Jessica took the device and fiddled with it for ages, looking thoroughly annoyed.
"How the hell do you focus this thing?"
"You don't have to." Rocket jumped down, snatched the device from her, and slapped it twice. "It's controlled by a brainwave link! You think about what you want to see, and it films it! Idiot!"
"Who are you calling an idiot, little squirrel?" Jessica glared at him.
"That's enough, Jessica."
Homelander clapped his hands, cutting off their bickering.
"Thousands of media outlets, hundreds of thousands of fans, and seven billion viewers around the world are waiting for us at the press conference."
"Let's go."
New York, Central Park.
The park had been transformed into an enormous open-air venue for the press conference.
Hundreds of thousands of people packed the park to bursting, while even more gathered in the streets of Manhattan, gazing up at the giant screens.
Broadcast vans from media outlets around the world formed a long line, and dozens of news helicopters circled overhead.
"Ladies and gentlemen!"
Back from vacation, Ashley stood at one side of the stage with a microphone in hand. Her voice trembled with excitement.
"Raise your heads! Let me hear you scream! Please welcome—Homelander!"
"Whoa!"
"Aaaah!"
"Homelander! Homelander!"
A deafening roar swept across New York.
Rumble—
As the crowd cheered, a deep rumble came from the sky.
The clouds parted.
A massive spaceship, straight out of science fiction, slowly descended.
Sunlight gleamed off its midnight-blue hull, while red lines ran across it like flowing flames.
A golden "V" logo proclaimed where it had come from.
Blue-white flames streamed from its antigravity engines, scattering fallen leaves across the lawn. Yet the airflow was controlled so precisely that the spectators in the front row felt no discomfort at all.
"Wow!"
Gasps of amazement rippled