Chapter 91


    Len put her hand on the aquarium, and Bloodstream’s putrid eyes looked at her. The sight filled Ryan with scorn and disgust.


    “How?” the courier asked, his own breath shortening, a sharp pain around his neck. Even after all these years... even after all


    these years, he still remembered his adoptive father’s hands tightening around his throat. It was true what they said. You never


    forgot your first. “How...”


    “Uncontrolled Psycho mutations,” Dr. Tyrano answered with a shrug, misunderstanding the question. “The vice-president refused


    to feed him Genomes, so his gic code kept degrading into something utterly alien. The human part simply couldn’t keep up


    with the powers after a while.”


    Athought crossed Ryan’s mind: that this was the fate that awaited all Psychos, if they couldn''t stave off the decay. The Elixirs


    reshaped their bodies into something inhuman. Something better suited to contain the unlimited energies of the colored


    dimensions.


    Was Bloodstream even sentient anymore? Did an ember of humanity remain, or were only the Elixirs left? Did he recognize his


    daughter, or the smell of her blood?


    “Is he...” Shortie’s voice sounded so shaken, so weak, that Ryan could barely hear her words. “Is my father... is my father in


    there?”


    “We chemically neutered the creature years ago, and he stopped all attempts atmunication afterward,” Dr. Tyrano replied


    with no tact whatsoever. He might have been a Genius, but social rtionships clearly weren''t his specialty.


    “How could you... how could you do this?” Len hissed, looking at the mad scientist. “There... there was a man inside!”


    “Not quite, management gged him as apany asset,” Tyrano said,pletely missing the point.


    Ryan moved towards theputer panel hooked to the aquarium, his Saturn armor easily hacking into the closed system. Data


    showed up on his lenses, from biological analyses, to reports of Knockoff testing. The courier quickly confirmed that Dynamis


    had Bloodstream in custody since 2016; Tyrano cloned him from samples taken after the Psycho raided apany warehouse.


    Ryan also noticed a folder called ‘Monster Girl Project’, which he refused to open. He had the feeling it would traumatize him for


    all loops toe.


    Most importantly though, Ryan learned that Dr. Tyrano used an encrypted email system to discuss with others, mainly his


    lawyers. The courier memorized the ess codes, so he could directly contact the deranged Genius in a future loop.


    “Why... why did you want me?” Len asked, pointing her water rifle at Tyrano. The dino maniac raised his hands in surrender.


    “What was the point?”


    “Because your father imnted a foreign agent inside your blood cells, and it causes the Knockoff to react violently on contact,”


    Tyrano confessed. “Since the old agent inside your blood precedes the chemical neutering, synthesis creates a new substance


    capable of resisting it. Our consumers inevitably... reverse.”


    A polite way to say they transformed into Bloodstream clones.


    “| petitioned management to study you in-depth and reduce risks of reversion, but Mr. Enrique kept vetoing my proposal,” the


    scientistined. It made the courier respect ckthorn a bit more than before.


    “Here’s the million-dor question then,” Ryan said, ncing at the bloody shoggoth floating in its aquarium. “How do we kill this


    thing?”


    Len flinched. “Riri...”


    “Len, your father is gone,” Ryan argued, waving a gloved hand at the Psycho-in-a-can. “He’s not even human anymore.”


    “You said... you said you could find a cure for Psychos!” she protested.


    “| think we can cure humans of their mutations, not turn tomato juice into a Homo Sapien.” Ryan watched, as Len’s weapon


    shook from her trembling hands. “I’m reading the analysis reports right now, and he shares less than fifty percent of his DNA with


    humans now. Bananas are closer to us than he is.”


    Even with all the time in the world, which Ryan had, they would need a Genome with a miracle solution power. Besides, the


    courier had no intention of wasting so much time on helping that irredeemable monster. He had raided thisb to confirm


    Bloodstream’s survival, but the boogeyman that haunted his childhood appeared long gone.


    Ryan would have given all his money to see Len’s reaction beneath her helmet. She stood still for a moment, before lowering her


    head and weapon both. She didn’t say a word, as she registered her friend’s words. Perhaps she always knew it would end like


    this, remaining in denial until she had the factsid before her eyes.


    The father she loved died years ago.


