The Perfect Run

Back when he played open world games, Ryan always loved to set the AI against itself. To lead one monster on the path of a settlement, and then watch NPCs fight computer-generated enemies for his entertainment. The courier always found it relaxing.

The real-life sight was a lot more stressful.

Dynamis’ aerial force had unleashed a rain of missiles, which Jasmine’s anti-aerial defense had mostly detonated mid-flight. Geist, now a howling specter the size of a building, also redirected some of the projectiles with telekinetic force, blowing up two of the helicopters.

Unfortunately, the Augusti had less luck with the enemy Genomes. The invulnerable Wyvern had smashed through the fortress’ outer wall, sending stones flying in all directions; the pyrokinetic Devilry had started bombarding the superlab’s defenses from above, targeting the turrets, and the aeromancer Windsweep had summoned a miniature tornado to try to repel Geist.

“Hey, Quicksave, want to bet with poor old Mortimer?“ Mortimer said, shooting at the helicopters without taking cover. Bullets and projectiles phased through his body harmlessly. “The one who kills the most corpos wins!”

“Do non-lethal takedowns count?” Ryan asked. The courier was still sitting on his chair with a gun in hand, using a mix of timestops and accurate shots to blow up missiles before they could actually hit the fortress. “Because I left my best, anti-war helicopter stuff at home.”

A projectile aimed for his location, so the courier stopped time, moved the chair away, and let time resume once he had reached safety.

“Showoff,” Mortimer said, unimpressed. “You’re worse than Fortuna.”

“Hey, I resent that remark,” Ryan protested, tossing his gun away when he ran out of bullets. “I work on looking perfect, while her power does all the work.”

Truthfully, Ryan was starting to become a little worried. While the fortress’ human and automated defenses resisted well, Dynamis was making progress, and the courier wondered how Augustus would react to a very public assault on his drug factory. Ryan suspected reinforcements would be on their way soon and turn the already chaotic situation into a massive brawl.

In short, he couldn’t wait.

With some of the defensive turrets down, helicopters managed to land atop the outer wall. Soldiers in riot gear or advanced power armor engaged the Augusti defenders in a firefight on foot, while Wyvern kept hitting the fort in an attempt to make a hole into the facility. The ground shook with every blow of the giant dragon, although it seemed Vulcan had reinforced the old stone walls.

Eventually, Ryan noticed another helicopter landing in the garden nearby. A group of eight riot gear troopers stepped out of it, escorting two Genomes. One was a man with long black hair wearing a stylized, Mad Max-like mix of rusted steel armor and cloak. Most of his face was covered by a red scarf and black goggles, and worryingly, he carried an explosive belt around his waist.

The other, more colorful one, was a young woman Ryan’s age, perhaps of Chinese or Japanese descent. She reminded the courier of these pre-war K-pop idols, dyed hair, lovely face, and cute brown eyes. She wore a strange dress whose colors and length seemed to shift as the courier looked. Her bright, shy smile contrasted with the chaos around her.

“Reload and Wardrobe,” Mortimer said while opening fire at the newcomers, the riot troops forming a plexiglass shield wall to protect themselves. The Dynamis Genomes hid behind them, listening to orders thanks to earplugs. “Just great, I can’t stand Reload!”

“Why, because of his terrible fashion sense?” Ryan asked, rising to his feet and grabbing his chair as an improvised weapon. Seriously, Dynamis’ marketing department should be eradicated; how could they advertise such a fashion disaster?

“Because he just won’t die!” Mortimer snarled, reloading his rifle. “He’s the worst kind of Violet!”

That made Ryan quite curious. He looked at the apocalypse punk disaster behind the shield wall, but couldn’t figure out his power from how he looked. “Last warning, Romano!” one of the troopers said, readying his own firearm behind the shield wall. “Surrender now, or we open fire back! We’re allowed to use lethal force!”

“Didn’t anyone tell you, I’m immortal!” Ryan shouted back, raising his chair threateningly while explosions resonated in the background. “I’ll come back to haunt you!”

“Oh, you’re a Yellow too?” Wardrobe asked from behind the wall, more curious than anything.

“He’s distracted, shoot him!” one of the troopers shouted, pointing a rifle over the plexiglass wall. Mortimer immediately opened fire, disarming the man with a well-placed bullet while Ryan threw the chair at the corporate police.

The projectile bounced off the shields, while Wardrobe’s clothes literally changed shape. Her strange dress transformed into a wolf mascot suit, and she leaped over the garden with the strength and agility of a werewolf. Ryan had to stop time to prevent her from pouncing on him like a mouse, using the brief time window to put the Fisty Brothers on.

