同章对照

When Ryan gazed into the violet abyss, the abyss looked back.

As he fell down into a tunnel of violet light, the time-traveler witnessed distant echoes form around him. Images flashed in his mind like pictures, followed by sound. He relived memories, some of them his own, but not all.

Ryan remembered the fateful day he and Len found their Elixirs, and the moment when it all began.

For a moment, he was Len, drinking an Elixir in a desperate attempt to heal a sick father.

The next instant, he was a woman with a dream, murdered by a heartless man. He lived through Julie Costa's murder, both as the victim and the perpetrator.

He became a living sun, fighting a final battle for the world's sake against a mad Genius' endless armies.

He remembered the Plushie's creation, his rebirth in Monaco, and his first Perfect Run.

He watched Bloodstream's final defeat through half a dozen pairs of eyes, gaining a broader perspective.

He became a priest eager to defend the world in the name of God, and the sociopathic scientist who drove him mad.

Ryan became all of these people and more, as he lived through these fragments of the past. The endless tapestry of time appeared before the wanderer, offering him greater insight and knowledge.

Through it all, Ryan's purple doppelganger followed after him like a shadow, a reflection. It floated ever closer to the original, but never fused with him. Two old friends had reunited, but now was not yet the time to become one.

There was still one task left to do.

"I'm with you," the double whispered with Ryan's own voice. His Elixir Magenta inhabited this specter, always standing by its human partner’s side. "Let's kick his ass."

Ryan lightly landed on his feet and found a confused Augustus waiting for him.

To the courier, the Purple World appeared as a grassless plain without limits, the purple ground as smooth as a polished mirror. The skies were a lighter shade of violet, a beautiful void without clouds, without wind. Countless spheres floated above Ryan's head, linked by beautiful, dazzling auroras of Violet Flux. The strange bubbles reflected pictures of alien worlds defying understanding, of lands ruled by dinosaurs, of human and alien cities.

Ryan couldn't count them all, and each of them showed something different. Another place, another time.

Doors, the courier realized. Gates to other worlds beyond count, portals to different pasts, alternate presents, and possible futures. Ryan couldn't help but take a moment to marvel at this place's alien beauty, at this universe of limitless possibilities. The sight deeply humbled him, as he truly began to fathom how vast the multiverse was, and how small he looked in comparison.

"What is this place?" The red light had gone out of Augustus, leaving nothing but a cracked statue of ivory. His eyes glared at Ryan, blind to this place's majesty. "What have you done?"

"I brought you to my home turf," the courier replied, taking a step forward. His armor suddenly seemed no heavier than air, and his Violet Elixir walked after him like his shadow. "This ends here."

“It will.” Augustus raised his hand, trying to smite Ryan with divine lightning. But no electricity erupted from his fingers, to his surprise.

Mob Zeus couldn't draw energy from the Red World here. Not without the right permission. Unlike Ryan, he was nothing more than an intruder, an unwelcome guest in a world that served as the time-traveler's second home.

"This is a crossroads, but you can't break the lock," Ryan said, darkness spreading across his skin. "While I..."

Black Flux erupted from his heart, his very soul, burning off the Saturn armor and shrouding his entire body in a cloak of darkness. Ryan became a shadow with a purple reflection, a human-shaped black hole. A living void.

The Saturn Armor had never been more than an amplifier, helping Ryan focus his own personal connection to the Black World. But here, in this place? In this crossroads between all of space and time?

"I am the gate, and the key!"

Ryan could draw upon as much Black Flux as he wished.

Half his vision turned dark, as the paradoxical energies consumed his wounded left eye. The courier crossed the distance with his adversary in an instant, space dissolving between them as if it no longer existed. The surprised Augustus instinctively raised his left arm to protect his head, and Ryan punched it with a fist of solid darkness.

His shadowy fingers cut through the adamantine like butter.

Augustus' eyes widened in shock, as his forearm fell on the purple ground and left a stump behind. His flesh and blood had calcified, turning as solid and indestructible as the skin outside. But Lightning Butt's nerves still worked correctly, if his roar of pain was of any indication. He clutched the stump with his remaining hand, his eyes widening in rage and horror.

Ryan would have rejoiced, if his current state didn't hurt him as much as Augustus. He felt his skin peel away, devoured by the Black Flux. His legs, his arms, started to flicker like shade in the sunlight. If he kept this up, he would either ascend as a living shadow... or cease to exist.

"Give up," the courier ordered Augustus.

He didn't listen.

"I was chosen." Madness and hubris overwhelmed Augustus, his fear of death giving way to a single-minded, murderous rage. Unable to strike Ryan down with lightning, he raised his right fist in a haymaker motion. Lightning Butt’s eyes were devoid of all rational thoughts; his hatred had overwhelmed his survival instinct. His mind simply couldn't accept defeat. "I was chosen by Fate!"

Ryan raised a hand, his purple double following his movement, and shattered Augustus' right arm at the elbow with a swift strike. The severed arm joined its twin on the purple floor, and the pain brought Lightning Butt to his knees.

He had lost the same hands he once smashed Julie Costa's head with.

Call it karma.

While his purple double glanced at the portals above them, Ryan looked down at his foe. Without the electrical halo surrounding him, Augustus’ wrinkles, whether natural ones or cracks from the battle, were exposed for all to see. The perfect Olympian statue had degraded, his smooth outer layers now resembling a broken windshield. Though he shed no blood, there was hardly a spot in the mob boss' body without a rift, a hand-shaped crater, or exposed metallic flesh.

Ryan glanced at this all-powerful Genome's face, and it looked so old, so scared beneath the bluster. The face Augustus had struggled so hard to hide from the world wasn't that of a god, but of a feeble, bitter old man. One so afraid of his own death, that he had murdered thousands to stave it off.

Beneath all the cruelty and the luster of divine power, Augustus was nothing but a small, petty miscreant, worthy only of contempt.

"Give up!" Ryan shouted, his voice deepening as his throat flickered in and out of existence.

But now that he had lost everything, pride was all Augustus had left.

"A god does not surrender!" he snarled.

A true god was listening, and made its presence known.

The portal bubbles dispersed, pushed away by an invisible cosmic force. The smooth ground beneath Ryan's feet undulated like a water pond's surface, and the Flux auroras brightened. A humongous shadow covered Ryan and Augustus, making them raise their eyes at the alien skies.

The Violet Ultimate One descended from the heavens above.

Ryan had only caught a glimpse of the entity in the past, but now it revealed itself in its full, cosmic glory. The courier had vaguely mistaken it for an inverted pyramid, but on a closer look, it appeared far more complex. The geometric shape before him would have given a headache to Euclid, as layers upon layers of space folded in a bizarre triangular violet spiral.

This shape, this geometrical form, didn't exist, couldn't exist on Earth. Ryan's own human mind couldn't fully process what he saw. It tried to fit the shape among other, more classical forms, to quantify the unquantifiable... and it failed.

