3,000
0
3,000
—Direct reports
8,600
0
8,600
Lilian Lux
3,100
0
3,100
—Direct reports
7,100
0
7,100
Andrea Elex
0
0
0
Felicia Fay
1,550
0
1,550
—Direct reports
11,808
0
11,808
Eva Adelpha
1,600
0
1,600
+ Loyalty Bonus
1,010
0
1,010
DAILY TOTAL
46,118
0
46,118
He didn’t have enough points. A single resurrection took fifty thousand. No one would be coming back from the dead until they could get more points. And there wouldn’t be more purchases without their assets being unlocked.
Suddenly, everything was falling apart, and Felix didn’t know if he could fix it.
Chapter 32 - Gear Check -
“They pulled back after I got the lead car,” Victoria shouted from behind him.
“Great. Keep it that way. Feel free to fire on whoever or whatever.”
Felix wedged himself between the cars in front of him and nudged a car out of the way with his armored bumper.
Forcing himself through the traffic, Felix slowed down to look both ways and then ran the red light at full speed.
No cops stopped them, traffic was light, and there were no firetrucks or ambulances, either. That wasn’t normal.
Too quiet.
The city knew something was going on, and to him it seemed as if the emergency responders had all been bribed into silence.
Bribed and scared into noninterference.
There would be no help from anyone outside of Legion.
You know what, fine. Fine. Suits me just fine. Means I don’t have to worry about getting arrested when I run people over.
Fuck this. Fuck them. Fuck everyone.
Felix growled and bounced up over a curb and started driving on the sidewalk.
Everyone out to get us? Fine, I’ll be out to get everyone. Everyone who isn’t on our side is my enemy.
Mailboxes, benches, and trashcans were crushed or knocked aside.
“Are we on the sidewalk?” Victoria screeched.
Instead of answering, Felix dropped the pedal, the engine roaring as it rushed forward.
Sidewalks didn’t have traffic. At least, nothing that could stop or slow him.
The drive was uneventful, if you discounted running red lights, crushing things, and generally causing enough chaos to make a certain video game named for stealing a car raise an eyebrow.
It wasn’t until they turned onto the street where the front of their HQ stood that things changed.
Certainly not for the better, either.
There were bodies all over the entryway. Packed bloody and deep. Blood, body parts, corpses, and weapons.
Felix was looking out through the viewing ports and found no one moving.
“A grave,” he muttered.
“Stay here,” Victoria commanded. She drew her sword and exited the rear hatch, closing it behind herself.
Not bothering to argue with her, Felix watched the burnt and injured Victoria move amongst the bodies. She watched both the corpses and her surroundings, picking through and making sure of her foot placement. She eventually disappeared through the front door into the lobby.
Fidgeting, Felix did his best to keep calm and aware of his surroundings. Sitting out here didn’t help his anger and annoyance.
The problem was the moment his mind found a quiet place, it went straight back to the fact that so many people were dead.
His rage would flame up like a stoked bed of coals and he had to force himself to remain seated.
It felt like he was missing something, on top of everything else.
At least Andrea’s not gone. If I can’t revive the prime, I can at least have an Other abso-
Felix’s train of thought stopped dead. Feeling his breath catch, he called up his point screen again.
Received
Spent
Remaining
Daily Allotment
150
0
150
Miu Miki
1,000
0
1,000
—Direct reports
4,150
0
4,150
Ioana Iliescu
0
0
0
—Direct reports
2,725
0
2,725
Kit Carrington
3,000
0
3,000
—Direct reports
8,600
0
8,600
Lilian Lux
3,100
0
3,100
—Direct reports
7,100
0
7,100
Andrea Elex
0
0
0
Felicia Fay
1,550
0
1,550
—Direct reports
11,808
0
11,808
Eva Adelpha
1,600
0
1,600
+ Loyalty Bonus
1,010
0
1,010
DAILY TOTAL
45,793
0
45,793
“She’s at zero. That… means her Others are gone, too. Right?” Felix asked softly to no one.
Even Andrea, then. The legendary Myriad. That must have been a lot of explosives to manage to bag every single Other.
Thinking back on it, it really had been a huge amount of explosives. Most of the school had been leveled.
In fact, he could’ve sworn he’d had forty-six thousand points earlier.
My wounded are dying. People are still dying.
Victoria reappeared at the entry to the lobby and waved him in.
Exiting via the hatch, Felix did all he could to not look at the bodies. He knew he’d find some of his own people in there.
Or at least he thought he would. That’d be more than enough to keep his eyes up and forward for now.
“Hurry up, she doesn’t have much time.”
“What?” Felix squawked in confusion. Picking up his pace, he entered the lobby and followed along behind Victoria.
Turning the corner into the security hall, he got his answer.
