Monaco’s shores came into sight on the third day of travel.
Sitting on a deckchair atop the submarine’s tower, Ryan observed the scenery with a phone in hand. The forbidden land hadn’t changed in the years since the courier last visited it. The city was all pristine and colorful, a nice cover for the horrors inside. Even after facing more than a dozen apocalypses, superpowered tyrants, and other horrors, this place still unsettled Ryan on a bone-deep level.
Thankfully though, it seemed Simon had followed through with his promise. Fences and spiked ditches walled up the city, preventing anyone from moving in from the land. A fireball patrolled the coast kilometers away from their location, looking for the submarine.
“We’re almost to France, darling,” Ryan spoke on the phone, scratching Eugène-Henry’s back as the feline rested on his lap. The Plushie played dead next to the courier’s deckchair, the switch on its back turned off. “Do you want me to conquer it for you while I’m at it?”
“I would rather that we do it together,” Livia replied on the other end of the line. It had been three days since the chase in New Rome, and she hadn’t managed to contact Ryan since then. The courier had felt immense relief at hearing her voice again. “But you can send me pictures of your trip.”
“I can take a suggestive pose next to the Eiffel Tower, to start with.”
Ryan’s phone bleeped, as Livia sent him a rather… scandalous photo of herself. “My Felix is clearly too young to see this,” the courier said. “That’s eighteen plus material here.”
“It’s something to look forward to when we meet again.” His girlfriend used a burner phone to contact him, ironically purchased from Dynamis. Thankfully, their mobile system covered most of southern Europe. Livia had taken great pains so that nobody could track down the communication. “Thanks, Ryan.”
“It’s nothing. I’ve saved more stray cats than men at this point.” His girlfriend chuckled. Though she had moved on from Felix, Ryan could tell she still cared for him almost like a brother. “But from what you say, you won’t join us in Antarctica.”
“No, I won’t,” she replied with a sigh. “Dad had me grounded after my current boyfriend fled the city with my ex.”
“Now, you’re making us sound like Thelma and Louise.”
Ryan could almost see Livia squinting on the other end of the line. “Did you and Felix… you know, in a past loop…”
“No, but I wouldn’t have minded.” A short silence followed. “Are you imagining us—”
“No,” she lied before changing the subject. “I’m… I miss you, Ryan. Things will be stressful in the following days, and I would rather have you by my side.”
“I will return,” Ryan reassured her. “You’re my First Lady, I’m sticking to you through thick and thin.”
“I know you will,” she replied warmly. “But things don’t look good on my end. The firefight with Dynamis put everyone on edge. Mars and Venus won’t accuse me openly of treachery, but they strongly suspect it. My father blames them for failing to catch Felix, and even if he remains cautious, Hector Manada is considering calling back his son Alphonse from Sicily. From Dynamis’ point of view, our family is on the verge of a civil war and with the loss of the Bliss Factory, this could be a golden opportunity to decisively end us. Tensions are at an all-time high.”
“Enough for the two organizations to go to war?”
“I will try to prevent a confrontation.” The keyword being try. “But you should send me the updated mind scans as soon as you can.”
He would. The duo had wisely made a brainmap of Livia before the Augusti dinner, so something could be salvaged in case the loop went wrong. “What about Lucky Girl and her younger sister?” Ryan asked.
Livia let out a sigh. “Dad has Fortuna and Narcinia under close surveillance, but they will get off lightly. They… they are shaken, obviously.”
No kidding. Felix himself had spent the whole trip brooding in his cabin, still trying to process the fact that his own parents had tried to murder him. “That was your plan?” Ryan asked. “That they see their own parents try to murder Felix, and that we carry this awful memory through time?”
“I cannot make plans around you, Ryan, which is part of your charm.” Livia chuckled to herself, but there was no joy in it, only sadness. “I can make previsions and try to adapt to your actions. I wanted to save Felix’s life first and foremost. Everything else...”
Livia took a deep breath before continuing. “It’s… it’s hard, Ryan. Children don’t often see their parents’ dark side. Or rather, we don’t want to see them, until we have no choice. It took me time to understand what my father was. Narcinia and Fortuna… they needed to see it too. For us to achieve a perfect ending.”
“Yeah, I think so too.” Ryan chuckled. “I suppose Shroudy can expect a surprise wedding when he meets his lucky charm again?“
Livia chuckled on the other end of the line. “After he helped save her brother, it’s almost a certainty.”
The courier wondered how Mathias would feel about this, but something else occupied his mind. “What about Jamie? Ki-jung?”
Livia’s heavy silence was an answer in itself.
