同章对照

It was May 12th, and Team Quicksave the Pandas had assembled.

As he drove towards Rust Town, Ryan hoped this battle would go better than Vulcan’s doomed assault against the Meta-Gang. The time-traveler had gathered everyone he could call upon, provided all the necessary intel, and he wore a cashmere suit. Everyone would soon move into position, Shortie included.

The die was cast.

Atom Cat remained silent at the car’s front seat, having outfitted his costume with a dart bandolier. Ryan thought knives were classic for a reason, but the idea of someone getting beaten by explosive darts amused him to no end. The Panda and Wardrobe stayed at the back, the former whispering a song to himself, and the latter examining Ryan with her big, beautiful eyes.

“Yuki, I know you designed my new mask,” Ryan said, “but this is getting a little creepy.”

“You went on a date yesterday,” Wardrobe said with a smile. “I can feel it.”

Did she have a gossip radar or something? Then again, Ryan had returned to his penthouse suspiciously late into the night.

In the end, the ‘ten-minute visit’ lasted half an hour. Lucky Girl had incredible taste, both for interior decoration and her sculpture hobby, to the point the courier would introduce her to Wardrobe. He had the feeling they would get along fantastically well. However, while Ryan had enjoyed the ‘date,’ his master plan had utterly failed. Lucky Girl just sent him a message saying she would ‘allow’ him to invite her again.

“It was nothing serious, Yuki,” said the courier, “so I’m still open to new romantic applications.”

“Sorry, I really like you Ryan, but I’m already in an exclusive contract with someone else.“

“Really? Congratulations!” the time-traveler replied with a warm smile. “That’s wonderful!”

“Thanks, she’s super nice, you will love her,” Yuki said with a grin. “But we’re talking about your love life. Is she in Il Migliore? Is it Len?”

“I will leave you to your endless speculations, watching as you go down the rabbit ho—” Wardrobe’s costume instantly transformed into a cosplay of Sherlock Holmes, hat and pipe included. “Hey, that’s cheating!”

“Hm…” Wardrobe observed Ryan, making deductions in her mind. “If I had to make an elaborate guess… I would say Atom Cat’s sister Fortuna, and it didn’t go farther than a chaste kiss.”

Atom Cat emerged from his silent reverie to look at Ryan in disbelief. “What?” he asked.

“That’s awesome Yuki,” the Panda congratulated Wardrobe. “How did you figure it out?”

“Elementary, my dear Panda!”

“You know Sherlock Holmes never said that in the Conan Doyle novels?” Ryan complained, but Wardrobe ignored him.

“We know she was pestering him for a date, and from his expression, he clearly considered it a chore before being pleasantly surprised,” Yuki explained, her mannerism mimicking Sherlock Holmes’ most famous movie adaptations. “Hence, he accepted out of a sense of obligation, perhaps hoping to subtly discourage her. His hairstyle is also well-groomed and his smell remains the same. Thus, we can assume the absence of physical intimacy.”

“I hate Yellow Genomes,” Ryan said, glowering while ignoring Atom Cat’s baleful glare. “I hate them so much. Also, why didn’t you use this costume before? You could have cracked the whole conspiracy in minutes!”

“I don’t like this costume,” Wardrobe replied, changing back to her normal clothes. “If I wear it for too long, I develop a craving for cocaine, tobacco, and violins. That’s not good for my health.”

“Ryan, I warned you,” Felix said, infuriated. “I asked you man to man, friend to friend.”

The courier looked into his second favorite cat's eyes, and decided to tease him some more. “I just want us to become family, Kitten,” the courier said softly. “Is that so much to ask?”

Instead of turning red as Ryan had hoped, Felix answered with a fiendish smile. “Ryan, your adoptive sister,” he spoke with the same teasing tone as the courier, “she’s single, isn’t she?”

When Felix struck back, he hit hard! “I see the kitten is young, but he has claws."

“I’m just saying, we could become a family, Quickie. But if you take, you have to give back too.”

“That’s great!” Wardrobe said, finding twisted joy in the scene. “You marry each other’s sister, and then your kids will have a teen romance! I can see the drama!”

Ryan looked back at the road. “You discovered my only weakness, Kitten. You are a troll worthy of respect.”

“Thank you, now drive,” Felix replied. “If the Meta don’t kick your ass today, I’ll do it myself afterward.”

“Oh, we’re going to Rust Town?” Wardrobe asked with a frown. “I had the feeling we would go there, but Enrique refused to tell us until we arrived.”

“I guess now the cat is out of the bag, we could check our intel,” Ryan said, Felix rolling his eyes. This reminded the courier that he should sneak into Jasmine’s foundry and recover Eugène-Henry after the raid.

Felix brought out his phone, having recorded files on it.

“Adam Fontaine, alias Adam the Ogre, alias the Brooklyn Cannibal,” Atom Cat read the report while showing Wardrobe and the Panda a picture of Hannifat Lecter. “The USA issued an international arrest warrant after he was suspected of murdering four people in Brooklyn, but he escaped to Europe on the Genome Wars' eve.”

“Wait, he was a cannibalistic serial killer before getting his Elixirs?” Ryan asked. Every time he thought Hannifat couldn’t get worse, he was proven wrong.

“Yeah, Adam was a psycho long before he went Psycho. Orange/Violet. He can turn his skin into a highly-resistant carbon alloy, granting him enhanced strength and tank-like resilience; additionally, his stomach has been turned into a pocket dimension where he can store almost anything.” Felix paused briefly. “Huh, he has almost the same power as Dad, though way weaker.”