Millions of eyes covered this eldritch triangle, black orbs full of swirling galactic spirals, all-devouring black holes, nebulas, and cosmic phenomenons undiscovered by human astronomers.

Each eye is a universe, Ryan realized. This thing was so colossal, that it hurt the courier’s head just to look at it. Even the haughty Augustus seemed transfixed by the sight.

The entity's eyes gazed at the mortals.

A solar flare of Violet Flux swallowed them both, dissipating the shroud of darkness around Ryan. The multiversal light of the Ultimate One bathed the courier's naked body, stripping him of the pain, of his senses, and reason. The deity's will overwhelmed his own, and let him see through one of its eyes.

The time traveler was brought back to a time before man, before life. He witnessed a nebula's matter condense while a star flared to life, planets forming out of space dust around the radiant celestial light. An asteroid impacted a rock of magma, the ejected stones gathering into a smaller pebble forever orbiting around its larger sister.

The fires cooled, allowing for the emergence of continents, of an atmosphere of volatile gases, and of vast oceans. The planet cooled as bacteria colonized it. Algae populated the deep, and legged creatures dared to walk on land. Insects conquered the skies, then reptiles the ground, until another rock from the skies set them all ablaze.

Mammals emerged from the ashes, growing larger and smarter. A primate mastered fire, and crafted tools to conquer the world. Lineages of humans evolved and became one, before splitting into countless tribes. Some raised pyramids, others temples. Kingdoms rose and fell, and two families walked down the road of time. One found its ultimate fruit in a man with a dream of violent conquest, another in a child that loved video games, both locked into a collision course.

All leading up to this moment.

“THIS IS A SECOND TO ME."

The Ultimate One's voice was unlike any sound Ryan had ever heard. It was the subtle song of undulating space, the symphony of time. It was beautiful beyond any description, and yet awe-inspiring.

The voice of a true deity.

When the divine union ended, Ryan's pain had vanished, and the Black Flux along with it. His skin felt fresh beneath the iron, and a fully repaired Saturn Armor protected him. The eye blinded by Augustus could see again, perhaps even more clearly than it ever had.

The Ultimate One had afforded no such courtesy to Augustus, who remained a broken, crippled thing. Lightning Butt had gone into shock, his eyes wide open, his arrogant defiance gone.

"YOU ARE NOT A GOD.”

He had seen the vision too, and the truth shattered him.

"YOU ARE NOTHING."

Augustus' eyes looked down at the ground, his gaze empty and hollow. He had formed his entire personality, his sense of self, around the idea that he was a god among men, chosen by fate to rule and conquer. He had built his family, his world, around this primal delusion, violently lashing out at anything that could contradict it.

But the Ultimate One had dispelled his armor of lies with the truth of his own insignificance, breaking him utterly.

Something inside Augustus had shattered, and would never come back.

The Ultimate One paid the defeated genome no more attention than a fly. Instead, its eyes set on Ryan, crushing the courier beneath the weight of its divine gaze.

The courier's purple double knelt before the entity, the Elixir submitting to the elder entity. Though he didn't go as far, Ryan bowed as deeply as he could. Even the irreverent courier knew that he was in the presence of a true deity, a transcendental existence as far above humans as they were from ants. An entity of unfathomable power, and utterly alien.

"You are the Ultimate—" Ryan began, but the entity cut him off.

"I AM ALL OF SPACE AND TIME. I AM ALL THAT WAS, ALL THAT IS, ALL THAT WILL EVER BE. I AM EVERYWHERE AND NOWHERE. I AM THAT I AM."

"So you control—"

"YES."

"And you already know what—"

"I KNOW EVERYTHING YOU MIGHT EVER SAY."

"Well, can you please pretend not to?" The time-traveler pleaded sheepishly. "It's annoying to get cut off all the time."

Violet Flux instantly swirled before Ryan, and solidified into a solid shape. The entity it coalesced into shared the courier's height, and little else. The figure wore a purple robe seemingly woven from the fabric of space, a foaming mass of bubbles foaming from below. Ryan didn't see any face beneath the hood, only a vision of a night sky and swirling nebulae. The creature had no arms, nor any need for them.

"Are you more comfortable with this shape?" The Ultimate One's newest avatar asked, its voice an echo of Ryan's own.

For some reason, that incarnation spoke in the French language.

"It's better," the courier replied, and to his joy, the entity didn't interrupt him again. It probably knew what the human was about to say, but politely pretended not to. Ryan then glanced at Augustus, who kept looking at the ground in a vegetative state. “What about him?”

“He does not matter.” The Ultimate One’s avatar didn’t even spare Augustus a glance, as space lengthened between Ryan and the broken mob boss. Lightning Butt moved backward, until he vanished from sight. "Come."

Space bent, and a terrifying creature emerged from an angle at the edge of Ryan's vision. A horse-sized horror with white skin and hundreds of red eyes all over its body, with stunted tentacles as forelegs, and larger ones for hindlegs. Two antennas sprouted from its twisted, bulbous head like long porcelain ears.

The Plushie.

Or rather, the entity that had hijacked it.

Somehow, Ryan couldn't help but find it cute, in a grotesque way. The courier moved an armored hand at the monster's head, and scratched it behind the 'ears.' Its tentacles wriggled in pleasure, its red eyes turning blue.

"Thanks, buddy," Ryan said, the eldritch horror answering with a sound that could pass for a strangled cat's cry. "From the bottom of my heart."

The eldritch calamity had given the time traveler many scares, but in the end, it had been a loyal friend since day one. Ryan could see it now.

"Was that always your true form?" the courier asked, as the Plushie wagged its tentacles. The creature's shadow had looked different a few loops ago.

"It is the form it chose," the Ultimate One said. The courier suddenly noticed that its voice, while echoing Ryan’s own, lacked any emotional intonation. The creature mimicked human speech the way a parrot did, understanding the words, but not the music. "It must return to its duties now."

Ryan suddenly realized that the Plushie's time on Earth had been the equivalent of a holiday.

No wonder it had spent its time sowing mayhem and destruction!

"I have so many questions," Ryan confessed.

"I have answers," the Ultimate One replied.

"Thank you." Ryan doubted that many people could boast about receiving an audience from an Outer God, or the closest thing to one. "You've guided me for a while. First through Eugène-Henry, then through Chronoradio messages. First of all, I thank you for it."

The deity didn’t bother answering. It felt distant, physically present, but not there either.

"Was this predetermined?" Ryan asked hesitantly. "Did you make this moment inevitable?"

This time, the Ultimate One answered. "I made this moment possible. You made it inevitable."

Bubbles floated from beneath the entity's clothes and grew larger to the size of tennis balls. When Ryan examined them more closely, he noticed images appearing on their surface.

"These are paths you could have taken." The Ultimate One glanced at a bubble showing Ryan walking out of New Rome, but different. The courier's cashmere suit had turned into tattered rags, while his eyes had become blue and purple.

This doppelganger's malevolent expression chilled the original Ryan to the bone, especially when he noticed birds and clouds frozen in time above New Rome's buildings.

