The Perfect Run

© 2020 Maxime Julien Durand / Void Herald

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. For permissions contact, send a mail at: [email protected]

Any perceived slight to specific people or organizations are unintentional.

This loop would end like the previous one, in Sorrentos.

At least a horde of bloody mutants didn’t pursue Ryan this time around, but the realization left him bitter. He knew that causality had a tendency to reassert itself, and though the courier would break that chain of destruction, he had spent weeks, if not months in New Rome. He had befriended dozens of locals, heroes, and villains. Watching the city on fire again filled him with anger.

The courier hadn’t felt so determined to save these people since his first Perfect Run in Monaco.

Only Shroud, Felix, and Sunshine had been allowed to follow him to the meeting point: the exact same building where Ryan reloaded after the last loop’s disastrous end. The group bypassed a defensive perimeter of hundreds of Vulcan-made turrets without any problem.

Only Atom Kitten and See-Through came in full costume; Leo Hargraves panted as he walked in human form, while Ryan came with a dashing suit granted by Mr. Wave.

“Have you forgotten how to walk?” Ryan asked Sunshine, who lacked endurance. “I’m sorry, but I only carry damsels in distress in my arms, or lost kittens.”

“How about Atomic Hound?” Felix asked. “How does that sound, as a new name?”

“It sounds like Atom Puppy to me,” Ryan replied. Felix let out a sigh, realizing that there would be no escape from mockery.

Hargraves smiled, though there was little joy in it. “The longer I use my power, the less I want to become a man again,” he confessed. “Sometimes I spend weeks without returning to normal, and often forget that I can.”

“Your power impacts your mental health?” Felix asked, as they reached grey, reinforced doors. A camera observed them.

“In a way,” Sunshine admitted. “A part of me wants to shed my humanity, and become a radiant sun full-time. I didn’t understand why, but meeting the Alchemist quelled my doubts.”

“It’s not a bug,” Ryan said. “It’s a feature.”

Sunshine shared an extremely strong connection with his Elixir, perhaps as much as the courier himself. Both were closer to this ‘ascension’ than most. Ryan still didn’t fully understand what the process would imply, but transforming into a denizen of the colored realms was a part of the package.

Hargraves might end up becoming a true sun one day, leaving Earth to illuminate some dark corner of the universe. Ryan considered it a better alternative than him burning their planet’s atmosphere, or worse.

“Yes. That’s why I try to stay a human when my power isn’t needed. If you spend all your time in the air, you stop relating to the people on the ground.” Sunshine narrowed his eyebrows, as a thought crossed his mind. “I wonder if Augustus is in the same situation. Unlike me, he cannot revert back to his human state.”

“If half the tales we learned about him are true, he was a nasty piece of work from the start,” Shroud replied.

“I know,” Hargraves said with a sigh. “But a part of me hoped that human nature wouldn’t be capable of such cruelty without outside factors.”

Ryan remembered his first date with Livia, and how he had found Discount Zeus posing as a statue in his own kitchen. The courier had blamed senility back then, but in hindsight Lightning Butt probably suffered from a similar syndrome as his nemesis. The power slumbering inside him wanted to become a statue of indestructible, inviolable metal, and it became harder to resist the urge with age.

The building’s doors swiftly opened, a golden retriever in human form immediately latched onto Felix. The poor kitten let out a gasp as the vile creature squeezed him like a fruit, while Ryan’s judgmental gaze appraised her white ensemble. Six out of ten, maybe seven.

“You fool, you idiot, you moron!” Fortuna said so many flowery insults in such a short amount of time, that Ryan’s mind automatically censored half of them. “You heartless little...”

“Hi, sis—” Felix didn’t finish his sentence, as Fortuna slapped him on the cheek with enough strength to crack his mask. “Hey!”

“You deserve worse!” she replied, before hugging him again with tears in her eyes. “You idiot… you almost died… if you had died, I...”

Atom Cat said nothing for a moment, before hugging his crying sister back. “I’m sorry I worried you,” he said, and he meant it.

Two other girls emerged from the building, a teenage spitfire and an elegant lady. “Felix!” Little Narcinia immediately joined the group hug, overjoyed to see her adoptive sibling again. “Thank God you’re alive!”

“I’m here, Narci,” Felix whispered. “I’m here.”

