Valiant & Marathon
Victor King was a frail and timid child, constantly bullied for his quiet and bookish nature by the older children, leading him to become bitter and antisocial. But his brilliance could not be denied and as he matured he focused on his studies. His hard work paid off as he earned a scholarship and enrolled in Paragon University. His field of interest? Biology. Specifically, studying the newly discovered mutant genome. Why some people possessed the genetic trait and some didn't. Unfortunately, he came up empty. Both he and the scientific community were unable to crack the code of mutation.
So Victor stopped asking why and started asking how. The potential application for some sort of serum that would grant a normal human being superhuman abilities was in a word, groundbreaking. As a child who often felt powerless, the very idea of a chance to gain that kind of power was obscenely attractive to Victor. Years of patience appeared to have paid off when Victor began to see positive results. The serum he'd developed temporarily granted enhanced strength in the mice he used as test subjects. But for his investors, the results weren't substantial enough. They demanded results. So against his better judgement and out of complete desperation, late one night, Victor secretly injected himself with the serum.
To absolutely zero result.
He ran test after test, but the results were always the same. He'd gone completely unchanged. But on the bright side, there surprisingly weren't any adverse side-effects. After years of failed attempts, his funding for the project was pulled. Buried in debt, Victor was forced to discontinue his research. He became bitter and angry at the world. The only thing that saved him was the chance encounter with the woman that would become his wife. Her calming presence made the directive to abandon his pursuit far more easy to swallow. Eventually, the two married and in a few years had their first child; Alexander. Two years later, the couple welcomed Remington, their second son, into the world.
As he watched Remy and Alex grow, Victor could not have been more shocked. They were his complete antitheses. Everything he was as a child, they were not. Where he was frail and physically weak, Remy and Alex were strong and athletic. In middle school, Alex joined the football team while Remy found his passion in track and field, two paths they continued on into high school. They were bright, charming, and popular with their peers. Victor should have been proud. And yet, despite his children's success, for some reason, Victor was bothered. A childhood full of ridicule left Victor crippled by insecurity. When he looked at Remy and Alex, he saw in them every child that made fun of him when he was younger. He became bitter. Easily perturbed, he'd berate them for even the smallest of mistakes. Eventually Victor became physically abusive as well as verbally. Alex took the brunt of it, often standing between his father and his younger brother. It reached the point where, in their senior of high school, Alex and Remy left home and moved in with Remy's long-time girlfriend Theo and her family.
Soon afterwards, Alex and Remy found their lives turned upside down once again with the manifestation of their mutant abilities. Alex had developed superhuman strength and durability, while Remy gained enhanced speed, reflexes, and agility. It didn't take long for the news to reach their father. The fact that his children had inherited the abilities he was meant to absolutely infuriated him. He became completely unhinged. Afraid of what he might do to their mother, Alex confronted his father and threatened to put him away forever if he ever hurt her. Once again, Victor was rendered powerless.
As for Alex and Remy? Their futures had never been brighter. The brothers were star athletes even before their abilities manifested. Alex was quarterback of their high school's football team, while Remy had become a star in both soccer and track and field. After graduation the pair decided to abandon any future aspirations in sports on the off chance their mutant abilities were to be discovered. Oh, and it was also unfair to the competition. Instead, they turned their attention towards another national pastime: super-heroics. Refusing to waste the power they'd been given, Alex and Remy made the decision to suit up and use their abilities to fight crime. Alex became the mighty Valiant, while Remy became Marathon, the fastest man alive.
NAME: Remington 'Remi' King
ALIAS: Marathon
AGE: 24
OCCUPATION: Superhero
PLACE OF BIRTH: Paragon City, RI
AFFILIATIONS: The Marvels
POWERS:
- Superhuman Speed
- Enhanced perception and heightened senses
- Enhanced reflexes, agility and stamina
NAME: Alexander King
ALIAS: Valiant
AGE: 26
OCCUPATION: Superhero
PLACE OF BIRTH: Paragon City, RI
AFFILIATIONS: The Marvels
POWERS:
- Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, durability, senses
- Invulnerability, x-ray vision, heat vision, flight