Maggie continued to follow Allen "in secret," or at least that's what she believed. Allen, for his part, had no choice but to wander around New York, hoping she would give up. As they say, problems never end for a superhero and a womanizer.
Flying, Allen spotted a middle-aged man with a prominent mustache and overweight. He was running desperately down the street, bumping into several people along the way.
Allen's spider sense didn't activate, so it was unlikely that the man was in danger or posed a threat to others. However, Allen's curiosity got the better of him, even forgetting about Maeve who was trailing him. He descended to see what was happening.
To Allen's surprise and the Chat, the man spotted a poor delivery rider's motorcycle and, as if in a movie, mounted it and began driving wildly.
*Peter's POV*
"FAST, FAST, FAST!"
My heart races as if it's about to collapse while my out-of-shape body struggles to run. My muscles scream at me to stop, but I ignore them.
My knees felt like they were grinding like rusty pistons from the exertion, but I persevered.
My throat burned with every bitter gulp of air, but I forced myself to keep going.
Today...
Today is the day my one true love is getting married...
I'm not the protagonist of a story; my life was plain. I wasn't outstanding in sports, I wasn't smart, I wasn't skilled at anything. I led a gray life.
There was a girl I liked in school, but I was a coward and never confessed my feelings. I had no right to complain when she found a new love. Still, I accepted it without thinking too much about her. I'm even bad at making a decent tragic story.
I can't complain because, as much as I didn't stand out, I didn't suffer either. No bullies were bothering me, and no family issues beyond my parents' divorce and remarriage. Since then my relationship with my parents deteriorated a lot, especially with my mother who left town after the divorce, but even though I had someone very important in my life m, ironically she came from a disgrace that was the new wife of my father. She is the daughter of my stepmother, who came into my life with her mother.
One would expect us to get along poorly since we were strangers, but surprisingly, she became a beacon in my life. I owe everything good to her—every smile she gave me, every meal she cooked for me when I didn't want to eat just instant noodles, became a cornerstone in my life.
I grew up, went to college, and graduated as an accountant. I spent twenty years of my life in a small office surrounded by numbers and accounts. However, she never left my side and it was thanks to her that even the relationship between my father, my stepmother, and me improved.
Unexpectedly, one day she visited me. It was a busy day, and I just greeted her from my desk.
"I'm getting married..."
Those words struck me like a lightning bolt, burning my soul. She stood at the entrance waiting for my response, but my mind couldn't process anything. No, it wasn't a shock; as someone who had lived their life as a background character, I couldn't say anything.
"C... Congratulations... Martha..."
As I uttered the hardest words of my life, I felt a pain in my chest when I saw the look she gave me before she left.
The next month, I became a living corpse. Everything around me was just a black-and-white movie. I received calls from my parents.
"Peter, are you okay with this?" my father asked.
"Dad, I'll be happy for her…"
"She's been crying all week…" said my mother. It had been a long time since I stopped calling her my stepmother.
On the penultimate night, I drank to celebrate the happiness of my dear sister.
The next morning, I woke up in my office and screamed. I didn't know why I had screamed. Desperately, I searched for the wedding invitation among mountains of important documents. I didn't care about getting fired; I even fell but didn't stop searching for the invitation.
I found the invitation! I shouted and left my office.
I ran outside without understanding what I was doing. I left the building and was hit by a strange world.
The background noise of cars and people that had once been annoying now resonated in my ears. The gray world I had always seen day after day was now bursting with saturated colors pulsating before my eyes.
I bumped into a woman, and she slapped me. I apologized and kept walking while trying to regain my balance. Then, I pushed a man, and he hit me. I fell to the ground, bleeding from my nose, but even this pain seemed insignificant in my mind. Still, that blow made me realize my subconscious actions.
MY BELOVED WOMAN IS GETTING MARRIED!!
I stole a motorcycle. Maybe this will land me in prison, but looking at the time, I have to get to the other side of Manhattan in less than half an hour!
Yes, I am not a protagonist. I never was, but for this hour, for this moment, God, fate, world... let me be one.
"Buddy, you're going to die at this rate… and worse, you'll kill someone."
"AHHH!!"
I was startled when someone spoke right next to me. I thought it was a police officer but was something worse. It was a young man in a cape flying alongside me.
I lost control and thought I was going to crash, but the pain never came. Looking up, the young man was floating above, holding me by the foot a 3.2 ft. (1m) above the ground. The motorcycle was suspended in the air wrapped in a cocoon of energy.
"I told you…" the young man laughed, then lowered me to the ground. He was a superhero like those you see on TV but never meet in real life.
