The Perfect Run

Ryan had to give it to Dynamis. The company spoiled its heroes rotten.
Enrique had granted the courier a full penthouse suite, located on the Optimates
Tower's twenty-fifth floor. Ryan slept in an apartment-sized bedroom, with a
plasma screen TV and an unbeatable picturesque window view of the city. The
suite was fully stocked with amenities and tastefully decorated, with no inch of
ground left without a carpet; each piece of furniture had been carefully selected
to create an atmosphere of opulent relaxation. The bathroom included a private
pool with a Jacuzzi included, and even a bar.
The suite itself was only part of the package though. Ryan had a dedicated staff
available at all times to fulfill all his whims, from the mundane to the truly bizarre.
The courier had tested the waters and learned almost nothing was off-the-table
for him, from drugs to prostitutes; so long as none of his excesses made their
way to the media anyway. And the cherry on top of the cake, the walls and
windows were soundproof.
Of course, the suite was filled with cameras spying on him, but Ryan hacked
them five minutes after taking over.
On the morning of May 11th, the courier finished dressing in his new costume,
when he heard someone ring the bell. “Somebody call security, the poor are at
the gates!” he declared through the intercom, though a camera system showed
him Wardrobe and Atom Cat waiting on the other side. “I can’t stand the stench of
the middle-class!”
“Does Your Majesty want cake for his morning breakfast?” For once Felix didn't
wear his face-mask, revealing his true face to the world... and quite the
handsome one too! He looked like a masculine version of his gorgeous sister.
“Hi, Ryan!” Wardrobe said, much more politely. “Can we get in? We have a tight
schedule today!”
Ryan lowered himself to let these guests inside his lair, even if Atom Cat looked
too much like a nouveau riche for his refined patrician tastes. The splendor of his
suite immediately floored his teammates.
“How is it that your place is bigger than mine?” Wardrobe asked, green with envy,
as they made their way into the main room. Ryan's sofa was larger than most
king-sized beds, and faced a state of the art home cinema. “I thought only Pro
Leaguers could get a penthouse suite?”
“I have special needs,” Ryan replied, trying to sound as foppish and pompous as
possible. “I fall ill without three hundred square meters to live in.”
“I have a big one too,” Felix said, his dirty, plebeian mind unimpressed by the
luxurious penthouse. “I suppose Enrique wanted to make us feel welcome.”
That, and to bribe them. Ryan hadn't gotten anything like this suite in his
previous Dynamis Run, probably because Enrique didn't feel the need to placate
him. “What did Greenhand say when you gave him the recording?”
“He said “thank you’, and sent us on our way,” Felix replied with a scoff.
Disappointing, but not surprising. Blackthorn probably needed more time to make
a move against his patriarch.
Unfortunately, Ryan wasn't certain they had it with Psyshock still at large. On one
hand, his demise had caused Adam to throw away all caution in his attempt to
unlock the satellite, but Psyshock also provided near-limitless cannon fodder to
throw at the bunker’s defenses. Though Ryan and Len warned residents like
Paulie to escape the district, the courier had no idea if it would slow down the
Meta-Gang’s progress.
Ryan remembered that Vulcan's disastrous assault on Rust Town happened on
May 12th, with Psyshock blasting everyone to kingdom come with Mechron’s
mech. It meant that even with Psypsy, the Meta shouldn't unlock the bunker’s full
power before that date, or else they would have used the Bahamut on the
invaders. After May 12th though, this loop would enter uncharted territories.
And that was without taking Livia into account.
“Though I saw Wyvern go into his office right after us,” Atom Cat added. “She
looked rather pleased too. I wonder why.”
“If you want to hear all the hero gossip, you have found your gal,” Wardrobe said
with a wide smile. “Do you know Blackthorn and Wyvern are an on-and-off item?”
“No way!” Ryan said with shocked surprise. “But what about Vulcan?!”
“I thought they had a passionate love-hate relationship going on too, but no!