Though Leo observed Narcinia with a sad frown, Ryan didn’t pay much attention to her. He only had eyes for his own lady.

Livia walked out of the doors’ threshold, wearing the black coat and dark ensemble that she loved so much. The dress highlighted her pale skin and hair, and the red around her eyes.

She cried, Ryan realized. She cried for New Rome.

Neither said a word. They didn’t need to. The couple simply hugged her tightly, and let their hands do the talking.

Meanwhile, the Veran siblings had separated, and Fortuna finally noticed her boyfriend’s presence. “Mathias.”

“Fortuna,” he replied, removing his glass helmet with his power. “I’m glad you’re—”

She kissed him on the mouth before he could finish. At first surprised, Shroud put his arms around his girlfriend and shyly embraced her back.

While Leo, Livia, and Ryan smiled at the sight, Fortuna’s siblings reacted with distress. “Ew,” Narcinia complained, while Felix looked weirded out.

“Don’t ‘ew’ my future husband!” Fortuna said upon breaking the kiss.

“Husband?” Mathias asked, horrified.

“You’re marrying me,” his girlfriend answered, as if it were obvious. “I had some doubts left about our relationship, but watching you help save my brother dispelled them. We are meant to be together, and this time, I’m not letting you leave. Ever.”

“Wow, you’re skipping a lot of steps,” Mathias replied, though he didn’t protest as much as Ryan had expected.

“But you already have the ring!” Fortuna protested. “You only have to make your proposal!”

“I don’t have a…” The squeegee man magnet froze in place, examined his glass armor, and noticed a golden ring accidentally stuck in it around his waist. He let out a loud sigh. “So that’s how it is.”

“No way out, Invisiboy,” Ryan warned him.

Mathias rolled his eyes, before pushing his girlfriend back kindly. “Let’s do it properly, alright?” he asked her. “Take it slow, see if we can make it last a few years?”

“Oh, sure,” she replied with confidence. “I know it will work out.”

Ryan chuckled, before glancing at his own girlfriend. “You’re under house arrest, milady?”

“They are,” Livia said upon breaking the embrace. “But I am not friendless. Uncle Silvio sent the guards away for today.”

“Neptune?” Shroud asked, his girlfriend putting her arms around his left one. “Why would he let us have this meeting?”

“Because I told him this was the only path to peace that I could see,” she replied with a sigh. “He is the only sensible head among my father’s close collaborators.”

absence?”

Ryan’s. Her boyfriend held her fingers into

were allied, and so…” The Augusti princess looked in New Rome’s direction. Even kilometers away from the metropolis, one could still see smoke in the skies. “And so he decided to launch an

stated that Lightning Butt would

“My father always intended to strike at Dynamis. When the Bliss Factory fell and Felix attempted to take Narcinia away, the conflict became inevitable. Hector

Bliss Factory, she blamed herself

had years to take more drastic measures to prevent this disaster. I thought… I thought that if outside circumstances changed, my father wouldn’t unleash such destruction. Because he treated me with kindness, I excused his cruelty towards others.I looked the other way, and I was wrong. It’s him, Ryan. It’s all him, and he

anxious. “I’m Leo Hargraves,” the shiny paladin introduced himself, his voice kind and warm. “Some people call

Narcinia said, a bit

Shroud winced, Leo shook his head. “No, they didn’t,” he said, his voice heavy.

brought out an old picture, showing it to Narcinia. Ryan glanced at the photo, which represented a couple and their baby child. The man, built like a woodsman, had black hair

eyes, the resemblance between Narcinia and her

the nicest people I ever met. And this baby…” Leo put a finger

while her siblings looked on. Felix could barely suppress his anger, while Fortuna clearly didn’t know what

my arms where you were only a few years old,” Leo continued. “Your parents… your parents were heroes. Your father was a Yellow who could cut through anything, and your mother was a Green with the power to alter life. Together, they were trying to make this scorched planet green

accept it. “No. It can’t be. My parents, my true

and remorse, as if she had done the grim deed herself.

be!” Narcinia protested, looking at her elder sister for support. “Fortuna,

to.” Lucky Girl tightened her hold on her boyfriend’s arm, while her brother looked away

murdered your parents,” Leo continued, the pain raw in his tone. “He… he killed them while I was away, and took you with him. Afterward, he

fifty people who lived at your mother’s farm,” Shroud added with disgust. “He burnt the crops she had made with her power,

her mouth

strength. This.” Shroud pointed a finger at the smoke clouds in

know,” Livia replied, her tone icy.

