The Perfect Run

Ryan had been shot at more times than he could count.
Unlike Psychos or special cases like Augustus, all of the couriers abilities, from
his save point to the time stop, derived from a single unifying power. It was only
through training and experimentation that Ryan discovered its multiple
applications. In particular, it took him years of looping to realize he had an
enhanced sense of timing.
The more he experienced a situation, the better Ryan became at predicting and
reacting to it. If someone used a martial arts move once, he would subtly
anticipate it next time anybody else tried it; the courier could predict when one
would toss a smoke bomb to the ground, and catch it before being consciously
aware of it. This made learning physical skills almost trivial.
It wasn't all-powerful, since there were situations when even the fastest reflexes
couldn't make a difference—like getting beheaded by an invisible blade or hit by
a laser as fast as light. Lacking any superspeed, Ryan couldn't truly “dodge’
bullets or artillery.
But he could predict someone's line of fire before they pressed the trigger. His
body would then subtly shift, projectiles would miss, and give people the illusion
that he could dodge even bullets. Combined with the time stop, the courier
seemed impossible to hit from the point of view of outsiders.
So when Vulcan attacked him with her cannon arm, Ryan paused time for a split
second and dodged out of the line of fire. A dense shell blasted the orphanage’s
wall behind them, collapsing cinder blocks and opening a path towards what
seemed to be a kitchen. The trapped pets behind the fence panicked, some
frenzied cats managing to escape by climbing.
“Vulcan, it's an orphanage!” Atom Cat shouted, but before he could rush to
Ryan's help, the Meta-Gang flanked him. The hero avoided a deadly punch from
Mosquito and a small fireball from Mongrel; Atom Cat's movements were chaotic,
showcasing his lack of formal training, but his natural agility made up for it.
To her credit, Vulcan froze for a split second, vaguely ashamed. Instead of
assaulting Ryan with heavy artillery and risk destroying the shelter, she switched
to hand-to-hand combat. Mini-turbo reactors activated on the mechanical suit's
back in short bursts, causing the five-meter tall metal monster to move at the
speed of a racing car.
Showing extreme agility honed over countless loops, Ryan backflipped to dodge
a giant fist to the face, and then a stomp. “I have to hand it to you,” the courier
began, before switching the meaning of his sentence, “because you can't reach
it!”
Vulcan's attacks grew more frenzied, and when she no longer had the orphanage
in her line of fire, she switched to heavy weaponry. Her mech’s shoulders opened
to reveal minigun turrets, firing hundreds of pellets at Ryan. The courier used a
mix of time stop and timing to avoid the attacks, trying to circle the machine and
find a hatch for the cockpit.
Psyshock, meanwhile, threw away his overcoat, hat, and sunglasses, revealing
his true self to the world. He had long shed his flesh, replaced with thousands of
black wires which he usually shaped into a facsimile of a humanoid form. The
only organ that survived his mutation was his skull, which left his bio-mechanical
brain exposed. His neon eyes reminded Ryan of two bright torchlights.
Psyshock reshaped his wires to form eight elongated arms, turning himself into a
horrific mockery of a spider. While Vulcan occupied Ryan and Atom Cat fought
his cronies, the Psycho leaped over the area in a single bound, going straight for
the orphanage.
Realizing this, Ryan decided to dump Vulcan and pursue Psyshock, but the
Genius didn’t let him. Her hand lunged at the courier, big enough to crush him
whole, while her miniguns provided suppressing fire.
In spite of her fearsome armor, Ryan could tell that Vulcan didn’t have much
direct combat experience. Her movements were clumsy, and while her weapons
aimed true, there was no foresight involved, no human cunning or improvisation;
she probably outsourced control to a basic Al. Her armor was also clearly a
prototype designed to fight a big and aerial target, instead of an agile and stylish
gentleman.
In short, Vulcan had brought a Wyvern-buster to a Quicksave fight.
