同章对照

“You don’t believe me?” Ryan asked Len, his feet dangling from the edge of the orphanage’s roof. The stars shone brightly in New Rome’s polluted skies, their light piercing through the darkness.

“How can I?” Len asked, holding her head with her hands. Her water rifle remained within reach of her hand. “Time-travel? Downloadable memories? This is… this is insane, Riri. Insane. And my father… you’re saying my father is alive, and that Dynamis… that Dynamis turned him into...”

Well, as alive as a virus could be. Wait, could Pluto kill Bloodstream for good if her power registered him? Food for thought.

Ryan raised a hand to comfort Len, but his old friend recoiled. Without her memories, all the trust he managed to build up between them had vanished; it would have hurt once, but not this time. With Livia’s help, forgetfulness would no longer be a curse, but a temporary obstacle.

If he could convince Len to accept the memory transfer procedure. Which considering her trust issues might prove difficult.

Perhaps Ryan should save a few seconds after he began a new loop? If he could only bring back a person at once, this would at least make the memory transfer permanent. They would only remember one loop, so it was an imperfect solution, but it was better than nothing.

“This… this is too much. Too much. I… I need time to process this.” Len joined her hands, hyperventilating. It took her a few minutes to recover, and Ryan waited patiently. “I need to see the tech in question, Riri. If it’s really mine… if it’s really mine, I will recognize it. All the other stuff, you could have invented or learned through other means, but...”

“Sure,” Ryan replied with a warm tone, trying to reassure her. “Anything you need.”

Len took a long deep breath. “Riri. What happened to me?” she asked with a soft, weak voice. “When we reached that lab, assuming I believe your tale… you said I died. But not how. How did I perish?”

“You really want to know?” Ryan asked with a sigh. “It will hurt, Shortie.”

“More than everything else you told me?” She struggled to hold back tears. “He killed me.”

“Yes,” Ryan admitted. She deserved to know the truth, no matter how horrifying. “There’s a piece of him in your blood. Some kind of sleeper agent or tracking device. When you approached your father—”

“I became him.” Warm tears rained down Len’s cheeks, while she pinched her nose not to sob.

Perhaps a part of her always knew it was a possibility, even if she refused to believe it.

She did believe Ryan. Even if the tale sounded outlandish, Shortie still thought her oldest friend wouldn’t lie to her. No matter how horrifying the tale.

“Len, there’s…” Ryan struggled to find the right words, so she wouldn’t panic. “If the blood sample inside you could transform you into a monster, maybe it can do something subtler?”

Len glared at him, her sadness transforming into anger. “You’re saying… you’re saying that my father influenced my thoughts. My feelings… that my feelings for him aren’t my own.”

“Maybe they are, or maybe not. But the doubt remains as long as you carry that infection.” The courier crossed his arms. “Len, we have to remove it. Not only for everyone else’s sake, but yours too.”

“How? It’s inside me, Riri. It’s in my blood like a cancer, and your vaccine won’t work on it.”

“I know a few Geniuses who could help.” He had already sent an email to Dr. Tyrano through the scalie’s secure channel, offering him to cooperate on Knockoff research… and asking for information about his secret ‘Monster Girl’ project, much to the courier’s shame. “One can even help you with your…”

“My depression?” Len frowned. “I’m… I’m not a problem to be solved.”

“No, no.” That was exactly why he had been opposed to interacting with her across many loops. If her experience didn’t carry through, then the courier would treat her less like a person and more like an equation. “It’s… if you want. After recovering your memories.”

“And if I don’t want your transfer?” Len wiped away the tears with her hand. “Will you repeat this conversation until I say yes?”

Ryan paused to consider the question, realizing that his entire plan hinged on Len accepting the memory transfer. If his amnesiac friend wouldn’t, then what could he do? Kidnap her and transfer the memories by force? Find a way to transfer the stored knowledge across time without the current Len’s consent?

“You would rather stay amnesiac?” the courier asked. “It’s not brainwashing. You will remember memories that you forgot, but it won’t erase yours.”

“But it will change me, and I don’t know how. You know, but...”

“You’re afraid of what you will learn,” Ryan guessed. Ignorance was bliss.

“Answer me, Riri.”

“I will respect your choice. Even if it hurts.” In the end, Ryan couldn’t force his decisions upon those he loved. “I can offer my hand, but you have to reach back too.”

Len raised her knees, holding them with her arms in a fetal position. Her expression was thoughtful, undecipherable.

“Psyshock will attack this place in two days,” Ryan reminded her, changing the subject. “We need to prepare for it.”

“This place is rotten,” Len said, glancing at New Rome’s bright neon lights. “The deeper I go, the stronger the stench. The flashy colors only hide the ugliness underneath.”

“I agree with you that most of the locals don’t have fashion sense, but there are quite a few locals overflowing with glamour.” Ryan should introduce Len to Wardrobe at one point. “Where did you go after we split up?”

“The Canary Islands,” Len admitted. “The sub’s autopilot tried to bring me to the USA, but an engine problem halfway redirected it to the closest island. I stayed a few months there before moving on.”

So the Laïka had honored its namesake. “Pretty nice place,” Ryan said. “I’m surprised they managed to establish an independent republic from Dynamis, considering how half of Spain has fallen under their control.”

Len’s head perked up in surprise. “You went there?”

“Yeah, I think it was…” Two hundred years ago? Ryan’s memory was a bit foggy, as his adventures in North Africa hadn’t been memorable. “A while ago. We must have missed each other.”

“It was… it was nice. The islanders are nice.”

“Will you return there?” Ryan asked, his old friend shaking her head.

“They still fight each other sometimes,” she said. “Wherever I went… there were always Genomes who wanted more. I couldn’t make a difference there, and I couldn’t make a difference in New Rome either.”

“You still can.”

“Even if we reveal how the Knockoffs are truly made of, Dynamis will continue to oppress people. If they could do something like that for a few more euros… then they’re capable of anything.” She shook her head. “And the Augusti destroy lives through drugs and blood money. I’ve seen the ruins of Malta below the sea, Riri. Augustus made an underwater tomb for thousands.”

She wasn’t wrong, but again she only saw the darkness and missed the stars. “I think these groups can change,” Ryan said, remembering his Il Migliore loop and his discussions with Livia. “If the right people are in charge.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“But you don’t believe me.” Ryan shrugged, rising up and walking on the roof. “It’s fine, I’ll change your mind.”

“You’re going?” Len bit her lower lip. “You can… you can stay, you know.”

“Thanks,” Ryan said from the bottom of his heart. “I still have another date though.”

