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.

avoided his gaze, much to his annoyance. “And you, Jamie? I heard about your promotion. It’s not enough to close your eyes anymore, now will you help Augustus peddle

here, Felix?” Jamie asked, uneasy. Ryan could tell the young hero’s words had struck a nerve. “To open old

from your division to make his drug. Just by taking that

a deep breath. “I don’t think now is the

his adoptive sister. Jamie rose from his own seat, perhaps to stop him, while Mathias glanced at Ryan and waited for a

he doesn’t know… he swears

end of the line, he could guess. Mars was trying to convince his boss one last time not to execute

intel that made the devastating Ischia raid possible, and his organization’s myth of invincibility was in jeopardy. A brutal, public

shall survive, not

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

the fireplace behind Atom Kitten, noticing the tip of a gun’s barrel sticking out

faced with a choice between disobeying his invincible boss and paying the price, or offering a sacrificial lamb… the Capo quickly

click of a revolver’s trigger

seat, and pushed Felix out of the

the projectile impacted on the wall,

shooting people in the back,” Ryan said, as he glanced at the fireplace. Mortimer

answered with another pull of the trigger, and the room

shrapnels, Narcinia screaming as Ki-jung and Jamie hastily grabbed her and dived down below the table. Mortimer missed and retreated back into the wall, while the shards avoided a

over his skin. The Olympian moved his hand over the only part of his body exposed, the eyes, and

the—” Felix

grabbing him by the chest like a princess in distress, and jumping through the opened window. The dining room was on the first floor, and so while the time traveler

back to his feet. A storm of glass kept Mars busy on the first floor, but

headlamps emerged from the night’s darkness on

a man of ivory descended from the night sky, shrouded in a cloud of crimson lightning. Lightning Butt looked down on the duo, his

on the spot, Ryan wisely activated his time-stop. Instead

Night Terror’s

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 one at

the 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 wasn’t his Plymouth Fury, but a Mercedes Benz stopping in front of the

them inside.

her face and voice, even the clothes… before realizing Cancel wasn’t with his girlfriend. Felix, too confused to

me ‘Master Ryan’ when things are heating up,” the courier

him blinked in shock and surprise, before trying to grab a revolver hidden beneath her clothes. Ryan froze time and nailed her

her weapon and hissing at the pain.

quickly guessed what was happening.

voice 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

me?” Felix stood in place,

but not me,” Ryan said, and to his relief, his self-driven car was making

you were a traitor the moment I saw you,” Venus hissed. “There’s

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

nighttime, Ryan could have sworn he had seen a flash of doubt and guilt in the older

his wounded wife, Mars quickly made up

understood, Mars could pull and summon items from a pocket dimension armory, but he had never imagined the speed at which

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

grabbing her father by the arm, trying to keep him away from the window and briefly halting the bombardment.

to fall off

of the Olympian’s range. Mortimer phased through the building’s walls, opening fire at the car with his gun, but his

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