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.

you have anything to say?” Felix asked, but the woman in question 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 the poison

own. “Why are you here, Felix?” Jamie asked, uneasy. Ryan could tell the

your division to make his drug. Just by taking that job, you’re enabling the death and ruin of

don’t think now is the time to discuss

time,” he protested, taking a step towards his adoptive sister. Jamie rose from his own seat, perhaps to stop him, while Mathias glanced at Ryan

his face. “He’s here, Janus, but he doesn’t know… he swears he’s not involved… yes, but… please, not before my daughters… some

line, he could guess. Mars was trying to convince his boss one last time not to execute his godson, or to

knew 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 was in jeopardy.

shall survive, not even

as Hector Manada once said, Lightning Butt was a gangster with too

time-traveler looked at the fireplace behind Atom Kitten, noticing the tip of

dark and sorrowful. He looked 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… the

a revolver’s trigger echoed

from his seat, and pushed Felix

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

people in the back,” Ryan said, as he glanced at the fireplace. Mortimer had phased halfway through the stone, a gun in

pull of the trigger, and the room erupted

dived down below the table. Mortimer missed and retreated back into the wall, while the shards avoided a horrified Fortuna and a focused

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

Felix said, utterly

on the first floor, and so while

back to his feet. A storm of glass kept Mars busy

the night’s darkness on their left, just as lightning

terror, as a man of ivory descended from the night sky, shrouded in a cloud of crimson lightning.

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

Night

meshing with the darkness. The time-traveler grabbed

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

want to live,” Ryan said as the car approached. But to his surprise, it wasn’t his Plymouth Fury, but a Mercedes Benz stopping in front of the duo. The right door opened, revealing the

inside.

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

when things

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

guessed what was

regained her true form. Great, she could also alter vocal cords. She attempted to remove the knife with her free hand, her

to kill me?” Felix stood in place, too horrified by the

relief, his self-driven car was making its way to

moment I saw

the glass storm had ended, either because Mathias had been caught, killed, or something else. Mars stood at the window’s edge with a cold expression, purple rifts in space opening all around him. The tips of swords, arrows, spears, tridents,

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

wife,

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

in!” he ordered Felix as he

by the arm, trying to keep him

legs. They quickly started to fall off her, probably due

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

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