The Perfect Run

As per the name, the Bakuto was a Japan-themed casino.

Having parked his car nearby, Ryan glanced up at the building with amazement. The architects had recreated a perfect copy of an oriental pagoda tower, as large as a mall; a red carpet led to golden, ostentatious tori gates with the casino’s title plastered on them. Hordes of gamblers walked inside, some dressed in traditional Asian clothes like qipao, others in tuxedos and expensive gowns. Of course, none were as stylish as Quicksave’s own fabulous outfit, but the Genome gave them points for trying.

The staff had even dressed the bouncers as samurai in low-grade, Genius-made armor. They looked almost like feudal armor, but heavier and bound by flexible circuits instead of clothing fabric. Very nice design, especially the stained glass visor. Ryan wondered if they had lightsabers to go along with it.

“No weapons allowed inside,” one bouncer said, as he and a compatriot checked Ryan out. Due to their armor, both were at least one head taller than the Genome. They immediately found the throwing knives hidden in his sleeves, and then examined him very thoroughly.

It took them a few minutes to find most of his stuff.

“Twenty-five throwing knives, two revolvers, including one desert eagle, one energy pistol, one frag grenade, a switchblade, a hand buzzer, and…” The bouncer frowned, seizing a tiny metal sphere the size of a baseball. “Is that a bomb?

“Yep,” Ryan answered. “Genius tech.”

“EMP? Gunpowder?”

“Thermo-nuclear.”

The bouncer chuckled heartily until he realized Ryan was serious. He then exchanged a glance with his fellow guards, all of them put their hands on a saber around their belts.

“You keep an A-bomb in your back pocket?” The guard wagged the device at Ryan’s face.

“It’s only for dissuasion!” the courier promised while crossing his fingers. “I Korea swear!”

The bouncer remained silent a moment, then touched his helmet and hushed words which Ryan couldn’t hear. No doubt he was contacting his manager.

“You can get your… stuff back after you’re done,” the bouncer declared, putting his weapons in a bag. “But one wrong move and that bomb will find its way in another A-place. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!” Ryan replied as he waltzed into the casino like a child.

He immediately found himself walking through a corridor of pachinkos, those strange Japanese slot machines; gamblers toiled on them, enslaved by their otherworldly power. The sight reminded Ryan of the four loops he spent addicted to these machines, before getting bored.

Ah, the nostalgia.

A few steps later, Ryan entered the main gambling hall, mixing both Japanese art design and western gambling entertainment. Roulette wheels stood side by side with blackjack tables, and they even had an arena for sumo wrestling next to a sushi bar. An elevator at the center led to the higher floors, each probably catering to different tastes.

A giant screen above the sushi bar showed a promotional image of New Rome’s colosseum, and a T-rex roaring on its grounds, under the acclaim of the crowd. A voice over hyped up the competition.

“Coming straight out of our weapon development program, Dynamis

the odds, people betting either which contestants would survive, or if the T-rex would eat them all on the first round. For some obscure reason,

bar and immediately started placing bets, throwing stacks of euro bills on the

clinking of his outfit announcing his

helmet took the shape of a black demon mask, allowing Ryan to see the black eyes and mouth below. The bouncers nodded at him in respect, and quite a few people gave the man a

asked, feigning

“Because I will have to kick you out if you do. We

his head. “Naaaah, of course not.

their power. Blue focused on information manipulation, from

alternate timelines or a cheat like that?” samurai-guy asked. “Or rewind time and send information

it never happened, do you

to make sense of the terrible existential conundrum Quicksave just

and the victorious gladiators’ names for a later loop. Strangely, while the dinosaur won, one firecracker had managed to survive all the

samurai-guy said, having acted as Ryan’s chaperone during his entire gambling spree. “I think you should slow down though. At

name?” Ryan ended up

Zanbato. I’m an

Because you don’t sound

replied, a bit confused by the

supervillain name is Zanbato, but you’re

the man protested, clearly missing

girlfriend?”

to marry her soon. I'm curious, why did you come to

the coin

quickly invaded Quicksave’s personal space by putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’m buying

samurai-wannabe invited Ryan to the sushi bar, taking a beer while Ryan ordered tea. Bouncers formed a security perimeter

“A mole in the Private Security told us his pals bust him out, probably with inside help. And knowing that maniac, he will be on your

gasped, promising to inform Wyvern that Ghoul’s friends would bust him out on his next save. “Are you telling me that Private Security is corrupt? I would

much.” Zanbato sipped his beer. “We know you have a pretty powerful ability, but you did good in approaching us. Safety in

immortal?” Ryan asked.

immortal?” Zanbato raised an eyebrow. “You

can, but

stop time for an unknown

the biggest supervillain organization in Italy, and

a family and profit-minded society, men and women of honor. Not supervillains. That’s what Il Migliore labels us as because we aren’t corporate sellouts, and we build houses, churches,

drugs are good for the heart too,” Ryan deadpanned. “But your weapons are

not illegal,” Zanbato replied, which was true since there wasn’t a true government nowadays. “We have to fund ourselves. I’m telling you, where we rule, things are peaceful, people feel safe. There’s no pillager taking your stuff, no Psychos running around. When Augustus takes over Italy, and he will, you won’t recognize our country. It will be like before the