Super Sales on Super Heroes

Chapter 31 - Outplayed -

“Let’s not and say we did.” Felix started flipping through the monitors and feeds in his helmet.

A blueprint had been shared on the war-net, their version of a privatized shared working space for information. That and more info was being quickly drawn in and hostiles counted and placed.

The drones were earning their keep and then some.

A light on the inside corner of his helmet turned on. It was a deep red color. The kind that screamed “warning” without the word.

Felix focused on it and a screen came up.

One of the squads had gotten their drone into the center of the library. There, hunkered down in a sphere of magical energy, were his kids. There were wounded amongst them, but it looked like everyone was there.

A man was pounding on that shield, his fists glowing red with each strike. On the opposite side, someone was firing a never-ending stream of rifle rounds into it.

Pausing only to reload and shove a new magazine home.

Before he could say anything, the screen he was looking at was forcibly changed as Ioana began documenting orders there.

Flipping back to the overview of the library, Felix watched as a super with speedster powers moved around the library.

The tactically loaded super stopped at each squad, handed over what looked like a black piece of sheet metal with handles, and left for the next group.

As if it was by designation, a member from each squad ended up with that black piece of metal and moved to the front of the group.

A timer began ticking down in the corner of the war-net from two minutes.

Felix looked away from that, focusing his view towards what was actually happening around him.

He caught the eye of the Telemedic team lead and then crooked a finger. “We have eyes on the kids,” Felix said as the woman came in close. “I’m betting you can’t get through as long as that shield is up?

“That’s correct, sir. We can’t through barriers if they’re sealed up.”

“Okay, I want your people familiar with the location, and be ready to bounce in, grab one, then bounce out if that shield goes down. Be ready as soon as possible, because we have no idea how long that thing will hold. Lily builds ‘em tough, but it can only take so much.

“Use the monitor feed to familiarize yourself. Got it?”

The team lead nodded her head. “Yes, sir. We won’t fail you.”

Turning his head back to the screens, Felix accessed his helmet feed and routed it back to the war-net.

At one minute, the timer turned yellow. The two long-range Wardens opened up, their railguns coughing out their high-powered rounds.

Drones recorded several kills before everyone took cover inside. The long-range cover kept the windows clear.

At fifteen seconds, the Shield Wardens sprinted forward. Several of the hostiles tried to return to the window, only to be driven back. Both melee Wardens reached the walls before the timer hit zero.

Not stopping there, both Wardens began scaling the building. Nimble as a spider, they leaped from window to window to the top.

Reaching the end of the countdown, the squads moved up.

That black sheet metal was gone now, and in its place was a tall and wide shield. Angled at the sides, it would protect and block an entire squad on approach.

Held by the point position, it was supported by another person on each side. The glow of magic infused it.

The shields weren’t needed, though. The squads reached the entry points without resistance.

A ten-second timer popped up in the corner as the last squad made it to their assigned position.

The Shield Wardens on top, now positioned in opposite corners, brought their swords down into the roof.

Withdrawing their weapons, each reached into a pod on their side and pulled out what could only be a grenade.

At five seconds, they pulled the pins and dropped them into the holes they’d made.

The Wardens on the outskirts began firing into the windows, if only to force people to keep their heads down.

Once more at zero, the squads moved in. Doors were battered aside and the teams began to enter.

They cleared the entry lobby, checked corners, and began a systematic sweep of the building.

On top of the building, the Shield Wardens burst through the roof. They would be clearing their way down.

To Felix, it was mind-numbing and hard to follow.

Instead, he focused in on the children.

The shield was still up, but flickering with each strike from the super strength goon who was pounding on it.

Then the shield went down.

Before Felix could even think about yelling out, the Telemedics were there. Teleporting in, and out, in the blink of an eye.

In the Telemedic loading area, the kids popped into existence. Being ferried here as quickly as his people could manage. As fast as they could.

Before the brute could think to attack the kids, they were all gone. Whisked away at the moment the shield failed.

Expanding the Telemedics is now a definite. Yep. Lots more.

Felix couldn’t stop the smirk that spread across his face. Disconnecting himself from the feed, as there wasn’t much he could add and he doubted there’d be much left to do, he moved over to the kids.

Sifting through them, he quickly found Eva and Lucian in one corner. Both appeared whole and healthy. Which meant Lily wouldn’t murder him.

“Felix!” Eva said, seeing his approach. “You came.”

“Of course I did. Hard to be your legal guardian if I don’t take care of you. Everything alright?”

“Yeah,” she said, looking to the others. Those who were wounded were already receiving treatment on site. Those who needed immediate attention were ported off back to home base, he imagined. “They stormed the school, demanded to know where we were. They shot the principal when he wouldn’t tell them what class we were in. That’s what we heard, at least.”

Felix suddenly felt poorly about how he’d treated the principal.

“They were looking for you, specifically?” he asked.

“Yeah. They were.”

“Alright. Sounds like we need to open a school of our own, then,” Felix said with a sigh.

He couldn’t leave the kids out in the open like this if they were going to be targeted.

I’m so tired of only reacting. Reacting to their attacks. This needs to end. Now.