and the empathetic sun

Juno was a mistake,” Leo Hargraves said. “I will not apologize for it, because nothing will ever excuse an innocent dying. The ends never justify the means employed. On that front, you are right to despise

“But my father has to be stopped. What he has done today is monstrous, and cannot be justified… however a part of me wants to. I will not make excuses for

will help us take him down?”

his organization dismantled, I will submit to whatever trial you see fit for

Shroud

won the

“Tell me more. About my…” The young girl coughed. “About

promised. He

regaling Narcinia with tales about how he met her true parents, while Mathias took Fortuna aside, holding her hands. Ryan

who exchanged an awkward glance with his

Livia replied, half-icy,

dumped you,” he declared bluntly, before thinking it over. “Well,

made Len look like

you were under a lot of pressure to smooth things out with the organization, and when I saw New Rome burning… I realized that you were trying to prevent

rotten empire. I know how you felt about me. It’s… I understand why it could never work between us. Our parents pushed us into something

Ki-jung for looking the other way, but I see that you were trying to stop your father from the inside.” Felix awkwardly scratched the

smile. “But now is not the time to discuss rebuilding burnt

I realize this

for those who don’t trust their partners,”

before straightening up.

the couple alone to join Leo and Narcinia, while Matt and Fortuna had a heart-to-heart talk a few feet away. Ryan was glad that Felix made an effort to reconnect with the people he left behind; the courier still thought that the kitten had a right to leave a toxic family environment behind,

I never thought you and Sunshine would end

him,” she replied while leading him inside

a private bedroom with painful yellow walls, and a painting facing the bed. Though unfinished, Ryan recognized his own torso, holding Livia in his arms bridal-style. His girlfriend must have started it a few days before the courier

as she closed the door behind them. “It was

replied warmly.

your

receive

did, but I want to hear it from your

hair.

masters without taking me with you?” She pouted. “Though I guess you left us the

complex count?” He moved his forehead against her own, until he could smell her warm

blushed, before averting his gaze. “It’s

“Nah, I’m kidding. There’s no such a thing as a bad cliché, just a bad execution. It’s all about saying it

front of him, put her arms around his neck, and locked eyes with her boyfriend. Ryan held by the waist, and studied her expression. Her cheeks turned bright pink and she bit her lower lip, trying to muster the courage to speak. Eventually, the Augusti princess took a long deep breath,

“I love you, Ryan.”

boyfriend didn’t know how

my, you are actually speechless,” Livia said with a sheepish grin. “You didn’t expect

a very long time. “I expected the worst, like ‘I don’t like your car,’ or ‘I’m pregnant.’ We didn’t take any precautions on that

been on the pill since

playing Bill and

looked so cute when she was embarrassed. “I didn’t know, but I… I

you never said ‘I love

‘I love you, Dad,’ ‘I love you, Mom,’ ‘I love you, Felix’... but never ‘I love you, Ryan.’” Livia’s cheeks somehow reddened further, and her expression turned into a sheepish smile.

apart, and she matched his own desire. When at long last their lips parted, the courier whispered words of his

love you

He loved the sight of her hair, so blonde-platinum that they might as well be silver; he loved the taste of her lips, her sweet voice,

moving to his hair. “Maybe we should do

then made a third take just to be sure. Then

since we met, but…” Livia’s hands trailed against his shoulders. “I haven't felt that way

loved too,” Ryan replied, holding her gently. “But this is the

next loop and prevent that horrible tragedy. I want us to share an apartment, and make breakfast together. I want to go skiing with you,

completely forgot about the

only think

it was

Livia said, as she finished putting her black coat back on.

private projection,” Ryan said with a shrug, before charmingly helping her comb her hair. “I think we’re ready for

with you now?” Livia chuckled.

Colorful Eight?”

bad at

a cunning strategy. That way our foes will always wonder who is the missing

she had finished dressing up, Livia sat on his lap while he rested on the bed. “So?” His girlfriend asked. “Who will be on the

suggestions. Maybe Narcinia? We’re missing a