“Mars has an armory dimension, right?” Wardrobe asked. “I really like his war god costume. Very classy.”

“Except unlike Adam, he has a large range,” Felix said gruffly, before quickly changing the subject. This time, he read them the report on Adam’s bodyguard. “Frank the Mad, identity unknown. Suffers from schizophrenic delusions where he identifies as a WWII commando, Vietnam veteran, US secret service agent, and an Area 51 super-soldier experiment. However, his testimonies contradict real events, and he becomes aggressive if called out on the inconsistencies. Orange/Red, his body is made of metal and can consume more to grow in size; also absorbs kinetic energy.”

Ryan frowned. “He can only consume metal? Not stone or ivory?”

“Only metal,” Felix replied, a little confused by the question. “Why?”

Because of how Frank’s power had reacted to Augustus.

Ryan had heard the rumors that Augustus’ body was in temporal stasis, which sounded plausible since he could act in the courier’s frozen time. However, then he shouldn’t age and a tumor wouldn’t threaten his life. As for the other possible colors, if Augustus was a White Genome, then his invulnerability should react differently to powers and normal attacks. Yet it didn’t.

The courier remembered the end of his disastrous Augusti Run. Frank the Mad and Augustus had briefly traded blows, and the Psycho’s power had automatically reacted. It tried to absorb Lightning Butt, though it failed.

The fact Frank’s power reacted at all meant Augustus’ body was made of something that registered as metal, albeit one the Psycho couldn’t consume easily. This excluded the spatial stasis hypothesis. But then, how could it explain the immunity to the time-stop, and well, everything? Perhaps Lightning Butt had consumed a Yellow Elixir turning him into a Roman deity metal statue?

Yellow or Orange, Ryan thought. The courier had the feeling he had all the pieces of the puzzle, but he needed to assemble them the right way.

He barely listened to the conversation afterward, though much to his amusement, he learned that Psyshock’s real name was Francis Grey of all things. The group passed the Private Security checkpoint without trouble; either they were the first heroes on the scene, or a few patrols had been warned to let them through.

Instead of driving straight to the Junkyard though, Ryan drove to the north of Rust Town and its industrial district. The plan called for Dynamis to surround the Meta-Gang from all sides, and knowing Psypsy, he must have taken the courier’s prank personally. Better to lure the Psychos to an unpopulated area.

“Raid should start in thirty minutes,” Atom Cat said while checking the time. Rust Town was eerily silent as they drove, the air suffused with tension. Either Psyshock had already brainwashed the locals, or they could sense a fight would start soon and stayed home. Old neon lights flickered dangerously as the sun rose in the skies.

No, Ryan realized, a sun. Leo Hargraves traveled through the skies like a missile, aiming straight for the Junkyard at a fighter jet’s speed.

By then, the courier had reached an abandoned gas station north of the area, vast swathes of concrete covered in oil stains. The place looked like a graveyard, facing a series of abandoned projects and crumbling industrial buildings. A figure stood on one’s roof, hands pointed at the Plymouth Fury.

Sarin.

A second after Ryan noticed her, she unleashed a blast of concussed air straight at the car. “It’s time, boys and girls!” the driver whistled as his car swerved to avoid Miss Chernobyl’s blast. The attack hit the concrete pavement and blasted it to bits, while Ryan kept his car on the move.

Almost immediately, a pack of customized Dynamis dog drones broke through the buildings’ doors, having waited in ambush for the group.

“Panda!” Ryan shouted, as his team prepared for battle. “Show them your training!”

“Yes, Sifu!” The young apprentice opened his door and jumped out of the car, having fully shapeshifted before he hit the road. His bestial form tackled the drones, while Sarin kept bombarding the car from her sniping point.

By now, Hargraves had hit the Junkyard like a cruise missile, but he was only the vanguard. A swarm of helicopters flew above Rust Town from the west, led by Alphonse Manada's own vehicle. Wyvern, Devilry, and other fliers followed in their wake.

The Meta-Gang’s response was swift and brutal. Missiles surged from the Junkyard and demolished some of the helicopters; probably the doing of Psyshock’s mech. Immediately afterward, tremors shook all of Rust Town, before turning into a full-blown quake. The weakest buildings collapsed under the strain, forcing Sarin to fly away from her current position. Acidic clouds spread across the skies, threatening to engulf the entire district.

The battle for Rust Town had begun.

Now that he didn’t have to dodge Sarin’s blasts, Ryan abruptly stopped the car near the gas station. He and his remaining teammates quickly stepped out of it, the whole place smelling of gasoline. With a whistle from the courier, the Plymouth Fury’s autopilot took over and drove it to safety.

“Now,” Ryan said, as he brought his coil gun and Desert Eagle out of his suit, wielding one in each hand, “who goes first?”

“Me, me!” Wardrobe’s suit changed into a cosplay of Frankenstein’s Monster. Lightning surged through her body, allowing her to move at an impressive speed. She powered through a hail of gunfire from a Dynamis drone and smashed it to paste with her bare hands.

Less cheerful, Atom Cat grabbed darts and threw them at Sarin. Hazmat Girl blasted them midflight, causing the projectiles to violently detonate and throw her back against a crumbling building. Ryan opened fire on her, trying to open a few holes in her suit.

However, as acidic raindrops fell from the heavens above, Ryan realized he had a date of his own.

