I'm a Homelander

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Concentrating on taking one step at a time, I carefully stopped so that my left foot landed about fifteen centimetres from the start of the path. And leaning over, I let go of the ball on the last step as it moved past my ankle. The ball rolled down the track while I concentrated on the result of the throw and subsequently sighed disappointedly.

- Not a bad throw. - Annie smiled, patting me on the back encouragingly.

- What? Really? - I replied sarcastically, looking at the perfectly intact pins.

- Yeah, for eight frames, not knocking down a single pin... that's quite an effort. - The blonde's smile turned wry and she immediately laughed, holding her stomach.

- And anyway, it's not my fault that the ball is too light," he snorted, taking the ball in his hands and tossing it into the air with ease, as if it were some kind of ball. - Should I order one made of platinum?

- Iridium would be better for sure," Annie grinned. - It might be radioactive, but it wouldn't hurt Homelander.

- And Homelander is more concerned that it might hurt Starlight. So we'll stick with platinum," he smiled, putting his arm around the girl. - Bowling definitely doesn't suit me.

- Well, I thought so too, until I spent months learning it," Annie smiled, kissing me softly on the lips and then pulling away. - I even entered some tournaments, but didn't have much success.

With these words she took my ball and with relaxed steps reached the lane and released it. The ball rolled in a straight line and eventually knocked down all the pins except one, on the very edge. The girl did not react to this and took another ball in her hands.

- That's why I didn't succeed in it, - Annie shrugged her shoulders and with another throw finally destroyed her opponent, which was yours truly.

Rest in the company of a beautiful girl was definitely good for me. Somehow I forgot all these intrigues and plans to get leverage on me Edgar. And it wasn't even worth talking about the various events I was "required" to attend. I felt like I was going to be sick to death at the mention of photo shoots for milk adverts. My not-so-glowing thoughts were interrupted by the ringing tone of Annie's phone.

- It's Ashley. - The girl sighed, looking at the screen.

- You can answer it.

- Hi, Ashley. - She nodded and picked up the phone.

I stared at the skittles in the distance, slowly drifting into my own thoughts. Something had to be done about Butcher. The man was not afraid of me at all, but rather was in a fierce rage, looking at me. A man like that won't stop there.... unless it's to show that the reason he's doing it is a lie.

Butcher has a grudge against me because of Rebecca's disappearance, and it's possible he blames me for it. So show him that she's alive and well, and he'll lose his motivation to go after the supers. Except I had no desire to do that. For the last week, they've been staking out one of the locations where they've been shipping the V drug. And frankly, it'd be better if they declassified the place.

I've already had a talk with Train-A about stopping the supply of the drug to the side, or rather to terrorist organisations. I couldn't let that continue because I didn't need a fucking contract with the military, unlike Homelander. I didn't want the terrorists to have supers. Luckily, they only got about twenty of the drugs. It's a shame I can't fly in and take them by force, since that's out of my jurisdiction. It would make such a fuss, it would be better to blow up the White House. I'm exaggerating, of course.

- I'm sorry, but I have to go. - Annie sighed, interrupting my musings.

- Do you need a lift? - I smiled, shifting my gaze to her.

- Well, I don't mind. - She smiled back.

- Linda, the bill, please. - Turned to the waitress.

- And how do you always remember their names? - Annie asked in surprise.

- Just a good memory. - I bragged, paying for the food.

We left the place and headed for the alley, so as not to attract attention. But it turned out to be quite the opposite.

- Come on, get the dough! - An African-American man came up to us with a knife.

Annie and I automatically looked at each other, both of us finding the situation amusing. I shook my head at the girl's mute question and looked at the guy.

- 'Put the knife down, lad. You don't want any trouble, do you? - I asked him politely, to which he only got angry.

- I'm gonna fucking stab you! - He exclaimed, not at all alarmed by our calmness.

- You leave me no choice. - I sighed and grabbed his hand with the knife.

The guy stared at it in shock, feeling my steel grip on his wrist. A second and I let him go, wrestling the kitchen knife away.

- I suggest you get a job, it'll be less stressful. - I looked at him with pity and bent the knife with my fingers before his eyes.

- Good God! - The shocked thief shouted and ran away from us.

- Aren't you being a bit harsh on him? - Annie snorted, watching the spectacle with interest.

- It's just right for him. - He smiled, picking up the girl in his arms like a princess.

Slowly he soared into the sky so that he could fly to the Vaught Tower without making too much noise. It's amazing how few people look up. People are more likely to look down or at the road, or even more often at a smartphone screen. So the daytime flying supers without suits were not noticed by anyone, and flew to their destination unimpeded.

