同章对照

For a second, none of the Psychos dared to move.

Instead, they looked at the surreal scene before them. That of an adorable rabbit plushie standing right outside the room, surrounded by blood and corpses. Ryan never told Len much about this unholy abomination, and so, these fools didn’t expect to awaken it. The seal had been broken, and hell set loose.

The plushie noticed the Black Elixir in Big Fat Adam’s hands, and looked at it with curiosity.

Don’t do it.

The plushie playfully glanced at Ryan.

Don’t do it!

And then, the worst came to pass.

The plushie noticed Little Sarah, bound on the table. Its ears raised up in interest, and it uttered cursed words, “Child detected!”

Finally realizing the danger, Psyshock launched his wire tentacles at the plushie, while Ghoul unleashed an ice shard volley. The possessed toy leapt into the air with unnatural agility, its eyes turning red. A laser blast hit Psypsy and vaporized his brain, the rabbit bouncing off walls to dodge attacks.

Realizing the danger of Ryan dying in the crossfire, Hannifat Lecter turned towards his captive with the Black Elixir bottle raised. “No escape!” he snarled angrily, intent on corrupting the time-traveler.

In a sudden but inevitable betrayal, Sarin unleashed a blast of compressed air at her boss. The attack threw Adam against a wall, shattered the bottle, and splattered him with black ooze. The vicious cannibal let out a scream of agony, as the Black Elixir ate through his reinforced skin and consumed him whole.

Call it Karma.

“Sarin, you traitor!” Ghoul raised his hands to freeze everyone in the room, too dim to realize it would kill Ryan and make him restart. Before Mr. Dem Bones could do anything though, the plushie bounced against his chest like a cannonball. The cryokinetic tripped on Adam’s leg and fell onto his boss’ lap, the black ooze immediately latching on to him as well. Soon, the scene looked like two birds desperately trying to escape an oil spill, and failing.

“Let’s hug!” the plushie abandoned everything to leap on the table and lovingly hug Sarah. The little girl’s gagging muffled her screams of fear and confusion. “We’ll be together, forever and ever!”

“What the fuck?” Sarin looked at the scene in shock, before getting her priorities straight. Using weak but focused vibrations, she disabled Ryan’s bindings one by one.

“AH!” Ryan gasped for air after spitting out the apple in his mouth. “That was close.”

“It’s not over yet,” Sarin warned, as the Black Elixir finished consuming its two victims. Somehow though, it didn’t collapse into nothingness like in the previous loop. Ryan quickly understood why. Ghoul couldn’t die, but the Black Elixir devoured its hosts.

A paradox.

And somehow, the situation allowed the Black Elixir to stabilize in the shape of a colossal, monstrous blob of dark goo; an oily shoggoth. Its victims’ eyes and mouth floated on the surface, the lips moving to form words. “You…” it said, the alien voice belonging to neither of its ‘hosts.’ “You… you open the gate… send me back… back to the Black…”

Sarin raised her hands to blast the creature, but Ryan stopped her by standing up between the ooze and her. He had an idea.

Look for the stars in the night sky...

“How about this?” Ryan told the shoggoth. “You help me, and I help you.”

If the creature was sentient and needed help, then perhaps it understood the concept of reciprocity.

The goo fluctuated and wriggled, but much to Hazmat Girl’s surprise, didn’t make a move to attack. It didn’t even try to assimilate Ryan, perhaps because it needed him alive and functional. “Help... how?” the ooze asked with a confused voice.

Ryan glanced at the corridor outside the room, glimpsing some movement on the other end. Psyshock must have summoned his thralls. “Helping me live through this would be a start?”

“Wait, you aren’t offing yourself?” Sarin asked, a bit surprised.

“Not yet,” Ryan replied. This run was doomed from the start, but it also provided a unique opportunity. “I’m all for assisted suicide, but only in moderation.”

“Alright…” The shoggoth slithered out of the room, Psyshock’s thralls immediately opening fire at the alien abomination. Bullets hit the creature without damaging it, and it quickly devoured them like it did with the Psychos.

“Man, you tamed a giant slime,” Sarin said, astonished.

“A shoggoth,” Ryan replied, before glancing at the other abomination in the room.

Pop!

Correction, the two rabbit abominations in the room. While the original kept hugging Sarah by the neck, the clone pulled out a switchblade and cut her bindings. The poor girl immediately removed her gagging and took a deep breath, like Ryan before her.

