[Werewolf Bloodline detected…]
The words faded.
Leon lay on the couch in the dark.
His hands were shaking.
It wasn’t from the cold, but the sheer amount of adrenaline pumping through his veins.
The house was silent.
Scott was in the guest room.
The only sound was the faint hum of the refrigerator down the hall and his own heartbeat, which was louder than it should have been.
Leon stared at the ceiling and waited for his pulse to slow down.
It didn’t.
In fact, every minute it seemed to get faster.
Not the panicked kind of fast — the kind of fast that felt like his body was running a marathon while he lay perfectly still.
His skin felt strange too.
Not painful, just…
alert.
Like every nerve in his body had been turned up to eleven.
He lifted his hand in front of his face and looked at it.
In the low light of the living room, his veins were darker than they should have been.
Almost black under the skin.
His fingers looked the same — same length, same shape, same calluses in the same places — but they felt different.
Lighter.
Like the bones had been hollowed out and replaced with something stronger.
He flexed them.
The joints cracked softly.
Something flickered at the edge of his vision.
Then the text reappeared.
[System Activated]
[Scanning Host…]
[Supernatural Energy detected]
[Werewolf Bloodline identified]
[Analyzing Host Memory Database…]
[Template Selection in progress…]
Leon sat up so fast his vision swam.
“What the—”
A pause.
The text flickered, like something was loading.
[Template determined by Host’s memories and compatibility]
[Universe IO854FH… Character chosen]
[Template selected: HOMELANDER]
Leon watched the numbers shift.
The Template Percentage climbed.
[Template Percentage: 1%]
[Initializing Status Screen…]
[COMPLETED]
‘Status!’
[Current Identity: Homelander (1%)] [Supernatural Energy: 0]
[Current Abilities: Super Strength: Lv1 | Super Defense: Lv1 | Super Speed: Lv1 | Regeneration: Lv2 (Absorbed Bloodline Skill) | Super Senses: Lv1]
[Locked Abilities: X-ray vision: Lv0 | Laser Eyes: Lv0 | Flight: Lv0]
[Supernatural Energy Acquisition Methods:
– Absorbing supernatural bloodlines
– Killing supernatural entities
– Quest rewards
– Altering, surviving, or influencing major plot points]
[Note: ‘Supernatural Energy’ can be used to:
– Increase Template Percentage
– Level up skills
– Purchase items from System Shop]
[Warning: Template abilities level up and unlock with percentage.]
[Warning: Current powers are a mere preview of the original.
Please achieve 100% in your Template for a full Integration — Work Hard!]
Leon stared at the spaced-out screen and felt his heart start beating rapidly.
He had never felt this excited before.
He wanted to jump up, wanted to run a lap around the house, wanted to scream — but Scott was down the hall, so instead he just lay there on the couch with the biggest, dumbest grin on his face.
‘Homelander.
Holy shit.
Homelander.’
He looked at the skills.
Looked at the Template name.
Looked at the warning at the bottom.
‘Even if the powers were mere previews, they would be more than strong enough to help me survive, and when I acheives 100% integration, I will be untouchable!’ Leon thought with a smile, before frowning.
‘Why him?’
He knew exactly who Homelander was.
He’d watched The Boys a while back.
Got through the later episodes of Season 3 before dropping it for personal reasons.
He’d planned on finishing it sometime, but then he’d seen the ending in some TikTok compilation, and the comments had been brutal.
He’d watched the finale himself, agreed that the writers were brain-dead for ending it like that, and dropped the show entirely.
Homelander should have won at the end, especially after the powerup from Compound V1, and Leon hated how they ended it with a garbage good ending.
The Butcher was the most annoying, hypocritical character in the show.
Straight-up wanted to punch him in the throat every time he said “Oi.”
But Homelander — the guy liked fresh breast milk and had so many insecurities he could barely function, but his powers were still the coolest in the show.
No contest.
The system had decided for him, apparently.
His compatibility with Homelander, whether that was good or bad he wasn’t sure, but what scared him was one of the messages.
‘Universe IO854FH…’ Leon thought.
‘Does that mean The Boys universe exists somewhere out there?’
A flood of information hit him next — the rules, the warnings, the basics of how the Template worked.
