章 6: Chapter 6 : Heat ray - here you go!
"Cough-cough-cough—" Queen Maeve painfully pushed herself up off the ground, glaring at Jonny Blaze with a mixture of fear and anger.
"Don't say that name if you don't want to lose everything!" Maeve growled, her eyes filled with warning.
Jonny looked at her, amused by her fear. "Interesting. Your eyes tell me you're afraid."
"But it's not that you're afraid I'll hurt her or use her against you. No, your real fear is that someone else might hear her name."
"Tsk tsk… how pathetic."
The name "Irina" was nothing special in itself. What made it significant was her identity—Queen Maeve's ex-girlfriend.
Yes, ex-girlfriend.
Queen Maeve couldn't let anyone know about their relationship. It would destroy the image carefully crafted by Vought International, and she especially couldn't let Homelander find out about Irina.
Though her brief, manufactured romance with Homelander had ended long ago, Maeve knew how violent and vengeful Homelander could be. If he found out about Irina, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her—and perhaps Maeve as well.
How tragic it was that a famous superhero, adored by millions, couldn't even protect her ex-girlfriend.
But was it truly tragic?
No.
It wasn't tragic at all.
"Tragic? Hmph, if you ever face Homelander, you'll understand how small and meaningless courage becomes in front of him," Maeve sneered. "Everyone bows to him. You won't be an exception."
There was no denying Homelander's strength. He was terrifying, far more dangerous than anyone could imagine. Maeve feared him. The rest of the Seven feared him. Even the staff who served him feared him.
Jonny Blaze should fear him too.
In Maeve's mind, Homelander was what Superman would be like if he had no restraint. Clark Kent's self-imposed limitations, his humble life as a human, were a joke. Homelander represented the true nature of a superhuman in society—one who took what he wanted and crushed anyone who stood in his way.
Jonny, however, had different plans. He agreed with Queen Maeve about Homelander's power—when the man of steel would kneel before him.
"What do you want?" Queen Maeve finally asked, resigning herself to the situation. She couldn't risk Irina's life.
Jonny's lips curled into an arrogant smirk. Initially, he had planned to manipulate Maeve into informing him when the Seven were going on missions so he could pick them off one by one, collecting their powers quietly.
But now he had a different idea.
He wanted to see Homelander kneel before him.
"Can you contact Homelander?" Jonny asked, his tone calm and controlled.
Maeve's unease deepened. Gritting her teeth, she snapped, "Whatever you want, whatever you're planning, I'll do it. Just don't make things worse!"
Suddenly, with a loud crash, the ceiling of the abandoned factory caved in. A figure descended, the American flag on his cape fluttering in the air. Homelander landed gracefully, brushing the invisible dust from his shoulders, his face expressionless.
"Translucent told me you were in trouble, but now—" Homelander's voice was cold, devoid of any emotion. "Now I'm curious. What would make things worse if I found out?"
His voice was like a blade, sharp and cutting, and his icy stare seemed to pierce through everything, freezing Maeve in place. Under Homelander's gaze, it felt like even her heart was too terrified to beat. The fear rising from her very core overwhelmed her, painting vivid pictures of what might happen if Homelander learned about Irina.
Maeve couldn't speak. Her brain had shut down under the weight of fear. All she could think about was Irina's fate—how she could be killed by Homelander because of her.
"She won't talk, but maybe you will," Homelander said, turning his gaze to Jonny Blaze. There was an unmistakable sense of superiority in his tone, as if he saw Jonny as nothing more than an insect.
But Jonny was unfazed. He stared back at Homelander and smirked. "The daffodils aren't blooming—so why are you acting so high and mighty?"
Queen Maeve's eyes widened in disbelief. Was Jonny insane? How could he speak to Homelander like that? Was he not afraid of dying? Did he not know fear?
If she had asked, Jonny would have told her: the best way to conquer fear is to face it head-on.
Homelander's eyes, usually cold and indifferent, began to glow red as his fury grew.
Heat vision.
"I think you're begging for death," Homelander said, his voice icy, though his eyes burned with rage. Pure ice and fire.
But instead of backing down, Jonny sneered. "You think I should be afraid. You think I should be trembling. But all you do is think. You think too much, and I don't care."
"Zzzip!"
Homelander unleashed his heat vision, the crimson beams shooting forth with terrifying speed.
"Ding!"
"Combat detected, drop reward: Heat Vision (Homelander)."
Homelander's heat vision was strong—but not as strong as Superman's. It couldn't even penetrate a well-defended target like Stormfront, much less someone like Jonny, who had been steadily increasing his defense. If he had only just obtained his new defensive powers, Jonny might have opted to take the blast head-on. But now? He had a better idea.
As the heat vision was about to strike, Jonny activated dimensional teleportation. In an instant, he disappeared, and Homelander's beams pierced through the wall, causing the factory to partially collapse.
Homelander's eyes scanned the room, desperate to locate Jonny.
"Where is he?"
Homelander's frustration was evident. But just then, a familiar sizzling sound caught his attention.
He spun around, and his eyes widened in shock. There, staring back at him, was Jonny Blaze—his own red eyes glowing with the same heat vision.
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
Homelander had no time to react before Jonny's heat vision blasted him, causing him to stumble backward.
Though the attack didn't injure Homelander, it did something far worse—it humiliated him. His narrow-minded, egotistical nature couldn't handle the idea that someone else had the same ability as him.
"You're dead," Homelander growled, his face cold as ice. He fired another blast of heat vision straight at Jonny.
Jonny responded in kind, unleashing his own heat vision.
"Boom!"
The two identical beams collided in midair, crackling with fiery energy. The light was blinding, and the heat scorched the air around them.
For the moment, they were evenly matched.
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