Chapter Summaries

Lu Chen met Annie January in Central Park, where she confided in him about Vought’s control and threats. Annie gave him details for Translucent’s fan meet-and-greet and kissed his cheek before leaving, while Lu Chen kept the schedule for next Wednesday in Brooklyn.

• Lu Chen met Annie January in Central Park, and she told him that she had defied Vought and that Madelyn had threatened to suspend her and make her pay the contract penalty.
• Lu Chen encouraged Annie to show people the real Annie January rather than the persona Vought had packaged as Starlight, and she considered his advice.
• Lu Chen and Annie shared hot dogs and traded stories while avoiding discussion of Translucent.
• Annie gave Lu Chen a schedule for Translucent’s fan meet-and-greet at a Brooklyn community center next Wednesday, including the VIP entrance and security details.
• Annie kissed Lu Chen on the cheek, said she looked forward to being seen with him when he joined The Seven, and left the park.

Lu Chen told Brink that he had awakened super speed, prompting the professor to prepare a secret ability test and investigate Lu Chen’s past. Brink personally escorted him into the testing center, while Lu Chen concealed his suspicion and prepared to kill everyone if his other powers were exposed.

• Lu Chen called Brink and claimed that he had awakened uncontrollable super speed.
• Brink arranged a top-tier testing facility and obtained Lu Chen’s classified Vought file, discovering that Lu Chen had been an orphan repeatedly injected with Compound V and labeled a failure.
• Brink met Lu Chen at the campus gates and warmly escorted him toward the secret testing center.
• Lu Chen acted grateful while considering killing everyone at the facility if Brink discovered his other abilities.
• Brink opened the unmarked metal door, and the two entered the hidden corridor.

Lucian underwent tests at Vought International, which confirmed his extraordinary speed, strength, and potential while failing to detect his hidden abilities. Brink promised him money, publicity, and a custom suit, then moved to advance Lucian’s prospects with The Seven.

• Brink brought Lucian to Vought’s testing facility and introduced him as their most important project.
• Lucian ran at 200 meters per second, while a strength test showed his body had grown fifteen percent stronger since the previous week.
• Researchers concluded that Lucian’s body had unusually fused multiple versions of Compound V, without detecting his concealed abilities.
• Brink compared Lucian to Homelander, promised him worldwide promotion, and gave him a credit card with a monthly limit of one hundred thousand dollars.
• Lucian asked for a superhero suit, and Brink agreed to arrange one before escorting him to the dormitory.
• Brink called a Vought International executive and said he wanted to adjust Godolkin University’s list of candidates for The Seven.

Lucian reflected on the danger of underestimating Vought, while A-Train traced the people who killed Translucent to Frenchie's hideout. Black Noir attacked the slaughterhouse, leaving Kimiko pinned beneath a rebar spike, but she began to regenerate.

• Lucian recognized Vought's immense power and resolved to abandon his sense of superiority.
• A-Train found a hidden camera in The Female's teddy bear and used its footage to identify Frenchie.
• Vought Security located Frenchie's likely hideout, and A-Train sent Black Noir to the Brooklyn slaughterhouse.
• Frenchie freed Kimiko and urged her to escape, but she stayed behind to attack Black Noir.
• Black Noir defeated Kimiko, hurled her through several floors, and pinned her to the cold-storage floor with rebar.
• Frenchie found Kimiko still alive as her wounds began to heal.

Lucian ignored Butcher’s demand for intelligence on Vought and focused on securing a durable, discreet suit and private training space. In the training room, he incapacitated Electroshock Kid and began copying his electricity ability.

• Hughie told Lucian that Black Noir was hunting the Boys, and Butcher pressured Hughie to make Lucian investigate Vought.
• Hughie sent Lucian a warning to stay safe, but Lucian decided to leave the Boys waiting for a few days.
• Lucian asked Professor Brink for a lightweight suit that could withstand high temperatures and radiation, along with a private training room.
• Lucian inspected the training room for surveillance devices, then lured Electroshock Kid there by promising to recommend him to Brink.
• Lucian used Super Speed and Mind Control to incapacitate Electroshock Kid and began copying Electricity Coverage LV2.

