Free Web NovelChapter 41: 41: Manipulation? It’s Called Character Growth!
The world isn’t perfect. But it’s there for us, trying the best it can. That’s what makes it so damn beautiful.
~ Roy Mustang (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
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The interview wrapped up and the crew started packing the equipment.
Homelander waited patiently outside the door until Hillel came out.
"The Guardian, my good brother, thanks so much for what you did in there!"
Homelander sounded genuinely grateful.
He had tried to ride The Guardian’s hype and almost got embarrassed by that cameraman. Hillel not only saved him but accidentally boosted his image too.
In his eyes, Hillel was now a real friend.
Hillel looked completely unfazed.
"Small thing. It’s nothing."
Homelander lowered his voice. "What you said earlier... about me giving you the opportunity. I know that wasn’t true, so why—" freewebnovёl.ƈom
"How is it not true?" fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Hillel stopped walking and corrected him.
"Think about it. You’re Vought’s face. You get first pick on every mission. If you had wanted the Middle East job, nobody could have stopped you."
"You didn’t go, so doesn’t that mean you gave it to me?"
Homelander paused.
Is... is that how it works?
He didn’t go, so The Guardian got the chance to run the mission.
And that led to this massive win.
Looking at the result, he really had given it up!
"However..." Hillel pulled Homelander into a quiet corner and whispered, "This interview wasn’t as simple as it looked."
Homelander looked confused. "What’s complicated about it? It was just a normal interview, right?"
"No, no, no. You’re being too naive."
Hillel looked dead serious. "Do you know why Edgar specifically sent me on the mission and set up this solo interview?"
"There’s a lot going on behind the scenes. Can’t explain it in a couple sentences."
"But one thing is clear. He’s targeting you!"
Homelander’s brow twitched.
"Targeting me? ME? Why! I’m doing my job just fine!"
"See, you said it yourself," Hillel pointed out. "It’s exactly because you’re doing so well that you’ve basically become Vought’s whole brand. Your shine is covering up everyone else."
"That’s not good for rolling out new products. It makes Vought’s image too one-note. Guys running multi-billion dollar companies naturally like to be in control. They don’t like getting controlled."
"So Edgar is pushing me up to push your spotlight down. Think about it. Haven’t there been signs lately?"
Hillel’s logic sounded solid. Homelander thought it over and realized it really did add up.
When A-Train’s drug shit got exposed and hurt his rep, what did Vought do?
They buried the negative stories.
Then there was The Deep. Madelyn stopped him from holding that press conference to kick those two assholes out.
In the end the Starlight video leaked and he took the blame instead.
Now Edgar assigns missions and skips him completely, letting The Guardian hog all the glory.
Put it all together and the pattern was obvious.
Homelander’s heart rate started climbing.
"And that’s not even the worst part. The scary thing is they’re planning a full switcheroo!" Hillel kept feeding the fire.
"What’s a switcheroo?"
Homelander asked, right on cue.
Hillel explained, "It’s a simple swap. Capital can’t control you, but they can’t give up your commercial value either. So they use this method to transfer all the exposure, traffic, and public support that used to belong to you over to me."
"Once the public gets used to the new face, they’ll start thinking Vought’s brand doesn’t have to be Homelander anymore! The Guardian works just fine too!"
Hillel shrugged. "Of course, I’m just a replacement. When they can’t control me either, they’ll pull the same trick to take me down."
Homelander stood there frozen.
Once his brain started spinning it wouldn’t stop.
"No, no, no. This can’t be right! How can they do this to me! ME! I am the Homelander! I am Vought’s brand! I am the strongest supe on Earth!!"
[Key Character: Homelander — Emotional Change: Alert, Angry, Resentful]
[Ability Points Gained: +1,834]
Nice. The big one hit.
"So that’s why you said all that on the show." Homelander realized.
"Of course. We’re good homies. They think they can mess with us using cheap tricks like this? Fucking naive!" Hillel said.
"Thanks, bro!" Homelander’s eyes got a little wet.
Homelander was genuinely touched!
"But this can’t keep happening!"
Hillel kept pushing while the iron was hot.
Homelander seemed to catch the look in his eyes and shook his head fast.
"Oh! Bro! No, no. You want to kill Edgar? He’s Vought’s..."
"Vought’s boss?"
Hillel looked disgusted.
"Homelander, have you ever asked yourself why you, the strongest supe in the world, have to take orders from a regular human? Even when that human is just using you, playing you, and will throw you away the second you’re no longer useful?"
"Be... because he is..."
That’s right!
Edgar is just a normal guy. Why the hell am I scared of him deep down?
Homelander suddenly got it.
"You finally see it. This is what I wanted to tell you. All the supes Vought makes are clearly stronger than Edgar, so why do you fear him?"
"Because while you were growing up they deliberately trained your mind to make you scared of him at the core. You can’t go against his decisions."
Almost there, time to take a certain line from JJK..
"It shouldn’t be like this. We’re not Edgar’s slaves. We’re the humans of the new world!"
Homelander’s whole worldview looked like it was cracking.
He, the most popular supe in America, had been psychologically conditioned since he was a kid?
This was impossible!
This was absolutely fucking impossible!
And now the final nail..
"Do you know why even Madelyn can control you? I won’t say more. You can look into it yourself."
After pouring enough gas on the fire, Hillel stepped back and quietly watched Homelander lose his shit.
In the original story Homelander figured this out slowly. Now Hillel was speeding the whole process up!
A monster that would make all of America tremble was starting right here.
"I don’t believe it. I’m going to find Madelyn and Edgar!"
Homelander smashed through the glass and shot into the sky.
Hillel shook his head. Homelander’s mentality was still pretty immature. Even if he flew over and asked, did he really think they’d admit it?
...
"That’s right. You’re just a defective product!"
Edgar stood by the window, looking at Homelander with pure contempt.
"You were designed from birth and you’ll serve Vought until you die. Maybe to the people of America, you’re some all-powerful supe!"
"But to me, to Vought, you’re nothing!"
"Now get back to your post. You can only come in when I call you."
Edgar didn’t even flinch. Facing the strongest supe in the face of earth, his expression never changed.
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