Leaning against the wall, I was reading a fairly thick book with genuine interest, and even a hint of excitement.
Someone might have assumed I was absorbed in the story or some unexpected plot twist.
Nope.
Anyone standing close enough to see the cover would immediately understand that wasn’t the reason.
“Since when do you study Spanish?” Maeve asked with interest as she sat in an armchair, casually sipping her cognac.
“Since yesterday. I’ve already made quite a bit of progress. This is my fourth book,” I bragged, closing it halfway through.
“I bought it two hours ago.”
“I doubt you ever would have done something like this before…” She narrowed her eyes slightly.
“So who influenced you?”
“My son.”
I shrugged.
There was no reason to keep it a secret.
“You adopted a child?!”
“No, what are you talking about? He’s my biological son. My own flesh and blood.”
“How is that possible?” Maeve muttered in shock.
The idea seemed completely absurd to her.
“I don’t know myself. Maybe not all of us are sterile,” I said, voicing my theory.
“Or maybe it just depends on the circumstances.”
“And… how long were you planning to keep this hidden?”
“I found out three days ago,” I told her grimly.
“He’s already eight.”
“So…” Maeve trailed off.
“Wow.”
She fell silent for a couple of seconds before curiosity got the better of her.
“What is he like? Your son.”
“He grew up to be a good kid. Kind, too. And smart. A lot smarter than I was at his age.”
“Kids these days really are much smarter than we were at their age,” Maeve said with a smile before sighing and pursing her lips.
“Does he have powers already?”
“He does, but he doesn’t develop them, and he doesn’t even realize he has them. Which is for the best.”
I answered while glancing toward the wall behind me.
Beyond it was an entire grandstand packed with cheering fans.
This wasn’t the first race of its kind that A-Train had participated in.
Over the years, nobody had managed to beat him and take his place in the Seven.
But races like this weren’t just about competition.
They were great publicity for both participants.
Usually, sales of all kinds of merchandise skyrocketed afterward.
It didn’t even matter who won.
“You’re really lucky,” Maeve said with a sad smile.
“I know.”
That reminded me just how much she loved children.
It also reminded me of how she’d practically cried her eyes out after learning that she could never have any.
Homelander had taken advantage of the situation back then and seduced her.
But that was a completely different story.
“You’re up.”
Ashley walked into the room, as tense as ever.
“Thanks for the warning, Ashley. You can go,” I said with a smile, flashing my eyes at her so she’d get the hint and leave as quickly as possible.
“Maeve, go ahead without me. I need to give our teammate a little encouragement.”
“Sure.”
Maeve shrugged, left her drink on the table, and headed out.
I, meanwhile, focused my vision through the walls and looked toward the locker room, which A-Train had all to himself.
What I saw wasn’t exactly reassuring.
Reggie was nervous.
He held a vial of Compound V in his hand, staring at the blue liquid inside the glass container.
It was strangely captivating, making his mouth go dry as he swallowed.
The black speedster was sweating heavily from nerves.
Homelander’s words had left a much deeper impression on him than his mother’s complaints or his brother’s lectures ever could.
“Fuck!”
Reggie gritted his teeth and tightened his grip around the vial.
He didn’t want to die.
But A-Train also wasn’t willing to give up everything he’d achieved.
His entire life had been built around pursuing success by any means necessary.
Brutal training sessions that left his body covered in bruises, and Compound V, which had been the much easier option.
There was no need to bust his ass for an extra millisecond.
With Compound V, overtaking his opponents had been effortless.
But everything came with consequences.
“Fuck!”
Overwhelmed by his emotions, Reggie threw the vial at the wall.
“What a waste.”
“Homelander…”
A-Train flinched.
He hadn’t realized anyone was watching him.
He’d only noticed the blond blur rushing into the locker room at the very last moment.
Sometimes he forgot that Homelander was fast enough to compete with even moderately powerful speedsters.
And when it came to flying, there was no point even comparing them.
A-Train would never admit it to anyone, but he was absolutely terrified of him.
Homelander was incredibly dangerous and unpredictable.
A-Train had learned that firsthand recently, when not even Madelyn, let alone Stan Edgar, had been able to do anything about him.
Which meant there was only one sensible option.
Play by Homelander’s rules.
“This thing is worth millions,” Homelander said with a smile as he slipped the vial into a pocket.
“I… wasn’t going to use it. It was just sitting in my bag,” A-Train hurriedly explained.
Homelander simply laughed.
“Oh, relax. I don’t care how it ended up in your possession. What matters is that you didn’t do something irreversible.”
Homelander smirked as he approached and placed a hand on A-Train’s shoulder.
The speedster was so frightened that he could barely breathe.
“I didn’t come here to lecture you. I just decided to give you a little support.”
“So you want to get rid of me that badly? Is this because of my addiction?” A-Train finally asked.
“Not at all. If I wanted to get rid of you, I wouldn’t be helping you.”
“Helping me?”
“I’ll talk to your opponent and convince him to slow down a little. After that, you’re on your own.”
Homelander frowned, clearly displeased with the idea.
“You’ve got one year. In that time, you need to get yourself back into proper shape.”
“I can do it!”
The response came out a little too sharply.
A-Train immediately realized his mistake.
“Sorry. And… thank you, Homelander,” he said, letting out a relieved breath.
“You’ll owe me.”
Homelander nodded and walked out of the locker room, heading toward the opponent of his teammate.
The shockwave from my landing on my knees sent the gathered crowd into a frenzy.
