同章对照

Ryan dived towards the servers, dodging flailing wires while the glass windows shattered around him. Outside, someone had opened fire on the garage, bullets piercing through the walls and damaging the computers inside.

“If it’s the paparazzi,” the courier complained, raising his coil gun at the ceiling, “here’s my autograph!”

He opened fire, projectiles going through the roof while glass shards formed flying walls to cover the holes in the ceiling. However, the acid rain quickly corroded them, the liquid falling on a server and starting an electrical fire.

A monstrous mass of wires stood on the roof, its malevolent eyes glaring at the courier through one of the remaining openings.

Ryan blinked. “Aren’t you braindead, Psypsy?”

“I told you,” Psyshock replied, an undercurrent of anger in his robotic voice as he raised his wire tentacles. From above, he looked like an alien metal squid. “I heal.”

“Oh good, that means I get to kill you twice.”

Ryan always saw the bright side of everything.

The courier wondered who helped the Psycho with his plastic surgery though. The skull’s shape had changed slightly, turning slimmer. Either the telepath had improper regeneration, or he had a different powerset than the courier thought.

Also, his body had been recovered by Dynamis for study. How did he escape quickly enough to launch this ambush? Something didn’t add up at all.

Psyshock moved his head out of sight before Ryan froze time, making it difficult for the courier to aim at the mutant’s only vital area. It didn’t help that the Psycho’s backup kept firing bullets from outside, providing suppressing fire. The invisible jackass created glass walls the best he could to keep the rain and the Psycho out, but the silica didn’t last long.

Deciding he would rather risk the acid rain than Psyshock brain-jacking him, the courier shot a few projectiles at the ceiling, dodged the frozen bullets, then rushed outside.

Toxic clouds had overtaken the skies as far as he could see, unleashing an acid downpour on the ship graveyard and corroding the metal husks. A large part of the area had gone up in smoke, probably Atom Cat’s doing; Ryan hoped that the kitty could hold his own against whatever allies Psyshock had brought with him.

Two mechanical hounds were the source of the gunfire, one standing atop an airbus husk, the other on the ground. They had the shape of dogs, except with a glass visor for eyes, a machine gun mounted on their back, and ammo compartments on the belly. Dynamis probably used these drones to support the Private Security, and Ryan wondered if the Meta had somehow hacked into them.

When time resumed, the courier sensed the acid rain drip on his clothes, eating at his hat and mask. Ryan’s clothes provided him little protection from the acid and had already started to dissolve; since he didn't know of any natural acid with these properties, the courier guessed it was a unique chemical composition, probably from an Orange Genome. A few minutes without cover, and he would look like a hunk of cheese.

Psyshock, standing atop the garage, attempted to pursue him, only to be forced back to dodge a glass spear aimed at his brain. A flying figure emerged from the workshop, attacking the Psycho with floating shards.

The Shroud occupied Psyshock, although the acid rain prevented him from using his invisibility. The poison corroded the vigilante’s glass armor, making him visible to everyone. Yet, he could still control the glass and silica from his machines, summoning an entire storm of sharp projectiles to keep the Psycho busy. Psyshock seemed immune to the acid rain, and moved at high speeds to dodge glass spears and blades.

Meanwhile, the drones’ machine guns opened fire on Ryan, who retaliated by targeting the one on the ship’s husk and pressing his coil gun’s trigger. The projectile, faster and more powerful than normal bullets, went through the robo-hound’s face and came out of its ass, blowing a hole in its circuitry.

The other leaped around, firing at will. Ryan whistled, his car rushing out of the smoke, and towards his location; the acid rain had consumed its windows and damaged the paint, much to the courier’s horror.

Still, the machine hound couldn’t dodge both Ryan’s shots and the vehicle. The Plymouth hit it like a deer on the road, smashing the drone into pieces.

“Cat!” Ryan shouted, rushing towards his car to take cover from the rain. “Cat!”

A chill went down his spine, as one of the raindrops suddenly transformed into a grenade right above his car.

Ryan barely had the time to backtrack before his wonderful Plymouth exploded in a burst of flames and iron parts. “My car!” the courier shouted in horror. “Not again!”

