Homelander

The pungent smell of strong acid still lingered in the basement.

Hughie sat slumped on the floor, his face deathly pale, not even daring to glance at the operating table. Frenchie was frantically shutting off the high-pressure water valve.

Lucian stood beside the console, his gaze sweeping across the four exterior surveillance screens on the wall.

The upper-left screen suddenly flickered.

It was extremely fast.

The image distorted for less than a tenth of a second.

Lucian's gaze instantly locked onto that screen. "Frenchie, rewind camera three's footage by three seconds."

Frenchie froze for a moment, his hands still moving as he tapped the keyboard. "What's wrong? That's a dead-end alley up there. There isn't even a stray dog."

"Rewind it. Play it back slowly, frame by frame." Lucian's voice grew firmer, his tone allowing no argument.

The footage began to rewind.

One frame. Two frames. Three frames.

The image froze.

Frenchie sucked in a sharp breath. His hand shook violently, knocking over the coffee cup beside him.

In the upper-right corner of the screen, a blurry afterimage stood against the night sky. Magnified, sharpened.

The colors of the Stars and Stripes. A bright red cape.

And a pair of eyes glowing faintly red in the darkness.

Homelander.

He hovered beneath the clouds above the abandoned processing plant, looking down over the neighborhood like a god.

Butcher stared at the screen, his teeth clenched, the muscles along his jaw bulging. Hughie scrambled into a corner, clamping his hands over his mouth to keep himself from screaming.

"How did he get here so fast?" Frenchie's voice shook. The technical skills he took such pride in offered no sense of security before this absolute power. "The tracking chip lost its connection ages ago!"

Lucian tapped his fingertips against the metal tabletop, his mind racing.

Vought's response was more frenzied than he had expected. Translucent's signal had last disappeared in this neighborhood, and Homelander had come straight here to scour it with his own eyes.

The exhaust fan was still running, and a mass of sludge containing strong acid and flesh had just been flushed into the sewer. Once Homelander's superhuman smell and hearing swept over the exhaust vent, everyone would die.

Lucian had to make a decision.

With his newly acquired LV5 Carbon Skin and his Super Physique, escaping alone would be easy. As long as he slipped into the darkness, Homelander wouldn't be able to catch him for a while.

But Butcher, Hughie, and Frenchie would never get away.

Once they fell into Vought's hands, Hughie would be the easiest to break. Vought's higher-ups were no pushovers. If they brought in a supe with high-level mind control or mind-reading abilities to interrogate Hughie, Lucian's existence would inevitably be exposed.

That didn't fit Lucian's plans. He wanted to reap his gains from the shadows, not step into the spotlight now as a living target.

Lucian turned, his gaze sweeping over the shelves in the corner. He grabbed two cans of deodorizer and sprayed himself furiously from head to toe.

The pungent scent of artificial lemon instantly masked the smell of blood and strong acid clinging to him.

"Listen." Lucian slammed the empty cans onto the table and stared at Frenchie. "Listen. Contact someone and have them make a big disturbance somewhere far away."

Frenchie's eyes widened. "What are you going to do?"

"Lure him down from the sky." Lucian tugged at his collar, adjusting the rhythm of his breathing. "I'll go up and stall him."

Butcher clamped a hand onto Lucian's shoulder, his rugged face full of ferocity. "Are you insane? That's Homelander you're facing! One look and he can burn bloody holes through you!"

Lucian knocked Butcher's hand away and looked straight into those hawklike eyes.

"If you stay here and he catches the scent, we're all dead. Do as I say. Frenchie, the bigger the disturbance, the better."

Without waiting for their response, Lucian pulled open the hidden room's iron door and strode toward the spiral staircase leading to the surface.

The night breeze was cool.

Lucian walked out through the abandoned factory's side door and stood in the narrow alley strewn with rubble.

A faint sound of air being cut through came from overhead.

Lucian took a deep breath. LV3 Super Physique took full control of his bodily functions.

His heartbeat was forcibly held at 120 beats per minute. It was the perfect rate for someone who had been frightened and had just run hard. His blood pressure rose slightly, his pupils dilated.

He forced himself to recall the most desperate, helpless moments of his previous life in the orphanage. Genuine fear surfaced in his eyes, without a trace of pretense.

He took a deep breath and looked up.

Homelander hovered fifty meters in the air, his red cape snapping in the night breeze. He looked down at the ground, his ears shifting slightly as though catching every tiny sound.

Lucian ran closer, raised his right hand, and waved at him.

"Hey! The superhero up there! Sir! Can you help me?"

Homelander turned his head. His gaze landed on Lucian, who felt an invisible pressure descend from the sky. With his hands behind his back, Homelander slowly lowered himself.

"Who are you?"

"Oh my God, Homelander, please forgive me for not recognizing you just now. You know, you were flying so high I couldn't see you clearly." Lucian panted as though he had just finished a run. "Sir, I was out for a night run around here when I heard a muffled bang over there." He pointed into the distance. "I was about to go take a look when some people came rushing out in a pickup and nearly ran me over. They... they grabbed my backpack, too."

Homelander narrowed his eyes. His superhuman hearing was at work, scanning Lucian's heartbeat, breathing, and blood pressure.

"How many people?" Homelander asked.

"Three, or four." Lucian's voice trembled with lingering fright. "It was too dark. I couldn't see clearly. One was really tall, and another was really skinny, a black guy, carrying a toolbox or something."

"Which way did they go?" Homelander asked, turning his head back.

Lucian said, "All I saw was them turning onto Route 278, heading west. Sir, are they terrorists? My student ID and wallet are still in my bag."

"Why did you call out to me?" Homelander interrupted, a hint of scrutiny entering his voice. "You should call the police. Or the Vought hotline."

"I did!" Lucian pulled out his phone and swiped open the screen, showing the dialer. There were indeed several emergency calls that hadn't connected. "The hotline was busy, and 911 kept putting me on hold. Then I saw you flying up there... I thought a superhero should be able to help me. When I realized it was Homelander, I got so excited. After all, you're America's pride, the strongest superhero."

Homelander stared at him for two seconds. Lucian didn't avert his eyes. They held the brightness of a young man seeing his savior, mingled with fear and hope.

Homelander nodded, as though acknowledging Lucian's cooperation.

"Stay where you are," Homelander said. "If I find out you're lying..."

"I won't leave!" Lucian said hastily. "I can wait for you to come back and help give a statement or something. I... I just want my bag back."

The corners of Homelander's mouth lifted slightly, revealing eight teeth, as perfect as a toothpaste ad.

"Very good," Homelander said. "Thank you for the tip, citizen. Vought will-"

Homelander's smile suddenly vanished.

Before he had even finished nodding, the corners of his mouth dropped, his pupils contracted, and the whites of his eyes began turning red.

"Your heartbeat is too steady," Homelander said.

The temperature of his voice plummeted, as though dropping straight from room temperature into an ice cavern. He moved forward half a meter, coming within a meter of Lucian. That pressure pushed Lucian backward like a solid wall.

"A night jogger who's just been robbed would have a fast heartbeat, yes, but it wouldn't stay this fast," Homelander said, the red in his eyes growing brighter. "You're controlling it. You're training yourself. You don't seem like an ordinary student."

"Sir, I don't understand."

"You don't need to understand." Homelander cut him off. His eyes had already turned completely scarlet,