The Perfect Run

Ryan’s vision blurred. It was hard to focus; darkness lurked at the edge of his vision, and his strength left him. He couldn’t even feel his legs, and his whole body felt cold.

Maybe it was the loss of blood, or the leftover damage he suffered from the battle with Pluto. Or perhaps it was Eugène-Henry’s doing, as the cat teleported right in front of Ryan. The feline looked down on the trapped Genome without a sound, like a guide to the underworld.

“Fortuna!”

Above the waterfall, a horrified Atom Cat held his sister in his arms, blood flowing from her chest. Pluto’s corpse fell down the waterfall, a hole in her forehead. The river pulled the Underboss downstream to her last abode; her curse had been canceled and the woods returned to normal, though it came with a cost.

Fortuna had made a lucky shot… but even luck couldn’t cheat death from her due.

“Fortuna!” Felix shouted, trying to cover his sister’s wound with his hand and prevent her from bleeding out. Ryan knew enough about medicine to know it was useless. If he had the tools and the energy, he might have saved her.

He would save her still. He would save them all the next time around.

In the end, only Ryan was cursed with immortality. Only he could carry that burden.

As he started to lose consciousness, Ryan noticed a metal shadow moving upstream. A mermaid in power armor crossing the river to rescue him.

“Riri!” Len shouted in horror while rushing at his side, immediately pushing away the debris keeping him down. “I’m here! I’m here!”

Len…

Always there to save him when all was lost.

“I must go now.”

For a moment, the courier thought he had spoken out loud, until he realized where the disembodied voice came from.

Something spoke through Eugène-Henry, using Ryan’s own voice.

“The rest,” the cat looked into the courier’s eyes, his feline gaze shining purple with the wisdom of the stars, “is up to you.”

A flash of violet light overwhelmed Ryan, and he lost consciousness.

When Ryan opened his eyes, it was to the tune of The International.

The ceiling was crimson red, and he faced a portrait of Marx and Engel. An intravenous device pumped his right arm with anesthesia, right next to a steampunk wheelchair of leather and tin.

Damn it, had he woken in a hidden Soviet lab again? Once had been enough!

Ryan’s eyes wandered around himself, his body feeling heavy; he had trouble breathing correctly, and his chest itched. Most importantly, he couldn’t feel anything below his waist, including his most dangerous weapon. Even Vamp died in an attempt to claim it for herself.

He was in a hospital bed, with a TV and a window leading into a dark undersea abyss. Sitting on a chair right in front of him, Little Sarah read Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne. She hadn’t noticed him waking up.

Ryan turned his head, glancing at another bed near his own. Atom Cat laid half-hidden beneath the bed sheet, watching the ceiling with empty eyes. Bandages covered his torso, and he had an intravenous system of his own.

“Felix?” Ryan’s voice startled Sarah, who hastily closed her book. “Kitten?”

Nothing.

Atom Cat didn’t even respond. His gaze was a blank, empty abyss of nothingness, a thousand-yard stare.

“He has been like that since Ma brought you in,” Little Sarah said with a frown. “He doesn’t respond when people call him. I’ve seen that gaze before in Rust Town. He’s broken inside, and he’s not coming back.”

“He will.” Ryan knew that from experience. “Eventually, when it’s done chewing on you, the abyss spits you back.”

Of course, the courier would probably turn back time before Atom Cat finished that healing process. Even if she annoyed him, he couldn’t let Fortuna stay dead. Not after she gave her life to save her brother.

“Now you’re awake, get your ass out of bed,” Little Sarah said, before realizing the obvious. “Figuratively, I mean. How do you feel?”

“Without my legs, like Christopher Reeves.”

“I don’t know who that is.”

“And that’s why I can’t stand you.”

“At least I still have le—” Little Sarah suddenly stopped, as she put the two and two together. “Oh wait, I get the joke! Can’t stand!”

“Now, if you can bring me the wheelchair,” Ryan said, glancing at his new Plymouth Fury. “I will let you push me around a bit, but please don’t talk behind my back.”

“Do you want me to find you a parking lot?” Little Sarah replied, as she put her book aside and helped Ryan get into the wheelchair. As he expected, the rest of the courier’s body hadn’t been spared either. He had almost as many bandages as an Egyptian mummy.

“It’s a start, but you need training in pun-fu,” Ryan said. “How long was I out?”

“Ma brought you in yesterday night,” she replied, grabbing the pole holding the intravenous system and attaching it to the wheelchair. “The other orphans made bets about your death. Most said you wouldn’t make it.”

