同章对照

When the bathysphere reached the shore, it stopped at the only place which the Meta-Gang hadn’t opened fire on yet: their own turf.

Ryan walked the streets of Rust Town, people fleeing the neighborhood in panic on the other side of the road. The toxic atmosphere, already terrible, was now saturated with smoke and ashes. Without his mask on, the courier might have coughed every minute. The locals were so terrified of the orbital bombardment, that they trampled on other people while trying to escape.

Another pillar of light hit New Rome’s south, illuminating the skies and causing a mini-earthquake. A building crumbled at Ryan’s left, forcing him to use a time-stop to avoid falling stones and glass shards. He kept going through the chaos until he reached his destination.

The Junkyard.

Before going to this cursed place, the courier had tried to contact, well, everyone. But he received no answer but static when he used his phone. Either the orbital laser had damaged underground cables and other methods of communications… or there was nobody left to answer him.

And when he had looked at Ischia Island from the coast, Ryan only saw flames and smoke.

Ryan had seen the worst hells the post-apocalyptic Earth had to offer across his travels. Irradiated cities, mutant-infested ruins, Monaco, and stuff straight out of H.R. Giger’s worst nightmares. But none had hit him as hard as New Rome’s current state.

The courier had found his bad ending, and it was all his fault.

He shouldn’t have waited for Leo’s Carnival to arrive in town nor left the bunker in the Meta’s hands; even Augustus would have been more responsible than Adam with this technology. The courier might not have pulled the trigger, but he left the gun for anyone to find.

Ryan was alone now, just like when he lost Len the first time. Except for all he knew, she probably died on that island. Died saving him.

He would have to go back in time. He couldn’t continue after this.

All Ryan could do now was clean up the trash.

As he walked inside the Junkyard’s ruins, Ryan started to hear music. An indie-rock tune, sung by none other than Big Fat Adam himself. Only rats watched as the courier made his way through molten trash hills.

In preparation for the confrontation, Ryan had rigged a bomb hidden beneath his suit alongside his other ultimate weapon, to explode on command. It would make him reload should Adam have one last trick up his sleeve. Thankfully, he always kept a dose of Rampage on himself, and so juiced himself up for the big finish. One way or another, this run would end soon.

The scene that awaited the time-traveler at the Junkyard’s center was almost surreal, even by his standards.

A mighty, technologically advanced communication tower had sprung from the ground, close to the bunker’s entrance. The device reminded Ryan of a black obelisk, albeit one covered with antennas pointed at the sky.

And the Meta-Gang were partying in its shadow.

They had cleared the trash around it to form a wide area of ground on which to stand, half the size of a soccer field. After all that happened during this loop, only five of the Psychos had survived to its final conclusion: Big Fat Adam, Frank the Mad, Acid Rain, Sarin, and a fifth soon-to-be-dead maniac. And instead of securing the area, the group had decided to hold a music jam. Acid Rain and Sarin were playing guitars, Frank was at the bass, Adam sang with a mike.

Ryan recognized the fifth one as the Land’s rumored true form, which Jasmine had briefed him on. He could have mistaken the deformed creature for a parody of Area 51 aliens: a misshapen, mouthless humanoid with baby-like short legs and a humongous, hairless head. Unlike its softer grey-skinned cousins, the Psycho seemed almost entirely made of solid dirt, with her eyes glowing yellow.

Holding a rock concert while the city burned? Typical Psychos. But worst of all, Adam looked happy. Blissfully happy, even as smoke and firestorms filled the skies.

This. This scene summed up the Meta-Gang in a nutshell.

“You should have named yourself Big Nero, Whalie,” Ryan taunted them as he revealed himself, laser blade in his right hand and a sharp edge to his wit. “That would have been more appropriate. Though I would have suggested a fiddle.”

The music stopped, as Ryan leaped onto the open field and faced the Meta. The Land immediately reacted by mentally lifting dirt below her, forming a platform to fly on. Perhaps her geokinetic power was inversely proportional to her range, and fusing with an area came at the cost of precision.

“A thief!” Acid Rain snarled, throwing away her guitar and drawing a knife. “I’ll gut him open!”

“Behind me, Mr. President!” Frank the Mad declared, rising from behind the bass and tossing it out of his way. The three meter and a half-tall titan prepared to smash the courier like an egg.

Adam raised a hand, stopping his teammates dead in their tracks.