“Are you alright, Sarah?” the courier asked her, the little girl backing away in fear and falling off the table.

“Who are you?” she asked in a panic. “Where are we? How do you know my name?”

Before Ryan could answer, the second plushie removed its switchblade to grab Sarah’s hand instead. “Let’s play together!” it said, all but begging its new bonded child, who had no idea how to react.

“Later,” Ryan told the critter, before trying to reassure Sarah. “I’m your mom’s friend.”

“Ma? She was all strange, and these guys… they took everyone.”

“Yeah, Adam wanted to throw them at the base’s defenses,” Sarin said, before observing the plushies more closely. “Do they multiply or something? Come here, fluffy.”

The two rabbits looked at Sarin with crimson eyes.

“Hey, hey, stop!” Ryan pleaded by protecting Hazmat Girl with his body, neither of the critters dropping their murderous attitude. “She’s thirteen too, in her head! Let’s save the other preteens first, then we resort to violence.”

The two plushies calmed down, speaking in unison, “Let’s go to Disneyland!”

“We’re not going to Disneyland,” Ryan said, cracking his knucklebones. “We’re already there.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on anymore,” Sarin admitted.

“Story of my life.” The courier looked at the corridor beyond the room, which the shoggoth had cleaned up of life. All the thralls, and even the plushie’s previous victims, had been consumed by the ooze. “Thanks for the assist, by the way. I almost regret beating you up in previous loops.”

“I didn’t help you pro bono, jackass,” she replied gruffly. “Do you have a cure? Can you make me human again?”

“I don’t have a cure on myself,” Ryan admitted. “But I think I have the resources to make one.”

“So like Adam.” She crossed her arms, disappointed, but not surprised. “Always the same bullshit.”

“Except he’s a sociopathic cannibal, and I’m a friendly, grass-eating time-traveler. One should sound a little more trustworthy than the other. Who else knows about my power?”

“Uh, maybe Acid Rain? She wanted to skewer you on sight, so Adam kept her outside.”

Whalie had kept the secret close to his chest to avoid a leak or mutiny, which served Ryan fine. If he could get rid of Psyshock, nobody else in the Meta-Gang would know the truth.

“So what’s the plan, Quicksave?” Sarin asked, as the two plushies both took Sarah by one hand and tried to lead her towards the slaughter. The little girl was still too cowed to follow through with it. “If you aren’t killing yourself.”

“First we save the children and Shortie, then we’re taking over.”

Sarin froze a second. “What, the bunker?”

“Yes, the bunker.” With Adam gone, most of the Meta outside the base, and his current allies inside, Ryan had a once in many lifetimes opportunity. Since the plushie had already entered its duplication phase, the run was ruined beyond repairs, but the courier would have the opportunity to study Mechron’s tech up close. “I will need a gun, and drugs. Something that can alter the brain quickly.”

“Like every drug ever?” Sarin deadpanned, but went along anyway. “I think Psyshock keeps a batch of Bliss in the infirmary. Mongrel can’t sleep without that stuff. The other hellions should be there too.”

“Well, let’s go take some eye medicine then.” If Psyshock was mostly made of brain tissues, then drugs should paralyze him like Enrique’s toxin. “Sarah, you stay with the plushies until Uncle Ryan comes back with your mom. You don’t leave them, but you don’t listen to what they say either. They’re a baaaaad influence.”

“Let’s play outside!” the plushies replied, eager to sow chaos.

Sarah anxiously bit her lower lip, exactly like Len. Adorable! “You’re leaving me alone?”

“Oh, you’re safe, trust me. It’s everyone else who isn’t.” Ryan walked outside the room and into the corridor, Sarin following him like his shadow. “We’ll clear the way.”

After a short walk, the duo entered an underground chamber with seven vats full of colored liquid, each representing a different Elixir. Mutated animals floated in three of them, linked to strange machinery, and Ryan counted two blast doors on each side.

The courier recognized the room as the one where he died fighting Hannifat Lecter in a previous run, though one of the blast doors was closed back then. The Meta-Gang must have unlocked the next area while he slept, but it did them no good; Ryan could hear screams and gunfire coming from the next room, as thralls tasked with exploring the bunker faced the shoggoth.

Android parts covered the ground, alongside the occasional tools. Since most were bloodied, Ryan assumed they were what remained of the plushie’s victims after it made its way to the cell. The thralls must have been disassembling robots before being interrupted.

