Ring, ring, ring.

The alarm clock's blaring jolted Azu out of his sleep, filling him with irritation.

"Who set the alarm?" he grumbled. "It's Sunday! Can't I just sleep in for once?"

He forced himself up, eyes still bleary. As his vision cleared, he found himself in a European-style room.

Azu froze for a moment, blinking hard.

Rubbing his eyes, he confirmed that this was definitely not his room. His eyes drifted to the wall, where a blue suit with a star-spangled cape hung, alongside a golden belt, red gloves, and boots.

"A prop costume?"

Azu stepped closer, picking up the blue suit and holding it up to his body. Turning towards the full-length mirror across the room, his eyes widened.

"What the hell?"

In the reflection stood a blonde, white man—his heart skipped a beat.

He waved his hand frantically, and the man in the mirror mimicked his movements perfectly.

"I-is that me?"

Azu pinched his cheek, wincing at the slight pain.

'Not a dream.'

'Did I... transmigrate?'

Just then, a woman's voice called out from outside the bedroom, speaking in English, "Homelander, I hope I'm not disturbing you, but there's a press conference you need to attend shortly. Ms. Madelyn thought it would be best to remind you."

'Wait...'

'Who?'

'Homelander?'

'Is she talking to me?'

'Did I become Homelander?'

Azu glanced at the mirror again. "Does this mean... I can shoot lasers from my eyes?"

The moment that thought crossed his mind, the eyes of the man in the mirror lit up, glowing a fiery red.

In the next instant, two red beams shot out, obliterating the mirror into tiny shards.

The woman outside, alarmed by the noise, called out, "Homelander, are you okay?"

Azu quickly replied, "I'm fine."

He glanced down at the suit in his hands and then at the wall, now charred and cracked from the blast.

There was no denying it anymore.

"I've transmigrated... as Homelander?"

Homelander, one of the strongest superhumans in The Boys. He's insanely powerful, possibly the pinnacle of all superhumans in the series. But, he's also small-minded, vengeful, and—let's not forget—he's got a serious Oedipus complex.

On top of that, he's egotistical, arrogant, sadist, narcissist, and downright psychopathic.

Azu had always admired his powers but becoming him? That's a whole other story.

Now, whether he liked it or not, he was Homelander.

A short while later, Azu emerged from the room, having already assimilated Homelander's memories. He now understood what powers he possessed and how to use them.

He also recognized the woman standing before him with glasses and a tablet in hand. That's Ashley, the assistant and secretary to Madelyn, the VP of Vought.

Ashley tried her best to hide her fear, maintaining a professional smile as she handed over the tablet. "Homelander, here's the content we'll be announcing today. You might want to rehearse before the actual event."

"Oh, and later this afternoon—"

Azu raised a finger, gently placing it on her lips. His other hand was tucked behind his back as he flashed a grin that revealed eight gleaming teeth. "My dear Ashley, I have something far more important to take care of right now."

Ashley blinked, confused. "Is something wrong?"

"That's none of your concern," Azu replied, striding towards the window at the end of the corridor.

Ashley panicked slightly. "Please make sure to return on time. Ms. Madelyn was very clear about that."

"I do whatever I want. Don't tell me what to do."

"This is your first and last warning."

Azu gave her a playful smile before slamming straight into the window.

Crash!

Glass shattered everywhere.

In a flash of blue light, Azu soared into the sky, disappearing from sight.

A gust of wind blew through the now-broken window, leaving Ashley standing there in disarray.

"He's gone insane. He's losing it... again."

Up in the sky, Azu let out a whoop of joy.

"Yooohooo!"

He had always dreamed of soaring through the air like a bird, and now, he could finally do it. [T/N: At least a realistic reaction for the first time....]

Homelander's flight ability let him zip through the skies at incredible speeds, and he was savoring every second of it.

After a while, Azu looked up towards the skies, curious to test the limits of his powers.

He shot upwards, accelerating rapidly.

The distance between him and the ground grew larger and larger. In no time, he had reached over ten thousand meters high.

But he kept going.

Frost began to form on his suit as the atmosphere around him grew thinner.

In the next second, flames burst out around him—he was entering the atmosphere.

