Just as Annie shyly confessed her past admiration for The Deep—like a nervous schoolgirl—she immediately took a massive emotional hit.
The Deep, ever the sleazeball and lightning fast with his hands, had already peeled off the bottom half of his uniform. Annie stole a glance and her face instantly changed.
Outside the light screen, the players and viewers watching were stunned. Damn, nobody saw that coming!
Especially the fans from the Marvel and DC universes—those familiar with the Avengers and Justice League—were especially shaken. Sure, A-Train had some scandals, but was every single hero in that world corrupt?
Well, guess they just got educated!
Outside the video feed, Annie's face flushed bright red as she cursed, "Disgusting!"
Billy Butcher smirked, "What, not a fan of the welcome party? Trust me, this is just the tip of the iceberg. You've got a lot more to see."
Hughie growled, "They're all a bunch of bastards!"
Thor and Stephen both condemned The Deep's behavior. Deadpool, naturally, cackled and joked that Vought's benefits looked tempting and maybe he should try applying.
Back in the video, The Deep's harassment of Annie continued.
Annie, new to the team and the industry, had never seen anything like this. Furious, she turned to leave.
But The Deep acted as if nothing had happened. "What's the matter? Didn't you just say you admired me? It's not like this is for real—I just wanted to treat you to something nice…"
As Annie was about to walk out, he upped the pressure with hands on his hips: "Hey, don't you want to join The Seven?"
A clear threat.
Annie froze, turned around, and glared at him. "What did you say?"
Her eyes began to glow, her powers activating. The surrounding light sources started to flicker and spark.
The Deep quickly backpedaled. "Whoa, relax! I'm just talking. I know you've got strong powers, not joking… But thing is, I'm second-in-command here. If I say no, you're out."
He walked right up to her, eyes locked onto hers. "Especially after what you just did—attacking me. That's more than enough reason to boot you from the team. You'll go crawling back home to Mommy in disgrace. Think of your fans. Think of the kids. They'd be heartbroken, right?
You don't want that, do you?
Come on, it's just three minutes…"
Viewers outside the video groaned again. Three minutes? That's setting a new low for superheroes everywhere.
In the end, under the mix of threats and manipulation, Annie's eyes welled up. Full of reluctance, she gave in.
Joining The Seven had been her dream—a dream she shared with her mother. She couldn't bear to be kicked out just as she got in.
The scene cut, and Annie was seen throwing up in a bathroom stall, clutching the toilet. Clearly, those three minutes were the darkest of her life.
Outside the video, Annie kept her head down, a dark cloud hanging over her. Her heart was full of despair over her crushed dreams, a trace of relief, and maybe even a tiny, twisted sense of vindication.
The Quiz game selecting her had actually saved her—pulled her out of that pit just in time. Had things gone on normally, she might already be on her knees in front of The Deep.
Right now, Annie felt deeply disillusioned by The Seven. First it was A-Train, now The Deep. These so-called superheroes—righteous, noble, selfless in the public eye—were, behind closed doors, absolutely filthy.
She felt like her years of idolization and hard work were one big joke.
Was all her relentless training just to join a team of corrupt scumbags?
Deadpool was still rambling about his own workplace harassment stories, but everyone else stayed quiet.
Billy was the first to speak. "Trust me, this is nothing. Compared to the real dirt they've done in private, this is playground stuff."
"The Seven are just a nest of assholes," Hughie spat.
The Eternal Space gave him a rare sense of security, a chance to vent the hatred he held for these so-called superhumans.
Stephen shook his head. "This team's really a mess. But honestly, it's not that different from real-world celebrities—glamorous on the surface, but who knows what kind of trash they are behind the scenes?"
Vought's business model and the way the heroes acted was just like entertainment companies and celebrities in real life. But here's the difference: no matter how influential a star is, against real superpowers, they're nothing.
Just imagine if a group like this really went rogue—how terrifying that would be.
Back in the video, Annie emerged from the bathroom stall and began furiously scrubbing her face. Her makeup was completely ruined. Right then, Queen Maeve happened to be nearby.
She took one look at Annie and immediately understood. Still, she only handed her a tissue. "Clean up. You don't want to get caught like this by the press."
Clearly, what The Deep did wasn't a secret inside The Seven. Maybe Maeve had gone through something similar when she joined.
But for someone like Annie, still new and idealistic, the whole thing was devastating.
"Translucent, you sick pervert!"
Maeve muttered the insult before walking off.
Annie turned—and saw Translucent standing there, butt naked, hiding in the women's restroom.
She quickly looked away, face full of disgust and disillusionment. The poor girl had just been through too much in one night. The video ended there.
Back in the Eternal Space—
Annie took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "I should've fought back…"
Watching her own future from a third-person perspective made her ashamed and angry, but also more clear-headed than the version of her in the video.
She realized that if she didn't stand her ground now, she'd keep compromising. Once, then twice, then again and again… until she no longer recognized herself.
Hughie glanced at her. "Honestly, you've already done more than most would. You're the victim here."
Deadpool chuckled, "Hey, it was just three minutes. Suck it up and it's over. Hahahaha!"
Stephen shrugged. "It was only The Deep, and he threatened to get you kicked out. Maybe he could, maybe he couldn't. You could've flipped it, threatened to go public. But that takes experience. And clearly, you didn't have much of that yet."
___
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