The Perfect Run

Ryan had to give it to Hector Manada. In spite of being far richer than Augustus, he didn’t show it.

The CEO of Dynamis lived in a three-floor manor of yellow stones within walking distance of his company’s HQ, north of New Rome. The property was big, but nothing compared to Mount Augustus; the architectural style reminded Ryan of South America’s 19th century properties, though Hector had also gathered a sizable collection of mesoamerican artifacts in his garden. Statues of Aztec gods lined the path to the house, like a private guard. And of course, the property crawled with Private Security guards with top-of-the-line weaponry.

When Ryan arrived, Sunshine and Enrique’s helicopter had already landed in the garden. Security guards checked on the courier, but let him pass unmolested; apparently, the siblings had forewarned them.

Alphonse Manada had joined his brother, both backed by an elite security team. Leonard Hargraves had landed on the grass, though he somehow didn’t set it on fire even while in his sun form. Even Ryan had taken the time to change himself back to his old costume, Acid Rain having savaged the cashmere suit. One didn’t confront a final boss without looking nice.

But the scene quickly disappointed Ryan.

Hector Manada wasn’t raising a submachine gun to die in a blaze of glory, Scarface-style. He didn’t look worried about the urban warfare happening a few districts away from his house. In fact, he didn’t seem troubled at all.

For Hector Manada was gardening.

“I guess this is a family thing,” Ryan said snidely, as the corporate mastermind tended to an ugly rose bush. The floral arrangements were terrible, the work of an amateur.

“Sons.” A pudgy man with gray hair and a face resembling Pablo Escobar’s, Hector Manada had traded the business suit for casual white clothes and a straw hat. If Ryan hadn’t seen his face before, he might have mistaken him for a mere employee. “I didn’t expect you. Especially not in such…”

His eyes wandered to Leo Hargraves. “Shining company.”

“Surprised, Father?” Alphonse asked, his tone lacking any familial warmth whatsoever.

“Mr. Manada,” Leo said, always polite. “It has been a while.”

“Not long enough, I must say,” the CEO replied, before finally noticing Quicksave. “And who might you be?”

“Hi, I’m Quicksave,” Ryan presented himself. “I’m the guy who ruined all of your evil plans, but don’t tell anyone.”

“My evil plans?” the CEO answered with a forced smile. “I do not understand.”

“I think you do, Father,” Enrique said, as he straightened his tie. “We destroyed the Meta-Gang one hour ago.”

“An action which I did not authorize,” the CEO replied with a frown, before forgetting Ryan’s existence and glancing at Alphonse instead. “Nor do I remember recalling you to New Rome either.”

“You forfeited any authority over me when you betrayed us all, Father,” Alphonse replied. “You wanted to stay in power so much, you would rather clone yourself than let us inherit?”

“Clone myself?” Hector Manada feigned ignorance.

“We have Psyshock in custody, father,” Enrique said. “He admitted everything. From your secret deal with Adam the Ogre to your mind-transferring project.”

Ryan knew it was probably a bluff, considering the timeline of events, but it worked like a charm. “Is that so?” Hector asked, glancing at the soldiers following his sons. The courier could almost see the gears turning in the CEO’s head, as he weighed his options.

“We have recordings, captured technicians, proof of monetary transactions,” Enrique continued. “Did you know the Meta-Gang had unearthed a Mechron base beneath Rust Town?”

Though he quickly corrected his expression, the CEO’s brief look of genuine surprise told Ryan that no, he didn’t. As the courier guessed, the Meta-Gang had planned to betray him from the start; take Dynamis’ Elixirs, until they could overthrow the company with Mechron’s weaponry.

“So you were a traitor and a fool,” Alphonse Manada said, with a grunt of disgust. He had noticed the look of surprise too. “You despise us so much?”

“Can you blame me, Alphonse?” Hector replied with a sneer. “Sometimes I truly wonder if you came from my loins. You and Augustus would have turned Italy into a bloody battlefield if I hadn’t sent you away.”

“So instead you sent Psychos to wage war for you?” Enrique asked, shaking his head. “I still remember what you told me when I welcomed Felix Veran into our fold. ‘Don’t rock the boat.’”

“Augustus’ influence needs to be constrained, but we can’t afford a direct confrontation,” Hector snapped back. “We have no means of getting rid of him permanently.”

“We do,” Alphonse said with confidence. “The Gravity Gun.”

“Your obsession with miracle weapons will be your undoing,” Hector lambasted his son. “If yours fails, we will have an invincible madman with nothing left to lose on our hands.”

“Augustus will never be satisfied,” Leonard Hargraves interrupted the conversation. “He wants nothing less than total dominion over Europe.”

