The Perfect Run

Back when he played open world games, Ryan always loved to set the Al against
itself. To lead one monster on the path of a settlement, and then watch NPCs
fight computer-generated enemies for his entertainment. The courier always
found it relaxing.
The real-life sight was a lot more stressful.
Dynamis’ aerial force had unleashed a rain of missiles, which Jasmine’s anti-
aerial defense had mostly detonated mid-flight. Geist, now a howling specter the
size of a building, also redirected some of the projectiles with telekinetic force,
blowing up two of the helicopters.
Unfortunately, the Augusti had less luck with the enemy Genomes. The
invulnerable Wyvern had smashed through the fortress’ outer wall, sending
stones flying in all directions; the pyrokinetic Devilry had started bombarding the
superlab’s defenses from above, targeting the turrets, and the aeromancer
Windsweep had summoned a miniature tornado to try to repel Geist.
“Hey, Quicksave, want to bet with poor old Mortimer?“ Mortimer said, shooting at
the helicopters without taking cover. Bullets and projectiles phased through his
body harmlessly. “The one who kills the most corpos wins!”
“Do non-lethal takedowns count?” Ryan asked. The courier was still sitting on his
chair with a gun in hand, using a mix of timestops and accurate shots to blow up
missiles before they could actually hit the fortress. “Because I left my best, anti-
war helicopter stuff at home.”
A projectile aimed for his location, so the courier stopped time, moved the chair
away, and let time resume once he had reached safety.
“Showoff,” Mortimer said, unimpressed. “You're worse than Fortuna.”
“Hey, I resent that remark,” Ryan protested, tossing his gun away when he ran
out of bullets. “I work on looking perfect, while her power does all the work.”
Truthfully, Ryan was starting to become a little worried. While the fortress’ human
and automated defenses resisted well, Dynamis was making progress, and the
courier wondered how Augustus would react to a very public assault on his drug
factory. Ryan suspected reinforcements would be on their way soon and turn the
already chaotic situation into a massive brawl.
In short, he couldn't wait.
With some of the defensive turrets down, helicopters managed to land atop the
outer wall. Soldiers in riot gear or advanced power armor engaged the Augusti
defenders in a firefight on foot, while Wyvern kept hitting the fort in an attempt to
make a hole into the facility. The ground shook with every blow of the giant
dragon, although it seemed Vulcan had reinforced the old stone walls.
Eventually, Ryan noticed another helicopter landing in the garden nearby. A
group of eight riot gear troopers stepped out of it, escorting two Genomes. One
was a man with long black hair wearing a stylized, Mad Max-like mix of rusted
steel armor and cloak. Most of his face was covered by a red scarf and black
goggles, and worryingly, he carried an explosive belt around his waist.
The other, more colorful one, was a young woman Ryan's age, perhaps of
Chinese or Japanese descent. She reminded the courier of these pre-war K-pop
idols, dyed hair, lovely face, and cute brown eyes. She wore a strange dress
whose colors and length seemed to shift as the courier looked. Her bright, shy
smile contrasted with the chaos around her.
“Reload and Wardrobe,” Mortimer said while opening fire at the newcomers, the
riot troops forming a plexiglass shield wall to protect themselves. The Dynamis
Genomes hid behind them, listening to orders thanks to earplugs. “Just great, I
can't stand Reload!”
“Why, because of his terrible fashion sense?” Ryan asked, rising to his feet and
grabbing his chair as an improvised weapon. Seriously, Dynamis’ marketing
department should be eradicated; how could they advertise such a fashion
disaster?
“Because he just won't die!” Mortimer snarled, reloading his rifle. “He’s the worst
kind of Violet!"
That made Ryan quite curious. He looked at the apocalypse punk disaster
behind the shield wall, but couldn't figure out his power from how he looked.
“Last warning, Romano!” one of the troopers said, readying his own firearm
behind the shield wall. “Surrender now, or we open fire back! We're allowed to
use lethal force!”
“Didn't anyone tell you, I'm immortal!” Ryan shouted back, raising his chair
threateningly while explosions resonated in the background. “I'll come back to
haunt you!”
“Oh, you're a Yellow too?” Wardrobe asked from behind the wall, more curious
than anything.
“He's distracted, shoot him!” one of the troopers shouted, pointing a rifle over the
plexiglass wall. Mortimer immediately opened fire, disarming the man with a well-
placed bullet while Ryan threw the chair at the corporate police.
