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.

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

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

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

I…” Narcinia took a deep breath. “I don’t think

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

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

guess. Mars

that made the devastating Ischia raid possible, and his

survive, not even my

as Hector Manada once said, Lightning Butt was a gangster with too much power. When threatened, the answer

at the fireplace behind Atom Kitten, noticing the

hand. When faced with a

revolver’s trigger echoed in the

seat, and pushed Felix out

impacted on the wall, Fortuna screaming in surprise while Felix

people in the back,” Ryan said, as he glanced at the

with another pull of the trigger, and

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 horrified Fortuna and a focused

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

Felix

the first floor, and so while the time traveler gracefully landed

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

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

Ryan looked up in terror, as a man of ivory descended from the night sky, shrouded in a cloud of crimson lightning. Lightning Butt looked down on the duo, his eyes flaring with murderous

his time-stop. Instead of moving within

Night

wall to the courier’s right, his black bodysuit meshing with the darkness. The time-traveler grabbed two knives

Night Terrorized in the eye and made him fall to his back, screaming. His illusion collapsed into nothingness,

as the car approached. But to his surprise, it wasn’t his Plymouth Fury, but a Mercedes Benz

them inside. “Quickly! Before the

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 hand on his

always calls me ‘Master Ryan’ when things are

blinked in shock and surprise, before trying to grab a revolver hidden beneath her clothes.

the impostor dropping her weapon and hissing at the pain. “But seeing your expression was

quickly guessed what was

she could also alter vocal cords. She attempted to remove

stood in place, too horrified by the realization

me,” Ryan said, and to his relief, his self-driven car was making its way to their location. “Now, apologies, but we’ll miss the

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

at the window’s edge with a cold expression, purple rifts in space opening all around him. The tips of swords,

skewered them, but he didn’t. Though it was nighttime, Ryan could have

he noticed his wounded wife,

fell on them by the dozen. From what the courier understood, Mars could pull and summon items from a pocket dimension armory, but he had never

initial volley, reaching his car. “Come in!” he ordered Felix as he swiftly took over the driving wheel, the superhero taking over the front

trying to keep him away from the window

before summoning thick chains and binding his daughter’s hands and legs. They quickly started to fall off

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

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