Super Sales on Super Heroes 3
Author: William D. Arand
Date: 2018-10-29T18:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Science Fiction
Description: Felix would like nothing more than to take a vacation. A long one. One where he didn’t have to wake up every morning and worry over casualty lists for the day. Ever since he and the Legion had been forced to flee their headquarters four years previous, nothing had gone quite right. In fact, Felix and the Legion have been locked in a shadow war with enemies unknown. Ones with magic that could carve through their technology easily. As the rest of the world fell apart, tearing itself to pieces at every turn with the return of the old gods, the Legion has held the chaos back. The price in blood ha

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Book listing

Chp. 1

Chp. 2

Chp. 3

Chp. 4

Chp. 5

Chp. 6

Chp. 7

Chp. 8

Chp. 9

Chp. 10

Chp. 11

Chp. 12

Chp. 13

Chp. 14

Chp. 15

Chp. 16

Chp. 17

Chp. 18

Chp. 19

Chp. 20

Chp. 21

Chp. 22

Chp. 23

Chp. 24

Chp. 25

Chp. 26

Chp. 27

Chp. 28

Chp. 29

Chp. 30

Chp. 31

Chp. 32

Chp. 33

Chp. 34

Chp. 35

Epilogue

Authors Note

Super Sales
On
Super Heroes

Book 3

By William D. Arand

Copyright © 2018 William D. Arand

Cover design © 2018 William D. Arand

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means - except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews - without written permission from its publisher.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Copyright © 2018 William D. Arand

All rights reserved.

Dedicated:

To my wife, Kristin, who encouraged me in all things.

To my son, Harrison, who likes to just play on the ground with his toys in my office now.

To my family, who always told me I could write a book if I sat down and tried.

Special Thanks to:

Niusha Gutierrez

Caleb Shortcliffe

Michael Haglund

Steven Lobue

Eric Leaf

Books by William D. Arand-

The Selfless Hero Trilogy:

Otherlife Dreams

Otherlife Nightmares

Otherlife Awakenings

Ominibus Edition(All Three)

Super Sales on Super Heroes Trilogy:

Super Sales on Super Heroes 1

Super Sales on Super Heroes 2

Super Sales on Super Heroes 3

Dungeon Deposed Trilogy:

Dungeon Deposed

Dungeon Deposed 2 (To be released 2019)

Dungeon Deposed 3 (To be released 2019)

Books by Randi Darren-

Wild Wastes Trilogy:

Wild Wastes

Wild Wastes: Eastern Expansion

Wild Wastes: Southern Storm

Omnibus Edition(All Three)

Fostering Faust Trilogy:

Fostering Faust

Fostering Faust 2 (To be Released 2019)

Fostering Faust 3 ( To be Released 2019)

Chapter 1 - Changes -

Felix smiled and leaned to one side in his chair. He looked from the microphone, which hung between himself and the rabbit-eared Beastkin, to the camera behind her.

He waited for the next question. This in-between time from question to question often got cut.

“Mr. Campbell, this next one is a bit of a loaded inquiry, so I apologize in advance,” Erica said, giving him a broad smile, her brown eyes and soft features inviting him to confide in her.

Other than her dark black hair having grown quite long, she hadn’t changed since he’d first met her at the company picnic.

Bright, energetic, and cute.

It was no wonder her news segment had become extremely popular in Wal. That went for the entire country, not its same-named capital city.

Everyone loved to watch her, and she always seemed to get the best stories, the most hard-hitting interviews.

Didn’t hurt that she always looked stunning on the television.

Nor when Legion hand-feeds her every story of interest, now does it?

“Please, don’t worry about it. I’d expect nothing less from you, Miss Newberg, and I knowingly accepted your invitation to the interview,” Felix said, playing into his role. “Despite knowing your predisposition.”

Erica had proved to be a perfect lightning rod for negative and neutral stories about Legion.

Her counterpart, Jessica Perreira, was where all the positive and political support stories went.

Everyone thought the two women hated each other, given that they seemed to represent opposing views.

Personally, Felix found the reality hilarious. He knew for a fact that they were very close. He’d even say they were each other’s best friends on the surface of it.

Erica’s smile tightened just a fraction, her eyes going a touch flat. It was obvious to him, as it had always been, that she hated her job and role.

Hated what she was doing to him.

“Recently, some reports have been circulating that Legion has been contracted to do more than just acting as a backup to the police.

“That your company has been tasked with providing policing and security for all government buildings of Wal, in addition to taking over every police precinct,” Erica said. “Is that true?”

Felix wrinkled his nose and changed his posture slightly. It was all part of the act between him and Erica.

Questions that were meant to be hard, but that he had given to her to ask, and him acting uncomfortable.

As he shifted though, he had a momentary flashback to Tilen five years prior and a no-nonsense detective.

Interrogating him.

What was her name again… ah! Torres. Detective Torres.

“Well… it is true that Legion has been asked to step in and take over for the police. They’re understaffed, underpaid, and unable to keep up with the workload,” Felix admitted. “But it’s also not true. Legion will be taking over the vast majority of the needs of Wal throughout the country, but the police will still remain employed and working in the same capacity they were previously.”

“In other words, the police will become the backup for Legion,” Erica said, boiling Felix’s answer down. “You’re reversing roles.

“But what about security for government buildings? You didn’t answer that.”

Felix nodded slowly.

“In the—I can’t remember if it’s four years or five years since we came to Wal—but in the five years since we came here, we’ve supported the government at every turn.

“They’ve asked us to up the security we can provide. That includes personnel, technology, and procedures,” Felix said.

Erica lifted a finger up, her ears perking.

“Before you ask for clarification,” Felix said with a smile for the Beastkin. “Yes, we’ll be taking over security for government buildings directly.”

Erica raised her eyebrows and jotted something down on her pad of paper.

“I do believe it’s been four years and eight or so months, by the way,” Erica said as her pen glided back and forth.

Felix didn’t reply but merely smiled at the reporter.

“Speaking of security,” Erica said, moving to her next question. “What are your thoughts on the violence going on with our southern neighbors? Or any of our neighbors, actually.

“By and large, it seems as if the entire continent is shattering apart as of late. Multiple armies are embattled on every front possible, warlords are acting as faith leaders for their religions, and it seems that there is no going back from this. More and more governments get caught up in ever-increasing disturbances.”

Frowning, Felix reached up and drew a finger along his jawline.

Last he’d checked through a drone, Skippercity was little more than a giant radioactive crater. Tilen was a corpse of a city. A ruined, rotting thing that was beyond hope.

And all Skipper did was move on to the next target. Turning it into a battleground as well.

“I would say that… the government of Wal has done a fantastic job of limiting the influence of the old gods here.

“While I recognize the… problems… caused by outlawing certain religions, worship, and gods, I can’t fault the results,” Felix said. “By and large, Legion isn’t called in that often anymore, and those found practicing illegal or warmongering religions are exiled from Wal.”

Barbaric, but effective. And needed.

There really wasn’t another option, given what happened in Skippercity. Saw that one first hand.

“Of course you’d support Wal in their efforts to eliminate dissenting religions. Those are the same people who run against the current governing body,” Erica said, pointing her pen at Felix. “Or do you have a response to that as well?”

“I would say that I support Wal in its efforts to protect its citizens. While I don’t morally agree with the actions taken, I can definitely understand why they were taken, and I support their implementation,” Felix said.

“In other words, no. You don’t disagree with Wal,” Erica said, making a point of this.

It was critical for Erica to maintain her status as a counter to Wal and Legion. It helped them keep the focus of the populace on the stories they wanted them to focus on.

Which meant she had to deliberately seem to provoke Felix at times. After which Felix was required to smile, let it pass, and do nothing.

To any public figure other than Erica who spoke out against Legion, the response was always swift and deliberate.

Brutal, even.

Economic attacks, character assassination, and blackmail.

Tying everyone and anything up in legal problems miles long.

That didn’t even cover those who worked in the shadows to cause problems for Wal, Legion, and Felix.

Dimitry had become an essential player to Legion in the last several years in that shadow war.

Working as Felix’s blade in the dark, keeping the other factions down, or eliminating them outright.

“I see,” Erica said. “Well, that was the last question I had for you, Mr. Campbell. I appreciate your time today.”

“Of course, Miss Newberg, of course. I’ll always make time for you,” Felix said.

Turning to the camera, Erica crossed one leg over the other and folded her hands in her lap.

“Well, this is Erica Newberg signing out for the evening. I thank you all for joining me in tonight’s interview,” said the Beastkin. “I caution everyone out there to be safe, be vigilant, and be watchful.

“Goodnight.”

Several seconds passed as Erica stared into the camera. Eventually the red dot at the top of the equipment began blinking.

“Aaaaaand… we’re out,” said the cameraman at the same time as the dot vanished.

Erica let out an explosive breath and spun around immediately toward Felix.

“I’m so sorry, Felix,” she said, leaning toward him across the table.

“Don’t worry about it. If anything, I should be apologizing to you,” Felix said, standing up. “You’ve taken on a role you hate, for the betterment of Legion. I appreciate you and your sacrifice of your happiness.”

Erica’s ears bobbed as her head tracked him.

“Legion first,” she said.

“Legion first,” Felix replied, bowing his head to her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Erica. I need to get a leg on.

“Felicia wants to go over a new iteration of the Warden. She thinks she’s worked out a number of the problems the magical interference was causing.”

“Of course! Tell everyone I said hi. I should have some free time this weekend. I plan on going to old Legion city.

“If you don’t have any plans, maybe we could go to dinner together?” she asked, her voice softening.

It wasn’t the first time she’d asked him out.

Simply put, though, Felix had his hands full with Lily, Andrea, and Adriana. Having three girlfriends, two of whom could multiply into as many as they liked, was too much.

Are they even what I can call girlfriends anymore? Andrea and Adriana are more like wives.

Hell, even Lily is at this point.

“As much as I appreciate the offer, I must decline,” Felix said, walking past her.

“Of course you must, but I’m still going to ask,” Erica said. “Maybe you’ll surprise me one day and say yes.”

Waving a hand at her as he exited the Legion-secured newsroom at Erica’s employers building, Felix turned his thoughts to the rest of his day.

“You have lunch plans with Kit and I, then training,” Miu said, coming up beside him.

Around him, several men and women in combat armor and armed with SMGs formed a column.

Glancing to the diminutive psychopath of Asian descent, Felix smirked at her.

“Thanks. I don’t suppose you’ll take it easy on me today?”

“No. I want to see how much of your blood I can take. It also gives me a chance to wrestle you to the ground. Touch you, run my hands over you,” Miu said, her eyes boring into his. They widened slowly, her cheeks coloring at the same time. Her eyes started to take on that glassy gaze she tended to pick up as her true self started to slip free.

“Control, Miu. Control. You’ve been in control all month so far. Just a few more days and you get your reward, remember?” Felix asked.

Blinking twice, she suddenly swallowed and turned her face forward.

“My apologies. You’re too close right now, and you were looking me in the eye,” Miu said. “I’m fine. Now, we should go. I imagine the Elex sisters are bored.”

Sighing, Felix could only agree.

“Never wise to let them get too bored,” he said.

In silence, Miu walked Felix down to the entrance of the building.

Stepping to one side, he waited. He was well trained now.

Miu and a bodyguard walked outside, holding the doors open. At the same time, a woman slung her SMG around her middle and pressed a hand to Felix’s back. Immediately, a small bubble of magical power enveloped him and her.

“Clear,” Miu called from outside.

Letting himself be guided by the sorceress at his side, Felix was escorted outside.

Victoria, Adriana, and Andrea were all waiting for him inside the black sedan parked out front. The Legion banner was painted on the side of the doors, proclaiming to one and all that Legion was here.

There were two other cars in the same convoy with identical markings.

“Felix!” squeaked chauffeur Andrea. Her blue and green mismatched eyes lit up with life when she saw him. She reached up and curled some of her dirty-blond hair around an ear and under her cap. With her free hand, she pulled open the door to the back of the sedan and bounced in place as she stood there.

Adriana was a bit more subdued than her twin sister. She even managed to not call out to him as Andrea had.

Opening the front passenger door, the brunette got in the car and shut the door promptly.

Victoria moved around to the far side of the sedan and got in without a word.

She must still be annoyed with me.

“She’s still mad at you,” Andrea whispered loudly, confirming his thought. “She thinks you’re overlooking too many security risks.”

Felix got into the car and slid up next to Victoria’s side.

“And you are,” said the swordswoman. “Without you, Legion would crumble. You take too many risks.

“You should just listen to me.”

Turning her head slightly, she glared at him, her dark-green eyes angry. The violent motion of her head made her short, dark-brown curls bounce.

“Sorry. I promise we can sit down over dinner or lunch and go over everything you want. I’ll listen and do my best to implement whatever you suggest,” Felix said in a conciliatory tone.

“Lily doesn’t like it when you take other women out to eat,” Miu said, her tone cold and flat as she pushed in next to him. “She’s willing to share you with Andrea and Adriana, and myself to a degree, but I don’t think she’ll let you have more women.”

Victoria frowned and peered at Miu. “My interest is in his safety, not him. After five years as his personal bodyguard, I can pretty much guarantee I’m not interested in him.”

Miu stared at Victoria blankly, as if she didn’t believe a word of it.

Reaching up with one hand, he pressed it to Miu’s shoulder and eased her back into her seat. “I’ll have a meal with Victoria, and I’ll let Lily know about it personally. Now, let’s get a move on, yeah?”

***

Felix glanced at the screen that was always open now, hovering just off to the side in his peripheral.

Received

Spent

Remaining

Daily Allotment

250

0

250

Miu Miki

125

0

125

—Direct reports

2,500

0

2,500

Ioana Iliescu

110

0

110

—Direct reports

4,500

0

4,500

Kit Carrington

280

0

280

—Direct reports

6,200

0

6,200

Lilian Lux

300

0

300

—Direct reports

2,250

0

2,250

Andrea Elex

175

0

175

Felicia Fay

260

0

260

—Direct reports

8,000

0

8,000

Eva Adelpha

650

0

650

Mr. White.

40

0

40

—Direct reports

8,500

0

8,500

+ Loyalty Bonus

15,800

0

15,800

DAILY TOTAL

49,840

0

49,840

“No change,” Felix said after he’d looked it over for a second. “I’m still being suppressed today. The point valuations are down.”

Kit clicked her tongue and tapped a fingernail against the tabletop.

“It would seem they’re dead set on keeping our losses from coming back right now,” she said. “That’s two days more than normal given the pattern you worked out. Isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Felix lifted a spoonful of soup from his bowl and shrugged his shoulders.

“Definitely an outlier against the pattern. And yeah, I kinda felt the same. I had Victoria alert her people, and Ioana as well, to the situation,” Felix said.

Miu was watching Felix eat his soup, her eyes fixed to him like a hunting hound.

“Lily, Ioana, and Victoria all confirmed they received my message,” she said. “Preparations are being made already to take care of the situation and any possible contingencies.”

Kit smiled, then chewed at her lower lip.

“Spit it out,” Felix said, watching her.

After glancing up at him and then back down to her bowl, Kit sighed softly. Leaning back in her chair, she looked around.

She’d let her hair grow long over the years. Eventually long enough that she’d pulled it back into a ponytail.

In fact, now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen her in her Augur outfit since they’d fled. She’d packed it away and promptly settled into a life at Legion HQ in Wal.

“I begin to wonder if you need me anymore,” Kit said, her eyes watching the Legionnaires moving around them.

Old Legion city was always a bustling place. It was the only thing they’d left behind in Skippercity, and it was so far deep underground that there was no risk of radiation.

If anything, it was one of the safest places they had because of what had happened far above them on the planet’s surface. No one could even get close.

“I’m useful as a mind reader, but now you have much more talented people in place. I do little more than manage my team and sit around waiting,” Kit said.

“Sounds like normal leadership to me,” Felix said, setting his spoon down. “Realistically speaking, if you can be absent from your team and eighty percent of the time they function as if they didn’t need you at all, you’ve succeeded as a leader.

“You don’t need or want to save the day. You want them to run perfectly without you and only need you to guide, lead the way, or remove obstacles. That’s the sign of a good leader.”

Kit’s mouth flattened into a line. She clearly didn’t quite believe his words.

“Micro-managers are actually the worst kind of bosses. Their employees don’t grow; they never get a chance to explore themselves as independent contributors.”

Kit seemed to consider his statement more now than she had previously.

“And while you’re thinking on that, I had a thought this morning. Back in Tilen, I met a Detective Torres,” Felix said. “I was wondering if you or your team could dig up whatever happened to her. I was curious and—”

Felix’s wrist device chimed, then let out a low buzzing noise while vibrating violently.

Tapping it quickly, Felix saw two screens overlaid. One was Legion Headquarters in Wal, and the other was a power-usage gauge.

There was a single column that had spiked to the top—a monitoring device left in the old Legion HQ building. He’d set it up to watch for a portal opening.

Pressing the button he’d put next to that column, he heard the chime of his line connecting to someone else.

He’d told Andrea to post a guard there and have her keep a personal device on her. Just in case something like this happened.

“Felix to portal drop, come in,” Felix said. “There was a power fluctuation. Did the portal open again? Are there people?”

“Hi dear!” Andrea said excitedly, her voice coming over the speakers in his wrist device. “Yup! They opened the gate and they’re staring at me.”

“Wait, they can see you right now?”

“Yes. I wanted to say hi. I thought if I did, they wouldn’t close it again.

“They look interesting. Though one of them looks a lot like you. A lot,” Andrea said.

“Really? Huh. Uhm… what do they want?”

“I don’t know! Let me ask,” Andrea said. There was a pause. “What do you want?”

“Andrea, I swear to god… Did you put me on speaker phone?”

“Yes?” said the Beastkin. She sounded quite guilty.

“Ok… I’ll just… why don’t… ok. Hello, my name is Felix. Would you be interested in having a chat? I’d like to discuss an opportunity with you.”

“I’ll stay here,” said a female voice. “Make sure it remains open.”

“Red will go with you. Red wants to spar with the house cat, if possible,” said a second, more gravelly voice.

“My name is Vince, and I’d be willing.”

The sound of rapid hand claps cut through the air.

She’s clapping. She’s actually clapping that they said yes.

“I’ll make pancakes!” Andrea shouted.

Yeah. She was clapping.

Kit and Miu were staring at Vince. Not quite sure of what was going on.

Suddenly, a bright flash lit up the main screen he’d been ignoring. He could see almost nothing through the glare of white light.

Then there was a rumbling crashing noise he could hear through the microphone pick up, and the video started to short and crackle wildly.

It had sounded like an explosion and looked like one, too.

“What the… shit,” said Felix. “Andrea, Vince, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to cut this one short. I have to deal with something.

“Andrea, give him the pack?

“Vince, I truly look forward to meeting you in the future. Please don’t be a stranger!”

Tapping the button, Felix closed the view and looked to Miu.

She was already talking into her communication device and relaying orders.

Turning to Kit, he found her doing the same while she opened a portal with her left hand.

It led straight into Legion HQ back at Wal.

No rest for the weary.

Here we go again.

Chapter 2 - Reaper -

Felix stepped through the portal Kit had created and straight into the newest iteration of the war room.

It was staffed by Andreas, Adrianas, and a number of specialists.

“Massive explosion at the entry to Wal HQ,” an Andrea off to one side said. “The street was cleared immediately of hostiles by the defenses.

“Six reported enemy kills and a single vehicle disabled. Our defenses are clearing off the roofs, though. There were several alerts from the surrounding areas of Faith magic usage.”

Of course there were.

Faith magic was almost always an indication of a strike from the heavens. One that couldn’t be stopped with traditional magic as a defense.

“Fatalities?” Felix asked, dropping down into his “command chair” that sat in the middle of the room.

“Four. Hostess, two guards, one clerk,” a different Andrea said. “Their remains have been secured and put with the fifty percent destroyed resurrection wave.

“The count for that wave is at seventy-six.”

Seventy-six people who need a major number of points to be able to be returned to life.

Felix didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to.

Most everyone in Legion knew what was going on.

There weren’t enough points to get people back up who had died in ways that destroyed their bodies beyond just losing a limb.

There were barely enough points to get someone back who had died a non-violent death during suppression.

Those who died and needed more points were being stored in a large morgue-like area. To be brought back in waves when whatever force that was keeping Felix’s points down let up.

There were also a few people who had been almost completely destroyed. Truly destructive deaths, where the amount of points to get them back was beyond sizable in number.

Whenever possible, Felix stored points by converting garbage into gold. That same gold was then turned into points when he got the chance to fully utilize his power.

Usually it was about three weeks before he got a chance to bring anyone back. It was going on four weeks now, though. Longer than normal.

“The damage to the entry is extensive. It isn’t something we can get repaired quickly,” the Andrea directly in front of him said, turning in her chair to face him.

“Which means we have an open point of entry they can use,” Felix said. “What about our defenses?”

“All clear. Everything was switched over to automation, but…” The Adriana who was talking paused and tapped her way through two screens.

“But there’s interference from the explosion,” Ioana said, stomping out of a back office. “They loaded the damn fucking van with religious relics and some type of blessed substance.”

Felix sighed and pressed his fingertips to his brow.

“In other words, whoever it is this time is launching a full-scale attack. Probably in the next thirty minutes,” Felix said.

“That’d be my assumption,” Ioana said, shaking her head. “For all our planning, we’re just not able to limit their faith magic.”

Felix didn’t know what to say. It was the simple truth. Faith magic had a way of slicing right through practical magic and technology alike.

Which left physical strength and super powers. Both of which were much harder for Felix to get his hands on since his own ability was so handicapped.

Kit folded her arms across her chest and sighed. “It isn’t as if we’re not holding our own.”

“But we’re losing,” Felix said, cutting to the root of what wasn’t being said. “This is a war of attrition, and we’re getting chipped away at.”

“Incoming,” said the Adriana watching a bay of monitors. “A large number of vehicles heading our way.

“Panel vans.”

And probably packed with combatants.

“Status on HQ defenses?” Felix asked.

Miu stepped closer to Felix, getting his attention.

“Victoria is assembling her people, and mine. She and I will move to the first bottleneck and work to hold them there,” Miu said. “Lily and her team are moving to support, but they will take a few minutes. They were in a group practice, and there is no active portal from where they were.”

Felix took the report with a nod and looked to Ioana.

“My people are more than ready, and we’ve brought up everything with simple mechanisms.

“Things we’ve found take a lot of effort for their priests to foul up,” Ioana said. “The Wardens are being left in their bays.

“The Legion battalions on detached duty at the police stations are mobilizing, but they’ll be at least an hour or two out. That’s assuming there is nothing preventing them from getting here quickly.”

That’s pretty unlikely. I’d bet on them being delayed for hours and hours. If not attacked outright.

Like the engines in the vehicles failing outright. Just like the Wardens would fail if used.

It was an early lesson that Legion had learned in this war. Technology was vulnerable to faith magic.

Very vulnerable.

The more complicated, the more engineered, the more likely it would simply fail outright.

“I’m open to suggestions,” Felix said. “I really don’t see much we can do other than a standard hold out and wait for the enemy to take enough losses to leave, or for our reinforcements to arrive.”

All around the room were pensive faces. One by one, they all shook their heads.

There really wasn’t much to do.

“So… how about we talk about business instead?” Felix asked. “Tell me about our dumps.

“Last I heard, we were starting to fold over some of the deeper and narrower pits, and refining the methane.”

Andrea Prime, denoted right now by her silver earrings, tapped open a light-computer pad and smiled.

“Everything is going exactly as you said. We’re processing the metal and refining it as quickly as we can, now that we got the contract for trash-pickup as well as owning the dump and junkyards,” Andrea said.

Then she started to flick through multiple screens, looking for something.

The lights in the war room went out, and then the emergency lights kicked in as apparently the HQ lost power.

“Intruders,” said an Adriana further away. “Thirty or so just appeared in the dorm hallways. They’re spread out, though.

“Some type of item with them is generating a field of faith magic that is interfering with the power generators in the base.”

Oh.

Shit.

Felix looked to Miu, who would probably be the first able to respond right now since Victoria was already in the choke point.

Miu had been talking into her com device during the exchange.

“Lily is moving to engage. She picked up a squad or two of base soldiers to offset her team,” Miu said, looking to Felix for a second. “They should be on the intruders before they can do anything more.”

“Enemy vans are a minute out or less,” an Adriana called out.

Felix thumbed the button on his wrist computer that was wired into the communication system.

“Enemies inbound,” Felix said. “Everyone get into positions for main entry defense.

“We also have infiltrators in the dorm hallways. Use caution when traveling from area to area.”

Closing the communication channel, Felix looked at the screens on the desk of the Andrea in front of him.

“I’m going to suit up and go to the line,” Kit said.

“I will join you,” Miu added.

Ioana stepped up into Miu’s position next to Felix. “I’ll remain.”

“Stay safe; I can’t afford to lose you. And if you do die, make sure it’s in one piece,” Felix said, not looking away from the screens.

The sound of the elevator opening and then closing was the only response he got.

Ioana slowly began walking away from Felix, looking over multiple displays.

Andrea Prime and Adriana Prime stepped in close to Felix.

“Felix—” whined Andrea, her ears flat to her head and her tail low behind her.

“I don’t like this anymore,” said Adriana, her posture not as submissive, but certainly leaning towards the same feeling.

“I want to leave. Can we leave and go live somewhere else?” they said in unison.

Felix immediately wanted to deny her request. This was home now. They’d fought to build it, and then to maintain it.

He’d already fled Skippercity. Tilen as well.

Fleeing again sounded awful.

The sound of scattered gunfire from the trio of Elex sisters at desks in front of him diverted his attention.

“Choke point one has been activated,” said the Adriana of the three.

“They brought portable defensive barriers,” said one of the two Andreas.

“Priests spotted amongst their number,” said the last of the three.

“This is an all-out attack then,” Felix said. “This isn’t a probe or a feint; it’s a real attack.

“Tell the battalions coming from the police stations to take a longer route. They’re more likely to be attacked on a straight path home than they are delayed.”

“On it!” chirped Andrea Prime, looking to her light-pad.

Felix was watching the screen. He saw the two forces deploy themselves behind bunkers and begin firing over the tops at the opposing side.

Kit was on the far edge, in her Augur outfit, deflecting bullets away from Legionnaires.

On the far-left side, a large melee was forming. The two sides had closed on one another before they had gotten the barriers up.

He could see Miu and Victoria on that end, already fighting.

“Felix,” called the familiar voice of Lily through his com. “We just took down one of the infiltrators.

“They’re from the government of Wal.”

Frowning, he considered Lily’s words.

“Wal itself,” Felix muttered. “Which means they’re either tired of us or they have someone trying to launch a coup.

“Has there been any word or warning from the government building assets?”

“Nothing,” Adriana Prime said. “Wait—”

“Oh, heavens forbid,” Felix said, pressing his hands to his head. He didn’t need more bad news right now, and if the government buildings were really under attack, it meant Wal was about to disintegrate around itself.

“The man named Vince just walked back out of the portal,” Adriana said.

“Vince?” Felix asked.

“Yes. Andrea sixty-seven took a photo of him and updated our files. Adriana ninety-three took her place. He just walked in through the paired portal and left the arrival room.

“He’s in the hallways of the dorms.”

“What do you mean he left?” Felix asked.

“Ninety-three gave him a vest and her sidearm, and sent him to find you,” Adriana said with a frown.

“Remind me to trade ninety-three with you, sister,” Adriana said, glancing to Andrea.

“She’s nice,” Andrea said with a grin. “I like her. I’ll trade. Would you take twenty-two?”

“Wait, wait. Vince is walking around in the hallways with a gun. We don’t even know what he’ll do!” Felix growled.

“He just killed a Wal infiltrator with a sword,” Adriana said.

“A sword?” Vince parroted.

“Vince has a sword. He just killed three more people and he’s heading toward Lily,” Adriana said.

Lily!?

“Vince just walked past her. He’s heading to the choke point. Lily is following him.”

Felix looked to the cameras; he should be able to see this man named Vince now.

Just on the edge of the camera, Felix saw a man dressed in what looked like medieval armor to his eyes. He was wielding a curved sword, and he had a handgun.

Lily was beside him, clearly trying to talk to him.

The man looked at Kit, then at the opposing soldiers on the other side. And charged at them at a full sprint.

“Oh my,” Andrea Prime said.

Vince was moving fast. Extremely fast. Speeding across the gap between the two sides.

Then he was shot. It looked as if he was struck by six or seven rounds in the chest.

Except he kept going as if he didn’t feel it.

Watching with something akin to awe, Felix saw the man hop the barrier in a smooth leap.

Like a flash of light, his sword struck out and skewered an enemy. Then he slashed his blade through the guts of a second.

“So fast,” Adriana said.

Lifting the handgun, Vince began to march forward, the gun flashing as he began putting rounds into enemy heads.

Dropping the gun, he stabbed someone and stole their gun. Letting go of his blade, he stepped back, racked the gun, and began shooting everyone in front of him.

The slide slammed backward as the gun went dry, and Vince pulled the sword out of the dying foe and took their rifle.

“Who is he?” Ioana asked.

“I don’t know,” Felix said. The man on the screen held the rifle low and began moving forward again. Spewing out a quick burst of fire, he mowed down those who stood before him.

“He’s like death,” Ioana said.

Vince reached the melee brawl and promptly stabbed a battle priest, his saber breaking in the enemy’s guts.

Snatching the empowered sword from the priest’s grasp, Vince beat him against the head with the stolen weapon’s pommel.

Felix lost sight of Vince as he turned and began wading into the enemy force.

“He’s faster than Victoria,” Adriana said.

Felix stared into the mob, hunting for a hint of Vince.

“There, in the rear,” the Andrea manning the desk said. She was pointing to another monitor and a view of the back of the fight.

A superhero in a silver suit stood in front of Vince.

“Who is that? I don’t recognize them and—” Felix’s voice stuck in his throat as Vince appeared a foot away from the super.

The glowing empowered weapon flashed out, and suddenly the super’s head was flying away from his body as if it had wings.

Vince threw out his arms and seemed to shout something.

Then a burst of green magic exploded out of him in a ring.

The cameras fuzzed over for a second as the magic passed through it.

When the view came back on, Vince was stabbing downed enemies. Foes who were surrendering.

Making short work of anyone in his way.

In every camera, the enemy was surrendering. Surrendering and dropping to the ground with their arms up.

“Miu, if you can get him to stop, please ask him to join me,” Felix said into his wrist communicator after tapping the line open for her.

Miu nodded, then darted out from the Legion forces in front of Vince.

Something passed between them, ending with Vince outright murdering an enemy who had surrendered and was lying on the ground with their hands on the back of their head.

Another exchange and Vince lifted his stolen weapon, eying Miu.

Holy shit, is he going to attack her too?

Several tense seconds passed before Vince stood up and let his posture change.

Vince began walking back toward Legion, looking for all the world as if he hadn’t almost single-handedly solved the situation.

“Felix, he asked if you had a machine that could heal people,” Adriana Prime said, getting his attention. “That’s what ninety-three said.”

“A healing machine,” Felix said. “He uses a sword, wears armor outdated here, and wants a healing machine.”

Clicking his tongue, Felix began to think.

This might be a possible exchange. What would he want beyond that?

Looking to the man once more, Felix tried to pull up a window as if he owned him.

Name:
Vince (Demi-God: Shared Portfolio)

Power: Absorption through Digestion

Alias: King of Yosemite

Secondary Power: None

Physical Status:
Lightly Wounded

Mental Status:
Slightly worried

Positive Statuses:
Sated

Negative Statuses:
Slightly tired

Strength:

97

Upgrade?(970)

Dexterity:

94

Upgrade?(940)

Agility:

98

Upgrade?(980)

Stamina:

175

Upgrade?(1,750)

Wisdom:

76

Upgrade?(760)

Intelligence:

74

Upgrade?(740)

Luck:

31

Upgrade?(310)

Primary Power:

8,789

Upgrade?(878,900)

Secondary Power:

--

Upgrade?(--)

Felix took in a slow breath.

“He’s a Demi-God,” he said. “And… very, very powerful.”

“Felix,” Miu said, her voice cutting through his thoughts. “I’m going to take Vince to your study. You should join us as quickly as possible.

“If he decides he wants to cause a scene, I don’t think I could stop him.”

Felix rubbed a hand against his jaw and chin, thinking.

Making a decision, he tapped his communicator and punched in the line for Mr. White.

Two seconds later he heard the devices connect.

“Mr. White here; my lab is secure,” said the man. He was a direct peer to Felicia, and he ran a separate lab in addition to a second he shared with her.

“Great. I’m glad to hear it,” Felix said. “I have a request, Mr. White. I need you to put together a healing bed. Preferably one that can work for a mobile type of need. I imagine it might travel a bit. Assume that wherever it is won’t have a power source as well.”

“Alright. I can pull one out of storage that’d work. Anything else?”

“I’ll need someone who can operate it, and I’ll probably have some other things I need to put together later. This might be an off-world mission,” Felix said, trying to be honest with the man.

He wasn’t sure where the portal was going to go.

“Off world? Hmm. Alright. I’ll get it taken care of. White out.”

Leaning back into his chair, Felix scratched at his head.

He felt tired. Tired and worn out, and he hadn’t even done anything.

Adrenaline is wearing off. It went from three thousand miles an hour to nothing.

“You should get going, dear,” Andrea said, leaning down in front of him. “It sounds like we shouldn’t keep him waiting.”

Then she gave him a kiss and patted his cheek. “Play nice!”

Chapter 3 - River of Trade -

Felix stood in front of the door to his study, rubbing a hand back and forth across the back of his neck.

He wasn’t quite sure how to handle the situation.

What basically amounted to a Demi-God of battle was on the other side of the door. One who had single handedly taken out an enemy elite force.

Somewhat of a rapid change from long lunch meetings. Then again, this was fast and furious, but done.

I’m not sure which I prefer.

Taking a deep breath, Felix opened the door and stepped inside his study.

“Good afternoon,” he said, closing the door behind him.

The Demi-God was sitting in one of the chairs in front of Felix’s desk. He turned in his seat to face Felix.

Immediately, he was struck by how similar this man looked to himself.

Though the Demi-God was significantly broader in the shoulders, seeming to radiate power and barely restrained violence.

It’s like standing next to a wolf. One with its teeth bared, but not growling.

“Hm. We really do look alike, just like they kept saying,” Felix said, scratching at his jaw. “It’s uncanny.”

“I thought the same when I saw you,” said the man.

Felix moved over and took the chair directly next to the man. Leaning forward, he reached out with his hand.

“I’m Felix.”

“Vince,” said the man, taking Felix’s hand in his own. His handshake was firm and strong, but not crushing.

“First off, thank you for your assistance back there. I can’t tell you how much it helped. I have no doubt your actions saved the lives of many of my people,” Felix said.

“Mm. I wanted to blow off some steam. I haven’t been able to fight my own foes as directly as I’d wish,” Vince said, his face showing a bit of annoyance. “The Beastkin at the portal gave me the gun and told me anyone without a patch or the black vest was an enemy. Seemed straightforward enough.”

“Adriana. Yeah, I could see her doing that.” Felix nodded slightly with a strange grin. “She tends to view things fairly differently.”

Even more so than Andrea sometimes.

“Forgive me for getting straight to the point, but honestly, I came here for help.

“From anyone I could find,” Vince said, leaning forward in his chair. “I was hoping I could get my hands on some technology. Technology that could help me and my people.”

Direct.

That’s rather refreshing.

Felix folded his hands into one another and didn’t immediately respond.

“What kind of tech did you need?” he asked after a second to collect his thoughts.

“First and foremost, medical. One of my wives is… dying. Others are attempting to heal her, but… they can’t. It’s too much for their magic. She’s slowly dying.

“They said it’s in her blood and they can’t seem to stop it, no matter how much magic they use,” Vince said.

He’s really laying everything on the table. There’s nothing in his body posture that would indicate he’s lying or hiding anything.

Maybe it really is exactly what he’s saying.

“That’s not a problem at all. Consider it done,” Felix said. Reaching over the desk, he pressed a button on the intercom. “Andrea?”

“Yes?” came back the ever-eager reply.

“I need Mr. White, a healing pod, and some people to carry it through the portal. Take a portable energy source as well. Tell Mr. White he’s on detached duty as a special favor for me,” Felix said.

“Okay! Oh, there’s three more guests that just came through the portal.

“They’re on their way over to you with Prime, Adriana Prime, Kit, and Lily.”

“More guests?” Felix asked curiously, letting go of the button. “Were you expecting more people?”

“No. I left orders to not follow me, to be honest,” Vince said, his nose wrinkling.

Both Vince and Felix looked to the door as it suddenly opened. Seven women trooped in and stood staring at the two of them.

Adriana Prime, Andrea Prime, Kit, and Lily had walked in with a group of women Felix didn’t know.

One looked like some type of Beastkin, except her flesh was pale. Her brown hair made her look even whiter as it hung around her face and shoulders. The strangest part was her eyes, though. They glowed with an inner red light.

The second seemed like she had fallen out of someone’s wet dream, with dark curls, green eyes, and green skin. She was all curves and slim at the same time. She was also one of the prettiest women Felix had ever seen. It was as if she oozed sexuality.

The third looked like an Elf, though her skin tone was significantly darker than any Felix had ever met. It was almost pearl gray. She also had dark eyes and pitch-black hair. Though she seemed the most normal of the three.

“They look like brothers,” said the Elex sisters in unison.

“I don’t have a brother,” Vince and Felix said, also at the same time.

Swift and silent, the pale-skinned Beastkin leapt forward and leaned over Felix, audibly sniffing him.

Then she turned and cuddled in close to Vince, nuzzling him while smelling him loudly.

“Red thinks they smell like each other,” she said, then scooted around behind Vince and laid her hands on his shoulders.

What in the shit?

“Ok, before this gets any weirder,” Felix said. “My father died quite young, and as far as I know, I have no siblings. The end.”

Vince nodded. “My father vanished when I was in my twenties, but I have no siblings that I know of.”

“On top of that, we’re from different planes of existence,” Felix added, folding his arms in front of his chest.

“Well, that doesn’t seem to matter,” Vince said with a shake of his head. “Apparently my father wasn’t from my… plane of existence… as you called it. The portals were an experiment, I think. They found my father with one.”

Felix frowned at that, his mind racing ahead.

Is that why he didn’t want me playing with portals? This isn’t the first time something has happened, is it?

“You said… they found him?” Lily asked.

“Yes. They opened a portal and brought him through, I believe. And you are?” Vince asked.

“Oh, ah, Lily,” Lily said, bobbing her head slightly to Vince.

“That makes you Kit,” Vince said, looking to her.

“Yes, I am,” Kit confirmed.

“This is Red,” Vince said, pointing at the Beastkin who had moved around behind him.

“That’s Mouth,” he said, pointing at the green-skinned sex goddess. “And Felicity,” he continued, pointing at the Elf.

“The portals were an experiment on your world?” asked Lily.

“Yes. They ruined my world in doing it. Much of what used to be the United States is a mess of other races all battling for supremacy.”

“The United States? What’s that?” Kit asked.

“A country. It was a country many years ago,” Vince said.

Felix raised a hand and started to rub his chin, as if in thought. “Oh?”

“Felix?” asked Andrea.

“Hm?”

“Mr. White, the pod, and the guards will be ready in about ten minutes. They’re getting it all packed up now.”

“Great,” Felix said, not looking at anyone or anything in particular.

His mind was elsewhere, churning with thoughts about how to make this sudden ability to access another world benefit Legion.

“Would you be willing to make a trade with me?” Felix asked, looking at Vince.

“Depends on what you want,” Vince said. To Felix, it was clear he was used to dealing with predators.

“Gold. As much as I can get my hands on. It’ll help me and my people immensely. What do you need?” Felix asked.

“Weapons,” Vince immediately replied. “I’m fighting a war against those with weapons I cannot match. They have guns, artillery, and bombs. I have… very few of those for my country.”

“Your country?” Andrea asked.

“Yes. Yosemite. It’s my—our—country.”

“Ooooh! I wanna visit!” Andrea said, looking at Adriana.

“I do, too!” said Adriana.

They both turned and looked at Red. “Feral friend, will you give us a tour?”

Red looked at the two Beastkin as she continued to hold Vince.

“If Bringer says it’s ok, then Red will do so,” Red said.

Weird way of talking. I wonder what she is.

“Hm? That’s fine; go now if you like,” Vince said, leaning forward towards Felix.

Eager to continue. Looks like I’ll be an arms dealer again.

“Yay!” the Elex sisters said, looking quite pleased with themselves.

Red let go of Vince and started to walk away.

“Bringer, why is there a picture of your father?” Red asked suddenly.

Vince frowned, shaken from his deep desire to talk about a trade, and looked to Red. Felix looked as well, curious what she was talking about.

The pale Beastkin was pointing at a bookshelf with a framed picture of Felix’s uncle.

“Huh?” Vince asked.

“Red remembers Bringer’s father. This is him,” Red said. She moved forward, grabbed the picture and brought it over to him.

“See?” she said.

Vince looked down at the picture and looked lost.

Very lost.

“I don’t understand,” Vince said, looking up from the picture to Felix.

Shocked at the possibilities, Felix reached out and gently took the picture from Red’s hands.

“This is my uncle. Miles, Miles Campbell,” Felix said, looking from the picture to Vince.

“This is your father?”

Vince nodded.

That doesn’t make any sense. The time doesn’t add up.

It’s impossible. There’s no actual way this is even remotely possible.

Unless… my dear nameless godlike benefactor has been playing with the flow of time.

“Mother only called him Campbell. On the deed in the house, though, it says Miles Campbell,” Vince said.

Dad and Miles were twins. If it’s true… doesn’t that make him more of my half-brother of sorts?

Grinning, Felix set the picture down on his desk and looked at Vince.

“Well, I suppose I have another surprise for you, then. My dad and your dad were twins,” Felix said. “Genetically, we’re probably closer to half-brothers than cousins, I guess.

“I’d wonder if all this was only a coincidence. Especially considering there are some concerns with time, if one thinks about it.

“Doesn’t quite match up, really,” Felix said, looking up towards the ceiling. “Though I’m betting it isn’t as much a coincidence as I would originally think.” Shaking his head, he looked back to Vince with a smile. “Let’s talk about what you need, and what I need, and let’s figure out how we can help one another, little brother.”

“Ah, I’m afraid my lord is apt in the ways of war, but he has me and my sisters for the needs of the kingdom. I’ll be happy to work through Yosemite’s needs with whoever your representative is,” said the woman Vince had named Felicity.

“That’s me,” Lily said, her eyes still moving between Vince and Felix for a second before looking to Felicity.

***

“I think we should have a chat,” Felix said, sitting alone in his study. Staring up at the ceiling. “Because the time involved doesn’t add up. That and it sounds like there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye.

“So… let’s have a chat.”

“As you like,” said the man Felix had come to refer to in his head as his benefactor, since he hadn’t named himself.

He’d simply appeared in the chair directly in front of Felix’s desk. Where Vince had been sitting only an hour previous.

“I think I deserve some answers at this point. Especially if you want me to do my best with whatever favor you ask of me in the future,” Felix said. “Because things are starting to go pretty bad for me here, and now this happens.

“It’s all a bit… odd, to me.”

Felix’s benefactor sighed and slumped into the chair. He pressed his right hand to his temple, leaning to one side.

“Right, then. Where to begin?” he said. “As to your problems here in the world, can’t help you there.

“I have an agreement with the deities to not get involved if they don’t get involved.”

“They’re very much involved,” Felix said, his emotions leaking out in his tone.

“From your point of view, it probably feels that way. But up to this point, they’re really just acting through belief and some cryptic messages,” said the benefactor. “They’ve summoned and used no avatars, they’ve granted no holy weapons, nor demanded any crusades.

“This is all mankind simply turning on itself as soon as it’s gotten a taste for power. Power it can tap into and believe in.”

Felix grit his teeth together rather than reply. He wasn’t sure he could say anything that would be even remotely construed as polite.

“Be that as it may, I won’t get involved. But I can at least give you some answers you could easily get yourself,” said the man, sitting upright in his chair. “So let’s start there. What questions do you have?”

“Why does practical magic fail against this religious magic?” Felix asked.

“Because the god of magic for this plane is dead. He perished a long time ago, and in such a way that no one could inherit the mantle,” said the benefactor. “There is nothing backing the magic up. No amount of faith in practical magic will give it anything more than its base value.

“Faith magic, though, is empowered by that faith.”

Ok. That makes sense. It’s… a little strange, but ok. It’s an answer. Let’s keep going.

“How many gods are actively suppressing me and my power? It seems a bit unfair when I can’t even use my abilities and a god is holding me down,” Felix said bitterly.

“Twelve,” the benefactor said. “They take turns in keeping you from your full power. They’re required to give you breaks directly relative to how long they’ve kept you down.

“At this rate, they’re going to have to give you an entire week.”

“Required?” Felix asked.

“Required by me. I felt their plan was too much for a group of deities to put upon one such as yourself, so I limited their actions,” the benefactor said.

Good to know he’s working on my side to keep things “fair” at least. Never really considered why they stopped every now and then.

“Is Vince reall—”

“Yes. Yes, he is. Genetically he’s your half-brother; relationally, he’s your cousin,” the benefactor said. “And no, I can’t get too deep into the details, but I can tell you some of it.”

Felix nodded and held his hands out in front of him.

“Please then, tell me all that you can. I would love to know what’s going on, because honestly it’s just… confusing,” he admitted.

Felix’s benefactor sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

“Part of this story has more to do with me, but… I don’t think we’ll get into that yet.

“We’ll keep it to you and your family.

“First, on the plane Vince comes from, they were conducting experiments with portals.

“They built several labs, then opened portals at the same time—thinking they would go from one to the other.

“Portal jumpers, or sliders, as it were.”

Felix’s benefactor tapped his thumb against the arm of the chair, clearly thinking on his words.

“The simplest answer, though it isn’t completely right, is they didn’t lock the portals in place. Several of them went spinning off through the planet, then into space.

“While others opened up into other worlds and… did the same thing there, ripping out giant chunks and sending them to the other side.

“Then the experiment just… got worse. Random portals began opening all over, across multiple planes, universes, planets.

“Entire cities were ripped out and flung into other worlds. Whole populations of people. For a number of planes, it was the end of their existence.

“One planet ended up having its core pulled inside out and emptied into the vacuum of space.”

Is that even possible? What he’s describing sounds more like something out of a religious text describing the end times.

“Even deities were ripped from their home planes and flung around,” the benefactor said. “Then I closed it. All of it. Every portal.

“I put back everything I could. Even whole planes I wasn’t willing to give up on. Though there were some things I couldn’t fix… but that’s another story for another time.

“Your uncle was pulled across into another plane many years after the original experiment. Apparently, some of the scientists had survived and kept trying to finish their ancestors’ work.”

“Pulled across. But what about my aunt?” Felix asked.

“Yes, he was pulled across from your plane to that plane.

“Happened while he was visiting a site where a portal had opened. There’s a particularly nasty little critter there that tore your aunt apart, though, which is how she died.

“Your uncle escaped that fight, and during his escape, he was grabbed by the team of scientists.

“Hence, eventually creating Vince on that plane with one of those very same scientists.”

Felix shook his head, pressing his hands to the sides of his temples. “You realize this sounds crazy, right?”

“You asked. And as to your next question: yes, the time doesn’t add up right. Each plane runs on its own time.

“Their world was running at a different pace than yours for quite a while.”

Closing his eyes, Felix tried to process all that into something more comprehensible.

“Ok. Vince really is my half-brother, the gods are holding me down here, and you’re playing referee,” Felix summarized.

“More or less. Definitely a soup sandwich there, bud. Seems like you’re getting a handle on it, though. I would probably—”

The benefactor paused, his head swiveling around toward the study door. A second later and he simply vanished.

The door opened, and in walked Felicity, Adriana, and a curvy diminutive woman with green skin. She seemed very similar to the one Vince had called Mouth.

“Hi dear,” Adriana said cheerily.

“Mr. Campbell,” Felicity said, a paper ledger held in one hand tucked up into her side. “I have with me a Dryad by the name of Betty.”

Felicity was pointing to the woman next to her. Her hair was cut quite short, and her eyes were a bright green. She was painfully pretty, though she didn’t seem to radiate sexual desire like the other one had.

“A Dryad,” Felix said, standing up. “Before today, I didn’t know of your kind at all.”

Holding his hand out for a handshake, he smiled at the woman.

Betty stepped up close to the desk, grabbed Felix’s hand with both of hers, and clasped it to her chest.

“I am Betty, grove mother and leader of my people. You reek of power,” she said, her eyes gazing up at him in a strange, fanatical way.

Felix blinked owlishly and slowly looked to Felicity.

The Elf woman gave him a wide smile and flipped open her ledger, looking down at it.

“Betty comes with three hundred and twenty-four of her grove sisters. All are priestesses and worship nature. Their magic is empowered through it,” Felicity said. “I believe they will be suitable as troops, combat medics, and soldiers with a modicum of training in whatever usage you see fit.”

Adriana bounced lightly up and down, her SMG swaying back and forth at her side.

“Vince said he sends them with his regards!” Adriana said. Then she started giggling. “We have so many nieces and nephews, by the way. I want to have a litter.”

Betty looked to Adriana without releasing Felix’s hand, keeping it wedged in her chest.

“You are cursed. You cannot bear children,” Betty said simply. “I can wipe it free of you with only a minor prayer once I have my grove planted. The power it has is limited.”

Adriana froze mid-bounce, her eyes locked on Betty.

“You can fix me?” she whispered.

“Yes. But I need to plant my—”

Adriana grabbed Betty and bodily pulled her out of the study. Betty practically dragged Felix over the desk when she wouldn’t immediately release him.

“I’ll show you where to plant trees! We have a world that is very pretty and lots and lots of nature. It’ll be perfect! We named it Legion Prime,” Adriana said, hustling the small Dryad away.

Felix found himself alone in his study with Felicity.

“Mm. She is rather excitable,” Felicity said, tapping a pencil against her ledger. “Ah, I’ve asked to be transferred temporarily into your service, Mr. Campbell. I feel I can be of use in managing the Dryads. I’m also an accomplished mage and assistant.”

Righting himself and adjusting his clothes a bit, Felix looked to the Elf. “Uh huh. Why do I get the impression the Dryads are going to be a problem?”

“Ah, because they also have another name that is entirely accurate,” Felicity said, tucking her pencil behind her elongated ear and pressing her ledger to her side.

“And what’s that?” Felix asked, not quite able to shake the heat Betty had ignited in his body with the way she’d held his hand.

“Nymphs,” Felicity said with a grin. “Don’t worry. I’ll have a word with Betty later and let them know you’re off the table as far as a potential mate.”

Great.

Chapter 4 - Openings -

Felicity was scratching away at her ledger with a modern-day pen. He wasn’t sure where she’d gotten it, either.

She’s adapting quickly. Very quickly.

Setting her ledger aside, she picked up the tablet Andrea had given her only thirty minutes before, then began to peck and poke at it with her finger.

Watching her, Felix never would have figured she came from a world where technology didn’t really exist. She was actually figuring out the tablet with a driven intensity.

Hooking her thumb into the stylus set into the side, she drew it out and then held the tablet like her ledger. Hesitantly, she began to write on it.

With a smile on her face, she quickly fell into the same flow with which she used her paper ledger.

“You can sort things as well,” Felix said, interrupting her discovery. “At the top, there’s a small area that’s blank. It has an add file and folder function. You can create a hierarchy with it.”

“Oh?” said the Dark Elf.

It had been surprising to hear what race she was. Felix had worked up the courage to ask her directly only minutes earlier.

Felicity lifted the stylus up and began tapping away at the top. “Ah, it’s the simple drag-and-drop connection system Andrea showed me earlier for the other program.

“Your technology is very intuitive to new users.”

Ha. I don’t think it’s as intuitive as you are intelligent.

“I can feel your eyes on me,” said the Dark Elf, not looking away from the tablet. “Is it my form of dress? I was speaking to Andrea and she promised to take me to get more fitting clothes after this meeting.”

“Ah, no, sorry. Just… interested. You’re very different. Elves aren’t very common here,” Felix admitted. “They exist, but they live in very small groups and keep to themselves.”

Felicity smiled at that and looked up at him for a second. “Hm. Interested, you say. We’ll see.

“You’re certainly as handsome as your brother, but you do tend to favor your mind over your arms, it seems.

“I’ll not say no at this time, but I think it would be prudent to get to know one another more, Mr. Campbell.”

When she turned her gaze back to the tablet, Felix wasn’t sure what to say.

I think she believes I just propositioned her.

Alright… not really the intent. I’ll have to be wary. Her world seems exceedingly different.

And geared towards sex.

The door to the meeting room opened, and Adriana Prime, Andrea Prime, Lily, and Dimitry all walked in.

This was everyone he had asked to meet. He needed to get on this attack as soon as possible.

“Felix,” Dimitry said, giving him a sardonic grin. “Good to see you.”

He’d had Felix modify him a single time more so he could change his hair color, eye color, and some minor features at will.

Right now, he had his meeting-with-Felix Dimitry face on. Steel-gray eyes, dark-brown hair, and looking very corporate. Especially in the dark-gray suit he was wearing.

He’d taken to his role in Legion very well. There were very few places the “Maintenance” department of Legion hadn’t spread itself out into.

Having his own department of Minders and Fixers had only helped speed the process along.

Anything involving crime, organized or not, fell into Dimitry’s sphere of influence.

“Likewise, Dimitry. How’s the wife and kid?” Felix asked.

Chuckling, Dimitry raised a hand and moved it back and forth.

“So, so. I swear we just got him to sleep in his own bed, and now he wants to sleep in ours every night.

“Two steps backward, one step forward,” Dimitry said, looking pleased all the same.

Corporate life in Legion agreed with Dimitry. Surprising everyone but Felix, Dimitry had a knack for it. He’d said several times it was a lot like organized crime, just without the beatings and shootings.

Lily took a seat next to him and Andrea took the one on his other side. Adriana Prime stayed near the door, weapon in hand.

This was everyone who would be here, as everyone else had too much going on in one way or another to attend or work this project.

Despite it being a full-blown attack he wanted to talk about, Felix’s resources were a bit stretched.

“Well, let’s get started then. I assume you read the meeting notes I attached?” Felix asked, looking at the attendees.

“Yeah,” Dimitry said as he leaning to one side in his chair.

“Alright. Lily, could you restate what you learned during the attack?”

The dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty looked at Felix while clearly gathering her thoughts.

She pursed her lips and then sighed.

“Honestly, it was strange. The Fixer in my group identified the enemies almost immediately as government contractors. There was no effort to conceal the information,” Lily said. “It was as if it was at the forefront of their minds.

“To the point that nothing else was readable. And I question it. It’s too easy. Too clean.”

Dimitry nodded, a finger scratching up along the side of his head.

“Feels like a setup,” said the ex-crime-boss.

Felix couldn’t help but agree, but he also wasn’t about to underestimate his opponents.

“And maybe that’s what they want us to think. That it’s so obvious we discount it.

“Which leaves us with really only one option that fits. Investigate it as if it’s real until we can prove it isn’t,” Felix said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Dimitry nodded once.

“Is a good way to do it,” he said. “How do you want to start?”

“Money. The same as ever. Someone had to supply the hardware, the vehicles, the bodies,” Felix said. “So, let’s track the money. Use whatever resources we have on hand, and if you need to, get some contractors signed on to a Legion standard for temp work.”

Lily tapped her chin with a finger.

“Or their magic,” Felicity said, looking up from her tablet. “They appeared in your fortifications suddenly. Use the Dryads to trace their magic back.

“I would surmise that whatever you find will be empty and barren, but at least it’s more than nothing.”

All eyes were on Felicity, who returned each gaze evenly.

“What? Dryads are very sensitive to magic. It’s how they choose mates,” Felicity said. “Use them like hounds and have them run it down.”

“Alright. I’ll leave it to you then, Felicity,” Felix said, gesturing at her with one hand.

“As you like,” said the Dark Elf, jotting something down.

“You’re nice,” Andrea said, suddenly leaning in close to Felicity. “You smell good. Like flowers and grass. Shadows, too.”

Felicity looked askance to Felix, then back to Andrea.

“You remind me of Red,” Felicity said.

“Oh, that’s my Feral Friend, right? The one with the red eyes?” Andrea said, scooting even closer.

“Yes. That would be her.”

“I like her. We play sometimes.

“Did you think on my question?” Andrea said.

What?

“I have. Though I’m not really sure what you described would really entail. It sounds very similar to the function I served to… to Vince,” Felicity said.

“Probably!” Andrea said, then she reached out and grabbed Felicity’s wrists. “I think you’d make a great personal assistant secretary admin to Felix.

“I don’t want to do it anymore. I want to do the Andrea-net and nothing else.”

What what?

Felicity gave Andrea a strained smile and looked to Felix. “It would appear you have an opening.”

“Apparently,” Felix said, not sure how to take it. He hadn’t even realized she’d been unhappy with her role.

“You don’t even have to sleep with him,” Andrea said. “I made sure of that point before I took the job myself. Though in the end, I decided I wanted to. He smells amazing.

“Actually, you should smell him. Maybe you’ll want to sleep with him, too. It makes the job easier. Whenever I do something bad I just pull him into the bed or somewhere quiet.

“Here, smell him!”

Andrea’s hand snapped out and grabbed Felicity by the neck, and she began dragging her toward Felix.

Adriana had taken several steps toward the pair, looking like she wanted to help her sister.

“Andrea, that’s enough, I’m sure she can smell me fine from there,” Felix said before she could wrestle the Dark Elf over. “Let’s call this meeting for now and get to work. We have a lot to do.”

Andrea whined unhappily but stopped pulling on Felicity.

“Oh, and if I’ve done a very bad thing, he likes it when I use my mouth,” Andrea said in a loud whisper to Felicity.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Felicity said, carefully pulling away from Andrea. “Far too much like Red.”

Andrea and Adriana took Felicity by an arm each and practically dragged her from the room, not giving her a chance to respond. They were already chattering at her before the door even opened.

Dimitry gave Felix a wave of the hand and left as well.

“She’s been talking about it for a while,” Lily said as soon as the door closed. “She wants to be more your wife and less your employee.

“The Primes and Seconds will probably both stop working and go tend to the home after this. Apparently that little Dryad fixed up whatever problem the gods had thrown on them. Though I’m curious why they’d do such a thing. I was not cursed at all, apparently.