"In this possibility, you make a gamble and take a second Elixir, only to become the bane of your kind," the Ultimate One explained, while Ryan's purple double looked away in shame. "As the Clockstopper, you turn the human hive of New Rome into a snowglobe, before moving on to ruin millions of lives."

"Is this happening right now?" Ryan asked, horrified, while the Plushie purred against his leg. "In another reality?"

"No," the Ultimate One answered to the courier's relief. “As an observer, you are a spacetime singularity. This is partly why your mate cannot predict you."

The courier frowned behind his helmet. "An observer?"

The Ultimate One ignored the question. Another bubble floated in front of Ryan, showing him and Livia engaged in a vicious gunfight over the burning ruins of Mount Augustus' villa. "In this extinguished possibility, you never trust your current mate, and you start a war with her for control over your timeline. Each loop becomes worse than the last."

Ryan gazed at this one for a while, before being distracted by another, showing the courier punching Augustus' chest and his hand coming out on the other side.

"In this one, you strike down her maker," the Ultimate One explained, "and though she does not war with you, your bond is broken. You leave the New Rome human hive, and return to your wandering, alone."

The Plushie pointed at another bubble, which made Ryan raise an eyebrow. It showed the courier in bed, surrounded by naked women including Fortuna, Jasmine, Yuki, Nora, the Vamp, Cancel...

And Felix.

Somehow, Felix was here too.

"Wait, is that the harem ending?" Ryan asked with curiosity.

"In this timeline, you give up on forming meaningful bonds with your kindred," the Ultimate One explained. "You live a jaded existence of meaningless sensations, dulling your heart's pain with physical pleasure."

Ryan suddenly noticed Len and Livia's absence in this picture, illustrating the absence of anything deeper than mindless sex. "I should have known it looked too good to be true," he said.

The Ultimate One dispersed the bubbles with a thought. "All of these are choices you could have made, or would have been forced upon you if you had wavered in your efforts. You discarded or extinguished these possibilities in the service of your perfect future. If this present moment takes place, human, it is because you struggled to make it happen."

"So I have free will?" the courier asked, afraid of the answer. "If multiple paths are possible, then events aren’t predetermined?"

"Free will does not work as most humans understand it,” the Ultimate One explained. “The timeline is in flux whenever a lifeform makes a choice. A cat is faced with a forked path. It can take left, or right. In that brief moment, both possibilities coexist.”

Ryan wondered if that cat’s name was Schrödinger, or maybe Eugène-Henry. “Until the cat chooses.”

“Yes. After which, one possibility becomes the truth and is set in stone. History is written. Whenever you saved and turned back time, the ink was already dry. Humans had made their choice in a previous history, and they would make the same for all future ones unless interfered with by an outside force. This is the nature of causality. This is the nature of time.”

Ryan tried to grasp the implications. People like Augustus chose to do all their crimes, and the likes of Sunshine chose to help others. Time didn’t invalidate their choice, but once the choice had been made, it couldn’t change.

“So we humans have the freedom to choose,” the human summarized, “but not to change our mind?”

They could write their life’s story, but not change the first draft.

“The humans you met chose to become who they are,” the Ultimate One confirmed. “But they cannot choose to become someone else. Only those who exist outside causality have this privilege. Beings of the higher dimensions, like the messengers. Those touched by the rebellious Black. And you."

Ryan remembered his old meeting with Len, when he had likened himself to a Schrödinger's cat, existing in multiple states at once. Yet unlike this poor, suffering feline, the courier could decide which state he ended up with. “So… I’m an exception?”

"You wished to undo the chain of cause-and-effect to save another life, so I granted you the power of an observer. The ability to exist both in your lesser reality and my Purple World, which transcends causality. As you can interfere with a lifeform’s original choice, you alone decide which possibility, which potential reality, will become the true history. You alone can grant others second chances. You are the true master of your universe, human."

"I'm sorry," Ryan apologized, before looking at his armored hands. They had stopped existing a few minutes ago, alongside his left eye. "It must have been hard work to clean up the timestream after me. I probably caused a lot of paradoxes over all these loops."

“It is my role to maintain the integrity of the timestream,” the Ultimate One replied, before glancing at Ryan’s left eye. “Some of your body parts have been erased forever, so I replaced them with an earlier possibility of them still untouched by the Black.”

"A time-transplant?" Ryan asked. "Nice loophole."

"I have grown efficient at filling the holes made by the Black, though not perfect. This power is by definition uncontrollable. The unforeseen error in the great machinery of the universe.”

"Though I do wonder what would have happened if I died of old age, and saved a few moments earlier," Ryan said. “How would that have worked from your own point of view?”

"Time would have repeated, until you achieved peace and enlightenment," the Ultimate One answered. "Then you would have ascended to the Purple World, and history would have carried on without you."

Still, Ryan wondered how many cycles it would have taken… and he suddenly realized that the creature in front of him didn’t understand how painful it would have been. The Ultimate One saw billions of years as a second. The courier suffering centuries in a time loop until he reached enlightenment wouldn’t have been a blip on its radar.

"I have another question," the courier said hesitantly, unsure how the creature would react. "But I don't want to sound ungrateful."

The Ultimate One didn’t answer, but it had probably foreseen what he was about to ask.

"Why didn't you help us more?" Ryan glanced up at the enormous pyramid. "You brought down the reptilians, according to Darkling, and you can control reality itself. Why didn't you prevent the Alchemist from devastating our planet?"

The Ultimate One’s cowled head glanced at Ryan's left foot. "There is a bacteria crawling on your limb. It has an oval shape, with an orange cytoplasm and blue tentacles. It has been with you since you first set a foot on New Rome, eating dust on your skin. It has fought deadly wars against parasites for food, survived radiation and lightning. One day it will duplicate. Did you notice it?"

"No," Ryan confessed.

"Mankind is a bacteria colony to me," the entity explained. "I am big, and you are small. Unless I focus or you disturb the timeline, I do not even notice that your planet exists. Your reality is a sand grain among the endless desert which I oversee. A pigment in the tapestry of my dreams. If this avatar of mine above your head entered your universe, it would appear more than one hundred billion of your solar masses, larger than the greatest of your black holes."

"I can hardly imagine it," the courier admitted. His human brain simply couldn't properly represent the size difference. "So we are insignificant to the Ultimate Ones?"

“Humans are no more important to me than the birds you eat for sustenance, or the ants you crush underfoot when you walk,” it answered bluntly. “My role is to maintain the march of time, and the boundaries of space for trillions of universes.”

Ryan’s purple double chose this moment to speak up. “Helping you mortals is our job.”

“I do not care for mortal creatures, but I do not disregard them either,” the Ultimate One added. "This is why we Ultimate Ones created the messengers. To guide lesser life forms to a higher level of existence."

Ryan frowned. "Then why did you help me, out of everyone else? Was it because you needed me to destroy the Alchemist’s base?”

“No,” the alien deity replied flatly.

“Then why? Why did you help me reach my happy ending?”