Lucian tested how light energy manipulation could turn electricity into a powerful beam and let him fly, then paid Electroshock Kid to conceal the experiment. Meanwhile, Frenchie chose to take Kimiko to Mesmer for help understanding her memories, leaving her to follow him instead of pursuing the motel suggestion Lucian had planted.

• Lucian used his electricity and light energy manipulation to blast a crater into the training-room wall, then briefly tested flying with light propulsion.
• Lucian erased Electroshock Kid's memories of the experiment, implanted a false account of their sparring, and gave him $5,000 after punching him to make the story believable.
• Electroshock Kid accepted the money and eagerly asked Lucian to arrange another sparring session.
• Frenchie offered Kimiko food and proposed taking her to Mesmer to examine her memories.
• Kimiko remembered Lucian's planted suggestion about a rundown motel but chose to eat and follow Frenchie.

Frenchie persuaded Mother's Milk to take Kimiko to Mesmer, while Butcher's attempt to secure CIA support against Vought collapsed over the agency's refusal to target Homelander. Elsewhere, Lucian prepared for Translucent's appearance, and Madelyn comforted a sleeping Homelander.

• Frenchie argued with Mother's Milk about taking Kimiko to Mesmer, and Mother's Milk reluctantly agreed to help her recover her memories.
• Butcher offered Compound V to CIA Deputy Director Susan Rayner, but she rejected any plan to target Homelander, ending their partnership.
• Butcher realized Kimiko's memories could expose Vought's Compound V experiments, then took Hughie's phone and hurried to find Frenchie and Mother's Milk.
• Lucian fed the babies, messaged Cate and Starlight, and left to scout the venue where Translucent would appear.
• Madelyn soothed a sleeping Homelander and promised that she would always be there for him.

Lucian used his contact with Doppelganger to plant a false memory sending him alone to a cabin at the Suburban Tree Farm. As Doppelganger arrived, Lucian discovered that Black Noir had followed him.

• Lucian texted Annie about her unscripted Youth Rally speech and told Cate he needed to lie low before they could meet.
• Lucian joined the crowd at Translucent's signing event and touched Doppelganger while asking for a hug.
• Lucian used Mind Control LV3 to implant Madelyn's supposed orders directing Doppelganger to go alone to the cabin.
• Lucian waited at the abandoned tree farm cabin, expecting Doppelganger to arrive after the event.
• Lucian spotted Doppelganger approaching the cabin and realized a nearly silent figure was following him.
• Lucian recognized the pursuer as Black Noir.

Lucian fought Black Noir to protect Doppelganger, defeated him, and brought both men to a secluded cave near Miami. The chapter ended with Lucian viewing Black Noir’s abilities in the system and preparing to harvest them.

• Black Noir appeared to eliminate Doppelganger, but Lucian knocked Doppelganger unconscious and threw him into the cabin.
• Lucian fought Black Noir with heat vision, fire, and enhanced strength, then used Light Cannon to destroy Black Noir’s arm and shoulder.
• Lucian used mind control on Black Noir and learned that Vought had secretly assigned him to watch Doppelganger and kill anyone who helped him escape.
• Lucian removed Black Noir’s tracking chip, burned the cabin and battle evidence, then flew with Doppelganger and Black Noir toward Miami.
• Lucian brought the unconscious men to a secluded cave, where the system displayed Black Noir’s available abilities.

Lucian chose to copy Black Noir’s super physique LV4, while Madelyn and Homelander investigated Black Noir’s disappearance. After Mesmer showed Homelander a photograph of Butcher, Homelander remembered Becca and flew off to investigate her file.

• Lucian rejected super healing and selected super physique LV4 to copy from Black Noir.
• Black Noir began to wake, so Lucian knocked him unconscious and resumed copying his ability.
• Madelyn ordered the Crime Analysis Department to find Black Noir’s movements, and Homelander learned his last known location.
• Mesmer offered Homelander information about the group targeting Supes and showed him photographs, including one of Butcher.
• Homelander remembered Becca and realized Butcher was alive, then flew away to investigate Becca’s file.

