同章对照

Ryan wondered how many lives Felix ‘Atom Cat’ Veran had left.

He had died at the Meta-Gang’s hands at least twice, once to Fallout’s bombardment of Len’s underwater base, and probably alongside everyone in New Rome when Bloodstream escaped confinement. Which should leave him with five lives out of nine?

“Felix!” Narcinia almost rose from her seat, only for Mars to put a hand on her shoulder and force her back to her seat. The young teen looked at her adoptive brother and father in confusion.

Fortuna’s response was far less subdued. “Felix, you ass!” she complained so loudly that Mathias winced at her shrilling voice. “How dare you come to a family dinner dressed like that! You look like a plumber!”

“Glad to see you too, sis,” Felix replied as he rose up, swiping ashes and dust off his clothes. His eyes wandered to the table, meeting confused looks from the guests. “Jamie, Ki-jung… Dad.”

“You could have used the door,” Mars said, his eyes tense. To Ryan’s surprise, he didn’t immediately go for his son’s throat, perhaps because of his daughters’ presence. “We invited you.”

“And I’m sure the guards outside are for show. You would never have let me close to Narcinia if I went through the entrance.” Felix turned away from his father, before noticing Mathias and Ryan. “Who are you?”

“Your sister’s boyfriend,” Mathias replied with mixed feelings. His tense eyes met Ryan’s, silently waiting for a signal. He too understood that the situation would soon degenerate.

“Which one?” Felix asked, curious.

“The right one,” Fortuna replied.

Her brother rolled his eyes, before looking at Ryan. “And… who are you, a new member of the Killer Seven?”

Ryan considered a dozen ways to introduce himself; as Quicksave, as President of the Free World, conqueror of Monaco, immortal and all. All more dignified and flowery than the last.

But only one sentence came to mind.

“I’m BLEEPING your ex.”

The awkward silence that welcomed his declaration delighted the courier.

“Don’t give me that look,” Ryan said to Felix, as the younger hero looked at him with astonished eyes. “It was your ex or your sister, and she’s almost as pretty as you are!”

“Almost?” Fortuna asked angrily. “He doesn’t even groom his hair!”

“Whatever,” Felix said, though the revelation had clearly shaken him. “Narcinia, come with me.”

“What,” the younger Veran asked, “where?”

“Away. My current bosses are a huge disappointment, but working with them will still be way better than making drugs.” Atom Kitty extended a hand to his sister. “Now that that death factory has been burnt to the ground, you can put an end to this tragedy here and now.”

Narcinia didn’t answer, instead anxiously looking at her father. This frustrated her brother. “Narci…”

“Did you do it?” Mars asked his son, his tone dangerous. “Destroy our production center?”

Felix shrugged. “I had nothing to do with that, though I wish I did. Whoever blew up that toxic dump deserves an award.”

His father frowned, and Ryan felt a chill going down his spine. A mobile phone materialized in a purple flash within Mars’ hand, the Olympian immediately making a call.

Livia’s vision was turning into reality.

“Ki-jung, don’t you have anything to say?” Felix asked, but the woman in question avoided his gaze, much to his annoyance. “And you, Jamie? I heard about your promotion. It’s not enough to close your eyes anymore, now will you help Augustus peddle the poison that almost killed your girlfriend?”

Ki-jung flinched, her fiancé taking her hand into his own. “Why are you here, Felix?” Jamie asked, uneasy. Ryan could tell the young hero’s words had struck a nerve. “To open old wounds?”

“I’m here to close them. Bacchus needs chemicals from your division to make his drug. Just by taking that job, you’re enabling the death and ruin of thousands—”

“Felix, I…” Narcinia took a deep breath. “I don’t think now is the time to discuss that.”

“Now is exactly the time,” he protested, taking a step towards his adoptive sister. Jamie rose from his own seat, perhaps to stop him, while Mathias glanced at Ryan and waited for a signal.

Meanwhile, Mars spoke on the phone with a scowl on his face. “He’s here, Janus, but he doesn’t know… he swears he’s not involved… yes, but… please, not before my daughters… some other place...”

The Olympian’s face strained, and though Ryan couldn’t hear what was said on the other end of the line, he could guess. Mars was trying to convince his boss one last time not to execute his godson, or to at least make the hit discreet.

