I'm a Homelander

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The results of my initiative were already visible in a couple of hours, as expected. The interviews were all talk of strength, of the capabilities of female supers and actively denied the effect of gender on a person's strength. I generously squeezed out a few compliments and praised Stormfront for the resilience she showed. I even had to compare her to Maeve, which was a great exaggeration. Just so long as my redheaded bestie didn't bring it up to me.

Next up was the announcement of a film called Dawn of the Seven, though we hadn't even read the script yet. But Stillwell insisted on it, to shift fans' attention from Scandal to something new and exciting. We'll see what that exciting thing is by reading the script, which will be provided to us soon. That's when Train-A, which seems to have come to its senses, will be present. But something tells me I'm unlikely to like the initial management-approved script. The emphasis on Stormfront being female was too suspiciously emphasised during the interview.

- What are we waiting for? - I was interrupted by the one responsible for these thoughts.

- To be picked up a dusty task, with which we will quickly manage and go about our business. - Phlegmatically answered her question, continuing to look at the city through the panoramic window in the meeting room.

Yes, things didn't end with just interviews and official articles on news sites. Now a thorough "coupling" of our alter egos was needed, so that one couldn't hit one without hurting the other. This was one of the temporary solutions in this situation, to stop the outrage of those thousands of activists who shout the loudest on the Internet. And then the same scheme will be used against almost all members of the Seven to dilute the effect. Or they might start seeing us as a couple, which I don't really want to do, given the strong possibility that I'll have to kick her off the team. She's too suspicious.

- Do you always stand around like this, waiting to fly out at just the right moment? - The new girl asked, swaying in her chair and looking at my back.

- That's a stupid question, Stormfront," I snorted, turning to face her. - If you haven't shaken your brains out after my slap, you should realise that there aren't enough heroes for everyone anyway. There are dozens of them in the whole city, and they need to be reminded of themselves too.

- What's the point of this? - She smiled awkwardly under my gaze, though in fact she was completely calm.

She reminded me of Edgar in that way, a sense of experience that a twenty-six-year-old girl shouldn't have. And it wasn't self-confidence or maximalism. No, it was the kind of observation she displayed that said otherwise. That's why I was so suspicious of her. I'd better check her background and see who I'd brought on board.

- The point is that the Seven are not just some average super who has to appear in front of the cameras so they don't get forgotten. On the contrary, we need to appear less often so that we don't get boring and get the well-deserved rapture from the gawkers who are lucky enough to meet us.

- But it doesn't work that way," the woman frowned, seeming not to understand my argument. - We have to do everything we can to be remembered.

- Do you walk through Times Square often? - I asked, to which she immediately nodded. - How many screens do you think there are advertising Vought products? The simple answer is half. And that half is filled with members of our team advertising something. That's not mentioning products, various newfangled technologies, even games. Like the same Apple products that Train-A advertised.

- "Apple-Train?" - Stormfront asked with a chuckle.

- That's right. It's a ridiculous name, but it's a good one," I said with a chuckle. - That's why such frequent outings are unnecessary for us, as the whole world knows us without them. It's like trying to publicise the president of America, whose fame is guaranteed without it.

- Interesting comparison. - Stormfront said, expressing a slight disbelief with the tone of her voice.

At her words I only hummed and turned to the window again. Yes, that's an interesting comparison, considering that the Seven have had three presidents in their existence. It's better to compare our team to the Queen of Britain, which is more appropriate, considering how many years she's been in office. I even feel sorry for the prince, who still holds the title while being an old man.

While I was thinking on distracted topics, the search for a suitable incident finally ended. The balcony on the floor that was specially designed for such sorties was just right. And gave me a taste of just how good Stormfront was at using her abilities. The lightning bolts from her arms pushed her body out with a powerful jolt, giving her the ability to fly. It was reminiscent of how Starlight had learnt to fly.

Only unlike her, Stormfront didn't need to be near electrical devices, as she generated the lightning bolts herself. And she learnt to fly very well, almost at my speed, inside the city. So we were able to get to the bank that had been raided for obvious reasons in no time at all. It was a small branch of a bank that had been raided by five masked men just a couple of minutes ago.

The question that may arise here is: Why were we informed of this at such short notice when even the police had not had time to get there? The answer is quite simple and ingenious. Wout had individual contracts with banks, for advertising. This approach gave Vought a timely response to such incidents, as the alarm reached their service on a par with the police. All I had to do was study the situation and act.

- Come on, Grandad! - No sooner had we landed than Stormfront flew inside the bank without ceremony and began showering the four robbers with her lightning bolts, pushing them a couple of metres away.