Squinting his eyes, Azu pushed forward, speeding up.

In an instant, he broke through the atmosphere and entered the vastness of space.

To his amazement, he found he could survive in the vacuum of space.

'Th-this is on par with Superman.'

He gazed into the infinite, starry expanse, wondering if he could just keep flying off into the unknown.

But then he shook his head.

'Nah, that wouldn't be much fun.'

He tested his laser vision, firing off beams that sliced through the emptiness of space, disappearing into the void.

After a few tries, Azu realized he could adjust the power of his laser eyes.

It seemed there were three levels:

The lowest was 'Non-lethal Mode,' the middle was 'Lethal Mode,' and the highest was 'Destruction Mode.'

Satisfied with his tests, Azu prepared to return. Just then, a notification appeared before his eyes.

[Laser Vision: Proficiency 8/10]

'Proficiency?'

'What the hell?'

He was taken aback.

Then, another message popped up.

[Flight: Proficiency 4/10]

[Warning: Disaster event incoming in 1 hour 7 minutes.]

'Wait...'

'Can I level up my abilities if I max out proficiency? I mean that's what happens in every niche.'

'Could Homelander level up into Superman? That would be awesome.'

Azu's excitement skyrocketed.

At first, he'd thought Homelander was just a knock-off Superman—sure, he was as strong as an army, but if faced with something like a nuclear weapon, could he really survive?

But now, knowing that he could level up?

That changed everything.

If he could upgrade to Superman's level, even nukes wouldn't be a problem.

At that point, he could really do whatever he wanted.

Absolute freedom.

But... that warning, what's this disaster event about?

'Eh, whatever.'

'I'm Homelander now. Whatever happens, I can handle it.'

Azu closed his eyes and whispered to himself, "This... this is true freedom. Ultimate freedom."

"Hahahahaha!"

He burst into laughter, hurtling back into the atmosphere like a fiery comet, vanishing into the distance.

———

At the press conference, Ashley was pacing around like a nervous wreck.

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the venue as a figure descended from the sky, landing gracefully.

Homelander had arrived!

Ashley let out a sigh of relief and led him forward. "This way, please."

With a smile, Azu strolled into the hall. The moment he appeared, camera shutters went wild.

For the next five minutes, the flashes of cameras didn't stop.

Azu smiled confidently, walking up to the podium. He tapped the mic lightly and spoke.

"Thank you all for waiting."

Ashley added, "Feel free to ask your questions."

Immediately, a reporter asked, "Homelander, could you share your plans with us? Maybe a new movie, some merch, or even a new ice cream named after you?"

Azu glanced around the room, completely unfazed.

His overwhelming power gave him all the confidence he needed to face the world head-on.

With a slight smile, he responded, "What I'm about to say might sound like a joke to you."

"But I'm serious."

"A plan? Yes, there's a plan."

"But it's not for a movie, or merch, and definitely not ice cream."

"We're superheroes. We're not celebrities, and we're not clowns here to entertain the masses."

"So my plan is to reform The Seven. I'm going to lead this team to do what it's supposed to do."

"And that's not making those damned movies."

The room fell into stunned silence.

________

At The Seven's headquarters, Vought VP Madelyn had just finished breastfeeding her baby and slipped on a jacket when she caught sight of the live broadcast. Homelander's outrageous remarks left her in shock.

"What the hell is wrong with him?"

Grabbing her phone, she furiously dialed her assistant Ashley, shouting, "Why did you let him say those things?"

"What's wrong with him?"

A soft voice suddenly came through the phone. "I'm perfectly fine, Ms. Madelyn."

"And don't blame Ashley. This was entirely my decision. It had nothing to do with her."

Madelyn's tone immediately softened. "John, is something bothering you?"

"It's okay, you can talk to me. I'll be waiting in my office."

"Can you hand the phone back to Ashley?"

"Just a moment."

After a brief pause, Ashley's voice came through the phone, "Ma'am, I'm here."

Madelyn's expression darkened. "Tell the reporters that Homelander was just joking."

"Next, we'll be announcing Homelander's latest plans."

"These include a movie, two TV series, and a line of merchandise—all things the public is interested in."

"Damn it, how could you let him say something like that!"

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