Nervously sitting in the car.
Drumming his fingers along the case full of cash, Felix stared out the window at the passing homes.
“You’re fidgeting,” Miu said from his left side.
“And?” Felix asked.
“Stop.”
Making eye contact with the newly trained assassin, Felix drummed harder.
“Felix?” Victoria asked from his right.
“Mm?”
“Please stop?” the swordswoman tried.
“I’m nervous. I’m allowed to fidget,” Felix complained.
“You are, but it’d be nice to get there without Miu contemplating how to make your life miserable when Andrea arrives,” Victoria offered. “She hasn’t seen you for a bit. I can’t imagine she’ll be entirely stable.”
Miu’s eyes brightened at that, her frown turning into a devil’s smile.
“Ah, yeah,” Felix said, his fingers stopping instantly. “That’s uh… a very good point.”
Then again. It really isn’t Andrea who’ll need the attention.
It’s Lily. Far be it for anyone to ever suspect she’s actually a cuddle bear. A cuddle bear that needs attention and affirmation.
Over and over.
“Are we sure about this?” Victoria asked, hijacking the conversation.
He’d have to thank her later for giving him an easy out.
“I’m sure that it’s Dimitry who asked. So it’s probably a criminal boss of some sort we’re supposed to see. That’s about it. That’s why you’re both here,” Felix said.
“And why you’re in body armor. And wearing Lily’s locket,” Miu added.
“Yes, and that.” Felix reached up and fingered the small cylinder that hung around his neck. She’d told him to wear it whenever he felt his life could be in danger. That it’d provide a shield that’d give him enough time to get out of harm’s way.
Or enough time for her or someone else to show up and save my dumb ass.
The driver gave the wheel a turn and brought them into a parking garage. The exchange was going to be simple.
Get out, put the case down in a numbered parking space, and wait.
When a black car showed up and parked in the space next to it, Felix had to make himself visible so the occupants knew everything was on the up and up. After that, he could get back into his car and leave.
The End.
Felix wasn’t really sure if he liked the plan or not. It had the potential to be so simple it couldn’t be messed up. Yet it also was so simple it couldn’t be anything but messed up.
He certainly didn’t like the part where Dimitry had made him the face of this exchange. If Dimitry hadn’t, he would have just sent Miu and Victoria in his place. There wasn’t really a need for him to be here.
Unless it was a setup.
Thy name art paranoia.
Holding back a sigh, Felix handed the case over to Miu when they stopped.
Twenty seconds later, and Miu was back in the car, minus one case full of money.
“Done,” Miu said, putting her seatbelt back on.
“Hmph,” Felix said, eying her then the case critically.
“Your paranoia is getting worse,” Victoria said. “Is it because you don’t have Lily or Andrea around?”
Feeling his eyebrows come together and his mood turn sideways, Felix glared at Victoria.
“What? It’s an honest observation,” Victoria said, defending herself.
“Leave him alone. His paranoia in this situation is warranted,” Miu said defensively of him. “Even if he does miss his bedroom buddies.”
“Hey—”
“Hush,” Miu said, interrupting him. “Headlights.”
Following the pointed finger of his assassin, Felix saw light trailing along the wall on the far side. They were turning through the ramp.
Gradually, a black sedan came around the pillar. It swung into the lane and drove slowly towards them.
It shifted into the exact parking spot it should, and went into park.
Getting out of the car, clambering over Miu in the process, Felix stood up and made sure he was visible for at least five seconds.
Then he got back in, shutting the door behind himself.
“Time to go,” Felix said quietly.
The driver, one of his bodyguards he didn’t know the name of, put them into drive. They were off and away.
Right up until twenty men with rifles stormed out of a fire escape and started unloading on both vehicles.
High powered rounds were no match for the tanks that Felicia, Mr. White, and Felix put together.
But that didn’t mean he wanted to stick around and test that stunning durability either.
The bodyguard spun the wheel, bounced them over a parking bump, and floored it down the lane.
“Damn,” Victoria cursed. Reaching to her hip, she pulled out the pistol Andrea had been training her in. After her death at the farm with a bullet-hole between her pretty eyes, Victoria had trained determinedly with pistols. “Considering they’re firing on the other car, this wasn’t a setup. Right?”
“Dunno. Did they get away as well?” Felix asked. He’d ducked down low in the seat. He trusted the vehicle but didn’t at the same time.
“Yes,” Miu said. “One of them even got the briefcase.”
“Well that’s stupidly heroic,” Felix muttered. The driver slammed them around a corner, the tail end of the car fishtailing out wide behind them, and drifted the whole car through the turn. Bringing the vehicle back under control, the bodyguard kept their speed high. Felix was suddenly very glad specialized driving lessons had been part of the special training program for his bodyguards.
There was a deafening crash as they barreled out of the parking garage.
Smoke, steam, and sunlight were all around them in the street. The car had come to a dead stop.
Whoever had kicked this off had put something at the entrance to try and block everyone in. Powering through it as if it were nothing, the car had rolled right over it.
Leaning over Miu, Felix looked down to the ground. Their wheels were spinning wildly in the air, and the bottom of the car was wedged up on something.