But Ryan knew the older man was wasting his breath. Lightning Butt was convinced Felix had provided the Carnival with the intel that made the devastating Ischia raid possible, and his organization’s myth of invincibility was in jeopardy. A brutal, public murder would carry a clear message to both his foes and followers.

“No traitor shall survive, not even my godson.”

In the end, as Hector Manada once said, Lightning Butt was a gangster with too much power. When threatened, the answer was always more violence and terror.

The time-traveler looked at the fireplace behind Atom Kitten, noticing the tip of a gun’s barrel sticking out of the stone.

“I see.” Mars sighed, his face dark and sorrowful. He looked at his stubborn son, the phone in his hand. When faced with a choice between disobeying his invincible boss and paying the price, or offering a sacrificial lamb… the Capo quickly reached a decision.

The click of a revolver’s trigger echoed in the room.

Ryan froze time, leapt from his seat, and pushed Felix out of the bullet’s way.

When it resumed, the projectile impacted on the wall, Fortuna screaming in surprise while Felix stumbled in shock.

“You should stop shooting people in the back,” Ryan said, as he glanced at the fireplace. Mortimer had phased halfway through the stone, a gun in hand. “It’s getting predictable.”

Mortimer answered with another pull of the trigger, and the room erupted into chaos.

The windows exploded into a rain of glass shrapnels, Narcinia screaming as Ki-jung and Jamie hastily grabbed her and dived down below the table. Mortimer missed and retreated back into the wall, while the shards avoided a horrified Fortuna and a focused Mathias.

The projectiles struck Mars, only for a Roman-styled centurion armor and mask of steel to materialize over his skin. The Olympian moved his hand over the only part of his body exposed, the eyes, and rose from his seat.

“What the—” Felix said, utterly shocked.

“Later, boomer,” Ryan replied, grabbing him by the chest like a princess in distress, and jumping through the opened window. The dining room was on the first floor, and so while the time traveler gracefully landed on the grass below, his favorite cat rolled on the ground. The courier whistled, calling his Plymouth Fury to the rescue.

“Get up!” Ryan ordered Felix, helping him back to his feet. A storm of glass kept Mars busy on the first floor, but not for long.

A car’s headlamps emerged from the night’s darkness on their left, just as lightning struck the earth.

Felix and Ryan looked up in terror, as a man of ivory descended from the night sky, shrouded in a cloud of crimson lightning. Lightning Butt looked down on the duo, his eyes flaring with murderous fury.

But while Felix seemed to give up on the spot, Ryan wisely activated his time-stop. Instead of moving within the frozen time, Augustus vanished from his sight, alongside his red lightning.

One of Night Terror’s illusions.

Ryan quickly found the responsible party standing near the mansion’s wall to the courier’s right, his black bodysuit meshing with the darkness. The time-traveler grabbed two knives hidden in his pocket, and threw one at the hitman.

When time resumed, the blade hit Night Terrorized in the eye and made him fall to his back, screaming. His illusion collapsed into nothingness, as if it had never been there. Felix blinked repeatedly. “Where did he go?”

“No time, come with me if you want to live,” Ryan said as the car approached. But to his surprise, it wasn’t his Plymouth Fury, but a Mercedes Benz stopping in front of the duo. The right door opened, revealing the driver.

“Here!” Livia said, inviting them inside. “Quickly! Before the others arrive!”

Ryan almost took the bait, so perfect was her face and voice, even the clothes… before realizing Cancel wasn’t with his girlfriend. Felix, too confused to think straight, took a step forward; the courier stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“Livia always calls me ‘Master Ryan’ when things are heating up,” the courier declared.

The woman in front of him blinked in shock and surprise, before trying to grab a revolver hidden beneath her clothes. Ryan froze time and nailed her hand to the driving wheel by throwing his other knife at it.

“I lied,” Ryan said as time resumed, the impostor dropping her weapon and hissing at the pain. “But seeing your expression was worth it.”

Felix quickly guessed what was happening. “Mother?”

“You ruined everything, you ungrateful little…” Livia’s voice turned into Venus’, as the Augusti regained her true form. Great, she could also alter vocal cords. She attempted to remove the knife with her free hand, her teeth grinding in pain.

“You’re… trying to kill me?” Felix stood in place, too horrified by the realization to even muster anger.

