The Perfect Run

Ryan never thought he would bring a communist to Dynamis’ doorstep.

Enrique Manada’s waiting room was nearly silent, with only the sound of a secretary typing on her computer to break the monotony. Felix looked through the window, impatient to be done with the meeting, while Len’s fingers fidgeted uncontrollably. She had been in a sour mood since they arrived.

Ryan didn’t fare much better. His wounds still ached, and even his dazzling clothes couldn’t hide all the bandages beneath them. Even with a Genome’s metabolism, it would take him a few days to be back in top shape.

The courier’s eyes wandered to his adoptive sister. She had made an effort to dress well for the occasion, trading her jumpsuit for a white blouse tucked by the waist into a blue skirt. A discreet red ribbon completed the set. Though Ryan’s feelings for her had moved from romantic to brotherly over the last loops, he still found her lovely.

“Mr. Manada will receive you now,” the secretary said, causing Len’s scowl to deepen.

“You’re sure you want to come?” Ryan asked her. “I can take down the bourgeoisie on your behalf.”

“Yes,” Shortie said with a firm nod. “I need it, Riri.”

At least she had taken Alchemo’s meds before the meeting. As expected, the brain Genius had arrived yesterday with his own team, quickly confirmed Ryan’s time-travel story after analyzing his mind-map, and immediately moved on to secure the bunker. The courier trusted his allies to manage that part without him, especially with Livia at their back.

Ryan had convinced his girlfriend to delay the celebrations until they could cure Bianca though. Celebrating the Meta-Gang’s demise without her felt wrong.

The trio walked into Blackthorn’s lair, the secretary closing the doors behind them. Len paid more attention to the Japanese pond than the flowers decorating the office, while Felix glanced at the people behind the mahogany desk. Though Enrique Manada welcomed them sitting in a chair costlier than most houses, Wyvern sat right behind him in her human form, arms crossed.

“Felix,” she greeted her teammate politely.

“Wyvern,” Atom Kitten said while returning the nod, before doing the same with his other superior. “Blackthorn.”

“Atom Cat.” The superpowered gardener moved on to greet the others. “I am Enrique Manada, the Chief Brand Officer at Dynamis and Head Manager of the Il Migliore program.”

The man shook Ryan’s hand, but when he offered Shortie his own, she only responded with an icy glare.

“She respects your private property,” Ryan informed Blackthorn. “To each their own hand.”

“I see.” Enrique understood the message and moved on, the trio sitting in comfy leather chairs facing the desk. “I admit I am curious. Atom Cat told me you wanted to discuss a possible partnership with our organization.”

“I don’t see why you asked me to come as well,” Wyvern said, arms crossed. She alone refused to sit down, perhaps because she worried that the meeting might end in a fistfight.

“We wanted to have a meeting to discuss the collectivization of our economy,” Ryan declared. “The more, the merrier.”

“Uh-huh,” Enrique replied without emotion. “And the real reason?”

Len looked at the superhero manager. “Why?”

“Why what, Miss Sabino?”

“Why did you do this to my father?” Len asked harshly, venom dripping with every word. “For money? For power? Was it worth it?”

Enrique didn’t respond, his fingers interlocked into a diabolical mastermind pose. His expression remained hidden behind his mask, though the flowers around the office seemed to bristle.

Ryan searched for something under his trench coat, causing Wyvern to tense. Instead of a gun, the courier grabbed a folder and tossed it on the desk. Blackthorn made no move to read the documents inside it.

“Enrique?” Dragon Mom asked her superior, confused.

“I know what it holds,” Enrique replied calmly, though Ryan noticed an undercurrent of shame behind the stoic facade.

Wyvern frowned before glancing at Felix, who stared at Enrique with cold anger. She grabbed the folder and began to read the documents within, her skin turning as pale as chalk with the first lines. “That’s impossible,” she said as she turned the pages. “It’s fake.”

“It’s not,” Len insisted.

“You think I can believe half of what’s inside? That Dynamis turned a Psycho into a drink, or cloned me?” The superheroine shook her head. “False information spreads abound on Lab Sixty-Six and the Knockoff production process. I’ve heard all the conspiracy theories. Aliens, children’s bodily fluids...”