“Time to beat feet,” Felix said. “Hit the street running. Any path you want to take, Vicky? Miu?”
Miu bit her lip in a rare display of nerves, looking to Victoria.
The swordswoman growled, her head turning left then right as she looked down the street in both directions.
Then she looked up.
“The building across the way. Apartment complex. Roof should give us access to the other building. The buildings from here are all lower or even. We can hop the gap between certain ones and make our way out of this,” Victoria said.
“Interesting… plan,” Felix said. Getting behind Victoria, he laid his hands on her shoulders. They’d have to bolt fast.
“Came up with it after we got the address. Did a quick search and checked it out by satellite. Just in case. As you’ve said before, no plan survives enemy contact,” Victoria said, grabbing the door handle.
Behind him, Miu slid up against his back, her hands on his hips.
In the driver’s seat Felix watched his bodyguard. The man gave himself a once over, then pulled out his pistol. Shifting over the center console he moved to the passenger side and got ready.
“Go,” Victoria said, opening the car door. She hit the pavement at a sprint. Felix scrambled out behind her. Getting his feet under him, he got moving.
Behind him, he heard the bodyguard and Miu bringing up their rear.
Victoria popped open the door to the building that was their target and ducked inside.
There was a muffled shout and curse.
Felix was only a second behind her, shoving the door open as he charged through.
Victoria had a blade buried in the throat of a wide-eyed man with a shotgun next to him. His heels were drumming the ground as his hands futilely worked to pull the knife out.
&nbs
p; “They’re everywhere. This isn’t a simple attack,” Victoria said, pulling her knife free.
Giving the dying man a glance, Felix realized Victoria had severed everything in the man’s throat. Her weapon had only stopped because it hit the spine.
He’ll be dead in a minute, tops.
“I’ve never seen the uniform either. Is this a super villain group?” Victoria asked, standing up.
Miu sauntered over and blasted her elbow into the man’s forehead. His head dropped to the ground unmoving.
Unconscious.
“I’m not familiar with it if it is one,” Miu said. “Lily or Andrea would know. They’ve had more dealings with them.”
The bodyguard had made it inside as well. He was at the door. He had it cracked open by a scant inch, and was looking out of it.
“Can hear them out there,” said the bodyguard. “They’re arguing about who has the money. Us or Dimitry’s guy. They’re here for a cash grab.”
“Damn. That settles the concern over Dimitry though. Alright, up we go,” Victoria said, moving towards the stairwell off to one side.
Felix grabbed hold of the unconscious dying man and dragged him along the ground. Finding the underside of the stairs empty, Felix moved the body that way.
Shoving him underneath, Felix left him there to bleed out and darted after Victoria. He didn’t think it’d help, but taking ten seconds to possibly save them minutes or hours seemed like a good gamble.
Flight after flight they climbed. Passing by a number of fire escape doors that probably led into apartment corridors.
Up ahead, Victoria went out through the door leading onto the roof.
Felix shielded his eyes as he came out into the open air.
In front of him were two men, staring back at Victoria as she charged them.
One had a scoped rifle and the other binoculars.
Before Victoria could get a hold of them, one man got a hand to his earpiece.
“They’re on the roof! On top of—” His voice cut off as Victoria’s sword cleared its sheath, the blade coming around in an arc and separating his head from his shoulders.
The second man had slower reactions, and Victoria took two more steps to reach him. Her blade flashed out, the tip of it sliding through the man’s chest.
With a soft gasp, the man collapsed to his knees, his hands closing around Victoria’s blade.
Placing a booted foot on the man’s chest, she yanked it out of his body and spun.
There was no one else on the roof.
“We need to go. Now!” Miu said. Putting action to her own words, Miu started running for the opposite side of the building.
Pushing himself onward, Felix followed. Even when Miu sped up and leapt off the side of the building, Felix poured on the speed and doggedly pursued her. Getting his feet right before he reached the edge, Felix stamped down and jumped. Sailing across the gap between the buildings, Felix caught sight of an empty alley beneath them and his stomach flipped.
Then he was rolling across the top of the building. Managing to not fall too poorly, Felix got to his feet and stumbled after Miu.
Victoria and the bodyguard landed better than Felix did and caught up to him quickly.
“How many more like this?” Felix asked as Miu dove off the side of the building in front of him.
“Four more. But… but then we have to make a choice,” Victoria said.
The conversation paused for a moment as they all took a running leap off the building.
Gritting his teeth, and feeling the bruises his knees and elbows were already developing from landing hard, Felix cursed whatever god did this to him.
Getting up, he managed to get next to Miu before she bolted off again. He laid a hand on her shoulder, and held on to it tightly, keeping her stationary.
“I’m not made for this. I’m built for spreadsheets,” Felix muttered. Then more loudly he asked, “What choice do we have to make?”
“We can head into the streets to the west. Where the buildings reach a ground level that we can get to easily. That runs the risk of being seen and being on the run again. It’s very possible they’re not even there though, but it’s a risk. There were a lot of people back there, and they were trained, equipped, and prepped. I’d imagine they have a large swathe of the area encircled,” Victoria said. “Or we keep going over the rooftops to the south. It’ll end up dropping us off near an industrial complex where it runs out of room.”