Devilry is into girls though, but Wyvern politely let her down when she made a
pass at her.” The stylist looked at the two boys with her big, beautiful eyes. “Are
you both...?"
“I'm straight,” Felix said quickly, “and not looking for romance.”
“I'm flexible,” Ryan said with a seductive voice, “and available.”
“I thought you were dating the Underdiver?” Wardrobe looked both curious and
slightly disappointed. “The romantic tension is palpable between you.”
“It's...” The courier looked away. “It's complicated. I'm looking for something
new.”
Truth was, when Ryan woke up this morning, his drowsy mind had wondered
why Jasmine wasn't in the bed.
And then he remembered, and he felt the pain of losing her all over again.
Ryan knew he shouldn't have grown attached to a woman or lowered his guard,
but the damage was done. He didn't want to forget Jasmine, not after she made
him promise not to, but the courier only knew one way to numb the emotional
pain. Filling the gaping void with distractions; better to keep running forward than
sit alone with his regrets.
“Is that a Batman-Catwoman thing where you fight on two different sides of the
law, and you want to be together, but the world conspires to keep you apart? We
can work with that, you know!”
“Hey, Kitty!” Ryan abruptly changed the subject and asked his second-favorite
cat. “Something has been bothering me for a while. Did anybody ask you how
Lightning Butt's invulnerability works?”
“You can't evade me forever, Ryan,” Wardrobe said, determined to learn
everything about his romantic life.
Felix snorted at Mob Zeus’ nickname, though it put him in a bad mood. “Enrique
already beat you to it. No idea, and he murdered everybody who could possibly
harm him.”
“Do you have a list of them?” Ryan asked. With the information he had gathered
from his previous loops, he could perhaps find the true nature of Mob Zeus’
invulnerability. He wanted peace with Livia, but he had the feeling he might have
to confront Lightning Butt at one point in order to achieve his Perfect Run.
“I know a few, but the only person with the full list is Mercury, the organization's
spymaster,” Felix replied.
“I thought that talking skull controlled gambling dens and money laundering?”
Ryan asked. “Come to think of it, I wonder why they still launder money when
there are no taxes to pay.”
“It's because Mercury's division is a submarine,” Atom Cat replied.
“He can breathe underwater better than bugs?”
“That's not funny Ryan,” Wardrobe said as she sat on the sofa, though she
forced herself not to smile at his pitch-black joke.
As it turned out, Shortie’s bubbles were an experimental technology, and not that
reliable. Mosquito’s water prison ended up malfunctioning, perhaps due to his
peculiar biology, and caused him brain damage from a lack of oxygen.
Then again, what did Ryan expect? Communists could never make good
products.
“Don't know, I never tried to drown him,” Felix mused. “Augustus uses the
laundered money to infiltrate European communities that oppose him. Mercury
funnels dirty money into “legitimate’ businesses that then take over companies,
institutions, farms, etc... he even managed to infiltrate some of Dynamis’
contractors from what I heard. Don't kid yourself, every branch of that
organization supports a criminal takeover. Every last one.”
Atom Cat then crossed his arms while Wardrobe put on the TV and checked the
news. “And... as I told Enrique, I think there’s something wrong with Augustus.”
“You mean besides the sociopathic narcissism?” Ryan asked, though he shared
the same intuition.
“He has been strangely lethargic in the last few years. Beforehand, he used to
track down some foes himself, to remind the masses that he's a tough
psychopath you don’t want to mess with, but now he lets Pluto do it for him and
hasn't left his villa in years. Dad told me he seems to forget the world exists for
minutes at a time, and he keeps an electrical halo around himself whenever he’s
in public. When I asked Livia why, she wouldn't answer.”
“He's sick?” Wardrobe asked with a frown.
“I dunno, he’s supposed to be invulnerable.” Felix shrugged. “Maybe it's just age
or depression.”