“Well, they’re half right,” Ryan replied.

“You can take my blood if you want,” Shortie added, while Enrique remained as silent as a tombstone. “See for yourself.”

“Underdiver, I know you attacked Dynamis installations in the past, but spreading these lies are a new low and will not help anyone.” Wyvern put the file on the desk, a picture of a Knockoff transforming into Bloodstream slime slipping out of it. “Felix, don’t tell me you believe them?”

“I do,” Felix replied grimly. “I took this picture.”

Dragon Mom remained in denial. “You were deceived. And that part about Dynamis funding the Meta-Gang is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard yet.”

This time, Enrique wordlessly glanced at the documents and examined them. He quickly reached the part about the Knockoff Elixirs deliveries to Adam, transcripts of Psyshock’s meetings with Hector Manada, and most importantly, the schematics of Dynamis brain-mapping machine.

“Where did you get these documents?” the corpo asked, doubt gnawing at him.

Len brought out a phone, activating it. The video showcased Agent Frank dutifully keeping watch over a pile of dangerous Marxist literature, trapped in an underwater prison. Wyvern immediately recognized this proud defender of democratic values. “Is that Frank the Mad?”

“This is a live feed,” Len explained, while Enrique watched on with sharp attention.

“We neutralized the Meta-Gang’s leadership, and currently hold most of their members in underwater cells,” Felix said. The video switched to Dynamis thralls being treated in an infirmary and to the Knockoff crates. “We have dozens of witnesses currently receiving medical attention. You can visit them yourself.”

Wyvern scoffed. “Felix, are you saying that you defeated the Meta-Gang by yourselves?”

“You can come to Rust Town, and check,” Len replied frostily. Her anger at Dynamis gave her confidence. “If you are willing to get down to earth and sully your clothes.”

The superheroine flinched, but quickly regained her composure. “I raided the Meta-Gang half a dozen times since they arrived in New Rome.”

“It changed nothing,” Len rasped. “Hundreds would have died if… if we hadn’t been here. Old people, children… they hoped you would come rescue them, but you never came.”

Tellingly, Dragon Mom didn’t attempt to say she did all she could. She had advocated Il Migliore attack the Meta-Gang in the past, and still wished her superiors took her suggestion to heart.

Speaking of her superiors, Enrique grabbed his own phone and started making calls. “I have been informed that some of our drones have gone missing lately, probably repurposed by the Meta-Gang,” he said, the picture of the shattered machines on the desk. “Do you confirm? Uh-huh, uh-huh… why wasn’t I informed?”

Wyvern glanced at her manager with worry. “Enrique?”

you’re fired.” Enrique ended the call, and made another. “Yes, it’s me. I have been informed that Elixirs from the April production were lost, do you confirm? Uh-huh… what about the technicians from the

Wyvern asked again, more

dozen phone calls in fifteen minutes, fact-checking every piece of information, following every lead. Ryan noticed that the flowers in the room grew more and more agitated as

his chair around, and

say something,” Wyvern

to his left, near the window. “You can come

eyes to shine with a green glow. Enrique stopped his ally with a nod before she

me?” Shroud asked,

“We have a file on you, and everyone in

Ryan asked mirthfully.

from his own armor. Blackthorn turned his seat to face the whole group. “I suppose that’s how you took down the Meta-Gang, with the Carnival’s help? Did Hargraves send you to arrest me? Or kill

tone didn’t soften at all. “I

mahogany desk so hard that its surface

except Ryan and Enrique. The former, because he saw it coming;

superheroine’s fist clenched, some of the documents falling off

heavy with guilt and remorse. “All their evidence points to

now, Il Migliore’s shining dragon was positively trembling. “Tell me this is a sick joke

blood samples. Her father put an unknown agent in her hemoglobin which removes the safeguards on our Elixirs. My brother Alphonse wanted her turned

desk and snapped it in half. Ryan quickly stopped time to save the folder and gather

asked, struggling to hold back tears. “Enrique,

“Laura—”

this city’s population

pull the plug,” the CBO replied with remorse. “The Knockoffs

replied angrily. “Why

Enrique slowly removed his mask and put it on his

Hector, though with a leaner face and more skeletal

Len, before locking eyes with the latter. “For as little as it is worth, I want to apologize to you both,” he declared. “What my family did to yours is

