同章对照

Ryan had been shot at more times than he could count.

Unlike Psychos or special cases like Augustus, all of the courier’s 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 AI. 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. “I 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 Il 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.”

Speaking of Vulcan, she raged as Atom Cat kept her face against the ground, unable to escape his grip. Wyvern transformed back into a human, her suit adapting to her new size while she looked at the Augusti with a mix of vindication and pity. “You can only blame yourself for this, Jasmine.”

“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.

“Answer the question, and we will give you medical care,” Wyvern said firmly. While she was angry at her charges for acting on their lonesome, she had no pity to spare for the Psycho. “In your current condition, even with your enhanced metabolism, you will bleed out within minutes.”

Mosquito remained silent for a few seconds, probably weighing the odds of risking his boss killing him for snitching, versus dying right now. Survival instinct being a powerful force, he decided to speak. “It’s… the place… the shafts are too small for adults… and these crazy robots, they shoot Genomes on sight...”

“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.

瑞恩遭到过多少次射击，连他自己都数不清了。

与疯魔或奥古斯都那样的特例不同，快递员从存档点到时间暂停的所有能力，都源于同一种根本力量。瑞恩是在训练和实验中，才逐渐摸索出它的种种用法。尤其是那超乎常人的时机感，他足足循环了好几年，才意识到它的存在。

同一种情形经历得越多，瑞恩就越能准确预判，并做出反应。只要有人用过一次某种格斗招式，下次不管是谁再用，他都会在潜意识里提前做出应对；他能预判一个人何时会把烟雾弹扔到地上，甚至意识还没反应过来，手就已经接住了。这让学习肢体技巧几乎成了小菜一碟。

这能力并非无所不能，毕竟有些情况下，反应再快也无济于事——比如被看不见的刀刃砍掉脑袋，或被光速射来的激光击中。瑞恩没有超级速度，无法真正“躲开”子弹或炮火。

但他能在别人扣动扳机前，预判对方的射击路线。随后，他的身体会微微挪动，让射来的弹药落空，给人一种连子弹都能躲过去的错觉。再配合时间暂停，在外人眼里，这个快递员似乎根本打不中。

所以，当伏尔甘用炮臂攻击时，瑞恩只暂停了一瞬时间，便闪出了射击路线。一枚高密度炮弹轰上了他们身后的孤儿院外墙，砸塌空心砖，炸出一个大洞，洞后似乎是一间厨房。围栏后的宠物无处可逃，吓得乱成一团，几只发狂的猫攀着围栏逃了出去。

“伏尔甘，这是孤儿院！”原子猫大喊，可还没来得及冲去帮瑞恩，超能帮的人便从两侧包抄了他。这位英雄躲过蚊子致命的一拳，又闪开杂种扔来的一颗小火球。原子猫的动作毫无章法，显然没有受过正规训练，不过天生的敏捷弥补了这一点。

值得肯定的是，伏尔甘僵了一瞬，隐约有些羞愧。她没有继续用重火力攻击瑞恩、冒险摧毁收容所，而是改打近身战。机械装甲背部的微型涡轮推进器短促地喷射，将这头五米高的金属怪物推进到了赛车般的速度。

凭借在无数次循环中磨炼出的惊人身手，瑞恩一个后空翻，躲过迎面砸来的巨拳，接着又闪过一脚踩踏。“我得给你点肯定，”快递员开口道，随即把话里的意思拐了个弯，“还得亲手递给你，不然你够不着！”

伏尔甘的攻击愈发疯狂。等孤儿院不再处于射击路线上，她便重新启用重武器。机甲的双肩展开，露出转管机枪炮塔，成百上千发子弹朝瑞恩倾泻而去。快递员将时间暂停与时机感结合起来，避开攻击，试图绕着机甲移动，找出驾驶舱的舱门。

与此同时，心震扔掉大衣、帽子和墨镜，向世界露出了真容。他早已褪去血肉，取而代之的是数千条黑色线缆，平时被他塑成一个勉强近似人类的形状。变异后，他唯一保留下来的器官就是头骨，生物机械大脑裸露在外。他那对霓虹般的眼睛让瑞恩想起两支明晃晃的手电筒。