“They are, but not me,” Ryan said, and to his relief, his self-driven car was making its way to their location. “Now, apologies, but we’ll miss the dessert.”

“I knew you were a traitor the moment I saw you,” Venus hissed. “There’s nowhere to run.”

Behind the group, the glass storm had ended, either because Mathias had been caught, killed, or something else. Mars stood at the window’s edge with a cold expression, purple rifts in space opening all around him. The tips of swords, arrows, spears, tridents, and other weapons peeked through them.

Mars could have launched them at the duo below and skewered them, but he didn’t. Though it was nighttime, Ryan could have sworn he had seen a flash of doubt and guilt in the older man’s eyes.

But when he noticed his wounded wife, Mars quickly made up his mind.

Ryan barely had the time to push his kitten out of the way, as weapons fell on them by the dozen. From what the courier understood, Mars could pull and summon items from a pocket dimension armory, but he had never imagined the speed at which he could throw them. The spears and swords flew in the air as fast as arrows, impacting the ground with enough strength to cut a man in half.

Thankfully, Ryan managed to dodge the initial volley, reaching his car. “Get in!” he ordered Felix as he swiftly took over the driving wheel, the superhero taking over the front row.

Ryan noticed Fortuna grabbing her father by the arm, trying to keep him away from the window and briefly halting the bombardment. “Daddy, stop!”

“It’s either him or the rest of us,” Mars replied, before summoning thick chains and binding his daughter’s hands and legs. They quickly started to fall off her, probably due to her power causing structural damage, but it paralyzed her. “Mathias, Mercury, move my daughters to safety! The glass user is nearby!”

By then, Ryan was driving away from the mansion, moving out of the Olympian’s range. Mortimer phased through the building’s walls, opening fire at the car with his gun, but his bullets only grazed the bodywork. While the Plymouth Fury escaped the property, Mars leaped outside the window, a red Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle materializing below him.

“It was a trap…” Felix whispered as the duo escaped into New Rome’s streets. The Plymouth Fury overtook two cars, bypassing a red street light with Mars in hot pursuit. The Roman cosplayer materialized flying swords and attempted to skewer his targets, but the distance was too great for him to aim right. His blades impaled the road instead, and Mars briefly interrupted his assault, focusing on closing the gap between both vehicles through skillful driving.

“Dinners are more dangerous than battles,” Ryan said, opening the glove box to grab a hidden revolver, “but not as much as weddings.”

Ryan quickly drove away from the suburbs and the shadow of Mount Augustus, moving towards the Mediterranean coast. The shortest path was through the Little Maghreb district, but that would force them to get close to Vulcan’s base.

The time-traveler decided to take the longer way through the southern neighborhoods at the city’s edge. The homes here were in dire need of a paint job, and a mass of ravers and seedy individuals begging to get laid lined up in front of seedy nightclubs. Ryan noticed a woman vomiting on the sidewalk below a streetlight, a friend helping her back to her feet. Low-rent pimps and dealers openly hawked their ‘wares’ in a back alley. The tall buildings and narrow alleys would have cast a dark shadow in the area, even during daylight hours.

Ryan veered off the road to dodge a drunkard, doing his best to avoid casualties. Mars didn’t share his mercy. When another civilian nearly stumbled on his path, the Olympian materialized a wooden spike inside the victim, nailing them to the street Vlad the Impaler-style. Onlookers screamed in panic and fled, but the Plymouth Fury and its pursuer were long gone. A night of drinking had turned to horror.

He can teleport stuff anywhere within a ten meters radius, Ryan reminded himself, as Mars started catching up to them, but his launched projectiles can fly a hundred times that range.

Though the Plymouth Fury was no Pandamobile and matched a motorcycle in speed, the narrow streets forced the courier to slow down to maneuver. Soon, Mars would get close enough for his projectiles to reach them. “Shortie!” Ryan shouted, “Shortie, you’re listening?”

“Riri, what’s happening?” her voice came out of the Chronoradio. “I'm listening to the Private Security’s radios, and they say there’s a firefight—”

“Let’s just say the Augusti are in a heavy competition for the ‘Father of the Year’ award,” Ryan replied. “Can you pick us up?”

“I’m tracking your signal. Move to the sea, and I will be there.”