“Come on,” Hannifat Lecter said with a cheerful grin, eyeing Ryan with amusement. His soft human skin quickly turned to a shell of hardened carbon. “It’s Cesare. He’s almost part of the family.”

“And soon I will be an orphan,” Ryan replied with venom. His eyes trailed to the tower behind the group. The Meta must have caused the tremors Len sensed beforehand by unearthing it.

“Wait, he’s alone?” Sarin asked the Land, who raised her tiny arms in confirmation. “Wow, it’s true what they say. Some folks are just too dumb to live.”

“Don’t worry about that, Miss Flatulence,” Ryan replied, stretching his limbs. “You won’t live past the next ten minutes.”

“And here I thought you came to listen to our performance,” Adam said with mock sadness. “It’s Franz Ferdinand’s This Fire, mate. One of the last songs the band recorded before the wars. Still, call me surprised. A full blast on that island and you lived? They don’t make doomsday weapons like they used to.”

“So, you were targeting me personally?” Ryan asked. “I’m honored you thought you needed a Mechron-made WMD to take me out. Must have been hard to see me with a paunch that big.”

“You and the precog princess. When things started to go sour, I tried to look for the cause, and your name came up a lot.” Adam raised his fingers as if to count. “First you got Ghoul, then you put Psyshock six feet under the only way he could ever be. Then the Land tells me you convinced Augustus’ goons to give pursuit instead of letting us skip town. That’s an awful lot of coincidences, mate. I think you knew exactly what we came in town for, and tried to beat us to the prize.”

“What can I say?” Ryan shrugged his shoulders. “I’m a cheat. Did you see the name Cesare in the Dynamis’ files? Because it looks like you sent them a pretty nasty severance package.”

“Their Elixir supply and resources were useful… until they weren’t.” Adam dropped his mike and adjusted his clothes. “There’s a whole juice lab down there, mate. Advanced enough to make knockoffs of our own. For my men, that’s all that matters.”

“But not for you,” Ryan noticed. “Before I kick your whale ass and make sure this horrible moment never happens again, you’re going to answer one question, because I truly want to know.”

“A last request?” The Meta straightened around Adam and tossed away their instruments, like a hyena pack waiting for the signal to attack. “Do tell, I’m in the mood to honor it.”

“Why?” Ryan asked, pointing at the burning city. “Why?”

Adam chuckled. “Actually, mate,” he said, a savage grin on his face. “This is all your fault.”

Ryan’s fingers tightened around the laser blade. “My fault?”

“Your fault. See, I’ve been juicing up on Elixirs for almost fifteen years. You know the drill. My genetic code degrades, causing cellular degeneration, shortening telomeres, mental instability, tumors, etc... until I take a shot and become healthy again. For a while, I was happy that way. Until I noticed a tiny problem.” Adam raised his thumb and index finger, keeping them straight and close to one another without touching. “My powers are starting to go, let’s say, haywire. I guess the Elixirs can’t heal everything, ya know? Bugs slip through.”

“You’re going to die.” Having studied their condition, Ryan knew very well that the Elixirs Psychos consumed were just delaying the inevitable. “Good.”

“Yeah, yeah, well, I came to this place because I thought I could find a cure. But now that you killed Psyshock, we can’t fully hijack Mechron’s central mainframe. We could only settle on partial control.” Adam shrugged, though the dangerous glint in his eye betrayed his true feelings. “Thanks for ruining everything, boyo.”

“You’re welcome. I did my best.”

“Well, looks like you messed up pretty bad then. Because partial control meant we could get our hands on that big interstellar firestick… and it got me thinking.”

Adam looked into Ryan’s eyes, and for a second, the courier saw it all. All the sociopathic, solipsistic narcissism lurking beneath the friendly facade. The savage beast wearing the human skin.

“I’m going to die, but you people…” Adam’s sneer turned into one of pure hatred. “You will continue to live your miserable, meaningless lives as if I never existed. That’s fucking selfish, mate. So I figured, pharaohs and kings, they were entombed with their slaves; that’s just the way things are. If I have to go, then my sendoff party will set the whole place on fire.”

Jonestown.

It was Jonestown all over again.

“That’s your motive?” In all of his endless wanderings, Ryan had never hated someone as much as this heartless, psychopathic prick. “All this pain and sorrow, just because you wanted to pull off a Jim Jones?”

“What can I say, mate?” Adam shrugged it off with a cold, cruel smirk. “Life ain’t about winning or losing. It’s about being happy. And the truth is, I don’t want anybody to be happy without me.”

