Trigger Warnings:

- Murder (committed by Homelander, so basically, there's blood)

- One flashback scene (nothing explicit, kept vague)

- Violence

- Swearing

- Crude language


It has only been a few months since Mira met Sven. Sven genuinely seemed a trustworthy guy. It usually takes at least a really long time to trust a new face, and even then, she was still skeptical around people, even those she has known for a year or more. But Sven felt different, and as frustrated Mira felt not being able to pinpoint why that is, she equally felt reassured. Sven was a friend she really trusted.

"What if..." Mira shook her head at that thought, she wasn't ready for that step. Mira shook her head again, clearing her head of all thoughts of that, not wanting to dwell on it too much.

Mira's focus went back to Sven's dog, Buddy. Buddy was the best pet in the world. Buddy hoovered and cleaned up all anxieties and worries off of Mira for her, something she spent so long trying to do on her own, too long in fact.

"You good?" Asked Sven. Mira flinched out of her tranced attention on Buddy.

"O- oh, yes I- I am alright." Stuttered Mira. Her PTSD-related speech impairment had gotten better over the past few months. "I- I was j- just… uh- Oh, n- nevermind." Mira shook her head. "Ah- hahaha-" Buddy kept licking Mira's face until she continued petting his head.

"Didn't mean to make you jump- I was just about to say that I need to get going." Sven explained.

"Y- you said you moved o- out of Recon's house, right?" Asked Mira. Sven nodded. "Yuh huh. After helping out with the reorganisation of their materials and counting them up etcetera, the Stone Steves made a house for me- in between the Red factories and the Stone village cave entrance."

"O- oh, you n- never told me." Mira crossed her arms. She frowned, but wasn't really cross, she was only playing around.

"Uh... yeah I did- a few days ago I did." Declared Sven, shaking his head while holding in a chuckle.

"M- my bad... my memory is shit a- after all." Mira giggled lightly, and so did Sven, seeing the green light that he could chuckle.

"Probably because you haven't seen it- do you want to see the house then? Maybe it'll help you remember." Sven offered Mira, which made her pause for a moment. Mira sensed something was wrong, but it wasn't Sven. Mira wasn't sure what it was, she just sensed something.

"Hello?" Sven waved his left hand in front of Mira. She shook her head, blinked rapidly. "Y- yeah, Sven?" Sven now had her attention. "House. Want to see?"

"O- oh, sure." Nodded Mira. She was hesitant due to the sense of wrong she started feeling. But it wasn't because of Sven, so she went ahead, stood up, and Sven got close to her so he could teleport her with him.

"Ready for me to teleport?" Asked Sven. Mira nodded without speaking. She was now anxious, because she sensed something wrong was about to happen. But the problem wasn't Sven.

"C- can we hurry up?" Mira faked the excitement in her voice. She began thinking something was about to happen to her house. It wasn't her precognition, she would've seen what would happen in ten seconds by now.

Sven whistled his dog to come over, and Buddy leaped off the sofa and came to the side of his legs. Sven then made sure he cleared his mind so it was focused on his house, and then, walked forward and teleported both himself, Mira and Buddy to...


(Just blame this bit of the story on the cosmic instability being caused by TFC).

Sven, Mira and Buddy look around in upmost confusion. They were not in the cozy interior which was Sven's house. There wasn't any of that sweet greenery, or the immense and monolithic bridge-conncected twin volcanoes, or the vast seaside, the open plains, or the steep mountains.

They were in an area that resembled a construction site. There were several very solid mesh of tungsten and titanium pillars had pad foundations exposed. There was stacks of bricks piled on top of each other, plasterboards, insulation, a mixer half-filled with mortar, toolboxes, and the general tools and materials that would be expected to be seen on a construction site. All the machinery was inactive, stationary, not in use. The flooring above was held by metal bars, which were attached to the metal pillars, all of which held the framework of the incomplete building together. Outside, it was raining, and the clouds were a miserable gray, adding to the already dull combination of gray concrete and silver metal.

Sven and Mira noticed that on the machinery were insignias, American insignias. Both of them trembled, as that already told them where they were. They were on Earth, the world of humans, terrible humans. Their kind had made Sven's and Mira's childhood's like hell in different, but comparably traumatic ways.

"S- Sven this isn't f- funny!" Mira trembled and hugged Sven's right arm, hiding behind him. Buddy started to rub his head against Mira's knees and ankles, which helped her to calm down a little bit.

"I- I don't know what happened!" Exclaimed Sven. "But... at least we're at the bottom... right?" Sven tried being optimistic. "I just teleported exactly how Recon taught me and- and it never did this!" Sven was just as stressed, but mainly for Mira, who was barely a moment away from completely breaking down.

"W- will we be okay?" Asked Mira, who tightened her grip around Sven's right arm. Mira was not coping well.

"Of course- I got my abilities- chromatic Steves can summon lightning and fireballs, Magma Steves can summon highly pressurised magma- I have Red, Magma and Water Steve abilities- we'll be fine. Plus you got your abilities- which the First Blessing definitely overcooked- we'll be fine." Sven reassured his friend, who was still holding onto Sven's arm like a metal vice, refusing to let go.

"But hey, at least we're on the bottom floor. We could be a lot higher up." Stated Sven, continuing to be optimistic and looking at the bright side. He again turned around, looking at the surroundings. Other than a nearby block of flats, they were essentially in the middle of nowhere.

"It is raining though, so let's just... let's just figure out where we are first". Suggested Sven.

Mira nodded in-sync and rhythm with her shaking body, spooked and petrified, but felt safer and reassured. They did hear a woosh, but it sounded like wind, nothing unusual… hopefully.

A couple minutes ago:

"Great... not what we need." From a window on the first floor of the nearby building, William Butcher was watching with a pair of binoculars.

"What?" Asked Hughie.

"There's a guy and a girl down there, and I don't know if they're with Omelanda or not." Butcher moaned in frustration, and his frustration was very clearly shown within that tense frown on his face.

"Us three almost had that flying bastard. Other supes should be no problem... if they're even supes to begin with." Stated Soldier Boy, unfazed by the news of the other two people's arrival.

"They have fucking teleportion mate." Butcher very sternly pointed out, and Soldier Boy tilts his head, and raised an eyebrow. "A bright flash and boom, that guy as well as that girl appeared. If they're working with that piece of shite and they see us… not even Hughie can get us out." Butcher explained to both Hughie and Soldier Boy, but mainly Soldier Boy. "Those two can teleport as well- or at least definitely one of them can. Other than this block of flats and that construction site, we're virtually in the middle of nowhere- there's only grasslands for miles in each direction." Butcher explained his view.

"Is Homelander even here yet? We could take those two down before he arrives." Inquired Soldier Boy, he was ready for 'round two' against Homelander. He was in a fighter's mood. He got ready for a fight, and was really pissed at the thought of having to call it off.

"Maeve said that Starlight told he'd be there at just about..." Butcher paused while readjusting the binoculars, so he could have a better view of the guy and girl that just appeared out of nowhere. But then in the corner of his binoculars, he saw a fast-flying red and blue blur. Butcher knew that 'blur' was indeed that flying bastard called Homelander. "... now, now he's here." Butcher updated. "I say we play it safe and watch this one out. We don't know what other powers that other dude and girl have."