心震重新排列线缆，组成八条细长的手臂，把自己变成了一只恐怖的畸形蜘蛛。趁伏尔甘缠住瑞恩、原子猫忙着对付他的跟班，这个疯魔纵身一跃，跳过战场，直奔孤儿院。

瑞恩察觉后，决定甩开伏尔甘去追心震，但这位天才不肯放他走。她那只足以把快递员整个人捏碎的大手猛然抓来，转管机枪同时提供火力压制。

尽管伏尔甘的装甲凶悍得吓人，瑞恩仍看得出来，她并没有多少亲自上阵的经验。她的动作很笨拙，武器虽然瞄得准，却毫无预判，也不见人类的机变或临场发挥；她多半把操控工作交给了一个基础型人工智能。而且，这套装甲显然还是原型机，设计用途是对付大型空中目标，而非一位敏捷又潇洒的绅士。

简而言之，伏尔甘开着一台反双足飞龙装甲，跑来打快存了。

如果伏尔甘从空中对这片区域实施地毯式轰炸，她本可以获胜，可她偏要先宣告自己到场，再贴身较量，亲手解决恩怨。瑞恩能感觉到，她急于在战斗中证明自己，也许是为了盖过双足飞龙的风头。

这姑娘真有毛病。

瑞恩暂停了十秒时间，移到装甲左侧，避开抓来的手掌和子弹。随后，他仔细选准位置，用拳拳击打肘关节，力求将压力造成的破坏发挥到极致。时间恢复时，冲击力尽数释放，机甲手臂从肘部崩裂。前臂砸落在地，破损处电光乱窜。

正如他当初在军械库第一次看到它时所猜测的那样，这套装甲与中世纪盔甲颇为相似：伏尔甘提高了装甲的灵活性，代价就是关节处成了弱点。

“这是怎么了？”瑞恩若有所思地问，“短路了？”

“你一点都不好笑，罗马诺！”伏尔甘通过装甲的扩音器抱怨，显然是在嫉妒他举世无双的机智。“你自以为好笑，其实根本不是！”

“得了，心眼别跟着个头一起小嘛。”她又用一轮弹雨还击，瑞恩则冻结时间，冲向孤儿院。心震已经钻进伏尔甘轰出的墙洞，不见了踪影。

另一边，原子猫的处境也好不到哪里去。蚊子这只虫子飞上半空，不断俯冲，试图用螫针把英雄刺穿。原子猫本来能轻松躲开，杂种却限制了他的活动范围。这个古怪的疯魔身形时隐时现，靠一阵阵短促的疾风推进身体，挥着手里的工具，试图击中英雄。他还不时朝四周扔颗火球，荒芜的公园里到处都燃起了小片火焰。

火球、有限度的隐形、空调……瑞恩认得这些能力，都来自迪纳米斯出售的仿制灵药。杂种一定混着喝下了好几种。由于获得的能力远远不及真正的灵药，他的身体得以承受两种以上的力量，代价却是心智受损。

即便在这场一对二的战斗中被迫防守，原子猫仍在奋力夺回主动权。他双手泛着猩红的能量，试图一拳打中杂种。可那疯魔虽然不断发出野兽般的嘶吼，行动却十分谨慎，不给对手任何可乘之机。

时间恢复时，瑞恩已经冲到孤儿院前，却又不得不后退：十几根线缆从墙洞里伸出，张成一张网，眼看就要把他罩住。

心震从洞中钻了出来，触手般的手臂卷着四个孩子：莎拉、她的朋友，还有一对不超过八岁的双胞胎女孩。他用冰冷而异样的双眼轻蔑地扫了瑞恩一眼，一根线缆正往其中一个双胞胎的鼻孔里钻。他全身沾满了血迹和毛发。

瑞恩想也没想便抓出三把飞刀，准备直取心震的脑袋。

疯魔见状，把莎拉移到了瑞恩的攻击路线上，女孩惊恐地尖叫起来。

瑞恩惊得动作一滞，心震立刻抓住机会，一条触手朝他疾射而来。时间暂停还在冷却，快递员无法冻结时钟，那条手臂已如鱼叉般飞快地击中他。他被打得向后仰倒，总算及时用双手抓住了触手，可那些线缆仍在试图够到他的头颅。

“快存！”原子猫大喊，蚊子却趁机从侧面扑撞过来，把这位英雄撞穿了围场的栅栏。猫狗立刻从缺口涌出，四散奔逃。

“嘘，不挣扎就轻松多了，切萨雷。”心震对瑞恩低声说道，自己的嘴和那个被他接入的孩子的嘴同时开合。线缆末端冒出针尖，准备钻进颅内，接管他的大脑。“放松，让我进去。我们会融为一体。”