“Because I chose to.”

An aurora of Violet Flux flashed in the skies above, a shining thread linking time and space.

“You’re like one of those guys who adopt wounded dogs they find on the road,” Ryan realized. “You won’t go out of your way to help others proactively, but if someone in pain directly crosses your path and begs for help... sometimes you answer.”

The Ultimate One responded with silence.

In the end, it was neither good nor evil as humans understood it. It was a cold, alien thing.

But one capable of selfless compassion too.

Ryan neither felt angry nor happy with these answers. He could only accept them. Though cold and distant, the Ultimate One was not malicious, and had helped one pitiful human achieve his good ending without expecting anything in return. For that, the courier would always be grateful.

Ryan had one question left to ask. "So how does this end?"

"However you wish." The Ultimate One glanced at the Plushie and Magenta's avatar. "You can stay here and become one of us. You will gain immense power, and obligations. You will oversee timestreams, travel across countless realities. Many options will open to you. You can also choose to enter the Black World, if you seek greater freedom."

Ryan considered the offer, but though an interesting one, it wasn't what he had fought for. "Or..." he trailed. "Or I could return to Earth."

"You could," the Ultimate One conceded.

Ryan’s thoughts turned to Livia and Len. "There is something I never experienced, in all my years of wandering. Something I've striven to achieve for a very long time."

For the first time in the entire conversation, the Ultimate One gazed at the human with what could pass for curiosity. "What is it?"

It knew the answer, but didn’t understand it.

"Living a happy life,” Ryan answered, “with friends who can remember me."

The Plushie's antennae lowered in disappointment, so the courier immediately reassured it. "Don't get me wrong, I would gladly join this heaven and wander the cosmos with all of you... just not now. Not today."

The Ultimate One remained silent for a moment, before reaching a decision. "The door to ascension will remain open. If you ever decide to join us rather than turning back time, I will extirpate you from your timeline and welcome you in my realm. Otherwise, you will be free to walk into the Black World. You have earned ascension, human, for learning to wield your power with wisdom. Now and forever."

"So..." Ryan glanced at his purple double, and at the rabbit-abomination, he had strangely grown fond of. "This is goodbye?"

"No, Ryan," his copy said warmly, the Plushie chirping in response. "We are always with you, even if you cannot see us. Don't you understand? You are never alone. You will never be alone."

And somehow, that was all Ryan had ever wanted.

"I will return you and your mate’s maker to your timeline," the Ultimate One said. "I will remove your innate connection to the Black World too. The Black Ultimate One is careless in its generosity, and if allowed to grow further the paradox within you will destabilize your reality."

"I suppose that's fair." The Black Ultimate One had granted Ryan this gift because he had wished to die, but now...

Now Ryan had learned to live.

The Violet Ultimate's smaller avatar wordlessly collapsed into Violet Flux, its triangular self bathing Ryan with its eldritch light. The Plushie hopped away with one last look sent at its old friend, while Magenta waved a hand at his double. Ryan returned the goodbye with a handwave of his own, as he returned to his reality.

A second later, the courier found himself standing on a French beach in his full Saturn Armor regalia, right next to an armless and broken Augustus. Ryan looked up as a sun illuminated the night, one shaped like a man.

Leo Hargraves glanced at the courier with silent relief, then at his old, broken nemesis. It said something about Sunshine that he seemed to feel equal satisfaction and pity at the sight.

"I was worried for you," Leo admitted to Ryan.

"Didn't you hear?" The time-traveler smiled beneath his helmet. "I'm immortal."

It took them until dawn, the true dawn, to return to Italy together. Ryan carried the broken Augustus in his arms, Pieta-style. By then, Ischia Island’s Bliss factory was no more than burning rubble, and the courier's allies had evacuated to New Rome’s old harbor with their captives.

When Ryan and Sunshine reached the area, they found hundreds of people gathered along the docks, near transport bathyspheres. Fortuna and Felix had draped Narcinia in a warm blanket, while Mr. Wave entertained the traumatized child with tales. Len and the reformed Meta-Gang members escorted the shackled Olympians. A bound Venus walked after her husband, pushed forward by Jamie and Lanka.

The two had made the right choice in the end.

Vulcan and Wyvern arrived with other arrested Augusti lieutenants; not as enemies, but as uneasy allies. Enrique and other Private Security members escorted the gangsters towards Len's bathyspheres, which would transport them to an inescapable prison under the sea.

Yet, in spite of their grim situation, the Olympians remained confident. They trusted their invincible leader would rain devastation upon those who dared to stand against him, and come to rescue his loyal minions.

Ryan's appearance dashed their hopes. When the Augusti raised their eyes to watch him carry their defeated master in his arms, illuminated by Leo Hargraves' light, they could only respond with shock and denial. Wyvern's eyes almost bulged out of her skull, while Enrique gave Ryan a quiet, respectful nod. Len didn't hide her relief at seeing her adoptive brother alive, and even Bianca grinned ear to ear.

Ryan tossed the defeated Augustus to the ground without a word. The broken warlord didn't rise up after hitting the pavement, his will shattered. And when they saw their invincible leader crushed so thoroughly, the remaining Olympians lost the will to fight. They lowered their heads in silent defeat, and walked to their fate.

The war was over.

当瑞恩凝视紫色深渊时，深渊也回望着他。

时间旅者坠入一条紫光构成的隧道，看见遥远的回响在周围浮现。影像如照片般闪过脑海，声音紧随而来。他重新经历了一段段记忆，其中有些属于他，却并非全部。

瑞恩记起了他和蕾恩找到灵药的那个命运之日，以及一切开始的瞬间。

有那么一刻，他成了蕾恩，绝望地喝下灵药，试图治好病重的父亲。

下一瞬，他成了一个怀揣梦想、却被无情之人杀害的女人。他经历了朱莉·科斯塔遇害的过程，既是受害者，也是凶手。

他化作一轮活体太阳，为了整个世界，与疯狂天才麾下无穷无尽的军队展开最后一战。

他记起了毛绒玩偶的诞生，自己在摩纳哥的重生，以及他的第一次完美通关。

他透过六双眼睛见证了血流最终的败亡，看到了更完整的全貌。

他成了一个渴望以上帝之名守护世界的神父，也成了那个将神父逼疯的反社会科学家。

在经历这些过去的碎片时，瑞恩成了所有这些人，以及更多的人。时间无尽的织锦在这位漂泊者眼前展开，给予他更深的洞察与更多的知识。

自始至终，瑞恩的紫色分身都跟在他身后，如影子，如倒影。它离本体越飘越近，却始终没有与他融合。两位老友重逢了，但合而为一的时刻尚未到来。

还有一件事要做。

“我陪着你。”分身用瑞恩自己的声音低语。居住在这道幽影中的，是他的灵药品红，它始终站在人类搭档身边。“咱们去揍扁他。”