    “| don’t suppose you have a cure for Knockoffs?” Ryan asked Tyrano.


    “Of course we have a cure,“ the mad Genius protested, much to the courier’s surprise. “Do you think we’re criminally negligent?”


    “You turned a monster into a drink!” Ryan replied bluntly. “You’re worse than Pepsi!”


    “But the risks of reversion and health issues approach zero, as long as only one dose is used!”


    “Which is exactly why I’m nationalizing this ce and confiscating all its assets. Including you.”


    “You can’t nationalize a perso—”


    “I''m President of the United States of America, which is basically the world,” Ryan interrupted him. “We’re nationalizing you, and


    your cure. How does it work?”


    The scientist opened his mouth to protest further, until Ryan pointed at his chest weapon. Ah, the perks of a monopoly on force...


    “| developed an injection-based neutralizing agent, which attacks the Bloodstream cells and repairs the target’s gic code


    back to its pre-consumption state,” Dr. Scalie admitted. “A stronger variant of the form can be injected inside the aquarium in


    case of a containment breach. It destroys the Knockoffs entirely.”


    “But not Alchemist-made Elixirs?” Ryan asked for confirmation, the Genius shaking his head. It made sense. Bloodstream-based


    Knockoffs remained mutated Psycho cells in the end, while true Elixirs were alien entities beyond conventional biology. “If your


    cure only works through injections, then what happens if multiple Knockoff-users revert at the same time? Even if you destroy


    the original source, it won’t erase the substance inside all your customers.”


    “The risk of a mass-reversion is nonexistent,” Tyrano replied with a shrug, tempting fate.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org.


    These guys had no n at all. Dynamis’ criminal negligence defiedprehension. “Alright, in that case, you''re surrendering


    that cure, anding with us to Area 51.”


    The dinosaur squinted. “Area 51?”


    “A Mechron base, if you want to be technical.” Since Ryan knew the location of others, they could always retreat there to


    research a cure for the Psycho condition. He had made a promise to Sa—Bianca, and would keep it. “We can make safer


    Knockoffs than the bottled slimes you harvest here. Elixirs that follow health-safety protocols.”


    “A Mechron base?” The Genius’ eyes lit up in interest. He couldn’t resist the lure of a Mechron-madeb. “You know what? | am


    under contract not to work for thepetition, but if you abduct me | won''t resist too much. | think kidnapping counts as force


    majeure?"


    “In my case? It’s an Act of God.” Ryan defended religious tolerance, but only for his own cult. “Now, where is your Bloodstream


    vine? We''re euthanizing him on our way out.”


    Len didn’t even respond, much to Ryan’s surprise. He had expected her to fight back his decision, but finding the truth had


    shaken her to the core.


    Ryan downloaded the Bloodstream vine’s data, to use in a future loop. Now, they had to figure out a way to leave the building


    with Tyrano, if possible. Since Ryan knew about the encrypted emails and confirmed Bloodstream’s survival, he could always


    contact the scientist in the future and optimize the Lab Sixty-Six raid.


    His armor’s sensors suddenly noticed a sharp increase in temperature.


    No... “Shortie, get down!” Ryan shouted, but his friend didn’t listen. She gazed at the aquarium without a word, lost in her


    thoughts. “Shortie!”


    One of the room’s walls melted in a crimson sh.


    The st came from the previous room, clearing off the debris blocking the path outside. Ryan covered his helmet with his hand,


    as a cloud of dust filled theboratory.


    Alphonse Manada had returned, a living incarnation of nuclear mes. But he wasn’t alone. A small troop of men in power armor


    followed him, led by none other than his brother ckthorn. Vines and moss covered the II Migliore manager’s armor like a


    second protectiveyer, and he alone carried no firearm. Still, he didn’t look happy to be there, ncing at the aquarium with


    disgust.


    “None of this would have happened, if you and father didn’t lie to me back then,” Enrique said, as his men raised their weapons


    at Len and Ryan. The courier prepared to fight his way out. “Wyvern was right. This can’t go on anymore.”


    “It will all work out in the end, you''ll see,” his brother replied, lying to himself. “As for father... he will be out of the picture after


    this, one way or another.”