是啊，如果侵入式心灵感应的危险——不管它受到多少物理条件的限制——还不足以让瑞恩对心震恨得起了杀意，那么虐待儿童这一条也足够了。

显然，伏尔甘也这么想。她表现出了最基本的人性，不再理会瑞恩，而是将装甲上最后一只还能用的手举向心震。“放下孩子，变种怪。”她警告道，“我不会说第二遍。”

“滚开，女人。”心震不屑地回了一句，调整人质的位置，用他们挡住伏尔甘的武器。与此同时，杂种走向围场，准备了结原子猫，蚊子则在众人头顶盘旋。几条没有逃走、仍留在原地的狗朝在场的基因者愤怒地狂吠，却害怕得不敢攻击。

作为回应，伏尔甘的机械手指张开孔口，向心震喷出一道道等离子流。这位天才小心地避开孩子，以激光般的精度切断线缆。受损的部分像断头的蛇一样落在地上，迅速锈蚀，化为有机粉尘。

趁心震分神，瑞恩暂停时间，用刀割断离自己最近的线缆，随即冲向孩子们。他利落地挥刀斩断缠住双胞胎的线缆，在时间恢复时接住了她们。

侵入人质鼻孔的那根线缆被切断后，还在自行蠕动，不过很快便落到了地上。心震立刻将线缆射向四面八方，以暴雨般的触手同时攻击瑞恩和伏尔甘。快递员抱着双胞胎逃开，奥古斯蒂的这位成员却直接顶着攻击向前，厚重的装甲挡下了一切。

另一边，原子猫还在从刚才那一击中缓过劲来，收容所剩下的狗终于鼓起勇气，扑咬走近的杂种。疯魔发出野兽般的低吼，举起双手，右手凝聚火球，左手卷起旋风。两者结合，化作一股火焰洪流，将这些宠物整个吞没。临时拼凑出的火焰喷射器将可怜的狗活活焚烧，它们痛苦地惨叫，杂种的嘶吼则变成了癫狂的大笑。

原子猫趁杂种分神冲了过去，这次终于一把抓住了他的脑袋。疯魔全身变红，原本的色彩全被猩红笼罩，随后炸开。

不对，杂种是被汽化了。他的血肉爆炸时威力很弱，甚至没能掀起多少气浪，却将他彻底抹除，不留一丝痕迹。衣服、皮肤，甚至他拿着的工具，全都化为了尘埃。

显然，被逼到绝境时，原子猫并不介意杀人。

蚊子因此再度俯冲下来，杀意毕露。年轻的超级英雄忽然顿了一下，像是想到了什么，随后抓起地上一颗石子，朝蚊子扔去。石子注入了原子猫的力量，变得通红。

疯魔举起双臂护住自己，石子一碰到他就炸开，将他轰向自己的小巴。汽车警报响了起来，再加上战斗的喧嚣，瑞恩几乎连自己的声音都听不见。

原子猫既能调节爆炸的威力，甚至还能延迟引爆。不错。

瑞恩也成功避开心震的攻击，把双胞胎带到了安全的地方。一个孩子神情木然，另一个吓得直哭。“没事了，你们安全了。”瑞恩抚着她们的黑发，试着安慰她们，“英雄来了。”

做完今天的好人好事，快递员立刻重返战团。心震已用上了全部线缆来束缚伏尔甘，一边试图将机甲死死固定在地面，一边拼命寻找进入驾驶舱的途径。他看上去就像一只想缠住鲸鱼的巨型乌贼。

和先前一样，那个卑鄙的混蛋拿俘虏当人肉盾牌，让奥古斯蒂的女天才无法在近距离使用武器。

瑞恩怒火中烧，冲向心震，将飞刀掷向他的头骨。线缆弹开了飞刀，却也让这个罪犯分了神。“传送能力？”疯魔冲瑞恩嘶声问道，“你成了紫系？”

“平时我会回你一句俏皮话，不过你会落得和犀牛一样的下场。”瑞恩举起拳拳，语气无比认真，“痛苦地死去。”