“I hope you bet on me.”

and Ma… it would have hurt Ma, if you didn’t wake up.” Sarah glared at the

on it,” Ryan said with a sigh. “Can you bring me

Cat. Felix had stopped looking at the ceiling, and now glanced at

signed his death warrant, and a sister

to talk,” Kitten

wasn’t the time. Maybe

a steel corridor, and eventually, to Len’s workshop. Ryan found his best friend tinkering on her diving armor, which she had linked to the Chronoradio and Dynamis’ brain-tech with cables. Some of the suit’s parts had been replaced with copies of Jasmine’s

stood atop a server,

Len’s face was

you ever doubt?” he

mouth shut. “Yes, I did,” she said with a frown. For the first time, he noticed the red shade around Len’s eyes, as if she

ass,” Sarah told Ryan with a glare. “I would kick you in the leg, if it

arm if you want,” Ryan replied, and

Len with concern. “Ma, you

smile at Sarah. “Can you… leave us for

to obey, but did so anyway. The workshop’s

sorry,” Ryan said

looked away. “I couldn’t save her. The girl. She

Ryan moved the wheelchair forward, putting a hand on Len’s arm. To his surprise, she didn’t immediately back away from the physical contact.

his hand away. “If I had arrived

Ryan said. “Who told

your phone. After you turned it off, I had to search

The

think so,“ Len declared with a

gone?” Ryan asked with

He’s a normal cat now.” Len shook her head, while Eugène-Henry

entity had possessed Eugène-Henry like the plushie,

way? What was the point? Ryan couldn’t figure it out, but he would

for the worse. “Riri, you really want to know?

“Yes, I want to.”

to the servers,

sea-based probe. But the quality was enough for the courier to see the disaster in all its glory. An awfully

The Private Security’s helicopters rained bullets on superpowered gangsters, who retaliated with fireballs. Flames consumed buildings, including the Il Migliore HQ, which

upon the vegetal abomination. Yet the creature retaliated with vines as thick as trucks, and pollen capable of melting steel. As Wyvern freed

rise up again to attack Dynamis facilities. Neptune himself rampaged across Rust Town, having shaped an astronomical quantity of water into the shape of a

fuming crater, over which two lights dueled to the death; a raging sun, and a crimson lightning bolt. Their fight was by far the most fearsome, both moving so fast even the camera had troubles following them. Mighty thunderbolts and plasma blasts rained down from the

fired at will against an unseen form, which almost gave Ryan a headache simply showing up on screen. A horrifying eldritch mascot with swirling tentacles for a beard, great dark wings, and webbed hands; a terrifying mix between a squid and a human, worn by a foolish Genome unable to control its public domain-powered darkness. The abomination let out a scream, whose garbled words Ryan’s maddened mind

“CTHULHU FHTAGN!”

brought out the apocalypse suit. Things

like that all over the coast,” Len admitted, as she sank in a chair of

again. Destroying the Meta had only delayed the inevitable. So long as

away still. “I’m sorry Shortie, but Lab

with a frown. “It was

Adam just provided

call,” Len said, frowning as she typed on the keyboard.

a ray of hope, in the middle of another bad ending?

on the screen changed from New Rome’s apocalyptic landscape, to a

But it wasn’t Jasmine.

Livia said with relief, as her visage appeared on the screen. “Thank goodness, since I

in stride. “If I were dead, princess,

told me the entire truth,” Livia replied with a joyless smile, before it broke off completely. “Fortuna,

to deaden into deep grief. “Felix is

silent, her expression dead, her eyes looking down. “I… I foresaw it,” she muttered to herself, holding back tears, “but I hoped… I hoped I…

Pluto, and if she had her way, your late aunt would have killed Felix too.” Though it was blunt,

“I never… I never thought it

Len’s expression changed to sympathy, even if she clearly disliked Livia; perhaps because she empathized with the mafia princess’

it alright,” he said, his

up. “Is there truly no other way?” she asked, her tone breaking. “Nobody will remember. Nobody but you. If nobody else

shook her head. She had guessed his thoughts, and disagreed with the idea. Livia was sharp enough to

can’t tell you,” Len said before Ryan could open his mouth. “We… I’m sorry,

Livia regained her composure as she focused on Shortie, putting on her poker face. Perhaps she had started using her power to observe and predict the Genius.

I was

why you distrust me, especially after… after what my aunt did.” Livia’s fingers fidgeted, the young woman unable to hide her shame. “But I swear, I never wanted this to happen. I did everything I could to stop

much. “But you

and bit her lips. The little gesture reminded Ryan of Len, so very much. “My father… he usually listens to me. But not on this. No argument, in any possibility I’ve seen, could cause him

are you even?” Len asked with a frown. “How can we be sure that others aren’t

line, I assure you. Vulcan’s private line, and she is too busy to listen.” Livia cleared her throat. “It’s… it’s

you know Ryan was here?” Len

can still see the results of his actions afterward. I looked for a possibility where I could talk to Felix, and it always involved using this line. I don’t even know where

“Shortie, I think that’s enough. We’re going