up,” Felix accused him, while Wyvern wiped

certainly collapsed alongside any hope of rebuilding Europe into something halfway decent,” Enrique defended himself. “Do you want Augustus to become the face of our future? We are not perfect, but at least we try to recreate society based on the rule of law. I cannot say the same for

is why my brother lied to me and created the Knockoffs, Sabino. To try and knock these so-called gods

as great a danger to the world as Augustus,” Felix

Bloodstream gone to avoid a panic, and maybe we should have said the truth from the start. Our previous seer…” Shroud cleared his throat. “My mother predicted that Bloodstream would

father…” Len’s hands fidgeted on her lap. “My father could go mad and… everyone who

her arm, and he could tell she was thankful for the emotional support. Enrique absorbed the news

though doubt had crept in his voice already. “That it would neutralize Bloodstream in case of a

to do a mammal’s job,” Ryan replied as he broke hand contact with his adoptive sister and extracted a beautiful sheet

blood agent in his daughter’s hemoglobin, the core of Bloodstream will regain its full power and automatically transform anyone who consumed a Knockoff into a clone of itself. And according to

his

die in the

got to stop this,” Felix

returned the document to Ryan. “You came to

to come in guns blazing,” the courier admitted,

asked dryly. “Out of all the people in this

Morning Cartoon villain, I know you are anything but.” If anything, Ryan had come to see Blackthorn as the other side’s Livia, an internal reformer doomed to fail without outside help. “You’re the

a treatment not only for the Bloodstream infection, but for the

willing to entertain the possibility of

my administration is currently curing the Meta-Gang’s members. You can come see it for

to cure Psychos across Europe,” Shroud said. “Resources that

father. To try and heal him… and if it doesn’t work…” Len cleared her throat. “If it doesn’t work… I want to end his suffering. This is all I ask. I… I don’t

tensed up. “My father and

Ryan agreed. “Which is why we’re asking

see it in his body language, how the plants

down, Enrique Manada desperately wanted to make

Wyvern declared with a hardened voice. “I can’t stand

my brother Alphonse is in charge. He won’t let his life’s work vanish without

knowing the risks?”

dreams of a world where everyone is a Genome, and thus

“You remember the day I first came to this office, Blackthorn? What did you

out a heavy sigh. “That even if your family was in the wrong, you were right to take a stand

you preach. Or

and the corpo exchanged a glance, full of conflicted emotions. Past intimacy, pain over past lies, regrets… a tiny bit of hope. They had been so close that they could probably understand the other’s thoughts without saying

for naught,

has to try, Enrique. Or nothing will

away from his shoulder before he could make contact. For the first

I help you.” Il Migliore’s manager faced his guests. “Even if by some miracle Dynamis survives the destruction of our main lab, our loss of credibility, and my brother’s inevitable retaliation, the company will be a shadow of its former self. Easy prey for Augustus.

secret weapon against Augustus,” Shroud

weapon,” Enrique pointed out. “You of all people should understand why we’re unwilling to take a gamble, Martel. Your organization’s last encounter with Augustus ended with half of your members dead, Martel; ours, with Malta sinking beneath

his chest, right where Lightning Butt struck him in the past loop. “We have another option,” he said. “Mechron tech. Its efficiency has

he left out

will analyze these documents in detail. If you are correct about the potential for an Elixir epidemic… if you are correct,

the Gravity Gun?” Shroud

send you the data.” Enrique looked

yet. While Shroud vanished and his other allies moved to the door, Ryan

“Jasmine.”

Wyvern flinched. “What, Jasmine?”

too late for you and her,” Ryan said. “All she wants is an

a

letting her live in your shadow,” Ryan said. “That’s all she wants in the end. Recognition for her achievements, and being treated as an equal. It’s really that

and the courier could see the gears turning in her head. “Is that another prophecy?” she asked, Enrique squinting at the courier with suspicion. “Are you a precognitive

shrugged. “It’s not too late to help her turn

“I… I see.”

words to heart, Ryan walked out of the office and left the two corpos alone. They were locking eyes as the courier closed the office’s door

was lost, flower and dragon had many couple

for?” Len asked on their way out of