Super Sales on Super Heroes: Book 2

Chapter 19 - Photo OP -

Thinking quickly on that, Felix considered all the possibilities. From what the woman said, it meant her power was about possibilities.

Eventualities, perhaps? Able to see what may or may not happen. What might or might not. That means that she just spent all that time staring me down to measure out all the possibilities, right? In all of those possibilities, I would have acted accordingly with my behavior.

Normally I wouldn’t try to anger the leader of the city. Her annoyance seems to stem from the fact that I would summon Kit. That means Kit is… something she doesn’t want me to do.

Therefore if I make the choice to push the button right now, and she can see what I’m going to do, then I’ll get a response.

Let’s push the button.

Skipper sighed and her mouth screwed itself into an angry scowl.

Looks like I guessed right.

Felix mashed the button, sending the text to Kit, not wanting to wait.

A second later, and Felix could hear Kit’s portal open up behind him.

“Felix?” called Kit through the portal.

“Come on through, Kit. We have a visitor and I could use your help,” Felix called back without breaking his stare-down with Skipper.

“What? Fine, fine. I’m coming,” Kit said.

“Sometimes I wonder what he’s thinking when I can’t read his mind,” Kit was muttering to herself. “Out of nowhere and—”

Kit paused as she stepped out of the portal and came to a stop beside Felix.

“Kit, Skipper,” Felix said. He wasn’t sure how she’d respond. In theory, this was the person who had turned her into a living corpse.

And no one can do that to another person without extreme hate, or they’re just plain evil.

But then again, I turn people into sausages. Am I any better?

Skipper had frozen in place, still staring at Felix. But he got the impression Skipper wanted to look at Kit.

There was certainly a lot more here, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure it out.

“I like your ring,” Kit said. “The design, specifically. It’s simple, yet tasteful.”

Felix glanced down to Skipper’s hand. The ring looked eerily similar to the same rings he’d seen on his enemies. The ring version of the crown.

Does that make her my enemy then?

Or their leader?

Skipper jammed her hand into her pocket, hiding the ring. Looking at Skipper’s face, Felix was confused.

If Skipper can see eventualities. Possibilities.

The future, really.

Why didn’t she see that Kit would notice the ring?

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Skipper?” Felix asked in a neutral tone. “I believe I’m up to date on all my forms, taxes, and requirements.”

“Oh, you are,” said the city leader.

Felix didn’t kid himself one bit. This was the single villain who routed the entire guild of Heroes. It was one thing to put her off balance if possible, it was another to actually insult her.

He didn’t need more enemies right now.

Especially if she was already one privately.

“I honestly hadn’t planned on paying you a visit, but I saw you were up here on my way back from a meeting,” Skipper said. She casually let her eyes fall to the severed head still sitting on the ground. “Apparently one of my agents has vanished. I was looking into it to see if I could discover anything.”

“Oh. I can definitely understand. We were working on something extremely similar ourselves,” Felix said, with a gesture at the head. “Unfortunately, we found one of our informants. Dead. Perhaps they’re linked occurrences? Could you tell me about the one you’re investigating?”

Skipper’s brows came together as she scowled at him. “I don’t have proof it was you, but we both know that’s not something I actually need.”

“I’d say that… if someone were infiltrating an organization, one that dealt in very dangerous things and people, one would have to expect they run a certain risk,” Felix said evenly.

Sliding his hands into his pockets, Felix checked their contents.

Nothing.

“Andrea,” Felix said. “Go ahead and empty your weapon. I think we’re more than safe in our glorious leader’s company.”

Andrea flashed him a glare, then thumbed the clip release. She caught it with her left hand and tucked it away. After securing that, she reached around and ejected the round in the chamber. Catching it deftly, she went to put it into a pocket.

“I’ll take that,” Felix said, holding out his hand for the ejected unspent cartridge.

Andrea looked confused, but handed it over to him.

Truthfully, Skipper actually did look mildly relieved when Felix returned his attention to her.

“Anything I can do, I’ll be happy to. Just let me know how I can assist,” Felix said.

