A/N: Yay, Boys Season 4 is out! Sorry again for the long wait x_x

Hughie was having a bad day, which was saying a lot, since currently most of his days were pretty shit.

First things first, his friend (and maybe girlfriend) who happened to be one of The Seven - was fighting with his other friend, the weirdest yet most terrifying girl he'd ever met.

This really wasn't what he wanted. He'd been hoping to keep Annie out of this, away from Ihwa from especially. Though, being one of the country's most popular heroes, he should've guessed it was inevitable.

And now, his worst wish had come true - the two of them were fighting to the death.

What could he do? He wasn't a superhero. He didn't have anything except a bit of technical know-how, and that wasn't a big help right now.

But he couldn't let them kill each other. Sure, he'd only met Annie a few days ago by pure chance. And sure, he barely knew a thing about Ihwa, other than the fact that she scared the shit out of him. He didn't want either of them to die, though. He couldn't help but feel responsible.

"Bloody hell."

Hughie nearly jumped out of his skin. Butcher was standing right behind him, gazing down at the fighting women. The flashing lights and screams didn't seem to faze him one bit, let alone the fucking fire. Of course, if anyone was gonna stand there like nobody's business…

"Butcher!" Hughie jumped up. "We have to stop them!"

"Who do you think is gonna win, son?" Butcher asked.

"W-what?!" Hughie stammered.

"Well?" Butcher raised his brows.

"You just wanna sit here and watch this?!" Hughie demanded.

"Not much us normies can do," Butcher chuckled, darkly.

Hughie felt something he hadn't felt for a while - irritation, no, rage. It was like he was talking to his father, who would tell him to stay home and hide under his bed. He wasn't that kid anymore.

"No way," Hughie declared. "I'm stopping them."

And Butcher just smiled.

Getting down off a burning building was the easy part. Which was ironic, because it certainly didn't feel like it.

Hughie was puffing and his lungs were full of smoke and cuts and bruises lined his arms and legs and he was exhausted and-

He had to stop Ihwa and Annie. He had to focus.

He tried to breathe, he remembered Robin telling him about meditation or something and he wished he'd taken it a bit more seriously because he needed to calm down-

Wait, he wasn't alone.

Standing not too far from where Hughie was falling to pieces was another guy. He didn't look all that intimidating from a glance, until the guy actually directly turned and faced Hughie, where he saw the nasty smile-like scar stretched across his face. The both of them were standing a good few feet apart, the buildings burning behind them, the two women fighting in front of them, the road cracked up like dried earth.

Hughie did not like the way the creepy guy was looking at him… or the other two, with those nasty purple eyes. It was like he was a predator watching his prey, or some kind of voyeurist. He actually reminded Hughie of Butcher, but worse, somehow. Butcher wasn't the best guy around, but he still had morals. Hopefully.

This guy, though… he was different. It was a hunch, for sure. A very strong hunch. A hunch that was telling Hughie to get the hell out.

But he wouldn't leave without stopping his friends from destroying half the city.

So he turned back to his friends fighting, and did the only thing he could do:

"Guys!" he cried, his voice breaking. "Stop it! Please!"

But it was no use. The girls continued, destroying everything around them, most importantly, Hughie's confidence.

"Annie!" he cried out. "Ihwa!"

"Hughie-"

FLASH

Hughie cursed, covering his eyes. He cried out, his skin burning. He couldn't see anything. It had all gone white.

"Be careful, now."

A cold hand on his shoulder. Hughie tensed up, turning around. Standing behind him was none other than the creepy guy with the scar. Hughie yelped, holding up his hands.

The creepy scar guy was made creepier by his smile, his purple eyes glinting down at Hughie. A black trenchcoat flowed around him. He gave similar waves of scary to Ihwa.

"Who are you?!" Hughie demanded, his voice squeaking.

And the man's smile grew even more. "I am known as the Smiling Man. I am the one who is going to unite all villains, destroy Vought, then the Hero Clan."

"Oh," said Hughie, intelligently.

The Smiling Man, ironically, didn't smile very much these days. He had been biding his time, and he knew patience was a great virtue, but he really was sick of waiting.

He knew it would all pay out in the end, but that didn't mean he had to like it, of course. So he waited a little longer.

Then, the new element finally fell into his hands. His access right into Vought. His piece of history.

With the new hero on his side, he would have his share of Vought while gathering his army of villains. Together, he would conquer them both. He had won.

For now, though, what was the deal with that white guy crying at the two fighting women?

He was a normie, obviously. Did he actually know both Starlight and that upcoming villain, Hero Killer? Engen didn't want to believe it… but then again, he'd seen stranger things. Not to mention, he could see Billy Butcher watching him too…

"Hughie, stay back!" That was Starlight! So she did know him. Suddenly, Engen felt a grin growing on his face. A new plan was blossoming in his mind.

So, before the dumb guy could get blasted by a ray of light, Engen pulled him out of the way. He grabbed the guy's shoulder, bringing them face to face.

Of course, Hughie was scared out of his mind - most people were. It was hard to look friendly with a scar like that.

"I am known as the Smiling Man," Engen told him. "I am the one who is going to unite all villains, destroy Vought, then the Hero Clan."

"Oh," said Hughie, intelligently.

He looked half-dazed, like he wasn't totally sure what was going on. Engen couldn't blame him, poor frazzled kid.

"Hughie, was it?" Engen asked, keeping his tone mellow. "I see you're familiar with those two."

To his surprise, Hughie's expression soured.

"Can we just skip the fake nice stuff?" he sighed. "What do you want from me?"

"Well, you're awfully blunt," Engen chuckled. "How about this? I can stop them from fighting. I can make sure both of them survive."

"Really?" Hughie asked, more skeptical than anything. "Let me guess. You're gonna lock them up and harvest their organs."

"You're funny," Engen replied. "No. I mean, I will let them survive, let them continue to be your friends, even."

"... and what do you want in return?" Hughie asked, leaning in.

"Just a simple favor," Engen replied. "I see you're also friends with Billy Butcher."

Hughie swallowed. "I wouldn't say friends, but…"

"Point is," Engen said, "I want you to kill him."

She was an icon. A legend. The greatest of the greatest, only rivaled by her brother.

The two of them could easily take over humanity… but refused. John demanded attention and affection, whereas Victoria… Well, she didn't care.

She had much bigger things to worry about. One of them being the Seven, but another was The Elders - a group of the strongest heroes in the entire world.

Victoria and John were Elders themselves, of course - although they had only existed for a dozen of years, their forms were created eons ago.

"Vought may watch over you, but we created your concept," Bishop had once said. He looked as young as Victoria herself, but his dark eyes gave away the years he'd spent on planet Earth.

Victoria narrowed her eyes. "Concept?"

"Of course," Bishop smiled. "You and Homelander are humanity's ideal heroes. The strongest powers, the greatest morals. You are everything civilization has been building up to for thousands of years. We formed you, piece by piece, until you finally had a physical form. As Vought was the stronghold for heroes, we gave them your forms to raise."

In the cold dark laboratory, of course. Victoria could never forget. But she was not alone. She never would be.

She watched out of the corner of her eye, Madelyn Stillwell putting her arm around Homelander. She smiled, twirling her finger in his hair and taking him into her office where he could suckle her all he liked.

There was only a limited time Miss Stillwell would have on Earth. She'd have her fun, call in the military, play with John's feelings, but Victoria knew it wouldn't last. The Elders would soon strike again.