    Fallout raised his hand at Ryan and Len, but didn’t open fire. The risk of breaching the aquarium was too great. “All your men are


    dead, and you are surrounded,” he threatened. “Give up.”


    “| don’t think so,” Ryan said, moving closer to Len while Tyrano hid behind hisputer. “I’ve still got the A-bomb in my


    backpack. If you want a big ol’ mushroom sd, you''ll get it.”


    “| don’t believe you,” Alphonse replied, calling the bluff. “I don’t understand what you intended to do here, mutie, but you failed.”


    “Shortie, cover me,” Ryan said. He couldn’t take Fallout head-on, but they could bypass him if they yed their cards right.


    But his friend didn’t answer.


    “Shortie?”


    Len raised her water rifle at the aquarium, and opened fire.


    Apressurized liquid stream hit the ss before Ryan could stop time. The Private Security had opened fire at Len while Enrique


    vainly raised a hand to tell them to stop; theirsers were frozen in midair, so the courier tackled Len to the ground out of their


    reach.


    “Shortie, what the—” Ryan couldn''t finish his sentence, as he took a good look at her helmet.


    He could only see thick ck blood wriggling behind the visor.


    Ryan nced at the captive Bloodstream in horror, the monster''s putrid eyes staring at his daughter with sinister intensity. While


    the creature was no longer sentient, his proximity triggered the infection inside Shortie and allowed it to take her over.


    Some of thesers hit the Aquarium’s protective barrier as time resumed, and Alphonse charged forward with an angry roar.


    Len’s visor exploded, blood tendrilsing out of it and forcing Ryan to leap back. The courier could only watch as blood leaked


    from his friend’s scaphandre armor, the substance having consumed her from within. As for the aquarium...


    The ss had cracked, and shed tears of blood.


    Ryan barely had the time to take a few steps as Len’s tendrils joined with the slime trapped inside the aquarium. And


    Bloodstream screamed.


    The aquarium violently detonated, as the imprisoned monster grew in size and strength. The monstrous ooze grew fanged maws


    hissing in a maddening cacophony, glistening blue eyes as wide as TV screens, and porous holes unleashing geysers of Green


    Flux particles. A strange, alien moss formed on anything these particles touched, like an infection from another reality.


    Ryan wished he could erase his memory at will, as he watched Len’s armor absorbed into the ooze she once called a father. The


    ogre devoured his daughter.


    ckthorn extended his vines to bring Tyrano to safety, but toote. Red slime drowned the scientist, and Alphonse had to use


    an atomic st to keep the monster at bay. The ooze took a stream of nuclear fire to the face, but instantly regenerated.


    Bloodstream’s monstrous form kept expanding, filling the room with its vile flesh.


    Now that it had consumed Len, the monster turned its attention to Ryan. Those glistening alien eyes showed neither intelligence


    nor a sign of recognition; only hunger. The mind had deteriorated beyond saving, and only the instinct to spread remained.


    Bloodstream had be a virus.


    Worse, some of the Private Security members started screaming, blood flowing out of their armor and shattering their visors. The


    Knockoffs in their circtory system had started reverting, though Ryan didn’t know how far the effect extended.


    “What''s his range?” Ryan muttered to himself, a disturbing thought crossing his mind.


    Sprinklers rained a white substance in the room, probably Tyrano’s vine. But the liquid failed to affect the empowered


    Bloodstream, the mutated horror turning into a bloody tidal wave.


    Ryan froze time the second his cooldown period ended, and fled as fast as he could.


    Alphonse Manada had formed an energy shield around his brother and himself, repelling both the tidal wave of blood and his


    own men. Ryan nced at Tyrano, but the man had already drowned inside the eldritch red sea.


    The courier fled through the hole in the wall, leaving the Manadas to fend off for themselves. Ryan couldn''t take the risk of


    Bloodstream getting past his armor. If the monster somehow managed to take him over and corrupt his save point...


    Ryan had to return to Livia to finish the memory transfer. “I gotta get back,” he whispered to himself, as he reached what


    remained of the cloning factory. “Back to the past.”


    The roof had copsed on the cloning factory, burying the room and Ryan’s dead allies beneath tons of rubble: though Alphonse


    Manada had sessfully melted a path. With the ceiling gone, acid raindrops were falling on the ground from a hole above.