"Well, this is boring." Soldier Boy huffed in response to Butcher's decision. He was looking forward to beat the everliving shit out of Homelander's extremely punchable fist-attracted face.

"Well, if they're working with him, we know what we're up against. If not, and Homelander kills them, we can go in and finish the job." Butcher pointed out.

"Good point." Soldier Boy nodded. He, as well as Hughie, grabbed a pair of binoculars, to watch whatever was going to happen.


On the floor above where Sven, Mira and Buddy were, there were two men wearing masks, black hoodies and overall black clothing and footwear. They were from the infamous hacker group, Anonymous. Their nicknames were Code and Glitch respectively. On them, they had a simple, black laptop, but any old laptop had the potential to hit the only place these ego-filled manchild supes can't defend themselves with their unfathomable strength, their reputations.

Anonymous had for a long time unknown access to Vought, and downloaded all sorts of sensitive information, including information around Vought's attempts to cover-up Homelander's crimes.

"Homelander is so cooked man!" Code chuckled away. Chuckling was a coping mechanism, because the photos and general sensitive data they were going through were at best, very graphic, or an outright gory horror story at worst.

"Just gotta release all of this to the public and they can see what a piece of work he is." Glitch nodded.

"Just gotta release what to the public? A new album or… what, exactly? I am interested to know."

Code and Glitch flinched and froze in sheer terror as they turned to face what was going to be the thing to end their lives in a very bloody fashion.

"You know, it's rude to ignore someone when they're speaking to you." Code and Glitch looked at one another, telepathically saying their goodbyes, before looking back at the guy who ever so slowly walked toward them, without letting go of that smug grin on satisfaction on his face. With each footstep made, the two hackers trembled.

"I was expecting you guys to have uh... well uh I don't know- a whole group of you in some office block. Not just a pair of you guys hiding in some random construction site in the middle of nowhere- but it is less obvious, I'll give you that. Unfortunately it just didn't quite pay out for you two, did it?" He shook his head as he slowly spoke with a hint of 'pity' that was so obviously fake. His grin wore further the closer he got to them.

"Homelander! How... nice to, uh, see you! We uh..." Code fearfully stuttered. He knew that this was probably the end of the line for him and Glitch.

"Apparently, there's a group of people who hack all sorts of systems that are, well, important." Homelander clenched his fists together in anger. His cape with the American flag fluttered and danced with the wind that visited in and out of the construction site. "Your group specifically has gathered some very sensitive information on Vought. Hackers are among some of the people I have the least respect for, you know." All traces of Homelander's menacing grin vanished. The anger that was partially hidden, was now on full display.

"Hackers are the closest thing that literally matches what the internet describes as... adult men in their mother's basement. They have no life, they have to take what others worked for and... I don't know, I just dislike hackers, I just do, if I'm being honest." His golden shoulder pads and the golden belt around his waist, reflected back the natural light provided by the sky.

"Many attempts that were more sophisticated to slander my name failed." Homelander sneered. "I'm not letting some low-life digital nerds succeed." The pacing of his steps became faster and more tense with each step. Code and Glitch shuddered. Their brains told them to run, but the fear and dread had them chained in place.

"We uh... AH-" Homelander grabbed Glitch by the throat and lifted him like a ragdoll, and slammed him into a nearby pillar. Code screamed and tried to run, but Homelander immediately noticed, and he turned his head right, his eyes glowed red before shooting out red beams of hot energy, striking Code's torso, slicing his body in half, both parts of the body then quickly slapping the concrete floor with a squelching sound, blood and innards spilling on the spot of Code's instant demise. Homelander turned his eyes back to Glitch.

"H- Homelander... I'm... s- sorry..." Glitch fought and gagged to get his words out. "What the fuck were you two doing on that laptop!?" Homelander snarled, his eyes glowing red, his teeth clenched, and had the overall face of a raging bull. "I'm sorry- please let me g- AHHH-"

Homelander grabbed both of Glitch's shoulders and growled as he began to slowly rip his body in half. Glitch screamed in utter agony. Homelander sighed and grinned with satisfaction as Glitch's blood splattered all over him, which made him stop tearing apart the guy for a moment, who was still alive.

"Shhhhhh... it's alright- shh- shh- shhhh..." Homelander ripped Glitch's mask off, and then ripped his jaw off with the same low effort, covering and bathing himself in Glitch's blood. Homelander tossed the jaw to his side like an empty packet. He listened to Glitch's screams, which went from high pitch howling to low pitch groans after his jaw was ripped off.

"Oh shut up you-" Homelander then put his right hand down Glitch's throat, before suddenly yanking his arm up with tremendous force, ripping Glitch's chest off, making blood shoot everywhere, splattering and decorating Homelander or at least the concrete for sure with natural and abundant red paint.

With the hackers dead, Homelander looked around and grinned. Seeing their blood fed his ego. These were were just like everybody else, playthings. He isn't like those or any other of these playthings. He was stronger, he was smarter, he was better.

He again glanced at the two people who tested him. The satisfaction he got from seeing their virtually gutted, gored bodies was still there. It just didn't slap that initial grin anymore.

But then, soon enough, the satisfaction went away. Homelander looks behind him as he heard the faint tapping of footsteps. He saw no one behind him. He looked down, and with x-ray vision, he saw two people and a dog.

One was a rather tall and bulky male wearing a white jumper or sweater, grey jeans and black shoes. The other person was a girl, who was shorter, but still rather tall for their gender, and she was a really dark jacket or hoodie with the faintest hints of red, really dark grey leggings, and white shoes. The dog with the two people was a large fluffy dog that looked like a husky, who wore a red collar. Homelander noticed that the three of their moments were jittery. They must've heard what was done up here, and looking for a way out.

"For fuck sake-" Homelander can't let them get away. While he was happy to be someone that was feared if it ever came to it, he'd rather continue to be loved by everyone. He muttered under his breath. "You two aren't taking my fame away from me…" If he lets those two people live, they could tell the whole world what he did. Those two people need to die.

Homelander quickly rushed to find one of those bathrooms that are usually found on construction sites. He needed to wash some of the blood off himself.


l

Minutes later:

"O- oh gosh I'm sc- scared Sven!" Mira trembled terribly. Both of them heard screaming and splattering from the floor above. Mira's breathing became shallow, her heart began to race. The two of them, as well as Buddy, were quickly walking, navigating the site for a clear way out.

"We're gonna get out of this fine, okay." Sven calmly reassured, while also maintaining attention, anticipating for sudden changes. "We'll be fine." Sven gently whispered to reassure Mira.

Mira was petrified of what was going to happen next. Meanwhile Sven, who was on edge, he wasn't scared. He was confident in his abilities. He also knew Mira had her own set of lethal abilities. Sven also knew keeping calm will help Mira keep calm too.

From the far right side of the construction site, they heard the smashing of concrete, which was followed by thuds and crashing sounds that only explosions could match in volume. It was so loud, it could even be mistaken for an explosion. This made Sven and Buddy flinch, while making Mira feel like her soul briefly left her body.

