Chapter 3: New Kid on the Block
–Stan Edgar–
"And Homelander's not going to come after me. Why would he come after his own son?"
Stan Edgar watched the YouTube video again, for what had to be the tenth time. This was bad. No, worse than bad—this was a catastrophe. Someone had created a mess so massive, so unfathomable, that he was struggling to comprehend the implications. Vought could barely control one Homelander, and now there were two? How was this even possible?
The circumstances of young Ryan's birth had already been considered a near miracle—Homelander was supposed to be sterile. Designed that way, intentionally. Vought had made sure of it. But apparently, that was never the case. Homelander wasn't just a father, his son had now made his debut all over the internet.
Stan's eyes narrowed at the rapidly rising view count: two and a half million in just a few hours. By tomorrow, it would be everywhere. Every news outlet, every talk show—questions flying at Vought faster than they could spin a cover story. Who was Homelander's son? Where had he been all this time? Was he as powerful as his father? Would he be the same unhinged wildcard?
Vought was expected to have all the answers. The problem? They had none.
Stan let out a low sigh, massaging his temples as a headache began to throb. This was going to be a PR nightmare on a scale he hadn't dealt with in years. He leaned forward and picked up the phone on his desk, his tone sharp and decisive. "Get Madelyn into my office. Now."
This was going to require more than damage control. They needed a bulletproof cover story, fast. And above all, they needed to get to Homelander's son before Homelander did.
–Homelander–
"And Homelander's not going to come after us. Why would he come after his own son?"
The phone in Homelander's hand crumbled into shards as he clenched it, his rage seething just beneath the surface. For once, the unshakable, all-powerful Supe was left speechless. He had a son. It echoed in his mind over and over—HE HAD A SON! He couldn't deny it. The resemblance in that video was unmistakable, the sharp cheekbones, the piercing eyes, even the posture. The hair was different—black instead of his own sandy blond—but it was him. His blood.
Homelander stared at the screen, feeling an unfamiliar twist in his chest. His son looked fully grown, strong. But that only deepened the ache inside him—how could this have happened without him knowing? How could he have missed so much of his boy's life? The thought gnawed at him, sparking fury and frustration in equal measure.
"That's okay…" he muttered, staring into the empty space ahead of him. "There's still plenty of time."
A twisted smile crept across his face. His son—his legacy—was out there.
–Butcher–
"God damn it! There's two of these damn fuckers now!?" Billy Butcher spat, his eyes narrowing at the latest news feed that flashed on the screen. The image of Homelander's son, with his unmistakable resemblance to the infamous hero, only fueled Butcher's rage. Butcher slammed his fist on the table. His vendetta against Homelander had just become more complicated, but it was far from over. If anything, this development only fueled his determination.
"I guess I'll be needing to get the boys back together sooner than I anticipated," he muttered, his voice laced with icy resolve. "Just you wait, Homelander. You and your disgusting spawn will get what's coming to you…"
–Serafall–
"Yaaaaaaaay! Marcus! Way to stick it to that ugly yellow man! That's what he gets for threatening my precious boy!" Serafall cheered at the TV, which was broadcasting the news that America's strongest hero had a son. The story was everywhere—pro-American countries were buzzing with excitement, while anti-American ones were visibly shaken by the prospect of a second Homelander.
"Nee-san, you're blocking the screen, I can't see," Sona complained, trying to peer around her sister.
"Haha…sorry," Serafall said, shifting to the side. She was at Sona's house in Kuoh, where the underworld lacked human TV. She was certain it wouldn't take long for people to recognize just how amazing her boy was. "So-tan, when do you think I should visit him? I miss him so much already."
Sona sighed. "He's only been gone for a day so far. Why don't you give him a few days to meet his father before you show up and embarrass him?"
Serafall's face fell, her excitement replaced by a pout. A few days felt like an eternity to her. "A few days? That's like FOREVER!" She turned to Sona with a mischievous grin. "If Marcus isn't here, then you'll have to fill in for him."
Sona's eyes widened in alarm as Serafall advanced. "No, wait! I'm not—"
"Secret Technique: Levia-tan Hug Tackle!" Before Sona could escape, Serafall had already hit her with her ultimate big sister attack and wrapped her in a tight embrace.
It was super effective!
–Madelyn Stillwell–
Madelyn Stillwell shuddered as she recalled the harsh reprimand she'd just received from her boss. The gravity of the situation was starting to sink in. How was she supposed to know about this new son of Homelander's, especially one who was older than Ryan? This revelation was bordering on catastrophic. Ryan was supposed to be Vought's safeguard against a rogue Homelander—now, with another powerful son in the mix, Ryan's chances were slim. The prospect of simultaneous rebellion from both sons was a nightmare. The world could face utter chaos, and she'd be the one blamed for it!