Felix could smell there was more to that statement. Smell it a mile away.
“And?” he prompted.
“And it’s the safer of the two routes to choose if we think they’ll keep after us,” Victoria said.
“And?” he prompted again.
“And… and it’s supposedly where a villain known as Neutralizer is supposedly building a base. The Heroes don’t know about it, and we only found out about it because Lily keeps in touch with her old contacts.”
“I don’t know him. Give me the tourist two sentence version,” Felix said, looking around nervously.
“He uh… anything within a mile, he can exert his power over,” Victoria said. “And before you ask, his power is to remove the power of others. He can only hold down about five people, which is why the Heroes guild doesn’t ever have too much of a problem with him. His counter is simple. They just send two squads for him.”
“Except for us right now, who don’t even number more than four, he’s a problem,” Felix finished for her.
“Yes. But that’s if he is even there, and assuming that he wants to make a problem for us,” Victoria said hurriedly. “It really is the safer option. If we get down, and find them waiting for us, either we’ll end up in a fight on the streets, or being chased.”
“Where the hell are the police? The Heroes? Shouldn’t they be working on this?” Felix asked in an annoyed tone. Opening his phone he stared at the screen. “Are you kidding me? No signal? On top of a building? That’s not normal. Something is very not right. This is beyond well coordinated.”
“I’d bet that communications have been cut in a few key places,” Miu said. “That or a few people were paid off. It can happen. I was the target of many bribe attempts in security.”
“So, it becomes more of a question of, do we believe that those chasing us were more well equipped than we thought, or that a villain may have an interest in us,” Felix said.
Everyone stopped talking. Far to the northwest, the sound of a helicopter could be heard. In fact, it was just barely within eyesight.
“That isn’t a news-chopper,” said the bodyguard.
“South it is,” Felix replied.
Chapter 5 - Insane Devotion -
“Right,” Miu said. They were all watching the helicopter. Everyone was assuming it wasn’t there to help them. There was little chance of it and there was no point in taking the risk.
Miu instead sprinted southward. She took a running jump from the building they were on to the commercial building next to it. Felix followed right behind her.
The roof cracked with Felix’s impact, shattering and sending cracks out in every direction. Rolling forward Felix managed to get out of the space even as the entire thing began to fracture and come apart.
Scrabbling for traction, a grip, anything, Felix crawled and scuttled forward.
More and more of the roof fell inward, giving way. The bones of the building were starting to tremble as the weight of the whole thing began to shift.
Did they just fucking ignore all their maintenance? Holy shit!
Miu grabbed him by an arm and hustled him towards the edge of the building. Taking a monstrously strong grip on his shoulder, she jumped, dragging him along through the air.
In the middle of the jump, Felix got a good look backward.
Victoria and the bodyguard were still on the previous building They watched as the entire roof gave way.
Landing with a crunch, Miu fell to her knees. Felix was sent rolling to one side. Lifting his head
he caught sight of Victoria looking like she was going to jump anyways. Waving his arm at her, he caught her attention.
“Go! We’ll meet back up at home base. Keep yourselves alive,” Felix shouted at them.
Not waiting for a response, Felix got up, pulling on Miu’s forearm.
“Come on, Miu. We need to get rolling. Did you break something, do I need to repair you?” Felix asked, pulling at her arm.
“I… no. I’m fine just… stop, let go of me!” Miu screeched out, her voice breaking. She was trembling from head to toe.
She afraid of heights or something?
“No time to really argue. Get moving, Miu,” Felix said, releasing her. Putting himself into motion, Felix took off, jumping to the next rooftop as soon as he got near the edge.
Several minutes were spent simply leaping from roof to roof. Checking occasionally to see where they were, and if they needed to keep going.
Victoria had been the one with the plan after all. Not them.
Miu wasn’t doing very well either. She had been shivering this entire time and couldn’t seem to stop herself.
“I mean, she said it would run out, right? This has to be it,” Felix said, staring down at the street below them. They were only two floors up now, and there were no buildings around them to leap to.
“I think so,” Miu said.
“Alright, good enough. Down we go then,” Felix said.
Turning he made his way to the roof access door.
“Step aside, please,” Miu said, slipping past him and through the door when he opened it. She managed to do it without even touching him.
“Fine, whatever, just go,” Felix said.
Ahead of him there were shouts, exclamations of surprise, and a few harsh words.
Quickly enough though, they were leaving the building and exiting out onto the street itself.
It wasn’t much of a street. Clearly this area was an industrial park. There were a number of warehouses, ‘closed to the public’ signs, and general warnings of “you don’t belong here” throughout.
Felix frowned, wracking his mind for a plan. Glancing at his phone, he found the signal was still nonexistent.
“We need to get out of here. Find somewhere to… Miu?” Felix paused, watching as Miu started walking off towards what looked to be a warehouse.
Super Sales on Super Heroes: Book 2 Page 5
