Chapter III: Toxic Avenger

"Of all evil I deem you capable: Therefore I want good from you. Verily, I have often laughed at the weaklings who thought themselves good because they had no claws."

—Friedrich Nietzsche

(V)

July 26th, 2001. 8PM. New York, Staten Island.

"The group calling itself the Chemical Liberation Front has taken eight hostages at the Cruz Chemical plant on Staten Island," stated one of the reporters broadcasting live throughout the Vought News Channel.

"The hostages are said to be all Cruz Chemical managers and executives. The CLF also released this footage an hour ago."

The broadcast transitioned to another scene.

"We didn't want to do this, but Cruz left us no choice!" one of the members of the CLF stated, adorned in an all-black outfit and mask to hide his identity.

"Their toxic poisons drift into our schools, our parks, our homes, and cause this!" He raised a picture showing a mutated and degenerated fetus, possibly due to the toxic substances, with his left hand.

"UNTIL THEY CLOSE THIS FUCKING CANCER FACTORY, WE'RE NOT FUCKING GOING ANYWHERE!" one of the members of the CLF, a female, shouted in the clip, full of anger

*CLICK*

(V)

John doesn't really want to be here.

No, seriously. He prefers to be at the Vogelbaum Mansion, playing games or watching those Mongolian cartoons with his brother.

Hell, even his own room at the Vought Tower is a preferable place than where he is currently right now. Don't be mistaken; his room at the Tower is absolutely luxurious and full of ornate American symbolisms. Still, he had to modify his own room to fit his preference. Because it's too fucking sterile for his taste.

'Seriously, fuck this. The fucking retards down there really had to ruin my night with their insensible retardation!' Homelander thought while gritting his teeth in frustration.

'Goddamn fuck! I literally just bought the new Final Fantasy game! Fucking shit! Didn't these terrorist retards know how hard it is to get a Jap-developed game currently? Are they mentally challenged?' Homelander ranted in his head with unbridled frustration and anger. In fact, at the current moment, he wants to kill every single terrorist inside the chemical plant just to satisfy his spite.

"I'm here," Homelander stated with a bored tone in his earpiece as he floated above the occupied Chemical Plant.

"Hold your position. Black Noir en route. ETA fourteen minutes," his handler ordered through the earpiece.

'What the fuck? Fourteen fucking minutes!? Fuck you! I shouldn't even be here in the first place.' Now, Homelander was truly out of patience. He further gritted his teeth in anger.

"These hostages don't have fourteen fucking minutes. I'm going in hot," Homelander authoritatively spoke. His tone clearly left no room for argument.

"Wait! Homelan—" The handler was cut off as Homelander crushed his earpiece.

'Shut the fuck up! Shit! Now I have to go in! Maybe I should just Laser-nuke this fucking place.' Homelander hot-headedly thought as he flew towards the Chemical Plant alone.

(V)

A woman with dark skin and a black mask, clearly a member of the Chemical Liberation Front, checked her surroundings and peeked around the corner while handling her rifle.

After making sure there were no hostiles, she proceeded to move-

"Good evening, lady," a sarcastic yet cheerful voice echoed behind her.

'What—' was her only thought before she was punched across the corridor, slamming into the metal pipes.

"GAH!" She gasped in pain as her body hit the metal pipes, feeling the impact of the Supe's attack.

But before she could even rise up, a blonde man wearing a Star-Spangled banner as a cape and a skinsuit appeared before her.

"You will stay there and wait for the fucking authorities to arrive!" The man, clearly not caring about anything, forcefully bent the metal pipes around her to incapacitate her.

Super-strength.

But the problem was that it was too tight

"Ah-OW! I can't breathe!" The woman shouted out to the Supe, struggling to catch her breath.

"…Yeah, you're just overreacting." The blonde Supe clearly didn't give a damn about how he incapacitated her. In fact, he was about to walk away.

"You wrapped a metal pipe around my chest!" She exclaimed, urgently struggling to breathe

Homelander merely stared at her

"Not my problem." He spoke with a bored tone as he began to walk away.

The woman, upon seeing the Supe walk away without a care, immediately exploded in anger.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" She shouted at the Caped Blonde, even as the metal pipes constricted her movements.

After hearing that, the Blonde Supe stopped. No, he completely stopped walking.

Then, in the blink of an eye, he was in front of the CLF woman again.

Super speed.

This time, his face displayed absolute anger.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME!? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!? OUT OF ALL DAYS, YOU REALLY HAD TO ATTACK TONIGHT!? TELL ME, DID YOUR MOTHER DROPPED YOU ON YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU WERE A BABY!?" Homelander stated with pure and unbridled wrath.