“I expect she’ll be begging me to trade turns with her tonight. She’s been dying to have her ‘litter’ you know.”

Good thing I took care of that barren issue I put on her years ago. This had nothing to do with me.

Then Lily was behind him, her chin resting on his shoulder, her arms draped around him. Her fingers lightly began to play up and down his chest.

“To be honest, I’ve been thinking about it myself,” Lily said softly. “I think I might be ready soon to start trying. I kept telling myself I wanted to wait till we were safe.

“Secure.”

Reaching up, Felix placed his hand atop one of Lily’s.

They’d had a number of late-night bedroom talks about children. He’d gotten the impression she wanted a kid far more than she let on, but that she didn’t want to have it in this environment.

“I don’t think we’ll ever have that. And from what I got out of that little sex-monster your brother brought with him, he has… a lot of kids,” Lily said.

“What do you think, dear?” she asked, her lips nuzzling his ear.

“I think you keep doing that and I’ll throw you up onto this table and we’ll find out where it goes, protection or not,” Felix said in all seriousness. Lily had a way of making his skin light up. “As to having kids… I mean, my answer is the same as ever. I like the idea of having children, but… up to you. Your body.”

Lily sighed dramatically. “Must you always be so… kind to me? You make me worry that I’m going to be punished for having something as good as you, with how badly I’ve lived my life,” she said as she started to kiss and nibble his ear more intensely.

“I’m a bad girl after all. Now, go lock the door,” she said.

***

“Felix?” came Kit’s voice from his wrist.

“What’s up, Kit?” Felix asked. He was going through the current casualty lists of everyone who needed to be brought back.

The number was growing ever higher.

Getting up, he walked over to a window and looked out upon old Legion City below.

His primary office was still here, and it had a portal he used to go back and forth from Wal HQ.

“I just got an email from the prime minister. She’d like to see you today about the attack that happened,” Kit said.

“Of course she does,” Felix said, drumming his fingers against his chest. “Alright. Prep our standard retinue for the meeting, but include Felicity.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Kit said, and then the line cut off.

“Kit is not herself lately,” Miu said, pressed in close to Felix’s side. One of her hands slipped up the back of his shirt, her fingers playing along the muscles of his back. “She never completely identified with Legion. She was a hero too long.”

Miu always got a bit handsy with him in private. Most especially when they sparred. She took special delight in causing him to sweat or bleed.

Then in devouring either.

Miu was well and truly insane. And despite his many offers—pleas even—she didn’t want him to fix her.

“I can smell Lily on you,” she said, pressing her nose into his side and inhaling deeply. “She doesn’t deserve you. I deserve you. I’d do anything for you, and let you do anything you wanted to me.

“Anything. I’m yours. All yours. Tell me what you want.”

Except let me fix you, you crazy lady.

“You made an agreement with Lily. Are you saying you want to break it?” Felix asked, not bothering to push Miu away. When he did, she just got more wound up and tense till she was useless.

Where Andrea was clingy, Miu was simply an appendage.

“No. I will abide. It’s already been five years since I swore to her. Only five to go.

“I haven’t killed anyone or hurt anyone around you. At all. Not even an Elex twin,” Miu said, her voice a breathy whisper. “Only five years to go and I get my time with you.”

Certainly not what I expected from Lily. Then again, I think she believed Miu wouldn’t last a week before I’d have to put the restrictions back on her and she’d have to abide by her agreement.

“I want to taste you,” Miu said.

“Uh huh. Ok, come on my little psycho. We need to get ready for the trip. You behave and I’ll let you spar with me tonight,” Felix said. It’d been a long day. He hadn’t slept since the attack the previous night.

A quick and dirty brawl with Miu sounded like a pretty good tension release, though. He’d gotten pretty good in hand-to-hand combat.

So long as Miu didn’t push her super ability, he could hold her off for a while.

“I’m going to make you bleed and lick your wounds,” Miu said in a strange tone.

“Course you are,” Felix said.

He was used to her eccentricities at this point. Though he couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Patting Miu on the head, Felix left his office. Knowing the prime minister for the little petulant child she was, Felix needed to get moving as quickly as he could.

Which, in the end, wasn’t fast enough.

Sitting in the lobby outside her office, he realized she was clearly making him wait for an audience she’d summoned him to.

“This seems… unprofessional,” Felicity said, working away steadily at her tablet. Her expertise with it was increasing by the hour, it seemed.

“It’s normal,” Lily replied, uncrossing her legs and re-crossing them with the other leg on top now. “She doesn’t much care for us, but she needs us.

“We’re probably the only reason she’s kept her job.”

Felix glanced around the room to make sure they were alone.

Kit, Victoria, Miu, and an Adriana were here along with Felicity and Lily.

“Politics here seem to be the same as back home,” Felicity said. She tapped at something on her screen, then closed a leather case over the front of it and tucked it into a bag at her side.

Andrea had apparently made good on her word, because Felicity looked as smartly dressed as Lily right now.

In fact, it looked like almost the exact same fashion sense, now that he paid it any mind. Even down to the tight-fitting pencil skirt.

“Though back home, Vince would probably simply kill her, dump her body to the Goblins and move on,” Felicity said, giving Felix with a smile. “It’s somewhat refreshing to see a more… expected exchange in politics.”

Note to self: remain direct and open with Vince.

“I’ve sent a note back home saying I’d like to remain here permanently,” Felicity said after a moment. “I’d like to take you up on that job offer.

“I don’t think my sisters will miss me. And what I’ve heard back from the grove mother is very positive already.”

“Grove mother?” Felix asked. “You mean Betty?”

“Ah, no. Vince has a grove in Yosemite. Her name is Meliae. She’s more or less his primary wife. Though Fes is of course Fes,” Felicity said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Fes means first wife. It’s a title rather than a name.

“But anyway, Meliae seems to think it’d be good for me to remain here.

“And apparently Vince has already left on his mission.”

“Mission?” Victoria asked, peering at a magazine in her lap.

“Vince needed weapons,” Felix said. “I sent him all the original Warden models, some armory dispensers, and Mr. White.

“In return, he’s apparently going to go… kill a Dragon and send me back half its hoard.”

Victoria lifted her head up, her eyebrows attempting to crawl into her hairline.

“He’s going to kill a Dragon?” she asked.

“Apparently. I’ll be happy to have the gold, though. That always converts so easily into points,” Felix said. “Anyways, you were saying, Felicity?”

“Ah, yes. He already left. It would be good if you could make time to visit Yosemite, if only to see it. The morale boost caused by your involvement is no small thing,” Felicity said. Then she gave herself a small shake, as if she’d remembered something. “That reminds me. Will I be paid for my work as your personal assistant secretary admin?”

“Let’s just go with… personal admin as far as a title goes, and yes. Paying you isn’t really a problem,” Felix said.

“I’ll take care of it and get her enrolled appropriately in the records,” Kit added as she turned the page in her book.

“Ah, as to sleeping with you and your interest in me,” Felicity said, smiling at Felix. “I’ll keep the option open for now, if you don’t mind. The idea is intriguing, and it might be fun. You’re rather handsome and that mind of yours is curious.”

He could practically hear Miu’s attention. Could feel it burning a hole in the back of his head.

“It was Andrea,” Lily said, her voice directed off to the corner of the room. “Not Felix.”

“Ah. That would make sense,” Miu said, her voice uneven. “I will try to remember that later.”

Later as in when she’s beating me and trying to eat my blood.

The door to the office opened slowly.

“Mr. Campbell? Prime Minister Heather will see you now,” said her assistant, a young man.

Sighing, Felix stood up and fastened the top button on his coat.

“You’re only allowed two of your people; the rest can remain here,” said the assistant. “The Prime Minister can assure you of your safety in her office, at least.

“Though the same can’t be said of your own HQ, now can it?”

Felix stared flatly at the assistant, not responding.

After ten seconds passed, the assistant finally looked away, cowed.

“Kit and… Felicity, come with me. The rest of you, wait here. Do what you need to do should the situation change,” Felix said.

He hadn’t originally planned on taking Felicity with him, but suddenly it seemed like a good idea. Having someone new in there might give him a better read on the situation later.

“Let’s go then, assistant,” Felix said, still staring at the man. “And while you’re at it, get me and my people some coffee. Two sugars, cream till it’s brown.”

Reaching up, Felix smoothed the knot in his tie and marched into the prime minister’s office.

Chapter 5 - Relations -

The prime minister was surrounded by her bodyguards, assistants, advisers, and her personal inner circle.

Ranging from the general of her military, whom Felix had met several times, to the assistant prime minister, who was like her second-in-command.

By and large, they were a singular group of bootlickers who seemed intent to do anything she asked as quickly as possible.

“Hello, Felix,” said the prime minister, leaning back in her chair.

She was an older woman, probably in her late forties or early fifties. Blond hair going gray, a pinched face, and as thin as she was petty.

“Madam Prime Minister,” Felix said politely, stepping up behind the chair in front of her desk. It was uncomfortable, lower than the desk, and seemingly picked for the singular function of making people feel awkward.

“Please, take a seat,” said the prime minister, gesturing to the very much hated chair.

Kit made an almost imperceptible move of a finger.

In an instant, the chair was gone, and a comfortable executive chair had appeared on top of it. Kit simply submerged the entire thing in her real-life illusion.

“Thank you, Kit,” Felix said, unbuttoning his coat.

Taking a seat in the newly made chair, Felix smiled at the prime minister.

Leaning back, he tented his hands in front of him, elbows resting on the armrests.

The prime minster had always tried to position herself as Felix’s boss. To get him to bend to her will and her desires.

So far, she’d been completely and utterly unsuccessful, but that didn’t stop her from continuing to try.

Working every situation to her benefit to gain power and leverage.

Which means this is no different, and she’s about to question Legion and its ability to protect itself.

“I’m sure you know why you’re here,” the prime minister said, her nose moving up slightly so she could continue to look down at him despite the chair having been changed.

Felix didn’t respond.

Instead, he tilted his head to one side, his fingers tapping together lightly.

Blinking slowly, deliberately, Felix waited.

He was in no hurry, and there wasn’t anything the prime minister could do to him. Legion wasn’t just protected by the laws of Wal, it had taken an active hand in many of the recent changes in the last five years.

Laws that would help protect Legion and its interests, people, and way of life.

Wal had been slowly corrupted from the inside out to favor Legion.

Luckily for Wal and its people, Felix didn’t abuse this power. He simply used it to protect his people from politicking.

The prime minister stared back at Felix, seemingly intent on making Felix respond.

A soft chime alerted Felix to a notification from his phone.

Turning his wrist over, Felix broke eye contact with the prime minister and looked at the bar at the top.

Adriana sent a message… I wonder if it’s another sketch or another nude of herself. She’s so different from her sister.

Opening the message, Felix raised an eyebrow.

Hi dear, I hope things are going well.

Vince’s primary wife is visiting and she seems quite nice. I’m trying to keep her here long enough for you to meet her, but she may have to meet you next time.

Also, Andrea’s second is pregnant! I’m very excited to be an aunt.

With all my love, hugs, kisses, and other things I’d like to do but won’t write right now as you’re in a meeting, Adriana’s second.

Come home. It’ll be worth it.

I’ll make sure of it.

Felix took in a slow breath as he reread the message.

Andrea is pregnant. So the Dryad fixed her after all.

Which means I’m going to be a dad.

Suddenly I have a brother, nephews, nieces, and a kid on the way.

Quite a bit of change in a short time frame.

Looking up from his watch, Felix focused on the prime minister. Suddenly he had a thought strike him hard as the other half of the message scurried through his mind again.

I think I’d rather go home and play with Adriana.

“Right, have a good day,” Felix said, then stood up.

“You can’t leave,” said Heather.

“Sure I can,” Felix said, buttoning his coat’s top button. “I’m not a government employee, and you’re not my boss.”

“Wait—sit,” Heather said, pointing to the chair.

Felix ignored her completely, turning around and heading for the door.

Never be afraid to walk away from a negotiation or a deal.

Felicity’s eyes followed him as he went by, a feral smile on her face. She seemed to approve of his tactic, and maybe she even understood it.

“Please, wait. Please,” Heather said.

Felix only stopped when he had his hand on the doorknob.

“What?” Felix asked simply.

“We’re going to be hosting a summit. On religions and for multiple government heads. I want you to run security for it. It’s going to be held at Wal’s national stadium,” Heather said. “There will be twenty some-odd heads of state attending. We were selected since we have the least religious problems, despite not having outlawed all religion.”

A summit? A multi-national summit?

Hm. That’s not going to be easy.

“Send me the contract and I’ll consider it,” Felix said, opening the door. “Good day.”

He stepped out of the prime minister’s office and quickly left the building entirely.

After clambering into the back of the middle sedan outside, he sighed and leaned his head back onto the seat.

“That was well done,” Felicity said, pressing in close to his side in the back.

Confused at her presence, as that seat was normally reserved for Miu, he looked to the Elf.

“I promised her I’d assist her in her goals and desires. She is very simple and easy to read,” Felicity said with a wave of her hand.

The Andrea chauffeur in the driver’s seat giggled to herself and turned her head to say something to the Adriana next to her.

Lily slid into the back seat on Felix’s other side.

“I can’t deny that,” Lily said. “Though you’re a bit harder to pin down. You’re also starting to make me worry about what your intentions are.”

The sorceress leaned her head to one side to look around Felix at Felicity.

“My intentions are simple. To find a place for myself. And Felix has offered me a job, which I’ve accepted, as you know,” Felicity said. “Beyond that, I find myself wanting to know more of your man. He’s intelligent, cynical, and quite deft at manipulating others.”

“I’m not sure I want you to know more of, as you say, my man,” Lily said, her lips pressed tightly together.

She’d said many times she didn’t like the idea of sharing Felix with anyone, even Andrea. It’d taken a long time for her to get used to the fact that if she wanted Felix, she’d be sharing with Andrea and Adriana.

“I’d be willing to recognize you as Fes, Lily,” Felicity said calmly. “I wouldn’t even mind being last amongst his wives. Though I do think you’re limiting him by not allowing him to take more women to bed.”

Felix held up a hand and then coughed once.

“Look, I’m not exactly good at relationships and I have a hard enough time managing the three I have. Let’s just call this conversation done for now and head home.

“Apparently Vince’s primary wife is there,” Felix said.

“She is? Good. She is his Fes; you would do well to speak with her, Miss Lily,” Felicity said. “I think she can help you understand how you’re limiting Felix.”

Biting back a sigh, Felix rested his head on the seat.

***

Stepping through the portal, Felix looked around.

He was in an empty room, but it was clearly well used.

It was a corridor of sorts that seemed to cross from one side of a house to another.

Outside the doorways, he could hear the sounds of voices and people.

Upon getting home—or at least to his section of HQ—he’d found that everyone had apparently gone for a tour of Vince’s world.

Felicity had elected to stay at HQ and work with the Dryads.

Apparently, they’d settled on a single man to serve as their center, but only after having an orgy. Many single men of Legion had been dragged to Legion Prime for a few hours.

The Dryads had called the massive settlement on that plane home and planted their trees.

Following the sound of laughter and talking, Felix started to wander.

He slowly made his way through several rooms before exiting through what was apparently the “back door” to a wide, open grassy field.

Innumerable children ran around, darting this way and that. Everywhere he looked there were beautiful young women with green skin. Many of them accompanied small children while others were grouped together chatting as children ran about in the grass nearby.

Andrea Prime, Adriana Prime, Lily, Victoria, and Miu were all talking with a group of women Felix didn’t know.

“Ah! Dear!” came a high-pitched squeal.

Andrea turned from the group and rocketed into him, pressing her head into his chest.

“We have a litter on the way!” she said excitedly. “My second is pregnant, so she won’t be able to merge for a while. We don’t want to risk the little ones.”

An Orc woman broke away from the group and hobbled his way. She was missing an arm and a leg, and used a cane to get around.

“Ah, you must be my husband’s brother. You look amazingly similar to him,” she said. She gave him a tusky grin as she got closer. “Forgive me, I’d offer you my arm but I’d likely fall over. I am Berenga, once Fes for Vince.”

“Ah… sorry, second time I’ve heard that term lately. Could you give me a bit more context?” Felix asked, gently stroking and petting Andrea’s ears.

Glancing over Berenga’s shoulder, he looked to Lily, Miu, Victoria, and Adriana. They were talking with the remainder of the group.

Adriana caught his eye, giving him a slow wink and a wide smile.

Damn, she’s not going to stop till she gets her own litter.

“…term roughly translates to first wife,” Berenga said. “Vince has many wives, and I was the leader of them until I was wounded. Now I must step aside.”

“Can’t say I understand completely, but it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Felix said, giving her a wide smile.

“Likewise, though I’m surprised at how few wives you have. For one with as much power as you, you should have as many as Vince does at the least,” Berenga said with a frown.

“Felicity said something similar. Can’t claim I understand it. I think it’s a cultural difference,” Felix said.

Out of the corner of his eye, Felix saw a familiar face.

Ambling his way was Mr. White, looking rather happy and even with some color to his skin.

“Mr. Campbell, good afternoon,” Mr. White said.

“Afternoon, Mr. White. How goes it here?”

“Well. The armories work perfectly here. No faith magic to impede anything. As force multipliers, much of the tech we’ve brought here is significant,” Mr. White said, pushing his glasses up further on his nose. “I would hazard we could easily empty our retired armory here and it’d be the likes of dropping a tank in a war of sticks and clubs.”

“Ah,” Felix said.

As Mr. White had walked up, the group of women a bit further off had been heading his way as well.

Andrea gently pushed away from Felix, then went and stood next to Adriana.

Everyone was watching him now.

Apparently this wasn’t just a casual statement. Mr. White planned on saying that first, then probably asking to take the retired armory. Clearly he’d shared his plans with everyone here first.

“Can’t begrudge my little brother assistance if it’s easy for us to give. Strip the retired armory of anything that would be useful here,” Felix said. Then he gestured to Berenga with a finger. “And let’s get my sister-in-law fitted up with some one-off tech. Put in a request to Felicia on my behalf, cc me on the form.”

Mr. White blinked twice, then grinned at him. “Of course, Mr. Campbell. I’ll do that.”

A very full-figured, green-skinned woman who was pregnant to the point of bursting moved up to him.

She took his hand in both of hers and shook it gently, smiling at him.

“Hello, Felix. I’m Meliae,” she said, holding his hand tightly. “I’m your brother’s second wife.

“Let me introduce you to some of your nephews and nieces. They’ve been very excited to find out they have an uncle.”

Taking hold of Felix’s arm, Meliae began leading him deeper into the green glade, where children ran around freely.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Felix looked at the building he’d come out of.

It was a home.

One that was filled with family.

Frowning, Felix suddenly wondered about his own life.

His quarters were minimal at best, and indoors.

Looking back to the glade, he saw a green-skinned young girl shyly walking straight toward him.

Behind her were a number of other children, with grass stains and messy hair, watching. They stood behind the girl as if she was their leader.

Is Legion HQ even suitable to raise kids? Would it be better to shift everything to Legion Prime as HQ?

We’ll talk to Felicia when we get back.

Meliae waddled to a stop and gave Felix a smile. The small green-skinned girl was directly in front of him.

“Berest, this is Felix,” Meliae said, patting Felix on the shoulder.

The small girl gave him a wide grin, small tusks slipping free of her lips.

Ah—Orc, not Dryad.

“Ah, you must be Berenga and Vince’s daughter, then,” Felix said with a smile, going down to one knee in front of her.

“And you’re Uncle Felix,” said the girl.

Before he could respond, Berest walked in close and gave him a hug around the middle.

Right. Ok. Yes.

Yes.

Hugging the girl in return, Felix let his thoughts wander to the idea of having kids.

***

“Felix.”

Blinking and shaking himself out of his thoughts, Felix looked up from his desk.

Felicity stood in front of him, digital pad tucked under her arm. She had ditched her jacket, and her white blouse did little to draw the eyes away from her figure.

Forcing his eyes to Felicity’s face, he made a mental note to have a conversation with whoever was supplying the Elf with her fashion sense.

“Betty is ready to lead a magical hound party. I took the liberty of assigning resources to this mission on your behalf. Since I was told you’d be part of the mission, I did requisition more than what Victoria recommended,” Felicity said. “Andrea and the ANet did a wonderful job up to this point. It was quite easy to settle in to this role and they’ve been an enormous help.”

“Oh. Glad to hear it, Felicity,” Felix said, turning his display off with a flick of his thumb.

“And may I say, the way you handle your people, allies, and enemies is very impressive. Especially so since you’ve built this organization from the ground up and have actively led it,” continued the Elf. “It’s… most admirable.”

“Thank you. Though I couldn’t have done it without those I trust.”

“That may be so, but it is one thing to rely on others; it’s another to provide leadership, direction, and action, all while cultivating your followers to be leaders themselves,” Felicity said. “Vince is a great leader, but a poor manager of people.”

Felix shrugged.

“That’s not exactly uncommon. He’s a charismatic and admirable leader, from what I can tell. But it’s all based on him and what he can do. Little of it is trained or learned.

“It just is who he is.”

Felicity looked like she had fallen into deep thought. Her brow furrowed and her eyebrows came down.

“That’s rather accurate,” she said after several seconds had passed. “It’s… magnetic. People want to follow him. To be with him and be part of his goals. But it isn’t something he consciously does.”

Smiling, Felix nodded and then pressed his hands to his face, scrubbing them up and down. He felt tired and worn out.

His nephews and nieces had run him around for a while. Apparently they’d realized very quickly that Felix couldn’t say no to their requests.

He had suddenly become Uncle Horse, giving kids rides by the twos and threes.

“They were very excited to have another male older relative,” Felicity said.

Pulling his hands down from his eyes, Felix looked over the tips of his fingers at the Elf.

“The children. They’re all treated like the royalty they are. They have each other, their mothers and aunts, the Dryads, and Vince.

“You being Vince’s brother makes you much closer to their father,” Felicity said. “Though it was rather cute the way Berest and Mia had you wrapped around their fingers within minutes.”

Felix snorted at that and dropped his hands with a grin.

“They were cute. Though I think Berest is going to lead the rest of them. They look to her for direction already,” Felix said.

Felicity lifted a hand and curled her hair behind her pointed ear.

“Well? Shall we begin the hunt? Or would you rather wait for tomorrow morning? It’s already deep in the night,” Felicity said. “Your Beastkin seemed rather eager to try and take you off to bed earlier.

“I imagine she’s desperate to get her own litter.”

Ah… it is rather late, isn’t it?

Adriana won’t leave off. If I don’t let her corner me tonight, she’ll just come back until she gets what she wants.

“I think the morning would be ideal, actually,” Felix said. Standing up, he picked up his coat and flipped it over his shoulder.

“I would certainly agree, which is why I already scheduled everything accordingly with that in mind.

“I assumed I’d be able to talk you out of going tonight if you had that as your intended direction.”

“Oh?” Felix murmured with a grin for the Elf. “Thinking you can start pushing me around already? On day one?”

“Yes, I do. All I have to do is appeal to the pros, list the cons, and be sure to emphasize efficiency, cost, and dangers,” Felicity said, grinning at him the entire time. “That or undo a few buttons on my blouse and get closer to you.”

“Hm. I’m going to find out who’s been giving you all this advice and skin them,” Felix muttered.

“Well, Andrea introduced me to the internet, and that helped with my wardrobe,” Felicity said, looking down at herself. “As to the rest, that’s mostly just studying under my sisters. They are well versed in being House Elves and come from many generations of such. From different family branches.”

Felix walked to the door of his office, wanting only to get to his personal bedroom.

“You never did say anything about my clothes, by the way. Isn’t that rude?” Felicity asked.

Pausing at the door, Felix thought for a second.

“You look great—stunning, even.

“But if you’re always this aggressive, Miu or Lily might not be happy,” Felix said. He was hoping to side-step Felicity. He’d never had someone pursue him this determinedly so quickly.

Outside of Miu, at least, but she was insane.

“Miu isn’t a problem; I’ve already secured her assistance in regard to you. I promised I’d help her earn your affections if she assisted me. Remember?

“As for Lily, that’s another conversation for another time.

“Have a nice night… Felix.”

Chapter 6 - Pencil Whip -

Felix flipped his rifle up to eye level and gave it a once-over.

It was one of Felicia’s special jobs, maintained by the armory officers for him.

He still wouldn’t take it out into the field without an inspection.

His helmet rapidly laid out his weapon and several windows popped up from the ANet’s automated systems.

One window was a maintenance checklist performed the previous night because he had put in a requisition for his weapon.

A group of five Dryads in Legion combat armor were checking out similar rifles. Apparently, one and all of them were martial; they lived for combat and worshiping nature.

The cluster-fuck of an orgy had Felix annoyed, though. The amount of uncontrolled shrinkage it had caused blew out his efficiency for the entire month in almost every department.

Let’s see if they’re as good as Felicity seems to think they are.

Satisfied that his weapon was in working order, especially since it only had a limited number of working parts, Felix let it hang at his side.

Pulling out his sidearm, he eased the slide back several inches and made sure it was empty and clear.

Finding it in proper condition, Felix chambered the initial round, checked the safety, and holstered it.

“I admit I wasn’t expecting this.”

Felix looked up from his belt and webbing to see Felicity standing next to him.

“Which part?” Felix said.

“Your suit, the armaments, even this.” Felicity indicated her own combat armor.

She was decked out in Legion body armor, the same as everyone else. Though it was the type usually given to magicians, loaded with the tools of the trade Lily had designated specifically for casters.

Her hair was tied up in a bun at the back of her head, and an earpiece was clearly fitted into her Elven ear. A combat helmet hung against her hip, attached to her belt.

“Some of these items are so loaded with magical energy I’m tempted to drain them,” Felicity said, a fingertip dragging along an energy grenade.

“Drain them?” Felix asked.

“Empty them of power. Then again, that’s just my impoverished childhood rearing its head,” Felicity said, looking to Felix. “Once your brother established Yosemite, my family gained access to many artifacts he had the care of that simply transfer energy over to the user. I have enough energy to last at least sixty-thousand years right now, and I’m always gaining more.”

Felix didn’t know how to respond to that. Elves here on this world were rare and kept to themselves. It seemed they were much more populous on her plane.

“Sir,” Betty said, coming to attention in front of him. “We are ready for service.”

Looking from the armor-clad Dryad to the Fixer in charge of the mission and his Minder second, he waited.

“Ready to roll out, sir.

“The Wardens are suited, our Magicians are ready, Miu and Victoria are waiting in the support vehicle, and we’ve alerted all the appropriate contacts,” said the Fixer.

“Make the call, then. I’m just here for the ride and to do some sleuthing,” Felix said.

For a moment, the Fixer didn’t say anything, and Felix assumed he was transmitting messages to his team. Then everyone turned and headed for the exit.

“They’re very well trained,” Felicity said, pulling her helmet off her hip.

“Ioana would be the reason for that. She became our impromptu security implementation and coordination officer.

“Victoria took on the role of my team leader for bodyguards, and Miu took on internal security. They often overlap in their duties, but they seem to have worked out any problems years ago,” Felix said.

Moving forward, Felix felt a sense of giddiness. It’d been a very long time since he’d been on a possible combat mission.

Lily had only given her grudging approval of the whole thing after she’d looked over Felicity’s arrangements.

Apparently, whatever misgiving she’d had was mostly ameliorated by whatever she found there.

“Fes had a very long conversation with Lily,” Felicity said, fastening the chin strap to her helmet. “I think it was successful.”

“Still going on about that, huh?” Felix asked.

“Yes. I’m not going to be denied without you coming out and telling me to stop,” Felicity said. “I truly believe you and your brother are destined for greatness.”

There’s that cultural gap again. Greatness doesn’t mean having more wives than there are days in the month.

Reaching the entrance of Wal Legion HQ, which had recently been repaired and painted, Betty got down on one knee.

She stripped the glove off her right hand and began to drag her fingers along the pavement.

The two mark Four-One-F Wardens moved to either side of the building, weapons lifted and ready.

“Those are much newer versions of the ones you sent to Yosemite?” Felicity asked, eying the Wardens as well.

“Yeah. These were developed specifically to work in the conditions we’re facing right now.”

“Faith magic,” Felicity said.

“Yeah.”

Felix looked back to Betty, wondering if this was even worth the time.

Betty was conferring with another green-skinned woman. Several exchanges later and Betty looked to Felix.

“We have the track grove-master. We’ll be moving as quickly as we’re able. What do you wish to be done if we find them?” Betty asked.

Oh? Huh.

“Rules of engagement are fire if fired on; otherwise, challenge and treat as possible hostile,” Felix said.

Betty blinked twice and then nodded her head, as if someone had translated something for her that he couldn’t hear.

The woman Betty had been talking to turned and jogged off down the sidewalk. The Wardens fell in beside Felix as he moved to follow.

An armored personnel carrier rolled out of the garage nearby and began stalking them from the road. Hazard lights on the rear of the vehicle warned people away.

“Your people are covering for the Dryads,” Felicity said, jogging along lightly next to Felix.

“They are?”

“Yes. I think they understand you better than you realize. They’re aware that you’re not exactly fond of the Dryads yet, and they’re working to cover their disadvantages.

“Your Minder was rapidly filling Betty in on the situation. I could hear it through her link,” Felicity explained.

Hm. They don’t normally take to others so quickly.

“Ah, apparently Betty and her entire grove signed the Legionnaire contract yesterday. Hence you being the grove-master.

“As did I,” Felicity said.

Ah… Legion first.

It’d been five years, and the mentality had grown. If you were Legion, you were family.

You were little more than sausage if you weren’t.

Conversation fell off as people scrambled to get out of the way of the armed combat mission being carried out on the streets of Wal itself.

There was no way of hiding this action, and Felix was sure it’d make the rounds on the local networks.

He couldn’t care less about that, though.

Not going to be a paper boat bobbing along the water. I refuse to wait for whatever comes next.

Twenty minutes passed before the lead Dryad turned down an alleyway.

Slowing up, Felix let himself fall to the rear part of the squad. Nearly at the same time, the support vehicle bounced up on the sidewalk and an Adriana and Miu slithered out from a door hatch that had opened.

Clanging shut, the vehicle shot off along the sidewalk, mowing down a parking sign with no regard in the process.

“They’re moving around to the other side,” Miu said, moving into Felix’s side.

Betty was waiting for him when he turned the corner down the alley.

“We passed by the first location we arrived at. They had already vacated it, and it was obvious there was no one there,” said the Dryad. “This is not where they launched the attack from, but it’s where they fell back to. It is likely they are still here.

“I felt it would be best to move quickly given the number of eyes that were on us.”

“Good call,” Felix said after a second. “Nice work, Grove-Mistress. That’s solid executive decision making.”

Betty’s chin came up a fraction, and a smile threatened the corner of her mouth.

“Mission leader,” Felix said into his headset. “Move your team up and secure the perimeter of the building. Prepare for a dynamic entry with whatever plan you see fit.”

“Confirmed,” came the response over the ANet.

The rest of the squad moved up through the alley slowly. At the end of it, they stumbled out into what looked like a dilapidated industrial area. Several warehouses and an office building that was not much more than a frame sat in the overly large lot.

“The warehouse there,” Betty said, indicating the building on the far left.

One by one, his team moved through the shadows, working to surround the building.

“Felix, this is Overwatch,” said an Adriana through the earpiece. “There’s a lot of strange phone traffic going on right now. We’re trying to capture as much as we can for analysis, but it’s clear something is going on out there.”

“Understood. Keep me informed. Anything else I need to know?”

“Second is pregnant. Way to go, dear,” the Adriana said.

Not… the best timing right now, but alright.

“Congratulations,” Felicity said from next to him. Clearly able to hear what was being said inside his helmet.

“Your ears are too damn sensitive,” Felix said, muting his link with Adriana as he said it.

“That’s great. Give my regards to her, your Prime, and your sister. I know you’ve all been waiting for this,” Felix finished, opening the line back to Adriana.

“Of course, dear. I look forward to sharing the memories with Second after it’s all said and done. Especially the moment you impregnated her.”

The Adriana dropped the line with that statement.

She’s so very different from Andrea now.

“Felix, look there,” Felicity said, getting his attention. He followed the line of her finger toward the warehouse.

The two Wardens were in position on each side of the warehouse.

“Tee-El to Throne, permission to go?” The sudden request was surprising; he hadn’t realized everyone was ready.

Felix shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

“Permission granted, go,” he said.

Both Wardens shot forward, crashing through the very walls themselves.

Betty and her Dryads fanned out in a semi-circle in front of the warehouse at a sprint, all leveling their weapons at the shuttered doors.

Several booms rang out, along with the sounds of weapon-fire.

Exploding outward, the front door of the warehouse crashed to the pavement and skidded along for several feet.

A man dressed in robes and covered in glowing blue light strode out into the lot itself.

“Battle priest!” Felix called into the radio.

The man spotted Felix and punched out a fist toward him, calling out to the heavens above at the same time.

A massive blue bolt of power scorched across the distance toward Felix.

Felicity knocked it aside with a flick of her hand. The strike went straight into the air above and dissolved to nothing.

Right behind the bolt came a bright blue fireball, which Felicity simply made a cupping hand motion at.

Snuffing it out as if it had never existed.

She did all this without runes, casting, calling, or asking for power.

It had only taken a few seconds for the priest to cast those spells. Before he could cast a third, a green, almost-solid aura jumped out of each and every Dryad. Their spells cut straight through his defensive shield, the protective aura, and his worn charms.

And flattened the man to the ground. Smashing him into the pavement itself. His guts spewed out the sides of his crushed torso like it was a ketchup packet under a tire.

The sound of rapid gunfire drowned out everything else. The Legionnaires were engaged in a gun battle with whoever else was inside the warehouse now.

“Contact. Multiple hostiles. Normals,” came a call over the radio.

“Apprentice priest exiting front,” called a second individual.

A man sheathed in a blue aura, much smaller than the first, stumbled out from the dusty entrance.

Looking around, the apprentice couldn’t seem to figure out what was going on.

Betty lifted a hand and snapped it with a flick of her wrist.

A green spear of magic flashed out and passed straight through the priest.

His guts tumbling out of the sudden hole in his stomach, the priest fell to his knees and then slumped to one side.

Unmoving.

Holy fucking shit.

“Apprentice and master down,” Felix said in the open lines. “Repeat, apprentice and master down.”

Felicity was standing next to Felix, one hand partially held out in front of her.

“His magic wasn’t that weak, but the structure was lacking,” said the Elf. “Easy to pick apart.”

Felix didn’t respond. He honestly wasn’t quite sure what to say.

Faith magic had been something of a bane to his people.

“Can all the Dryads do that?” Felix asked instead.

“What, cast magic? Yes, of course. From what I’ve gathered from Betty, it’s very normal for their particular Dryad clan. They don’t do as well with the sexual aspects of their magic, though.

“Ah, I’m going to move up and start working with the Dryads,” Felicity said. She patted his armored forearm and moved off to join her plane-mates.

Watching her go, Felix chewed at his lower lip.

Plans were rapidly spreading out. Things he couldn’t even have considered up to this point.

Options that simply hadn’t been reasonable.

Things just changed.

Changed and changed.

Just like when I got the girls way back when.

Felix grinned, feeling his longstanding despair blow away in a second.

Remind me to thank you, little brother.

***

They’d backtracked to HQ to tend to the wounded, unload the loot, put the enemy corpses on ice, and change their clothes.

Betty had sent one of her Dryads on ahead to follow the trail further while a second squad, coordinated with Victoria, was sent backward along the trail.

Where Betty had led them wasn’t what he’d expected.

Peering up at the building in front of them, Felix wasn’t quite sure what to say.

Miu sniffed, adjusting the holster under her jacket. “I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m not.”

“To be fair, I expected it to be someone in the government, but not the business and trade commission,” Lily said, her arms folded in front of her chest. “That seems over the top and misplaced at the same time.”

“Is it, though?” Felix asked. Looking to Betty and her companion, he waited quietly.

They’d led him here on the trail of the magic scent, and it seemed to go straight into the front door.

“If you think about it, and this is only a guess, mind you, but… someone has to foot the bill, right?

“We know for a fact that—” Felix paused and looked around himself, wondering if anyone was close enough to hear him.

Felicity made a small hand motion and smiled at him. “No one outside of eight feet of you will hear you. Please, continue.”

Lily was staring at Felicity outright. Felix had made sure to express to her that it seemed Felicity could work magic without any type of requirement.

“We know for a fact that the government is broke. The police weren’t even being paid.

“It’s one of the reasons we got the contract and argued tax breaks and other things as part of the payment,” Felix said. “If there really is a government agency working to end us, it stands to reason they’d have to get funding from somewhere. Right?

“What better place than a gathering of business leaders with too much money and a desire to gain power.”

Felicity nodded her head and tilted it to one side.

“That feels valid, though I think you’re missing a piece,” she said. “If they’re backing a religion they support in secret, I can only see it being far more than simply a wish for power.”

“And every single one of them has a ring to blank their thoughts,” Lily said, her tone sounding more like a curse. “I would take the souls of thousands to find out who made those damn rings and kill them.”

“Rings?” Felicity asked, looking from Lily to Felix.

“That Legion ring you’re wearing blocks people from reading your thoughts.

“It’s unique to us,” Felix explained. “Someone figured out how to make something similar, then flooded the entire continent with them. It makes the Minders and Fixers’ job a lot harder.

“They can sometimes get through, but it takes a lot of effort, and usually the ring breaks. It makes it obvious when it happens.”

Felicity frowned. “That seems oddly specific to limit Legion’s effectiveness.”

“Yeah, we figured the same,” Felix said. “It came out the first year we moved here, and it’s remained. Someone has been playing this game against us for a while.”

“Grove-Master,” Betty said, walking up to him. “We’re ready, but I have a suspicion of what will happen once we go in.”

“Oh? Anything you care to share?”

“The scent will go everywhere. Even from out here, it seems the whole thing is muddled,” Betty said, watching him intently. “Confusing and back and forth. Old and new magical scents alike.”

“In other words… it’s more likely that many people who are involved are in there. That this has been going on for a long time,” Felix summarized.

“Yes, that is my thought. By going inside, we confirm beyond any doubt that we’re aware of the building,” Betty said. “If we do not go in, we leave them with doubt about whether we know.”

Felix looked away from the Dryad and found himself staring at Felicity’s high-heeled feet.

It was a tough choice.

He internally agreed with Betty. It was likely the scent would just run rampant throughout the entire building.

From one conference room and committee to another, back and forth, floor to floor.

Because these business members could be on multiple committees and boards—they weren’t limited to just one.

On the other hand, he wanted to push. He wanted to make them fear that he knew. To force them to make mistakes and chase then chase those mistakes down.

I hate being a paper boat. Hate it.

But in this case… it might be best.

“Let’s go home,” Felix said, giving up the chase for the moment. “And Lily? I have some requests for you.”

“Oh?” Lily said, smiling to show him her bright white teeth. “Anything fun?”

“Hah, no. I need to find out how much control we have over a few things,” Felix said. “Energy, waste, city maintenance, water, internet, phone lines, anything and everything that’s a utility or could be leveraged as one.

“Fire hydrant placement, building inspectors. Anything.

“Everything.”

“You’re going to pencil-whip them to death,” Lily said, still grinning at him.

“Damn right I am. I’m a manager at best. Middle management. I’m best at my worst, when I’m making another person’s life hell.

“So… let’s do that. Get me everything we have control over. For now… let’s just go home,” Felix said.

Chapter 7 - Panning for Gold -

After opening the door to the warehouse on Legion Prime, Felix paused. Looking from one end of the large open area to the other, he saw no end to the items that were spread out.

Everything was laid out on tarps. Each item had a small piece of paper tagged to it, and each was grouped with similar items.

It wasn’t the first time he’d done this type of exercise, but it was certainly the largest so far.

Taking several steps inside, he looked at the closest tarp and the items laid out on it.

A sundry of office equipment, it looked like a secondhand store from a supply store’s cast-offs.

“The Dryads led the teams to various buildings and storage facilities,” Kit said, stepping up next to him. “It’s by far the largest haul of information, items, and just… data… we’ve been able to find.

“It’s honestly just what we needed. We’ve been working in the dark for a bit.”

Felix nodded in agreement.

They’d been doing well for themselves, all things considered, but it was no small statement to admit they were struggling.

“They’re not exactly the type of people I’d spend time with,” Kit said. “But they’re unbelievably useful so far, and generally very kind and friendly to those in the Legion.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming on,” Felix said, getting down on his knees in front of the first tarp.

Kit sighed from behind him. The slow crunching of her shoes on the pavement came closer.

Picking up what looked like a pencil, Felix focused on it.

He wanted to know a very simple piece of information. If he wanted to purchase this pencil from its owner, who would that be?

Focusing on the small window that popped up, Felix got his answer.

“The pencil is owned by one… Peter Miller,” Felix said into his wrist device.

A soft chime indicated the name had been recorded.

“It’s not so much a ‘but’ as it is an ‘um’ I suppose.” Kit got down next to him, her skirt sliding up from her knees as she did.

Felix began to slowly sort through all the items on the tarp. Checking each for its owner and recording the names that came up.

He also wasn’t about to interrupt Kit and her thoughts. She couldn’t read his thoughts unless he allowed her to. Which meant she actually had to sit down and think about what she wanted to convey to him, without knowing how he’d react.

It’d taken her quite a while to get used to the idea, but she hadn’t asked to scan his thoughts in two years.

“I’m not happy,” Kit said finally.

“Mm. That’s not exactly surprising,” Felix said. Picking up a coaster, he gave it a once-over and then checked the name.

“Daniel Seville,” Felix said into his wrist device. The soft chime came once again.

“It isn’t?” Kit asked, her face turned toward him.

“Not really. Legion has, and always will be, a corporation for the benefit of itself. You’re an actual hero. Probably one of the only ones in all of Legion,” Felix said, setting the coaster down. “You look at what’s going on in the world and see things you want to fix. To Legion, it’s more a question of how do we get through it and come out on top.”

Kit was nodding at his words.

“And if I had to guess, you’re slowly running out of ways to validate your hero status.

“I mean, let’s call it what it is—Wal is slowly falling apart. Non-profit organizations are vanishing. Neutral parties are gone. The arts have been stripped out of education. There’s even been talk about a mandatory service period in the military.”

Picking up part of a coffee mug, Felix checked the name, then set it into the pile of confirmed items.

“I… I don’t…” Kit muttered.

“Well, it makes sense to me, at least,” Felix said. “That being said, not sure what I can do to help you. We’ve talked about this before. If you really wanted, I could release you from Legion.

“With so much pull in Wal, it’s never really been a question of the legality of freeing you. Then you can go off on your merry way.”

“But… I don’t want to leave,” Kit said.

“Then you have a few problems to solve and some decisions to make.

“Stick it out and figure out a way to make it work for yourself, or ask to be released and rough it alone.

“Legion isn’t going to change its direction. Too many people counting on us and what we represent to do otherwise.

“You already head up every single possible charitable outreach program we have. There isn’t much left Legion can do as a company that wouldn’t hurt us in one way or another.”

“Has… anyone else asked to be released?” Kit asked.

“Hmm? Oh.

“Lily did. Then immediately signed herself back over to me personally. If I had to guess, the fact that she’d been forced into it bothered her,” Felix said with a shrug. “Though the contract she wrote up was more like a marriage agreement than anything. Andrea and Adriana did the same thing afterward.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize.”

“Well, anyways. You figure it out; I’ll support you however I can. As I’ve always done and will do.

“But this conversation isn’t exactly surprising to me. Was there something I could do for you immediately?”

“Not for me, at least,” Kit said, then slowly stood up. “Though I did want to warn you.

“Felicity isn’t going to stop chasing you. You’ll have to firmly shut her down if you want her pursuit to end.

“And from what I picked out of her thoughts, she’s already convinced Adriana and Andrea to open you up to other women.”

Leave it to HR to abuse the fact that they can see into the minds of Legionnaires. Ring or not.

“Pretty sure I’ve already made it fairly clear my hands are full. I don’t think I’d even have the stamina for more,” Felix said. “Besides, Lily will never agree.”

Standing up as he finished with all the smaller items, he brushed his hands off against each other. Then he moved over to an office chair to check it.

“Apparently Felicity has already changed your bodyguard assignments to include several Dryads. And… and they… uhm.” Kit’s voice trailed off.

Finding that the chair belonged to a name he’d already recorded, Felix moved to a desk. Looking up, he saw Kit was blushing darkly.

“Spit it out. We’re both adults, after all,” Felix said.

“Betty has assigned Dryads who are virgins to your bodyguard detail, with the hope that you’ll eventually take them to bed. Apparently they’ll rotate new girls in every year or so. Or that was the plan I got from her mind.

“Even if you don’t pick one, they’re there to feed your libido and keep you… keep you… uh, up.

“Felicity is trying to eliminate any excuses you might have, apparently.”

Felix’s eyebrows went up as he checked the desk.

Maybe I do have to shut her down hard.

“And before you ask, Miu agreed. As did Victoria. Felicity convinced them simply by saying she believes she can convince you to agree.

“And she’s also working on Lily, and has even managed to talk her into considering it instead of just yelling no.”

What the actual fuck?

Felix was starting to get annoyed.

Quickly, too.

“I wouldn’t be too angry. From what I’ve been able to pick up, Felicity is genuinely infatuated with you.

“It’s not as dark or frightening as Miu’s version of love, but it’s definitely not in line with Lily’s or the Elex girls’, either.”

Distantly, Felix heard a door open.

“Ah, that’s your next appointment, I believe. Thank you for the time; I’ll consider your words,” Kit said, scurrying away to the nearby door.

“Now just wait a min—”

The door slammed shut, cutting off his words.

“Damn it, does no one listen to me?” Felix asked. Growling, he moved away from the tarp.

He shook his head, working to control his anger. It wouldn’t do him any good right now. But he didn’t want to let go of it, either.

He just needed to wait for a chance to talk to Lily. She was due to speak to him soon. Either the next meeting or the one after that.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a green sticky notepad and flicked one of the notes onto the edge of the tarp.

Done.

He turned around and moved to the next tarp. It was full of weapons and bits of what looked like blood-stained armor.

The click of heels behind him told him it was only one of a few people. The vast majority of people around him wore combat boots or flats.

Picking up a very blood-stained glock, Felix thumbed the magazine release.

He’d found previously that magazines and rounds could often have different owners than the weapons themselves.

Unfortunately, there were no modifications or accessories otherwise to check.

“Hello darling,” said a soft voice. Fingers carded lightly through his hair.

“Hello yourself, love,” Felix said, looking over his shoulder at Lily with a grin. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Was it a fun thought? Or a boring one?” Lily said, her lips curling up at the corners of her mouth.

“Originally, they were fun. Very fun.

“But they turned boring, I’m afraid. Kit told me Felicity is playing games behind my back,” Felix said, a trace of heat in his voice.

Lily snorted, crossing her arms in front of her and leaning to one side, drawing his eyes to her torso and waist.

He’d realized long ago that Lily had a propensity to make herself eye catching to him. Both in the way she dressed and posed around him.

“Of course she did. She’s still mad at me for telling her Kit didn’t belong in Legion,” Lily muttered. “I won’t deny that Felicity is playing her own game.

“Though so far, it’s entirely to your benefit and hasn’t caused any harm.”

“Even with you?” Felix asked. He ignored the remark about Kit being in Legion. Lily wasn’t wrong, and her relationship with Kit was her own.

Checking the rounds one by one, he found he’d been right. There were several different names in this one weapon. One for the gun, one for the magazine, and one for the rounds.

Dropping everything to one side and starting a pile, Felix glanced to Lily.

She had an odd look on her face. Clearly realizing she hadn’t answered, she shifted her weight to the other foot and smiled at him.

“Truthfully? No. No harm. Though she has forced me to question my own thoughts. Her and Berenga seem keen on getting me to agree to you having more women in your life. Which I’m keenly against, obviously,” Lily said. “Or at least, I was. Now I find myself questioning it.”

“Care to share any of those thoughts?” Felix asked.

“No. Not particularly. Someday, maybe. Anyways, I came here to talk about all those orders you put out.

“I have the Laurens running it all down.”

Felix couldn’t argue that. The first Lauren, Lauren Aston, had once been a problem for him. Working against him, right up until she’d gotten fired. For which he’d hired her.

The second Lauren he’d picked up in a warzone. Tilen, to be exact.

She, Steve, and Julia had come out on the other side as more than common. Lily had scooped her up within a week and turned her into a lawyer.

Steve and Julia were part of his security forces, currently deployed to Vince’s mission.

Along with Eva, whom Felix was doing his best not to think about.

“Anything interesting so far?” Felix asked.

“What, about your orders? Nothing out of the ordinary.

“Finding a lot of shell companies, listings, holdings, boards, people. Lots and lots to work with and push through.

“We’re going over all their contracts with a fine-toothed comb, and we’ve already started canceling a number of them. Most of them are losing utilities faster than they can complain about them.

“There is a very unfortunate reality here, though,” Lily said. “It would seem almost every bank in Wal is against us. I’ve already taken the liberty of removing all our assets, converting it all to gold in your name, and then dumping it in the vault.”

Dropping the rifle he’d been working over into the “checked” pile, Felix sighed. “I figured it’d be something like that.”

Felix looked up to the ceiling above him.

Suddenly it felt like those long-ago plans for having to deal with Wal he’d had everyone go through were coming back.

“Alright. Just make sure we have enough cash on hand to pay everyone outside of Legion for the next year.

“Move all Legionnaires to the Legion standard and start minting accordingly,” Felix said, looking to Lily.

She gave him a tight smile, one that seemed more annoyed than anything.

“I must confess I’ll need help for that,” Lily said. “I’ve already asked them to be here. I showed up a few minutes early just to get a moment alone with you.”

“You did? Was it—”

The nearby door opened, and Felicity stepped through, computer pad resting against her forearm and in place of her ledger. Her eyes immediately moved to him.

Smiling brightly, Felicity closed the door and walked straight to him. She paused only briefly to bob her head towards Lily.

She was dressed immaculately again today. Almost identical to Lily, though she was showing a bit more of her leg and cleavage than the lawyer.

“Felicity, thank you for coming,” Lily said. “Felix was just asking us to go ahead with the Legion standard.”

“Ah, wonderful. I already have everything ready to go. When Andrea transferred everything over to me, I spent some time going over all the projects and picked out the ones I felt would be most likely to happen,” Felicity said, flipping the leather lid off her computer pad and tapping at the screen.

“I made several purchases for bronze and silver through Legion accounts.

“I also had several different dies cast for the coins. The bronze coin has a picture of the Legion iconography on it. The silver is Legion HQ back in Skippercity and is read as ‘in memorium.’ For the gold coin, it’s of course a side profile of you.”

Felicity tapped something else on her screen and gave Felix a wide grin. “Done. I’ve transferred all pay to be done in Legion standard, notified all employees, and activated the press.

“Everyone should receive their notifications shortly.”

Felix stared at Felicity. Andrea had been good at her job. Very good. But now he was finding that the young Elf woman before him took it to a whole new level.

“What about all the currency Legionnaires had in the Legion bank?” Felix asked, curious.

“In the notification I sent out, I advised everyone to please transfer their currencies into Legion standard as soon as possible. They have the next ninety days to do so at a rate that is in their favor with no exchange fee.

“After that, it’ll be normal rates with a small fee,” Felicity said. “On top of that, I’ve made contact with a credit union willing to exchange currency for gold at a favorable exchange rate with us, and they aren’t part of the problem we’ve been digging through.”

Felix glanced at Lily, who had the same annoyed smile on her face.

Ok, even she can’t naysay Felicity, apparently. Which means she’s not just doing her job, but doing it phenomenally.

“Great,” Felix said. “Since you’re here, Felicity, direct me. What do I have on my calendar that I need to be aware of? I think I’ll be stuck here for a while.”

“Ah, would you like it in order of time, suggested priority, or impact?” Felicity asked.

Huh. Uh…

“Suggested priority then, and we’ll go from there,” Felicity said, looking down at her pad.

“I’ve set up interviews you’ll need to complete for me. They’re going to be new recruits for your personal bodyguards.

“I’d like you to give me confirmation on at least ten, and a maybe status on twenty. That’ll form the core of that addition,” Felicity said. “After that, Miu and I would like you to commit to a reorganization of the interior security detail and the bodyguard unit as a whole. Victoria and Miu would like to change things up.”

Oh. That does make sense.

Felix turned to face Felicity directly, interested now.

“Andrea and Adriana have organized a permanent residence change for you, them, and Lily to Legion Prime,” Felicity continued. “I’ve contacted Felicia and organized the manpower, budget, and timetables accordingly. She estimates it’ll be done in about two weeks.”

“You got Felicia to agree to a project?” Felix asked.

“Of course,” Felicity said, looking at him as if he were an idiot. “All I had to do was manage what she wanted in return, which was a small home for her and her wife to be made in conjunction in the same area.

“I’ve set aside a large piece of land for you, your closest advisers, and lieutenants to live in on Legion Prime. Your inner circle and sanctum, as it were.

“Beyond that, Meliae and Fes have requested a formal audience with you when you have time.

“Everything else I’ve handled on your behalf. The only pending item is that the ANet is actively searching for any name you’re recording, as you record it. They should have results for most of the names by the time you finish your task,” Felicity said, then flipped the leather lid closed on her computer pad.

Felix glanced at Felicity’s ear and saw an earpiece wedged into it.

She’s actively tied into the ANet, and the girls are acting on her orders.

How in the world did she move in and take over everything so quickly?

“Oh, there is one more thing,” Felicity said. “Erica and Jessica have asked to have dinner with you separately.

“I intimated that they’d be willing to go together to dinner with you, so I accepted on your behalf. I’ve already made the appropriate arrangements. You’ll be dining with both of them in the near future. Unsure on when yet. Though it’ll be in Old Legion City.

“I’ve prepared them with a list of topics you’ll likely discuss with them, and what projects coincide with them that they may need to initiate on your behalf.”

Lily began laughing suddenly, pressing a hand to her temple.

“Goodness. I think you’ve met your match, my love,” she said. “I think she just out-corporated you and has you more organized than you’ve ever been.”

Felix snorted and turned back to the weapons he’d been going through.

Lily wasn’t wrong, though. Felicity had neatly emptied his task list, fixed his calendar, and organized everything for him.

“I would prefer to call it keeping him on track. My only job is to make sure he’s best utilized; I could never do what he does,” Felicity said.

“Uh huh. Come on, lover-girl, you can stare at him later,” Lily said, walking over to Felicity. “I want to talk to you about your magic, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, Lily.”

The two women left Felix alone with his work, sorting through the junk and identifying things.

“Afternoon, Felix.”

Closing his eyes tightly, Felix didn’t want to open them.

“I won’t go away just because you can’t see me,” said his benefactor, “or at least pretend I’m not here.

“I mean, come on. Are you three years old?”

Chapter 8 - Opening Moves -

Felix grunted and opened his eyes. It wasn’t as if he’d actually thought closing them would make the man go away.

But he had secretly hoped for it.

Looking to the voice, Felix found exactly what he’d expected.

Or whom, that was.

It was his benefactor, standing off to one side, playing with what looked like a coin. A very dirty and worn coin.

“Hi. Are we done playing hide-and-seek now? If you want, you can go first,” said the man.

Accepting that he was there, Felix bent down and picked up a combat knife. Pulling the sheath off it, Felix looked from the sheath to the knife.

Ignoring the man.

“I figured I’d drop by since our conversation was interrupted last time,” said his benefactor.

“Uh huh. You didn’t talk to me—wouldn’t talk to me—for five years. Now you show up when I ask for you one day, as if you were always here. Then you just… poof… vanish. And now you’re even coming back because we didn’t finish our conversation, or so you say.

“Forgive me if I’m not that interested. Because I’m not. Yet I can’t really tell you to go away.

“I find myself annoyed while unfortunately unable to decline whatever it is you’re here to say or do,” Felix said. “I’m not a yoyo.”

Finding the same name for the combat knife and the sheath as he had for the pistol, Felix flicked them onto the pile.

“Yes, well… that’s actually rather reasonable. Sorry. I was hoping I wouldn’t need to do anything or intercede before this. Things get complicated when I’m involved,” said the benefactor. “The longer I’m involved, the worse it gets. It’s like an escalating scale of tsunami-level bullshit. Exponential.”

“Yeah, well, seems like my world is rapidly falling apart. Maybe it’s time you stepped in anyways,” Felix grumbled. “Maybe fix it and put it back together rather than letting itself get torn apart.”

“I already have, actually. Several times, but you’d never know that because I fixed it.

“Though, due to their bickering, I’ve bound all the gods, and I had to do so here on this plane.

“They’re not allowed to leave. Either back to Legion Prime, as you’ve called it, or Vince’s world. I’ve also limited their influence further, because I found a few who had violated my laws.

“That doesn’t change the fact that the populace here are killing each other for their deities, but there it is.

“They’ll turn around eventually, since they’ll be the ones who have to deal with the mess.”

“Are… Desh and Abera alright?” Felix asked, changing the subject. “We haven’t heard from them since the battle. They vanished.”

“They’re actually quite fine. They were abiding by the laws I gave them to the fullest intent I expected, so they’ve been rewarded. They’ll not be coming back here, though. They’ve been moved to another plane that could use their help as deities who wish to care for their people.”

At least they’re okay. They were and weren’t Legion at the same time.

“Now, we were talking about the planes and, I suppose, me, to a degree,” said his benefactor. “Would you care to hear more of my story, or are you dead set on not listening?”

Felix shrugged, sorting through the items in front of him.

“Might as well listen, I suppose. I don’t have much else to do,” Felix admitted.

“Right, then. I’ll not start at the beginning, since it doesn’t matter, but more towards the end.” His benefactor crossed his arms and leaned up against a desk. “I’m a traveler of sorts. In my travels, I found I had the ability to create countless planes and worlds. And so I did.

“This plane is one of the first. I made around a hundred in the early days.”

Felix paused in his sorting and checking, actually growing interested.

It wasn’t every day one heard the origin of the universe.

“Except that I made a mistake. I fashioned all the worlds from an original world. One that came before all else. Including all that was wrong with it.”

Sighing, the Overgod ran his fingers through his hair. “The planes started right and true. Good.

“But I didn’t expect… well, I didn’t expect an entity to appear. It didn’t act immediately. It moved.

