Violence of the Heart

Shit, shit, shit, how could I be so stupid?" You growled, soaring across the sky, leaving a trail of slowly drifting clouds in your wake. You'd gotten so caught up, caught up in your attempts to stabilize your new version of V, caught up in the mopey gloom of late, you'd honestly forgotten where this was all heading.

The only reason you even knew everything was going to shit was a single text sitting on your phone, alarmingly from the same number as the original video of Stormfront's infidelity. No caption, no header, just a link to the breaking news story that Klara was an outed Nazi.

Now you just had to hope you weren't too late. The explosion in the distance didn't fill you with hope.

"Hey Kraut." Starlight admitted to no small amount of satisfaction at seeing Queen Maeve literally punch the smug look off of Stormfront's face.

However. before any further damage could be done, the sudden appearance of Nick landing with enough force to push Maeve back and send Stormfront to the ground shifted the battle.

"I came as soon as I heard Klara." He stated, offering her a hand up which she smacked away.

"Don't give me that bullshit Nick! How could you, you were the only one who knew!" Stormfront accused and Starlight could see the confusion and sadness on his face. Still, he held his hand out.

"We both know that's not true Klara. You know I'd never do that to you." Nick said calmly, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. "Now hurry up, go find Ryan, get to Homelander, and then... go. I'll cover you." Nick stated, bracing himself as he turned back to the trio of Supes all prepared to attack.

"I should've known you'd show up Nick! Are you really going to screw all this up for a piece of ass?" Starlight accused, her hands and eyes softly glowing.

Nick, to her annoyance, just titled his head, "It's a really nice ass."

"Come on Nick, you really don't have to do this. I know you feel like you have to do this but let her go. She cheated on you, got you sidelined, she's a fucking Nazi! She did this, let her suffer." Maeve pushed and Annie could see the effect her words were having on him as he glanced back at Stormfront, who looked genuinely concerned for a moment.

Then Nick turned back to them, his face not at all like you'd expect, it was so gentle and kind. "Maybe... but none that changes who she is to me... the woman I love." He ran his hand through his hair like he always did, the honeyed locks darkening like storm clouds, small sparks already settling on his skin as the change shifted downwards.

His body grew and shrank in moments, his casual jacket and pants replaced by darkened leather as a carbon copy of Stormfront was staring back at them. "Let's have some fun." Her voice was undeniably Stormfront's, but the accent was thick and playful, completely Nick.

Starlight barely had a chance to notice the real Stormfront launch herself into the sky as Nick flew at her like a missile, heavy boot aimed squarely at her chest as Maeve blocked it, pushing her back, staggering the amazonian Supe.

"Thanks." Was all Starlight managed to say.

Kimiko, now fully recovered, looked torn between pursuing the airborne Stormfront, or the obvious fake in front of her before leaping into action, finger outstretched like a wild animal pouncing on her prey.

Nick, however, ducked the attack with aplomb, bending in a way Stormfront never had as he caught Kimiko in the side with a scorpion kick that sent her towards Starlight. "I'm not in the mood to play, Lassie."

Starlight caught her, even though the sudden impact unsettled her, but she quickly realized Nick had shattered most of the bones on Kimiko's side, two of her ribs digging into Annie's skin, and her spine felt like holding a bag of chips. Despite her best intentions, she had to immediately drop her friend to try and block Nick's attacks.

Thankfully, she needn't bothered as Maeve was there, tanking the punch on her bracer as she hammered a fist into Nick's kidney, winding him for second as he winced, Maeve not letting up as she caught him in the jaw with a cross that left a trickle of blood behind. Starlight started to brag until she saw Maeve wincing as she shook out her hand, the torn skin slowly oozing ichor.

Starlight tried to return the favor as Nick came at them both again, but his heavy boot connected with the side of her knee, and she crumpled, barely catching herself in the gravel.

"Now stay on your knees like a good girl." Nick teased, and rather than await her barb, he hammered a fist into the side of her head that left her brain rattled as she blinked several times to reorient herself.

Any further attacks were stopped as Kimiko leapt back into action, having healed in the momentary break, jumping on Nick from behind, digging her fingers into his face, long trenches of exposed viscera bleeding profusely.

"Oww, got off me you yellow bitch!" Nick swore, throwing his head back to try and dislodge Kimiko. All he succeeded n doing was making her dig her fingers in harder.

Queen Maeve came in like a semitruck, her haymaker nearly caving Nick's face in, his nose definitely broken, and the second and third punches that followed in rapid succession left one of his eyes darkened and a spray of blood as she hit him in one of the wounds left by Kimiko's nails.

Rather than try to avoid the attacks from the two women, Nick turned them against each other, leaning into the incoming punch, he twisted his head, Maeve's punch clipping his ear in a way that would leave him with ringing, but more than that, it connected with Kimiko, who was knocked loose, staggering as she spit up blood and reset her jaw.

The split-second distraction was enough for Nick to grab ahold of Maeve's circlet, pulling himself up into her as he drove a rising knee into her chin with enough force to crack her teeth. Not one to let an opportunity get away, he landed on his leg, pivoting into an elbow shot to her midriff, severely winding Maeve.

He finished by completing the spin, two fingers extended out towards Maggie as a thick plasma bolt crossed the distance faster than she could blink, all her metal armor naturally drawing right to her as she screamed, dropping to the ground like a limp puppet.

Annie could smell the thick, acrid stench of something burnt, but didn't want to focus hard enough to determine whether it was flesh or hair. Either way, she was too stunned to stop Nick as he death marched towards her, the wide-eyed grin haunting her.