Ryan opened his car’s window, stopped time, and shot Mars’ motorcycle in the frozen time. The bullets bounced off the Roman cosplayer’s armor but hit the wheels. When time unfroze, the man almost lost control of his vehicle; unfortunately, a violet flash erupted around his motorcycle, and when the light died down all damage had vanished.

Damn, he could instantly switch damaged pieces of his vehicle with spare parts. The transition was so smooth the vehicle didn’t even break down.

“Maybe I could touch a streetlight on the way,” Atom Cat suggested as Ryan reloaded, his hands off the driving wheel. “I can blow stuff up behind us.”

“Now, kitten, that would be a terrible idea.” Felix’s explosions had been useful on the highway chase a few loops ago, but would be disastrous in a crowded area. It would be even worse if he caused a gas leak. Ryan didn’t look down on collateral damage, but he would rather avoid having civilian lives on his conscience.

Unfortunately, Mars didn’t share Ryan’s viewpoint. Now that he was close enough for his launched projectiles to reach his target, the Olympian materialized iron spears and shot them at the Plymouth, uncaring about hitting passersby. One of his spears tore a prostitute in half, another hit a house’s window. Ryan thought this would be a repeat of the car chase with Pluto two loops ago, but the previous race had been on a highway, not a metropolis at night.

The courier had to take back the wheel with one hand to take a difficult turn, an enemy projectile grazing his car’s paint job. If the pointless murder of civilians hadn’t earned Mars the time traveler’s fury, this callous war crime did!

“Now you’ve done it!” Ryan snarled angrily, before turning at his kitten. “How many weapons does your dad have?”

“I dunno, thousands? Dad is a hoarder.”

“Compensating for something?” Unfortunately, as Ryan navigated through a tangle of back alleys, he noticed the shadow of two other motorcycles joining Mars. Mortimer rode one, and a helmeted woman the other. Since she didn’t carry any weapon, Ryan assumed she was probably Sparrow.

Felix removed his mask and wiped the sweat off his forehead. His smooth skin glittered as they passed below a streetlight, his beautiful eyes capable of melting any maiden’s heart. “Who are you?” he asked. “You’re on Livia’s payroll?”

“Now, come on, I never sold my body for cash,” Ryan said. “I give. I’m a giver. Also, you’re an idiot.”

“I… I didn’t think they would try to kill me. I mean, they’re… they’re my parents. I thought it counted for something.”

The young hero didn’t even sound angry.

Just sad and crestfallen.

“Well, at least you’ve got sisters willing to fight for you,” Ryan reassured, as they escaped the narrow streets of the nightlife district for wider roads. They were close to the New Rome strip, but unfortunately, the riders at their back gained ground, Sparrow and Mortimer on each side, with Mars at the center. “But it was stupid to come alone.”

“I didn’t,” Felix replied, looking through the windshield and at the night sky above. One could see a few bright stars in spite of the city’s lights. “Come alone.”

A great dragon’s wings overshadowed the stars, as she flew over the street. The noise of a Private Security helicopter echoed above the road with the call of screeching sirens.

For once in his life, Ryan was glad to see the cops.

瑞恩很想知道，菲利克斯·“原子猫”·韦兰还剩几条命。

他至少死在超能帮手里两次，在辐尘轰炸蕾恩的海底基地时死过一次；血流挣脱囚禁时，他多半也跟新罗马的所有人一起丢了性命。所以，九条命应该还剩五条？

“菲利克斯！”纳尔西妮娅差点从座位上站起来，却被玛尔斯一手按住肩膀，强行压回了椅子。小姑娘困惑地看着养兄和养父。

福尔图娜的反应就激烈多了。“菲利克斯，你这个混蛋！”她叫得震天响，尖利的嗓音让马蒂亚斯直皱眉头。“你居然敢穿成这样来参加家庭晚宴！活像个水管工！”

“见到你，我也很高兴啊。”菲利克斯一边站起来，一边掸去衣服上的灰烬和尘土。他的目光扫向餐桌，迎上宾客们困惑的眼神。“杰米，基贞……爸。”

“你可以走门进来。”玛尔斯说，眼神紧绷。出乎瑞恩的意料，他并没有立刻对儿子下手，或许是因为女儿们也在场。“我们邀请过你。”