Ryan flinched, these words a cruel perversion of his own philosophy.

“Anyway, Cesare…” Adam cracked his knuckles, while Acid Rain played with her knife. Poisonous rainclouds appeared in the skies above them. “I know all about your sister’s underwater base. And all the little children inside.”

The Ogre’s grin turned savage.

“I guess I will have fried fish for dinner.”

Ryan stopped time and went straight for the kill.

Obviously, Acid Rain immediately teleported away before his ability took effect, but Ryan anticipated as much. Running straight at Hannifat Lecter, the courier grabbed the plushie hidden inside his suit, flipped the switch, and tossed it into the melee.

When time resumed, Ryan had closed the gap with Adam, getting past his goons to leap on the Meta leader’s chest. The madman could barely flinch in surprise before the courier sliced his face horizontally, targeting the eyes.

The madman let out a scream of pain and surprise, before attempting to grab Ryan with his bare hands. Thanks to his enhanced sense of timing and Rampage-boosted body, the courier fled out of range, before dodging a mighty punch from Frank the Mad. The giant’s fist smashed the ground with enough force to create a small crater, the entire area shaking from the impact.

Unfortunately, Acid Rain immediately teleported to Ryan’s left and stabbed him in the flank with a knife. Only the courier’s Rampage-boosted reflexes allowed him to leap away and avoid a follow-up strike to the throat; blood dripped from his flank, but the performance enhancer dulled the sharp pain.

“My eyes!” Adam snarled, covering his wound. As Ryan expected, the madman’s power only covered his skin, like an outer shell of diamond scales. But one couldn’t see with eyes of hardened carbon.

Still standing atop a flying platform, the Land mentally caused stones to rise from the ground in the form of sharp spikes, forcing Ryan to stay on the defensive. Though he leaped around to dodge the stone traps, Frank the Mad began pursuing the courier with astonishing speed. Unlike the frail courier, he simply smashed through the Land’s spikes. Sarin, meanwhile, had floated atop a molten trash pile to gain the high ground. Acid droplets had started falling in a faint rain, damaging Ryan’s cashmere suit.

And the plushie had awoken, looking around with curious eyes.

“An angel…” Acid Rain said upon noticing the rabbit, so amazed by its terrible cuteness that she stopped her assault on Ryan. “It’s an angel.”

“The other kind!” Ryan replied while running circles around Frank. Thankfully, while the colossus had speed and range thanks to his size, it was much easier to dodge his attacks in an open space than the bunker’s narrow corridors. “Rabbit!”

The plushie raised its ears, listening to him intently.

Ryan pointed a finger at Acid Rain. “Attack!”

“Happy birthday!” The plushie leaped at Acid Rain with astonishing speed, hungry for blood. The maniacal Psycho realized the danger and quickly teleported away. Unfortunately for her, no sooner did she reappear above a pile of trash that the plushie started climbing it. “Let’s hug!”

Once the beast was unleashed, none could escape it.

While Acid Rain teleported out of sight and the plushie pursued her across the junkyard, the blinded Adam recovered from his wound to go on the offensive. His mouth widened like a pelican’s, enough that the madman could shove an arm down his throat. He brought a long spiked chain out of his own stomach, swinging it with both hands.

“We fight to the death, mate?” Adam asked, with a mix of gleeful savagery and fury. Somehow, he managed to pinpoint Ryan’s position even without his eyes. Perhaps he had an enhanced sense of smell or hearing.

“Yours first,” Ryan replied, cutting a stone spike with his laser blade as it threatened to impale him. The courier might have said a joke under other circumstances, but he was through playing.

He just wanted these monsters dead.

“Texas smash!” Frank the Mad relentlessly continued his pursuit, attempting to bullrush the courier. The ground trembled with his steps, Ryan narrowly managing to sidestep to the left before the impact. Instead, the colossus hit a nearby pile of molten trash, metallic garbage absorbed in the colossus’ body. When he recovered, Frank had grown half a meter taller.

As Ryan suspected, the Psycho could absorb metals to increase his mass… and his range. He had to kill the weaker Meta first, to make the stronger ones more manageable.

“Let’s see you dodge this!” Sarin unleashed a blast of air from her high point, while Adam and Frank converged on Ryan from both sides. The courier stopped time, moving between the various obstacles.

