As they flew towards international airspace, Roger carried Maeve swiftly towards the aircraft.
In the sky, both Roger and Maeve wore grim expressions. Noticing Roger's demeanor, Maeve asked, "What's wrong? You don't look happy."
"Neither do you," Roger replied.
"I just don't like Vought using an entire flight of people as bargaining chips," Maeve explained.
Roger's mood darkened further. "I feel the same way..."
Vought was attempting to force legislators to pass a bill allowing superheroes into the military by using the rescue of the airplane passengers as leverage.
Roger didn't understand politics. He wasn't sure if Vought's approach was effective, but fundamentally, he didn't want Vought's superheroes in the Department of Defense.
Superheroes shouldn't be involved in politics, he thought. If these superhuman individuals entered the political arena, it would inevitably lead to a struggle between humans and superhumans.
Moreover, Vought's intentions for entering the Department of Defense weren't pure; they simply wanted to grasp more power.
Roger also despised Vought's methods, but that wasn't his primary concern right now.
He was worried about repeating Homelander's mistakes from the original story.
"I see the plane!" Maeve called out to Roger after they had flown for a while.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Roger spotted the aircraft circling in the distance over international waters.
He took a deep breath to calm himself, then rapidly approached the distant plane with Maeve, using his x-ray vision to assess the situation inside.
After a brief inspection, he reported to Maeve, "The intel was off. There are four hijackers in total. One's in the cockpit and has already killed a pilot. Two are standing in the middle of the cabin, and one's at the door."
"Should we go in now?" Maeve asked.
"Wait a moment. Some passengers haven't fastened their seatbelts. When we open the door, you go in first. I'll stay outside to prevent passengers from falling out, then I'll join you."
"Got it."
Having quickly decided on their roles, Roger and Maeve approached the cabin door. They exchanged a glance before opening it from the outside.
As soon as the door opened, a person was instantly blown out by the cabin's escaping pressure.
Neither Roger nor Maeve bothered with this person, as Roger's x-ray vision had clearly identified him as one of the four hijackers.
After the hijacker was blown out, Maeve quickly jumped in and grabbed another hijacker inside the cabin.
The hijacker, destabilized by the cabin's unstable air pressure, lay on the floor. He couldn't even lift his gun, let alone attack, and was easily captured by Maeve.
With a swift "crack," Maeve decisively broke the man's neck and tossed him out through the door.
Two hijackers were instantly eliminated. The third hijacker, standing farther away, was shocked.
Maeve had moved so quickly that he hadn't even processed what was happening. By the time he realized, his two companions were already meeting their maker, leaving him alone in the cabin.
Turning towards the remaining hijacker, Maeve advanced step by step.
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By now, the hijacker was terrified of Maeve. He raised his hands to surrender, knowing he had no chance of victory against such a superhuman.
But Maeve ignored his gesture. She walked up to the hijacker and threw a punch at his head!
The powerful blow nearly shattered the hijacker's skull. Maeve, showing no mercy, grabbed the hijacker as he was about to fall and twisted his neck just as she had done before.
This unconscious hijacker thus ended his life while in a state of unconsciousness.
After all the hijackers in the cabin were dealt with, Maeve turned back to see Roger, who had closed the cabin door and entered. He gave Maeve a thumbs up, saying, "Well done."
Maeve tilted her head slightly, acknowledging the praise.
Roger then addressed the passengers, "Alright, everyone. It's over now. Everything is safe. You're all safe."
The people in the cabin finally realized that Homelander and Queen Maeve had saved them.
They clapped joyfully and cheered for Roger and Maeve:
"Thank you, Homelander! Thank you, Queen Maeve!"
"You're amazing!"
"Thank you, thank you so much!"
The passengers were elated, having narrowly escaped death.
When the plane was hijacked and several men pointed guns at them, they thought their lives were over.
They never imagined Homelander and Queen Maeve would arrive in time to rescue them from danger.
At this moment, everyone was thanking Roger and Maeve, cheering for these two superheroes.
Roger accepted the crowd's cheers while calming the passengers. Meanwhile, Maeve approached the cockpit door and glanced back at Roger.
Roger continued to wear Homelander's trademark fake smile, consoling the crowd while moving towards Maeve. He whispered to her, "There's still one hijacker. He's holding a gun to the remaining pilot's head. If we just barge in, I can't guarantee he won't do something drastic."
"Are you confident you can take him out instantly?" Maeve asked.
Roger shook his head. "Taking him out isn't hard, but I'm worried he might pull the trigger before I can neutralize him."
Homelander's heat vision took a moment to activate and penetrate a target. Moreover, to avoid damaging the control panel behind the enemy, Roger would need to reduce the heat vision's power.
The enemy might not die instantly, and as long as he wasn't killed immediately, he'd have time to react and pull the trigger.
But now there seemed to be no other option. Maeve and Roger exchanged a glance, and she said, "We have to go in there anyway..."
"I know."
Roger understood this, which was why he was so tense now.
Whether or not this plane would meet the same fate as in the original story depended on their next actions.
Having mentally prepared themselves, Roger and Maeve quickly opened the cockpit door.
As soon as they entered, they saw the remaining hijacker holding a gun to the pilot's head.
Seeing Roger and Maeve enter the cockpit, the hijacker was startled and immediately pulled the trigger!
Bang!
Splat!
The sound of a gunshot and the noise of heat vision piercing a skull rang out simultaneously.
The hijacker's head was shattered by Roger's heat vision, but the pilot's head was also blown apart by the hijacker's gun. Even worse, the hijacker's bullet had passed through the pilot's skull and hit the windshield.
The glass cracked and, due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the cockpit, shattered instantly!
Crack!
Fierce winds howled, making Roger's cape flap violently. Roger and Maeve looked grimly at the dead pilot.
The only good news now was that the control panel hadn't malfunctioned like in the original story. Roger had been carefully controlling his heat vision, and even the hijacker's scalp was still attached to his skin.
...That description might be a bit gruesome.
"ATC (Air Traffic Control)!! Can you hear me?!" Maeve reacted quickly, grabbing the headset from the pilot's head and calling nearby airport control towers.
The signal from the tower was intermittent. Although they could faintly hear something, it wasn't clear, the signal seemed weak.
"ATC!!" Maeve continued calling, while looking at Roger who was standing there. She asked, "Do you know how to fly a plane?"
"Do you think that's even possible?" Roger retorted, then added, "You keep trying to contact the tower. I'm going out for a moment!"
Due to the strong wind, Roger had to shout at Maeve.
Hearing that Roger wanted to leave, Maeve shouted back:
"What? Where are you going?!"
"The control panel is still working! I'm going to ask if any passengers know how to fly a plane!"
Unlike in the original story, the control panel wasn't directly destroyed by Homelander. This was the only piece of good news so far.
Although the pilot's death was tragic, as long as the control panel was intact, they could control the plane's takeoff and landing, and slow it down!
If the plane slowed down, Roger could try to stop it from the outside!
This was currently the only chance for the passengers in the cabin to survive!