    Ryan activated his jetpack, just as time resumed.


    A flood of blood overflowed into the factory an instantter, spreading through the building. Ryan managed to escape the flood,


    flying in the skies above the Dynamis HQ. If Bloodstream could generate mass from nowhere, then it meant his mutations had


    empowered him beyond his original powers.


    But Ryan didn’t understand how much, until he took a good look at New Rome.


    The city had turned red.


    People mutated everywhere Ryan looked, blood bursting from their skin to transform them into Bloodstream clones. Every


    Knockoff Elixir across New Rome had reverted to its original nature. Genomes turned into monsters, attacking the uninfected like


    rabid dogs. On the ground, Ryan watched a single Bloodstream clone fire crystallized spikes at Private Security personnel.


    Everyone scratched by the projectiles joined the zombie horde.


    Fires had spread everywhere, with even the acid downpour unable to drench them. Mount Augustus had turned into a fiery


    candle, the smokeing from it obscuring the skies for miles, and Rust Town didn’t look any better.


    “His power has no range anymore,” Ryan realized, his throat sore from the phantom pain of his first loop. “The whole world. He


    will spread to the whole world. He will be the world.”


    This...


    This was a nightmare.


    “Helen?” Ryan shouted. The acid downpour continued to fall somehow. “Helen, where are you?”


    He caught sight of her on the ground. A bloody monster, switching ces with raindrops as it fell down on the uninfected like a


    hawk on mice. Bloodstream could not only infect Genomes, but keep using their powers.


    If he infected Ryan...


    If he infected Ryan, Bloodstream would gain ess to time travel.


    “Tea? Alchemo? Braindead, are you there?” Ryan called the rest of his team in frantic panic, only to be met with radio silence.


    “Anyone?”


    But nobody answered.


    Ryan thought he would only care for Tea, but her father’s silence... it made his heart ache for a moment.


    Damn it, this was the third apocalypse taking ce in New Rome since he started, and the worst by far!


    “Livia?” Ryan called while changing the frequency. The building below him turned red, as the ever-growing Bloodstream


    shattered the window and flowed down the steel walls like a waterfall. A long tendril thirty meters in size attempted to capture the


    courier, who dodged and flew away south of the city. “Livia? Livia!”


    If Bloodstream got to her before he did...


    Asoft, reassuring voice answered his plea, “Ryan.”


    Ryan let out a breath of relief. “Livia, are you well?”


    “Yes, I’m... I’m in a safe house in Sorrento.” She marked a short pause, her breath hastening in panic. “Ryan, what''s going on?


    My visions... | can’t believe what I’m seeing. It’s raining blood outside.”


    Thank God, his firstdy had made it to the Cheyenne Mountains. “Barricade yourself and prepare for the memory transfer. I’m


    sending you the data | gathered. Record it and don’t touch anyone but me. Not a drop of blood.”


    “It''s Dynamis, isn’t it?” she guessed, coughing. ‘Is it... is it toote to do anything?”


    “It''s toote this time,” Ryan replied bluntly, his fists clenching in rage. “But not for the next.”


    He could have sworn she had nodded on the other end of the line. “Don’t die on the way,” Livia pleaded. “I will be waiting for


    you.”


    Ryan cutmunications, as he crossed paths with other flyers in the skies. Leo the Living Sun and Shroud oversaw the


    devastation in shaken silence; though thetter created a cloud of flying ss shards upon seeing the president approach.


    “Truce!” Ryan shouted, crossing his arms. “Truce!”


    “You caused this!” Shroud snarled. “This is all your fau—”


    Leo Hargraves broke out of his trance and raised a hand to stop hisrade. He understood that at this point, they couldn’t


    afford to fight. Not even a dashing superviin. “Is your sister...” Sunshine asked Ryan, acidic rain turning to colored steam on


    contact. “Is she dead?”


    Ryan looked away, his silence a confirmation in itself. “I’m...” Leo the Living Sun looked down inplete defeat. “I’m sorry, for


    her. And for you, Mathias. We failed your mother’sst request.”


    “We couldn’t stop it,” Shroud muttered to himself, his voice breaking in sadness and despair.


    “You knew this would happen?” Ryan asked, more disappointed with himself than anything


    “It was foretold, so we... we tried to destroy Bloodstream, but...” Leonard struggled to find his words. “We failed.”