"Quick, go! Go go go!" Sven knew somebody else was definitely here. He as well as Mira and Buddy picked up the pace. Whoever it was on the floor above, they definitely committed murder. If they don't hurry up, they could be next.

Sven, Mira and Buddy heard a whoosh of air, which was followed by a landing thud behind them. They flinched as they immediately turned around, while Buddy whimpered and hid behind Sven. Staring at them was a guy with white skin and blond hair, and he was partially blood-stained. He wore the American flag as a cape, and wore an overall blue suit that had a yellow or orange collar, and wore red rubber gloves and red leather boots. On his shoulders were gold plates. He had a gold belt around his waist. He was not as tall or big as Sven, but he was pretty damn close.

"That's a nice dog you have there." The guy gazed upon Buddy before shifting his gaze back to Sven and Mira. "It'd be a shame if something happened to it." The voice of the guy wearing the cape sounded menacing and cold. He started to walk over to them. His eyes was fixed on them, and below was a grin, a fake grin. His arms and legs were tense as his arms swung in-sync with his legs.

"Now, you don't happen to be working with those hackers upstairs, do you?" The guy continued to grin, but it was obvious that he was consciously holding his grin up. "If so, things aren't going to go so well for either of you two."

"Who the heck are you- who the heck do you think you are!?" Sven boldly confronted the guy in front of him, immediately getting in front of Mira and Buddy to protect them. "You ain't laying a single finger on them." Sven's tone dropped, becoming very deep.

The guy no longer held up his grin. "Do you and your short little slut over there live under a fucking rock? I'm the Homelander, and I can do whatever the fuck I want!" The guy, Homelander, walked over to Sven, who stood firm, while Mira and Buddy slowly stepped backwards. Mira trembled, while the dog comforted her.

Homelander scoffed to himself. Those three playthings in front of him were so inferior, they can't even comprehend or even know who he was. All of this fed into his fantastical god-complex. He was 'unknowable' and 'ineffable' to them.

Homelander menacingly stepped right in front of Sven, who sternly back at him and his muscular physique. There was a gap less than a foot between Homelander's and Sven's face. "And watch how you speak to me! I didn't appreciate your tone just there, sir… not much as all…" His tone was composed, but so cold, and laced with a clear sense of hostility.

Sven took a few steps back, but remained firm and steadfast in his posture. "Look… Homelander…?- yeah uh, Homelander, look buddy, I don't know who these supposed hackers are, but you aren't touching her or my dog you completely deranged dimwit." Sven harshly fired back with his own monologue. His tone became as cold as Homelander's.

"Your move, Walmart Superman." Sven's eyelids narrowed, his gaze fixed on Homelander.

Homelander looked at Sven, and with superhearing, he listened to his heartbeat. Although Sven's heart was beating a little bit irregularly, he showed no signs of fear in general. Homelander snorted as he stepped back, so he had a better view of Mira and Buddy. He looked at them and began listening to their hearts. But his focus then shifted onto Mira, who flinched while shaking her head, grabbing a hold of Buddy.

"Ah…" Homelander smirked and sniggered as he heard Mira's heart beating like no tomorrow. Even Ashley's heart didn't beat as loud when she was scared. This girl felt fear more than even Ashley did around him, which before now, Homelander thought was impossible. She was always a trembling wreck when he was angry. But this other girl had a fear of him that transcended to a whole different level of fear.

Homelander then stepped back further, then coldly looked at Sven menacingly. "Yeah, well, I know you're not scared. But, I do wonder about something… what are you going to do if… if I do this?"

Mira had grabbed Buddy ahead of time. Her precognition went going off, and she saw that Homelander's eyes would glow red and shoot Buddy with red beams and make his head implode. She had already calculated when she needed to move out the way, and was already more than prepared.

A second before Homelander released the fury of his red heat vision. Mira with hold of Buddy, hugs him tightly as she readied herself to jump out of the way. Homelander's eyes glowed red, which Sven's gaze fixed onto. Just before Homelander released the full fury in his heat vision, Mira tightened her grip around Buddy, and she used all her mighty to jump, getting herself and the dog got out of the way just in time. Two red beams left the sockets of Homelander's eyes, which Sven's gaze fixed onto. Homelander left a dark burn patch where Mira and Buddy would've been.

"Oh…" Sven muttered as he turned to face Homelander, and got into a fighting stance. He was now angry. "You have gone and fucking done it now." Sven looked at Homelander, now extremely furious. Sven's eyes began to glow yellow. Homelander instantly noticed the glowing in Sven's eyes, and that he had heat vision too. Homelander's eyes began to glow red in kind, almost as if his eyes were a reflection of Sven's eyes in the mirror.

Sven, with the ability he just copied, unleashed two yellow beams from his eye sockets, just as Homelander unleashed two red beams from his eye sockets. Their heat vision illuminated the whole bottom floor, and the clash between their heat vision created blinding sparks and pulses of light. Mira covered her eyes with her right hand to protect them, so she didn't get blinded.

"Grrragggh!" Homelander gritted his teeth and frowned. He growled as he levitated up slightly and looked down on Sven. He pushed on, and his heat vision was beginning to push back Sven's heat vision.

Then, Sven summoned three large-sized fireballs at Homelander, catching him completely off guard, knocking him off balance. His balance was poor, he was stumbling as he landed back onto his two feet, he was taken completely by surprise by that.

With Homelander's guard down, Sven exploited the opportunity, and with his newest ability, his heat vision. He blasted Homelander with yellow beams, and the sudden force sent Homelander flying and slammed him into one of the metal pillars, denting it, before he fell to the ground.

"Arrgh- What the fuck!?" He groaned as he struggled to get back on his feet, maintaining eye contact with Sven. He was caught completely off guard.

Sven summoned a mass of stone on Homelander's feet, entrapping them, all the way up to his hips. With Homelander pinned by that pillar, Sven began summoning lightning on that pillar. The extremely high voltage of electricity in the lightning ran through that metal pillar, ran into and through Homelander, before going into the ground, completing a circuit. Homelander began to get 'earthed' several dozen hundred times by Sven with this. Each strike of lightning illuminated a short radius of the area by the pillar, so much so, Homelander's skeleton was being seen through the skin and suit with each strike.

Homelander got over Sven's initial shock-and-awe tactics, and he was now very angry. He was better than everyone else, yet he was getting hurt by some random guy who has literally no status. That really pushed him over the edge.

"EnnnNNNNOUGH!" With raw, furious anger, he managed to break his feet free, and made an attempt to fly into Sven with speed.

But Mira, who long saw what was going to happen via precognition, she was already prepared. At just the right moment, she dragged Sven out the way. Homelander sped past, knocking Sven and Mira back slightly by the wave of air from Homelander's supersonic flight.

Homelander came to a halt midair, outside the construction site. He turned around and saw the guy was still alive. He noticed the girl had pulled him out the way, just like she did for that mutt.

