MM's Apartment to the Flatiron Building | Wednesday Afternoon into Evening

[knife_bender]

MM	A few minutes after Annie and Hughie's return, MM arrived back at his own apartment, looking mad enough to spit nails. Seeing Queen Maeve with her nasty feet on his coffee table (and nary a coaster in sight for her drink!) did not help. Neither did Hughie's stupid pasty face being here. "You all better have some good news, 'cause I just laid out my ex-wife's new husband for taking Janine to a Homelander rally," he greeted the assembled group. So Homelander was having rallies, now. Outstanding.
Hughie	Hughie winced, because -- like, just a big yikes all around there. And he also had news! But guess what kind of news it was. (Hint: not the kind MM had asked for.) "Uh, well." He cleared his throat, because wow this was a lot of people who probably hated him looking at him at once. "Butcher and I found out, uh, from Mindstorm, that...Soldier Boy is kind of Homelander's...." Come on. You could all guess this, right? You've seen a movie before. "Dad."
Diego	"Oh...kay..." Diego said slowly. "Do they know that or do we get to be Maury in this situation?" Maybe they could shock Homelander to death with more daddy issues.
Annie	Annie felt her stomach drop to her knees at this news, and immediately pulled her phone out of her pocket to dial security at the tower. If that was true, then there was exactly one place that Soldier Boy would be headed now. Homelander -- like Maeve and herself, until a few days ago -- had one of the best-known residences in the world.
Hughie	"Mindstorm told Soldier Boy," Hughie told Diego, nodding. "He knows, at least. And he's been acting -- weird ever since. Weirder." Despite being very, very handsome, that guy was awful to be around.
Diego	Well, Diego couldn't really blame him. Could you imagine if you were told Homelander was your kid? "Okay, so that's going to be a disaster if he ends up at the tower," Diego said. "I mean, I'd love to watch Homelander get the shit beat out of him but somewhere with less civilian casualties."
Maeve	"But if we get them in the same room together, are they gonna fight, or fucking hug?" Maeve pointed out. Which would be a disaster for a whole new reason.
Annie	"No, I don't care what your orders are," Annie was saying into her phone, her voice rising with clear frustration. "I'm Starlight, and I'm telling you that you need to evacuate the tower now. Because Soldier Boy is alive and he's real, and he's gonna f -- oh, fucking, you fucking stupid...." Annie balled up her fist, trying not to lose her temper on her phone itself. "Fuck." She turned to face the group, shaking her head. "If he pulls a Herogasm at the tower, he's gonna bring the whole fucking place down. We have to try to evacuate that building."
Diego	Diego nodded. "Yeah, agreed. We should get people out of there regardless of fighting or hugging." Homelander and Soldier Boy together in any capacity didn't seem like it'd be great for normal people.
MM	"Or we get to Soldier Boy and Butcher before they ever get to Homelander," MM said, thinking that was much more reasonable than trying to also fight Homelander and/or save a couple thousand people at the same time. Even if they did have three tough as hell lady-Supes, now, and a weird extradimensional alien or whatever the hell Diego was -- still no harm in looking for the easier solution, first.
Maeve	"I like that plan," Maeve contributed. "I can get us in. Butcher'll trust me enough to open the door." Perhaps that should have been a red flag for everyone else.

Annie	It was funny -- there was a little scuffle in the hallway outside of Butcher's office in the Flatiron Building (sidenote: an upgrade from last year's pawn shop, but definitely more conspicuous) because MM insisted on them lining up in order for this to work and/or in case they had to overpower Butcher. Most importantly -- Maeve needed to be out front obscuring the rest of them, sad and pathetic and bedraggled in her PJs. "I really hope we don't have to fight them," Annie murmured to Diego in an undertone as everyone was getting in position. She was also kind of wrestling with the fact that -- Maeve. Maeve? Why would Butcher open the door to you? (Like. She knew why, but Butcher? Maeve! You could do better than that! Who was next, Hughie?)
Diego	"Yeah, honestly, that's not on my to do list either." And he loved to fight! "Fingers crossed everyone is in a good mood."
Butcher	When were any of these people ever in a good mood? Butcher did, however, open the door to Maeve with a casual smile. "Look at you! I thought you was dead!" Probably not, but at least he'd say that's why he hadn't tried to do anything about her very public disappearance!
