Billy Butcher had always given people the impression of being a tough, hardened man.
But in this moment—watching the footage on the light screen, seeing his wife Becca Butcher lying on an operating table, blood gushing from her abdomen as she let out heartbreaking screams—no amount of toughness could hold back the collapse.
He looked like a cooked noodle, falling straight to the floor.
The belief that had supported him for so many years crumbled in an instant. His wife wasn't just dead—she had died in a horrific, unimaginable way.
The other participants were all visibly moved, their gazes filled with sympathy and pity. Even Deadpool, the usual jokester, stayed quiet for once.
Annie's eyes softened as she looked at Billy, speaking gently,
"It's all in the past now… We need to keep moving forward, don't we?"
"No… Becca. My Becca… she's not dead. She's not dead…"
Billy sat on the floor, hands clutching his head, his expression blank and dazed as he muttered to himself.
Seeing him like this, Hughie felt a deep pang of empathy. Remembering the moment his own girlfriend died right in front of him, he couldn't help but say,
"Butcher, maybe don't jump to conclusions just yet. What if… what if that doctor was lying?"
He didn't believe it himself—after all, the footage was clear as day. And given the calm, straightforward tone of Dr. Vogelbaum in the video, it seemed pretty believable.
Still, Butcher's eyes suddenly flared with life. He stood up abruptly, eyes bloodshot, and yelled,
"You're bloody right, Hughie! You're a bloody genius! That Son Of a Bitch was lying! Becca's not dead—she's alive! She has to be alive!"
The others looked on with even more sympathy. Deadpool shook his head and muttered,
"Love… it's the deadliest poison of all. It kills, and it keeps you alive…"
Doctor Strange glanced over in surprise. Even this clown could come out with something so poetic?
Back in the video, Homelander had clearly believed Vogelbaum's story. Learning that he once had a child—who died—shocked and visibly saddened him.
He pressed the doctor further:
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Vogelbaum replied matter-of-factly,
"We were protecting you. If the scandal ever got out, it would have destroyed your public image."
Homelander narrowed his eyes.
"Then why are you telling me now?"
Vogelbaum's expression turned grave.
"Some test subjects… when raised apart from their mothers, grow up violent, unstable, dangerously aggressive. You should have grown up in a loving family—not in a cold, sterile lab, raised by doctors."
That statement dropped a bombshell—Homelander himself was a lab-created superhuman.
And his childhood? Far from glorious. It was horrific.
Outside the screen, Annie was stunned.
"Didn't the earlier footage say he was an exception?"
Doctor Strange folded his arms, pondering.
"Apparently, Vought used two methods to create supers. One: inject Compound V into infants without the parents knowing, and pass them off as 'born gifted.' Two: raise test subjects in isolation from birth, training and engineering them into ideal products—like Homelander. But in either case, it all comes back to the lab."
Annie's expression twisted into a bitter smile.
"My god… It's like everything I believed in was a lie."
Then Deadpool chimed in,
"Hey, how do we know these future videos are even real? What if they're the fake ones?"
Annie froze for a second before shaking her head.
"No… the evidence is too strong. What's real is real. Still… sometimes watching these clips feels like I'm just watching a movie."
Deadpool smirked darkly and said,
"Maybe that's because we are movie or comic book characters."
"What?! That's insane!" Annie dismissed him immediately. Clearly, she thought he was just being his usual crazy self.
Deadpool gave a knowing chuckle but didn't press it. The others had long grown used to his bizarre, fourth-wall-breaking nonsense.
Back in the video, the conversation between Homelander and Vogelbaum continued to deliver shocking revelations.
The doctor explained that Homelander had been subjected to inhumane conditions as a child. Although he'd grown into a super-powered god-like figure, it had come at a terrible cost.
That explanation, of course, didn't sit well with Homelander.
Especially when Vogelbaum offered an apology.
Homelander's face contorted. Tears welled in his eyes as he shouted,
"You think saying sorry will fix this?! After raising me like a bloody lab rat? No. It's too late. And far too little!"
But Vogelbaum remained calm.
"I don't expect anything from you, John. I'm just an old man reflecting on his failures."
Homelander stood tall, chin lifted defiantly.
"I am the greatest superhero in the world."
His twisted childhood had shaped him—turned him into a cold, ruthless man obsessed with control and recognition.
He couldn't accept Vogelbaum's apology. Nor could he stomach the man's judgment.
And yet, Vogelbaum calmly replied,
"No, John. You're my greatest failure."
The video ended on Homelander's enraged, emotionless face.
In the Eternal Space, Doctor Strange let out a quiet sigh.
"Homelander ended up like this… and Vought—along with their scientists—must bear much of the blame. They created a monster. Instead of giving the world a kind, just guardian angel, they gave it a dangerous, godlike tyrant."
Hughie murmured,
"Just like so many serial killers had tragic, broken childhoods… Homelander's story is honestly kind of heartbreaking."
"No!" Billy Butcher's eyes were red as he shouted furiously.
"He's a monster through and through! I'll make him pay!"
The image of Becca, lying in that operating room soaked in blood, screaming in pain, replayed endlessly in Butcher's mind.
Even if he still held on to a sliver of hope… the brutal truth was hard to ignore.
The child she carried had torn her apart from the inside.
And for Butcher, that only confirmed one thing:
Superhumans are a disease. A filthy, cursed bloodline.
Yet ironically, in the world of The Boys, the footage of Homelander's childhood actually earned him some sympathy among the public.
His approval rating, surprisingly, had even gone up slightly.
_____
T/N:
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