Early the next morning.
Right after breakfast, Skye and the Kryptonian girl Kara plopped down in front of the TV. When they switched it on, the program playing happened to be The Boys.
Though the series had finished airing long ago, its popularity was still sky-high.
Especially after footage of "Starlight" fighting in real life began circulating online, fans of The Boys went absolutely wild.
Even with Herman throwing money around to suppress the online frenzy, and S.H.I.E.L.D. deploying tech to block the Stellar Tower's location from obsessed fans, none of it could stop the Marvel world's people from idolizing superheroes. Online chatter about The Boys kept dominating the trending lists.
TV stations, always chasing whatever was hot, had naturally bought the rights to rebroadcast the show.
Professor Charles' investment had paid off handsomely, and Herman's share of the profits wasn't small either.
But for Herman, now a billionaire, the dividends from The Boys hardly mattered anymore.
"This show? Both me and the boss acted in it!" Skye bragged to her new friend, turning up the volume.
At that moment, the channel was airing one of the Homelander's most infamous scenes—the airplane incident. A plane was about to crash, and the passengers placed all their hope in Homelander and Queen Maeve. But even they were helpless in the face of disaster.
"You and Herman starred in this?"
Kara's interest was immediately piqued. She leaned in with Skye, watching closely, while Skye happily filled her in on all the details and worldbuilding of the show.
On the screen—
"Everyone, don't panic. I'm the Homelander. I'm here. You're safe. Stay in your seats. Everything is under control."
Herman, in the role of the Homelander, reassured the passengers with a gentle smile.
Then he turned—
And tried to drag Queen Maeve away from the doomed aircraft.
"No, we can't just abandon them. You need to get outside and lift the plane!" said Queen Maeve, played by Agent Hill, her expression deadly serious.
"Lift the plane? Are you joking? Lift it how? There's nothing out there to stand on—just air!" Herman, as Homelander, sneered with disdain.
"I don't know! Fly above it! Ram it straight to stabilize it!" Maeve blurted out in desperation.
"You've got to be kidding. At this speed, if I ram it, I'll just smash it into scrap metal."
Herman's Homelander dismissed her coldly.
In front of the TV, Kara frowned in confusion. "Why would it shatter? He could clearly just lift the plane."
Kryptonians came from a civilization so advanced that she wasn't gawking like someone who'd never seen a movie—she simply didn't understand the logic of the scene.
"Oh, I know why! Physics! Homelander's body is tougher than the plane. At that speed, if he hit it, it would just rip the thing apart!"
Skye eagerly explained, recalling how she'd once been stumped by the same question until fellow students at Xavier's Academy explained it to her. Professor Charles' school didn't only teach superpowers; normal academic courses were strict as well.
"Doesn't he have a biofield, though?"
Kara asked suddenly.
That went straight over Skye's head.
"What's a biofield?"
Skye blinked in confusion—she had never even heard the term.
Kara went on to explain.
A biofield, she said, was an invisible, intangible field surrounding every living being. It transmitted life information, mediated interactions between living beings and their environment, and played a decisive role in sustaining life.
By Kara's logic, someone like Homelander—whose body could withstand nuclear blasts—should logically possess an extraordinarily powerful biofield.
"That kind of biofield could easily protect the whole plane." Kara's tone was firm—after all, nearly everyone in her family was a scientist. "His ability to fly must come from it too. He can use the biofield to manipulate Earth's gravity."
The knowledge was so advanced that Skye felt like she'd just been hit with a flood of incomprehensible jargon. She didn't understand a word of what Kara was really saying, only that it sounded impressive.
"Uh… you sure know a lot."
Skye looked at the younger girl awkwardly, forcing a smile, completely out of her depth with such technical talk.
"My mom and dad are scientists, and so is my uncle. Based on their research, we Kryp—" Kara nearly slipped but quickly corrected herself. "We Earthlings all have biofields."
Well.
That was a pretty obvious mistake.
But Skye, being pretty oblivious, didn't think much of it.
"Really?"
She asked her classic line.
"Really."
Kara nodded seriously.
