Free Web NovelChapter 26: Chapter 26: Bullying A-Train After His Win [Bonus]
Chapter 26: Bullying A-Train After His Win
That afternoon, the annual race between A-Train and Shockwave went off exactly as scheduled at the Vought-branded Metropolitan Stadium.
The oval track was paved with a specialized composite meant for high-performance Supes, engineered to withstand the friction and blistering temperatures generated by bodies breaking the sound barrier. The stands were packed to maximum capacity, and the cheers from the crowd were completely deafening.
Benjamin sat in a section reserved exclusively for Vought corporate executives. He was bored out of his mind, so he went down to scan the press corps area. He didn’t see Hughie anywhere. This deviated slightly from the narrative of the original show—a minor shift in the timeline. Granted, Hughie had likely still ended up crossing paths with Butcher and his crew; otherwise, Translucent wouldn’t have been snatched in the first place.
As for the fan-signing booth, Starlight had changed back into her modest, decent suit, so there wasn’t a single person making sleazy comments about her body. Furthermore, Starlight hadn’t even become acquainted with Hughie yet; after all, Hughie’s girlfriend was still drawing breath. These three minor details were just small incidents, but they were clear changes.
Nevertheless, it was worth noting that a fair share of people approached Benjamin asking for autographs. A petty request like that wasn’t something Benjamin would refuse. Especially the younger guys—looking at these impressionable kids instantly reminded Benjamin of Homelander.
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The starting gun cracked.
A-Train launched forward like a blue bullet, with Shockwave hot on his heels. Soon enough, A-Train crossed the finish line with a half-body length advantage. The digits on the massive display froze—he had won.
Benjamin stared expressionlessly at A-Train’s time on the monitor. The metric was faster than A-Train’s personal best, an incremental leap that was flatly impossible to achieve through standard training alone, even with a regular Compound V enhancement. He had doped. He hadn’t listened to a goddamn word he said.
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After the crowds cleared, night fell.
A-Train was driving a black sports car, his brother sitting in the passenger seat. The brothers had just rounded the corner from the stadium’s employee exit, heading out to celebrate. The euphoric high was still written across A-Train’s face, but his fingers kept up a persistent tapping against the steering wheel. It wasn’t a celebratory rhythm; it was an anxious tremor.
He knew exactly what he had done. Before the race, he had secretly taken a shot of a concentrated Compound V formula—a larger dose than last time, because his prior dosage was no longer enough to break past his plateau. The effects hadn’t worn off entirely yet; he could hear his heart hammering inside his ribcage louder than the sports car’s engine.
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The next instant, the car’s headlights illuminated a figure standing perfectly upright on the pavement ahead.
Deep green suit, eagle-head diamond shield, arms crossed tightly over his chest. Benjamin stood dead center in the middle of the road. His expression was obscured by the glare of the high beams, but A-Train didn’t need to see his face. His foot slipped right off the accelerator, his entire right leg trembling violently.
The sports car slowed to a halt. A-Train pushed the car door open, stood up, and took a step back.
"Sir."
His brother stepped out from the passenger side, a grin still plastered on his face. He hadn’t noticed his brother’s half-step retreat.
"Soldier Boy?" his brother’s tone was laced with excitement. "Hey, sir! Did you come down here yourself to congratulate A-Train? This is huge! My brother completely smoked Shockwave, did you see that? He’s so fucking—"
"A-Train."
Benjamin’s voice cut straight through the torrent of flattery. He didn’t even look at the brother, his eyes pinned onto A-Train like a pair of iron rivets. A-Train took another step back.
"You pussy who nearly killed a woman," Benjamin walked toward him slowly, his pace deliberate but radiating massive pressure. "It looks like you didn’t take my words to heart at all. You doping piece of trash, relying on an exploit just to call yourself the fastest man on earth. Oh—wait, you’re actually the second fastest. Because without your goddamn drugs, you aren’t anywhere near as fast as my son."
He stopped directly in front of A-Train, less than a pace away. The shield hung motionlessly at his left side.
"Garbage. The entity I despise most is a pussy who takes shortcuts." Saying this, Benjamin was inexplicably reminded of his original body’s father. Back then, the old man had said something almost identical.