He moved to the door separating the roof from the levels below, but his hand stopped on the handle. “Len, there’s something I never dared to ask you before, in any of our conversations.” Ryan peeked over his shoulder, Len still sitting on the roof’s edge. “That day, when I returned to our hideout… you and the sub were gone. Did you leave, or was it the autopilot?”

Len looked away, avoiding his gaze. “I waited for you and Dad until the last second, and when you didn’t return, I… I didn’t know what to do. I thought you were both dead, and I… I just let the Laïka carry me away.”

With her family gone, Len had lost all hope for a better life.

But she had waited for Ryan until the very end.

And so, he wouldn’t abandon her.

Ryan left Len to meditate on what he told her, crossing paths with Little Sarah in the stairs. She must have tried to eavesdrop, only to find the door firmly closed. “Hey, pintsize,” the courier waved a hand at this petulant child, delighting in teasing her. “Have you seen my dog? I’m taking her on a walk.”

“Wait until I hit puberty, jackass,” the child replied, crossing her arms while pouting. “Your doggie is playing with that lazy cat and your rabbit outside.”

…

Ryan’s hands hastily moved to his trenchcoat, searching his pockets.

A-Bomb? Check.

Guns? Check.

Knives? Check.

Buzzer? Check.

Plushie?

Not check.

“Uh oh.”

Ryan rushed outside much to Sarah’s surprise, slamming the orphanage’s doors open.

He found Henriette ‘playing’ with Eugène-Henry in the yard. The courier had introduced his pets to each other, and the aristocratic cat dealt with the lowborn dog the same way a noble did with a peasant; by trying to ignore her entire existence. Still, Henriette proved too obstinate, or too stupid, to realize that. She kept licking and nuzzling the cat in an attempt to elicit a reaction, to no avail.

And the plushie sat on the steps, the button on its back switched on. The vile, long-eared demon glanced south of New Rome, perhaps dreaming of setting the city ablaze.

How? Ryan didn’t let it anywhere near the orphans! Who could have stolen it from him and switched the machine on?

Unless...

The courier had assumed a Meta-Gang member accidentally switched it on during the last loop, mistaking it for something harmless. But now that he thought of it, the timing of the furred horror’s rescue was a bit too perfect.

“You could always activate,” Ryan guessed in horror. “You were just pretending.”

All this time.

All this time, the time-traveler thought he had bound the demon inside a pentagram, but it could always step over. Ryan’s illusion of control shattered, his fingers trembling with dread. For centuries… for centuries, he had lived at the mercy of a horror that he had called, but couldn’t put down.

The plushie looked at his maker with its big blue eyes, and then behind him; Ryan froze, as he heard Little Sarah had followed him outside. The courier’s heart skipped a beat, as he watched all his hopes for this loop go down the drain.

And then the abyss looked away.

The plushie ignored them both, and gazed at Mount Augustus. It didn’t enter cute mode, didn’t make a sound. No pre-recorded message answered Ryan’s words; neither a laser nor a switchblade shed blood all over the orphanage.

The plushie didn’t want to play.

“You aren’t going to kill anyone?” Ryan asked his dreaded creation. “Not even disembowel a Psycho or two?”

No answer.

Ryan didn’t hear the whispers either. Alien voices followed in the plushie’s wake, but they had gone silent. The toy’s eldritch shadow, once so fearsome, had shrunk in size by half.

“You’re talking to a toy,” Little Sarah said. “I knew you were a druggie.”

Not even the promise of slaughter or the presence of preteens elicited a reaction. Instead, the plushie kept glaring at Mount Augustus with its big blue eyes; the menacing aura within them replaced with sourness. Ryan reached a terrible conclusion, the maddening truth clear for all to see.

By defeating the plushie so thoroughly, Lightning Butt had done the impossible.

He gave it depression.

---

Ryan knocked on Shroud’s door next. His visit was a bit earlier than usual, but he sweetened the deal with a free stuffed Ghoul. The Psycho had gone torpid, to the point Ryan wondered if his immortality gave in.

Though Ryan didn’t mention time travel, he told the translucent vigilante almost everything else. Both sat on opposing chairs for an hour inside Shroud’s hideout, the vigilante silent as a tomb. By the time his guest finished his tale, all windows had cracks and dawn rose on New Rome outside.

Mathias Martel only said one word.

“Fuck.”

“Pretty much,” Ryan said. “I’m pretty sure the Knockoffs also contain carcinogens, though I can’t prove it.”

Shroud joined his hands, meditating on what he had learned. “Do you have a hard proof that Bloodstream makes up the Knockoffs? We destroyed all our samples to prevent him from returning.”

“I have.” Len allowed Ryan to take a drop of blood for study, which he offered to the vigilante. “Put this in contact with a Dynamis Knockoff, and you will see. Keep a flamethrower nearby though.”

“I will need the vaccine data too,” Shroud said, as he carefully examined the blood in a syringe. Even now, Ryan half-expected it to burst out of its container. “If our Genius confirms what you said, then we will have to come to New Rome in force.”

“I would rather avoid that,” Ryan said. “Trust me, you will get a lot more than pigeon shit on your windshield if you do that, Matty.”

The glass manipulator’s armor seemed to shift, threatening to grow spikes. After a short moment of hesitation, he removed his helmet, revealing his true face. He approached Ryan’s head, gazing into his eyes with absolute, chilling seriousness.

“From what you’re telling me, Adam the Ogre—a man so terrible he was already eating people long before he gained superpowers—is within days of getting his hands on an orbital superweapon, and Dynamis infected thousands of people with the seeds of a global pandemic,” Mathias Martel said. “Both disasters are only possible because we failed to properly address them. Now, tell me Quicksave. How is this not a situation that deserves our full attention?”

“I told you, I can select whichever universe I want,” Ryan lied. “The sun will set on New Rome if Sunshine makes his way here. Lightning Butt will see to that. Countless innocents will die.”

“So you say,” the vigilante replied.

Ryan squinted at the hero. “How many times has your group fought Lightning Butt?”

Shroud clenched his fists. “Too many times.”

They had tried to bring him down for years, and failed. “Then you know Mob Zeus is a heartless bastard who only cares for power and revenge,” Ryan said. The memory of that madman striking Sunshine down as the world collapsed around them flashed vividly in the courier’s mind. “He’s a bitter old man dying of cancer. He has little left to lose, except for his daughter.”

“I know that.”

“Good. Now, imagine him near this city’s powder kegs. Do you think he will put aside his grievances against a greater threat, or make things worse for Leo just to spite him?”

