The charcoal fire at the barbecue restaurant slowly faded to a dull red glow on the late-night streets of New York.
The Asian owner began clearing away the plastic tables and chairs outside, stacking the empty beer glasses one by one.
Maeve and Starlight left first.
Maeve was going back to catch up on sleep. Starlight said she was taking a day off to go see her mother. After hearing the truth about Compound V tonight, she still had not fully recovered, but when she said it, her hands had already stopped shaking. Of course, Starlight was still going ho to tear into her mother.
Deep naturally returned to his own place too. Little Octopus was waiting for him.
...
...
Benjamin and Holander walked at the rear.
The autumn night in New York carried a chill blown in from the Hudson River.
Soone was playing guitar outside a small roadside bar, and the broken lody leaked through the half-open door.
The streetlights stretched their shadows one in front of the other. The outlines of the dark green Supersuit and the red cape were pulled long under the dim yellow light.
The two of them did not say much.
But Holander enjoyed this atmosphere.
That afternoon, they had fought side by side through more than thirty Supes in the maple grove in Pennsylvania.
Every scene was still fresh in his mind.
So of those people had even been strong enough to go a few rounds with Maeve.
For that final ambush, Vought really had taken out every trump card it had hidden away.
But in front of him and his father, those trump cards had been nothing.
Because they were the two strongest Supes in the world.
The strongest of the original generation, and the strongest of the modern era.
They had stood on the sa battlefield, back to back, father and son fighting together. No one could last a minute against them.
Thinking of that, Holander could not help laughing.
"Jesus."
Benjamin glanced sideways at him and could not help cursing, "Are you fantasizing about that old whore again? Why the fuck are you smiling like a creep?"
The smile on Holander’s face instantly froze, then twitched twice.
Fine.
Benjamin still spoke as harshly as ever, but he was long used to it.
The two of them walked a little farther.
Holander followed behind Benjamin with light steps.
Right now, Holander was like a little boy who had finally caught a chance to be alone with his father.
He held it in for a while, but in the end, he could not resist.
"What kind of person was my grandfather?"
Benjamin’s steps paused. He turned his head to look at him.
"Why are you suddenly asking that?"
Benjamin suddenly rembered those ugly mories from the original body.
"I’m just curious," Holander said, perfectly justified.
Benjamin did not answer.
After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke slowly.
"Have you seen The Legend of Soldier Boy?"
"Of course."
Holander’s eyes lit up.
"I’ve watched it at least dozens of tis. No, hundreds of tis. I rember every shot."
"That movie is complete bullshit."
Holander froze.
Benjamin kept walking, his tone very flat, as if he were talking about sothing unrelated to him.
"My father owned half the steel mills in the state. Rich, powerful, the kind of man everyone tiptoed around. Then I got expelled from school. Guess I was never exactly the academic type."
Holander rembered the tis he had been beaten by Soldier Boy, and his steps unconsciously quickened until he caught up beside Benjamin.
"Did he beat you then?"
Holander asked, a strange expectation in his voice.
"Like you beat ?"
Benjamin glanced at him and laughed.
"No. He never laid a finger on ."
Holander blinked, not quite understanding. Logically, if his father was a violent man, then his father’s father should have been too.
"He couldn’t be bothered with ."
Benjamin said, "He said I embarrassed him. Said I was a waste. After that, he wouldn’t even say a word to ."
Holander slowed down and looked at Benjamin.
"He said..."
Benjamin’s tone remained calm.
"I wasn’t worthy of his surna."
The street was quiet for several seconds.
Holander opened his mouth, wanting to say sothing, but he did not know what.
"What happened after that?" Holander asked.
"After that, I used his connections to get to Dr. Vought and took part in the Compound V experint."
Benjamin shrugged.
"You know the rest. I succeeded. I beca a superhero. The most powerful superhero in the world. Strong enough that even Vought feared ."
Hearing that, Holander imdiately asked, "Then what did your father say? He had to be proud of you by then, right?"
Benjamin did not answer right away.
He took two more steps before speaking.
"He said I took a shortcut."
Holander’s expression froze.
"He said a real man doesn’t need shortcuts."
Holander stood there, motionless.
A lot of things suddenly surged into his mind.
Those white laboratories, cold instrunts, needles, data records, and all those days when no one treated him like a human being.