Vulcan could have won if she had carpet-bombed the area from above, but
instead, she chose to announce her presence and make the battle close and
personal. Ryan could sense a desire to prove herself in a fight, perhaps to
outshine Wyvern.
Girl's got issues.
Stopping time for ten seconds, Ryan moved to the armor’s left, dodging her hand
and bullets. Then, he carefully punched the elbow joint with Fisty, aiming to
maximize pressure damage. When time resumed, the recoil applied in full, and
the mech’s arm shattered at the elbow point. The forearm fell to the ground,
electrical jolts coming out of the damaged parts.
As he guessed when he first observed it at the Armory, much like medieval
armor, Vulcan paid for her suit’s enhanced mobility with weakness in the joints.
“What's this?” Ryan mused. “A short-circuit?”
“You aren't funny, Romano!” Vulcan complained through her armor’s
loudspeakers, clearly jealous of his peerless wit. “You think you are, but you
aren't!”
“Come on, don't be small-minded.” As she retaliated with another volley of
bullets, Ryan froze time and rushed to the orphanage, Psyshock having vanished
through the hole Vulcan made in the wall.
Meanwhile, Atom Cat fared little better. Mosquito had taken flight like the insect
he was, diving down to try and impale the hero with his stinger. While Atom Cat
could easily dodge, Mongrel limited his movements. The strange Psycho
flickering in and out of existence, propelling himself with short bursts of wind
while attempting to hit the hero with his hand tool. Sometimes, he threw a fireball
here and there, small fires starting all over the wasteland park.
Fireballs, limited invisibility, air conditioning... Ryan recognized these powers as
those from knock-off Elixirs sold by Dynamis. Mongrel must have drunk a cocktail
of them. Since the powers gained were but a shadow of those of true Elixirs, his
body managed to handle more than two at the cost of his mental faculties.
still, even if forced on the defensive, Atom Cat fought hard to regain the initiative
in this two-on-one fight. He attempted to punch Mongrel, his hands shining with
crimson energy, but in spite of his bestial snarls, the Psycho remained careful not
to give his foe any opening.
When time resumed, Ryan had managed to reach the orphanage, only to
backtrack when a dozen wires came out of the hole and threatened to catch him
in a net.
Psyshock emerged from the hole, having grabbed four kids with his tentacle
arms; Sarah, her friend, and two twin girls no older than eight. His cold alien eyes
glanced at Ryan with disdain while one of his wires was making its way inside
one of the twins’ nose, traces of blood and fur all over his body.
Without thinking twice, Ryan grabbed three throwing knives, intending to target
Psyshock’s head.
In response, the Psycho moved Sarah in the way of Ryan's line of fire, the girl
screaming in fear.
Ryan froze in shock, which Psyshock immediately exploited to send a tentacle at
him. Suffering from his time stop's cooldown, the courier couldn't freeze the clock
as the arm hit him with the speed of a harpoon. He managed to grab it with his
hands as he was tossed to his back, the wires trying to reach his skull.
“Quicksave!” Atom Cat shouted, but Mosquito exploited the opportunity to tackle
him from the side, throwing the hero through the pen’s fence. Dogs and cats
immediately poured through, fleeing in all directions.
“Shush, it's easier if you don’t struggle, Cesare,” Psyshock whispered to Ryan,
both through his mouth and that of the child he had connected to; needles
appeared at the end of his wires, for an intracranial hijacking. “Just go limp and
let me in. We'll be one.”
Yeah, if the danger of his intrusive telepathy—no matter its physical limitations—
hadn't caused Ryan to feel murderous animosity towards Psyshock, the child
abuse did it.
Apparently, Vulcan thought the same. Showing basic human decency, she
stopped paying attention to Ryan and instead raised her armor’s last functional
hand at Psyshock. “Drop the kids, mutant,” she warned. “l won't ask twice.”
“Out of my way, woman,” Psyshock replied dismissively, positioning his hostages
to protect himself from Vulcan's weaponry. Meanwhile, Mongrel moved towards
the pen to finish off Atom Cat while Mosquito flew in circles above them. Some
dogs who had remained behind instead of fleeing barked angrily at the Genomes
present, but were too afraid to attack.