    “We only dyed the disaster,” Mr. See-Through said, before ncing at his teammate. “Leo, you have to do it.”


    “If |unleash my full power, everyone in the city will burn,” Leo warned. Ryan had never heard him sound so... so defeated.


    “Millions will perish.”


    “And if a single bird gets away, the whole world will follow.” Shroud let out a sigh of resignation. “There is no other way.”


    “The whole world is affected,” Ryan said. Even though he would reload soon, he didn’t think Leonard deserved to have these


    deaths on his conscience in any timeline. “Dynamis has Genomes outside New Rome, and they probably turned. It’s useless.”


    “But it will dy the virus’ spread,” Shroud insisted. “We can gain enough time to protect otherm—”


    Thunder echoed above their heads.


    Crimson lightning struck Shroud, cooking his flesh within his own ss armor. The bolt formed a hole in his chest, vaporizing


    organs and sending the vignte falling down to a burning street below. Leo let out a shout of horror and surprise, while Ryan


    looked up at the bolt’s source.


    “Hargraves.” Augustus descended from the clouds above, d in crimson lightning like a shining angel cast down to earth. “I


    should have known you were involved.”


    Lightning Butt’s clothes had been torn to shreds, but the man himself was unharmed. His right hand carried the upper half of a


    destroyed rabbit plushie, its white fur ckened by ashes.


    The gods had won the Lepiromachia.


    “You fool!” Leo snarled at his archenemy, his mes now blindingly bright. “The world is at stake here!”


    “The only world | want to live in,” Mob Zeus replied with his fist raised, “is one where your sun has set.”


    Moving as fast as Ryan on a good day, the warlord punched Leo in the chest, his fingers tearing through the mes to hit a


    burning core underneath. The blow sent the Living Sun crashing onto the ground, the impact vaporizing Bloodstream clones into


    ashes.


    “You!” Ryan snarled in true fury, as Lightning Zeus charged lightning to smite his fallen foe. This maniacal man would put his


    personal vendetta above anything else! “You selfish discount ivory statue, I’ve had enough! You''re going down somehow!”


    Mob Zeus looked at him with murder on his mind, and Ryan cursed his tongue.


    The courier reflexively stopped time just as the discount Greek god unleashed an electrical storm in his direction. Though the


    Purple World overshadowed New Rome and trapped it between two seconds, neither Augustus nor his lightning slowed down.


    The invulnerable manpletely shrugged the time-stop off.


    But Vulcan made the best armor, and Ryan expected the unexpected.


    Mob Zeus blinked as the courier’s chest weapon absorbed the crimson bolt. The mechanism didn’t have a limitless energy


    storage capacity, but it gave the time traveler enough time to strike back.


    Though he knew it was useless, Ryan punched Augustus in the face with all his might.


    And it felt good.


    His armored fist hit the man’s ivory cheek, violet and ck particles swirling around his fingers. Ryan expected to hurt himself


    more than Discount Zeus, especially since it felt like hitting a wall of diamond; but to his surprise, the blow startled the tyrant. The


    punch didn''t inflict any damage, and seemed no more effective than a light p, but it shorted out the lightning halo for an


    instant.


    For a brief moment, Ryan could see the old man beneath the godly facade, his eyes widening in shock while the courier’s fist still


    touched his cheek. Lightning Butt’s gaze turned from surprise to fury, and if the courier wasn’t mistaken... a hint of fear.


    “| felt that,” Augustus said.


    Time unfroze as Ryan registered these words, and Mob Zeus punched back.


    He hit harder than Wyvern, Adam the Ogre, and anyone else Ryan ever fought before. His fist cracked the armor’s chest


    protection, shattering the weapon beneath into scraps, and sent the courier flying backward. The time traveler hit a building,


    came out on the other side, and barely managed to regain control of his flight before he crashed on the ground.


    The jetpack had survived the blow, but the armor had been breached. A single drop of blood could slip through. Even now he


    sensed an acid raindrop burn his skin below the steel.


    So Ryan immediately focused on regaining altitude, and looked behind him.