“Hmph. I’ll keep that in mind. I think for now, I’ll just tell you that you should keep to your business, and mind yourself,” she said.

“That’s the plan. I have no desire to do anything other than living my life, and running Legion.”

“Good,” Skipper grumped.

Felix nodded his head slowly, rolling the round between his fingers. Pinching it between thumb and forefinger, he aimed as discreetly as he could.

“Here, a memento,” Felix said, even as he flicked the round at her.

It spun through the air, and bounced off Skipper’s shoulder. She flinched at the sudden contact, and took two steps backwards.

She doesn’t have her power. She didn’t expect that. It surprised her, even.

Skipper had a shocked expression. Her eyes unfocused slightly as she stared down at the cartridge rolling around on the ground.

As casually as could be, Skipper pulled a pistol out of her pocket, turned, and fired it into the head of her companion. Before the man could fall, she pulled the trigger twice more.

His body jerked as his brain was forcefully ventilated, halfway to falling to the ground already. He hit the edge of the building as his brain stopped sending valid signals, and he fell off the edge of the building.

Sighing, Skipper turned back to Felix. “I suppose that answers that. You wanted to get me something? Get me a coffee while I wait. It’s going to take someone at least twenty minutes to come pick me up.”

Miu drew herself up, putting herself between Felix and Skipper.

“Sorry about the mess behind your building. Just put it in a trashcan,” Skipper said, putting the pistol back into her pocket.

And I thought I was cold.

Kit, Lily, Andrea, Victoria, and Miu were all sitting around a table. In the middle sat a phone with Felicia and Ioana on the other end. A second Andrea was in the corner, minding the ANet.

“And she just shot him?” Ioana said.

“Yeah,” Andrea said. “Three rounds into his brain.”

“But why?” Victoria asked. “I mean, if he was wearing one of those rings, he was her puppet, right? They’re not as strong as the crowns, but close. Yeah?”

“Yeah, they are. And that’s what the cleanup crew said, he had one of the rings on him,” Lily said, leaning back in her chair. “As to why… I think it’s because Felix showed him something he wasn’t supposed to know.”

“Huh?” Ioana asked.

“When he threw the bullet at her, he showed everyone that her power wasn’t working,” Kit said.

“And what’s her power?” Andrea asked. She looked down at the table.

“Rumor was that it was time control. Seems more like it’s the ability to see into the future,” Lily said. “At least, to a limited degree.”

Felix nodded his head, his hands clasped in front of himself on the desk.

“That was my guess based on her statement when she landed. Or something akin to that. At first I thought she could only see possibilities or… something along those lines,” Felix said. “The only thing that changed from when she arrived and had control of her powers, and when it stopped, was Kit.”

Everyone in the room looked to Kit.

“I couldn’t read her mind. The ring blocked me. When I couldn’t read her directly, I used my general area telepathy. Sometimes I can get hints and feelings through it, even with a ring or crown involved,” Kit said.

“That leaves that ability as the culprit for why she couldn’t use her own power,” Lily added. “So… why?”

Everyone fell silent. No one had any thoughts on it.

“Doesn’t fucking matter,” Felicia said on the other line. “And this doesn’t matter to me at all. Felix, I’m going back to work. I put in a request for some more people. I want to get our hardware upgraded for our security forces. I know we can bring their dumb asses back when they die, but a bit of preventative work could make that happen less.”

“Alright. I’ll see what I can do. I might be sending you some high school graduates who applied with mechanical aptitude,” Felix replied.

“Bah. Whatever. Hands are hands,” Felicia said. There was a pause.

“Bye, love,” Felicia said, much more softly and distantly. It was as if she hadn’t expected anyone to hear it.

“See you,” Ioana responded.

Clearing his throat, Felix leaned forward across the table. “Felicia’s right. It’s almost irrelevant. We have information now. Information that makes us targets and dangerous.”