A feeling of dread went down his spine, as he pointed his coil gun behind him and pressed the trigger. Acid Rain had teleported behind him, knives in hands, but had to duck out of the way to dodge the courier’s own projectile. The coil gun’s bullet grazed her cheek and narrowly missed her head, a drop of blood falling on the ground.

“You thief!” she snarled angrily, raising her weapons threateningly. “You bar the gates!”

“You always try to stab me in the back when we meet,” Ryan taunted her, having grown almost accustomed to it. “You don’t have to be so shy!”

“I’ll carve you open, back and front!” Acid Rain snarled as she threw a knife at his head with deadly accuracy. While the courier dodged, Atom Cat attempted to grab the Psycho and blow her into nothingness, but she quickly teleported away before he could close the gap.

Sarin jumped from her observation point and landed on the street, opening fire at Ryan and Atom Cat. The courier quickly stopped time, grabbed his Kitten, and moved them out of the way. Hazmat Girl’s blast hit the gas station and detonated whatever was left of the gasoline within in a fiery detonation. The blast tossed Ryan and Atom Cat onto their chests on the ground, while the Panda and Wardrobe were too busy with the drones to assist them.

Sarin prepared to fire another blast, only for an invisible blade to behead her. Her hazmat suit collapsed while rusting gas escaped its confines, and shields of glass formed above the various heroes to protect them from the acid raindrops. This gave Ryan and Felix precious time to rise back up.

“We have to kill Acid Rain,” Shroud warned as he appeared next to Ryan, acid raindrops turning him visible. Soon, the rain threatened to transform into a downpour. “Her power will kill thousands—”

“Left!” Ryan shouted a warning as he sensed Acid Rain’s power activate.

The Psycho teleported back into sight, two submachine guns in hand. She unleashed a hail of gunfire at Shroud and his companions, the Carnival member raising a multilayered barrier of glass to protect the group.

“Open the gates, you thief!” Acid Rain snarled with a maddened face, her projectiles unable to force their way through the barrier. “You won’t keep that place away from me!”

When she ran out of bullets, Shroud reshaped his defense into a volley of deadly shards, while Ryan assisted him with bullets and Atom Cat with explosive darts. Acid Rain tossed the machine guns away and teleported away before any projectile could hit her. The more he observed her lightning speed in action, the more Ryan grew convinced her teleportation ability came with enhanced spatial awareness; the same way his own power provided an enhanced sense of timing.

Explosions shook Rust Town, and Ryan noticed flashes of crimson light coming from the Junkyard. Frank the Mad came into view, now the size of a ten meters tall giant and smashing a transformed Wyvern through whatever buildings hadn’t yet collapsed after the quake.

Kaiju battle!

Ryan would have fanboyed, if his entire team’s life wasn’t on the line. A shiver went down his spine, as he sensed Acid Rain teleport all around them at blinding speed. In the blink of an eye, Shroud, Ryan, and Atom Cat found themselves surrounded by falling grenades.

Shit!

Ryan froze time to save his allies, grabbing as many grenades as he could and tossing them away before they could explode. But ten seconds were far too few, and while he could spare Felix and himself the worst of the bombardment, two grenades exploded right next to Shroud. The detonation blew the glass manipulator’s right arm off and shattered his armor, sending him crashing to the ground.

Immediately, his control of the glass shards faltered and the heroes’ rainshields collapsed into dust. Ryan sensed acid raindrops eat at his cashmere suit, much to his chagrin.

Worse, Acid Rain exploited the cooldown to appear right in front of Felix and stab him in the chest with two knives by surprise. The young man collapsed to his back, two knives still embedded in his body.

Though he thought he had grown numb to these things, Ryan panicked. “Felix! Mathias!”

“I’m on it!” Wardrobe broke away from her fight with the drones, leaving the Panda to manage them, and rushed at the wounded.

“Right!” Ryan shouted a warning, Acid Rain teleporting right next to Wardrobe with a gun in hand. Thankfully, Yuki’s costume changed into a ghost bedsheet before the teleporter pressed the trigger, the bullet phasing harmlessly through her head.

He had to distract that bastard. “I’m the one you want, blondie!” Ryan challenged Acid Rain, though she teleported out of his bullets’ path. “I’m leaving for the Purple World and stranding you here!”

The taunt worked, Acid Rain reappearing in front of him and opening fire with her gun. “You selfish punk, you think you can keep it all for yourself?”

Ryan froze time to dodge, before engaging the Psycho in a gunfire version of whac-a-mole. The Panda had smashed the last drone with his bare paws, while Wardrobe had changed her outfit to that of a nurse, dragging the wounded away from the battlefield.

She’s too fast, Ryan thought, as he frantically attempted to hit Acid Rain and failed every time. And unlike Lightning Butt, his projectiles couldn’t change direction mid-flight. He could have brought Paulie’s Facehugger missile, but decided against it. Such a weapon was ‘safe’ to use when the courier fought the Meta solo, but with teammates? The risk of the Psycho purposefully leading the projectile towards an ally was too great to ignore.

This may have been a miscalculation.

Thankfully, Acid Rain ran out of projectiles before he did. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared and reappeared to his left, nearly beheading Ryan with a katana.

“The Ultimate One favors me!” she snarled, forcing the courier to back down to avoid a strike. She didn’t give him any time to aim, or even think of a joke. “It wants me to win!”