“Caught you, thief!”

A woman appeared in front of the courier, unaffected by the toxic rain. Her skin was bleached white, her golden hair cut short, and her eyes a bloodshot shade of crimson. She wore a sleeveless white shirt and tight shorts; Ryan might have called her attractive, if not for the crazy violent glint in her eyes.

Oh, and she also carried a bloody butcher knife in her right hand. Let’s not forget that part.

“Acid Rain, I suppose?” Ryan asked before activating his time stop. As he did so, the same feeling of tension ran through his spine.

When he entered the frozen time, everything was tainted by a Violet hue, but the woman had vanished. Did she manage to teleport away?

Pain raced through his body, as the acid waters managed to eat away his clothes and reach the skin beneath. While furious about his car’s destruction, the courier decided to retreat into the shadow of a ship husk, to get protection from the downpour.

The second time resumed, once again, a wave of tension went down his spine as—

Ryan let out a cough of pain, as a butcher’s knife found its way to his hand, cutting his fingers and causing him to drop his coil gun on the ground. Blood flowing through his right hand, although having experienced worse, he could still focus.

“You can see it, too…” Acid Rain chuckled, blocking his path towards the husk. “The purple world.”

…

Uh oh.

“That place between two moments and two angles, paradise!” she cackled, holding her head with both hands as if overtaken by rapturous desire. “It’s so wonderful! My brain shines with its beauty!”

“Okay lady, I’m done here,” Ryan said, looking inside his trench coat for the atom bomb. He barely had the time to bring it out of storage when the nimble killer teleported right in front of the courier, kicking the bomb away with a swift attack. She immediately vanished before the courier could return the favor.

Before she reappeared and fled, Ryan sensed… he could not quite describe it, a gut feeling. The same feeling as when his own power activated.

Not only could she summon acid rains, that Psycho could also switch places with raindrops, giving her an impressive teleportation range. A Violet Genome coupled with an Orange. One who drew her power from the same source as Ryan’s.

Their powers interfered with one another, enough that each could sense the other’s activation.

The problem was, while the courier only needed a thought to activate his time-stop, it took a fraction of a second to take effect. If she could sense its activation, Acid Rain had a very short window to react before the temporal anomaly manifested.

And not only were her reflexes superhuman, but her power also took action faster than his own. Ryan guessed it made sense. His time-stop affected the entire observable universe, while her teleportation only switched two objects in a short radius.

Ryan had found a counter.

“Geez, this city has a huge balance problem!” he complained, before taking cover under a husk’s shadow. He should have expected the Meta to send a heavy hitter after him considering all the headaches he gave them in this restart, but damn, that girl hit hard! “Cat! Cat, where are you?!”

He couldn’t hear anything with the downpour, nor see much. Even the battle between Shroud and Psyshock had turned into a distant background echo.

“I got him first,” Acid Rain laughed, reappearing atop an airbus’ remains with a machine gun. She had a clear line of sight towards Ryan. “Gutted him like a fish, chin to ass!”

She opened fire at Ryan, forcing the courier to duck. He attempted to target her with a well-placed thrown knife to the face, but she teleported away before the weapon could connect.

“Send me there!” the madwoman snarled upon reappearing on the ground near Ryan’s own location, daggers in both hands, her eyes lost in feverish madness, “Send me there, you thief! You think you can keep it all for yourself, you miserable little punk? You think you can take this beautiful world from me?! You selfish brat, you’re violating my rights!”

Ryan stopped time for a second, the woman vanishing before the effect halted the clock. He immediately stopped the effect within two seconds, deciding to stick to short bursts as a defense.

The woman reappeared, aiming for his chest, but this time he anticipated her. While she managed to put a dagger in his stomach, Ryan grazed her left shoulder with his own knife, barely missing the neck. Showing extreme nimbleness rivaling his own, she backflipped to safety, standing beneath the rain while the courier remained safely below the rusting husk.

Ryan examined the wound, realizing he couldn’t remove the blade without bleeding out. The situation wasn’t good; he only had one hand left, and he took more damage than she did. To add insult to injury, the acid droplets seemed to avoid hitting her body, leaving her impeccably dressed even in the middle of a downpour.