Shroud’s silence was an answer in itself.

Ryan delivered the coup de grace. “You had a plan for New Rome, but it didn’t account for either Adam or Bloodstream. It didn’t survive contact with the enemy, so you’ve got to adapt.”

“Who do you serve, Quicksave?” Mathias asked, after pondering his words. “Which side are you on?”

“The realm!” Ryan put a hand on his chest. “And my own side.”

Mathias looked at him with a frown. “So you’re just trying to save your hide?”

“Didn’t anyone tell you I’m immortal?” Ryan shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t want this city to burn or the world to end, is that too much to ask? I have friends on both sides, and I want all of them to be happy. Isn’t that what you want too?”

“I want to save lives yes,” Shroud replied, hanging back in his chair. “But I want to save them permanently. We tried to deal with Bloodstream in the past, only for Dynamis to lie to us so they could exploit him for profit. We killed Mechron, but his weapons remain available to even worse villains. I don’t want to repeat everything in five years.”

Ryan examined him closely. “You knew something like this would happen with Bloodstream.” That was what he gathered from their brief interactions last loop.

The vigilante nodded. “My mother, Alice Martel, was once called Pythia.”

“The seer?” Ryan never met her, though she was part of the Carnival’s original line-up. She had left the group by the time they tracked Bloodstream down. “My condolences.”

“She still lives.” Shroud looked away in sadness. “She almost died fighting Mechron, but she’s recovering in Denmark with my father.”

“Recovering, as in rising from the dead?”

“Nidhogg and his men haven’t progressed that far yet,” Mr. Safelite replied. “Before she was wounded in action against Mechron, my mother provided a detailed report of future threats to the world. Though Augustus was ranked high, Bloodstream topped the list. He was expected to cause an extinction event in the case your sister died.”

So that was why the Carnival pursued that bloody headache so relentlessly. Unfortunately, all they did was delay the disaster and let Dynamis worsen it. Ryan shuddered upon remembering Len being absorbed into that eldritch horror.

The prophecy had come true.

But seers didn’t decide the march of time.

Ryan did.

“It will still happen, unless we act,” the courier said. “But we can still change the future. We can end this nightmare once and for all, if we cooperate.”

“How?” Mathias asked, skeptical. “We aren’t powerful enough to destroy the bunker without Leo, Mr. Wave, and others at our back. Dynamis is corrupt, so we can’t rely on Il Migliore’s help either.”

“There are other heroes in Rome,” Ryan said. “Let me recruit a crack team of rogues and misfits! Who knows, maybe you will find love among them!”

Shroud didn’t put much trust in his wingmate. “Even if we somehow manage to prevail on our own, saving lives isn’t enough, Quicksave. Justice must be served. Augustus can’t keep poisoning people, and especially not continue to exploit the Costa’s daughter. He can’t get away with his crimes, and neither can the Manadas.”

“I know.” After watching Lightning Butt ravage New Rome in one loop and worsen its destruction in another, Ryan had sworn to bring the immortal emperor down. And maybe he was the only one capable of doing so. “But you can leave the Augusti to me. If you take care of the Bloodstream vaccine, my transparent friend, I swear I will destroy the Bliss Factory and return Julie Costa’s daughter to you. Blowing up stuff is my passion in life.”

“You can’t expect Leo and the others to wait things out.”

“There are other Mechron bases,” Ryan said, the vigilante’s eyes widening in alarm. “The bunker below the Junkyard is one of many, but I recorded their locations. Sunshine can hunt them down while we deal with the situation here in New Rome. With his legacy wiped out, we can finally exorcise Mechron’s ghost for good.”

With luck, the Mechron base could also cause the Bahamut to self-detonate, preventing anyone else from using the orbital laser ever again.

“And the Manadas?” Shroud asked. “Hector is mad, Fallout is madder, and Blackthorn lied to us.”

“Actually, though his fashion sense would tell otherwise, I believe our dear gardener is the cleanest of them.”

Ryan remembered Enrique complaining to his brother about lying to him at the end of the previous restart. Jasmine had also told the courier that the manager was supposed to manage Knockoff Elixirs’ production until he visited Lab Sixty-Six and left in disgust. He must have found his family’s dirty secret then.

Atom Smasher was too fanatical to back down, and his father too corrupt. Blackthorn though… Ryan had mistaken the gardener for a closet supervillain, but he had his heart in the right place.

Enrique was Livia’s counterpart in Dynamis. A well-meaning man trying to reform his organization from the inside, but too bound by familial love to take a hard stance. They both needed to inherit for New Rome to know peace.

Removing Hector Manada would be easy; Ryan only had to reveal his corruption and alliance with Hannifat Lecter.

Fallout wouldn’t give up power without a fight though.

“We can work with Greenhand to clean up the skeletons in his company’s closet,” Ryan said. “I think a part of him wants to take action, but he isn’t sure how. If you approach him with hard data about the danger his company’s miracle drug presents, he might turn his coat.”

“I will inform Leo and Stitch about your plan, but I can’t guarantee anything.” Shroud marked a short pause. “You said Psyshock will attack Rust Town’s orphanage on May 10th?”

“Yes, and we’ll counterattack immediately afterward.”

“The reason why the Carnival was so effective was because of my mother,” Shroud said. “Now I see why. After she fell ill, I tried to pick up the slack, but I cannot see the future. You can though, Quicksave. It’s almost unfair.”

“Trust me, I earned that knowledge.”

Mathias said nothing, examining Ryan carefully. His eyes wandered to the courier’s mask and hat, the vigilante’s face straining. He didn’t say a word for half a minute, as if trying to figure something out.

“Have you fallen for me?” Ryan asked. “Trust me, I get that all the time.”

“How far can you go back?”

The courier was thankful for the mask shielding his face. “Sorry?”

“It can’t all be visions of alternate timelines. You know too much, with too many vivid details. Even a powerful Blue like my mother would be hard-pressed to provide all the secrets you hand out like candies, and you’re a Violet. You know me.”

He was far too sharp for his own good.

“You don’t just freeze time,” Mathias guessed. “You control it. You’re a chronokinetic.”

Ryan’s first instinct was to deny the truth, to mislead.

Instead, he held his tongue and considered his next words.

For centuries, the courier kept his cards close to his chest. His misadventures with Alchemo and so many others had taught him caution. But at one point, that caution turned into paranoia, until he could trust no one. Trust was a two-way street, an open wound.