Ryan’s hand tensed on Eugène-Henry’s back, as the awful truth dawned on him. “They’re dead.”
“When you escaped on the open sea, my aunt…” Livia’s voice broke. “Zanbato and Chitter tried to flee the city alongside Sphere, but my aunt already had them marked. Since you and Felix had escaped into the open sea beyond her power’s reach, she went after them instead. They… they tried to fight back, but…”
But it wasn’t enough. Not against Pluto. Unless one was a Yellow Genome or wielded an ability that violated causality like Ryan’s, her power killed with certainty.
Jamie and Ki-jung had betrayed the Augusti. Though he would bring them back with the next loop, the news filled Ryan with sadness. These two knew their lives were forfeit the moment they helped Felix, but they still put friendship and conscience over their organization.
“Don’t tell Felix,” Livia pleaded. “It will destroy him.”
“He will have to know.” Ryan owed Jamie and Ki-jung that much.
“Yes,” she replied, “but not now. Please.”
“No, not now,” Ryan agreed. “Livia, about your aunt, what are we going to do about her? She has almost as much blood on her hands as your Dad.”
Hell, Elixirs give people their dearest wish, and Pluto’s got the power to control death. That spoke volume about her murderous tendencies.
“I know,” his girlfriend replied. “My aunt is my father’s sister, and she will always push for violent solutions. I don’t want her to die, Ryan, but I wouldn’t mind seeing her imprisoned or neutralized.”
Same deal as with Lightning Butt then. Ryan had the gut feeling he would have to jail half his girlfriend’s family by the end of his time in New Rome. “Should we expect another battle? Because your uncle Neptune is the only member of your family that I haven’t fought yet, beside you.”
“Really?” his girlfriend asked, though she didn’t sound surprised. “I guess it makes sense. Uncle Silvio wants to go legit and isn’t looking to cause trouble. Dad sent him to destroy Len’s underwater facility, but he found nothing.”
As Shortie had said she would, she had the habitats disconnect and follow the submarine like a school of fish. She kept them buried deep below the waves though, to prevent the Psychos imprisoned within to try a jailbreak.
The progress they had made on curing the Psycho condition had pacified most of them though. Ryan had expected Sarin to throw a fit about the lack of cure, but seeing Mosquito turned back into a human had given her something stronger than doubt: hope. She finally saw that the courier would be true to his promise, unlike Adam.
Ryan sincerely hoped that whatever they found in Antarctica would help her recover her memories. He missed his old vice-president.
“In any case, to find you so far from New Rome, Dad would need either my help or Vulcan’s, and he doesn’t trust either of us anymore. Not fully.” Livia sighed. “I give Vulcan a fifty-fifty percent chance of running away. After her failure to protect the Bliss Factory and her obvious favoritism towards you, she knows Dad might have her killed too.”
“Does she get away if your Daddy makes a shocking move?” Ryan asked, worried for his ex’s safety.
Livia waited a few seconds before answering. “Yes, she should.”
Ryan didn’t miss the slight inflection in her tone. “Are you jealous, Miss Augusti?” he teased her.
“A bit,” she admitted. “I have seen the way the two of you interact. Don’t get me wrong, I know you will not cheat on me or anything, but… you and Vulcan have an easy sort of chemistry. I can tell you still care a lot about her.”
“Even when you end a relationship, something always remains.” For better or worse. “You have the same thing with Felix.”
“I suppose so.” A short pause followed, as Livia tried to find her words. “Don’t get killed in Antarctica, Ryan. I can’t see what awaits you there, and that makes me worry for you.”
“You shouldn’t,” Ryan replied with a smile. “I won’t let you forget me.”
“I don’t want to,” she replied, which warmed his heart. “When you come back from your trip, I will tell you something. Something really important that I haven’t told anyone else.”
Oh? “Can’t you tell it over the phone?”
“No, which should motivate you to come back,” the mafia princess replied coyly. “I have to go now. Cancel will check up on me soon.”
“Will you have an opening to call me again?” Because like all good things, that moment would end too soon.
“Not before a long while,” Livia replied sadly.
“Are you sure everything will be alright on your end?”
“No, but I will manage.” Livia’s voice turned warm and loving. “Come back soon, Ryan. I want you at my side. I need you at my side.”
These words were music to Ryan’s ears, and made him all the more determined to go back to her. “Me too, Livia,” he said. “See you soon, my princess.”
“See you soon, my prince charming.”
The call ended, leaving Ryan alone with his thoughts, a cat, and an invisible peep. “You are courting death, Translucent,” the courier said, as the submarine finally found a stone beach close to the fence keeping Monaco walled up.