“I think this is over. I’ll head back with the first group and start talking to the kids. Make the entire department available to talk to people,” Kit said.

Honestly, Felix had almost forgotten she was there with how quiet she was.

“Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Kit. I appreciate it.” Felix turned his head towards her. He tried out a smile, only to remember that she couldn’t see into his helmet.

She gave him a smile and a casual wave of her hand. Then, pressing a hand to Eva’s shoulder, she guided her away from the group.

She led her over to the Telemedic party where she began talking to them.

“Kit’s nice. She says she likes talking to me because I speak my mind,” Andrea said, taking several steps forward. She leaned down and started to fiddle with the ground, her fingers pushing into the soft dirt.

“I can imagine.” Felix turned back to the monitors, watching his people sweep and clear the library.

“Smells funny,” Andrea said. Looking over, he found that Andrea was digging like a dog now, sending handfuls of dirt behind her.

“What does?” he asked.

“The ground. It smells like…” Andrea paused, considering her words.

Felix noticed out of the corner of his eye the moment the Telemedics took Kit and the children back to headquarters.

“Like explosives,” Andrea said, recapturing his attention.

As his eyes flicked back to Andrea, she held something up in one hand.

Then it blew up.

Everything blew up.

All Felix knew was fire, the sound of detonations, and tremendous forces buffeting him.

He could see… nothing. He could hear nothing. He felt nothing.

That wasn’t quite accurate. He could feel pain. A lot of pain.

He just couldn’t feel anything besides that.

Which means I’m at least alive.

Felix managed to lift an arm, then the other.

Am I blind or…

Reaching up with box hands, Felix tried to unclasp his helmet.

Fumbling blindly with unfeeling fingers, it wasn’t an easy task. It was damn near impossible, really.

Eventually, he managed to get the locking clasp open, then rotate the lock and pull the helmet free.

Blinking, he tried in vain to clear his vision. Acrid smoke and dust hung in the air all around him. The smell of blood was overwhelming.

And the low sound of moans gave everything a surreal, hellish feeling.

Rolling to one side, Felix came face to face with the mangled remains of Andrea.

Most of her head was missing, as was a good portion of her chest and one arm. There was no life there in the remaining eye.

Even her powers of regeneration wouldn’t help there. It was directed regeneration to help keep points down.

Shuddering away from that, Felix sat up quickly. Then threw up all over his leg plates.

Spitting a chunk of digested food into the grass, Felix started to slowly rise to his feet.

Taking a moment to steady himself, Felix allowed himself to look around him.

Ioana was there, the lower half of her body simply gone. Her hands were pressed into her guts as if she had tried to hold herself together in her last moments.

His stomach rose up as if to try and empty itself again.

Turning his back on his dead War Maiden, he distanced himself a little.

Lying in the grass, fetched up behind a monitor, was Victoria.

Every inch of exposed skin was blistered and cracked with burns. Her hair was just gone.

She looked alive, though. Her chest rose and fell slowly.

Nearby, he saw the remains of several Others, all dead and decimated.

Reaching down, he gently shook Victoria’s shoulder.

Her eyes cracked open, then closed. Grudgingly, they opened again, as a groan escaped Victoria’s lips.

“It hurts,” she hissed.

“At least you’re alive. Can you get up?” Felix asked. He left her alone, looking around for other survivors. Here and there, people were going through the wreckage and bodies.

Victoria somehow got to her feet, looking more akin to something that’d been flash fried.

“I think you took the blast, but the fire went around you,” she ground out between burnt lips. “I can’t feel most of my fingers. I think the nerves are burnt.”

“They probably are. Don’t worry, I can fix you after this.”

“Can you fix them?” Victoria asked, one hand indicating Ioana and Andrea.

“So long as they said yes in their HR documentation… and that I have enough points to do it. I’m not sure, and I really don’t want to look right now, but I’m betting I lost a good number of points.”

“Oh,” Victoria said, one hand drawing her sword and flexing around the hilt experimentally.

It also means I really can’t afford to spend any points until I know what’s going on.

“Sorry, Victoria, I’d fix you right now, but I have no idea what we’ll be up against here. I mean, for all I know we’re still under attack.”

People were forming squads and teams to begin rounding up the wounded and then triaging them.

Ioana’s people were trained well. Very well.

Even if she isn’t here to lead them.

“That’s fine. I’d do the same. What do we do now, though?” Victoria asked, sheathing her sword.

“Contact the Telemedics, get them out here, sta—”

Felix’s wrist started buzzing softly, interrupting him. Lifting up his hand, he looked at the scratched and fizzing display.

“Kit’s calling,” Felix said apologetically. He had to tap the icon several times before it recognized he was trying to accept the call.

“Felix? What’s going on? The Telemedics are saying they can’t get back to you. There’s a magical barrier between them and your location.”

“We were attacked. An explosion. Everything blew up. Everything. Ioana’s dead. So is Andrea. I… don’t even know where to start.”

“I’ll send people over immediately. We’ll get this sorted out and then—”

Kit stopped mid-sentence. Felix could hear someone telling her something in the background.

There was a pause.