Ryan only found the strength to reach out for Jasmine when all was lost, and she wagered her life on his success. Livia was a case of bad luck, but they learned to trust each other. Bianca sacrificed his life for him. Even Alchemo had made an effort to make up for his mistakes.

Slowly, Ryan Romano had learned to open his heart.

Though he killed the time-traveler a few times before they got to know each other, Mathias Martel had his heart in the right place. He reminded Ryan of Felix, a young man burning with a strong desire to make things right. After interacting with him over so many loops, Ryan had grown to know the vigilante. Even to respect him.

Perhaps the courier gave away so much information because he subconsciously trusted the Carnival member already. He would have been far more careful about what he said with someone else. Ryan wanted the vigilante on his side, to be a trustworthy ally rather than a means to an end.

And so, he took a leap of faith.

“What if I were, hypothetically?”

“Then I would assume you can’t travel very far.” Mathias intertwined his fingers. “Do you know why we’re going all in on Augustus now? We have worked down my mother’s list of threats to the world. We’ve defeated Psychos, warlords, and monsters. But we could never beat him. And now… now we must.”

Ryan tensed up. “He’s going to do something.”

“At one point in the coming years, Augustus will attack Dynamis and try to take over Europe by force. He will go all-out. It will be Malta all over again, except that he won’t settle for anything but complete victory. And though it will cost many lives, he will get what he wants.”

Ryan remembered watching New Rome burn, torn apart by the Augusti and the Il Migliore-Dynamis alliance. The courier thought Sunshine’s presence started it, but in truth, it had only accelerated Lightning Butt’s timetable.

Tyrants didn’t go into quiet retirement.

When confronted with his inevitable death by cancer, Augustus would take a page from Big Fat Adam’s book. He would try to ensure Livia would rule unopposed once he was dead and buried, by destroying Dynamis, the Carnival, and anyone he could get his hands on in the little time he had left. Perhaps Lightning Butt thought he would go out in a blaze of glory, leaving his daughter as queen of the ashes.

Did Livia see it in her visions? Was it why she was so adamant about managing her father so he wouldn’t ‘overreact’?

“Since we can’t defeat Augustus directly, we decided to cripple the organization,” Mathias admitted. “Even if he’s all-powerful, he is only one man. He needs soldiers to carry out his will, drugs to fuel his war chest. If we do that, Quicksave, will it stop him?”

The vigilante’s tone was hesitant, begging. He wanted to hear a yes, a confirmation that his efforts hadn’t been for naught.

And Ryan couldn’t say yes.

The time-traveler had managed to affect Augustus in the previous loop, true, but his punch hurt the courier more than his foe. The ivory titan’s retaliation tossed Ryan through a building, and he then proceeded to survive Leo Hargraves going supernova. All of this happened after Lightning Butt trounced the plushie so hard that it sent the terrible monster into an existential crisis.

Sunshine could bring down Mechron, but not Augustus.

The plushie could destroy the world, but not Augustus. The extradimensional horror that haunted Ryan’s dreams for centuries couldn’t even scratch him. Darkling might have, but it had returned home.

Augustus was the most powerful creature on Earth short of the Ultimate Ones; and Ryan had no permanent solution to bring him down yet.

Only a hope.

“I may have a way,” Ryan said. “To put him down for good.”

“May,” Shroud repeated, dejected. “May.”

“May,” the time-traveler admitted. “I need more time. I won’t let him win, I swear it. Doesn’t matter how long it takes, what it will cost me. I won’t let him win.”

It didn’t reassure Mathias at all, but it broke him out of his despair. “That extinction event, Adam taking over the Bahamut… It happened before?”

Ryan hesitated, but then nodded slowly. Mathias Martel lowered his head, trembling with anger. At Dynamis, at the Meta-Gang, but at himself most of all.

“I’m trying to solve this, but I can’t do it alone,” Ryan admitted, both to the vigilante, and to himself. “So... are you in?”

Mathias snickered, a look of determination on his face. “Do you even need to ask?”

And so, Ryan recruited another Avenger to his cause.

Only one left. An independent hero unaffiliated with Dynamis, whose power and purity of heart was unmatched. Half a man, half a beast, and the best of both.

Ryan typed a number on his cellphone as he exited Shroud’s shack, listening to the sound of waves crashing on the shore. He didn’t have to wait long, as someone picked up before the courier could return to his Plymouth Fury.

“Yes?” The voice on the other end of the line

“Timmy?” Ryan replied, opening the door. Henriette yapped from the backseat, while Eugène-Henry napped and the plushie sulked.

“That is the Panda’s name!” Poor boy, he must have waited next to his phone for hours, desperately wishing for a call. “The Panda… the Panda can do anything. Even save cats up in trees!”

“It's your lucky day, dear bear.”

Ryan smiled behind his mask.

“Tell me, have you considered joining a traveling circus?”

“你不信我？”瑞恩问蕾恩。他坐在孤儿院屋顶边缘，双脚悬在外面。星辰在新罗马受污染的夜空中明亮地闪烁，星光穿透了黑暗。

“这让我怎么信？”蕾恩双手抱着头，水枪就放在触手可及的地方。“时间旅行？能下载的记忆？这……这太疯狂了，瑞瑞。太疯狂了。还有我爸……你说我爸还活着，迪纳米斯……迪纳米斯把他变成了……”

嗯，前提是病毒也算活着。等等，如果普鲁托的能力能识别到血流，她能不能把他彻底杀死？值得琢磨。

瑞恩抬起一只手想安慰蕾恩，老朋友却缩了回去。没了那些记忆，他好不容易在两人之间建立起的信任也荡然无存。换作从前，他会因此受伤，但这一次不会。有莉维娅帮忙，遗忘将不再是诅咒，而只是暂时的障碍。

前提是他能说服蕾恩接受记忆传输。考虑到她很难信任别人，这恐怕并不容易。

也许瑞恩应该在新一轮循环开始几秒后再存一次档？如果他每次只能带回一个人，这至少能让记忆传输的效果永久保留。他们只能记住一轮循环，所以这办法并不完美，但总比没有好。

“这……这太多了。太多了。我……我需要时间消化。”蕾恩把双手握在一起，呼吸急促。她花了几分钟才缓过来，瑞恩一直耐心等着。“我得亲眼看看你说的技术，瑞瑞。如果真是我做的……如果真是我做的，我会认出来。其他事，你都可能是编出来的，或者从别的途径知道的，可是……”

“当然。”瑞恩温声答道，想让她安心。“你需要什么都行。”