“And it moved slowly. It crept through all that I’d built. Spreading out through these core worlds. Spreading out and starting to work in the background.

“This individual was behind the original portal experiments, in fact.”

Felix found himself staring at the Overgod now.

“After that fiesta of a shit-flavored birthday cake… I found that a number of core worlds were corrupted. Turned against me. And I couldn’t work through anyone in them. They were essentially fortified against me specifically.

“I could always just… wipe out the planes, dismiss these core worlds completely. But that’d kill how many billions of innocents?

“Untold numbers.”

And is that why you need a favor from me? Do I play into this game between you and this ‘entity’ somehow?

Giving himself a visible shake, Felix’s benefactor, now confirmed as the Overgod and creator of all, gave Felix a bemused smile.

“Enough of story time. My apologies, I didn’t mean to ramble on like that. I think that’s all the time I want to spend here right now as well.”

“Before you go then, is there anything you can share about my current predicament?” Felix asked. “Like if it’s worth my while to dig through any of this?”

Smiling, the Overgod, Felix’s benefactor, flipped the dirty coin at him.

“Nothing I can formally tell you. Though I will say this: I definitely think all the steps you’ve taken are the right ones so far. Up to this point.”

Felix caught the coin in one hand and looked down at it.

“Oh, and you should have your power back in about ten days. It’ll be available for six, give or take a few hours,” said the Overgod.

The coin he’d just caught was a key ring. It wasn’t a coin at all.

It just had so much dirt in it that the interior of the circle was filled with filth.

Destroyed was the best way to describe it. Rusted and rotting, it looked like it had been dug out of a mud pit.

“Very helpful. Now if I only you could—” Felix stopped talking when he looked up and found the Overgod was gone. “Whatever.”

Frowning, Felix focused on the key-ring and activated his purchase request.

“Richard Munro,” Felix said as the window popped up.

Dropping the key-ring onto the pile, Felix turned back to the weapons tarp.

“Dear, please confirm that last name?” asked an Elex sister over the ANet.

“Richard Munro,” Felix said.

“Got a hit on that. Almost immediately. It’s not a shell company, ghost, or false name. It’s an actual person,” said the voice Felix was starting to think belonged to an Adriana. She always sounded much less flighty than her sister.

“So? Who is it?” Felix asked.

“Ah… he’s the committee leader for the banking committee, and CEO of the Hero International Bank.”

Sighing, Felix looked down to his feet.

He gave me a lead after all; he just didn’t want to say anything.

“Tell Lily, Kit, and Felicity about it. Sounds like this rabbit hole just got a lot deeper than I expected,” Felix said somberly.

He’d expected people to be involved. Maybe some branch managers, a few middle-to-low-end upper management.

Not an actual CEO of a massive business.

An international bank, no less.

Then Felix paused, his thought process turning in a different direction.

We were just talking about the fact that we were moving off government-backed currencies.

That we were transitioning to gold.

Even if the banks had the same thought, they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. They’re more invested in currencies than we are, I bet.

They’d protect it.

Like attacking a corporation that was poised to corner gold through pawn shops, buy up material, and transfer a lot of money into precious metals.

Felix scratched at his chin, not quite sure what to do.

He could easily see how he’d set himself up as a target for this, possibly pushing them straight into his enemies’ pocket.

If he were in their position, he’d probably be forced to do the same. Though now he had to wonder how far it’d gone. If the government of Wal knew about this, where would they fall?

If the currency of Wal weakened, it definitely wouldn’t help. But considering Legion deferred so much of their debt and upheld large portions of security, he couldn’t imagine which way the prime minister would go.

“Are we going to rob a bank?” came Andrea’s voice through his communicator. “It’s been a while since I’ve done it, but it was a lot of fun!

“Myriad usually ran those, but I have all her memories for them and the planning!”

“Can I be the first person in?” asked what sounded like an Adriana. “Point is always fun because it gives the biggest rush.”

“Yeah, but that one almost always get shot,” said another.

Rob the bank?

Felix grinned at the idea.

Rob the bank.

“Get those contractors we’ve been working with for cyber security and make them a deal they can’t refuse to join the Legion,” Felix said. “Get as many as you can.”

***

Looking at the display, Felix watched as the drone continued to fly over the expo center.

“It’s big,” he said, shaking his head. “There’s a lot of ways in and out, too.”

“Yes. It will not be a pleasant duty,” Ioana said, watching the screen from over his shoulder. “Though I believe in our people.”

“Uh huh.” Felix sighed and handed the display over to Ioana. “Honestly, I’m not sure on this one. It’s obvious something is going to happen, either externally or internally, but I’m terrified that if we’re not here to stop it, it’ll succeed.”

“A common worry, you’ve often said,” the big warrior woman reminded him.

Glancing up at her, Felix couldn’t help but compare her now to how he remembered her.

She’d softened considerably. Her brown hair was pulled back behind her head in a long ponytail. The hard-set quality to her features was gone, replaced by a woman heading into her thirties and settling into a comfortable lifestyle.

Catching his look, Ioana gave him a smile.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing really. Just realizing how good Felicia has been for you. You look good, Ioana. Happy,” Felix said, grinning back at her. “That makes me happy.”

Ioana blushed deeply, then shrugged with a smile. “My wife is indeed the best thing that has happened to me. Second only to joining Legion.

“Now stop with the frippery and give me a direction.”

Sighing, Felix looked to the ceiling of the armored personnel carrier they were sitting in.

“You take care of the external security just as we originally discussed. I defer to you in all things. Assume we could be under attack in any way, shape, or form.

“I’ll give you two hundred of the Dryads as well; the other hundred will go to Miu and Vicky for internal usage,” Felix said.

“We need more of them,” Ioana said.

“You tell me where to get more, and I’ll hire them personally through whatever means necessary. Until then, that’s what we can do.

“Need anything else?” Felix asked.

“No. I’ll run it all through Felicity and have her check and approve it,” Ioana said, setting the display to one side.

Felicity? Even you, Ioana?

“I’m going to walk the perimeter and start my plans. Unless there’s something else you need from me?” Ioana asked.

“No. I’ll head inside to catch up with the others and start planning that out with them.”

“Good. Tell Felicity Felicia said hi for me. She wants to know if you two are willing to come over for dinner this weekend,” Ioana said, moving to the rear hatch.

“Uh, I’ll ask her,” Felix said, feeling very confused.

“Great, see ya then.”

Ioana popped open the door and stomped out, her lieutenants falling in around her as she went.

Miu’s head slid into view at the rear hatch. Her eyes locked on him, unwavering in their intensity.

“Can I come in?” she asked.

“No, I’m coming out.”

“I should come in,” she said, starting to mount the rear step.

“No, Miu. The last time you were in a small space with me, it didn’t end well, remember?”

“Nightly,” came the breathy response.

Grumbling, Felix moved to the rear hatch and got out. “Keep it running. No idea how long we’ll be.”

“Affirmative,” called the driver in response to his request.

Hitting the ground, Felix turned toward the expo and started heading toward the doors.

“Felicity is waiting inside. She’s already gone over the building several times with me and Victoria,” Miu said. “We need you to check the work, offer your opinions, and give us the go ahead.”

An Adriana, Andrea, several Dryads, and a magician all fell in around him as his personal bodyguard.

“Got it. What do you think of her, by the way?”

“Felicity? I like her. She understands everything immediately and knows what I want. She was honest with me and didn’t shy away from what I told her,” Miu said. “I would still pull her head off if you asked me to, but I would regret it.”

“How’s she fitting in with everyone else?” Felix asked. They were only twenty seconds away from the door now. Miu’s acceptance of her was strange, but he’d been warned she’d been turned.

“Very well. Everyone likes her. It’s as if she’s always been here,” Miu said.

And that’s what worries me. Is she just that charming, lovely, and personable, or is she something much worse?

The door opened as he approached it. Felicity was standing there, a Dryad, Andrea, and Adriana standing just behind her.

Victoria was only a few feet away on the other side of the doorway.

They’re deferring to her, aren’t they?

“Welcome, welcome,” Felicity said, smiling at him. “Come, I had lunch arranged for everyone as we walk around. Simple, portable things we can carry in a single hand.”

Walking deeper in, Felix looked around. They were standing in a large, open entryway.

“So, be honest with me, do you really need me to look around?” Felix asked.

“I can reasonably assure you I’ve taken care of everything you would have been concerned with. Though I would please ask you to review a presentation I’ve prepared for you,” Felicity said. “I’ve also made sure your inner circle has seen it and approved of the plan.”

Felix turned to look to Victoria and waited.

She wouldn’t lie to him; she would tell him the truth.

“It’s as clean a plan as we can make it,” Victoria said, giving him a lopsided smile. “Everything was worked out with all departments included, as well as providing the exterior team with what we can do to help them. Ioana is probably getting the same information right now that we’re giving you.”

“It’s exciting,” Andrea said, bouncing up to him. She was eating what looked like a pancake folded over itself. “I made pancakes! Felicity said it was delicious. She said I was beautiful and a great cook.”

Andrea grinned at Felix with a mouth full of pancake, her tail swishing back and forth wildly behind her.

Adriana was nodding in agreement with Andrea’s words.

“Then we’ll move on to something else. Did you all review my request?” Felix asked. He turned to the glass doors that led back outside and walked up to them.

“The bank heist?” Victoria asked.

“Yes. The bank. Unless Andrea has something to add about our dear friend Dick Munro.”

“No,” Andrea said around her pancake. “It’s looking like the entire board is in it with him as well.”

“Then yes, the bank,” Felix said. Lifting a hand, he pointed at a large single-story building across the way. “That one, to be specific.”

“Huh? That one?” Adriana said, stepping up next to him and looking out the glass.

“Yes. It’s listed as only a branch, but Lily and Kit were able to dig some things up,” Felix said. “Apparently, it has a much larger underground footprint than you would think. And many more people on payroll than a simple branch office should.

“The reports they put together are available in my personal share drive.”

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Victoria, Miu, and Felicity all reading something on her pad.

Felix figured they were looking for the report. Looking back to the bank, he set his hands together behind his back and waited.

“I love you,” Andrea said suddenly, pushing up close to him. She leaned up and kissed him, giving him a bright smile. “Andrea and Adriana Prime and the Seconds are moving to Legion Prime right now.

“The house plans look great. I especially like the nursery. Thank you. I’m very happy. I’m going to reward you so much.”

Right. Need to thank Felicity for her work.

Adriana stepped up on the other side of Felix and pressed her forehead to Felix’s shoulder. “Love you. Thank you. Reward you too.”

The Elex twins then stepped away at the same time, as if they’d never been there.

Must mean they heard the others coming to a consensus, for them to break off like that.

“I think we’re ready for you to continue,” Felicity said, confirming his thought.

“It’s very simple. I want to clean out their vault, as well as their electronic bank accounts.

“At the same time, I want to wipe out their records on debts and negative balances,” Felix said. “So we’ll have several moving parts to this.

“The first part has already happened. A number of cyber-security contractors were made full-time Legionnaires. They put together a program that was likely to tempt someone to open it. A fun little bit of malware.

“Malware that does nothing other than record data.”

“If all it does is log it, how do we retrieve it?” Miu asked.

“One of the contractors Kit secured is responsible for that bit. They’re apparently powered with a unique power. They can chip a piece of themselves off and put it into the code. Making the code part of them.

“There’s some risk of course, and if that code is lost, it’d hurt them significantly, but… that’s the way this one goes,” Felix said.

“Oh! Exciting,” Andrea enthused. “What’s next, then? How do we get this code and data back?”

“Funny you ask. That’ll be a job for our lovely Elf over there.” Felix pointed at Felicity. “She didn’t have an identity here in Wal up until yesterday.

“Now you have one. All the appropriate papers and certificates.”

Felix looked back out the glass to the bank.

“We’ve already prepped everything for you detail wise. Kept it fairly simple,” Felix said. “You were born in what was once Tilen. In the local Elven enclave. They were small and close knit, so records, including birth certificates, seem to be hard to find.

“We know that because Tilen is little more than a ruin and we personally secured all the records available ourselves.”

“Did any Elves from the enclave survive? That’d be a loose thread,” Felicity said.

“Not sure. If they did, I’d be happy to welcome them into Legion.

“Regardless of that, though, I figure it’s about time for you to open a bank account. What better bank than that one?”

The soft click of heels proceeded—what he assumed was Felicity drawing near.

“While I appreciate your faith in me, I’m not sure I’ve been able to completely jump the culture divide. It’s easier with those in Legion, but…” Felicity stopped talking, letting the statement hang there.

Rewards are always best. And rewards that better their own goals are ideal.

“Complete the task without a problem, and I’ll take you to dinner. I have an open invitation with Ioana and Felicia for this weekend,” Felix said. “I’ll even let you pick the location, but you’ll have to work it out with those two if you manage it.”

“I accept the terms for the time being, but I reserve the right to renegotiate depending on how difficult the task becomes,” Felicity said.

Felix shrugged. “Fine. Though I’ll ask for arbitration and let Kit decide if we can’t find a middle ground. She’s fairly impartial since she can read minds.

“After we get the code back out and all the data that comes with it, we’ll plan our cyber attack to clean out some of their ledgers.”

“Why just the debts and negative balances?” Andrea asked.

“Because then they’ll not know how much money is owed to them. It’ll strangle out their balance sheets,” Felicity said.

“Yep. And at the same time that’s going on, we’ll attack the vault itself and clean everything out. They’ll be insured against such a thing, so it won’t hurt anyone who has their money there,” Felix said. “And when it’s all said and done, we’ll have brought them to their knees. Because in the end, from what we can tell, they’re the ones running all the money that was supporting that little party we had.”

“Good. That means we can end this and move on,” Victoria said.

“I’m afraid that only solves one part of it. We’ll have eliminated the funding, but that still leaves the people who are illustrating the attacks, and those that are simply supporting it in government,” Felix said. “We’re apparently fighting a triumvirate of sorts.

“Or that’s my expectation, at least. I suppose it could be two, or four, but I think three is accurate.”

Chapter 9 - Usual Suspects -

Miu pushed open the large door and strode inside.

Before Felix had crossed the threshold, lights began to turn on, several bulbs flickering ominously before stabilizing.

It was a massive, empty room. It looked as if it would span at least three stories in height, and it took up enough space from wall to wall to be a football field.

“What is this place?” Felicity asked.

“Empty training hall. It’ll probably see use in six months when we hire enough new classes to fill it.

“Until then,” Felix said, looking around and seeing more than enough space to work with, “it’s a bank waiting to be built.”

“I don’t understand,” Felicity said.

Andrea squealed and skipped ahead of the group at a dead sprint. Her feet pounded against the hardwood floor until she started doing cartwheels. Those rapidly turned into backflips as she went rapidly tumbling away from the group.

“He wants to build a mock-up of the bank here,” Kit said, watching Andrea as she moved. “Where on earth does she get the energy?”

Adriana was subtly gyrating in place, watching her sister as if she wanted to go chasing off after her. “Open spaces and fields. They’re hard to resist,” she said.

“A mock-up,” Felicity said, bringing the subject back in line. “In other words, you want to practice the bank robbery here.”

“Yep. And it’ll make it much easier to do because—” Felix paused and looked at a series of massive screens that were spread out along every wall. “We can just throw your recording up there.”

Looking down at the portable computer in his hand, Felix tapped the icon to connect to the wireless network.

A few seconds later, he had pulled up the recording Felicity had made during her trip through the bank.

“And there we are,” Felix said, pointing up at the screen. “I say we start with the exterior of the bank.

“Tell me when to stop.”

“Alright,” Kit said.

All eyes turned to the closest monitor as what had been a play button became the view of walking up the front steps to the bank.

“Oh, I see,” Felicity said. “I must admit, I’m growing so used to having such wonderful technology at my fingertips, I’m not sure I could go back home for any period of time.”

“Just to make sure everyone is on the same page,” Kit said. “This is Felicity going to the bank yesterday to open her account.”

A Fixer, Minder, Sorcerer, and several Dryads nodded their heads.

Miu sidled in closer to Felix’s side, her hand coming up to grab his jacket pocket and hold on to it.

As long as she doesn’t do more.

Felicity’s head rotated one way and then the other, the camera hidden in her glasses taking a good panorama of the front.

Kit waved a hand at the area to their right without turning away from the monitor. A replica of the bank front came to life from thin air.

A young man held the door open for Felicity and she went inside. Immediately, she began scanning the room.

Felix paused the video at this point. “Alright, let’s head up the stairs and start matching it.”

The Dryads, Fixer, and Minder all remained where they were. They were there to protect Felix, not take part in the robbery.

Moving up the illusory steps, Felix opened the door. “After you, Miss Kit.”

Shaking her head with a smile, Kit looked in the open doorway and pointed a finger.

“Done with the floor,” she said, taking the display from Felix and then walking through the doorway.

She’s been practicing her illusions, it seems.

Miu, Felicity, Adriana, and a panting Andrea stopped in front of him.

“Sorry, dear,” Andrea said breathily, fanning a hand in front of her red face.

“Don’t be; it’s who you are. Who I love,” Felix said, pressing a hand to her lower back. “Now get in there.”

Andrea spun lightly off his hand and kissed him roughly, then darted through the door, laughing.

She’s so lighthearted lately.

“It’s the pregnancy,” Miu said as Felix followed behind her. “She’s been wanting children this entire time.”

That… makes sense.

Further into the building, Kit was moving the video back and forth, scrubbing for information on the placement of things.

“Thanks, Miu,” Felix said, then offered her his arm. “Come on then, Kit looks like she’ll be done sooner than we think.”

Miu raised her eyebrows but then latched on to his arm and pressed herself to his side.

Felix himself was feeling rather buoyed as of late. The Dryads Vince had sent over had done wonders for Legion already.

So much had changed instantly on that one day.

“I think that’s everything,” Kit said, looking to Felix. Her eyes flicked to Miu and then back to him. “Do you want me to overlay the perspective of the cameras?”

“That’d be amazing and wonderful, Kit,” Felix said. “After that, we’ll move on.”

Kit slashed a finger at the cameras and translucent green cones projected from each one.

Covering the entire area.

Not unsurprising, given that the branch is far more than it appears.

Kit didn’t ask for permission; she simply started up the playback.

Felicity was already seated in front of a middle-aged man’s desk. He was the employee they’d set up the appointment with.

The one whose computer had all the data they’d been hoping to collect.

Kit was moving through the conversation at two times the speed. Felicity turned her head around whenever it seemed like she had the chance to do so, but she didn’t spot anything new Kit hadn’t already laid out.

Felix chuckled to himself when the man behind the desk clearly looked at Felicity’s cleavage.

“He does look often, doesn’t he?” Miu said.

“Hmph.” Andrea crossed her arms in front of her chest. “This is why we can’t wear nice things outside of Legion.

“The Legionnaires know better.”

“No, they just know who you’re sleeping with,” Miu said.

Adriana and Andrea shrugged their shoulders at the same time.

“Same thing,” they said in unison.

“I wasn’t wearing anything scandalous,” Felicity said defensively. “It’s almost the same thing as today, just a different color.”

Felix glanced over to Felicity.

She was once again dressed in clothing nearly identical to what Lily wore on a regular basis. It certainly did show some cleavage, but nothing she’d be hauled off to HR over.

“Don’t blame him too much,” Felix said. “You’re rather pretty, after all.”

The video jumped ahead rapidly as Kit flicked her finger across the bar.

“I think that’s everything,” she said. “Let’s start constructing the rest from our blueprints and the stolen camera data.

“Well, go to the end just to make sure,” Felix said.

She’s getting testy. And has been.

Hm.

Didn’t she say she felt nothing about me? We had that painful and ugly talk. I should know, since I initiated it.

It was years ago now.

She said she was happy with how things were.

Frowning, Felix wasn’t sure what to make of the way Kit was acting, but it felt linked to Felicity.

Looking back up to the screen, Felix watched as Felicity finished up her account creation and headed back to Legion at what felt like four times the normal speed.

Slowing down the speed when Felicity entered the bathroom on Felix’s personal floor, Kit seemed concerned about proceeding.

Not that he could blame her. A camera in the restroom wasn’t a great idea.

Looking into the mirror, Felicity quickly gave herself a once-over. She’d clearly forgotten about the glasses.

With a quick adjustment of her blouse, she hesitated. Then she pulled it down just a bit, showing more of herself off. And then she quickly ran her fingers through her hair and adjusted her skirt.

Felix wasn’t quite sure what to make of the primping.

Neither could anyone else, it seemed.

Felicity left the bathroom and then marched straight for Felix’s study. Opening the door, she entered, and then she closed the door behind her.

Felix saw himself messing with a filing cabinet. Putting papers into a hanging folder inside, it looked like.

“Welcome back. How’d it go?” he asked Felicity on the video.

“Well. Very well,” Felicty replied. Then the glasses tilted down a bit, the view centering on Felix’s ass. “Mission accomplished.”

Oh. Well, that’s interesting.

In the second it took to register what they all saw Felicity looking at, Kit killed the feed. “Alright, let’s move on to the data you brought back.”

Glancing to Felicity, he couldn’t see her face. But he could see her neck and ears.

They were bright red.

“From the data brought back, we’re looking at a team of about ten supers,” Kit said. “Most of them are in the sub-level, though two are at the elevator that goes down.”

“What powers do they have?” Miu asked.

“The two at the elevator are on the super strength and a stamina variety. Meant to hold people back and stand their ground,” Kit said. “The eight down below are much more varied.

“One is a Magician, two are Hyper-Sensitives, two Telepaths, and a what sounds like a Flamer. The last one, we’re not sure—there’s nothing listed.”

The entire time Kit spoke, she was adding more and more to her massive construct. They were just now at the point that the elevator was being put in, along with two stand-in dummies with what looked like security-badge photos for faces.

Kit lifted a hand with a grunt, and Felix felt everything underneath him shift.

Then the elevator dinged and opened up.

“I moved the ground floor up, so we can now descend,” Kit said, moving into the elevator.

Andrea and Adriana flanked Felix.

Miu disentangled her arm and then gave Felix a shove into the elevator.

Before he could turn around and complain, Felicity stumbled into him, suffering the same abuse from Miu’s hand.

Felicity grimaced and took a step back from Felix, then turned around to the door.

Miu’s never been subtle. She wants Felicity close to me.

The small psycho stepped into the elevator and pushed Felicity up into Felix’s chest, then hit the elevator shut button.

Awkwardly, with Andrea and Adriana to either side, he couldn’t do much other than stand there practically breathing in Felicity’s hair.

Which did smell nice, honestly, if he thought about it.

“I’m fairly certain there’s enough room, Miu,” Kit said, her tone sharp.

Miu turned her head and gazed beyond Felix to what he supposed was Kit.

Unblinkingly, without saying a word, she just stared.

“Fine, fine,” Kit said, as if Miu had said something.

Ok, I’m starting to get annoyed. Everyone has left my love life alone up till now.

I need to have a talk with Lily and just end this end.

The illusion elevator moved, and then the doors opened rather quickly.

Everyone piled out and found themselves in a very blank cement-covered room.

“Sorry, the elevator actually goes much further down, but we don’t have the time or space for it. Now… where were we?” Kit said, looking around.

Suddenly, things started to pop into focus. Defensive hard-points, cameras, and a choke point. Everyone began wandering over to look at it.

“Sorry,” Felicity said, hovering near Felix rather than following the others. “She means well, but she’s forcing it.”

“I know. In her head it was probably justified,” Felix said with a shrug. He wasn’t mad at her, as she wasn’t the one who had done it. “Just who she is.”

Kit and the others started moving down a hallway.

“We’ll have to cut all the access points previous to this,” Kit said, pointing down the hall. “Nothing beyond that point shows up on cameras, so I only have blueprints to go off.”

Felix looked away from Felicity and nodded his head Kit.

“Already in place. We’re going to kick this off the first day of the summit. Their garbage won’t have been picked up for two weeks at that point, I should have my powers back, and they’re expecting to have someone come out to work on their power and internet,” Felix said.

“Oh?” Kit asked, tilting her head to one side with a smile. “That’s convenient.”

“Yeah. I had some of our engineers give ’em spotty internet and power for a while. There’s one particular accounts manager who is apparently losing his mind at his nonexistent download speed,” Felix said with a grin. “I never thought I’d enjoy being part of a telecom, but when you own the contract, the services, the lines for the power… well. Accidents happen.”

“What about the supers and the unpowered citizens? There’s a number of folks we’ll have to get through,” Kit said.

Miu nodded slightly, turning to look away from the machine gun to Felix.

“And why does it matter if your powers are back?” Miu asked suspiciously. “You’re not going.”

“Actually, I am. I plan on going with you,” Felix said.

Immediately, the room turned hostile towards him. Even Andrea and Adriana looked angry.

“Wait—hear me out. My powers will be back. I’m going to take several of the Warden shields with me.

“They haven’t seen any use here since the Faith magic just cut right through them,” Felix said. “And before you say what’s the point in the shields then, I’m going to have the Dryads bless them.”

Miu’s dark glare eased several degrees, but she still didn’t look pleased.

“I’m also going to go in full body armor. The only bit that won’t be armored is the mask, though I’m going to make sure to modify it before we head out.

“I want to be there just in case we have a sudden need.”

That and he was tired of playing backfield. Doing nothing. Watching things fall apart around him.

He wanted to get in there.

“Who’s going with you?” Kit asked. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking rather annoyed.

“Miu, Felicity, a Fixer, a Minder, several Dryads, and Neutralizer. I gave him that phasing power about a year ago, you remember. He can cut through anything and get anywhere if he needs to,” Felix said. “It covers all my needs and keeps our count low.”

Everyone around him seemed to slowly ease up on their distaste for the situation.

“I wanna go,” Andrea said, stomping a foot. Her ears were flattened on the top of her head as she pouted. “I liked robbing banks.”

“I wish you could, but your ears and tail make you very identifiable. You’re not Myriad anymore. You can’t just run around and do what you want,” Felix said. “Which goes for you as well, Adriana.”

Adriana’s ears were flattened as well, but she didn’t look as upset.

“Besides, you’ll need to run the ANet and everything else. That’s where I expect your Primes to be. Because at the same time all this is going down, the summit will be kicking off,” Felix said.

“You mentioned that. I take it I’ll be there in your place?” Kit asked.

“Yes, please—sorry. You’re the only person I can trust to be my body double, since you know how I think.”

Kit sighed and nodded. “I can’t say I much like the idea, but it does seem like you’ve worked the plan out for the most part.”

“I had a bit of help from a few people. Lily was actually a big contributor to this,” Felix admitted. “Her and Ioana.”

“Yet neither are going with you. Why?” Miu asked.

“Too visible if they’re gone. Same with Vicky,” Felix answered.

“But not me,” Miu said.

“No. Not you. You’re rarely seen anyways. In fact, if you look at a lot of those websites that try to pin us down with info, there’s only one photo of you.

“Hundreds of Vicky, Lily, Kit, Ioana. Thousands of Andrea,” Felix said with a shrug.

“Alright, that all makes sense. But you said there was more to this,” Kit said. “What else is there?”

Felix chuckled. “I may have put a challenge to Felicia.”

“You didn’t,” Kit said.

“A small one,” Felix said, grinning.

“Ioana won’t be happy. Felicia is overworked as it is,” Miu said.

“It really is a small one. And one she seemed quite eager to do. It’s an implosion-explosive device built around a small bit of magic to power it that will summon a portal for about two seconds.

“The other end of the portal lets out into space. I had her attach it to a probe we shot up a few months ago, just in case.”

“How small is small?” Kit said.

“About the size of their vault as it was listed in the blueprints. Anything we can’t steal or take with us is going to get put into space. Hell, even if we take everything, I still want to detonate it in there to remove all the evidence,” Felix said. “I don’t want to just hurt them—I want to break them.”

“Speaking of what we can’t take,” Felicity said, looking as if she’d regained her composure. “How are we going to get all our ill-gained loot back?”

“We’re going to take a portal with us. A small one. It’s the same thing the Fist uses—”

“The Fist?” Felicity asked.

“—and can easily act as a taxi for stuff we toss through. We won’t be able to use it ourselves, but it’ll be perfect for things no bigger than a dinner plate.

“Straight into our own receiving facility in Old Legion City.”

Felicity was looking to Miu, who seemed to be explaining the Fist.

“After that, our contractors are going to slip into their system while it’s isolated, download everything, and wipe everything we talked about previously,” Felix said. “On top of that, we still have that hack in the hero’s organization. We’re going to put some stuff into their own servers that will make sure they don’t get the right information from the bank for a while.”

“It would seem you’ve planned all this out,” Felicity said, looking at him.

“Of course. What guy hasn’t thought about robbing his workplace or a bank at some point?” Felix said. “I just get to actually do it.”

Felicity shook her head as a smile creeped over her face.

“You’re far more interesting than you ever let on. And I think I’d like to see this ‘Fist’ you mentioned.

“From what was described, it seems impressive,” Felicity said.

“Sure. Can’t use it since Faith magic just shorts it and—actually, that’s not right. We can have the Dryads cook something up, can’t we?” Felix said, looking off to the side and thinking on it.

I forgot about it. I just wrote it all off as a loss.

We need to see what they can do to the new Wardens and the Fist.

Vince, my Brother.

I owe you more than I thought I did.

Chapter 10 - Payday -

“Seems too coincidental,” Felicity said, fidgeting in her seat. “Almost like it’s a trap.”

“What, my power coming back? I suppose. If it hadn’t come from the source it did, I’d probably suspect a trap, too,” Felix admitted.

Leaning back in the bench seat, he grimaced. His body armor was digging into his sides again, forcing him to shift around until it got comfortable.

Miu took the opportunity to push herself up to his side, practically wedging him into the wall.

A lack of space tended to happen when you crammed twenty some-odd people into an RV. It was a large RV, but it was still rather full with all these people in full gear.

These twenty people were everyone going on the bank heist.

Neutralizer was already wearing his mask of Prime Minister Heather.

In fact, in a stroke of pettiness, Felix had made sure they were all going to wear masks of the prime minister.

Massive, wart-like mole on her chin included and over-exaggerated.

Sitting calmly on the ground in the middle of everyone, he seemed perfectly at ease.

“Report, branch manager has called to complain for the seventh time today that their internet continues to go up and down.

“She’s demanding we send a technician out immediately,” said an Andrea over the ANet.

Felix turned his wrist over and looked to his watch. The first delegates for the summit should be arriving in an hour.

That meant all the streets would be shut down in about thirty minutes for a few miles in every direction.

There’d be no traffic flow at all. Effectively locking down all the businesses nearby as well.

Including the bank.

The manager had decided to lock the doors up and go on an extended lunch for his people since there shouldn’t be customers anyways.

Which suited Felix’s needs perfectly.

“Go ahead and tell them we’ll send someone out and they should be there in about twenty minutes.

“Let me know when they get on site and start disabling everything to perform ‘maintenance,’” Felix said.

“Received. Power cut is ready to go once everything kicks off.

“The signals going out for their silent alarms and security triggers should be disabled as well once the tech hooks in.” Andrea sounded prim and proper over the ANet, as she always did. Far different than the exuberant young woman who had done cartwheels across an empty warehouse.

Now it was just a waiting game for the tech to arrive.

Closing his eyes, Felix felt pretty good today.

This morning he’d emptied their gold set aside for bringing people back.

A large number of Legionnaires were back on their feet and amongst the living once more.

Yet there were still more to get to. And they would need quite a bit more gold, due to the condition they were brought back in.

Or simply the fact that most of their bodies weren’t brought back at all.

There were many people who had been carried back as fingers or toes through their comrades after finishing them off.

An insurance policy of everyone leaving fingers behind in a morgue-like vault was still in place, but it wasn’t a quick process to retrieve them.

Legionnaires simply cut a finger off now and brought it back if they couldn’t bring a body.

Bodies were often lost to circumstances that couldn’t be dealt with. Usually battle priests caused those losses.

Felix closed his eyes and let his thoughts float away.

“Technician is on site,” Andrea said, her voice jarring him awake.

Opening his eyes, Felix found his head propped up on Miu’s shoulder.

She looked like she was experiencing pain and pleasure at the same time. Her eyes wide and staring at him.

“I was good,” Miu said, her hands locked together in her lap. “Very good. I listened to Felicity.”

“She was good,” Felicity chimed in. “And did listen. She kept her hands to herself and merely enjoyed your presence.

“Now, I assume that’s our cue to act?”

Sitting up straight, Felix cleared his throat and nodded.

Everyone in the RV looked his way, waiting for the order.

“Everyone get to your positions,” Felix said, fighting down a yawn. “Flip your weapons to active and be ready.

“Remember, Electro-rifles first, ballistic second.”

Getting to his feet, Felix picked up the small battle rifle that had been resting between his knees. It looked a lot like a ballistic rifle, but the real difference was in what it shot out.

He didn’t understand the mechanics of it—didn’t want to, either.

It was a custom job Felicia had put together several years ago. She’d made around fifty of them, but they’d found no purpose at the time.

Faith magic more or less negated their use entirely.

So they’d been shelved indefinitely. Right up till Felix had gotten the idea to have the Dryads bless them with their own faith.

Looking to the handle, he moved the selector to “coma,” so helpfully named by Felicia, and slung the strap over his shoulder.

Neutralizer was standing near the front of the RV now, one hand held up in front of him.

A small portal was forming. Still no bigger than a coin.

Stopping it right there, Neutralizer leaned down and peered through it.

He held up a hand above his head, asking for silence and that the exit was clear.

As one, everyone pulled their oversized masks down over their bulletproof face masks and helmets.

Standing up, Neutralizer started in on the portal again.

When it was big enough to walk through, he stopped and made a small motion with his hand.

Stepping to one side, he pulled his weapon up in front of him. He’d be staying here to maintain and control the exit.

A group of six moved up to take his place in front of the portal. Two Dryads, two Fixers, and two Minders.

More than enough to sweep through a bank lobby and subdue everyone inside.

Behind them, everyone else stood in order of entry.

Stock still.

Waiting.

They couldn’t move until they got the go-ahead from Andrea that the tech had severed the remaining lines linking the bank to the outside world.

“Lines are cut, point of no return reached,” Andrea said.

“Go,” Felix whispered.

The six at the front of the portal leapt forward. The sound of a door being flung open accompanied them vanishing through the portal.

Everyone in line rushed out after them. They were there to help sweep up the people in the lobby and bring everyone into the offices deeper inside the building.

An overly large man who seemed ill fit for this job was the last in line. He was a recent addition to Legion. Hired a week previously with the promise of bringing his family with him.

Given his power, Felix still felt it was a cheap deal.

Finally, even the heavy-set man known as Circuit-Breaker had passed through the portal.

Neutralizer was standing at the edge of the portal, peering through it. His rifle propped up against his shoulder.

“Good to go, boss,” he said.

Miu stepped in front of Felix and led him and Felicity through the portal.

His people were posted up in the corners, guns drawn and watching.

Circuit-Breaker stood in the middle of the lobby, looking out of place. Turning to face Felix, he nodded his masked head at him.

“Everything’s popped. It’ll take them days to replace whatever I didn’t want gone,” he said. “All the data on the computers is safe and secure, though. I’ll start rounding that up.”

Felix nodded at the man, his eyes sliding around the interior of the bank.

The doors were locked by the bank staff, the windows shuttered, and from the outside, it would look exactly as one would expect.

A closed bank due to the ongoing circus of politics not too far away at the expo.

Two of the bank robbers filed in next to Miu without a word. Felix imagined they were part of his bodyguard detail and were now reporting in.

“This is Camper-Actual; Scrooge is secured and all information taken,” said a voice over the localized ANet. “Waiting for next phase.”

They found the bank manager quickly enough. And even got everything out of him. Fun.

“All teams check in,” Felix said.

“Central-Actual,” Andrea said. “Everything is green.”

“Flash-bang, phase confirmed, ready,” said the breach team of six who would remain in the lobby.

“Exit-Actual, ready and in standby,” said Neutralizer.

“Camper-Actual, assets are secured, moving to secure ground-level vault, waiting for next phase for split,” said the team who had rounded up the staff and would be playing babysitter in the offices.

“Prybar-Actual, ready and waiting at jump-off point one,” said the squad of Dryads, Powereds, and Security personnel whose job it would be to take down the two supers in front of the elevator.

“EMP-Actual,” said Circuit-Breaker, trundling over to a computer. “Everything is toast, collecting intel.”

“Chair-Actual,” Miu said, her head turning to Felix. “Ass is secure and ready.”

No one laughed, but he could feel that everyone mentally had their own chuckle at his designation.

I wonder whose bright idea that was.

Whatever. Keeping them loose to have a chuckle.

If it’s on me, so be it.

“Prybar, you’re clear to activate,” Felix said. Turning, he moved toward the elevator in the back of the branch that would lead him down into the underground.

“I’m so excited. I’ve never been on something like this,” Felicity said. “And before you scold me, I’m using a private channel to you only. Andrea set it up for me. She’s such a sweetie.”

Marching along at his side, Felicity looked like any of his Legionnaires. Holding her weapon correctly, moving as if she’d spent hours training with Ioana, Victoria, and Miu.

“Prybar-Two,” panted a voice into the ANet. “Phase complete with two non-lethal captures. No fatalities, one wounded.”

Wonderful. That’s an ideal situation.

“Vicky gave me a skill book she’d been holding onto,” Felicity said, as if reading his mind. “She’s very helpful.”

No. No she’s not. None of them are.

You’re a poison that’s seeped into the entire Legion and taken over.

Witch, you’re a witch. Can you hear my thoughts, too?

“No, I can’t read your thoughts, but Kit gave me a crash course on how you work and think,” Felicity said as they entered a strange hallway.

It looked like little more than a looping path that led to the break room.

Except at the end of it, which had been a blank wall probably ten minutes ago, there was a steel frame with two doors wrenched off their hinges.

Moving past it, Felix found himself in the bay that led to the elevator.

Legionnaires were securing the area, tending to someone off to one side and locking down their captives.

“Phase three is a go, split Miner from Camper and merge with Prybar,” Felix said, moving into the elevator directly.

“How are we looking, Central?” Felix asked.

“All reports are green. Board is clear. No problems,” Andrea reported back.

“Phase three is a go,” Felix said.

Members from both the Camper team, now Miner, and Prybar team began assembling in the elevator around Felix.

This group would be taking the plunge with Felix into the depths of the bank.

Down into the vaults of the branch to find out what was waiting for them here. What they had tried desperately to keep out of plans and off the radar.

In under twenty seconds, the elevator was absolutely packed. They’d measured out how many people they could fit inside during rehearsals, and this was it.

Everyone was extraordinarily friendly, ass to crotch. But it was exactly what they needed.

Much to Felix’s displeasure, in a last-second move as the doors closed, Miu had wedged Felicity directly in front of him. And instead of it being a random Legionnaire, which would have eliminated any embarrassment, it was Felicity wedged up against his front.

The strange flutter in his stomach threatened to overwhelm him. Crawling up through his ribcage and wanting to tear itself loose.

Frowning at the odd feeling, one he hadn’t felt with anyone else since he’d met Lily and Andrea, Felix tried to clear his head.

The elevator lurched and then started to move down.

“I’m sorry. This isn’t really how I wanted it to be,” Felicity murmured.

Felix grimaced, wishing he could actually reply to her.

“I mean, I’m flattered and happy that Miu tries so hard to put me into situations like this with you, but… it’s not what I want.

“Not really, at least,” continued the Elf. “I want you to care for me. I know I care for you, and I think it might be love but I’m not sure. I definitely want to explore my feelings with you. Figure out if this… strange heat I feel in my chest is more than just physical attraction.

“I don’t want it to just be lust. Nor do I want you to feel like you’re indebted, or like you’ve been forced into this. So, I’m sorry.

“I’ll talk to Miu after this, see if she’ll understand.”

Felix chewed at his lip, thinking on her words.

He wasn’t emotionally incompetent, but he didn’t really understand why so many people wanted to share his bed. Outside of his abilities and powers, he wasn’t exactly a great catch.

“And since you’re probably thinking about it, it’s your mind. It’s your ability to see straight through to what matters and cut everything else out.

“To do the right thing, when it’s the most evil thing to do,” Felicity said. “That you balance it all out, top it off with what’s best for Legion, and pull it back through. Everyone calls it being corporate; I call it being a very good leader.

“Your brother is a great warrior-king, but a terrible leader. If ever you two decided to join forces, I’d pity everyone who stood before you.”

Join forces?

The elevator came to a stop, and the doors began to open.

The Dryads at the front of the elevator stormed out as soon as they could. Activating Warden shields held out in front of them.

Falling to their knees, the Dryads immediately enforced those shields with their Faith.

The rest of the elevator emptied out, everyone moving to get behind the shields.

Projectiles began to pound into the energy shields. They seemed like heavy rounds or even rockets, considering how bright the shields lit up.

Felix dropped down into the position designated for him. Flipping the selector to “vaporize,” also named by Felicia, Felix brought the rifle up to his shoulder.

Nosing the tip of his weapon out beyond the shield, he aimed toward an intense muzzle flash and pulled the trigger on his weapon.

The kickback wasn’t bad, but the bright blue stream of angry light that slammed out from the end of his weapon was explosive.

It snarled and whipped through the air, and the entire room turned blue as a number of other Legionnaires fired at the same time.

When the light from the shields dimmed like they were taking fewer hits, Felix released his trigger.

Pulling the weapon back through the energy wall of the shield, he glanced to the ammo box at the bottom of the gun.

The blue line was near the very bottom of the gauge. Pulling a new box from his utility belt, Felix pushed it into the loaded box, knocking it out, and slid the new one into place.

Picking up the nearly exhausted box, he put it into his belt while looking around him. Everyone else was seemingly going through the exact same motion, recharging their weapons and storing the spent cartridge.

Turning his attention to the areas ahead of him, he tried to see where the enemies were.

“Ass-actual. Eyes on?” he asked into his mic.

“Chair-three, I sense eight dead, two wounded,” someone said.

“Odd-numbered teams, pull secondary shields and shift up. Even-numbered teams work at shifting up the primary shields,” Felix said.

Working through sheer muscle memory from hours of practice, the Legionnaires began working to secure the area. The shields moved forward as others went ahead faster with portable shields.

“Seems like it was what we expected,” Felix said, watching as his teams kept pushing up.

“Any fixed defense that is runs a risk,” Felicity said. “It asks for someone to figure out how to break it, while it presents something to attack.”

“One of the main reasons I keep pushing Felicia to finish up that portal-vator,” Felix said. “I don’t want the entryway leading into HQ at all.”

“Portal-vator?” Felicity asked.

“Miner-one, room is clear. All foes are dark; ten is the count.”

Felix turned his head toward the exit of the entry room. Now that everything was cleared and the room wasn’t as hectic, Felix had to reconsider his previous words.

It wasn’t quite what they’d expected. The emplacements were in the walls, behind shields that looked a lot like they were Faith enhanced.

Without the Dryads, they wouldn’t have been able to move forward.

This would have been a dead end.

“Rush up and clear. Keep your shields up as you roll,” Felix said. Reaching toward a pouch at his side, he pulled out two items.

One was a folded-up tripod with attached wheels. Unfolding it, he telescoped out the legs and the central pillar, then set it down in the middle of the room.

Putting the second device on top of the first, Felix fit the threaded insert into the bolt and spun it in.

Then he pulled up a bar that was attached to the middle and locked it into place.

Activating it, Felix stood back and gave it a look.

After opening up into a circle the size of a large dinner dish, a portal stabilized itself.

On the other side was a cleared-out room in the heart of Old Dungeon City.

“Miner-two, contact and resolution. Six more enemies, all dark.”

That was surprising.

“Ass-Actual, coming up with the chute,” Felix said.

Grabbing hold of the bar that was coming up and beyond the portal, Felix started off down toward the vault.

The reason they’d gone through with all this.

Legionnaires were dragging bodies of enemies to the sides, securing weapons, and checking pockets as he went by.

Anything could provide intel. Even something as simple as a wallet, or the receipts in their pockets.

People got lazy and tended to feel like they were safe and secure in places like this. Like nothing could ever happen.

Like someone would kill them and check their pockets.

Wheeling the portal past two large doors, Felix stopped in the center of a large room.

All along the wall were deposit boxes of various sizes. Some looked as if they could fit a body, and some looked more like shoeboxes.

Three things were clearly out of place, though. A desk, a chair, and a computer.

Frowning, Felix wasn’t sure what to think. He’d been expecting boxes, a pile of gold—a single person in a cell, even.

Not deposit boxes and a computer.

“Central, we have a surprise. I need a repeat of operation Farmer, stat. Please send someone to the asset containment room. Notification on arrival, please,” Felix said.

“Understood; operation Farmer to be repeated,” Andrea said.

“Start opening the boxes,” Felix said into the local channel. “Dump everything into the portal.

“Let’s go, Legionnaires. We need to be out of here as soon as possible.”

Flipping his wrist over, he glanced at his watch. It had only been five minutes since they’d entered. They had fifty-five minutes before the bank was due to reopen, but he wanted to be done within twenty-five.

It’d give him thirty minutes to schmooze at the summit.

And establish his alibi more firmly.

Chapter 11 - Parting Shot -

Felix stood watching as his people systematically continued to crack open deposit boxes. Each box got a cursory look, and then the contents were swept into a sack if they could be casually tossed around.

Anything that needed a second look got a blue tag around the handle for an inspector to come through.

If the inspectors couldn’t figure something out, it got a red tag, which meant Felix needed to come by and give it a go.

There had only been a handful of those so far, and each one had looked like blackmail material owned by certain politicians. Felix had handed those over to Felicity to take care of with Lily and Kit.

It wasn’t his area, but he knew the benefit in having that type of thing on hand whenever one needed.

“Contact,” Andrea said over the ANet. “Three targets identified at the edge of the city heading inward. supers.

“Early trajectories show them heading toward your location. ETA is at fifteen minutes.”

Felix took in a slow breath, considering the options.

Opening his channel to the entire team, he chose his course of action.

“Closing bell. Ten-minute fire sale. Done in nine, one to be out,” Felix said.

He set a timer on the ANet for nine minutes and activated it.

Simply put, he ordered everyone to be out of the bank in ten minutes. That’d give them five minutes before the supers even showed up.

All around him and through the ANet, team leaders started calling orders as things were finishing up.

The ones in the vault seemed to focus and then pick out which deposit boxes they could smash open in the last rush.

Felix watched it all go down. When the timer got to three minutes, the Miner team smashed open a few last deposit boxes and started to hurry out of the room.

Felix pulled out his special present from Felicia and gave it a once-over to make sure he was holding it right.

At two minutes, the vault was empty of personnel.

Moving to the portal at the center, Felix turned the device off. Once the portal shut, he set down the black-hole bomb on top of it and pushed the button at the top.

A green circle appeared around the button. Felix held it down for several seconds.

The green circle turned red and began pulsing slowly.

And that’s the five-minute timer.

Turning around, Felix started to jog back toward the elevator. Miu and Felicity were standing at the entry engaged in quiet conversation.

The rest of the team had already gone back up.

Both of them looked to him as he came closer.

“Time to go; I set up the bomb,” Felix said, moving into the elevator. “Let’s get in and go.”

Miu and Felicity got in, Miu tapping the button to send them back to the top.

The silence between the two women was obvious, and Felix realized they’d been arguing about what had happened.

Switching his microphone off, Felix cleared his throat.

“For what it’s worth, if the desired effect was to make me aware of Felicity as a woman, you succeeded, Miu,” Felix said. “Just… don’t throw her at me like I’m a starving dog and she’s a bone, alright?

“You didn’t do wrong, Miu. And you’re being a good girl and behaving well.”

In truth, Miu had been on her best behavior since Felicity had gotten involved.

“Listen to Felicity. She seems to be steering you in the right direction, and you two are working well together.” The ding of the elevator stopped him from continuing.

Both women were looking at him now.

Miu looked as if she had been given a pat on the head and a treat, though. She was practically vibrating.

Activating his microphone again, Felix tapped into the ANet timer and looked at his watch.

One minute.

“Time’s up,” Felix said. “Everyone out—go, go, go. Move to the last phase.”

Moving at a quick trot, Felix headed toward the closet. The lobby was empty, and there were only a few Legionnaires left near the portal out.

Then Felix was through the portal, Felicity and Miu hot on his heels.

“Leaders, get a head count,” Felix said, moving into the very full RV.

“Supers are two minutes out,” Andrea said. “Technician has left the scene, and an assault and robbery report is currently being filed by someone else at the police station, according to plan.”

“Everyone’s on board,” Neutralizer said. He held his hand up against the portal he’d been maintaining, and it suddenly closed shut. “Opening a portal to the clean zone; everyone out.

“Standard turn-and-burn protocol.”

A new portal opened in the same place, but it was leading into Old Legion City.

Sighing, and feeling the collective drop in pressure from everyone, Felix marched through the portal.

Then he turned to one side and headed for an area Felicia had set aside for him personally.

As much as he tried to be “one of the Legionnaires,” everyone did their best to separate him.

“This is Central; we made an error. The supers are heading for the summit, not the bank,” Andrea said.

The summit? Shit.

***

Felix waited in the bathroom, adjusting his tie and feeling very anxious.

Kit would be here any minute to change places with him.

He needed her to work on the supers who had vanished off the face of the world after getting in range of the summit.

The bathroom door opened, and Felix watched himself walk through the door. He was dressed in a charcoal-colored suit with a simple gray tie.

Everything about the way he looked matched his own appearance right now in the mirror.

Closing the door, Kit-in-the-Felix-illusion looked at him and let out a breath.

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you. It’s like being a shepherd for a bunch of angry dogs,” Kit said in his own voice.

She gave herself a physical shake, the illusion was broken, and Kit stood there wearing a much more feminine-looking suit. Pulling at her in all the right ways.

Sighing, she pressed her hands to her jaws.

“It’s a wonder you don’t murder everyone around you at times. I mean, I’ve seen this happen to you before, but having it directed at me is very different,” Kit said.

Snickering, Felix shrugged.

“It is what it is. You come to expect it after a while. Anything I need to know?” he asked.

“No, and I honestly can’t remember their names, or even their designations.

“They all have telepathic blocks preventing their minds from being read. Thankfully, they’ll have to reintroduce themselves once the summit formally opens in an hour,” Kit said. “Though it seems like every one of them brought a pretty Beastkin woman along. And each seems poised to bounce you straight into a bed.”

Snorting at that, Felix wondered if it had been wrong to not curb that rumor. They’d spent a great deal of time actually reinforcing it.

“Goodie. I’m sure Lily will be pleased,” Felix muttered.

“Surprisingly, she didn’t seem as annoyed about it,” Kit said, a frown creasing her brow. “She’s been with me the entire time, so I imagine she’ll be able to guide you as needed.

“Now, if there’s nothing else you need, it sounds like I have yet another job waiting for me.”

“Yeah. Thanks, by the way, Kit. I couldn’t have trusted that to anyone but you,” Felix said. Walking over to her, he set his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to make eye contact with him. “I know you feel out of place sometimes, but honestly, I feel like you fit in perfectly as you are. Legion wouldn’t be the same place without you.”

Kit nodded, dropping her eyes to the ground.

“I know, and thank you. Alright, I’m going now.”

Not waiting for a second, Kit turned, and with a casual wave of her hand, she walked through a portal.

And promptly shut it behind her.

Glancing into the mirror, Felix checked himself to make sure he looked the same as Kit had.

Then he smiled at himself and prepped mentally.

We’re just security. We’re not a national leader.

All I have to do is talk logistics, security, and what we’re doing to protect them at the summit.

The only other possibility is them asking me to talk about security in Wal and how we’re handling the problem with aggressive religions.

Expect them to throw their young Beastkin girls at you in an attempt to get some leverage.

And the girls probably won’t even know why they were selected, other than it’s part of a job.

Sighing, Felix felt tired and pressured. The supers were a concern for him, though. A big one.

A group of powered individuals lurking around the summit right after he’d robbed a bank didn’t seem like a good thing.

Blinking once and clearing his mind, Felix walked to the door and left the bathroom.

Looking around, he realized he was in the large assembly hall they’d designated as an open meeting room.

It was meant to hold everyone while offering them refreshments and a chance to talk with others without cameras around.

All around the perimeter, posted at doors, even up in the rafters, Legion security was being run by Victoria.

On the outside, Ioana was running her own operation paired to Victoria’s.

Men and women wandered around the open area, talking, sipping drinks, eating finger foods. They were all dressed in very professional attire. Looking every bit the heads of nations that they were.

Felix spotted Lily and three Dryads to one side.

Once more, the soul-stealing sorceress was dressed in a professional and very enticing skirt, jacket, and blouse.

She must have felt his eyes on her, because her head turned his way and she smiled.

Walking over to him, she reached out and ran her fingers along his lapel.

“Welcome back, dear,” Lily said, moving up close to him.

“Is it that obvious?” Felix asked, grinning at the fact that she’d immediately known it was him and not Kit.

“Kit doesn’t look at me the same way you do, silly. You tend to eye me the way a hungry man would look at a feast,” Lily said, then gently pulled on his tie.

Felix couldn’t help but notice the armed young Dryads watching the exchange with smiles.

“What do I need to know?” Felix asked, trying to change the subject.

“Nothing. Other than there’s a horde of young Beastkin women looking for you and your bed.

“One or two per country, I believe,” Lily said. “Otherwise, normal politics.

“The welcoming ceremony is going to be in about thirty minutes.”

Felix smiled and then wandered over to a nearby table.

Picking up a glass of water, he looked toward the room again, wondering whom it would be best to talk to.

“Who’s Kit already spoken with?” Felix murmured, Lily at his elbow.

“No one. She’s made a point of checking security, walking the perimeter, and being aloof.

“Fitting for your personality to be honest,” Lily said.

Makes it easy, then, to slip into this.

Picking out the prime minister of Wal, Felix grinned and set off for her. It wouldn’t hurt at all to have her validate his whereabouts later on.

Heather was talking to a man in his late middle age. He was wiry. Thin.

To Felix, he looked like a problem and a half.

Walking straight up to Heather, Felix smiled at her when she turned to face whoever was on a crash course with her.

“Ah, Mr. Campbell. I must say I’m quite satisfied with everything you’ve put together so far for the summit,” Heather said, her mouth pinching around the compliment as if it was sour.

Felix nodded to the woman and lifted his glass slightly.

“My pleasure, of course. We were hired to do a job, and we’re happy to do it,” Felix said. “Legion prides itself in its work and responsibilities.”

“Hm. Have you met Daniel?” Heather said, lifting her free hand to indicate the man next to her. “He’s here as an attaché to the nation of Meer.”

Felix turned to the man and gave him a once-over. He had gray hair but looked younger than the color would imply. Otherwise, he was a fairly unassuming-looking man.

Holding out his hand, Felix gave him a normal corporate smile.

“I’ve heard quite a bit about you and your Legion, Mr. Campbell,” Daniel said, shaking his hand.

“Oh? Good or bad? There seems to be little in the way of middle ground in the country of Wal right now,” Felix said, giving his hand a few solid pumps before letting it go.

“Both, to be honest. From what I can tell after speaking with so many, though, it would seem as if you’re predominantly working in favor of big government and their position on religion,” the man said.

“I support whatever helps the most people and keeps the government running. I lived in Skippercity and Tilen when the Awakening happened,” Felix said, with no false heat to his voice. “I think I can speak for the hundreds of thousands who died since then when I say there are a number of gods we could do without. They want only to dominate other religions and foster war.

“Religion is a good thing, and I support its growth and the good things it can do for its worshipers, but not the violent suppression of other religions.”

Daniel didn’t immediately respond; instead, he stared at Felix.

Deciding he didn’t want to play the game he himself was so well trained at, Felix smiled at Daniel and turned to Heather.

“It was good to see you, Prime Minister. I’ll leave you to it for the time being.

“I’m going to mingle some more, see if I can meet anyone interesting,” Felix said. “Good day, Daniel.”

Then Felix turned and moved away from the two. He wasn’t about to be dragged into a religious debate right in the middle of a religious summit.

Especially when he was nothing more than the head of security for the event.

On the periphery of his vision, Felix saw a woman with red Fox-ears on the top of her head moving his way. A thick, bright red mane fell down her back. She wasn’t dressed as professionally as so many others, but she certainly caught the eye in her slim black skirt and white blouse that had a few too many buttons undone.

Off to her side, several other Beastkin women with a myriad of attributes were also heading his way.

One and all, they were incredibly pretty.

Ah. There they are.

Unable to prevent the incoming event, Felix did his best to ready himself.

“Felix,” came Ioana’s voice over his earpiece. “I have several people at the entry who want to talk to you.

“Also, it appears Legion security is swarming all over the bank. We can see it from the steps.”

Coming to a stop, Felix turned his head toward a hallway that would lead him out to the entryway.

“They have badges, and they seem as if they’re here from the Heroes guild,” Ioana said.

Oh? That’s a bit of a surprise.

As the Fox walked up to him, Felix gave her a broad smile.

“Forgive me. You’re a lovely looking Beastkin, and I’d be happy to entertain you another time, but I’ve just been called to the entry gate.

“Apparently we have some guests that would like to have a word with me.

“Could I have a rain check, Miss…?” Felix asked, staring into the Fox’s eyes.

Blinking rapidly, the woman smiled at him, canines slipping past her lips in a ferocious smile.

“Sarah Riks. I’m a reporter. And yes, I’ll take that rain check. I’ll be sure to arrange an interview with your personal secretary immediately,” said the Fox. She gave him a small finger wave, but she didn’t walk away.

“On my way,” Felix said into his microphone at his collar as he turned toward the entry.

“Any thoughts on what it could be?” Lily asked, matching him pace for pace.

“No idea. Seems quick for the other bit, but it could be. It’d mean we missed something, or they’re just looking for an excuse,” Felix said.

Stepping into the hallway, he looked toward the end to find a security checkpoint manned by Legion.

Off to one side was the office area—that would be where Ioana kept herself situated unless something was needed.

“It’s something I’d do if I was in their position,” Felix admitted. “Even if all it did was let me have a chance at interrogating someone I felt would be worthwhile.”

Lily grunted and then started talking to someone on her own earpiece.

Passing through the security checkpoint without even a word from anyone, Felix turned toward the office area.

Several Adrianas were there, and they immediately stepped aside for him.

Moving into the room, Felix saw two people, a man and a woman, sitting with Ioana in her office.

They were both wearing super suits that hid most of their features.

They really do need to get over the spandex.

