The Perfect Run

As per the name, the Bakuto was a Japan-themed casino.

Having parked his car nearby, Ryan glanced up at the building with amazement. The architects had recreated a perfect copy of an oriental pagoda tower, as large as a mall; a red carpet led to golden, ostentatious tori gates with the casino’s title plastered on them. Hordes of gamblers walked inside, some dressed in traditional Asian clothes like qipao, others in tuxedos and expensive gowns. Of course, none were as stylish as Quicksave’s own fabulous outfit, but the Genome gave them points for trying.

The staff had even dressed the bouncers as samurai in low-grade, Genius-made armor. They looked almost like feudal armor, but heavier and bound by flexible circuits instead of clothing fabric. Very nice design, especially the stained glass visor. Ryan wondered if they had lightsabers to go along with it.

“No weapons allowed inside,” one bouncer said, as he and a compatriot checked Ryan out. Due to their armor, both were at least one head taller than the Genome. They immediately found the throwing knives hidden in his sleeves, and then examined him very thoroughly.

It took them a few minutes to find most of his stuff.

“Twenty-five throwing knives, two revolvers, including one desert eagle, one energy pistol, one frag grenade, a switchblade, a hand buzzer, and…” The bouncer frowned, seizing a tiny metal sphere the size of a baseball. “Is that a bomb?

“Yep,” Ryan answered. “Genius tech.”

“EMP? Gunpowder?”

“Thermo-nuclear.”

The bouncer chuckled heartily until he realized Ryan was serious. He then exchanged a glance with his fellow guards, all of them put their hands on a saber around their belts.

“You keep an A-bomb in your back pocket?” The guard wagged the device at Ryan’s face.

“It’s only for dissuasion!” the courier promised while crossing his fingers. “I Korea swear!”

The bouncer remained silent a moment, then touched his helmet and hushed words which Ryan couldn’t hear. No doubt he was contacting his manager.

“You can get your… stuff back after you’re done,” the bouncer declared, putting his weapons in a bag. “But one wrong move and that bomb will find its way in another A-place. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!” Ryan replied as he waltzed into the casino like a child.

He immediately found himself walking through a corridor of pachinkos, those strange Japanese slot machines; gamblers toiled on them, enslaved by their otherworldly power. The sight reminded Ryan of the four loops he spent addicted to these machines, before getting bored.

Ah, the nostalgia.

A few steps later, Ryan entered the main gambling hall, mixing both Japanese art design and western gambling entertainment. Roulette wheels stood side by side with blackjack tables, and they even had an arena for sumo wrestling next to a sushi bar. An elevator at the center led to the higher floors, each probably catering to different tastes.

A giant screen above the sushi bar showed a promotional image of New Rome’s colosseum, and a T-rex roaring on its grounds, under the acclaim of the crowd. A voice over hyped up the competition.

fight at Colosseum Maximus! MAXIMUS! And if dinosaurs won’t do it, our robots will!” The screen changed from the picture of a Jurassic Park ad to a humanoid mecha straight out of an old Japanese cartoon. “Coming straight out of our weapon development program, Dynamis introduces you to the Megafighter Mark III! Meant to fight the deadliest Psychos and marauders,

either which contestants would survive, or if the T-rex would eat them all on the first round. For some obscure reason, most

and immediately

his outfit announcing his presence long before he called

took the shape of a black demon mask, allowing Ryan to see the black eyes and mouth below. The bouncers nodded at him in respect, and quite

asked, feigning

will have to kick

shook his head. “Naaaah, of course not. I’m as Violet as they

on the color of the elixir which gave them their power. Blue focused on information manipulation, from

that?” samurai-guy

erase this conversation so it never happened, do you even exist right now? Or are you a mere

to watch, trying to make sense of the

roulette numbers and the victorious gladiators’ names

samurai-guy said, having acted as Ryan’s chaperone during his entire gambling spree. “I think you should slow down though. At this point, you’re pretty much

your name?” Ryan ended up asking

Zanbato. I’m an

you Japanese? Because you

he replied, a bit confused by

name is Zanbato, but you’re not

man protested, clearly missing the point. “My

have a girlfriend?” Ryan gasped.

man replied with a smile. “I hope to marry her soon. I'm curious, why did you come to us?

coin toss,” Ryan

chuckled, rather amused. He quickly invaded Quicksave’s personal space by putting a hand on his

sushi bar, taking a beer while Ryan ordered tea. Bouncers formed a security perimeter

in the Private Security told us his pals bust him out, probably with inside help. And knowing that maniac, he

Wyvern that Ghoul’s friends would bust him out on his next

grunts are underpaid, so some are… open to negotiation. Their elite squads, especially those working for Dynamis’ executives, not so much.” Zanbato sipped his beer. “We know you have a pretty powerful ability, but

Ryan asked. “But I didn’t tell

immortal?” Zanbato raised an eyebrow. “You can’t

think I can, but I never

stop time for an unknown duration as your main power,” the man

you are the biggest supervillain organization in Italy, and that your boss is

Not supervillains. That’s what Il Migliore labels us as because we aren’t corporate sellouts, and we build houses, churches, and hospitals for the poor. We

the heart too,” Ryan deadpanned. “But your weapons

true government nowadays. “We have to fund ourselves. I’m telling you, where we rule, things are peaceful, people feel safe. There’s no pillager taking your stuff, no Psychos running around. When Augustus takes over Italy, and he will, you won’t recognize our country. It will be like before