“Aw…” Acid Rain licked her own wound, her face one of blissful happiness. “Aw, it’s so warm… so warm...”

She…

She enjoyed getting hurt.

“My compliments to the chef,” Ryan deadpanned dryly. “May I suggest some fava beans with your drink?”

Instead of quipping back, the madwoman let out a maniacal laugh. “I’ll hurt you for this!” she snarled, her expression a mix of anger and pleasure. “Oh yes, you will squeal! I’ll knife you until you squeal, you little piggy!”

She immediately disappeared from Ryan’s sight as he activated his time stop, perhaps returning to a safe house to grab weapons. The courier didn’t mind dying now, since his perfect run towards Len would require an Augusti loop, but he would rather perish with dignity rather than die to this… this discount Joker!

Ryan searched inside his trench coat and brought out the plushie. It felt so tiny in his hand, and yet so dangerous.

“I want you to know this,” the courier said as time resumed, trying to flip the hidden switch on the plushie’s back. “You forced me to do this. You forced me to do th—”

Another mental signal followed, and a grenade appeared right in front of him.

Two words came to mind.

“Meep meep—”

Ryan’s vision turned white, his hearing went deaf, and his back hit the ground. He felt the plushie slip through his fingers, far away from him.

When he regained his sense of sight, and his ears started to make sense of words again, he laid helpless on his back, half his body burned, the rest bleeding out. Acid Rain towered over him, like an angel of death.

“I’m going to knife you to death,” she said with an angry face. “And then I’m going to get inside your bowels. I’m sure you keep the map to the purple world there. Yes, you thief, I know that. Your intestines will look so tender and beautiful.”

This woman had serious issues.

Ryan sighed and tried to come up with famous last words when Acid Rain glanced away from him and towards the shore. “Who are you?” she hissed. “Another thief? How many of you—”

A stream of pressurized water targeted the Psycho, who teleported away long before it could hit her.

Ryan frowned in confusion, as he heard heavy footsteps on the ground, powerful enough to overshadow the noise from the downpour. Something big had emerged from the sea and moved on to the shore.

Although Ryan’s vision was starting to blur, he could see it approach. A towering figure of bronze alloys, carrying some kind of flamethrower device. The figure looked like a mix between a diver suit and advanced armor, smaller than Vulcan’s, yet as thick as a tank and painted crimson. Its helmet’s single opening projected light like a lighthouse, illuminating Ryan as it glanced down at him.

His eyes widened behind his mask, as he recognized the design.

“Len?”

The iron giant didn’t answer, but although the courier couldn’t see the person within due to the lighthouse visor, he immediately recognized her posture. The way she moved and carried her weapon, the slight concern when the titan observed him...

It was her. She was out of jail and free and alive and well! Ryan’s heart beamed with happiness.

Maybe she had always been there, watching him from afar.

“Mine!” Acid Rain snarled, teleporting so quickly she seemed to be in a dozen places at once. “Mine mine mine! I am filled with disdain! Disdain and fury!”

“Len, don’t!” Ryan pleaded as the bronze giant raised her weapon, realizing the danger. “Get away!”

Too late.

When Acid Rain ended her teleportation onslaught, she had replaced multiple raindrops with grenades. A rain of bombs fell upon the duo, with enough explosives to wipe out an entire city block.

Ryan activated his time stop in a hurry, trying to drag Len away or remove the bombs. But his body collapsed under the strain of his injuries, his face hitting the bloody sand.

“Len!”

Time resumed, and this loop ended in a cataclysmic blast.

---

It was May 8th, 2020 for… the seventh time? The eighth?

Ryan had lost count, though like always, he opened the day by ramming his car into Ghoul’s back.

“You guys,” Ryan sighed, climbing down from his car as Renesco’s bar erupted into chaos. “You guys are real assholes, you know that? I hope you do.”

And since they insisted on making his life difficult, the courier would return the favor tenfold this time around.