“Hello,” Felix said, moving over to stand beside Ioana. “I’m Felix Campbell. What can I do for you two?”

“We’re investigators from the Heroes guild. We’d like for you to come with us back to the local precinct,” said the male super. “We’d like to take a statement from you.”

Both the man and the woman pulled a badge from somewhere—which was surprising, since it didn’t seem like they had pockets—and set them on the desk in front of Felix and Ioana.

Glancing down at the shiny badges, Felix did a quick check with his powers.

They were both genuine, giving him their names. Both their real names and their super names.

“Well. That’s awfully convenient,” Felix said, looking back to the supers. “What would be the focus of the statement? The last time I had some of your kind show up, it ended in a lawsuit.”

Smiling, Felix stared at the woman.

He knew she was the senior partner here, based on her rank that had been given back to him by his powers.

“I think that’d be best discussed at our local facility,” said the male again.

“No,” Felix said simply. “Unless Becky here can tell me what the actual reason is, this discussion is over.

“You have no legal recourse to take me anywhere without my permission unless you have some sort of charge to put against me.”

The female super seemed to lock up in her seat. The eyes behind her mask were dull gray and unflinching as they stared back at Felix.

Her name was Rebecca, not Becky, but it demonstrated his point perfectly.

Blinking slowly, Felix turned his head to one side, not opting to fill the silence.

The male super stood up, looking like he was about to reach out to touch Felix.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Lily said from the doorway. “The last time one of your kind did such a thing, we got a nice payout from it.

“My client is well within his rights, and unless you have something relevant to discuss with him, it’s best if you keep your hands to yourself.”

“Unless you’d like to give us another payout,” said a voice from behind Lily.

Lauren Aston, Lily’s second in command, appeared, moving around the lawyer. Short brown hair and blue eyes gave her a very different look than Lily’s, though every bit as attractive.

Glancing at the new arrival, Felix had to keep himself from smiling.

Lily had been keeping Lauren up to date on the comings and goings of the Heroes guild and law as far as he knew. If anyone knew all the ins and outs, it was Lauren Aston.

The male super looked at the female hero, and everyone waited.

“We’d like to talk to you about a bank robbery,” Rebecca said finally.

“Oh? That’s rather interesting. A bank robbery. I wasn’t aware of one. Where’d it happen?” Felix said.

“Here. Right under your nose,” hissed the male super.

“I haven’t gotten a report on it yet. My apologies. I’ll have to look into it. I’ve been tied up here all day with the summit, you see,” Felix said. “Though I’m happy to give a statement. Just not where you want me to.

“If you want to take my statement here and now, I’ll be happy to give it. Otherwise, I’ll see what time I can book you in for tomorrow.”

Felix patted Ioana on the shoulder and then left his hand there.

“Now, if that’s all, you can leave. We’re hosting a summit here to discuss global matters. We were asked to provide security for it since… well… the Heroes guild is little more than a clubhouse now.

“Isn’t it?” Felix asked with a grin.

Chapter 12 - Worries -

The male super clenched his hands into fists and looked like he wanted to leap out of his seat.

“A clubhouse?” he growled from between his teeth. “It’s because of people like you! People who sit on the sideline and take pot shots at us!”

Felix snorted at that.

“Hardly. You want to know why you’ve been reduced to under a hundred members?

“Why your resources are stretched so thin, you can’t even afford to keep all your buildings open anymore?

“Why the Heroes guild, the mighty and invincible great hope that it was, has fallen and will be nothing more than a footnote?” Felix asked. “Because your leadership was full of fools.”

Felix leaned over Ioana’s desk toward the male super.

“Your leaders squandered your resources. If you want an example that’s close to my heart, how about you go look up the incidents in Skippercity involving me.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about it.”

“A rogue element, nothing more,” said the male super, the heat in his voice rather subdued now.

“A rogue element. How quaint. Yes, that’d be what I’d claim, too. For a black-kite operation I launched but didn’t want to own after the fact.

“Let’s not forget what happened in Tilen afterward. The sheer scope of the surveillance that was put on myself and Legion. I wonder how much that cost? Both in manpower and resources,” Felix said.

There was no response from the super this time.

“Now let’s move on to the simple and easy-to-spot facts that are pretty available even to the layman on the internet.

“The guild waged a war it was never going to win against Skipper, the religious warlords, and every villain who tried to use the events in the world to their own gain.

“Your leaders frittered away lives like scraps from a plate. As if they were nothing more than replaceable pieces on a board game. And now, after spending years in this never-ending war, you’ve lost.

“Your resources are gone, your financial backing spent, and your members dead,” Felix said, shaking his head. “For all the world to view, here lies the ruin and wreckage that was the guild. Died for an idea.

“That being right, or righteous, was all one needed to win. That doing everything honorably would lead to victory.

“And that’s not the way of the world. The good guys can lose as easily as the bad guys, and who’s who changes in a fraction of a second.”

Standing upright, Felix let out a shuddering breath.

He hadn’t meant to unleash such a tirade, but he was tired of them. Tired of what they represented.

Their goodie-goodie wholesome beliefs that would doom a world for the sake of an ideal.

It sickened him.

“I think it would be best if we got your statement another time,” said Rebecca, standing up slowly.

Adjusting her suit, she continued, “For what it’s worth, I believe you’re right. The guild is under new leadership, and we’re working to correct everything we can as rapidly as possible.

“Maybe it’s too late, but it doesn’t mean we’ll stop either.

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Campbell.”

Rebecca and her companion left the office without another word. The silence still and complete once they’d done so.

“It’s odd that they’re involving themselves,” Lauren said, raising a hand to her throat. “Very odd. In fact—”

Lauren turned her head to one side, the hand at her neck going up towards her ear. It was obvious she was asking some questions to someone else entirely.

“You had the guy looking like he was doubting his profession,” Ioana said, tilting her head to the side to look up at Felix.

“Chances are he went through sub-standard training and got pulled up into the active ranks too early. He probably has all the rah-rah stuff still in his head,” Felix said. “He’ll be dead before the year’s out.”

“Felix,” Lauren said, getting his attention again. “I’d like to talk to you about this, but I don’t like this location.”

Ah, she’s not wrong. This isn’t the place to talk about anything that’s Legion business.

There’s no guarantee we’re safe from people listening in.

“Right. Alright, let’s go finish up this introductory event and get a leg back to base. We’ll need to talk about this supposed bank robbery; I’m sure there’s a report waiting for me with my name on it,” Felix said.

***

Feeling strange, Felix rubbed his fingertips against his temples.

He felt like he should feel victorious. That simply having crushed the bank and the people who’d backed the attack on Legion was worth celebrating.

But he didn’t feel it. Things felt wrong.

Off.

“Feeling like it was too easy?”

Of course, it’s her.

Expecting Felicity, Felix looked up and found her in the doorway to his office.

“Feeling like something is wrong. We did exactly what we set out to do.

“We missed some loot in the end due to the supers arriving, which was odd, but that’s how it goes,” Felix said, then shook his head. “No, something doesn’t feel right. I’m missing something. I know it.”

Felicity frowned, her lips pursed. Taking a quick breath and letting it out, she walked over to him. When she stood directly in front of him, she looked down into his face.

“Felix Campbell, there will always be something you can’t account for. Always.

“And for all we know, you’re right,” Felicity said. She reached up with both hands and began to gently drag her index fingers across his brows. “Maybe we’ve been outsmarted, and they did something we don’t know of.

“Perhaps they know we did rob their bank.”

Felix felt his skin immediately prickle at her touch. He felt the need to shiver and pull away involuntarily.

His eyes felt heavy and he closed them most of the way, not really sure what to do with himself.

Felicity pulled her fingernails down along his cheekbones, across his cheeks, and back up along his jawbone.

“And so what if they do? Let’s assume they really do know it was us. That they even have some bit of proof or some idea of how we did it.

“Does it matter?” Felicity asked. “So long as we’re always working as you’ve made Legion to do, we can change our direction and proceed. Jump tracks and fuck off, as Felicia would say.”

Felix nodded his head a bit at that.

She was right. Even if they were caught out with their pants down, they could move and shift.

Felicity began to lightly use all her fingers to carefully scratch through Felix’s sideburns and up into his hair.

“And when it’s all said and done, we just move on to the next obstacle.

“From the files in your database, that seems to be the way of Legion in the past. Adapt and overcome,” Felicity said. “This’ll be no different.”

Closing his eyes, Felix took in a slow breath. The anxiety he’d felt was draining away.

Felicity’s fingernails methodically worked back and forth across his scalp. He could feel her fingers lightly sifting through his hair as they went.

“Now, I’d love to continue this, but I can hear the others coming. If you’d like, I’d be happy to pick it up another time,” Felicity said, gently brushing what felt like her thumbs over his eyelids.

Then her cool hands were gone, and the chair next to him creaked.

Opening his eyes as a door opened, he watched as Lauren, Lily, and Kit trooped in.

“You look like you’re feeling better,” Lily said, smiling at him. “Needed a moment to yourself?”

“Ah, yeah. Something like that,” Felix said, sitting upright in his chair.

Or just someone paying me a lot of attention I don’t deserve.

“Alright, so what did you want to tell me?” Felix asked Lauren as she sat down.

“Several things. From what the IT department could pull out of that computer you found, it would seem the bank itself is going to go under,” Lauren said, flipping through several documents she’d pulled out of a folio. “Their finances are skewed, and they were already going under. They also weren’t completely up and up on their insurance.”

Felix frowned and waved a few fingers at the paperwork.

“No need to show me. I trust you, Lauren,” Felix said. “They weren’t up on their insurance? How does that even happen?”

Lauren looked flustered, pushing the papers back where’d they’d come from.

“Uhm, I’m honestly not sure. I don’t think it’s ever happened before. It’s always been backed up by the Deposit Insurance Corporation.

“But that’s what it looks like through some loopholes they were exploiting. Everyone who had an account at that location probably won’t get their money back from what we stole from them,” Lauren said. “Some will; most won’t. And the bank is probably going to go into closure.”

Unable to comprehend her words, Felix shook his head. It didn’t make sense. He’d never heard of a bank running all their accounts without the DIC backing them up.

Sometimes banks would offer special accounts without backing, but not everything.

Being DIC insured was a point of competition.

“Yes, it really is that bad,” Lily said, clarifying the situation. “There’s going to be an economic crash for all of Wal.”

Felix pressed his hands to his face, thinking.

“I’ve prepared a few slides with some predictions,” Lauren said. “I’d like to share them and get your thoughts.”

Felix waved a hand at her to continue. He was still lost in his own thoughts, and this would buy him some time.

The lights dimmed, and the overhead projector came down out of the ceiling tiles.

A bright square of white light flared to life.

Lauren pivoted the projector around to the wall behind her and the others, then got up.

Everyone spun in their chairs to look at the slides.

Felix watched through his fingers.

Soft fingers trailed up along Felix’s thigh, and then across his lower back.

He didn’t have to look over to realize Felicity was petting him again.

And that was what she was doing. Petting him.

Soothing him.

Her fingers made small circles over his back and shoulders, unseen by all.

Adapt and overcome.

Our goal was to hurt those who hurt us.

Not those who weren’t involved directly.

“…jected to turn into a large loss for everything invested in it,” Lauren said, looking to the slide and indicating something on it.

Frowning, Felix interlaced his fingers and set his chin on them.

The simple answer was right there for him to take.

They’d lose nothing by returning the money they’d taken to those who were uninvolved. They could act the part of the DIC.

It’d even be viewed as assisting the citizens of Wal, and it might earn them some greater political currency.

Yes. This can be turned around to our advantage rather simply, can’t it?

“Alright,” Felix said when Lauren turned to open the next slide.

Felicity’s hand on his back slid down and away from him, the Dark Elf leaning back into her seat as if nothing were different.

“I think that… sums it up for me. I also have an idea of what to do,” Felix continued. “We have all their account information and what everyone had deposited, right?”

“Yes, I believe so,” Lauren said, turning off the projector and taking her seat again.

“We’ll act the part of the DIC. Buy a building we can rapidly turn over into a bank,” Felix said. “Quickly as possible. I only want the Bank of the Legion to do one thing. Take deposits and hold them in trust. That’s it.

“No loans, no investments—nothing.”

Lauren and Lily looked at him blankly.

Kit was already hard at work taking notes, her pen scratching back and forth across the paper rapidly.

At his side, Felicity was also taking notes in her electronic ledger.

“Bribe or buy whatever officials you have to, but I want ATM cards that work at whatever ATM they go to so they can withdraw their cash as they need it.

“Hire whatever contractors and experts we need to as well,” Felix said. “Use the proceeds from the belowground vault to fund all this. Put everything we took out of the main vault into a separate account as a slush fund to pay off those who were impacted by this.”

Everyone was taking notes now.

“Any questions?” Felix asked.

“None,” Kit said, looking at him with a wide and bright smile.

Lily looked less enthusiastic than Kit, but didn’t seem put out about it.

Your inner hero is showing, Kit.

“Great. Get to work, everyone.

“I’m probably going to take the rest of the night off and work on converting as much as possible to points and getting our people back up on their feet. We still have some days of me with my powers, so I want to use it to the best of my ability,” Felix said. “In other words, I’ll be in my office.”

Kit, Lily, and Lauren all filed out immediately, talking to one another about how to handle this most recent direction change.

Leaving him alone with Felicity again.

“Would you like me to follow you up and pick up where I left off?” Felicity asked as soon as the trio of women had left. “You seem starved for personal attention.

“I take it your wives treat you well, give you what they think you need… but they don’t realize you need a bit more attention right now?

“Have you told them? Asked?”

Felix didn’t respond. He didn’t want to.

Lily, Andrea, and Adriana took wonderful care of him.

But by and large, they weren’t as aware of when he was overworked. He was a bit too good at hiding it.

Kept it too deep down inside, it seemed.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Go, away to your office. I’ll join you shortly. I just want to pick up a few supplies,” Felicity said. “Nothing that would even remotely be a problem. I promise it’s innocent but will make this much better for both of us.”

Apparently I’m just easy for you to read.

Getting out of his chair, Felix made his way to his office.

He’d made the mistake of looking at his inbox as he went. The number of unread emails was one thousand and sixty-three. And that was after they’d been sorted through, as it was still a function of the ANet right now.

“A never-ending parade of emails,” Felix muttered. Settling into the seat behind his desk, he began to pick through them one by one.

“I leave you alone for a few minutes and you get right back to work,” Felicity said.

Glancing up from his terminal, Felix was at a moment’s loss. Then he glanced at the clock. It’d already been ten minutes and it had only felt like two.

The lock on the door turning got his attention, and he looked back to Felicity.

She was dressed in much more informal clothing now. A blue summer dress that came to her knees and a lighter blue sweater.

She had a small basket on her arm, her free hand on the door handle.

“I let Lily know I was here and asked Andrea and Adriana to do what they could for me,” Felicity admitted. “Better to be obvious than underhanded.”

Moving over to the couch he had in his office, Felicity sat down and patted the seat next to her.

“Come over here and put your head in my lap; we’ll get back to where we were,” Felicity said. “And you can talk to me about what’s going on behind that mask of yours.

“Because honestly, it seems like you’re keeping too much behind it lately, and you’re not getting a chance to let it out.”

Felix blinked, looking to the spot Felicity had indicated. He wanted to join her. He felt a strange need to sit there and be pampered.

To set down the weight of being the head of Legion for a few minutes and just be taken care of.

And he felt guilty for it. A strange, stomach-churning, self-loathing guilt.

It wasn’t as if Lily, Andrea, and Adriana didn’t take care of his needs. They did, and wonderfully so.

But he felt like so much couldn’t be said. That they wouldn’t understand.

That they needed him to be strong.

“I even made a small lunch for you as well,” Felicity said. “Come on over and I’ll feed you at the same time.”

Felicity began to pull out what looked like small sandwiches. Cut into bite-sized squares from her basket. Next came small bits of fruit. It all went onto the small end table at the end of the couch.

“Well?” she asked, giving him a warm smile.

Surrendering to the strange need rather than the guilt, Felix gave in. He wanted desperately to put his head in her lap and give up for a time.

Felix got up and slowly went over to her.

“Take your coat and shoes off. Then lie down, put your feet up over there, and lay your head right here,” Felicity said, patting her lap and setting her basket on the ground.

Doing as instructed, Felix found himself staring up into Felicity’s face above him.

“There. Now… let’s just—” Felicity’s hands came down and lightly unbound his tie. Pulling the ends apart, she set them to each side of his collar.

Then she reached into his shirt and undid the top three buttons. She smoothed down his collar and turned her eyes back to him.

“Now, how about you start laying out all those fears in your head? I’ll listen,” Felicity said, her fingers sliding through his hair.

Not wanting to look into her eyes, Felix closed his own and let out a sigh.

“I’m tired,” Felix said, surprising even himself when he started talking immediately. “For the last five years it’s just been a constant battle. One that we were losing until Vince showed up.

“I’m blocked at every turn. My resources are being chipped away at, and I’m losing people.”

Felicity began to trace along his hairline, her fingertips rubbing gently back and forth.

“Tell me all about it. All of it. I’ll listen to anything you tell me without judgment,” Felicity said, her voice pouring over him like a warm blanket.

Organizing his thoughts for a second, Felix decided to unload all his worries on her.

Small and big, petty and real.

Just like she’d asked.

Having children; worrying about parenthood; dealing with schools; wondering if Lily actually wanted to expand their relationship; Felicity herself; Legion; Legion’s enemies.

Even something as simple as having dinner with Ioana and Felicia.

He let it out.

All of it.

Chapter 13 - Getting it Out -

Felix floated up from sleep. Within a second of his consciousness surfacing, he turned to the side and pressed his face closer into his pillow.

He really didn’t want to wake up right now.

Snuggling into the soft warmth of it, Felix was determined to fall back asleep.

Barely, at the edge of his hearing, he heard a soft tap. Then two more.

A hand swept through his hair, followed by what felt like a finger brushing gently along his cheek.

Huh?

Opening his eyes, Felix forced himself to wakefulness.

As he stared into blue fabric, he didn’t know what to think.

He turned his head slightly and found himself nuzzled up against Felicity’s stomach.

She was quietly working on her pad, propped up on the arm of the couch. Her left hand was resting on his head, her fingers idly petting him.

As if feeling his eyes on her, she looked down at him and smiled.

“Good evening. Do you feel better? That was a fairly significant nap,” Felicity said.

She slid the stylus into the pad and set it off to one side. Then she laid her right hand on the back of his head, her fingernails scratching his scalp lightly.

“What—” Felix started, feeling like his mouth was very dry. Moving his tongue around to work some moisture up, he tried again. “What time is it?”

“Mm, I think it’s about five or six. You slept for around four hours.” Felicity’s fingers and hands hadn’t stopped, smoothing his hair back and caressing his face.

“I’m sorry,” Felix said, feeling embarrassed and unsure of himself.

“No reason to be. I’m flattered that you felt so secure after that deluge of concerns.

“Though if you want to apologize, I think you owe one to the Elex sisters and Lily,” Felicity said, giving him a small smile.

“Huh?”

“Everything you told me is honestly everything you should have already been sharing with your wives,” Felicity said, curling a finger around Felix’s ear. “It isn’t as if they wouldn’t listen. I’ve had many conversations with them and think I have a fair idea about who they are as people. They’d listen.

“Which means you didn’t include them for reasons that have nothing to do with them.”

Blinking, Felix didn’t know what to say.

“Your concerns are all valid. Even the ones about me. The guilt you feel for wanting to see where it goes with me, to fearing that I’m a spy,” Felicity said, lips turning into a wide grin. “Which I’m not, by the way—but I definitely understand the thought.

“But as far as I know, you’ve told none of it to those you love.

“I feel like you trust me enough that I can scold you on this. If I’m overstepping, tell me.”

He wanted to deny her words. To fight her, debate it and win.

But she was right. On all fronts.

Not sharing any of this with Andrea, Adriana, or Lily was an insult to them.

“No. You’re… right. Kit used to play the role of my minder. Prodding me into action and the right things.

“She’s… been in her own head lately,” Felix said. “I can’t rely on her to just pluck my thoughts out and force me. I need to be self-sufficient in stating my own needs.”

“Indeed.” Felicity tapped his temple with a thumb. “Now that lovely brain of yours is working in the right direction, I’m afraid you’ll need to get ready for dinner. I let Jessica and Erica know you were in a good mood tonight and wanted me to ask them out for you.

“Considering how much political backing we’re about to get with your bank move, it seemed like a good idea to ‘butter them up’ as it were.

“Get them prepped and ready.”

Felix nodded, his eyes moving back to Felicity’s dress in front of him.

She was right. With his most recent plan, he’d need to get both the news girls working. If he could shape the story on the first day, both good and bad, it’d be ideal.

“Tomorrow we’ll have dinner with Ioana and Felicia. You’ll need to say thank you for that bomb she made.

“I already bought you a present to give them,” Felicity continued, as if knowing exactly when his thoughts had accepted the previous statement. “I also put together some subjects for you to prep on that they’d find interesting. They’re all in the form of questions.”

Uh…

Felix started to laugh softly, wondering if this is what it felt like for others when he did it for them.

“Thank you,” Felix said, closing his eyes. “Let me know when we need to leave for dinner. I’m just going to… relax here.”

“Of course,” Felicity said. He felt her right hand leave his head, and he heard her pick up her pad again.

The fingers on her left hand started to lightly move through his hair again. Felix took in a slow breath and let it out, feeling much of the stress he’d internalized vanish.

Though one of his fears seemed to be growing.

Felicity had wormed her way into his life, and she was making herself too useful.

“Oh, I already went through your email box and physical correspondence.

“I responded to everything that needed an answer that I could handle, and I organized your inbox and email address by the things you’ll need to decide on or sign,” Felicity said absently as she worked at her pad, her thumb rubbing his jaw.

Far too useful, and apparently exactly what he needed.

***

Felicity was all eyes as Felix led her around Old Legion City. He’d decided to give her a formal tour once she’d admitted she hadn’t really been out in the streets.

They’d started out an hour before dinner and wandered around. Felicity had taken some time out to give him a glamour before they’d left. She’d magicked his true face behind a mask so they wouldn’t get swarmed or need protection.

Just as Lily had done the first time they’d gone out to Old Legion City.

“You had all this built,” Felicity said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes. It only took us a year. We keep adding more to it, but we have two cities now. Old Legion City and New Legion City. They’re connected at the portal plaza,” Felix said.

“You need to work on your naming conventions,” Felicity muttered.

They were slowly wandering down the main boulevard that led through the middle of the city.

All around them, Legionnaires moved about their business. Whether personal or Legion.

“You can build a city in under a year. Then… why are you still here? I’ve seen the reports. You’ve built a city and recruitment location on Legion Prime,” Felicity said. “There is nothing on that world that can pose a threat to you.”

“Because… this is home. I’d be giving up on everything here,” Felix said. “Giving up on everything we’ve fought for already and built for here.

“And I’ve already run away once. I’ll not do it again.”

Felicity shrugged lightly, her eyes roaming over a building to their left.

A soft chime from her wrist stole her attention away.

She lifted a hand and flipped her wrist over, looking to the small watch there. “Oh, it’s time to leave so we can meet Jessica and Erica on time.”

“So, where are we going?” Felix asked.

“Legion’s,” Felicity said, looking at the street signs.

Felix chuckled and then tapped Felicity’s forearm. “This way. I know the place well. Lily and I go there for our anniversary.”

“Oh? That sounds like a story,” Felicity said. Before Felix could get away, she slipped her arm into his and started walking with him at his side.

“It was where she took us for our first real date. When we started down the path to where we’re at now,” Felix said.

Then he started to worry. Started to worry about how much he hadn’t been telling Lily.

And how he’d break it to her.

“I already let Lily and the Elex girls know about everything you told me about. Especially the part where you worried for them and their wants,” Felicity said. “I imagine you’ll get a fond greeting when you get home tonight. You’re welcome in advance.”

Unable to help himself, Felix found himself sighing. Again.

Felicity hadn’t just maneuvered him, she’d solved it for him at the same time.

“Was she angry?” Felix asked.

“Who, Lily? No. She had suspected for a while, but I don’t think she wanted to bring Kit in. She was quite grateful to me.

“I imagine she’ll want to spend some time with me as well, if only to get to know me better,” Felicity said. Then she shrugged. “Lily is very pretty. I wouldn’t mind getting in her bed after I’ve secured you, if you’d agree to it.”

Vince’s world is so very strange.

Felix turned the corner and led Felicity on.

At the end of the street, on the corner of Felix and Legion, sat Legion’s.

The restaurant had grown over the years. Apparently it had somehow gotten out that Felix frequented it for special occasions. Its popularity had already been high before then, and afterward it had exploded.

That hadn’t changed its menu, service, or feel, though.

A larger layout, decorated with more expensive versions of its previous decor, and far more seating—but still Legion’s.

“It looks inviting,” Felicity said.

Grinning, Felix walked up to the podium on the inside of the eatery.

“Ah, welcome to Legion’s. Do you have a reservation? If you do, we can seat you immediately.

“If not, we can get you a table within twenty minutes or so,” said the hostess with a brilliant smile.

After a moment of déjà vu, Felix realized it was one of the high-schoolers from Tilen they’d brought with them.

He couldn’t remember her name, but he remembered her.

He glanced down at her name tag when she turned to her display.

Camille.

Apparently she had graduated from Legion High and decided to work in the city, rather than the company.

“Yes, we do. It’s under Felicity,” Felicity said without preamble. Still holding Felix’s arm.

Camille looked at Felicity and then froze. Her eyes locked on the Dark Elf, momentarily flicking to her ears.

Shit.

If he was lucky, people didn’t know who Felicity was yet.

But he was betting he wasn’t lucky. In fact, he was betting on everyone knowing exactly who Felicity was.

“Ah… of course. Welcome to Legion’s, Felicity, Mr. Campbell,” Camille said, clearly knowing exactly who he was now. “I believe you’re the first of your party to arrive. Let me take you to your table.”

Felicity looked at Felix with a sheepish grin. “Sorry.”

“’S alright. Just drop the glamour,” Felix said, then looked to the hostess. “It’s good to see you again, Camille. Haven’t seen you since Tilen.

“Decided you wanted to work residential rather than business?”

Felix reached out and offered her his hand as he spoke.

Smiling brightly, Camille nodded, clasping his hand in both of hers.

“Yes, sir. I did, sir. I’d heard you came here but I didn’t actually think you’d show up while I was working.”

“And here I am. Mind showing me to a table? We’re also expecting two more people to join us, as you probably know. I’m sure they’re under Felicity’s name as well.”

Camille scooped up four menus and then led them into the main ground floor dining room.

As they passed by numerous tables, Felix wondered where she was taking them. More often than not, he and Lily sat at tables like the ones they were passing.

Then again, we’re usually in disguise.

Camille took them up to a larger and partially private corner booth, which had always been reserved one way or another.

He’d only seen people at it once, and amusingly enough it had been Adriana and Andrea eating with Lily.

Camille flipped the wooden, red-and-black reserved sign off the table and set the menus down.

Smiling, she gestured to the booth. “Your waitress will be right along shortly.”

Felicity motioned for him to go first. “I want to be on the end.”

Felix didn’t bother to argue—he really didn’t care—and clambered in. Scooting to the interior, he gently pushed away the menu in front of him.

“You already know what you want?” Felicity asked, sitting down next to him and putting her purse between them.

“Yep, same thing every time. It’s delicious.”

Felicity clicked her tongue and picked up the menu, starting to read it. “That’s no fun. How would you ever know if you’re missing out on something?”

Well.

It’s not like it’d hurt me. And worst case, I can always send it back and order the normal if I don’t like whatever I get.

The price of two meals here in old town is less than the price of a fourth of a meal in Wal.

Felix stared at the menu, then shrugged and picked it up.

“Why not?” he said.

Flipping it over, he began to read through it in earnest.

Felicity glanced at him and gave him a smile. She reached over with her right hand under the table and patted him on the thigh, then began to lightly rub it. “Good to see you being adventurous.”

Rolling his eyes, Felix didn’t bother to fight the grin.

Well, this sounds different. We’ll try it.

Setting the menu down, Felix wondered briefly at the fact that he didn’t feel strange about Felicity’s overly familiar touching.

Then he thought about the fact that she’d had her hands all over him earlier.

None of it bothered him.

Whatever.

Looking out into the dining area, he saw a sea of faces turned his way.

Everyone could see him and was watching. He briefly waved, smiling at the patrons and acknowledging them.

“It’s odd. Vince had a similar effect on the people of Yosemite, but it quickly turned into a more familiar response,” Felicity said, closing the menu.

“For many, that’s a more appropriate management style,” Felix said, letting his hand fall.

Then he saw Erica and Jessica standing at the entry in front of the booth, hand in hand.

The dark-haired, brown-eyed Rabbit Beastkin Erica and the brown-haired, hazel-eyed Fox Beastkin were clearly in a relationship. Or so Felix believed from this point of view.

Both were pretty, though Erica was softer where Jessica had a sharp predator’s look.

Ah, that explains a lot. Good for them.

When Camille started leading them over to the table, they both seemed to realize Felix was watching them.

And then that the entire restaurant was watching them being led over to Felix.

Erica turned a deep, dark scarlet, and a smiling Jessica had to pull her along.

Pushing Erica bodily into the booth until she was next to Felix, Jessica moved in behind her.

“Felix, I’m absolutely floored that you’re having dinner with us publicly,” Jessica said. “And flattered. You never eat with anyone like this.

“You even invited us.”

Realizing the political opening was there, Felix decided to take it.

“What can I say? Erica is always so determined to get me to go to dinner. So why not take the two prettiest Beastkin TV personalities out at the same time?” Felix said.

Both Beastkin women stared at him, unsure of what to say.

“It’s good to see you two,” Felicity said, giving them a chance to respond.

“Ah, yes. It’s good to see you, too,” Erica said breathlessly, leaning toward Felicity as if she were a life boat.

Jessica nodded quickly in response.

“Good evening. My name is Amy, and I’ll be serving you today,” said a waitress as she sidled up to the table. “Could I possibly get you started on drinks?”

She was deliberately talking to Felix, who nodded at Felicity, who smiled at him in return.

“Could I have some of your house wine?” Felicity asked.

“Me too,” Erica and Jessica said in unison.

The server turned to Felix.

He was about to decline when the words died on his lips.

“Bring several bottles, please. I think we’ll end up putting them down quickly,” Felix said, giving in.

The server made a note, smiled, and left quickly.

Sighing, Felix looked to the two Beastkin.

“If you ladies don’t mind, I’d like to get business out of the way so I can enjoy your company tonight,” Felix said.

All three women were watching him now.

“Nothing spoils an evening like work, right?” he asked, grinning at them.

Still no response, which meant he needed to keep going.

“I’ll keep it simple, then. You both know we’re responsible for the bank robbery,” Felix said, moving on. “It seems the bank wasn’t insured half as well as it claimed. It’s going to go under.”

Both Beastkin blinked at that. Their ears perking up.

Can’t keep their inner reporters down.

“Under?” Erica asked.

“Under. As in, everyone is probably going to lose their money. So we’re going to act the part of the DIC. Anyone with an account and a statement can come to the newly established Bank of the Legion and start an account.

“It’ll match what they lost,” Felix said.

Jessica nodded. “Giving them back what we basically stole from them. Right?”

“That’s right. I wanted to get you on this now, so you could start developing your own spins on it.”

“I’ve prepped a number of reports and data for you,” Felicity said as both women seemingly went for notepads in their purses. “As well as summarized notes and points each of you can take that are unique to your positions and channels.”

Of course she did.

Jessica and Erica put their bags back down.

“Oh. Alright. Thank you,” Erica said.

“Yes, thank you,” Jessica said.

“You two make a lovely couple,” Felix said, forcing the topic away from work as quickly as he’d brought it up.

Erica and Jessica both smiled at him, the former blushing once again.

“Thanks, Felix,” Jessica said. “We make time for each other here in Old Legion City whenever we can.”

A small stockinged foot slipped up the inside of his calf and began to gently rub against his leg.

“But… we both agree we’d love to join your own relationship,” Erica said, leaning over table towards him. Her long ears dipped towards him as well.

“Oh, that’d be fun. You’re both so pretty, I’d love to explore that with you two and Felix if you’re willing,” Felicity said, patting Felix on the shoulder and then gently rubbing his back. “But only after I’d made sure everything was stable with Felix here and that he agreed. I wouldn’t want him thinking I was cheating on him.”

Not quite sure how to respond to that, Felix looked at Felicity, who continued to rub his back between his shoulder blades.

“Here we are,” Amy said, setting down three bottles and four glasses. “Are we ready to order?”

Yes, please. I’d like to move this along.

I suddenly regret all of this.

It’s almost as bad as when Lily was in her temptress phase.

Chapter 14 - Needs -

The soft, chirping noise of Felix’s alarm clock roused him from his sleep.

Lifting his head up, Felix looked at the offending device on the night stand.

Or tried to.

He was buried under an unconscious mass of naked Elex twins. It seemed to be made of arms and legs, mostly.

Tilting his head to one side, he could see out of the tangle.

There were two Dryads dozing on the couch, and a third was on guard, apparently on duty.

She was quietly watching him sleep naked amongst the press of Beastkin bodies.

“Could you get the alarm?” Felix asked.

The Dryad nodded once and reached over to the night stand. She tapped the button on the clock before it got louder.

Sighing, Felix let his head slip back into his pillow.

He remembered escorting Jessica and Erica back to the portal plaza. Then taking Felicity to her room, where she kissed his cheek and bid him good night.

Then he’d gotten home and… was attacked by sad and upset Andreas and Adrianas. After a brief discussion and him giving them a quick rundown, they’d seemed pacified.

Right up until they’d mauled him in the bed, then coerced the Dryad bodyguards to help keep Felix “active” all night long.

“Your device is going off, not the alarm,” murmured the same Dryad guard. “It has a picture of Kit on it.”

Kit’s calling me?

“Mind picking it up and bringing it over here?” Felix asked. “I’m somewhat pinned and she’s a very heavy sleeper.”

The Dryad raised her eyebrows at that, but picked up the phone and came over to him.

She held it out while letting her eyes roam over both Felix and the naked Beastkins.

They really don’t have much in the way of sexual morality, do they?

Taking the phone from the Dryad, Felix checked the screen.

It was Kit.

Tapping the green receive button, he pressed it to his ear.

“Felix here.”

“Ah, I see you woke up with your alarm after all,” Kit said. “I wanted to talk to you as soon as possible. We might have a lead on two other people behind the attack on us.”

“Oh? I’m all ears,” Felix said, shoving a fluffy tail out of his face.

“The computer you found inside the lower vault had a wealth of information on it.

“It took a bit for our people to crack through the encryption without damaging anything, but… they managed it,” Kit said. He could hear paper shuffling around in the background, like she was sorting things. “In the end, we were able to dig up a few names that seem like they’re supporting efforts from a government, political, and public-facing side.

“Care to guess?”

Looking up, Felix found the Dryad looking at him with lidded eyes and her lower lip stuck between her teeth.

“Not really. Care to clue me in?” Felix asked.

The blonde Dryad reached up and started to fiddle with the zipper on her ballistic armor, as if contemplating unzipping it.

“It’s the assistant prime minister. He recently detached himself from Heather and is running his own platform for future elections,” Kit said.

“Wait, the assistant?” Felix asked, watching the Dryad as she seemed to debate stripping down.

“Yes. His name is Blake Gresham. It’s thin, but… we were able to match some of the money backward to him.

“It’s a lot more complicated than that, but… this feel right, but thin.”

Making up her mind, the Dryad quickly unzipped her vest and began pulling it off, freeing herself from the material.

Pressing the phone to a tail nearby, Felix smiled at the Dryad.

“You’re awfully pretty, but I really don’t think that’s a great idea. I’ve got too much to handle as it is,” Felix said in a whisper to her. Then he pressed the phone back to his ear. “Alright. Got it. So we need to figure out a course of action to take regarding the assistant and his bid for the prime minister position.”

“Are you thinking of running against him?” Kit asked.

“Hell no. Last time I ran in a race, I kicked off a war that got a city nuked. Pass,” Felix said.

Watching the Dryad warily, he waited as she clearly warred with a desire to strip further. Then get into the bed.

Or actually listen to his order. The vest was unzipped, hanging off her elbows. Her hands were holding the bottom hem of her tank top.

“Though I think we can work in the background on this one. Dig up everything you can on Blake and let’s meet up in a bit,” Felix said.

“I’ve already booked a meeting with Felicity for you later today,” Kit said. “Oh, and Eva came back last night. I’m sure she has a story for you.”

Felix let out a sigh, then smiled. Eva was back, safe and sound.

Wait, doesn’t that mean Vince is back, too?

I wonder if he killed that Dragon.

“He also sent over a massive shipment of gold. I’ve had it prepared for you to turn and burn down into points,” Kit said. “Just waiting on you to play Necromancer.”

“On my way. And tell Vince I would love to see him,” Felix said turning the phone off. He started to push the Elex sisters out of his way.

He wanted to get his people back on their feet.

Immediately.

The Dryad gave him a sad look, then pulled the vest back on and zipped it up. Grabbing her SMG, she gave him a flirty smile.

“Next time?” she asked.

Felix ignored her question.

Great.

At least she’s got her head on straight when it’s time for business. Though she did kind of abandon her post.

***

Felix’s morning was the very definition of busy.

The gold Vince had sent over was vastly more valuable than gold from this plane. So much that Felix had just burned it all immediately to points and resurrected his Legionnaires.

All of them.

It was the first time in a long time that the casualty list was empty.

That there was no one in the morgue.

That all his people were up and alive.

And now for the last hour, he’d been listening to Eva spin him what sounded like a fantasy story.

Most of it seemed impossible and unlikely, but since Eva was telling it to him, he believed it.

“…then we came here. Sent the gold over, and we’ve been recovering,” Eva said.

“It just seems so incredible. To fight a Dragon, win, marry it, and wage a war with limited forces while on the run,” Felix said, shaking his head.

“Vince seemed absolutely determined to fulfill his end of the bargain for the tech you sent over,” Eva said. “I get the impression he feels indebted to you in a way he can’t repay.”

“Mm. I can almost say the same,” Felix said, shaking his head. “Everyone is up, Eva. Everyone. And the Dryad’s magic cuts right through Faith magic. As if it weren’t there.

“We’re… winning. Or if we’re not winning, we’re not losing anymore.”

“Wait, everyone is up?” Eva asked, peering at him.

“Yeah. Everyone.”

“How?”

“Vince’s gold. It’s worth more than normal gold. It’s a planar import. It isn’t even from this world. Or universe. Or whatever it is. But it’s completely foreign, so it was worth a lot more.”

Eva opened her mouth, then closed it. Then she started to laugh softly.

“So… what the Campbell brothers needed was each other?” Eva asked. “That’s oddly coincidental.”

Hm. No. It isn’t.

Or at least, I don’t think it is.

Another question to ask you, Mr. Benefactor.

“Felix, Vince is here,” said the Andrea manning his secretary desk.

“Send him in immediately—great,” Felix said.

Seconds later, the door opened, and Vince walked through it.

Smiling warmly, Felix stood up.

“Brother,” Felix said.

Behind Vince was a pretty and dangerous-looking woman. She had black horns coming out of her head and looked to have scales covering parts of her face.

This must be Taylor. The black Dragon Vince defeated and bedded.

He went to slay the Dragon and lay with it instead.

Covering the distance quickly, Felix wrapped his arms around Vince and gave him a tight, brotherly hug.

“It’s so good to see you. I was just talking to Eva about your trip. I’d not been able to really sit down and hear the tale until now.

“Would you and your companion join us?”

Felix could practically feel Vince try to flinch away from the hug. Clearly he wasn’t used to anyone being familiar with him who wasn’t one of his wives.

“Yes, we will. This is Taylor, my black Dragon,” Vince said, nodding his head to the woman beside him.

“Hello,” said the black Dragon named Taylor.

“She’s the black Dragon he fought and proposed to,” Eva said, confirming Felix’s earlier thought.

Taylor smiled wide at that and nodded quickly.

“He defeated me in martial combat as my Dragon. It was very… impressive,” she said.

The sexual desire in her voice was like a taut violin string having a bow drawn across it.

Their home must really be sexually charged.

“Come, sit, sit,” Felix said, gesturing to the chairs and releasing Vince.

“First, let me just say thank you. Those Dryads you sent to assist us—me—were exactly what we needed.

“Exactly what we needed when we didn’t even know we needed it. Their spells and belief cut through the enemy as if they were nothing.

“And the fact that they’re all able to fight, heal, and use magic makes them beyond useful. It only took them a day to adjust and adapt to firearms and body armor,” Felix said, wanting to give Vince his thanks before anything else could be said.

“At least, it worked out after that day-long orgy. I had no idea Dryads were actual Nymphs,” Felix said, remembering the reports he’d gotten the next day.

“Did they settle on one man? My understanding is a grove calms down considerably once they’ve settled on one man,” Vince asked.

“They did and you’re right. They calmed right down after that.

“Amusingly enough, Eva’s brother. Evan,” Felix said smirking. “He’s, uh… been indisposed ever since.

“Though I’ll gladly trade him for the Dryads and consider myself light years ahead.”

“Evan won’t complain. I managed to get him to pick up the phone. He sounded exhausted, but… happy,” Eva said, her tone amused.

Standing up, Eva clapped her hands together. “Alright Taylor, you come with me and we’ll leave them to chat without us.”

Taylor frowned, looking at the younger woman. It was obvious she didn’t want to leave.

“It’s alright, we won’t go far,” Eva said. “I promise.”

Putting a hand to Taylor’s back, Eva led the other woman from the room.

When the door closed behind the two women, Felix looked to Vince.

“So… you came through for me with flying colors, Vince.

“Your Dryads are the perfect accompaniment to my own forces, and the amount of gold you sent over is… astounding. I’m also told it isn’t completely done yet, and more is being sent.

“On top of that, since it’s from a different… plane… it’s worth a lot more to me than regular gold. Even if it’s the same thing.”

“Huh. Does that mean you want to exchange gold for gold then?” Vince asked, jumping to a thought Felix hadn’t even considered yet. “As for me, I’d say the same. Your Wardens and artillery managed to change the battlefield for me.

“We pushed everyone back from the front and retook what we’d lost.”

Chuckling, Felix wasn’t quite sure what to say at first.

“It seems we both gave the other what he needed, then.

“And yeah, I’d be willing to pay extra gold to get more of your gold in exchange for it,” Felix admitted.

“Alright, we could do that. I’ll just need to get someone to work on it,” Vince said dismissively.

“I’ll talk to Felicity. She’s… an amazing woman,” Felix said, wondering again at how quickly she’d inserted herself into his daily thoughts.

He hadn’t even considered going to anyone else.

“Yes, she is. Is she working out well as an envoy?” Vince asked.

“Very much so. Now, enough about business. I hear I have a massive number of nephews and nieces,” Felix said, leaning forward. “When can I come meet them? I’ve gone to your world once or twice, but I haven’t managed to stay long enough for them to all be brought together.

“I admit, I’m rather excited to have family.”

“Whenever you want to drop by,” Vince said with a grin. “And yeah… there’s… a lot.

“But I’m sure they’d all be happy to meet their uncle.”

I’m going to spoil them rotten, fill them up with sugar, and tell them you want to play hide and seek.

Then sit back and watch.

***

Felix was sitting at his terminal, working through paperwork that needed his signature.

Things Felicity couldn’t do without him.

He needed to get most of this done tonight, because after tomorrow it was unlikely he was going to have much time to himself.

So many planned interviews, it’s not even funny.

Interviews, board takeovers, contract pull-outs, and lobbying. Going to be a busy, busy election period.

All while managing the summit.

Tapping the pen against the paper in front of him, Felix double-checked his signature. Finding it to be exactly what he’d expected, he picked the paper up and dropped it in his outbox.

Then he grabbed the next in the stack.

Reading it over, he slowed down as he started to digest its contents.

Felix frowned, not sure what to think of it.

Mr. White had put in a letter to request a formal transfer over to Vince.

As if Vince and Felix, Yosemite and Legion, were part of one larger company. And one could just put in a transfer request and be moved over, as simple as that.

Setting it to one side, Felix picked up the next paper in the stack.

When he got to the bottom of it, he was just as perplexed.

It was a carbon copy of a similar request Felicity had sent to Vince and his people. For her to be formally transferred into Felix’s service.

Closing his eyes, Felix set his chin in his hands and thought.

Losing Mr. White would be a blow; he’s very useful. His apprentices aren’t bad, but he himself is quite a creative man.

Gaining Felicity would be a nearly equal worth in exchange though, wouldn’t it?

Trade one for one, and it almost seems I might be getting the better deal.

But… am I being biased? Is it because I might have some burgeoning feelings for the girl?

Felix grimaced, feeling his eyebrows press together.

His thought felt like a lie.

I’m biased. Because she’s interesting, pretty, smart, and has interest in me. She’s not crushing me into the ground like Lily and Andrea did, but she’s cornered me and is letting me make the moves.

If I tried to slip away, she’d come for me.

But if I told her no, she’d back off.

Do I want to tell her that anymore, though?

Wait, no—this is all garbage. We need to evaluate the trade on its merits. On what’s offered and—

Felix growled and snatched up his pen. Rapidly, he signed both documents and flicked them into his outbox.

“That seems rather aggressive for you, love,” purred a voice from in front of him.

Looking up, he found Lily at the door, leaning against the frame and watching him.

“Care to share?” she asked.

Immediately, Felix wanted to say it was nothing. That it didn’t matter.

Except that’d be exactly what he’d been doing up to this point.

“I was having difficulty keeping my head clear in debating if Mr. White was worth Felicity in trade,” Felix said, gesturing at the paperwork. “They both put in for a transfer and they happened to hit my desk at the same time.

“Well, no, that’s not true. I’m sure she did it that way on purpose.”

Lily smiled with one side of her mouth and nodded her head a bit. “It does sound like Felicity. She’s every bit your equal in administration. Not so strong on the leadership side, or on figuring out how to really screw the other guy over, but definitely an administrator.”

Pressing a hand to his face, Felix pulled it down as if to scrub away his thoughts.

“And the other bit doesn’t concern you? That I’m biased and predisposed to want to keep Felicity nearby?” Felix asked.

“It did,” Lily said, nodding slowly. “And it still does. A little. But not much.

“I’ve had a few Minders poke around in her head. Kit, too. She genuinely has feelings for you, though they’re all tied up with a strange… carnal desire that no one can seem to explain.”

Lily pushed off from the door frame and came his way.

“From everything I can tell, she just wants you for you. She’s willing to do whatever she has to—to get you,” Lily said, pausing to sit in the seat across from him. “Though I’m flattered that she’s actually interested in me as well. She thinks I’m gorgeous and has even fantasized about me a few times.”

Felix chuckled at that and set his elbow down on his desk, propping his chin up on it. “You are gorgeous though, idiot. I’ve told you that many times.”

“You don’t count as much anymore. My charms no longer matter to you, and you’ll just say whatever you can to bed me,” Lily said, grinning at him.

“Well, the last bit is true, but the first part is wrong. Your charms are ever charming,” Felix said. Then he reached out with his free hand and tapped the paper. “I’m going to go through with the exchange unless you have a reason I shouldn’t.”

“I don’t. Not really. Now, how about you come to bed?” Lily said. “I’m feeling needy for your attention, and there’s this busty little blond Dryad that keeps making eyes at you.

“I’m feeling particularly awful and a bit territorial. Since she’s your bodyguard, she’d have to watch… wouldn’t she?”

What the…?

Lily gave him a wicked smile, her fingernails lightly tapping along his desk.

Things were changing around him more than he realized.

Even Lily seemed like she was changing.

Taking in a quick breath, Felix looked at his papers. “Alright. I might as well. We’ll be making some moves tomorrow, so I might as well hit the sack.”

“Oh? Moving ahead with your plan to get Blake out of the picture?” Lily asked.

“Yeah. I also want to contact the person running against him. One… Kevin Dane.

“This’ll be a complicated nightmare of trying to get public opinion going for our candidate and against Blake. On top of that, I’ll be doing everything in my power to pressure the governing bodies to be on our side, since they can cause problems,” Felix said, getting up from behind his desk. “Now… you were saying something about a bed and the Dryad?”

Chapter 15 - Reset -

“Here you go, dear!” chirped Andrea happily, setting down a Styrofoam container in front of him on the counter.

“And equally as important, here’s mine, dearest,” Adriana said equally as happy, setting down another Styrofoam container next to the first.

Picking up both containers, Felix turned and moved away before they could start trying to convince him one was better than the other.

This breakfast civil war is… just too tiring to deal with anymore.

Though I’m glad to see their food truck venture is doing so well.

Glancing to the long line sprawling out from the truck, he chuckled to himself.

Miu, Felicity, and Victoria were moving around him in a triangle. His normal bodyguard group a was bit further out, but still encircled him.

“We’re not going to eat?” Felicity asked. In one hand, she had two containers of her own, in the other a carrier with multiple coffees.

Glancing back at the food truck in front of the expo-center, Felix shook his head.

“Nope. Andrea believes world peace could be achieved through pancakes.

“Adriana defied the world order last year when she proclaimed waffles were better,” Felix said. “I can’t eat one or the other in front of them without having to eat both completely.”

“Oh. I see,” Felicity said, clearly not quite understanding.

“I prefer Adriana’s waffles,” Miu said.

“I still like the pancakes,” Victoria countered. “Reminds me of when I first joined Legion.”

Glancing at the two, he wondered at the change in them recently.

Victoria had taken to acting as his personal bodyguard again lately. Taking every opportunity to do so without wearing a helmet.

Miu had become less aggressive with others, but far more clingy, and had given up her own responsibilities to be his personal bodyguard as well.

Feels a lot like it used to back in the day. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

“Then when are we eating?” Felicity asked.

“Soon as we turn the corner,” Victoria said. “Just can’t let them see us is all. Felix likes to eat some of both, but he can’t finish either one.”

Felix shrugged, not arguing.

“Give me the rundown on this. I read the report, but I’d love a direct explanation,” he said.

“There’s been an ongoing disturbance back here. The number of days between each occurrence varies and it’s always at different times,” Victoria started to explain. “The cameras don’t pick anything up, and there’s nothing actually visible. Except the tech team swears up and down that when they point some equipment in that area, they get readings. They just can’t catch it right as it happens.”

“Ok, so why don’t we just drop a team on it and call it done? Don’t we have people on staff for exactly this?” Felix asked.

“We do, but they’re all busy. With our recent contract acquisitions, namely the summit, everyone who can be committed is. Those who aren’t were in the morgue for a while. They’re a bit out of date, and there’s no one with enough experience amongst them to lead this.”

“Suppose that answers my next question,” Felix said. “I was curious why you scheduled an interview for the same time period. I thought you’d just double-booked me or made a scheduling error.”

“Of course not. I make sure to be very careful with everything I put on your calendar,” Felicity said.

“I trust Felicity. She’s impeccable,” Victoria said.

“Felicity wouldn’t make a mistake,” Miu said at the same time.

Felix raised a brow and looked to the other two women. Neither had even considered for a second that Felicity had done something wrong.

And they’d defended her instantly.

“Right. That wasn’t strange at all,” Felix said under his breath, turning around the corner. They were officially out behind the expo now.

Security was tight all the way around the building, but the back and side yards didn’t have immediate or direct access to the entry points.

Which meant security was a bit less over here. If something were to happen, it would probably be here.

Though technically there wasn’t much someone could do here. Hence the lower security level.

“Right there.” Victoria pointed to a rather ugly modern-art sculpture. It looked almost like someone had just started smashing at a stone block with a hammer to Felix’s eyes.

Random areas were flattened out like cubby holes.

There was a pedestal next to it that probably explained the art.

Damn well guarantee I’d need that, since these things never make sense to me.

“What, the broken column thing?” Felix asked.

“Yes, that. The origin point for the disturbance is right behind it,” Miu said.

Wandering over, Felix gave the area a once-over.

He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“And the cameras don’t see anything?” Felix asked, looking up to the corner of the building. There was a camera trained on this exact spot.

“Not a thing,” Victoria said.

“Right… so… why am I here?” Felix looked from Victoria to Felicity.

Sighing, Felicity set one of the containers on the pedestal and set the carrier full of coffee on the edge of the stone platform the art was on.

She opened her container, reached in, and pulled out a pancake. Folding it over on itself, she began eating it dry.

“Because I need you to hire someone to take on this investigation and then assign resources to them,” Felicity said after swallowing. “I don’t have the ability to do that for you.”

Felix thought on that.

It was true, of course. Ultimately, almost everything came down to him and his choices.

Kit, Lily, Miu, Ioana, Felicia, and Victoria could all make hirings without him for their respective departments. And they could requisition resources.

As his admin, Felicity dealt with larger things but needed permission.

“When we get back, draw up some type of authorization that lets you act in my stead for all things up to company-wide decisions. Equivalent to any other department head, really,” Felix said. “No, you said I was interviewing someone. Where are they?”

Felicity, Miu, and Victoria had gathered around the coffee carrier and were pulling coffees out for themselves.

“I’ll draw up the paperwork as soon as we get back. Thank you… for that.

“As far as your interview, it’s Detective Torres.

“I found a request you had made to find her. So I did,” Felicity said, taking a sip of her drink. “Then this came up, so I decided I’d answer your request, see if she was interested in a job, and possibly solve two for one.”

“She needs a job?” Felix asked, puzzled.

“After Tilen fell, she moved around a bit. Landed a few police jobs but was only ever a recruit,” Felicity said. “They didn’t take her time into consideration with Tilen and almost seemed to fault her for it.

“Or so it read on her personnel files that we looked into.”

Miu and Victoria wolfed down their food and drink like ravenous wolves, then immediately returned to their duties of guarding Felix. Both women scanned the area around Felix as if the loose circle of bodyguards thirty feet away wasn’t there.

“Odd,” Felix said.

“Not really. I looked into some of the official records. The number of refugees moving into Wal has been considerable. This has put a fairly large strain on the economic situation here.” Felicity nibbled at her pancake while talking. “Honestly, half the stability Wal enjoys is simply due to the fact that Legion moved in. The company practically single-handedly propped everything up.”

Felix couldn’t argue that. He could remember loaning the government a substantial amount of capital in the early years.

They’d pay him back—and with interest since then, of course.

“So where did she end up?” Felix asked.

“Working as a coffeeshop barista,” Felicity said. “She has no family, no attachments, and a small social circle.

“With her highest form of education being a master’s in criminal justice, I felt she would be an excellent Legion candidate.”

That’s a lot of degree for very little wage.

Such is the way of the world. Take on a truckload of debt for the slim promise of a better job, then watch as everyone with experience take those jobs.

Legion is definitely in the wrong business. College degrees are a surefire, easy way to make money.

Get-rich-quick scheme to sell those educations.

“Ah, here she comes.” Felicity’s eyes moved behind Felix as she spoke.

Looking over his shoulder, Felix saw Detective Torres heading his way.

She was dark skinned, with brown eyes and short, straight black hair. He remembered her as pretty, and she still was, but she looked as if the world had beaten her down a few too many times lately. Aging her prematurely, putting years on her.

She was dressed in a white shirt and black slacks, with a coat. Dressed for an interview and looking well put together.

But Felix could see it in the way she was carrying herself. In the slight wear of the elbows on her coat. That her collar wasn’t quite crisp.

She’s on the edge of giving up, isn’t she? Let’s move this from temporary employment to permanent.

Hate to see a talent wasted.

Putting both his containers down on the podium, Felix turned to face Detective Torres.

Well, she’s not really a detective anymore, is she?

What’s her first name, then? I can’t call her detective.

“Her first name is Edith,” Felicity said.

“Get out of my head. It’s dangerous in there. Full of rusty bear traps and disturbing thoughts,” Felix muttered.

“‘Shower thoughts’ is what Kit said they were. Apparently you have a very active imagination,” Felicity said, to which Miu and Victoria chuckled.

Edith was picked up by the Dryad portion of his bodyguards and brought in to him.

“Miss Torres, a pleasure to see you,” Felix said, holding out his hand to her.

“Mr. Campbell.” Edith’s eyes locked on him as she shook his hand. He figured she was trying to determine whether this was a real interview or not, given the location.

“It’s a real interview, but not in the way you think,” Felix said.

Edith let go of his hand and looked at the women around him, then finally back to him.

“Do tell,” she said.

“I want to call in that favor you owe me,” Felix said, getting straight to it. “I have a job I want you to do. An investigation.

“After that, we’ll see where you end up. But you’ll be in the Legion. A Legionnaire.

“I haven’t needed a police force up to this point. Not really. But I imagine it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start putting one together.

“So depending on where this goes, I might need a police chief.”

Turning to Felicity, he gave her a smile and held out his hand to her.

He figured she already had an entire pay folder put together for Edith. If she didn’t, he’d be damned surprised.

Shifting her coffee to her right hand and digging in her bag with her left, she dug out a single folder with three tabs and handed it over to him.

Flipping open the cover, Felix read the tabs.

Twenty-fifth percentile, fiftieth percentile, eightieth percentile—that was what they read.

Adjusted salary against the market value. You’re a treasure, Felicity.

Flipping to the red one, which was the max, Felix found a standard Legion contract.

“Felicity, do you happen to have a modified contract in your bag? I would have probably called it a ‘Buildup package’ in the HR database,” Felix said.

“I do; one second.”

Felix smiled at Edith and gestured at the container. “Care for some waffles or pancakes? Or a coffee? We have plenty of all of that.”

“No thanks. I’ve grown a distaste for coffee and I already ate,” said the grim-looking Edith.

Felicity held a small pack of papers out to Edith.

“Great, so here’s the deal, Edith. I want to hire you to figure something out. That’s the contract.

“It comes with a number of perks and benefits. Feel free to read it over and—”

Edith pulled a pen out of her jacket pocket, flipped to the last page, signed it, and held it back out to Felicity.

“Now what?” asked the woman who was once again Detective Torres. She was clearly beyond her wits end. She didn’t even ask what her salary would be.

Felix chuckled and gave his head a shake.

“Well, for starters, we wind your clock back a number of years, fix you, and give you some powers, Detective Torres. After that, I have a folder for you to read over with your job duties, salary, and current project,” Felix said.

He had one more day before he would lose access to his powers. He’d spent all of yesterday doing maintenance and upkeep on various projects he’d had his eye on. Today his points were free until close to midnight, when he’d convert them to gold.