In response, Vulcan's fingers opened to reveal holes and unleashed plasma
streams at Psyshock. The Genius was very careful not to hit the kids, instead,
cutting through wires with laser precision. The damaged parts fell off the ground
like beheaded snakes, quickly rusting away into organic dust.
Exploiting Psyshock’s distraction, Ryan stopped time, cut the wires closest to him
with his knives, and then rushed towards the children. With a swift swing, he
severed the wires holding the twins and caught them while time resumed.
The wire invading the hostage’s nose kept moving on its own once severed from
the whole but quickly fell to the ground. Psychock answered by sending his wires
in all directions, targeting both Ryan and Vulcan with a rain of tentacles. The
courier fled while carrying the twins in his arms, while the Augusti simply powered
through the attack, her thick armor deflecting everything.
Meanwhile, while Atom Cat recovered from his last blow, the shelter's remaining
dogs found the courage to try and bite Mongrel when he approached. With a
bestial snarl, the Psycho raised both hands, channeling a fireball through the
right and a swirling vortex of wind with the left. The combination created a torrent
of flames which consumed the pets whole. The poor dogs screamed in pain as
the improvised flamethrower incinerated them alive, Mongrel's hisses
transforming into maniacal laughter.
Atom Cat rushed at Mongrel while he was distracted, and this time managed to
grab his head with his hand. The Psycho’s body turned red, his colors muted by a
crimson hue, and then exploded.
Scratch that, Mongrel was vaporized. His flesh weakly detonated, with barely
enough strength to blow air, yet the blast annihilated him without leaving a trace.
Clothes, skin, even the tool he carried; they all turned to dust.
Clearly, when cornered, Atom Cat had no problem killing.
This made Mosquito dive back at him, with murder on his mind. The young
superhero froze, as if an idea crossed his mind, before grabbing a pebble on the
ground and throwing it at Mosquito. The rock turned red, charged with Atom Cat's
power.
The Psycho protected himself with his arms, the pebble detonating on impact
and propelling him against his own minibus. The car's alarm activated, and
combined with the noise from the battle, Ryan could barely hear himself.
Atom Cat could modulate the strength of his explosions and even delay them.
Nice.
Ryan himself managed to dodge both Psyshock’s attacks and dragged the twins
to a safe spot, one child despondent, and the other crying in fear. “It's okay,
you're safe,” Ryan tried to console them, brushing their black hair with his hands,
“Heroes are here.”
His good deed for the day done, the courier immediately returned to the fray.
Psyshock had used all his wires to restrain Vulcan, trying to keep the mecha
anchored to the ground while desperately trying to find a way inside the pilot
cockpit. He looked like a giant squid, trying to restrain a whale.
Like before, that despicable bastard used his captives as human shields,
preventing the Augusti from using her weapons in close quarters.
Enraged, Ryan charged at Psyshock, tossing knives at his skull. Wires deflected
them, but this caught the criminal’s attention. “A teleportation power?” the Psycho
hissed at Ryan. “You have become a Violet?”
“Normally, I would quip back, but in your case, you will go out the way of the
rhinoceros,” Ryan said with dead seriousness, Fisty raised. “Painfully.”
Before Psyshock could react, Ryan stopped the clock again, leaped, and
punched the Psycho through the skull in the frozen time. His fist gored through
the Psycho’s metal bones and brain both like a donut.
Ryan liked to play with his enemies, but he knew better than to give any telepath
a chance to fight back. Especially someone as loathsome as Psyshock.
When time resumed, Psyshock’s mutant body collapsed to the ground in a mess
of wires and brain matter, dragging Sarah and the other kid down with him. Ryan
quickly caught Sarah with his hands, while Vulcan grabbed the other.
