Physical Defense Break

Homelander watched from a considerable distance, as if seeing them off on their final journey.

Then someone appeared out of nowhere, wearing no uniform, just a T-shirt and jeans.

But that man had lifted the plane with ease, shaking Homelander to his core.

"You're... How did you..."

Rorschach was already far from the crowd, and no one else heard him speak.

"Even you could have kept the passengers safe. With your strength, all you had to do was lift the plane by its landing gear."

A mocking smile on his face, Rorschach flew straight up to Homelander and Maeve.

Something felt strange to Homelander. For the first time in his life, he was afraid!

Afraid enough to want to run back to Madelyne's arms!

"You really are... strong..."

Homelander dropped Maeve into the sea.

With her physical toughness, a fall from that height was nothing.

"Want to have a go?" Rorschach smiled as red light flared in Homelander's eyes.

The imitation had come looking for the real thing.

"Oh, didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

"Oh, I forgot. You don't have parents."

Rorschach's next words made the veins bulge on Homelander's forehead.

Rorschach merely spread his hands, ready to teach this oversized brat how to behave.

Sure enough, Homelander's trademark lasers came first.

But Rorschach had deliberately taken the right side. He widened his eyes and fired his Heat Vision, overwhelming Homelander in an instant.

In a beam clash, the one on the left always lost, and Rorschach wasn't named Dyna.

Outmatched, Homelander felt a stabbing pain in his eyes. He skipped across the sea several times before reluctantly taking flight again.

What was going on? How could there be another energy-based hero this strong? One who could fly, too?

Flight was an exceedingly rare ability. Most who could fly relied on growths resembling wings found in nature.

As one of the rare few who could fly without wings, Homelander had always taken pride in it.

But the man before him, the one called "Superman," had shattered his confidence in an instant.

A couple of days earlier, Shapeshifter, who had never had a problem before, had failed a mission.

It had involved an agency Homelander had never heard of, along with the name Nick Fury.

Yet even after searching across the United States and using every resource at their disposal, they had found nothing about who that man was.

He had appeared like a ghost inside that heavily guarded hotel, carrying a handgun.

A chill crept up Homelander's spine, and he shuddered.

Was I so scared I was shivering? No, that wasn't it. The air really was getting colder!

Homelander could measure blood pressure with one hand. He trusted what his body was telling him.

Before he knew it, he was encased in solid ice.

"What?!" Shocked and furious, Homelander hurriedly cut through the ice with his lasers.

Above him, Rorschach slowly closed his mouth and stopped breathing out the icy blast.

He had Heat Vision powerful enough to beat me head-on, and an ice ability too?

Fear. Endless fear.

Homelander had believed himself supreme in this world, only to have reality driven home now.

If I... If I'd used my lasers to melt that gunman's trigger...

Homelander's thoughts grew hazy. Pain stabbed through his eyes, as though countless steel needles had pierced them and were churning inside.

"All right. Let's try one last move."

Rorschach didn't need a flashing light on his chest to know he was almost out of time.

Slowing the plane for landing had taken a while. If he'd done it too fast, the passengers inside couldn't have endured it.

And he still wasn't very practiced with the Silver Superman template.

"Ah, what a shame..."

Homelander and Maeve both looked baffled, unable to understand why he would say that.

Only Rorschach knew that the System Shop had imposed a purchase limit on this absurdly overpowered item.

If he wanted to experience it again, he would have to gamble desperately on draws and hope it came out of the pool.

Rorschach wasted no more words. He flew straight at Homelander at tremendous speed.

In an instant, Homelander was sent flying, carving a long trail of spray across the sea.

A ship's horn sounded. A vessel had spotted the plane resting on the water.

"He probably won't be taking you back. Need a lift?"

Rorschach held out a friendly hand to Maeve on the water below.

"The plane's fine! We saved every crew member and passenger!"

Cheers erupted throughout Vought Tower at the latest news.

Madelyne was delighted too. Homelander had a mind of his own at times and wasn't easy to control.

But this time, she was pleased that the United States' biggest idol had completed the mission so brilliantly.

It would be a while before she received the generous gift Rorschach had given her.

"Ms. Stillwell, something's wrong!"

Ashley hurried over. The joy had yet to fade from Madelyne's face.

Those were Vought International's two finest heroes. What could possibly have gone wrong?

She had already planned the talking points for the press conference.

"Maeve is heading back toward the coast at supersonic speed, but Homelander's tracking signal hasn't moved!"

Madelyne frowned. They knew for certain that Maeve couldn't fly.

And Homelander had a signal transmitter inside his body that he couldn't remove himself.

After all, Vought International wouldn't stop him from going anywhere or doing anything, so long as appearances could be maintained.

He had no reason to dig it out, either.

"Is Stormfront available?" Madelyne's smile vanished as a bad feeling stirred deep within her.

The plane had an autopilot. Even if something had happened to the pilots, it could still have landed in Chicago by following instructions from the control tower.

So why had it come down at sea?

Madelyne knew The Seven, and even the more popular heroes outside it, very well. She sensed at once that something was wrong.

"She has a short patrol, then an interview."

"Send her to Homelander's signal. Find out what's going on."

Madelyne didn't hesitate. Missing an interview generally meant paying a hefty penalty.

But for Homelander's sake, that loss was nothing.

It feels like... things have been going more and more wrong lately...

Madelyne had a feeling that since she'd given birth to this child, The Seven, once firmly under her control, had grown less united.

It had begun as a simple passing of the torch, with a girl from Iowa joining The Seven.

Then The Deep's scandal had come to light, and the reputation he'd built on his looks had plunged.

A-Train had taken Compound V, lost a race in front of everyone, and ended up in the hospital.

And now, a hijacking mission apparently hadn't gone smoothly either.

"Is this spot all right?"

Rorschach had avoided appearing in the city, setting Maeve down somewhere secluded instead.

"Who are you, really?" Maeve stared at Rorschach, utterly perplexed.

She knew Homelander. Beneath his polished exterior, he was a complete bastard.

"Me? Superman." Rorschach smiled at her, then slowly rose into the air.

"A friend of mine might come to you for help later. Please look out for him."

"His name is Rorschach."

With that, Rorschach immediately flew south.

He had only one minute left. He wanted to enjoy the feeling of flying while he still could.

After he left, Maeve stood staring in the direction he had gone.

She stared for a long time, until one of her fans called out to her.