VoidHerald

The Perfect Run 100: Past Fragment: No Planet for Old Men

November 20th, 2004, Vatican City.

An atheist had once told him that though he never believed in God Almighty, the Chapel Sistine made him doubt.

How could anyone question the existence of God in this room? Cardinal Andreas Torque had seen many sinners repent in tears the moment they raised their head at the ceiling, to witness the glorious work of Michelangelo. No man’s heart could remain unmoved at this architectural and visual perfection. Most only ...

Kairos 35: Marching to War

Queen Medea returned Nessus to his natural form last.

One by one, she had the beast crew of the Foresight bow before her, under the shadow of their living ship. The sorceress looked down on the mortals from atop her golden dragon’s back, a magical scepter in her hand. Kairos had to admit that at that moment, she looked every bit the divine queen she pretended to be. She didn't hide her displeasure though. 

In total, the council of elders and Thalestries forced Mede...

The Perfect Run 99: How I Met Your Daughter

It was May 8th for the seventeenth time, for Ryan Romano had died happy.

Or he could have, as he woke up in a king-sized bed and in Livia’s arms. Ryan had beat up Ghoul again in his sleep, only to quickly snap out of this nightmare. And a nightmare it had been. The courier usually didn’t care about dying and beginning again, even in his dreams, but now he did.

He didn’t want her to forget him.

Livia was holding him even now, her arms around his neck, her breasts on his...

Kairos 34: Themiscyra

Themiscyra appeared before Kairos’ eyes, and the [Hero] had to stop for a moment to admire it.

Protected by an illusory veil making it undetectable to the outside world, Achlys’ capital was built into a verdant canyon. The river that once created the rock formation had transformed into a closed lake, which probably saved it from the Argo’s depredations. Its waters were as clear as crystal, and nourished vertical fruit gardens at the canyon’s bottom.

Houses and buildings we...

The Perfect Run 98: White Night

He found Livia waiting for him at the Deadland motel.

Ryan drove to the meeting spot in his Plymouth Fury, having repaired his car after the Land wrecked it; though he had to drown it with perfume to hide the Junkyard’s stench. The courier himself had switched from his normal clothes to an elegant black jacket with a purple polo shirt underneath, with no bright color to be seen; Darkling would have loved it.

A pity he couldn’t raid Dynamis’ cashmere factory without putting t...

Kairos 33: King's Jest

The Foresight crushed trees as it walked, a giant beast prowling the woods.

Kairos watched from atop the deck, as the Foresight sent beasts and birds fleeing. Thick, crablike legs tossed oaks aside and made the earth tremble. The crew’s women wielded fire rods nearby, ready to unleash projectiles at anyone within range; the deck had transformed into a platform, granting them the benefit of elevation. The cargo hold, meanwhile, echoed with the noise of animals, the tr...

Slowing Down

As I write these lines, I've just finished writing tomorrow's chapters, both for Kairos and The Perfect Run. They're rushed, unedited, will need to be reworked, and I still haven't written a line of the new Vainqueur webtoon episode script I'm supposed to send by the end of the week. I must send a pronunciation voice-over for the next audiobook adaptations of my works, prepare a trip abroad, and still find time to meet with my family tonight. 

Some of you...

The Perfect Run 97: A Breath of Fresh Air

“Sorry, I can’t do that.”

Ryan scratched Eugène-Henry’s back while watching Dr. Tyrano on his computer screen. The A-bomb laid on the desk, right next to the late Fat Adam’s gravity cannon. “You’re saying no to unlimited fundings, resources, and safety from the monster you keep bottled up in your lab when he inevitably breaks out? Because you know he will.”

“I don’t know how you managed to learn that much about my work,” Tyrano admitted, a ...

The Perfect Run 96: Beast of the East

Ryan went straight for the killing blow.

“CIA!” His hand moved inside his trench coat, and brought out a fake badge he had prepared for this day. “Arrest this man! The senate impeached hi—”

Adam didn’t let him finish, and instead pressed his cannon’s trigger. A black sphere came out of it, forcing Ryan’s group to disperse. The courier instinctively dived down towards the Street Fighters arcade game, desperate to protect it, while Livia and the Panda moved ...

Kairos 32: Burden of Command

The morning amazon patrol came earlier than the last, and they had brought a yellow tiger bigger than a horse.

Hidden under the cover of an oak tree and a veil of [Invisibility], Kairos watched his foes move like panthers in the tall grass, the dawning sun high in the skies. He counted four olive-skinned amazons with spears, swords, and chains; and a fifth woman, a witch covered head to toe in heavy robes. A hood and a scarf covered her face beneath the eyes. Kairos once thought Achlysi...

The Perfect Run 95: Double Date

Ryan drove his Plymouth Fury through dilapidated streets, while his partner-in-crime explained the plan in the back. He had put on the bowler hat, like a crown of pain and destruction.

“When Psyshock dies, the bunker will go in high alert,” Livia explained, checking on her phone. Cancel waited on the other side of the line to execute the metal squid. “According to Ryan, Adam the Ogre explicitly ordered the Land to close the bunker’s entrance if intruders get too close to it. Thi...