Her thoughts were interrupted as Homelander stormed into her office, his excitement barely contained. "Can you believe this, Madelyn!?" he exclaimed, grinning broadly. "I have a SON!" His voice brimmed with a mix of pride and disbelief.
Madelyn cursed internally. The young man from the video had already become the new apple of Homelander's eye, displacing her long-held position of importance. For years, she had been the one to keep Homelander in check—his loyalty to her was her only leverage in the company, despite her numerous mistakes.
Trying to regain her composure, Madelyn stood and approached the couch, offering Homelander the usual smile that had always kept him compliant. She began to unbutton her shirt with practiced ease. "Come here, baby. Come sit with me," she said softly, hoping to soothe his excitement.
Homelander, still buzzing with thoughts of his newfound son, reluctantly complied and sank onto the couch beside her. He leaned his head on her chest as she began to massage his scalp. "This is nice, just the two of us," she whispered, attempting to calm him.
But Homelander was too restless. He kept shifting in place, his mind was clearly elsewhere. "Sorry, Madelyn," he said, abruptly sitting up. "I really just came in here to talk." His eyes, usually warm when looking at her, were now sharp with intensity. "Did you know anything about the existence of my son?" he demanded, his voice cold.
Madelyn's heart raced. She was aware of his secret younger son of course but she had no knowledge of this older one!
"...Of course not, Homelander. Would I keep such a thing from you? The mother—whoever she is—must have chosen not to contact you after becoming pregnant. If the young man on TV even turns out to be your real son…" She immediately regretted the dismissive tone she used, realizing she had crossed a line.
Homelander's eyes flared with fiery red anger. "HE IS MINE!" he roared, his voice echoing with rage. The force of his fury was almost overwhelming, and Madelyn felt a chill run down her spine. For a moment, she feared he might kill her in his wrath. But he took a deep breath and managed to calm himself, though his anger was still simmering. "Whoops, I got a little worked up," he said, attempting to laugh it off as though he hadn't nearly vaporized her.
Madelyn gulped, feeling a mix of fear and relief. It had been a while since Homelander had lost control like that, and she had never been the target of his fury before. "Of course, that was a mean thing to say," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "I've had the videos analyzed. The facial recognition is very similar, and his powers match yours. We haven't seen super strength yet, but it's likely."
Homelander scoffed. "No, he has all of MY powers. I could see it in his eyes. Greatness recognizes greatness." He paused, then continued with a hint of embarrassment. "As for his mother…er…there have been a lot of women over the years I admit." Homelander put his finger on his chin. "Given his age, he was likely conceived when I was in college. That narrows it down by a lot actually. I still wasn't very great with people back then, but there was this one girl who I really got along with when my roommate brought us to that silly little comic convention. Could it have been her?" Homelander pondered out loud, Madelyn listened to every detail intently, hoping to find some information that could be useful. Unfortunately, the magical girl from Comic Con 20 years ago wasn't very helpful…
Madelyn hoped against hope that Homelander was wrong about his son's nature, but deep down, she feared he wasn't. The apple might not have fallen far from the tree. The young man didn't even hesitate in liquidating Magnet Man…covering that up was going to be impossible, but at least it was a clear case of self defense.
Homelander turned to leave. "I want all the little eggheads in the basement to start searching the camera feeds for my son. He wouldn't have made such a public appearance if he wanted to stay hidden," he ordered before exiting the office. Madelyn wanted to retort that Homelander wasn't in a position to give her orders, but she held her tongue. He was in a volatile state, and she didn't want to provoke him further. She adjusted her blouse, took a deep breath, and headed downstairs to the analytics team.
–Marcus–
I touched down in an alley off the main streets this time to not draw attention. I exited the alley, and the first thing I saw was a giant billboard with my father's face on it, along with the other members of the Seven.
"Lamplighter retirement ceremony live Saturday at 7pm Eastern," I read the billboard out loud.
"Eh, it's a crying shame, isn't it? Lamplighter has so many fans who are going to be sad. He's not that old either, but I guess heroing is a young man's game," an older man next to me commented.
"Did they say who was replacing him yet?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's some southern blond belle. She's pretty and all, but she doesn't seem like she's ready for the big city. She seems too nice for us asshole New Yorkers," the man laughed before he moved on.