“Sorry, old habits die hard,” Shroud replied before dropping his invisibility. “Still, if you don’t want your conversations eavesdropped, don’t have them in a public space.”
“If I spend too much time trapped in a room, I start seeing clowns in the corners.” The submarine’s cabins were comfortable, but Ryan needed fresh air to function.
“I suppose you don't get excellent phone reception in a cabin twenty leagues under the sea.” Shroud crossed his arms. “Don’t let her go, Ryan. She is a good woman.”
Ryan looked up at the vigilante with astonished eyes. “Impostor! Impostor!” He pointed an accusing finger at the transparent hero, while Eugène-Henry hissed. “What have you done to the real Mathias?”
“When the facts prove me wrong, I change my mind,” he replied with a shrug. “She is not her father’s daughter, and when you speak to her, your smiles turn genuine. It gets me thinking.”
“Have you changed your mind about another girl too?” Ryan asked coyly.
Shroud looked at the fireball above Monaco. “Fortuna is a better person than I thought,” he admitted. Watching her stand up to Mars to save her brother seemed to have the same effect on Mathias as it did on Ryan. “Even if I do not keep my memories, make sure I understand that by the time I settle things.”
That was the plan.
In truth, the disaster with Felix had taught Ryan something very important; namely, that Lightning Butt would jump at any excuse to have Felix executed. For the courier to minimize casualties, he needed to take down the superpowered mob boss’ factory and organization in quick succession.
Ryan had the gut feeling his Perfect Run would be a speedy one.
In any case, they had reached their current destination. The submarine ‘docked’ along a pier of rock, and its presence quickly caught the locals’ attention. A military jeep drove on the stone beach from the hills near Monaco, driven by a familiar face.
Simon had gained a few years since Ryan last saw him, but he remained a colossus built like Mr. Universe. While forced to use scavenged American football pads in Monaco, the soldier had upgraded his equipment to a pre-Last Easter military suit, including a reinforced vest, night goggles, a helmet, and a host of pistols, grenades, and other weapons. He still kept his trusty old shotgun, and pointed it at the submarine’s crew before recognizing Ryan.
“P’tit Rital!” Simon said while stepping down from his car. “Nom de Dieu, what are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to conquer France!” Ryan replied as he rose from his seat, carrying Eugène-Henry in his arms. “Where is your white flag?”
Simon responded by opening fire, the bullet moving within an inch of Ryan’s face. A decade of practice on clowns had made the old man a terrifying shot. He could have blown the courier’s skull if he had wanted to.
“You were saying?” the old soldier asked. “You aren’t messing with any France here, P’tit Rital. You’re messing with the Sixth Republic’s France!”
“Careful Ryan, I have French ancestry too,” Shroud said with a joking tone.
“That would explain your propensity for turning invisible in the thick of battle,” Ryan replied, though he knew France had won twice the battles than it had lost. The courier leapt from the submarine’s tower to land on the shore, Simon still pointing his gun at him. “Will you accept a Jean-Paul Sartre book as an apology?”
“Mayhaps, I have half his stuff already,” Simon replied, before lowering his weapon. Instead of slaying Ryan where he stood, he kindly patted him on the back. “Good to see you again, friend. Time flies by.”
If only he knew. From his point of view, they hadn’t met in around three years, but Ryan had seen centuries pass. Yet Monaco had a special place in his heart. For all its horrors, the place and the people the courier met within made him the man he was today.
“Who is this, some kind of windshield ad?” Simon asked, as Shroud landed on the shore.
Mathias let out a sigh, removing his helmet to reveal the man underneath. “Never heard that one before. My name is Mathias, Mathias Martel.”
“Oh, a fellow Frenchman?” Simon’s voice softened up, clearly happy to meet with a lost countryman. “You’re welcome to settle here, if you wish. We need people to man my fence and keep people out. Got some help from a fiery Genome, but he will move out soon.”
Ryan’s eyes wandered to the fence outside Monaco, and at the fiery figure overseeing the area from above. He wouldn’t risk anything as long as he didn’t touch the ground, but... “Any clowns wandered out?” the courier asked.
“No, but some idiots always try to climb up the fence.” Simon snickered. “Nobody succeeded on my watch, but I’m tempted to let them. I mean, if they still insist on going to that cursed place after all the warnings, then it’s just natural selection at work.”
“We,” Shroud said, while Len and Little Sarah climbed out of the submarine behind them. “You said we needed people to help with the fence.”
“Yeah, we’ve got a network of communities springing up around the coast. We’re trying to recreate a new French government by linking settlements, starting with the coast.” Simon glanced at Ryan. “Martine is in the running for the role of president. Never thought I would see that day coming.”