“Oh my, here I go dying again!” Reload said gregariously, as he leaped over the troopers’ shield wall, and rushed at Mortimer’s cover like a suicide bomber. In a scene straight out of an action movie, the hitman shot the hero in the chest, but he continued his charge. Reload jumped at Mortimer, who quickly phased through the ground below. The hero’s belt detonated and blew Mortimer’s stone cover to smithereens.

Ryan sensed a vague, familiar sensation at the back of his skull. At first, he thought it was Acid Rain’s doing, until Reload’s body reformed at the spot where he died in a flash of violet light, completely unharmed. His intact suicide belt was still around his waist.

“You copycat, I was wearing suicide belts before they went mainstream!” Ryan pointed an accusing finger at Reload, running in circles to escape Wardrobe’s claws. “If you stop time, I’ll sue!”

Why didn’t Dynamis call him Timelord?

didn’t reappear, the troopers turned to Ryan and started providing Wardrobe with suppressing fire. The happy courier stopped the clock to avoid the bullets and closed the

was busy brawling with the troopers, a fully armored Vulcan emerged from the fortress, tackling Wyvern rugby-style. The mech pushed the surprised dragon back against Ischia Island’s reefs, the transformed hero responding by unleashing a stream of

remained at a distance, trying to figure out her approach, Reload entered the melee. He looked under his

sword of violet

to look at the divine weapon, mesmerized by its perfection; a pure, timeless design, and the purest shade of violet he had ever seen. It would match his

was love at first

activated his power, stole the blade, and kicked Reload in the frozen

back among the flowers, Ryan raised his trophy up to the skies. It was as weightless as a feather, but much to

courier said, trying to imitate a

never let

back to his feet while Ryan

lightsaber!” Ryan shouted back at this ignorant fool, absentmindedly slicing a Dynamis mook’s shield and rifle with it

point, his quips wrote

a second, crimson laser blade, “I got a

Wrong color though.

the island entirely, the Genomes facing each other in a Mexican standoff. The courier briefly glanced at Jasmine, but his girlfriend seemed to

Wardrobe’s werewolf suit transformed into a Jack O’Lantern Halloween costume. A pumpkin mask covered her head, the lips moving as if they belonged to a living being.

Ryan replied with the same friendly tone, pointing his lightsaber at her like a fencer. Reload raised his own weapon, trying to find an opening; or perhaps

a yellow facsimile of a fiery lantern in her hands and throwing it at Ryan like

A shame they were fighting on opposing sides, the courier was pretty sure they

collapsing into harmless yellow dust, before parrying Darth Reload’s blade as he attempted to flank him. The two laser swords met without one going through the other, and Ryan used a timestop to dodge a new fire lantern from Wardrobe. This time the projectile exploded into

Her power was weird.

a fancy weapon, while the courier had mastered every style of

an arm behind his back and parrying all of the hero’s strikes with the

unfair!” Infuriated by the taunt, Reload attempted to detonate his suicide belt, but Ryan used his timestop to move out of

him, absentmindedly cutting a fiery lantern from the side. “Use your pain! I’m sure you have a lot to

anger, wildly striking the rival Violet Genome with his blade the moment he recovered. His poor attempt at breaking past

it to reattach itself to the body. Limited time-rewind, except applied to the body and objects in close contact. He refused to go down,

Not enough to take him seriously of

asked Wardrobe while dodging a strike from Reload. He stopped time, grabbed the hero by his scarf with his free

as time resumed, her costume transforming into a bedsheet. Reload went through her body as if she wasn’t even there. “I can only use public

your Kryptonite?” Ryan asked, immensely disappointed.

rules, alright!” Wardrobe replied with a scowl, wounded by his comment. Her costume changed once more into that of a witch, and she shot a lightning bolt at Ryan with her

beam saber, Star Wars-style. “Honestly, I would totally hit on you under normal circumstances. You’re completely my type, but I have an exclusive contract right

cheerfully while Reload rose back up. If anything, Ryan admired his perseverance. “Do you want to be my archenemy? I have none,

dead in this loop, so… “Sure,

around her immediately turned to dust, and her bandages transformed into tattered leashes flying towards Ryan. The courier hastily cut them with his laser

another Genome, or stick to one form instead of switching constantly. Perhaps it was her fighting style, or her ability,

the best fights he had since he

is completely busted!” Reload complained, as Ryan briefly stopped time to dodge one of his strikes. “Wardrobe,

moving, observing the scene unfolding. Wardrobe’s costume transformed into the guise of an ancient Greek god, including a toga, sandals, and a laurel crown of gold. The costume seemed

look like an ivory

…

Shit.

stopped time, turning the

noise stopped. The raging battle in the background became nothing more than a prop, a moment frozen in

in amazement at her frozen teammate. Her fingers