Keeping Frank and Adam for last, Ryan instead rushed at the tower and the Land defending it. The courier grabbed a grenade from under his suit and tossed it at both. The projectile exploded when time resumed, the blowback blasting the Land off her platform and sending the silent Psycho to the ground.

But though Mechron’s tower trembled, it didn’t break; crimson force fields automatically appeared to shield it from damage.

Though disappointed, Ryan settled for a consolation prize. Like a hawk falling on a mouse, he cut the Land in half below the waist with Reload’s blade before she could recover. The creature made no sound and didn’t shed blood. Instead, both halves fell off the ground without any reaction.

Was she even alive?

Ryan didn’t have time to ask himself questions, as Adam was instantly upon him. The cannibal maniac moved with cat-like grace in spite of his enormous size, his spike chain surging through the air like a swift serpent.

The courier had to stop time to dodge and noticed Sarin ready to attack from her rookery. Grabbing a small gun inside his back pocket, Ryan shot her repeatedly in the face in the frozen time. When the clock moved again, Sarin’s head exploded into gas, vaporous fumes escaping from her hazmat suit. Ryan also noticed that Acid Rain’s toxic clouds had moved north, perhaps to escape her pursuer.

Changing his strategy from close-combat to ranged attacks, Frank the Mad grabbed his bass and tossed it at Ryan as easily as a frisbee. Ryan managed to leap to the side while the projectile crashed behind him, only to almost stumble. The courier glanced at his left foot, finding it encased in a shell of stone.

The Land’s upper half was crawling at him with her arms, her hateful eyes glowing yellow.

Exploiting his distraction and the timestop’s cooldown, Adam caught Ryan’s right arm with his chain, the spikes tearing at his flesh. Though he had grown almost numb to any form of pain, the time-traveler had to keep his teeth clenched, as the two Psychos pulled him in opposing directions. The spikes tore through his hand’s muscle, making him drop his lightsaber.

Damn, if this continued, they might tear his whole arm off!

“On second thought, mate, I won’t kill you.” Adam opened his mouth again and spat out a new item from his gullet. A syringe full of an azure blue liquid, and bearing a familiar helix symbol.

An Elixir.

Oh God no.

Anything but that.

“I’m going to destroy you,” Adam said with a laugh, raising the potion like a knife with one hand and holding the chain with the other. “You know what they say… like father, like son!”

Ryan shouted the safe word. “Jar-Jar B—”

He didn’t finish his sentence.

A crimson sphere hit Adam’s chain and melted its links, while the surprised Psycho took an anti-tank shell to the face. The blast propelled the invulnerable maniac against the tower’s forcefield, while the Elixir shattered on the ground.

“Mr. President!” Frank the Mad immediately attempted to rush at his leader’s side, only for an enormous shape to fall upon him from the skies. The impact blew dust in all directions, Ryan only able to see a winged shape pinning the colossal Psycho to the ground, two giants trading blows. Meanwhile, a horde of rats emerged from the junkyard and immediately fell upon the bisected Land, burying her beneath their swarming mass.

Ryan glanced at the spot where Sarin used to stand, noticing Lanka and Jamie in civilian clothing in her place. They looked like shit, their face covered with ashes and minor wounds, but the courier had never been so relieved to see them at all.

And of course, she was there. Her mech landed right behind Ryan, battered, dented, but still ready to take names.

“You made me keep your fucking cat, Ryan!” Vulcan declared, raising her cannon at Adam. “You aren’t dying before I kill you!”

深潜球抵达岸边时，停在了超能帮唯一还没开火轰炸的地方：他们自己的地盘。

瑞恩走在锈镇的街头，马路另一侧的人群正惊慌失措地逃离这片街区。本就糟糕透顶的有毒空气里，如今又塞满了烟尘与灰烬。要不是戴着面具，快递员恐怕每分钟都得咳嗽。当地人被轨道轰炸吓破了胆，逃命时甚至从别人身上踩了过去。

又一道光柱击中新罗马南部，照亮了天空，还引发了一场小型地震。瑞恩左侧一栋楼房轰然倒塌，逼得他暂停时间，躲开坠落的石块和玻璃碎片。他继续穿过这片混乱，直到抵达目的地。

