First meeting with Homelander

Vought Tower, 99th floor.

The Seven's private conference room.

Bang!!!

Ashley shoved the conference room door open.

"Something's happened!!"

Inside the conference room.

Homelander was sunk into the sofa, his dark blue superhero uniform without a single wrinkle.

He leaned sideways against Madelyn's chest, his expression twitching.

Madelyn's face betrayed nothing beyond a barely perceptible trace of impatience and distaste. She knew full well that this was the only way to keep Vought International's biggest attraction, its most essential cash cow, under control.

Homelander was the first to react to the noise.

Whoosh-

Ashley Barrett's vision blurred for a moment, and Homelander was already standing before her, his brow slightly furrowed but his signature smile on his face.

In his embarrassment, he had used his super speed. "Ashley, you're like a baboon in heat."

Ashley's face was deathly pale. She stared nervously at Homelander and handed him the tablet, her heart rate already at 160 beats per minute.

But Homelander didn't look at the tablet. "Oh, your heart's beating so fast. Did you see something?"

His voice was soft and gentle, his smile so perfect it seemed to have come from a template.

He looked as though he were speaking to a girlfriend in the throes of new love.

But the more he acted this way, the more frightened Ashley Barrett became. She felt as though she was going to die.

Rule one of Homelander horror stories-if Homelander suddenly became very gentle, his eyes were about to glow.

Even though Ashley Barrett hadn't seen anything, her whole body went rigid with fear, trembling uncontrollably.

"You'd better look at this first." She used every ounce of strength to force the words through her teeth.

Homelander casually glanced at the information on the tablet.

The next second.

He froze.

On the screen, a tall, handsome man was walking out of the airport.

Even through the blurry footage, that face remained utterly familiar to him.

Silence hung in the air for several seconds, and Homelander's pupils contracted slightly.

Madelyn straightened her clothes and walked over at an unhurried pace, not taking Ashley Barrett's sudden intrusion seriously at all.

Ashley's voice trembled. "It's Soldier Boy. There are a lot of eyewitnesses."

She didn't dare continue, because something was clearly wrong with Homelander.

His breathing was rapid, and shock, an expression that had almost never appeared on his face, was vividly apparent, mixed with a trace of panic.

"That's impossible."

Homelander stared fixedly at the image as though trying to see through the screen.

Of course he recognized the face on the screen. As he was a test subject, Vought International had needed to establish a personality template for him.

As the previous generation's most successful product, Soldier Boy had naturally permeated his entire childhood.

Homelander swallowed.

An emotion he had never felt before slowly rose from deep within him.

Excitement, anticipation, nervousness, and a fear even he refused to admit.

To Little John, Soldier Boy was a legend he had never met. For a child who had grown up watching that legend, suddenly discovering he was still alive and had appeared in public was an even greater jolt than Madelyn's soothing.

But at the same time, he was afraid-afraid this legend from a bygone era would threaten his position and replace his unique value to Vought International.

Homelander let out a heavy breath and asked quietly, feigning nonchalance:

"Where is he now?"

Ashley hurriedly answered, "He should have just left the airport. Our people are already on their way."

"No." Homelander interrupted her, slowly breaking into a smile.

"I'll go myself."

Only, no matter how one looked at it, that smile seemed rather stiff.

"It's really him?" Madelyn felt her throat tighten and grabbed Homelander's arm.

"We can't rule out a shapeshifting supe impersonating him. Don't act rashly. The real Soldier Boy is very powerful."

"Ashley Barrett, call a meeting..."

At those words, Homelander couldn't even maintain his stiff smile.

To his ears, that sentence automatically translated into: Soldier Boy is stronger than you. You can't handle him.

A right hand wearing the signature red glove rose into the air.

Homelander forcibly pulled the corners of his mouth upward into a somewhat savage-looking fake smile.

"I'm the strongest. There's nothing I can't handle."

His eyes held a madness that demanded he prove himself. Ignoring Madelyn's advice, he walked to the window.

"I'm the one true god."

With that, he turned his feet inward in an outrageously flamboyant pose and took off from where he stood, smashing through the glass.

Manhattan's lights illuminated the extravagance and decadence of the entire city.

Soldier Boy stood in the street, a freshly stolen cigar between his lips, slowly exhaling smoke.

Decades had passed, and New York was even more ostentatious than he remembered. The streets were full of his "sons' generation."

Superhero endorsements played on a loop across giant advertising screens.

Homelander had the most endorsements, always wearing that standard smile.

A-Train endorsed sports drinks, while The Deep held a dolphin to promote environmental protection.

"Fuck..." Soldier Boy stared up for a long while before laughing despite himself. "How'd The Deep get his girlfriend up there?"

[Ding.]

"Shut up."

[...]

The Old Popsicle System fell silent for a while.

[Fine, I wasn't all that eager to tell you Homelander was coming anyway.]

[Also, you're really putting on an act.]

Suddenly.

The air vibrated, and tiny stones on the ground bounced wildly.

Screams suddenly rang out in the distance.

"Look up there! What's that!"

"Homelander!!!"

"Oh my God!! It's Homelander!!"

The other side of the street instantly erupted into commotion. Countless pedestrians began raising their phones, some so excited their faces flushed red.

Soldier Boy slowly turned his head. He had deliberately caused a sensation at the airport for precisely this moment.

The next second.

Boom!!!

A sonic boom tore through the air.

A red-and-blue figure plummeted from high above, his cape whipping wildly.

Homelander landed steadily, the powerful gust of air forcing everyone around him to squeeze their eyes shut.

"Aaaah!!!"

The dumbass youths on the streets of New York went completely wild, camera flashes merging into a sea of light. Homelander stood in the middle of the crowd, wearing a perfect smile as he gave a small wave.

"Good evening, everyone."

Gentle, rich and resonant, inspiring an overwhelming sense of security, like a true god.

The warmth of their welcome thoroughly satisfied his vanity, especially in front of his "predecessor."

This was Homelander's first experience of such an unusual "divine manifestation."

But only Soldier Boy knew what lurked beneath that smile.

Homelander confidently turned his head, his gaze quickly passing over the crowd to settle on that man.

He had rehearsed that turn of his head many times high in the sky.

Their gazes truly met for the first time, and for an instant, the air fell silent.

The smile on Homelander's face didn't change, but his pupils contracted slightly.

The resemblance! Even stronger than in the video. That one-of-a-kind national-treasure face, those blue eyes identical to his own-exactly like the old photographs in Vought's files.

And that presence, which couldn't be faked.

Most importantly, the look in his eyes, as though everyone he looked at was a dumbfuck.

Soldier Boy was also looking Homelander up and down.

The skintight uniform, the red cape-that was the look! Classic!

Soldier Boy was silent for two seconds, then said with a smile, "That outfit makes you look as flamboyant as a gay guy dressed up as a hot older woman."

The smile Homelander had rehearsed countless times froze. His brain seemed unable to process such bizarre, thunderous language.

The entire crowd fell deathly silent.

The air seemed to freeze.