Ryan didn't think so. The courier must have annoyed Lightning Butt for four years
with his time-stops, but it literally took an orbital laser for the mob boss to get out
of his house. The courier had seen the signs on the wall; the sick, sullen face
Mob Zeus hid beneath his bright halo, the way his family members were uneasy
around him...
Something was wrong with New Rome's Godfather.
“Hey, look!” Wardrobe interrupted their discussion, a finger pointed at the TV.
“They're talking about us!”
Ryan glanced at the plasma screen, as the news showed a recap of yesterday's
events. The main video showed the Panda proudly bringing the Psychos into
custody, Wardrobe answering journalist questions while Atom Cat ignored them,
and Enrique congratulating everyone for making New Rome a safer place.
Someone had also managed to find a photo of Ryan in his old costume, and
Dynanet theories proliferated on him.
Truly, the headlines said it all: “The Menagerie: Il Migliore’s newest golden
children!” “New hero team deals a heavy blow to Psychos everywhere! “Who is
Quicksave?”
“The Menagerie, seriously?” Atom Cat asked with a heavy sigh. “I should have
called myself Atom Smasher.”
“Felix, even marketing wouldn't let you use such a silly name,” Wardrobe said
with a smirk. “I heard rumors they want to pitch us as a team, young and hip. I
will be the leader, as the senior Pro Hero, and you'll be my padawans.”
“Yuki, no!” Ryan protested, horrified. “You know what happens to mentor figures
in hero stories? Don’t become my Obi-Wan, please!”
“I know, it seems like a bad idea, but think long-term!” Wardrobe insisted. “I can
stage my retirement with a Merlin costume, as you are inspired by my demise to
become true heroes! And then, I can make a surprise comeback tour dressed as
Jesus!”
Felix clearly didn’t understand her evil scheme, but Ryan thought it made perfect
sense. “Anyway,” Atom Cat said. “Time to go. We have to go to the Dynamis HQ
next door and meet with Dr. Tyrano.”
“The Elixir expert?” Ryan asked, suddenly curious.
“Yeah, he wants to study our powers.” Felix shrugged again. “The Panda is
already there for a thorough checkup.”
“And then afterward, we go to Star Studios,” Wardrobe said with a bright smile.
“We're going to appear in the stinger of Wyvern's Flight [1I”
“Before we go.” Ryan looked at Wardrobe. “Yuki, I have something for you.”
“Oh, a gift?" She smiled at him. “I love gifts! I never have enough of them! What
kind of gift?”
“Let me tell you of its backstory first. I was about to go to bed, wearing only my
boxers, when I was struck by a surge of inspiration. A wild Dionysian spirit
possessed my body, and forced me to put on the bowler hat.”
“You should have kept your scarf,” Wardrobe replied, worried for his mental
stability. “I warned you. I warned you!”
“Yes, but it's alright. Because my muse inspired me to repay the debt I owe you.
You, who had made this perfect costume! I had to return the favor!” Ryan moved
into his bedroom, and returned with his gift. “The media call us the Menagerie
because we have an animal theme going on. Timmy is a panda, Felix is a cat, I
have a rabbit plushie. I figured that, even if you can turn into an animal mascot, I
had to make something for you. I remembered you had a few scandalous
magazines in your office, and it clicked.”
Ryan presented her with his newest creation: a homemade costume for his
favorite stylist.
His marvelous creation, inspired by his very own rabbit plushie, included a
headband with brown rabbit ears, a red necklace with a yellow ribbon, and a
black velvet leotard. Pairs of black tights, high heels, and golden bracelets
completed the set.
In short, it was a Playboy Bunny Costume.
Felix blinked repeatedly, and then looked at Yukiko with apprehension. This
foolish plebeian probably thought the stylish hero would take offense, for this
scandalous, 18+ costume left almost nothing up to the imagination.
“A Puff-Puff costume!” Wardrobe squealed in joy. “How did you know I didn’t have
one?”
But she was a woman of culture above all else.
“Wait, Yuki, you like that?” Felix asked Wardrobe, astonished, as she examined
the costume with a joyful face.