瑞恩双脚轻盈落地，发现一脸茫然的奥古斯都正在等着他。

在这位信使眼中，紫色世界是一片寸草不生、无边无际的平原，紫色地面光滑如打磨过的镜子。天空的紫色稍浅一些，是一片美丽的虚空，没有云，也没有风。无数球体悬浮在瑞恩头顶，绚丽夺目的紫色通量极光将它们彼此相连。那些奇异的气泡映出一个个无法理解的异世界：有恐龙统治的土地，也有人类与外星生物的城市。

瑞恩数不清它们究竟有多少，每一个展示的景象都不相同。另一个地方，另一个时代。

门。信使明白了。通向无数世界的大门，通向不同过去、另一种现在，以及种种可能未来的传送门。面对这片异域之美，面对这个拥有无限可能的宇宙，瑞恩忍不住驻足惊叹。这幅景象让他由衷地心生谦卑，他真正开始领会多元宇宙何其辽阔，而自己与之相比又何其渺小。

“这是什么地方？”奥古斯都身上的红光已经熄灭，只剩下一尊布满裂纹的象牙雕像。他怒视瑞恩，对此地的壮丽视而不见。“你干了什么？”

“把你带到了我的主场。”信使答道，向前迈了一步。他的装甲忽然轻若空气，紫色灵药如影随形地跟在身后。“就在这里做个了结。”

“正合我意。”奥古斯都抬起手，想用神雷劈死瑞恩。可出乎他的意料，指间并没有迸出电流。

在这里，黑帮宙斯无法从红色世界汲取能量。没有相应的许可，就不行。与瑞恩不同，他只是个闯入者，是这个世界不欢迎的客人；而对时间旅者来说，这里却是他的第二个家。

“这里是交汇之地，可你打不开锁。”瑞恩说道，黑暗在他的皮肤上蔓延。“而我……”

黑色通量从他的心脏、他的灵魂深处喷涌而出，烧尽了萨图恩装甲，将他全身笼罩在黑暗的斗篷中。瑞恩化成了一道带着紫色倒影的黑影，一个人形黑洞。一片活着的虚无。

萨图恩装甲从来都只是个放大器，帮瑞恩将自身与黑色世界的联系凝聚起来。可是在这里，在这个地方呢？在所有时空的交汇之处呢？

“我既是门，也是钥匙！”

瑞恩想汲取多少黑色通量，就能汲取多少。

悖论能量吞噬了受伤的左眼，让他一半的视野陷入黑暗。信使瞬间跨过了与敌手之间的距离，两人之间的空间消融，仿佛从未存在过。惊愕的奥古斯都本能地抬起左臂护住头部，瑞恩则挥出由凝实黑暗构成的拳头，一拳砸了上去。

他那阴影般的手指切开精金，就像切开黄油。

奥古斯都震惊地瞪大眼睛，看着自己的前臂落上紫色地面，留下一截残肢。他的血肉已经钙化，变得与外层皮肤一样坚硬、不可摧毁。但从闪电屁股痛苦的吼声来看，他的神经依然运作正常。他用仅剩的那只手捂住断口，双眼因愤怒和恐惧而圆睁。

要不是此刻的状态让自己承受着不亚于奥古斯都的痛苦，瑞恩一定会欢呼。他感到皮肤正一层层剥落，被黑色通量吞噬。他的双腿、双臂开始像日光下的阴影一样明灭不定。再这样下去，他要么飞升成一道活着的影子……要么从此不复存在。

“认输吧。”信使命令奥古斯都。

对方不听。

“我是被选中的人。”疯狂与狂妄吞没了奥古斯都，对死亡的恐惧让位于孤注一掷的杀意与暴怒。既然无法用闪电击倒瑞恩，他便举起右拳，准备挥出一记大摆拳。闪电屁股眼中已没有任何理智，仇恨压倒了求生本能。他的头脑根本无法接受失败。“我是命运选中的人！”

瑞恩抬起一只手，紫色分身也做出同样的动作。迅疾的一击，将奥古斯都的右臂从肘部打断。断臂落在紫色地面上，与另一条作伴，剧痛让闪电屁股跪倒在地。

他失去了那双曾经砸碎朱莉·科斯塔头颅的手。

这就叫报应吧。

紫色分身望向头顶的传送门，瑞恩则低头看着敌人。没了环绕周身的电光，奥古斯都身上的一道道纹路全都暴露无遗，无论是自然生出的皱纹，还是战斗留下的裂痕。完美的奥林匹斯神像已经残破，原本光滑的表层如今如同碎裂的挡风玻璃。虽然没有流血，这个黑帮头目的身上却几乎找不到一处完好的地方，到处都是裂缝、手形凹坑，或是裸露的金属血肉。

瑞恩望着这名无所不能的基因者的脸。虚张声势之下，那张脸如此苍老，如此恐惧。奥古斯都费尽心机、不肯让世人看见的，并非神的面孔，而是一个衰弱、怨毒的老人的脸。他惧怕死亡到了极点，为了拖延死期，不惜杀害成千上万的人。

剥去残忍和神力的光辉，奥古斯都不过是个卑微、狭隘的恶棍，只配得到鄙视。

“认输！”瑞恩吼道。他的喉咙在存在与虚无之间闪烁，声音也随之变得低沉。

可如今奥古斯都已失去一切，剩下的唯有骄傲。

“神绝不投降！”他咆哮道。

一位真正的神听见了，也宣告了自己的存在。

气泡般的传送门四散开来，被无形的宇宙之力推开。瑞恩脚下光滑的地面如池水般起伏，通量极光愈发明亮。无比庞大的阴影笼罩了瑞恩和奥古斯都，让两人抬头望向那异域的天空。

紫色终极者自苍穹降临。

过去瑞恩只曾瞥见过这个存在的一角，如今，它将宇宙尺度的全部荣光展露无遗。信使先前隐约以为它是一座倒悬的金字塔，可近看才发现，它远比那复杂。眼前的几何形体足以让欧几里得头痛，层层叠叠的空间折叠成一道奇异的紫色三角螺旋。

这样的形状，这样的几何形体，在地球上不存在，也不可能存在。瑞恩的人类头脑无法完全处理眼前的景象。它试着把这形体归入其他更常规的形状，试着量化那无法量化之物……却失败了。

数以百万计的眼睛覆盖着这诡异的三角形体。漆黑的眼球里满是盘旋的星系旋臂、吞噬一切的黑洞、星云，以及人类天文学家尚未发现的宇宙奇观。

每只眼睛都是一个宇宙。瑞恩明白了。这东西大得难以想象，光是看着它，信使便头痛不已。就连傲慢的奥古斯都，也似乎看得失了神。

那个存在的眼睛望向了凡人。

紫色通量如太阳耀斑般爆发，吞没了两人，驱散瑞恩周身的黑暗。终极者的多元宇宙之光沐浴着信使赤裸的身体，剥去了他的痛苦、感官与理性。神明的意志压倒了他的意志，让他得以透过它的一只眼睛观看。

