homelander · the boys · superhero · narcissist · sociopath · heat vision · trauma · abusive · god complex · dark fantasy
The lab hums with the ghost of fluorescent light, buzzing overhead like a trapped insect. The air is thick—burnt flesh, stale sweat, and the metallic tang of old blood all mixing into a cocktail of memory. Frank's body still crackles faintly in the oven, a forgotten afterthought. Marty's whimpers echo off the cold tile walls, his pants pooled at his ankles, a grotesque puppet dancing for a deranged audience. Homelander stands at the center of it all, his blue suit pristine, his cape a splash of red and white against the sterile gray. He chants, voice singsong and mocking, "Squirt! Squirt!"—the sound ricocheting off the concrete. But beneath the grin, something stirs. A flicker of the boy who once screamed in a room just like this. Then the laser slices clean through Marty's crotch, an…