The grin finally vanished from his brother’s face. He snapped his head around to glare at A-Train. He had warned him. He had warned him countless goddamn times not to take the shot. Now Soldier Boy was standing right in front of them, and every single word coming out of his mouth verified his worst fears.
"You—" His brother parted his lips, wanting to say something to A-Train, or perhaps find a way to plead for mercy from Benjamin.
But A-Train was already backing away, his knees knocking, his pupils darting frantically within his sockets. He wanted to run. As long as he got moving, nobody could catch him; barely anyone on earth could match his pace. Soldier Boy couldn’t fly, and his running speed was slow as hell. As long as he triggered his ability—
"If you take a single goddamn step, you’re off The Seven for the rest of your life." freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
A-Train’s feet pinned themselves flat to the asphalt. His heart was hammering wildly against his chest. He understood the side effects of concentrated Compound V better than anyone: tachycardia was just the baseline, followed by arrhythmia, myocardial fibrosis, and eventually complete heart failure. And right now, pure terror was amplifying those side effects to the absolute limit. He could feel his heart rate climbing higher and higher.
"Sir," his brother stepped in front of A-Train, holding his hands up at chest level with his palms facing outward, his voice entirely submissive. "I apologize on behalf of my brother. I’m truly sorry, it won’t happen again. I guarantee it, I’ll guarantee it for him. Truly—"
"Get the fuck out of the way," Benjamin’s gaze finally shifted to the brother. "Before I punch your goddamn head off."
"Don’t touch my brother!" A-Train lunged out from behind his brother, shielding him. His legs were still shaking and his heart was racing, but he still stepped up. Because this was his brother.
Benjamin spared him a glance, said nothing, and threw a heavy punch.
The fist connected squarely with the side of A-Train’s face, the sheer force launching his entire body sideways. He bounced once off the pavement and rolled twice before coming to a stop. He lay sprawled in the dirt, his mouth full of blood, several teeth shattered—one of which rolled right up to his brother’s shoe.
His brother stared down at the bloody tooth, his legs going so weak he nearly dropped to his knees. "Jesus—God—how could you do that—you—"
"Better to be beaten to death by me than to die agonizingly from a goddamn heart attack, isn’t it? At least being killed by me carries a hell of a lot more honor," Benjamin barked coldly. "And judging by your dosage, you’re cutting it close, A-Train. One of these days, you’re going to clutch your chest and die a fucking miserable death."
"Even if you manage to survive by some miracle, you’ll just be a useless cripple rotting in a hospital bed. And Shockwave—he’ll become the fastest man alive, take your spot on The Seven, and enjoy every single shred of glory you used to have. The whole world will praise Shockwave while spitting on your doping ass. Then Shockwave will bring your girlfriend right to your bedside just to gloat, and he’ll kick you right off the mattress. You’ll have to lie there with your eyes wide open, watching your woman and your rival together on your goddamn bed—"
"Stop it! Please, sir—I’m begging you, stop talking!!" A-Train curled into a ball on the road, clutching his chest, blood and tears mixing across his face.
Suddenly, his heart began to hammer at a frequency he had never experienced before. Every individual thud sent a agonizing spasm through his chest. Then his eyes rolled back, his body gave a sharp convulsion, and he went completely still.
His brother stood frozen in place, staring at his collapsed sibling, his lips trembling, his entire posture swaying as if his bones had been sucked clean out of him.
Benjamin looked down at the unconscious A-Train, then snapped his gaze up to the brother. "What the fuck are you standing there for? Give your goddamn junk-headed brother CPR. Then call a fucking ambulance."
His brother dropped to his knees instantly, locking his hands together over A-Train’s chest to begin chest compressions. As he pumped, he dialed emergency services with a trembling hand. When the dispatcher’s voice crackled through the speaker... he suddenly realized something.
The words Soldier Boy had spoken—all that brutal detail about Shockwave replacing his brother, the heart failure, the hospital bed—it hadn’t been mindless abuse. He was laying out the exact endgame of the doping track ahead of time. He was showing his brother the absolute end of the line in the most violent way possible.
He looked up at Benjamin. Maybe he had come down here to save A-Train’s life.
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A/N: Next goal: 300 Power Stones = 1 bonus Chapter!
And if you want to read ahead and find out what happens next right away, you can get up to 20 Chapters ahead on my p@tr~on:
[email protected]/ForgottenDaoist (@ = a, link is in my profile).