心震还没来得及反应，瑞恩便再次冻结时钟，跃起身，在凝固的时间里一拳打穿了疯魔的头颅。他的拳头将疯魔的金属头骨和大脑一并贯穿，打成了甜甜圈。

瑞恩喜欢戏弄敌人，但他很清楚，绝不能给任何心灵感应者还手的机会。尤其是心震这种令人作呕的东西。

时间恢复，心震变异的躯体垮落在地，成了一堆线缆与脑浆，还把莎拉和另一个孩子一同拖了下去。瑞恩赶紧伸手接住莎拉，伏尔甘则抓住了另一个孩子。

“你知道吗，小矮个，要不是你一心想谋杀我，我还真会夸你算半个英雄。”瑞恩说着，把莎拉放到地上，伏尔甘也放下了自己接住的孩子。“小姑娘，能带着你的朋友走远点吗？这个大机器人正等着你走开，好朝我开火呢。”

小莎拉连连点头，赶紧拉住同伴的手，跑向安全的地方。伏尔甘一言不发，神情凝重而警觉，目送孩子们离开。瑞恩说不清那是悔意、渴望，还是别的什么，但她似乎异样地消沉。

随后，确认孩子们已经走远，伏尔甘一声不吭，便要朝瑞恩脸上发射等离子束。

瑞恩早有防备，迅速暂停时间，将飞刀甩向她的摄像头，在伏尔甘开火前就弄瞎了她。与此同时，原子猫试图给蚊子一拳，把他连同小巴一起炸掉，可他刚一靠近，那只昆虫便飞开了。

一道庞大的阴影掠过战场，随之而来的是一声震天怒吼。

一个巨大的飞行身影映入眼帘，在场所有活物，从最小的动物到伏尔甘本人，全都僵住了。

那是一头六十英尺长的巨蜥，通身白鳞，脖颈修长，长着蜻蜓般的翅膀和金色双眼。她的利爪足以切开钢铁，尾端生着链枷般的重锤，胸前的制服印有迪纳米斯和至优者的标志。

双足飞龙。

炫耀完毕，巨龙径直落在伏尔甘身上，将她的机甲踩在脚下，力道之大，甚至在地上砸出了一个小坑。要是瑞恩没毁掉她的摄像头，奥古斯蒂的这位成员也许还来得及飞走，可现在，双足飞龙凭借庞大的体重，将她死死压在了地上。

蚊子立刻想飞走。巨龙更快，抬起了爪子。

啪叽！

双足飞龙一巴掌从上方拍下，像人拍苍蝇一样拍中了蚊子。这个虫形怪物被拍成地上一摊，四肢与翅膀尽数折断，绿色血液从开放的伤口里流了出来。

紧接着，双足飞龙毫不停顿，将伏尔甘的机甲猛砸在地，砸烂了转管机枪。奥古斯蒂的女天才试图启动微型涡轮推进器飞走，却挣不脱巨龙铁钳般的利爪。

“别弄坏反应堆，飞飞！”瑞恩知道其中的危险，朝她大喊，“把驾驶舱拆出来！驾驶舱！”

双足飞龙似乎听见了，攻势顿时变得如外科手术般精细。巨龙用爪子小心地把里面的人取了出来，没有损伤装甲的其他部分。衣衫凌乱的奥古斯蒂成员还没反应过来，双足飞龙就把她扔在地上，原子猫立刻上前制住了她。

从她介入到战斗结束，不过短短几秒。瑞恩检查了机甲，幸好伏尔甘有先见之明，给装甲的聚变反应堆装了故障保护装置。这座城市不至于毁于核爆……这一次不会。

双足飞龙的胜利没有吓到孩子们，反而让他们欣喜若狂。短暂的安静后，欢呼声响成一片。只有那个被心震接入过的孩子依旧神情呆滞，她的双胞胎姐妹正试图唤醒她。瑞恩立刻赶到她们身边，进行救治。

幸好，他花在研究医学与生物学上的循环足够多，给她做个检查不成问题。心震通过身体孔洞侵入的手段虽然粗暴，通常却不会损伤对象大脑中的关键区域。这个可怜的孩子有轻度脑震荡，但没有生命危险。

“她没事吧？”莎拉问瑞恩，喜悦已被担忧取代，孤儿们纷纷围了过来。

“没事。”他一边说，一边用自己的风衣擦去小病人鼻子上的血，“不过她需要休息。”

“他们杀了狗狗。”一个孩子说道，惊恐地看着动物仍在燃烧的残骸和毁坏的围栏。

双足飞龙打量了一会儿现场，目光从孤儿院墙上的大洞移到心震正在锈蚀的遗骸。“快存，我们得好好谈谈，谈很久很久。”她声如洪钟，与其说是人声，更像暴龙的咆哮。“你也是，原子猫！没有授权，也没有后援，就闯进敌人的地盘，你们两个到底在想什么？！你们可能会死的！”