I see now… I stole a motorcycle and drove like a madman. I will definitely end up in jail. No… Martha, I'm sorry.
I began to cry as I crawled to his feet.
"Hey, buddy, are you okay?!" the young man was concerned for me despite my criminal actions.
"Please… I know I don't deserve it, but the love of my life is getting married… please let me go…She is on the other side of town and I should be there in twenty minutes."
My voice sounded pathetic as my face was covered in snot and tears. I must have looked horrible. I looked at the young man's face in my misery. He remained silent, then bent down and picked up the wedding invitation.
"No."
My soul shattered the moment I heard that, but it made sense. I had done dangerous and foolish things.
"I won't let you go. You won't make it in time! So, I'll take you there… Nokotan!!"
Out of nowhere, a taxi arrived with a girl dressed as a sailor and wearing a fake mustache at the wheel.
"What are you doing? Let's go quickly! We have a wedding to destroy!!" The young man smiled brightly while my eyes filled with tears.
*End of POV*
Is it ridiculous? Probably. Allen had never seen a man cry like this. To many, Peter might seem pathetic, but to Allen, there was nothing pathetic about it.
Rebecca – "This is so random, Hahaha"
Nikky – "I don't get it, but GO FOR IT!!"
Ruby – "Hey!! Are you really going to destroy a wedding?"
Maria Hill – "This is escalating really quickly o_o"
Harley – "I love weddings, especially when they're ruined!!~"
(A/N: Yeah, you guessed it, it's Peter from Deadpool 🗿)
...
Homelander entered an office. It didn't matter whose it was; what mattered was that he had received a letter from Stan Edgar.
He walked through the place, sat in the main chair, left the letter on the desk, and stood up to walk around the office, occasionally glancing at the letter on the desk.
His eyes lit up for a moment as he considered destroying the letter, but then they dimmed, and he hesitated.
At that moment, he didn't care about anything. He wasn't thinking about Vought, Allen, Madelyn, or his new toys. Not even about his loss of popularity.
Homelander hesitated. A part of him wanted to rip up the letter and forget about it, while another part desperately wanted to know what it said.
A reprimand?
A lecture?
An explanation?
An order?
When Homelander thought about what it could be and considering that Madelyn brought it, he concluded it was a request to not kill and even support the Riordan brothers. Homelander sneered at himself; that made the most sense.
Homelander smirked with disdain and walked to the desk. He took the letter in his hands and looked at the seal for a moment, then opened it and looked at the contents...
"John…"
Homelander immediately closed the letter and stepped back, breathing heavily. That man hadn't referred to him by his name for a long time.
"What are you planning, bastard…"
Homelander wasn't an idiot; at least he was capable of understanding the kind of man Stan Edgar was. However, as with many cases, emotions clouded reason.
"John, I know I'm the last person you want to hear from right now."
Homelander mocked without the slightest trace of pity.
"I know you see me as a cruel, emotionless monster who despises everything and everyone, and that's fine because I intended it to be that way."
"What?" Homelander frowned at Stan Edgar's words, trying to understand what he meant by saying he wanted it to be that way.
"When we became aware of your true potential, many people wanted me to kill you; otherwise, you might become a monster no one could stop."
Homelander stopped reading and looked around. He took a few breaths and then looked back at the page.
"I didn't believe that. Gunpowder was dangerous, but even so, people died in its creation. You were the closest candidate to being perfect…"
Homelander frowned slightly as he read that phrase in the past tense.
"But I noticed a serious flaw in you, and it was me..."
Homelander laughed, then became enraged and slammed his fist on the desk, breaking it. "Damn bastard, what are you trying to do?!" Of course, Homelander didn't swallow everything Stan had said, but it seemed the letter was enchanted, with every word designed to be irresistible to him.
"You were a child constantly seeking affection, and that's why I allowed Madelyn to be the one who primarily gave it to you. But I couldn't prevent your fixation on me..."
Homelander's anger shifted to bitterness and even sadness. At that moment, his reflection in the mirror was angrily striking out, as if trying to push Homelander away from the letter.
"I made a mistake."
Homelander closed the letter and sat on the couch, breathing heavily. Among all the things he never imagined seeing, Stan Edgar admitting to a mistake was one of them. Homelander spent the next five minutes sitting there, doing nothing, before reopening the letter.
"I made a mistake... and that was allowing someone destined for greatness like you to take someone like me as an example."
Homelander smiled bitterly while the reflection representing the Homelander who considered himself superior to everyone and desired to dominate and subjugate the world was about to burst.