“You know, Shortie, if you weren't trying to murder me, I would call you halfway
heroic,” Ryan said, putting Sarah on the ground while Vulcan did the same with
her charge. “Little girl, can you take your friend and move away? The big bot is
waiting for you to go to shoot me.”
Little Sarah nodded profusely, quickly grabbing her fellow kid's hand and running
away to safety. Vulcan remained silent, watching the children get out of the way
with grim vigilance. Ryan couldn't tell if it was regret, longing, or something else,
but she seemed strangely subdued.
Then, when certain the children were far away, Vulcan attempted to fire plasma
beams at Ryan's face without a word.
Expecting the attack, Ryan quickly stopped time and threw knives at her
cameras, blinding Vulcan before she could open fire. Atom Cat, meanwhile,
attempted to punch Mosquito and blow him up alongside the minibus, but the
insect flew away when he moved too close.
An enormous shadow flew over the battlefield, followed by a mighty roar.
Everyone present froze, from the tiniest animal to Vulcan herself, as a gigantic
flying form came into sight.
An enormous, sixty-foot long white-scaled lizard, with an elongated neck,
dragonfly wings, and golden eyes. Her claws could cut through steel, her tail
ended in a flail, and a suit with Dynamis and II Migliore’s logos covered her chest.
Wyvern.
Once she had finished showing off, the dragon landed right on Vulcan, stomping
her mech underfoot with such force, it created a mini-crater below. If Ryan hadn't
damaged her cameras, the Augusti might have been able to fly away, but now
Wyvern kept her pinned to the ground under her enormous weight.
Mosquito immediately attempted to fly away. The dragon, quicker, raised her
hand.
SQUASH!
Wyvern slapped Mosquito from above, the same way a human did with a fly. The
hit flattened the insectoid like a smear on the ground, his limbs and wings
broken, green blood flowing out of open wounds.
Then, without skipping a beat, Wyvern slammed Vulcan's mech to the ground,
smashing the miniguns. The Augusti attempted to activate her mini-turbo reactors
to fly away, but couldn't escape the dragon's iron grip.
“Don't damage the reactor, Wyvy!” Ryan shouted at her, knowing the danger.
“Extract the cockpit! The cockpit!”
Seemingly having heard him, Wyvern's assault turned almost surgical in its
execution, the dragon carefully extracting the human within with her claws
without damaging the rest of the suit. Before the disheveled Augusti could react,
Wyvern tossed her to the ground and Atom Cat moved to restrain her.
The intervention had lasted mere seconds. Ryan checked the mech, but
thankfully, Vulcan had the foresight to install fail-safes in her armor’s fusion
reactor. The city wouldn't die an atomic death... this time.
Instead of inspiring fear, Wyvern's victory caused great joy in the kids, who let out
shouts of jubilation after a short silence. Only the child whom Psyshock had
connected to remained despondent, her twin trying to wake her up. Ryan
immediately rushed to their side to give medical help.
Thankfully, he had spent enough loops studying medicine and biology to give her
a check-up. While intrusive, Psyshock’s orifice invasion usually didn’t damage the
subject's key areas of the brain; the poor child suffered from a mild concussion
but would survive.
“Is she okay?” Sarah asked Ryan, the euphoria replaced with worry, as the
orphans surrounded them.
“Yes,” he said, using his trench coat to remove the blood from his patient's nose.
“But she will need rest.”
“They killed the doogies,” one of the children said, looking in horror at the
animals burning remains and the destroyed fence.
Wyvern observed the scene for a moment, from the hole in the orphanage to
Psyshock’s rusting remains. “Quicksave, we are going to have a long, long
conversation,” she said, her powerful voice more that of a roaring T-rex than a
human. “You too, Atom Cat! What were you two thinking, going into hostile
territory without authorization nor backup?! You could have died!”
“They were trying to kidnap children!” Atom Cat defended himself.
“Then you should have called me for reinforcements,” Wyvern replied with a firm
tone. “You were lucky I trailed Vulcan to make sure she didn’t cause a mess.”