Not a manual in the traditional sense, more like someone had downloaded a documentation directly into his brain.
He blinked through it, absorbing what he could.
‘Regeneration was a skill unlocked from the werewolf bloodline.
One of the system functions is gaining an ability from supernatural bloodlines.
That’s…
actually incredible!’
[Werewolf Bloodline Skill Absorbed – Injury detected – Regeneration Skill Selected and leveled up with remaining SE points]
‘Ah.’ He understood now.
All the Supernatural Energy from the werewolf bloodline had been used to activate the system.
The Regeneration Skill unlocked and leveled up automatically because the system recognized his broken leg as a priority to heal first.
That was why it was already feeling better.
‘Homelander didn’t have a regeneration skill?’ Leon wondered.
‘I remember he had a regenerative healing factor, but it is relatively slow and minor.
Is that why the system ignored it?’
Most of the badass skills were locked, but with the Template percentage — at 1%, he had access to almost nothing.
As that number climbed, the locked skills would unlock.
And then they’d level up.
And then, eventually, he’d have the full Homelander kit.
Or maybe more.
He flexed his hand again.
The bones felt lighter.
The muscles felt denser.
The skin felt thicker.
‘Okay.
Okay.
This is real.
This is actually real.’
He tested his senses carefully, keeping his breathing even.
He could hear the refrigerator cycling.
He could hear the wind moving through the trees outside.
He could hear a faint hum coming from somewhere he wasn’t sure where.
‘My senses are better than before.
Sharper.
But not insane.
Not comic-book level.
Just…
more.’
‘Lv1.
Probably weaker than a beta.’
Then he heard something else.
“Do you feel anything?” Scott’s voice, muffled through the guest room door.
Leon flinched — not because he was startled, but because he’d heard Scott clearly from twenty feet away, through a closed door, and his heart rate had spiked at the sound of his own name.
‘Super Senses.
I definitely need to get used to them.’
Leon wondered, briefly, if he got bit again — by another werewolf — whether the system would absorb the werewolf bloodline again.
The system didn’t answer.
The text stayed still, as if it hadn’t heard him.
Or didn’t care.
‘Right.
No tutorial.
No customer support.’
“Yeah,” Leon called back, keeping his voice casual.
“I think something is happening to me.” He wasn’t about to mention the system, but he was bitten, and he needed to show something for it.
“I felt my heart rate increase and my veins were black for a few seconds.”
He rolled up his pant leg.
The swelling was already receding.
The bone though was still wrong, but less wrong than an hour ago.
He could move his foot without wanting to scream.
Scott appeared in the doorway, one hand pressed against his side.
He lifted his shirt.
The bite wound was slightly smaller than it had been — not healed, not even close, but the edges were pulling together like someone was slowly zipping it shut from the inside.
“I-I think the same is happening to me,” Scott said.
“Damn it, man.
This can’t be happening.”
“Calm down.
Go to sleep.
We don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, so no need to panic just yet.”
“What do you mean, ‘no need to panic’?
I’m a monster.” Scott stood up, his voice climbing.
“This can’t be happening!
What if I turn into that creature?
What if I hurt my mom?”
“You won’t.”
“HOW DO YOU KNOW?”
“Scott.” Leon looked at the panicking kid and shook his head.
‘I guess he still rejects it like he did in the show.’ Even with all the signs right in front of him — the bite healing overnight, the sleepwalking, the waking up naked in the woods — Scott had still rejected the idea entirely in the show.
Even when Stiles put it right there in front of him.
‘His body’s still transitioning.
He hasn’t fully turned yet.
Until then, his healing will be slower than mine because the system fully absorbed the bloodline, while it isn’t the same for him — it’s just biology doing its thing.’
“That thing was not mindless,” Leon said.
“It bit us on purpose, most likely to turn us, then left.
Even if we turn into something like that on the full moon or something, we’d still have control, just like it did.
No one is in danger, and freaking out won’t solve anything.”
It was a lie.
Whatever happened later, he’d deal with it then.
For now, there was nothing they could do and he couldn’t rely on the show, especially after learning things were very different in this world.
Scott stood there for a bit, then sat back down on the floor with his back against the wall.
“You’re right.
But what do we do now?
Hospital?
FBI?”
“Definitely not.
