Chapter 109: Meeting Marathon
She started mentally picking out a bikini for a stroll along Santa Monica Beach.
Then she imagined herself holding Benjamin’s arm, leaving romantic footprints beside the palm trees in the sunset.
In fact, aside from Stormfront and Neuman, Starlight had fantasized about that too.
Unfortunately, Benjamin never talked about love or romance.
"We’re not going on vacation. We’re going to find Marathon."
"Marathon?"
Rena paused, but as someone from the Speedster circle, she quickly remembered the hero codename.
He was a veteran second-tier Speedster Supe.
But a long time ago, he had been anything but second-tier.
Marathon had once been the very first Speedster in The Seven.
Back then, Marathon had been at the height of his glory, soaking up the world’s spotlight and the screams of countless young women.
But the turnover among Supes and the brutal rules of competition had no mercy.
As he aged, Marathon’s speed began to slip by the tiniest margin.
And that drop of just a few tenths of a second was enough for the then-red-hot rookie A-Train to crush him completely.
In a cutthroat corporate machine like Vought, losing the shine of being number one meant losing commercial value.
Marathon was kicked out of The Seven without a shred of mercy, tossed aside like an expired product.
Unable to handle that fall from grace, Marathon never recovered.
He started living like he had given up on himself.
Drinking, drugs, and every kind of self-destructive bullshit.
Before Soldier Boy took power, second-tier Supes were basically no different from third-tier Supes. They had no real standing inside Vought, and only The Seven had truly made it.
So it was no surprise Marathon ended up like that.
In the end, Marathon left Vought completely, fled New York, and became a washed-up, forgotten Supe in Los Angeles.
Rena looked at Benjamin in confusion.
She did not understand why someone like Sir, a man with enormous power and absolute control over Vought, would suddenly be interested in some old guy Vought had already thrown out.
"Go put on your Supersuit, Rena."
Benjamin patted her full, firm backside, signaling for her to get up.
Rena nodded obediently and put on her Supersuit. To be honest, Rena really was stunning in it. The silver Supersuit, her long white hair, and her fair skin came together into something sleek, sharp, and beautiful.
If Edgar’s reign had not kept second-tier Speedsters from getting any real exposure, Rena might have been even more popular than Starlight.
...
Before long, Rena arrived in Los Angeles with Benjamin on her back.
As they entered the city, a vague melancholy stirred in Benjamin’s heart.
The streets of Los Angeles, the palm trees, the gray-blue coastline in the distance. Everything felt deeply familiar.
To be honest, aside from New York, where he spent every day now, Los Angeles was the city he knew best.
No, that was not right. It should be called Los Santos.
At their destination, Rena set Benjamin down and casually straightened the collar the wind had ruffled.
Benjamin said nothing. He simply looked toward the distant skyline and stayed silent for a moment.
After that, they arrived at Marathon’s villa.
It was called a villa, but it looked more like a small estate. The place was finely decorated, with neatly trimmed ivy climbing the outer walls and warm-toned paving stones laid out in front of the entrance. It was obvious the owner had put real effort into maintaining it.
Benjamin raised an eyebrow. This was not quite what the rumors had led him to expect.
Everyone said Marathon had fallen on hard times, but from the look of it, his home was not exactly shabby.
Before Benjamin could press the doorbell, the door opened from the inside.
Marathon practically ran out.
He wore a printed shirt, his face full of excitement, his eyes shining.
"Well, let me... take a look at who’s here. Isn’t this Soldier Boy?"
Marathon’s voice trembled slightly with excitement as he hurried forward, clasping his hands in front of him like a little boy finally meeting his idol.
"It’s an honor, sir. Honestly, when I lost my virginity, I was wearing underwear with your face on it."
His tone was open and matter-of-fact, without the slightest hint that he was joking.
Apparently, the admiration was real.
Marathon was the kind of fan who had truly worshipped him for years.
Of course, the part about his face being printed on Marathon’s underwear nearly made Benjamin lose his composure.
"Marathon, everyone out there says you’ve been living pretty rough."
As Benjamin spoke, he stepped into the villa, his gaze slowly sweeping over the interior. Dark solid-wood furniture, several vintage movie posters on the walls, and a liquor cabinet stocked with plenty of whiskey that looked expensive as hell.
"Didn’t expect ’rough’ to look like this."
Marathon followed behind him. Hearing that, he rubbed his hands together a little awkwardly and laughed.
"Ahem, well, sure. Compared to regular people, I’m still living pretty damn well. When people say I’ve fallen off, they mean compared to what I used to have. I had my glory days, after all. I may be past my prime, but I’m still doing better than most."
As he spoke, his gaze quickly shifted to Rena standing beside Benjamin, and his expression grew even warmer.
"Hm? Is that Rena?"
They were both Speedster Supes.
Of course they knew each other.
Rena nodded slightly, her voice calm but carrying just the right amount of respect.
"It’s an honor to meet you, Marathon. You’re my veteran."
That one sentence made Marathon incredibly happy.
The smile on his face deepened into creases, and he waved his hands again and again.
"No, no, I wouldn’t dare."
But no matter what he said, he could not keep the corners of his mouth down.
After all, being called a veteran carried a certain prestige.
He busied himself ushering the two of them to sit, then personally opened a fine bottle from his private collection, poured three glasses, and brought them over.
Just as the atmosphere grew warm and easy, Marathon finally could not hold back the question in his heart.
"Soldier Boy, Rena, what brings you here? You didn’t come all the way to Los Angeles just to visit an old has-been like me, did you?"
He asked carefully, testing the waters.
Because Marathon really had no idea what they were doing here.
Benjamin did not answer right away. Instead, he lifted his glass, took a sip, and asked, "You used to be a member of The Seven?"
"Yes, sir."
Marathon quickly composed himself. When The Seven came up, his expression turned complicated, carrying both pride and bitterness.
"Later, Homelander had A-Train replace me."
As he said it, a trace of resentment slipped into his voice.
After all, that had been the peak of his career. Being yanked down and replaced like that would leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth.
That was why Marathon hated Homelander.
Of course, Homelander had not actually done anything wrong.
As a Speedster Supe, staying at the top and remaining in The Seven meant you had to be the fastest.
Someone who was not the fastest man in the world had no right to be The Seven’s Speedster Supe.
So in a sense, competition among Speedster Supes really was fierce.
Whether it was A-Train replacing Marathon, or Shockwave almost replacing A-Train.
Benjamin had come here precisely to prevent that.
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