"No one can stop me!"
Homelander clenched his fists, glaring at the video playing on the glowing screen.
'No matter what happens, I am the greatest superhero!'
All the glory and praise—no one had the right to take that from him.
"If you didn't like the old me… then I'll show you the real me!"
With a furious roar, Homelander took off into the sky, soaring over the heads of countless protesters below.
The future video continued, but the perspective shifted—to Hughie and Annie, who were meeting in a park.
From the moment she saw him, Annie went straight to the point, confronting Hughie: Did he kill Translucent? Was everything between them—dating, even sleeping together—just a means to use her?
Hughie was speechless.
While he did genuinely like her, his actions clearly painted him as a manipulative jerk.
Annie was heartbroken, but unlike an emotionally fragile teen, she didn't cry or fall apart. Instead, she grabbed Hughie's arm and told him to turn himself in.
Watching this from outside the screen, Billy couldn't help but laugh. Deadpool, naturally, laughed even louder.
"Turn yourself in? Oh come on, sweetheart! That's adorable. You're just trying to get revenge on Hughie, right?"
Annie felt incredibly awkward—not just from seeing her future relationship with Hughie fall apart, but also from her own naïve idealism.
From the outside, it was obvious how dark and corrupt Vought was. Turning oneself in to them was practically a death sentence.
But in the moment—young and idealistic—Annie genuinely believed in the law. She smacked her forehead and muttered under her breath, "No, I wasn't trying to get revenge. I just… thought we should believe in the law…"
Deadpool howled with laughter.
Doctor Strange, however, stepped in to defuse the tension. "Her belief may be naïve—but she's not wrong. The fault isn't hers. It's the world's, for creating laws… only to trample them."
Butcher shrugged. "It's the same everywhere. Even without superhumans, the law gets trampled on all the time. The law has loopholes—it creates gray areas. And for the powerful, the law is just a tool to keep control. Why would they ever be constrained by it?"
Stephen Strange gave a slight smile. "You're right. And that's exactly why superheroes—true heroes—should exist to fill the gaps outside the law, to uphold justice and morality where the law fails. Don't you agree?"
Deadpool gave a low whistle. "Damn, Doctor Strange. That was some fine preaching. You're giving off serious Batman-and-Baldy vibes. I bet they'd love that speech."
While they chatted, a gunshot suddenly rang out in the video.
Hughie had just revealed the truth about Compound V to Annie, shocking her deeply. And just then—she got shot.
The shooter?
Billy Butcher.
Yes—that guy came to rescue them and decided to open fire instead.
Sure, the couple was having a heated argument, but shooting someone? That's some extreme conflict resolution.
Fortunately, Annie's superhuman physiology kept her alive. Though wounded, she remained conscious. Hughie was clearly worried, but Butcher dragged him away regardless.
Watching this unfold, Annie glared daggers at Butcher, and even Hughie looked appalled.
But Butcher shrugged it off. "Kid, if I hadn't stepped in, that starry-eyed girl would've gotten you killed. You're welcome."
Deadpool folded his arms. "Now I get why you lost your wife. You totally deserved it, pal."
Butcher just smirked, unwilling to dignify that with a response.
Back in the video, the focus shifted again—this time to Homelander.
He had just taken out a superpowered terrorist and returned triumphantly… with a vial of Compound V in hand.
The implication was clear: the government wasn't stupid. The Secretary of State personally confronted Vought.
But Madelyn Stillwell, poised and composed, replied coolly to the Secretary's accusations:
"How the enemy got Compound V doesn't matter. What matters is—they have it. And that means more supervillains are on the way… There's only one company capable of stopping them—and that's my company. My products."
It was a bold play.
Vought had masterfully manipulated the situation—using chaos to force the government onto their side, effectively neutralizing the threat posed by Butcher's crew.
As a result, Butcher and his team were now in serious trouble.
Deputy Director Susan Raynor delivered the bad news: They were officially fugitives.
Everyone knew those "supervillains" were Vought's creation. But the government had chosen to compromise. No one dared release the truth. The "truth" was simply whatever the powerful wanted the people to see.
Still, Susan promised to keep their families safe. But as for Butcher and his crew? They were on their own now.
Of course, Butcher had no intention of giving up. They were going to keep fighting.
Meanwhile, Annie returned home, haunted by what she had learned about Compound V. She confronted her mother—demanding to know if she had been a lab rat for Vought.
Under pressure, her mother finally admitted it.
When Annie was just a baby, she took Vought's money and voluntarily enrolled her daughter in the Compound V program.
That's how Annie gained her powers.
Her father had been devastated by the decision. The constant lies they had to feed their daughter were too much. Eventually, he divorced and left.
Outside the video, Annie stood in stunned silence—mirroring the devastated future version of herself on screen.
The other players couldn't help but look at her with sympathy. Her life had been truly tragic.
Sold out by her own mother… and raised in a house built on lies.
And yet—despite that broken childhood, she still grew up holding onto dreams of saving the world.
That made her all the more admirable.
Back in the footage, Hughie eventually reconnected with Annie. After everything they'd been through, she had grown more mature—and the two slowly began to rebuild their relationship.
At the same time, Butcher brought them to meet his former boss—CIA Director Mallory, the one who had first assigned him to investigate Vought.
Mallory had since retired—traumatized after losing her grandchildren during her pursuit of the Seven. Disillusioned and heartbroken, she had withdrawn from the world, no longer interested in chasing old ghosts.
_____
T/N:
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