Except that the fifth, who was hiding behind a pillar, came out at her with a gun. At which Stormfront even froze, not believing such carelessness of the criminal. I also grinned condescendingly. The vast majority of supers are at least bulletproof, even Starlight, despite her innocent and fragile appearance. So I just shook my head and flew after my forced partner, landing just outside the door.

But instead of the expected shots in the direction of the heroine, the man with a grin let the gun out of his hands and straining his whole body, made a movement as if he was pushing out something heavy with his chest. My bewilderment at the criminal's behaviour faded away when I noticed a transparent clot that reached the heroine, who had not expected such a thing, at the speed of a bullet. What to say, if even I was, to put it mildly, in shock. In front of my eyes Stormfront's body broke through the wall of the bank and stopped only at the neighbouring building, stuck in the wall like a fly, which was suddenly hit with a fly swatter.

Next thing I knew, my immense surprise was quickly replaced by concentration when I spotted the second salvo being prepared. My body rose only an inch into the air, only to find myself right in front of the super-villain in the blink of an eye. The fist strike came right on the top of his head, literally knocking the criminal to the floor with his face. The head of course went in easily, stopping only when it was ten centimetres in, no less. Even the bent rebar was visible. Well, to my eyes, it was. That said, it was clear that the super had lost consciousness, but hadn't really sustained critical damage. At least his heart was beating, which told me that he'd be coming round soon. Only that wouldn't bother me anymore, since he would no longer be my problem.

- Homelander!!! - Shouted someone from the bank and started clapping, which the others had already picked up on, showering me with their applause. - You're the best!!!

Well, I had to wave with a smile to the unwitting spectators of my feat, not forgetting the remaining four criminals. That helped me to stop the attempt to raise the gun, I just had to burn the hand of the recovered criminal through. But directing heat vision at firearms was simply not worth it, unless you wanted to be surprised by the bullets inside. Homelander knew this, too, and often let criminals spend the entire clip on themselves before melting the weapon in their hands with his heat vision. He could have been more humane, but as far as I could tell he just liked the heart-rending screams of the men at that moment.

Once again, the unexpected happened. For instead of pulling his hand away, this criminal got up with a growl and ran at me, not noticing the burns that appeared on his masked face. Then I had no difficulty in catching his hand, with which he was about to strike me in the face. Then the second fist was in my hands, which limited the manoeuvres of my opponent, who also turned out to be a super. This was clearly shown by the burns that disappeared from his face right before my eyes, leaving only the melted parts of the rubber mask. It seems that his enhanced regeneration helped him to recover quickly from Stormfront's lightning, but he had no strength as such. Which explained the attempt to grab the gun, he either wanted to take someone hostage or kill at least a couple of people. Either one of those two. Figuring out the logic of terrorists is hard, especially if they planned your appearance.

- AAH!!! - Screamed in my face this inadequate super and tried to turn my balls into something completely unsightly with his kicks.

But who's gonna let him do that? Certainly not me. It was with those thoughts in mind that I kicked and broke his leg, and then the other one. The scream turned into a pitiful wail that got on my nerves. Putting a super with regeneration to sleep is hard enough without a special gas at hand. So I'll have to make do with the means at hand. Sighing, I let go of his arms, causing him to fall to the ground, whimpering over his injured legs.

The people around me fell silent, eyeing me warily. Several people were already filming my actions on their smartphone cameras, most likely intending to upload the video to the Internet in the future. That's all I needed.

- Citizens, there is no need to panic. This man is a super-villain and will recover in just a couple of minutes. Don't take it personally, people like him don't deserve your pity. - I told them in a confident tone, and in response I saw timid nods and understanding in people's eyes. It was good that there were no children around, or the crying of children in the background would not have added to my confidence.

- Did I miss something? - Asked Stormfront, who had finally returned to the bank, after all the fuss.

It's hard to blame her, though, since it all happened in less than two minutes. Except she was late anyway and hadn't calculated the situation before, which would have avoided the material costs of a broken wall and floor. She didn't look too presentable after meeting two walls at once, which was her own fault. Chuckling at her question, he took the whimpering super-villain by the jacket and simply dragged her towards the exit.

- Don't yawn, baby. - He grinned as he walked past her. I didn't even turn round to look at the outraged face of the arrogant upstart. I could feel that burning stare in his back.

Yeah, it's been a busy day. Two super-villains, who usually can only be found in their territory, are now in my city. That's very bad news. And with two of them here, we can't rule out a few more. What kind of day is this? The mood is ruined, you bastards.

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