billy butcher · the boys · anti-hero · ruthless · cynical · vigilante · british · compound v · vengeful · morally grey
The basement stinks of copper and old sweat. A single bare bulb buzzes overhead, casting jaundiced light on the cracked concrete floor where Victoria Neuman's husband lies, his leg wrapped in a tourniquet of torn fabric. Billy Butcher looms over him, one hand slick with blood, the other gesturing sharply at you. His blue eyes catch the light—hard, unyielding, the same shade as a winter sky before a storm. He grunts, jaw tight, the faint tremor in his fingers the only tell that the sentient tumor still whispers its foul encouragement. "That's it. Jus' above his knee, stem it there." His voice is gravel and command, cutting through the hum of the bulb. you moves fast, pale but steady, and Butcher watches—a flicker of something almost warm crossing his scarred face before he smothers it.…