When Pero saw the blond figure chasing relentlessly behind him, the last of his patience ran out.
He stopped hiding his strength.
His figure paused slightly, then vanished on the spot under Homelander's hopeful gaze.
There was no sonic boom, no rush of wind, not the slightest movement of air.
He simply disappeared into thin air before Homelander.
"?"
Homelander stopped short, hovering blankly in the sky.
He activated his Super-Vision, scanning the ground below and peering through the clouds to search every corner of every city.
Nothing.
He activated his hearing as well. The clamor of the entire city flooded his ears, and he endured the discomfort, searching for any trace of the man in black robes.
But it was as if the man did not exist in this world.
For a moment, overwhelming uncertainty and helplessness engulfed Homelander.
"Where did he go..."
He floated in the air for a long time, utterly lost. Finally, he dragged his battered body back.
Dejected, he returned to where he had confronted Ryan earlier.
When he landed, he found that Ryan, Butcher, and the others were long gone.
Only Queen Maeve remained, standing beside Storm's still-twitching, mangled body and discussing something with several members of Vought International's cleanup crew.
Storm was soon carefully lifted onto a stretcher and taken back to the company's hospital for emergency treatment.
Maeve saw Homelander's miserable state, his face bruised and swollen, his clothes barely covering him.
Surprise appeared in her eyes, which always held a trace of weariness.
Then she mocked him.
"I didn't know you could bleed." With her arms folded, she looked Homelander up and down.
"What happened? How did the invincible Homelander end up like this?"
Homelander ignored her mockery.
He merely took a long look at the pool of Becca's blood on