“Sifu, I’m coming!” The Panda attempted to flank Acid Rain and save his master, paws raised. “Panda Roll!”

With inhuman speed, Acid Rain dodged the attack and raised her blade to behead the slower animal. Realizing the danger, Ryan abruptly stopped time to force her to disappear, but the second time resumed, the Psycho eviscerated the Panda by surprise, spilling his bowels all over the ground.

However, this gave Ryan a brief time window to aim, and he managed to hit Acid Rain in the stomach with the Desert Eagle. The Psycho vanished before she could collapse, but some blood droplets remained behind.

“Sifu…” the Panda gasped, a hand on his stomach while his bowels spilled all over the pavement.

“Young apprentice!” Unfortunately, before he could even reach the Panda, Acid Rain teleported above Ryan and struck him in the head with a steel pipe. The courier’s world briefly blurred and he dropped his guns, only to get hit in the chest before he could recover his breath.

“Once you’re dead, I can finally go back!” Acid Rain started pummeling him with two steel pipes, one in each hand. She had no style and no skill whatsoever; she didn’t need them. She was pure savagery and speed. Even Ryan’s enhanced sense of timing struggled to keep up the pace, and the acidic raindrops had started burning the skin below his costume. “I can go all the way back! You think you can keep my family away from me? You’re killing me!”

But while the courier couldn’t match her inhuman speed or strength, he more than dwarfed her in sheer skill.

Using a boxing move, Ryan sucker-punched Acid Rain in the stomach, right where his bullet had hit. The Psycho let out a scream of pain, but the courier kept pummeling this weak point, blood tainting her white shirt. She lost her breath, and dropped one of the steel pipes on the ground.

“Sifu!”

Acid Rain looked at her left, as the Panda flanked her. He had shapeshifted back into a human, and as Dr. Tyrano guessed, it had fully healed him.

The Panda lunged at a distracted Acid Rain, fist raised, and shapeshifted in the middle of his attack. Instead of a human punch, the Psycho took a full bear paw to the chest, some ribs breaking with a sickening crack. The blow tossed her backward like a ragdoll, but she teleported away before hitting the pavement.

Ryan sensed her teleport again above the Panda, a knife in hand. She fell upon the beast like a guillotine, but the courier grabbed her wrist before she could hit him and tossed her to the ground with a judo move.

She teleported away again, trying to stab Ryan from the left. This time, slowed down by her wounds, he managed to avoid Acid Rain’s stab and punched her in the face.

“The more I get into a situation, the better at it I become. And now...” Ryan grabbed the steel pipe on the ground. “I got the hang of you, Rain Woman.”

Illustrating his words with action, Ryan hit her in the face, sending teeth flying. The Psycho took a few steps back, while the Panda and his master flanked her from both sides.

“Ah… ah…” Acid Rain panted in exhaustion, searching inside her pocket with a hand and raising her knife at the duo with the other. Blood flowed from her chest and mouth, her wounds taking their toll on her. “I… send me… send me there…”

She raised a grenade at the heroes.

“Send me there!” the Psycho snarled, threatening to detonate the bomb. “Send me there, you son of-”

Boom.

Before Ryan knew what happened, Acid Rain collapsed to the side, blood flowing from the back of her skull. A shadow had risen behind her, a rifle in hand.

“Good grief, poor old Mortimer thought she would never stop teleporting around,” Mortimer said, as he reloaded his rifle. “You alright, kid?”

“Sifu, who is this guy?” the Panda asked, a little shocked by the assassin’s surprise appearance. “He… he looks like a supervillain.”

“Because he is one,” Ryan said, while glancing down at Acid Rain’s corpse. Considering the downpour started to dissipate, she wouldn’t get back up. “You should stop doing that, it’s almost vexing.”

“Lady Death’s got no owner, corpo; only dealers,” Mortimer replied with a shrug. “Anyway, you should check on your friends. I think your nurse dragged them behind a pile of concrete.”

“Just to be sure, you aren’t going to fight us?” Ryan asked. Since Sunshine had made a very public appearance, the courier worried Augustus had sent the Killer Seven to attack the Carnival and everyone present. Then again, the assassin wouldn't have helped in that case.

“What? No, Fortuna would whine like a baby if poor old Mortimer did that. By the way, you have all my respect for not having strangled her yet. I admire your self-control.”

“Then why are you here, my kill-stealing friend?”

Mortimer snorted, before sinking into the pavement. “Miss Livia sends her regards.”

五月十二日，快存救熊猫战队集结完毕。

瑞恩开车前往锈镇，心里盼着这一仗能比伏尔甘那次注定失败的超能帮突袭战打得好些。这位时间旅行者已经召集了所有能叫来的人，提供了全部必要情报，还穿上了羊绒西装。所有人都即将就位，小矮个也不例外。

骰子已经掷下。

原子猫一声不吭地坐在副驾驶座上，战衣外多了一条装着飞镖的斜挎带。瑞恩觉得飞刀之所以经典，自有它的道理，不过，一想到有人会被爆炸飞镖打得落花流水，他就乐不可支。熊猫和衣橱坐在后排，前者低声哼着歌，后者则用那双漂亮的大眼睛打量着瑞恩。

“由纪，我知道新面具是你设计的，”瑞恩说，“但你这么盯着我，有点瘆人了。”

“你昨天约会去了。”衣橱笑着说，“我感觉得到。”