蕾恩长长地深吸了一口气。“瑞瑞。我到底出了什么事？”她的声音又轻又弱。“我们到了那间实验室以后，假设我相信你的话……你说我死了。却没说是怎么死的。我究竟是怎么死的？”

“你真的想知道？”瑞恩叹了口气。“会很难受的，小矮个。”

“比你告诉我的其他事还难受？”她竭力忍住眼泪。“是他杀了我。”

“是。”瑞恩承认。不管有多可怕，她都有权知道真相。“你的血液里有他的一部分。像某种潜伏的特工，或者追踪器。你一靠近你父亲——”

“我就变成了他。”温热的泪水顺着蕾恩的脸颊滚落，她捏住鼻子，不让自己哭出声。

也许她内心深处一直知道有这个可能，只是不愿相信。

她其实是相信瑞恩的。即便这番话听着荒诞不经，小矮个依然觉得，自己认识最久的朋友不会骗她。不管他说的事有多可怕。

“蕾恩，还有……”瑞恩努力斟酌措辞，免得她恐慌。“如果你体内的那点血能把你变成怪物，那它会不会也能做些更隐蔽的事？”

蕾恩瞪着他，悲伤化作了愤怒。“你是说……你是说，我父亲影响了我的想法。我的感情……我对他的感情不是我自己的。”

“也许是你自己的，也许不是。但只要你还带着那东西，就摆脱不了这个疑问。”快递员抱起双臂。“蕾恩，我们必须把它清除掉。不只是为了其他人，也是为了你。”

“怎么清除？它就在我体内，瑞瑞。它像癌症一样长在我血里，而你的疫苗对它没用。”

“我认识几个天才，也许能帮上忙。”他已经通过提拉诺博士的加密渠道发去了一封邮件，提议合作研究仿制灵药……还打听了一下那位鳞片爱好者秘密进行的“魔物娘”项目，快递员自己都觉得丢人。“有一个甚至还能帮你解决……”

“我的抑郁症？”蕾恩皱起眉头。“我……我不是一个等着你去解决的问题。”

“不是，不是。”这正是他以前不愿在一轮轮循环里反复接触她的原因。如果她的经历无法延续，快递员就会越来越不像在对待一个人，而像在求解一道方程。“我是说……如果你愿意的话。等你恢复记忆以后。”

“那要是我不愿意接受你的传输呢？”蕾恩用手抹去眼泪。“你会反复跟我谈这件事，直到我点头为止吗？”

瑞恩停下来想了想这个问题，意识到自己的整个计划都建立在蕾恩同意接受记忆传输的基础上。如果这位失去记忆的朋友不答应，他又能怎么办？把她绑走，强行传输记忆？想办法不经眼下这个蕾恩同意，就跨越时间传输储存下来的知识？

“你宁愿一直失忆？”快递员问。“这不是洗脑。你会找回遗忘的记忆，但现在的记忆不会被抹去。”

“可它会改变我，而我不知道会变成什么样。你知道，可是……”

“你害怕自己会知道什么。”瑞恩猜道。无知是福。

“回答我，瑞瑞。”

“我会尊重你的选择。哪怕那会让我难受。”归根结底，瑞恩不能把自己的决定强加给所爱的人。“我可以向你伸出手，但你也得愿意握住它。”

蕾恩抬起双膝，用胳膊抱住，像胎儿一样蜷缩起来。她若有所思，却让人看不出究竟在想什么。

“心震两天后会袭击这里。”瑞恩换了个话题，提醒她。“我们得做好准备。”

“这地方烂透了。”蕾恩望向新罗马明亮的霓虹灯。“我走得越深，闻到的臭味就越重。那些光鲜的颜色，只是在掩盖底下的丑恶。”

“这里大部分人确实没什么时尚品位，这点我同意。不过也有不少魅力四射的本地人。”瑞恩应该找个机会把蕾恩介绍给衣橱。“我们分开以后，你去了哪里？”

“加那利群岛。”蕾恩答道。“潜艇的自动驾驶系统本来要带我去美国，但半路上引擎出了故障，它就改道去了最近的岛。我在那里待了几个月才离开。”

这么说，莱卡号还真对得起它那个名字。“那地方挺不错。”瑞恩说。“西班牙已有一半落进迪纳米斯手里了，他们居然还能建立一个不受迪纳米斯控制的独立共和国，我挺意外的。”

蕾恩惊讶地抬起头。“你去过那里？”

“去过，我想想，那大概是……”两百年前？瑞恩的记忆有些模糊，他在北非的冒险没留下什么深刻印象。“挺久以前了。我们一定是错过了。”

“那里……那里很好。岛上的人很好。”

“你会回去吗？”瑞恩问，老朋友摇了摇头。

“他们有时还是会彼此争斗。”她说。“不管我走到哪里……总有基因者想要更多。我改变不了那里，也改变不了新罗马。”

“你还是能改变的。”

“就算我们揭露仿制灵药到底是用什么做的，迪纳米斯也会继续压迫别人。如果为了多赚几个欧元，他们连这种事都做得出来……那就什么都干得出来。”她摇了摇头。“奥古斯蒂家族则靠毒品和沾血的钱毁掉别人的生活。我见过海底的马耳他废墟，瑞瑞。奥古斯都给成千上万的人造了一座海底坟墓。”

她没说错，但她又一次只看到了黑暗，没看到星光。“我觉得这些组织能改变。”瑞恩想起了自己加入至优者的那一轮，也想起了和莉维娅的谈话。“只要由对的人来掌权。”

“希望你是对的。”

“可你并不信。”瑞恩耸耸肩，站起身，在屋顶上迈开脚步。“没关系，我会让你改观的。”

“你要走了？”蕾恩咬住下唇。“你可以……你可以留下来的，你知道吧。”

“谢谢。”瑞恩由衷地说。“不过我还有一场约会。”

他走向通往楼下的门，手却停在了门把上。“蕾恩，有件事我以前一直没敢问你。我们聊过那么多次，我一次也没敢问。”瑞恩回头望去，蕾恩依然坐在屋顶边缘。“那天，我回到藏身处的时候……你和潜艇都不见了。是你自己走的，还是自动驾驶系统带你走的？”

蕾恩移开视线，避开了他的目光。“我一直等你和爸爸，等到最后一刻。可你们没回来，我……我不知道该怎么办。我以为你们都死了，所以我……我就任由莱卡号把我带走了。”