“What?” she asked.

“Probably should have read your paperwork. That’s on you, though,” Felix said, then stabbed the accept button on the build-up window he’d created for her.

Detective Torres locked up as if she’d been hit by a taser, then slumped to the ground.

“Right. Time to eat, then,” Felix said, turning to the container. When he popped it open, he found it was the Adriana waffles.

He picked one up, taking a deep smell and then a big bite.

If only they could cook anything other than waffles and pancakes.

Although this is still better than just pancakes. Having alternatives is great.

Chewing happily, Felix watched as Edith Torres literally shed years off. The lines and hard edges on her face smoothed out and simply vanished.

Soon, she looked like she was only twenty years old. Practically fresh out of college, even.

“Wow, she was younger than I thought,” Felix said aloud.

“Her file said she was thirty-eight, but there is the possibility she lied on it to command greater respect? Is ageism a thing here?” Felicity asked.

“Yes. It very much is. Especially if things are run by a bunch of old people who think the generation after them is full of a bunch of lazy, directionless kids.

“Funny—they broke the world and created the problem, and somehow we’re supposed to fix it for them.” Felix shook his head. “Joke’s on her, then, I guess. I had dialed it back to put her in her mid-twenties. She’ll be lucky if she’s twenty at all.”

A single deep chime came from his wrist. Lifting his hand up, Felix flipped his wrist over and looked at the display screen.

Urgent email from Kit.

The screen buzzed, then chirped again.

Urgent email from Lily?

It buzzed three times more, and he saw urgent alerts from the HR department and both Laurens in the Legal department.

Rather than opening the email, Felix tapped the icon next to Kit’s name and then pressed a finger to the earpiece he had in.

The line clicked once.

“This is Kit,” said the voice on the other end.

“Hey Kit, what just happened? I got several email alerts. Urgent ones,” Felix said, watching Detective Torres struggle to get to her feet. Her change having been completed.

“Felix! Good, great. I’m glad I got you on the line. We have to immediately act on this,” Kit said.

“Act on what? I didn’t read your email yet; I just called you instead.”

“What? Oh. Oh! Ah, the Wal Supreme Court is hearing a case on Legion.

“A case was put forward for an anti-trust hearing. They want to break up Legion into smaller pieces,” Kit said.

Felix’s breath caught in his throat. He didn’t quite know how to respond. The very idea of them moving on Legion was laughable. His company was so diversified that no one could ever hope to call them a monopoly.

But this wasn’t about right or wrong. This was about someone trying to hurt him.

To hurt his people.

“Blake Gresham is on the plaintiff list,” Kit said.

“Right. Ok,” Felix said, his brain spinning up furiously as he thought through the situation. “Can we reach out to any governments to have them accept us as a corporation?

“Even if they attempt to break up Legion, if we just move our HQ to another country that accepts us, then we’re fine as far as the legalities of being ‘Legion’ and everyone still being together.”

Felix paused and thought on the situation.

“No. I already reached out to a number of embassies as soon as the news broke and we were served papers,” Kit said. “They’re all sitting on the sidelines here. Though the PM seems rather miffed about all this.

“If we go down, she goes down, too.”

Pressing a hand to his head, Felix closed his eyes and thought.

Yosemite. That’d be legal, and my powers would remain active, right?

“Send a formal delegation and a company officer to Vince. See if he’s willing to sign for Yosemite. That’ll take care of our legal side for my powers,” Felix said.

“Yosemite? I… no, that’d work. Ok, yes. I’ll do that immediately. Anything else?” Kit asked.

“No, but get Lily as much in the way of resources as she asks for. This is going to turn into a real circus in the courts,” Felix said. “We’ll need to really pull out all the stops. See if we can’t figure out if it’s an individual judge from the Supreme Court hearing the case, or all of them.

“Then see what we have on them and how we can influence this. Alright?”

“Got it; on it. I’ll update Felicity as I go,” Kit said. Then the line clicked, and she was gone.

Tapping up a simple message with a few finger swipes, he sent an email off to Lily. Indicating he was now aware and she should link in with Kit.

When he turned back around, he found an angry-looking Detective Torres. She looked as if she was going to burst out of her coat and blouse, along with being decidedly younger.

She really did look like a college student.

“What’d you do to me?” she asked, and her voice even sounded different. Higher. Lighter.

“I hit reset on you, basically. I had you put to your ‘default’ state, as it were. What you would be if you hit all your genetic markers without influence from anything in your past.

“In other words, if a lack of nutrition in your youth caused your body to develop differently, I just removed that,” Felix said, giving her the short version. “That and built you up some. You’re a bit of a powered now.”

“I don’t understand any of this,” Edith said, looking down at her much-larger chest. “Did you do this?”

That’s kinda weird, actually. I wonder what happened there.

“Ah, no. I didn’t.

“The simple answer is I made you the best version of yourself. And the cost of that modification is very high, as stated in the contract you signed. You’re mine now,” Felix said with a grin. “Welcome to the Legion, Legionnaire Torres.”

Felix flipped open the folder still in his hand and fished out the project with all the reports.

“Your orientation to Legion will probably be today. That’ll include everything you need to know and how to find answers for anything else.

“Your apartment will probably be cleaned out tonight and moved over to your new residence.

“You’ll probably be squared away by tomorrow night, if I don’t miss my guess,” Felix said. “That’s mostly handled by HR and doesn’t require much from you. Here’s your duty assignment.”

Edith grimaced at him, stepping out of her shoes.

“Even my damn shoes don’t fit,” she complained.

“Yeah, something was seriously wrong in your childhood. You kinda grew… all over,” Felix said, gesturing at her with a hand. “Anyways, welcome to the Legion.”

Felix grinned at her and happily started eating his waffle again.

He was doing his best to put on the mask of himself that everyone knew.

The calculating boss that took delight in surprising his employees.

Even if he was panicking internally at the idea that Legion was under attack in more ways than one.

Chapter 16 - Curiosity -

Felix had his portable light-terminal out in front of him. His fingers rapidly tapped along the keys as he modified his internet search again.

He knew Lily was working on the same thing from her office, but he didn’t want to sit around and do nothing.

Taking a second, he looked over his shoulder.

Edith, Victoria, Miu, and Felicity weren’t far away, probably still going over the details of the case.

That or other cases they’re assigning her. Who knows.

Looking back to the screen, Felix sighed.

He didn’t have another meeting on the books for another thirty minutes.

Reaching across the picnic table, he opened the container and peeked inside.

Yep, still no more food.

He flicked a finger against his coffee cup and found it empty as well.

Briefly, he contemplated going back to the truck and getting more.

No, I don’t need it. I’m nervous, anxious, and a little bored. I’m eating to fill the void.

Just… keep searching. If I can at least be well versed on similar cases, I can probably follow along with Lily’s explanation later.

Maybe.

“I’ll go get you another coffee and some fruit,” murmured a voice next to his ear.

Looking to his side, he found the blue-eyed, blond-haired Dryad bodyguard who constantly invaded his space and his bedroom.

“Thanks,” Felix said, genuinely thankful, even if she did get too close at times.

Bouncing away, the Dryad shouldered her battle rifle and pulled her Kevlar face mask down into place.

Felix turned his attention back to his screen.

Except he just didn’t have the care or desire to complete his search. To dig through numerous results in his quest to find information on anti-trust cases.

Closing the terminal, and feeling a bit angry at his inability to do anything right now, Felix pressed his face into his hands.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat like that, but eventually the soft tap of something against the table got his attention.

The Dryad was already walking away, but sitting in front of him was a coffee cup and an apple.

Picking up the cup, Felix took a sip and sighed.

I’m being childish. Leave it to the people who are paid to worry about situations just like this.

For all I know, Lily already has a plan in place. Hell, she might have already prepared for something like this.

I could be worrying over nothing at all.

Nodding, Felix looked back to the group by the art installation.

Except there was a child and a man standing there. Talking to Miu and Victoria.

He sensed some definite tension in the situation as well. It looked like the kid and Victoria were having a disagreement.

Miu took a sudden step forward, and the man held his hands up in front of him.

Before anyone could react, a bolt of lightning jumped from one hand to the other. A boom of thunder pealed out and made Felix’s teeth ache. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and his skin prickled from head to toe.

Power radiated out of that simple spell. Pure, unadulterated power and a threat to use it.

Except the man was holding his hand out to Miu in the universal stop gesture.

Tapping his wrist communicator with Felicity’s contact card, he watched as she glanced down at her own wrist and then looked across to him.

Felix waved a hand at her, beckoning her over.

The man and the child hadn’t missed the gesture and beckoning, either. Turning, they started toward Felix.

Making Miu, Victoria, and Felicity all seemingly panic.

Then his bodyguards noticed it and went on instant alert.

Guns were drawn and leveled at the approaching duo.

The child seemed unfazed, walking unerringly straight toward Felix. Though apparently, he was aware of the situation, because he stopped twenty feet out from Felix. Just a few feet in front of the ring of his bodyguards.

“Hello, my name’s Al,” said the boy loudly, attempting to speak with Felix from this distance. “I wanted to look at the area, but they said I couldn’t.”

Felix gave the kid a quick once-over. He looked like he might be somewhere between eight and twelve, but Felix was awful at guessing kids’ ages.

He had bright blond hair and green eyes. Dressed in jeans, t-shirt, and jacket, he otherwise appeared every bit a normal kid.

The man with him was a bit different, though. He had brown eyes, so dark they were almost black.

His straight black hair lay flat on his head. Though it had a strange “about to go bad” look to it. As if his hair was naturally wild.

Must have some wicked-to-control hair.

“Let them over,” Felix called as the rest of his bodyguards spread out around the duo.

The child and the man walked over casually.

“Hi, I’m Al,” repeated the child, smiling at Felix. Then he gestured at the man next to him. “This is Uncle.”

The man smirked at the title and held out his hand to Felix.

“I’m Felix.” Taking the other man’s hand in his own, he gave it a firm shake and then looked back to the kid.

“And why would you want to look at the area? This entire location is currently under heightened supervision and security,” Felix said.

“Because that’s where the trail goes,” Al said simply. “Extra security?”

“There’s a summit being held. Foreign nations are all coming here to discuss the problem with certain religions,” Felix said. “What do you mean by trail?”

“The trail. I’m following a trail. It led me here. I don’t think I can follow it further, though. This seems to be the origination point,” Al said.

“Uh huh.” Felix looked to the man for help. Wondering if he could get any more information there.

Except the man was watching the Dryads nearby. It was almost as if he was unconcerned with everyone around him, more interested in other things.

“Don’t mind Uncle. He likes to look, but he’s married,” Al said, apparently catching the look on Felix’s face. “Can I look at the location?”

“It depends. You said you’re following a trail. A trail of what? To what end? Why?

“That location is under an investigation for us. We’re attempting to make sense of what keeps happening there, but we can’t seem to figure it out,” Felix said.

“Oh. That’s easy enough. If I help your people determine the cause, may I inspect the area?” Al asked.

Felix thought about it.

This entire situation was too strange. It felt more like the divine were getting involved here. There was too much unanswered and too many open questions.

Al was clearly being evasive, and the casual disregard “Uncle” had for everyone around him was unnerving. Not to mention the power he’d put on display.

“While we’re working on the investigation, Uncle will help protect everyone. He’s a very accomplished wizard,” Al said, smiling and nodding. It almost seemed like pride.

“I’m gonna what?” Uncle said, looking back to Al. “Hey. What the hell, brat? If your Dad gets wind of this he’s going to turn your ass red, and I’ll get a chewing out I really don’t want.”

Al waved a hand at Uncle as if his concerns didn’t matter.

“No, he won’t. Dad trusts you and that you’re with me,” Al said. Then he looked back to Felix. “Well?”

As subtly as he could, Felix tried to pull open a window to see Al’s stats.

Except it failed.

There wasn’t even a message about not being able to. Nothing happened.

Repeating the same exercise for Uncle, Felix got the exact same results.

Ok, yeah, this is divine. Who’s his dad, though? Did the delegates bring their own pantheon and divine problems with them?

Is Wal about to get turned into a holy war?

Shit.

Shit, shit. Fuck, shit.

“You can look at the site first. Then after that, you can help us figure it out and end the interference. I doubt whatever is happening here is to my benefit,” Felix said. “If that’s agreeable to you?”

Al nodded and then clapped his hands together once.

“It’s agreed. A deal is struck,” said the child. “Now, I’m starving. Is there some food around here? What I want to do is going to cost me some power, and I’d like to eat first.”

Felix pointed back the way to the food truck.

“Back that way. Waffles and pancakes,” Felix said.

Al followed the line Felix’s arm created and immediately set off in that direction.

Uncle followed behind him lazily, looking unimpressed and rather bored.

Felicity walked up beside him, her eyes tracking the duo. She laid a hand on his shoulder, her fingers moving back and forth lightly over the fabric.

“Felix, I don’t think I could have beaten ‘Uncle.’ In fact, I don’t think Vince could have either,” she said. “Or even Lily.”

“Great. Grand. Goodie.” Felix propped up his chin in his hand. “I suddenly feel like we’re going to have a number of deities and champions with axes to grind showing up here.

“Care to wager that a number of these national leaders are priests in disguise?”

“No. Not really. I’d lose,” Felicity said. “Are you ready for dinner with Ioana and Felicia tonight?”

Felix nodded. “Yeah, that’ll be a nice diversion. Tomorrow I need to start up the press machine.”

“True. You have back-to-back interviews with Erica and Jessica, and then I set one up with Sarah Riks,” Felicity said. “Apparently she’s a journalist from abroad doing a piece on the summit. If we can get her to speak in our favor, and then get it before it goes to press, we can launch it here through friendly press agencies at the same time.”

“Fun.”

“Then we need to head over to the court house. I believe the first open hearing is scheduled for tomorrow for the anti-trust case,” Felicity said. “To formally state the grounds for the case and start going through the motions.”

Ah, she knows. Knows and has already started to work it into my schedule.

“It’s rather soon, but I get the impression this will be quick, to a degree. One way or the other,” Felicity said.

Out of nowhere, Felix had a sudden idea that he thought might be able to help.

At least with their public image, which might play into their hearing.

Anyone who ever believed public perception doesn’t play a role in the judicial system is a fool.

“Actually, if you don’t mind, could you schedule Jessica, Erica, and Sarah to all meet us at the newly minted Legion bank for its grand opening?” Felix asked. “I think I’d like to take the opportunity to spin up the public opinion on that one, and what we’re doing there.”

“I can do that,” Felicity said, still watching Uncle before he turned the corner.

She looked wary.

Felix didn’t disagree with that sentiment, either. He had a lot more concerns in this hour than he’d had the hour previous.

***

The Bank of the Legion was a large building. In fact, it had once been a prison constructed in an older district of the capital.

This was right on the edge of what people called “New Legion City,” once a wasteland of nothing but run-down warehouses, failed businesses, and burnt-up buildings. Newly purchased as a whole, turned into a gated city, and re-purposed by Legion entirely. Though the bank and New Legion City were still technically in Wal City.

Felix was standing in the lobby watching the operation of the bank.

They’d been able to hire the entire staff of a bank that had been going under in a different city. Felix wasn’t up to date on the details, but he got the impression from what little he read that banks were closing up smaller locations around the country.

Or locations they no longer deemed relevant.

Everyone who had been hired from that bank was given Legion contractor jobs, which meant they weren’t actually Legion.

Of course, there was always the possibility of earning that privilege, but it wasn’t just given freely.

Jessica and Erica were both standing next to Felix, watching over the same thing he was.

“They look very relieved,” Erica murmured.

“I imagine we would be, too,” Felix admitted. “Our life savings wiped out in a moment that had nothing to do with us. Everything we’d worked to save and build up with.”

Jessica nodded her head a bit. “Well, that’s why we’re doing this. Make sure those who were uninvolved remain uninvolved.”

“Ah, there she is,” Felix said, trying to stop the conversation. He wasn’t sure how good Sarah’s hearing was, but he remembered Jessica’s being substantial.

Felix pointed to the front of the bank.

They were only allowing small groups of people in at a time to avoid overcrowding the lobby.

Magically, everyone had seemed to get random bank statements all at the same time. Listing out their balances the very day the bank heist happened.

As if by some miraculous force, every single customer of the bank had gotten an off-cycle statement.

Courtesy of Legion having everything needed to print off statements and mail them out without anyone even noticing.

The young woman they had been waiting for was at the front of the bank, talking to a security guard.

She was in a very professional business suit. Looking the part of a reporter—if you discounted the part where she seemed closer to one of Vince’s Dryad wives—Sarah seemed ready to interview him.

“Hmph. They sent you a beautiful Red, did they?” Jessica asked. Her tail swished behind her ominously and then settled back into position. “Well, you already have a Fox, a gray one. Me.”

Ruffle some feathers, did we?

Or territory, as it were.

Felix grinned and as surreptitiously as he could manage, he reached over and lightly scratched Jessica at the base of her tail.

“You’re right. But be calm, Jess. She’s here to help push the story for us. Make international news, and we feed it to the local stations.

“Play your part like normal,” Felix said softly. “She’s not Legion.”

“Legion First,” Erica said, responding automatically.

Jessica hadn’t responded; she seemed lost in the sudden attention Felix was giving her. Her hip had swung over and was pressing into his side.

Sarah’s head turned their way as she entered the lobby, her nose moving up and down.

Always surprising to see them acting more animalistic. Then again, that was always the argument, wasn’t it?

Demi-humans aren’t human.

The Legionnaires who had directed Sarah in hadn’t given her a second glance. The lobby staff did though. They seemed to be considering her, as if they weren’t sure she belonged here.

And that’s why most of you will never be worthy of Legion.

“Sarah, welcome,” Felix said, smiling as the reporter’s eyes locked on him.

She briefly looked at Jessica and Erica, clearly assessing them as she came closer.

That’s right, you’re not alone, and they clearly have a better relationship. How do you handle it?

Sarah’s black-tipped ears flexed down and then up as she came to a stop in front of him. Then she smiled, revealing her rather long canines.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Campbell—or can I call you Felix?” Sarah asked. He hadn’t been able to pinpoint her accent last time, and he still couldn’t. It gave her pronunciation an almost liquid quality, though. It flowed.

“Of course you can, Sarah. I invited you along as I think I’m going to be here most of the day,” Felix said. “And since I’d invited local reporters, I figured I’d give you some face time as well.”

“It is greatly appreciated.” Sarah pulled a pen from an inner pocket and slid a small pad of paper out from her coat. “Especially since you recognized me for what I am.”

Felix shrugged and gestured to an office behind him.

“Would you all care to join me? My admin prepared some light fare and coffee.”

Turning to the door, Felix opened it and gestured inside.

“Ah, that is very appreciated, but I don’t—”

“I believe she prepared something specifically for you, Sarah,” Felix said.

“Oh?” Sarah asked, moving into the office with Erica and Jessica.

“Felix is very methodical with his guests and their needs,” Jessica said, a slight edge to her voice.

“So I have noticed,” Sarah said.

Felix didn’t have the time or the luxury to try and get them to work together, and it honestly wasn’t his problem.

“To begin with, the official statement from Legion has already been prepared for all three of you,” Felix said, indicating the three manila envelopes sitting around a circular table in the corner. There was a fourth seat, but it lacked anything in front of it. Felix sat in it. “The details for everything are in there, inclusive of the amount set aside to cover this horrible situation.”

Sarah, Jessica, and Erica were all sorting through the drinks and food Felicity had prepared for them. When each of them had found whatever the Elf had put in there specifically for them, they came to the table with it.

“My compliments to your admin,” Sarah said, setting her cup down. “As to Legion… one could almost say two things of this situation.”

Felix leaned back in his chair, tenting his fingers in front of him.

Waiting.

“It is very fortuitous that Legion is able to step in for the government and take up the slack. It’s actually a PR miracle,” Sarah said.

The hidden statement here being that it would proclaim quite loudly Legion is doing far better than projections.

“Sounds like a fairly expensive miracle,” Felix said calmly. “Especially given what the financial wizards are claiming about Legion.

“I believe the headline this morning was something akin to ‘Legion Cashing out Now; Expected Losses in Quarterly Call,’ or something to that effect.”

Jessica snorted and tapped a finger against the packet in front of her. “Something to that effect? It was far more disparaging and rude. It’s getting increasingly obvious which side of the greased-up coin they fall on.”

Erica’s mouth had been pinched tight up to this moment. He’d been waiting for her to say something to back up those headlines, though. She was meant to play the opposing opinion for Legion.

“And yet, didn’t Legion just dump almost all of their invested holdings for far more hard assets. Like gold?” Erica asked, doing her job. “If they’re not in financial trouble, then I’d say they believe Wal to be in financial trouble.

“Any comment on that, Felix?”

Shrugging his shoulders minutely, Felix smiled at her. “As is ever the case, Erica, I’m afraid I can’t comment on speculation. Though I will tell you this: Legion believes in the current government of Wal, and we’re here to stay.”

“That is closer to the second comment one would have on this situation,” Sarah said, taking a sip of her drink. As it came away from her lips, she gave him a feral smile over the rim. “Perhaps this is all an attempt for Legion to take another business in hand. Further expand their holdings.”

“An interesting theory, but… there’s a problem with that,” Felix said, feeling a bit on guard. Sarah was a bit more cunning and intelligent than he’d expected.

“And what’s that?” she asked, her smile faltering.

“We’re not taking new customers in our bank. Only those who were going to fall through the cracks.” Felix spread his hands out in front of him. “No one else.”

Sarah blinked and then jotted something down in her notepad.

One set of questions down… time for another, I suppose.

And then there’s the first hearing.

That’ll be fun.

Chapter 17 - Comes in Threes -

Sitting down at the table in front of the Supreme Court justices, Felix felt odd.

This was only the first hearing, and yet he was already being asked to sit and be questioned.

Lily, Lauren, and Lauren were with him.

Behind them was the entire legal department of Legion. Some thirty deep and ranging from the youngest intern, Jeff, a Tilen high-school graduate they’d picked up, to an ex-judge who had picked lawyering back up after the fall of Skippercity.

Opposing them was Blake, the attorney general, and a slew of others. There was even a list of people who supported the move but weren’t able to appear. Due to constraints on their time, or there simply not being enough room at the table.

So many people either want a piece of Legion or to make it fail.

“Thank you for being a willing witness, Mr. Campbell,” said one of the justices.

She was seated in the middle of the seven of them, and she looked to be the oldest one there.

“Of course, happy to be here to discuss my private and multi-national recognized company and its holdings,” Felix said, immediately putting that front and center.

The simple fact that Legion was a private business would help obfuscate the matter. Legion wasn’t publicly traded, and there was no one else in charge, or owning it, other than Felix.

Heck, we could argue we’re non-profit since we have no stock.

Having it recognized by other countries also limited the court’s ability to punish him fully.

All seven justices stared at Felix now, as if realizing this was going to be a no-holds-barred grudge match. Then they looked to the attorney general.

“Mr. Attorney General, before we begin, we have a series of questions we’d like to ask,” said the same justice.

The man nodded, saying nothing in response.

“Mr. Campbell, it goes without saying that we’re all well aware of what Legion has done for Wal. We’re also well aware that Legion is a privately held company that indeed has a number of international countries recognizing it as a business,” said the woman. “Though this hearing is primarily designed to determine if the company has gone further than anti-trust laws would allow, and if anti-competitive practices have been orchestrated by Legion or yourself.”

Felix said nothing, sitting quietly at the table with his hands folded one into the other.

“Hopefully through the course of this hearing we can determine if your company is innocent and find the next course of action,” said the justice to the right of the one who had been talking.

The woman who appeared to be leading the court looked angry for a fraction of a second. Almost like a wince.

And it was gone as quickly as it had been there.

But Felix had noticed it. Everyone probably had.

Is this a show trial, or do they want me to believe it is? Do they want us to just roll over and take this without resisting?

Fat chance of that.

Now I’m going to go after all of you personally.

Feeling the anger rise up inside him at the people lining up to take a shot at Legion, Felix contemplated standing up and walking out.

“I believe the burden of proof falls to the AG,” Lily said, leaning toward her microphone. “Not Legion. Though I feel silly saying it, I must remind the court that Legion is innocent until proven guilty, even at the level of the Supreme Court.”

“Or is what you’re saying that you have already determined Legion as having committed anti-competitive practices or broken anti-trust laws without having heard a single word of the case?” said the Lauren on Lily’s left into her own microphone.

“If that’s the case, Legion can withdraw from Wal right now and move to another country, while severing all our contracts,” said the Lauren on Lily’s right.

The atmosphere of the room had rapidly grown more tense by the second. To the point that it felt more like a standoff with guns drawn.

For all intents and purposes, it would seem this was indeed a show-court. Whether intentional or not—perhaps he’d just lost his temper—the justice who had spoken had possibly revealed the court‘s machinations behind this.

The threat Legion had just made wasn’t a small one, either. If the company simply packed up and left, there would be little the government could do to actually keep itself afloat.

Felix deliberately cleared his throat and stood up. Taking a moment, he adjusted his tie and buttoned his coat.

“It would seem Legion isn’t wanted in Wal,” Felix said simply. He wasn’t about to sit here to hear a case that was presumptively being put together just to railroad them.

Taking action would be costly. So costly it would take years for Legion to recover, if they ever could. They’d end up sacrificing much of their wealth, technology, and ability. There was simply too much invested in the running of businesses and assets that wouldn’t be able to move.

Everything would have to be started over from scratch with those. As if they’d practically never been in business at all.

“Now, let’s not be hasty,” said the female justice, clearly realizing this was rapidly turning against her.

“I don’t think I’m being hasty. I think I’m being prudent. If a trial lawyer has to remind a Supreme Court justice of the burden of proof, I’d say this is little more than a farce.” Felix said held up his hands in front of him. “When people ask where Legion went, be sure to step forward and identify yourself and this kangaroo court, would you?”

“I think you’re bluffing; you’re too deeply invested in Wal to pull out now,” said the male justice who had let slip the direction the court was going.

Admittedly, Felix was bluffing, to a degree. He didn’t want to do this. At all.

But it felt like his back was up against the wall.

“Not at all. We have zero penalty clauses for pulling out. Not one,” Felix said. “We don’t even have a time limit stipulation for contract break. Nor a need to notify in advance.

“Starting tomorrow morning, there will be no trash pickup. The police force will rely on its own department instead of the Legion. The same for the fire department and the emergency responders,” Felix said, stepping out from the table. “The electrical grid will drop out after that, since the government gave the production of power contract to Legion when all the other companies fell through.

“After that, the internet will probably go down—we host the servers, after all.

“I’m only giving you till tomorrow so the news can pick this up and run with it. Preferably with your photos on the front page and every website.”

Lily and the Laurens were clearing up their places, sorting papers into various folders and packing up.

“Now, wait—” said the female lead justice.

“Then, when the sewage fails, and people’s toilets start backflowing with the shit of thousands, it’ll be done. The systems Legion maintained in trust at cost, and its own expense, will have failed.

“Except, of course, that doesn’t include all the businesses we actually own. So there goes all the employees, taxes, and revenue they generated.

“That’ll tank the economy.”

Felix looked to the name placard in front of the female justice, and the one to her right who had spoken out of turn.

Bissel for the woman, Kiss for the man.

“You’ll be the justice who ran out Legion. Justice Bissel, the founder of the ruin that was Wal.

“And you can wear that lovely little moniker around your neck as you wade through the sewage in your living room.

“That you and your court got rid of Legion—good for you,” Felix said, pushing his chair in at the table.

“While I, and Legion, will happily make use of our talents elsewhere for another location. One that would probably want a company that hands out no-interest loans to a government. Because we’ll be calling in those markers as well, since Wal still owes me personally.”

Lily and the Laurens had packed up quickly and were standing with Felix. News reporters were furiously taking notes as politicians who had once shown up for a spectacle looked like they wanted to jump into the center of the court and start shouting.

“You can’t just leave,” said Justice Kiss.

“Of course I can,” Felix said with a grin. “I’m a citizen. I’m not a government employee, and it’s my company. I’m recognized in other countries, and I owe no debts or fines to Wal.”

“I can hold you in contempt,” Kiss said, getting his feet.

“Mr. Campbell is here by invitation; he is not here under a warrant in any way,” Lily said. “Unless you’re declaring that Wal is under martial law, which I don’t think is in your purview.”

Justice Bissel was glaring daggers at Justice Kiss, her hand pressed to the microphone in front of her.

“Would you remain a moment, Mr. Campbell, if we cleared the court?” asked a third justice, seated to the left of Bissel.

Felix considered it for a moment. Looking like a man who didn’t care one way or the other but was on the verge of agreeing for the sake of simplicity.

“Fine. My calendar was booked for the entire period anyways. It’ll take time for the contract terminations to be drawn up and sent to the PM,” Felix said. “We have a little bit of time I could give you.”

The courtroom erupted into a chorus of protests as bailiffs began guiding people out of the hearing.

“Felix, we can’t really leave,” Lily whispered as softly as she could manage. “We really are too deeply tied in. Hardware, payable debts to us, investments. We can’t take any of that with us.

“If we left, we’d lose a considerable amount of hard assets. I’m not sure Legion could recover in a reasonable time frame. There aren’t too many other places we could go. Most of the world is closed off to us.

“And the moment we pull out, Wal will more or less shut us out, and they won’t bother to pay all those debts.”

Hm. Maybe I overplayed my hand a bit.

Giving her a wide smile, he didn’t respond. He promised himself he’d never admit if he was bluffing one way or the other if she asked.

Glancing over to the AG and his team, Felix was treated to a sight of absolute chaos. Everyone over there was madly scrambling through paperwork.

They must be checking the fact that we have no penalties for pulling out.

With a thud that reverberated throughout the court, the hearing was cleared of all non-essential bystanders.

The justices had been in a conference during this time and were now turning back to Felix.

Taking the opportunity to make a point of his stance, he lifted his wrist a bit and turned it over. Checking the time, Felix let his hand fall back to his side, and then he waited.

Still standing behind his chair.

“Mr. Campbell, I believe this has gone terribly awry,” said Justice Bissel.

“You mean when you and your cronies admitted this was a farce? Yes, it has,” Felix said. “Anything else? Or new? Otherwise I’ll be leaving.

“Do remember to point back to this moment when people ask you why there is a giant lake of shit spread around the city.”

“What if Justice Bissel and Justice Kiss were removed?” asked the third justice suddenly.

All around him, the others turned to him in surprise.

Felix looked at the placard to check the name.

Justice Moran.

“I’d take my seat and we could continue for a time, Justice Moran. I might even put my contract cancellations on pause. Depending on how I feel about this court case and how it’s going,” Felix said. “I mean, let’s be honest. If you find against me, I leave and take Legion with me, and you end up right back here.

“If you rule with me, I’ll stay. But I won’t be trusting the government in Wal with my wellbeing.

“It may just be a business to you, but it’s my family. When someone pulls a knife on my family, things change. And you pulled a knife when you agreed to hearing this trumped-up political case.”

“And if we cleared it here and now?” pressed Justice Moran.

“Suppose we’d find out,” Felix said with a shrug.

Personally, he was hoping they’d throw the whole thing out now. He knew they were in bed with Wal, and deeply so, but he’d be damned if he was held hostage here.

“Justice Kiss, Justice Bissel, you’re removed from the hearing,” said Justice Moran.

The other four justices immediately nodded, voicing their agreement.

Felix gave the two a wave and a smile.

“Bye, bye. I look forward to explaining to the press why you’ve been removed from the hearing,” Felix said. “How Justice Moran saved the city of Wal, and you two were the first willing to see it burn.”

The two justices who had been kicked off the hearing looked stunned.

Then they were escorted out bodily by the bailiffs.

***

“Things are getting worse,” Lily said, pressing a hand to her neck as she leaned back in her chair.

Felix, Lauren Aston, and Lily had retreated to her office in Old Legion City. The other Lauren had gone to her office to start double-checking contracts.

“And here I thought an anti-trust case was easy,” Felix said with a chuckle.

“No, not that, but what happened in there,” Lily said, tilting her chin down and meeting his eyes. “Justices have recused themselves before, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of one justice leading a coup against the others.”

“It’s unheard of,” Lauren said.

“How is it worse, exactly?” Felix asked.

“Because it means the system of law that existed here is deteriorating,” Lily said patiently. “It’s a corruption, and it’ll spread to lower courts. It sets a precedent. Especially for wealthy business owners.”

Felix frowned. He hadn’t considered it from that angle. Legion had admittedly been skirting laws here and there, but nothing to the detriment of the public.

It was usually bureaucratic laws they sidestepped and avoided entirely.

“Ok. What does that mean for us right now?” Felix asked.

“Nothing. We continue with the court case and hope they muddle their way through it without forcing us to abandon ship,” Lauren said. “Realistically, we could cut ties with Wal and leave. Quickly.

“But it’d hurt. We’d have to leave almost every single physical asset behind except personnel.”

“And that’s if Wal doesn’t make a move first. You said they pulled a knife on us… Well, you pulled a gun and leveled it at them,” Lily said. “You put teeth to the threat that they’re actually investigating.

“The fact that we can do what you said is a completely valid reason to break Legion up. Amusingly as it sounds, the threat you put on them against breaking up Legion is the reason they would break up Legion.

“They got to the right idea, just too late to do anything about it.”

“Which leads us back to the original thought—get out of Wal,” Felix finished for her.

“Right.” Lily rubbed at her neck. “I need a drink. Several drinks. Because starting tomorrow, I think I’m going to be hip deep in case law and documentation on this one until it’s over.”

Lauren only nodded glumly.

A soft chime came from Felix’s wrist.

Turning the device over, Felix tapped the icon. It was an urgent email from Kit.

Then Lily’s device chirped, followed by Lauren’s.

Shit. Now what?

Felix opened the email and read it over quickly.

“Is this even possible?” he asked aloud after giving it a second read-through.

It was easy enough to read, after all, being only three sentences.

The summit attendees have posted an addendum to their committee list. Committee to be headed by Blake. Goal of committee is to determine legality of Legion preventing worship of certain religions.

“It’s entirely possible,” Lily said, slumping into her chair, apparently having read a similar email. “Entirely possible and exactly what I would do if I were Blake.”

“Why? I mean, I assume it’s a way to somehow bring ruin to our international recognition,” Felix said.

“It is,” Lauren agreed. “But it’s more than that. This gives everyone living in Wal an outlet for their inability to practice certain religions openly.

“Despite the law coming from Wal, we’re the ones who enforce it.”

“It’ll die in committee,” Lily said, pressing her thumb and forefinger to the bridge of her nose. “Die and be forgotten afterward. During, though… they’re going to dig up every mistake possible we’ve ever made regarding religious worship.”

“It might even go further than you think,” Lauren interrupted. “Technically, the Dryad religion would be outlawed. It hasn’t been declared, confirmed, or vetted. And the moment it does get inspected, it’ll fail.

“Then it’ll fall to us to remove the Dryads from Wal or get them to convert to a stabilized religion.”

Feeling as if someone was expertly putting the pinch on him and Legion, Felix wasn’t sure which way to go anymore.

“Right, that’s enough bad news in one night for me,” Felix said, clapping his hands together. “I’ll leave it to you, as I have no idea what to even think on that one. Legal problems have never been my forte, and I don’t think they ever will be.”

Lily was already turning on her terminal while Lauren pulled out her light-terminal.

It wasn’t until he opened the door that Lily seemed to notice.

“That’d be why you have me and my team. I’ll let you know as soon as we figure something out, dear. I love you,” Lily said, then gave him a beautiful smile.

“Love you, too, dear.” Felix closed the door and moved out into the hall.

An anti-trust case and a legal challenge on our ability to enforce the law.

These things typically run in threes, don’t they?

Felix didn’t think anything more of it and started to move down the hallway. He was planning on heading back to his office.

There was a lot of work to get done, and he didn’t have a whole lot of time to do it in.

He had dinner plans he couldn’t duck out of.

Then his wrist device chimed.

The sound was soft and deadly.

Felix had violated one of the cardinal rules in Legion. Don’t tempt fate. Don’t jinx it.

And he’d done that, hadn’t he?

Lifting his wrist with a grimace, Felix looked at the alert.

This time it was from Felicity, and marked urgent.

Opening it up, he prepared for the worst. Which was good, because when he read it, it didn’t seem that bad.

At least, compared to what he thought it would be—or the previous two.

An emergency runoff was going to be held in two months. The current prime minister had just been recalled, and there was a need to immediately fill her position. The minimum time set forth was two months.

Until then, the assistant prime minister, Blake Gresham, would be the acting PM.

The very same man pushing for the AG to file the case, and now apparently running the committee to see Legion tangled up in the religious case.

Oh… my… shit.

Felix closed his eyes and pressed his hands to his face.

Then yelled loudly into them.

Chapter 18 - Alone -

Felicity had managed to arrange a meeting between Felix and Blake.

They had consented to each of them having one aide with them, if only to make sure the meeting could be documented appropriately.

At this point, everyone, from the citizenship to the PM, saw everyone else with daggers and conspiracies.

Felix didn’t want to meet with Blake. At all.

But Felix was also the one who had requested that Felicity see what she could do.

He really needed to know if Blake was the enemy, or if this was all circumstantial.

They had no hard proof; it really just came down to the fact that Blake kept showing up in the unlikeliest of places.

Cool fingertips lightly brushed against the back of his hand. The touch was like electricity, crackling down his arm and straight into his brain. Felicity’s fingers had only barely touched him, but his skin had prickled from head to toe, and it’d broken him from his thoughts.

“I share the same fears and thoughts,” Felicity said when his eyes turned to her. “But there is little we can do one way or the other. We need to go in there and ascertain his intentions.

“Then act accordingly.”

Felix nodded. He’d come to the exact same conclusion, of course. Though it was nice to hear Felicity echoing his thoughts.

“You’re awfully in tune with me,” Felix said bluntly.

Felicity smiled at that, tilting her head to one side.

“Really? I’m truly glad to hear that. Realistically, I’m just doing my best imitation of my family’s role back home.

“I learned under my sisters for a number of years. Most especially Elyssia. You and she would get along very well,” Felicity said.

Looking around the small waiting room they’d been put in until Blake was available, Felix wondered about that.

“She’s your sister-in-law, as she’s married to Vince. She keeps him on track, though she’s been run down.

“As you yourself said, he’s a masterful leader through direction and power. Though much of his decisions are simply based on how he feels rather than the politics of the situations. Or at least, not to the same level as you,” Felicity explained.

“Sounds lovely. Wish I could do that,” Felix admitted.

“Yes, right up until his personal charisma can’t outweigh what he wants to do. I’m sure that time will come. He isn’t balancing his… hm, I don’t know if I could explain it, actually,” Felicity said.

“His keys to power, maybe? Giving away too much ‘treasure,’ so to speak, from his vault without considering if he’s giving it away as frugally as possible?” Felix asked.

“Yes. That… sounds about right.”

“If you’d like an example, I balance the time I allow myself to spend with each department during business hours. I also make sure to take each group to lunch at least once a month.

“That doesn’t change what I give to each group.”

Felix flexed his hands out in front of him.

“Let’s say one wants permission to make a move on a business and take it over through financial pressure. Another wants to do a purchase outright and bring it in house,” Felix said. He could hear someone coming this way. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he saw it was time for their meeting. “I weigh out which group I’ve favored previously, and how. Which group hasn’t received an agreement in their favor recently. Then I take into account what would be best for Legion. Blending the two together, I figure out what makes the most sense.”

Felicity nodded, her face pointed toward the door.

She must be listening to their conversation. Those ears of hers are quite sensitive.

The tread of feet stopped.

Several seconds later and the door opened, right on time for the meeting down to the second.

“Blake is ready to see you now. Thank you for being patient,” said a young male secretary. He gestured into the hallway beyond.

Felix stood up, buttoned a single button on his jacket, and smiled.

Felicity brushed a hand across her skirt and then led the way, Felix following along behind her.

“It’s the third office on the left,” said the man.

Felicity didn’t need any more direction. She opened the door and went right in.

Coming in behind her, Felix didn’t bother with the door. He assumed the secretary would be following along.

Blake Gresham stood behind his desk. He was a man in his middle years. Brown hair, brown eyes, clean shaven, neither handsome nor ugly.

One amongst the many.

Beside him was a woman in her early twenties. She had an almost vapid feel about her, and Felix wasn’t sure what her purpose would be. She had dark black ringlets cut short with bright blue eyes.

She also had a very well-built figure that curved in the right spots.

Felicity walked right up to the desk and held out her hand to the woman.

“I’m Felicity, Felix’s personal admin,” she said, shaking the other woman’s hand.

“Shirley,” the woman replied, giving no title or position.

Felix felt odd about this Shirley woman. But there wasn’t much he could do about it.

Maybe she’s Blake’s Felicity.

“Blake Gresham,” said the man, shaking Felicity’s hand when she moved to him.

“And you are Felix Campbell. I think everyone in Wal knows who you are,” Blake said as Felix shook Shirley’s hand.

“That I am,” Felix said, moving to Blake. Felix didn’t mistake noticing that Blake was wearing a null ring. A standard ring everyone seemed to wear that prevented mind reading. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us. We’ve been seeing your name a lot recently.”

“Yes… well, I suppose that’s part of the reason I felt it’d be ideal to meet with you,” Blake said. Releasing Felix’s hand, he gestured to the two seats in front of his desk.

“I had no doubt you were aware of me by this point, and I felt it’d be a good idea to sit and talk. Clear the air,” Blake said.

“That’d be most appreciated,” Felix agreed. “To be sure, I’m wondering where you fall in all this. With how your name keeps coming up, I’m starting to wonder if you’re not in favor of Legion remaining in Wal.”

Felix didn’t want to beat around the bush, and he sure as hell didn’t want to deal with politics right now. His preferred tried-and-true method of letting others bring it up wasn’t going to fit here.

He needed answers, now, before he went about skewering Blake and everyone backing him. He didn’t have time to give Blake the normal foreplay he was probably used to in politics.

“I see. Perhaps I misjudged the timing of this meeting. Having it a few weeks ago—or perhaps even a month—would have been ideal, I think now,” Blake said, closing the folder he had open in front of him and pushing it to one side.

“I’m neither in favor of Legion nor against it. I only want what’s best for Wal. If that means attempting to break Legion up as a company in its Wal holdings, then that would be the goal,” Blake said. “If it’s attempting to remove Legion from the religious problems we’re having in the country, then so be it.

“I’ll do what’s best for Wal. And if that means selling the entire country to Legion for safekeeping in these harsh and wild times, then that’s what I’ll do.”

Frowning, Felix wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

Blake had cleanly and expressly told Felix what he was about, but it didn’t fit. At least, it didn’t fit with Felix’s worldview.

Nothing Blake had just said matched what politicians actually wanted.

This sounded more like the open and broken promises given during elections.

The next of which was going to be actively held rather soon.

Is he trying to get the Legion vote? Is that what this is?

We do have a significant voting power in our members alone. It’s no secret that we vote as a block, too.

“Right. So everything that’s happening is coincidental, and you being on the list of every action against Legion is… circumstantial?” Felix asked.

“In my current position, I’m required to be present in many motions that I would otherwise not wish to be on. But I must, as a representative of the government,” Blake said.

That’s too easy. Many politicians would claim the same but simply have their name removed, delegating the action to a lesser functionary.

Felix smiled despite all his internal thoughts. “Of course.”

“As far as the anti-trust case goes, while I do agree that Legion holds too much of Wal in check, I can only wonder about those who are pushing the case,” Blake said, splaying his hands out. “It is no surprise about these contracts, or how much Legion holds. Each contract made its way through the various branches of government. In every case, it was supported by a majority.”

And you’ve conveniently forgotten that your name was on those rosters in the majority.

“And the summit?” Felix asked.

“Not my choice, either. The prime minister put it on the books the day before she was told there would be an emergency recall. Odd timing, but there it is,” Blake said.

That really is odd timing. Nor did he mention why she was being recalled.

In fact, no one seems to even know. Just that it’s going to happen.

“And before you ask, no, I don’t know why she was pulled. The reasoning has been kept between the prime minister and the majority leader,” Blake said.

Not replying immediately, Felix weighed out his options.

He really only had two directions available to him.

Trust Blake—and believe he was really working for best of Wal.

Or distrust him—turning him into a political pariah and putting the fix in so he wouldn’t be elected in the emergency runoff.

There were too many things working against Legion coming from Blake, though. This had all the classic hallmarks of being a political fluff job.

Assurances of innocence and support without the hint of any evidence or backing to the contrary.

In fact, he didn’t actually assure his support. Just that he’d do what he felt was best for Wal.

He’s a terrible politician.

Everything in Felix screamed at him that this man was lying. Lying and working against Legion.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Blake called, looking from Felix to the door.

“Mr. Gresham, there are quite a few people here who want to see you about an emergency issue. What would you like to do?” asked the same male secretary from earlier.

Felix stood up, forestalling a conversation.

“No, it’s quite alright. I think we said everything that needs to be said,” Felix said, moving to the door. “Thank you for your time, Blake.”

They hadn’t even made it into the hallway before Felicity slipped her arm into his.

“There, I’ve sealed the area around us. No one can hear us talk without smashing through my personal shield,” she said. “I take it you don’t trust him?”

“Not at all. Either he’s the best politician ever, or he’s the worst and being completely honest with us. In either case, we didn’t hear anything new, and he offered us nothing to take back for assurance,” Felix said.

“I would agree… though I feel like I’ve missed something.” Felicity shook her head.”

“I’ve felt that way for a month now,” Felix muttered.

Felicity sighed and patted his arm. “Other than lunch, what’s next?”

“Do we have anyone on the voting district table? Or some name like that? The basic premise is they define the zones people vote in and where they go to vote,” Felix said.

“I think so, but I’d have to check my notes. Why?”

“I want to do some gerrymandering. I want to create districts that’ll favor… what’s his name, again? Blake’s opponent on stage?” Felix asked.

“Honestly, the name has slipped my mind. But I do know they reached out to Lily through some back-channel means. This morning no less.

“She has a meeting with you later today to discuss it,” Felicity said. “From what I got from her when she asked me to book time with you, they’re looking for a couple kickbacks and some concessions. She seemed bored by it.”

“It’s normal political process here in Wal. Maybe he wants me to open some businesses in his home districts and hire from them.

“It’d help him knock down some of his unemployment,” Felix said.

Felicity nodded slightly. “I’m learning much from being with you. I think you would have Yosemite ironed out in little more than a month and possibly working better than it is today.”

“Probably not; it sounds like it has a serious military bent. I’m not that great at anything regarding that. I’m trained in some limited combat, but I have no talent for it,” Felix said.

Felicity’s mouth became a thoughtful frown at that, and the conversation dropped momentarily.

“So, what do you want for lunch?” Felicity asked as they stepped out of the government building.

A horde of Legion bodyguards dropped into place around him. The blond Dryad who was constantly invading his space came in very close, standing directly at his side and looking at him, then at Felicity.

“She’s very pretty, Felix, but you can’t eat the Dryad,” Felicity said, patting his arm. “Admittedly, she’s from Betty’s grove. Which means she’s probably open to being eaten.”

Realizing he’d been staring at the Dryad, Felix turned his face forward, thinking about food.

Recently, his libido had skyrocketed. Andrea and Adriana had been getting a workout producing more and more clones.

And he didn’t feel quite sated more often than not.

I bet the Dryads are to blame.

“Speaking of Dryads, before Lily’s meeting but after lunch, we’re supposed to meet with Fes, Meliae, and Yarris to see about formal Legion recognition,” Felicity said.

That’ll help. Government recognition will prevent them from having control over Legion and how it sits with me.

***

The overly endowed and unbelievably pregnant Dryad that was Vince’s wife Meliae came straight at him.

“Felicity, Felix. Welcome, welcome,” she murmured, immediately latching on to his arm and leaning on him. “I’m so glad to see you, brother-in-law. Though I’m sorry to say your brother is already back in the field. He’s down south now, working to end this war.”

Smiling at the bubbly woman, Felix nodded. “Of course, Meliae. Is it going well? I’ve had a few reports here and there, but nothing concrete.”

“Very well, actually. All those pieces you keep sending over have drastically changed everything. We’re well on our way to ending this,” Meliae said, slowly waddling through the large mansion the portal was still set up in.

“Much of this turning point is thanks to you,” said Fes as they turned the corner into a large study.

She looked much healthier than the last he’d seen her. Even if she did look more like something out of a science fiction novel now.

Her missing arm and leg had been replaced with what looked a lot like a custom Felicia job.

“Felicity, it’s good to see you,” Fes said, looking over Felix’s shoulder. “You look happy.”

Glancing over his shoulder, Felix caught Felicity looking the same as ever. Her bag tucked up under her arm, dressed in the normal clothes he’d seen her in every day.

“Very happy, Fes.” Felicity bobbed her head at the Orc.

A distinctly different-looking Elf woman Felix hadn’t met crossed over to Felicity and gave her a hug. She had all the appearances of a High Elf, though a bit shorter.

“Sister, it’s good to see you,” said the woman. Then she leaned back, taking Felicity’s face in her hands. “You do look happy. Things are working out?”

Felicity smiled and nodded.

“They are, sister. And before he asks,” Felicity said, looking to Felix. “This is Yaris. Vince’s queen, and my older sister. She’s a Royal Elf.”

Felix hadn’t heard of that sub-species before.

She really did look similar to a High Elf, with her dark-blond hair, though the coloring wasn’t the same throughout. The bright blue eyes only added to that opinion of species relation.

“Felix, welcome to our home,” Yaris said.

“Thank you for having me. Though as much as I’d love to keep this a family meeting,” Felix said, “I’m afraid I’ve come with my hat in hand. I’d like to request Yosemite formally recognize Legion as a corporate entity.”

“I don’t understand,” Fes said, looking to Felicity.

“Legion really is just a business. It’s like a military, but it isn’t. It’s not even a country,” Felicity said.

Fes nodded and then looked to Yaris.

“It has no impact on Vince, so I defer to you,” said the Orc.

“Would there be any unexpected needs? Anything we’d need to do?” Yaris asked.

“Nothing other than politically. My enemies would be your enemies,” Felix said honestly.

Now it was Yaris’s turn to look confused.

Meliae snorted and then giggled to herself.

“Brother dear, your enemies are already our enemies. Yaris wanted to know if we should prepare anything else. Was that really it? Just a declaration?” Meliae asked.

“For this, yes. That’s really all we need. Recognition from another government so we don’t fall under someone else’s authority.” Felix was touched that helping Legion had been a forgone conclusion for them.

“Then it’s done.” Yaris shrugged. “Now, how about we go out back? The Dryads have been preparing a very lovely after-meal tea, with some fruit as well.

“And the children would love to see their uncle, I know it.”

There wasn’t a response he could give that would have been faster than Meliae starting to pull him out of the study and out back.

“Oh, yes, yes. Many of the children who didn’t get to see you last time said they wanted to meet Uncle Felix the next time you visited,” Meliae crooned.

“This is true. Falaein was very unhappy he didn’t get to meet you,” Fes said. “Berest couldn’t stop bragging about the fact that you let her ride you around.”

Moving back through the portal room, Meliae paused for a second as she looked through it.

A Dryad was sitting next to it in a chair, nervously clutching a pack in her lap.

“You haven’t left yet?” Meliae asked the Dryad.

Sitting up straight in her seat, the young woman looked to Meliae with a bit of panic in her face.

She looked a lot like Meliae, even with the same coloring to her hair. Her figure and stature were nearly identical, just a bit smaller.

Which made her look almost normal, instead of a hopped-up wet dream.

Almost.

“I’m sorry, sister. I’m just nervous,” said the younger woman. “It sounds like such a strange place.”

Meliae turned to Felix and smiled up at him.

“This is my sister. She’s moving into your Legion today so she can find a place for herself. We arranged an apprenticeship with your wife, Lily,” Meliae said. “Our father was part Elven. I took much more after mother, and only inherited a very small amount. Patricia took on much more.

“She won’t fit in with a grove, as she’s a sorceress as well. Her magic makes her incompatible with other Dryads. Somewhat like oil and water. They won’t violently oppose each other, but… they won’t mesh.”

“Oh?” Felix asked, looking to the younger woman. “You’ll be welcome in Legion. I know Lily always likes having new students.

“Personally, we can never have enough sorceresses. We take in all we find who wish it.”

The Dryad looked from Felix to Felicity, and then to Meliae.

“Everyone has been telling me the same about Legion. I suppose it’s time to just… muster up the courage and go then, isn’t it?” said Patricia. “Ok. Uhm… I’m going to go now, then.”

Meliae smiled patiently, waiting.

Patricia turned to the open portal, her hands clenching around her bag.

“Have a good trip, and if you need anything, reach out to myself or Andrea,” Felicity said.

Patricia didn’t respond; instead, she started running at the portal. As if she had to do it at a sprint or she’d lose her courage. She tucked in her chin, ducking her head down.

Poor thing. She’s as nervous as could be.

The moment before she crossed through the portal, a small arc of blue lightning flashed out from Patricia and struck the portal’s rim.

With a cascade of light, the exit shifted from Legion to somewhere else. It looked like a street, with a single car parked to one side. It was also the middle of the night.

Patricia rushed through the portal to the other side.

Then the portal snapped back to normal, the Legionnaires on the other side looking confused.

Then the portal turned off entirely, and nothing was there.

The portal had shut down completely.

What?

Chapter 19 - Disappointed -

“Where’s Patricia?” Meliae asked. “Where’s the portal?”

“I don’t know,” Felix answered honestly. Gently disentangling himself from the Dryad, he moved over to the portal device.

Getting down on one knee, he pressed the activation button.

The machine powered up, circulated energy, and then activated.

Only for the portal to fizzle out before it was even constructed.

Trying again, Felix pressed the button. And got the exact same results. There was no change.

Reaching into a breast pocket, Felix fished out a metal card. Felicia had made it so he could get back to Legion from wherever he was. No matter the distance.

His brush with being teleported against his will had created some new security toys.

Rolling his thumb over the activation square, he waited.

And waited.

But nothing happened.

It simply didn’t work. It was as dead as the major portal device was. Felix frowned and pushed it back into his breast pocket.

“It would seem,” he said, thinking about the problem at hand, “that I’m trapped here, and your sister is… somewhere else.”

“It looked like she cast a spell as she went,” Meliae said, her voice sounding subdued and a bit guilty.

“Yes, it did seem as if she set off a spell on accident. It struck the portal, sent her elsewhere, and… broke it?” Felicity asked.

“I’m not sure it’s broken,” Felix said. “It powers on correctly, but shuts off when the portal starts to form. That’s never happened before.

“But it doesn’t feel like it’s broken, per se.”

“I’m so sorry, Felix. I don’t know what she did,” Meliae said.

Taking a moment to spare her a glance, he confirmed she didn’t look like she was going to fall apart, then looked back to the device.

“Don’t worry about it. I have Mr. White here on site. He can take a look and tell me if it’s a mechanical failure.

“Though I genuinely believe it isn’t. I think this is more about deities taking an opportunity,” Felix said.

Sighing, he got up and then checked on his point count.

Received

Spent

Remaining

Daily Allotment

300

0

300

Felicity

4,850

0

4,850

+ Loyalty Bonus

1,300

0

1,300

DAILY TOTAL

6,450

0

6,450

Hm. No repression. Seems like they have no influence over here, exactly as my benefactor promised.

Speaking of, I wonder if there’s any chance of him assisting me.

Then again, if he wanted to, he already could have.

Focusing on the idea of fixing the portal so that it opened immediately, Felix pushed mentally for a window to appear.

Status Correction: Non-working -> Working

Correct Status? (4,245,893,132,940,000 points.)

Felix grimaced and got the answer he had been expecting. For all intents and purposes, he was stuck here until his people could open a portal from the other side, or until the dirties holding it shut ran out of time.

It shouldn’t take Kit long to figure it out and pop open a portal. I just need to wait.

Let’s just hope there’s no time dilation like what the benefactor mentioned.

Barely stopping himself from shaking his head in mute defeat for the moment, Felix turned to Meliae and smiled.

“How about I visit those nephews and nieces of mine for the time being,” Felix said. “I’m not overly concerned about this. I think it’ll work itself out one way or the other. It’d be pointless to sit here and worry over it when I can just go see family instead.

“Maybe we could even have a family dinner later if you’re willing to play host for a bit.”

Meliae gave him a slow, fragile smile and nodded slightly.

“Ok. We can do that,” she said. It seemed her mood rapidly picked up as she realized Felix really wasn’t that concerned. “Yes, we’ll do that. I think it’d be a great idea. We’ll have lunch in the grove with everyone, then a family dinner later.”

Felix grinned at her, glad to see her perking up. He’d never be able to escape his mindset of the middle-manager, but at least he could make it work for him.

He even managed to keep that positive outlook all day. Past lunch, through dinner, and into the evening.

It was still there, right up until he closed the door on the room Fes had set aside for him to sleep in.

When it was clear the portal wasn’t reopening, plans started to rapidly shift.

Felix let out a slow sigh, not sure what to do anymore.

The point value to open the portal would be astronomical.

“Any chance you can help me out, Mr. benefactor?” Felix asked, peering up at the ceiling.

There was no response. Not that he’d actually expected one. Felix was betting on a time dilation now between the two worlds, and that this one was running faster.

At least, that was what he’d do if he was the opposing gods against him.

The question was: how much faster?

Moving into the room, Felix looked around.

It was well furnished, and it seemed to have been cleaned and decorated specifically for someone of importance.

A hearth, couch, table, desk, and a rather large bed rounded it out for what equated to a small apartment.

Minus a kitchen, of course—but there were no appliances in this world.

I wonder if they were expecting me to stay at some point, or if this room is just put together in general.

Moving to the desk, he idly fingered through everything on top of it.

“Inkpot, quills, paper, and a strange… pencil,” he said aloud. “No terminal, no spreadsheets, no employee files, no HR.”

Running his tongue along the inside of his teeth, Felix really didn’t know what to think.

Pulling out the chair, he sat down lightly in it.

“At least I have Felicity,” Felix said, propping up his elbow on the desk. There wasn’t much he could do.

He didn’t feel down, but he definitely felt a lack of direction. There were a number of things he’d been putting into place that should send Blake on a crash course into the ground and make him untouchable.

And those who did vote for him were getting shuffled around with some classic gerrymandering to create districts unfavorable to him.

And now I’m here… unable to act.

Someone knocked on his door twice.

“Enter,” Felix called, getting to his feet.