"So… Mira, Sven and Buddy, huh?" With his superhearing, Homelander heard them talking and discussing. Now he knows their names. He decided to let them communicate. What they were saying wasn't important or critically sensitive, and Homelander needed time to think about how to approach the problem girl. He knew that he needed to approach this uniquely different adversary with a bit more thought behind it. He covered his ears, blocking out what's outside, to fully focus. He took a few minutes to calculate and decide how he should approach this. He must take into account and risk assess what other tricks this girl may have up her sleeves.

"So… Mira, Sven and Buddy, huh?" With his superhearing, Homelander heard them talking and discussing. Now he knows their names. He decided to let them communicate. What they were saying wasn't important or critically sensitive, and Homelander needed time to think about how to approach the problem girl. He knew that he needed to approach this uniquely different adversary with a bit more thought behind it. He covered his ears, blocking out what's outside, to fully focus. He took a few minutes to calculate and decide how he should approach this. He must take into account and risk assess what other tricks this girl may have up her sleeves.


Construction site, minutes prior/while Homelander was taking time to think:

Sven and Mira needed to act, and fast. Homelander was clearly after their blood. Mira, while scared, put a brave face on. "G- go teleport, and t- take Buddy, I- I'll hold H- Homelander off." Mira urged Sven.

"No! I'm not leaving you to fight that psycho alone Mira! Absolutely not!" Sven exclaimed, confused as to how such a reckless and dangerous idea in any situation was ever a good idea.

"Homelander c- could k- kill Buddy… a- and by us splitting up in different directions… it'll k- keep his attention off of Buddy a- and all on m- me." Mira explained. "Please... Sven, g- get Buddy t- to somewhere safe. H- he can g- get hurt… I'll d- distract Homelander, wh- while you find a secure place for B- Buddy to hide." Mira again urged.

Sven hesitated for a moment, but Mira was right. Homelander could kill Buddy, and Buddy meant everything to Sven. He can't let Buddy be in danger. "Hmm, you're right- I don't know..." Sven still didn't feel comfortable leaving Mira to fight this alone, but the girl was right. While he as well as Mira had abilities to defend themselves against Homelander, Buddy was defenceless. Sven then nodded as he came to a decision he was reluctant to make. "Just-" Sven stammered. "Just… j- just promise me you'll stay safe." Sven requested for that reassurance.

"I d- don't know if I'll m- make it. But o- only you can t- teleport and g- get Buddy to safety." Stated Mira. "I'll t- try to h- hold him off… please, l- let me do this, for y- you." Mira requested. She wanted to protect Buddy, as well as do what Sven did for her. Offering protection. Mira's eyes began to swell as she began to speak about what she was about to speak. Her throat began to feel tight, and her chest began to feel heavy, as the memories of the past, as well as the fear-inducing threat of the present came down on her all at once.

"A- about the past… I d- don't feel c- comfortable sharing it yet…" Mira took a moment to pause as it began to hurt to control her voice to not sound swollen. "But, wh- what happened in m- my past… and w- while Recon m- may have helped me r- recover… saying to l- look at the richness of the future… don't let the p- past hold m- me and a- all of the u- usual light-hearted stuff…" Mira couldn't hold her voice together any longer, her throat felt too tight and her chest too heavy to hold her emotions back, and her tone began to sound swollen.

"Y- y- yeah, that w- was all g- good and all… but, I n- never found a- a sense of healing… Y- yeah, life improved w- when I met R- Recon, b- but I was still in th- the mental a- and emotional, internal crutches I- I have been in since childhood..." Mira's consciousness was the only thing holding back tears from leaving her eyes and spilling over.

"B- but… y- your care and Buddy's affection… the c- comfort… friendship… s- someone I c- could relate with… s- someone who understands what t- trauma is like… all of it w- was th- the healing I- I've been l- looking for so long… and because of B- Buddy and… you- mainly y- you… I'm n- now free of m- my crutches…" Mira's eyes watered, tears running down her face.

Mira then took a deep breath in, before calmly letting the inhaled air out. "Please, let me help you, l- like you've helped me… I'm n- not saying this b- because I feel I- I have to… it's because I- I want to… f- for Buddy, and f- for you…" Mira paused momentarily to wipe her eyes. "I don't feel o- obligated… I- I am choosing t- to do this in m- my free will… driven b- by my appreciation and gratitude f- for all y- you've done for me…"

Sven felt really moved by Mira's words. The two best friends hugged the other tight. They patted each other on the back before stepping back.

"I'll come and get you immediately once I've found a suitable place for the three of us to hide. Stay safe, and kick some ass." Sven nodded with a smirk, which Mira responded with a smirk in kind.

Sven was still hesitant to leave Mira on her own, but he knew the number one priority right now was making sure Buddy was safe and as far away from Homelander as possible. Sven then grabbed Buddy, and then teleported, disappearing in a white flash.

Knowing Sven and Buddy were now safe for the time being, Mira inhaled air slowly through her nose, and exhaled it out her mouth. "For Sven… you got this Mira." She said to herself. She was trembling, but she knew that to reduce the chances of the location of their hiding spot being found, she had to take the full attention of Homelander's fury. Mira knew that the abilities she was blessed with were going to be put to the test.

Mira began to look around, ready to anticipate and dodge another attack from the dreaded Homelander. She wiped her tears with her hands as she got ready for the fight which was now a certain inevitability. She knew taking Homelander's full attention was dangerous and that she could be killed. But she willingly chose to put this task upon herself, to reduce Homelander's chances of finding the hiding spot Sven will set up, as well as distract Homelander, and take the attention off of Sven as he searched for a suitable place for Buddy, as well as her and himself to set up a spot to hide.

Then, Mira saw Homelander's next move with her precognition. She saw the top half of her body being struck clean off by the speed of Homelander's flight homing in and crashing into her. She looked ahead and heard the sonic boom. Then, just at the right moment, she sidestepped, just before she got struck and split into two in bloody fashion like her precognition warned her.

Homelander stopped and landed on the spot as soon as he missed. He half-expected to miss at this point.

Mira turned and began facing that direction. She saw Homelander had landed, and he was walking to her at a fast pace. "So, Mira… that's what your fuck buddy called Sven said right?" Homelander retorted. He heard the two say each other's names once. "You've wasted your time being with a guy who would protect his mutt Buddy over his toy."

"Th- the f- fuck!?" Mira scowled as her cheeks flushed pink with fluster at Homelander's crude choice of words. "We a- are just friends… and what th- the fuck is wrong w- with you- w- what do y- you even w- want from m- me!?" Mira stuttered as she yelled while stepping backwards, away from the towering psychopath that was walking towards her. "I- I'm n- not letting y- you h- hurt those who h- helped m- me heal! J- just go a- away!" Despite the stuttering and fear she was feeling, Mira was ready. She was maintaining a ready stance, ready to jump out the way if Homelander tried to blitz her again. Her purple eyes back to staring into the blue eyes of the false superhero, who towered over her in height.

"Oh no no no." Homelander shook his head and grinned menacingly, walking faster, closing the gap. "You aren't getting away and telling the world what happened here. Nuh uh uh." He continued to speak with that menacing tone, but with less of that really menacing grin, and then raised his voice and continued. "And I'm especially not letting news go round that I struggled to deal with some random ass bitch- which, judging by your accent… you're not even American- yeah, no, I'm not letting you leave alive." Homelander's grin completely disappeared in his muttering, and the walking became really fast, far reaching steps.