Miu was propped up against a wall; blood stained her lips and jaw. It also covered her chest and stomach as if she’d thrown up on herself.
Her eyes turned up to see him approach, a weak, bloody smile crossing her lips. It was one of the few smiles from Miu he’d have called real. Not the fake mask she put on for others.
“Felix. Felix, you’re alive.”
“Hey, Miu. Just… hang on and we’ll get you fixed up.”
Miu shook her head and then coughed violently, blood gushing out from her mouth. It was a fountain of bright red vomit.
“Unnnggh, no. They’re after you. Want you dead. Won’t stop. Took Kit.
“Activate Wraith’s receiver. Ordered him to follow. Follow Wraith,” Miu said. She took a slow, deep breath. Then her head slowly lolled to the side as she exhaled.
Her eyes locked to a point somewhere above his head as her body went still.
“Miu?” Felix asked, getting down in front of her. There was no response.
Mentally focusing on her, he tried to call up the correction window. To correct her condition. Make her healthy again.
Status Correction: Dead -> Living and Heal
thy
Correct Status? (65,000 points)
The accept button was grayed out, of course. He didn’t have that kind of points available to him.
“I can’t… I can’t fix her. I don’t have enough points to resurrect her, let alone resurrect her and fix her.
“I don’t…” Felix trailed off, staring at Miu’s lifeless face.
“Felix, we’ll get through this, but I really need you to get a hold of yourself,” Victoria said, getting in close to his side. “You’re the only one who can bring everyone back, but only if we make it through this.”
Felix gritted his teeth and turned his head away from Victoria and Miu both.
She was right. Absolutely right.
“Didn’t you hear her? They want me dead. That’s the goal. They won’t stop till it happens. Which means we have to kill them first. So that’s what we do.
“Kill them all.”
Swallowing, he got to his feet. Reactions weren’t going to win the day. Actions were.
Bold, direct actions.
If they’re not with me, they’re against me.
Standing up, Felix went to the elevator. He knew what he needed to do. What he wanted to do.
And it’d go his way, or he’d die trying.
Victoria stood at his side, her sword back in its sheath. She’d become his shadow and support.
He’d not forget it.
“Remind me to make you incredibly deadly after this.”
“I will. I also signed my form. If Ioana doesn’t kick your ass, I will.”
“Noted.”
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
Inside was a mess of blood and gore, staining the walls, ceiling, floor, everything. It was like someone had dropped a body into a giant blender.
Standing at the center of that blender with energy crackling all around her was Lily.
Power undulated across her body back and forth.
She was coated liberally and painted red. Her clothes were ripped, torn, burnt, and hanging on her by sheer will and a few threads.
Seeing him and Victoria, she let the blue storm of death wink out.
“Felix… you’re alive,” Lily said, her lips twitching as if she wanted to smile, but didn’t have the energy for it.
“Alive and angry. I’m going to go get my toys,” Felix said, stepping into the elevator. He stepped in close to Lily and waited for Victoria.
“Toys?” asked the sorceress.
“My toys,” Felix said. Reaching over, he thumbed the button for the research and development floor.
The very floor where Mr. White worked on weapons, and Felicia was building his personal Warden.
“Nice look, by the way. Real post-apocalypse flavor.”
“Oh? Does that suit your tastes? Dream of a fantasy world where you keep a harem of sex slaves?” Lily asked, her tone changing. Gaining a touch of her usual teasing self.
“Ptff, sounds like a teenage fantasy. Give myself a good strong name like Vince and run around a continent sleeping with slave women.”
“Of course. Can’t forget that you’d be a hero, though. Protecting all those women.”
Felix snorted.
Then again, that’d be pretty awesome. If I had to pick an alternate life…
Lily slapped him behind the head. “Stop thinking about it. You have enough on your plate.”
Grinning, he let it drop.
Going through the normal security quickly, Felix was happy to see everything looked normal.
Which meant Felicia and Mr. White would be safe and sound. Safe and sound and ready to help him get prepped.
When he finally opened the lab door, he was almost beyond relieved to find several squads of Miu’s internal security forces waiting for him.
Guns drawn and pointing in his direction, but still waiting.
“Felix?” Felicia called out from behind a console. Beside her was Mr. White, his hands clutching a pistol leveled at Felix’s chest.
To the rear of the room were both their teams, waiting for directions and pressed together, looking much akin to a flock of nervous sheep in white coats.
“Yep. Here to pick up some goodies, then go take the fight back to these bastards. Get Kit back as well and end this whole thing.”
Rather than waiting for her to ask, he’d get it out ahead. Maybe it’d help strengthen her resolve.
“They killed Ioana, Andrea, and Miu. I mean to return it back to them.”
Felicia started to blink rapidly, her throat flexing, her face twisting. “Did you bring her back? Ioana?” she asked curtly.
