Super Sales on Super Heroes

by William D. Arand

  He didn’t decline and left her to it. Which had Andrea now digging out a basement with an unending workforce of herself. Felicia, of course, was directing them. They listened to the angry Dwarven woman.

  They’d make excellent progress. To the point that they could dump their would-be murderers in the basement and leave them there with no way to get out.

  Felix couldn’t sleep, though. He felt like he was missing something. He’d spent his remaining points on converting gold and settled in for paperwork.

  Hunched over his workstation, he stared at the six folders in front of him.

  There wasn’t much overlap; except for Miu, who had a generalized skillset, and everyone had their own area of expertise. As he’d been conditioned to do in a corporate scenario, he created an employee file for each.

  Flipping open the one on top, he found a picture of Felicia.

  Her appearance was quite different than when he’d purchased her. Someone had been going over the finer points of fashion with her.

  Her details remained the same, though.

  Felix set her file aside. She was simple and easy to maintain. A workaholic if presented with a challenge. The type of employee that would go to ruin if left without a task, project, or job to manage.

  Opening the next, he found Andrea. Smiling, throwing a thumbs-up, and standing in a ridiculous pose.

  Felix chuckled at the memory of it. She’d insisted he write “Personal Assistant” in her file after he explained what he was doing.

  She was infinitely useful for her power, and incredibly cheerful. What she lacked in intelligence, she made up for in good-hearted concern for everyone. Though she could see to the root of a problem fairly quickly, which led to some interesting decisions. Wise, but lacking foresight.

  Opening the third and closing Andrea’s, he found Lily. Her picture was odd. He’d taken it while she’d had her powers active. She’d immediately doused her sigils and rearranged herself more for a business photo.

  She was a curious one. Ruthless, cynical, and willing to eat the souls of those she beat.

  Yet she bent herself to the tasks he gave her. Especially the non-mystical ones.

  “She would rather work on something that doesn’t require her purchased through blood power,” Felix murmured.

  He’d have to work on her. For now, it was simple enough to engage her in intellectual pursuits and let her work on them.

  Right now, her primary duty was their financials and inventory counts. It kept her quite busy. Thankfully so.

  Glancing into Miu’s folder, he nearly shut it as fast as he’d cracked it open, but stopped. He put some true thought into her rather than dismissing her.

  She was a mystery still. A question mark.

  She tended to avoid him whenever possible. She never skirted any duty he gave her, however.

  She did everything he asked to the fullest of her ability, and then some.

  He looked to her picture and had to wonder about her all over again.

  She was attractive. Almost beautiful, even. Clearly of Asian lineage with the features to match. Clean, petite, elegant. Black hair and dark, dark brown eyes.

  After he’d finished repairing her body, he’d found she had an athletic figure that most women tried to achieve and never did so.

  Her multiplicative power seemed to function on every level. There was nothing that didn’t get amped up from its base setting.

  Which meant her workouts were simple and easy.

  “Infinitely pissing off,” Felix said, closing Miu’s and picking up the next folder. “Ioana. The War Maiden.”

  Felix thumbed the cover back and stared at the imposing figure of the woman. She was big. Muscular. Toned and fit.

  She was what you would call handsome, but her ever-present lethality culled any thoughts of her being something you could spend time with.

  She’d gotten her thick dark hair into a ponytail and wore it as that. Nothing else.

  She didn’t go in for makeup at any level, either.

  Put together and looking for all the world like a warrior, she reeked of death.

  Setting her down, he picked up the last one and hesitated.

  “Kit Carrington, also known as Augur. Pretty, a body built for sin, smart, and insane,” said a voice at the door. “A true loose cannon that’s a danger to her team, as much as the enemy. Unlikely to ever lead. Or so my old team leader would tell me.”

  Felix looked up from the unopened folder to find the very same “loose cannon” speaking to him.

  As she’d said, she was definitely easy on the eyes. And after he’d restored her to normal condition, he couldn’t disagree.

  Definitely right inside that strike zone, bud.

  “I dunno. She’s pretty handy so far. As to the pretty and sin thing… sure? I mean, yeah, you’re hot, but… so are a lot of women?”

  Kit shook her head slightly with a confused look on her face. Her mouth twisted up in a frown. “What?”

  “You’re hot. Totally an eight or a nine out of ten. So are other women. As to being smart? Completely agree. More than most people would be comfortable to admit, because I’m pretty sure you’re smarter than I am.

  “Keeps me on my toes. Insane, though? Not at all. Loose cannon? Not so far,” Felix reiterated, leaning back in his chair.

  Kit snorted and then moved from the door frame and flopped into the couch. “Uh-huh. Because you keep me dialed down nice and low. I’m not complaining, mind you, but it’s not exactly like I’m in control of it.”

  She laid out on the couch, draping one arm over her face, the other hanging down at her side.

  “You sure you can’t upgrade it for me? I’d be thankful. Maybe not as thankful as Andrea, but…” she said in a teasing voice, making a vague gesture with her hand. “Grateful.”

  “Yeah. Sorry, the most the screen ever says is—” Felix stopped. Looking down to his desktop he frowned. He hadn’t really considered it or thought about it.