“I’m calling Security!” Renesco complained behind the bar counter, while the bar’s customers watched on. Ghoul was trying to get back on his feet, dizzied by the blow.

Calm and hopeful after seeing Len again, Ryan grabbed the Fisty Brothers and put the gloves on. “But I am an optimist, and since this should be my perfect run, I think we can let bygones be bygones,” he said, as he playfully approached Ghoul. “Start anew, play tennis, even become friends! Do you want to be my friend Ghoul?”

“Who the hell are yo—”

Ryan sucker-punched him in the stomach, the Psycho falling to his knees with a groan.

“I think we will do it the anime way.” Ryan grabbed Ghoul’s head with the Fisty Brothers and brought it closer to his own. The Psycho’s eyes widened in confusion. “I beat you up, you will develop Stockholm Syndrome, and then you will become my Robin! Quicksave and the Ghoul Wonder! We’re going to have merchandise, comics, television shows, sitcoms, and pointless derivatives! Everything that makes life worth living! We’ll be together forever!”

The people in the bars looked at Ryan as if he were insane.

"We'll have our faces on every fast-food! McDonald, KFC, Burger King! We'll get happy meals, Ghoul! Free happy meals!"

Ghoul just stared at him with straight up terror in his eyes.

“It’s a whole new franchise!”

瑞恩扑向服务器，躲开乱甩的电线，周围的玻璃窗纷纷碎裂。外头有人朝车库开了火，子弹穿透墙壁，打坏了里面的电脑。

“要是狗仔队来了，”快递员抱怨着，将线圈枪举向天花板，“这就是我的签名！”

他开了火，弹丸穿透屋顶，与此同时，玻璃碎片在空中拼成一道道墙，堵住天花板上的破洞。然而酸雨很快便蚀穿了它们，液体落到一台服务器上，引发了电气火灾。

一大团电线构成的怪物盘踞在屋顶上，恶毒的双眼透过尚未封住的一处洞口，瞪着快递员。

瑞恩眨了眨眼。“你不是已经脑死亡了吗，心心？”

“我告诉过你，”心震答道，机械嗓音里压着怒气，电线触手高高扬起。从上方看去，他像一只外星金属鱿鱼。“我会自愈。”

“哦，太好了，那我就能杀你两次了。”

瑞恩总能看到事物光明的一面。

不过，快递员倒是好奇，谁给这疯魔做了整形。他的头骨轮廓略有变化，变得更窄了。要么这个心灵感应者的再生出了岔子，要么他的能力跟快递员以为的不是一回事。

再说，他的躯体明明被迪纳米斯收走研究了。他怎么能这么快逃出来，还发动这场伏击？这事完全说不通。

心震赶在瑞恩暂停时间前，把脑袋缩出了他的视野，让快递员很难瞄准这个变异怪物唯一的要害。更糟的是，疯魔的帮手还在外头不停射击，提供火力压制。那个隐形混蛋正尽力筑起玻璃墙，将雨水和疯魔挡在外面，可这些二氧化硅撑不了多久。

快递员决定，宁可冒险淋酸雨，也不能让心震劫持自己的大脑。他朝天花板开了几枪，避开凝固在空中的子弹，随即冲了出去。

目之所及的天空全被毒云占据，酸雨倾泻在船只坟场上，腐蚀着那些金属残骸。大片区域已经浓烟滚滚，大概是原子猫干的；瑞恩希望，不管心震带了什么帮手来，猫咪都能应付得了。

开火的是两只机械猎犬，一只站在空客飞机的残骸上，另一只在地面。它们外形像狗，只是眼睛的位置换成了玻璃视镜，背上架着机枪，腹部则装有弹药舱。迪纳米斯大概用这些无人机械支援私人安保队，瑞恩不禁怀疑，超能帮是不是用什么办法黑进了它们的系统。

时间恢复流动，快递员感觉到酸雨滴落在衣服上，侵蚀着他的帽子和面具。瑞恩的衣服挡不住多少酸液，已经开始溶解。他不知道有哪种天然酸液具备这样的性质，因此猜测这是一种成分特殊的化学物质，多半出自某个橙系基因者之手。要是几分钟内找不到遮蔽，他就会变成一块坑坑洼洼的奶酪。