Pausing, Felix couldn’t help but shake his head. “Though I can’t help but wonder if Skipper thought we had it to begin with. They’ve known for a while that Kit is in Legion. It also explains why the guild wanted Kit so bad as well. That they wanted you back so they could fight Skipper. Without her power… she’s probably much more easily handled.”

Lily blew out a breath, looking up at the ceiling. “We never did find anything on the guild’s network, drives, or files with anything. They lost all contact with the Skippercity guild when the city fell,” she said.

“Well, it’s kinda pointless, isn’t it?” Victoria asked. “The guild had crowns and rings in their upper echelon.”

Felix blinked, his heart lurching.

He’d forgotten about that.

Forgotten it entirely.

It changed the perception of the situation in a scary way.

“The reports we got from both the guild and the Skippercity faction indicate that while there was a shift in the leadership mentality, they all went along with it. In fact, the guild wrote up several endorsements for the steps they took,” Lily said, flipping through her papers, looking for something.

“That means Skipper wanted me in her custody, and Felix dead. It also means that while the guild wasn’t in charge of the Skippercity faction, they endorsed it. On top of that, doesn’t that mean that the government doesn’t care? The minders installed at the guild headquarters would have had to have signed off on the orders and endorsements for Felix to be killed,” Kit said.

There was no surprise from anyone. Everyone had been moving to the same thought that Kit voiced aloud.

I’m in a shadow war with Skipper, the guild of Heroes, and the government. Certainly explains why all of the attacks, and lack of investigation, seemed so odd.

They’re not working together, but they all want the same thing.

Felix harrumphed and looked up from the desk.

“Nothing actually changes, other than our viewpoint. We weren’t exactly on speaking terms with any of them anyways. We continue on, knowing what we do now. Is there anything that we need to change? Any type of change in our scope or position that we need?” Felix asked.

“I’m going to put in a req to have a change to your bodyguard detachment,” Victoria said. “I want several of them to have the ability to project an energy shield around you, like Lily’s, at all times. What this sounds like to me is the perfect opportunity for a vigilante.”

“Actually,” Ioana said, the phone coming to life, “I think that sniper attack was a vigilante. We never did track that one down. Not completely, at least. Vicky’s right. Best to put measures in place now before they’re needed. It’d only take a single sniper rifle to end you. I’d go further and get a few people who have Neutralizer’s power set as well. We already had it on the books to have several of them at each HQ, why not in your bodyguard section?”

Felix checked a sigh and nodded.

They were right of course. Even if it did end up restricting his movement further.

“I understand. Put the forms through and book the point calendar accordingly. What else?”

“I think we should begin considering an exit plan,” Miu said. “Perhaps we should reach across federal lines to our neighbors in the south. See if we can’t secure a government deal to begin expanding that way.”

With a turn of his head Felix looked to Andrea. “Send an email to their embassy. See if the glorious nation of Wal would like to enter into negotiations. It’d be good to have a third location out of reach for our enemies. Besides, last I heard, Wal was doing rather well for itself. They might be happy to have a company such as ours building a facility there.”

Around the room heads nodded in agreement.

“Anything else?” Felix asked. “No? Good. Let’s move to the next subject then. The governor run. How are things looking?”

Lily pressed her hands to her forehead and then closed the folder in front of her.

“That bad?” Felix asked.

“What? No. Sorry. I couldn’t find what I was looking for. Ah, the governor bid? It’s fine,” Lily said.

“Define fine. Looking for some details here so I can plan,” Felix said.

“I… sorry. You’re right,” Lily said.

“You alright?” Felix pressed, leaning forward over the table.

“Yeah. Tired. I think I need to promote Lauren higher and delegate some work off to her. I feel like I’m being run down,” said the ex-super villain.

“Defeated by paperwork. The fall of Mab. Definitely promote Lauren, and then go wade through the new high school recruits. I’m sure there are some that would fit,” Felix said. “Jeff comes to mind.”

“Jeff?” Lily asked, looking up at him.

“Rubik’s cube kid. Caught me in a verbal loophole. I liked him,” Felix said. “Anyways, the governor run?”