“Infirmary is the other way,” Sarin said, as Ryan searched through the tools on the ground for a weapon to use. Eventually, he settled on a bloodied hammer, elegant in its simplicity.

“You’re not mad about Ghoul?” Ryan asked her, as they left the central hub for the next corridor. “I thought the two of you were an item or something.”

“What? No, I hate that mofo, it’s just Adam always pairs us up because we’ve got good power synergy.” Hazmat Girl suddenly considered the implications of his question. “How many times did we fight before?”

“If I looked up ‘jobber’ in the dictionary, your picture would come to mind.”

She flipped him the bird in response. A witty sidekick, she wasn’t.

“I knew this job would suck, but I still signed on.” Miss Chernobyl shook her head in annoyance. “What you said, about Adam…”

“He blew up New Rome with Mechron’s orbital laser. You were fighting with him until the end.” Which was why he remained wary of her presence. He still remembered her playing a song alongside Adam’s cronies, after they burned the city.

His words did seem to spook her though. “Guess I lost all hope of a cure then, but sheesh, burn the whole—”

She froze in place, as the towering figure of Frank the Mad walked in on them from the other side of the corridor. The colossus kept his body down to move inside the narrow space, the tentacled shadow of Psypsy slithering behind him. Ryan hastily hid his hammer behind his back, immediately thinking of a plan.

“Frank, capture him,” Psyshock ordered, pointing a tentacle at Ryan. He didn’t even pay attention to Sarin. “I want him alive!”

“Yes, Mr. Vice-President.”

The schizophrenic giant took a step forward, but Ryan quickly thought on his feet. “Agent Frank,” he said, pointing a finger at Psyshock with his free hand while keeping the hammer hidden with the other. “Arrest this Viet Cong traitor! He murdered President Adam!”

His words caused the giant to flinch in confusion, while Psyshock and Sarin were too confused to say a word.

“Ryan Romano, CIA!” Quicksave continued to bluff, now fully roleplaying. “This man is a commie sympathizer who murdered the POTUS! And he killed Kennedy too! The bullet bent, Agent Frank! He made it bend in midair!”

“You cannot trick me!” Frank said, regaining his composure. He might suffer from delusions, but he wasn’t entirely stupid either. “I know we brought you to Guantanamo for a waterboarding session, and you’re going back in there! You’re the communist spy!”

“He set me up!” Ryan kept accusing Psyshock with an experienced actor’s talent. “He set me up in an attempt to silence me! And when I convinced the President of the truth during the interrogation, he murdered him! He murdered him, Frank!”

“This is nonsense!” Psyshock said, though he didn’t dare attack Ryan directly. Perhaps reading Len’s memories taught him that he shouldn’t engage the courier without backup. “Frank, he’s trying to divide us. Don’t listen and power through.”

“Agent Romano is telling the truth, Frank,” Sarin said, finally understanding Ryan’s ploy. She pointed a finger at Psyshock, who hadn’t expected her betrayal. “I swear it, Psyshock murdered Adam. I saw it.”

“Sarin, once we are done, I will disperse you to the winds,” Psyshock threatened her, “you will never reform.”

“These are serious accusations, Agent Sarin,” Frank declared. Sarin’s lies had weakened his resolve. “Do you have any proof?”

“I have!” Ryan said, freezing time.

When it resumed, Psypsy held a bloody hammer in a tentacle.

“Look at his tentacles!” Ryan said, both Psyshock and Frank noticing the hammer. “He carries the crime’s weapon in his dirty tentacles! The President’s blood is still on it! He was trying to hit you by surprise with it!”

“A hammer,” Sarin said with a nod. Her acting, while wooden, worked somewhat. “A communist weapon. Those fools can’t help themselves.”

“Frank, you are immune to metal!” Psyshock argued while hastily throwing the weapon away. The delusional giant kept looking back and forth between his superior and Ryan. “I couldn’t harm you even if I wanted to! He stopped time and set me up!”

Unfortunately for him, his last words confused Frank even more. As Sarin had warned, it appeared the Meta-Gang’s leadership did keep their troops in the dark about the courier’s power.

And Hazmat Girl immediately seized the opportunity. “Do you hear him, Frank?” she said mockingly. “Stopping time? How childish. Now that he has been caught red-handed, he will tell any lie to save himself!”

