The Perfect Run

Ryan had to admit it, being the damsel in distress was a nice change of pace. Usually, he was the one doing the rescuing.

But it wasn’t very relaxing, for the Junkyard had erupted into complete chaos. An increasingly taller Frank traded blows with Wyvern in dragon form, the colossal reptile pushing her opponent against a pile of molten trash. For every hit the superheroine inflicted, the Psycho seemed to gain additional height. However, Lanka sniped him with white-colored spheres from her vantage point, shrinking Frank and keeping his size manageable.

Was she Cancel’s lost sister or something?

“You teamed up with Wyvern?” Ryan asked Jasmine, astonished.

“Temporarily,” Vulcan replied, unleashing a volley of bullets at Adam. While the Psycho’s carbon skin shrugged off the projectiles, the repeated shock prevented him from moving forward. “Very temporarily.”

You could tell the situation was bad when those two set aside their differences.

Having devoured the Land and left nothing behind, Chitter’s rats moved on to Adam, but the Meta’s leader proved to be a harder meal. He stomped on the rodents, turning them into blood smears on the ground; even when they tried to bury him under their weight, his enhanced strength allowed him to shrug them off.

Exploiting the distraction, Ryan grabbed a knife with his unwounded arm and managed to free his leg from the Land’s dirt binding with it. Meanwhile, Jamie, showing his badass samurai credentials, jumped off his rookery and created a sword of red light mid-flight. Swinging his blade during the descent, he cut through Frank’s back as easily as butter, leaving a scar around the waist.

Unfortunately, the Psycho’s metal body quickly regenerated from the wound, and while Lanka slowed down his exponential growth, she couldn’t stop it. Frank would reach eight meters in height soon.

“Anything that can take down the communication tower?” Ryan asked Jasmine, needing to shout to be heard over the sound of gunfire. “I mean, their gun is bigger than yours, no offense.”

“I wasted most of my good stuff on the reptile over there,” Vulcan replied with frustration, quickly running out of ammo. Without suppressing fire, Adam was now free to move and brought out a warhammer from his gullet. “Cover me while I reload.”

To give himself more time to think and plan, Ryan activated his power. The world turned violet, the courier looking under his suit with his left arm. He couldn’t feel the right one, Adam’s chain having shredded its key muscles.

Could a Desert Eagle be powerful enough? A higher caliber gun perh—

“So you were the source of these anomalies.”

Ryan flinched, before looking up to the skies.

A man of ivory floated above the Junkyard, shrouded in a blinding electric aura; powerful streams of whitened winds came from his feet, allowing him to hover above the ground. He alone moved in the frozen time, standing above and looking down on the humans below.

Electrohydrodynamics. He used electrical charges to ionize air molecules and allow himself to fly.

“I was starting to wonder,” said Augustus, carrying a half-burnt corpse in his hand. From the clothes, Ryan recognized it as Acid Rain’s. “You would make a powerful Saturn.”

Time resumed, and Lightning Butt focused on the other people present.

The moment Augustus came into view, everyone stopped moving; even the blinded Adam seemed to have sensed his presence. The lightning emperor’s mere presence, and the sheer electrical tension coming from his person, cowed everyone present into silence.

“You failed,” Augustus told Adam, tossing Acid Rain’s corpse on the ground below like a piece of trash. “Even Hargraves’ flames could not warm me. You thought this feeble light could kill me? You thought that anything could kill me?”

To his credit, Adam quickly recovered from his surprise. “Frank, squash him!”

The now eight meters-tall giant immediately pushed Wyvern aside and attempted to smash Augustus with both hands, the way a man crushed a mosquito. Instead of dodging, the lightning emperor raised his arms and stopped the giant’s hands with his own.

As he did, Frank’s metal skin shifted around Augustus’ fingers, covering them; even Mob Zeus looked briefly surprised by this development. It seemed Frank the Mad’s metallic structure tried to digest Augustus’ hands but struggled to. It reminded Ryan of a dog trying to chew a bone too hard for its teeth.

But it made no difference.

Augustus looked at Frank and blasted the titan’s head with a blinding lightning bolt from his eyes. The sheer power behind the blow melted the Psycho’s steel body, leaving a pile of molten metal where the brain should have been. Though pieces of him remained stuck to Augustus, Frank collapsed to his back.

“Ryan, get down!” Vulcan activated her propellers and grabbed Ryan, flying out of the giant’s falling shadow. Chitter’s rats fled in all directions, while Wyvern, Jamie, and Adam dispersed. Frank hit the ground and blew dust in all directions, missing the tower by an inch. He remained still, even after the dust settled.

Without wasting time, Augustus gracefully landed on the ground and began to slowly walk towards Adam. Instead of cowering, the nihilistic Psycho glared back at the invincible man.