Mira immediately turned invisible while simultaneously summoning a fake clone in her place, which Homelander didn't notice. Mira, being able to animate her clones, made the clone trip, and drag themselves across the construction site's concrete floor. Homelander catched up with the clone, and stomped on it…

"Huh- what the? The hell?" Homelander was now confused. He thought that was her, that he got her. Mira seemed to have just poofed up in smoke.

"Cool, so you do have actual powers and you're not just able to dodge things?" Homelander began looking around for Mira. Homelander was now more alert, as Mira wasn't just someone with extreme levels of agility and reflexes, but also had powers of her own. "You know, I do appreciate the entertainment. But I'm still going to kill you." As Homelander spoke out a death threat, he spotted 'her', and walked over to 'where' she was.

Homelander effortlessly flew at high speed and punched the clone, and the same thing, it poofed up in smoke. Homelander landed for a moment, and took a deep breath. "I'm not sure what it is about you, but you are really starting to get on my nerves." Homelander then stopped walking, now standing on the spot, fully focused on seeing where Mira was, but he found no sign of her, even with his x-ray vision. With absolutely no visual awareness of her whereabouts, Homelander began to use his superhearing more. He listened to see if he can hear Mira's footsteps, and he did hear her footsteps.

Unknown to Homelander, Mira had begun sneaking up from behind. Homelander heard the footsteps behind him and turned around. He was confused, he couldn't see her, but he heard footsteps. The footsteps only continued to sound closer and closer, yet there was no sign of Mira from Homelander's perspective. His mind began to race, looking in all directions, and his anxiousness grew as the footsteps continued to sound like they were getting closer, still without any idea where Mira was. No matter which direction he looked in, he saw no sign of Mira, yet the sounds of steps got closer and closer.

Homelander hadn't felt this level of vulnerability since he was a kid. That feeling of vulnerability made his breath shallow, exacerbating Homelander's sense of vulnerability. The footsteps got closer, and closer. His superhearing could tell Mira was now closing in for sure, yet he still couldn't anticipate from where, he couldn't see her. He was stepping backwards, yet, he didn't know if Mira was in front or behind. Each step he took in an attempt to anticipate her attack was an uneasy gamble, as he could be stepping away, or right into her trap.

Then coming completely out of the blue, Homelander felt something which felt like a tap where his liver is located, immediately catching his attention, but not entirely startling him. But then, that tap all of a sudden felt like fifty heat vision blasts from William Butcher. He yelled and screamed in agony, covering the area where his liver was with both hands.

Mira became visible again, after she manipulated and continued to manipulate Homelander's consciousness. She tricked his consciousness to think the punch was much worse and much more painful than it was. As Homelander was regaining his composure after the punch, his wrathful gaze fixed onto Mira's fearful eyes and her retreating, shaking body.

Homelander began marching his way over to Mira again, with both hands clenched, ready to use them to bloodily flatten Mira's skull. Mira kept her defensive stance, ready to anticipate and dodge the next attack.

"Okay you little brat, you're beginning to actually piss me off." Homelander spoke with his teeth clenched. Each step he took toward Mira got more consistent and quicker, with both of his hands ready to punch Mira's head off. "And that's a very dangerous position to be." Homelander continued speaking in that cold tone. But unbeknownst to Homelander, Mira already saw his next move with her precognition.

As Homelander went to punch Mira, she ducked at just the right moment, and leaped right to his side. He turned around to go and punch her again, but Mira dodged the punch just as effectively the same way, and leaped to his left side.

Homelander paused for a moment to think, before continuing to try and punch her again. He went to punch her again, and Mira leaped backwards. Homelander, too blind with rage and predicted the girl would have leaped to his side again, went and turned around, used his heat vision, and spun half a full circle. When he deactivated his heat vision, he saw that Mira was standing where she was originally, she had leaped back.

Mira, who saw with precognition, knew that Homelander would try to use his heat vision to catch her off guard. Leaping to either side meant death, which was why she leaped backwards instead.

Homelander breathed in deeply. He was huffing and puffing with inner rage. Nothing he was doing was working. His punches nor his heat vision was catching this slippery opponent.

Mira saw Homelander was about to blitz her with his speed, again being warned by her precognition. She stepped to the side just before the moment Homelander flew right at her, which made him miss again, making him more enraged. Homelander halted in the air before landing back down, and once he landed, he turned around, facing Mira. He stared at her, and noticed something was even more off about her. She didn't even have compound V.

Besides the abilities she showed off, she was just a regular human being, who physically, was just as fragile and weak as all the other humans. He was getting outdone by an otherwise physically regular female. This realisation really ticked Homelander off and pushed his frustration over the edge.

"How are you avoiding everything!?" Homelander yelled, having an outburst of incandescent rage. He was not just annoyed or angry, he was wrathful. He really wanted the girl dead. "I'm the greatest there is! I'm not like you or- I'm not like the rest of you!" This girl would've been pulverised into a pull by now, if it weren't for her abilities.

Even Mira, who was petrified, couldn't help but giggle at how fragile Homelander's ego was.

"Hey! No one laughs at me!" Homelander's eyes glowed red, and Mira swiftly stepped out of the way, seeing the heat vision coming far away by a long shot.

Homelander took a minute to pause and reflect. Something felt off, very off. The only other feelings that matched the rage he was feeling, was suspicion. No matter what he did, Mira just avoided it. It was almost like she knew who he was, how he fought or something, definitely a bit too well at that.

Yet, before just now, Mira didn't even know who Homelander was. If she was able to predict every move with that level of perfection, realistically she should know at least something about him, of at the very least, his name. But she didn't, yet she can still predict his every move like she knew what his abilities were in perfect detail.

Then, he remembered about a hypothetical ability. No other supe had it, but Mira may have this ability that was letting her predict or see his every move. "Wait…"

Homelander finally connected the dots, and it made so much sense. "Oh I see, you probably have some precognition bullshit." He noticed and stated. "No human should predict all my moves like that, especially without compound V at least."

"T- t- took you long e- enough to r- realise." Mira gulped. Her opponent now knows what was letting her avoid his attacks. The curtain was now off. "N- now just leave me alone you f- freak!"

"Well, okay, but first, precognition out of this one, bitch!"

Homelander flew outside of the construction site area, and looked at the metal pillars. His eyes began glowing red, and Mira again stepped to the side just before Homelander's heat vision sliced her body in half like her precognition saw coming.

Homelander was getting more and more enraged. He was livid, and roared as he lost any care about trying to preserve the construction site and uphold his 'moral image', and spammed his heat vision like a maniac. He wanted that girl dead very badly.

Then after a short moment, Homelander just stopped, as while he still didn't manage to strike Mira, he wasn't going for her, but the pillars instead, which made the whole construction site unstable. He waited for a second, just to see it collapse. Debris flew and rose up into the air, and the whole area was concealed with a thick cloud of debris.

For a short moment, he stared at the debris while hovering a dozen stories high, and grinned. There was no way Mira avoided all of that debris. That had to have caught and killed her. Seeing the debris brought a smile to his face.