“The president died in my arms, Agent Frank,” Ryan continued to appeal to the madman’s delusions, mimicking the act of holding a dying person. “With his last breath, he tasked me to find you! He said, ‘find Agent Frank… he who fought Nazis in Alamo, and Viets in the jungle… our greatest hero… only he…’”

Ryan shed crocodile’s tears.

“‘Only he can save democracy!’”

His tearful words echoed in the corridor, like a desperate plea for help.

Frank the Mad looked at the courier and Sarin, then at Psyshock, then back at the duo, and finally at his ‘superior.’ “Mr. Vice-President,” he finally spoke up, “I swear, we will clear this misunderstanding up with due process.”

“No, you dimwit!” Psyshock shouted, infuriated by the giant’s madness. “He is speaking nonsense! You’re not even America—“

But Psyshock had forgotten something that Ryan learned long ago in his anger. The main reason why it was so difficult to work with Psychos.

To run an asylum full of madmen, you had to speak their language.

“I voted for you!” Frank suddenly punched Psyshock so hard his head exploded in a shower of brain matter. The fist hit the corridor’s wall with such strength, it caused the whole bunker to shake. “I voted for you, and you betrayed my feelings!”

And as Dynamis’ psyche report on him attested, Frank didn’t react well to people contradicting his delusions.

“So long as I live, this great nation will never fall to communism!” Frank turned around and walked towards the other end of the corridor. Ryan guessed he intended to take the elevator to the upper levels, and hunt Psyshock’s newest host. “Better dead than red!”

The furious giant’s steps caused the ground to shake, leaving a cowed Sarin and Ryan behind. “I hope it was worth it, jackass,” she told him while glancing at Psyshock’s bloody remains, “because only Adam can manage Frank when he’s pissed. None of us can kill him.”

“My hope exactly.” As Dynamis predicted, without Big Fat Adam to keep them unified, the whole Meta-Gang would implode with the right push. And now that the path to the infirmary was clear, Ryan knew exactly where to start.

After a short walk, the duo reached the whitened room in question, separated from the corridor by a glass window; the exact same place where the courier had discovered Psyshock’s terrible immortality. The orphanage’s children were kept in cages like rats or strapped to operating tables, right next to crates full of knockoff Elixirs.

“Hi, kids!” the courier waved a hand at them with a bright smile. “We’re here to free you, and bring you to your mom’s magical place!”

“You’re going to rape us?” one of the children, Giulia, asked Ryan from inside a cage.

“What, no!" Ryan protested in horror. "Of course not, I would never do that! Why are you even asking?”

“You only have boxers on…” the little girl replied, unconvinced.

“Woman,” Ryan asked Sarin, as she started scavenging the supplies, “where is my supersuit?”

“I think Psyshock threw your clothes in the incinerator.”

Ryan’s gaze turned murderous. “Then these fools have chosen death.”

“This’ll help.” Sarin tossed him a Dynamis-made laser gun and a Bliss-inhaler. “Your weapon and drugs.”

“Perfect,” Ryan replied, immediately checking the gun’s energy reserves. Not good, but passable. “Got any remorse massacring your old comrades, buddy?”

“Nope,” she replied.

Excellent. Then, as if this day couldn’t get crazier, Ryan noticed half a dozen furred shapes leaping into the corridor outside the infirmary. The demonic critters looked through the glass window at the children, mesmerized.

“Children detected! Entering cute mode!”

And so began Ryan’s first Meta Run.

With chaos and madness.

有那么一秒，几个疯魔谁也没敢动。

他们只是望着眼前这幅荒诞的景象：一只可爱的兔子毛绒玩偶就站在门外，四周尽是鲜血与尸体。瑞恩从没跟蕾恩说过多少关于这头邪恶怪物的事，因此，这群蠢货根本没料到会把它唤醒。封印已破，地狱出笼。

毛绒玩偶注意到了大胖亚当手里的黑色灵药，好奇地望着它。

别这么干。

毛绒玩偶顽皮地瞥了瑞恩一眼。

别这么干！

接着，最糟糕的事情发生了。

毛绒玩偶发现了被绑在桌上的小莎拉。它兴致勃勃地竖起耳朵，说出了那句受诅咒的话：“检测到儿童！”

心震终于意识到了危险，朝毛绒玩偶射出钢丝触手，食尸鬼也打出一轮冰锥齐射。那只鬼上身的玩具以非人的敏捷跃上半空，双眼转为红色。一道激光击中心心，将他的大脑彻底汽化；兔子则在墙壁间弹跳，躲避攻击。