The projectile bounced off the shields, while Wardrobe’s clothes literally changed
shape. Her strange dress transformed into a wolf mascot suit, and she leaped
over the garden with the strength and agility of a werewolf. Ryan had to stop time
to prevent her from pouncing on him like a mouse, using the brief time window to
put the Fisty Brothers on.
“Oh my, here I go dying again!” Reload said gregariously, as he leaped over the
troopers’ shield wall, and rushed at Mortimer’s cover like a suicide bomber. In a
scene straight out of an action movie, the hitman shot the hero in the chest, but
he continued his charge. Reload jumped at Mortimer, who quickly phased
through the ground below. The hero's belt detonated and blew Mortimer’s stone
cover to smithereens.
Ryan sensed a vague, familiar sensation at the back of his skull. At first, he
thought it was Acid Rain's doing, until Reload's body reformed at the spot where
he died in a flash of violet light, completely unharmed. His intact suicide belt was
still around his waist.
“You copycat, I was wearing suicide belts before they went mainstream!” Ryan
pointed an accusing finger at Reload, running in circles to escape Wardrobes
claws. “If you stop time, I'll sue!”
Why didn’t Dynamis call him Timelord?
When Mortimer didn’t reappear, the troopers turned to Ryan and started
providing Wardrobe with suppressing fire. The happy courier stopped the clock to
avoid the bullets and closed the gap with the mooks, punching the closest one
with Fisty when time resumed. Much like the cannon fodder they were, they went
down in one hit.
While her boyfriend was busy brawling with the troopers, a fully armored Vulcan
emerged from the fortress, tackling Wyvern rugby-style. The mech pushed the
surprised dragon back against Ischia Island's reefs, the transformed hero
responding by unleashing a stream of aurora-like light with her maw. Crimson
beams came out of the fortress to shoot the helicopters, probably Sparrow's
doing,
As Ryan single-handedly demolished the trooper corp and Wardrobe remained at
a distance, trying to figure out her approach, Reload entered the melee. He
looked under his armor and brought out a tiny metal rod.
A sword of violet light came out.
Ryan interrupted his one-sided beating of a trooper to look at the divine weapon,
mesmerized by its perfection; a pure, timeless design, and the purest shade of
violet he had ever seen. It would match his suit perfectly.
It was love at first sight.
Ryan instantly activated his power, stole the blade, and kicked Reload in the
frozen time.
When time resumed and the hero fell on his back among the flowers, Ryan
raised his trophy up to the skies. It was as weightless as a feather, but much to
his disappointment, it made no sound.
“Schvrmmmmmmm!” the courier said, trying to imitate a real lightsaber’s noise.
“Schvrmmmmmmm!”
He would never let it go.
“Hey, my laser blade!” Reload complained, rising back to his feet while Ryan
returned to beating on the troopers.
“A lightsaber!” Ryan shouted back at this ignorant fool, absentmindedly slicing a
Dynamis mook’s shield and rifle with it like butter. “Search your feelings. You
know it to be true.”
At this point, his quips wrote themselves.
“Thankfully,” Reload said while drawing a second, crimson laser blade, “I got a
spare!”
Wrong color though.
By now, Ryan had kicked the ass of every mook present or disarmed them,
leaving only the two heroes to challenge him. The troopers fled back to the
helicopter and quickly retreated from the island entirely, the Genomes facing
each other in a Mexican standoff. The courier briefly glanced at Jasmine, but his
girlfriend seemed to have the situation well in hand. The Genius and Wyvern
were engaged in a long-range aerial firefight, with Vulcan repelling her ex-partner
from the island's perimeter.
“Hey, Quicksave!” Wardrobe’s werewolf suit transformed into a Jack O’Lantern
Halloween costume. A pumpkin mask covered her head, the lips moving as if
they belonged to a living being. “Is it true you can stop time?"
“Yes, I can!” Ryan replied with the same friendly tone, pointing his lightsaber at
her like a fencer. Reload raised his own weapon, trying to find an opening; or
perhaps to look cool. “Is Felix the Cat with you?”
“Oh, he wanted to come, but Enrique said no!” Wardrobe replied, manifesting a
yellow facsimile of a fiery lantern in her hands and throwing it at Ryan like a
stone. “I'm Wardrobe by the way! Nice to meet you!”
Well, she took the battle as seriously as Ryan himself did. A shame they were
fighting on opposing sides, the courier was pretty sure they would get along
great.