MM	And cue MM shoving in with a gun he immediately tucked under Butcher's chin, leading the way for the rest of them to follow. If MM was getting threatening right away, of all people, it probably did not bode well for not having to fight anyone here. "You didn't think I knew where the blind spots were, motherfucker?" he asked Butcher, pushing him back into the office as the others filed in after him.
Annie	"Where's Soldier Boy?" Annie asked flatly as she moved into the office and immediately split away from the other three superpowered people just to spread out a little. Don't mind her poking her head around corners, too, since MM seemed to have Butcher under control for the moment. (But who knew whether that was just a ruse from a Temp V'd-out Butcher, who probably didn't care about that gun in the slightest.)
Diego	Yeah, where was Soldier Boy's handsome face? Diego nodded his head at Butcher casually even though the latter had a gun pointed at him. "Hey, man."
Hughie	Butcher gave Diego a curious glance -- he still really hadn't ever minded the guy other than his shitty taste in women -- and a tiny nod, even as a gun was shoved up under his chin. Hughie, meanwhile, was darting over to change that. "MM, stop. Stop." It wouldn't matter, anyway, if Butcher was on the V, and everyone knew that. "Butcher, if we don't stop him, thousands of people are going to die in the tower." It didn't matter whether Soldier Boy ended up siding with Homelander, or stuck to the original plan of taking him out -- they couldn't do it at the tower.
Butcher	"This isn't bloody KinderCare, Hughie," Butcher replied, rolling his eyes as he pushed a bit away from the group. "It's Vought fucking Tower." And also their only shot.
Frenchie	From across the room, clutching a bottle of Starlight's Wish that actually contained their only hope of slowing down Soldier Boy at the moment, Frenchie softly offered, "Your wife worked in the tower." The wife who, if you'd recall, was super-murdered last year after being subjected to unspecified torment at Homelander's hands.
Maeve	You know, an emotional bomb like that one was more than enough opportunity for someone to act on everyone's distraction. Maeve moved quickly, snatching the bottle that contained the neurotoxin out of Frenchie's hand and pitching it straight through the window and probably a good half-mile away. And while everyone was still reacting to that, she was just going to calmly break your gun, MM. Sorry. Also sorry about your coffee table and your scotch. "Butcher's right," she said, turning to the rest of the group and finding herself standing by Butcher. "Homelander needs to die. That's it. Whatever it takes."
Diego	Diego probably should have seen that coming...but he didn't see that coming. And he was getting real tired of whatever it takes, just for the record. "Maeve, what the fuck?!"
Annie	Annie was staring in disbelief after the lost bottle, since they had no hope of incapacitating Soldier Boy without it. Fuck, Maeve. Of all times to change your mind. "I really thought deep down you really were a hero," Annie said, profoundly disappointed more than anything.
Maeve	"Well, you were wrong," Maeve told her, cold and tired. "There's no such thing." You'd think she'd have learned that by now, after the last year and half Annie had had.
Annie	Okay, you know what? Fuck it. Fuck it. She'd threatened every other Supe she personally knew whose power dwarfed her own, at this point. Why not see where this got her with Maeve? Whatever it takes, right? Fucking right? "This is not," Annie ground out, pulling as much power from the old building as she could into herself and sending everything buzzing, "going to happen."
Diego	Diego stood up a little straighter, hands at the ready to grab a knife. It seemed like it was the week to pick fights you probably weren't going to win. They had been lucky(ish) so far, maybe this would work out.
Maeve	"Annie," Maeve said quietly, deadly serious as her gaze flicked between her and Diego. "I don't want to hurt you." But as foretold, she could indeed split Diego like dry firewood, and Annie herself wouldn't be far behind in terms of how quickly Maeve would incapacitate her.
Soldier Boy	"But I will." You guys! The handsome man also had a sexy, deep voice! Soldier Boy stepped into the room slowly, eyeing the group -- and Annie in particular -- curiously.
Butcher	"All right, you lot," Butcher pronounced cheerily, good humor restored. "Into the safe." He gestured to a huge safe in the corner -- just large enough to fit six or so people with very little wiggle room and probably a fairly limited supply of oxygen. Look, he didn't want to kill them or anything. They had a Supe who could and, Butcher knew, would easily take that door down. (Though he was going to make it a lot less easy on her.) He just wanted to hold them up.
