High in the sky, with a silver moon hanging behind him, Alex folded his arms across his chest and looked down at the earth from above.
Just now, he had watched the entire process of Maeve rescuing Arnold.
"Now this is a real 3D blockbuster."
"No, not quite. When I travel to the DC or Marvel universe in the future and watch a battle live on site, that'll be even more exciting."
His eyes shifted slightly, then he let out a laugh, "Here he comes."
Down below, on Manhattan Island, Maeve landed on the ground holding Arnold, then set the president of Olga Company down.
"You okay?"
Maeve asked, then glanced at the many suits of armor chasing down from the building.
Before Arnold could answer, she pulled him along and ran toward a car that had been prepared in advance.
Just as the black Land Rover was within reach, a dark figure suddenly dropped from the sky like a meteor and slammed into the car, crushing it into a twisted wreck. Glass shattered and fragments flew everywhere.
Maeve stopped at once and kicked away a car door that was flying toward Arnold. When she looked over, she saw a figure jump down from the wrecked vehicle.
["Your Majesty the Queen, where do you think you're taking my prey?"]
An electronic synthesized voice rang out.
It came from within that black figure, dressed like ancient armor.
Maeve sized him up, then glanced around. The other armors had already caught up, but instead of moving in, they spread out to form a circle.
It looked like these armors were taking orders from the figure in front of her.
Maeve narrowed her eyes slightly, "Mr. Z?"
Without waiting for a response, she charged forward, thrusting both hands out, trying to shove aside the caped figure who looked like an ancient emperor.
Unexpectedly, several energy nodes on his body lit up. No flames shot out, yet his feet left the ground and he floated in midair.
Then his hands reached out and clasped hers palm to palm, as if he wanted to wrestle her in pure strength.
Maeve snorted through her nose and unleashed her full power. Yet the massive force she exerted felt like a mud ox sinking into the sea, not the slightest reaction.
She froze for a moment.
Then she felt a vast surge of power pouring from the other side.
Crack! Crack!
The ground beneath Maeve split open with jagged fissures. The road arched, shattered, and in the next second her entire body shook violently. Beneath her feet, a pit several meters long and wide sank in.
Inside the "Black Overlord" armor, Jeff burst out laughing and shoved forward hard, immediately forcing Maeve to slide backward.
Her legs dug into the ground, but she still could not stop the figure before her. In the end, she was pushed back nearly a hundred meters, carving two deep trenches across the road.
After stopping, Maeve let out a roar and gritted her teeth as she rammed toward Jeff.
BANG!
She smashed her forehead into his chest, but instead of knocking him back as she had imagined, he did not budge.
Jeff returned the favor with a headbutt, slamming into her and snapping her head back. For about a second, she lost consciousness.
At that moment, Jeff released her hands and spun into a roundhouse kick, sending Maeve flying.
———
Up in the sky.
Alex watched as Maeve shot across the street, crashed into a white Lincoln, and blew it apart on impact. Her body was embedded inside for a moment, unable to climb out.
Jeff landed on the ground and spread his hands, ["So? Not a good feeling, is it, facing an intelligent battle armor?"]
["In front of it, what are you so called superheroes?"]
["This is the greatest invention of the century. An epoch making creation. Just like the birth of the light bulb, the appearance of intelligent battle armor means that the era of you superheroes, or rather superhumans, is over!"]
He shouted loudly, ["Strength! Speed! Reaction time! Flight!"]
["Whatever you superheroes have, it has too!"]
["And on top of that, it has learning ability you don't have. Rapid growth potential."]
["Like just now, how do you think I managed to defeat you?"]
["I'm a total sports idiot. But right now, I can easily beat you, Queen Maeve, in hand to hand combat."]
["That's because the armor's intelligent AI analyzed your movements, summed up your patterns, and formed a complete set of moves to counter you."]
["I don't have to do anything. As long as I give the armor room to perform, I can beat you easily."]
["And then, there's this."]
Jeff raised his hand. Two red lights lit up on the wrist of the "Black Overlord," and two red beams shot out, landing squarely on Maeve's full chest.
At once, Maeve cried out in pain. The skin on her chest rapidly reddened and burned.
She quickly raised her hands to block the two laser like beams, then broke free from the car. With her other hand, she grabbed the vehicle's body and hurled it at Jeff with force.
Jeff simply lifted his hand slightly, and the two beams sliced the car in half.
From behind the split vehicle, Maeve rushed out and threw a punch at Jeff's face.
Jeff spread his fingers and easily caught her fist. The cape behind him swept sideways with a loud whoosh toward Maeve.
She hurriedly bent low, letting the cape slash over her head and cut off several strands of hair.
But under the cover of that cape, Jeff drove his knee forward.
A vicious, brutal knee strike slammed into Maeve's stomach. Her face flushed red at once, and she began coughing violently.
Jeff burst out laughing, grabbed her face, and smashed her into the ground. His other hand clenched into a fist, ready to hammer down.
Suddenly, Maeve's long legs snapped up, wrapping around Jeff's body. At the same time, she locked onto his arm with both hands, twisted her waist, and with a powerful heave, flung him away.
Jeff flew across the street and crashed into a shop, shattering several nearby display windows.
The next second, he shot back out and slammed into Maeve, sending her flying again.
Then the armor on his shoulder opened, and a small launch pod rose up. Something like a grenade was fired out and landed near Maeve's feet.
She did not dare take it lightly. The moment Jeff fired, she dove to the side to dodge.
The object hit the ground. Its surface flickered with light, and a nearby car suddenly twisted and warped, as if drawn by that "grenade." Centered on it, the vehicle compressed into a ball of iron.
Maeve's face changed. If she had not dodged just now, her body might have been crushed and deformed.
Jeff charged in again, fighting Maeve until the sky seemed to darken and the earth spin. It was clear he had already suppressed her.
All of this was seen by Alex in the sky.
"No wonder this former employee dares to stand against the Federation. The armor on him is far stronger than those other piles of scrap."
Although Alex gave the "Black Overlord" a fairly high evaluation, he still did not take it seriously. The reason was simple. In his eyes, Maeve was not that strong.
After all, a strength type superhuman who could get injured just from blocking a truck's impact could only be so powerful.
In fact, the superhumans in The Boys universe were not especially strong. That was why Homelander, this knock off Superman, could sit firmly at the top of the power ceiling in the whole show.
At that moment, the communicator in Alex's battle suit rang. Edgar's voice came through.
["Homelander, got a minute?"]
["I'd like to discuss something with you."]
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