Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.
~Aristotle
_____
Hillel flew back to his Midtown apartment. Starlight didn’t recognize him at first. He’d swapped into a different combat uniform and looked like he’d been run over by a truck.
"Why do you look more tired than if a non-supe’d been out drinking all night?"
Starlight padded over in her cartoon slippers, sounding worried.
Hillel dropped onto the sofa. All he wanted was a massive gulp of ice-cold cola.
"Help me order ten pizzas, three family buckets, and five servings of chicken fried rice."
"Oh right, and cola. Make it a mocktail with Coke, Pepsi and Dr Pepper."
"And extra ketchup packets."
One look at his face and Starlight almost called an ambulance instead of the delivery apps. She ended up ringing a few places anyway.
She came back and saw the sweat on him.
"Why is your body temperature so high?"
"I stood on the surface of the sun for a while. You believe me?"
Hillel said it like it was nothing.
"Stop bragging."
Starlight rolled her eyes, but the worry stayed.
"I’m getting a thermometer."
Hillel touched his forehead. Felt normal. Probably just burned through too much super speed regeneration. His body was screaming for protein.
Three hours later the food started arriving.
"Miss, I suggest you get your ass to Vought for a couple shots. My grandmother moves faster than you." Hillel opened the door and tipped the guy five bucks. "Ug, sorry, I’m just a bit agitated."
The driver shrugged. Hillel told the blonde delivery girl not to leave yet. He cracked open a pizza box and handed her a slice.
"Thanks, dude and no problem. Are those muscles real? Here’s my private number. Call me if you’re interested."
The blonde thought he looked familiar, like that Guardian guy everyone was talking about. She gave him the number and a wink.
Then she thought better of it. No way the famous Guardian was eating cheap pizza.
Hillel figured it out halfway through his own slice.
"That’s right. Lobster and abalone would actually do something. At least gnawing on a whole fucking cow would be better than this garbage."
High calories weren’t high protein.
He went out again. Half an hour later he came back with a massive bag. Australian lobster, Wagyu beef, braised pork belly, and three rice cookers worth of rice.
The place took forever to cook it all. While he waited he felt himself getting weaker.
Starlight stared at the spread, then called Ashley.
"Does Hillel have anything else on today? My boyfriend looks like he’s falling apart."
Hillel ate like a starving animal, tearing through everything. When Starlight reached for a piece of popcorn chicken he snatched it back at super speed.
"You’re even guarding your food now?"
All that food hit his stomach and he still felt like shit. Sweating hard. Two thin lines of blood ran out of his nose.
"Why the fuck does my body feel this hot?" He wiped his nose and looked at the blood on his fingers.
Blood?
The invincible Guardian was getting a nosebleed? Supes didn’t get "internal heat."
Annie shot to her feet, grabbed the phone, and called Ashley again.
"Hurry the fuck up and send a top medical team!"
Hillel stood up. Something was really wrong. This wasn’t normal weakness. This was...
He never finished the sentence. His eyes rolled back and he hit the floor.
Thud!
...
ICU.
Hillel lay inside a transparent isolation shield surrounded by machines.
Out in the hallway: Starlight, Maeve, Ashley, Homelander. Even Ryan had come.
"Annie, Annie, Annie!"
Homelander paced the corridor, spitting Starlight’s name over and over.
"You live with him. Why is The Guardian suddenly dying while you’re standing there fine?"
Starlight crossed her arms and stared through the glass at Hillel. Homelander’s questions had her scrambling.
"I... I don’t know either. Last time Hillel left was from Vought. He seemed off when he got back..."
Homelander swung his glare onto Ashley.
"Give me an explanation or I’ll burn you to ashes from head to toe!"
Ashley was so scared she pissed herself.
"Sir, I really don’t know! The Guardian’s movements are always secret. Only Ms. Annie knows anything."
Maeve lifted her head. Something clicked for a second, but she killed the thought and shrank back against the wall.
Ryan had never seen Homelander this unhinged and worried. He kept backing away.
"Where are the doctors? Where the fuck did those bastards go!" Homelander took it out on the medical team.
"Uh, the expert team is working through the night. They think The Guardian caught some kind of virus that targets Supes. It goes straight for the genetic code. We have no way to stop it or treat it right now."
Ashley spoke fast and quiet.
Homelander punched the wall hard enough to crack it. A virus made for Supes?
"Who? Who the fuck has the balls to go after The Guardian?"
His roar rattled the whole corridor.
Homelander was terrified of losing a friend and terrified this was a plot aimed straight at him. Maybe The Guardian was just a test run. Someone was using the people around him to get to him.
Zump!
"Haah.. Sir, I’ve run all over New York. Checked every spot The Guardian usually hits, including those two Godolkin University students. Nothing."
A-Train blew into the hallway like a hurricane. He clutched his chest and slid down the wall to the floor, breathing hard.
"Sir, The Guardian’s gonna be fine. Even if it’s just for you, he’ll pull through..."
Ashley tried to sound hopeful.
Homelander raised a hand and cut her off, looking disgusted. "Everyone around me is either kissing my ass or too fucking stupid to think straight. What’s the point of this bullshit? The Guardian isn’t crawling out of the ICU just to let you suck my dick!"
He grabbed Ashley by the throat and stroked her face with his other hand, almost gentle.
"Listen up. Tell those doctors and experts that Vought pays them a fortune every year. If they don’t save The Guardian, I’ll roast every one of their useless heads into jelly. You got that?"
...
[Homelander — Extreme Emotions: Heartbreak, fear, dread, hatred]
[Ability Points Gained: +13,345]
[Starlight — Extreme Emotions: Fear, dread, worry, sadness]
[Ability Points Gained: +11,345]
[Maeve — Extreme Emotions: Anger, worry, sadness]
[Ability Points Gained: +10,345]
[Ryan — Emotional Changes: Worry, questioning, confusion]
[Ability Points Gained: +6,345]
[Ashley — Emotional Changes: Fear, dread, power imbalance, stress, anxiety, worry]
[Ability Points Gained: +15,345]
...
Hillel lay in the coma, cut off from the screaming and threats outside.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then a cold electronic voice spoke straight into the void.
[External virus intrusion detected — scourge virus entering body]
[Royal Bloodline: Resistance increased by 30%, antibody synthesis speed increased by 30%]
[Virus intrusion in progress: 10%... 35%... 65%...]
[Immune antibody synthesis in progress: 8%... 16%... 33%...]
____
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