He finally got that slippery girl. That girl frustrated him to no end, but he finally got her. Then, only just now, it dawned on him, there was a block of flats next to the construction site. Almost immediately, he looked down, as from one of the first story windows, he saw three people, who all backed off from the window. "Of course you three were behind this…" Homelander spotted Butcher, Soldier Boy and Hughie. He believed they sent whoever Mira was. "You're going to pay for this." Homelander's eyes began to glow red. He was going to bring the block of flats to the ground.

Homelander raised his voice. "I know you three are in this building! I can just make up an easy story for what I'm about to do and people will be stupid enough to buy it-" As Homelander was about to bring the building to the ground with his heat vision like he did to the construction site, he heard faint footsteps and coughing from the ground, which immediately caught his attention. They were coming from the construction site's rubble.

"No fucking way..." Homelander grumbled under his breath. He turned around, and seeing through the debris with his x-ray vision, and in complete frustration that was only matched by his complete disbelief, he saw Mira, still alive and moving somehow.

Homelander knew he needed a new strategy. Brute force wasn't going to cut it. Mira kept dodging everything he threw at her.


Mira narrowly escaped with her life. She was almost crushed by the rubble. Even with her precognition, she almost didn't make it. If she had been a mere metre off from the right place, she would've been crushed to death. Her adrenaline and anxiety was at an all-time high.

Mira coughed as she tried to carefully cross the uneven, sharp field of rubble. She used the debris as cover from Homelander. But she then saw with precognition, herself being pinned to the rubble and her head being crushed by Homelander. She again waited, and then stepped aside right as Homelander landed on the ground with great force, right where Mira would've been.

Homelander's shadow stretched across the debris. As the dust cleared and settled, he became fully visible, and his advancing, as well as imposing masculine physique was on full display. His face was devoid of any feeling other than wrathful determination.

The American flag cape tagged along in the air, dragged by Homelander's advance forward towards Mira, and fluttered with the flow of the wind. The raindrops land lightly against its surface, each drop falling and bouncing off it, leaving traces of raindrops to run down it. But it had no effect beyond that. Homelander's rage and anger was still as burning hot as before. It was even more helpless at hindering his advance.

"Wh- what the f- fuck do you want f- from me!? L- leave me alone!" Mira cried at Homelander. She grabbed and threw a small piece of rubble that was aimed at his face. He easily grabbed it with his right hand and crushed it effortlessly as a demonstration of his strength. Mira continued grabbing piece after piece of rubble to throw at Homelander.

Homelander menacingly grinned at this futile attempt of defence. "Oh quit it Mira!" He scoffed with a laugh as each piece of rubble harmlessly bounced off him. "You're only still alive because of your abilities. But you have no means to actually beat me." He sniggered, continuing his advance amidst the hurling small pieces of rubble being thrown his way. "Sure… you can keep dodging and weaving whatever I throw your way. But what will you do when you have no more steam… hmm?" Homelander briefly tilted his head as he continued to advance as Mira continued to retreat. But the gap between them continued being reduced.

"Besides your annoying abilities, you're only human. It's only a matter of time before you run out of endurance and energy." A stern frown manifested as Homelander pointed out. "Then your fucking precognition will mean jack shit." Homelander spoke with his teeth clenched. He scornfully looked at Mira while unfazed by each piece of small rubble she threw at him, whether it hit him or not. Not even hits to his face made him flinch.

"If I have to outendure you, fine! I will inevitably catch and crush your excuse of a body like the shmuck you are!" Shouted Homelander. "I'm stronger! I'm smarter! I'm better- I AM BETTER!"

Homelander's advance towards Mira increased with speed, fueled by rage and impatient desire to end this encounter. No rubble could delay his imposing advance, he was an unstoppable object. He didn't try blocking the small pieces of rubble she kept throwing at him. He wanted her to see his invincibility.

For a brief moment, Homelander grinned with satisfaction. He heard Mira's heart exponentially pounding. His new, more psychological approach, was working. The pounding got louder as he slowly decreased the size of the gap.

He went to grab her neck, but she again dodged his hand, which she saw coming before it even came. Homelander casually turned around and tried to grab her neck again, but missed that time as well. Homelander swung with his hand again, which Mira leaped out of the way, before then trying to run.

Homelander laughed. "Yeah, run like the wimp you are." Homelander coldly spoke aloud, menacingly smirking with satisfaction. He calmly walked in the direction Mira ran in, he didn't immediately run or fly after her, but chose to stick with his new plan, winning this encounter with endurance. "You can't run forever." Homelander scoffed. He even stopped walking after her. He stayed put on the spot, and crossed his arms. He watched Mira running across and jumping over rubble, hoping she'd make one slip-up. This scenario and approach wasn't his preferred option, but it was working better as well as for sure being an entertaining alternative option, that also reinforced and somewhat repaired his self-image and view of his invincibility.

Mira then tripped on a piece of metal from one of the pillars and fell over, almost landing face first into the concrete rubble. She grunted as she tried to get up as fast as she could, but she was hurt from the trip. She was what was coming next through her precognition, and the more she struggled to get up, the more panicked she became.

Homelander's different approach had eventually paid off. He laughed hysterically, and seeing the opportunity, Homelander hastily stepped forward and then swiftly flew right for her. Mira managed to just narrowly roll out the way, foreseeing and dodging Homelander homing in and obliterating her body with the speed of his flight. Homelander, back on his two feet, barely managed to catch her by her hair with his right foot. "Gotcha now, you fucking rat…" Homelander's speech was laced with so much coldness. He couldn't let the deep satisfaction distract him.

"Agh-" As Mira tried to get up, she felt her hair was trapped. She managed to look at Homelander straight in the eyes, who's face was devoid of feelings other than a stone-cold psychopathic poker face.

"Chase is over, you fucking snake." Homelander muttered, spitting on Mira's head. His eyes began to glow red. He wasn't taking any risks, as moving any of his limbs could give her an opportunity to escape his grasp. Mira saw Homelander was about to melt her head into bloody goo with precognition. She yanked her head to free herself, but to no avail. Mira's breathing became fast-paced as she delved into frightful panic.

Mira yelled out her fright. "G- get… off my h- hair NOW!" Mira, determined, managed to use her left hand to punch Homelander's right foot, which felt like a mere poke as first. While also manipulating his consciousness though, Mira made Homelander perceive the poke as if it felt like a dozen kicks and punches from Soldier Boy. Homelander howled and gritted his teeth, instantly lifting his right foot up and gripping it with both of his hands, hopping on his left foot as his balance faltered, giving Mira an opportunity to get out of his grasp.

Mira got up, and combining her combat prowess as well as her ability to manipulate minds and consciousness, punched Homelander in his sides, his ribs. She made him perceive the otherwise ineffective punch feel like the ribs were about to break, making Homelander fall to the ground and curl in excruciating pain he's made to perceive, howling louder than a newborn's first cry. His howls grew louder and more frantic, as if the pain was pushing him to his limits, even though the punch, physically, did absolutely nothing to his ribs.