He had never seen the site of the original Compound V experint, but Holander knew it must have been cruel. Maybe even crueler than what he had gone through.
Holander had grown up in a laboratory.
"Your father was a bastard."
Holander’s voice was heavy.
Benjamin’s brow twitched, and he turned to look at him.
"How the fuck is that taking a shortcut?"
Holander strode in front of Benjamin, his face flushed red with anger.
"God knows how brutal the original Compound V experint was! You endured it, you survived, you beca the strongest person..."
He pointed at Benjamin’s chest.
"You didn’t take a shortcut. You’re a real man! Not a single fucking word your father said was right."
Benjamin smiled. This was the first real heart-to-heart he had ever had with Holander, but he felt that maybe it did an sothing for Holander’s education and growth.
Just as Benjamin was about to say sothing, his steps suddenly stopped.
Holander stopped too.
The streetlight shone onto the road ahead, illuminating the figure of a woman.
No one knew how long she had been standing there. It was as if she had stepped straight out of the night.
Her dark brown, shoulder-length hair fell loosely over her shoulders. Her features were sharply defined, carrying a heroic edge that ti had worn down but not dulled.
She wore a well-tailored dark trench coat, the belt neatly fastened, both hands in her pockets, her posture straight.
"Ben."
The woman spoke.
Benjamin’s pupils contracted slightly.
Because this was Stormfront, Clara.
The original body’s lover.
According to the original show, Stormfront should have appeared later, around the beginning of Season 2.
He had not expected her to appear now.
"Clara. Looks like Edgar notified you before he died."
He shifted the shield to his left hand, his voice still calm and steady.
Stormfront slowly walked over and stopped in front of Benjamin. The emotions surging in her eyes were far too complicated.
"Yes."
Stormfront said, "He notified . He wanted to deal with you."
The corner of her mouth moved slightly as she said, "That disgusting Black man. I originally wanted to kill that damned old Black man with my own hands. But I figured his life was best left to you. After all, he was your enemy, not mine."
Benjamin was silent for one second.
Then his right fist flew out without warning.
Benjamin’s fist slamd solidly into Stormfront’s left cheek, hard enough to send her flying sideways into an empty trash can by the roadside.
"Fuck you," Benjamin cursed.
Holander stood where he was, his eyebrows lifting half an inch.
Aside from Maeve and Starlight, basically everyone around him had been beaten by Soldier Boy at so point.
So he was not surprised Soldier Boy hit soone.
What was strange was...
This woman nad Clara climbed up beside the trash can, covering the side of her face that had been knocked crooked. A trace of blood seeped between her fingers, but the corners of her mouth were rising.
Even more bizarrely, there was excitent in her eyes.
"Is this woman enjoying it?"
Holander frowned, completely unable to understand. Even after seeing plenty of freaks, this stranger’s reaction still exceeded his comprehension.
"I know you have a lot of resentnt, Ben."
Stormfront straightened her dislocated jaw and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her finger.
"Because of those forty years... I really didn’t know back then. If I had known, I would have saved you. I swear, if I’m lying to you, I’d rather turn into a Black person. Believe , okay, Ben?"
Benjamin stopped.
He knew this woman.
Stormfront was a racist to her bones. In her eyes, white blood stood above everything, especially white Supes.
To her, whiteness was above all, and Supes were above all. So white Supes ruling the world was Stormfront’s goal.
For her to make that kind of oath, turning into a Black person, carried more weight than any other vicious oath she could swear.
"I’ll barely believe you."
Benjamin lowered his fist and said coldly, "What are you looking for for now, you damned racist? Listen, I think your ideas are childish. Supes are still people. They don’t stand above everyone else. I won’t agree to that plan of yours. Not the old , and not the current ."
Stormfront’s face had already recovered about seventy or eighty percent.
She rubbed her still-aching cheekbone, her eyes showing that she had expected this all along.
"I knew you’d say that."
She shrugged, her tone casual, as if she were discussing sothing completely unimportant.
"Well, what I actually wanted was to join The Seven."
Just as Benjamin said, in truth, the original body had not agreed with Stormfront’s views either. The other three original teammates, Bombsight and the others, had not agreed either. Otherwise, Stormfront would not have waited until Holander’s era to return.
User Comments
0 comments from readers