  He’d always just assumed upgrading a power was more about the power level.

  Focusing on the normal character screens, he tried to pull up Kit’s. It flashed up easily. There was no way he could increase her Power’s ability.

  Name:

  Kit Carrington

  Power: Area Telepathy

  Alias: Augur

  Secondary Power: None

  Physical Status:

  Healthy

  Mental Status:

  None

  Positive Statuses:

  None

  Negative Statuses:

  None

  Strength:

  51

  Upgrade?(510)

  Dexterity:

  54

  Upgrade?(540)

  Agility:

  48

  Upgrade?(480)

  Stamina:

  46

  Upgrade?(460)

  Wisdom:

  72

  Upgrade?(720)

  Intelligence:

  78

  Upgrade?(780)

  Luck:

  41

  Upgrade?(410)

  Primary Power:

  91

  Upgrade?(9,100)

  Secondary Power:

  --

  Upgrade?(--)

  Pushing his mental focus towards the idea of modifying her power to a controlled power upgrade, he stared at that power function.

  He willed it to change.

  And then a window popped up.

  Power Upgrade: Directed Telepathy

  Required Primary Power: 80 (Met)

  Required Intelligence: 70 (Met)

  Upgrade?(5,000)

  With Felicia and Andrea running around with their powers, it was practically his entire pool.

  “How grateful?” Felix asked, looking up from the window.

  “What?” Kit asked, her head turning to the side to look at him.

  “How grateful would you be?” Felix sighed and rested his cheek on his right hand, watching
Kit.

  “Uhm. Pretty fucking grateful. I mean, well…” she said, clearly at a loss. “Can you?”

  “I can. It’s pretty much an entire day’s worth of points.”

  “Well. I—that is…” Kit looked at the ground. “I’m already your slave. I’m not sure what else I can do that you can’t order me to.”

  Felix thought about that. Having someone do your bidding was one thing. Having someone work for you, because they chose to, was entirely different.

  She was already that for him. But how much further would she go if he did this for her?

  “Be you. Be who you were up to this point. Fight by my side, rather than for me. I need you, Kit.”

  Felix hit the accept button on the power and then stood up, his stomach falling out from under him.

  A whole day wasted.

  Opening her screen, he flicked her power draw down to zero. “You’re at one hundred percent, and I upgraded your power. Practice with it.

  “I’m going to bed. Did Andrea wander up that way?”

  He tapped open Andrea’s character screen and increased her intelligence by a single point with the points he had left.

  Might as well.

  Moving to the other screens, he pushed everyone’s draw to zero. Tonight would be a free night since he had no points left anyways.

  “I uh, no. She’s in her bed. I double checked,” Kit said, staring at him.

  “Good. See you in the morning.”

  Walking into his room, he collapsed into the bed and immediately fell asleep.

  Only to feel as if he’d only just fallen asleep when his phone started going off.

  Moaning, he slapped at the phone with little accuracy.

  A sudden beep sounded above his head.

  “Good morning,” came Andrea’s chipper voice. “Felix’s phone.”

  Groaning, he rolled over and sat up.

  “He was sleeping, but he’s waking up now,” Andrea said, smiling at Felix. “Me? I’m his personal assistant. I was his secretary, but I wasn’t sure if I should sleep with him. Do personal assistants sleep with their boss?”

  I can’t tell anymore if she genuinely doesn’t understand or is actually fucking with me.

  “Oh. I see. That makes sense. I started thinking I might have been wrong. Kit told me I was, but… what? Oh, sure,” Andrea replied, holding the phone out to him.

  “It’s for you.”

  Felix gave her a pained smile and nodded his head. Taking the phone from her, he checked the screen.

  It was early morning, and No-Name was calling.

  “I bet your bed smells great,” Andrea said, crawling past him and dropping to all fours in the center of his bed.

  “Hey,” Felix said into the phone. He watched Andrea as she spun around a few times and dropped down into the spot he’d been sleeping in.

  “Smells like Felix,” Andrea said into the mattress.

  “You made her your personal assistant?” No-Name asked, chuckling.

  “Not really. Kind of self-promoted. Sorry about not calling you back last night. I’m all in for the auction. When’s the date? You made it sound like it was soon.”

  “Few weeks from now. They’re healing everyone up first and then getting them prepped for the sale. You want a private room again?” No-Name inquired.

  “Definitely. Not sure how many I’ll bring with me, though. Three seats should be enough.”

  Lily, Kit, me. That should be more than enough brainpower between those two.

  “Done. I’ll get it set up for you. Going to have lots to purchase. Bring deep pockets and a party wagon.”

  The line went dead before Felix could say anything else. Shaking his head, he set the phone down on the nightstand.

  A sharp snore from behind him alerted him to the fact that Andrea had fallen asleep.

  “She’s tired. She woke up early and sat outside your door waiting for you,” Miu told him from the doorway.

  “I see. Morning, Miu. Everyone has their power back today. I made some late-night changes and spent everything up. Today is going to be a lab day for me. Figure out where to build our house up. Anything going on?”