“Can’t yet. Can’t bring anyone back. Not enough points. After we kick the shit out of them, I’m going to rob everything they own, take slaves, make sausages, and get more points. Then get everyone back who signed the form.”
Felix shuddered, his entire body shivering for a second with the amount of anger he held.
“Everyone,” he said, emphasizing the point.
Felicia nodded her head quickly, then brushed her hand across her eyes. “Good. Ioana signed the form to come back. She’d kick your ass the moment you died, ya daft fucker, if you didn’t bring her back.”
Felix chuckled at that. “Yeah, she would. Down to hell and back up. Now, let’s see how far you got with my Warden. I want to get it moving, even if I have to spend today’s points to do it. Then we’re going to do the same with your weapons, Mr. White.”
Felix gave them both a tight smile. “Then I’m going to go pay a house call.”
Everyone on their teams turned to face a corner of the room. One of the walls there was clearly a sliding wall.
Mr. White gave Felix a considering look, then moved back to that wall. He grabbed a hold of it and heaved it to one side.
Felix, Victoria, and Lily stood staring at what lay inside.
There stood a black-and-red Warden unit. It had a similar look and feel to the others, but it was clearly different. It had the look of both versions in regards to utility and defensive capabilities, but more.
All around it and mounted to the walls were various weapons that looked as if they’d been designed specifically for this unit.
“It’s got all the same gear of the earlier models. Half the weight, though, so double the battery capacity on a normal battery.
“Mr. White and his team helped fix a few other battery design problems, so you’ve got quadruple the power output of the traditional units on top of needing less,” Felicia said generously, even waving a hand at the man as she came up to stand beside Felix.
“Yes, yes. We’ve taken all the different projects and combined them. The energy output is considerable, and can recharge itself to a degree. So we built an energy weapon to hook into the unit. It can put out enough power to punch through six-inch-thick steel.
“In addition, we put together a standard armament set for you since your weapon uses energy. No need to carry ammo, so we used the space for other things.”
“Standard armament?” Felix asked.
“Energy pistol, high-explosive grenades, flashbangs, a hand axe Felicia made that she assures me will go through steel, and other things. Those are the big ones, though.”
Felix blew out a breath and looked to Felicia. “So what’s wrong?”
“The wiring. It’s not done, and it won’t be anytime soon. It’s a complicated mess of electronics with some intense shielding,” said the dwarf.
“It’ll take a few days of dedicated resources,” Mr. White added.
Felix instead focused on the unit and the fact that he wanted it ready to go per Mr. White’s and Felicia’s standards.
Equipment(Legion’s Fist): Build out complete
Warden Unit will be completed per specifications.
Upgrade?(25,000)
Felix hit the accept button and sat down on the ground to start pulling off his boots. “Help me get dressed for this. People to slaughter.
“As to all of you, I’m willing to take whoever wants to go, but re
alize, if you fall, there’s no guarantee I can bring you back.
“I mean, that’s my goal, but at this time, I’m not able to.”
“I’m going,” Victoria said. “I’ll be in the armory.”
“As will I,” Lily agreed. She patted Felix on the top of the head and left with Victoria.
All three squads volunteered as well, and promptly went to join the ladies in the armory.
Getting up in nothing but his undershirt and skivvies, Felix clapped his hands together. “Alright, let’s get my stupid ass into Legion’s Fist here so I can go kill people.”
“You’re no soldier, Felix,” said one of the techs as another keyed the Warden to open the cockpit.
“No, I’m not. But even I can aim a rifle.” Felix turned around and backed up into the Warden. Stepping into the cockpit, he slid his legs into place, then his arms.
“Is your aim any good?” asked the same technician.
“Guess we’ll find out how much first-person shooters carry over to real life.” Felix placed the back of his head into the helmet. “Close it up.”
There was no response to his command, but the Warden whirred to life. The cockpit began to close up around him, the helmet coming down into place around his head.
In front of his face, four displays came to life. Three provided him with his front and peripheral cameras, with the fourth giving him a rear view.
“Testing, one, two, three. Please confirm external microphones picking up audio,” someone said.
“Reading you,” Felix confirmed. He shifted himself as the harness began to tighten up around him. After a few seconds, he felt like he was held firmly in place.
“Testing communication system. We’re also releasing the servos. Do you know how to pilot it?” That’d be a tech manning a console nearby.
Felix turned his head to focus the camera on the individual. As if he were moving his own body, the Warden moved. “I hear you, and I’m sure I’ll figure it out. No time like the present.”
“Most of the controls will be reading the signals in your brain to help coordinate the movements of your body. You’ll notice the longer you’re in there, the better it’ll get. Learning mode should be complete within two hours, or depending on how much you use it.”
Super Sales on Super Heroes Page 36