汉尼胖·莱克特意识到，瑞恩可能会死于交叉火力，于是举着黑色灵药瓶，转向了自己的俘虏。“别想逃！”他愤怒地咆哮，决意要将这个时间旅行者彻底污染。

沙林突然朝自己的老大轰出一股压缩空气，背叛来得猝不及防，却又势所必然。亚当被轰得撞上墙壁，药瓶碎裂，黑色黏液溅了他一身。黑色灵药蚀穿他强化过的皮肤，将他整个人吞没，凶残的食人魔发出了痛苦的惨叫。

这就叫报应。

“沙林，你这个叛徒！”食尸鬼举起双手，准备冻住屋里所有人。他蠢到根本没意识到，这样会杀死瑞恩，让他重新来过。然而，枯骨先生还没来得及做什么，毛绒玩偶就像炮弹一样撞中了他的胸口。这名寒冰操控者被亚当的腿绊倒，一屁股跌坐在老大腿上，黑色黏液立刻也缠住了他。很快，那场面就像两只鸟拼命想从泄漏的石油里挣脱，却怎么也逃不出去。

“来抱抱！”毛绒玩偶抛下一切，跳上桌子，亲昵地抱住莎拉。小女孩惊恐又困惑的尖叫，被嘴里塞着的东西闷住了。“我们要永远永远在一起！”

“这他妈什么鬼？”沙林震惊地望着这一幕，随后才想起正事。她用微弱却集中的振动，逐一破坏了瑞恩身上的束缚装置。

“哈！”瑞恩吐出嘴里的苹果，大口喘气。“好险。”

“还没完呢。”沙林提醒道。黑色灵药已经把两个受害者吞噬殆尽，却不知为何没有像上一轮那样崩解，化为虚无。瑞恩很快明白了原因。食尸鬼死不了，而黑色灵药会吞噬宿主。

一个悖论。

不知怎么，这种情况让黑色灵药稳定了下来，变成一团庞大骇人的黑色黏胶；一只油汪汪的修格斯。受害者的眼睛和嘴巴浮在表面，嘴唇蠕动，拼出了话语。“你……”它说道，那异样的声音不属于任何一位“宿主”。“你……你打开门……送我回去……回到黑色世界……”

沙林抬起双手，打算轰击这头怪物，瑞恩却起身挡在她和黏液之间，阻止了她。他有了个主意。

在夜空中寻找星星……

“这样如何？”瑞恩对修格斯说道，“你帮我，我帮你。”

如果这东西有意识，也需要帮助，那么它或许能理解互惠这个概念。

黏液起伏、蠕动着，却出乎防化服女孩的意料，没有发动攻击。它甚至没试着同化瑞恩，也许是因为它需要他活着，而且行动自如。“帮……怎么帮？”黏液的声音透着困惑。

瑞恩朝门外的走廊瞥了一眼，瞧见远处有些动静。心震肯定召唤了他的傀儡。“先帮我活着闯过这一关，怎么样？”

“等等，你不打算自我了断了？”沙林有些惊讶地问。

“暂时不。”瑞恩回答。这一轮从一开始就注定完蛋，却也提供了一个独一无二的机会。“我完全支持协助自杀，但也得有个节制。”

“好吧……”修格斯滑出了房间，心震的傀儡立刻向这头异形怪物开火。子弹打在它身上，没能造成任何伤害。它很快便像吞噬那两个疯魔一样，将傀儡们吞噬殆尽。

“老兄，你驯服了一只巨型史莱姆。”沙林惊叹道。

“是修格斯。”瑞恩纠正完，又望向屋里的另一头怪物。

啵！

更正，是屋里的两头兔子怪物。原来的那只还抱着莎拉的脖子不放，复制出来的那只则掏出一把弹簧刀，割断了她身上的绳索。可怜的小姑娘立刻扯掉堵嘴的东西，像刚才的瑞恩一样，深深吸了一口气。

“你没事吧，莎拉？”快递员问她。小女孩惊恐地往后退，从桌上跌了下去。

“你是谁？”她慌乱地问，“我们在哪儿？你怎么知道我的名字？”