Lucian used his new LV4 Super Physique and Physical Mimicry to erase his tracks, disguise himself, and move the four babies into Mercy Hospital’s neonatal ICU before escaping. At a safe house, Hughie learned that A-Train had taken his father and demanded Hughie come alone within twenty minutes.

• Lucian burned Black Noir and Doppelganger’s bodies to ash, scattered the remains, and flew to New York.
• Lucian disguised himself as a middle-aged man, carried the four babies to Mercy Hospital, and fought past the security guards.
• Lucian placed the babies in incubators, destroyed a hole through the ICU wall, and escaped at super speed.
• Hughie answered his father’s phone and heard A-Train threaten his father unless Hughie came home alone within twenty minutes.

Lucian refused to rescue Hughie directly and advised him to bargain with A-Train using Compound V, while Butcher secured CIA protection for the team by handing over evidence against Vought. As Homelander pressured Madelyn about Becca and she sent The Deep to investigate Black Noir’s disappearance, Lucian disguised himself and waited near Hughie’s home.

• Lucian told Hughie to trade Compound V for his father’s life, and Hughie took a vial and left the Safe House to negotiate with A-Train.
• Mother’s Milk discovered that the FBI had frozen his account and rushed home to protect Monica and Jenny, while Frenchie persuaded Kimiko to follow Hughie.
• Butcher brought evidence of Vought’s Compound V smuggling to Susan, then agreed to give her the files in exchange for secure housing, new identities, and funds for his team.
• Homelander questioned Madelyn about Becca, and Madelyn reassured him with a kiss before secretly ordering The Deep to investigate Black Noir’s disappearance.
• Lucian changed his appearance, went to a café near Hughie’s home, and waited there.

Lucian helped Hughie and Kimiko rescue Hughie's father, then knocked out and abducted A-Train. Meanwhile, Vought’s staged terrorist attack undermined Susan’s leverage, and the government passed the Superman Militarization Act and issued arrest warrants for Butcher’s group, leaving Susan to warn them to run.

• Hughie negotiated with A-Train to free his father, while Kimiko entered the apartment through a ventilation duct and attacked A-Train.
• Hughie and Kimiko escorted Hughie's father out, and Lucian entered the apartment, knocked A-Train unconscious, treated his broken leg, and carried him away in a suitcase.
• Susan confronted Madelyn with evidence of Vought’s crimes and demanded federal control of Supes and Compound V.
• A CIA agent showed Susan footage of Homelander killing a Supe terrorist and presenting Compound V as a national security threat.
• Congress passed the Superman Militarization Act, classified Compound V as a national defense secret, and issued a nationwide treason warrant for Butcher, Hughie, Mother's Milk, Frenchie, and Kimiko.
• Susan called Butcher, told him the group’s protections were void and that authorities were coming, and urged him to run.

Lucian hid A-Train in an abandoned basement and began copying his LV5 Super Speed. Meanwhile, Butcher, Kimiko, and Hughie regrouped after Mother's Milk and Frenchie were arrested, but Butcher refused to rescue them.

• Lucian removed and destroyed a tracking chip from A-Train, then hid him in a sealed basement in New York.
• Lucian examined A-Train's abilities and began a 24-hour copy of his LV5 Super Speed.
• Susan intervened during the FBI raid on Mother's Milk's safe house, protected his wife and daughter, and had Mother's Milk taken into custody.
• Butcher, Kimiko, and Hughie regrouped at a Brooklyn safe house after Hughie's father arranged protection for Mother's Milk's family.
• Hughie demanded that they rescue Mother's Milk and Frenchie, but Butcher refused, saying the team was wanted nationwide and a rescue would be suicide.

Hughie left Butcher and teamed up with Kimiko to save the captured members of their group, while Butcher sought Mallory’s help and learned of Homelander’s complicated attachment to Madelyn. Lucian considered Hughie’s plea as he monitored A-Train, and Homelander visited Vogelbaum to ask whether he had a child.