Unless you want to spend the rest of your life in a lab.” Leon paused.
The thought had been sitting in the back of his head since last night.
“Although…
you have to wonder.
If this kind of thing is real — if there are actual werewolves and other creatures walking around out there — does the government know?
Is there some kind of…
department?
A file?
A cover-up?” He shook his head.
“The show never mentioned anything like that, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
Scott stared at him like he’d lost his mind.
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing.
Go to sleep.”
Scott took a deep breath and didn’t argue.
He went back to the guest room and closed the door, and Leon heard him flop onto the bed.
Leon laid on the couch and stared at the ceiling.
‘The system wants me to kill supernatural creatures.
That’s one way to gain SE.
But there are others — quest rewards, and apparently…
changing the plot itself.’
He thought about the Alpha in the woods.
He remembered the size of it.
The way the air had changed when it moved.
The sound of his own bones giving under its grip.
‘If I kill that thing, I wonder how many SE points that would get me.
Probably a lot.
That thing was…
terrifying.’
‘And if I get bit again…’
He waited for the system to answer.
It didn’t.
The house was quiet for a moment.
Then he heard Scott yell from his room.
“There’s someone we should tell.”
“Who?”
“Stiles.” Scott said it like it was obvious.
“He’s my best friend.
We’ve known each other since we were kids.
If there’s anyone I trust with this, it’s him.”
Leon thought about it.
In the show, Stiles had been the first person to figure it out.
Stiles had been the one to research things, to plan, to figure out what was happening.
Without him, Scott and his pack would have been lost.
‘And he can be useful to me too.’
“Okay,” Leon said.
“I’ll trust you.”
***********
By morning, Leon’s leg had healed enough to walk on.
He tested it in the hallway, then in the kitchen, then again at the front door.
Scott watched him with a mix of relief and unease.
‘His healing is slower than mine.
He’s probably still transitioning.’
They left the house in Leon’s Mustang.
The drive to Scott’s was quiet.
Scott kept touching his side, lifting his shirt every few minutes to check the bite.
It was smaller now.
Still open, but closing.
Leon pulled up outside Scott’s house.
Scott looked at him.
“You have a key?”
“Yeah.” Scott pulled a set of keys from his pocket.
“I’ll be quick.”
Scott got out of the car and walked up the front path.
He unlocked the front door, slipped inside, and closed it behind him.
Leon waited.
Ten minutes later, the front door opened again.
Scott came out, locked it behind him, and jogged back to the Mustang.
He was wearing fresh clothes and his backpack, and he looked like he’d actually slept for a few hours.
“All good?” Leon asked.
“Yeah.
She left a note on the fridge.”
Leon smiled and drove off.
They’d gotten closer fast, whether either of them had noticed or not.
Whether it was what happened in the woods, or one of them fighting to protect the other, it was hard to say.
But when Stiles saw Scott get out of the Mustang at school, he jogged over with a grin.
“Hey, you two — what’s going on?”
“What?”
“Scott, are you cheating on me?”
“Shut up, man, let’s go.” Scott rolled his eyes.
Scott looked at Leon, as if confirming, then pulled Stiles to the side.
He told him what had happened last night — the giant werewolf, the bite, the slow healing.
Stiles listened with his mouth open, then opened it wider.
“WHAT!”
“Shut up, man!” Scott yanked him behind a row of lockers.
“Okay!
Okay!” Stiles dropped his voice.
“Let’s see this thing.”
Scott lifted his shirt, showing the bandaged bite.
“Oh!” Stiles reached for it.
Scott pulled back.
“And you’re telling me Leon’s leg was broken and it healed?
Why did his leg heal and your bite didn’t?” Stiles looked between them.
“We don’t know,” Scott said.
“Maybe it’s different for each person,” Leon added.
“A freaking werewolf?” Stiles whispered.
“You two realize how crazy that sounds?”
“We do.”
“Maybe it was a hallucination caused by fear?
A bear or something, and through the darkness your mind panicked and made up the rest?”
“Both of us had the same hallucination at the same time?” Leon said.
“We can prove it later anyway.”
“How?”
“I heal faster than Scott for some reason.
I’ll scratch myself and you can watch it close up.
Simple.”
“Yes!
Let’s do it.”
“Not now, idiot.” Leon sighed.