她是装了八卦雷达还是怎么着？不过话说回来，瑞恩昨晚回顶层公寓时确实晚得有些可疑。

那场“十分钟的参观”，最后持续了半个小时。幸运女孩的品位实在出众，无论室内装潢，还是她业余创作的雕塑，都让信使觉得该把她介绍给衣橱认识。他有种感觉，这两人一定会非常合得来。不过，虽然瑞恩这场“约会”过得挺愉快，他的宏图大计却败了个彻底。幸运女孩刚给他发了条消息，说她“准许”他再次邀请自己。

“没什么认真的，由纪，”信使说，“所以我的恋爱申请通道仍然开放。”

“抱歉，瑞恩，我真的很喜欢你，不过我已经跟别人签了独家合约。”

“真的？恭喜！”时间旅行者露出温暖的笑容，“太好了！”

“谢谢，她人超级好，你一定会喜欢她的。”由纪咧嘴笑道，“不过咱们说的是你的感情生活。她是至优者的人吗？是蕾恩？”

“我就留你在这里无穷无尽地猜吧，眼看你在兔子洞里越陷越——”衣橱的服装瞬间变成了夏洛克·福尔摩斯的扮装，帽子和烟斗一应俱全。“喂，这是作弊！”

“嗯……”衣橱观察着瑞恩，在脑海中进行推理。“如果要我仔细推断……我会猜是原子猫的姐妹福尔图娜，而且你们最多也就纯情地亲了一下。”

原子猫从沉默的思绪中回过神，难以置信地看着瑞恩。“什么？”他问。

“太厉害了，由纪。”熊猫赞叹道，“你怎么推出来的？”

“这很简单，我亲爱的熊猫！”

“你知道柯南·道尔的小说里，夏洛克·福尔摩斯根本没说过这句台词吧？”瑞恩抱怨道，可衣橱完全没理他。

“我们知道她一直缠着他要约会，而从他的表情来看，他显然起初把这件事当成苦差，后来却收获了意外的惊喜。”由纪解释道，举手投足都在模仿最著名的几部福尔摩斯改编电影。“因此，他是出于某种义务感才答应的，也许还希望借此委婉地打消她的念头。他的发型依然整齐，身上的气味也没有变化。由此，我们可以推断，两人之间并未发生亲密的身体接触。”

“我恨黄系基因者。”瑞恩黑着脸说，全然无视原子猫那杀气腾腾的目光。“恨透了。还有，你之前怎么不穿这身？整个阴谋你几分钟就能查个底朝天！”

“我不喜欢这套衣服。”衣橱答道，变回了平常的装束。“穿得太久，我就会开始渴望可卡因、烟草和小提琴。这对健康不好。”

“瑞恩，我警告过你。”菲利克斯怒气冲冲地说，“以男人对男人、朋友对朋友的身份，我拜托过你。”

信使望进他第二喜欢的猫的眼睛里，决定再逗他一下。“我只是想跟你成为一家人，小猫咪。”信使柔声说，“这要求很过分吗？”

菲利克斯没有像瑞恩期待的那样涨红脸，而是露出了一个恶魔般的微笑。“瑞恩，你那个没有血缘关系的妹妹，”他用和信使一样戏谑的语气说，“她还是单身，对吧？”

菲利克斯反击起来，还真够狠！“看来小猫年纪不大，爪子倒挺利。”

“我只是说，咱们是可以成为一家人，快枪手。但你有所得，也得有所回报。”

“太棒了！”衣橱从眼前这一幕里品出了扭曲的乐趣。“你们各自娶了对方的姐妹，然后你们的孩子再来场青春恋爱！我已经看见那出大戏了！”

瑞恩把目光转回路面。“你发现了我唯一的弱点，小猫咪。论气人的本事，你值得尊敬。”

“谢谢，现在好好开车。”菲利克斯答道，“今天超能帮要是不揍你一顿，回头我亲自动手。”

“咦，我们要去锈镇？”衣橱皱眉问道，“我也有预感会去那里，可恩里克说不到地方就不能告诉我们。”

“既然猫腻已经藏不住了，不如核对一下情报。”瑞恩说，菲利克斯翻了个白眼。这倒提醒了信使，突袭结束之后，他得潜进贾丝敏的铸造厂，把欧仁-亨利接回来。

菲利克斯掏出手机，里面存了资料。

“亚当·方丹，别名食人魔亚当，又名布鲁克林食人魔。”原子猫一边念报告，一边给衣橱和熊猫看汉尼胖·莱克特的照片。“因涉嫌在布鲁克林谋杀四人，美国对他发出了国际逮捕令，但他在基因者战争前夕逃到了欧洲。”

“等等，他在拿到灵药之前就是吃人的连环杀手了？”瑞恩问。每当他觉得汉尼胖已经坏得不能再坏，事实总能证明他错了。

“对，早在变成疯魔之前，亚当就已经是个变态了。橙系／紫系。他能把皮肤变成一种高强度碳合金，从而获得更强的力量，以及堪比坦克的抗打击能力；此外，他的胃变成了一个口袋维度，几乎什么都能往里装。”菲利克斯稍稍停顿。“咦，他的能力跟老爸几乎一样，就是弱得多。”

“玛尔斯有个军械库维度，对吧？”衣橱问，“我很喜欢他那套战神服装。特别有格调。”