    Thankfully for the courier, Hargraves had engaged Augustus in melee, dying him for now. Sunshine had be a blinding


    star zing across the skies, his heat causing the atmosphere to simmer around him. However, Ryan could see the shadow of


    his invulnerable enemy trying to grab the living sun’s core; perhaps that was Hargraves’ sole weakness.


    The living sun’s fires burnt Augustus’ clothes, but they couldn’t melt his ivory body. Leo could dy his foe, but not defeat him.


    Eventually, the superhero would either retreat, or perish.


    And then Augustus would go after Ryan.


    The president redirected all remaining power to his jetpack, and left New Rome in the dust.


    It took Ryan one hour to reach Livia’s hideout.


    New Rome had long vanished in a sh of crimson light by then, its building, itsnd, its people incinerated. Whether Alphonse


    Manada went nuclear or Sunshine turned into a supernova, Ryan would never know. Though he was miles away by then, the


    courier still felt the st''s shockwave.


    It changed nothing.


    As the courier flew over a forest, he watched the trees turning red, their leaves transforming into organs, their bark into


    crystallized blood. Even some birds had turned into abominations, pursuing Ryan to infect him; though they were too slow to


    catch up, the sight filled the time traveler with horror.


    This blue would soon turn red.


    He found Livia waiting for him in Sorrento, south of New Rome. She stood on the roof of the same building where Ryan had


    been evacuated, back when the Meta blew up the city. The courier thought the Augusti princess was foolish to expose herself,


    before noticing the ring of ash surrounding the building. Dozens, if not hundreds of turrets formed an impregnable perimeter


    around the safehouse, vaporizing any Bloodstream clone approaching.


    Thankfully, the security system recognized his armor and let him pass.


    “Remind me to send choctes to Vulcan after the reset,” Ryan said as hended on the roof, covering his chest with one hand.


    Acid Rain’s raindrops had eaten at his chest, blood dripping from the cracks left by Augustus.


    “Though not perfect, no one can deny her security systems are effective.” Livia’s eyes wandered to his wound with concern, and


    though he warned her not to touch blood of any kind... her fingers trailed against his chest of steel. “Who did this to you?”


    “Your dad,” Ryan replied, causing Livia to bite her lower lips. “Even with the world going down in mes, he still wanted revenge


    above all else.”


    “| see,” she said, her eyebrows furrowing. “And Len? The others?”


    “Just me.” Ryan let out a tired sigh. “Again.”


    And over again.


    “Just us.” Livia looked at him with pity andpassion. “This is what you were trying to stop? Or something else? | can’t imagine


    the burden on your shoulders. It must have been agonizing.”


    “There is still time to change this terrible ending.”


    Ryan had the data he needed for his perfect run now. All pieces of the New Rome puzzle.


    He only needed to assemble them in the correct sequence.


    “Yes. But next time...” Livia looked up at him with determination. “Next time, you won''t carry this cross alone, Ryan. | swear to


    you.”


    No. Ryan would have other people to help carry his load. Livia, Len, Alchemo, and others. Their memories would endure this


    reset, and he would ferry their minds across space and time.


    The time-traveler opened the Saturn armor’s backpack, bringing out a metal helmet. He carefully put it on Livia’s head, and


    hooked the device to his suit''s Chronoradio. “Will it hurt?” she asked.


    “Only for me, but don’t worry. I’m immortal.”


    “| won''t tell anyone,” she replied with a smile. “We''ll find a painless way next time. | won''t have you die for our mistakes.”


    Ryan almost told her not to make promises she couldn’t keep, but though this loop ended bleakly, it also filled his heart with


    hope.


    Next loop would be different than anything that came before. The courier had no idea if his power would even stay the same,


    now that the ck World’s power coursed through his veins. This reset was a dive into the unknown.


    But someone would wait for him on the other side.


    “We''ll see,” Ryan said as he activated his power. He halted the march of time, his armor turning dark purple. A torrent of violet


    particles surrounded him and Livia like a flood, with the asional ck spot floating among them like oil in the water.


    The courier noticed an ivory man flying in their direction, far toote to change anything.


    As the transfer finished and this loop copsed in an ocean of violet particles, Ryan thought back to his brief fight with Augustus.


    He had wondered what wish the ck Ultimate One granted him, but now he had his answer.


    What did you call a power that could kill immortals?


    A paradox.