瑞恩还没来得及回答，第二只毛绒玩偶便收起弹簧刀，转而抓住了莎拉的手。“一起玩吧！”它几乎是在哀求自己刚刚认定的孩子，而莎拉完全不知道该如何反应。

“待会儿再玩。”瑞恩对那小东西说，随后试着安抚莎拉。“我是你妈妈的朋友。”

“妈妈？她当时怪怪的，还有这些人……他们把大家都抓来了。”

“没错，亚当想把他们丢去给基地的防御系统当炮灰。”沙林说着，凑近打量那两只毛绒玩偶。“它们还会繁殖什么的？过来，小毛球。”

两只兔子用猩红的眼睛望向沙林。

“喂，喂，住手！”瑞恩用身体护住防化服女孩，出声恳求，两只小东西却依旧杀气腾腾。“她脑子里也才十三岁！先去救其他小朋友，然后再诉诸暴力。”

两只毛绒玩偶平静下来，异口同声地说：“我们去迪士尼乐园吧！”

“我们不去迪士尼乐园。”瑞恩把指关节掰得咔咔响。“我们已经在里面了。”

“我已经完全搞不懂这是怎么回事了。”沙林承认道。

“我这一辈子都这样。”快递员望向门外的走廊，修格斯已经把那里清理得一个活物都不剩。所有傀儡，甚至连之前被毛绒玩偶杀死的人，都已被黏液吞噬。“顺便说一句，谢了。我都快后悔在前几轮揍过你了。”

“我可不是做慈善才帮你的，混蛋。”她粗声粗气地回答，“你有治疗方法吗？能让我重新变回人吗？”

“我手头没有现成的疗法。”瑞恩承认，“但我想，我有研究出疗法所需的资源。”

“也就是说，跟亚当一样。”她抱起双臂，失望，却并不意外。“翻来覆去都是这些屁话。”

“区别在于，他是个反社会的食人魔，而我是个友善、吃草的时间旅行者。这两者听起来，总该有一个比较值得信任吧。还有谁知道我的能力？”

“呃，可能还有酸雨？她恨不得见到你就把你捅个对穿，所以亚当让她留在外面。”

小鲸鱼为防止泄密或叛乱，对这个秘密守口如瓶，正合瑞恩心意。只要能除掉心震，超能帮就再也没人知道真相了。

“那么，快存，你有什么计划？”沙林问。两只毛绒玩偶各牵住莎拉的一只手，想带她去屠杀现场。小女孩却仍吓得不敢跟着走。“既然你不打算自杀了。”

“先救孩子们和小矮个，然后我们接管这里。”

沙林怔了一下。“什么，地堡？”

“对，地堡。”亚当已经完蛋，大多数超能帮成员都在基地外，而瑞恩眼下的盟友全在里面，这可是活上好几辈子都难得遇到的机会。毛绒玩偶既然已经进入复制阶段，这一轮便毁得无可挽回，但快递员也因此有机会近距离研究梅克隆的技术。“我需要一把枪，还有毒品。要那种能迅速影响大脑的。”

“不就是所有毒品吗？”沙林面无表情地说，却还是照办了。“我记得心震在医务室存了一批极乐。没有那玩意儿，杂种睡不着觉。其他小魔头应该也在那里。”

“好吧，那就去拿点眼药。”如果心震主要由脑组织构成，毒品应该能像恩里克的毒素一样让他瘫痪。“莎拉，在瑞恩叔叔带你妈妈回来之前，你就跟毛绒玩偶们待在一起。别离开它们，但也别听它们的话。它们会把你带坏——坏透的那种。”

“我们出去玩吧！”毛绒玩偶们答道，迫不及待地想去散播混乱。

莎拉不安地咬住下唇，跟蕾恩一模一样。太可爱了！“你要把我一个人留下吗？”

“哦，你很安全，相信我。不安全的是其他人。”瑞恩走出房间，进入走廊，沙林如影随形地跟着他。“我们去清路。”

走了没多远，两人便进入一间地下大厅。里面有七只盛满彩色液体的大缸，每种颜色各代表一种不同的灵药。其中三只缸里漂浮着变异动物，身上连接着古怪的机器。瑞恩数了数，两侧各有两扇防爆门。

快递员认出了这个房间，在之前某一轮里，他就在这里与汉尼胖·莱克特交战，丢了性命。不过，当时有一扇防爆门还关着。超能帮肯定趁他昏睡时解锁了下一区域，可这对他们毫无益处。瑞恩能听见隔壁房间传来的尖叫与枪声，负责探索地堡的傀儡们正遭遇修格斯。