The door swung open and Felicity walked in. Her cheeks had a hint of color to them as she closed the door behind her.

She’d changed into clothes more fitting for this world, and she looked to fit in perfectly.

“Hello, Felix,” she said, her hands disappearing behind her back.

“Good evening to you,” Felix said, sitting back down on the desk. “Feel free to have a seat.”

Felicity slipped some of her hair behind her ear and moved over to his bed. Sitting down on the edge of it, she set her hands in her lap.

“How are you settling in?” she asked.

“As well as I can, I suppose,” Felix said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“You’re not… upset or mad?”

“What, about the portal? No. It’ll open as soon as they can open it. Me being angry or upset about it won’t speed it up. I admit I’m a little disheartened and nervous, but who wouldn’t be?

“And I don’t think Meliae’s sister had anything to do with it, before you ask. I think it was accidental, and then our foes seized on it,” Felix said.

Felicity smiled and bobbed her head quickly.

“Yes, good. Yes. I’m glad to hear that. While it isn’t the way people expected to get to know you better, I know for a fact no one is looking at this as a negative thing. They’re happy you’re here,” she said.

Putting his chin in his hand, Felix leaned on the desk.

“Well, I’m happy to be here for the time being. Hopefully not much longer, but it isn’t a problem so far either.”

Felicity was fiddling with her thumbs, clearly somewhat unsure of what to do with herself.

To be sure, Felix wasn’t quite sure what to do either. He was alone in his room with her, on a planet that was quite possibly in a different universe.

“Yaris and Fes are going to hold court tomorrow. They’d like it if you could attend,” Felicity said. “I’ve learned quite a bit from you as an admin, but I don’t have your eye for people. I’d like to get your opinion on everyone.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” Felix said. Looking at the Dark Elf, he was suddenly curious.

He focused on her and opened her character sheet.

Name:
Felicity

Power: None

Alias: None

Physical Status:
Quickened Heart Rate; Slightly Upset Stomach; Randy; Lustful.

Mental Status:
Hopeful; Willing

Positive Statuses:
In Heat(Pheromones II); In Love(Emotional Boost X)

Negative Statuses:
None

Strength:

47

Upgrade?(470)

Dexterity:

96

Upgrade?(960)

Agility:

87

Upgrade?(870)

Stamina:

38

Upgrade?(380)

Wisdom:

57

Upgrade?(570)

Intelligence:

92

Upgrade?(920)

Luck:

15

Upgrade?(150)

Primary Power:

——

Upgrade?(——)

Taking a sniff of the air, Felix couldn’t deny the only thing he could smell was Felicity. She had a naturally cool and dry smell that reminded him of the walk-in receiving fridge at a grocery store he worked at when he was a teen. It’d always been empty and smelled like fresh snow.

It wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, it made his heart thud oddly in his chest. In the same way that Andrea’s, Adriana’s, and Lily’s scents did.

“What are you looking at?” Felicity asked suddenly, her voice breaking into his thoughts.

“You. Or your stats. You’re mine, so I can see everything about you,” Felix said. “For an example, you have an incredibly low luck score. Lowest I’ve ever seen, I think.”

“I do?” she asked curiously.

“Indeed. Though your intelligence is… very, very high.”

“What else does it say?”

Felix smiled and closed the screen with a flick of a finger. “Just your basic things.”

Feeling strange at having such a visual confirmation of her feelings for him, Felix gave her a smile.

“Oh. Does that mean you can modify me in any way you want?” Felicity asked, her head tilting to one side.

“Yep.”

“But you can’t modify yourself.”

“Nope.”

“Is there… anything about me you’d want to change?” she asked, her eyes pinning him to his chair.

“Ah… no. You’re… lovely the way you are,” Felix said and coughed into his hand. He was having trouble remembering why he’d been so resistant to Felicity’s attention.

Other than Lily, that was.

“Ah… I think I’ll take that compliment, and leave you alone for the night,” Felicity said, standing up. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning before the court, okay?

“Or, with any luck, we’ll be back home sometime tonight.”

Felix nodded and watched Felicity leave, forcefully prying his eyes away from her hips as she opened the door, spun to wave at him, and left. Closing the door behind her.

Sighing, Felix pressed his face into his hands and groaned.

Get it together, Felix, get it together.

“Damn she has a nice ass,” Felix muttered as he realized he’d been staring at it.

***

Felix had arrived early to the Yosemite court and found Felicity already waiting for him.

She’d even come with some bread and fruit for an early light breakfast. Now they were ensconced in a booth to the right side of the raised dais that sat two thrones.

One was clearly for Vince, the other Yaris.

“Is it a traditional monarchy?” Felix asked, watching as members of the Yosemite public began filtering in.

“For the most part. Yaris is also the spiritual leader of Fes through combat, but has recognized Berenga as Fes instead,” Felicity said, sitting next to him in the booth.

Watching as groups of people filtered into seats that had no markings or designations, Felix had to wonder. It seemed as if most of the leadership was determined by virtue of who Vince was, and it had little to do with arrangements, agreements, groups, or representation.

As long as an overwhelming majority supported Vince in his desires and pushed forth his wishes, there would be no issue.

Except… Felix had a strange feeling as he watched the people of Yosemite. It felt cohesive, but it felt odd.

Tenuous.

I wonder if it’s being held together by the sheer force of Vince’s will and unity of his purpose.

If he was gone for an extended period… what would happen?

Is that why I can sense the tension?

“Do you sense anything out of the ordinary?” Felix asked, watching as a group of Dwarves stumped their way to a set of seats. They looked no different than any other.

They’re moving themselves into their own groups.

“No? Should I?” Felicity asked. “Everything seems normal.”

“Do they normally sort into groups?” Felix asked.

“Yes.”

“Do they vote in groups, or are they broken up by job and department?”

“No. They don’t vote. They put forward requests and Vince makes decisions. Each race has a voice they rely on to speak for themselves.”

“What happens if they disagree with Vince?”

“Nothing. They just let it go,” Felicity said simply.

“What about those in the military?”

“They put their concerns up through their generals.”

There’s a lot of power in those racial groups, then. They need to be broken up into job types, finances, or background. Bracketed accordingly and given voices that let them channel what they want accordingly.

More groups, easier to manage.

A corporate meritocracy does well for things like this, as you simply kick down the ones who aren’t playing by the rules.

If he did break everything out, they could move about and create their own alliances and factions with one another.

They’d work to keep their opponents out of power as often as they did to keep themselves in.

The trick is keeping them in check with proper oversight while still giving them perks for being in that position.

“Why? What’s the problem?” Felicity asked.

“How long has Vince been gone? When was the last time he really stuck around here?”

“Uhm, not long. There’s too much going on.”

“And do they listen to Yaris in his place?”

“Mostly.”

“Mostly? That doesn’t sound good.”

“Many feel she favors the Elves, which honestly she does.”

“Sounds very similar to the problems I have with my security personnel,” Felix said. “I’m no warrior. No fighter. There’s a disconnect between me and them. Seems like Vince has a disconnect with those who aren’t soldiers of Yosemite.”

“Do you listen to your people in their complaints?” Felicity asked, an edge to her voice.

“No. I have HR do it, as that’s their job. They have focus groups, surveys, and meetings to discuss problems. Pressure points. Figure out what’s going on,” Felix said, watching as soldiers began filling court. The atmosphere instantly changed. “Then I make choices and decisions based on that, and we move forward. It’s usually quarterly and annually. The annual ones contain performance and merit reviews.”

“Oh. That makes sense. Uhm…” Felicity’s mouth turned into a delicate frown.

When it seemed no one else could fit in the hall, Yaris entered with her personal guard.

Entirely made up of Elves.

Yes… I can see where the cracks are going to start forming.

There’s tension outside of the military.

“Her majesty Queen Yaris of Yosemite,” called someone near the door.

Yaris reached the dais, stepped up to her throne, then turned and bowed to the audience.

Then she sat herself down. The respect she had for her people, and what those people had for her, was definitely present.

At least she’s fostered a good relationship.

She seems to have a good sense for how to act as royalty, even if it doesn’t seem like they have the infrastructure to support a long-term plan.

“Today we’ll hear from a number of representatives, several reports, and a commissary from the emperor in the west,” Yaris said.

A subtle murmur was spreading throughout the audience, though. Felix couldn’t quite identify it, but he got the impression it involved him.

“They want to know who you are and what you’re doing here,” Felicity said.

Felix looked at her, and then at her ears.

“Is your hearing really that good?” he asked.

“Yes. And I’m glad you like my ass,” she said, her eyes flicking to him for a moment before going back to the crowd.

Before he could process that comment, Yaris held up a hand, getting everyone’s attention.

“We’ve also been graced by the presence of our Lord Vince’s elder brother, Felix,” said Yaris. “He’s here as a visitor and to assist in deploying the technology, soldiers, and weaponry he’s sent to our aide.”

There was an almost universal nod at that. Everyone knew who Felix and the Legion were. Vince’s brother from through the portal who had sent technology that might as well be magic.

But there was still something there. A strange sort of tension from certain people.

“Let’s hear from Lord Felix then!” someone called out.

“Maybe without a warrior for a king, we wouldn’t always be at war!” called a second.

Ah. They’re war weary.

The strain is too much for the civilian population.

“We’ve only been fighting the Tri-lliance for a short time, but we’ve been at a general state of alert for six or so years,” Felicity said softly for his ears alone.

Some type of victory needs to be declared. Some type of information relay.

“How much do they know of the fight?” Felix asked.

“Very little. The military is on an information blackout to protect troop movements. There is a distinct possibility of spies,” Felicity said.

And that explains more. There’s no way to confirm allegiance, as it’s on word and bond only.

Nothing to magically enforce.

Legion contracts would be very useful here.

I’m betting a good portion of this is a lack of information, clarified direction, and a security force built to root out naysayers.

The rumbling of voices slowly drowned out Felix’s thoughts, and he came back to himself. Looking through the crowd, he could see many people watching him.

Yaris’s head slowly turned to him. It was clear she was unsure how to proceed.

Felix made a small gesture, asking her for permission. To which he immediately got a nod back.

Standing up, Felix folded his hands behind his back and walked out from the booth he was in.

Almost immediately, the room fell silent.

Saying nothing, Felix let his eyes roam over those in the audience while he slowly walked to the dais.

Mounting a single step, he stood in front of Yaris.

Like a shield.

He continued to eye the crowd, a slow frown spreading over his face. Stopping here and there on people who seemed to have energy in them.

Tension and energy.

Once he’d made a slow circuit of the room with his gaze, Felix shook his head once. Then he let a full frown take over his face before he drew in a slow breath, which he let out in a heavy, disappointed sigh.

“You would ask my thoughts?” Felix’s voice was loud enough to carry, but it wasn’t a shout, either. “My thoughts are simple and clear. Yosemite and its people have clearly failed in their support of Vince.”

There was an outcry of disagreement, to which Felix did not respond.

It wasn’t until everyone quieted down that he opened his mouth again.

“You cry out in denial, yet you asked me for my opinion.

“As your queen, Vince’s wife, sits on the throne for you. Attempting to guide you in the events of the day provide you with information,” Felix said. His tone was chastising, but neutral. Without heat.

Only disappointment.

It was obvious they had expected a fiery retort. Retribution. Angry denials.

Without emotions for them to latch on from Felix, their own would fail.

“Your support of Vince has failed. It saddens and disappoints me. When he needs you most, you ask for someone to speak other than the person he appointed. A person he loves and shares his trust with.

“And that’s the simple truth of what you’ve done. There is no excuse, and no room for explanation,” Felix continued. “It’ll be depressing to tell him of this when he returns.”

Felix shook his head again, broke eye contact as if he couldn’t stand to look at them, and then went back to his booth.

Sitting down lightly, Felix folded his hands and turned his attention squarely to Yaris, as if no one else mattered but her.

Well. That’ll help for the moment. Needs some long-term work, though.

Chapter 20 - Perception -

No one said anything. There was a decidedly dejected air throughout the hall.

To Felix this was normal, familiar.

He’d learned to identify this feeling long ago, when he’d first started out as a manager. When he’d figured out what management style worked for him.

This was the “disciplined child” feeling people gave off. Where the employees were left to contemplate what he had put on them.

Because it had absolutely no emotional charge when he did it, there was little for people to react to.

Yaris blinked several times under Felix’s stare, then looked to her people.

“Thank you, Felix, for your honest words.

“We’ll be moving on to the day’s events now,” Yaris said, her voice carrying clear over the complete silence over the crowd. “First, we’ll start with news from the front…”

“That was well done,” Felicity whispered in his ear, leaning in close. “I’m impressed. Very impressed.”

Her lips touched his earlobe and made his entire body light up with goosebumps and tingles.

Pulling his head slightly away from her, Felix gave her a flat look. “It’s little more than management and understanding people. There will be those my little drama did nothing for, and they’ll need to be spoken to separately at a later time.

“I bought Vince and Yaris time to solve it. Little more than that, though.”

Felicity was gazing at him with an emotion Felix couldn’t identify. “This is why everyone follows you in Legion. You’ve given them what they need on a personal level.

“Even if all you’re doing is listening to their complaints and talking to them personally.”

Felix didn’t respond to her, instead turning his attention back to Yaris. It wouldn’t do to ignore her after having so recently pushed all the attention to her.

Pretending Felicity didn’t exist, he listened. Unfortunately, it was a rather boring meeting.

The requests presented to Yaris were mostly selfish and did little to help Yosemite. Most of them were declined, or they were altered enough to provide positive results for Yosemite and then given back to the requesting party.

Beyond that, there wasn’t much discussed that he hadn’t already heard from Yaris, Fes, or Felicity directly.

Vince was in the south, waging a war on the Tri-lliance. It was going well, but there were no details.

The east had fallen after its king was assassinated, and the resulting warlords and local barons had carved the entire area up amongst themselves. Refugees were flooding into Yosemite’s lands and crime was on the rise.

This was especially true for the smaller cities and towns strung through the wastes who were under the Yosemite banner.

Patrols of soldiers were being dispatched to make sure local militia forces were strong enough to take the situation in hand. So the cities and towns weren’t simply overrun.

Felix had the distinct impression the underlying statement was that this had already happened, and these were now considered preventative measures so it wouldn’t be repeated.

“Last, but not least, we have an emissary from the emperor. As this is probably the most important bit of news, I set it for the last item of the day. That way we could break afterward,” Yaris said.

A young woman walked up to the dais and bowed at the waist. She was beautiful, showing an impressive amount of cleavage and legs.

Unfortunately for her, Vince wasn’t in attendance, and clearly she hadn’t prepared or cared enough to dress for Yaris instead.

“The emperor sends his greetings. He would invite a representative from Yosemite to come and meet with him regarding the recent situation involving the Tri-lliance,” said the woman.

Felix didn’t miss the undertones in that comment. There was a lot unsaid there. In fact, it almost felt like a statement rather than a request.

“The emperor is a human in the western part of the continent. He took over an arsenal, hired a mercenary company, and now rules from a fort of guns and cannons,” Felicity said. “He’s betrayed us before and is clearly a foe. Just not one we’re attempting to provoke quite yet. He also supports slavery as they pay him a hefty sum.

“He rules everything that isn’t ‘the Wastes’ along the west coast.”

Felix nodded, putting that information away for later.

“…with a warm welcome. Yosemite has received the emperor’s invitation, and will respond accordingly by the end of today,” Yaris said.

The emissary nodded and then walked off to the same spot she’d been before being addressed.

There was a brief second when her eyes met Felix’s, only to leap away again.

“If there is nothing else for the day, we’ll close the court and retire,” Yaris said, looking around the hall.

No one responded. It was deathly silent.

In fact, no one seemed to want to look at Yaris for too long.

And no one wanted to meet Felix’s gaze at all. Everyone’s eyes skated away almost as soon as their meeting his was possible.

Everyone began to file out, the room cleared by command alone. The soldiers were the last to go. Leaving Yaris alone with Felicity and Felix.

“Felix,” Yaris said, moving over to stand in front of the box he was sitting at. “Thank you for that.”

He shrugged in response. “Wasn’t that big of a deal, honestly. Though I do have some concerns for Yosemite. It seems like there’s a considerable amount of tension building.

“And a number of things that could change or be manipulated to help offset it.”

Yaris opened her mouth, then closed it again.

“I only know how to rule,” she said finally. “To rule, and to do what I feel is best for my people. I don’t think I could have achieved what you did with as few words.”

“Yes, well, ruling people and managing them are different things, though they overlap often,” Felix said with a shrug. “Being a ruler can forsake the possibility of being a manager at times.”

Yaris took a slow breath. Then she looked as if she’d come to a conclusion in her thoughts.

“I’d like you to go see the emperor in the west. I can send any number of people, but I don’t think any of them would do as well as you could for Yosemite,” Yaris said. She paused for a beat and then sighed, reaching up to rub her hands together. “I don’t think Vince could do as well, either. He’d just get mad and threaten to blow the place up.”

With a single throwaway thought, Felix could definitely see Vince losing his cool. Losing his cool and possibly going on a killing spree.

Especially after having been in a long, dragged-out war and traveled extensively.

He’s probably a hair’s breadth away from turning anyone perceived as an enemy to ash.

“To be honest, Yaris,” Felix said, looking up from his seat in the booth. “I’d like to go home as soon as possible.

“If I’m not here, it’d be pretty hard to see the emperor.”

Yaris nodded at that, looking away.

“I had assumed that would be the answer, but I still needed to ask. There is so much going on and so much to do that I don’t think this meeting isn’t a planned attack in some way,” said the Elf.

Felix could feel Felicity’s eyes on the side of his face. Boring into him.

Imploring him to help, if not practically demanding outright that he do so.

“Can you give me the ability to open a portal?” Felicity asked suddenly.

“Huh?” Felix turned to her. Then his mind skipped ahead to the logical conclusion. “I can indeed. It’ll cost some gold to do it, but it shouldn’t be too bad.”

But… wait.

“Before you get excited, let’s run a thought experiment,” Felix said, looking to the wooden railing of the booth.

How many points would it cost if I wanted to give Felicity the ability to open portals?

First Power (Unlock): Portal Control

Required Primary Power: 90 (Unmet)
Required Intelligence: 90 (Met)

Upgrade? (10,000)

That seems about right, but… it doesn’t seem complete. Almost doable even if I borrow some gold.

How many points would it cost if I wanted to give Felicity the ability specifically to open a portal home?

First Power (Unlock): Portal Control-Direct

Required Primary Power: 994 (Unmet)
Required Intelligence: 90 (Met)

Upgrade? (5.5x10^8th)

Ok, yeah. Having the power required to open a portal back home is astronomical.

Does that mean it’s just as hard for Kit? Or would it be easier from her side since this side has the pressure on it keeping things from opening?

“I can definitely give you the ability to open portals, but the amount of power required to pop one open to get home would be exorbitant, to say the least,” Felix said, smiling at Felicity.

“That’s fine. Give me the power to open portals, and we can do a daily check-in back here to see if there is any change with the portal to home.

“All the while going on a trip to see the emperor,” Felicity said, looking pleased with herself for having solved the problem.

It’d work, I suppose. It’d also give us a bit more room to work with in the future if Felicity could do the same as Kit.

Felix sighed and then looked to Yaris.

“It would seem my enthusiastic admin has volunteered us for the job. Give us a day or so and we should be ready,” Felix said. Getting to his feet, he inclined his head to Yaris and made his way for the exit.

He heard Felicity catch up to him and walk quietly at his side, a single step behind.

“What are you doing back there? I can’t see you,” Felix muttered as he opened the assembly door and stepped out into the streets of Yosemite.

“I shouldn’t have volunteered us the way I did,” Felicity said as the door shut behind them. “I should have saved that conversation for private.”

“Yes, you should have. But it’s done, and in the end, you weren’t wrong.” Felix looked back and forth down the street. “I have no idea where I am. So get in front of me and show me where we’re going. We need to get home and put you somewhere safe.

“When I give people powers, they tend to pass out.”

“Oh? Oh! Of course, yes.” Felicity scurried out in front of him and began walking determinedly away. Her clothing fit in naturally here in Yosemite.

Those pants fit her like a damned second skin.

She cast a single glance over her shoulder, catching him as his eyes jumped back up to her face.

Smiling, she looked ahead again.

***

The sudden knock on his door caused Felix to stop writing. He wiped the quill nub against the inkwell to get rid of the excess, then slid it into its place in the writing set.

Turning to the door, he cleared his throat.

“Enter,” he called.

When the door opened, though, Felix was absolutely surprised. Vince was standing in the doorway, looking tired and run down.

But alive, and with a lot less stress in his face than the last time Felix had seen his little brother.

Getting to his feet, Felix immediately went over to Vince.

Only to have Vince hug him before Felix could.

“It’s good to see you, brother,” Vince said, then released him. “Though it’s strange that you’re here. I heard some of it from Yaris before I came over. I got in last night.”

“Yeah, I’m not exactly here by choice, but I’m enjoying my stay so far,” Felix said simply.

“I hear Berest, Falaein, and Mia are quite fond of their uncle.” Vince gave him a brilliant grin. “Uncle Horse, huh?”

Snickering despite himself, Felix walked back over to the desk and took a seat. Picking up the quill, he got back to work. He was trying to pen out everything Vince would need to keep an eye on going forward.

Wish I had my damn light-terminal.

“What’re you doing?” Vince asked, peering over his shoulder.

“Writing down things for you to do to solve some of the problems I’m seeing in Yosemite,” Felix said. “Well, suggestions, really. You can use or lose them.”

“Huh. Anyways. I hear Yaris roped you in to going west for me. To see the emperor.”

“Felicity did it for her, but yes. That’s the plan.”

Felix finished the paragraph he’d been working on and contemplated continuing.

“Any chance you could put that away for now? Come with me to the grove? I’d like to talk more about this and get your opinion on a few things as well,” Vince said.

Felix shrugged and left everything where it was on his desk. There was no need to do anything to it. He’d just let it air dry.

Felix didn’t say anything as Vince led him through the manse and out the back step.

Everyone who saw them walking together watched for a few seconds before leaving or continuing with their chores.

A Dragon maiden with dark blue-black hair and bright blue eyes moved in next to Vince without a word. She trailed him several steps behind, clearly not willing to let him leave her presence.

She was waiting for him.

Giving her a quick once-over, Felix realized she was acting the part of bodyguard and dismissed her.

Vince finally came to a stop near what were clearly three graves.

“First, how’s Eva?” Vince asked.

“Well. She’s been moved off-world to a place we call Legion Prime. Or by the code word planet Campbell.

“She’s doing coursework there with Michael Haglund, my on-site force commander. They’re trying to get her ready to take over a location,” Felix said.

“I’m glad to hear that. I think she has an amazing amount of latent talent.” Vince grinned. “Second, thank you for heading out west. It seems I’ll be heading out east myself to see what I can do about this refugee problem,” he said.

“I’m here. I might as well help as I can,” Felix said.

Vince only nodded, his eyes looking toward the middle space between them.

Not feeling any type of discomfort, Felix inspected his surroundings. Going through his mental notes on what he needed to prep for his trip.

“He’s a slimy bastard,” Vince said after a minute. “He’ll do everything he can to trip you up. Do what you feel is best for Yosemite, and I’ll agree to it. There’s not much more to say about it or him.

“That emperor is almost as strange and wriggly as the god who granted me a favor.”

Felix immediately felt sick.

“A god granted you a favor? Did he look fairly human—black hair, blue eyes, somewhat of an ass, and mildly exasperating?” Felix asked.

“Yes, yes he was. I take it you’ve met him?” Vince seemed mildly annoyed and shocked at the same time.

“I owe him a favor,” Felix admitted with a sigh.

Frowning, he suddenly felt like someone was watching him. At first, Felix mildly hoped their conversation about the god had summoned the annoying deity.

Turning in the direction the feeling was coming from, he saw a troop of women with horns heading his way.

At the front was the lithe and athletic black Dragon, Taylor. He’d never really had a true sit-down conversation with her at this point.

Nor had he really evaluated her.

Doing a quick assessment, even flipping through her character table, he found she was exactly what he’d expected. She’d be aggressive, dominant, and determined.

The simplest way of dealing with her was non-confrontation and keeping his distance.

She wasn’t a concern for him.

Pulling his gaze from her, Felix looked back to Vince. Except Vince was watching the Dragon maidens’ approach.

Suppose I’ll wait, then.

“Taylor,” Vince said, resting an arm around the shoulder of the black-horned woman as she snuggled in close to his side. “Good timing. Felix and I were just talking about a trip he’s going to be taking.

“He’s going west to talk to the emperor on behalf of Yosemite while I travel east to take care of this refugee and warlord problem. I’ll have our borders safe one way or the other.”

“I’ve tasked one of mine to form a wing for Felix,” Taylor said, standing up straight and looking at Felix. “It’ll be led by a black like me.”

“Interesting,” Felix said. He wasn’t quite sure what that meant, or why he felt like it wasn’t a good idea, but he wasn’t about to say no to handouts when he had nothing.

With any luck, I can use them as point farms.

“Good, that’ll help. I was about to warn him that the emperor seems to be able to read minds as well,” Vince said.

“Not a concern.” Felix held up his hand. “Ring of the Legion prevents anyone from seeing anything inside my head.”

Vince frowned, his brows coming together. Felix could feel Vince’s mind press in on his own.

And slide right off.

“I can’t get in,” Vince said after several seconds. Felix felt him give up his attempt to break in.

“Indeed. Anything else I should know?” Felix asked, trying to turn the conversation to something useful.

“No, nothing we haven’t discussed.” Vince said. Then he looked to the graves.

Which was very little, but enough to know what to expect, I suppose.

“I’ll depart this afternoon then,” Felix said.

“Our mutual friend told me she was awake, but… no one agrees. The other Dryads have told me repeatedly that they sense no life from in there, and that digging them up to check would disrupt the regrowth,” Vince said.

Felix clicked his tongue and assessed the graves.

“Sell me the bodies, dig them up, bring me some gold, and I can get them up and moving today. Depending on damage and decay, the cost would vary, but nothing terrible since I don’t have the enemy pantheon pressing on me,” Felix said. “Afterward, I’ll sell them back to you on the cheap.”

“You can return them to life?” Taylor’s voice was sharp and quick in Felix’s ear. “Why would you ask for payment, though? And to sell you their bodies?”

“I have to own them to bring them back, and the gold is to be sacrificed. I turn it to dirt and bring them to life.

“If it’s that much of an issue about the gold, I can turn iron to gold later on if we sacrifice other things,” Felix said. “I’ll need time for it, though.”

“They’re yours, brother; as the king of Yosemite, I so decree.

“Taylor, dig them up. One of you others, go get me several bars of gold,” Vince commanded.

Taylor stepped aside, disrobed, and turned into a large black Dragon. At the same time, another maiden ran off to probably get the gold.

Felix waited quietly, watching as the giant Dragon’s claws functioned as shovels.

In no time at all, three corpses were laid out next to their graves.

Two were in pretty rough shape, though the third looked complete. Just extremely dirty.

“This one will cost almost nothing. She’s intact,” Felix said, pointing at the very curvy but young-looking Dryad. He didn’t even need to check his points to know that. “The other two should cost about a gold bar in total. I can convert gold later if we need it after I recover my points.”

“Bring her back. Please. Now,” Vince said, moving down to get in front of the one that would cost nothing.

Activating his power, Felix tapped on the screen message that popped up. He was apparently bringing one Karya back to life.

“Done,” Felix said immediately after he’d activated the ability.

“Karya?” Vince asked, leaning over the Dryad.

She suddenly coughed twice, turned her head, and started to throw up wet dirt.

“Oh, sorry,” Felix said. Opening his menus for her, Felix got her cleaned and put to rights as quickly as he could.

He couldn’t imagine that having mud and dirt in one’s lungs was conducive to remaining alive.

The Dryad suddenly stopped coughing. She was also clothed, cleaned, and looked as if she’d spent a day being groomed.

Felix looked away from the scene and turned his head.

Behind him, a group of Dragon maidens were all eying him speculatively.

Feeling like he’d rather be done with this situation, he pulled up the screens for the other two women and brought them back just as quickly. Making sure to have them cleaned in advance this time.

“There—all yours again, brother. Sold for the use of that gold, and in exchange for the wing of Dragons behind me,” Felix said, officially transferring them back to Vince.

“Accepted,” Vince said in a choked voice, having pulled all three Dryads over into a single embrace.

Felix didn’t know what to feel or think. Situations like this always made him feel awkward.

I wonder what the emperor is like.

Chapter 21 - When it Goes Wrong -

Felix looked around as they rolled into Sacramento. They were several days ahead of the schedule that had been shared in Yosemite.

The goal was to throw off anyone who wanted to use the information against them.

Apparently Vince had previously had a problem with the emperor and having his plans revealed to those who wished him harm.

“Is there anything you’d like to do?” Felicity asked at his side in the carriage.

The black Dragon whom Taylor had assigned to him, Kris, was sitting across from him. She looked very similar to the other woman, in fact.

Black hair, dark eyes, and athletic but very well endowed in comparison to Taylor.

Sitting next to her was a taller woman with bright gold hair and yellow eyes. Where Kris made Taylor look a bit under-developed, Goldie made both of them look masculine. She had an hourglass figure and looked like she had to be poured into her clothes for them to fit right.

Apparently, she was a gold Dragon. Her name was Goldie, which felt very uncreative even to Felix.

“Is there anything to actually do?” Felix asked. “If not, I’d rather just sit and work on my notes for Vince.

“There wasn’t much to do back home until the election runoff, but there was a host of menial things I could work on. Here… I don’t even have people to manage.”

He could practically feel Kris and Goldie fighting themselves from something they seemed to desperately want to suggest.

Apparently Dragons don’t hide their emotions well.

“Kris? Goldie? You seem like you have something you want to say,” Felix said, looking out the window of the carriage.

Older buildings that looked sixty years out of the current tech from home lined the street on both sides.

The rusted-out hulks of what looked like cars had been shoved into alleys or pushed up against walls.

All in all, Felix was unimpressed. Whoever ran this city had focused on survival for so long that they hadn’t planned for the future.

It isn’t enough just to live; people need to thrive.

“I could suggest several things to pass the time,” Goldie said, a long finger trailing along one of her horns.

Felix ignored her.

The Dragons were not hiding the fact that they wanted to get into his bed.

All of them.

And Felix wanted nothing to do with it.

“We could go to the slave auction,” Kris said. “We could purchase some people. You said the more people you have under you, the stronger your power is, no?”

That’s a pretty solid idea. Though I don’t really have any currency.

“I spoke with Yaris before we left,” Kris said. “She had some chests with the slave guild’s bond notes. I put them in the room next to where Felicity has been checking for the portal. We can retrieve them as you like.”

“Oh? That’s some solid foresight on your part. I think it’d probably be best to have them exchanged into local currency in a different city, though.

“We should hide the trail and spread out the questions,” Felix said. “Felicity, go with one of the Dragons and start getting it turned over through a few different cities when you can.

“I think I’ll just go sit in the inn and work on my notes until you’re ready,” Felix finished, feeling a bit morose.

He missed home. Missed his things. Missed his luxuries and conveniences.

He missed his Legionnaires. His department heads, his specialists. Reading through reports and figuring out what needed to be changed to raise efficiency and employee happiness a few points.

Most of all, he missed Lily, Andrea, and Adriana.

“I’ll go now,” Felicity said. “I’ll check on the portal and exchange the bonds.”

“Thanks.” Felix leaned into his hand to peer up at a taller building that was actually somewhat well cared for.

Well, that’s odd.

The sound of Felicity opening a portal and then closing it was loud enough that people around the carriage looked over in confusion.

“It’s the slavers guild,” Kris said, leaning her head out next to him.

“Interesting that they have the capability and technology to maintain that building,” Felix said. “Isn’t it?”

“I… suppose. Though from what I understand, this is normal for them in the cities they operate out of,” Kris answered.

“Curiouser and curiouser. I wonder what they have to hide.” Felix looked at the building’s front entrance.

A banner was hanging over the entryway.

“Auction tomorrow,” Felix muttered. “Special specimens guaranteed. Yosemite not welcome.”

“Vince tends to buy out every slave whenever he can. Sends people on his behalf to every auction that’ll take Yosemite’s coin,” Kris said. “He’s single handedly cornered the buyers’ market to a degree.”

“Hm. Now I’m very interested. Good thing I’m not part of Yosemite, but Legion,” Felix said.

Then his eyes focused on someone. Someone that looked so familiar to him. A man who was walking up the steps to the slave guild.

Felix couldn’t place it, but he knew he recognized the man. He’d swear it.

Then the man glanced over his shoulder and saw Felix. The recognition was there in his eyes as well. Hurrying ahead, he opened the door and slipped inside before Felix could pull up a hypothetical owner window.

Now I’m very curious. So curious it hurts.

I think this auction will be more interesting than I thought.

Who would I know in this world?

And if I know him, that would mean he’s a portal traveler too, right?

I should have asked Vince if he got the benefactor’s name. I’d be shouting at him right about now.

Feeling some of his ennui burn off instantly, Felix noticed his inner problem solver sitting up. He wanted to figure out what this was, fix it, solve it, and put it back down.

It was why he enjoyed management. Everyone was a problem to be fixed.

***

“Just place your hand on this tablet and recite your affiliation,” said a man in blood-red leather armor. He was holding out a black slate in front of him that clearly had an impression for a hand.

“Owner and proprietor of Legion, a business that specializes in re-purposing everything it can,” Felix said easily and honestly.

Felicity, Kris, and Goldie were with him. He was allowed three bodyguards for the auction. They were also all sporting thin slave collars. Magical devices made to limit the ability of the wearer to act contrary to their owner’s wishes.

It would even kill them if they ran far enough away.

The command Felix put on his people was to simply be themselves. He was curious about the collars, though. Since he owned them, he planned on taking them back to Felicia and letting her peel them apart. She often got ideas from other things that inspired her power.

Before his thoughts could stray into dangerous homesickness territory, he turned his mind back to the situation at hand.

The law in the emperor’s lands was that all non-humanoids had to wear slave collars.

If non-humanoid treatment had been poor in his home plane, it was downright abysmal here.

“And them?” the guard asked, pointing to the women.

“My personal bodyguards. They can swear the same if it pleases you,” Felix said with his hand still on the plate.

The guard glanced down at the plate. Whatever he was expecting or looking for, he didn’t find it. Without an excuse to detain or turn them away, the guard waved Felix and his people inside with a lazy wave of his hand.

“Go on in. Seating is undetermined, so feel free to sit wherever,” said the guard.

Appreciative of the dismissal, as it confirmed that he had passed muster as a “nobody,” Felix wandered inside. He immediately spotted a sign that read a listing for two different directions.

One was for deposit security, the other the bid.

Turning off towards deposit security, Felix adjusted the coat he was wearing. It felt strange—not very modern—and looked awful.

At least to his own tastes. Supposedly it was high fashion here, and he put out a certain amount of “wealth” in wearing it.

Felicity was wearing a dress that revealed far too much, and Kris and Goldie were in soft leather armor that seemed designed more to fit an aesthetic sense than for actual use.

Kris was also carrying a massive iron-bound chest around on her shoulder. It held all the coin they were willing to spend at the auction.

“Why are we going this way, nest-mate?” Kris asked.

“So you don’t have to lug that box around on that shoulder of yours,” Felix said immediately.

“It’s not that heavy,” Kris said.

“Yeah, and I’d rather not see you carrying it around all the same,” Felix said, queuing up at the end of the line.

It only took a minute before he was at the front.

A young man looked from him to Kris. “I take it you’ll be depositing that with us?”

“That’d be the case. This is our count.” Felix pulled out a slip of paper and handed it over. “Feel free to confirm it.”

Kris dropped the chest with a crunch of wood onto the ground in front of the teller window.

“Ah… that is… I’m sure it’ll be fine,” said the teller, eying the chest.

Kris rolled her shoulder and gave her hand a flex. Felix quirked a brow, smiling at the Dragon.

“No, it wasn’t heavy. But not very comfortable,” Kris said, answering his question before he could ask.

Felix looked back toward the way they’d come.

Goldie turned and started heading toward the auction area, her head swiveling one way and then the other. She’d apparently decided it was time to move this forward.

“She has better senses than I,” Kris said, moving in behind Felix.

Felicity slipped her arm into Felix’s and pulled him along after Goldie.

“This is rather nice, having you here in my homeland. All to myself,” Felicity said, her fingernails grazing along the back of Felix’s wrist. “Even if it does sound incredibly selfish.”

“Selfish, certainly. Normal? Very.” Felix patted her hand with his own. “Besides, you’re good company.

“Though I’m curious about this auction. They seem to be dead set on preventing Yosemite from being here. But admittedly their precautions were easy to sidestep.

“And I think I recognized someone.”

“You… recognized someone?” Felicity asked, her voice strained.

“I believe I did. Which doesn’t bode well, does it?”

“No. It doesn’t,” agreed the Dark Elf.

Goldie and Kris kept Felix moving and somehow divided from the other auction-goers. Either with a glare, a shove, or a word, they kept everyone away from him.

When they got to the seats, Goldie went four seats into the last row and sat down.

Felix was moved in next and sat down next to her, with Felicity put on his right. Kris took the aisle seat.

Looking around, he wondered if this would be a full house in the end, or if these seats would remain empty.

“It’s because they’re Dragons,” Felicity said, watching Felix.

“Huh?”

“You’re wondering why everyone is getting out of the way. Why you have a literal zone of empty seats around you,” Felicity said. “You have Dragons with you. Other than Vince personally, there is very little that could compete with a Dragon one on one.”

“Oh. Good to know,” Felix said, looking at Goldie next to him.

She was busy glaring a woman into a puddle of goo who had gotten within ten feet of Felix.

Looking across the seats to Kris, he was treated to her giving a gentleman similar treatment who had remained in the aisle nearby.

“We have two purposes. Find out why they didn’t want Yosemite here, and if we can’t find that person I recognized,” Felix said, putting his elbow on the armrest and leaning to one side.

Goldie immediately moved in closer to him since he’d leaned her way, and her hair tickled his ear.

Ignoring her completely, Felix waited.

The normal process started up. Pandering to the audience, hyping up certain “products” coming up today, and the next auction’s date.

Felix had seen the same or similar back home.

Actually, it’s identical in some ways. That’s rather odd, isn’t it?

The auction proceeded slowly. Felix purchased several people who had unique skills or abilities that he could harness or tweak accordingly.

He wouldn’t even have to feed or clothe them. He could just have Felicity open a portal and send them home to Yosemite.

“For your pleasure today, our final auction is a set of Elves. The hunter has been collecting these specimens for the last several months,” said the auctioneer from offstage. “We can guarantee their… freshness… and that they’ve been well cared for since we acquired them.

A group of young women that looked to be in their twenties were marched onto the stage. One and all, they were Elves. Their hair colors ranged from black as night to white as snow.

Tall, short, medium, and with every body type in between as well. There were even two with wings that looked as if their feathers had been clipped to prevent flight.

Felix wasn’t sure, but to him it seemed they had two of every type of Elf on stage. Though he couldn’t identify them all.

“For those who may not know all the sub-races, this includes: Dark, Wood, High, Snow, Desert, Winged, and Royal.”

“Royal Elves?” Felicity asked disbelievingly.

“This is a special sale from the emperor himself. Acquired through personal hunting teams he put together. The majority of the proceeds will, of course, go to him.

“Starting price is one thousand standards.”

“If they really do have Royals, we need them,” Felicity said. “This is why Yosemite wasn’t invited. Royals exert a magical pressure on other Elves. If Vince had more of them, he’d draw in Elves from everywhere.

“They’d need to remain separate from Yosemite as they’re likely a different family, or branch family, and they would fight with Yaris and her children. But we could use them in Legion. We could use them to recruit more Elves.”

Oh? Hm.

I wonder if that means Elves are more like insects. With each race having subsequent tasks and requirements they’re best suited for.

Waiting, Felix watched as others bid against one another. Driving the price higher and higher.

Felix had started with about fifty thousand gold standards, and he’d already spent ten thousand so far.

That left him with a forty-thousand-standard bracket to work in.

Those bidding were moving the price up in one hundred and two hundred standard increments. They seemed intent to keep going higher and higher, but at a slow rate.

Let’s jump it up and see if we can’t run them off.

“Twenty thousand standards,” Felix called out. He’d just bumped the price up by fifteen-thousand standards in one go.

“Ah… twenty thousand to the gentleman at the rear,” called the auctioneer.

“Twenty thousand one hun—”

“Twenty-five thousand,” Felix said, interrupting the man as he tried to bid up a smaller amount.

“Twenty-five thousand and—”

“Thirty thousand,” Felix interrupted again.

“Thir—”

“Forty thousand,” Felix said, scratching at his nose with his right hand.

Internally, he was already working through the calculations of his points to determine how much more gold he could create today.

And from that gold, how many standards he could then convert that to.

I could convert enough to make a smaller bid from here, but it’d be obvious it was my ceiling.

If I haven’t intimidated the other bidders off by now, I doubt I’ll do it with a dinky little thing.

“Current bid is forty thousand standards. Do I have anyone else?” the auctioneer asked when no one responded.

“I’ll leave it at that and conclude the auction.” The sharp rap of a gavel signified that Felix now owned a zoo exhibit’s worth of Elves.

“We’ll have a word from the emperor’s personal slave handler, and then the auction can finish out,” called the auctioneer.

“Go ahead and get them back to Yosemite as soon as this is over, Felicity,” Felix said, facing her. “Buy a building if you have to, but get our people stashed away where they can’t be seen.

“I don’t want the emperor to think Vince somehow conned him on this one. I imagine he has spies in the city.”

“But… we can check the thoughts of people. We should be able to find spies, shouldn’t we?

“With both Dryads and Dragons…” Felicity shook her head.

“Uh huh. And I can circumvent both of them with a Legionnaire’s ring. You yourself wear one,” Felix said.

“Ah… yes. Ok. I’ll get it taken care of immediately after this,” Felicity said.

“Great, thanks.”

Turning his focus back to the stage, Felix froze.

Standing on the stage was the man he recognized. A man he now remembered.

Could put a name to.

Daniel. He was there at the summit.

Felix ducked his head down as subtly as he could. “Felicity, put a glamour on me, quick. Make me look like anyone but me.”

“I think he already saw you,” Goldie said before Felicity could respond.

“Why’s that?” Felix asked, looking up to her.

“He’s staring at you and isn’t speaking,” Goldie said.

Sighing, Felix sat upright.

Daniel was indeed staring at him. Smiling at the man, Felix waved a hand negligently. As if seeing Daniel was unsurprising.

“Mr. Seville, aren’t you going to speak for the emperor?” called the auctioneer.

“Seville?” Felicity asked, her tone turning cold at the edge.

Daniel’s eyes flicked to Felicity, then back to Felix.

Then Daniel brought his hand up and a ball of what looked like static formed there.

He flipped his hand forward, and the ball of crackling fuzz zipped toward Felix.

Felicity batted it to one side while Felix dove past Goldie and rolled down into the gap between the seats.

A boom sounded as the ball of static struck the ceiling instead of Felix. As if it were made of a child’s interlocking brick toys, the ceiling simply disintegrated, leaving behind small jagged squares.

The mass of energy turned into motes of green and vanished as if it had never been there.

Then a giant peal of thunder cracked the air in almost the same position.

A beautiful white-winged woman with dark hair and dark eyes was simply there where she hadn’t been moments ago.

Wielding a lance lazily in one hand, she brought up her other one. A wad of black lightning formed there. She tossed it ahead of herself and it scorched through the air toward Daniel.

Who winked out of existence with one hand in his pocket.

His clothes, some minor items, and a few coins clattered to the ground where he’d been.

The winged woman made a harrumphing noise and landed with a soft pat in the aisle behind Felix’s seat.

Her eyes moved to him, skewering him to the ground.

“I know you,” she said, her eyebrows drawing together. Then her eyes left him and began to scour the room.

“Runner, I’m going to need a hand sorting through this,” said the woman. “And one of your pet projects is here where they shouldn’t be. The designation doesn’t match.”

The world became still, turning dark gray in a single heartbeat. Felix couldn’t even hear the sound of breathing.

Goldie looked like a corpse, her chest no longer rising or falling.

No one’s was. Only Felix seemed to be able to breathe and move.

Looming over him was his benefactor.

“Right, then.

“You and your brother are becoming positively annoying,” said the man. “I have half a mind to leave you here, but I think you’d end up causing more mischief here than on your own plane.

“In fact, now that I’m looking at it, you’ve been missing from your home for almost three months. What happened?”

Three months?

“Runner,” said the angel, diverting the conversation. “It was the same one as last time that you almost caught.

“He came back.”

“Did he now?” said the man, who was apparently named Runner. “Well, that’s a shit show, ain’t it?

“Especially if he recognized this one here.”

“I… what?” Felix asked when Runner indicated him.

“He also did that,” the angel said, pointing at the ceiling.

Runner looked up and sighed.

“Right, then. Shit show would have been easier. This is now a clown fiesta.”

Chapter 22 - Display -

Felix got his feet and looked around. Everyone was frozen in place in the grayness.

As if they’d had their souls stolen away.

Reaching out, he pressed a finger to Goldie’s face. Her warm skin depressed under his fingertip.

Her head didn’t move much, but she was clearly still human. She hadn’t been turned to stone or anything.

He let his hand drop and her head moved back to where it had been, her skin resuming its original shape.

“Hey, don’t get any funny ideas,” Runner said as he walked to the front of the room.

“What’d you do?” Felix asked, turning around and looking at Felicity. She was standing above where he’d fallen. Her arm was thrown out in front of herself, magic suspended in midair. A shield was rapidly forming around Felix and moving up toward Felicity.

“I put the world in time-out. It’s having a nice nap time right now,” Runner said, sorting through the items that had fallen to the ground. “Why—you wanna go nap-nap, too?”

“Ah… no. Just… curious. Sorry.” Felix suddenly felt completely overwhelmed.

With a fingertip, he gently pressed Felicity’s lip. It shifted under the weight of his finger. She felt normal to the touch, just like Goldie had.

Reaching out, he pushed a hand to her shoulder and gave her a very light shove.

Her upper body moved, then returned to its original location. It was a strange state she was in.

Funny ideas. Hah.

I wouldn’t have even had any if you hadn’t put my mind on that path in the first place.

Felix shook his head and tore his eyes away from Felicity’s face.

“I suppose that’s true,” Runner said, picking up something from the pile of clothes. “But you still took your thoughts there anyways. I only pointed in a direction.”

“Yes, he can read your mind. Yes, he’s an ass. Yes, he’s very confusing. But he also owes you a few answers, so press him,” said the angel. Then she sighed and leveled her spear at Runner. “I’m going to see if I can trace this back somewhere, Lord-Husband. Do not forget that it’s d—that I have your time tonight, and have arranged it to be so.”

Then she seemed to turn into herself and vanish with a soft pop. Nothing more was left of her.

“Her time tonight, nuh nuh nuh,” Runner said in a mocking tone, bobbing his head back and forth. “As if I’d forgotten.”

Grumping, Runner stood up and looked at Felix. Then he gave him a wide smile.

“I imagine you’ve spoken to your brother?” Runner asked.

Felix looked away from the god to all the frozen people around him.

“Yes. He mentioned you briefly. I assumed you were one and the same,” Felix said. “It only makes sense, when I think about it.”

“Hm. I suppose it does at that,” Runner said and wandered over to stand next to Felix.

“You froze the world?” Felix asked, still not quite able to comprehend that.

“I froze all of existence, actually. Your home plane, this one—every plane is frozen in time right now,” Runner said.

He walked up to Kris and leaned in close to the Dragon, looking her over.

“This one’s a treat for the eyes, isn’t she? I like the horns. Kinda like handlebars,” Runner said. Then his eyes slid over to Goldie. “And that one looks like it fell out of a damn skin mag.”

Standing up, Runner looked briefly to one side. Seemingly inspecting nothing.

“Of course she did that. Because she’d think it was hilarious. Eh… I could have checked earlier, I guess—that’s on me,” Runner said to what Felix thought was nobody.

Is he crazy?

“No. I’m not. I’m just realizing that a lot more slipped through my fingers than I thought, and I owe my wife a punishment. Hopefully one she won’t enjoy this time,” Runner said, then looked back to Felix. “So. Looks like you’ve been trapped in here for about a week in plane time. Been gone for three months in your home plane’s time. Someone was playing with the time involved.

“And before you ask, Patricia is kinda a question I don’t want to answer right now, so don’t bother. Maybe later.”

“I had no idea. The portal closed and we’ve been unable to open it. Apparently from either side,” Felix said. He hadn’t realized it until it was said, but he had been wondering if he could ask about Patricia.

“Yes. Your people have tried a number of things to open it,” Runner said.

“Any chance you can just… cut open a slit in the plane for me to slide through?” Felix asked. “It’s starting to feel like me against an entire pantheon at this point.”

“It is. You really are fighting a pantheon. It’s mildly disconcerting to me that they’re all working against a single mortal, but that’s how it is,” Runner said simply. “And no. I can’t just let you back through.

“As long as I abide by the commandments I put down, they have to adhere to them as well. They cannot violate them.”

Felix felt the blood rush to his head suddenly and he clenched his hands at his side. He wanted to shout at this god. To scream at him with his bloody frustration.

He’d lost three months now. The special runoff for the prime minister would be over. His people would have had to face the anti-trust case without him, and then the anti-religion case as well in the summit.

This god, this Runner, was grating on him.

And he wants to argue semantics!

“Though there was one instance when realistically, it probably should have opened. I have a feeling someone interfered there,” Runner said. “Not exactly violating the laws I put down, but probably pushing the gray area a bit too far.”

Felix had his tongue stuck between his teeth. It took everything he had to maintain his composure and not speak right now.

“Tell you what I’ll do. I’ll reverse the flow of time back to that point and let you cross over at that moment in time,” Runner said. “That meets the regulations I put down and gives you what you want, and I don’t have to look at that grumpy face of yours.”

“And how much time would I lose at that juncture from the point when I came here?” Felix asked.

“About three weeks. More than enough time to get back to Legion and set things as you would wish them.”

“And what about this world? You can’t really push it back, can you? If you rewound time here, it would create a paradox.

“I mean, if you rewound time, the initiating event that would cause you to rewind time wouldn’t happen.

“Right? Nothing would happen, and we’d just be right back here. I mean, that’s logical, isn’t it?” Felix asked.

“Right. This world will remain the same,” Runner confirmed after staring at Felix for a full three seconds.

“Then I want you to keep the rest of all existence—every plane—frozen until I can meet with the emperor,” Felix said.

Runner raised his eyebrows at that, watching Felix.

“If you can’t police your own policies, and I have to keep suffering for them, I think I deserve some sort of renumeration,” Felix said, unwilling to budge on this. “I promised Vince I’d see the emperor. He’s my brother. I won’t break that promise.”

Looking to one side, Runner was lost in his own thoughts.

Or so Felix believed.

He didn’t dare think anything about the situation otherwise, since it was clear Runner would simply pluck the thoughts right out of his head as if they were chat bubbles in a comic book.

“Fine.” Runner turned back to Felix. “One day’s worth of time to meet the emperor and portal back to Vince to give him the news. Then I open a portal for you to go home. What happens after that is on you.”

Felix let out a slow breath as subtly as he could.

“It’s a deal,” he said.

Runner waved a hand at him and moved around to stand outside of the row.

“Go ahead and lie back down where you were. We’ll get this show on the road,” Runner said. “As far as Daniel goes—or Seville, as Felicity and Vince know him—don’t speak of him. To anyone. At all. It never happened.

“I’m going to poke around in your wife’s head a bit and remove some memories.”

“She’s not my wife.

“And I’ve seen him on my own plane,” Felix said, getting down on the ground. “What do you want me to do if I see him again?”

“Ha. I tried that game, too. Didn’t work out very well. Now I have more wives than days in the week.

“As to seeing him again, just call out to me. Say my name. Runner Norwood,” said the god. He moved around behind the seats to look down at Felix.

Felix shifted around on the ground, getting as comfortable as he could.

“Great, that looks about right,” Runner said. “With all that, I’ll see you in a day. I’ll also make sure this world and your home world have matching times going forward. And here’s a parting gift. Give her a kiss and a squeeze. She’ll like it.”

Reaching over, he slapped Felicity on the side of her shoulder.

The world jumped to color again, and the shield Felicity was casting winked out as she toppled toward him unexpectedly.

Unbalanced and unable to recover, Felicity collapsed right atop him. At the same time, Kris and Goldie launched to their feet, moving to stand above Felix.

Not expecting Felicity to crash into him, Felix hadn’t been able to brace himself, and the wind was knocked out of him.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Felix! I don’t know what happened,” Felicity said, lifting her head up to look around. Her hands were pressed to his shoulders and she was practically laid out flat on top of him.

“He’s gone,” Goldie said.

“We should leave after we get our purchases,” Kris added.

Felix could only nod.

Fucking Runner.

***

Somehow, Felix had kept his mouth shut about everything. He hadn’t told anyone about his encounter with the god known as Runner.

That everything had actually already gone wrong, and he’d been locked out of his home for three months.

This was more like having a “get out of jail free” card and using it. Felix had erred in not treating the portal as a trap. That he could literally be cut off from his people as he had been.

He hadn’t been paranoid enough.

“Leave your weapons here,” said a guard with a large rifle in his hands.

Felix looked it over and then back to the guard. His weapon looked like something from a bygone era that had been modified extensively.

Except the modifications looked more like they’d come from his own world. Or somewhere very similar.

Alright. So there’re some portal games going on here. Someone else is playing portal emissary for the emperor, as I am for Vince.

Except they’re keeping it limited while I sent over mechs, basically.

Felix unfastened his hunting knife and pistol holster, then placed them on the tray that was set to one side of the big double doors.

They were standing outside the entry to the keep for the emperor. Felix had been singularly unimpressed with the giant paranoid fort of cannons pointing out in every direction.

It looked like something a crazy person would put together and somehow think they were safe.

All it would take is a few Dragons with bombs and this whole building would be gone.

“I have no weapons,” Kris said simply, holding up her hands.

“Nor I,” Goldie agreed.

“Or me,” Felicity offered.

The two guards looked at the single pistol and the knife on the tray, then to the women.

They were all dressed in tight clothes. Leather armor for the dragons, and a dress for Felicity.

There wasn’t really much room for them to hide anything, anywhere. For a brief moment, the guards seemed to contemplate frisking the women.

That quickly ended when a rather bright aura of anger began to ooze out of Goldie. She apparently had caught the attention they were giving her and was displeased.

“Fine, go in then. The Dragons will wait in the antechamber. You can take the Elf to see the emperor, though,” said the guard who hadn’t spoken yet.

“I will not leave my nest-mate,” Kris said, her voice pitched low and deadly. There was a growling edge to it that Felix didn’t want to consider.

“Nor I,” Goldie agreed, her voice sounding much more normal.

“Then you’ll not be seeing the emperor,” the guard said simply.

“Is there any way you’d allow them in with me? I’d prefer not having to beg you for your kindness, but I’m not much of a warrior and depend on their company, much as the emperor does for you,” Felix said. He imagined the guards wouldn’t mind letting Felix debase himself to a degree in asking.

“Huh… well… if they swore to their Dragon’s word that they wouldn’t hurt the emperor, we could let them in, right?” asked the first guard to the second guard.

“You see? Perfect,” Felix said. “Girls, please swear to the nice guards on your Dragon word that you’ll not harm the emperor during this visit unless in self-defense.”

Felix turned back to the guards. “That’d be agreeable and fair, would it not? For the emissaries of a friendly country?”

The two guards seemed to be mulling that over individually.

“Great,” Felix said, not giving them a chance to respond. “Ladies, go ahead and swear to that, and let’s head on in.”

Kris and Goldie glanced at each other, then both spoke at the same time.

“I do so swear as you stated, on my Dragon’s word.”

Not waiting for the guards, Felix immediately moved into the room.

Unable to respond, or at least unwilling to stop him physically, the guards let him proceed. His bodyguards trailing along behind him as he went in.

Several weapon-sporting soldiers were positioned along the hall as it wound deeper into the cannon fort. They all wielded similar weapons to those Felix had seen at the front door.

They were all older weapons that had all been heavily modified into clumsy, would-be current tech. Each had a sword belted at their waist as well.

When Felix really looked at them, though, they all had the look of men living on their position. That their job had become rote. Expected.

Taken for granted.

No one challenged the fact that two Dragons were walking down the hall with Felix.

Everyone seemed intent to guard their post. Stuck in their own affairs.

Perhaps it was something the emperor himself encouraged. That he didn’t want individual or executive thinkers amongst his people.

A failing on his part and a short-sighted loss.

Walking sedately along, Felix took turn after turn. One twisted corridor after another. Finally, he reached an arched doorway that led into a massive throne room.

It was decorated in a style Felix would only describe as “self-interest,” as it mostly contained things one would associate with wealth.

Banners, weapons, armor, expensive knick-knacks. Platters of food that looked untouched.

Innumerable objects locked away but visible in glass cases.

Well aren’t you a self-important little toad of a man?

The guards here were different than the ones outside. These were armed with rifles clearly not from this plane that looked as if they’d been imported directly rather than modified.

Several women stood at the emperor’s sides. All naked as the day they were born.

At least he values my opinion. Otherwise he wouldn’t have planned all this. He wants it to influence me.

Clasping his hands behind his back, Felix walked lazily up toward the throne.

He was here as an invited emissary, not a subject.

Reaching the foot of the dais, several steps beyond a rather thick rug, Felix bowed at the waist to the emperor.

“Emperor. I am Felix Campbell, brother to Vince. I’m here as his emissary,” Felix said simply before standing up straight.

Sitting in his oversized throne was the emperor himself.

He was a small man. With small eyes and a frown. Black hair, dark eyes, and a thin face.

“You dare?” he said around a scowl.

“Dare what?” Felix asked.

“You dare not kneel before us?” asked the emperor.

Felix frowned for a moment, considering the man. Given all he’d seen and heard of the man, he was truly concerned with how he was viewed.

In Felix’s world, this was a man who had reached the height of the Peter principle. Who practically lived in it.

He’d reached the level of incompetence that would prevent him from achieving anything further.

Surrounding himself with all the trappings of power that he himself respected and wanted. Putting people around him that would serve and lick his boots, but never challenge him.

Except his position had been attained through birthright. There was no one to cast him down from the top.