"I love kinky costumes,” she replied. "I just never get to wear them."
“Of course you don't, it's indecent!”
“But it's made of velvet!” Yuki's fingers touched the bunny ears, her eyes
widening in rapturous surprise. “And the ears, they're real fur! Mink? Mink.”
“I always keep mink fur in my car trunk,” Ryan replied proudly. “You never know
when you might have a clothing emergency.”
Atom Cat looked at him strangely. “There are still wild minks in Italy?”
“There were,” Ryan whistled ominously, before focusing on his new BFF. “I
wanted to make the Dragon Ball costume, but then I remembered you couldn't
use anything copyrighted.”
Wait, did copyright still function if the country where it was registered no longer
existed? Yuki's power made no sense.
“Ryan, you are adorable and I love it,” Wardrobe replied before grabbing the
costume. “I'll put it in my room and try it on tonight.”
“No way Dynamis will let you dress like that in public though,” Felix stated the
obvious.
“Wyvern wears a leotard just fine,” the stylist pointed out.
“Yes, but it isn’t a playboy bunny costume, and didn’t you complain that Dynamis
markets you as a kid-friendly superhero before?”
Wardrobe instantly deflated. “Oh, yes, that's right, I forgot about it... it will clash
with my current branding.”
“Wait, wait, I know a way to market it,” Ryan said, struck by inspiration. He
couldn't let his new BFF down. “Yuki, you are transitioning from the Little League
to the Pro Circuit. You are leaving the innocence of childhood behind, for the grim
and gritty reality of crime-fighting.”
“A dark age phase...” Wardrobe muttered to herself. “And then when I become
too grim and controversial, I emerge from the darkness with something classy
and elegant! Like a bodysuit with a cape!”
Ryan summarized her marketing strategy in one sentence. “A seamless transition
from kid's mascot, to adult icon.”
“You know what, I don’t think I'm comfortable wearing this in public yet, but I will
totally wear it in private!” Wardrobe kissed Ryan on the cheek. “Thanks. You
really shouldn't have.”
“Wardrobe, there are beautiful things in this world... and you're one of them,”
Ryan admitted, struggling to hold back tears. “I felt so alone before meeting you.
The last bastion of culture in a world gone mad.”
“I felt the same way too,” she replied, with tears in her eyes. “When I joined...
When I joined, they asked me to wear synthetic fibers. Synthetic fibers! No
respect! No respect!”
“It's okay, Yuki, it's okay,” Ryan said while hugging Wardrobe, letting her head
rest on his shoulder. “Cry on my cashmere suit. Do you feel the softness? Do you
feel better?”
Atom Cat watched the scene without a word, his face blank and his eyes
squinting. Ryan felt attacked. “Hey Kitten, stop judging us.”
“Please don’t reproduce,” Felix deadpanned. “New Rome won't survive three of
you.”
In the previous loop, Ryan had long talked with Vulcan about Lab Sixty-Six, the
birthplace of knockoff Elixirs. She particularly disliked the Genius behind the
operation, the so-called Dr. Tyrano; so when the courier learned they were
supposed to meet him, he hoped to get a free tour of the mystery lab.
But as it turned out, Dynamis afforded their head science honcho two floors for
his experiments, and the group had an appointment in Lab Sixty-Five.
Even there, security was tight. Automated cameras monitored everything in the
Dynamis HQ building, from the entrance lobby to the parking lot. One needed
keycards to access each floor individually, so no thief could access everything
even if they had stolen the necessary key. Guards in power armor waited before
all elevator doors while drones patrolled the corridors, assisted by infrared and
motion-detection systems.
Even Ryan would have a hard time sneaking in undetected, and it would certainly
take more than one loop. An open assault or suicide run would be easier.
When they passed through the blast doors leading to Lab Sixty-Five, the time-
traveler expected to enter some kind of dimly-lit mad scientist's lair. He was
slightly disappointed. While the lab included mainstay features like liquid-filled
tanks containing what appeared to be dinosaur embryos and operation tables, it
was well-lit and clean.