  Miu shook her head. “Ioana and Lily are running the store. Kit is assisting them and setting up appraisal appointments for you. There’s also a mountain of pancakes in the kitchen.”

  “Andrea?” Felix asked, getting to his feet.

  “Andrea,” Miu confirmed.

  Felix padded past Miu and glided through the kitchen. He picked up a dry pancake and wolfed it down while grabbing a sheet of paper. Then he went to sit on the couch in his “office,” as they’d taken to calling it.

  He didn’t feel like staring at a computer screen right now, so he settled for taking notes in pen.

  Flipping the pad open to the first page, he started jotting down the names of the rooms, areas, or sections of the home.

  My bedroom, all of their bedrooms, office, study, kitchen, dining room, living room.

  He paused as he considered the next area. It hadn’t been done intentionally, but the basement entrance was smack dab in the middle of the warehouse. When he checked on what he could upgrade for the house, “Basement Entry” had been listed separately from everything else.

  Really, everything up here will become secondary as we move underground. We’ll need to disguise and guard the entrance to the basement. I’ll have to consult Felicia on how she wants to do this.

  “What are you doing?” Miu asked, standing near the doorway.

  Felix glanced up at her and noted her posture and position.

  She’s always near an exit with me.

  “Trying to get an idea of where to start with our home defenses and point costs. They’re fairly straightforward for the most part right now. Reinforcement, removal of certain windows, making sure everything can withstand a blast. That sort of thing.”

  Felix sighed and kept writing in details for each room. “It won’t really get detailed or intensive until we get the basement outfitted. Once we start building underground… then I can start upgrading individual doors, furniture, defenses. Mostly after Felicia starts building.

  “Rooms, designs, machines, whatever it may be. Then we’ll really get moving. That’s after she finishes up the dispose-o-matic.”

  “Is that the thing she built last night?” Miu asked.

  “Huh? Last night? She finished?” Felix asked, ignoring the pad of paper in his hands entirely now.

  “Yeah. It’s this strange-looking contraption that looks like a wood chipper.” Miu nodded her head as she spoke, taking a step back from him and into the other room.

  “Fantastic. That was quick. Is she awake?” Felix asked, setting aside the pen and paper.

  “Yes. She’s in the basement still.”

  “Would you mind relieving Lily? I need to borrow her for this next bit, I think. I’d really appreciate it, Miu,” Felix said, trying to catch the woman’s eyes.

  She avoided looking into his face; instead, she looked to the side and nodded her head. “Of course. I’ll take up her job duties and have her sent to you.”

  And with that, she was off. As mysterious as ever.

  Moving to the basement, he brushed off the thoughts of Miu. As long as she cooperated, he’d not complain.

  Reaching the entrance, he leaned over the hole and peered in.

  “Felicia, are you down there?” Felix called down.

  “Aye, where else would I be, you daft shit? Trying to get a bit more efficiency out of this before the first test,” she called back.

  Felix started to climb down the ladder rather than shouting back down to her.

  Reaching the floor, he found the whole area was fairly rough. It’d been hacked, chiseled, shoveled, and mined. They’d have to spend some time or points to get it looking like a proper basement. But that was for later.

  Walking to the center of the area, lit by lamps plugged into extension cords running up out of the hole, he found “the wood chipper.”
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  “Looks like a giant wood chipper attached to a dumpster,” Felix said, peering into the machine.

  “It is,” Felicia said, coming over to stand near him. She brushed her forearm across her forehead. “My machines aren’t pretty, just like me. They’ll get the job done.”

  “I disagree. With the changes Felix made, you’re very easy on the eyes,” Lily said, coming up behind them. “I prefer men, but even I can appreciate your looks.”

  “What she said,” Felix concurred, pointing at Lily.

  Lily made a curious face at that.

  “The first part. Not the into men thing,” he clarified, realizing where the confusion came from.

  Felicia grunted and then pulled a switch on the strange control box in front of them.

  “Pick one out, do your thing. We’ll put him through after that.” Felicia stumped off.

  “She doesn’t take compliments well,” Lily said, arching a brow.

  “Whatever. Go pick out your first meatsack and drain him like a juice box. Try to kill me and mine… Fuckers,” Felix muttered, shaking his head.

  “Touchy,” Lily countered, looking to him.

  “I don’t like it when people mess with my things and people,” Felix said, wrinkling his nose.

  Lily watched him, then sauntered off to pick one of the squirming, screaming, mumbling, bound-and-gagged men who they’d wrapped up in tarps.

  “I’ll need my powers back,” Lily said, dragging one of the struggling men over to the front of the machine.

  “Been back since last night.”

  “Really? I didn’t even notice. That’s what I get for not trying,” she said with a grin.

  Lily then slammed her palm onto the top of the struggling tarp. A purple haze surrounded her, the man, and a few feet around them.

  A gut-wrenching scream was heard on a level Felix couldn’t explain. Then it cut off with a pop.

  The man stopped moving and lay there like a corpse.

  “It’s done. His soul was foul,” Lily muttered, shaking from head to toe.

  “Sorry, didn’t realize they, uh, had a flavor. Felicia, do we just stuff him in?” Felix asked.