“We also found the body,” Scott said.
“Or half of it, at least.
I tripped over it when I fell down the hill last night.”
“You — are you kidding me?”
“No, man, I wish.
It was ripped in half.
Absolutely disgusting.” Scott’s face went pale just thinking about it.
“With the body and the creature, I’m gonna have nightmares for a month.”
“The body and a werewolf!” Stiles’s face split into a grin.
“Oh, god, that is freaking awesome.
I mean, this is seriously gonna be the best thing that’s happened to this town since—”
He stopped talking mid-sentence.
His eyes had locked on something over Leon’s shoulder.
“—the birth of Lydia Martin.
Hey, Lydia!
You look—”
Lydia walked right past him without a glance, stopping in front of Leon.
Her hair was still damp from a shower.
She smelled like vanilla and something floral that Leon couldn’t name.
“Good morning.” She played with a strand of hair.
“Good morning.” Leon smiled.
She tilted her head.
“You made friends quick.
I thought you didn’t want to be here.”
“Still don’t, but what can I do.”
“Since you’ve accepted your fate, you should probably know that everyone who matters is coming over to my place this Friday.
You should come.
Dress like you actually want to be there, and bring someone who makes you look good.”
“I don’t have anyone to bring.
How about you keep me company?”
Stiles was staring at them like he’d just witnessed a miracle.
Lydia Martin, talking to me.
Well — talking to the new kid standing right next to me.
Same difference.
“Bold, but I’m taken.
Find a cheerleader, Leon.
If you’re lucky, I’ll talk to you for a bit if I’m not busy.”
“I’m patient.
I’ll just wait for the moment you’re suddenly not so taken.” Leon smiled.
“Keep dreaming, Leon.
It’s good for the imagination.”
She looked at him for another long moment — then turned and walked away.
Leon watched her go, a calm smile remaining on his face.
But before Lydia could make it more than five steps down the crowded hallway, a heavy arm wrapped around her waist from behind.
It was Jackson.
He pulled her flush against him, but his blue eyes weren’t looking at Lydia — they were locked hard on Leon.
Jackson’s smile was sharp, territorial, and completely fake.
“Who was that?” Jackson asked, his voice dropping an octave as he nodded toward Leon.
Lydia didn’t even blink.
She effortlessly transitioned back into her perfect girlfriend persona, leaning into his touch while adjusting her bag on her shoulder.
“Just the new guy,” Lydia said smoothly, her tone completely dismissing Leon as if he hadn’t just made her blush.
“He was asking for directions to the office.
Come on, we’re going to be late for homeroom.”
Jackson didn’t break eye contact with Leon for another two seconds, giving him a warning glare before letting Lydia lead him down the hall.
Stiles exhaled.
“That guy really doesn’t like you.”
Scott watched Jackson guide Lydia toward the school doors.
“He’s just…
on edge.”
“On edge?” Stiles snorted.
“That guy was born on edge.
He probably came out of the womb with a vein in his forehead and a grudge against someone.
It’s not personal.
It’s just Jackson.”
Leon almost smiled.
“You know him?”
“Who doesn’t?
Jackson Whittemore.
Team captain.
Son of a rich family.
Dates Lydia Martin.
Thinks the sun rises so he can tan.” Stiles rolled his eyes.
“He’s been like that since middle school.
Don’t take it personally.”
“Wasn’t going to.”
They started walking toward the school.
Stiles fell into step between them, hands in his pockets, already talking again.
“You flirted with his girlfriend on day two.”
“I was being friendly.”
“You were not being friendly.”
“Fine.
I was being friendly with some other intention.”
Stiles snorted, shooting Scott a look that was equal parts impressed and deeply concerned.
“Friendly with another intention.
Right.
Well, your ‘intent’ just scored you an invite to the absolute peak of the Beacon Hills social hierarchy.
Meanwhile, Scott and I are still lingering in the subterranean layers.”
“It’s just a party,” Scott said, though he looked a little envious as they navigated the crowded hallway.
“Just a party?” Stiles stopped dead in his tracks, forcing a couple of freshmen to swerve around him.
“Scott, it’s Lydia’s party.
Friday night.
If you aren’t there, you basically don’t exist until midterms.”
