54: A Gambling Man

“And right in front of us, you can see Rust Town’s famous orphanage, where the most dangerous creatures in the world are raised in the wild,” Ryan said as he finished giving his team a tour of the area, parking the Plymouth near the entrance. “Human children.”

“You exaggerate,” Wardrobe chuckled, looking through the window. Len was waiting with Sarah and another boy near the orphanage’s entrance, the kids playing with a labrador. Unlike the previous loop, the Genius hadn’t put on her diving armor yet, sticking to her brown suit and water rifle.

“I think you underestimate these creatures,” Ryan argued. “They eat baby candies, and they listen to loud music at night.”

“Why are we here exactly?” Atom Cat asked from the back.

“Well, according to my intel, the Meta-Gang intends to target the place today,” Ryan said, though he didn’t mention which source. His words caused everyone to look at him in alarm. “They will abduct the residents unless we drive them off.”

“They intend to attack children?” Wardrobe’s adorable face had turned white from the horror.

“I would like to say I’m surprised, but I’m not,” Felix grumbled.

“Don’t worry, Sifu, we will save them!” The Panda said with enthusiasm, a hand on his chest. “We will break these villains like… like bamboo!”

“We will need to work on your puns, arrogant young disciple,” Ryan said as the group stepped out of the car, instantly catching the children’s attention.

“Oh, it’s Wardrobe!” Little Sarah’s eyes widened upon recognizing the heroine. It seemed that while she wasn’t as well-known as Wyvern, the fashion designer had her fans.

“Where, where?” another child asked, rushing out of the orphanage alongside half a dozen of the tiny devils.

“Riri,” Len whispered softly, while the children swarmed the heroes, most asking for Wardrobe’s autograph. The Panda looked really jealous of her fame, which he coveted for himself.

“Guys, this is Len, alias Underdiver,” Ryan introduced them. “She’s a friend. Shortie, this is Atom Kitty, my new BFF Wardrobe, and Superpanda. He can fly and shoot lasers from his eyes.”

“Atom Kitty, huh? Never heard that one before, Quickie.” Atom Cat crossed his arms while he observed Len. “Isn’t she a criminal though? I heard Vulcan paid the Private Security to have her released.”

Len immediately tensed up, looking at Atom Cat suspiciously. “Your corporate overlords are the real criminals,” she replied harshly, waving a hand at Rust Town. “This… this is their work.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Felix admitted with sheepish embarrassment. “You’re taking care of the place?”

“Someone has to.”

“Quicksave, you monster!” Wardrobe glared at him, having finished writing autographs for the kids. “I’m so disappointed in you.”

“About what?” Ryan asked with a frown.

“You can’t let your friend dress like this!” Wardrobe ranted, as she approached a very surprised Len and touched every part of her outfit with her soft fingers. “Her costume is hideous!”

Clearly, Len didn’t know how to react to this. “I’m, what, what…”

“The colors are all wrong, it stands for nothing, and it’s not even form-fitting!” Wardrobe started touching Len’s breasts, much to her dismay. “Look at her beautiful figure! All that potential, wasted!”

“S-stop please,” Len pleaded, as if attacked by an over-affectionate puppy.

“I’m sorry, darling, I can’t look the other way.” Wardrobe removed her hands from the Genius and adopted a pose reminding Ryan of the Rodin’s Thinker statue. She devoured Len with her eyes, the poor Genius now as red as a tomato. “We need silver and blue, with scales…”

“What’s your power?” Little Sarah asked the Panda.

“Oh, I can become the best creature in the world!” The Green Genome immediately transformed into his animal shape, much to the kids’ delight. “Overpanda overdrive!”

“It’s a bear!” a little girl squealed, as the Panda lifted her on his shoulders. “It’s a bear!”

“So soft and warm,” another boy said, as he touched the beast’s fur.

“Oh!” Little Sarah looked up at Felix. “Can you transform into a cat too?”

“No,” Felix replied with a gruff tone.

“But your name—”

“I like cats, that is all.”

“You are a huge disappointment,” Little Sarah snarked back at him, before giving in to the Panda’s cuteness. The animal eventually laid on his back, letting the children use his belly as a trampoline.

The Panda had found his power’s true purpose. Entertaining children.

Ryan would have found the scene quite funny, had his mind not been distracted by something else.

The orange is in the hen house… It was a joke phrase that Ryan told people when they asked details about his power. But he hadn’t used it once in this entire loop! The fact someone sent it to him could only mean one thing.

Somewhere, somebody remembered.

No, no, he shouldn’t keep his hopes up, in case they ended up dashed. For all he knew the Chronoradio could have broadcast that message. But in case someone did remember, who could it be?

Ryan remembered using that sentence three times. Once in the Bakuto during an early loop, once to Shroud when he asked his power, and once with Livia. It could have also been Jasmine, but why would she fake amnesia?

Livia, though, had seemed to recognize Ryan’s name. He was also pretty sure she had a second power like her father, one he didn’t fully understand yet. For all the courier knew, it could allow her to keep her memories from one loop to another.

Rah, his thoughts raised more questions than answers!

Ryan could ask the poor kitten for confirmation, but he had the feeling it would backfire. If it was Livia, Felix would ask why the courier received messages from Augustus’ daughter; he might mistake the time-traveler for a mafia mole, and ruin everything.

Children eager for an autograph managed to distract Wardrobe long enough for Len to escape her clutches. “Riri,” the Genius whispered to the courier. “Do you have a plan?”

“My idea to deal with Psyshock was a flop,” Ryan admitted. He thought Wardrobe could cosplay as Cancel and finish off the bodyjacker, but clearly, it wouldn’t happen. “We’ll have to go with yours.”

“I hope it will work,” she said, raising her water gun. “I never tried it before.”

Her bubble prison worked fine against Reload in the previous loop, so Ryan didn’t doubt its effectiveness. Unless of course, Psyshock had an automatic suicide button to avoid capture. The Psycho didn’t use any against Cancel, but she was nullifying his body-transfer back then.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Automatic triggers were nasty things. The courier developed one in his early loops, but he never found the right balance. One of his devices, meant to protect him against mind-readers, ended up mistaking his ‘saves’ as memory manipulation attempts. In another case, a chest bomb kept detonating at inopportune times. Eventually, Ryan gave up on the idea altogether, finding it more trouble than it was theoretically worth.

Had Psypsy reached the same conclusion? He couldn’t tell until they crossed that bridge.

Which, unfortunately, wouldn’t take that long. Ryan noticed Psyshock’s black, rusted minibus drive towards the orphanage, quickly followed by a second one.

The Meta-Gang had brought reinforcements.

He should have expected it. Without Ghoul to serve as a smokescreen, the Land probably noticed a large group of Genomes around the orphanage. Hopefully, Adam would keep his heavy hitters in reserve to protect the Junkyard, rather than send them all to the orphanage.

Ryan could do without another fight with Acid Rain. Especially since she murdered Felix the Cat the first time they met.

“It’s them,” Felix guessed, tensing up. “The Meta.”

“Go inside, right now,” Len told the children. “Hide in the basement, and don’t come out until I say so.”

“But ma—” Little Sarah protested.

“Do as I say,” the Genius asked more firmly, raising her water gun.

“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Wardrobe said with a reassuring wink. “Heroes always win.”