站在车库顶上的心震想要追来，却被一支直取大脑的玻璃长矛逼退，不得不闪身躲避。一道身影飞出车间，操纵悬浮的碎片攻向疯魔。

裹尸布缠住了心震，只是酸雨让他无法隐形。毒液腐蚀着这位义警的玻璃铠甲，让他暴露在所有人眼前。不过，他依然能操纵自己那些机器里的玻璃和二氧化硅，掀起一整场利刃风暴，让疯魔无暇他顾。心震似乎不受酸雨影响，高速移动着，躲开一支支玻璃长矛和利刃。

与此同时，无人机械的机枪朝瑞恩开了火。瑞恩瞄准船骸上的那只，扣下线圈枪的扳机还击。弹丸比普通子弹更快、威力更大，从机械猎犬脸上射入，屁股后头穿出，将内部电路轰出一个大洞。

另一只四处跳跃，肆意开火。瑞恩吹了声口哨，他的车便冲出浓烟，朝他驶来。令快递员惊恐的是，酸雨已经蚀掉了车窗，还毁了车漆。

但机械猎犬终究没法同时躲过瑞恩的射击和汽车。普利茅斯像撞上公路上的鹿一样撞中了它，将这台无人机械撞得粉碎。

“猫！”瑞恩喊着，冲向自己的车，想借它挡雨。“猫！”

一股寒意沿着脊背窜下，就在这时，汽车正上方的一滴雨水突然变成了手榴弹。

瑞恩勉强来得及往后退，他那辆漂亮的普利茅斯就炸成了一团烈焰和四散的铁制零件。“我的车！”快递员惊恐地大喊，“怎么又来！”

“抓到你了，小偷！”

一个女人出现在快递员面前，丝毫不受毒雨影响。她的皮肤白得像漂过一样，金发剪得很短，猩红的双眼布满血丝。她穿着白色无袖衫和紧身短裤；要不是眼中那道疯狂暴戾的光，瑞恩也许会觉得她挺迷人。

哦，她右手还握着一把血淋淋的屠刀。这一点可不能忘。

“我猜，你就是酸雨？”瑞恩问完，发动了时间暂停。就在发动的同时，那种绷紧的感觉再度掠过脊背。

进入凝固的时间后，万物都染上了紫色，那个女人却消失了。她成功瞬移走了？

酸液终于蚀穿衣服，触及下方的皮肤，疼痛传遍了他的身体。虽然汽车被毁让他怒不可遏，快递员还是决定先退到一具船骸的阴影下，躲避这场暴雨。

时间恢复流动的一瞬间，那种绷紧感又一次沿着脊背窜下，紧接着——

瑞恩痛得咳出声来。一把屠刀砍上了他的手，割伤手指，线圈枪也随之掉落在地。他的右手鲜血直流，不过毕竟受过更重的伤，他仍然能集中精神。

“你也看得见……”酸雨低笑着，拦住了他通往船骸的路。“那个紫色世界。”

……

不妙。

“两个时刻、两个角度之间的那个地方，天堂啊！”她狂笑着，双手抱住脑袋，仿佛被狂喜的渴望彻底吞没。“太美妙了！我的脑子都被它的美照亮了！”

“好吧，女士，我不陪你玩了。”瑞恩说着，在风衣里摸索原子弹。他才刚把炸弹取出来，身手敏捷的杀手就瞬移到了面前，迅疾一脚踢飞炸弹。没等快递员还手，她便立刻消失了。

就在她重新现身又闪走之前，瑞恩感到了……他不太能形容，那是一种直觉。和他发动自身能力时的感觉一模一样。

这个疯魔不光能召来酸雨，还能与雨滴交换位置，瞬移范围大得惊人。紫色基因者与橙色基因者的结合。她汲取力量的源头，与瑞恩是同一个。

他们的能力会相互干扰，足以让双方察觉到对方发动能力。

问题在于，虽然快递员只要一个念头就能发动时间暂停，但能力生效仍需要极短的一瞬。如果酸雨能察觉到能力发动，就能在时间异常真正出现之前，抓住一个极其短暂的空当作出反应。