“My sister, daughter, and goddaughter died because of you.” There was no word on earth to sum up the cold fury coming from Lightning Butt’s mouth right now. “Their deaths were swifter than yours will ever be. I promise you a Tartarus.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Adam replied while swinging his warhammer at the invulnerable man’s head. “Even if I die, I already won! You all lost!”

His weapon flattened on impact, while Augustus didn’t even flinch.

“Well, it was fun while it lasted,” Adam said, before outright shouting. “Adam to Bahamut! Change target to current lo—”

Augustus casually backhanded Adam in the face, tearing off his jaw and sending the carbon-made man to the ground. The emperor then kicked the Psycho in the stomach with enough strength to make him crash against the orbital tower. While everyone looked on, too terrified to move or say anything, Lightning Butt started stomping his victim. The Psycho’s hardened shell folded like aluminum under the savage beating, bones breaking, legs twisting.

When at long last, Adam had become a bloody, battered mess on the ground, Augustus lowered his neck to look at his victim dead in the eyes. “Any last words, vermin?”

Adam laughed.

laugh of despair or madness, but the taunting cackle of a monster happy with his work. A loud, gregarious

only enraged Mob

bear the first man’s name.” Augustus raised his foot above Adam’s

head with a sickening crack. Adam fell silent, drool falling off his mouth; his outside turned from carbon to scarred skin, weak and

might soon wish he was

I have him nailed

what?” Wyvern regained her human form and waved a hand at the devastation around them, while Jamie and Lanka

“Now that I look at this cursed ground clearly, there is an entire crypt of metal beneath our feet. Mechron’s tomb I

are you going to do?” Wyvern

did not have the guts

stronger, his body building up energy inside itself. The courier immediately realized

he couldn’t see beneath her helmet. “There’s still bound to be something down there that we can

of finality. “It’s over.

at the orbital tower, his overwhelming power short-circuiting the force fields and snapping the building in half. One half of the tower fell on the junkyard’s ground with a cataclysmic shockwave. The aura around Augustus briefly vanished, revealing the human underneath: a statue of ivory, with pieces of Frank’s body still stubbornly

he was already recharging, and

grabbed Ryan in her arms and flew away, the courier too weakened by his wounded arm and blood loss to protest. Everyone evacuated in short order, Wyvern assisting

thunderbolt hit the junkyard in a cataclysmic detonation, burying Mechron’s bunker once and

eaten in the last few days once the drug wore off. With his existing wounds and a

hospital bed, it was surrounded by his friends and a cat. Jamie sat on a chair with his girlfriend on his

mused, though her usual devil-may-care attitude had softened

were you worried for me?” Ryan asked, raising his bandaged left arm. He could actually feel pain now, which

happy to see the handsome courier alive but clearly didn’t like

but dumped the white cat on her

Ryan grabbed the cat, who immediately took the courier’s lap as his own throne. “You’re

to stand the feline’s presence for Ryan’s sake. “Out of everyone at

it out?” Ryan asked, before correcting

few,” Jamie admitted with

and her parents were far enough away from ground zero to avoid being killed outright, probably thanks to her busted luck,” Lanka added. “The house almost

died in his throat. “Is

group exchanged glances, while Jasmine scowled

tensing on Schrodinger’s back. “Say the truth outright.

bluntly, though she was clearly crestfallen. “Only Geist lived if you can call it that, and the few of us who were fighting outside ground

the gnawing realization that he

it’s a cold comfort, but nobody could have

hurt more. “I could have,” Ryan

he had failed to protect Len from

Jamie insisted. “It happened in a flash, no time

prevented Adam from firing that beam

foolish, you mean!” Jasmine snarled at Ryan. “What

nobody answered!” Ryan

you did,” Lanka said with a snicker. “Your own drug did more damage to

of New Rome,” Jamie told

can still see the fires out of the windows,”

safe here,” Jamie reassured the courier, in

point, Ryan wasn’t sure if he should drag out his recovery time or put a bullet in his head right this instant. He

bury the dead,” Jamie said grimly. “After that, we rebuild and we continue to move forward.

now is the time to speak of it,” Ki-jung told her

his girlfriend. “We’ll let you rest,

and Ryan alone. The courier heard her grumble

seconds for the other Augusti to leave, before turning to

not to sound concerned but wasn’t very good at

can only pay with my body; my money went down in ashes.” Ryan’s response

mourning this beautiful device’s destruction too.

gone, and even if he memorized the plans

Meta to deserve such bitter treatment?

on the hospital room’s window, the Genome couple immediately looking up

opening the window from the other side. Ryan found the

trousers, pointing it at Wyvern’s face. “Get the fuck out

Wyvern sighed. “Stop fighting for once? After

kept her weapon raised, finger on the trigger… and

looking down while she entered the room through the

Jasmine replied, putting the

but the Carnival arrived

widened in alarm. “Does