“想必外面那些守卫都是摆设了。我要是从正门进来，你们绝不会让我靠近纳尔西妮娅。”菲利克斯不再看父亲，随即注意到了马蒂亚斯和瑞恩。“你们是谁？”

“你姐妹的男朋友。”马蒂亚斯心情复杂地答道。他紧绷的目光与瑞恩相接，无声地等着一个信号。他也明白，局面很快就要失控了。

“哪一个？”菲利克斯好奇地问。

“对的那个。”福尔图娜答道。

她兄弟翻了个白眼，又看向瑞恩。“那……你是谁，杀手七人组的新成员？”

瑞恩琢磨了十来种自我介绍的方法：快存，自由世界总统，摩纳哥征服者，永生不死之人，等等。一个比一个气派，一个比一个花哨。

可到头来，脑子里只冒出了一句话。

“我在哔——你前任。”

这番宣言换来了一片尴尬的沉默，快递员乐在其中。

“别这么看我。”年轻的英雄满眼惊愕，瑞恩对他说，“不是你前任，就是你姐妹，总得选一个。再说，她都快赶上你好看了！”

“快赶上？”福尔图娜怒道，“他连头发都不梳！”

“随便吧。”菲利克斯说，不过这个消息显然让他受了不小的冲击。“纳尔西妮娅，跟我走。”

“什么？”韦兰家的小女儿问，“去哪儿？”

“离开这里。我现在的上司们让人失望透顶，但跟着他们干，总比制毒强得多。”原子猫咪向妹妹伸出一只手。“那座死亡工厂已经烧成了灰，你现在就可以结束这场悲剧。”

纳尔西妮娅没有回答，只是不安地望着父亲。这让她哥哥很是挫败。“纳尔茜……”

“是你干的？”玛尔斯问儿子，语气危险。“毁掉我们的生产中心？”

菲利克斯耸耸肩。“这事跟我无关，不过我巴不得是我干的。不管是谁炸了那个毒窝，都该给他颁个奖。”

父亲皱起眉头，瑞恩则感到一股寒意顺着脊背爬了下来。紫光一闪，一部手机出现在玛尔斯手中，这位奥林匹斯成员立刻拨通了电话。

莉维娅看到的景象正在变成现实。

“基贞，你就没有什么想说的吗？”菲利克斯问。可被点到名的女人避开了他的目光，令他十分恼火。“还有你，杰米？我听说你升职了。光睁一只眼闭一只眼还不够，现在还要帮奥古斯都贩卖那些差点害死你女朋友的毒品？”

基贞瑟缩了一下，未婚夫握住了她的手。“你来这里干什么，菲利克斯？”杰米不安地问。瑞恩看得出来，年轻英雄的话戳中了他的痛处。“揭旧伤疤吗？”

“我是来让伤口愈合的。巴克斯需要你部门提供的化学品来制毒。只要你接下这份工作，就等于在帮着害死成千上万的人，毁掉他们的人生——”

“菲利克斯，我……”纳尔西妮娅深吸一口气。“我觉得现在不是谈这个的时候。”

“现在正是时候。”他反驳着，朝养妹迈出一步。杰米也从座位上站了起来，也许是想拦住他；马蒂亚斯则瞥向瑞恩，等着信号。

与此同时，玛尔斯阴沉着脸，对着电话说道：“他在这里，雅努斯，但他并不知情……他发誓自己没参与……是，可是……求你了，别当着我女儿们的面……换个地方……”

这位奥林匹斯成员的面容绷紧了。瑞恩虽然听不见电话另一头说了什么，却也猜得出来。玛尔斯还想最后劝一次，求老大不要处决自己的教子，或者至少把这次灭口办得隐蔽些。

但瑞恩知道，这个年长的男人是在白费口舌。闪电屁股认定，正是菲利克斯给嘉年华提供了情报，才让那场摧毁伊斯基亚岛的突袭得以成功，他的组织不可战胜的神话正岌岌可危。一场残忍、公开的谋杀，可以给敌人和追随者都传递一个明确的信号。

“叛徒一个也别想活，我的教子也不例外。”