“I am not a subject to the empire,” Felix said simply. “I wasn’t even born on this continent. I’m not even a citizen of Yosemite.”

The emperor shuddered in his seat. Rage and anger exuding from his posture.

“You will kneel now before us, or we will have you kneel,” said the emperor.

Alright. I suppose this is done. It’s nothing more than him wanting someone to come kiss his ring and make him feel important.

Possibly because Yosemite stomped out the enemy armies and came back safe.

Whereas the emperor never beats his foe, and he ends up having to rely on others. Other countries, and men stronger than him.

He looks incredibly weak.

Now that Felix thought about it, he realized Daniel Seville had likely been someone in this court. Someone the emperor had relied on. Or at least here in some capacity.

This is pointless. He just wants someone to bend the knee. Time to go.

“I see. I’ll let Vince know that your desire to speak with him was only to have him kneel before you,” Felix said. “I’ll be taking my leave. Good day to you, Emperor.”

Felix turned on his heel and started to walk away.

“You will stop! We have not dismissed you,” shouted the emperor.

Felix didn’t respond. He kept walking for the exit.

“Stop him! Bring him before us and make him kneel,” squealed the emperor in his high-pitched voice. “We’ll send his head back to his brother as a present.”

“Drop a cloud or something to obscure what we’re doing. Don’t attack him; he’s not worth the risk,” Felix said to Felicity and the Dragons. “Then open a portal. We’ll just open it up and be gone. There’s nothing left to do here.”

Felicity nodded, her eyes moving to the emperor. The Dragons looked like they wanted to jump over to the emperor and pull his head off.

Curling her fingers, Felicity made a gesture, and a dense fog exploded out from her. It literally swarmed over everything and everyone. Blanketing the entire throne room in dense, split-pea-soup-like fog.

Then a portal opened in front of Felix. It led straight back to Yosemite.

“Everyone in,” he said, and he stepped through.

Moving to one side of the portal, Felix waited.

Kris and Goldie came through. Then Felicity did as well. She turned back toward her portal and made a small gesture, and it closed up as if it had never been there.

“Well done. Though I suppose that was a failure,” Felix said with a sigh. “The emperor just wanted someone there to kiss his ring, and little else.”

Around him, Dryads were moving in to check on him. Felix caught sight of one exiting the hall and vanishing around a corner.

Off to tell Vince we’re back. Well, that was about as bad as it could have been.

Other than the thing with Runner, that is. Going home sounds great.

As if on cue to his thoughts, the dormant portal sprang to life with a small crack of thunder.

There, standing on the other side, seemed to be every single magical caster in Legion that could fit in the portal receival room.

Oh. I see. I can definitely agree on how that probably should have opened. That kind of magical power would have poked a hole right through if Felicia made some type of input or funneling contraption.

Chapter 23 - Villainy -

Felix immediately turned, walked to his home plane’s side of the portal, and looked back through to Vince’s.

“Kris, go get the other Dragons,” Felix said to the black Dragon.

She nodded and fled out of the hallway immediately.

“Goldie, go get the Elves. Felicity, go get Vince,” Felix ordered.

The Dragon woman lifted her chin, then nodded with a smile. “Time to see our home, nest-mate,” murmured the gold Dragon before she turned and left.

Felicity was gone without a word or gesture, practically sprinting out of the room.

Felix turned back to his people who had opened the gate.

Standing in front of him, glaring up at him as if he were the most hated person in the world, was Felicia.

Her dark curly hair was cut short, her brown eyes locked on him. Arms crossed in front of her impressive bust.

“Hey, Felicia,” Felix said, smiling at her. “I’m betting I have you to thank for my rescue?”

Felicia’s face screwed up from anger to a strange look of desperate relief.

“Where have you been?” she asked. Her voice had started to quaver as she spoke. “You’ve been gone for three weeks. No one knew what happened to you. We knew you were alive since the contract magic of Legion still existed, but we didn’t know where you were.”

By the end, her words had degenerated into a blubbering sob.

Getting down a bit, Felix wrapped the smaller Dwarven woman in a tight hug.

“I’m sorry. I was trapped on the other plane by the deities from this plane,” Felix explained. “There wasn’t anything I could do to get back.”

“Don’t you understand? Without you we’d lose everything. This is my home. My family. I met my wife here,” Felicia said, her small, thick fingers digging into his back painfully. “If you ever do that again I’ll make a machine to track you down just so I can kill you.”

“Got it. I’m open to any ideas you come up with to make sure I don’t get lost again,” Felix said. “Implant, tracker, spell, or anything.”

“Good. I’m going to make sure it happens through an anal probe, you insufferable wart on a frog’s asshole,” Felicia said. Then she backed up and wiped at her face with her hands.

“Come over for dinner this weekend. Bring Felicity. It was nice having you two over,” said the Dwarven woman. Then she thumped him on the shoulder and pushed her way into the crowd.

I don’t think that was something I’d ever expect to see.

Then Felix was bowled to the ground under a horde of mewling, whimpering Elex women.

Looking just beyond them, he saw a smiling Lily and Kit. They looked extremely relieved.

Ioana was standing beyond them, comforting a shuddering Felicia. She gave him a half smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

Miu was standing off to one side, her body shivering as she stared at him. It was clear she’d not slept in days, and it looked as if she hadn’t even showered.

Victoria was right next to her, and she looked as if she’d withered as well. Though she didn’t look like she’d gone without showering, she did seem pale and thin. As if she wasn’t eating very well and sleeping even less.

Even Jessica and Erica were here. Their hands were clutched together tightly, but they were smiling, and dressed as if they were ready to conduct an interview.

“Alright. Come on, get off me, my loves,” Felix said, kissing the closest Andrea and then the closest Adriana. Then he started petting them and scratching at the ears of any he could reach. “I need to make some plans with Vince and then we can catch up.”

Felix said the last bit looking around at his inner-circle lieutenants.

“We’ll all have a quiet meeting somewhere, some food, and talk. I’m sure a lot’s happened,” he continued. “I also have a lot to tell you all.”

Slowly, the Elex sisters started getting up, their tails happily moving back and forth behind them despite tear-stained eyes.

Getting to his feet, Felix brushed himself off quickly.

Andrea Prime and Adriana Prime didn’t move far off, though. Andrea was still holding on to his hem, and Adriana looked like she wanted to as well.

Gotta remember I knew I was safe. They didn’t. They didn’t even know where I was.

From their point of view, it’s been three weeks of not knowing.

Not pushing them away, Felix took a step closer to the two Beastkin and waited.

He could hear the Elex sisters sniffing lightly. Looking to one side, he caught Erica and Jessica doing the same.

Maybe it’s a Beastkin thing. That they need to touch and smell?

Is that why Andrea and Adriana had to dogpile me?

When they realized Felix was watching them, Jessica and Erica became motionless.

He waved them over.

Jessica moved in an instant, practically dragging Erica behind her when she didn’t let go of her hand.

Then the Fox and the Rabbit Beastkin latched on to him. Hugging him tightly in the same way Adriana and Andrea had.

Yeah, must be a Beastkin thing.

And since we’re thinking about it this way… let’s make it easy for Kit. She’ll undoubtedly talk to Lily.

With a quick thought, Felix opened his mind up to Kit. He never needed to tell her when he did it. He imagined she was always passively scanning everyone now.

She’d be rifling through his thoughts and experiences any second, then relaying the more salient points to Lily and the others.

She’d even gotten to the point where she could do it without him noticing.

After a few seconds, Erica and Jessica let go and moved around behind him. He got the impression they were standing just behind the Elex sisters, but he didn’t look to confirm it.

“Thank you,” murmured Erica. “I didn’t think we’d get a chance to see you.”

There were small grunts of agreement from the Elex sisters, and a softer one that was likely Jessica.

“Yeah, well, I’m not good at this. But even I can realize Beastkin have different needs. Ah, here they come,” Felix said.

Kris came around the corner. With her were several beautiful and lightly dressed women.

One and all, they looked somewhere between Kris and Goldie in body shape and size.

Their horn colors of course designated their sub-species of Dragon, but also seemed to dictate what their hair colors and eye colors could be.

They all passed through the portal and went to one side. Then they formed two rows, presumably by their rank in the wing.

“All are here, nest-mate, except for Goldie,” Kris said.

Felix nodded, looking back into the portal. Half a minute later, Goldie came into the hall. Her eyes found him out immediately and she gave him a wide grin. Behind her came the Elven women.

When she passed through the portal, Goldie deliberately walked close to Felix and dragged a finger along his chest as she went.

The Elves formed two rows of their own next to the Dragons.

Goldie took her place next to Kris as the second-in-command.

“You will have to explain those. Lily isn’t upset, but she isn’t happy either,” came the mental warning from Kit.

Felix couldn’t push his thoughts back at her in the same way, so he just nodded instead. He was sure she could see the back of his head.

“Good. Thank you.”

Felicity came back now with Vince. In tow with him were Yaris, Meliae, and Fes.

Vince stopped just on the other side of the portal while Felicity lightly hopped through and moved past Felix.

“I’m glad to see the portal is back open, brother,” Vince said, smiling. “Felicity said you had news from the emperor?”

“Yes. He just wanted someone to take hostage, bend the knee to him, or kill outright,” Felix said simply. “It would seem the emperor is not very happy with how your war turned out.”

“Of course he isn’t,” Fes said with a snort. “He would have lost if not for us. Or at least, he would have had to actually strip the citadel of guards and weapons.”

Vince sighed and nodded once. “I understand. Sounds like I need to fatten up my western border then, while holding back the wave of refugees from the east.”

Shaking his head, Vince stepped through the portal and moved to stand in front of Felix.

“Thank you, brother. I appreciate you handling that for me,” he said, reaching out and grabbing Felix by the shoulders.

“Of course. Now… as unbelievable as it may seem, three weeks have passed since the portal closed. I must tend to my own problems,” Felix said.

Vince nodded and clapped Felix on the shoulder one more time, then turned and headed back to Yosemite.

He’s become rather expressive with me. I feel like the awkward brother all of a sudden.

***

As he went to take a seat, Felix found himself looking down at the chair under him. It was incredibly inviting compared to what he’d been sitting in recently in Yosemite.

Making himself comfortable, he looked around the conference room.

Andrea, Adriana, Lily, Kit, Miu, Victoria, Ioana, Jessica, Erica, Kris, Goldie, Felicity, the blond Dryad who seems to stalk me… Where’d Felicia go?

“She was feeling really drained,” said Ioana, who must have known what Felix was about to ask. “She went to go take a nap. She’d been working on that magical amplifier since the day you vanished.”

Felix sighed at that. He was grateful for her effort and felt guilty at the same time.

He imagined they had all put in work on this.

Next to him, Miu sat down forcefully in the chair and stared at him. She reeked of body odor and sweat. Her breath also smelled, as if she hadn’t brushed her teeth in a while. Her lips were cracked and her eyes bright red.

She was shivering from head to toe.

Before she could attack him, lose her grip on herself, or say anything, Felix leaned over and hugged her.

Then her gently kissed her cheek and pressed his mouth to her ear.

“Miu, my dear little psychopath. Would you do me a favor? I would feel infinitely better if you would take a nap. That way I could know you were watching over me later,” Felix said. “Take some time to care for yourself and come back to me. I promise I won’t go anywhere without you until you feel calm again.

“Alright?”

Miu’s shivering had stopped as soon as he touched her. Her hands came up behind him and clenched into his back.

Then her head dipped down and she bit him on the neck. Hard and sharp. He felt her actually break the skin.

God damnit, really?

Here and now?

Grimacing in pain, Felix put a hand behind her head and looked to the others. The only way to keep her from freaking out at this point was to hold her, rather than try to push her off.

“She gets this thing where she needs to eat something of me,” Felix explained to the shocked eyes of everyone around the room. They all knew she was five beers short of a six pack, but most of the others never saw it. “She’ll break off in a little bit. We haven’t had an episode like this in a while. A long while.

“First,” Felix said, ignoring the crazy woman actually drinking his blood and gnawing at his flesh, “the Dragon maidens were given to me for protection. They’re my Wing, as they call themselves, I suppose. They’re more often in their human form than anything else. But they’re Dragons.”

“That will make protecting you easier,” Victoria said. “Will they report to me like the Dryads, or…?”

Felix glanced at his stalker blond Dryad and quickly called up her character sheet. He just wanted to see her name.

Name:
Faith

Power: None

Alias: None

Physical Status:
Randy; Lustful.

Mental Status:
Hopeful; Willing; Dazed.

Positive Statuses:
In Love (Emotional Boost XXX)

Negative Statuses:
Nervous, Lonely

Strength:

63

Upgrade?(630)

Dexterity:

89

Upgrade?(890)

Agility:

87

Upgrade?(870)

Stamina:

61

Upgrade?(610)

Wisdom:

78

Upgrade?(780)

Intelligence:

84

Upgrade?(840)

Luck:

69

Upgrade?(690)

Primary Power:

——

Upgrade?(——)

Her stats are impressive. No wonder she’s the lead Dryad bodyguard.

“I’d like you and Miu to stop acting as bodyguards and focus on inner-security consultant work, plus whatever projects I assign you. I need you closer, more able to flex to my needs.

“Turn the bodyguard stuff over to Kris and Faith; they can handle it well between the two of them,” Felix said, indicating the Dryad. “I get the impression their goals are the same, so they’ll work well together.”

Faith the Dryad looked stunned at his words.

“I’m… honored and flattered that you know my name, Felix,” Faith said.

True, she never actually told me her name, did she?

This was also the first time he’d heard her speak. Her voice was warm and smooth. Lower toned but not masculine.

“I will make sure your Dryad bodyguard meshes with your Wing and your Elves. We will take care of all your needs,” Faith promised.

Felix wasn’t quite comfortable with how she hit “all” as hard as she did, but he understood where she was coming from.

She was a Nymph, after all.

“Speaking of the Elves, they’re next. Felicity, could you give them a brief rundown?” Felix asked.

He needed a break to pry Miu off and get her situated. Felicity could handle explaining that the Elves were a point drop and a recruiting tool.

Turning his head inward, he pressed his lips up to Miu’s ear.

“Can you let go now? I promise I’ll not punish you in any way. I understand completely, and I know it was hard on you,” Felix said soothingly. “Just… take a nap. Relax. Care for yourself. That’s what I want.

“Ok? I’m telling you exactly what I want.”

He was very careful about telling Miu what he wanted of her. Her reactions were almost always over the top. But this time she didn’t seem like she was going to give up his neck anytime soon.

Her lips slowly peeled away from him, but she didn’t move away yet.

“You want me to rest? And care for myself?” Miu asked, her voice a rasp.

“Yes. I want you to care for yourself. I want you to get some rest and then come back and take care of me. Ok? I need you, Miu,” Felix said. “I need you, and I need you to be in tip-top condition for me.”

Miu nodded her head minutely. “You need me.”

“Yes. I do. Now… will you please take care of yourself?”

Miu nodded once more, then let go of him. Rather than moving away, though, she lay down on the ground right next to his chair, closed her eyes, and immediately fell asleep.

Underneath him, practically.

Sighing, Felix leaned back into his chair. Before he could do anything about the bite, Goldie had a cool hand pressed to his neck with some type of fabric.

Glancing down, he realized it was a bandage.

“Thanks, Goldie.” Felix smiled up at the Dragon.

She gave him a bright smile and a wink.

“…bring in more Elves,” Felicity said. She glanced at Felix as if to see if he was done with his situation.

“Great, thank you Felicity,” Felix said, then looked to Kit and Lily.

“Now, what do I need to know immediately? I get the impression things are starting to spin out of control.”

“The government canceled one of our contracts,” Lily said. She looked like she was annoyed, but not upset. He imagined she wanted to pull him off somewhere alone and talk. She simply did better in one-on-one situations. “It was a police precinct contract.

“They brought in a whole bunch of rookies, retired cops, and military police to fill it out,” she continued. “I get the impression this is a test for doing the same to the rest.”

Felix thought on that. He didn’t disagree with Lily’s assessment, except he felt like it was actually much larger than a single contract.

This was a phased test and solution run. Figure out if they could handle canceling a contract, rapidly filling the gap, and taking over.

There were two options for Legion here. Let them take them over one by one and ease the band-aid off. Limiting the loss of resources from both sides.

Or cancel every contract he had with Wal. Cancel them all and let the country fall on its sword.

It’d eliminate the anti-trust case, remove Legion from the problem, and shoulder all the blame on the government.

He could get Jessica and Erica working on this tonight, even. They’d come dressed for an interview; he could give them one and let that work its way through the public.

Then do it.

Cut every contract, dump every hold, call in every debt, release every position Legion held.

Focus down to the businesses that were Legion owned and operated.

“We could pull out of every contract,” Kit said. “It’d cost us, and public opinion, but I know you already have a thought on that.

“The financial cost would be worse than anything else. It might cripple the economy to a degree if public faith in the government drops too far, too fast.”

Felix drummed his fingers along the armrest of his chair. The soft snore of Miu’s deep sleep was the only other noise.

“Is the summit still ongoing?” Felix asked suddenly.

“Yes,” Lily said. “And the chair on Legion’s use of force to prohibit religion is still going as well.”

“If we canceled all those contracts, they wouldn’t have much of a leg to stand on for anything going forward,” Felix said. “We’d be out of the government entirely.”

Slowly, his thought crystallized into a single fact. He didn’t want to work with Wal anymore. Felix wanted out. To hunker down and let whatever happened happen.

He had been playing this game with them for a while now, and it was time his business motto lived on.

“Legion First,” Felix said aloud. “Drop all the contracts, cancel everything, and bring everyone back in.

“But before you do that…”

Felix paused to look at Jessica and Erica.

“I’d like to have some time with you two,” Felix said. “An interview for each of you, here in Legion. We’ll not cut the contracts until you two have the chance to drop your stories. Preferably at the same time.”

Erica took in a slow breath and then nodded, her long ears bobbing.

“Sure thing, Felix.” Jessica smiled at him. “We can do that.”

Looking back to Kit and Lily, Felix coughed into his hand to clear his throat. He was starting to feel a bit parched.

“Let’s pull everyone in who was working security. Military or civilian, get them armed, armored, and sent over the portal. Vince could use a hand, I think,” Felix said. “I believe his general, Petra, would be the best person for them to roll up to for the time being.

“Though if I don’t miss my guess, our people will probably just end up guarding a wall with rifles.”

Ioana nodded, her hand moving slowly back and forth as she took written notes.

It was such a drastic change in her that he barely recognized her as War Maiden anymore.

In fact, that was the way of it for almost everyone in Legion. Who you were before didn’t matter as soon as you become a Legionnaire.

“Anything else?” Felix asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Alright, then the last thing I want to do is sink Blake. I want the voting blocks gerrymandered in our favor. I want those blocks so twisted over, I don’t even care if it looks like a garden hose.

“I want his constituents to think he’s the devil incarnate,” Felix said. “Pull out every trick in the book to get him off the winner’s podium.”

Kit and Lily nodded at that, though the former looked a touch unhappy about it.

“Great. Let’s get this done with. I’d like to sit back and watch the flames burn comfortably from a distance,” Felix said.

“Lunch?” Andrea asked, smiling at him from her place at the table. Her ears were perked up and her tail was moving gently behind her.

“Yeah… let’s do that. I’d love to just… catch up with you all,” Felix said, and he meant it.

He’d been pushing Legion upward to ever greater heights. Except there were too many people working against him now. He just wanted to sit back for a bit and let Legion catch a breath.

Then we’ll move on.

Kris leaned down over him and pulled whatever Goldie had used as a bandage away from his neck.

Then she ducked her head in close and started to gently lick at the wound.

“It’ll help it heal,” Goldie said as Kris did it.

Felix didn’t care anymore. It’d been a long month.

Instead, he reached up and gently stroked Kris’s horns. The black Dragon didn’t seem to react negatively to the touch, so he continued.

“What’re we eating then?” he asked, feeling a bit like some sort of supervillain.

Except it’s a black Dragon instead of a cat.

Hm.

Chapter 24 - Mending Fences -

Lily had caught Felix’s eyes after they’d finished eating lunch. She’d clearly been waiting for him to look her way. It was then obvious she wanted him to meet up with her. She’d even tapped her wrist communicator once, giving him a smile.

Then Felix had been thrown into a whirlwind of activity and hadn’t gotten a chance to check it.

First he had Miu delivered back to her room, with a five-second recording of him telling her what he wanted sent to her email box, her wrist communicator, and her television.

He’d sent a few Adrianas to do it. They wouldn’t panic at Miu’s living quarters. They were the more battle-hardened versions of Elex women from the original Myriad, after all.

Felix had seen it a few times, and it was exactly what you would expect from someone who probably needed to be locked in a cell for all time.

After that he’d changed quickly into some fresh clothes, then gone straight into an interview with Jessica and Erica, making sure to flirt shamelessly with them all the while.

The Beastkin vote was going to be important in the fight against Blake. With some well-placed gerrymandering, the Beastkin population in certain blocks should overwhelm the rest of the group they were lumped together with.

Now… some three hours after Lily had pantomimed her wrist, Felix was able to check it. Trying to do so at any other time would have just been too much, since he wasn’t sure what he was looking for.

Flipping through his emails, he found nothing. Then he checked his appointments for the rest of the day.

Huh. She booked a meeting for me on my calendar.

One on one with Lillian Lux.

Topic: Repeated marital relations.

Location: In our bed.

Felix reread the invite once more just to make sure he got it right. Not that there was much to double check.

She’s certainly being cute and playful, isn’t she?

Closing the invite, Felix moved down the hall. His plan was to go straight toward his personal quarters he shared with Lily, Andrea Prime, and Adriana Prime. Which was two hallways, an elevator, a checkpoint, and another hallway away.

Glancing at his watch, he saw he had about twenty minutes to make what was a five-minute trip.

Ghosting along behind him as he walked were Goldie, Faith, and a High Elf. The rest of his bodyguards were on stand-down.

They were all bunked up in general quarters on the same level as his personal quarters that functioned as their base of operations.

Apparently all the old bodyguards had been detailed elsewhere, and the Dryads, Elves, and Dragons had moved in.

Amongst that group, they’d be able to handle anything thrown at Felix.

Stepping into the elevator, Felix dodged to one side and let everyone inside.

Faith tapped the appropriate button for his floor and pressed her personalized ring to the security scanner.

A soft beep recognized her permission, and the doors slid shut.

“Security looks good so far,” Goldie said, her eyes moving to Felix. “You’ve developed a strong force of people. Even if they lack soldier experience.”

Felix wanted to argue with that point, but after seeing Yosemite, he wasn’t quite sure anymore. His people were great when using their tech to its advantage.

Brief skirmishes weren’t a problem either.

But a full-out war? Felix wasn’t so sure.

“Do you want me to heal the bite?” Faith asked.

“Hm? No. Miu will want to see it when she wakes up. She’ll probably sniff it, too. Ask me if anyone saw it,” Felix said with a sigh.

“I briefly touched her thoughts. She was playing with her ring and pulled it off for a second.

“Her love for you is… endless, and dangerous,” Goldie said with a smirk. “I think she’d fight me in hand-to-hand combat if you promised her a kiss for it.”

Dangerous. Well, that’s one way to put it, I guess.

Also should probably get all the Dragons’ HR rings so they can poke into the thoughts of those Legionnaires around me.

Just like HR.

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. There was a checkpoint right here.

The guards manning the entry made no exceptions for him, even if he was the reason for the checkpoint. Felix was forced to badge in and provide a retinal scan.

Goldie, Faith, and the Elf did likewise before they moved on into the next hallway around the bend.

At the end of the hall were two doors. One led to Felix’s personal suite, and the other to the general quarters for his bodyguards.

Standing in front of those doors was Victoria.

“Ah. We’ll stand down and do a shift change,” Faith said. “Please let us know when you’re ready to leave.”

The three bodyguards had apparently gotten the hint that Victoria wanted to talk to him alone long before he did. They moved up ahead of him and marched into the bodyguard quarters without a word.

Victoria was standing perfectly still, dressed in casual wear. She had on a calf-length green dress with a black belt around the middle.

Her hair was done up as well, and for all the world, she looked more like a citizen than he’d ever seen her before.

She eyed the door to the bodyguard quarters as it closed, then looked back at Felix as he walked up to her.

“Welcome home, Felix.” Victoria’s fingers locked together in front of her. “We were all very worried about you.”

Felix had an idea where this was going. He wasn’t stupid or blind. Just reticent and slow to act.

Remember, they had no idea what was going on.

Be nice, give them attention.

“You look lovely, Vicky. That dress really pulls the eyes to the right spots and fits your frame.

“Would you mind if I asked you out to dinner tonight? Providing that you went as you are dressed right now, that is,” Felix said, jumping straight to what he felt would be her question.

Her dark green eyes were glued to him now. She blinked twice and nodded slightly.

“Great. Would you mind if I took you to Legion’s? Apparently they keep that booth open for me just in case I drop by. We wouldn’t need reservations,” Felix offered. “I’d just show up as me.”

Victoria nodded a bit more forcefully now.

“Yes. That’d be—yes. Yes. Good.” She smiled at him.

“Great. Would you like me to pick you up or meet you there?” Felix asked.

“Ah… meet me at the Fist monument?”

“Sure. How’s seven o’clock sound?”

“Seven. At the Fist,” Victoria said back to him, confirming the details.

“In that dress,” Felix said, indicating her waistline.

“In this dress,” she agreed, smiling at him.

“Until then.” Felix gently moved past her. Opening the door to his personal quarters, he stepped in and closed it behind him.

Moving in past the entryway, Felix undid his tie and loosened the top several buttons on his shirt.

He’d dressed in a hurry for the interviews. With a shave and an impromptu sponge bath in a chair so they could hurry up.

It had left him feeling like he needed a real shower and to change his clothes.

Lily was sitting in what he’d affectionately come to refer to as her thinking chair. It was a comfy thing that sucked you into it. She seemed to prefer it when she wanted to think and not work.

“Pretty sure that’s not the meeting location,” Felix said, walking over to her.

“And you’re early.” Lily looked up at him with a small smile.

Coming to a stop next to her, he reached down and gently smoothed her hair back, his fingertips caressing her hairline and scalp.

“I missed you,” Felix murmured.

Lily closed her eyes and leaned her head into his hand. “As I missed you. Though I’m not quite pleased at the company you brought back. Even if I do understand it.”

“I didn’t think you’d like it, but I didn’t have many options at the time. I truly thought I’d be stuck there for a long while,” Felix said, curling some of her hair around her ear.

“I know. I get it. I even agree with it. I just… I don’t know.” Lily sighed. She slumped deep into her chair, her skirt riding up to her hips and her jacket stretching at her chest.

She must really be frustrated. She usually takes great care not to muss her clothes.

“Talk to me,” Felix said, gently rubbing his fingertips along her scalp.

“I had a really long talk with Fes, you’ll remember,” Lily said.

“I do.”

“She talked to me about how I’m the Fes here and I need to bring more women into contact with you and bind them to our ‘family.’ That doing so would make you strong and keep you safe,” Lily said. “That wasn’t all of it, of course, and I’m paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it. I guess.”

Lily was looking forward again now. Her pretty face wound up in a scowl.

“And the worst part is I understood it to a degree. Then I hated her. Then myself. Then you,” Lily grumbled. She lifted her chin up and looked at him. “Was Vicky still outside the door? I got the impression she was waiting for you. Standing there in that pretty dress and all,” Lily said.

“She was. I took the initiative and invited her to dinner, rather than put her through it. I’ve been making plans with all my inner-lieutenants to give them some face time,” Felix admitted quickly.

“That’s a good idea.” Lily nodded. “Even if it isn’t her intention.”

“No, clearly it wasn’t, but I’ll not be taking that road,” Felix said with a chuckle.

“Do I satisfy you? Do I give you everything you need? I try really hard to figure out what you like and want,” Lily said, the subject veering to a different direction entirely. “I’m not as adventurous as Andrea or Adriana, but between the three of us, we hit your needs, right?”

Ah. I understand.

Leaning down, Felix kissed Lily tenderly and then tapped her nose with a fingertip.

“You give me everything I want and more. I was being dumb not long ago and didn’t tell you about what was stressing me out.

“Felicity saw through it and cracked me open, despite my own wishes,” Felix said. “That’s on me, not you.”

Lily chewed at her lower lip, her eyes looking into his face.

“Promise? I love you, Felix. I don’t… want to think I’m failing you in some way. You’ve always done everything for me that I want, even when I don’t know I want it. And that doesn’t even take my brother into account.

“Did I tell you he’s on Legion Prime with Eva? They’re doing coursework under Michael together.”

Lily shook her head with a bemused smile. “I think he has a thing for Eva.

“But that’s… that takes me right back to my problem. I sometimes don’t feel like I give back to you what you give to me.”

“For one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, you’re kinda dumb sometimes,” Felix said with a grin.

Lifting her chin, Lily raised her eyebrows.

“I could always suck your soul out and give it back to you, you know, my love,” she said. “I am, and will always be, Mab.”

Snickering, Felix pressed his forehead to hers and kissed her again.

“Love you, Mab. You and your evil sultry ways.

“Now, how can I ease your burdens?”

Lily’s eyes fluttered, her breath shortening.

“You’re making me dizzy. Kiss me some more,” she murmured, her hands coming up to grab at the sides of his coat.

***

Two Dryads in heavy sweatshirts and cargo pants moved into the civic center public library ahead of him. Their SMGs were snuggled up against their chests. The thick fabric distorting the small, boxy outline of the weapons entirely.

On his left, two Elves were engaged in a quiet conversation, moving in the same direction. They were both sorceresses, the magical support in his current bodyguard unit.

Behind him and to the right, two Dragons walked arm in arm. They both carried pistols inside their clothes, but they would primarily be relying on their enhanced physical abilities.

They were wearing a glamour like Felix was, though theirs was to make them look like Elves. Whereas Felix’s was just to make him look like anyone other than Felix Campbell.

To everyone watching, it just looked like a small group of unrelated people all going to the library.

Moving inside, he saw the Dryads up ahead. They were moving toward a number of seats in front of a small café.

Detective Torres had picked this location and this time for some reason. She had been very explicit about the exactness of it.

In the corner of the café was Detective Torres, clearly trying to fend off a man’s attention. She was sitting with a newspaper and a cup of what was likely not coffee.

Before Felix reached her, she said something that made the man leave quickly. Except not far away, a few other men sat watching her as well.

Felix walked over to the café and bought a cup of coffee with a small bag of donut holes. Without a word, he sat down at the same table as Detective Torres.

He clicked his tongue and took a sip of his coffee.

“So, do they always hover around you like flies?” Felix asked, enjoying the popularity his buildup had given her.

Growling, Torres pointed a finger at him.

“Don’t you start with me, Felix. I admit I should have read the damn contract, but this is just ridiculous. I got told my ID was fake when I tried to buy some beer last night. I apparently don’t even look twenty-one,” she said.

“Well. Kinda? I mean, you’re definitely eye-catching now, and you look really young, but I’d say you’re probably twenty-one. Maybe. Could possibly be jailbait if you don’t get your clothes and makeup right,” Felix said with a shrug. “Now, what do you want me here at this exact time for, Detective?”

“I’m not a detective anymore. And are they following you on purpose?” Torres said, her eyes not leaving Felix.

“Yeah, bodyguards. No one will recognize me except you, but still. And yes, you are a Detective. Mine. My Detective Torres.

“Shall we continue now?”

Edith flipped open her newspaper and pulled out a single piece of paper. She then set it down in front of Felix.

“It isn’t just one location this was happening at. There’ve been multiple ones. All over the city. Sometimes at the same time, others over different days,” said Torres. She pointed to a column on the paper. “These are all the days something happened, and these are the locations they happened in; these are the times they happened at.

“That kid helped me track down a number of them.”

Felix pulled a donut hole out and popped it into his mouth. Chewing slowly, he read over the data sheet.

“In other words, it’s more than one person, or more than one group of people. Did you make any headway on that part?”

“Not yet. But that’s why you’re here. This is one of the locations. Right out there, in fact.” Torres pointed out a window behind her with her thumb.

Glancing that way, Felix could only see a mass of Beastkin assembling.

“Yeah, I know. The times for this particular activity seem to always be when someone is using the venue. Easier to slip into the mob, I would imagine,” Torres said. “That one is your fault, by the way.”

“My fault?” Felix asked, pulling out another donut hole.

“That mob of Beastkin. Everyone is well aware of the shenanigans we’re pulling with the voting blocks. It’s made plenty of people angry at us. Let alone the contracts we dumped.

“Did you know some businesses haven’t had their trash picked up in a week? You have no idea how much trash a coffee shop makes.”

Felix chuckled at that and shrugged.

“Considering we’ve put the entire thing squarely on Blake, I’m sure he’s up to his neck in this.”

“Wouldn’t know. I’m just doing my job and keeping my nose to the ground.”

“And a great job you’ve done, Detective. After this, we’ll have to see if we can’t get you in charge of an internal police force.”

“You really think anyone is going to listen to me as a police chief when I look like this?” Torres asked.

“To be honest, you’re pretty enough that I imagine many men will do what you want based on that alone.

“Otherwise, with me as everyone’s boss, yeah, I think so. I’ll just make it clear I’m the one appointing you.

“Then I can have a private word with anyone who has a problem with it and offer them the Sausage Chute, the Walking Papers, or getting on the train,” Felix said. “Not many options for them.”

“Sausage Chute?”

“You haven’t seen or heard of the power s—”

“Shut up,” Torres said suddenly. “Armed gunmen. Five of them. They’re moving through the library and heading straight for that organized chaos behind me.”

“Seriously?” Felix asked.

Before he could go to tap his communication device, someone started yelling orders at him to put his hands up.

In about ten seconds, Felix, his bodyguards, and Edith were all being led out into the venue behind the library.

Men with rifles were there as well, rounding up all the Beastkin into groups.

The closest guard moved away from Felix and started to talk to another one.

Taking the opportunity for what it was, Felix tapped his communication device and covered it with a cough.

There was no response. He just got dead air. Not even a transmission signal.

“Jammers. They’re placing them everywhere,” murmured Torres. “This isn’t just a robbery. This is a statement.”

Felix could only watch as the gunmen went from rounding up the mob of people to sitting them down in orderly lines on the ground. Quickly separating out human from non-humanoid.

“Felix, they smell of anger. Righteous anger,” said a beautiful green-horned Dragon maiden next to him.

“And faith magic,” said the pretty red-horned Dragon next to the green. “A lot of faith magic.”

Shit. Is this a straight-up hate crime? It feels like they’re sorting them out to make sure it’s only non-humanoids on one side.

The Dryads were slightly off to his left, the Elves right next to them.

“The Elves can hear us, and we can hear them,” whispered the green Dragon. “The Dryads believe they can kill half, but after that it will turn into a blood bath.”

Felix didn’t say anything. Instead, he pressed his right shoe up against his left. It was an awkward pose. One no one should ever find themselves in. It looked and felt like he had a stick up his ass and was trying to get off it.

After giving the full ten seconds Felicia had told him to wait, Felix finally moved his feet apart. The extremely strong signal from the chip she’d put in every single pair of his shoes should now be transmitting his distress.

“I’ve signaled the rest,” Felix said.

“You two, get over there with the rest of the humans,” said one of the men with a gun. He grabbed Felix and Torres, then began leading them away from the rest.

Felix was separated from his guards, but he wasn’t concerned.

It’d been a week or so since he’d returned from Vince’s world. The Dryads, Dragons, and Elves had been working extensively for rescue situations.

Which this was clearly rapidly becoming.

Feeling like the helpless citizen he was pretending to be, Felix waited. He kept watching the men with the rifles. They seemed nervous, but trained.

Then a shot rang out.

Chapter 25 - Chasing Your Tail -

One of the gunmen dropped to his knees, then slumped to one side.

The shot had come from the crowd. Someone was attempting to play the hero.

Shit!

Knowing what would come next, Felix dropped down to the ground and lay perfectly flat. He wasn’t about to take a random stray round when the inevitable happened.

By the time a third shot rang out from the crowd, the gunmen were running. But even as they went, they leveled their rifles at the crowd.

Six men with automatic rifles emptied their magazines in three seconds into a tightly packed crowd of non-humanoids.

They literally hosed the crowd down.

Everything became pandemonium then as people rushed away from the gunmen to try and get to safety.

Or hit the ground where they stood. Fainted, shot, or otherwise.

In the mad chaos of the situation, people went running in every direction. Nearby, Felix saw one of the jammers explode into a fiery mess for a few seconds.

Not sure which Elf did that, but I’ll need to reward them.

When it was clear the gunmen weren’t going to be coming back, Felix got to his feet. He pulled out the earpiece from his wrist device and crammed it into his ear.

Glancing down at the screen, he tapped it for a conference call, quickly flipped Kris, Lily, Victoria, and Kit onto the list, and then hit the call button.

“We should leave now,” said one of his Dragons.

“We’re following them. Get moving.” Felix pointed the way the gunmen had gone. Then he looked to the Elves. “Stay here and help the wounded, and police the body of the dead gunman.

“The rest of you are going with me.”

The green Dragon was already moving at a quick trot, chasing after the terrorists. She hadn’t needed to be told her orders twice.

Felix started after her, and the two Dryads, Dragon, and Detective Torres ran with him.

Then the line started ringing and was instantly picked up.

“Felix?” Kit asked. “Is eve—”

“Felix?” Lily cut in.

“Are you ok?” Victoria got in somehow.

“What’s wrong? I got the—” Kris started.

“Everyone, stop,” Felix said. “I’m fine. There was an incident just now at the civic center. Gunmen fired into the event, and there’s probably a lot of dead Beastkin and non-humanoids here. Send what resources we can spare to help out.

“My bodyguard detail and I are in pursuit. My tracker is active.

“Kit?”

“Yes. Alright. I’ll see what we can do about getting resources there,” Kit said.

“Great. I think this is going to be a public relations nightmare. Lack of security, lack of emergency responders, whatever may have you. Lily?” Felix asked. They were turning off from the green fields behind the venue and onto a side street. He could see his Dragon up ahead of him moving at an easier pace now.

Maybe they slowed down.

“I’ll handle it. I’ll have this spun up as a lack of planning on Wal’s part. That their pressuring of Legion was behind the disappearance of resources that were once able to keep the city safe,” said the villainous lawyer whom he loved.

“Great. Victoria, I need you to get on this. One of the gunmen got dropped. I need that body picked up, and we need to pick it apart,” Felix said.

“On it,” said the swordswoman. She sounded cheerful. Her mood had been incredibly positive ever since their dinner.

“Kris? I need you and Goldie, and whoever you need to bring with you,” Felix said.

“We’ll be arriving with the Dryads and some Elves,” Kris said firmly into the line.

“Goldie!” Kris shouted. “Get your head out of his closet. He needs us!”

“What?” Goldie shouted back. “Let’s go, then!”

“We need the Dryads and the Elves,” Kris said.

“Uh, Kris, you need to close the line,” Felix said.

“Fine! I’ll get them,” Goldie shouted back.

It was obvious neither Kris nor Goldie could hear him as they continued to shout back and forth about their plans.

“It’s ok,” Lily said. “I’ll handle the rest.”

Felix grunted and then just closed the line outright.

The green Dragon maiden was waiting on the side of the road up ahead. Her eyes seemed to be tracking something in the busy, traffic-filled street.

“Felix, I could briefly read one of their thoughts,” said the red Dragon next to him.

“You could? How?” Felix asked.

“There was something around his mind that I couldn’t get through, and then I suddenly could when I pushed hard against it,” said the red.

She must have snapped the protection ring he was wearing. If they’re not made well, they can break.

“Memorize it then, and be ready to talk about it later,” Felix said, and then he got to the green. “Which way?”

“Brown… wagon thing,” the green said, pointing at a dark brown van.

Alright, need to speed up that cultural training. Seems like we have some gaps.

“I’ve got it,” said one of the Dryads, her head moving to follow the van the green Dragon had indicated. “I’ve put a small spell on it; we should be able to follow.”

“Great,” Felix said. “We’re going to stay on it.”

“Are you sure, nest-mate?” the red asked. “We should—”

“It’s turning; let’s go.” Felix moved forward quickly.

All conversation fell off as everyone moved with him, walking along the sidewalk. It took a considerable amount of patience, as the van didn’t move through traffic all that quickly.

Surprisingly, it eventually turned into a quiet neighborhood, moving off the main boulevard it’d been crawling along.

“Why aren’t we turning?” asked the green as they crossed the street rather than chasing it in.

“Because the sign says ‘no outlet’ right there,” Felix said. “Which means that van isn’t coming back out.”

“Oh,” said the red. “That’s… good to know.”

Stopping at the other side of the entry street, Felix made a show of looking at his wrist device. “And if we followed them right in there, it’s very possible they’d notice or realize.”

“They’ve turned again,” said the Dryad who had put the spell on the van. Her head was turning, as if she could still follow it deeper into the neighborhood.

“Yeah? Alright… seems like maybe we can go in then.” Felix let his hand fall back to his side.

“What exactly are you planning to do?” asked the green.

“Capture them, then figure out who they are and who they’re working for,” Felix said.

“This has nothing to do with us,” the red Dragon said.

“You’re right. It doesn’t; but in the same breath, it does. That was an attack on the voting base that is going to help spur us to victory.

“We need to treat this as a rallying cry, not a fearful wail,” Felix explained, turning toward the street leading into the neighborhood.

“I don’t understand,” said the Dryad without the tracking spell. “We could do that without involving ourselves, couldn’t we?”

“If this were an isolated event, certainly. But I’m not positive it is. That was too much planning, hardware, and training,” Felix said. “I’d bet on this being the first of several, if not more.”

“That seems like what Lily calls your paranoia surfacing,” said the green Dragon.

“Heh, probably not wrong. But I’d rather waste some time making sure of that than pay the price later for negligence,” Felix said.

“Hm. I can understand that. Like making sure you’ve checked every pocket on the bodies before you eat them, just to make sure there aren’t any gold coins on their person,” the red said.

“Oh, yes. That makes sense,” the green agreed.

Right. Dragons. They’ve eaten… people. Yes.

Moving along the smaller streets of the neighborhood, Felix felt oddly exposed. They weren’t a normal group of people to begin with. Moving around in such a large party in such a quiet set of streets seemed like an easy way to get flagged by the neighborhood watch.

“Right there,” the Dryad said, indicating a squat, unassuming ranch house to the left. “The van is in that garage.”

Felix made no pretense of hiding himself. He walked straight up to the side of the house, opened the gate, and moved around into the fenced-in backyard.

“Felix, I don’t like this at all,” said the green Dragon.

“I’m not exactly fond of it, either, but we need to know.

“Alright, any tactical plans?” he asked.

The two Dryads looked at one another and then unzipped their sweatshirts, pulling out their SMGs.

“We’ll go in first,” said the one who had used the tracking spell. “The Dragons behind us. You’re last, Felix. If at all.”

“Great. Let’s get a move on, then.” Felix pulled a small pistol out of the holster on the inside of his jacket.

He racked the slide and eased the safety off.

Then Detective Torres was there. Felix had somehow forgotten about her entirely.

“None of that now,” she said, taking the pistol from him. She gave it a once-over and then held it in both hands. “I’ll keep him safe and we’ll come in last.”

All four of his bodyguards looked gratified for the other woman’s interference.

They stacked up on the door, the two Dryads in front.

Stepping forward, the red Dragon slammed a foot against the spot next to the doorknob.

With a sharp crack, the door tore loose from its hinges and collapsed inward.

Damn, they’re strong.

Sweeping in with their weapons up, the Dryads entered the house. Immediately after them went the two Dragons.

When Felix tried to make his way in, Torres pressed him up against the side of the house. “Just wait.

“If they find anything, you’ll just panic them if you’re in harm’s way. If they don’t find anything, all the better. You can inspect it after.”

A minute passed in near silence, except for the occasional door opening or closing.

The green came back up and waved him inside.

“Nothing here,” she said. “Though it’s clear they were using this place as a safe house for more than a little while.”

Felix followed Torres inside and immediately agreed with the Dragon’s assessment. The place was a wreck and looked as if squatters had lived there. That or hoarders.

It reeked of what smelled like a well-used port-o-potty.

Trash was piled up in neat stacks in the corners. Empty boxes of survival equipment, ammo, and what looked like gun-cleaning kits were packed in those towers of garbage.

“Right,” Felix said with a sigh. “We missed them? How?”

“There’s an open hole in the ground in the bathroom,” said the green. “Big enough for someone to go down into. It looks like they entered the sewer system from there after tunneling into a large pipe.”

That’d explain the smell.

“Fine. Flag the whole building for Kit and Lily to clean out for intel. I’ll check everything like last time,” Felix said, then turned to the red when she rejoined them. “Now tell me what you saw in their minds.”

“They were part of an organization called Humanity Pure and had been ordered to take over the civic center.” The red’s eyes scrunched up as she clearly pulled on her memories about it. “Their goal was to kill as many of the non-humanoids as possible while making a statement about Legion and what we’d done to the voting blocks.

“It was supposed to take about thirty minutes.”

“Alright… that all kinda makes sense. Anything about backing at all?” Felix asked.

“No. There was a name floating around, though—where they got the guns.

“A Peter Miller,” the red said.

“Peter Miller…” Felix felt like he’d heard that name before. “Any mental image of his face attached to that?”

“Yes. I think I can do a decent job of presenting the image to someone with more creative talents who can draw it.”

“Ah, we’ll give it to Kit. She can make an actual illusion of the image, and we can go from there,” Felix said. “I guess that’s it for now.

“What an awful thing to do for almost no reason.

“Corporate terrorism is so much easier and less bloody.” Felix shook his head. “Actual violence is pointless.”

***

Felix sat down in the defendant’s chair and unbuttoned his coat. Making himself comfortable, he reached out for the pitcher of water and poured some for himself into the paper cup next to it.

“Are you quite comfortable, Mr. Campbell?” asked a lawyer Felix couldn’t identify. Nor did he care to.

“Getting there,” Felix said amicably. Picking up the cup, he took a sip and set it back down. All around the edges of the court had gathered reporters, journalists, and anyone who wanted to be here to see this trial.

It was a bit of a circus, to be honest. One that seemed to have grown too large for the courtroom itself.

This was of course perfectly acceptable to Felix. It’d give him a chance to really hit Blake hard.

Felix settled into his chair and looked up to the justices on the bench in front of him, smiling at them.

Realizing Felix was ready to proceed, the judges slowly turned their heads to his side.

They were looking to Lily for direction, as she had already submitted a number of legal proceedings ahead of time for them to view her request.

“I believe you have a statement for the court?” asked a judge near the far-left side of the bench.

“Legion moves to dispose of the case against it, as the grounds that were being used to hold the case up are no longer valid,” Lily said.

“And the attorney general says?” asked the same judge, looking at the other desk to Felix’s right.

“Despite the fact that there are no longer grounds to hold them to an anti-trust case, we would like to proceed regardless,” said the attorney general.

“Your honors, by his own admission he agrees that the case is now pointless. He’s just fishing for something to use against Legion at this point.

“There’s no point to proceed with this case at all,” Lily argued.

The judges behind the bench seemed to be considering this, talking to one another in soft whispers.

Felix folded his hands in front of him, his fingers tapping against each other. There wasn’t much he could do but wait. He was just the owner of the company, which meant his part was mostly to sit there and look non-threatening.

This was hopefully the end of the road for Blake, though. Other than the summit panel.

But that had no teeth to it. It was mostly a political move, more than likely to discredit Legion and Felix. In doing that, they’d be better able to put pressure on the company and force it to do what Wal wanted.

With Legion eliminating all the contracts early, they’d pushed Wal into a corner. The government didn’t have a leg to stand on in court now.

It meant there truly was very little in the way of problems Wal could throw at them.

“As much as I’d like to see Legion be called to task for their actions,” said a judge in the middle of the bench, “we find it hard to hold them accountable to contracts they held in trust and canceled in a legal fashion.”

The attorney general muttered something under his breath and threw up a hand at the justices.

“Of course you won’t hold them accountable. Maybe our dear friend Mr. Campbell has put you in his pocket as well,” said the man.

“I’d like to caution you to not make such slanderous remarks,” Felix said, looking fully at the attorney general. “Unless you’d like for me to take you to court over it.

“As far as what Legion has and hasn’t done, I can tell you one thing.”

Felix leaned back into his chair and tapped his thumb against the table.

“If Legion still held the contracts for security, emergency services, and first responders, the massacre at the green wouldn’t have happened,” Felix said. “Instead, Wal decided it wanted to start eliminating Legion contracts.”

“Wal canceled one contract—one,” said Blake, sitting just beyond the attorney general.

“Canceled one, with plans to cancel them all. I’m sure we’ve all read those lovely notes sent back and forth between offices about it all,” Felix said with a smile. He’d had his people break into the servers and download everything, then feed it to the net for free. “Don’t act blameless and innocent here, Mr. Gresham.

“Just because you got your hand caught in the cookie jar doesn’t mean you can blame those who made the cookies.”

Everyone in the room was hurriedly jotting down notes as cameras swung around and zoomed in on Blake.

The man said nothing, realizing any response he gave would only dig him deeper.

“Won’t even defend yourself, huh?” Felix asked, standing up. “That’s alright. It’s not as if you could anyways.

“You got rid of the prime minister, who had been doing right by her people, only to try and replace her with yourself.”

Buttoning his top coat button, Felix picked up the paper cup and downed what was in it.

Setting it back down, he smiled at Blake.

“Then you pushed Legion into a corner and got hit for it. Now all of Wal suffers for your hubris. Your greed. And all I can do is wish you luck as I consider pulling Legion out of Wal entirely.

“I wonder how the economy would do if I did that.

“Do you think it’d crash, maybe? Would the entire stock market implode? Or maybe not.

“Maybe I’m thinking Legion is bigger than it really is.”

Felix sighed dramatically and shrugged.

“Or maybe I’m not, and Wal goes down hard, and the economy folds. And you’ll be the one to blame, Blake. You and only you.

“Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to leave. I don’t think I want to hear any more slanderous lies from the government of Wal.”

Putting his hands in his pockets, Felix casually walked down the center aisle, past everyone watching, and out the door.

Well, that was fun.

Let’s see you get out of that one, Blake.

Because personally, I don’t think you can. In fact, I’d bet on this being the end of your political career.

Pushing the doors open, Felix left.

Chapter 26 - Hard Conversations -

Andrea Prime and Adriana Prime were waiting for him when the doors to the hearing closed behind him.

They were dressed up in comfortable-looking casual clothes, and they looked like any other Beastkin one might see on the street.

It was odd. Though now that he thought of it, he hadn’t seen the Primes or their Seconds in a while. Not since the day he’d come back.

Then what are they doing here now, and what’s wrong?

“Hi dear,” Andrea chirped happily, wrapping him up in a hug.

“Hi dearest,” Adriana said, hugging him in the same way from the other side.

“Hello, hello. What’s up? Seems like you two were waiting for me,” Felix said, hugging them back.

“Yes, we were.” Andrea stepped back away from him. “Can we talk in the car? It’d be easier, and safer for you.”

Felix nodded and gestured down the hallway toward the exit of the government building.

“Of course. Lead the way,” he said.

Several Dragons, Dryads, and Elves were waiting in a circle. The Dryads and Elves were dressed in Legion security gear, with the Dragons wearing light versions of the same. Though it looked like it’d tear apart easily if they shifted into their Dragon forms.

Both Andrea and Adriana looked toward Kris, Goldie, and Faith, who were in today’s lineup.

Goldie and Faith gave the Elex women a smile and turned to Kris, who nodded her head down the hall.

One of the Elves lifted a hand to her long ear, her masked face turning toward the long hallway ahead of them.

They’ve been training extensively on this. I wonder if the Dryads helped the Elves. Or if Victoria and Miu stepped in to help before they shipped out to the wild wastes of Vince’s world.

“Have we heard from Miu or Victoria at all?” Felix asked. He’d left them alone since they’d left. Not wanting to distract them from their duties under Vince’s general, Petra.

“Yes,” Adriana said. “They’re doing well. They’ve been sending up reports about the situation.

“There was a probing attack by what Petra believed to be the emperor’s forces. They were turned around so strongly that they ended up leaving their wounded on the field.

“After that, another ambassador from the emperor came.”

Andrea was nodding her head rapidly.

“Yes, yes,” she said, taking over for her twin. Around them, the Dryads, Dragons, and Elves started leading Felix out of the building. “Petra told Victoria she thinks this’ll be over before it really starts. The fact that Yosemite had so many troops with modern weaponry, in this case the Legionnaires, she thinks the emperor will reconsider before he even formally declares war.”

“Huh. I can’t imagine Vince as the type of person to let that sit,” Felix said.

“Petra isn’t, even if Vince was,” Adriana said. “Apparently she sent a detachment of Orcs to secure a kingdom that was in a civil war with the emperor. She’s going to bring them into Yosemite. She’s also moved the garrison from Yosemite out, and down to the south west to secure the emperor’s southern borders against him.

“Now that Legion holds Yosemite, that is.”

Felix nodded at that.

This Petra seems formidable.

Stepping out into the sunshine of the day as the door was held open for him, Felix kept moving. He’d learned his lessons.

Stopping for any reason outside was always an invitation for a problem.

He wasn’t going to hide away in his house to prevent people from trying to take his life. There would be no point in living at all, if one had to live in eternal fear of going outside.

Five black Legion sedans were waiting down at the curb. Moving into the middle one, Felix was surprised when everyone else left for other vehicles.

Faith and Goldie often took it as an opportunity to wedge themselves against him, with Kris in the front paying attention.

Chauffeur Andrea opened the door for him with a grin.

“Today’s different!” she said enthusiastically. “And I got ice cream. It’s in the cup holders in the console.”

Ice cream…? Ok… sure.

Adriana got into the car first, moving to the far side of the bench seat. Felix took his customary position in the middle, and Andrea slid up on his other side.

Both the Elex women fussed over the ice cream in the cup holders.

They were testing each one to see what it was, then discussing who would get what.

With a pop, the door shut, and Felix looked to the front.

Felicity was sitting there with a smile. She gave him a small wave with her fingers.

“Before they steal away the conversation after they figure out the ice cream, I have a request from Petra of Yosemite.

“She asked that all books on modern-day and past military tactics be sent to her. Along with any other materials we could suggest,” Felicity said. “I noticed there was no skill book for military tactics in our library.

“For now, I’ve approved the transition of a digital reader pad and a copy of every book I could get my hands on that fit her requirements.

“I’d like to create a skill book that would transfer all that over to her on its own, though.”

Felix frowned at that. Petra was already a formidable general, as far as he knew.

Then again, giving her more isn’t going to hurt me. Will probably help.

“Alright. Put it on the point calendar and allocate it accordingly. If the same time limits apply like they used to, I should have an open window to use my ability in a day or two,” Felix said.

The driver’s door opened and Andrea got in. Settling into her role, she tuned them out and acted as if they didn’t exist.

Andrea set a small container of ice cream into his hands and pushed a spoon into his mouth.

“Here, dear! Chocolate,” she said happily.

“You should probably move on to your conversation,” Felicity said, sitting forward in her seat again. “We’ll be moving shortly.”

“Oh! Yes. You’re right. Thank you, Fell,” Adriana said.

Felix felt like he should be surprised at the nickname, but he realized he wasn’t. Thinking about it, it made sense.

She vanished with me and came back with me. There was no change in the status quo while she had me cornered and alone.

If anything, they all probably trust her at this point. That was her opportunity to make a move, and she chose not to.

“We’re not going to stay here,” Andrea said, reaching over to pat him on the knee. “We’re leaving.”

What?

“It just isn’t safe here for us as Primes, or for our Seconds,” Andrea continued. “Adriana and I are going to move into our new home on Legion Prime.”

“Our Seconds are already there,” Adriana said. “So it won’t be like we’re alone. We’ll still be connected to the ANet, but only our others will remain here.”

Oh. That… makes sense, I guess. Especially if they’re nervous about the current situation.

To be fair, the tension and air around Legion HQ and New and Old Legion City has been… a touch oppressive.

“Will you move with us? Lily said she would come if you did,” Andrea said, making firm eye contact with him. “Felicity said she already set up everything. The houses for the inner circle, the bodyguard barracks, the Dragon vault, nursery, grove—everything.”

Glancing to the front seat at Felicity, he paused before asking her about that. She had a map on her pad and was holding it to the side. She’d predicted his wishes once again. He was able to see the entire thing as it was laid out there.

It was exactly as Andrea had said.

Felix nodded slowly. Now that he really thought about it, he recognized the feeling of having been under siege for… a long time.

Then he thought about the manse and open life Vince enjoyed. Felix had felt envious of it.

And now he could live it.

It’s not as if anyone will have a sniper rifle on Legion Prime.

Not to mention we can erect mage walls, shields, forcefields.

No one could tell us no or cite regulations.

“Alright,” Felix said. “I can’t quite move yet, as my office is in Legion HQ, but… let’s start figuring out how we get everyone over.

“The ANet, Felicia’s lab, and the vault are the three buildings we’d need immediately.

“As for personnel, all the department heads, their families, and everyone in the inner circle.”

Andrea and Adriana were both watching him with eager eyes. Smiles plastered on their faces.

“Yeah?” they asked in unison.

“Yeah. We’ll start moving out of Legion HQ today. Can I count on you, Felicity?” Felix asked.

“Of course,” replied the Dark Elf as she pulled the pad back to her lap. “It’ll be done.”

Andrea snuggled in close to Felix’s side and laid her head on his chest. Adriana snatched Felix’s hand and held it in her own.

They’re so different now.

“And by the way… the Royal Elves worked. We’ve been contacted from almost every Elven enclave on the continent. I give it a week before the news spreads overseas,” Felicity added.

“Oh?” Felix asked.

“Indeed. I’ve sent them Legion contracts in response. If they want to join, they can sign and send them back.

“Then I’ll ask Kris to use one of your girls to fly over a portal device so they can join us.”

“Great. The Elves have been a great source of magical power. Lily and her people are strong, but they’re so few.”

“To be sure, Lily and Evan are terrifying. They have a lot of combat experience, and for human magicians, they are equally comparable to senior Elven mages,” Felicity agreed.

“So… how many are we looking at so far?” Felix asked as Andrea rubbed her face against his chest, her head bumping his chin.