废料场。

来这个鬼地方之前，快递员试着联系过——怎么说呢，所有人。可手机里除了杂音，什么回应都没有。要么是轨道激光毁坏了地下电缆及其他通信设施……要么，已经没人能接听了。

而从海岸望向伊斯基亚岛时，瑞恩只看见了火焰与浓烟。

一路漂泊至今，末世地球上最惨绝人寰的地狱，瑞恩都见识过。辐射笼罩的城市、变种生物横行的废墟、摩纳哥，还有仿佛直接从H·R·吉格最可怕的噩梦里爬出来的东西。但没有哪一处，能像此刻的新罗马这样让他深受打击。

快递员迎来了自己的坏结局，而这一切都是他的错。

他不该等利奥的嘉年华来到城里，也不该把地堡留在超能帮手里；面对这项技术，就连奥古斯都都比亚当更有分寸。快递员或许没有扣下扳机，却把枪丢在了谁都能捡到的地方。

如今瑞恩又是孤身一人，就像第一次失去蕾恩时那样。只不过这一次，就他所知，她很可能已经死在那座岛上了。为了救他而死。

他必须回到过去。出了这种事，他没法再继续下去。

瑞恩现在唯一能做的，就是清理垃圾。

走进废料场的残骸间时，瑞恩听见了音乐。一首独立摇滚，演唱者正是大胖亚当本人。快递员穿行在熔融的垃圾山之间，只有老鼠在一旁注视着他。

为了这场对决，瑞恩在西装底下藏了一枚炸弹，和他的另一件终极武器放在一起，随时可以下令引爆。万一亚当还藏着什么后手，这东西就能让他读档。幸好，他身上总是备着一剂狂暴，于是便给自己来了一剂，为这场压轴大战加把劲。不管怎样，这一轮都快结束了。

在废料场中央等着这位时间旅行者的景象，即使按他的标准来看，也近乎荒诞。

地堡入口附近，一座宏伟而先进的通信塔从地下升了起来。这东西让瑞恩想起了一座黑色方尖碑，只不过上面布满了指向天空的天线。

超能帮正在塔的阴影下开派对。

他们清走了周围的垃圾，腾出一片足有半个足球场大的空地供人落脚。这一轮经历了那么多事，活到最后的疯魔只剩五个：大胖亚当、疯子弗兰克、酸雨、沙林，还有第五个很快就要送命的疯子。这帮人不去设防，反倒决定来场即兴音乐会。酸雨和沙林弹吉他，弗兰克负责贝斯，亚当拿着麦克风唱歌。

瑞恩认出了第五个家伙：那正是传闻中大地的真身，贾丝敏向他介绍过。他险些把这个畸形生物当成了对51区外星人的恶搞：一个没有嘴的扭曲人形，双腿短得像婴儿，没长一根毛的脑袋却大得惊人。和那些身体柔软的灰皮同类不同，这个疯魔似乎几乎完全由坚硬的泥土构成，双眼泛着黄光。

城市都烧起来了，还开摇滚演唱会？典型的疯魔作风。可最恶心的是，亚当看起来很开心。哪怕天空里满是浓烟和烈焰风暴，他依然幸福得不得了。

就是这一幕。这一幕，便是超能帮的全部缩影。

“你该叫自己大尼禄才对，小鲸鱼。”瑞恩现身嘲讽道，右手握着激光剑，话里也带着锋刃，“这名字才贴切。不过乐器嘛，我会建议你选小提琴。”

瑞恩跃入空地，直面超能帮，音乐随之停下。大地立刻作出反应，以意念抬起身下的泥土，形成一座供自己飞行的平台。也许她操控土石的能力强度与作用范围成反比，而与一整片区域融合，代价便是失去精度。

“小偷！”酸雨咆哮着，扔掉吉他，抽出一把刀，“我要给他开膛破肚！”

“总统先生，到我身后来！”疯子弗兰克高声宣告，从贝斯后面站起身，把琴扔到一旁。这个三米半高的巨人准备把快递员像鸡蛋一样砸碎。

亚当抬起一只手，队友们顿时停在了原地。

“别这样嘛。”汉尼胖·莱克特笑得很开心，饶有兴致地打量着瑞恩。他柔软的人类皮肤迅速化成了一层硬碳外壳。“这可是切萨雷。他都快算咱们自家人了。”

“那我马上就要成为孤儿了。”瑞恩恶狠狠地回道，目光扫向这群人身后的高塔。蕾恩先前察觉的震动，一定是超能帮把这东西挖出来时造成的。

“等等，他就一个人？”沙林问大地，后者举起小小的双臂，表示没错。“哇，老话还真没说错。有些人就是蠢得活不长。”

