“Maeve, calm down.”
“It’s a little embarrassing to bring up, but I need a favor from you.”
…
The other end of the line fell silent again.
Alex wasn’t in any hurry; he simply waited patiently.
“Listen, I don’t know what exactly you’re trying to do, nor do I have any idea what game you’re playing.”
“But I’m not interested in any of these affairs of yours, and I have no intention of getting involved.”
After a moment, Queen Maeve’s voice came through again, her tone somewhat impatient.
“Hey, listen, Maggie, I’m not joking with you.”
“Otherwise I wouldn’t have made this call, would I?”
Alex’s voice was very sincere.
Winning Queen Maeve over to his side would certainly have to be done slowly.
This was just the beginning—letting her gradually accept this change, letting her understand that the man he was now had become completely different from the Homelander she remembered.
Hearing her own name from the other end of the line, Queen Maeve’s expression froze for a moment.
This was her name, not some so-called hero codename.
Yet even back when they had been dating, Homelander had rarely called her this.
But now…
Let alone asking for a favor and the like.
Queen Maeve rubbed her forehead.
Right now she only felt that her thoughts were in utter disarray.
Everything that had happened with Homelander today truly left her unable to make sense of what was really going on.
Given Homelander’s character, there was simply no way he would do these things just to mess with her.
But if he wasn’t messing with her…
For a long while there were no words from the other end, only the sound of Queen Maeve’s breathing.
“FK!”
“What do you want?”
“Look after someone for me temporarily—maybe just a day or two, it’ll be over soon.”
A curve tugged at the corner of Alex’s mouth; Queen Maeve’s attitude had changed.
“You know what.”
“If you dare mess with me, I’ll definitely kill you.”
“I’ll be waiting for you at the Brooklyn Park Bridge.”
With that, Alex hung up the phone and looked over at the Golden Geisha.
“Madam, I’ve found someone to look after you.
I trust you’ll spend a pleasant couple of days with her.”
The Golden Geisha showed no fluctuation at this, merely nodding calmly.
“I don’t have the right to refuse, do I?”
With the two of them in tow, Alex soon arrived at the spot he’d arranged with Queen Maeve.
He casually found a bench and sat down, leaning back against it as he lit a cigarette.
Now that the Golden Geisha had been found, all that remained was to force Blast Vision out into the open.
Only, regarding this fellow Blast Vision.
He didn’t know much—after all, the original work hadn’t mentioned him too much.
He only knew that, like Soldier Boy, he was someone who had been injected with the original compound.
Possessing the ability not to age.
In the original story, it was the Sage who contacted Blast Vision, telling him about the Golden Geisha’s kidnapping and her location.
Only then had Blast Vision rushed over.
But he currently had no means of making that contact, nor could he make a big show of using the Vought Corporation to track down the Sage and arrange everything as it had happened in the original.
The best method was to have Doppelganger transform into the Golden Geisha, and then make the news of her kidnapping and danger public.
Just like the Vought Corporation’s usual playbook—a great many of those so-called captures of criminals and rescues of people were self-staged productions.
Only this time the victim would be swapped out for the Golden Geisha.
Once Blast Vision appeared, Doppelganger could then bide his time and act when the moment was right.
Toward his own lover, Blast Vision’s guard would surely drop, and at that point everything would be easy to handle.
The reason he didn’t simply seize it by force was mainly because this fellow Blast Vision was no weakling.
If he couldn’t get hold of the original compound at the very first instant, it would be an extremely simple matter for the other party to destroy it.
Having smoked a cigarette, he took out his phone and glanced at the latest news.
America was America—an endless, countless stream of all kinds of crime.
Truly fertile soil.
He hadn’t been looking long when Queen Maeve’s call came in.
He briefly told her the location, and soon Alex saw Queen Maeve walking over, dressed in ordinary civilian clothes.
As for why she would appear here at this time.
On the way over, Queen Maeve had asked herself the same thing, but she couldn’t say what it was for either.
Lingering feelings, perhaps?
That was obviously impossible.
Toward Homelander, her heart was genuinely brimming with a deep, profound hatred.
Back when she had known nothing about him, she had been full of expectation, giving her heart sincerely.
It was precisely because of this that, upon coming to understand what kind of existence Homelander was—how she had been manipulated by his twisted desire for control—the hatred had become so deep.
If she really had to put a name to it.
Perhaps it was curiosity.
Curiosity about the bizarre change in Homelander, and about what on earth was going on with all of it.
But.
When she arrived and followed the directions to find Homelander.
Gazing at Alex sitting on the bench, Queen Maeve stopped in her tracks.
Because she couldn’t believe that the fellow before her, dressed in casual wear, was actually Homelander—the man who, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, wore his superhero costume every single day regardless of bitter cold or scorching heat!
“Hey, Maggie, over here.”
“Or rather, would you still prefer I call you Maeve.”
Seeing Queen Maeve standing there dazed, Alex chuckled and waved at her, taking the initiative to greet her.
“Just call me Maeve.”
Queen Maeve hesitantly stepped forward, staring at Alex as though he were some rare animal.
“What is it, looking at me like that?
Don’t tell me this style doesn’t suit me?”
Alex spread his hands and said with a smile.
“I thought I was overthinking it.”
“But you really do seem to have gone a bit crazy.”
Queen Maeve pointed at her own head, a strange look on her face.
“In the past, you would never try other clothes.”
“Isn’t that right?”
“So now that I think about it, maybe we should have tried matching couple’s outfits back then.”
Alex blinked and said teasingly.
Queen Maeve seemed a little unaccustomed to this.
She knit her brows and crossed her arms, facing Alex in a posture that leaned toward the defensive.
“This is the person you want me to look after?”
Queen Maeve didn’t continue on that topic, instead turning her gaze to the Golden Geisha beside Alex.
“That’s right.”
“The Golden Geisha—a former superhero.”
“She starred in ‘Undercover Geisha.’ If you’ve seen it, you might remember her.”
Queen Maeve glanced over.
The Golden Geisha, her expression as composed as ever, frowned and said, “That isn’t the reason you called me here.”
“Of course not.”
“I called you simply because of a personal notion.”
“If you don’t mind, shall we take a walk over there?”
Alex tilted his chin toward the small path beside the park’s lake, extending the invitation to Queen Maeve.