“只不过跟亚当不同，他的作用范围很广。”菲利克斯生硬地说，随即迅速转移了话题。这一次，他念的是亚当保镖的报告。“疯子弗兰克，身份不明。患有精神分裂性妄想，自认是二战突击队员、越战老兵、美国特勤局特工，以及五十一区超级士兵实验的产物。然而，他的自述与真实事件相矛盾，若有人指出其中的出入，他便会表现出攻击性。橙系／红系，身体由金属构成，可以吞噬更多金属增大体型；也能吸收动能。”

瑞恩皱起眉。“他只能吞噬金属？石头或者象牙不行？”

“只有金属。”菲利克斯对这个问题有些不解，“怎么了？”

因为弗兰克的能力曾经对奥古斯都产生过反应。

瑞恩听过传言，说奥古斯都的身体处于时间停滞状态。考虑到他能在信使暂停的时间里行动，这说法听起来还算合理。然而，真是这样的话，他就不该衰老，肿瘤也不该威胁到他的生命。至于其他可能的颜色，如果奥古斯都是白系基因者，那他的无敌之躯面对异能和普通攻击，反应就该有所不同。但事实并非如此。

信使想起了那轮灾难般的奥古斯蒂路线的结局。疯子弗兰克与奥古斯都短暂交过手，那疯魔的能力自动作出了反应。它试图吸收闪电屁股，只是没能成功。

只要弗兰克的能力产生了反应，就意味着奥古斯都的身体是由某种会被判定为金属的物质构成的，只不过这种金属不是那疯魔能轻易吞噬的。这就排除了空间停滞的假说。可如此一来，又该如何解释他对时间暂停，以及——好吧——对一切的免疫呢？也许闪电屁股喝过一剂黄色灵药，把他变成了一尊罗马神祇的金属雕像？

黄系，或者橙系。瑞恩心想。信使觉得所有拼图都已在手，只差按正确的方式拼起来。

之后的谈话，他几乎没怎么听。不过有件事让他颇觉好笑：心震的真名居然叫弗朗西斯·格雷。一行人顺利通过了私人安保队的检查站；要么他们是第一批到场的英雄，要么就是有几支巡逻队已经接到通知，要给他们放行。

不过，瑞恩没有直奔废料场，而是开去了锈镇北部的工业区。按计划，迪纳米斯要从四面八方包围超能帮。而以他对心心的了解，那家伙肯定把信使的恶作剧当成了私人恩怨。还是把疯魔引到没人的地方为妙。

“突袭应该在三十分钟后开始。”原子猫看着时间说。车子穿过锈镇，镇上静得诡异，空气中弥漫着紧张的气息。要么心震已经给当地人洗了脑，要么他们察觉到战斗即将爆发，全都躲在家里。破旧的霓虹灯忽明忽暗，透着危险的气息，而太阳正在天空中升起。

不，瑞恩意识到，那是另一个太阳。利奥·哈格雷夫斯如导弹一般划过天空，以战斗机般的速度直奔废料场。

此时，信使已经来到这片区域北面的一座废弃加油站，大片混凝土地面上满是油污。这里宛如一片墓地，对面是一排废弃住宅楼和摇摇欲坠的工业建筑。其中一栋楼的屋顶上站着一个人，双手指向普利茅斯“狂怒”。

沙林。

瑞恩刚发现她一秒，她就朝车子径直轰出了一道空气冲击波。“开场了，男孩女孩们！”驾驶座上的瑞恩吹了声口哨，猛打方向，避开了切尔诺贝利小姐的攻击。冲击波击中混凝土路面，将其炸得粉碎，而瑞恩始终没让车停下来。

几乎同时，一群经过改装的迪纳米斯机械犬破门而出。它们早已在楼里埋伏，等着这支小队。

“熊猫！”队友们准备迎战时，瑞恩大喊，“让他们看看你的修行成果！”

“是，师父！”年轻的徒弟打开车门，纵身跃出，落到路上之前便已完成变身。化作野兽的他扑向机械犬，而沙林仍在高处的狙击点不断轰击汽车。

此时，哈格雷夫斯已如巡航导弹般撞进废料场，但他只是先锋。一群直升机从西面飞入锈镇上空，领头的正是阿尔方斯·马纳达的座机。双足飞龙、邪魔以及其他会飞的人紧随其后。

超能帮的反击迅猛而残暴。导弹从废料场呼啸而起，炸毁了几架直升机；多半是心震的机甲干的。紧接着，震动传遍了整个锈镇，继而演变成一场真正的地震。最不结实的几栋楼经受不住摇晃，轰然倒塌，迫使沙林飞离原位。酸性云层在天空中蔓延，眼看就要笼罩整个城区。

锈镇之战开始了。

不再需要躲闪沙林的轰击，瑞恩猛地把车停在加油站附近。他和剩下的队友迅速下车，四周尽是汽油味。信使吹了声口哨，普利茅斯“狂怒”的自动驾驶系统随即接管车辆，驶向安全地带。

“那么，”瑞恩从西装里抽出线圈枪和沙漠之鹰，一手一把，“谁先来？”

“我，我！”衣橱的衣服变成了弗兰肯斯坦怪物的扮装。电光在她体内奔涌，赋予她惊人的速度。她顶着一台迪纳米斯机械犬射来的弹雨冲上前，徒手将它砸成了烂泥。

原子猫就没这么欢快了。他抓起飞镖，掷向沙林。防化服女孩在半空中将它们轰爆，飞镖剧烈爆炸，气浪把她掀得向后撞上了一栋摇摇欲坠的楼房。瑞恩朝她开火，试图在她的防化服上开几个洞。

