Gratitude

Silence followed my statement until it was shattered by the one man I wouldn't mind teaching a lesson in humility.

"No need to get your knickers in a twist, mate. Maybe show a little gratitude as we are the ones who saved your sorry arse." Butcher said in a smug tone, obviously pleased with himself that he could knock down the infamous Soldier Boy.

I shook off the dust covering my body and placed myself in a stance that would allow me to react instantaneously to anything they could throw at me.

"My gratitude is your life. I will give you only one warning to move aside. Don't think your attempt to eye fuck me will work again; I was uniquely distracted." I answered calmly as I analysed the possible moves each person in the room could make.

'I will no longer be a man who charges in without a plan, even though these people aren't worthy of one.'

"Listen, you old cunt. It looks like you may be confused here. We ain't the ones with the rotten hand. I count three supes on our side an' only this little fucker on yours." Butcher responded, gesturing to what I realised was Jamie squirming in his left hand.

Fortunately, he looked alright. Whilst he couldn't escape Butcher's grasp, he was too durable for Butcher to cause him any harm. Amusingly the little guy seemed very annoyed as he was squeaking and waving his paws around as if complaining about his situation.

Gaining confidence from Butcher's abilities and words, the trembling Mother's Milk and worried Frenchie moved between me and Dawn, who was still fast asleep.

Looking at Milk, I felt a flash of guilt as memories of just one of the numerous atrocities I had committed sprang into mind. It was a normal night for most and, in a horrific way, a normal night for me. I was on my usual Vought-sanctioned racist patrol under the guise of protecting the streets from civil unrest and cocaine deals. In truth, we were destabilising minority communities as much as possible, and I had decided to unwind by beating up the first teens I saw.

In the end, I killed not only them but also a loving grandfather, and I didn't care.

'Fucking hell, I definitely need some therapy.'

I pushed those thoughts aside and looked away from the two people who would be useless in this fight. I knew Dawn would be safe with them whilst I dealt with this inconvenience.

With my mind clearer than ever, I easily noticed the even more useless Hughie and the crazy chick Kimiko moving to either side of me, both smiling in excitement.

"Yeah, you don't want to mess with the boys!!" Hughie suddenly shouted, obviously trying to get involved in the conversation between grown-ups.

"The 1980's boy band?" I said in mock confusion to mess with the idiot.

"W-W-What? NO! We are supe killers, and we will fuck you up!" Hughie replied in a flustered tone.

"Hughie." Butcher spoke with obvious annoyance on his face.

"Yes?" Hughie responded as he turned to face him.

"Shut your fucking gob an' get ready to fight." Butcher snarled with a grin full of bloodlust.

We all ignored the mumbled response that spewed out of the hyperactive man-child and waited for the first move to be made.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." I chuckled with a smirk.

Butcher's eyes began to glow orange, highlighting his bloodthirsty smile.

'Time for a little stretch.'

I quickly rolled forward to dodge the light show that sprouted out of his eyes.

Leaping up from the roll, I twisted my body mid-air to slip past the sticky fingers of Hughie, the naked teleporter.

I then landed with a grin next to a table of crap and grabbed the first thing I could find, in order to spice up the fight.

Looking to see what I had picked up, I saw a large knife on a metal tray.

'This will do very nicely.'

I quickly threw the pointless knife on the floor and held the sturdy tray in a firm grip, ready for some fun.

Whilst admiring my weapon of choice, I once more swerved an attack from the back by Hughie and a laser beam from the front by Butcher.

'This is a lot more fun than I remember. It must be because I have the life of Ambroise in my mind.'

With Hughie now in front of me, I lightly hit him on the back of the head with the tray, causing him to be flung across the room and buried into a wall. The easy-to-hate bastard was more incapable than anticipated and ruined my new favourite utensil.

"That is an unexpectedly weak twink." I said in surprise at how far he flew.

"Hughie!!! You cunt!! I'll make you pay for that!!" Butcher screamed with gritted teeth as his eyes once more turned into two non-FDA-approved oranges.

"Damn, how much does that fucker suck your dick for you to react like that? His mouth must be like a hoover deluxe." I said with a smile, laughing at the brilliance in quoting myself.

He responded with his overused use of the word cunt and did his best to hit me with his beams of orange shit. As I evaded his poor attempts to burn a hole through me, I indifferently threw the now-deformed piece of metal to my left. The accurate throw smashed into the leaping Kimiko, who was attempting to catch me by surprise. The metal deformed even more as it knocked her out.

"Damn, I do miss my shield." I quipped with a smile.

I began casually walking towards Butcher whilst sidestepping with ease every one of his laser beams.

"I appreciate you taking it easy on this old cunt." I said in a mocking tone.

The closer I got, the more I could see his confidence drop, and in a matter of seconds, I was right in front of him.

I quickly smacked his wrist to allow Jamie to fly free, who gave me a little nudge and then turned around and surprisingly hissed at the man who grabbed him.

"It's ok, Jamie. Go protect the kid, and I'll deal with this asshole." I said to calm Jamie down.

He seemed hesitant to leave me alone and began squeaking in defiance, but after seeing how easily I was still evading the attempts of Butcher trying to hit me, he relented.

"Stay fuckin' still, you spineless piece of shit!" Butcher yelled as I ignored him and conversed with the hamster.

Annoyed at the yelling and still pissed about being grabbed, Jamie retaliated in a small yet spiteful manner. He quickly flew forward, scratched Butcher's face and then flew away to the top of Dawn's head.

"Ahh!! You fuckin' rodent cunt!!" Butcher growled in response to the gash left on his face.

I laughed and then decided to fuck with him a little.

"Don't worry. I'm done being a spineless shit." I said as I stopped moving and grounded myself.

'Let's have some fun.'

——————————————————————————

Authors note

Hello you bloodthirsty readers. The poll for killing the members of Payback is now over, with an overwhelming number wanting me to kill them.

However, some commentators wanted me to save Black Noir, so I will be doing another Poll just for him.

I have left a comment to either save or kill Noir. The comment with the most likes by next Sunday will be the decision made on his life. You are all judge, jury and executioner.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and my take on Soldier Boy. I decided to have him still be someone who loves a fight. He won't be as quick to kill. However, he will easily and graphically destroy those who deserve it.

Lastly, I'll release another chapter in 24 hours as I have nearly finished it and want to get out of the Russian lab as quickly as possible.