Kairos 31: I Live, I Die, I Live Again

All Travians learned to swim as soon as they could walk.

Most sailors on the Sunsea were city folk, youths in search of adventure, or non-professionals looking for work. But seafaring was in a Travian’s blood, and swimming came as easily as breathing. That was why most of them favored light leather armor rather than strong metal shells, beside the materials cost. A ship might sink, but the crew would live to fight another day.

But though Kairos’ clothing didn’t hinder him to...

The Perfect Run 94: Cheat Code

It was May 10th. Psyshock would attack the orphanage any minute now, and a rabbit had hanged himself in the kitchen.

“Come on…” Ryan muttered to himself in consternation. The world-destroyer had used a rope rather than warm intestines, but it had scared Little Sarah to death all the same. “You know it won’t work, right? I’ve tried.”

The plushie played dead.

The courier’s eyes wandered to the walls, covered in gunshots; an empty Beretta awaited on the kitchen�...

The Perfect Run 93: Defenders of the Realm

“You don’t believe me?” Ryan asked Len, his feet dangling from the edge of the orphanage’s roof. The stars shone brightly in New Rome’s polluted skies, their light piercing through the darkness.

“How can I?” Len asked, holding her head with her hands. Her water rifle remained within reach of her hand. “Time-travel? Downloadable memories? This is… this is insane, Riri. Insane. And my father… you’re saying my father is alive, and that Dynamis… that Dynamis turned h...

Kairos 30: Danse Macabre

The Foresight sailed along the Achlysian coast, and the Argo pursued it.

The distance between the two vessels was great, but the undead ship moved with unnatural speed. Whether the Argo’s oars moved by the strength of undead rowers or by its own vile will, it made no difference. It closed in on the Foresight, shortening the gap between both vessels by half a hundred meters each minute. Even Kairos redirecting the winds to power his sails didn’t ma...

Perfect Run Interlude Poll: Western or Disaster?

Choose this month's Perfect Run Past Fragment interlude!

1) Leaf & Seed: A Superhero Western

2020, Nevada. The United States have collapsed, torn apart by superpowered warlords, young republics, and cyborg empires. Tom Rangers is a young normie struggling to survive, in a small mining town enslaved by a Psycho Genius. His prayer for a better life is answered by the arrival of the superheroine Leaf, a Genius bounty hunter with an armor of wood and...

The Perfect Run 92: Best Laid Plans

In the end, all of Ryan’s loops started the same way.

By ramming his car into Ghoul’s back.

“You know, you have become a fixture in my life,” Ryan said as he exited his Plymouth and walked into Renesco’s bar. By now, this place had become a second home to the courier. He had grown almost paternally fond of the wall he kept crashing into. “I’ve had more dates with you than with Jasmine.”

Ghoul wriggled on the ground, trying to rise up again using the ...

Kairos 29: Deadly Tactics

Autumn was the season of storms.

A merchant galley usually took nine days to travel from Travia to Achlys. Rhadamanthe estimated it would take six with the Foresight, whose oars could swing day and night without rest. A thunderstorm almost delayed the ship but Kairos’ [Seamanship] Skill warned the captain ahead of time, and Andromache had altered the weather with her magic.

Their ship had left the high sea and entered the peaceful Achlysian waters. So peaceful, in fact,...

The Perfect Run 91: Bloodline Empire

Len put her hand on the aquarium, and Bloodstream’s putrid eyes looked at her. The sight filled Ryan with scorn and disgust.

“How?” the courier asked, his own breath shortening, a sharp pain around his neck. Even after all these years… even after all these years, he still remembered his adoptive father’s hands tightening around his throat. It was true what they said. You never forgot your first. “How…”

“Uncontrolled Psycho mutations,” Dr. Tyrano answer...

The Perfect Run 90: Past Fragment: The First Run

The world turned purple, as time slowed down to a crawl.

Raindrops froze in midair, never reaching the ground. A lightning bolt coursed through the skies, a scar of light in the heavens. Ryan didn’t even hear the sound of his footsteps as he moved.

He had wished for more time, and the Elixir obliged. The boy knew it deep within his bones, an instinct as natural as breathing. Ryan Romano halted time itself with a thought, much like a player could pause a video game.

But not...

Kairos 28: Household Chores

The Foresight reached Histria’s shores with a fleet at its back.

In total, Kairos’ allies had provided him with ten more galleys: two whalers specialized in sea monster hunts, three warships, and five merchant vessels. Rook bravely guided the fleet like a flying scout. “Home!” he screeched from above. “Home!”

Kairos and his wife looked at the settlement from the ship’s bow, with Caenis standing in the background to answer their every wish. Julia now wore a t...

The Perfect Run 89: Past Fragment: Bloodstream's Last Stand

• 2016, Italy.

“Our target,” Leonard Hargraves faced his team in his human form, “is Freddie Sabino, alias Bloodstream.”

Pictures of the man that the Psycho used to be appeared on the screen, right next to the bloody abomination he had turned into. Short black hair, a tired face aged by stress, brown eyes… an unremarkable man for a terrible destiny.

“Born 1980 in Otranto, Italy, to a fisherman and a housewife, Freddie Sabino marrie...