Soon after, we split up, and I got a text from Madeline. Oblivious to my appearance, I entered the lift, going up to the correct floor. At one point it stopped and the doors opened, revealing Queen Maeve in all her glory. She glanced at me and stepped inside, not seeming to recognise me as a Homelander at all, and then glanced at the buttons before turning to her smartphone.

- ... - I had nothing to say. If Maeve couldn't recognise me, Madeline couldn't.

The lift opened on the right floor and Maeve got out first, apparently heading for the meeting room. I followed her, which she couldn't help but notice, but I decided not to let it show. Our boss was already waiting at the entrance, typing something on her tablet.

- Why are you here? - Maeve asked, drawing attention to herself.

- You're finally here, and where's...? Homelander? - The woman looked at me, squinting her eyes.

- Homelander? - Maeve stared at me in shock.

- What, I'm not allowed to dress like a normal person now? - I hummed, taking off my glasses. - Why did you call me, Madeline? Is it something urgent?

- Yes. Yes, it's very urgent," the woman nodded, pulling herself together. - Seven minutes ago, a plane from Paris to Chicago was hijacked in mid-air, over the ocean.

- So seven minutes ago.

- We've got people there.

- How many hijackers? - Mave decided to ask her.

- Looks like three.

- I mean, maybe three. - Corrected the woman.

- Leave us alone, please. - Asked Stillwell, shooing people out of the meeting hall.

- International water. - Hummed, seeing on the screen the place where the plane was now.

- Yes, if you intervene, no one will mind," the woman smiled, looking at us. - If you bring back all the passengers alive, no congressman will vote against our bill.

- 'I see,' I nodded, staring gloomily at the fat dot on the screen.

- Get changed, and hurry up," the woman smiled. - Every second counts, you'll be briefed right away.

Stillwell sent an aide to fetch my suit while we were explained how to deal with this situation in a way that would avoid casualties. Essentially it was simple. Open the door of the plane, and then close it to prevent depressurisation. Then disarm the terrorists as quickly as possible and preferably leave at least one pilot alive. That's it.

We got to it the second I put on the suit. Grabbed Maeve by the waist and flew at full speed towards the plane. Opening the door of the plane, as expected, was no problem. Strength wasn't a problem, it was just a matter of making sure the door didn't break under the strain.

Having pushed Maeve inside, I watched the professional mowing down of terrorists without unnecessary blood and decided not to disturb the girl. The first one in her path she threw out the exit while the door was still open. She broke the second one's neck and gave the third one a concussion with a blow to the head. And it looked pretty spectacular, let me tell you, and fast.

- It's gonna be okay. - She started a dialogue with the passengers while I had to close the door behind me.

- Homelander! - The girl shouted when she saw me.

The other passengers noticed me too, and began to applaud me. But I wasn't interested. Well, so far, one of the pilots was alive. The bad news was that the other one had a gun to his head. And Maeve couldn't see it through the closed door, but I could.

A moment, and I smashed my body through the frankly flimsy door, immediately pulling the muzzle of the gun away from the dead pilot, just in case. Another moment to take the gun away, and my fingers clench around the terrorist's neck. A death rattle, followed by the crunching of the hapless hijacker's life. My first murder, and somehow I don't care.

- Sir, are you all right? - I ask the pilot, who looks at me in shock.

- Yeah, I'm fine. - He nodded, then looked at the corpse of his partner.

- Can you continue the flight?- The plane is on autopilot," the man replied, glancing at the co-pilot again. - I don't feel so good.

- Homelander? - Maeve called out to me, but was ignored.

- You can go to the bathroom," I patted the pilot on the back in a supportive gesture. Waiting for him to come out, I looked at the heroine. - What?

- What's wrong? - Maeve frowned. - You're usually more calm.

- Maeve, we almost lost the plane along with hundreds of passengers. Do you think I should be calm in this situation? - I sighed, looking at the bodies. - We've got to move them somewhere. The pilot didn't like the view.

- Okay, where?

- Somewhere far away, we've got four hours to go. I don't like the smell of corpses and shit. - I cringed, and the girl agreed with me.

Luckily, there was a hatch in the cockpit that led to the baggage compartment. That guaranteed no foul odour and a quite comfortable flight for the two unexpected passengers, we were even assigned two seats next to each other. All that was left was to wait for boarding and probably sign autographs for a hundred people. What could be easier than that?

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