然而，随着酸性的雨滴从天而降，瑞恩意识到，自己也有一场约会要赴。

一股不祥的寒意顺着脊背爬下。他把线圈枪指向身后，扣动扳机。酸雨双手持刀，刚刚瞬移到他背后，却不得不低头闪躲信使射出的子弹。线圈枪弹擦过她的脸颊，险些击中头颅，一滴血落在了地上。

“你这小偷！”她愤怒地咆哮，威胁地举起武器。“你把门堵住了！”

“每次见面，你都想从背后捅我。”瑞恩嘲弄道，他都快习惯了。“不用这么害羞嘛！”

“我会把你开膛破肚，前后都开！”酸雨咆哮着，精准而致命地朝他的头掷出一把刀。信使侧身躲闪，原子猫则试图抓住这个疯魔，把她炸得渣都不剩。但他还没来得及靠近，她便迅速瞬移走了。

沙林从高处的观察点跃下，落到街上，朝瑞恩和原子猫开火。信使立即暂停时间，抓住他的小猫，带着他闪出了攻击路线。防化服女孩的冲击波击中加油站，引爆了里面残存的汽油，轰然炸出一团烈焰。爆炸把瑞恩和原子猫掀得扑倒在地，而熊猫和衣橱正忙着对付机械犬，无暇援手。

沙林正要再轰出一发冲击波，一柄无形的利刃却斩下了她的脑袋。防化服瘫了下去，锈蚀性的气体从中逸出。与此同时，几面玻璃盾在众英雄头顶成形，替他们挡住酸雨滴。这给了瑞恩和菲利克斯宝贵的时间，让他们重新站起身。

“我们必须杀了酸雨。”裹尸布出现在瑞恩身边，酸性的雨滴让他显露出了身形。雨势越来越急，眼看就要变成倾盆大雨。“她的能力会杀死成千上万——”

“左边！”瑞恩察觉到酸雨发动能力，立刻高声示警。

疯魔瞬移回到视野之中，双手各持一把冲锋枪。她朝裹尸布和他的同伴倾泻弹雨，这位嘉年华成员竖起一道多层玻璃屏障，护住众人。

“把门打开，你这小偷！”酸雨满脸癫狂地咆哮，射出的子弹始终无法穿透屏障。“你休想拦着我，不让我去那里！”

她一打空子弹，裹尸布便将防护屏障化作致命的玻璃碎片，一齐射出。瑞恩用子弹助攻，原子猫则掷出爆炸飞镖。酸雨扔掉冲锋枪，在任何东西击中自己之前便瞬移逃走了。越是观察她那快如闪电的行动，瑞恩就越发确信，她的瞬移能力还附带了强化的空间感知，正如他自己的能力赋予了他更敏锐的时间感一样。

爆炸撼动着锈镇，瑞恩看见废料场那边不断闪烁着猩红的光芒。疯子弗兰克进入了视野，如今他已经长成十米高的巨人，正把变身后的双足飞龙砸得接连撞穿那些地震后尚未倒塌的建筑。

怪兽大战！

要不是全队的命都悬在一线上，瑞恩肯定已经像个狂热粉丝一样兴奋起来了。他察觉到酸雨正以令人目不暇接的速度在四周接连瞬移，脊背不禁一寒。眨眼之间，裹尸布、瑞恩和原子猫的周围便落下了一圈手榴弹。

操！

瑞恩冻结时间，抢救同伴。他尽可能多地抓起手榴弹，赶在爆炸之前往远处扔。可十秒实在太短。他虽然让自己和菲利克斯避开了最猛烈的轰炸，却仍有两颗手榴弹紧挨着裹尸布炸开。爆炸轰掉了玻璃操纵者的右臂，震碎了他的护甲，将他狠狠掀翻在地。

他对玻璃碎片的控制立刻开始瓦解，英雄们头顶的挡雨盾也崩成了粉尘。瑞恩感觉到酸性的雨滴正在侵蚀自己的羊绒西装，心痛不已。

更糟的是，酸雨趁着能力冷却的空当，出现在菲利克斯面前，出其不意地将两把刀捅进他的胸口。年轻人仰面倒下，两把刀仍插在体内。

瑞恩本以为自己对这种事早已麻木，此刻却还是慌了。“菲利克斯！马蒂亚斯！”

“交给我！”衣橱脱离了与机械犬的战斗，把它们留给熊猫对付，自己冲向伤员。

“右边！”瑞恩大喊示警。酸雨手里拿着枪，瞬移到衣橱身旁。好在由纪赶在她扣动扳机前，把服装变成了一身床单幽灵装。子弹穿过她的脑袋，没造成任何伤害。

他必须把那混蛋引开。“你要找的是我，金发妞！”瑞恩朝酸雨叫阵，可她瞬移避开了他的子弹。“我要去紫色世界了，把你永远扔在这儿！”

挑衅奏效了。酸雨重新出现在他面前，举枪便射。“你这个自私的小混蛋，以为能把那里全占为己有？”

瑞恩冻结时间闪开，随后与疯魔玩起了枪战版打地鼠。熊猫已经徒手拍烂了最后一台机械犬，衣橱则换上护士装，把伤员拖离战场。

她太快了。瑞恩心想。他拼命试图击中酸雨，却一次次落空。而且他不像闪电屁股，射出去的东西没法在半空中转弯。他本来可以带上保利的抱脸虫导弹，最后却打消了念头。信使独自对抗超能帮时，用这种武器还算“安全”，可带着队友呢？疯魔完全可能故意把导弹引向他的同伴，这风险太大，不能不考虑。