地上满是仿生机器人的零件，间或夹杂着工具。大多都染了血，瑞恩猜，这些是毛绒玩偶杀向囚室的途中，那些遇害者留下的东西。被打断之前，傀儡们想必正在拆解机器人。

“医务室在另一边。”沙林说道。瑞恩正翻找地上的工具，想弄件趁手的武器。最后，他选定了一把血淋淋的锤子，简约而不失优雅。

“食尸鬼的事，你不生气？”他们离开中央大厅，走向下一条走廊时，瑞恩问她，“我还以为你俩有一腿什么的。”

“什么？没有，我讨厌那个狗娘养的。只是我们的能力很搭，亚当才总把我们配在一起。”防化服女孩忽然想到了他话里的含意。“我们以前交过多少次手？”

“我要是在字典里查‘职业输家’，脑子里就会浮现你的照片。”

她回敬了一根中指。这可不是位妙语连珠的跟班。

“明知道这差事烂透了，我还是入了伙。”切尔诺贝利小姐恼火地摇摇头。“你说亚当的那些事……”

“他用梅克隆的轨道激光炮炸了新罗马。你一直跟他并肩作战，直到最后。”正因如此，他才依然提防着她。他还记得，他们烧毁整座城市之后，她跟亚当的那帮亲信一起演奏乐曲的情景。

不过，他的话似乎确实吓到了她。“那时我大概对治好自己彻底绝望了吧。可妈的，把整座城都烧——”

她僵在了原地。疯子弗兰克高大的身影从走廊另一端迎面走来。巨人弓着身子，在狭窄的空间里挪动，心心那生着触手的黑影在他身后滑行。瑞恩赶紧把锤子藏到背后，脑中瞬间冒出了一个计划。

“弗兰克，抓住他。”心震用一根触手指着瑞恩，命令道。他甚至没看沙林一眼。“我要活的！”

“是，副总统先生。”

患有精神分裂症的巨人向前迈了一步，瑞恩却立刻随机应变。“弗兰克特工，”他说，一只手仍藏着锤子，另一只手则指向心震，“逮捕这个越共叛徒！他谋杀了亚当总统！”

巨人被他说得一怔，满脸困惑；心震和沙林也懵得说不出话来。

“瑞恩·罗马诺，中情局！”快存继续虚张声势，此时已经彻底入戏。“这个人同情共党，谋杀了美国总统！肯尼迪也是他杀的！子弹拐弯了，弗兰克特工！是他让子弹在半空中拐了弯！”

“你骗不了我！”弗兰克说，恢复了镇定。他虽然满脑子妄想，却也不完全是个傻子。“我知道，我们把你押到关塔那摩，就是要给你上水刑。你还得回去！你才是共产党间谍！”

“他陷害我！”瑞恩拿出老练演员的功力，继续控诉心震。“他陷害我，是为了封我的口！我在审讯时说服总统相信了真相，他就把总统杀了！他谋杀了总统，弗兰克！”

“一派胡言！”心震说道，却不敢直接攻击瑞恩。也许读过蕾恩的记忆后，他已经明白，没有支援就不该与快递员交手。“弗兰克，他想挑拨我们。别听他的，直接拿下！”

“罗马诺特工说的是真话，弗兰克。”沙林终于明白了瑞恩的计策。她伸手指着心震，而心震完全没料到她会背叛。“我发誓，是心震谋杀了亚当。我亲眼看见的。”

“沙林，等这里的事处理完，我会把你打散，让风把你吹个干净。”心震威胁道，“你永远都别想再聚起来。”

“这些指控很严重，沙林特工。”弗兰克郑重地说。沙林的谎言已经动摇了他的决心。“你们有证据吗？”

“我有！”瑞恩说着，暂停了时间。

时间恢复时，心心的一根触手上已经握着一把血淋淋的锤子。

“看他的触手！”瑞恩说道，心震和弗兰克都注意到了那把锤子。“他肮脏的触手上拿着凶器！上面还沾着总统的血！他刚才想用它偷袭你！”

“一把锤子。”沙林点头道。她的演技虽然生硬，多少还是起了点作用。“共产主义武器。那些蠢货就是藏不住。”

“弗兰克，你对金属免疫！”心震一边争辩，一边赶紧扔掉武器。这个妄想狂巨人的视线不断在上司和瑞恩之间来回移动。“就算我想伤害你，也根本办不到！是他暂停了时间，陷害我！”

