He figured that once he got a little more used to the feel of carrying people while flying, this kind of messy side effect would not happen again.
“Dean, long time no see.
I watched your match just now.
It was amazing.
I really admire the way you control lightning.” A magnetic, mature voice spoke up beside him.
It was Peter’s father, Richard.
Dean gave him a small smile.
“Uncle Richard, long time no see.
I only know a thing or two about lightning.
Nothing worth that much admiration.” Richard shook his head seriously.
“No, no, no.
I’ve seen quite a few supes over the years, and I’ve seen plenty of elemental types too.
But I have never seen a supe who can control lightning and actually shape it into a hammer the way you did.
That is simply incredible.” “Perhaps.” Dean stayed completely calm about the praise.
Seeing that Dean was not interested in digging deeper into the lightning control, Richard felt a small pang of regret but adjusted quickly.
He was a biologist, not a physicist.
He did not have some burning need to explore electricity and the like.
Richard turned and invited them in.
“Dean, do you and Harry want to come inside for a bite?
Mary knew Peter went to watch Vought’s Seven tryouts tonight and would be home late, so she specially baked some cookies as a late-night snack.” Dean touched his stomach.
After the fight with Homelander he really was a little hungry, so he did not refuse.
“Then Harry and I won’t stand on ceremony.” “Haha, bro, don’t be polite at Peter’s house.
Just treat it like your own home!” As Peter’s best friend, Harry came over way more often than Dean, who barely showed up once a year.
Harry was as comfortable in the Parker house as if he were walking into his own.
Before Mary could even go get the cookies he had already pulled the tray out of the kitchen oven himself.
“Hot, fresh cookies are here~” Amid laughter and easy chatter, Dean and Peter’s family had a really pleasant late dinner.
Fifteen days later… After Vought’s full fifteen-day selection process (including five rest days), the final seven members of The Seven were locked in.
Today was the official announcement day for the complete roster.
At Vought’s press conference.
Once Madelyn finished her long introductory speech, the real moment finally arrived.
The full appearance of every member of The Seven.
“Let us first invite the leader of The Seven, Homelander, to introduce all the members of The Seven to us!” Following Madelyn’s cue, Homelander, American flag cape draped over his shoulders, walked out slowly.
But compared to the earlier version of himself who had desperately craved every camera flash and every pair of eyes, the Homelander walking out now found those same flashes and that same attention a little too bright, a little too sharp.
Because just half a month ago, under countless camera flashes and staring eyes, in front of a global audience, he had been beaten until he begged for mercy.
The meme of him with a pig’s-head face crying for mommy had already flooded the entire internet.
Good news: he finally got the worldwide fame he always wanted… Bad news: it came in the form of pure mockery memes.
That left Homelander with a solid case of post-war PTSD.
Every flash and every pair of eyes in the crowd now felt malicious, like they were all just waiting to watch him make a fool of himself and farm a fresh batch of memes.
“Homelander.
Homelander?” Madelyn’s repeated calls finally pulled him out of that paranoid, fragile headspace.
“Homelander, it’s time to introduce your new members.” Homelander sucked in a deep breath, forced his mind steady, picked up the prepared script, and pasted a fake smile onto his face.
“Now let us invite the six members of The Seven…” “The master of lightning, Dean!” “The mysterious ninja, Black Noir!” “The ultimate speed, Mr.
Marathon!” “The queen of both strength and elegance, Queen Maeve!” “The king of fire, Lamplighter!” “The one you can’t see, Translucent!” As Homelander called each name, the members of The Seven walked out from backstage one after another.
Except for Dean, who was just wearing an ordinary shirt, every other member had on some kind of battle suit.
So when Dean stepped out and the seven of them stood together, he looked completely out of place.
He looked more like a host, standing there the same way Madelyn was hosting beside him.
Nobody thought there was anything wrong with that, though.
Not the other members of The Seven, and not the reporters below the stage either.
That was the pure influence of strength.
If you were strong enough, you could walk on stage wearing a tattered sack and people would still call it unique style instead of calling you homeless.
So even in a plain shirt, Dean was still the most handsome guy present.
Dean glanced at the people standing next to him.
The rest of the roster did not surprise him, but when his eyes landed on Mr.
Marathon he frowned and asked Homelander quietly, “Where’s A-Train?
Wasn’t he already locked in as a candidate for The Seven?” Honestly, Homelander really did not want to talk to Dean right now.
But he was terrified that if he ignored him, Dean would just beat him again.
So Homelander turned his head and whispered the explanation.
“Vought’s upper management thinks A-Train being Black would lower the class of The Seven, so they swapped him out for a white speedster instead…” Dean: “…” Damn.
Vought’s upper management turned out to be actual Nazi?
That could not be right.
He remembered Vought’s CEO, the fried-chicken uncle, was also Black.
And wasn’t Vought building The Seven specifically to play the political-correctness game and cozy up to every LGBT demographic?
A-Train was the perfect political-correctness propaganda tool and they just threw him away?
Now, except for Black Noir—who never showed his real face anyway—The Seven were all white.
Were they not worried about catching heat for disrespecting people of color?
Dean realized he could no longer understand how Vought’s brain worked.
He also could not be bothered to think about it any longer.
Missing A-Train was not the end of the world.
Dean scanned the rest of the group and frowned again.
“Is Translucent being this pretentious on purpose?
Still invisible during The Seven’s first group appearance.
I think this guy is being extremely disrespectful to the rest of us.” “Homelander, use your X-ray vision and find out where Translucent is.
How about we drag him to the restroom later and beat the shit out of him?” Homelander: ?
Good grief.
What happened to “I am Homelander, I can do whatever I want”?
That title suits you more than me!
Wanting to bully a teammate on the very first day The Seven is formed—are you serious?
Looking at the completely stunned Homelander, Dean narrowed his eyes a fraction.
“What, you’re not willing?” “Ah—no, no, willing, of course I’m willing!
I’ll find him right away!” Seeing that cold gaze, Homelander trembled all over and immediately activated his X-ray vision, scanning every corner.
He checked the entire stage and even the area off-stage.
There was zero trace of Translucent.
Even Homelander’s expression turned ugly.
He gritted his teeth, cheeks puffed out in pure anger.
“That bastard Translucent didn’t show up at all.
He stood us up!”