His face turned red with anger, along with his eyes.

Laser Eyes.

"HII!" The woman constricted, shrieking in total fear. She hadn't expected him to be this angry! He was supposed to be a superhero, right? So why was he so enraged?

But the Blonde Supe immediately ceased. He stood up straight once more and sighed.

"…I'm tired... Maybe I should just kill you. Much easier that way..." The Blonde Supe stated with a tired voice.

'….Oh God! He's fucking serious! Oh shit! Shit! SHIT!' The woman thought in absolute terror.

"OH GOD! I'M SORRY! PLEASE! PLEASE! DON'T KILL ME-" She begged, tears streaming down her face. Her earlier snarky tone was completely lost.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Homelander shouted, clearly displeased once more.

But then, another masculine voice echoed.

"…Liz? Liz!? Are you there, Liz!?" the sound of hurried footsteps echoed.

"…T-Ted!?" The woman, Liz, asked with a stuttering and tearful tone.

Then the man, Ted, arrived. Sadly, as he turned the corner, his face collided with the Blonde Supe's body.

Stone-hard physique.

A cracking of bones could be heard.

"Augh! Fuck!" Ted exclaimed as he hit the floor, writhing in pain.

The Blonde Supe kept staring at the man rolling on

the floor, in obvious agony.

"Oh God! You broke my fucking nose!" The man stated, blood flowing from his face. It was spurting out of the wound.

"And you broke the law, sir." Homelander stated with a sarcastic tone.

Upon hearing that, the man glared at the Blonde Supe.

"Fuck you! You clown-suited piece of shit!" The man, with his fallen rifle beside him, shouted in frustration.

"…"

"…"

"…"

The atmosphere became completely cold.

In fact, it became so cold that Liz's heart rate quickened.

Homelander had been disrespected.

"T-Ted... say that you are sorry…" Liz said to her comrade with a pleading tone, as if she were saying it for the sake of his life.

DisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectdisrespectDISRESPECT!

"W-what!? Wh—" Ted didn't finish his sentence.

After all, a crimson beam flashed.

How can you finish your sentence if your head was blasted by an ultra-hot, ultra-focused laser?

The carcass of Ted fell, his head completely burnt and toasted.

"..."

"…"

Silence reigned in the air. Until a howl broke the silence.

"T-TED!" Liz shouted out in absolute despair, staring at his corpse with eyes overflowing with tears.

Homelander's eyes stopped flashing. But even he, at that moment, was shocked.

"I-ah… Fuck! He shouldn't have disrespected me! Now look at what happened! Oh God!" Homelander shouted, clearly angry at his and Ted's actions.

"Oh God! Oh God! Ted!" Liz was now screaming hysterically.

"You know that your actions have consequences!? Why the fuck did you disrespect me!? Now you're dead!? What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Homelander shouted angrily at the corpse, wearing an expression of anger and disapproval.

"Ted! Hic! Ted!" Clearly, Liz's attention was focused on Ted's lifeless body. She was sobbing uncontrollably, overwhelmed by suffering and trauma.

Homelander, staring at the woman and the fresh corpse, closed his eyes.

He inhaled deeply and exhaled.

"…You know what? Fuck this." Homelander walked away, heading towards the Control Room where the hostages were being held.

He walked away, leaving behind the two unfortunate souls.

(V)

Chemical Plant. Control Room.

"Ted? Ted!? Are you there!?" the leader of the CLF in the Control Room asked over his radio.

But all that could be heard was static.

"Fuck! That means someone's here! We have to be fucking ready!" the aggressive dark-skinned woman beside him said as she cocked her shotgun, preparing for action.

The leader stared at her, sweat dripping down his forehead. Clearly, he didn't expect things to escalate this quickly.

One of the hostages, a woman, gasped, "I don't want to die…I don't want to die!"

"…Fuck! Shit! Okay…here we go," the leader suggested nervously and hesitantly, pointing his gun at one of the hostages.

The hostages shrieked in fear.

"Please! We just work here! We don't make any decisions!" one of the hostages pleaded, begging for their lives.

The man pointing the gun hesitated. They weren't cold-blooded terrorists like those in the Middle East or the Balkan extremists. They were simply men and women who were fed up with the ruthless corporate greed ruining their lives.

Everyone has a story to tell.

But it was too late for regrets. They had chosen their paths, and they were prepared to ride them to the end.