“Oh, yes. You’re not in the lead, but you’re in the lead when it comes to everyone on a similar platform. The problem is your voter base is being split a few too many times. Candidates who run on wishes and the belief that simply because they try, they could win and change the system,” Lily said. She pulled out a different folder and flipped it open. “The closest candidate to your platform is taking about fifteen percent of what could be your own vote. Or so we’re estimating according to polls and what we can estimate.”

“Right. That makes sense. It’s the same thing that’s happening to the other candidates that we’re sponsoring. They’re cluttering up the field and eating up votes that could be used elsewhere. The classic problem with a single vote system—it always comes down to two parties,” Felix said. Looking to his hands on the table he tapped the wood a few times.

“Do you want me to take care of those taking your votes?” Miu asked, her voice tinged with a desire to be set loose.

“No. Not yet, at least. And if I do send you out, that’d only be after we tried to blackmail them out, buy them out, or to get them to buy into our platform. I’d rather exhaust every other avenue first. Then I’ll send you out,” Felix said, making his choice. “When there’s about three weeks left, we’ll see about getting them all out of the race. That’ll give voters enough time to reconcile themselves to voting for me, and to their candidate no longer being in the running.”

Kit didn’t say anything, but Felix could feel the dislike of the situation coming from her.

“I’d like to stress again, that we’ll pursue every possible action that will cause the least amount of hardship first. Only when all those options fail will we turn to the more damaging possibilities,” Felix reasserted. He didn’t make eye contact with Kit, or look her way, but he hoped it would soothe her mind.

She might not be Augur anymore, but she’d always be a good and kind-hearted woman. Someone who wanted to do good.

“In fact, start reaching out to those individuals and feeling them out. It might make it easier down the road to get them on board if we begin now.”

“I’ve got that,” Andrea said, typing something into her terminal. “I’ll also take on the meetings with Wal. We should be able to relay everything effectively between the departments.”

“Great. Thanks, Andrea,” Felix said.

“Nn! Also, I’m arranging the company picnic. It’ll be ongoing for an entire week in the Tilen HQ. Felicia said we can use the portals,” she said, closing her terminal and turning towards him.

“Oh? I didn’t realize we were having one,” Felix said. He really didn’t know, but it sounded like something someone would put together.

“Yes! It’s going to be fantastic. I’ve booked lots of fun things to do. Lots!”

“Uh… hopefully it’s not all facepainting or—”

“I did book some facepainting, but that’s for the kids. They’ll like that. I also talked Felicia into getting involved. There should be lots and lots of fun giveaways and the like. She said it’d be a good opportunity for her to test her new people,” Andrea said.

There was a chuckle from the phone.

“Stick to that story, Andie. It’s better than admitting you hounded her for two weeks till she finally gave in,” Ioana said.

Andrea blushed for a second, the nodded her head sharply. “Nn!”

“So much fun stuff! There’s even going to be a dunk-tank for all department heads. I’ve already planned it all out,” said the excited Beastkin.

“I see. Well as—”

“What’s generated a lot of interest so far was lunch with Felix, and the photo booth. I originally only planned to have it open for about three hours a day, but it looks like it’ll be more like five.”

Felix felt his eye twitch at that. He didn’t much care for the idea of standing around taking photos for hours at a time.

“I want an hour to myself in the photo booth,” Miu said from the other side of the room. Her eyes were wide, her hands pressed flat to the table, and her body quivered a little.

“Sure!” Andrea said happily. “I’ll book it right after my own hour.”

The eye twitch evolved, and Felix could feel his teeth grinding together as well.

“I’d like an hour as well. That’ll give me time to get some department photos with Felix, and some for myself as well,” Lily said.

“Oh! That’s—”

“Yes! I’d like—”

Me, too. Depart—”

Everyone started to talk over one another with the idea of having their entire departments take photos with Felix.

To which Felix could only respond by staring at Andrea with burning dread.

She responded with a smile at him, and a wiggle of her ears. “Going to be so much fun!” she said as the others all began to talk about photos.