Chapter 1

"Where am I? Where is this place? What happened to me?" was what I wanted to ask, but all that came out of my mouth is weird sounds.

I tried moving but for some reason, I couldn't even lift my hand properly. It took all my strength just to lift it. I lifted my hand when it came into my field of vision, I found baby hands.

"Did I drink too much?" I thought, but it felt too real to think that I was hallucinating. Then a few men with lab coats came into my field of vision and I heard one man said "Do you think it will work? The change might be too much for the little body to handle."

"Don't look at me. I was part of the testing group who were experimenting on grown men. I have seen many people bleed from all holes and die. I can't even imagine what might happen to him. We also can't escape from this place. It is better if we don't thinking about all these and do our job for our families." the other man in the lab coat said.

'What are these idiots talking about? Am I really a baby now? Isn't this the common plot of Chinese fictions and fanfictions? I remember leaving the bar drunk and heading home. Did someone kidnap me and are now experimenting on me with some kind of drug? Or, is this some simulation virtual reality they put me in?' my mind started coming up with bizzare reasons for what I was going through.

Then, a brown man caught my eye. He asked those men in lab coats "What's taking you guys so long, just to inject one subject with compound V?"

The scientists stuttered and said "We were just making sure all his readings were good before we proceed."

They then picked up a needle from a tray, which was attached to a pipe. They inserted it into my hand and I immediately felt pain I couldn't handle, which was weird because I wasn't scared of needles before.

I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. I could only cry, as the burning sensation was felt all over my body and just kept intensifying. A few moments later, I was stabbed with another needle and I lost consciousness after that.

I didn't know how long I was unconscious, but one thing I knew for sure is that, the pain I felt isn't something that can be felt in a dream. This should be true.

I tried looking around and tried to move, but the needles were still stuck to my hand and didn't let me move. I then saw a middle-aged man in a lab coat, lean over to me and check my eyes and mouth.

He noted down something and turned to his side. He asked "He shows signs that the Compound V worked. Did he display any powers?"

"No Dr. Vogelbaum, he woke up a few moments ago, but he hasn't showed any signs of powers while unconscious, except for the increased strength common to most subjects." a voice replied.

"Keep observing him and do a few tests of necessary." the middle aged man said and left. I started to think about the name 'Vogelbaum' and 'Compound V'.

I think I heard these names somewhere, but can't remember where. As I was whacking my brain about this, I suddenly remembered a series I watched when I had nothing else to watch on Sunday, The Boys.

It's where I heard the name Compound V countless times, as most of the show revolved around that and Homelander.

I couldn't believe what was happening. I went into a state of panic and disbelief while the scientists in the lab were trying to send small amounts of electricity into me, to make me involuntarily use my powers.

It took me a whole day to digest the fact that I died and was born again as a 6 months old baby. 'I am never going to drink and drive again.' I thought to myself and started assessing the situation I was in.

So, the Vought experimented on me and I now have superpowers, but even they still haven't managed to figure out what it is. I probably have parents, who are only concerned about money, since they sold me to the lab for experimenting. Or, I might be an orphan.

I first have to figure out what superpowers I have and show them that I am not some failed product, but an important test subject. I can't have them kill me.

After that, I repeatedly tried all kinds of stuff to figure out what power I had, but except for the increased strength, I felt nothing else. The strength I had was the common strength of all supes, so my power wasn't super strength. All that did was, get me tired, forcing me to go to sleep.

I didn't know how long I was asleep, but when I woke up, I was in the crib. I woke up in a room with nothing in it. It was just white reinforced walls with a steel door, which had a glass window.

I looked around and found a baby holding a white blanket. He looked like he was around a year old. He looked at me and I looked at him, wondering what was happening. I tried reaching out to him.

Immediately when I reached out my hand, I noticed his eyes glowing. 'What the f**k!!! It's this idiot, Homelander?! What were they thinking?' I screamed in my head while I immediately crawled away from him.

Homelander's eyes went back to normal and I sat down there, breathing heavily while remembering the destruction he caused in the show. I then lifted my head and I could see that idiot scientist Vogelbaum and someone else peep through the glass window in the door.

They smiled and waved at me, to which I didn't react. They did the same to Homelander, who giggled in response and moved his hands.