Using his pilfered lightsaber, Ryan cut the lantern projectile in half, the strange
device collapsing into harmless yellow dust, before parrying Darth Reload's blade
as he attempted to flank him. The two laser swords met without one going
through the other, and Ryan used a timestop to dodge a new fire lantern from
Wardrobe. This time the projectile exploded into ghostly fire upon hitting the
ground.
Her power was weird.
Unfortunately for him, Reload was an amateur with a fancy weapon, while the
courier had mastered every style of swordsmanship known to mankind. While the
setup was epic, the lightsaber duel left Ryan wanting.
“Seriously, at this point, you force me to use only one hand,” the courier said,
putting an arm behind his back and parrying all of the hero's strikes with the
other. “And it still feels unfair.”
“I'll show you unfair!” Infuriated by the taunt, Reload attempted to detonate his
suicide belt, but Ryan used his timestop to move out of range. The hero exploded
into dust, before reforming.
“Use your anger!” Ryan mocked him, absentmindedly cutting a fiery lantern from
the side. “Use your pain! I'm sure you have a lot to draw upon!”
“You can spam time-stop?” Reload snarled with anger, wildly striking the rival
Violet Genome with his blade the moment he recovered. His poor attempt at
breaking past Ryan's defense didn’t work, but it only frustrated him further. “You
overpowered cheat!”
“Unlimited power!” Ryan replied. With a swift move, the courier cut the hero's arm
off... only for it to reattach itself to the body. Limited time-rewind, except applied
to the body and objects in close contact. He refused to go down, no matter the
amount of failed tries.
Ryan felt some spiritual kinship for this guy. Not enough to take him seriously of
course, but he would probably invite him for a drink once the dust had settled.
“Why don’t you transform into Supergirl though?” Ryan asked Wardrobe while
dodging a strike from Reload. He stopped time, grabbed the hero by his scarf
with his free hand, and used the momentum to throw him at his teammate. “You
could wrap up this battle in seconds if you did!”
“I can't, that's copyrighted content!” the Yellow Genome replied as time resumed,
her costume transforming into a bedsheet. Reload went through her body as if
she wasn't even there. “I can only use public domain stuff!”
“What, intellectual property is your Kryptonite?” Ryan asked, immensely
disappointed. “How does that even work?”
“I don’t make my power’s rules, alright!” Wardrobe replied with a scowl, wounded
by his comment. Her costume changed once more into that of a witch, and she
shot a lightning bolt at Ryan with her fingertips.
“Sorry, sorry,” Ryan told Wardrobe, blocking the lightning with his beam saber,
Star Wars-style. “Honestly, I would totally hit on you under normal circumstances.
You're completely my type, but I have an exclusive contract right now.”
“Oh, thanks, but I have an exclusive contract too!” she said cheerfully while
Reload rose back up. If anything, Ryan admired his perseverance. “Do you want
to be my archenemy? I have none, and marketing says it boosts the ratings!”
Well, Psyshock was dead in this loop, so... “Sure, I'm free every weekend!”
“Thanks!” Wardrobe’s costume changed again, this time turning into a mummy
cosplay. The flowers around her immediately turned to dust, and her bandages
transformed into tattered leashes flying towards Ryan. The courier hastily cut
them with his laser blade, while Reload attempted to flank him from the left.
It confused Ryan why Wardrobe didn’t change into another Genome, or stick to
one form instead of switching constantly. Perhaps it was her fighting style, or her
ability, however versatile, had a time limit.
Still, it was one of the best fights he had since he arrived in New Rome!
Completely worth the trip!
“His power is completely busted!” Reload complained, as Ryan briefly stopped
time to dodge one of his strikes. “Wardrobe, you got anything that can resist it?”
“I think I do, but Enrique won't like it!" she replied, her costume shifted. Ryan
stopped moving, observing the scene unfolding. Wardrobe’s costume
transformed into the guise of an ancient Greek god, including a toga, sandals,
and a laurel crown of gold. The costume seemed to cover her skin, turning it into
an unnatural shade of white.
It made her look like an ivory statue of—
Shit.
Ryan immediately stopped time, turning the world purple.
All movement, all noise stopped. The raging battle in the background became
nothing more than a prop, a moment frozen in time.
“Oh, so that's how it looks,” Wardrobe said, looking around in amazement at her
frozen teammate. Her fingers shone with yellow electricity, almost golden. “It's so
pretty!”