也许是他失算了。

好在酸雨的弹药比他先一步耗尽。眨眼间，她消失又出现在他左侧，一刀劈来，武士刀险些削掉瑞恩的脑袋。

“终极者眷顾着我！”她咆哮着，逼得信使后退躲过一击。她根本不给他瞄准的工夫，甚至不让他有空想个笑话。“它要我赢！”

“师父，我来了！”熊猫举起双掌，试图从侧翼包抄酸雨，救下师父。“熊猫滚！”

酸雨以非人的速度躲过攻击，举刀就要斩下这头迟缓动物的脑袋。瑞恩意识到危险，骤然暂停时间，迫使她消失。但时间刚一恢复，疯魔便出其不意地剖开了熊猫的肚子，肠子流了一地。

然而，这也给了瑞恩一个短暂的瞄准窗口。他用沙漠之鹰击中了酸雨的腹部。疯魔还没倒下便消失了，只留下几滴血。

“师父……”熊猫喘息着，一只手捂住肚子，肠子却仍不断往路面上流。

“徒儿！”可惜瑞恩还没来得及赶到熊猫身边，酸雨便瞬移到了他头顶，一钢管砸在他脑袋上。信使眼前的世界一阵模糊，两把枪脱手掉落。他还没缓过气，胸口便又挨了一击。

“只要你死了，我就终于能回去了！”酸雨双手各持一根钢管，开始朝他疯狂猛砸。她毫无章法，也没有任何技巧；她根本不需要。她有的只有纯粹的凶狠与速度。就连瑞恩强化过的时间感都跟不上她的节奏，而酸性的雨滴已经开始灼烧衣服底下的皮肤。“我能一路回去！你以为你能拦着我，不让我见家人？你这是在要我的命！”

可尽管信使比不上她那非人的速度和力量，若单论技巧，他却远远凌驾于她之上。

瑞恩使出一招拳击动作，冷不防一拳轰在酸雨腹部，正中先前子弹击中的位置。疯魔痛得尖叫起来，可信使仍不断猛击这处弱点，鲜血染红了她的白衬衫。她喘不上气，一根钢管脱手落地。

“师父！”

酸雨看向左侧，熊猫正从侧面包抄过来。他已经变回了人形，而正如提拉诺博士猜测的那样，这让他的伤彻底痊愈了。

熊猫举起拳头，扑向分神的酸雨，挥拳到一半时突然变身。打中疯魔胸口的已不再是人的拳头，而是一只结结实实的熊掌。几根肋骨应声折断，发出令人牙酸的脆响。这一击把她像布娃娃一样打飞了出去，但她在撞上路面前便瞬移逃走了。

瑞恩察觉到她再次瞬移到了熊猫头顶，手里握着一把刀。她如断头台的铡刀般朝巨兽落下，但信使在她击中熊猫之前抓住她的手腕，用一招柔道把她摔向地面。

她再次瞬移逃脱，试图从左边捅刺瑞恩。这一次，她的动作被伤势拖慢了。他成功躲开酸雨刺来的一刀，一拳打在她脸上。

“同一种情况遇得越多，我就越擅长应付。现在……”瑞恩捡起地上的钢管。“我已经摸清你的门道了，雨女。”

他用行动证明了这句话。瑞恩一钢管砸在她脸上，打得牙齿横飞。疯魔往后退了几步，熊猫和师父则从两侧夹住了她。

“哈……哈……”酸雨精疲力竭地喘着气，一只手往口袋里摸索，另一只手举刀对着两人。鲜血从她胸口和嘴里流下，伤势不断消耗着她。“我……送我……送我过去……”

她朝两位英雄举起一颗手榴弹。

“送我过去！”疯魔咆哮着，作势要引爆手榴弹。“送我过去，你这个狗娘——”

砰。

瑞恩还没弄清发生了什么，酸雨便向一旁倒下，鲜血从后脑涌出。一道暗影已在她身后升起，手里拿着一支步枪。

“老天，可怜的老莫蒂默还以为她会一直瞬移个没完呢。”莫蒂默一边给步枪装弹，一边说道，“你没事吧，小子？”

“师父，这家伙是谁？”刺客的突然现身让熊猫有些吃惊。“他……他看起来像个超级反派。”

“因为他就是。”瑞恩说着，低头看了一眼酸雨的尸体。暴雨已开始消散，看来她不会再爬起来了。“你该改改这个习惯，真有点烦人了。”

“死神女士可没主人，公司佬；只有替她做买卖的人。”莫蒂默耸耸肩答道，“总之，你该去看看你的朋友。我看你们那位护士好像把他们拖到一堆混凝土后面去了。”

“确认一下，你不是来跟我们打的吧？”瑞恩问。阳光已经如此高调地露了面，信使担心奥古斯都派了杀手七人组来袭击嘉年华和在场的所有人。不过，真要是那样，刺客也不会出手帮忙。

“什么？当然不是。可怜的老莫蒂默要是这么干了，福尔图娜非得像个小婴儿似的哭闹不可。顺便说一句，你居然到现在还没掐死她，我真是佩服得五体投地。你这自制力，了不起。”

“那你来干什么，我这位抢人头的朋友？”

莫蒂默哼笑一声，沉入路面。“莉维娅小姐向你问好。”