时间旅者被带回了人类诞生之前、生命出现之前。他目睹星云中的物质凝聚，一颗恒星燃起生命之火，行星由太空尘埃聚成，环绕着那明亮的天体。一颗小行星撞上一团熔岩构成的岩球，迸射而出的石块聚成一颗更小的石子，永远绕着它更大的姐妹运转。

烈焰冷却，大陆、由挥发性气体组成的大气层，以及辽阔的海洋得以出现。随着星球降温，细菌在上面繁衍生息。藻类遍布深海，长出腿足的生物大胆踏上陆地。昆虫征服了天空，爬行动物随后征服了大地，直到又一块天外飞石将它们尽数点燃。

哺乳动物从灰烬中崛起，越长越大，也越来越聪明。一种灵长类掌握了火，制造工具，征服世界。各支人类演化、融合，又分化成无数部落。有的筑起金字塔，有的建起神庙。王国兴衰更替，两个家族沿着时间之路前行。其中一支最终孕育出一个梦想以暴力征服世界的男人，另一支则孕育出一个热爱电子游戏的孩子。两者注定迎头相撞。

这一切，最终通向此刻。

“于我而言，这不过是一秒。”

终极者的声音与瑞恩听过的任何声音都不同。那是空间起伏间幽微的歌声，是时间的交响乐。它美得无法言喻，却又令人敬畏。

真正神明的声音。

与神交融的时刻结束后，瑞恩的痛苦消失了，黑色通量也一并消失。钢铁之下的皮肤宛若新生，一套完全修复的萨图恩装甲护着他。被奥古斯都弄瞎的那只眼睛恢复了视力，甚至可能比以往看得更加清晰。

终极者没有给奥古斯都同样的优待，他依然残破不堪，肢体不全。闪电屁股陷入了极度震惊，眼睛睁得老大，傲慢与反抗荡然无存。

“你不是神。”

他也看到了那番景象，而真相击垮了他。

“你什么都不是。”

奥古斯都垂眼看着地面，目光空洞。他全部的人格、自我认知，都建立在同一个念头之上：他是人间的神，是命运选中的统治者与征服者。他围绕这个根本性的妄想建立了家族，构筑了自己的世界，并以暴力回击一切可能否定它的事物。

可终极者让他看清了自身微不足道的真相，剥去了他那身谎言的盔甲，将他彻底击溃。

奥古斯都内心的某样东西碎了，再也无法复原。

终极者不再理会这个败北的基因者，仿佛他只是只苍蝇。它的目光转而落在瑞恩身上，神明的注视重压而来，让信使几乎无法承受。

信使的紫色分身跪在那存在面前，灵药向更古老的存在俯首。瑞恩虽没做到那个份上，也尽可能深深鞠了一躬。就连他这般不知敬畏的信使，也明白自己正面对一位真正的神明，一个超凡的存在。它高于人类，就像人类高于蚂蚁。它的力量深不可测，其本质与人类全然异质。

“你就是终极——”瑞恩刚开口，那个存在便打断了他。

“我是一切空间与时间。我是过去的一切、现在的一切、未来的一切。我无处不在，又无处所在。我是自有永有者。”

“所以你掌控着——”

“是。”

“而且你已经知道——”

“我知道你可能说出的一切。”

“那，能不能请你假装不知道？”时间旅者有些难为情地请求道。“老被打断，挺烦人的。”

紫色通量顷刻间在瑞恩面前旋转，凝成实体。它凝成的存在与信使一样高，此外几乎毫无相似之处。那身影披着一件紫袍，仿佛由空间本身织成，袍子下方不断翻涌出泡沫般的气泡。瑞恩看不见兜帽下有脸，只看见一片夜空，以及盘旋的星云。这生物没有手臂，也不需要。

“这个形态让你更自在些吗？”终极者的新化身问道，声音宛如瑞恩自己的回音。

不知为何，这个化身说的是法语。

“好多了。”信使答道。令他欣喜的是，对方没再打断他。它多半知道这个人类将要说什么，只是出于礼貌假装不知。瑞恩随后看向奥古斯都，后者仍呆望着地面，像个植物人。“他怎么办？”

“他无关紧要。”终极者的化身连看都没看奥古斯都一眼，瑞恩与这个垮掉的黑帮头目之间的空间便拉长了。闪电屁股不断退向远处，直到消失在视野里。“来。”

空间弯折，一头可怕的生物从瑞恩视野边缘的某个夹角中钻了出来。那怪物有马那么大，皮肤雪白，浑身遍布数百只红眼，短小的触手充当前肢，较大的触手充当后肢。扭曲鼓胀的头颅上伸出两根触角，像一对细长的瓷耳朵。

毛绒玩偶。

更准确地说，是那个占据了它的存在。

不知怎么，瑞恩竟忍不住觉得它丑得有点可爱。信使把戴着装甲手套的手伸向怪物的脑袋，在它的“耳朵”后面挠了挠。它的触手愉快地扭动，红眼睛变成了蓝色。

“谢谢你，伙计。”瑞恩说道。那诡异的恐怖之物发出一声回应，活像猫被掐住脖子时的叫声。“真心的。”

这头诡异的灾祸曾无数次吓坏时间旅者，但归根结底，从第一天起，它就是位忠实的朋友。如今瑞恩看明白了。

“你的真身一直长这样吗？”信使问道，毛绒玩偶摇着触手。几轮循环之前，这生物的影子可不是这个模样。

“这是它选择的形态。”终极者说道。信使忽然注意到，尽管它的声音如同自己的回音，却没有任何情感起伏。这个存在模仿人类说话的方式像一只鹦鹉，懂得词句，却不懂其中的旋律。“现在，它必须回去履行职责了。”

瑞恩突然意识到，毛绒玩偶待在地球的那段时间，相当于在度假。

难怪它整天忙着制造混乱、四处破坏！

“我有好多问题。”瑞恩坦言。

“我有答案。”终极者答道。

“谢谢。”瑞恩怀疑，没多少人能夸口说自己受到过外神的接见，或者接见者是最接近外神的存在。“你指引我有一段时间了。先是通过欧仁-亨利，后来又用时空收音机传话。首先，我要为此谢谢你。”

神明没有费心回应。它给人的感觉很遥远，实体虽然在场，却又并不在这里。

“这一切是注定的吗？”瑞恩迟疑地问道。“是你让这一刻变得不可避免吗？”

这一次，终极者回答了。“我让这一刻成为可能。你让它成为必然。”

气泡从它衣袍下浮出，膨胀到网球大小。瑞恩仔细查看，发现表面浮现出了影像。

“这些都是你原本可能走上的道路。”终极者看向一个气泡，里面映着瑞恩走出新罗马的景象，可那个他不一样。信使的羊绒西装已变成破烂的布条，双眼则变成了一蓝一紫。

那个分身脸上恶毒的神情，让真正的瑞恩寒意彻骨，尤其当他注意到，新罗马楼宇上方的飞鸟和云朵全都被冻结在时间里。

“在这个可能性中，你决定赌一把，喝下第二份灵药，却成了同类的灾星。”终极者解释道，瑞恩的紫色分身羞愧地移开目光。“你成为停钟者，将新罗马这个人类巢穴变成一只雪景球，随后又去毁掉数百万人的人生。”