Even so, he hesitated. His hands shook as he pointed his gun towards the hostages.

'Shit! I didn't want any of th—"

His thoughts were cut off by a whirring sound. He looked toward the source of the noise.

Then his eyes shifted to the entrance, which was now glowing orange.

A sign of extreme heat.

'Oh shit!' he thought, realizing the gravity of the situation, as the door to the control room exploded.

Laser blasts.

Smoke billowed into the room, causing everyone to cough and cover their mouths and noses.

Then the terrorists stared at the entrance.

And there, a floating man with a billowing cape appeared.

A god had made his entrance.

The CLF leader couldn't tear his eyes away from the floating deity. Even as the blonde figure landed slowly, he kept his gaze fixed on him.

The man raised his hands. "My name is—fuck, that sounds shitty... My name is Homelander, and I'm here to... uh... properly negotiate," he stated, forcing a smile on his face.

The CLF leader didn't believe it for a moment. Only a fool would think it was genuine.

He pointed his pistol, his hands shaking, at one of the hostages' heads.

"D-don't come any closer! We'll kill him!" he warned with a shaky voice.

Homelander immediately responded by raising both of his arms in a gesture of good faith.

"Hey, hey! Easy... If you do that, things will get messy," Homelander said calmly.

But the other hostage-takers nervously aimed their guns at the blonde supe.

And Homelander knew they were nervous.

Heartbeats. Pulse rates. Superhearing.

"Look, I know you're angry, but what you're doing... it won't solve anything," Homelander said, trying to placate them.

"So I suggest you stand down, and we can settle this calmly, like civilized me—" But the blonde supe was cut off.

"FUCK YOU, YOU FASCIST FUCK!" the aggressive woman shouted, firing her shotgun at the caped hero.

Then all the guns in the room blazed toward Homelander. The sounds of gunfire echoed, terrifying even the hostages with their machine-like noises.

Every shot fired found its target.

The problem was, the target didn't care. The bullets had no effect on the superhuman.

Indestructible body.

Useless. That's the only word that can describe the effect of guns on the Blonde Supe.

Then, everyone stopped firing after realizing that their bullets did nothing to him.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Silence filled the air. Homelander looked down at his feet, his eyes not visible.

Then, he inhaled... and exhaled.

The CLF forces inside the control room were scared seeing that their bullets did nothing to him. But even so, they reloaded, having no choice but to keep going.

But before they could even finish reloading, Homelander spoke.

"Two chances," he said with an absolute cold tone.

"What!?" The CLF leader asked, clearly nervous. His pistol still pointing at the scared hostages.

"I will give you only two chances to surrender. After that... may Christ have mercy on you," he stated with a tone that is so cold it would put the winter of the year to shame.

But they knew that he was not joking. After all, his eyes were absolutely frigid.

Then, all the forces in the room gasped in terror. But still, some didn't understand the current respite given by the Blonde Supe.

"YOU FASCIST PIG!" The dark-skinned woman ran her mouth again and shot the Blonde Supe.

But all the bullet did was bounce off his body.

"..."

The atmosphere was tense once more.

"That is one chance lost," Homelander stated with a frigid voice, almost emotionless.

The CLF leader stared at the woman beside him.

"What the fuck are you doing!?" He roared at the woman.

"Do you really think that he gives a damn!? He's a corporate dog for fuck's sake!" The woman shouted in a hysterical voice.

"Looks like you don't know your current predicament, do you?" Homelander asked with a rather cheery tone.

"What?" The CLF leader asked.

"Don't listen to the Fascist dog!" The woman roared rather aggressively.

"This one last chance is all you have left. If you still don't surrender after that... I will kill you. I will kill you so hard your parents won't even recognize your corpse. I will mangle your body to the point that even Christ himself will look with an excruciating expression at your bodies. I will kill you. This is not a suggestion. This is a promise. I will fucking kill you. No exceptions. Every single one of you will be fucked," Homelander echoed out his ultimatum. He said it with a tone so calm and so cold that you'd think it's just your daily business chore.

A Death God instituting judgment.

The atmosphere became completely silent.

The CLF hostage-takers shrieked and backed out of fear. They understood. The man in front of them was serious.

He would indeed fucking kill them.

Even the hostages were scared. The women among the hostages even cried.

"Sh-shit! Do you think you can fucking scare us!?" The leader of the CLF threatened with a shaky and undecided tone.

So, in order to compensate, he immediately headlocked one of the hostages and pointed the barrel of the gun at the temple of his head.