Chitter had warned him in a past loop, but he hadn't listened.
Shit, shit, shit!
“Shit!” Ryan shouted while Wardrobe blasted him with a lightning bolt inside the
frozen time. The blast hit him in the chest, propelling him backward.
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It hurt, and it looked like a bolt... but
having died from electrocution more
times than he could count, Ryan.
Je (eqoqizédtré attack as

I
alpdle hae ion of lightning. The real
thing would have killed him on the
spot, but this yellow imitation only
inflicted minor damage; it ran on
movie logic rather than real
thunderbolts. The content is on
Novelxo.org! Read the latest
chapter there!
Ryan ended his unwilling flight at the edge of the garden, where the flowers
reached the Mediterranean seawater. Time resumed, Reload immediately
shouting in happiness. “It worked!"
“I can't hold it...” Wardrobe said, her clothes shifting uncontrollably. One second,
she was dressed like Augustus, and the next, she wore a tyrannosaur mascot
costume. “Damn it, the persona isn't stable enough!”
At least she can't use the original's full power, Ryan thought, as he rose back to
his feet. Or else he would have been vaporized.
His chest still hurt like hell though!
“It's over, Quicksave!” Wardrobe said with a smirk as she embraced her new
saurian form, while Ryan stood tall once more, lightsaber in hand. “We have the
high ground!”
Ryan wanted to groan, but her delivery was just perfect.
Though they had underestimated the power of friendship.
Ryan sensed something emerging from the waters behind him, the clinks and
clanks of heavy robotic armor stepping on the land music to his ears. Dynamis’
heroes blinked in surprise, before taking a torrent of pressurized water to the
face.
Ryan looked over his shoulder, as his oldest friend moved to his side, her water
weapon unleashing everything it had at the Il Migliore duo. “Shortie!”
“Sorry, sorry!” Len pleaded, her voice distorted by her underwater armor. “I came
as fast as I could!”
She maintained the water pressure, but much to Ryan's astonishment, the liquid
started splitting into two halves. Wardrobe and Reload stood unharmed in the
middle, the Yellow Genome’s costume having once more changed to some sort
of wizened old man cosplay, white beard included.
“You can even copy Moses?” Ryan asked his newfound rival, astonished by her
power’s sheer flexibility. “What else, you can dress as Jesus Christ and turn
water to wine?”
“I do that at parties sometimes!” she replied, while Len stopped using her water
pumps. The duo watched the other for a few seconds, trying to think of a way
out.
A series of explosions interrupted the standoff though, as a Dynamis helicopter
crashed nearby in the garden, going down in flames and setting the flowers
ablaze.
Ryan looked at the Mediterranean Sea. Colossal water arms the size of
skyscrapers had sprouted from the waves, pursuing the helicopters like snakes.
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Devilry stopped bombarding the fort
to focus on these strange
phenomenons, blasting the water
tentacles with ip? fireballs) Yet,
ee tufRed to steam from
the heat, more appendages rose
from the waters in an attempt to
crush the flyer. Far away, Ryan
noticed multiple jet skis making their
way towards the island; among the
drivers, he recognized a few familiar
faces, such as Greta. The content is
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chapter there!
Reinforcements.
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Meanwhile, Wyvern and Vulcan had
become spots in the skies, the duo
continuing their battle above the
clouds far out of sight(Andtfidugh
the putdlwall had mostly crumbled

9

from the bombardment, the Augusti's
fortress remained mostly intact.
Geist shielded the hole Wyvern had
made in the structure, telekinetically
raising stones in an attempt to cover
it back up. The content is on
Novelxo.org! Read the latest
chapter there!
“Neptune,” Reload said while looking at the watery arms, before turning to his
teammate. “Wardrobe, bring out the Apocalypse Suit!"
“But it's too dangerous!” Wardrobe protested.
“If you don't use it, he will sink us all!”
Wardrobe inhaled, her costume shifting while Ryan and Len prepared to make
their final stand, back-to-back.
The sound of a gunshot echoed across the battlefield, and Wardrobe collapsed.
For a second, time seemed to freeze, and Ryan had nothing to do with it. The
heroine’s body hit the ground while a shocked Reload watched, a figure having
phased out of the ground right behind them.
“Good grief,” Mortimer said without any remorse, the tip of his rifle still fuming.
“Looks like Mortimer won the bet.”