didn't answer; he had felt as comfortable as in his world when he went out with Gwen, MJ, and Felicia and forgot that Annie was also famous.

MJ – You finally realized it~

Gwen – Allen *She laughs*

Starfire – Even I noticed! lmao

Allen tried to ignore the teasing, which was almost impossible.

Crimson Countess clapped her hands together and began to form a crimson fireball. Then she hurled it towards Allen.

The fireball slowed halfway and hovered in the air in front of Allen. He looked at the sphere and blew causing it to go out like a candle.

"You are a monster..."

The woman was shocked by this, but unbeknownst to her, Allen also had powerful pyrokinesis obtained from Lamplighter.

Allen teleported behind Crimson Countess and whispered, "Don't move."

Allen used his "Invasive Telepathy," which specializes in implanting ideas in people. It's not direct mind control, so for individuals with a strong will or when the implanted ideas are strongly rejected by the person, this power does not work.

"Hey, kid! Get away from my wife before I beat the shit out of you!"

Allen turned and saw in shock Soldier Boy standing not far away smoking a cigarette.

Felicia - Impossible because he's free?!

Allen felt a shudder, and Soldier Boy's chest began to light up; here, in the middle of all those people!

Shit!

...

(It was unexpected even for me that Soldier Boy would show up so soon 🍷🗿)

...

The clock was ticking just as it did in the DC world, so it did in the Harry Potter world.

Hermione checked the clock; it was still three o'clock. She had time to study for another hour before her break.

"Give me the ball!"

Outside her room, filled with books on magic, the sounds of boys and girls in her neighborhood playing—it was vacation, and kids needed to be kids. However, for Hermione, it wasn't the same.

She needed to prepare for her new year at Hogwarts; she wasn't a pure-blood witch (both parents are wizards), nor even a half-blood (one magical parent). Hermione's parents are Muggles (non-magical). This used to be a stigma that made her feel inferior, which she filled with an effort to prove that even without magical parents, she had nothing to envy.

However, after meeting several friends, especially Allen Jr., she realized that her concerns were silly. While there were people like Draco Malfoy who would scorn her for being a Muggle-born, there were others who would value her for her abilities.

Through her window flew a beautiful golden-brown owl, named Hina, a gift from Allen. Hermione didn't own an owl and, like many students, received mail through the school's owls.

(A/N: I only recently found out about this; I thought having an owl was essential, and it turns out many students don't have one.)

While Hermione prefers cats, this owl, being a gift from Allen, was special. Hermione stroked Hina's head and received the package—a scroll that turned into a box upon opening.

Hermione opened it and to her surprise, found several very expensive books with valuable information. Hermione saw Allen's generosity and felt embarrassed; she wasn't fond of accepting help from others but couldn't deny that her heart warmed every time something like this arrived.

Of course, Hermione wouldn't keep the books; she would read them and then return them to Allen.

Hermione wrote a thank-you letter...

"Dear Allen... No!"

"Every gift of yours is a breeze in my life... no!"

"I'd like to see you... I'd like to see you every day... NOO!"

"My love... Ahhh!!"

This was a constant ritual for Hermione as she wrote and tore up what she deemed shameful letters about twenty times before writing a decent one.

Hermione fed Hina and let her rest for the rest of the day before sending her off to Allen.

As Hina flapped away into the night sky, Hermione looked at the stars, feeling a strong urge to continue studying.

The fire in her eyes was even brighter than before as if she needed to be better for another reason besides proving herself.

If there were royalty in this world, the Walker family would be at the level of a Duke or perhaps... as the only son of Allen Walker Sr., I can't imagine the requirements to be Allen's wife.

No! What am I thinking?!

That's silly!

I must study more, that's how I'll defeat Allen next year and I'll teach him not to be so arrogant!

...

...

In a grand mansion under an eternal full moon, a beautiful woman reclined against a tree, dressed in a black gown, appearing to be asleep. However, her eyes opened at the sound of an owl's flapping.

She extended her pale, crystalline hand covered by a black glove, and Hina landed on it.

"Hello, Hina... did she like the books?"

*Cruuzz*

The owl seemed cheerful as it fluttered.

She took the letter from Hermione but did not open it; she floated it to a box on a table with more letters that would be delivered to Allen when he returned to this world.

The beautiful lady smiled while stroking the owl, "I'm glad... now I need you to take this scroll to Minerva..."

*Cruuzzz*

Once she dispatched Hina, the place fell silent and the woman slowly closed her eyes as if she had run out of energy. Breathless, heartbeatless, warmthless... in every sense, a beautiful and perfect doll... lifeless.

===

A/N: Soldier Boy is a walking nuclear bomb, fighting him is dangerous.