失去了家人，蕾恩也就失去了对美好生活的全部希望。

可她一直在等瑞恩，等到了最后。

所以，他也不会抛下她。

瑞恩留下蕾恩独自思考他说过的话，在楼梯上碰见了小莎拉。她一定是想偷听，结果发现门关得严严实实。“嘿，小不点。”快递员朝这个爱使性子的小姑娘挥了挥手，以逗她为乐。“看见我的狗了吗？我要带她出去散步。”

“等我到了青春期，你就等着吧，混蛋。”小姑娘抱着胳膊，噘嘴回道。“你的狗狗正在外面跟那只懒猫，还有你的兔子玩呢。”

……

瑞恩连忙把双手伸进风衣，翻找口袋。

原子弹？在。

枪？在。

刀？在。

蜂鸣器？在。

毛绒玩偶？

不在。

“糟了。”

瑞恩猛地推开孤儿院的大门，冲到外面，把莎拉吓了一跳。

他发现亨丽埃特正在院子里跟欧仁-亨利“玩”。快递员已经让自己的宠物彼此认识过了，而这只贵族猫对待出身低贱的狗，就像贵族对待农民一样：尽量无视她的存在。然而亨丽埃特太执拗，或者说太蠢，根本领会不了。她不停地舔猫、蹭猫，想引出一点反应，却毫无成效。

毛绒玩偶则坐在台阶上，背后的开关已经打开。那只邪恶的长耳恶魔望着新罗马南方，也许正梦想着让整座城市燃起大火。

怎么回事？瑞恩根本没让它靠近过孤儿们！谁能从他身上把它偷走，还把机器打开？

除非……

快递员一直以为，上一轮是某个超能帮成员把它当成了无害的东西，不小心打开了开关。但现在回想起来，那只毛茸茸的恐怖之物来救他的时机，未免太完美了。

“你一直都能自己启动。”瑞恩惊恐地猜道。“你只是在装。”

从头到尾都是。

从头到尾，时间旅行者都以为自己把恶魔困在了五芒星法阵里，可它随时都能跨出来。瑞恩以为一切尽在掌控的幻觉破碎了，手指因恐惧而颤抖。几个世纪……几个世纪以来，他都活在一个恐怖之物的摆布之下，是他把它召唤了出来，却无法将它消灭。

毛绒玩偶用蓝色的大眼睛看了看自己的造物主，又看向他身后。瑞恩僵住了，他听见小莎拉也跟着来到了外面。快递员心脏漏跳了一拍，眼看着自己对这一轮的全部希望都要付诸东流。

然后，深渊移开了目光。

毛绒玩偶没理他们两个，望向了奥古斯都山。它没有进入可爱模式，也没发出任何声音。没有预录留言回答瑞恩的话，也没有激光或弹簧刀让孤儿院血流满地。

毛绒玩偶不想玩。

“你不打算杀人？”瑞恩问自己那个可怕的造物。“连给一两个疯魔开膛破肚都不想？”

没有回答。

瑞恩也没听见那些低语。以往总有异界的声音如影随形地跟着毛绒玩偶，如今却全都沉寂了。玩具投下的诡异影子，曾经那么骇人，现在却缩小了一半。

“你在跟一个玩具说话。”小莎拉说。“我就知道你是个瘾君子。”

无论是杀戮的诱惑，还是眼前这个尚未进入青春期的孩子，都没能引起它的反应。毛绒玩偶只是继续用蓝色的大眼睛瞪着奥古斯都山，眼中的威势变成了怨气。瑞恩得出了一个可怕的结论，那令人发狂的真相已昭然若揭。

闪电屁股把毛绒玩偶打得一败涂地，办到了一件不可能的事。

他让它得了抑郁症。

---

接下来，瑞恩敲响了裹尸布的门。他来得比往常稍早，不过免费附赠了一个填好馅的食尸鬼，聊表心意。那个疯魔已经萎靡到近乎毫无反应，瑞恩甚至怀疑他的不死之身是不是也撑不住了。

除了时间旅行没提，瑞恩把其他事几乎全都告诉了这位半透明的义警。两人在裹尸布的藏身处相对而坐，足足谈了一个小时，义警始终沉默得像座坟墓。等客人把话说完，所有窗户上都已布满裂纹，外面的新罗马也迎来了黎明。

马蒂亚斯·马特尔只说了一个字。

“操。”

“差不多就是这么回事。”瑞恩说。“我相当肯定仿制灵药里还含有致癌物，虽然没法证明。”

裹尸布双手合在一起，沉思着刚得知的一切。“你有确凿证据，能证明血流就是仿制灵药的原料吗？为了防止他复生，我们销毁了所有样本。”

“有。”蕾恩允许瑞恩取一滴血用于研究，他把它交给了义警。“让它接触一下迪纳米斯的仿制灵药，你就明白了。不过记得在旁边备好火焰喷射器。”

“我还需要疫苗的数据。”裹尸布仔细端详着注射器里的血。即使此刻，瑞恩仍觉得它随时可能破开容器冲出来。“如果我们的天才证实了你的说法，那我们就得大举赶赴新罗马。”

“我宁可别这样。”瑞恩说。“相信我，你们要是这么干，落在挡风玻璃上的可就远不止鸽子屎了，马蒂。”

玻璃操纵者的盔甲似乎在变形，眼看就要长出尖刺。短暂犹豫后，他摘下头盔，露出真容。他凑近瑞恩，直视着他的双眼，神情无比严肃，冷得令人心寒。

“照你的说法，食人魔亚当——一个早在获得超能力之前就已经吃人、恶劣到这种地步的家伙——再过几天就能拿到一件轨道超级武器，而迪纳米斯已经让数千人感染了足以引发全球大流行的病原体。”马蒂亚斯·马特尔说。“这两场灾难之所以可能发生，都只是因为我们当初没把它们处理干净。现在告诉我，快存。这怎么会是一个不值得我们全力应对的局面？”

“我说过，我能选择任何一个我想要的宇宙。”瑞恩撒了谎。“要是阳光来了，新罗马的太阳就要落山了。闪电屁股一定会让它落下去。无数无辜的人会死。”

“这只是你的一面之词。”义警答道。

瑞恩眯眼看着这位英雄。“你们跟闪电屁股交手过多少次？”

裹尸布攥紧拳头。“太多次了。”

多年来，他们一直试图扳倒他，却始终未能成功。“那你就知道，黑帮宙斯是个铁石心肠的混蛋，只在乎权力和复仇。”瑞恩说。世界在四周崩塌，那个疯子却还在出手击落阳光，这幅景象又鲜明地浮现在快递员脑海中。“他就是个满心怨恨、快被癌症耗死的老头。除了女儿，他已经没什么可失去的了。”

“我知道。”