Using this opportunity to then create a massive white screen of smoke, and again tried to run away to get distance from Homelander, using the smoke screen as cover as well as to disoriente him. Mira managed to regain the distance between herself and Homelander. She then turned invisible, and hid behind a large pile of rubble, to rest. She was beginning to feel the strain of exhaustion.

As Homelander slowly got back onto his two feet, he began to feel a tingling sensation. It was electricity, but he just shrugged it off. Mira's electricity was nowhere near the level of electricity in Sven's lightning.

Now not as disoriented, Homelander quickly saw through the smoke screen with his x-ray vision, and spotted Mira running. Seizing the opportunity, he instantly flew towards her and landed a blow... but 'she' poofed into smoke upon contact. "Oh what the!?" As the smokescreen cleared, there were several 'clones' of Mira all over the place, all of them running around. Some clones were pulling faces at him, others here sticking their middle fingers up at him, while others were doing other things to seriously annoy him. Mira began to use Homelander's psychological weaknesses to distract him, so she could regain some stamina.

"Not this crap again!" The frustration distracted Homelander from his psychological approach and reverted him back into his more primary thought process, his impulsive rage, as well as his reckless wrath and frustrated feelings.

"You got to be kidding ME!" Not only was he very angry, he was now very stressed and paranoid, because he, the greatest superhero to walk the Earth, was being outplayed by a girl with no status to speak of, or compound V. This girl's abilities seemed to be able to thwart every single advantage he had. Her versatile abilities and skills countered his otherwise extremely unfair physical superiority.

Homelander knew he was physically way stronger, faster and more durable, yet he was still struggling against Mira's agility, abilities and skills. If the world ever found out about this fight, and that he struggled against a girl who physically was unfathomably inferior, he would lose his public image of this invincible superhero. His reputation would go from being an invincible superhero to nothing more than a massive joke. This thought not only made him furious, it made him feel something he hadn't felt for ages. Terrified. Terrified to lose everything he had going for him. His breathing became shallow while his anger swelled inside him at that thought. The thought of his downfall being because of a young female that before today he never knew, 'broke the camel's back'.

This all tipped Homelander over his boiling point. "No more of this Loony Toons bullshit- RAAAAGH!" Homelander roared in an outburst of frustration, anger and outright rage. His eyes glowed red, and then he spammed his heat vision all around, burning everything down in his path as he poured out all of his extreme frustration leading up to this point.

The frown on Homelander's face became more scrunched with utter contempt and rage. "GRAAAAH-" The fake clones of Mira were instantly evaporated as they were struck by Homelander's heat vision. Piles of concrete rubble and pockets of metal from the pillars within them were burned and obliterated. The metal that wasn't obliterated was turned into molten goo of liquid, while the concrete that wasn't obliterated was charred and turned black under the immense heat.

Homelander deactivated his heat vision, and took a few deep slow breaths as he poured out his anger and vented frustration. He looked around and stared at the destruction he caused. The molten metal slowly cooled down due to the continual rain. Then, with his x-ray vision, he saw Mira hiding behind one of the rubble piles.

"Have a really good look at what I'm capable of when I'm angry!" Homelander yelled aloud. "You have no idea who you made yourself an enemy of Mira. Take a really good fucking look at the area and take a minute to think about who you made yourself an enemy of you stupid bitch."

Then Homelander jumped up and lifted himself into the air, flying up at an almost perfect vertical angle. "You have no idea what's coming your way and what I'm gonna do to you..." Homelander muttered, determined to rebuild his self-image and pride, which was dismantled single-handedly by this girl.

Homelander no longer wanted to kill Mira right away. He wanted to show her who he really was, that he was the Homelander and that he could do whatever he wanted. He wanted her to see the force that he truly was.

But Homelander needed to approach this in a different way. He needed to trick the girl into thinking she was in the clear. It was the only way he could think of to throw off the massive advantage her precognition provided her.


Mira, still trembling, was hiding behind some rubble when Homelander flew up and left. She was still huffing and puffing, relieved she survived that ordeal. Whoever Homelander was, he was out for blood. But he is gone now, the coast appeared to be clear.

Mira struggled to get up. Her trembling was that bad. She took a small peak of the area, and seeing what she saw made her trembling much worse. Chunks of rubble were charred black, there were puddles of molten metal, although, those molten metal puddles were cooling down and solidifying thanks to the rain.

Mira's trembling became worse as she began hyperventilating about the fierce battle. She may have fended off Homelander, but what would've happened if she didn't have the means to fight Homelander? The thought and fear of not being able to defend herself, reminded her of her childhood trauma, when she was defenceless, powerless to do anything. Now, she was thinking about her childhood, what happened, and she descended further into a panic attack about what ifs. Her panic attack spiralled out of control, and she crouched into a ball and began pulling at her hair.


Trauma flashback:

Flashbacks started to come back in full force. She saw her childhood self sitting up on her bed in her childhood bedroom. She was curled into a bull, endlessly crying. The sound of the wind around her sounded less like wind and more like adults shouting. Then, her bedroom door opened-


Mira shook her head and screamed. "Sven? S- Sven? S- S- Sven!? SVEN!?" Mira yelled for her friend. He was taking too long. Did Homelander change course and decided to focus on Sven? If so, did he kill him? Is Sven now dead? Is she on her own again? Her panic attack consumed her focus and overwhelmed her consciousness. Homelander couldn't beat Mira. It was her fears and anxieties that had beaten her down into a petrified curled ball.

Then something grabbed her by the neck. She felt two hands grab her by the neck, and felt herself being lifted in the air. She screamed and kicked her legs about to free herself, but it was all in vain.

"Ah… didn't see that coming, did you?" Slowly spoke Homelander, in a quiet voice, who had a burning hot angry facial expression. The anger in his tone was obvious. "You really had me going for a minute there, huh..." Homelander's voice grew more cold, and his grip around her neck grew tighter. He grinned at hearing her heartbeat increase. As fuming as he was, he was also intrigued. "Now tell me, how can you do all of this without compound V, ey?" Mira closed her eyes, trembling with terror, looking away from Homelander.

"TELL ME!" Homelander angrily screamed, his eyes glowing red, ready to melt Mira's face off. Mira knew Homelander didn't want to melt her face off just yet. He wanted to do something far worse, demonstrating his power.

"Let... GO!" Mira screamed as she stared at Homelander in the eyes, manipulating Homelander's mind into letting go of her, dropping her. Mira leaped back, and continued to step back. Homelander froze for a moment, he had no idea why he let go, he had no thought of letting go, yet he did so anyway.

"Get the fuck away from me..." Mira growled, continuing to step back.

Homelander attempted to use his heat vision, but as he tried to, it didn't work. He tried to fly at Mira with speed, but that didn't work either. "What the fuck is!? What have you done!?" Homelander panicked and showed signs of fear. Mira did something to disable his powers. This sort of thing was the same reason he feared Soldier Boy for. The ability to remove or at least disabled abilities.

Mira snarled with her teeth clenched. "Get... the fuck... away from me..." She finished with a laced hiss. "... or things w- will g- get worse for you…" She threatened. Her adrenaline and anxiety were through the roof. She now no longer had to have a moment of eye contact, she can now look at any part of the body.