而她不但反射神经超乎常人，能力生效也比他的更快。瑞恩觉得，这倒也说得通。他的时间暂停影响整个可观测宇宙，她的瞬移却只是将近距离内的两个物体对调。

瑞恩碰上克星了。

“天哪，这座城的平衡性问题也太严重了！”他抱怨着，躲进一具残骸下方的阴影里。这一轮重来，他给超能帮添了这么多麻烦，早该料到他们会派个狠角色来对付自己。可他妈的，这女人下手也太狠了！“猫！猫，你在哪儿？！”

倾盆大雨中，他什么也听不清，也看不出多远。就连裹尸布和心震的战斗，都成了远处隐约的背景回声。

“我先收拾了他。”酸雨大笑着，手持机枪出现在一架空客飞机的残骸顶上。她与瑞恩之间毫无遮挡。“像杀鱼一样给他开了膛，从下巴一直剖到屁股！”

她朝瑞恩开火，逼得快递员俯身躲避。他掷出一把飞刀，精准地直取她面门，然而刀还没碰到她，她就瞬移走了。

“送我过去！”疯女人重新出现在瑞恩附近的地面上，双手各持一把匕首，眼中尽是狂热的疯意。“送我过去，你这个小偷！你以为能一个人独占它吗，你这可悲的小混混？你以为能从我手里夺走那个美丽的世界？！自私的小畜生，你在侵犯我的权利！”

瑞恩暂停了一秒时间。效果尚未让时钟停摆，那女人就已经消失了。他在两秒之内便立刻解除了效果，决定把每次暂停都控制得很短，用来防身。

女人再次现身，直取他的胸口，但这次瑞恩已有防备。她还是将一把匕首扎进了他的肚子，瑞恩手中的刀却也擦伤了她的左肩，差一点就命中脖颈。她展现出足以与他媲美的惊人灵活性，一个后空翻退到安全距离，站在雨中，而快递员仍留在锈蚀残骸下方的安全处。

瑞恩检查了一下伤口，明白自己不能拔刀，否则就会失血而死。情况不妙：他只剩一只手能用，伤势也远比她重。更气人的是，酸液雨滴似乎会避开她的身体，让她即便站在倾盆大雨之中，也依然衣衫齐整。

“啊……”酸雨舔着自己的伤口，一脸幸福陶醉。“啊，真暖和……真暖和……”

她……

她竟然享受受伤的感觉。

“替我向主厨致意。”瑞恩面无表情地说，“要不要来点蚕豆，配你的饮品？”

疯女人没有回嘴逗趣，而是发出一阵狂笑。“这笔账，我要让你吃够苦头！”她咆哮着，神情混杂着怒意和快感。“哦，没错，你会尖叫的！我要一刀刀捅到你尖叫为止，你这头小猪！”

瑞恩一发动时间暂停，她就立刻从他眼前消失，或许是回安全屋拿武器去了。快递员现在倒不介意死一次，因为要达成通往蕾恩的完美通关，就得走一轮奥古斯蒂路线。但他宁愿死得有尊严，也不想死在这个……这个廉价小丑手里！

瑞恩在风衣里摸索，取出了毛绒玩偶。它在掌心显得那么小，却又那么危险。

“有件事你得明白。”时间恢复流动，快递员说着，试图拨动玩偶背后隐藏的开关。“这是你逼我的。是你逼我这么干——”

又一道精神信号传来，一颗手榴弹出现在他正面前。

他脑海里冒出两个字。

“哔哔——”

瑞恩眼前一片白，耳朵失去了听觉，后背重重砸在地上。他感觉到毛绒玩偶从指间脱落，飞到了远处。

当视力恢复、耳朵也终于重新听懂人声时，他正无力地仰躺在地，一半身体烧伤，另一半血流不止。酸雨站在他上方，如同死亡天使。

“我要一刀刀捅死你。”她满脸怒容地说，“然后钻进你的肠子里。我敢肯定，你把通往紫色世界的地图藏在那里。没错，小偷，我知道。你的肠子一定又嫩又漂亮。”