She threw a punch, a desperate attempt to create space. Nick moved with cruel efficacy, grabbing her fist and pulling her towards him, one boot swinging out like a scythe as it felt like her ankle snapped, her body suddenly in freefall. As if that wasn't enough, the same boot came back, catching her in her ass, sending her stumbling forwards as she struggled to keep her feet under her.

"Maybe if you put in some more work, you'd have more cushion back there." Nick taunted, as he came at her again.

She threw up her arms in a cross to block the thunderous punch surely coming, but Nick surprised her as a hard palm strike connected, and she only had a second to be confused before an eruption of plasma sent her rocketing across the field.

Nick tried to follow up with a flying knee to her stomach, but caught himself for some reason, giving Starlight enough time to push through the pain, and land a double barrel blast of photokinetic energy to his face. Unfortunately, the same power that sent him flying away, only furthered her own flight plan as she slammed into the side of the Boys' car, denting it around her.

Nick, on the other hand, was in enormous pain, his fresh wounds cauterized in an instant and new one opened as he skidded across gravel. However, he was not one to let things go like that, so he slammed a fist into the ground, anchoring himself as he felt his arm nearly jerk out of its socket.

His skin warped and rippled as his sense of humor shined through once more as an identical copy of Kimiko replaced him, and almost instantly the face shifted into a feral joy. Not that he'd break character as he flipped the bird at everyone watching.

Actual Kimiko was waiting for him, already recovered and on her feet as the twins squared off. Kimiko ended the Japanese standoff by pouncing on her opponent, fingers digging into his side as his jaws chomped at the air, before centering on Kimiko.

The mute woman didn't relent, pinning him beneath her body as she dug into his throat with her fingers, literally going for the jugular, and the carotid, and the throat, and anything else she could find in there.

If Kimiko was expecting a viscous counterattack, she certainly didn't expect it to start with Nick yanking her hair like a high school girl. Nick wasn't done as a quick swipe left some familiar bloody tracks on Kimiko's cheek, not that they remained for long. She tried to jump back on top of him, but he got his foot in the way, kicking her off him like an angry cat, sending her tumbling, the regenerating Supe flying several feet, landing painfully on her back. By the time she landed, Nick had already gotten to his feet, sprinting towards Kimiko's body.

He nearly succeeded in stomping her skull into the ground, but she rolled out of the way, slicing through the back of his Achilles as he stumbled, his weight suddenly not supported. Kimiko didn't let up, tackling him to the ground a second time, returning the favor as she gripped his hair tightly, smashing his face into the stony ground. Sufficiently subdued, Kimiko started tearing into his exposed back like a wild animal.

A description that was quickly put to the test as Nick caught her with a sucker punch that shouldn't be possible as she tumbled off him, allowing him to stand up.

Kimiko wasn't the smartest person, nor was she familiar with the intimacies of the human body (like Nick), but even she could tell the way his arm was bent was normal. A solution was immediately reached as Nick snapped his arm, the bones healing as he straitened it.

His displeasure was aptly known as a messy gurgling came from his eviscerated throat, and he grabbed a small stone that had imbedded itself in his eye, crushing it in his hand as thick fluid leaked from the destroyed socket.

Even so, the effects of her power were already working overtime, his leg dragging behind hi as he stomped it into the ground, the tendon lashing together, his gurgling throat restitching in front of her, and the mangled eye was filling in like a balloon.

He leapt at her like a feral beast, only for a blast of light to slam into him, rag dolling him as he left a shallow furrow in the ground.

He got up again, his teeth bared, skin charred, skin rippling as he returned to his normal appearance.

"Damn it all to Hell, fine, I'll just do it myself!" Nick snarled, Starlight squaring up as she ran towards Kimiko.

"Watch ou-" Whatever the blonde had been about to say was lost as Nick crossed the space between them in a blink, hand wrapped tightly around her throat as he slammed her into the ground. She felt her vision darken, a blinding pain echoing in the back of her skull, but she didn't have time to think about that.

Ever one to impress, Nick's hand shifted in a second into a dark metallic substance, which he immediately broke off, leaving her stuck in place as he turned back to the annoyance that was Kimiko who was running towards her friend worriedly.

He locked eyes with her, and Kimiko could sense the boiling sadism as she tried to avoid him, but it was all in vain.

He launched himself at her, landing a brutal dropkick to her face, and as she was sent flying like a homerun baseball, she felt the blazing pain as her leg separate from her body as Nick didn't hesitate to rip it off. By the time she landed on the ground, feeling a profound need to scream, Nick had already reached her, leg pulled back as he caught her square in the face with a field goal of a kick that snapped her neck cleanly, while also pulverizing most of her jaw and teeth.

As he went to step away, by some miracle, or curse, Kimiko reached out and grabbed his foot.

He looked at like her like a dead animal on his porch as he slowly reached down, and pulled her up by her limp arm, her body hanging there.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you? You're like the annoying gum that keeps getting stuck to my shoe." Nick said.

He turned on his heel, slamming her into the ground several times before just giving up and throwing her full force. Luckily, he created a study pillar of stone to stop her, leaving impaled in several places.

"I wonder if I rip your brain out, if you'd grow a new one, or regenerate from it? I'd love to find out!" Nick said, striding towards her.

Frenchie, and M.M., popped out, guns trained on him, Hughie already snuck across the field to try and help Annie.

They would've lasted last time than an ant in Nick current mood, which was why a miracle finally arrived, two in fact. A sonic boom nearly knocked everybody off their feet as a red, white, and blue blur flew past, headed for the woods in the distance, directly towards the brilliant flash of light on the horizon as Nick turned and sprinted away.