Homelander shook his head silently.
He had expected this final battle for the fate of the universe to be a fierce clash that shattered galaxies and blotted out the sun and moon.
He had even pictured himself driven to the brink, forced to reveal every last trump card before pulling off a stunning comeback worthy of a movie.
And what had happened?
Darkseid had roared pretty loudly at first, then fallen flat. A string of basic attacks had been enough to put this so-called New God on the ground?
Homelander pursed his lips, a little disappointed.
"Is this what they mean when they say the best victories look effortless? Did I prepare too well?"
"That wasn't much of a show."
Homelander shook his head and shouted across the empty battlefield:
"Cut! Cut! Cut!"
"Ego, stop filming. Turn off the cameras."
"Delete everything you just shot, too. There's no sense of danger. If my fans see it, they'll think we won this war way too easily."
As his words faded, the battlefield around him changed.
The surfaces of more than a dozen objects resembling the black stone pillars native to Apokolips began to ripple.
Their rocky disguises fell away, revealing a ghostly blue glow.
They were enormous tentacles Ego had extended from underground.
A camera with a blinking red light was neatly set into the tip of each one.
Ego had built them by hand from parts he had stripped out of the Dark Fortress.
Having given his instructions, Homelander looked back at Darkseid, who lay sprawled on the ground.
If the footage was no good, he would have to squeeze what value he could from Darkseid's body.
"Ego."
Standing beside Darkseid's head, Homelander tipped his chin up with the toe of his boot.
"Take a look at him. He's not