The Perfect Run

He found Livia waiting for him at the Deadland motel.

Ryan drove to the meeting spot in his Plymouth Fury, having repaired his car after the Land wrecked it; though he had to drown it with perfume to hide the Junkyard’s stench. The courier himself had switched from his normal clothes to an elegant black jacket with a purple polo shirt underneath, with no bright color to be seen; Darkling would have loved it.

A pity he couldn’t raid Dynamis’ cashmere factory without putting the company on high alert or starting a war with the Augusti. Neither could he use Mechron’s matter replicator without Alchemo jailbreaking the mainframe first.

Of course, Ryan could have always spent money, but a cashmere suit wasn’t bought. It was taken, by either strength or wits.

Livia had put a lot of effort into her appearance too, more than Ryan had ever seen her do. She wore an elegant sleeveless dress and golden bracelets, but also black stockings, red high heels, and golden earrings. She had put a lovely crimson rose in her hair, black linings around her eyes; it contrasted well with her sapphire eyes and the silver hair flowing on her back. Though she couldn’t compare with her best friend Fortuna in the beauty department, Ryan found Livia quite lovely. A true princess.

She hadn’t seen him yet due to the ambient darkness, so he watched her from afar for a short while. Livia waited in the parking lot, with her hands joined. She fidgeted in place, and let out a long, heavy breath as if to calm herself.

She hadn’t seen how the date would end, and it made her nervous.

Ryan drove to her side, ending her silent agony. Livia immediately corrected her expression upon noticing him, smiling warmly at his arrival. “Did you order a pumpkin carriage, princess?” the courier asked, upon stopping in front of her.

“Will your car turn into a vegetable at midnight?” she teased him, while sitting at his side. Her perfume smelled of rose and strawberry. “This only leaves three hours.”

“Livia, I can time travel. I can make three hours last a lifetime.”

“I don’t doubt that,” she said, closing the car’s door behind her. “But I would prefer it if you could bring me home before two in the morning, or my father might get upset.”

“You’ve never had a sleepless night out in town?” Ryan asked, amused, as he drove away through New Rome’s streets. “My, it was about time I came into your life.”

Livia blushed a little, embarrassed. “I wasn’t that sheltered,” she protested. “With my power, I could experience wild moments by proxy, with none of the hangovers, drowsiness, and side-effects that came with it.”

“Watching is not the same as living.”

“No, but I don’t enjoy parties that much,” she admitted. “I prefer simpler moments with just a few friends. The more people surround me, the more my power goes into overdrive. Too many interactions at once.”

“Cancel blocks your visions?” Ryan asked, his date answering with a short nod. “You could always hang out with her then.”

Livia shook her head. “I don’t like Greta. That woman is capable of anything. She could be just as hideously violent as Adam the Ogre, if she had any motivation.” Lightning Butt’s daughter frowned, as they approached the highway where Ryan and Felix once engaged her aunt Pluto in a car chase. “Where are we going?”

“Away,” Ryan replied.

She blinked in surprise. “Away from the city?”

“Well, I figured you probably visited all of New Rome’s restaurants, either directly or with your power. But there is one place I’m sure you’ve never been to before.”

“Within an hour’s drive of New Rome?” Livia asked with skepticism, before grinning wickedly. “I doubt so. Unless… unless, you intend to take me out of the city to ravish me in the wilderness?”

“Did you bring a chastity belt? It has been a while since I unlocked one.”

Livia’s smile turned coy and playful. The young woman wasn’t as innocent as she let it seem. “If my father heard you, he would have you struck down.”

“I have a lightning rod in the car boot. Does your father even know you’re in a car with a dashing courier?” His date’s mischievous smile was an answer in itself. “Would he let you date anyone?”

“Only an Augusti. My father mistrusts anyone outside of our clan. He wouldn’t let Felix anywhere near me again, even if…” Her bashful smile turned sour.

“So you’re disobeying him even as we speak?” Ryan mused, trying to distract her from her bad memories. “You live a dangerous life.”

His date chuckled in response, which Ryan took as a good sign. “Not as much as yours. To be fair, you’re the first who dared to ask me out at all. Most men are simply too frightened to try.” She looked at him warmly. “That’s one of the things I like about you, Ryan. You dare it all.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” he replied, a foot on the accelerator. “Is your seatbelt tightly on?”

“Yes, it i—”

She gasped in surprise, as the Plymouth Fury raced on the highway. One hundred kph turned into one hundred and fifty, while Ryan switched the Chronoradio to Mad Max 2’s main theme. They passed by two cars, violating all road safety laws as they went.

“Stop!” Livia pleaded as the speed kept climbing, a hand on his arm. She screamed as they passed by a car so closely that they nearly brushed against it; though she could sense the cars coming, she couldn’t foresee how Ryan would react to them, if he did. “Stop, you madman!”