He turned his sharp gaze back to Leon, narrowing his eyes playfully.
“Which brings me to my next tactical question.
She told you to bring someone who makes you look good.
Since Scott and I clearly fit the description of ‘elite arm candy,’ what’s the plan, wingman?”
Scott spoke up.
“Stiles.
Focus.
We found a body.
We got bit by something.
We might be turning into werewolves.
Can we please stay on topic for like five minutes?”
“If it is true, then you guys are good for now.” Stiles looked around.
“When’s the next full moon?”
Leon pulled out his phone.
A quick search.
“Three days.”
“Then we’ve got three days to figure out what’s happening to you.” Stiles started walking toward the school.
“That’s not bad.
That’s actually plenty of time if we start now.”
He disappeared inside.
Scott watched him go.
“He’s going to spend the next three days on the internet.”
***********
“…
which means you give your undivided attention to the syllabus, which is on your desk outlining your semester.”
Scott wasn’t listening to Mr.
Curtis.
He was listening to something else.
The sound came from outside.
Faint yet sharp — a phone ringing.
He turned his head toward the window.
No one else in the classroom reacted.
They couldn’t hear it.
He followed the sound with his ears alone.
Click.
“Mom, three calls on my first day is a little overdoing it.”
Scott’s eyes found her through the glass.
A girl sitting on the bench at the bottom of the stairs, dark hair, canvas bag, phone tucked between her ear and shoulder.
“Everything except a pen.”
“Oh, my god, I didn’t actually forget a pen.”
“Okay, okay.
I gotta go.
Love ya.”
Click.
The vice principal came out and greeted her.
Scott watched the whole thing — the handshake, the walk inside, the conversation in the hallway — like he was watching a show.
He could hear every word.
He could smell her perfume from the parking lot.
‘What the hell is happening to me?’
Behind Scott, Leon sat very still, staring at the same window.
He was trying to hear.
He could feel himself trying — like flexing a muscle that wasn’t quite there yet.
He could hear the distant hum of the hallway.
Although he heard nothing when Allison was outside, he started hearing their voices and footsteps in the hallway.
‘Right.
Lv1.
Still weaker than a beta.’
The classroom door opened.
The vice principal walked Allison to the front.
“Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent.
Please do your best to make her feel welcome.”
Allison smiled weakly and found the only empty seat — two rows behind Scott, one seat to his left.
The seat right behind Stiles.
Stiles smiled at her awkwardly.
She smiled back.
Scott reached into his bag for a pen, then hesitated.
He’d heard her forget one.
He turned to look at her—
And Leon was already turned around in his seat, smiling at Allison, holding out a pen.
‘Of course he is.
We were both bitten.
Same thing’s happening to me.’
Scott’s first instinct was mild irritation — I was going to do that — but it faded fast.
Leon had moved faster.
That was just how it was going to be from now on, probably.
“Here.” Leon’s voice was warm, easy.
Allison blinked.
“Thanks.” She took it, her fingers brushing his for a half-second longer than necessary.
She looked up at him — really looked at him — and her cheeks went pink.
“No problem.” Leon’s smile didn’t waver.
He turned back around in his seat like nothing had happened.
Allison stared at the back of his head for a long moment.
Then she looked down at the pen, then at her open notebook, then back up at him.
‘Who was that?’
And then, in the bottom corner of Leon’s vision, something new appeared.
[Key Plot Point Altered]
[Original: Scott McCall offers Allison Argent a pen during her first class – Leads to first romantic connection, eventual relationship, and major plot developments.]
[Altered: Leon Lockhart offers Allison Argent a pen during her first class
– Romantic trajectory shifted]
[Impact: Small action, large consequences.
Allison’s initial interest is now directed at Leon instead of Scott.]
[Supernatural Energy Acquired: +10]
[Current SE: 10]
Leon blinked.
Read it again.
Felt the corner of his mouth twitch.
‘Ten points.
For giving a girl a pen.’
He kept his face neutral.
His eyes stayed on the board.
But under the desk, his fingers curled slightly, and for the first time since arriving in Beacon Hills, he felt the road ahead was clearer.
[Shop Unlocked!]
[Access System Shop to view current available items, abilities, and upgrades] [Note: Shop inventory updates based on Template Percentage and Host progression]