Starlight

The ruins of the New Jersey factory.

Homelander crawled out of the rubble, his chest still aching. It wasn't an external injury, but a tearing sensation inside him, and it was getting worse.

He glanced at his palm. The purple patterns beneath his skin were still glowing, but they had dimmed considerably.

His power was draining away.

More precisely, it was being suppressed.

Homelander clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. He tested his Heat Vision. Red light poured from his pupils, but it was only half as powerful as before.

Damn it.

He flew into the sky and extended his Super Hearing. The whole world was cursing him, but he no longer cared.

Vought had destroyed him, so he would destroy everything Vought owned.

The London headquarters, the Paris branch, the Berlin publicity center, the Tokyo office... he wouldn't leave a single one standing.

Homelander accelerated toward the Atlantic Ocean. A sonic boom erupted, whipping up a white wake across the sea.

The Pentagon, the situation room.

A red alert blared through the room. The screen displayed Homelander's flight path, his speed exceeding Mach 2.

"He's heading for London." The secretary of defense looked grim.

"Twelve F-22s are already airborne," the chief of staff said.

"Can they take him?"

"We don't know. Vought's files say he can withstand a nuclear bomb, but we've never tested it."

The secretary of defense fell silent for a few seconds.

"Fire."

Thirty thousand feet above the Atlantic Ocean.

Twelve F-22s flew in formation, their radars locked onto the high-speed target.

"Target confirmed. Range, fifty kilometers."

"AIM-120s ready."

"Fire."

Six missiles dropped from the wings and streaked toward Homelander, trailing white flames.

Homelander saw them. In his eyes, the missiles moved as slowly as snails. He stopped, hovered in midair, and spread his arms.