“She would be perfect for the job,” Ryan said. That woman, though lacking powers, had managed to keep the Suitestown community functioning while they were trapped in Monaco. If anyone could rebuild France, it was her.
The courier waved a hand at Len and Sarah. “Simon, this is Commissar Len and the Communist Youth. Len, Sarah, this is Sheriff Simon.”
“Len? The girl you were looking for?” Simon nodded at Len, who shyly smiled. “Yeah, she looks like a leftie alright. I like to read Engels though.”
“I have all his texts,” Len said while nodding. “I’m… I’m happy to make your acquaintance, Mr. Simon.”
“You’re old,” Little Sarah said, whistling at Simon. “I’ve never met someone that old.”
“A steady diet of shrimp sharpens the body and mind,” Simon replied with a shrug. If Monaco couldn’t kill him, nothing would... except smoke and alcoholism. “I had a granddaughter your age once. That takes me back.”
“Do you like kids?” Ryan asked mirthfully. “Orphaned kids?”
“Do I look like a priest to you?” Simon deadpanned, causing Mathias to snort.
“Well, the only one I’ve met in Italy yet is dealing drugs,” Ryan said with a shrug. “We’re going to a dangerous place and we’re looking for someone to keep the kids while we’re away.”
Simon snickered. “A place more dangerous than this one?”
“We planned to make a stop at the Canaries and get some sunburns, but we didn’t have the budget for a full holiday,” Ryan explained. Even if he could turn back time, the possibility of a war between Dynamis and the Augusti threatened to destroy New Rome and key resources. “So we settled for a winter vacation in Antarctica.”
“I would have chosen the Canaries.” Simon crossed his arms. “Where in Antarctica?”
“Station Orpheon,” Len replied. As Ryan expected, his old friend didn’t look surprised. “You know about it, Mr. Simon?”
“I worked for the French Direction du Renseignement Militaire, back when we had a bureaucracy,” Simon replied. “I heard the story. I thought it was abandoned after the head scientist went mad?”
“Apparently not,” Mathias replied. “We believe the Alchemist turned it into a base.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. Fools and monsters flock to cursed places. I speak from experience.” Simon looked down on Sarah. “Do you know how to fight, little girl?”
Little Sarah responded by bringing a gun from beneath her skirt and pointing it at the older man. “Wanna try me?” she asked.
“Sarah!” Len forced the unruly child to lower her weapon. “How many times will I have to tell you?! Don’t point a weapon at strangers!”
This only amused Simon. “Your posture isn’t right, little girl, and you should aim from the stomach. Never seen anyone survive with a hole there.” The soldier turned at Ryan. “I’ll run your daycare, yeah. And teach that kid how to aim right too. I’ve got bigger guns at home.”
“You do?” Sarah asked, suddenly excited.
“Yeah, military stuff.” Simon smiled at Ryan. “Glad to see you’ve made friends, P’tit Rital. Last time I saw you, you were driving into the sunset all sad and lonely, searching for that girlfriend of yours. Now you look halfway happy.”
Len bit her lower lip in embarrassment, while Ryan looked at the skies above them. “Things change,” he replied. “I still have the Thus Spoke Zarathustra book you gave me.”
“Did it help?” Simon asked with a hint of concern. “I thought it was appropriate in your case. Eternal Recurrence and all.”
“It helped, though it took me a while to understand and learn the lessons within,” Ryan admitted, Eugène-Henry meowing in his arms. "You knew, didn’t you?”
Simon responded with a shrug. “All I know is that I know nothing.”
He had figured it out before anyone else, and he wasn’t even a gamer.
“Know what?” Little Sarah asked, frowning at the older people around her. “I want to know!”
“Maybe one day, sweetie,” Len replied kindly.
“Anyway, I’ve taken residence in a ghost town nearby,” Simon said. “I’ve got a wine cellar and non-alcoholic beverages for the little spitfire. Want to get a drink before you go skiing? My treat.”
“Depends.” Ryan turned to Shroud. “How far is the sun from setting?”
“Look up and see for yourself,” he replied.
Ryan did so, and noticed a bright point crossing the skies. The light point that oversaw Monaco descended on the beach, a fiery figure of light and goodness.
Little Sarah looked up in astonishment. “Is that an angel?”
Something like that, Ryan thought, as the fiery being landed on the ground and melted stone beneath his feet.
“Shroud,” Leo 'Sunshine' Hargraves said. “You called for reinforcements?”
When you go to the coldest place on Earth, you better bring the sun.