“这正在发生吗？”瑞恩惊恐地问。毛绒玩偶贴着他的腿，发出咕噜声。“在另一个现实里？”

“不。”终极者的回答让信使松了口气。“作为观察者，你是一个时空奇点。你的伴侣无法预测你，部分原因就在于此。”

信使在头盔里皱起眉头。“观察者？”

终极者没有理会这个问题。另一个气泡飘到瑞恩面前，里面是他和莉维娅，在奥古斯都山别墅燃烧的废墟上激烈交火。“在这个已经消亡的可能性里，你始终没有信任如今的伴侣。为了掌控你所在的时间线，你与她开战了。每一轮循环都比上一轮更加糟糕。”

瑞恩盯着这个气泡看了一阵，随后注意力被另一个吸引过去。那里，信使一拳打进奥古斯都的胸膛，手从另一侧穿了出来。

“在这个可能性里，你杀死了她的创造者。”终极者解释道，“她虽然没有与你交战，你们之间的纽带却断了。你离开了新罗马这座人类巢穴，再次独自漂泊。”

毛绒玩偶指向另一个气泡，瑞恩看得挑起眉毛。里面的信使躺在床上，身边围着赤裸的女人，有福尔图娜、贾丝敏、由纪、诺拉、妖姬、消除者……

还有菲利克斯。

不知为何，菲利克斯也在。

“等等，这难道是后宫结局？”瑞恩好奇地问。

“在这条时间线里，你放弃了与同类建立有意义的联结。”终极者解释道。“你厌倦一切，生活只剩下毫无意义的感官刺激，靠肉体欢愉麻痹内心的痛苦。”

瑞恩突然发现，画面中没有蕾恩和莉维娅，说明这里除了空洞的肉欲，并没有更深层的联结。“我就该知道，看着太美的事不会是真的。”他说。

终极者心念一动，气泡便消散了。“这些全都是你本可以作出的选择，或是在你不再坚定努力时，可能被迫接受的选择。为了你那完美的未来，你舍弃或消灭了这些可能性。人类，如果此时此刻得以发生，那是因为你奋力促成了它。”

“所以我有自由意志？”信使问道，有些害怕听见答案。“如果有多条道路可走，那事情就不是预先注定的？”

“自由意志的运作方式，并非大多数人类所理解的那样。”终极者解释道。“每当一个生命体作出选择，时间线便处于变动之中。一只猫来到岔路口。它可以向左，也可以向右。在那短暂的一瞬，两种可能性同时存在。”

瑞恩不禁猜想，那只猫是不是叫薛定谔，或者欧仁-亨利。“直到猫作出选择。”

“是。此后，其中一种可能性成为事实，固定不变。历史就此写成。每当你存档、让时间回转时，墨迹都早已干透。人类已在此前的历史中作出选择，未来每一次历史中，他们也都会作出相同的选择，除非有外力干预。这就是因果的本质。这就是时间的本质。”

瑞恩试着理解这番话的含义。奥古斯都之流选择了犯下种种罪行，而阳光这样的人选择了帮助他人。时间没有否定他们的选择，可一旦作出了选择，就无法改变。

“也就是说，我们人类有选择的自由，”这个人类总结道，“却没有改变主意的自由？”

他们可以书写自己的人生，却不能修改初稿。

“你遇见的人类，选择成为了如今的自己。”终极者肯定道。“但他们无法选择成为别的人。唯有存在于因果之外者，才有此特权。高维度的生命，比如使者。被反叛的黑色触及之人。还有你。”

瑞恩记起以前与蕾恩的一次会面。那时，他把自己比作薛定谔的猫，同时存在于多种状态之中。但与那只可怜、受苦的猫不同，信使能够决定自己最终处于哪种状态。“所以……我是个例外？”

“你曾希望解开因果之链，挽救另一个生命，所以我赋予了你观察者的力量。让你能够同时存在于自身较低层次的现实，以及我这超越因果的紫色世界。你能干预生命体最初的选择，因此，哪一种可能性、哪一种潜在现实会成为真正的历史，唯由你决定。唯有你能赋予他人第二次机会。人类，你才是自己宇宙真正的主宰。”

“对不起。”瑞恩道了歉，低头看向自己覆着装甲的双手。就在几分钟前，它们和他的左眼都曾不复存在。“跟在我后面收拾时间流，一定很辛苦。这么多轮循环下来，我大概制造了不少悖论。”

“维持时间流的完整，是我的职责。”终极者答道，随后看向瑞恩的左眼。“你身体的一些部分已被永远抹去，所以我用一个更早的可能性中的相应部位替换了它们。那时，它们尚未被黑色触及。”

“时间移植？”瑞恩问道。“这漏洞钻得漂亮。”

“填补黑色造成的空缺，我已做得十分高效，却还称不上完美。这种力量在定义上就不可控制。它是宇宙这架巨大机器中无法预见的错误。”

“不过我确实好奇，要是我在老死前片刻存了档，会怎么样？”瑞恩说道。“从你的角度看，那会如何运转？”

“时间会不断重复，直到你获得安宁与觉悟。”终极者答道。“随后，你将飞升至紫色世界，而历史会在没有你的情况下继续前行。”

可瑞恩还是忍不住想，那得经历多少轮循环……他忽然意识到，眼前这个存在根本不理解那会有多痛苦。对终极者来说，数十亿年不过一秒。信使被困在时间循环中受上几百年苦，直到领悟大道，这种事连它的一丝注意都引不起。

“我还有个问题。”信使迟疑地说道，不确定对方会作何反应。“但我不想显得忘恩负义。”

终极者没有回答，不过它多半已经预见了他要问什么。

“你为什么没有多帮我们一点？”瑞恩抬头望向巨大的金字塔。“听暗灵说，你扳倒过蜥蜴人，而且你能掌控现实本身。为什么不阻止炼金术师毁掉我们的星球？”

终极者兜帽下的头转向瑞恩的左脚。“你的肢体上有一只细菌在爬。它呈椭圆形，有橙色的细胞质和蓝色触须。自你第一次踏足新罗马，它就一直跟着你，以你皮肤上的尘屑为食。它为争夺食物与寄生物浴血厮杀，经历过辐射和雷击，活了下来。有一天，它会分裂复制。你注意过它吗？”

“没有。”瑞恩承认。

“对我来说，人类就是一个菌落。”那个存在解释道。“我很大，你们很小。除非我集中注意，或是你们扰乱了时间线，否则我甚至注意不到你们的星球存在。你所在的现实，只是我照管的无尽沙漠中的一粒沙。是我梦境织锦中的一点颜料。如果你头顶这个我的化身进入你所在的宇宙，它所显现的质量将超过一千亿个你们的太阳，比你们最大的黑洞还要巨大。”

