Homelander's heart sank. Suppressing his confusion over the ringtone, he answered the phone.
Soldier Boy's deep, powerful voice rang out. "Kid, I watched your speech."
"Really?" Homelander sounded listless. "I screwed it up. Sorry. Vought's probably going to lose a lot of money again."
But then, a second later-
"That was fucking awesome, kid!" Soldier Boy roared with laughter on the other end.
Homelander froze, then incredulously held the phone in front of him. After confirming that the caller really was Soldier Boy, he asked:
"Wait, what do you mean?"
Vought's shareholders and board members had long since stopped participating in the company's internal decisions. As far as he knew, Vought was effectively under Soldier Boy's control now.
And his speech would undoubtedly cause Vought a lot of trouble. So he had instinctively assumed Soldier Boy was calling to take him to task.
"Huh? Exactly what I said. I knew you weren't some pussy who could only apologize. I admit it, you inherited my tough-guy blood."
Soldier Boy sounded very pleased.
Homelander paused, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"It was nothing, really. I just said what was on my mind." Homelander thought for a moment, then added:
"Not a single word of that speech came from the script Ashley prepared. It was all what I wanted to say."
Soldier Boy's voice came through again. "I know. That chickenshit Ashley couldn't come up with anything that arrogant."
"Anyway, you did great this time. Don't let it weigh on you. Trust me, everyone will like the real you."
Homelander felt considerably better. "Really? Actually, it doesn't matter. Where are you? It's been ages since the three of us-grandfather, father, and son-had a meal together."
There was a moment of silence on the other end before Soldier Boy said, "I've got