“这就不用你操心了，放屁小姐。”瑞恩活动着四肢，回道，“你活不过接下来的十分钟。”

“我还以为你是来听我们演出的呢。”亚当装出一副伤心的样子，“这是弗朗茨·费迪南乐队的《这把火》，伙计。他们在战争爆发前录制的最后几首歌之一。不过，我还真有点惊讶。那座岛挨了全功率一炮，你居然还活着？现在的末日武器，质量真是一代不如一代了。”

“所以，你是在专门瞄准我？”瑞恩问，“你觉得得用梅克隆造的大规模杀伤性武器才能干掉我，我真是受宠若惊。隔着那么大的肚腩还看得见我，真难为你了。”

“你，还有那位会预知的公主。事情开始不对劲以后，我试着找原因，结果你的名字出现了好多次。”亚当伸出手指，像要逐条数给他听。“先是食尸鬼栽在你手上，然后你又用唯一能彻底弄死心震的办法，把他送进了坟墓。接着，大地告诉我，是你说服了奥古斯都的打手追杀我们，而不是让我们溜出城。这巧合可有点太多了，伙计。我看你很清楚我们来城里是为了什么，还想抢在我们前头把东西弄到手。”

“我还能说什么呢？”瑞恩耸了耸肩，“我是个作弊的。你在迪纳米斯的档案里看到了切萨雷这个名字？因为你给他们的离职大礼包，好像相当凶残啊。”

“他们提供的灵药和资源确实有用……直到不再有用为止。”亚当扔掉麦克风，整了整衣服，“下面有一整座灵药实验室，伙计。先进得足够让我们自己生产仿制品。对我的手下而言，这就够了。”

“但对你不够。”瑞恩听出了话里的意思，“在我踹烂你的鲸鱼屁股、确保这个可怕的时刻永远不会重演之前，你得回答我一个问题。因为我真的想知道。”

“临终请求？”超能帮众人围在亚当身旁，直起身，扔掉乐器，像一群等待进攻信号的鬣狗。“说来听听，我正有心情成全你。”

“为什么？”瑞恩指着燃烧的城市问，“为什么？”

亚当轻笑一声。“其实呢，伙计，”他咧开嘴，露出狰狞的笑容，“这全是你的错。”

瑞恩握紧了激光剑。“我的错？”

“你的错。你看，我靠着灵药给自己续命，已经快十五年了。流程你也知道。基因编码劣化，导致细胞退化、端粒缩短、精神不稳定、肿瘤，等等……直到我再来一针，又变回健康的模样。有一阵子，我这样过得挺开心。后来我发现了一个小小的问题。”亚当举起拇指和食指，两根手指伸直，靠得很近，却没有碰在一起。“我的能力开始——怎么说呢，失控了。我猜灵药也不是什么都能治，你懂吧？总有些漏洞没补上。”

“你要死了。”瑞恩研究过疯魔的状况，很清楚他们服用的灵药不过是在拖延不可避免的结局。“好事。”

“对，对，没错。我来这儿，就是因为我以为能找到治愈的办法。可现在你杀了心震，我们就没法彻底劫持梅克隆的中央主机，只能凑合着拿到部分控制权。”亚当耸了耸肩，眼中危险的光芒却泄露了他的真实情绪。“谢谢你把一切都毁了，小子。”

“不客气。我尽力了。”

“那看来你搞砸得可够彻底。因为有了部分控制权，我们就能拿到那根星际大火棍……然后我就琢磨开了。”

亚当直视瑞恩的双眼。有那么一瞬间，快递员看清了一切。藏在友善表象之下，那反社会、奉自己为唯一中心的自恋。那头披着人皮的凶兽。

“我快死了，可你们这些人……”亚当的冷笑化为了纯粹的憎恨。“你们还会继续过自己那可悲又毫无意义的日子，就好像我从没存在过。这他妈也太自私了，伙计。所以我想啊，法老和国王入葬，不都带着奴隶陪葬吗；事情本来就该这样。要是我非走不可，那我的送行派对，就得把这整个地方都点着。”

琼斯镇。

这就是琼斯镇惨剧的重演。

“这就是你的动机？”在漫无止境的漂泊岁月里，瑞恩从未像此刻这样痛恨过谁——这个冷血、变态的王八蛋。“这么多痛苦，这么多悲伤，就因为你想学吉姆·琼斯？”