“很好。现在想象一下，他就在这座城的几个火药桶旁边。你觉得他会放下恩怨，去应对更大的威胁，还是会为了给利奥添堵，故意把局面搅得更糟？”

裹尸布的沉默本身就是答案。

瑞恩补上了最后一击。“你们对新罗马有过计划，但那个计划既没考虑亚当，也没考虑血流。它一碰上敌人就失效了，所以你们得变通。”

马蒂亚斯思索了一番，问道：“你为谁效力，快存？你到底站在哪一边？”

“为了王国！”瑞恩把手按在胸前。“还有我自己。”

马蒂亚斯皱眉看着他。“所以你只是想保住自己的命？”

“没人告诉过你，我是不死的吗？”瑞恩耸了耸肩。“我不想让这座城烧成灰，不想让世界末日降临，这要求很过分吗？我在两边都有朋友，我希望他们都能幸福。你不也想这样吗？”

“是，我想救人。”裹尸布靠回椅背。“但我要的是一劳永逸。过去我们设法对付血流，结果迪纳米斯骗了我们，好利用他牟利。我们杀了梅克隆，可他的武器仍然能落到更恶劣的反派手里。我不想五年以后再把这一切重来一遍。”

瑞恩仔细打量着他。“你早就知道血流会出这种事。”这是他从上一轮两人短暂的交谈中得出的判断。

义警点了点头。“我母亲爱丽丝·马特尔，以前人称皮提亚。”

“那个先知？”瑞恩从没见过她，不过她确实是嘉年华最初的成员之一。在他们追踪到血流之前，她就已经离队了。“节哀。”

“她还活着。”裹尸布悲伤地移开视线。“她在和梅克隆交战时差点丧命，现在正跟我父亲一起待在丹麦养伤。”

“养伤，是指起死回生吗？”

“尼德霍格和他的人还没做到那一步。”赛孚莱特先生答道。“在对抗梅克隆、负伤之前，我母亲提交过一份详细报告，列出了未来对世界的威胁。奥古斯都的排名虽然很高，血流却排在第一。预言说，一旦你妹妹死去，他就会引发一场物种灭绝事件。”

原来这就是嘉年华死追着那个血淋淋的大麻烦不放的原因。可惜，他们只是推迟了灾难，还让迪纳米斯把事态变得更加恶劣。想起蕾恩被那团不可名状的恐怖吞噬，瑞恩便不寒而栗。

预言已经成真。

但时间如何前行，不由先知决定。

由瑞恩决定。

“除非我们采取行动，否则它还是会发生。”快递员说。“但我们仍然能改变未来。只要合作，就能彻底结束这场噩梦。”

“怎么做？”马蒂亚斯满腹疑虑。“没有利奥、波动先生和其他人支援，我们的力量不足以摧毁地堡。迪纳米斯已经腐败了，所以也不能指望至优者帮忙。”

“罗马还有别的英雄。”瑞恩说。“让我招募一支由浪荡客和怪人组成的精英小队！谁知道呢，说不定你还能在他们中间找到真爱！”

裹尸布对这个僚机没多少信心。“就算我们真能靠自己取胜，光救人还不够，快存。正义必须得到伸张。奥古斯都不能再继续毒害别人，尤其不能继续利用科斯塔夫妇的女儿。他不能犯下那些罪行之后还逍遥法外，马纳达一家也不能。”

“我知道。”见过闪电屁股在一轮循环中蹂躏新罗马，又在另一轮中加剧它的毁灭后，瑞恩就发誓要扳倒这位不死的皇帝。而他也许是唯一有能力做到的人。“不过奥古斯蒂家族可以交给我。我的透明朋友，只要你负责血流疫苗，我保证会摧毁极乐工厂，把朱莉·科斯塔的女儿送回你们身边。炸东西可是我毕生的热爱。”

“你不能指望利奥和其他人就这么等着。”

“梅克隆还有别的基地。”瑞恩说，义警警觉地睁大了眼睛。“废料场下面的地堡只是其中之一，但我记下了所有基地的位置。我们处理新罗马的局面时，阳光可以去把它们一个个找出来。清除了梅克隆留下的遗产，我们才能彻底驱散他的幽灵。”

运气好的话，还能通过梅克隆的基地让巴哈姆特自爆，永远杜绝别人再使用那门轨道激光炮的可能。

“那马纳达一家呢？”裹尸布问。“埃克托是个疯子，辐尘比他还疯，而黑棘骗了我们。”

“其实，虽然从穿衣品位上看不出来，但我觉得亲爱的园丁是他们之中最干净的一个。”

瑞恩记得，上一轮结束时，恩里克曾埋怨自己的兄弟欺骗了他。贾丝敏也告诉过快递员，这位经理原本应该负责仿制灵药的生产，直到他去了一趟六十六号实验室，满心厌恶地离开。他一定就是在那时发现了家族的肮脏秘密。

原子粉碎者太过狂热，不可能退让，他父亲又太过腐败。可黑棘……瑞恩以前误以为这个园丁是个深藏不露的超级反派，但他的本心是好的。

恩里克就是迪纳米斯那边的莉维娅。一个心怀善意、试图从内部改革组织的人，却因亲情束缚而无法采取强硬立场。只有他们两个都接掌大权，新罗马才能迎来和平。

扳倒埃克托·马纳达很容易，瑞恩只要揭露他的腐败，以及他跟汉尼胖·莱克特的勾结就够了。

但要让辐尘交出权力，免不了一战。

“我们可以跟绿手合作，把他公司那些见不得人的东西清理干净。”瑞恩说。“我觉得他心里是想采取行动的，只是不知道该怎么办。如果你拿着确凿的数据去找他，让他看清公司那种神药到底有多危险，他也许会倒戈。”

“我会把你的计划告诉利奥和斯蒂奇，但不敢保证什么。”裹尸布停顿片刻。“你说心震会在五月十日袭击锈镇的孤儿院？”

“没错，之后我们立刻反击。”

“嘉年华以前能那么高效，全靠我母亲。”裹尸布说。“现在我明白原因了。她病倒以后，我试着补上她的空缺，可我看不见未来。你却看得见，快存。简直有点不公平。”

“相信我，这些情报都是我付出代价换来的。”

马蒂亚斯没有说话，仔细打量着瑞恩。他的目光移向快递员的面具和帽子，神情渐渐绷紧。他足足半分钟一言不发，仿佛正在努力想通什么。

“你爱上我了？”瑞恩问。“相信我，这种事经常发生。”

“你能回到多久以前？”

