Chapter 16
I pressed the buttons on the game controller with the determination of someone who knew they would lose while looking carefully at the big screen.
On the TV screen, Train-A beat Homelander in the stadium as he accelerated quickly.
What can I say?
The conventions of fighting games are where realism is sacrificed for equal chances of winning for each character.
Deep could easily take down Queen Maeve even though he'd be on the ground with his face turned into mush within a minute in reality.
In this case, Train-A could turn Homelander around here at full speed.
It was annoying but bearable.
Finally, Train-A finished his special move, and I managed to shoot him with a laser beam before he knocked him out again.
Then, when I lost the last time, I saw Train-A run around the earth and land a single blow that killed my opponent.
"It's frustrating and extremely unfair."
I commented while watching the victorious dance of A-Train.
"Well, you brought this console yourself."
Rebecca smirked who was sitting next to me.
"Sorry."
Ryan said with a modest smile.
"You just don't know how to use Homelander's advantages. Maybe you should pick a simpler hero?"
"Don't know how to use Homelander's advantages? Well, I'm still learning."
I smiled back at him, adjusting my glasses.
"After all, why do we fall, Ryan? To learn how to get back up."
"Okay,"
He replied with confusion.
"You'll understand what I mean later."
I said, ruffling his hair as I got up from the couch.
"We'll try again when I get back."
"Are you leaving already?"
Ryan asked with disappointment.
"I can't stay today. There's an important event."
I said with an open smile, hugging him goodbye.
"But tomorrow, we'll spend the whole day together. Me, you, and Mom."
"Okay, Dad,"
Ryan smiled and went off to play games.
Naturally, a lot of people might think this will spoil him. However, it's important to understand that nothing is within tens of kilometers.
There were no other children, no playgrounds.
The only entertainment in recent years has been worn-out melodramas and fairy tales, far too childish.
Of course, Rebecca would have been opposed to such drastic changes, so they were very slow.
The first ones were movies, mostly Star Wars. Then, some books were better for his age, and Harry Potter was a clear choice.
However, there was a bit of a disagreement with the concerned mother about leaving a new toy at home, but she couldn't hold back those pleading blue eyes for long.
Of course, there were no psychologically damaging games involved, which also had to be assured to her.
The last thing we needed was for the child to shoot lasers out of his eyes out of fear.
"You've really become close."
Rebecca smiled as she accompanied me to the door.
"He only talks about you. Should I start feeling jealous?"
"I can't replace you, you know that."
"On the news, it's all about you."
She casually mentioned.
"Really? I rarely watch the news."
"I wanted to thank you."
Rebecca sighed, looking seriously into my eyes.
"You saved them, and thanks to you, they'll be going home to their families."
"Don't thank me for them. You don't even know them."
"They could have been my relatives, John."
Rebecca sighed.
"I haven't been in contact with them for a long time, but I still worry about my sister, mother, and father."
"And William?"
"Most of all about him."
"See you tomorrow, Rebecca."
I nodded to her and headed toward the garage. I had to store my clothes somewhere.
"Becca."
"What?"
I stopped and looked at her questioningly.
"Friends call me Becca. And... you can call me that too."
Becca replied before retreating back into the house under my surprised gaze.
"Got it, Becca."
I watched her as she became agitated by her own actions, and I smirked.
It was amusing and quite endearing.
Next, I changed into my suit and soared into the sky, not heading to the Vought Tower but to a gathering of cultists who considered themselves believers.
The same way I saw Homelander, I saw them as only afraid of the unknown rather than truly faithful.
Just fanatics ready to believe in anything if promised eternal life—after death, of course.
I had no fondness for fanatics.
It wasn't the first time Homelander had been involved in such an event where he was literally regarded as a second Jesus.
Unfortunately, I would have to participate now that I was in his body too.
Thanks to Vought for sponsoring it and Ezekiel for organizing it together every year.
This was a so-called saintly super who claimed that faith could cure everything even gay tendencies.
He should have removed something long and cylindrical from his rectum and mouth before spouting such nonsense.
In his case, Faith had clearly lost this hopeless battle with a thud.
The crowd of fanatics looked up and immediately began shouting my name.
An American flag as a cape is quite a giveaway especially at low altitude.
I landed near the door to one of the tents reserved specifically for me and smirked.
I had no desire to interact with the fan crowd.
"Homelander! Here's your speech."
Ashley rushed in while handing me the sheets of paper.
"What hypocritical crap."
I muttered, reading through it in a few seconds.
"Do you like it?"
She asked, not catching my words.
"That's not the word for it, Ashley. Definitely not."
I sighed at the end while waving my hand as if to shoo away an annoying fly.
She understood me correctly and quickly left the tent, leaving me alone with myself.
I finally went outside to "stretch my legs" or to look for a certain beauty who was also at the event.
I quickly and easily found her in one of the tents.
However, she wasn't alone.
A circle of teenagers had gathered around, along with a priest and Starlight herself.
Ashley stood off the side, engrossed in her phone next to some woman.
This does not count the crowd outside who came to see the event.
It was clear that everyone had gathered to listen to the priest's speech and interact with the famous heroine.
"I know what you're thinking. Starlight from the 'Seven'! Here, with us!"
The priest beamed while pointing to the girl who had raised her hand.
"Don't be shy; ask anything you want."
The priest pointed to a girl who raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"I have a friend on my team, Sanji. She's Hindu. I understand that it's my duty to convince her to accept Jesus, but it feels kind of strange to me."