“Felix, we’re under attack here. I’ll do what I can to hold them off, but we’re seriously understaffed. We’ll do all we can.”

“Kit, they’ve already gotten through the security hallway. They’ll be here in a second, we need to go!” shouted a voice.

“I’ll call you when I can. Be safe,” Kit said, then disconnected.

Felix let his arm fall down to his side.

“They played us. They brought us here deliberately. Deliberately so they could cause the most damage without us being able to resist.

“And now that that phase is done, they’re attacking HQ. We walked right into this,” Felix muttered.

Victoria grimaced, her burnt, hairless face scrunching up.

“What’s the call?” she asked him.

Felix sighed and shook his head.

He wasn’t a warrior. No combatant. He was a glorified CEO at best.

“Felix, you need to give everyone orders,” Victoria said softly, for his ears alone.

Looking around, he realized a few people had started to turn towards him. Waiting. Watching.

Steeling his resolve, he held up a hand above his head for a few seconds, gathering his wits and what he wanted to say.

“Protect and gather the wounded. Provide medical treatment as best as you’re able. Get them into a building for shelter and let no one on the school grounds. Though I’m doubting anyone will show up. I’m betting everyone was paid off.”

Several heads nodded at that.

“Beyond that, gather our dead. Try to get as much of their body as you can. Don’t start doing that till all our wounded are taken care of, though. Prioritize those who are alive, but let’s not neglect our dead.”

Felix looked around himself to make sure everyone had heard him and had no questions. “Spread the word,” he said, dropping his arm.

Dropping down to Andrea’s side, he stared at her dead face.

This wasn’t the first Andrea Prime. She’d suffered quite badly in her knowledge of not being the original Andrea. He imagined a third Andrea Prime would only make that worse.

A piece of light-colored fabric lay nearby. It was about the size of what had probably been a t-shirt.

Snatching at it, he laid it flat on the grass. Taking a breath, Felix then haltingly dipped his finger into the ruins of Andrea’s rib cage. Taking his bloodstained finger, he began writing on the fabric.

Do not Absorb. This is Prime.

Eyeing the work, he felt like it’d have to do. Then he carefully took the stained canvas and wrapped it around the upper half of Andrea’s remains.

Any Other would be sure to see it and read it first.

He hoped it would convey the message clearly enough.

Looking to Victoria, he shook his head, not quite sure what to do next.

Then his mind kicked into gear and went back to his previous thought.

I’m so tired of only reacting. Reacting to their attacks. This needs to end. Now.

“Get your gear. We’re taking an armored car back to HQ.” Felix turned and started off towards the front of the school. Tossing his broken helmet to one side, he realized it was time to act.

Time to do something—anything—rather than sit around and wait for others to act.

“We should have washed your armor,” Victoria said as they cranked the armored car into gear and down the main street leading in.

“Probably. But at this point, I didn’t want to waste time on smelling fresh. Need to get home and help if we can. They’re under attack.

“An armored car showing up in your flank is a good way to get your shit kicked in, I’m betting.” Felix pulled the shifter into gear and looked around through the portholes.

Behind him, the other armored cars were heading into the grounds to take up defensive positions and protect everyone.

Up ahead, Felix saw ever more proof that they’d been outplayed and set up.

Armed enemies behind a barricade of cars, preventing anyone from driving in or out.

Angling the front of the vehicle at a spot between two vehicles, he floored the engine.

Bullets began pinging off the armored front. After a second, it went from a light rain sound to a hailstorm to rival that of an angry god.

His foes had underprepared on this one point, though. All the arms they had didn’t seem as if they had enough power to penetrate the armor of the vehicle.

They hadn’t counted on actual armored vehicles.

With a deafening crash and a jolt, Felix smashed into the makeshift barrier.

Twisted metal and sparks showered everyone nearby in wreckage as the cars were torn asunder and pushed to the side.

Holding tight to the wheel, Felix wrestled with the behemoth to keep it straight. The wheels bounced and shuddered one way and then the other, the vehicle careening off as it broke through.

Fishtailing wildly, the rear end cracked against another car before it evened out.

With the pedal still pressed to the floor, they began to accelerate away.

“Get back there and take a peek through that rear hatch. In fact, maybe get into that gunner’s seat and get that turret spun ‘round,” Felix called to Victoria.

“What? You want me to use the turret?”

“Sure as hell isn’t there for decoration. What’re they going to do, shoot back? They already did.”

“What about the police?”

“If they’re not responding to an explosion, I’m betting they’re not responding to anything today.”

Victoria sat there for a second. Then she got up and went to the back.

One of the lights on the complicated dash turned red and started flashing.

Giving it his attention for a moment, he realized it was a safety switch.

Thumbing it quickly, it turned a solid red.

The moment it did, the turret came to life, the chattering of rounds being fired out of the beefy cannon echoing throughout the hull.

The clatter of brass tinkled over the top and sides of the vehicle.

It didn’t take long for Victoria’s sustained fire rate to become the trained burst fire that Andrea had drilled into everyone.

Dreading the results, and with a great trepidation, Felix activated his points screen.

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

3,050

0

3,050

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

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.