Diego	Whelp. They really couldn't do anything against Maeve and Soldier Boy, could they? Soldier Boy, whom Diego was now fairly sure had been created in a lab specifically to be the most handsome dude on the planet. Shame about the personality. Diego stood down, hands relaxing at his sides. He looked over at MM and nodded towards the safe before walking over himself. Which didn't feel great, but at least he got to give Maeve a "I'm so disappointed in you" look.
Annie	Annie was grateful Diego had taken initiative there. She was so, so disappointed in Maeve, but she couldn't focus on that right now. She had to focus on other stuff, like how hard it had been to even just drag that power out of this office's wiring to illuminate her eyes a moment prior. It was going to take focus to take the door down. She crossed over to MM, taking him by the elbow since he seemed like he was in a trance, staring at Soldier Boy. (Who could blame him? That gorgeous jawline.) "Not here," she said quietly, tugging him along to the safe. Frenchie, Kimiko and Hughie all dutifully piled in as well, though they were focusing their ire on Butcher rather than Maeve.
Maeve	But it was Maeve who closed the door on them, looking more disappointed in herself than any of them ever could be. And on their way out, Butcher cut the power to the office. Needed to slow Tinkerbell down, there.
Annie	"Okay," Annie said softly into the pitch black. "Phone flashlights, everyone." She held her hands out in front of herself, towards the door of the safe, and pulled. There was almost nothing. Her eyes and hands barely glowed. "Oh, fuck them. I think they cut the power somehow." She could still feel it, above and below and in other units, but this was going to take forever.
Diego	Diego turned his phone flashlight on, pointing it at the safe door. "Well, I guess you can't call them stupid." Assholes, yes. But not stupid.
MM	Four other flashlights joined in, one by one. "Even once we get out, what're we gonna do?" MM asked. "Where I'm standing, we're fucked with no grease. No plan, no knockout gas." And no way to get more. Thanks, Maeve.
Frenchie	There was silence for a moment, and then, "Well. There is one lab in New York that has the things I would need to make more. And as fate would have it, we are headed there...." So Frenchie could totally just use Vought's lab to make something to incapacitate Supes. No big deal. Also it meant they'd need to split up, which everyone would probably be in favor of.
Annie	"You've got to be kidding me," Annie muttered, giving a little grunt as she fired a blast at the door and it sort of wobbled. That was a terrible plan. Just fucking terrible, Frenchie. "Watch your eyes, everyone." That was more immediate, anyway.
Diego	"I guess it's better than the previous plan of having no plan at all," Diego said, turning his head and closing his eyes. He'd probably need them later on if they were going against Butcher, Maeve, Soldier Boy...possibly Homelander. All that planning for a wedding and they were gonna die before it even happened. Disappointing.
MM	"We're going to break into Vought Tower, while you go to the lab crawling with armed guards, and you're gonna cook up the world's most dangerous neurotoxin with, what, a little moxie and a little Mr. Wizard know-how, while we hold off Homelander and Soldier Boy?" And very possibly Butcher and Maeve, too. MM just wanted to make sure he had that right.
Frenchie	Frenchie offered a simple, "...oui," in response. Yeah, that was the whole plan.
Annie	"We still need to evacuate," Annie pointed out, starting to tire out a little even as she could tell she was making headway on the door. She gave another grunt and another, stronger blast. "Someone's gotta get on the PA or trip the alarms or something." Maybe without the fire alarm part, this time. Everything involving her escape from the tower last year had been fairly unnecessarily...wet.
Diego	"I'll do it," Diego replied, eyes still closed. "Next to you I'm the one that knows the place best."
Annie	Annie was quiet for a moment. She could have said it was because she was concentrating on getting the door down, but the truth of it was that it would be really dangerous. Good. Diego was great in dangerous situations. And that was all there was to it, right now. "Good idea," she said, and with one final angry huff, she fired at the door and watched it fall into the room before her. "Fuck. Okay. They got a really big head start, but -- Diego, you know a back way into the tower, right?" Honestly, in a few ways, he knew the building better than she did. Lamplighter had given Diego a backstage tour Annie herself had never been treated to.
Diego	"Nice work, honey," Diego said, turning his phone light off. "And, yeah, I know a way. Hopefully they didn't put security there since the last time I had to break into the building." That was becoming something of a theme with him.

[NFI, NFB but OOC is A-OK. Taken from The Boys 3.08 'The Instant White-Hot Wild.' and preplayed with defenderofdesmoines]