"Remember, Jesus said: Love thy neighbor."
Starlight replied, pausing for a moment.
"And when you love, you want to protect! After all, you want your friend to gain eternal life, don't you?"
The priest rephrased her words, leaving Starlight unable to argue, but she was visibly frustrated and embarrassed.
"Did you have a boyfriend?"
The questions continued.
"Yes, I dated a man."
"And... did you have sex before marriage?"
"That's a rather... personal question."
Starlight replied uncertainly, meeting the priest's intense gaze.
"No, I'm a virgin and saving myself for my husband."
The session ended about thirty minutes later, and she emerged from the tent in a rather dazed state, not even noticing me standing beside her.
"You know, lying is a sin."
I smiled, drawing her thoughtful attention to me.
"What?!"
Starlight nearly shouted, jumping back a couple of meters.
"You scared me!"
"Really?"
I smirked, calmly approaching her.
"My apologies."
"You didn't say that with enough sincerity."
Annie frowned, looking hurt.
"We're both guilty of that."
I said with a smile, and it earned me a puzzled look.
I added it while rolling my eyes.
"So, you're a virgin, and I should forget about sex before marriage?"
"What? No!"
She protested.
"Which question did you just answer? About virginity or about sex?"
I smirked, teasing her.
"Both."
She said firmly, meeting my gaze, and her look sent shivers down my spine.
"I hope you stay just as sincere."
I smiled, even wrapping my arms around her seemingly fragile shoulders. She didn't resist despite the curious spectators.
"I like you better this way than as a twenty-three-year-old virgin."
"Hey!"
She punched me in the side with her little fist.
"That hurts."
I recoiled, faking injury.
"You know, a punch like that could bend steel."
"Don't exaggerate, and you deserved it."
Starlight retorted, sighing quietly and pausing for a moment.
"Do you think I should be a role model? Well, with all this."
"First and foremost, you should remain human."
I said, this time looking at her very seriously.
"It's easy to become arrogant, thinking of yourself as chosen, even as God."
"God?"
Annie asked with surprise, as if the thought didn't quite fit her mind.
"God. When you're above others... it's a disgusting feeling, and it's so easy to get stuck in it. That's why stop distinguishing reality from the image projected onto you."
I said, looking straight into her eyes.
"That's why your sincerity is a breath of fresh air for me. It's your unique personality... and it's what will help you change the world."
"That sounds a bit pathetic."
Annie smiled but then looked at me seriously.
"I'll remember that. Thank you."
"Hi, Starlight. Can I take a photo? With you and... Homelander?"
A man asked, gathering his courage.
"Of course, Uncle Sam. If you don't mind."
Starlight looked at me.
"No, not at all."
I smiled back, allowing the man to take a couple of shots.
It didn't stop there while turning into a full-fan meetup.
We were only freed ten minutes later when Starlight asked everyone to disperse.
What surprised me was that she seemed to know many people by face.
"Wow, it looks like you know everyone here."
"Well, my mom and I used to travel across the country to all the Christian events. We ended up wearing out the tires. These people are like family to me, and I'm happy to see them again. Although, it seems like a lot has changed over time."
"Hmm, I understand."
"Starlight, we need to get ready for the exit. Let's go?"
Ashley came running up to us.
"We'll catch up later?"
"Of course, I'll be there too."
I nodded, watching them leave.
I decided to look for something interesting at this fair and soon came across someone I wasn't expecting to see here especially after yesterday.
"I don't quite understand you, son."
The old man said it with confusion.
"Look, if there's some guy with a beard floating in the clouds, he's the biggest bastard you can find."
The man responded calmly and confidently, throwing popcorn into his mouth.
"Did you just swear to God?"
"Yeah, he's all about mass killings and kids with cancer. He solves the "Humanity" mess with a son nailed to a board. What a scumbag, even you should agree with that."
"Alright, that's enough."
M.M's hand tried to stop him.
"He needs to be hit with a nuclear bomb, and that's the end of it. That's all."
The man continued under the shocked gaze of the old man.
"William Butcher, what a surprise."
I smiled openly as I approached them.
If the old man was filled with the joy of a fan at meeting me, the black guy in glasses next to William clearly felt discomfort.
William himself was predictably very angry.
"Indeed, a surprise."
Butcher grimly agreed with me.
"And where's your friend? The one who's skinny and tall?"
The black guy tensed immediately, reaching for the gun in his pants.
Unfortunately, this was not a figurative expression but a truth.
"He lives with me, or didn't you notice when you were spying on my house at night? Did you like my look without underwear?"
Butcher smirked.
The look on the M.M.'s face made it clear that he had not been told the details of last night, but his surprise did not stop him from reaching for the gun.
"Who even carries a gun in their pants? What kind of idiocy is that? Maybe next you'll shove it in your underwear?"
I frowned, looking at the equally bearded black man.
"We're at a damned gathering of peaceful cultists, not in the ghetto. Chill out."
"Yeah, MM. Chill out."
Butcher ordered, and MM reluctantly complied.
"What do you want?"
"Just a piece of advice, nothing more."
I gave him a heavy look.
"Don't make a scene here. Give me any reason, and you'll be going to jail."
"Why not straight to the other side?"
Butcher smirked.
"Because today I'm Homelander."
I smirked in response, patting him on the shoulder, which made him flinch.
"Have fun. And tell Hughie that no one is looking for him and probably won't. Let him take it as a thank you."
After I said what I had to say, I left and went to the stage where Ezekiel was beginning his speech.
My turn would come soon.