Skye bought it.
"Then it must be the boss's script that's sloppy! Exactly! He's no scientist—just a film school grad turned director!"
Skye was quick to pin the blame on Herman. And sure enough, with her new friend sitting beside her, she completely forgot the long-standing "share the pain and joy" bond she had with him.
On the screen, the episode continued.
With Homelander unable to save the passengers, panic swept through the plane. The chaos irritated him.
"Everyone sit down and shut up! Or I'll laser you to death! I'll kill every last one of you!"
Herman, as Homelander, his eyes blazing red, threatened the terrified passengers with ruthless fury.
Kara watched this scene and quietly nodded again.
That's right.
As long as a Kryptonian soaked up enough yellow sunlight, they could develop powers like that. She recalled the research her family had done.
"No."
Suddenly.
Something clicked in Kara's mind.
Her expression shifted sharply.
"You said Herman wrote this script?"
She asked Skye urgently.
"Yeah."
Skye nodded, puzzled.
"I'm going to the bathroom!"
Kara tossed out the excuse, then bolted toward Herman's office with a strange look. Skye just assumed she wanted to use the smart bidet in his private bathroom. She didn't find it odd—she herself liked sneaking in to use it sometimes.
"You lied to me!"
Kara burst into Herman's office, glaring at him as he casually watched Game of Thrones. Her voice was filled with displeasure and accusation.
"Huh? What did I lie about?"
Herman looked at her blankly.
He honestly had no idea what she was talking about.
Could it be that she'd realized this wasn't the DC Universe? Impossible. Who on Earth could've told her something that transcended dimensions?
"And you claimed you weren't my cousin! You are Kal, aren't you? Damn it! Damn cousin! How could you play such a cruel joke on me!"
Kara's face burned with anger, her voice brimming with reproach.
"Huh?"
Herman blinked at her, even more dumbfounded. He couldn't understand how she had reached that conclusion. Aside from being as handsome and well-built as Superman, what part of him looked like Superman?
"Look at this face… I am yellow!"
Herman pointed helplessly at his face. Kryptonians, due to certain higher-dimensional quirks, all had the skin tone and features of Westerners.
Of course, in the name of political correctness, there had apparently been black Supermen too.
"You've absorbed the Yellow Sun! Of course your skin would turn yellow!" Kara shot back with solid reasoning that left Herman completely speechless.
That… almost made sense?
"Can you tell me why you think that?" Herman asked, his expression twisted in confusion, trying to piece it together.
"Homelander!"
Kara's answer.
Unexpected—yet oddly logical.
Herman slapped his forehead, regretting yet again ever filming The Boys. He really couldn't have predicted that a real Kryptonian would show up in the Marvel Universe.
"You said you only knew about Krypton and my name because you read my memories—but you filmed that TV series before I ever came here.
The powers that Homelander has are exactly the kinds of abilities Kryptonians develop under the Yellow Sun."
"If you weren't my cousin, how could you have written a character like that? I even asked Skye—she told me you wrote the script yourself."
"You must have drawn from your own powers to create Homelander... That has to be it! And it explains why you played him so perfectly!"
After laying out her reasoning, Kara wore an expression like Conan unmasking the culprit. That look of having "seen through the truth" carried a flustered mix of shame and indignation.
"Don't try to tell me it's just coincidence. I won't believe it!"
Well.
It really wasn't coincidence.
But how could Herman explain that Homelander was nothing more than a knockoff Superman? To do that, he'd have to start talking about the DC Universe and the Marvel Universe.
And Herman didn't believe Kara could accept something so absurd.
So…
He came up with another harmless lie.
"Alright. I admit it. I knew before you ever arrived… because I've traveled through many corners of the universe."
"One of them was your homeworld."
Herman's voice was steady, calm, and utterly convincing.
"...What?"
Kara clearly hadn't expected that answer.
"Krypton's scenery is breathtaking..." Herman began describing his "memories" of Krypton—though in truth, they were nothing more than scraps from comics and movies he'd seen in his past life.
"So that's it..."