可惜，他最后这句话让弗兰克更加困惑了。看来，正如沙林提醒过的，超能帮的头目们确实没让手下知道快递员的能力。

防化服女孩立刻抓住了机会。“听听他在说什么，弗兰克？”她嘲弄道，“暂停时间？真幼稚。现在人赃并获，为了脱身，他什么谎都编得出来！”

“总统死在了我怀里，弗兰克特工。”瑞恩继续顺着疯子的妄想往下说，双臂虚抱，仿佛正托着一个垂死之人。“临终前，他用最后一口气嘱托我来找你！他说，‘去找弗兰克特工……他在阿拉莫打过纳粹，在丛林里打过越共……我们最伟大的英雄……只有他……’”

瑞恩挤出了鳄鱼的眼泪。

“‘只有他，才能拯救民主！’”

他含泪的话语在走廊里回荡，宛如绝望的求救。

疯子弗兰克看看快递员和沙林，又看看心震，再看回两人，最后望向自己的“上司”。“副总统先生，”他终于开口，“我发誓，我们会按照正当程序澄清这个误会。”

“不行，你这个蠢货！”巨人的疯劲把心震彻底激怒了，他大吼道，“他在胡说八道！你根本就不是美国——”

然而，心震在愤怒之中，忘记了一个瑞恩早就明白的道理。那也是和疯魔共事如此困难的首要原因。

要管理一座住满疯子的疯人院，就得说他们的语言。

“我给你投过票！”弗兰克突然一拳砸向心震，力道之大，直接把他的脑袋打爆，脑浆四下飞溅。拳头轰在走廊墙上，震得整座地堡都晃了起来。“我给你投过票，你却辜负了我的感情！”

正如迪纳米斯对他的心理评估报告所证实的，弗兰克很受不了别人否定他的妄想。

“只要我还活着，这个伟大的国家就绝不会落入共产主义之手！”弗兰克转过身，朝走廊另一端走去。瑞恩猜，他打算乘电梯上楼，追杀心震最新的宿主。“宁死不赤！”

暴怒巨人的脚步震得地面直颤，将被吓住的沙林和瑞恩留在了身后。“希望你这么干值得，混蛋。”沙林瞥着心震血肉模糊的残骸，对他说，“因为弗兰克发火的时候，只有亚当管得住。我们谁也杀不了他。”

“这正是我想要的。”正如迪纳米斯所预测的，没了大胖亚当维持团结，只要从合适的地方推上一把，整个超能帮就会从内部瓦解。而现在，通往医务室的路已经畅通无阻，瑞恩非常清楚该从哪里开始。

没走多远，两人便到了那间通体白色的房间，玻璃窗将它与走廊隔开。快递员正是在这里发现了心震可怕的不死之身。孤儿院的孩子们像老鼠一样被关在笼子里，或是绑在手术台上，旁边就是一箱箱仿制灵药。

“嗨，孩子们！”快递员笑容灿烂地朝他们挥手。“我们是来救你们的，要带你们去妈妈那个神奇的地方！”

“你要强奸我们吗？”一个叫朱莉娅的孩子在笼子里问瑞恩。

“什么，当然不是！”瑞恩惊恐地抗议。“当然不会，我绝不会干那种事！你为什么要这么问？”

“你身上只穿着平角内裤……”小女孩答道，还是不太相信。

“女人，”沙林开始翻找物资时，瑞恩问她，“我的超级战衣呢？”

“我记得心震把你的衣服扔进焚化炉了。”

瑞恩眼中顿时杀气毕露。“那么，这群蠢货已经选择了死亡。”

“这能派上用场。”沙林扔给他一把迪纳米斯制造的激光枪，以及一个极乐吸入器。“你的武器和毒品。”

“完美。”瑞恩答道，立即检查枪里的剩余能量。不多，但勉强够用。“屠杀老同伙，你会良心不安吗，伙计？”

“不会。”她回答。

好极了。随后，仿佛这一天还不够疯狂似的，瑞恩发现六个毛茸茸的身影跳进了医务室外的走廊。那些恶魔般的小东西隔着玻璃窗，痴痴地望着孩子们。

“检测到儿童！进入可爱模式！”

就这样，瑞恩第一次走上了超能帮路线。

以混乱与疯狂开场。