Though the scene before them made up for the place's blandness.
“Sifu, save me!” The naked Panda had retreated to a corner of the lab, putting an
operation table between himself and some kind of humanoid dinosaur. A
monstrous, horned dog with scales instead of fur barked at the scene. “He wants
to cut me open!”
“I only need a lung!” The humanoid dinosaur hybrid reminded Ryan of a two
meters tall T-rex, albeit with human-sized arms, black scales, and crimson eyes.
The strange mutant wore a white lab coat and tiny glasses optimized for his head
shape, but most importantly, he carried a scalpel and a syringe in each hand.
“Stop struggling, or I will have to use anesthesia.”
“You're not vivisecting the Panda!” Ryan instantly froze time and disarmed the
dinosaur, tossing his weapons aside. “He's the last of his kind!”
“Yeah, back off, doc!” Felix warned, hands raised as if willing to use his power
inside the lab.
“Oh, hi Mr. Tyrano!” Wardrobe waved a hand at the saurian with a bright smile.
“Oh, hi Yuki!” the scientist replied with a deep reptilian voice, stopping his Panda
harassment to look at Ryan. “You, from your power, I assume you must be
Cesare Sabino?”
Ryan instantly flinched, his playful mood replaced with frostiness. “How do you
know that?”
“Sabino?” Felix asked with a frown. “Isn’t that the Underdiver’s family name?”
Wardrobe gasped in shock. “No way, you are—"
“We're not blood-related!” Ryan quickly said, raising a finger at his BFF. “Don’t
you dare write fanfics about us!”
“What, really? You are adopted?” Dr. Tyrano didn’t hide his disappointment.
“Such a shame, I would have loved to compare samples from various Genome
relatives. It is a rare opportunity.”
“Wait, you took Len’s DNA?” Ryan asked, squinting suspiciously at the Genius.
“The Private Security takes DNA scans of everyone in their custody,” Felix
reminded him.
Dr. Tyrano shrugged it off. “Doesn’t matter, I will still need a sample anyway.”
“I wouldn't recommend it,” Ryan replied, slightly bothered by this scaled man.
The courier loved attention, except when it involved being carved open on an
operation table. It happened to him enough times already! “I'm a drug so
addictive, you won't be able to get enough of me.”
“You have a Green power in addition to your Violet one?” Dr. Tyrano asked,
completely missing the point. Clearly, humor was a mammal-only feature. “Then,
1 will need blood or hair, though sperm can work too. Some people prefer
ejaculation to extraction.”
“What, Quicksave, you didn't do a DNA test when you joined?” Wardrobe asked.
“No, it's against my religion.”
“You should reconsider,” Dr. Tyrano insisted, his strange reptilian dog leaping into
his arms. “Violets are the second rarest powers in circulation after White
Genomes! Think about science!”
“Yeah, nope,” Ryan replied, while the Panda breathed easy now that he no
longer interested the scientist. The courier patted his sidekick on the shoulder,
before looking at the dinoman'’s strange pet. “What is this?”
“It's Tricerador, one of my creations,” Dr. Tyrano answered, petting the
abomination against nature behind the horns. “Half Labrador, half triceratops.”
“So it's like the platypus of dinosaurs?” Ryan asked, his mood softening as he
scratched the beast’s belly. The animal made a saurian sound, but wagged its tail
like a dog. “Can you make a dinocat?”
“I tried to splice a Persian cat and a velociraptor, but the end result died,” the
mad scientist replied. “But I, Dr. Tyrano, swear that each household shall have its
own dinosaur one day! And I would have already done so, if management didn’t
pester me about that T-rex hunting safari!”
“What, they want to create a reserve where rich people can hunt dinosaurs, like
lions?" Felix asked.
“Ridiculous, right?” said the man who tried to cut open a Panda one minute ago.
“For a moment, I forgot we lived in a world where everything is for sale.”
