Super Sales on Super Heroes

Chapter 7 - Investment -

“You will wake up now.” The melodic voice brought Felix out of a deep dream.

Blinking a few times, he managed to slowly focus on Lily standing above him.

“Morning, Lily,” Felix said, and then yawned. Looking over at the clock, he saw it was a touch past seven. “Little early to wake up. I don’t have a job anymore. Self-employed.”

“You will release me,” said the lovely soul-stealing monster.

“Uhm, no? Seriously. What’d you wake me up for?” Felix rubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands.

“I… you will rele—”

“No. I won’t. And just a hint, none of your powers will work on me. The Pit pretty much ended that problem. On top of that, I took your powers away to fuel mine.

“Completely. You’re just a beautiful young woman right now. That’s it.”

Felix swung his legs over the edge of the bed, sending Lily scurrying backwards a few steps.

Sighing, he bent over his knees and slapped his hands into his temples twice. “Breakfast. Need food.”

“No… my magic can’t be gone. It can’t. I can’t… I can’t do anything. This is… no,” Lily said, making strange hand gestures.

“Well, temporarily gone. I can turn it back on whenever we need it. Is something burning?” Felix asked, sniffing the air.

“Temporarily? Give them back to me!” Lily stepped in close and loomed over him.

“Yeah, no. Seriously, though, it smells like burnt toast.” Felix stood up and pushed Lily back with one hand as he left his room and headed for the kitchen.

“Now, you’ll give them back now!” Lily shouted at his back, trailing him.

Entering the kitchen, he found Felicia sitting on the floor with what looked like a toaster spread across the tiles. She looked very confused, her hands holding the shell of the toaster.

The grunting snores coming from the living room on the other side of the island drew his attention. Sprawled out on a couch and sounding much akin to a chainsaw going through a zombie was Andrea.

“I can’t fix it. It wasn’t working right. I can’t make it work.” Felicia mumbled. She looked up to him and held up the toaster shell. “I’m broken.”

Letting out a slow breath through his teeth, he pressed a hand to his head.

“Powers! Now!” Lily shouted in his ear.

Andrea snorted and fell off the coach, jumping up to her feet. She threw her arms to the left and then the right while yelling incomprehensibly.

Her face twisted up in a confused frown and she hopped in place twice.

“I can’t split. I can’t split? I can’t split!” Andrea yelled while looking at Felix.

“Be quiet for two minutes, all of you. For fuck’s sake.” Felix sat down on a stool and shook his head.

Kit, Miu, and Ioana stepped out of their shared room. All three looked confused, or annoyed. Ioana somehow managed both.

“Sorry. They’re just now figuring out I took their powers. I probably should have explained more last night,” Felix apologized to the three. “I’m going to set everyone to a small percent of their power back. This isn’t permanent.”

Felix called up each woman’s screen and set the draw to ninety-five percent. That left him with seven thousand eight hundred some odd points.

“There, you all have a fraction of your power back. Except for you, Kit, I have yours still off.”

“Thanks, leave it off. Are you making breakfast today?” she asked, sliding into a stool across from him.

“Was going to, but Felicia decided the toaster had to die. So that removes anything from the toaster menu.

“Whatever. Maybe we should go get some breakfast or something. Need to sell that gold and do another conversion today. Then use the rest of the points on you three.”

“You will give me my powers back. Now. All of them. Then I’m leaving,” Lily demanded, her hand resting on his shoulder.

“Lily, what part of this haven’t you gotten yet?”

“My name is Mab!”

“No, it’s Lilian Lux. You’re twenty-six years old, and you don’t have magical powers. You actually have ethereal projection. You honed it to the point where you could draw magical symbols and runes with it.

“Now, here’s something you should know.”

Felix looked over his shoulder at the enchanting face. “You’re my property. You can’t harm me, or tell me what to do. So far, I’ve been tolerant, and I will continue to do so. That tolerance will eventually run thin.”

Felix blew out a breath and then scratched at his head.

“I don’t plan on using you against your will, but you will remain my property. You can live a fairly normal life, but you won’t be running rampant with your powers again. Any questions?”