"Don't you fucking move! I will blow his brains out, you motherfucker!" The hostage-taker, afraid and sweating fiercely, threatened.

Homelander did not speak. He merely stared without changing expressions. In fact, not even a curling of lips could be seen.

Then, he looked into the Blonde Supe's eyes.

Total extermination.

But all he saw in those blue pupils... was death.

'F-FUCK! H-HE IS SERIOUS!' He thought with frantic fear.

His eyes dilated, and his heart beat quickened.

Now, at that, Homelander suddenly smiled. A malicious smile.

Supersenses and hearing pushed to its absolute. Smell and sound of fear.

'C-CHRIST SAVE ME! MOTHER SAVE ME! GOD SAVE ME!' Absolute horror and pure terror flowed within the leader of the CLF.

He was done. Like prey cornered by an apex predator. He couldn't take it anymore.

"So... what's your answer?" Homelander asked with a moderate tone.

The leader, dilating his eyes in fear, spoke.

"I-I surrender—" But he was cut off.

"WHO'S GOING TO BELIEVE YOUR SHIT, YOU FASCIST COWARD!?" The aggressive woman angrily shouted before pointing her gun at the Caped Supe.

"OH GOD! FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK!" The leader thought with total fear racing in his mind. Everything would be fucked.

"NO STO—" But he spoke too late.

The woman fired her reloaded gun upon the Caped Supe.

Then, the bullet bounced off his superhuman physique, squeezed out of its life, and shriveled.

And everything became silent.

After the shriveled bullet stopped bouncing on the ground, Homelander smiled.

A smile that promised destruction.

"My turn," he said with an excited voice.

Before the CLF members could even react, the Blonde Supe blurred out of sight.

There were approximately six armed people in the room.

He started with the one on the furthest right.

The man wielding a rifle was surprised. After all, one moment the Blonde Supe was at the entrance, and the next moment he was in front of him.

"What th—" Before he could react, it was over.

Splat.

His head simply exploded by the virtue of Homelander's right fist.

Then the next one.

"Hold on—"

Splat.

Next one.

"No! Plea—"

The Blonde Supe slapped him.

And his head simply disintegrated into a mist of blood.

Next one.

"God he—"

Splat.

In the span of a single second, four people died a miserable death.

Homelander then stopped. His body covered in gore and blood, giving him a devilish look.

A Cruel Grim Reaper.

The remaining individuals, the leader, and the woman, stood with their eyes dilated and mouths open.

"What the fuck happened!?" the woman spoke out.

"Oh God!" One of the tied-up hostages echoed.

"Monster!" The woman in the audience immediately spoke out of impulse.

The eyes of the CLF commander were now dilating. He was fucked. He knew it. He would die. He would die.

He would diehewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldieewilldie!

His mind broke.

"DON'T FUCKING MOVE!" The CLF commander, with a maniacal and crazed look in his eyes, shouted.

Look of absolute despair.

Homelander looked back at the man holding a gun to the hostage's head.

"NGH!" The hostage simply shrieked out of fear.

"I WILL BLOW HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF!" The CLF commander shouted maniacally.

Homelander, at those words, merely smiled cheerfully.

"You will die. Nothing will change that. You will simply... die," Homelander stated with a cheery tone as if it came out of a kindergartener's mouth during playtime.

Then, Homelander stared into the crazed eyes of the CLF commander.

Despair. Destruction. Death…..Devil.

"PFT—AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The mind of the commander completely broke.

His finger moved. He would pull the trigger.

Suddenly, Homelander's eyes flashed.

A crimson light appeared.

And the head of the commander was completely blown off, bathing the hostage in gore and blood.

"NGH!" The hostage, of course, after being bathed in gore and flesh, screamed out in terror.

Trauma.

(V)

"And there's that! Mission accomp—wait… you're still alive?" Homelander spoke with an innocent yet curious tone, as if he had not massacred the CLF contingents inside the control room.

The aggressive woman's legs gave out, and her shotgun fell beside her.

Her eyes were utterly dilated, tears falling down her face.

Homelander x-rayed her.

'Yup. She's finished. She completely lost it.' Homelander thought as he puffed his cheeks in boredom.

"M-my comrades…" she whispered out in total despair.

Then, Homelander slowly walked towards her, ignoring the shell-shocked hostages beside him and the corpses of the CLF members.

The dark-skinned woman looked at the Blonde Supe.

He has a huge grin on his face.

At first, her expression did not change, but suddenly she gritted her teeth and shouted out with all her voice.