I didn't know what to do and I had no ideas. Although this baby still hasn't transformed into the psycho Homelander of the show, he is still a baby who doesn't have any control over his powers.

He might sneeze once and blast me into pieces or cut me in half. I really have to think of a way to escape from this hellhole.

To make thinks even worse, Homelander, who was playing with his blanket till then, suddenly threw it to the side and started crawling towards me. I held onto the weird dress I was wearing as I shivered with every inch he moved towards me.

I didn't want to even try and run, as it would only delay the inevitable. This was worse than any horror movie or haunted house I had ever seen.

When he got close to me, I could literally hear my heartbeat. I instinctively stretched out my hand to try and stop him, and felt like I touched something. I looked at my hand, which was on Homelander's head.

I wanted to retract my hand, but I suddenly felt something weird in my body, something flowing into my body from Homelander. After a few seconds, he lost consciousness and immediately fainted.

I didn't even have time to worry about him, as I felt something weird build up in my eyes and before I knew it, my vision turned red and I was shooting heat laser beams from my eyes.

'Did I just copy Homelander's powers? Is that my superpower? If so, it is both a good thing and a bad thing to have in this situation. As I was going through the situation, a weird gas was released, which filled the room.

I don't know what it was, but it doesn't seem to affect me. Then, a group of scientists came into the room, followed by armed men. They first came to me and tried injecting something to me, but the needle broke.

"Dr. Vogelbaum, the needle broke and the gas doesn't seem to work on him." the scientists says. stepping behind the arm me.

Vogelbaum replied after checking Homelander "I don't think it will work. He just stole John's powers. This is going to be a pretty interesting experiment from now."

(For those who don't know, Homelander's name is John.)

The scientists looked at me and then at John, asked "Then, will John become powerless? Isn't he the first baby we experimented with when he was just a foetus?"

"Don't worry, if my hypothesis is correct, he should get his powers back after we give him another dose of Compound V. As of now, he isn't going to be the main interest, as we have struck gold." Vogelbaum said while looking at me.

I could already think of a few things that are going to happen to me. One among those would be the experiments to test out my power's limits, weaknesses and conditions for my power to work.

I could already see my horrible teenage years ahead, but since I am already a grown man, I don't think it is going to affect my personality that much. I just have to bear the pain.

But really, I can't believe I can steal super powers from people when I touch them. This sounds like the power of that villan from the famous anime series 'My Hero Academia'.

I don't know what I am going to do with my life, but I know that I can do anything. I feel like I am starting to sound more like those characters with god complex. I might even become the next Homelander.

Still, the feeling of knowing that you can do anything and having the authority over people is something that any normal person with a job would want.

Ignoring my overinflated ego, I started trying out my powers. I had to think about my powers for them to manifest, which was pretty easy. The hard part was in controlling that power. I had completely zero knowledge in controlling the Heat vision or the flight.

As I was testing out my powers, there were men from outside, peeping through the window and observing everything I did. It felt a little weird at first, before getting used to it and going on with what I was doing.

I tested out my powers for a while and while I wasn't able to completely learn how to use my powers I just stole, I made some progress. I also didn't feel fatigue like before, but I was getting bored and wanted to sleep.

I went back to the small matress I woke up on, and lay on it. From outside, I could hear men speaking "Edgar, this is the baby we have been looking for, a baby who is powerful enough to keep the other superheroes in check. We can't have them going rampant like Soldier boy."

"I agree with you Dr. Vogelbaum, but he might also be the biggest threat to us if he turns out like Soldier boy." the other voice said.

"I am sure that won't happen, because Soldier boy was already a grown man. whose personality had already been shaped. This is just a baby who was born six months ago. We can shape him however we want. We can turn him into the perfect superhero who will listen to us." Vogelbaum said.

"I hope you are right Dr. Vogelbaum. I will provide you everything you need. Make sure you deliver what you promised. See if you can do the same with that other kid John." Edgar said and walked to the window.

He looked at me and gave me a smile before saying "I look forward to working with you in the future, James."

Is that supposed to be my name? Although it isn't bad, it is a very common name. Well, I can't object now, can I?

I then went to sleep without worrying about anything, as I felt that life was going to be comfortable, which the scientists were ready to prove me wrong.