说到底，正如埃克托·马纳达曾说过的，闪电屁股不过是个掌握了过多力量的黑帮分子。一旦受到威胁，他的回应永远是更多的暴力和恐怖。

时间旅行者看向原子小猫身后的壁炉，发现一截枪口正从石头里探出来。

“我明白了。”玛尔斯叹了口气，神色阴郁而悲伤。他拿着手机，看向自己固执的儿子。是违抗无敌的老大，为此付出代价，还是献上一只祭祀用的羔羊……这名头目很快就做出了决定。

左轮手枪扳机的咔哒声在房间里响起。

瑞恩暂停时间，从座位上一跃而起，把菲利克斯推离了弹道。

时间恢复流动，子弹打中了墙壁。福尔图娜惊声尖叫，菲利克斯则踉跄着，一脸惊愕。

“你该改改背后开枪的毛病了。”瑞恩说着，瞥向壁炉。莫蒂默半个身子已经穿出了石头，手里握着枪。“都让人猜到了。”

莫蒂默以再次扣动扳机作答，房间顿时陷入混乱。

窗户炸成了一场玻璃碎片雨。纳尔西妮娅尖叫起来，基贞和杰米急忙抓住她，扑到桌下。莫蒂默打偏了，又退回墙里。碎片则绕开了惊恐的福尔图娜和神情专注的马蒂亚斯。

碎片袭向玛尔斯，可他身上凭空出现了一套罗马百夫长式的铠甲和钢铁面具。这位奥林匹斯成员抬手护住身上唯一露在外面的眼睛，从座位上站了起来。

“这他——”菲利克斯完全惊呆了。

“回头再说，老古董。”瑞恩答道，一把抱住他的上身，像抱落难公主一样带着他从敞开的窗口跳了出去。餐厅在二楼，时间旅行者潇洒地落在下方的草地上，他最喜欢的猫咪却在地上滚了几圈。快递员吹了声口哨，召唤他的普利茅斯“狂怒”前来救驾。

“起来！”瑞恩命令菲利克斯，扶着他站起身。一场玻璃风暴正将玛尔斯困在二楼，但拖不了多久。

左侧的夜色里亮起了汽车前灯，就在同一刻，一道闪电击中了地面。

菲利克斯和瑞恩惊恐地抬起头，只见一个象牙般的男人从夜空降下，周身笼罩着一团猩红色的雷云。闪电屁股俯视着两人，眼中燃烧着暴怒的杀意。

菲利克斯似乎当场就放弃了抵抗，瑞恩却明智地发动了时间暂停。奥古斯都没有在凝固的时间里继续行动，而是连同红色闪电一起，从他眼前消失了。

是夜魇制造的幻象。

瑞恩很快就找到了罪魁祸首。那人站在快递员右侧的宅邸墙边，黑色紧身衣融进了夜色。时间旅行者摸出藏在口袋里的两把刀，将其中一把掷向杀手。

时间恢复流动，刀刃命中了那位吓破胆的夜魇的眼睛，让他惨叫着仰面倒下。幻象随之消散得一干二净，仿佛从未存在过。菲利克斯连连眨眼。“他去哪儿了？”

“没时间了，想活命就跟我来。”瑞恩说，汽车正朝他们驶来。但出乎他的意料，停在两人面前的不是他的普利茅斯“狂怒”，而是一辆梅赛德斯-奔驰。右侧车门打开了，露出驾驶员的身影。

“这里！”莉维娅招呼他们上车。“快！赶在其他人过来之前！”

瑞恩差一点就上了钩。她的面孔、声音，甚至衣着都无可挑剔……直到他意识到，消除者并没有跟女朋友在一起。菲利克斯已经乱得无法正常思考，向前迈出一步；快递员一手抵住他的胸口，拦下了他。

“气氛一热起来，莉维娅都会叫我‘瑞恩主人’。”快递员宣布。

面前的女人惊愕地眨了眨眼，随即伸手去摸藏在衣服下的左轮手枪。瑞恩暂停时间，掷出另一把刀，把她的手钉在了方向盘上。

“骗你的。”时间恢复流动，瑞恩说道。冒牌货丢下武器，疼得直抽气。“不过能看到你那副表情，也值了。”

菲利克斯很快猜到了是怎么回事。“母亲？”

“你把一切都毁了，你这个忘恩负义的小……”莉维娅的声音变成了维纳斯的，这名奥古斯蒂成员也恢复了本来面貌。好极了，她连声带都能改。她试着用没受伤的那只手拔出刀子，疼得牙齿咬得咯咯作响。