Homelander knew if he had any chance left to subdue Mira, he had to do it now. He tilted his neck either side, cracking his neck. "Oh, you wanna go do you?" Homelander wasn't ready to admit defeat to a girl, he wasn't going to let that happen. "Fine, I don't need my powers to pulverise you to a fucking pulp anyway." Homelander muttered, and started to rapidly walk towards her, expecting her to run away. But instead to his suprise, Mira charged headfirst for Homelander, punching him in the abs and taking him by surprise. Mira didn't do any damage, but she tricked his consciousness into thinking her punch smacked with the force of several moving freight trains.

Homelander threw a punch, which Mira easily dodged by leaping backwards, and stepped back. It took a few seconds for Homelander to respond with another punch, which obviously hit only the air. Homelander got more and more frustrated, as he couldn't land a hit. In his perspective, Mira was moving faster than a flying saucer.

But, the more Mira was looking at Homelander, the more she was slowing down his perception. She was tearing apart his conscious ability to make decisions and ability to respond to stimuli. Homelander, in his perspective, was running towards Mira. But in actuality, he was moving so slow towards her, he was moving like a zombie.

With Homelander's conscious ability to respond being completely fried, Mira again charged forward. She threw several punches, all of which did nothing physically, but with her extremely powerful mind manipulation, each of her punches in Homelander's perspective had the 'power' of several dozen freight trains colliding and smacking him. Homelander roared in agony as he stumbled backwards and fell over without fighting back. Homelander shuddered as he looked at himself, he was covered in blood, or so he thought. He wasn't actually bleeding. Physically he was in peak condition, but his ability to perceive and understand the environment around him, had been completely warped and torn apart. Mira had completely and utterly fried Homelander's consciousness.

Mira took a few steps back. "I said... g- get the f- fuck away... I'll not repeat m- my- myself..." Homelander slowly looked up and stared at her in cold blood as he limped back onto his feet, due to his consciousness being tricked into thinking he was in agonising pain.

"Do you even know who I am!? I've done more than you ever will! I will not let you beat me! I'm Homelande-" The enraged 'superhero' charged at Mira, but then tripped and fell down a few feet away from Mira, and began to gag for air, putting his hand on his chest, curling into a ball. With a mere glance, Mira look upon Homelander, temporarily taking away his ability to breathe.

Homelander made a futile attempt to stand, but then got struck again by Mira's gaze, and fell completely to the ground. She inflicted temporary paralysis against him. Then, she followed with inducing a temporary coma, knocking Homelander out cold. That was it, Mira had beaten Homelander, not by strength and raw power, but by flexibility and the sheer versatility in her abilities.

Mira was exhausted, both mentally and physically. She was wobbling and trembling, her hair swaying with her shaky motion. Her adrenaline was wearing off, and she began to feel a very sharp pain in her right leg. She was on the verge of falling over. But as she was about to fall over, a flash of bright light illuminated the scene, and she felt two arms catch her, Sven's arms. Sven's relieved eyes looked into Mira's teary eyes. Mira smirked and blushed as she was caught by his big, muscular arms. Sven's arrival just as she was about to fall over felt like an almost script out of a wholesome movie, but in a good way, a comforting way, and comfort was what she needed.

"Sorry it took me so long to find somewhere safe to tie Buddy to- and woah what the fuck happened!?" Sven gasped and exclaimed. The whole construction site has been levelled to nothing more than concrete and metal rubble. Sven then looked to his left, and noticed that Homelander was unconscious. Sven smiled as he helped Mira up, then patted her on the head, making her cover her cheeks as they burned more and more pink.

"Agh- ow…" The pain in Mira's right leg got worse. Sven then noticed a large stain on Mira's right leg.

"Hang on…" Sven rolled up Mira's right side trouser legs. She winced and whimpered as Sven rolled up the trousers leg. Once rolled up enough, Sven looked and saw that Mira had a really deep and nasty cut. Her right leg was profusely bleeding.

"Sit down." Sven instructed, and Mira nodded, now sitting down. Despite the rain, Sven took off his white jumper and grey t-shirt, exposing his top half's muscular hypertrophic frame to the rain. He used his t-shirt as a 'bandage', covering the cut. Mira began to cry in the excruciating pain her legs was in, and his jumper to tie his t-shirt to the cut. Mira held her breath as she was on the verge of screaming, because of the pain as Sven tightened the tie of his jumper's sleeves to secure the t-shirt over the cut. Sven then got up. Mira was in physical discomfort, but she knew Sven was doing the best he could to prevent her losing more blood.

"I- is B- Buddy okay?" Stuttered Mira.

"Forget Buddy for a minute- are you alright!?" Sven exclaimed. "You were clearly in a life-threatening fight!" He added in the same tone. Mira briefly glanced at the unconscious Homelander, and giggled.

"Y- yeah… b- but I did b- beat him- that d- doesn't m- matter at the moment- is B- Buddy o- okay?" Mira again asked.

"Oh yes, he's fine. This world is clearly an alternate version of Earth. The cell service on my phone is working. Even my credit card is working- even though I haven't used it in months." Sven explained, and then added on. "I booked us in a hotel for the night- Buddy is there safe and sound. Something clearly buggered with my teleportation ability. We should figure out what caused that before we try getting back home- our homes nearby the Red Village."

Mira's only response was a nod. She was psychologically, as well as mentally and physically exhausted. Sven grabbed and lifted her up, putting her on his back. She winced as she felt stabbing pains in her right leg when being lifted, because of the massive cut.

"Let's get some rest at the hotel. You can tell me everything once we've settled down and you have had time to recollect yourself." Said Sven, and again, Mira nodded. Sven, with Mira, teleported away from the scene.


From the window of the nearby building on the first floor, Butcher, Hughie, and Soldier Boy watched the fight through binoculars. As they were watching the fight, they were expecting it to be a lopsided victory in Homelander's favour. However, as the fight went on, whatever abilities the girl had, it countered every advantage Homelander had. In the end, the girl caused him to lose. All three of them had very different reactions.

Hughie was both impressed and satisfied as he saw Homelander finally put in his place. He was at the best moments, bullied by him. At the worst moments, he was almost killed by him. To see the man who he was victim to be humbled was relieving, and in some way, healing.

Meanwhile, Soldier Boy was wetting himself with laughter. "Strongest man on the planet-" He was wheezing all the air out of his lungs. "Yet he loses to someone who belongs in the kitchen-" He was on the verge of passing out. His scrunched eyes were sore from all the tears of laughter. He began curling and clutching his stomach with his hands as it began to hurt from all his laughing. "She may… also kill me… by suffocation… by accident-" He uncontrollably chuckled, inevitably kneeling over onto the floor.

"Well, whoever she was, she did the job for us." Butcher paused, as he lowered his binoculars and gazed out the window, taking a look at the destruction Homelander had caused. Yet, against all odds, the girl, who was clearly weaker and slower than Homelander, had somehow managed to utterly humiliate him. "Unfortunately it wasn't our hand that did it. But… better that he was taken down now than later." Butcher shrugged, then looked at Homelander's unconscious body from the window, and grinned. "Fucking diabolical."