I smiled, got back to my feet, and waved at the fans, giving them exactly what they wanted.
Then I turned toward the women sitting nearby.
They were already looking at me expectantly.
“Sorry I’m late. I was busy rescuing cats from a tree,” I said with a smile, earning a genuine laugh from the journalist.
“Is there room for me?”
“Of course.”
“As captivating as ever, darling.”
I shook her hand before turning toward the crowd.
“Well, are you ready for the race?!”
The crowd immediately erupted into screams, making their answer perfectly clear.
Only then did I take my seat, and the interview began.
Most of the questions had been prepared in advance.
There was plenty of talk about supes joining the military, along with a few questions about the upcoming race.
Shockwave, A-Train’s opponent, naturally resisted when I tried to persuade him.
Unfortunately, I had to resort to more obvious threats.
Scaring him wasn’t difficult.
All it took was choking the arrogant little bastard for a moment and letting my eyes glow hot enough for him to feel the heat.
The guy nearly pissed himself, but he eventually agreed to cooperate.
Meanwhile, the interview came to an end.
The race was about to begin.
Every camera was pointed at the main competitors as they waited for the starting signal.
I looked toward Shockwave.
He suddenly turned his head toward me after feeling intense heat against his face.
His heart began pounding faster, far faster than a normal human’s.
When I gave him a small nod, he exhaled and nodded back.
Homelander rarely used invisible heat vision, even though he could easily burn through steel with it.
That was probably because the marketing department had decided the red beams looked cooler and would sell better.
Personally, I found the invisible version much more convenient.
It also looked considerably less sinister, which was another bonus.
“Oh, so you scared the poor kid. Proud of yourself?” Maeve asked with mock indignation as she came to stand beside me.
“Maybe a little… But no, I’m not proud of it.”
A gunshot rang out.
At the exact same moment, the red and blue speedsters took off, disappearing from sight.
Time seemed to stop for me.
A-Train was running at full power, doing everything he could to stay ahead of Shockwave.
But it was obvious that the newcomer was already catching up.
It wouldn’t be long before Shockwave overtook A-Train.
Then, at one point, Shockwave slowed down.
Only slightly, but for runners moving that fast, even the smallest change was obvious.
A moment later, A-Train crossed the finish line.
My perception of reality returned to normal.
Everyone held their breath.
The screen displayed a replay of the final milliseconds in slow motion, clearly showing who had won.
“And A-Train takes the victory once again!!” the announcer shouted, his voice blending with the roar of the celebrating crowd.
“Unbelievable! Simply unbelievable! A-Train has won!”
Nobody cared anymore about the speed or the numbers displayed on the screen.
Who cared how much slower the speedsters had been?
The important thing was that expectations had been met.
I snorted and turned around, deciding to check on Starlight, who was handing out autographs for the first time.
Things seemed to be going fairly well for her, aside from Ashley, who was keeping a close eye on her to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid.
I chuckled and headed over, giving Black Noir a nod as he handed out autographs nearby.
“Ashley, mind if I steal Starlight for a while?” I asked, mostly for appearances.
“I…”
“Thanks for agreeing.”
I smiled at the woman and walked away with a delighted Starlight.
Not many visitors had approached her, mostly children.
Still, everyone had already gotten what they wanted, yet they continued keeping her there.
It looked like Stillwell had intended to teach the girl a lesson this way.
Fortunately, yours truly had intervened.
“Where are we going?” Starlight asked curiously.
“I want to treat you to the most expensive beer they have here.”
She smiled.
“Only if they have ridiculously expensive nachos, too.”
I enthusiastically nodded, and we headed toward the bar inside the building.
Surprisingly, nobody was there.
That probably meant everyone had gone to watch the race in person.
They had probably been slightly disappointed when all they got to see was the beginning and the end.
Everything in between had simply been too fast for ordinary people to perceive.
“So they punished you?”
“Something like that, I guess…”
She seemed determined to change the subject.
“You guys don’t usually hand out autographs at these… official events anymore, do you?”
“Very rarely. Usually, situations like this attract huge crowds, which ends up getting in everyone’s way.”
“But Black Noir doesn’t have that problem.”
She remembered the silent member of the team, who had been giving autographs alongside her.
“You won’t believe this, but nobody knew he was going to be here. Except Madelyn and Ashley, who arranged everything. So his main fans never showed up.”
“I see.”
Starlight nodded thoughtfully.
“So, what is it like knowing that everyone wants to sleep with you?”
I asked with a smile, letting my eyes roam over her figure.
Not bad, by the way.
And that was without X-ray vision.
With it, though…
“I don’t think that’s true,” Starlight replied uncertainly, looking away.
“I’m more of an innocent little lamb than a sex symbol.”
“Trust me. That’s exactly what attracts them.”
I smiled and took another sip of orange juice.
“Do you really never drink?” she asked, clearly trying not to look me in the eyes.
Her attempt to change the subject had gone even worse this time.
Still, I decided to let it slide.
There was no reason to embarrass the girl more than necessary.
“That’s right, Starlight. I never drink, and I don’t use anything either… nothing illegal, anyway.”
“Could we call each other by our real names?”
She asked hesitantly, clearly expecting me to refuse.
“Gladly, Annie.”
A smile appeared on my face almost on its own.
“My name is John.”
“I’ll remember that, John.”
Annie smiled sincerely.
And something in her eyes changed.
Something subtle.
Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, yet somehow understood instinctively.