“His delusions of grandeur mean nothing,” Hector scoffed. “You don’t know him like I do, Hargraves.”

Sunshine scoffed. “I have been sparring with Augustus long before you came to Italy, Mr. Manada. I know him well.”

“No, Hargraves, because if you did, you would have grasped a simple truth. With all his power, Augustus could have established himself as a god-king, written laws, but what does he do? Peddle drugs, launder money, corrupt existing infrastructures. At the end of the day, Augustus is just a gangster with cancer, and that’s all he will ever be.” The CEO shook his head in frustration. “Don’t you see that to win, we only have to outlast him? Let nature do its work.”

“And let countless suffer in the meantime?” Sunshine replied. “Assuming the next Augusti generation isn’t made of the same cloth?”

“Well, to be honest—” Ryan raised his hand to speak on behalf of Livia.

“The adults are talking, Quicksave,” Alphonse interrupted him.

“Then why are you here?” Ryan replied with a mocking tone, being far, far older than the VP. The nuclear-powered cyborg glared at him, but the courier wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.

“Enough,” Enrique said, a hint of frustration in his voice.

“And are you truly so different, Father?” Alphonse asked mockingly.

Hector’s expression turned into one of pure disgust. “You dare compare me to Augustus, my son? I am no saint, I confess, but I do not go around murdering people who never crossed me.”

“You raised us to believe Dynamis had a mission. To rebuild a better civilization, based on free-market, the rule of law, and individual freedom.” Alphonse’s voice turned bitter. “One that wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the pre-war nations. Yet all you have done is repeat the patterns of the past, and maintain a status quo unsuitable for mankind. One that benefits Augustus.”

Ryan realized he had met Fallout’s type elsewhere before. Disappointed idealists.

And as he listened to the man’s speech, he couldn’t help but be reminded of Livia’s own situation. Like her, the Manada were children disagreeing with their father’s rotten, rigid vision of the world. Unlike Livia though, who couldn’t escape Augustus’ grasp, the Manada siblings had decided to rebel.

Would it work though?

“That unsuitable status quo, as you call it, is the only one we have,” Hector replied angrily. “I’ve played with the cards dealt to me.”

“Whatever your reasons, you conspired with the Meta-Gang, provided them with company resources, and, willingly or not, nearly allowed Adam the Ogre to get his hands on Mechron technology,” Enrique pointed out. “We can’t let that slide, and neither will the Board.”

“I am the Board,” Hector replied with a frown.

Ryan couldn’t resist. “Not yet!”

“Alphonse and I have enough shares to force a vote, and you know the Board and other corporations will vote for your retirement,” Enrique said. “We have too much proof, and they can’t be seen cooperating with Psychos. Our image and reputation is our armor, but they are also our weaknesses.”

“And most importantly, we have the army,” Alphonse stated the obvious. “Do not think you can prevent what’s coming.”

deepened. “You would harm me,

you did? What you planned to do?” Alphonse asked, lowering his head to lock eyes with his father.

held the glare for a moment, before looking at his other child. “Et tu, Enrique? You know what

“but dabbling with Psychos won’t be one of

“Enrique will be my vice-president, and we will clean up your mess. We will reforge Dynamis into what it should have been. A beacon that will rebuild civilization, one without Psychos,

around him. “I

glancing at

agonizing moment, Dynamis’ CEO said nothing. He slowly glanced at his sons, then at Leonard, and finally to the Private Security members backing them up. Whether out of fear of Alphonse Manada, disgust, or opportunism, none of

that in

Hector Manada offered his hands in surrender. “You doom us

new dawn for Dynamis, Father,” Alphonse Manada declared. He sounded

me, the flood,” Hector Manada prophesied with quiet dignity, as

who watched his father being carried away, the time-traveler realized he might have put someone far more

hail of gunfire perhaps?” Il Migliore’s manager replied dryly. “Unlike Augustus, we do not shoot all of our problems. My father is many things, but a fanatic isn’t one of

imprison him

If all goes as expected, his assets will be confiscated, he will be surrounded by Alphonse’s people, and he will be kept away from any form of power whatsoever.” Enrique looked at Ryan with disapproval. “This is what we adults

it was good. Ryan had expected the change of power to end in violence, because that was all he ever

were reasonable,” Leo Hargraves lamented. “So, it’s over. Now, we must decide what to do with the

will be a transition of power, and I wish you to assist us

do not work for money,

of amusement. “Our goals are the same. We both want Augustus dragged off from his throne. Now that my father has been dealt with, it is time we focus on the true

