New York.
America tumbled out of a star-shaped portal.
She immediately felt a biting wind slash across her face like blades.
Below her was a sprawling metropolis packed with towering buildings, the dense skyscrapers looking like tiny matchboxes from her vantage point.
The sudden sensation of weightlessness nearly stopped her heart.
"Aaaahhh—!"
America let out a terrified scream.
The fierce wind poured into her mouth, twisting her cheeks out of shape as her body rolled uncontrollably through the air.
I'm going to die.
I'm definitely going to die.
From this height, she would be turned into a pile of mush the instant she hit the ground.
"Portal! Open the portal!"
America frantically waved her arms in midair, trying to trigger her powers again.
But unfortunately, nothing happened.
Gravity mercilessly dragged her downward, and the ground drew closer and closer.
She began to despair.
She did not understand why her powers had failed.
As the ground rushed closer—three hundred meters, two hundred meters, one hundred meters...
America gave up struggling and closed her eyes unwillingly, waiting for the end where she would be smashed to pieces.
Yet the agonizing pain of shattered bones and torn flesh she had expected never came.
Her mind went blank. She only felt herself fall into a solid, warm embrace.
The momentum of her fall was dissolved by an invisible force, and she did not feel even the slightest jolt.
Only after several seconds did she dare to slowly open her eyes.
What entered her sight was a handsome, sharply defined face.
His golden hair was slicked back flawlessly, gleaming under the sunlight.
A smile full of reassurance and irresistible charm spread across his lips.
That was right. It was Homelander himself.
He looked at the terrified girl in his arms, and his expression immediately switched