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Chapter 417 — In Superman’s Hometown: Gaining Control of His Weakness
🕑 Added 2025-10-31 16:04:54 +0000 UTC> “Homelander… you’re leaving?”
Catwoman’s voice trembled faintly, the usual confidence in her tone replaced by something softer—something almost fragile.
She had expected this moment for weeks, maybe even months, ever since she first realized the kind of man Alex was.
A storm could never stay confined within one city forever.
And yet, when the moment finally came, the reality of it hit her harder than she had imagined.
For all her sharp instincts and self-preserving habits, part of her didn’t want him to go.
---
Throughout her chaotic life, she had met countless men—rich, powerful, dangerous, charming—but none like him.
Alex was a category of his own, a walking contradiction of calm control and terrifying might.
Even when he smiled, she could feel the power thrumming beneath the surface, restrained but absolute.
The brief months she had spent with him in Gotham would forever be etched into her memory—
not just as a series of nights, heists, or whispered confessions—but as something real. Something rare.
---
> “I told you before,” Alex said gently, “I was only passing through Gotham.
Now that my business here is done, it’s time for me to move on.”
His words were calm, but they carried finality.
He wasn’t one for long explanations or sentimental speeches. His clarity was his edge—ruthless and efficient.
Though Bruce Wayne had yet to uncover all the fragments of that strange shield, Alex had already decided not to wait.
Those fragments, while valuable, were now beneath his notice—mere trinkets compared to the power he had amassed.
---
He had lingered in Gotham longer than planned, but not without reason.
He’d hoped the city might spark something new—another mission, another surge of opportunity.
But Gotham had turned out to be a dead city in more ways than one.
Its villains were broken toys. Its heroes, exhausted legends.
No new quests had emerged. No worthy foes had risen.
And for Alex, that meant only one thing—stagnation.
---
The fragments might fetch him a few thousand source points at best.
To the old Alex, that might’ve been enticing.
But now? After raiding Themyscira and walking away with spoils beyond imagination, those points were pocket change.
He’d outgrown Gotham—outgrown its games, its players, and its shadows.
---
Besides, Bruce could continue the search alone.
If the billionaire wanted to play scavenger, let him.
Alex didn’t need to hover over every task. His focus was on far greater horizons.
Time to move on.
---
Catwoman fell silent. For a long moment, she said nothing.
Then, finally, in a quiet voice that barely broke the still air, she asked:
> “Then… will you ever come back?”
Her gaze was steady, though her heart wasn’t.
She was clever enough to know the truth—Gotham was too small for a man like him.
He didn’t belong to this city, or even this world.
Still, she couldn’t bring herself to let go completely.
She just needed to know that, somewhere in his future, she still existed.
---
> “I’ll come back to see you,” Alex said, his voice low but sure.
He meant it.
No matter how far his path took him, he wasn’t the kind to forget the people who mattered.
Catwoman had been his first connection in this world—his first link, his first tether.
That counted for something.
And besides, for someone who could cross continents in seconds, distance wasn’t really a problem.
---
> “Really? Homelander, you better not be lying to me!”
Her eyes suddenly brightened, that familiar mischief returning to her face.
In the next heartbeat, her lips curved into a dangerous smile.
> “Then let me give you a special gift… to send you off.”
And with a slow, teasing motion, she began to unbutton her top.
(A million words omitted.)
---
Later, after their parting had burned itself into memory, Alex visited one final person before leaving Gotham—
Bruce Wayne.
> “Homelander?” Bruce’s voice was guarded the moment Alex appeared.
“Why have you come?”
---
There weren’t many men who could make Gotham’s Dark Knight uneasy.
But Homelander wasn’t a man—he was a force of nature wrapped in human skin.
Bruce had spent months studying him, searching for leverage, for weakness.
And he had found nothing. Not fear. Not guilt. Not even hesitation.
The longer that went on, the more the unease gnawed at him.
---
> “I came to tell you some good news,” Alex said lightly, his tone unreadable.
Bruce’s eyes narrowed.
A “good news” from Homelander never sounded like good news at all.
> “Homelander,” Bruce replied evenly, “aside from helping you find those fragments, I won’t agree to anything else.”
> “That’s enough,” Alex said with a nod.
“I’m leaving Gotham. But you—keep looking for the fragments.”
---
> “You’re… leaving?”
For once, Bruce was caught off guard.
He’d imagined countless confrontations, even a final clash—but not this.
> “What’s wrong, Bruce? Gonna miss me?”
Alex smirked faintly, a teasing glint in his eye.
> “You know I’ve wanted you gone from Gotham since the day you arrived,” Bruce said dryly.
“But don’t worry. I gave you my word—I’ll keep searching.”
Alex smiled slightly. He respected Bruce’s integrity, even if they’d never see eye to eye.
> “Goodbye, Bruce.”
And then—
BOOM!
He was gone, vanishing in a crack of thunder.
---
Bruce stood there, the displaced wind ruffling his coat.
For the first time in months, the suffocating weight pressing on Gotham seemed to lift.
> “Homelander… has finally left Gotham.”
His words carried a strange mix of relief and foreboding.
---
Smallville.
A quiet town, peaceful to the point of isolation.
Golden fields stretched to the horizon, dotted with barns and weathered fences.
The air smelled of earth, sunlight, and the faint sweetness of harvest.
Alex walked down the dirt road, boots crunching against gravel.
After so many days of concrete and blood, the open country felt almost cleansing.
> “So this is Superman’s hometown,” he murmured, lips curving into a faint smile.
“Simple. Ordinary. But iconic.”
---
Each step carried a sense of nostalgia—
a rare calm that reminded him of simpler times, of places long gone.
The chirping of crickets, the rustle of cornfields—it was almost… peaceful.
Almost.
Because beneath that peace, he could sense something else—something hidden.
---
He took his time wandering the edges of the town, letting his senses expand outward.
Within seconds, his super-hearing picked up every sound across miles.
The laughter of children. The clang of tools. The low hum of tractors.
But then—something different. A pattern. A whisper.
> “Meteor freaks,” someone said in a nearby conversation.
“You hear about that kid with glowing eyes?”
Meteor freaks.
Mutations born from the strange green rocks that had fallen here years ago.
That phrase alone told him he was in the right place.
---
Then, he saw it.
His X-ray and heat vision swept beneath the soil, through buildings, and across the plains—
and what he found made him blink in genuine surprise.
> “You’ve got to be kidding me… that much Kryptonite?”
There it was, everywhere—
in the dirt, in basements, embedded in roads, even hidden inside barns—
a sea of faintly glowing green veins beneath the town.
Superman’s hometown, surrounded by his own weakness.
The irony was delicious.
---
> “Well then,” Alex said with a sly grin.
“Might as well collect a few samples.”
A man like him didn’t leave opportunity lying in the dirt.
Superman might be a hero among heroes, but Alex wasn’t naïve.
The Kryptonian was still a wildcard—one that could either become a threat or a resource.
And if fate had laid out his weakness right here, in this quiet town—
> “Why not secure a little insurance?”
He smiled faintly, the sunlight glinting off his eyes.
Smallville would be his next hunting ground.
And Clark Kent… his next target.