"You are not a defective product, but you were when you believed you needed me. You don't need anyone. You are perfectly capable of standing at the top on your own... now stop lamenting a few blows and show who you are, son."
Homelander was left in shock, unable to comprehend the final word. It was strange to him, something unfamiliar; throughout his life, he had never heard anyone call him that.
Homelander felt an odd sensation in his chest, and it was refreshing.
All the accumulated resentment towards Allen, all the anger towards the public that despised him, all the frustration at not being the strongest—all of it disappeared after reading the letter.
...
Madelyn looked at the floor shattered by Homelander's rampage and sighed. This was the state of Vought at the moment, and she could only hope to rebuild it slowly. But without Homelander, it would be even more challenging.
"Madelyn, what are you doing?"
Homelander approached her and put a coat on her. They were on a high floor, and the wind was blowing through the broken walls.
"John?" Madelyn shouted, but she immediately froze in place.
Homelander smiled confidently at Madelyn. There was none of the brooding and aggressive Homelander of recent days; it was as if he had reverted to before everything went wrong.
"No time for surprises, Madelyn. Call Ashley and have her summon the press, the media, even those gossip bloggers!"
Madelyn gaped at him in disbelief.
"Don't dawdle; we need to get this company back on its feet," Homelander laughed. "Of course, get those two boys ready for their presentation. I don't want them to embarrass me in public!"
Madelyn gasped, staring at John without moving. He sighed, patted her on the shoulder, and then whispered to her.
"Also, I need some milk..."
Madelyn snapped out of her stupor and forced a smile. "Of course, I'll get you more bottles."
Homelander smiled arrogantly. "No, this time I'll drink straight from the source." He took Madelyn to an office.
...
Vought was repaired with just a letter from Stan Edgar...
No, it wasn't mere coincidence; it was so meticulously planned that it was terrifying.
Homelander was surprised that Stan Edgar admitted a mistake, but it wasn't out of remorse. Instead, it allowed Homelander to see Stan make mistakes as well, after all, Homelander had made several errors himself recently.
Stan calling Homelander by his name gave him recognition as a person rather than as an object.
He made Homelander aware that Stan knew of his potential.
He redirected Homelander's resentment towards others by suggesting they had advised killing him, but Stan had refused.
He subtly gave Homelander his approval and used it to restore the confidence that Homelander had lost.
Lastly, Stan did two things that would give anyone chills. He told Homelander that he didn't need anyone to get to the top, not even Stan himself. This immediately gave Homelander a sense of liberation and the term "son" added a new layer.
This meant Stan Edgar had freed Homelander from Vought's chains while simultaneously shackling him with even heavier ones! And the worst part was that Homelander didn't even realize it and would think he was free!
...
In a seaside villa, Stan Edgar relaxed, having needed only one letter to restore the balance that Allen had disrupted with his power.
"They should have arrived by now... what will you do next?"
Stan looked up at the sky and closed his eyes...
Behind him was only one person who could understand what Stan Edgar had done, as she had seen him write the letter. She was good at improvising with the information available, but Stan's methodical planning was unsettling after so many years.
For years, Stan had been contemplating the possibility of Black Noir's assassination and a method to further chain Homelander.
"Sage, do you know why you're afraid of me despite being smarter than I am?"
"Afraid of you?" Sage scoffed. "What makes you think that?"
"I see..." Stan Edgar said no more.
But Sage knew the reason. She couldn't see anything in Stan Edgar, even with him being so close; it was as if he wasn't there.
Sage's mind could process information faster and better than anyone, but she needed the information to do so, and Stan never let her see anything—not a single thing.
At that moment, Sage understood. If she were Stan Edgar, she would never allow someone like Sister Sage to exist, as it would be extremely dangerous. The only reason she had never attempted to kill her wasn't because Sage deceived her by being indifferent to everything but because she had never been a real obstacle to begin with.
Sage clenched her teeth in frustration. When she discovered Allen, this monster tried to destroy him in an instant, but she hadn't even been bothered in a decade.
– "He's not a defective product..." –
These words made sense to Sage.
Edgar looked sideways at Sage, she may think he doesn't watch her, but Stan does. However, he doesn't consider her a threat. Because Sage has two flaws that prevent her from overcoming Stan.
– Her ego, she will never respect anyone because for her everyone is inferior, she is like Homelander. This can be easily proven because she keeps telling everyone that she is the smartest person in the world.
– Sage will never respect anyone, she is incapable of recognizing other people as equals and that is why she cannot beat someone like Stan Edgar.
===
A/N: Peter's plot is more of a parody that simply went on too long haha.
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