"YOU FUCKING MONSTER! AREN'T YOU A SUPERHERO!?" she shrieked.

Homelander kneeled before her.

He delicately touched her neck with his right hand and stroked the side of her face, as if comforting a suffering woman.

"Miss... I guess... I'm not a hero," Homelander stated as he delicately stroked the side of the woman's face.

The expression on his face suddenly lost its previous grin and was replaced with a sorrowful look.

The woman, with puffy eyes and a despairing look, simply stared at him as her tears fell onto the ground.

"I... I am..." Homelander stated with a shaky voice.

"Huh?" The suffering woman said in surprise, clearly not expecting this attitude from the hero.

Then, Homelander suddenly smirked, betraying his previous guilt-ridden expression.

"I'm the Homelander." he said with a chilling cheery tone.

Crack.

And the woman's neck was snapped. Just like that, her life was over. Her corpse now lay on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Homelander stood up, cleaning his hands.

"And... That's that!" he cheerfully stated.

At this point, even the hostages were scared of the Blonde Supe.

Homelander suddenly smiled and shouted, "Hey, Black Noir! You're late!"

A man wearing the darkest black appeared at the entrance.

"I already did the job! Where were you, man?" Homelander stated as he looked back at the entrance and cheerfully greeted his fellow superhero with his arms wide open.

Black Noir checked the surroundings, looking at the mangled corpses of the CLF members, then back to Homelander once more.

"Hey, not my fault! I warned them thrice!" Homelander reasoned with his arms up.

Black Noir simply nodded.

Then, he checked the hostages.

After that, he pulled out his pen and paper and began to write.

"Hmm? What are you doing?" Now Homelander was curious. After all, he had never communicated with Black Noir before.

Black Noir flashed the paper to Homelander with the words written: "Are these all the hostages? No casualties?"

Homelander read it and responded, "Yuppers! No casualties among the hostages!"

Black Noir nodded and wrote again.

He flashed his paper with words written: "Good job."

At that, Homelander flashed an awkward smile.

"Huh... never expected that from you. I like you, Noir!" Homelander stated with a genuine appreciative tone.

Black Noir nodded once more and proceeded to help the hostages.

He untied them and gestured for them to follow him.

As Black Noir helped the hostages, Homelander stared once more at the corpse of the Commander. He used his eyes once more to scan the body.

Homelander kneeled beside the commander's corpse and pulled out a picture.

It was the picture of the degenerated and mutated fetus from the toxins of the chemical plant.

Homelander simply stared at it with a cold stare.

Then, he stood up and put the picture in his pocket.

As Black Noir instructed the hostages to follow him towards safety, Homelander suddenly shouted.

"Noir!" he called out.

Black Noir tilted his head, asking what the matter was.

"Go first. I'll follow you later. Secure the hostages outside the Chemical Plant. Then, after making sure they are safe, contact me."

Black Noir stayed silent. Then he pulled out his pen and paper again and wrote: "Why?"

Homelander walked towards Noir and whispered some words to him.

"..."

"..."

After Homelander whispered the words, Black Noir stopped for few moments. Then he wrote on his paper and flashed it to him: "Understood."

Homelander smiled.

"Thank you, Noir. Now, do you have a spare earpiece?"

(V)

'Fucking great! Just—fuck!' were the words that ran through Homelander's head as he walked through the heart of the chemical plant, waiting for the signal.

At this point, Homelander was extremely irritated and annoyed. He had just killed a bunch of mud monkeys, and his game night was fucking ruined.

'Fucking monkeys had to choose to attack at night! At fucking night! During my goddamn rest and leisure time! Couldn't they have attacked during the day? What the fuck were they even thinking? Are they terminally retarded?' Frustration built up in his mind.

He continued walking around the chemical plant, brooding.

'And they kept calling me a psycho! Even the ones I rescued looked at me as if I was a monster! I AM A FUCKING GOD! Damn it!' He angrily thought as he stomped on the concrete.

Unfortunately, he didn't control his exertion of force, and the ground shook, creating a gigantic crater in the concrete with spider cracks around it.

Overwhelming force.

Homelander grunted in annoyance.

'Shit! I need to calm myself...' He sighed and took a deep breath.

His expression returned to normal—cold yet cheery.

Then, he heard beeping sounds in his earpiece.

'It's time then, I guess.' He thought before addressing the earpiece.

"Black Noir, are all the hostages and personnel secured?" He asked professionally.

"...," Nothing was heard except calculated tapping.

"...Understood. Is there no one present in the plant anymore?" He asked once again.