Lily’s mouth hung open, her jaw worked as she seemingly tried to find the words.

“No? Alright. Felicia,” Felix said, turning to the woman with his toaster. “Did you murder it, or can you fix that with the small amount of power I put back in you.”

“I can fix it,” Felicia said, already hard at working putting the whole thing back together.

“Goodie.”

“I can make pancakes!” Andrea said loudly, bouncing back and forth in one spot. Then she separated into two people.

Felix looked from one, to the other, then back again.

“We can do it! Leave it to us,” they said in unison.

Picking up a marker from the table, he looked to the Andreas. “Which one of you is the prime?” he asked.

The Andrea on the left held up her hand high above her. “Hooooooi. That’s me.”

Felix walked over to the prime Andrea, pulled the sleeve of her shirt up, and wrote a big “P” on her shoulder.

“We’ll need something more permanent. I’m betting metal won’t be duplicated when you clone yourself. Maybe a ring or a necklace. Anyways.

“Right. Start in on those pancakes. Thanks, Andrea Prime and Andrea One.”

The Beastkin and her clone looked at each other. “We never thought of that,” they said at the same time.

Then they cheered in unison and they both leapt over the couch to get into the kitchen.

“I suppose today can be interview and job assignment day. Each of you, please come see me one at a time in the study. We’ll get this sorted out now before we get any later in this whole…” Felix made a jerky vague movement with his hands as he spoke. “Whatever this is.”

Sliding off the stool, he pushed it under the counter and went to the study. He popped the power button on his computer as he went, sitting down behind the desk.

The door slammed shut and Felix looked up.

Lily sat down in the seat across from him, her hands pressed to the desk.

“You will start with me,” she said ominously.

“Hooray,” Felix deadpanned.

“Do not mock me,” Lily said, leveling a finger at him.

“Why not? So far all you’ve done is bitch and moan. All I’ve done to you so far is drain your powers. Give me a reason to not treat you like a spoiled, conceited little princess.”

Felix typed in his password and flipped through a few virtual pages that came up on the desk terminal.

Firing open a spreadsheet with an attached word processor, he began writing in her basic information.

“I don’t—no. Stop. You will not do whatever you like.”

“Yes, I will, Lily. Keep it up and I might lose my temper and tell you to sit in a corner for the day. You’d be forced to obey. That or I tell you to never speak again.”

Felix angrily hit the holographic enter key and glared at her across the desk space.

Lily frowned and then looked at the desk. She clasped her hands together and then glanced back at the shut door behind her.

“You don’t fear me,” she said, looking up at him through long lashes.

“Not in the least. Now, let’s start with where you are now and what you’re worth.” Felix called up her character sheet with his power.

Name:

Lilian Lux

Power: Ethereal projections

Alias: Mab, Soul Stealer, Demon

Secondary Power: Mana Manipulation

Physical Status:

Healthy

Mental Status:

Confused

Positive Statuses:

None

Negative Statuses:

Fear

A quick glance and he confirmed everything was as he’d expected.

“Did you know you technically have a second power? Mana manipulation. Not sure if that’s intrinsic or learned.”

He flipped it over to the second sheet.

Strength:

37

Upgrade?(370)

Dexterity:

55

Upgrade?(550)

Agility:

53

Upgrade?(530)

Stamina:

42

Upgrade?(420)

Wisdom:

67

Upgrade?(670)

Intelligence:

88

Upgrade?(880)

Luck:

21

Upgrade?(210)

Primary Power:

64

Upgrade?(6,400)

Secondary Power:

59

Upgrade?(5,900)

“Hm. Alright. I have a pretty good idea about you, Lily, from a power and abilities perspective. That’s all without the context of who you are, though,” Felix said, rapidly filling in the information into the spreadsheet. “I’d appreciate it if you could tell me about you.”

Lily squirmed in her seat, wringing her hands slowly. The strong, violent mage was gone. All that was left was a woman who seemed more scared than anything.

“You can really see all that?” she asked, looking at the spreadsheet from the other side.

“Sure can. It’s my power. Up until recently, it wasn’t very useful,” Felix said a touch self-consciously. “It is what it is, though.”