“Don’t try this at home, kids!” The courier said, using brief bursts of time-stop to avoid colliding with other vehicles.

Livia’s scream of fear transformed into laughter, as the adrenaline pumped through her veins and the Plymouth Fury reached its maximum velocity. Ryan had modified his car to reach over three hundred kph, and at this speed, the world around them turned into a blur. Other cars became spots of color, the highway ahead became a tunnel of light.

If only Ryan could have driven his Plymouth Fury rather than the Pandamobile when Pluto came for his head. Cruella would never have come within an inch of his car.

Once he sensed they were close to their destination, Ryan activated a hidden button. The car hood opened to reveal a Genius device, the tip of a particle accelerator. Tiny light spheres came out of it, stretching reality apart.

“Have you watched Back to the Future?” Ryan grinned at Livia.

She answered with a panicked, exhilarated scream, as particles swallowed the Plymouth Fury. The stars above fell down in a rain of light, reality itself shifting around them.

and the

The Plymouth Fury emerged from a particle cloud to slow down beneath alien skies, on a

rush. Only then did Ryan notice that

brushed against her warm fingers, and Livia squeezed

Instead of answering, she broke the hand contact and slapped him behind the

nervous laugh, as

have to do it

God.” She smiled, catching her breath. “Did you ever get a

don’t ask

and glanced outside her window. Her eyes widened upon seeing

the brilliance of stars, and within them one could glimpse images of strange places. Seas of mercury, clouds of floating ice, green lightning coursing through black, empty

had turned into a red desert, though one could see

is this place?” Livia asked as they exited the

space anomaly, if you will.” Ryan moved to the car boot, where he

pointing at two silhouettes

hand, and the silhouette

Augusti Princess had tears at the edge of her eyes. “No,

talking

box, and chopsticks to go with it. “Space folds back?” his date asked after wiping away the tears, looking at the other highway in

his mouth full of fish. “The highway stretches for thirty kilometers, and then loops back.

Futomaki with a curious frown. “Or did

above our realities, beyond space and time as most humans understand it, but there are other realms sideways too. They follow the same timestream as

is

folds due to gravitational or electromagnetic anomalies.” Ryan glanced at the purple auroras above their heads. “I think this place is close to the Purple World. Like a border realm between our universe and the

Blue one,” Livia guessed. “That is why I can’t detect you either, since you exist in two dimensions

enthusiastic about finishing her plate. “You don’t

made an embarrassed

heart skipped a beat. “You hate Japanese

sushi, no.” Livia sheepishly shook

have picked French food! Nobody disliked French food, except

immediately reassured him, when

reload now,” Ryan grumbled. “The

serious. She put a hand on his arm and squeezed it tight. “No, don’t, please. It’s because this moment is genuine that

I was kidding,” Ryan teased her, his index finger brushing against her cheek. She blushed so much that a scarlet streak

old, weary heart. “Does that pick-up line ever work?” she asked with a wide grin

“More than you think.”

removed

so powerful, that a few countries

her eyes, and dared to put his boast to the test. “Then

plates aside, and grabbed Livia by the waist. His date let out a squeal of surprise as he quickly lifted and

wondered if she might faint from the embarrassment. “You’re going too far

around Livia and held her tight, her head resting against his shoulder. “Unless

insolence, but I have the feeling you might

be right,

her seat, and made herself comfortable. Her back rested against the courier’s chest, and he sensed her hastening heartbeat beneath her skin. Though the scarlet streak across Livia’s face had transformed into a light blush, Ryan could tell the

you reach these places?” Livia pointed a finger at the alien

confirmed. “Others I plan

but ordered him, sounding like a true queen. “To make

crime after crime?” he

his own. They felt warm and comforting to the touch, like Jasmine’s had been. “How did you even find out about

of them while researching particle physics in Switzerland.” Ryan shuddered.

power will not show me. I heard nobody that goes there come back, but you

him PTSD. “It’s shrimps and caviar, until

“Something happened in this place. Something that hurt

first instinct was to deny the truth, but her firm gaze dissuaded him. “I…” the courier trailed off, having lived with this secret like a boulder around his ankle like a ball and chain. He had never told anyone, carrying that cross across time. Nobody

But she would.

Livia had watched whole lifetimes through her power, from what she had told him. She couldn’t comprehend the sheer weight he carried, but

a full life,”

truth. Her expression shifted into one of horror, as she

otherworldly desert beneath the highway, without

you always say you’re immortal?” Livia’s eyes softened in compassion. “Does

on her frail shoulders, and ghosts of her own.

The seer bit her lower lips, as if afraid to go on. At that moment, Livia reminded Ryan of

dared to,” he confessed. “If… if my timing was even slightly off during the conception, then a different child would be born from loop to loop. I wouldn’t

her head, and her hand touched his chin to make him

the right words to comfort