Living Sun crossed his arms, the opportunity too great to pass

“And I have had enough of your blatant disrespect, Quicksave. You did

he had set out to do. Besides, staying in Alphonse

bowed respectfully to the time-traveler. “There is something I must

join your circus,” Ryan cut him off. “Too much

you. Most people won’t know it, but your actions saved countless lives. History books may not mention you, but we will not

you can’t keep,” Ryan replied with a shrug.

was

left the Manada property by himself, Enrique personally decided to escort him to his car. “This isn’t the end, is it?” the courier asked Blackthorn. It didn’t feel like an ending at all. “It’s just

subtle as our father. If Augustus didn’t know we cooperated with Hargraves already, he will learn it soon. And even if it suffered

easy part,” Ryan mused, his mood turning from curious to slightly depressed. “I don’t know how

reaction to my brother’s speech,” Enrique

with his death,” Ryan replied, his thoughts turning to Len and Bloodstream. “And even dead, his influence still holds a

Blackthorn moved right in front of him. “You are not leaving yet,” the new Dynamis VP declared. “I told you we would have a talk,

to say? Though if it’s for gardening

have plenty of things to discuss,” Enrique said while crossing his arms. “I know your sister was in the bunker during the attack. One of the Meta-Gang’s members was found trapped in a bubble, and Psyshock’s living quarters were ransacked. And most curious of all, our men couldn't find the

people

this, but now I understand,” Enrique said, ignoring the jab. “You were after this tech

really.” Ryan’s thoughts turned to Jasmine. “If I told you the Meta-Gang caused the permanent death of someone I cared for, would you

noticed the odd wording, but Ryan didn’t enlighten him. “People also saw you at a dinner

the rumors right here,” Ryan said, immediately sensing the danger. “Fortuna Veran isn’t my girlfriend. I have

replied dryly. “The also told me a person matching the Augusti assassin Mortimer’s description came to your rescue

got no allegiances

in anything? I thought

“Aw, did you care?”

I would not have given you the time of a day if I didn’t

he said. “I expected you to be a lot more cutthroat, but… you seem rather honorable and well-meaning below the surface. You could do a lot more for

so much. We conquered the planet by sacrificing our individuality for collective strength. Though I

Town, I somewhat doubt it,” Ryan replied, before smiling behind his mask. “But I’m an optimist. People

the Meta-Gang’s defeat had put the time-traveler in a cheerful mood. After

trust you, Romano. You are unpredictable, loyal to none, and probably the most dangerous individual I have met short of

“Thank you, Greenhand.”

saved Dynamis, in a roundabout way. So… while I hate to use the term, I will

fine, I took the job to do one thing, and it is finished.” Ryan pointed a finger at the manager. “I’m keeping all my

will do my best

still going to visit my team in the hospital though. Spoiler warning,

will happen, Romano. I will allow you to say your goodbyes to your teammates unmolested, and I will wire you a generous compensation for your service.” Blackthorn locked eyes with Ryan through their respective masks. “But afterward, you and your

“Leave for where?”

will be too busy with the transition in the next few days to do so, but once his position is secure, my brother will hunt you two down. I know him. Your allegiances are too dubious, your

now he had outlived his usefulness, but Shortie? Why were they so interested in her?

admitted. “But I cannot protect her forever. Alphonse knows her base’s location, and he can access it if he so chooses. Take everything

turned dangerous. “Is that a threat, Greenhand? Because as the Meta-Gang can attest, I’m very effective at

you or your family.” Blackthorn raised his sleeve to look

felt it would be

harbor, when

he asked

line, a hint of

end of the line. “He will recover, but

is alive at all. I did not inform his sisters yet. I…” Livia

Or rather, he would have reloaded afterward. “Thanks for sending Mr. Passe-Muraille. He didn’t help much, but it’s the thought

before continuing. “I hope I

it can reassure you,

with us then? The Killer Seven

while,” Ryan answered, as he reached the harbor. “I’m not sure if my presence is needed anymore. I get the feeling Dynamis will

an unknown party. But we can discuss that when the situation becomes clearer. When do you

sure you will even be able to visit Atom Kitten

tone harshened. “You think

“Hey, you can always try. If

mafia princess had fallen completely silent. Though he had only said the truth, Ryan regretted his bluntness. For a

ever loved someone?” She asked out of the blue. “Not a fling, but true love? To the point that even though you

not the best counsel on the matter,” Ryan said sadly, as he noticed Len’s bathysphere near the old piers.

chuckle, before gathering her breath. “You lived for

sometimes, it’s better to learn to let go. You’ll hurt yourself otherwise. Some wounds never heal, and you have to

his words, but she didn’t appreciate it. “Thanks

time-traveler replied, before falling silent. His thoughts

“Ryan?”

Ryan said out of nowhere. “They… talked it out and forced him into

need to elaborate. Livia could probably see the parallels with her own situation, with a major

Her regretful