这个女人的问题很严重。

瑞恩叹了口气，正琢磨该留下什么临终名言，酸雨忽然移开视线，看向岸边。“你是谁？”她嘶声道，“又一个小偷？你们到底有多少——”

一道高压水柱射向疯魔，远在击中她之前，她就瞬移走了。

瑞恩困惑地皱起眉头，听见沉重的脚步落在地上，声势甚至压过了暴雨。某个庞然大物从海中走出，登上了岸。

虽然瑞恩的视野已经开始模糊，他仍能看见对方正朝自己走来。那是一个青铜合金铸成的高大身影，手持某种类似火焰喷射器的装置。它看起来像潜水服与先进装甲的结合体，比伏尔甘的装甲小，却像坦克一样厚重，通体漆成了深红色。头盔上唯一的视窗口如灯塔般射出光来，随着它低头望向瑞恩，将他照亮。

认出这套装甲的样式时，他在面具后的双眼猛地睁大。

“蕾恩？”

钢铁巨人没有回答。虽然那灯塔般的面罩让快递员看不清里面的人，他还是立刻认出了她的姿态。她行动、持枪的方式，还有巨人打量他时流露出的那一丝担忧……

是她。她从牢里出来了，自由了，还活着，安然无恙！瑞恩心中满是喜悦。

也许她一直都在这里，远远地看着他。

“我的！”酸雨咆哮着，瞬移快得仿佛同时出现在十几个地方。“我的我的我的！我满心都是蔑视！蔑视和怒火！”

“蕾恩，别！”青铜巨人举起武器时，瑞恩意识到了危险，恳求道，“快走！”

太迟了。

酸雨结束这轮瞬移猛攻时，已经将许多雨滴换成了手榴弹。炸弹如雨般朝两人落下，爆炸威力足以夷平一整个街区。

瑞恩匆忙发动时间暂停，想把蕾恩拖走，或是移开炸弹。然而他的身体伤得太重，根本支撑不住，瘫倒下去，脸撞在染血的沙地上。

“蕾恩！”

时间恢复流动，这一轮循环在毁天灭地的爆炸中结束。

---

又是2020年5月8日了，这是……第七次？第八次？

瑞恩已经数不清了。不过一如既往，他以开车撞上食尸鬼的后背，拉开了这一天的序幕。

“你们这帮家伙。”瑞恩叹着气下了车，雷内斯科的酒吧里乱成一团。“你们真他妈混蛋，知道吗？但愿你们知道。”

既然他们非要让他不好过，那这一回，快递员就要十倍奉还。

“我要叫安保队了！”雷内斯科在吧台后抱怨，酒客们都在旁观。食尸鬼被撞得头昏脑涨，正试图爬起身来。

再见到蕾恩之后，瑞恩心中平静，也有了希望。他拿起拳头兄弟，将两只拳套戴好。“不过，我是个乐观主义者。而且既然这一轮应该能让我完美通关，我想，咱们可以既往不咎。”他一边说，一边闹着玩似的走向食尸鬼。“重新开始，打打网球，甚至交个朋友！你愿意做我的朋友吗，食尸鬼？”

“你他妈是——”

瑞恩冷不防一拳打在他肚子上，疯魔呻吟着跪倒在地。

“我想，咱们就按动漫那一套来。”瑞恩用拳头兄弟抓住食尸鬼的脑袋，将他拉到自己脸前。疯魔困惑地瞪大了双眼。“我揍你一顿，你患上斯德哥尔摩综合征，然后你就成了我的罗宾！快存与神奇食尸鬼！咱们会有周边、漫画、电视剧、情景喜剧，还有毫无意义的衍生作！让人生有意义的东西，全齐了！咱们会永远在一起！”

酒吧里的人全看着瑞恩，仿佛他疯了。

“每个快餐品牌都会印上咱们的脸！麦当劳、肯德基、汉堡王！咱们会有开心乐园餐，食尸鬼！免费的开心乐园餐！”

食尸鬼只是盯着他，眼中满是赤裸裸的恐惧。

“这可是个全新的系列品牌！”