“我还能说什么呢，伙计？”亚当满不在乎地耸耸肩，嘴角挂着冷酷而残忍的讥笑。“人生不在于输赢，而在于快乐。说实话，我就是不想让任何人在没了我之后，还能过得快乐。”

瑞恩一震。这些话，是对他自己人生哲学的残酷扭曲。

“总之，切萨雷……”亚当把指关节捏得咔咔响，酸雨则把玩着手里的刀。他们头顶的天空浮现出有毒的雨云。“我知道你妹妹那座水下基地的事。还有里面所有的小孩子。”

食人魔的笑容变得狰狞。

“看来今晚有炸鱼吃了。”

瑞恩暂停时间，直取他的性命。

不出所料，酸雨在他的能力生效前便立刻传送走了，但瑞恩早有预判。快递员径直冲向汉尼胖·莱克特，掏出藏在西装里的毛绒玩具，拨动开关，将它扔进了人堆。

时间恢复流动时，瑞恩已经冲到亚当跟前，越过他的手下，跃上了超能帮头目的胸口。那疯子刚来得及惊得一颤，快递员便瞄准他的双眼，一剑横着划过了他的脸。

疯子又惊又痛，惨叫出声，随即伸出双手，试图抓住瑞恩。凭借强化的时间感与狂暴增幅后的身体，快递员逃出了他的攻击范围，又躲过了疯子弗兰克势大力沉的一拳。巨人的拳头砸在地上，硬生生打出了一个小坑，冲击令整片区域都晃动起来。

不幸的是，酸雨立刻传送到了瑞恩左侧，一刀捅进了他的腰侧。快递员全凭狂暴强化后的反应速度，才得以跃开，躲过紧接着刺向喉咙的一刀。血从他腰侧滴落，不过药剂钝化了那阵剧痛。

“我的眼睛！”亚当捂着伤口怒吼。正如瑞恩所料，这疯子的能力只覆盖皮肤，就像披着一层钻石鳞甲。但眼睛要是变成了硬碳，可就看不见东西了。

大地依旧站在飞行平台上，以意念驱动石头从地面升起，化作尖刺，逼得瑞恩只能防守。他一边跳跃着躲避石刺陷阱，疯子弗兰克一边以惊人的速度追了上来。和身板脆弱的快递员不同，他直接撞碎了大地造出的尖刺。与此同时，沙林飘上一堆熔融的垃圾，占据了制高点。酸液开始化作细雨滴落，腐蚀瑞恩的羊绒西装。

而毛绒玩具也醒了，正用好奇的目光四下打量。

“天使……”酸雨注意到了兔子，被它那可爱得令人发指的模样深深震撼，甚至停止了对瑞恩的攻击。“它是天使。”

“另一种天使！”瑞恩一边绕着弗兰克跑，一边回道。幸好，虽然这庞然大物凭着体型在速度和攻击范围上都占了便宜，但在空地上躲避他的攻击，远比在地堡狭窄的走廊里容易。“兔子！”

毛绒玩具竖起耳朵，专注地听着。

瑞恩伸手指向酸雨。“攻击！”

“生日快乐！”毛绒玩具渴求着鲜血，以惊人的速度扑向酸雨。这个癫狂的疯魔意识到了危险，迅速传送离开。可惜，她刚在一座垃圾堆上现身，毛绒玩具就开始往上爬了。“来抱抱！”

凶兽一旦出笼，便没人能逃脱。

酸雨传送出了视野，毛绒玩具在废料场里紧追不舍；与此同时，失明的亚当从受伤的冲击中缓过劲来，转而发动进攻。他的嘴像鹈鹕一样张大，大到足以让他把一条胳膊伸进喉咙。疯子从自己的胃里掏出一条布满尖刺的长链，双手抓住，挥舞起来。

“咱们不死不休，伙计？”亚当问，语气里混杂着狂喜的凶残与暴怒。不知为何，哪怕没了眼睛，他依然能准确判断瑞恩的位置。也许他的嗅觉或听觉得到了强化。

“你先死。”瑞恩回道，挥动激光剑，斩断了一根险些将他刺穿的石刺。换作平时，快递员或许会开个玩笑，但他已经玩够了。

他只想要这些怪物死。

“得克萨斯粉碎！”疯子弗兰克依旧穷追不舍，试图蛮横地撞向快递员。他的每一步都让地面震颤，瑞恩在被撞上的前一刻，险险向左侧闪开。巨人一头撞进了旁边的熔融垃圾堆，金属废料随即被吸入他的身体。等弗兰克重新站稳，他又长高了半米。