“他们想绑架孩子！”原子猫辩解道。

“那你们就该叫我来支援。”双足飞龙语气坚决，“算你们走运，我一直跟着伏尔甘，免得她闹出乱子。”

说到伏尔甘，她正被原子猫按着脸趴在地上，挣脱不得，气得暴跳如雷。双足飞龙变回人形，制服随之缩小。她看着这位奥古斯蒂成员，扬眉吐气的神色中又夹杂着怜悯。“落到这一步，你只能怪自己，贾丝敏。”

“去你妈的，劳拉。”奥古斯蒂的天才又苦涩又愤怒地回道，“去你妈的。”

“谁有绳子？”原子猫问，他已经受够了光靠双手压制伏尔甘。

“我车里有手铐和眼罩。”瑞恩说道。见双足飞龙对自己挑起一边眉毛，他补充道：“我交往过一些怪人。”

女超级英雄双手叉腰，扫了瑞恩和原子猫一眼。“你们两个都被禁足了。”

“遵命，龙妈。”瑞恩哀叹一声，随即转头看向蚊子。那家伙正躺在自己的血泊里，痛苦地挣扎。“他还活着。”

“只剩一口气了。”双足飞龙警惕地答道。

“你们为什么绑架孩子，混蛋？”原子猫冲疯魔吼道。

“去嘬老子的刺吧……”蚊子嘶声道。

“回答问题，我们就给你治疗。”双足飞龙语气坚定。她虽然生气这两个归她管的家伙擅自行动，却也没半分怜悯可留给这个疯魔。“以你现在的情况，就算新陈代谢经过强化，也会在几分钟内失血而死。”

蚊子沉默了几秒，大概在权衡：是冒着告密后被老大杀掉的风险，还是现在就死。求生本能终究十分强大，他决定开口。“是……那个地方……竖井太窄，大人进不去……还有那些疯机器人，一见到基因者就开枪……”

“机器人？”双足飞龙重复道。

“什么地方？”瑞恩好奇地追问。

“亚当想进去的一座地堡……在废料场下面……不知道是什么……”蚊子疼得嘶嘶作响，“求你们，太疼了……疼得受不了……”

“我看到孩子们时就呼叫了医护人员。”双足飞龙摸了摸耳机，“他们应该快到了。”

话音落下，瑞恩给伏尔甘戴上了手铐。他帮忙救下了一座孤儿院，但愿这能让自己的善恶值往上涨一涨！

战斗结束，其他孩子也从孤儿院里出来了，立刻跑到双足飞龙身边，缠着她要签名。还有些孩子去照顾受伤的同伴，瑞恩听见他们反复叫着“朱莉娅”这个名字。

“嘿，猫咪，既然你能把扔出去的东西变成炸弹，怎么不随身带几把飞刀？”瑞恩问原子猫，这个细节一直让他很在意。“总比临时抓东西扔出去实用得多。”

“我没意识到能力还能这么用。”原子猫有些不好意思地承认，“我知道自己能把引爆延迟几秒，却从没想过可以把这点和投掷物结合起来，进行远程攻击。直到刚才打得正激烈，我才突然想通。”

“嗯，你毕竟还青涩着呢。”

“你倒是……”他拖长声音，想找句漂亮的俏皮话，“紫系。”

“哇。我给你一个小时慢慢憋，憋出句像样的回嘴来。”说实话，光凭天赋就能打成这样，猫咪已经很值得骄傲了。

瑞恩拿出手机，想看看这场战斗有没有上新闻，却收到一条来自至优者总部内那些装置的通知。

检测到后门。

哦。

看来，通过计算机系统刺探迪纳米斯的，不只瑞恩一个。他着手追踪那个IP地址，准备查个究竟，万一这是那个刺客的手笔呢。

“嘿，孩子们，我有个绝妙的办法，能让你们高兴起来。”瑞恩举起手机提议道，“谁想跟双足飞龙合影？”

“我！”“我！”“我要！”孩子们纷纷举起手，弄得双足飞龙颇有些不好意思，原子猫倒是乐不可支。就连脾气不好的小莎拉也显得有点兴奋。

他们一边等私人安保队赶来，一边拍了好几分钟的搞怪自拍。背景里，伏尔甘怒视着他们，蚊子则不断失血，正一步步走向死亡。