“你们……想杀我？”菲利克斯站在原地，这个发现太过可怕，让他连愤怒都生不出来。

“他们是，我可不是。”瑞恩说道。让他松了口气的是，他的自动驾驶汽车终于朝这边开来了。“那么，很抱歉，甜点我们就不吃了。”

“我一见到你，就知道你是个叛徒。”维纳斯咬牙道，“你无处可逃。”

在几人身后，玻璃风暴已经停歇。也许马蒂亚斯被抓了，也许死了，也可能有别的原因。玛尔斯神情冰冷地站在窗边，身周张开一道道紫色空间裂隙。剑尖、箭头、矛尖、三叉戟，以及其他武器的尖端从裂隙中探了出来。

玛尔斯本可以把它们射向下方的两人，把他们扎成刺猬，但他没有。虽然是在夜里，瑞恩仍敢肯定，自己在那个年长男人的眼中看到了一闪而过的迟疑与愧疚。

但当他看见受伤的妻子，玛尔斯迅速下定了决心。

数十件武器向他们倾泻而下，瑞恩几乎只来得及将自家的小猫推开。据快递员所知，玛尔斯能从一个口袋维度军械库里取出、召唤物品，但他从没想过，对方发射武器的速度竟然这么快。长矛和利剑如箭矢般破空而至，撞上地面的力道足以把人劈成两半。

幸好，瑞恩躲开了第一轮齐射，冲到了自己的车旁。“上车！”他命令菲利克斯，同时迅速坐到方向盘后，超级英雄则钻进了副驾驶座。

瑞恩看见福尔图娜抓住了父亲的手臂，试图把他拉离窗口，暂时中断了轰击。“爸爸，住手！”

“不是他死，就是我们其他人死。”玛尔斯答道，随即召来粗重的锁链，缚住女儿的手脚。链条很快就开始从她身上脱落，大概是她的能力破坏了结构，但仍让她暂时动弹不得。“马蒂亚斯，墨丘利，带我女儿们去安全的地方！那个操纵玻璃的家伙就在附近！”

这时，瑞恩已经驾车驶离宅邸，冲出了这位奥林匹斯成员的能力范围。莫蒂默穿过楼房外墙，朝汽车开枪，可子弹只是擦过车身。普利茅斯“狂怒”冲出庄园时，玛尔斯从窗口一跃而下，一辆红色铃木隼摩托车在他身下凭空出现。

“这是个圈套……”两人逃上新罗马的街道，菲利克斯低声说。普利茅斯“狂怒”超了两辆车，闯过红灯，玛尔斯紧追不舍。这个罗马角色扮演爱好者召出飞剑，想将猎物刺穿，可距离太远，准头不够。利刃只刺中了路面。玛尔斯暂时停止攻击，专心凭借娴熟的驾驶技术拉近两车的距离。

“晚宴比战场还危险。”瑞恩打开手套箱，拿出藏在里面的一把左轮手枪，“不过还是比不上婚礼。”

瑞恩很快驶离郊区，摆脱奥古斯都山的阴影，朝地中海海岸开去。最近的路线要经过小马格里布区，可那样就不得不靠近伏尔甘的基地。

时间旅行者决定绕远路，从城市边缘的南部街区穿过去。这里的房屋亟待重新粉刷，一大群狂欢客和急着找人上床的猥琐家伙，正排在几家乌烟瘴气的夜总会门口。瑞恩看见一个女人在路灯下的人行道上呕吐，朋友正扶她起身。不入流的皮条客和毒贩在后巷里公开兜售各自的“货色”。这里楼高巷窄，即便是白天，恐怕也会笼罩在浓重的阴影里。

瑞恩为了躲开一个醉汉，猛打方向偏离了路面，尽力避免造成人员伤亡。玛尔斯却没有这份慈悲。另一个平民踉跄着，险些闯到他的行驶路线上，这位奥林匹斯成员便直接在受害者体内召出一根木桩，用穿刺公弗拉德的手法将人钉在街上。围观者惊恐尖叫，四散奔逃，但普利茅斯“狂怒”和追兵早已远去。一个纵酒之夜就此变成了恐怖之夜。