Lily, pursed her lips, then spread her hands out in front of him.

“I was never anything special. Went to school, graduated, went on to get a legal degree,” Lily said, tracing the wood grain in the desk with a fingernail. “Then I had a case. Involved black magic. The kind they warn you not to get involved in.”

Lily shrugged her shoulders. “I represented him. I believed in him. Believed he was innocent. I was wrong.

“I don’t want to go into the details, but he tried to kill me, and I knocked him out instead. He wasn’t dead, but I didn’t think he’d live longer, either.

“He’d locked us in his library when he tried to kill me.”

Lily sighed, turning her head to the side.

“There wasn’t much to do. I couldn’t break the door down; it was reinforced by magic, I think. So, I started reading from the book he had laying out.

“It was full of diagrams, instructions, warnings. Spells.

“Suddenly, I pulled his soul out. I felt incredible. I… felt powerful. After a while, the magic on the door faded and I was able to escape. I called the police and they came over. It was ruled self-defense.”

Felix nodded, fascinated.

“Then later I had another case. I knew she was guilty. She’d told me so. So… I killed her and took her soul. Then another. And another. Eventually, it caught up with me, of course.

“You can’t make your clients disappear every time they appear guilty without someone noticing.”

Lily let out a slow breath and leaned back into her seat. “That’s when the goody goodies got involved. Killed a few of those, and suddenly I’m on a titanic level of power. Super souls are worth a lot more. A whole lot more.

“End up doing my own thing for years. I haven’t aged a year in a decade. And since your own power said I’m twenty-six, it sounds like I really have stopped aging. And here I am.”

Felix held up a finger. “You were a lawyer?”

“Yep. Was a trial lawyer. Defense. Did pretty well with minor crimes,” she said, a small smile sneaking across her face, only to disappear as quickly as it came.

“Great. Here,” Felix said, reaching down into a drawer. He’d stuck his contract there after coming home. Fishing it out, he laid it out on the desk in front of him. “I’d like you to read over this and tell me your thoughts.

“The problem is the board is trying to get me to pay rent that they claim I should be paying for living here. Once you’re all caught up on that, we can discuss it and see what we can do. I’m sure I’m missing something. I leave it to you.”

Lily looked at the packet of paper, then back to him. “You would have me… be your lawyer?” she asked in a small voice.

“Well, legal counsel, at the very least. I’m not sure if you were disbarred or not? It would be nice if you weren’t, though. Maybe we could get you back on track for that? Look into it and see what it’d take.”

Lily seemed awestruck at that. She picked up the packet and then looked to him. She gave him a tiny nod of her head. “I’ll do that.”

“Alright, that’s it for now. Could you send in the next person?” Felix said with a smile for her.

“Yeah. I can do that. Do… you want me to have Andrea bring in pancakes when they’re ready?”

“I’ll eat last. This is a bit more important for the moment. Thanks, Lily,” Felix said, closing the drawer and then folding his hands on the desk.

Lily walked to the door, opened it, and stepped out of the study quickly.

“Pancakes!” came back a shouted duo of voices as Lily exited. “Catch!”

There was a splat-like noise, followed by a growl and a screech.

Felicia stomped into his study, the short woman slamming the door shut with the back of her fist.

“So, you’ve stolen my wits, have you?” growled the short woman. “Made me as inept as an Elf with a weight set?”

She stomped up to his desk and slapped her hands onto the surface, glaring at him over the top of it.

“I’m not as daft as that magical tart that just left. What do I have to do to get my wits back?” she spat at him. “Do I need to start taking my clothes off here and now? Despite all your pretty words? You wouldn’t take advantage because we’d be offering?”

“Wait, stop talking,” Felix interrupted her, holding up a hand. Then he gestured to the chair. “Please, take a seat if you would. I propose a simple solution to what clearly is going to be a problematic conversation for us both. You ask a question, I’ll answer, then we go back and forth till you’re satisfied.”

Felicia glared at him, her jaw working soundlessly.

After a minute of what truly looked like she was shouting at him wordlessly, she held up her arms and looked as if she would split down the middle.

