Beating Down Homelander

The 72-hour countdown had three minutes remaining.

Lower Manhattan was empty.

There was no one on the streets, stores were closed, and cars were parked wherever. The traffic lights still flashed, but they were useless now.

In the distance, sirens blared as the National Guard blocked off the roads.

Helicopters circled overhead, their cameras aimed at the Wayne Enterprises Building.

Top floor of the building.

Starlight stood at the edge of the rooftop, wind whipping through her hair as her armor gleamed beneath the sunlight.

She held a loudspeaker in her hand. Three Drones hovered before her with their red lights blinking, broadcasting live across the world.

Queen Maeve stood two meters behind her with her arms folded. Her armor was covered in scratches, none of them repaired.

She had not concealed the bruises on her face either, openly displaying them.

Starlight took a breath and raised the loudspeaker.

"Homelander, I know you're watching."

At least two billion people were watching their screens at that moment.

Starlight stared directly into the camera.

"You say you're a god. You say you're a savior. You say humanity needs your rule."

"But you're nothing more than a product of Vought Corporation, a monster raised in a laboratory with syringes. You've never seen the real world. You don't know what love is, or what sacrifice means. You only know how to use violence to prove yourself, because other than strength, you have nothing."

Queen Maeve stepped forward.

"I worked with you for twelve years and watched you put on your act," Queen Maeve said. "But you were never a hero. You're a tyrant. You enjoy fear. You enjoy watching people kneel before you."

She paused.

"Now the whole world knows what you are. A narcissist. A spoiled child. A pathetic wretch who never even