正如瑞恩所怀疑的那样，这个疯魔能够吸收金属来增加自身质量……以及攻击范围。他得先杀掉超能帮里较弱的几个，这样剩下的强敌才更好对付。

“看你怎么躲这个！”沙林从高处轰出一发空气冲击，亚当和弗兰克同时从两侧向瑞恩包抄。快递员暂停时间，穿过重重障碍。

瑞恩决定把弗兰克和亚当留到最后，转而冲向高塔，以及守在塔前的大地。快递员从西装底下掏出一枚手榴弹，朝两者扔了过去。时间恢复流动，手榴弹随即爆炸，冲击波将大地掀下平台，把这个沉默的疯魔炸落在地。

然而，梅克隆的高塔虽然震颤了一下，却没有损毁；猩红色力场自动浮现，挡下了攻击。

瑞恩虽有些失望，还是收下了安慰奖。他如鹰隼扑鼠般落下，趁大地尚未缓过劲来，用读档的剑从腰部下方将她斩成两截。那生物既没有发出声音，也没有流血。两截身子只是落在地上，毫无反应。

她到底算不算活物？

瑞恩没空细想，亚当已经瞬间逼到眼前。这个吃人的疯子体型庞大，动作却像猫一样灵巧，带刺的锁链如疾蛇般破空袭来。

快递员不得不暂停时间躲避，同时注意到沙林正待在高处的栖身点，准备发动攻击。瑞恩从后兜掏出一把小手枪，在凝固的时间里朝她的脸连开数枪。时针再次走动时，沙林的脑袋炸成了气体，烟雾从她的防化服里不断逸出。瑞恩还注意到，酸雨的毒云已经移向北方，也许是在躲避追她的东西。

疯子弗兰克改变战术，放弃近身战，改用远程攻击。他抓起贝斯，像扔飞盘一样轻松地掷向瑞恩。瑞恩成功跃向一侧，贝斯砸在身后，他自己却险些绊倒。快递员低头看了一眼左脚，发现上面裹了一层石壳。

大地的上半身正用双臂朝他爬来，那双充满怨恨的眼睛泛着黄光。

趁他分神、时间暂停能力尚在冷却，亚当用锁链缠住了瑞恩的右臂，尖刺撕开了他的皮肉。哪怕这位时间旅行者对各种疼痛都已近乎麻木，在两个疯魔朝相反方向拉扯他时，也不得不咬紧牙关。尖刺撕裂了他手上的肌肉，光剑脱手掉落。

该死，再这样下去，他们恐怕会把他整条胳膊扯下来！

“我改主意了，伙计。我不杀你。”亚当再次张开嘴，从喉咙里吐出一件新东西。那是一支装满天蓝色液体的注射器，上面印着一个熟悉的螺旋标志。

灵药。

天啊，不。

什么都行，唯独不能是这个。

“我要毁了你。”亚当大笑着，一只手像举刀一样举起药剂，另一只手攥着锁链。“老话怎么说来着……有其父，必有其子！”

瑞恩喊出了安全词。“加·加·宾——”

他没能说完。

一颗猩红色球体击中了亚当的锁链，熔断了链环；紧接着，这个吃了一惊的疯魔脸上又挨了一发反坦克炮弹。爆炸把这个刀枪不入的疯子轰到了高塔的力场上，灵药则掉在地上摔得粉碎。

“总统先生！”疯子弗兰克立刻想冲到头目身边，一道庞大的身影却从天而降，砸在他身上。冲击扬起漫天尘土，瑞恩只能看见一个带翼的身影把庞大的疯魔按在地上，两个巨物彼此拳脚相加。与此同时，一大群老鼠从废料场里涌出，立刻扑向被斩成两截的大地，用汹涌的鼠潮将她淹没。

瑞恩望向沙林先前站立的位置，发现那里换成了身穿便服的兰卡和杰米。两人看起来糟透了，脸上满是灰烬和细小的伤口，可看到他们，快递员从未像此刻这样如释重负。

而她当然也在。她的机甲落在瑞恩身后，伤痕累累，满是凹坑，却仍随时准备狠狠干上一场。

“你让我养你那只该死的猫，瑞恩！”伏尔甘抬起炮口，对准亚当，高声宣告，“在我亲手宰了你之前，你不准死！”