"...," Beats of sounds were the only reply

Then, Homelander smiled. The smile was wide and too suspicious.

"...Good job," Homelander replied with a cheery tone before cutting off the connection.

He crushed his earpiece once more.

Then, he looked around the plant with a smirk that gradually grew to a huge proportion on his face.

"Well, for the final act!" He said with a jolly tone as he cracked his neck.

He looked around.

Combustible materials.

"Mr. Cruz, it seems like you will be out of business soon." He floated above the chemical plant, not too high, of course, to avoid being seen on those broadcasting cameras.

"For the dead fetus and the cancer-ridden babies. I'm Pro-Life after all..." He said with an absolutely chilling tone.

And his eyes glowed with crimson light.

"Besides... I need a new theme park." He said one last time.

Then, the God Among Men wreaked havoc.

And plumes of explosions colored the night.

(V)

Outside the Chemical Plant

"Another victory for the Heroes of America! It is confirmed that all the personnels that were taken hostage by the Chemical Liberation Front has been rescued!" The reporter in suit announced with an enthusiastic tone to the broadcasting media.

"In fact, Black Noir lead the hostages outside the plant. Meanwhile, Homelander neutralized the perpetra—JESUS CHRIST!" Were the last words of the reporter before gigantic orange plumes of explosion occurred just a kilometer away from the reporters and the watching audience.

The live broadcast gone static for a moment, before it returned.

The reporters and the surrounding populace coughed as the dust settled.

"Ugh! Ehem…..What the hell is that?"

(V)

'That was fun.' That's what Homelander thought as he lasered every single combustible material in the plant and took the explosion capable of destroying a whole block to his face without even flinching.

Invincible.

'HAHA! This kind of power... truly, I'm a God...' A grin broke out on his face.

Having finished exploding everything, he made his way towards Black Noir.

He flew towards the Ninja-themed superhero and nodded at him.

"..." Black Noir simply said nothing and nodded in approval.

"You know, I like you more and more." Homelander stated with an approving tone and a smile.

"..." Black Noir simply tilted his head.

"Never mind... Thank you for the assist, Noir." Homelander patted the shoulder of his mentor and proceeded to the reporters for their unavoidable interview.

(V)

"They had a bomb. The retards actually planted a bomb!" the Caped Hero stated with an angry look on his face.

"In fact, if I hadn't been there, that explosion would have fucked up not just the chemical plant, but the surrounding blocks!" Homelander further exclaimed with a wild-eyed look.

"Thankfully, my mentor and idol, Black Noir, sensed that something was wrong and proposed getting the hostages out first!" Homelander concluded his statement.

The reporter looked at the caped hero with an understanding look.

"The terrorists... unfortunately, I failed to get them out. Too late for that."

Homelander then looked at the site of the now ruined chemical plant.

"...Is it really a victory?" He asked with a hollow voice.

"No—what? You risked your lives for us! We're grateful to you!" the reporter stated with a genuinely thankful and worshiping tone.

"...Really?" Homelander asked with a curious tone.

"Yeah! At least only the terrorist scum got blown!"

"Fuck them anyway!"

"We love you, Homelander!"

"You're a real hero, my man!"

The audience cheered loudly and wildly.

Then, Homelander smiled and laughed at the audience.

"A real hero?" He asked once more.

"You're the real hero!" the people roared with an encouraging tone.

And the TV flickered as it shut down.

Silence permeated the ornate office.

"...You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Madelyn Stillwell asked with a cold tone.

"...It's an explosion," Homelander stated as he leaned back on a couch.

Madelyn gritted her teeth once more.

"Really? An explosion, huh?" the blonde Director asked with a sardonic tone.

"Yup! Those terrorists were fucking nasty..." He replied with a tired smile.

"...Are you fucking—" Madelyn was cut off by the blonde Supe.

"Besides, a hero like me needs a new theme park, right?" Homelander stood up.

Stillwell glared at him.

"Vought already has a place in mind to—"

"I want my theme park on that island, Madelyn. And you will place it on that island," he spoke with finality before walking towards the door of the office.

'This fucking manchild!' Stillwell thought with wrath and frustration.

"Well... If that's all, then ciao—"

"Why did you do it, John?" Madelyn asked with a spiteful tone.

"I told you—"

"No, what's the real reason? You owe me at least that. I'm assigned to cleaning up your shit, after all." Madelyn stated with a taciturn tone.

Homelander reached the door before he stopped walking.

"...Because I felt like it."

Then, he opened the door and exited.