I now knew where I was in the timeline. I was right before the beginning of the first season, and Starlight was about to join the Seven. I chuckled internally. I was always a bit jealous of Rias getting such a good Queen with Akeno. Annie also had lighting powers though, didn't she? I materialized my Peerage Queen piece in my hand and looked at it. It was tradition for young devil nobles to recruit a Queen before any other pieces were acquired. The piece vanished back into my small pocket space. It was something for me to think about at least. To be honest, I'd want to recruit a more powerful girl like Stormfront as my Queen if only she wasn't such a disgusting Nazi… Maeve could have been another option, but she was a lesbian, and I wasn't going to have a Queen who wasn't part of my harem. That would just be an embarrassment…
I decided to take in some of the Big Apple's sights as I made my way towards Vought Industries Headquarters on foot. The city was packed with people and heavy foot traffic. It was much different than the less crowded underworld, but not much different from Tokyo. What made me laugh, though, was how much less polite people were here.
"Watch it, dickhead!" a random guy yelled at me and kept walking after we bumped shoulders. I waved my hand subtly, and the guy face-planted as the bottom of his shoes were suddenly frozen to the ground. I laughed as the guy started cursing out everyone nearby who was giving him looks of pity.
"Who was the Supe freak who froze my shoes to the ground! You're dead if I find you!"
I was already down the street, though, and didn't need any other public displays of my powers for now. I could see Vought Tower in the distance anyway. The foot traffic lessened as I got closer to the large skyscraper and home of the Seven. I wondered how funny it would be for me to just walk in the front door like I owned the place – I supposed I technically did own the place, though.
As I was thinking about doing just that, something caught my eye. Rather, it was someone. A naked man was lying down on the sidewalk and looking up the skirts of women who walked by. The naked man had a big grin on his face whenever a woman stepped close to him and gave him a good peek.
"What the fuck…" I muttered at the sight. What was strange was that none of the women even seemed to notice the naked man. It was almost like he was invisible – Translucent! The guy was Translucent… of course he was…
I walked forward until I was standing right over the guy. "Really, bro? This is what heroes do in their off time?" I asked, avoiding looking at the man's gross junk. Even with bulletproof carbon skin, walking, and lying on the filthy streets of New York was still really gross.
Translucent startled and jumped up when someone noticed him. Did he get so into his watching that he accidentally dropped his invisibility again!? He looked around quickly and sighed in relief that no one else seemed to notice him. It was only the black-haired large guy who could. That meant he was some kind of Supe as well.
"Hahaha. Sorry, you caught me with my pants down," Translucent laughed and held out his hand to shake.
I glared at it for a second before sighing and shaking Translucent's hand. I could feel the hero applying some super strength to the handshake to try and suss me out. I reciprocated and squeezed a bit harder.
"Ah, fuck! That's some grip you got there, man," Translucent said as he shook out his throbbing hand. He felt like if the guy gripped any harder, it would have fractured his hand! Whoever this guy was, he had some serious super strength and he was able to see him. Translucent recognized a bad match up when he was confronted with one. "So, you a new Supe on the block? What's your plan? You heading for Vought and just gonna walk in and introduce yourself?" Translucent asked me.
"Um… yes?" I replied.
"Ha! Rookies…" Translucent shook his head. "Listen here, bro, you seem like a cool guy and your strength is out of this world if you can hurt even me. I can also see you being a popular hero with those muscles and handsome looks."
"Thanks, I guess," I said. I wasn't quite sure where Translucent was going with this, but I figured I'd humor the invisible Supe. The guy was amusing if nothing else.
"Right, so you don't want to go into Vought right now. The whole company is currently in the process of losing its goddamn mind over the reveal of Homelander having a kid or something. I'm not exactly sure, I haven't seen the video yet, but I know when to get the hell out of dodge. The big cheese, Stan Edgar, is currently on a warpath and today is NOT the day to annoy him about anything else," Translucent explained nervously while glancing around.
"I suppose that makes sense," I said. I wondered if maybe I should give Vought an extra day to cool off and not just immediately show up on their doorstep proclaiming 'All your corporation are belong to me!'
Because it did…
"Yep. So, my new friend, how about you and I go visit this fantastic club that I know about? All the top gentlemen heroes like us love it!"
"You had my curiosity before, but now you have my attention!" I smirked. A superhero strip club? Of course, I was going to go. I wasn't missing out on something like that.
XXX
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Current Advanced Chapters:
The Fallen Gamer ch 283-287
The Blood Queen ch 3
The Supe Devil ch 5
The Titan ch 3
The Fox Hole ch 7
The Blood Queen ch 2
The Fox Hole ch 6
The Fox Hole ch 5
The Titan ch 2
The Blood Queen ch 1
The Supe Devil ch 4