The world never stopped for anyone.
It wasn't until Ryan had finally gone to great lengths and tried every trick in the book to get Homelander's approval to make his first movie the way he wanted that some things began to change in surprising ways.
The Boys' secret base.
The video clip Raven had livestreamed had finished playing. The internet was in an uproar, with people saying all kinds of things.
But the Boys in the room paid it no attention at all.
"With great power comes great responsibility."
Hughie sighed. "That's so well said. He's still so young, yet he understands such a profound truth. We should act quickly and bring Ryan back. Homelander will lead him astray."
"Hah!"
Butcher sneered, exposing the double meaning behind the words. "That's a fairy tale for ordinary people!"
After a pause, as if that wasn't enough, he gave his own take. "It should be 'the greater the power, the greater the privilege'! But you did get one thing right..."
Butcher turned toward someone who shouldn't have been there.
"We really should act quickly. We can put the evidence against Stormfront aside for now. Starlight, what news have you brought us?"
This was the first time Starlight had stood before all the members of the Boys, face-to-face and for any length of time.
Before this, she had only heard about them from her boyfriend.
There was no doubt about it: they were a band of lone warriors.
They were the first to stand up against injustice, against Vought International, and against Homelander—and they had even achieved some results.
Now, she had officially joined them too.
Taking a deep breath, Starlight said, "I've brought two pieces of news."
She pointed to the video on the computer, which had stopped automatically after playing.
"As you can see, Homelander has agreed to make the movie based on Ryan's ideas. The company is working overtime to get the script done."
"How long will it take?"
Butcher caught her meaning and immediately asked the key question.
Thinking of the things that often happened at the company these days, Starlight almost laughed. "I'm not sure, because the process... well, it's been a little difficult."
"Difficult?"
Hughie sounded puzzled.
Becca cut Hughie off before he could press her for details, asking anxiously, "What's the soonest? Starlight, when do you think they can finish the script and then... start filming?"
"I really don't know."
Starlight shook her head regretfully, then said earnestly, "But I'll keep a close eye on Ryan and watch Homelander's movements too. As soon as I know they're apart, I'll let you know."
Becca was about to ask for more news about Ryan, but Butcher stopped her.
"Becca, be patient."
Butcher turned to the others. "Or we could create an opportunity ourselves!"
"Yes, and that brings me to the second piece of news I brought."
Starlight reached into her small bag and took out two sealed vials of clear, bright green liquid.
"What are those?"
"It was Maeve."
There was a note of solemnity in Starlight's voice. "We're not the only ones who think Ryan should stay away from Homelander. Maeve agrees too."
"Wait, Queen Maeve found out who you are? Are you exposed?"
"It's okay, Hughie. Maeve's on our side now, and she gave me these two vials of Compound V."
"Wasn't Compound V supposed to be blue?" Frenchie, the Boys' resident amateur drug expert, asked curiously.
Starlight repeated Maeve's exact words. "One dose lasts for twenty-four hours. Once it wears off, the effects disappear completely. Side effects... unknown."
"That's Temp V!"
"Yeah."
Starlight nodded, her expression growing even more serious. "Maeve warned me that the company is still testing Temp V's side effects. No one knows what might happen."
"Don't use it unless there's no other choice."
Queen Maeve's journey had begun with Compound V too.
People naturally credited all of Maeve's top-tier fighting ability to the drug, but few knew that when she first walked through the gates of Godolkin, the young Maeve had been nothing more than an unremarkable supe with several powers, who could only compete for a place in the school rankings by relying on her powerful physique.
Her dazzling achievements today,
and the fact that while everyone else would be grinding through the end-of-season dungeon, she'd stay true to herself, solo the boss (Homelander), and still manage to punch him hard enough to draw blood from his nose—all of it had been forged through decades of relentless effort.
"Ryan, focus!"
"Do that move again!"
Ryan, who'd briefly lost focus, was brought back by the stern scolding. "Sorry, Maeve. I was thinking about the script again."
Ever since work on the script had begun, Ryan had latched onto Queen Maeve, claiming he wanted to learn how to fight so he could look more convincing in the movie.
Part of him genuinely wanted to learn some fighting techniques, so the flashy moves he'd practiced in his previous life would look more powerful.
He also still believed Maeve was worth winning over.
Even after what happened when Homelander lost control, and Ryan realized that getting Queen Maeve to become his stepmother had gone from difficult to practically impossible, he still didn't want her to leave the story in disgrace.
Even if they couldn't become a couple, he couldn't push her to the other side.
Only a fool would do that.
Maeve shook her head, checked the time, and said, "Then take ten minutes to rest."
"No, I can still—"
"That's enough. Nobody actually wants to watch you beat your enemies in style, Ryan." The sudden interruption cut him off.
Stormfront held up her phone. She strode in and pointed it straight at him. "Isn't that right? Come on, all you want to see is how Homelander would do without his powers!"
"Wow, don't look at me like that, Maeve."
Stormfront pointed her phone at Maeve too. "Don't forget, I was already a social media star before I joined The Seven. Ryan's script is the hot topic right now, so of course I'm keeping up with the trend."
Maeve froze for a moment, then immediately put on her camera-ready smile and replied hurriedly, "Ryan's been training very hard, and I'll make sure he keeps it up. The script is being polished, and soon—"
"Not soon!"
Stormfront interrupted her again. "You're behind the times, Maeve. I just came from Homelander's office, and Adam has already finished the fifth draft."
"Come on, Ryan. Let's not waste time here. We'll go take a look together."
The camera swung back to Ryan.
He instinctively raised a hand to wipe away sweat that wasn't there, to show the audience he really had been working hard for the movie.
But he immediately caught himself. He was a supe kid now, not the struggling child actor he'd been in his previous life.
He scratched his head instead, smiled sheepishly at the camera, then said earnestly to Stormfront, "Maeve was just helping me train. That's why she didn't know about the news."
A flicker of surprise passed through Stormfront's eyes.
She hadn't expected Ryan's first reaction to be to defend Maeve.
When she recovered, she immediately replied with a smile, "That's right. Maeve's a good coach. Well, Coach Maeve, I'll take Ryan with me now."
She had a habit of putting other people down to elevate herself.
Ryan thought over Stormfront's way of thinking, then chuckled to himself. If it weren't for the Countess of Crows, I never would've known you'd developed ill will toward me.
First came Stan Edgar's plans for the movie, and now Stormfront was taking an unusual interest in how quickly things were moving.
So what are you all in such a hurry for?
Before you continue