In any case, Ryan immediately forgave the doctor for his terrible first impression.
Someone wanting to make dinosaur pets couldn't possibly be a bad person, no
matter what Jasmine could have said.
“Felix, don’t blame Dr. Tyrano, he is a misunderstood genius,” Wardrobe
declared, with her hands on her waist. “He's the one who made me my hero
costume.”
“A techno-organic symbiote capable of mimicking the shape of pre-recorded
costumes,” Dr. Tyrano explained almost absent-mindedly, while his Tricerador
escaped his grip to wander around the lab. “Anyway, since you are new I want to
test your powers in a controlled environment. See if there are potential
interactions, record the energy readings, etc...”
“By dissecting one of our teammates?” Felix mused, while the Panda cowered.
“He fully regenerates whenever he switches from one form to another!” Dr.
Tyrano all but shouted. “Even Wyvern needs time to heal naturally, but not this
werebear! With his ability, we could have an infinite, renewable source of
organs!”
“The Panda... the Panda was abducted by someone like this once.” The poor
animal seemed to relive a particularly nasty PTSD-induced episode. “They
thought they could make aphrodisiac from his blood. The Panda... the Panda
had to flee.”
“Now, I have to figure out where the extra organic material comes from by
studying the transformation,” Dr. Tyrano said, completely oblivious to his animal
cruelty.
Ryan needed to distract him, before he harmed his sidekick. “Well, there isn't
much to check,” he lied to the scientist. “I can stop time, my pandawan can
shapeshift, and my cat can blow up pebbles.”
Wardrobe chuckled. “You can stop time and there is nothing interesting about
that?”
“About the pebbles part, after our last battle, I realized I could modulate my
explosions.” By now, Felix ignored all of Ryan's cat jokes, much to the courier's
displeasure. “Charge weapons, delay the blast by a few seconds, and then throw
them.”
Dr. Tyrano nodded a few times as he listened to the explanations, as if they
confirmed his own observations. “As I thought, you probably charge solid matter
with a unique form of energy, causing it to detonate afterward.”
“Red Flux?”
Ryan flinched as Dr. Tyrano’s head abruptly snapped in his direction, so fast it
fooled even the Genome’s enhanced sense of timing. “How do you know that?”
“Well, I've been studying powers with my last Genius girlfriend,” the time-traveler
said. “We kinda figured out Genome powers come from alternate dimensions,
one for each Elixir color.”
“Fascinating.” Now the courier had to take a step back as Dr. Tyrano started
invading his personal space. “I came to the same conclusions, but to have them
confirmed by an outside researcher...”
Goddammit, now Ryan could smell the dinosaur’s warm reptilian breath, and
Felix the Cat delighted in his unease. “That's not so funny when you're the victim
rather than the perpetrator, uh?” Atom Kitten mocked the time-traveler.
“So you suggest the werebear’s extra organs come from an alien green
dimension made of organic matter?” Dr. Tyrano focused on Ryan and completely
ignored the jab. “I would be delighted to pick your brain open and compare
notes.”
“I do have a question of my own actually,” Ryan said, pointing a finger at the
dinoman'’s tail. “Aren't you a Blue, rather than a Green?”
“I am a Genius specialized in cloning, splicing, and gene therapy. My current
appearance is the result of an experimental transformation serum. It's purely
temporary.”
Felix hesitated, as if afraid to ask his question. “Why, Doc? What was the point?”
“Because I wanted to turn myself into a dinosaur,” the Genius replied like it was
the most normal dream in the world.
“Oh God, you're a furry,” Ryan realized. “I guess we'll never be friends.”
“You need fur to be a furry,” Wardrobe pointed out. “It's in the name.”
“What's a furry?” The Panda asked naively.
Ryan looked at him with a gaze of pure compassion, and quiet appreciation for
the hero's sheer luck. How could he survive in the wild so long? “Your innocence
must be protected, my young student.”
“Hey, I'm not the one judging you on your appearance,” Dr. Tyrano complained.