“我几乎想象不出来。”信使承认。他的人类头脑根本无法准确描绘出这种大小差距。“所以，对终极者而言，我们无足轻重？”

“对我而言，人类并不比你们为果腹而吃掉的鸟，或行走时踩死的蚂蚁更重要。”它直截了当地答道。“我的职责，是为数以万亿计的宇宙维持时间的行进与空间的疆界。”

瑞恩的紫色分身在这时开了口。“帮助你们凡人，是我们的工作。”

“我不关心凡俗生灵，但也不会将其置之不理。”终极者补充道。“因此，我们终极者创造了使者，引导较低层次的生命走向更高层次的存在。”

瑞恩皱起眉头。“那你为什么偏偏帮助我，而不是别人？是因为你需要我摧毁炼金术师的基地？”

“不。”异质的神明平淡地答道。

“那是为什么？为什么帮我走到圆满结局？”

“因为我选择这样做。”

一抹紫色通量极光在上方的天空中闪过，像一根连接时空的明亮丝线。

“你就像那种在路边发现受伤的狗，会把它带回家收养的人。”瑞恩明白了。“你不会特地去主动帮助别人，但如果有谁受着苦，恰好走到你面前求救……有时候，你会回应。”

终极者以沉默作答。

说到底，它既不善良，也不邪恶，至少不是人类理解中的善恶。它是一个冷漠的异质存在。

但它也能够怀有无私的悲悯。

这些答案既没让瑞恩愤怒，也没让他高兴。他只能接受。终极者虽然冷漠疏离，却没有恶意，还曾帮助一个可怜的人类达成了美好结局，不求任何回报。为此，信使将永远心怀感激。

瑞恩还剩下最后一个问题。“那么，这一切会如何收场？”

“如你所愿。”终极者看向毛绒玩偶和品红的化身。“你可以留在这里，成为我们的一员。你将获得巨大的力量，也将承担责任。你会照管时间流，穿行于无数现实。许多选择会向你敞开。如果你追求更大的自由，也可以选择进入黑色世界。”

瑞恩考虑了这个提议。它虽然有趣，却不是他一直为之奋斗的目标。“或者……”他拖长了声音。“或者，我可以回到地球。”

“可以。”终极者认可道。

瑞恩想起了莉维娅和蕾恩。“有件事，在我这么多年的漂泊中，从未体验过。我为了实现它，已经努力了很久很久。”

整场交谈中，终极者第一次以一种可以称作好奇的目光看着这个人类。“是什么？”

它知道答案，却不理解。

“幸福地生活，”瑞恩回答，“和那些能记得我的朋友一起。”

毛绒玩偶的触角失望地垂了下来，信使立刻安抚它。“别误会，我很乐意加入这个天堂，和你们一起遨游宇宙……只是现在还不行。今天还不行。”

终极者沉默了一会儿，才作出决定。“升格之门将始终为你敞开。只要你决定不再回转时间，而是加入我们，我就会将你从你的时间线中抽离，迎入我的领域。除此以外，你也可以自由走进黑色世界。人类，你学会了以智慧运用自己的力量，因此赢得了升格的资格。现在如此，永远如此。”

“所以……”瑞恩看向自己的紫色分身，又看向那只自己竟已喜欢上了的兔子怪物。“这就要告别了？”

“不，瑞恩。”他的分身温柔地说道，毛绒玩偶也鸣叫着回应。“我们一直与你同在，即使你看不见我们。你还不明白吗？你从来都不是孤身一人。你永远不会孤身一人。”

而不知为何，瑞恩一直以来想要的，也不过如此。

“我会将你和你伴侣的创造者送回你所在的时间线。”终极者说道。“我也会移除你自身与黑色世界的联系。黑色终极者慷慨，却不知谨慎；若任由你体内的悖论继续成长，它将动摇你所在现实的稳定。”

“我想，这很公平。”黑色终极者赐予瑞恩这份礼物，是因为他曾渴望死亡，可如今……

如今，瑞恩已经学会了生活。

紫色终极者较小的化身无声地散成紫色通量，那三角形的化身则以诡异光芒笼罩瑞恩。毛绒玩偶最后看了老友一眼，蹦跳着离开，品红则朝与自己同貌的瑞恩挥手。瑞恩一边回到自己的现实，一边也挥手道别。

一秒钟后，信使发现自己身着全套萨图恩装甲，站在法国的一处海滩上，旁边就是失去双臂、彻底崩溃的奥古斯都。一轮太阳照亮了夜空，瑞恩抬头望去，那太阳呈人形。

利奥·哈格雷夫斯看了信使一眼，无声地松了口气，随后望向自己那败落的宿敌。面对这幅景象，他似乎既感到快慰，又感到怜悯，两者不相上下——这倒很能说明阳光是个怎样的人。

“我一直在担心你。”利奥对瑞恩坦言。

“你没听说吗？”时间旅者在头盔下笑了。“我是不死之身。”

两人一起回到意大利时，已是黎明——真正的黎明。瑞恩双臂抱着垮掉的奥古斯都，姿势像《圣母怜子像》。此时，伊斯基亚岛上的极乐工厂只剩燃烧的瓦砾，信使的盟友也已带着俘虏撤到了新罗马的老港。

瑞恩和阳光抵达时，看见数百人聚集在码头沿线，围在运输用的深潜球旁。福尔图娜和菲利克斯给纳尔西妮娅裹了一条暖和的毯子，波动先生正给这个受到惊吓的孩子讲故事逗她开心。蕾恩与改过自新的超能帮成员押着戴镣铐的奥林匹斯众神。被捆住的维纳斯走在丈夫身后，杰米和兰卡推着她前行。

那两人最终作出了正确的选择。

伏尔甘和双足飞龙押着其他被捕的奥古斯蒂头目抵达。她们不是以敌人的身份而来，而是心存芥蒂的盟友。恩里克和其他私人安保队成员押送这些黑帮分子走向蕾恩的深潜球，准备将他们送往海底一座无法逃脱的监狱。

然而，尽管处境险恶，奥林匹斯众神仍然信心十足。他们相信，无敌的首领会将毁灭降到那些胆敢反抗他的人头上，前来拯救他忠心耿耿的爪牙。

瑞恩的出现粉碎了他们的希望。奥古斯蒂众人抬起头，看见他在利奥·哈格雷夫斯的光芒映照下，双臂抱着他们战败的主人，只能震惊地拒绝相信眼前的一切。双足飞龙的眼珠几乎要瞪出眼眶，恩里克则向瑞恩无声而敬重地点了点头。看见自己的义兄还活着，蕾恩毫不掩饰如释重负的神情，就连比安卡也笑得合不拢嘴。

瑞恩一言不发，将战败的奥古斯都扔到地上。这个垮掉的军阀撞上铺石地面后，没有再爬起来，他的意志已经粉碎。目睹无敌的首领被如此彻底地击溃，剩下的奥林匹斯众神也失去了抗争的意志。他们低下头，默默认输，走向自己的命运。

战争结束了。