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.”

die, and Ma… it would have hurt Ma, if you didn’t wake up.” Sarah glared at the courier. “She was in tears

on it,” Ryan said with a

had stopped looking at the ceiling, and now glanced at the undersea abyss outside the habitat

him. His own parents had signed his death warrant, and a sister he left behind

don’t want to talk,” Kitten said suddenly, his

wasn’t the

the wheelchair through 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

a server, like

Len’s face

ever doubt?” he

a frown. For the first time, he noticed the red shade around Len’s

ass,” Sarah told Ryan with a glare. “I would kick

in the arm if you want,” Ryan

before looking at Len with concern. “Ma, you should rest. I can bring you a warm

sweetie.” Len forced herself to smile at Sarah. “Can you… leave us for

anyway. The workshop’s door

sorry,” Ryan

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

putting a hand on Len’s arm. To his surprise, she didn’t immediately back away from the

away. “If

Ryan said.

turned from saddened to embarrassed. “I hacked your phone. After you turned it

NSA did it first. Ryan glanced at the device, and then at Eugène-Henry. The cat seemed delighted to see his master again, but his gaze had returned to its natural blue. “Did you

so,“ Len declared with

gone?” Ryan asked

readings. They’re gone. He’s a normal cat now.” Len shook her head, while Eugène-Henry showed them his

Purple World entity had possessed Eugène-Henry like the plushie, and

Ryan couldn’t figure it out, but he

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

“Yes, I want to.”

the servers, typed on the keyboard,

Ryan assumed it came from a sea-based probe. But the

consumed buildings, including the Il Migliore HQ, which

swords and spears upon the vegetal abomination. Yet the creature retaliated with vines as thick as trucks, and pollen capable of

corpses washed up on an artificial shore, only to 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 colossal squid. A living laser cut one of its tentacles, and was soon joined by Devilry. But in spite of their best efforts, the liquid elemental quickly pulled itself back together and continued its deadly march

crimson lightning bolt. Their fight was by far the most fearsome, both moving so fast even the camera had troubles following them.

panoramic view of the disaster, eventually reaching the harbor. Mortimer, Lanka, and other Genomes 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

“CTHULHU FHTAGN!”

apocalypse suit. Things were that

all over the coast,” Len admitted, as she sank in a chair of her own. “Not just New Rome. Sicily and Sardinia

long as events remained on their current track, Dynamis, the Carnival, and the

Run looked so far away still. “I’m sorry Shortie, but Lab Sixty-Six will be for next

replied with a frown. “It was like this? The previous

just provided a bigger matc—”

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

skipped a beat. Was this a ray of hope, in the middle of another

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

But it wasn’t Jasmine.

her visage appeared on the screen. “Thank goodness, since I

turned into a scowl, while Ryan took it in stride. “If I were dead, princess, this horrible present

Livia

into deep grief.

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

Though it was blunt, Ryan thought she needed to hear the grim truth right now. “Your father gave the order, and Pluto didn’t think twice about carrying it

she said, joining her fingers. “I

changed to sympathy, even if she clearly disliked

said, his tone softening.

“Nobody will remember. Nobody but you. If nobody else

with the idea. Livia was sharp enough to catch on to their unease. “You have a plan to solve

tell you,” Len said before Ryan could open his mouth. “We…

are the Underdiver, correct? Len Sabino.” Livia regained her composure as she focused on Shortie, putting on her poker face. Perhaps

Len admitted. “And… I was against him

Livia’s fingers fidgeted, the young woman unable to hide her shame. “But I swear, I never wanted this

impressed much. “But

reminded Ryan of Len, so very much. “My father… he usually listens to me. But not on this. No argument, in

with a frown. “How can we

in a safe place outside New Rome alongside Narcinia. It’s a private line, I assure you. Vulcan’s private line, and she is too busy to listen.” Livia cleared her throat. “It’s… it’s precisely because she is too

you know Ryan was here?” Len continued. “You said your power

see the results of his actions afterward. I looked for a possibility where I could talk

I think that’s