“But seriously, it all makes sense now,” Ryan said. “I always wondered how you
managed to make knockoffs at all, but your power should give you a heads up.”
“I couldn't make Elixirs,” the dino Genius admitted. “Not truly. What I did was
synthesize a specific resource that mimicked the properties of a true Elixir. It's a
shoddy imitation, and an imperfect one. It took years to create the Hercules
serum from Wyvern, and even then I could only replicate a subset of her ability,
namely her enhanced strength.”
“And you never managed to copy my power,” Wardrobe mused with a smile.
The scientist grumbled before giving back Ryan his personal space, making
circles in the room with his hands crossed behind his back. “Because besides the
usual Genome health enhancements, your Elixir didn’t change much about your
genetic code. The mechanics that allow you to channel multiple abilities
transcend the sphere of flesh.”
“I believe the Elixir mostly serves as an intermediary between a Genome and the
dimension providing their esoteric powers,” Ryan stated. “They also support their
host by subtly guiding them with their ability, or in the case of Psychos, pushing
them to consume more Elixirs.”
Felix coughed, interrupting the discussion. “Excuse me, but... hosts, guiding?
You make it sound as if Elixirs are alive and intelligent.”
“Yeah, they are,” Ryan replied, much to his teammates’ shock. “Sort of. They're
closer to viruses.”
“Except they do not use RNA or DNA to transmit information,” Dr. Tyrano pointed
out. “Though they manipulate ours.”
“Sorry,” Wardrobe said with a forced smile, “you are losing me.”
“They're like aliens who do not work the same way life on Earth does,” Ryan
explained the best he could. “We don’t understand how Elixirs carry information,
but they understand and manipulate how our bodies do. Enough to focus on
modifying humans only, and ignoring animals.”
Visit Novelxo.org to read full content.
“ ”
Exactly!” Dr. Tyrano shouted, happy
to find someone with whom to
a « :
brainstorm. “After being used, the
el) ro
Alchemists Elixirs ee
oo \
SpPlins peed olecular level,
rewriting the DNA to make their host
the vessel of a unique power. And no
powers are exactly the same, though
they may be variants, which implies
the Elixir selects the ability from a
collective database and makes it
: ”
unavailable to new hosts.” The
content is on Novelxo.org! Read
the latest chapter there!
Yeah, Ryan figured as much after extensive testing during his previous loops.
Even when divided into doses distributed to a group, an Elixir always bonded to
one person only.
Ryan could never bring himself to give someone two Elixirs at once though, not
even in a research loop. Nobody deserved to transform into the new
Bloodstream.
“Unfortunately, when you have more than one, even from the same color, they
start to conflict,” Ryan continued, while his teammates clearly struggled to
understand. “They edit the same genes. Think of it as two writers fighting over a
script. They keep rewriting the other’s work until the sentences don't make
sense. And you can only have two powers at most.”
Visit Novelxo.org to read full content.
« . Sees Sis :
After which, the original two Elixirs in
’ 3 :
the host's cells cannibalize the
» ne
newcomers,” Dr. Tyrano finished, he
and the courier working. in perfect
5 In 5 3
Say QR They're rpose new
ElixiF injections towards stabilizing
the unstable genetic code, but only
for a while before they start fighting
again. Psychos instinctively know
that, as the Elixirs in their bodies
influence them to collect more in a
doomed attempt to reach an
CTE » s
equilibrium.” The content is on
Novelxo.org! Read the latest
chapter there!
“What about Mongrel?” Felix asked. “He could use more than two abilities when I
fought him.”
“Ah, I can already answer that question!” Dr. Tyrano said triumphantly. “From the
samples gathered from his custody, I can attest that this Psycho consumed an
Alchemist-made White Elixir, followed by almost all knockoffs available on the
open market.”
“So he’s a White with the power to have more than two powers?” Atom Cat
asked, while the Genius nodded. “That's cheating.”
