The Perfect Run

Chapter 107

Ryan wondered how many lives Felix ‘Atom Cat’ Veran had left.

He had died at the Meta-Gang’s hands at least twice, once to Fallout’s bombardment of Len’s underwater base, and probably alongside everyone in New Rome when Bloodstream escaped confinement. Which should leave him with five lives out of nine?

“Felix!” Narcinia almost rose from her seat, only for Mars to put a hand on her shoulder and force her back to her seat. The young teen looked at her adoptive brother and father in confusion.

Fortuna’s response was far less subdued. “Felix, you ass!” she complained so loudly that Mathias winced at her shrilling voice. “How dare you come to a family dinner dressed like that! You look like a plumber!”

“Glad to see you too, sis,” Felix replied as he rose up, swiping ashes and dust off his clothes. His eyes wandered to the table, meeting confused looks from the guests. “Jamie, Ki-jung… Dad.”

“You could have used the door,” Mars said, his eyes tense. To Ryan’s surprise, he didn’t immediately go for his son’s throat, perhaps because of his daughters’ presence. “We invited you.”

“And I’m sure the guards outside are for show. You would never have let me close to Narcinia if I went through the entrance.” Felix turned away from his father, before noticing Mathias and Ryan. “Who are you?”

“Your sister’s boyfriend,” Mathias replied with mixed feelings. His tense eyes met Ryan’s, silently waiting for a signal. He too understood that the situation would soon degenerate.

“Which one?” Felix asked, curious.

“The right one,” Fortuna replied.

Her brother rolled his eyes, before looking at Ryan. “And… who are you, a new member of the Killer Seven?”

Ryan considered a dozen ways to introduce himself; as Quicksave, as President of the Free World, conqueror of Monaco, immortal and all. All more dignified and flowery than the last.

But only one sentence came to mind.

“I’m BLEEPING your ex.”

The awkward silence that welcomed his declaration delighted the courier.

“Don’t give me that look,” Ryan said to Felix, as the younger hero looked at him with astonished eyes. “It was your ex or your sister, and she’s almost as pretty as you are!”

“Almost?” Fortuna asked angrily. “He doesn’t even groom his hair!”

“Whatever,” Felix said, though the revelation had clearly shaken him. “Narcinia, come with me.”

“What,” the younger Veran asked, “where?”

“Away. My current bosses are a huge disappointment, but working with them will still be way better than making drugs.” Atom Kitty extended a hand to his sister. “Now that that death factory has been burnt to the ground, you can put an end to this tragedy here and now.”

Narcinia didn’t answer, instead anxiously looking at her father. This frustrated her brother. “Narci…”

“Did you do it?” Mars asked his son, his tone dangerous. “Destroy our production center?”

Felix shrugged. “I had nothing to do with that, though I wish I did. Whoever blew up that toxic dump deserves an award.”

His father frowned, and Ryan felt a chill going down his spine. A mobile phone materialized in a purple flash within Mars’ hand, the Olympian immediately making a call.

Livia’s vision was turning into reality.

I heard about your promotion. It’s not enough to close your eyes anymore, now will you help Augustus

you here, Felix?” Jamie asked, uneasy. Ryan could tell the young hero’s words

your division to make his

deep breath. “I don’t

adoptive sister. Jamie rose from his own seat, perhaps to stop him, while Mathias glanced at

his face. “He’s here, Janus, but he doesn’t know…

could guess. Mars was trying to convince his boss one last

Lightning Butt was convinced Felix had provided the Carnival with the intel that made the devastating Ischia raid possible, and his organization’s myth of invincibility

traitor shall survive, not

said, Lightning Butt was a gangster with too much power. When threatened,

looked at the fireplace behind Atom Kitten, noticing the tip of a

at his stubborn son, the phone in his hand. When faced with a choice between disobeying his invincible boss and paying the price, or offering a sacrificial lamb…

revolver’s trigger echoed

seat, and pushed Felix

it resumed, the projectile impacted on the wall, Fortuna screaming in surprise while Felix stumbled in

the fireplace. Mortimer

the trigger, and the

hastily grabbed her and dived down below the table. Mortimer missed and retreated back into the wall, while the shards avoided a

steel to materialize over his skin. The Olympian moved

Felix

first floor, and so while the time traveler gracefully landed on the grass below, his favorite cat rolled on the ground. The courier

Ryan ordered Felix, helping him back to his feet. A storm of glass

car’s headlamps emerged from the night’s darkness on their left, just

the night sky, shrouded in a cloud of crimson lightning. Lightning Butt looked down on the

activated his time-stop. Instead of moving within the frozen time, Augustus vanished from his sight, alongside his red

of Night

found the responsible party standing near the mansion’s wall to the courier’s right, his black bodysuit meshing with the darkness. The time-traveler grabbed two knives hidden in his pocket, and threw

eye and made him fall to his back, screaming. His illusion collapsed into nothingness, as if it had never been there. Felix blinked

his surprise, it

inviting them inside. “Quickly! Before the others

bait, so perfect was her face and voice, even the clothes… before realizing Cancel wasn’t with his girlfriend. Felix, too confused to think straight, took a step forward; the courier stopped him with a

when things

of him blinked in shock and surprise, before trying to grab a revolver hidden beneath her clothes. Ryan froze time and nailed her hand to the driving wheel by throwing his other

impostor dropping her weapon and hissing at the pain. “But

what

turned into Venus’, as the Augusti regained her true form. Great, she could also alter vocal cords. She attempted to remove the knife with her free hand, her teeth grinding

stood in place, too horrified

to his relief, his self-driven car was making

the moment I saw you,” Venus hissed.

with a cold expression, purple rifts in space opening all around him.

launched them at the duo below and skewered them, but he didn’t. Though it was nighttime, Ryan could have sworn he had seen a flash of doubt and

wife,

items from a pocket dimension armory, but he had never imagined the speed at

car. “Come in!” he ordered Felix as he swiftly took over the driving

keep him away

the rest of us,” Mars replied, before summoning thick chains and binding his daughter’s hands and legs. They quickly started to fall off her, probably due to her power causing structural damage, but it paralyzed her. “Mathias,

phased through the building’s walls, opening fire at the car with his gun, but his bullets only grazed the bodywork. While the Plymouth Fury escaped the property, Mars leaped outside the window, a

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255