他能把东西传送到半径十米内的任何位置，玛尔斯开始追近，瑞恩提醒自己，但他发射出去的东西，能飞到这个距离的一百倍远。

普利茅斯“狂怒”可不是熊猫战车，速度足以媲美摩托车，但狭窄的街道迫使快递员减速转向。很快，玛尔斯就会追到足以用飞射武器命中他们的距离。“小矮个！”瑞恩喊道，“小矮个，你在听吗？”

“瑞瑞，发生什么事了？”她的声音从时空收音机里传出来。“我在监听私人安保队的无线电，他们说发生了交火——”

“这么说吧，奥古斯蒂的‘年度最佳父亲’评选竞争很激烈。”瑞恩答道，“能来接我们吗？”

“我在追踪你的信号。往海边开，我会去那儿接你们。”

瑞恩打开车窗，暂停时间，在凝固的时间里朝玛尔斯的摩托车开火。子弹打在罗马角色扮演爱好者的铠甲上弹开，不过也有击中了车轮。时间恢复流动，那人几乎失去了对车子的控制；可惜，一团紫光在摩托车周围炸开，光芒散去时，所有损伤都消失了。

该死，他能瞬间用备用零件替换车上的受损部件。更换过程顺畅无比，车子连停都没停一下。

“也许我可以顺路摸一下路灯。”瑞恩双手离开方向盘，正忙着装弹，原子猫提议道，“我能把我们后面的东西炸掉。”

“小猫咪啊，那可不是什么好主意。”几个循环前，在高速公路上追逐时，菲利克斯的爆炸派上了用场，可在人群密集的地方，这么做会酿成灾难。要是引发燃气泄漏，那就更糟了。瑞恩倒不觉得造成附带损害有什么可耻，但他宁可别背上平民的性命。

可惜，玛尔斯并不认同瑞恩的看法。距离已经近到足以让飞射武器击中目标，这位奥林匹斯成员便召出铁矛，朝普利茅斯射来，根本不在乎会不会打中路人。一支长矛将一个妓女撕成两半，另一支击中了民宅的窗户。瑞恩原以为，这不过是两个循环前与普鲁托那场飞车追逐的重演，可上次是在高速公路上，不是在夜晚的大都市里。

为了拐过一个难转的弯，快递员不得不腾出一只手重新握住方向盘，一件飞来的敌方武器擦伤了他的车漆。如果说滥杀平民还没让玛尔斯招来时间旅行者的怒火，那这桩丧尽天良的战争罪可算点着了！

“这回你可惹到我了！”瑞恩怒吼着，转向自家的小猫。“你爸到底有多少武器？”

“不知道，几千件吧？我爸有囤积癖。”

“这是在弥补哪方面的不足？”不幸的是，瑞恩正驾车穿行于迷宫般的后巷，忽然发现又有两辆摩托车的黑影加入了玛尔斯的追击。一辆由莫蒂默驾驶，另一辆上是个戴着头盔的女人。她没带任何武器，瑞恩猜测多半是麻雀。

菲利克斯摘下面罩，擦去额头上的汗水。驶过路灯下时，他光洁的皮肤泛着微光，那双漂亮眼睛足以融化任何少女的心。“你是谁？”他问，“你在替莉维娅打工？”

“拜托，我可从没卖过身。”瑞恩说，“我讲究的是奉献。我是个奉献者。另外，你是个白痴。”

“我……我没想到他们会想杀我。我是说，他们是……是我父母啊。我以为这总该有点分量。”

年轻英雄的声音里，甚至听不出愤怒。

只有悲伤与沮丧。

“至少，你还有愿意为你挺身而出的姐妹。”瑞恩安慰道。两人终于逃出夜生活街区的窄巷，驶上了更宽阔的道路，离新罗马的娱乐大道已经很近了。可惜，后面的骑手也在逼近：麻雀和莫蒂默分居两侧，玛尔斯在中间。“不过，一个人来确实很蠢。”

“我不是。”菲利克斯透过挡风玻璃，望向头顶的夜空。尽管城市灯火通明，仍能看到几颗明亮的星星。“一个人来的。”

一头巨大的母龙从街道上方飞过，双翼遮住了星辰。私人安保队直升机的轰鸣和尖锐的警笛声，一同在道路上空回荡。

瑞恩这辈子难得有一次，这么高兴见到警察。