“Instead of cannibalizing newcomers, the original Elixir seems to force them to
play along like a referee. It allowed his body to channel more than one ability, but
unfortunately didn’t protect him from Elixir conflicts, mutations, and addiction. The
substances don’t destroy each other, but they still conflict. Truly fascinating.”
Such was the tragedy of Mongrel. He had earned an overpowered ability in
theory, but lost the mental faculties needed to use his limitless potential.
“Do you think the Psycho condition can be cured?” Ryan asked Dr. Tyrano. He
had given up after facing roadblocks in his understanding of Elixirs, but perhaps
the saurian knew more than he did.
“Of course it can be!” The genius lambasted the time-traveler. “Nothing is
impossible!”
“Yeah,” Felix said. “Augustus has two powers without any side-effects as far as I
know.”
“Oh, could the Panda get two powers?” Naive Timmy's eyes widened in hope.
“One for each form?”
“Possible, though unlikely!” Dr. Tyrano said, seizing the opportunity for a free mad
experiment. “We can always try, but you will need to sign a discharge first.”
Ryan lightly slapped the Panda in the back of his skull, much to his surprise.
“Ouch, Sifu, what was that for?”
“Your real power is there, arrogant young disciple,” Ryan said, pointing a finger at
his sidekick’s heart. “Do not be greedy, you already have the greatest power of
all”
“Y-yeah, right,” the Panda said and nodded, but misunderstood his master's
wisdom. “I should master it first, before thinking of gaining a new one.”
Visit Novelxo.org to read full content.
I or
There are rare cases of individuals
. . ”
with two powers and no side-effects,
i :
Dr. Tyrano said. “Augustus is the
most famous, but i ihe enlycase
op tei ese lucky few
possessed specific genes, or their
Elixirs modify different parts of the
DNA sequences without conflicting.
: . ’
Since unlike Psychos, Augustus
) c
powers haven't formed an obvious
synergy, I believe they coexist
. » 5
independently.” The content is on
Novelxo.org! Read the latest
chapter there!
“I think I get it,” Wardrobe said, having struggled to follow the discussion so far.
“You have two creators, but instead of fighting, they each design a different part
of the ensemble?”
“And if an equilibrium is possible, then it can, in theory, be replicated,” Dr. Tyrano
declared with enthusiasm. “Imagine, giving two powers to every Genome with no
side-effect? I could become a Blue/Green and maintain this transformation
permanently, joining my bountiful intellect with a powerful saurian body!"
“But you need to figure out the reason why there is an equilibrium at all,” Felix
pointed out. “All your points are mere hypotheses. For all you know it depends on
the Elixirs used rather than anything innate in the host.”
“Yes, yes, and unfortunately the few individuals with two powers in Italy refused
to cooperate.” Dr. Tyrano shrugged. “In any case, we do not yet understand
Elixirs enough to cure the Psycho condition yet. But if Mechron understood
enough about powers to enhance and reverse-engineer them, then why not us?”
Ryan's thoughts turned to the bunker below Rust Town, and his last visit there.
The courier remembered entering a room with animals kept in Elixir-colored
liquid, and Big Fat Adam said the armory included knockoff production facilities.
Perhaps even a cure for his power degeneration.
He really needed to explore that place, after purging the Meta from it. “I would
love to exchange notes on Elixirs, and especially your brain-copy project too.”
The last part caused Dr. Tyrano to snort in anger. “Does everybody know of it
nowadays? I'm afraid you need a Level 5 clearance before I can even talk to you
about it. The CEO already gave me an earful about security yesterday.”
Felix instantly tensed, while Ryan simply shrugged. “Well, my scaled friend, how
can I gain one such clearance and build a strong bond of sciencehood between
us?"
“I will petition management, but the procedure usually takes months.” Dr. Tyrano
snorted with disdain for Dynamis’ bureaucracy. “Anyway, talking is time wasted,
and I have a busy schedule. Go into the testing chambers and strip. You are all
older than eighteen, right? My lawyer is very adamant about that part.”