• Hughie defied Butcher’s plan to sacrifice everyone, left the Safe House, and Kimiko followed him.
• Butcher found Mallory, who said Homelander had almost no weaknesses but seemed possessive and attached to Madelyn.
• Homelander flew to Vogelbaum’s secluded villa instead of returning to Vought Tower.
• Lucian received Hughie’s message about Mother’s Milk and Frenchie being captured and replied that he might be able to help later.
• Homelander quietly asked Vogelbaum whether he had a child.

Lucian gained LV5 Super Speed after copying A-Train’s ability, then told Hughie he would help rescue Frenchie and Mother's Milk. Hughie got himself captured and reunited with them in the CIA black site, while Butcher watched Madelyn return to her villa and waited for a chance to hurt Homelander.

• Lucian copied A-Train’s super speed, left him at a community hospital, and texted Hughie that he would step in.
• Hughie and Kimiko prepared a plan to track Hughie’s transport to the black site so Lucian could help them find the prisoners.
• Hughie let the agents capture him at the Safe House and was locked in a cell with Frenchie and Mother's Milk.
• Hughie revealed a hidden orthodontic wire, which Frenchie recognized as a lock-picking tool.
• Butcher aimed his sniper rifle at Madelyn when she returned to her villa, but held his fire because he wanted Homelander to suffer.

Lucian and Kimiko attacked the warehouse where Frenchie and the others were being held, only to find The Deep guarding it. After Lucian knocked him down, The Deep fled and sounded an alarm, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Lucian met Kimiko at the warehouse, and she charged the armed guards while he watched from the shadows.
• Kimiko survived the gunfire and killed the guards outside the entrance before kicking open the warehouse doors.
• The Deep burst out of the warehouse and challenged Kimiko as gunfire erupted inside.
• Lucian attacked The Deep with a high-speed kick, but The Deep survived and charged back at him.
• Lucian struck The Deep in the abdomen, and The Deep fled while triggering an alarm.

Lucian escaped the Black Site after rescuing Hughie and the others, disguising himself repeatedly to evade Homelander. Homelander learned the truth about his dead son, then received a video showing Madelyn tied up with a bomb and raced toward her.

• Lucian killed the surviving guards, ordered Hughie and the others to run, and escaped through a warehouse wall.
• Lucian changed his appearance several times and disappeared into a crowd as Homelander arrived at the Black Site.
• Homelander learned from Dr. Vogelbaum that Becca had died giving birth to his son, who survived only seconds.
• The Deep blamed Lucian for Black Noir's death, and Homelander ordered him to find Lucian and bring him back alive.
• Homelander received a video showing Madelyn bound to a chair with C4 explosives and sped away toward her.

Butcher held Madelyn hostage with explosives to make Homelander suffer, while Homelander confronted Madelyn over her lies about their child. After killing Madelyn, Homelander turned toward Butcher as Butcher detonated the explosives.

• Butcher bound Madelyn to a chair, strapped C4 to her chest, and waited for Homelander with his thumb on the detonator.
• Homelander confronted Madelyn about hiding the truth that their child had died, and Madelyn pleaded for him to save Teddy.
• Madelyn claimed she loved Homelander and offered Teddy as a son, but Homelander rejected her after realizing she was still lying.
• Homelander threw Teddy onto the sofa, then killed Madelyn with a supersonic strike to her neck.
• Butcher pressed the detonator, and the C4 exploded, engulfing the living room in flames.

After Homelander rescued Butcher from the explosion that killed Madelyn, Lucian contacted Hughie with news that Kimiko’s brother Kenji was alive. Hughie and Kimiko met Lucian at the motel, while Mother's Milk remained suspicious of the meeting.

• Homelander carried the injured Butcher away from Madelyn’s destroyed villa, seeking the truth about his son.
• Lucian asked Hughie whether Kimiko was with the group and told him that Vought’s files showed Kenji was alive and in military custody.
• Hughie told Kimiko about Kenji, and she grabbed him in shock before Mother's Milk warned them that Lucian’s invitation could be a trap.
• Kimiko decided to go with Hughie, and Mother's Milk told them to stay alert and call if anything went wrong.
• Lucian watched Hughie and Kimiko arrive at the motel, then greeted them outside.