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.”

mean to die, and Ma… it would have hurt Ma, if you didn’t wake up.” Sarah

plan on it,” Ryan said with a sigh. “Can

while Ryan sent one last glance to Atom Cat. Felix had stopped looking at the ceiling, and now glanced at the undersea abyss

blame him. His own parents had signed his death warrant, and a sister he left behind died for him. It would shake

Kitten said suddenly, his

wasn’t the time.

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 design, including the helmet. It seemed Len had decided to repurpose her existing equipment

a server, like

sheer relief on Len’s face was almost palpable. “You’ve woken

ever

should have kept his 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 had repeatedly

Ryan with a glare. “I would kick you

if you want,” Ryan replied, and she did.

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

herself to smile at

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

sorry,” Ryan

She was already drowning in her own blood when…

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

hand away.

would have died,” Ryan said.

Her expression turned from saddened to embarrassed. “I hacked your phone. After you turned it off, I had to search for

at her for this, but the NSA did it first. Ryan glanced at the device, and then at Eugène-Henry. The cat seemed delighted to see his

declared with a

Ryan asked

head,

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

What was the point? Ryan couldn’t figure it out, but he would in time. “How are

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

“Yes, I want to.”

servers, typed on the keyboard, and

Ryan assumed it came from a sea-based probe. But the quality was enough for the courier to see the disaster in

retaliated with fireballs. Flames consumed buildings, including the Il Migliore HQ, which Vulcan and an armored squadron bombarded

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

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

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

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

“CTHULHU FHTAGN!”

out the apocalypse suit.

the coast,” Len admitted, as she sank in a chair

the end of the last loop, all over again. Destroying the Meta had only delayed the inevitable. So long as events remained on

looked so far away still. “I’m sorry Shortie,

“It was like this? The

but the result is the same. Adam just provided a bigger matc—” The computer let out a bleep.

frowning as

heart skipped a beat. Was this a ray of hope,

the screen changed from New Rome’s apocalyptic landscape, to a young woman sitting in a

But it wasn’t Jasmine.

Livia said with relief, as her visage appeared on the screen. “Thank goodness, since I couldn’t see you,

in stride. “If

worried that perhaps, you hadn’t told me the entire truth,” Livia

admitted, causing Livia’s expression to deaden into deep grief. “Felix

expression dead, her eyes looking down. “I… I foresaw it,” she

her brother from Pluto, and if she had her way, your late aunt would have killed Felix too.” Though it was blunt, Ryan thought she needed to hear the grim truth right now. “Your father gave the order, and Pluto

fingers. “I never… I never thought it would come

changed to sympathy, even if she clearly disliked Livia; perhaps because she empathized

it alright,” he said, his tone softening.

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

thoughts, and disagreed with the idea. Livia was sharp enough to

tell you,” Len said before Ryan could

Len Sabino.” 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

I was against him

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

impressed much. “But

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

asked with a frown. “How can we be sure that

New Rome alongside Narcinia. It’s a private line, I assure you. Vulcan’s private line, and she is too busy

you know… how did you know Ryan was here?” Len continued. “You said your

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

“Shortie, I think that’s enough.