“Please, calm down, and let’s talk. Once you’ve seated yourself, I’ll remove the compulsion.”

The sound of her panting dominated the room. Slowly, she eased herself in the chair, staring murderously at him with a red face.

“You can speak. Now please, back to the beginning. What do you have to do to get your wits back was your first question.

“Now see, that’s the problem. If I give you your ‘wits’ back, I lose out on all the points that your power offers.

“And you give me one thousand five hundred and fifty. That’s a lot.”

Felica’s face scrunched into a scowl. She opened her mouth, then closed it, pressing her hands to her stomach.

“I see. Or at least, I think I do. I offer a trade. Barter, if you will.”

Felix tilted his head to one side. He was curious. What could she offer him that he couldn’t take by force?

“You say you can’t give me my ‘wits’ back because it takes your points. What if I use my wits to get you more points?”

Felix put his elbow on the desk, and then his chin into his hand. “I’m listening.”

She gave him a bright smile and leaned forward. “I’m a genius at inventing things. I can build things that would hone, empower, and build up these girls’ powers. Perhaps even a machine that could enhance them permanently. But I’d need my wits to do it.”

“It’d need to be permanent for it to affect my point pool,” Felix said. Sighing, he sat upright again. “Give me a bit with your points. I need them for a time. Then we can see about giving you your wits back. There’s a lot of work to be done right now in the short term.”

“Unless you want to give me a specific order for every little thing, you’ll be giving me part of my wits back,” she said.

“I can’t. But I’ll make you a deal. What can I do for you now that you’d accept as an act of good will? Something you want for yourself that would show you that giving me some time is truly in all of our interests.”

She eyed him, her argument frozen on her tongue. “How much can you change? One of them ninnies said you can change us.”

“Quite a bit. What’d you have in mind?”

“Can you make me taller?”

Felix stopped himself from instantly replying. Kit had opened his mind to new possibilities.

Instead, he focused on Felicia and what he believed would be more in line with her “character sheet” for things relating to her physical appearance.

Much as it had happened before, a new window surfaced. One that had all of Felicia’s measurements in it.

Her height was listed at a paltry four foot eleven. And it would only cost him a hundred points to bump her up an inch.

“I sure can, what kind of height did you have in mind?”

“Ah. Oh. Ergh,” Felicia mumbled, scratching her shoulder. “Maybe, five foot four? That’s still short, but… not child short? I guess?”

Felix looked back to the screen and tapped it five times. It’d cost him six hundred points in total. The height was still below average, so it didn’t seem to cost that much.

“Done. Anything else?” he asked, looking up at Felicia.

She whispered something that he didn’t quite catch.

“Sorry, I missed that. One more time?”

“I want to be a D-cup,” Felicia said angrily, meeting his eyes.

Felix blinked, unsure of how to respond.

Then he shrugged. It didn’t matter to him what breast size she was. A glance at the window told him she was an AA cup.

Below average again. How much will it cost?

Felix flicked the button four times and the cost went up to fourteen hundred points even. It was less than what she was worth for one day. It’d only take him a day to replenish his point values. If he had to do this for everyone, it’d be annoying, but not the end of the world.

He’d call everything a bargain and spend today lounging around. Maybe convert something small to silver.

“Done. Anything else?” Felix asked again.

Felicia looked to her chest, then back to him. “I don’t—”

“Once I confirm the changes, they’ll happen. You may want to unhook your bra. Going from AA to D… yeah, it’s going to be significant.”

Felicia turned a deep scarlet red and then reached behind her back and into her shirt. There was a soft click and her clothes shifted.

“I’m ready.”

He hit the button and leaned back to watch.

Felicia stood up rapidly in surprise. Her body began expanding rapidly in multiple ways.

Ten seconds later and it was all over. Her clothes had split at the hip and shoulders, and her increased bosom pulled the fabric tight in the front of her shirt.

“Glad we had this talk, Felicia. Now, could you send in the next person?” Felix said with a smile at the half-breed Dwarven woman, who now looked much more like a human than her heritage would have normally allowed.