As Kara listened to him speak of the world she knew so well, she slowly came to believe him. No Earthling who hadn't been there could describe Krypton in such detail.
And besides, Kal had left Krypton as a baby—there was no way he could know these things either. The fierceness in Kara's eyes faded instantly.
"I'm sorry... I misunderstood you."
She lowered her head, apologizing, shame coloring her tone.
Her feelings in that moment were tangled and heavy. On the one hand, Herman hadn't lied to her, and she should have felt relieved.
But Herman wasn't Kal.
Which meant she was still alone, with no idea where the last remnants of her people might be. And that was a cruel weight to bear.
"You're not alone here. We're all your friends, aren't we?"
Seeing her mood sink again, Herman spoke gently, his words a warm reassurance. Deep down, he also believed that someday, he would help Kara find the real Superman.
The Superman from his nightmares.
And more and more, Herman felt... maybe those dreams weren't just illusions.
…
After Skye took Kara out for some shopping to clear her head, Herman received an unexpected visitor.
From Stark Industries.
Herman was genuinely surprised.
He had only just promised Kara he'd find someone to repair her dolphin-shaped spacecraft. He hadn't even decided when to pay a visit to Tony Stark, that notorious playboy—yet early the very next morning, he received a personal invitation to Stark's evening banquet.
"Sir, my boss asked me to deliver this invitation. He sincerely hopes you'll honor us with your presence at his party tonight."
The man handing him the envelope was pudgy, wrapped tightly in an ill-fitted suit. Herman immediately recognized him: Tony Stark's driver.
Happy Hogan.
For years, Happy had served as Tony's driver and occasional bodyguard. But ever since Tony became Iron Man, both roles had become practically redundant.
And now?
He was reduced to running errands. Herman suspected that if not for Happy's long-standing friendship with Tony, he would have been unemployed long ago.
"Fine wine, models, indulgence, and decadence... Truly worthy of New York's number one playboy." Herman accepted the finely crafted invitation.
It was exactly Tony's style—covered with images of bikini-clad women, all of them models who'd be appearing at the banquet.
For billionaires, even the most famous models were little more than luxury commodities, available at a moment's notice. And truthfully, the models didn't even need to be asked—half of them would line up to deliver themselves as "takeout."
"To the esteemed major shareholder of Stark Industries, Herman Chu. I will be awaiting your arrival at my Malibu estate."
What caught Herman off guard was that the name had been written in Tony Stark's own hand.
He wasn't surprised that Tony had tracked him down. With S.H.I.E.L.D.'s network full of holes big enough for Skye to slip through for tea, there was no way it could stop Tony Stark from hacking in.
What surprised him was Tony's sudden skill at flattery. Herman couldn't tell if this was hard-earned growth from Afghanistan, or if Pepper Potts had simply forced him to mature.
"Interesting. Tell my worker I'll be there." Herman knew Happy would deliver his words verbatim to Tony Stark.
Happy gave a small bow before leaving the office, while Herman leaned back in his chair, briefly toying with the idea of making a flashy entrance.
Tony Stark was a showman. But Herman could out-show him—maybe even arrive carrying a plane overhead to really steal the spotlight?
...
In the end, Herman decided to be merciful.
He wouldn't steal Stark's thunder or embarrass him with a show of force. Instead, he picked a low-key Bugatti. Of course, "low-key" was relative—a car guaranteed to turn heads no matter where it went.
He floored the accelerator, speeding toward Stark's Malibu address.
Along the way, several traffic cops noticed his speeding. But before they could even sound their sirens, a mysterious call came in, halting their pursuit.
That's right.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was covering for him.
One of the perks of being under constant surveillance—there was always someone to smooth out the little inconveniences.
Speeding?
For S.H.I.E.L.D., that barely counted as a violation.
As long as Herman didn't lose his mind and decide to level New York, most of his minor crimes would be overlooked.
After all, billionaires?
How many actually obeyed traffic laws? Tony Stark's unpaid speeding tickets alone could probably wrap around Manhattan.
Compared to the others, Nick Fury actually considered Herman one of the more law-abiding billionaires.