快递员庆幸脸上有面具挡着。“什么？”

“不可能全靠看见其他时间线的景象。你知道得太多，鲜明的细节也太多。就算是我母亲那样强大的蓝系能力者，也很难提供这么多秘密，你却像发糖一样随手往外撒，而你还是个紫系。你了解我。”

这人敏锐过头了，迟早要吃亏。

“你不只是能暂停时间。”马蒂亚斯猜道。“你能控制时间。你是个时间操纵者。”

瑞恩的第一反应是否认真相，把他引向别处。

可他没有开口，而是认真考虑接下来该说什么。

几个世纪以来，快递员一直把底牌藏得严严实实。与阿尔凯莫，以及那么多其他人之间的不幸经历，让他学会了谨慎。但不知从何时起，这份谨慎变成了偏执的戒备，直到他再也无法信任任何人。信任需要双方共同付出，也意味着敞开伤口。

直到一切都已无可挽回，瑞恩才鼓起勇气向贾丝敏求助，而她把自己的命押在了他的成功上。和莉维娅的开端纯属倒霉，但他们学会了彼此信任。比安卡为他牺牲了性命。就连阿尔凯莫也在努力弥补自己的过错。

慢慢地，瑞恩·罗马诺学会了敞开心扉。

虽然在彼此熟识之前，马蒂亚斯·马特尔杀过时间旅行者几次，但他的本心是好的。他让瑞恩想起菲利克斯，一个胸中燃着强烈热忱、渴望匡正不公的年轻人。经过这么多轮循环的相处，瑞恩已经逐渐了解了这个义警，甚至开始敬重他。

也许快递员之所以透露了这么多情报，正是因为他潜意识里已经信任了这位嘉年华成员。换成别人，他说话会谨慎得多。瑞恩想让这个义警站在自己身边，做一个值得信赖的盟友，而不是达成目的的工具。

于是，他决定冒险相信一次。

“假设我真的是呢？”

“那我会猜，你没法回到太久以前。”马蒂亚斯十指交扣。“你知道我们为什么现在要倾尽全力对付奥古斯都吗？我母亲列出的那些世界威胁，我们已经逐个处理下来了。我们打败过疯魔、军阀和怪物。可我们始终赢不了他。而现在……现在非赢不可。”

瑞恩绷紧了身体。“他会有所行动。”

“未来几年的某个时候，奥古斯都会攻击迪纳米斯，试图武力征服欧洲。他会全力出手。马耳他的惨剧将再次上演，只不过这次，除了彻底胜利，他什么结果都不会接受。尽管会付出无数生命的代价，他还是会如愿以偿。”

瑞恩想起自己看着新罗马燃烧的景象，那座城在奥古斯蒂家族与至优者—迪纳米斯联盟的战火中分崩离析。快递员原以为是阳光的到来引爆了一切，可事实上，那只是让闪电屁股提前执行了计划。

暴君不会安安静静地退休。

面对癌症带来的必然死亡，奥古斯都会效仿大胖亚当。为了确保自己死后入土，莉维娅能统治天下、无人抗衡，他会在所剩无几的时间里摧毁迪纳米斯、嘉年华，以及所有他够得着的人。也许闪电屁股觉得，自己能在辉煌中落幕，把女儿留作灰烬的女王。

莉维娅在预见中看到过这一切吗？她那么执着地安抚父亲，免得他“反应过激”，是这个原因吗？

“既然无法正面击败奥古斯都，我们就决定瘫痪他的组织。”马蒂亚斯坦言。“就算他无所不能，也只有一个人。他需要士兵执行意志，需要毒品充实战争金库。快存，如果我们这样做，能阻止他吗？”

义警的语气迟疑，近乎恳求。他想听到肯定的答复，想确认自己的努力并非徒劳。

可瑞恩说不出那个“能”字。

时间旅行者上一轮确实成功撼动了奥古斯都，但那一拳伤他自己比伤敌人还重。象牙色巨人的还击把瑞恩打飞出去，撞穿了一栋楼；随后，利奥·哈格雷夫斯化身超新星，奥古斯都却照样活了下来。而在这一切发生之前，闪电屁股已经把毛绒玩偶打得如此凄惨，以至于那个可怕的怪物陷入了存在危机。

阳光能打倒梅克隆，却打不倒奥古斯都。

毛绒玩偶能毁灭世界，却毁灭不了奥古斯都。那个纠缠了瑞恩数百年梦境的异维恐怖，甚至划不破他一点皮。暗灵也许可以，可它已经回家了。

除了终极者，奥古斯都是地球上最强大的生物。而瑞恩仍未找到能彻底除掉他的办法。

只有一线希望。

“我也许有个办法。”瑞恩说。“能彻底干掉他。”

“也许。”裹尸布沮丧地重复道。“也许。”

“也许。”时间旅行者承认。“我还需要时间。我不会让他赢的，我发誓。不管要花多久，不管我要付出什么代价。我不会让他赢。”

这话丝毫没能让马蒂亚斯安心，却让他从绝望中挣脱了出来。“那场灭绝事件，亚当夺取巴哈姆特……这些都发生过了？”

瑞恩犹豫了一下，随后缓缓点头。马蒂亚斯·马特尔垂下脑袋，气得浑身发抖。他的怒火既冲着迪纳米斯，也冲着超能帮，但更多的是冲着他自己。

“我正在想办法解决，可光靠我一个人做不到。”瑞恩既是在向义警坦白，也是在向自己坦白。“所以……你加入吗？”

马蒂亚斯轻笑一声，神情坚定。“这还用问？”

就这样，瑞恩又为自己的事业招来了一位复仇者。

只剩最后一位了。一个不隶属于迪纳米斯的独立英雄，力量与心灵的纯洁无人能及。一半是人，一半是兽，兼具两者的精华。

瑞恩走出裹尸布的小屋，听着海浪拍岸的声音，在手机上按下一个号码。他没等多久，还没走回自己的普利茅斯“狂怒”，电话就被接通了。

“喂？”电话那头传来一个声音。

“蒂米？”瑞恩应道，打开车门。亨丽埃特在后座叫了几声，欧仁-亨利在打盹，毛绒玩偶则在生闷气。

“那正是熊猫的名字！”可怜的孩子，他一定在电话旁边等了好几个小时，拼命盼着有人打来。“熊猫……熊猫什么都能干。就连爬到树上的猫也能救！”

“亲爱的熊，今天是你的幸运日。”

瑞恩在面具后露出笑容。

“告诉我，你有没有考虑过加入一个巡回马戏团？”