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.

in question avoided his gaze, much to his annoyance. “And you, Jamie? I heard about your promotion. It’s not enough to

her fiancé taking her hand into his own. “Why are you here, Felix?” Jamie asked,

them. Bacchus needs chemicals from your division to make his drug.

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

a step towards his adoptive sister. Jamie rose from his own

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

the line, he could guess. Mars was

the older man was wasting his breath. 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

shall survive, not even

was a gangster with too much power. When threatened, the answer was always more violence and

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

at his stubborn son, the phone in his hand. When faced with a choice between disobeying his invincible boss and paying the

a revolver’s

and pushed Felix out

the wall, Fortuna

said, as he glanced at the fireplace. Mortimer had phased halfway through the stone, a gun in hand. “It’s getting

with another pull of the trigger, and the room erupted into

rain of glass shrapnels, Narcinia screaming as Ki-jung and Jamie hastily grabbed her and dived down below the table. Mortimer missed and

centurion armor and mask of steel to materialize over his skin. The Olympian moved his hand over the only part of his

Felix said, utterly

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 gracefully landed on the grass below, his favorite cat rolled on the ground. The courier whistled,

Ryan ordered Felix, helping him back to his feet. A storm of glass kept Mars busy on the first floor,

darkness on their left, just as lightning struck

night sky, shrouded in a cloud of crimson

give up on the spot, Ryan wisely activated his time-stop. Instead of moving within the frozen time,

of Night

courier’s right, his black bodysuit meshing

time resumed, the blade hit Night Terrorized in the eye and made him fall to his back, screaming. His illusion collapsed into nothingness, as if it had never been there. Felix blinked repeatedly.

But to his surprise, it wasn’t his Plymouth Fury, but a Mercedes Benz stopping in front of the duo.

Livia said, inviting them inside. “Quickly! Before the others

the 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

always calls me ‘Master Ryan’ when

hidden beneath her clothes. Ryan froze time and nailed her hand to the driving wheel by throwing his other

weapon and hissing at the pain. “But seeing your expression was worth

what was happening.

turned into Venus’, as the Augusti regained her true form. Great, she could also alter vocal

in place, too horrified

me,” Ryan said, and to his relief, his self-driven car was making its way to their location. “Now,

were a traitor the moment I saw you,” Venus

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

duo below and skewered them, but he didn’t. Though it was nighttime, Ryan could have sworn he had

noticed his wounded wife, Mars quickly made

the courier understood, Mars could pull and summon items from a pocket dimension armory, but he had never imagined the speed at which he could throw them. The spears and swords flew in the air as fast as arrows, impacting the ground with enough strength to cut a man in

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

grabbing her father by the arm, trying to keep him away

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, Mercury, move my daughters to safety!

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 red Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle materializing

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

Comments ()

0/255