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Speaking of Vulcan, she raged as
Atom Cat kept her face against the
ground, unable to escape his grip
fre gsonhins into a
h an, her suit adapting to her new
size while she looked at the Augusti
with a mix of vindication and pity.
u« :
You can only blame yourself for this,
5 " 5
Jasmine.” The content is on
Novelxo.org! Read the latest
chapter there!
“Fuck you, Laura,” the Augusti Genius replied, bitter and angry. “Fuck you.”
“Does somebody have a rope?” Atom Cat asked, getting sick of restraining
Vulcan with his mere hands.
“I have handcuffs and a blindfold in my car,” Ryan said, Wyvern raising an
eyebrow at him. “I dated weird people.”
The superheroine glanced at both Ryan and Atom Cat, hands on her waist.
“You're both grounded.”
“Yes, dragon mom,” Ryan groaned, before turning towards Mosquito, agonizing
in a puddle made of his own blood. “He's still alive.”
“Barely,” Wyvern replied warily.
“Why did you kidnap the kids, asshole?” Atom Cat snarled at the Psycho.
“Suck my sting...” Mosquito hissed.
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« . :
Answer the question, and we will
: » fo
give you medical care,” Wyvern said
firmly. While she was oeaten
chergen (qty oh Gir onesome,
she Had no pity to spare for the
« a
Psycho. “In your current condition,
even with your enhanced
metabolism, you will bleed out within
q » 9
minutes.” The content is on
Novelxo.org! Read the latest
chapter there!
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Mosquito remained silent for a few
seconds, probably weighing the odds
of risking his boss killin himdopn
RAG YErSus dyih ight now.
Stiniva instinct being a powerful
: am
force, he decided to speak. “It's... the
place... the shafts are too small for
adults... and these crazy robots, they
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shoot Genomes on sight..." The
content is on Novelxo.org! Read
the latest chapter there!
“Robots?” Wyvern repeated.
“What place?” Ryan probed him, curious.
“A bunker Adam wants to access... below the Junkyard... don’t know what..."
Mosquito hissed in agony. “Please, the pain... it's atrocious...”
“I've dialed the medics when I saw the kids,” Wyvern said, touching her earpiece.
“They should arrive soon.”
And with these words, Ryan handcuffed Vulcan, having helped save an
orphanage. He hoped his karma meter would go up after that!
Other kids emerged from the orphanage, the battle over, and immediately rushed
to Wyvern's side, pestering her with autographs. Others moved to help their
wounded member, Ryan hearing the name “Giulia’ being thrown around a lot.
“Hey Kitty, if you can create explosive projectiles, why don't you carry throwing
knives?” Ryan asked Atom Cat, that detail having bothered him. “It would be
much more practical than grabbing improvised projectiles.”
“I didn’t realize I could use my power this way,” Atom Cat admitted, a bit
sheepish, “I knew I could delay the detonation by a few seconds, but I never
thought I could combine that with projectiles to attack at range. It's only in the
thick of action that it clicked for me.”
“Well, you're still green.”
“And you're...” he trailed off, trying to find a good quip, “Violet.”
“Wow, I will let you stew for one hour until you find a decent comeback.”
Truthfully, Kitty should be proud to have done so well on raw talent alone.
Ryan himself looked at his cell phone, to see if the battle had made it to the
news; instead, he received a notification from his devices inside Il Migliore's HQ.
Backdoor detected.
Huh.
Ryan wasn't the only one spying Dynamis through its computer systems. He set
out to track down the IP to investigate, in case it was the assassin’s doing.
“Hey kids, I know the perfect way to cheer you up,” Ryan proposed, raising his
phone. “Who wants a group photo with Wyvern?”
“Me!” “Me!” “ME!” The kids all raised their hands, much to Wyvern's
embarrassment and Atom Cat's amusement. Even grumpy little Sarah seemed a
bit enthusiastic.
They spent minutes waiting for the Private Security doing funny selfies, Vulcan
glaring at them and Mosquito bleeding to death in the background.