“Elves? Something to the order of two thousand or so. I don’t think they’ll all join, but… it’s a possibility. The Elven enclave on Legion Prime is certainly going to be higher than I originally thought in priority,” Felicity said. “Suppose that’ll happen when there hasn’t been a Royal Elf on a planet for hundreds of years.”

That’s a lot of Elves.

Turning into a real melting pot of people and cultures.

***

Felix was sitting on the couch in his office watching television. It wasn’t something he did often. The TV on his wall was off more often than not, or someone was using it to show what was on their light-terminal.

Watching TV always felt like a waste of time to Felix. There were always other things to do, and television felt lazy to him.

Reading books took longer, but he always felt better for it.

Today was an exception. Today, the results would be announced of the runoff for the prime minister’s position.

The volume was low right now, but Jessica was sitting behind the desk on the TV screen, apparently talking about what looked like an accident.

Or so Felix thought from the graphic next to her head.

The news had slowed a bit lately. The fact that it wasn’t Blake was impressive.

Ever since the anti-trust hearing and how it ended, Blake’s political currency had been spent hard and fast.

Though he’d hung on somehow.

Lily shifted her shoulders a bit, snuggling ever closer to Felix, her hand resting on his thigh.

“I talked to Vicky after your dinner date with her,” Lily said.

“Wasn’t a date,” Felix said. Readjusting his arm around Lily, he slouched a bit further on the couch to adjust for her change in posture.

“She felt it was. She also said you were a perfect gentleman. Treated her like she was the only person in the world there, despite being interrupted repeatedly,” Lily continued.

“Uh huh. Wasn’t a date,” Felix reaffirmed.

“She’s probably going to ask you out again soon,” Lily said, her fingers moving up and down his leg.

“If it’s a date, I’ll decline it,” Felix said.

Jessica was apparently gaining more traction in her network. She’d gone from doing interviews and reporting pieces to also being a lead news anchor.

So far, they’d been keeping her front and center all day.

She was dressed smartly and attractively.

Picking up the remote, Felix flipped it to Erica’s network to see what was going on there.

It was always a curious thing to flip between the two. They always had the same story presented from two political views. Except they were so radically different, they might as well have been different stories entirely.

Erica was in a similarly upward-trending position. Both women kept getting stories that catapulted them to the center of the news.

“Preliminary results seem to be coming in,” Lily said as the picture next to Erica flipped to a map.

The colors chosen were a dull brown for Kevin Dane, Blake’s major rival, and a soothing blue for Blake.

“Any thoughts on how it’ll go?” Lily asked.

Glancing down at the woman next to him, he realized her eyes were closed. She looked like she was about ready to go to bed.

Small tears were forming at the corners of her eyes as she clearly fought a yawn back down.

“Mm, I think it’ll be exactly like Kit’s people running the polls found. Kevin will win by a ten-to-twenty-percent majority,” Felix said, lightly combing his fingers through Lily’s hair. “You should go to bed. It’s going to be a long night after all. I kinda need to sit up and watch what happens.”

“Even though you’re so sure of the outcome, you’re still going to watch it?” Lily asked, slowly sitting up next to him.

“Yeah. I kinda need to. I need to make sure we’re ready to go despite whatever happens.”

“Mmm. Alright, love. I’m going to go hit the hay, then. Don’t stay up too late.” Lily leaned in and gave him a kiss.

“Soon as I know we’re in the clear, I’ll join you.”

“Good. Goodnight, love,” Lily said. She quickly crossed to the door, opened it, and left.

Felix shifted around in the couch and got comfortable again.

The door opened and Felix looked over, wondering who it was.

Goldie stuck her head in and smiled at him.

“Hello, nest-mate. Everything okay?” she asked, her hair sliding over her shoulder and hanging there. Her eyes were moving around his office as if looking for something.

“Yes. Why?” Felix asked, looking back to the television. Felix picked up the remote and turned on the close captioning.

It bothered Lily to have it on, but Felix found it preferable.

Goldie walked into the office and closed the door. She was dressed in the light Legion security uniform the Dragon maidens had adopted.

She folded her hands behind her back and wandered over to him.

“It’s strange for you to be alone,” Goldie said. “Usually Felicity, Lily, the Elex girls, or one of the potential wives are here.”

Felix shrugged his shoulders at that. She wasn’t wrong.

He almost never had any time to himself, in any way.

“Yeah. Well, it’s getting late. Most people finish up their shifts and go to bed. Legion is a company, after all,” Felix said. “I don’t really have that luxury. I’m practically Legion itself, so I have to be working all the time.

“Late at night, I’m usually by myself.”

“Oh? Where are the on-duty bodyguards at this hour?” asked the Dragon. Her horns glinted golden as she came closer to him. “I’m only ever on the day shift.”

“Usually in their barracks. Sleeping or resting. There’s usually a few night guards outside the door,” Felix said.

“Yes. There were two Elves and two Dryads out there, and a Dragon of course.

“They’re playing cards,” Goldie said. Turning aside, she continued to move but went behind the couch.

Felix could hear her stop just behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the full-figured Dragon peering down at him with her bright eyes.

“I don’t like cards. No one could tell me why I shouldn’t come in here and spend time with you, though,” Goldie said.

Felix didn’t have an answer to that. Instead he looked back at the TV.

Erica was gone, a large map on the screen in her stead. Districts and areas around the country were starting to report in.

“You’re welcome to join me,” Felix said. “I’m just watching the results. Not exactly the most entertaining thing in the world.”

Goldie’s hands slipped over Felix’s shoulders, and her fingers started to curl into him. Her thumbs pressed into his spine and moved upward.

“I’ve been speaking to Felicity,” Goldie said as her fingers began to push and prod at his muscles. “She tells me you have intelligent women all around you. Strong women.

“Women who can lead without the need for someone to tell them what to do.”

Felix couldn’t deny that. Nor could he deny that Goldie’s warm fingers were massaging his muscles in the right way.

“Kris is a strong leader, and Faith is an aggressive representative for her faction,” Goldie continued. “Much like so many others around you.

“When I first realized this, I was concerned. I looked at all those women you had about and thought perhaps I’d made a mistake.”

Felix sat up straight in the couch and rolled his shoulders forward as Goldie expertly tended to his back. He was only dimly watching the screen now as she spoke.

“Why’s that?” Felix asked. Erica was pointing to several places on the map now as they were colored in. Brown was slowly filling in more and more, though the blue color had won some key areas as well.

“I’m a Dragon. I’ve eaten my fair share of humanoids and battled for gold more often than I would care to remember.

“But I never… craved it,” Goldie said. “I always wished to settle down and just nest. Roost.

“I wish to care for another and be cared for. I’m much more similar to Felicity than I am to Kris.

“Kris and the others all want you to fight them and win. To see you crush your enemies as you’ve been doing. That would tame their Dragons and claim them to the point that they’d need to nest,” Goldie said. “Or for you to outsmart them, outwit them. That’d be much the same.”

Makes sense, given what they are and where they came from. That human form can be deceiving.

“My Dragon was interested in you when you brought back Green, Karya, and Daphne. For nothing.

“Just because he was your brother,” Goldie said. “You could have demanded anything. Asked for anything. Desired anything. And received it.”

Wasn’t exactly complicated or hard. Cost me nothing.

“It was enough for me to join your Wing. From everything I saw of you in my homeland, and what I’ve seen here in your world, my Dragon has swooned,” Goldie said, her fingers pressing into his skull.

Felix didn’t say anything.

If anything, he felt worse for the situation. He hadn’t expected the conversation, and he probably should have.

Lifting his head, he looked at the TV.

It wasn’t done, but the map showed that the majority of the population had already voted, and Kevin was the victor.

The subtitles were underscoring that not all votes were in yet, and there was still a chance for Blake to pull through.

The likelihood of that was extremely slim, however.

Cutting from Erica, the screen moved to the face of an older man standing near Blake in his campaign center headquarters.

Felix felt like the man was familiar.

“Nest-mate, isn’t that the face Jillian saw?” Goldie asked.

His mind locking up as he processed that, Felix stared at the face.

“It’s not the same name, though,” Goldie said, her thumbs digging into the base of Felix’s skull.

“But it’s him,” Felix agreed with her.

Cameras switched, and the man Felix and Legion knew as Peter Miller stood there. In a general’s uniform, next to Blake.

“Suppose that tells us who was handling the armed-forces side of our problem,” Felix said. “Time for an all hands.”

Chapter 27 - All Hands -

Felix was waiting in the conference room next to his office.

Felicia had put it together specifically for him, with a significant amount of electronic toys, bells, and whistles.

While it didn’t see daily use, it did get used for anything more than an impromptu meeting that was larger than five attendees.

He was early. Very early. By about ten minutes.

It was always easier for him to be first, though. The extra time could be used to focus his thoughts on what he wanted to say.

This felt like a big meeting. They’d already broken two of the supposed three pillars, and they’d identified the third.

This was going to be the last bit of resistance in Wal, and then Legion could exert itself again.

If I did push us to the front again, I think I’d want to take Wal over completely.

Or turn it into a puppet state.

Playing nice-nice is what got Legion into this position to begin with.

No, Legion is done playing nice-nice. If this situation turns on us and the opportunity presents itself, we’re taking Wal.

The door opened and Felicity walked in. She had her pad balanced in one hand, a messenger bag over her shoulder stuffed with paperwork, and a push cart trailing along behind her in her other hand.

She was dressed as she always was. Beautifully put together and eye catching.

Blinking, Felicity stared at him, looking rather confused.

Getting up immediately, Felix moved over to her and took the push cart from her. In it were several coffee travelers, donuts, bagels, cream cheese, and chocolate bars.

“Oh, thank you, Felix,” Felicity said, letting him take it. “Cutlery and the like is below.”

Nodding, Felix wheeled it to the side of the entry. He quickly unpacked the cups, plates, plastic forks, and plastic knives.

“Judging from the meeting agenda you sent over, I felt it’d be a good idea to get some snacks and things,” Felicity said, pulling her bag from her shoulder.

“And that is one of the reasons I think you’re amazing.” Felix picked up a blueberry bagel.

“I appreciate the compliment.” Felicity moved past him and set down her messenger bag in the seat to the right of his own. She pulled her light-terminal out and put it on the table top.

“Can I get you something?” Felix asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Ah… yes, please. I’ll take the same thing you’re having, from the looks of it,” Felicity said, peering at what was in his hands. “Though a bit more cream cheese than that.”

Felix shrugged and added more cream cheese to the one on his plate. Then he simply gave her everything he’d already prepared and went back for another.

With napkins this time, since he’d forgotten them in the first pass.

“You’re awfully attentive to me today,” Felicity said.

Felix didn’t know what to say to that. He sat down next to her and placed a napkin by her plate, then one beside his own.

The door opened again and Faith, Kris, Lily, Kit, Andrea, and Adriana all walked in.

“Felicity brought treats,” Felix said, gesturing toward the cart as he started breaking up his bagel into fourths.

“Goodie!” Andrea said happily, clapping her hands and darting to the cart. Adriana was a step behind her, bouncing excitedly.

Felix busied himself with his bagel as more people arrived, got their choices, and joined the table.

The soft chime of his wrist indicated the time for the meeting had been reached and brought Felix back to himself. He’d been lost in the methodical chewing of his bagel as he lingered over his topics.

Looking around the room, he found it was full of people.

Kit, Lily, Miu, Andrea, Adriana, Ioana, Felicia, Victoria, Dimitry, Erica, Jessica, Kris, Goldie, Faith, Michael Haglund from Legion Prime, a Elf he didn’t know, and Felicity. Seems like everyone.

“Welcome. This isn’t our normal timing for an all-hands meeting, obviously, but given what’s been going on, it felt like the right time,” Felix started. There were a few head nods around the room. “First, I’ll cover a few topics I’d like to discuss, or at least reaffirm. Then we’ll move from department to department, then person to person.

“Is there anything that needs to be stated before we begin?”

“Thank you, Fell, for getting snacks,” Andrea said, pausing in her attempt to swallow more than half of a chocolate bar. “You’re the best.”

Felix grinned.

“Yes, thank you, Fell,” Felix said, looking at Felicity, amused to no end by Andrea’s nickname for her.

“Of course,” she murmured without looking up from her terminal as she typed constantly.

“First then, moving from Legion HQ. It’s been put forward to start moving critical facilities out of Wal and to Legion Prime.

“Obviously there’re some problems with that, not least of all the fact that the infrastructure isn’t ready for us yet. At least, not for all of us.” Felix looked to Michael as the CO of the planet.

Sensing the unspoken request for an update, Michael cleared his throat.

“We’ve got wind turbines and solar panels up, as well as a small dam. We’re able to meet basic electricity so far. Though it’s nowhere near stable for all of Legion yet,” Michael said. “It really comes down to how much of a footprint we want to make on the planet. We could easily throw together a coal or nuclear plant, but that’s hard to move away from once we do it.”

“Felicia,” Felix said to the Dwarf. “Anything you can add?”

Rubbing at her jaw with a hand, she seemed to be considering the question.

“Well. We could always build a big-ass version of the Fist’s power cell and its solar collectors. That wouldn’t take me too long to put together,” Felicia said.

“Think on it. With all that said, I want a few things moved to LP first.”

Felicity tapped something and turned partly in her chair to look at the screen over Felix’s shoulder.

Glancing that way, he saw the building plans for Legion Prime.

“Everything in blue has been deemed critical,” Felicity said. “That includes Felix’s home, the bodyguards’ barracks, everyone in his inner circle’s personal quarters, the R&D department, HR, Legal, Security, and Maintenance.

“Everything outside of that is a secondary priority or tertiary need.”

Felix appreciated the quick summation. The problem, though, was that with so many priorities, they were limited by their own pool of available workers.

“Now, moving on to labor,” Felicity continued. “I’ve put in a request with Yosemite. They have a large force of manpower that will happily work for pay. The citizenry isn’t entirely made up of the military after all.”

“That’s a solid idea. Good work,” Felix said. “Put it in motion and let’s get them moving things. We might as well put up another portal between LP and Vince’s world.”

“What’s the name of the world?” Andrea asked with chocolate-stained lips.

“It doesn’t have one anymore,” Felicity said. “The area Yosemite is in was once called the Wastes, though.”

“Let’s call it Yosemite,” Andrea said, nodding quickly at her own words.

“Fine, let’s get a portal between LP and Yosemite. No need to have them wander through HQ if they don’t have to,” Felix said. “Next. How’s Richard and his bank?”

“Gone,” Kit said with a shrug. “Richard vanished. The bank and all its assets are gone. It’s simply no longer there.”

“Great, and Blake?” Felix asked.

“He’s done,” Lily said. “After that debacle with the court and the terrorist attack, he was labeled pretty badly.

“Last I heard, he’s moving out of Wal entirely.”

“Two for two, then,” Felix said. “And that brings us around to the newest problem. Peter Miller.”

“Also known as Frank Kas,” Kit said. “Three-star general for Wal. He’s been in the armed forces his entire adult life. He was closely aligned with Blake.

“We’ve got some bits of things that point this back to him, but it’s not very clean.”

Felix thought on that. It was something to figure out, but he didn’t want to rush it.

“Where we stand, then, is that we’ve crippled the economic backing our foes had, eliminated their political and public abilities, and have possibly identified where they’re getting their offensive capabilities,” Felix summarized.

“That’s about right,” Lily said. “By and large, we’ve carved out everything we identified with marginal impact to the citizens.”

“Let’s table Mr. Kas for the moment, then.

“Ioana, we’ll start with your department. How’s our security force looking?” Felix asked.

Ioana set down the donut she’d been chewing at.

“Not too bad. We had a major glut of manpower after we canceled all our contracts and there wasn’t much to do.

“The summit is still ongoing, of course, but the amount of manpower needed there isn’t going to change,” Ioana said. “The rest of our people, as well as internal security who aren’t on duty, are all in Yosemite.”

Felix took that and turned to Miu and Victoria.

Miu looked healthy. She’d clearly been taking care of herself.

“We’re following General Petra’s orders and keeping to the wall. She won’t let our people risk themselves. She moved off with the army and left her Lieutenant in place, a Dark Elf by the name of Eva, but she hasn’t changed our orders,” Victoria said. “It’s all quiet on the Yosemite front otherwise.”

“We’re given a good amount of respect,” Miu said suddenly. “It’s clear they’re appreciative of our presence.”

Good.

“Kris? Faith? Which of you wants to speak for the bodyguard detail?” Felix said, deciding to keep with the armed parts of Legion.

“We are one hundred strong now,” Kris said. “The Dryads have sent over thirty to be dedicated to you. We’ve also picked up a handful of Dragon maidens in the surrounding area that were attempting to escape notice. We now number seventeen.”

Oh really? That’s a surprise.

“They were in the area?” Andrea asked suddenly, her eyes curious.

It was easy to forget Andrea was a merc and had taken a number of contracts in her life.

Goldie shrugged. “We’ve cleared four hundred miles in every direction from this point. Some of the Dragons were males, or not maidens, or simply didn’t want to join.

“We gave them all to Layla when they decided they’d rather fight than leave.”

“She’s a warlock,” Felicity said before Felix could ask. “Trust me when I say it’s both a good and bad thing.”

“The rest are all Elven sorceresses,” Kris continued. “I’m confident in our ability to keep you safe with our composition.”

Felix looked at the Elex women.

“How’s the ANet?” he asked.

Andrea blinked and then shifted her weight around in her chair.

“It’s fine. We’ve been working on building a second command center on LP,” Andrea said, her tone changing slightly. “Adriana has taken over all of our security and tactics side. I’m handling everything else. I’ve reached out to… to Myriad to see if she’ll come home. I think we could use her.

“We know she read the letter, but she hasn’t responded. Her signal locater is still moving further away as well.”

Myriad… I can only wonder how you’re doing since you don’t write me back.

“Alright. Lily, how’s our magic?” Felix asked.

“Significantly… stronger. The Elves are fantastic magicians. Combined with the Dryads, we have a very elite strike force. The losses we were taking from casual run-ins with master priests and their apprentices have sharply declined,” Lily said. “No legal concerns at this time. Everything is working as it should.”

Taking that with a single nod, Felix turned to Dimitry.

“And how’s Maintenance?” he asked.

Dimitry let out an explosive sigh and spread his hands out in front of him.

“The underworld is taking over everywhere,” he said. “From what I’m hearing, anywhere we’re not entrenched, or the religion of choice isn’t, is falling prey to organized crime.”

Honestly, that was about what Felix was expecting. Until they could get a handle on this religious dilemma, the problem would continue.

Which is why we need that summit to actually get something done. They’ve been sitting there for so long already, I have no idea if they think they can even achieve anything now.

“Otherwise we’re fine,” Dimitry said.

“Kit?” Felix asked.

“We’re seeing increased stress and tension across the board. People are deep into war weariness, and they’re just exhausted,” she said with a sigh. “We’re doing what we can to keep everyone calm and on track, but we need a break.

“Legion needs to somehow take a breath for a bit.”

“Working on it. I’m open to suggestions, of course,” Felix said.

“Company picnic is coming up,” Felicia said suddenly. “We’ll just make it a big one. Lots of drinking. Lots of food. Lots of Felix getting dunked and taking pies in the face.”

Felix chuckled. He wasn’t going to argue. If that was what it took to cheer people up, he’d do it.

“Let’s make it a big one then,” he said. “A picnic to remember for years.

“Anything else, Kit?”

“Not really, but… I’m hearing some things from the Heroes guild. It’s gotten even worse for them. It’s unlikely there will be a legally sanctioned Heroes guild in a year.”

That was sobering news. There had almost always been a guild in one fashion or another.

That it was simply going to vanish was more than a surprise.

“Any of the contacts I had have long since given up on me. From what I can gather, they’re banding together in small groups and working in teams. Though it’s not looking much better for them,” Lily said with a strange smile. “In their eyes, I’m little better than a house wife. I went straight, gave up the villain life, and settled into a house with a white picket fence.”

“Alright. How are our financials looking?” Felix asked.

“Painful, to be honest,” Felicity said. “After we broke all our contracts, our revenue took a major hit. We’re not taking a loss, but our margin for error is as thin as a razor.

“I don’t think we’ll be turning large profits for a while.”

“We knew that’d happen though,” Felix said. “Still sucks, but it’s not outside expectation.”

Felix turned to look at Felicia

“How’s the lab?”

“Quiet,” said the Dwarf, her mouth sporting a severe frown. “I miss Mr. White. He was a bit of a doof at times. Came across as a know-it-all and had odd moments, but he was a good and brilliant engineer.

“I didn’t have to work half as hard when he could just swoop in with something he had already worked on or was working on.”

That’s quite a bit of praise.

“Find a replacement for him, then. Sounds like you need a mechanical engineer to keep you grounded.

“Just run it through Kit and Felicity; I don’t need to be involved,” Felix said.

“Jessica? Erica? Anything to know from the world of news?” Felix asked, looking at the two.

Both shook their heads.

“No, Felix. Everything is pretty much the same. No news, as it were,” Jessica said.

“Alright, let’s do a quick round robin. Anyone have anything to add?”

Felix looked around the table as he spoke, meeting everyone’s eyes.

“No? Alright then.

“That covers everyone for the basics and some of the larger and broader topics. Let’s start digging through quarterly budget sheets and figure out where we can fix things. Sounds like we need to tighten the belt a wee bit.”

***

“…itures in training are a necessary thing,” Kit said calmly, pointing at the screen.

“It eats into their occupancy,” Felicity said with a shake of her head.

“You yourself said we have time set aside specifically for training. That we had more than enough ‘shrink’ in the budget, as you called it,” Kit continued.

“We do, and we did. Except you spent your entire budget on it. There’s simply no more room to add more training to the calendar,” Felicity said. “The only way you’d be able to manage that would be to change your expectations and how many people you need to get the job done.”

“Alright, then let’s talk about that. What are the projected—”

The door opened suddenly and Edith Torres stormed in.

She was dressed in professional clothes very similar to Lily and Felicity today.

At least she’s settling into her age.

“Felix, I saw someone come out of the energy distortion,” she said, her statement practically a shallow gasp.

“You saw someone walk out,” Felix repeated back.

“Two people, actually,” Edith corrected herself. “A man and a woman. I took a few pictures. I didn’t get the woman very well, but I got a full front of the man’s face.”

She pulled a camera out of her jacket pocket as she moved over to him.

“Give it to Felicity; we’ll put it up on the big screen,” Felix said.

“What?” Edith said. Felicity took the camera from her outstretched hand and set it down next to her light-terminal.

With a flick of her fingers, she got her computer routed into the camera’s wireless profile.

“Wait,” Edith said.

The screen flickered and then changed.

On the display was a massive collection of photos. They were almost all of nature and had a definite artistic feel to them.

Some of them even looked quite good.

Never would have figured her for a photographer.

“I had no idea,” Lily said.

“I like that one.” Kit pointed toward what looked like a sunrise.

“Stop. Just… go to the most recent photos,” Edith said, clearly flustered.

Felicity spared the woman and went straight to the indicated location.

The first photo that came up looked like a pair of legs in men’s pants. They seemed to be appearing in the air. The bottom part of his body was materializing as the top half was still missing.

Progressing the selector, the next photo came up. It was the same pair of men’s pants, though it now had most of a torso attached. It looked like he was significantly more filled in, just not quite there.

Felicity moved it forward again.

Standing in the middle of the frame, blocking the woman behind him, was Frank Kas.

“It was like he materialized from nowhere. Looking at it, it felt a lot like teleportation,” Edith said. “I couldn’t get a good picture of the woman. She stumbled to one side, threw up, and then vanished into the crowd.”

Felix sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“I suppose that answers it for us. We start prepping for Frank,” he said. “Let’s start looking into everything he owns, his money, what he’s in charge of, and who’s visited him in the last six months.

“Get a Minder and a Fixer on him and let’s see what’s in his head, if we can, and what’s he doing at home.

“Get to work, people. Meeting over.”

Everyone was getting up from the conference table and starting to file out.

Felix smiled at those who made eye contact with him and nodded his head at them, remaining seated at the table.

He’d opened his mind as soon as he’d called the meeting to a close. Putting a giant, blaring thought in it that Kit should remain behind.

Even revealing the reason he wanted her to do so.

It took a few minutes for the room to clear out completely. Faith, Kris, and Goldie had caught his look and he’d guessed they’d taken position just outside the conference door.

They were the last out. The door clicked shut behind them.

“I’m not sure what to say, Felix,” Kit said, giving him a smile.

“You can tell me what’s going on in that pretty head of yours. I’m not the mind reader, remember?”

“It’s nothing. Nothing you haven’t heard or don’t already know.”

“Tell me again, then. Tell me in a different way. Tell me in a new way. Tell me in the same way.

“Just talk to me.”

“Felix…” Kit sighed, pressing her head between her hands. “It’s not that simple.”

“Yes. It is. I deserve the honest truth. Just as I was direct and honest with you three years ago,” Felix said. Breaching a subject neither of them had ever really wanted to talk about. “I told you how I felt, what I wanted, and what I was willing to do.

“You read all my thoughts on it in every way.”

Kit’s head dipped down; she was clearly hiding her eyes from him.

“We said we wouldn’t talk about it,” she muttered.

“I’m talking about it because you’re not sharing your thoughts with me. You promised me you would when I asked. I’ve asked, and you’re holding out.

“You said no to me at the time. That you needed time and space and you’d let me know if it changed. I agreed, so long as you shared your thoughts when asked.”

Kit let out a sudden breath and started laughing darkly to herself.

“I’m literally reading your mind as you talk. It’s interesting how often your thoughts are so much more violently put together than the words that come out of your mouth.”

“Then you know I’m not letting this go. So… talk to me.”

“It’s the same as it always is,” Kit said, shrugging. And still not looking at him. “I’m feeling a need to play hero, to go out and save the day. To be the good guy. To… get off… on that feeling. The power of it.”

Felix didn’t immediately respond. It sounded like she had more to say.

“And I know it’s stupid. I know it’s silly.” Kit shook her head even as she spoke. “I know that mentality is the very reason the Heroes guild is pretty much done. They had to rush out and save everything, and now they can’t save anything.”

“Is that something you want to talk about? The guild?” Felix asked.

“No. Errr… maybe. Yes?” Kit sounded confused.

“Tell me about the guild. What’s going on?”

“They’re being hunted down. One by one. Every few missions, some heroes don’t come back,” Kit said. “It isn’t every time. But it’s adding up. Their losses keep mounting higher and higher.

“They really will no longer be a guild soon. They just don’t have the backing, support, or finances for it.”

Felix didn’t give a damn if they were all turned into sock puppets. He had no use for them.

But he had a use for Kit.

“Would they be willing to sign on with Legion?” Felix asked. “I’d be willing to take them as a contract holder, so long as they followed Legion’s rules and motto.

“I’m sure they could do some good operating as a Legion affiliate. I could easily bring them back from the dead if they fell.”

Kit lifted her head up, her eyes piercing into him.

“You’re only offering that because you love me. You’d rather see them all die and become worm food.

“Sock puppets,” she said.

Felix took in a slow breath, then gave her a shrug and a smile. “Yeah. And?”

There was a small pressure in his head, and he realized Kit was rapidly scanning through his thoughts and memories again.

She tended to treat his brain like a search engine at times, trying to correlate one thing with others.

“Almost everything you do for me is because you love me. All the projects to give aid. The charities. The non-profits. You don’t care about any of it,” she said. “You do it for me.”

“Come on, that’s not exactly news. You’ve known that for years.” Felix waved a hand in the air as he shifted his weight to one side. Propping his elbow on the arm of his chair, he put his chin in it. “Old news that’s so out of date, it’s pre-internet.”

“I mean, I knew. But I’d never really sorted through it all.” Kit was watching him. Her eyes unwavering.

“Anyways,” Felix said, feeling awkward with the silence for once. “Do you think they’d take it? Protection, a budget, an armory to use, our intelligence network. They could do a lot of good in Wal.”

Kit looked like she didn’t want to change the subject. After several seconds, though, she sighed and broke eye contact.

“Maybe. I think they might. Most of the old guard is gone. Long gone. That woman you were actually polite to is probably the highest-ranking member now.”

“Throw them an invitation, then. Though you should let them know I’m going to open an invitation to all unaffiliated Powereds. Villain or hero, I don’t care. I’ll take them and their families.

“If this is the end of an era, I want to sweep up as many people as I can into Legion,” Felix said.

Kit grunted at that and tapped a finger against the table. “That might speed them along, to be honest. There’s the distinct possibility a number of their people would take your offer if only for the sake of their families.”

“And there you have it,” Felix said simply.

“In other words, you’re willing to save what’s left of the guild for my sake. Because of how you feel for me,” Kit said.

“I mean, if you have to put a point to it, yeah, that’s pretty much what it is. Because I love you.

“I’m afraid I truly do believe in Legion first, otherwise. They’re not Legion and they’ve worked pretty hard to end us.

“But you’re Legion, Kit. And I’ll do what I can for you.”

Kit sighed and ran a hand through her short curls. “Why did I say no to you again?”

“I have no idea,” Felix said with a grin. “I thought I was being rather charming at the time.”

“You were. I’ll put a message through to the guild and see what they say.

“Then I’ll put together a public-facing broadcast from Legion about welcoming in all Powered individuals,” Kit said. “I take it you’ll want it to also go out from Dimitry and the reporters?”

“Yeah. If you don’t mind putting together a packet for them all, I’d greatly appreciate it,” Felix said.

Kit nodded and finally looked back to him.

“Sorry, Felix. I guess I’ve always been a problem. Constantly having to fix me.”

“You’re well worth fixing. Now, anything else you need to get off your chest? Anything you need to tell me?

“Or was the guild going under the vast majority of it?”

“It was. I’m sure my inner hero will be quite happy with the idea of saving the rest of the guild,” Kit said, getting to her feet. She brushed at her blouse once, smoothing out the fabric.

Felix kept his thoughts neutral and bland as she moved for the door.

“You know… at this point… when you start thinking about that kind of blank stuff,” Kit said, looking over her shoulder with a smile and stopping at the door. “I know you’re staring at me and thinking shower thoughts—you’re just not doing it directly anymore.

“By the way, Felicity is waiting for you outside the door. She has some plans for you that I think you should agree to.

“She’s probably the best thing that’s happened to you in years. And yes, I’m actually endorsing her.”

Opening the door, she stepped out of the room and then closed the door before he could respond.

Suppose she’s not wrong about the thoughts. It’s a lot like how a word changes its form.

Can’t use the word retarded because it’s insensitive. Replace it with special.

Special is insensitive now. Use challenged.

Challenged is insensitive. New word.

When the word changes but the definition remains the same, it’s only a matter of time before the new moniker gains the same stigma.

Frowning, Felix scratched at his cheek.

With that in mind, does that mean the Heroes guild will just become Legion? Or Legion will become the Heroes guild?

Should probably make them change the outfit name when they join, and make sure their procedure and protocol gets modified a bit.

The door opened and Felicity walked in. Through the doorway, he could see Faith and Goldie talking to each other on one side. And Kris’s shoulder was just visible on the other side of the door frame.

Closing the door, the Dark Elf gave him a sad smile.

“Hello Felix,” she said.

“Hey there,” Felix said with a wave of his hand. He immediately started to think on what Kit had said before she left.

“When you didn’t come out immediately, I figured you were trying to collect your thoughts,” she said, walking over to him.

She put her bag down along with her terminal on the table next to him.

“Take your coat off, and face forward,” she said, tapping the back of his head with a hand. “Make this easy for me and I’ll make sure it’s a good one.”

“Yes, dear,” Felix said with a mocking tone, doing as instructed. He shucked off his coat and set it down on the chair next to him, facing the empty chair in front of him.

“Time for your weekly therapy session. Care to share?” Felicity’s hands settled on his shoulders. She started to lightly trail her fingernails up and down his neck.

Somewhere along the way, Felicity had slipped in closer to him than anyone ever had. She’d become his confidant and soothsayer, to a degree. He gave her all his problems, regardless of what they were. Even those involving other women.

Or her.

And she took it all with love and care.

“Kit probably isn’t going to last much longer in Legion,” Felix said, getting straight to the heart of his concern. “I don’t think her heart was ever truly in it.

“She stayed around as long as she did out of loyalty to me. That and I kept giving her more opportunities to use Legion as a way to help others.”

Felicity’s cool fingers slid into his hair, her fingernails lightly trailing along his scalp.

“That makes sense. She’s a very driven woman. I can appreciate her drive and her need to do good,” she said after a moment of thought. “I would agree with your observation. I don’t think she’s going to be around for much longer.

“I’ve already been looking around in her department for those with a suitable aptitude to replace her. She’s cultivated a… how did you phrase it last time… solid bench strength in her team. There are quite a few people who could step up and take her place,” Felicity said.

“Good thing you’re on my side. I don’t think I’d survive a direct confrontation from you if you had your own company,” Felix said, closing his eyes as Felicity’s fingers slipped down from the crown of his head to his forehead. “That’s lovely. You take care of me too much.”

She was gently kneading the flesh there, slowly working down the bridge of his nose and to his cheeks.

“Somewhat counterintuitive. I wouldn’t have been able to compete with you without having learned from you,” Felicity said. “As far as taking care of you, well… if I don’t, who would?

“You’d just work yourself to death when you inevitably get stuck in your own head.”

Felix didn’t answer her. He just sat there and enjoyed the feeling of her fingertips pressing into him. Especially since she wasn’t wrong.

He could identify several times over the last five years when he’d had a small breakdown, put himself back together, and marched back out into the forefront without anyone noticing.

“Now, everything seems to be moving as you wanted it. Is there anything in particular you want me to handle or watch out for?” Felicity asked.

“I think Faith and Goldie are going to try to sneak into my room,” Felix said honestly.

“They already tried. Kris dealt with both of them. I spoke to her briefly,” Felicity said. “Do not worry, she’s being very professional about it. Though she did complain about the fact that she couldn’t be as carefree as they are, even if she wished she could.”

In other words, Kris wanted to sneak into my bedroom too, but is playing good soldier.

“I don’t really understand it,” Felix said finally as Felicity’s fingers moved down to the hinge of his jaw.

“What, all the women throwing themselves at you? It’s not so hard to understand given their point of view,” Felicity said. “Everyone from my homeland is facing a slight gap in the male to female population, and death could be found around every corner for many years.

“It breeds a certain amount of honesty in desire and attraction. To propagate the species.”

“I noticed. A certain Dark Elf has been chasing me to the ground daily,” Felix said.

“Hardly. If I were truly giving you the full amount of pressure I could bring, I think I’d have more of your time than I do right now. I wouldn’t have to settle for simply touching you in quiet moments.

“But I’m taking my time. Making sure you get your space as I slowly gather more and more of your attention.” Felicity’s tone was honest. “I don’t want to scare you off with how I feel.”

“It’s… a little frightening. You seem almost as committed to me as Miu at times. I don’t know what to do with it,” Felix admitted.

“Miu is a different story. By the way, you owe her a kiss and a hug soon. As well as a pat on the head, and maybe take her out for a meal.

“She’s doing incredibly well, and she took your words to heart. Have you looked at her lately? She’s beautiful,” Felicity said.

Felix had noticed.

Miu had translated “take care of yourself” to a whole new level. She’d been pretty before, but now she was almost unnervingly beautiful.

“Those amplification powers of hers are scary,” Felix said. “Never thought they’d work on a level like that.”

“As for my own feelings,” Felicity said, bringing the conversation back around, “I’m just being honest. I desire you. I want to know you in many ways. And I think we’d be a very good match for one another. Especially in the long term.

“We balance each other quite well. I’m afraid I don’t have any of your initiative to act, nor do I have much in the way of the ruthlessness or political intuition you have.”

“And you know how to keep me moving and on track while balancing all the little things that typically build up on me and knock me over.

“Not to mention you’ve smoothed out every relationship in my organization that you encounter as well,” Felix said.

“Like I said. We go very well with one another.

“And speaking of going with one another. You’re having dinner with Jessica and Erica tonight with me. Then with the Elex girls for breakfast tomorrow morning.

“After that, we have lunch plans with Edith, Goldie, Faith, and Kris,” Felicity said.

“Ugggh. Do I have to?” Felix asked.

“Yes. And flirt with all of them. Especially the new girls. I know you don’t like doing it, but when you flirt with them, they get more interested, and then they work harder for you.

“Especially Goldie. I’m fairly positive her Dragon is utterly infatuated with you. If she submits and wants to nest, Kris won’t be far behind her or the other Dragons. Goldie is stronger than all of them; she just doesn’t have the same aggression.”

“You want me to flirt with Detective Torres? She’s more likely to pull a gun on me.” Felix wasn’t about to talk about Goldie to Felicity right now. His last encounter with the lovely Dragon had ended up making him a bit weak kneed in the end.

“No. I don’t think so. Circuit-Breaker is my personal IT liaison when it comes to my needs. All I had to do was set him up with this sweet girl I knew back in Yosemite.

“After that, I had him set it up so anything I link to gets downloaded completely to a share drive of my own.

“That includes her camera I connected to,” Felicity said. Her hands were trailing down his neck and out towards his shoulders.

Felix briefly wondered if Goldie had gotten her own idea to do this for him from Felicity.

“You didn’t,” Felix said.

“I did. And there were some photos taken of you from a distance. They were quite deep in the memory card, though, and under several folders. I kept a few I liked for myself.”

“You’re a terror, aren’t you? Should I assume you’ve broken into Lily’s computer? Andrea’s? Adriana’s?”

“Of course. How am I supposed to take care of you and alert you to problems if I don’t know about them?” Felicity asked with a soft chuckle. “I’m sorry to say, Felix Campbell, I do not believe in Legion first.”

Her breath tickled his face and Felix opened his eyes.

Felicity was right there, hovering over the top of him. Her face inches from his.

“I’m very much all about Felix first. Legion is second,” Felicity said, and then she pressed a tender kiss to his lips.

“Now,” she said, pulling away from him. “The only other thing you need to know is Andrea and Adriana are both sending letters to a ‘Myriad’ begging her to come home. Saying they want her back as a sister, and that she needs to get her Second pregnant.

“There’s been no response yet, but I’ve been tracking where the signal ends up on Legion Prime each night.”

Felix was still staring at Felicity, just a touch speechless.

“Her position hadn’t changed for a while, it seems. Lately, though, it’s begun to slowly come back towards the city. Then it stops and stays still for several days.

“I think she’s considering returning, so you should prepare for that,” Felicity said.

Then she stood up and gently ran her hands over his face.

“Come on, Felix my darling. Time to go.” Felicity tapped him on the forehead with a finger. “We have meetings to attend and a great deal of work to do.”

Chapter 29 - Buttering Up -

Standing in the hallway outside of Miu’s quarters, Felix was nervous.

He’d taken Felicity’s advice and sent Miu a note to please return to Legion, and meet up with him.

Truth be told, Felix had been avoiding Miu outright since her episode. In the past, giving her a few weeks to cool off after an “attack” had been the best thing for her. It gave her time to reassert her control and get herself back in order.

Meeting up with her earlier than that had caused problems in the past.

Which was why he was feeling a bit anxious. He wanted to take her out, give her more attention than he’d given her at any previous time, and give her a task.

Doing such a thing felt a lot like winding up a rubber band to the point where it looked like it would break.

Miu tended to overdo things.

His wrist communicator chirped once, causing Felix to flick his hand over and look at the screen.

The message there was from Felicity.

Remember to be direct, give her attention, not too much, and give her the orders.

You look fine, be sure to compliment her on what she’s wearing, take her out wherever she wants to go.

Don’t overthink this.

Quirking a brow, Felix looked around at the corners of the hall.

He saw what he was looking for at one end. A camera.

It was trained on the hallway and he was most likely completely in view.

After waving a hand at it, Felix gestured to his wrist with his other hand and bobbed his head.

Always keeping me on track. Are you watching?

Looking back to the door, Felix froze in mid action when his communicator chirped again.

Lifting his hand up, he looked at the screen.

There was another message from Felicity.

You’re welcome. Stop fidgeting. I’m going to bed. Send me a message or come wake me when you’re back.

Felix wondered about his life suddenly. Everything had rapidly changed so quickly. From his love life to his work life.

Lately he felt more like the leader of a country than a manager of a company.

He supposed they were very similar in the end, since the end goal was mostly the same.

The door opened in front of him, and Miu stepped out.

She was dressed in a very dark black dress that seemed to fit her athletic form very well. It showed off enough of her white skin and physique to flatter her, but it wasn’t overly sexualized.

Her hair was pulled up behind her head and pinned in place. She’d gone light on makeup, though most of it was concentrated on or around her eyes. Making them seem large and dark.

“Felix,” Miu said, her eyes staring into him. Pulling him in.

She looked more than healthy. She looked radiant. Her skin, her body, her hair—everything about her looked like it had been put together by a skilled artist rather than her own hand.

I swear to god, even her body dimensions changed.

“You look… really good, Miu,” Felix said. “Really good.”

Miu’s face practically split in half with the smile she gave him, her cheeks coloring.

“Thank you. I’m trying very hard to take care of myself as you ordered. I’m doing everything I can to make myself appealing, healthy, fit, and more lethal.” She lifted her arms and looked down at herself.

“You’re definitely that.” Felix remembered something Felicity had told him to do, and he moved in close to kiss her cheek.

Except somehow or other, Miu had turned to face him at the same time, and he ended up giving her a light kiss on the lips instead.

Pulling back quickly, he smiled at her, trying to hide the fact that he hadn’t meant to do that.

Her eyes were wide now, pupils looking like they were going to start quivering. Her breathing had immediately become erratic and her entire face was bright red.

Holding out his arm to her, Felix cleared his throat. “Shall we go? I was hopping you’d tell me where you’d like me to take you.”

Miu snatched at him, slipping her arm through his. She was pressed so tight to him he could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest against his arm.

“Legion’s. It’s where you take all your women,” Miu said immediately, her lips parted as she waited for his response.

“Legion’s it is. Did you want to go straight there or walk around for a bit?”

Miu blinked several times, as if processing his words.

“What do you want to do?” she asked.

“Honestly, I’m open to whatever suggestions you have. Other than that one episode, which was very understandable given the circumstances, you’ve been on extremely good behavior.

“Tell me what your heart wants. Because that’s what I want.”

Miu’s delicate brows folded into one another and her eyes slowly moved away from his face.

Then they jumped back to him.

“Pictures. I want pictures of us like this. I know where to go,” she said.

“Lead on, then. I’m yours for the evening, Miu Mikki,” Felix said.

Saying her full name had an impact. She started to walk forward only to stumble a bit, her eyes moving back to him.

“Say my name again,” she hissed, moving in close. Her nose almost touching his.

“Ok, ok. Miu Mikki.”

Shivering, she pulled him down with her freakish strength and pressed her forehead to his.

“Again,” she said.

“Last time, then we need to go. Unless you don’t want those pictures, Miu Mikki.”

Her breath washed over his face in a wave. It smelled faintly of cinnamon.

“Pictures, yes,” she murmured, slowly drawing back from him.

Patting her arm that was against his, he let her lead the way.

Hm. Either her crazy is getting easier to handle, or I’m getting used to it.

***

Miu had brought Felix to an actual photo studio. Apparently, she came here often.

Often enough that the man who owned the business didn’t even bother asking her what she wanted after he’d spotted Felix. He just opened the door to the back room and flipped the sign on the front door to closed.

“There we go,” said the cameraman, moving out from behind his setup. They’d been standing in various poses for the last hour or so, and Felix was starting to feel over it.

Pictures were hard enough for him, but an hour-long photoshoot seemed insane.

Miu just kept moving him around, making him sit, stand, lean with her and over her, hold her from behind.

Every single type of photo he imagined that could have ever been taken—they probably had done it.

“Good,” Miu said. “Get it all to me as quickly as possible with an invoice.”

The man waved a hand as if this was a common thing for her.

“Good to see you, sir,” said the man to Felix. “Can I use one of the photos as advertisement?”

“Of course, no worries. Just make sure Miu signs off on it,” Felix said. “Are we… done then?”

Miu moved to the door and exited to the front of the store without him.

Smiling, Felix nodded to the other man and left, following Miu.

She was already outside, and she looked like she was taking deep breaths. As if she’d been running miles.

“You alright?” Felix asked, walking up to her.

“Yes. Just… I think I’m losing myself. I’ve been allowed to touch you so much in such a short time.

“I feel like my skin is on fire and I can’t breathe enough,” Miu said, fanning at her face with one hand. “My entire lower body is tingling.”

“Sure fooled me,” Felix said with a chuckle. “You were cool as ice in there.”

“I didn’t want to ruin the pictures,” Miu said. Then she groaned softly, pressing a hand to her neck. “And I have so many of them now. Did you see them?”

She spun in place, her eyes fastening on him.

“I did. Now come on, let’s go get some food, alright?” Felix slipped his arm through hers.

Miu seemed to fall into a trance-like state as they made their way to Legion’s.

It wasn’t until they were seated in his reserved booth that she started to stir again. She’d been little more than a coat hanging off his arm until he sat her down.

Her head turned, and she looked out at all the tables in the center of the restaurant. After several seconds, she quickly looked back to him.

“They’re all watching me,” Miu whispered.

“I can’t blame them,” Felix said, reading over the menu. He made a point of trying something different every time he came now. “You’re extremely pretty, Miu.

“Especially so in that dress.”

“I’m not sure I like the attention,” Miu murmured, picking up her own menu. “Most people ignore me.”

Finding something he wanted to try, Felix set the menu to one side.

“If you like, I could distract you with some information. I know what mission I want to send you on next,” Felix said, sensing this was a lead in he could use. “I wasn’t planning on bringing it up tonight, but if it helps clear your head a bit, we could talk about work.”

Miu stared at her menu for another second before she promptly closed it and laid it and her hands on the table.

“Yes, please. It would be good to give my mind something to focus on. I’m very overstimulated right now,” Miu said, her eyes finding his own.

“We found out where Frank Kas is holed up, and what he’s actually in control of,” Felix said. It was all information Felicity had prepared for him earlier that day.

After reading it over, Felix had decided it was time to send in a strike team and eliminate Frank, along with everyone at the top of that military outfit.

It was going to be an assassination, more or less. And it would effectively eliminate the lead elements of those who were actively working against Legion.

A snake without a head was how Felix was hoping it would turn out.

He certainly wasn’t going to mobilize an entire force to fight them head on. That was just stupid, and it would get his people hurt or killed. Not to mention drawing attention to Legion.

A surgical strike by Miu and a team of Minders, though? Much more likely to work, and not get anyone caught.

And once that’s done, we should be able to make almost all of this blow away. There won’t be anyone left to fight us.

Miu nodded.

“Do you want me to take care of it?” she asked.

“I do. I want you to take a team of Minders and eliminate him, along with the senior leadership that report directly to him,” Felix said. “I think if we get rid of them, the rest won’t be an issue.”

Miu nodded slowly.

“Yes. If you were eliminated, and all your inner circle killed, much of Legion would fall apart,” Miu said.

Certainly a… different way to look at it. But she’s not wrong.

Amy walked up to their table, smiling at the two of them.

“You’re back again,” said the waitress. “Looks like you’re ready to order. What can I get for you?”

Miu shook her head and turned to Felix when both he and Amy had looked at her.

“I’ll take the chicken parmesan,” Felix said, pushing the menu over to the waitress. “And I’ll have a soda, please.”

“I’ll have the exact same,” Miu said immediately, her eyes not moving from Felix.

“I’ll get that put in,” Amy said, leaving.

“So, yes,” Felix said, redirecting the conversation again. “I want you to take a team of Minders in and take care of it for me.”

“Of course. I’ll not fail you,” Miu said, quickly nodding . “But…”

Felix smiled at the tone. He was honestly expecting her to want a little extra motivation.

“If you do it without getting caught, without raising an alarm, without anyone even knowing you were there… I’ll take you out again. Movie, dinner, lunch, whatever you like. We can do more photos again as well, or something else if you’d prefer variety,” Felix said, moving straight to the carrot.

Miu looked like she was going to agree immediately. Her lips were already parted when she suddenly stopped. Then she closed her mouth and licked her lips, and leaned in closer to him.

“I want more,” she said. “I’ve been very good. I deserve more. I listen to Felicity.”

Felix couldn’t deny that fact.

“Alright. And what do you want?”

Miu took in a quick breath, licking her lips again.

“I want to sleep in your bed once a week,” she said suddenly. “Not sex, or anything, just… I just want to sleep next to you. It doesn’t have to be alone. I don’t mind Andrea, Adriana, Lily, or Felicity being in the bed.”

Amusing that Felicity is apparently allowed in my bed before she’s even in it.

He was already working out how to decline her request when he realized he might as well just accept it.

If she did what he asked of her, it’d bring an end to a headache. Not to mention her deal with Lily would lead down that road eventually.

Maybe getting her acclimated to it early would help things along.

“You’re going to say no,” Miu said, deflating in her seat. Literally wilting before his eyes.

“Actually, I’m going to say yes. But my bodyguards will remain with me in the room, if that’s what they plan on doing. They don’t always, but sometimes they do.

“So you’ll have to play nice. Alright?” Felix asked, confirming it.

Miu had stopped breathing. Her fingers were clenched into the tablecloth.

She was clearly working to control herself.

Felix looked away, giving her time to get her control back. He knew if he looked at her for too long, she sometimes got worked up. And right now, she needed less stimulation.

My pet monster.

***

Shuffling into his room, Felix pulled off his coat and dropped it into the chair next to his desk.

Miu had worn him down and out. Her dedication, overwhelming devotion, and need for anything and everything of him was tiring.

Sighing, he rubbed his hand against the back of his neck.

Somewhat nostalgically, he wondered where the days had gone of him fretting more over if they were selling enough used cars to justify that arm of the business.

Instead of ordering straight-up assassinations of generals in the government’s employ.

Looking around the entry room to his personal rooms, he found no one there. They hadn’t been outside his room either.

It seemed his guards were further inside, or he’d managed to show up in the middle of a guard change.

Grumbling, he went over to his desk terminal and powered it on. Leaning over it, he unbuttoned his shirt with one hand and typed in his password with the other.

Quick as could be, he typed a brief note to Felicity about how it had all gone. Then sent it.

Standing up, he rubbed at his shoulder and moved into his bedroom. Thankfully, the day was over, and it seemed everyone was leaving him alone for once.

Maybe I can cancel my meetings in the morning and sleep in for once.

That’d be fun.

Yawning, Felix unbuckled his belt and kicked off his pants, getting rid of his socks at the same time. Picking them all up, he entered his bedroom.

He looked over to the spot where his Dryads tended to watch over him and doze in shifts, and he found… no one.

They weren’t there.

“That’s a relief and odd at the same time,” Felix muttered and walked into his room. He dropped his pants with the belt still in them at the foot of his bed.

Sitting down there, he shucked his button-up shirt over his head and flipped it atop the pants.

Should put them away in the closet.

Mentally groaning at the amount of effort it’d take, Felix turned to the closet.

Goldie was sitting just in front of the closet in a chair. Watching him. She was dressed in what looked like a thin nightgown and little else.

She had one of his shirts in her lap. The sleeve had been pulled from the top of the shirt, and to Felix it looked like she was in the process of re-stitching it back on. The needle and thread were in her right hand, and her left was holding the fabric together.

“This one didn’t fit you,” Goldie said. “I thought I’d just… fix it up and put it back before you got home.

“I’m sorry, I really thought you’d be gone till later. I thought I’d have another thirty minutes.”

Felix somehow wasn’t surprised at the gold Dragon’s presence. She seemed to be a very similar type of woman to Felicity. Just warmer and less work oriented.

“Miu was tired, and the more tired she gets, the worse her control. I think she was on the edge of invalidating the deal she made with Lily, so she asked me to take her home,” Felix said honestly.

He got the impression Goldie wouldn’t tell anyone.

“Oh. That makes sense. Her mind is a wild thing of violence, love, and desire for all of you,” said the Dragon with a small nod. “The way you treat her is kind. Very kind. I know the minds of many men who would have done terrible things to her.”

Goldie’s eyes seemed to glow in the dim light. Her pale skin made the dark fabric of the gown she was wearing seem all the more devoid of color.

Shrugging his shoulders, Felix felt a little odd. He was sitting there in nothing but an undershirt and his boxers in front of a beautiful Dragon maiden.

“Miu is Miu. It’s who she is. She’s getting easier to deal with, the more I understand her,” Felix said. “Uhm, I’m going to… go to bed now. Are you going to be alright?”

Goldie’s horns faintly glittered as her head moved. “Yes, I’ll be quite fine. I’ll finish up with this and go to sleep myself. You don’t mind, do you?”

He almost did. But in the same breath, it was endearing that she was doing such a thing for him without any expectation of a return.

Now that he thought about it, several of his shirts and pants had been fitting better lately.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve modified my clothes, is it,” Felix said. It wasn’t really a question.

“Ah… no. I sneak in when you’re out and go through your things,” she said. “I try to fix, repair, or just maintain what I can. Well, for clothes, at least. I’m good with clothes.

“I promise that’s all I do, though.”

Felix felt like there was more there.

“Others do more?” he asked.

“Ah… Faith tends to get in your bed and… take care of her needs. Usually while holding one of your—”

“No, never mind. I don’t want to know,” Felix said, interrupting her.

Dryads are almost as bad as Miu.

“Thank you for the tailoring. I noticed the changes, but not the reason.”

Felix pulled the sheets back from his bed and slid into them. He wasn’t about to tell Goldie what to do. She seemed the most placid of his bodyguards.

Settling into his bed, he listened to the soft sounds of Goldie sewing. He could hear the needle passing through the fabric over and over.

He started to slowly drift off to the simple white noise. It was soothing. She also seemed to radiate a calm warmth into the room.

Felix lost himself in the comfort of the sound and her presence.

And then lost it when she slid into the bed with him. It woke him up immediately.

Opening his eyes, he watched her shift around in his bed.

She gave him a small smile and a tiny wave of her fingers, her eyes twinkling.

Except she didn’t do anything further to him.

She rolled onto her side, put her back to him, snuggled into his sheets, and lay still.

He watched her, wary. Her side rose and fell slowly. Until he heard the distinctive change in her breathing that he associated with someone sleeping.

Fine. Whatever. At least she’ll keep the others out.

Felix closed his eyes and had dropped back off to sleep in a minute.

Chapter 30 - Like a Violin -

Felix watched as the caterers were cleared through security and began wheeling in lunch for the summit.

The food served was high in quality and quantity.

Whoever is footing the bill for this is probably spending way too much. Especially with how long it’s been going on.

I wonder how they’re handling of it.

Faith, Goldie, Victoria, a Winged Elf, and a small Wood Elf were his guards today. They were standing around him in their gear, and even Goldie was wearing her light version of Legion body armor.

Victoria had been a surprise, showing up with her sword and specially made Warden armor.

Petra had apparently started sending Legionnaires home on furlough to take time off. Supposedly, the emperor was reevaluating his position.

Especially since the walls of Yosemite were so well armed.

The Winged Elf had been watching the tables closely as they passed. When one of the caterers turned their head, her hand shot forward and snatched something from the second level of the table.

Pulling it behind her back, her SMG dangling at her side, she looked as innocent as could be.

Felix gave her a questioning look.

She was as tall as a High Elf, with features to match. Blond hair, blue eyes, and a slim build. Though she had bright white wings on her back.

She grinned at him, her nose scrunching up.

When the last table went by, she pulled what looked like a t-bone steak from around her back. Then she started eating it right there.

Looking at the Wood Elf, Felix had to wonder if she would be equally problematic.

The smaller Elf seemed to be finishing chewing something as well, trying for all the world to look innocent. She had brown hair and brown eyes, with slightly tanned skin. The very appearance of a Wood Elf.

Not bothering with them any further, Felix turned to Victoria.

“They’re always hungry. I noticed it while on their home world,” said the swordswoman. “I think it’s because for a long time, food was scarce in what they call the Wastes.

“Eat when you can eat.”

“You ever notice that almost everyone from their world is beautiful or handsome?” Felix asked seriously. “It’s a little strange.”

Victoria looked thoughtful, then shrugged.

“I was a little intimidated by how pretty they all were at first. I thought for sure you’d just dump us to the side,” Victoria admitted.

“Couldn’t be further from the truth.” Felix peeked inside the massive conference room to see how things were looking as the door swung shut.

He hadn’t wanted to be here. His presence had been a last-minute request from several dignitaries who had felt the security for the summit would be better served with him there.

Except he truly wanted to be back in the ANet, watching Miu on her mission.

She was probably carrying it out right now. Risking her people and herself.

“I think you’re rather pretty,” Goldie said, standing behind Victoria with a wide smile.

“Where’d everyone go?” Felix said, moving to the door frame.

Holding open the door an inch, he peered inside, looking for his people.

All the Legion security members were gone. The places they had been along the edges and around the outer walls were now empty.

Touching his free hand to his wrist communicator, Felix tapped the transmit button.

“This is bureaucrat-actual,” Felix said, hating the code names they’d given him. “Requesting a sit-rep for the main hall. Security forces are not present.”

“Team leader one-actual here. We’re posted outside the doors and preventing entry. They’ve stated they’re going to hold a vote,” said a voice on the ANet. “They got jumpy about us staying behind. Saw a whole lot of religious leaders in there that were part of that new group that arrived last night.”

Something didn’t feel right here. Not at all.

He looked to Victoria, who nodded and took off at a jog toward a door in the back. It’d lead her back out to the front of the expo.

Felix let the door slide shut and then motioned to Goldie, then the door.

“Kinda figure you’re the strongest one here. Can you put your foot on this side and grasp the doorknob? Don’t let anyone open it. Trying to pretend like it’s locked in place,” Felix said to the gold Dragon.

“Of course, my nest-mate,” Goldie said, moving over to his side. She put her foot down in the place he’d asked. Grabbing the door knob, she leaned back a bit, holding it braced against her foot.

“That seems a bit odd,” Faith said, moving closer to Felix and Goldie. “What’re you thinking?”

“They’re not supposed to kick security out. For any reason. The fact that they did it without involving me makes me nervous,” Felix said. Giving his head a shake, he hoped he was overreacting. “Maybe it’s paranoia, maybe it’s not. I feel better with Goldie holding the knob.”

“I’ll hold your knob,” said someone softly.

Glancing over his shoulder, Felix couldn’t pinpoint who had said it. Though he suspected the Winged Elf. She seemed mischievous to him.

Frowning, Felix looked back to the door, wondering if anyone would check it.

“Don’t fret, nest-mate. They’re just nervous,” Goldie murmured, watching him with that big smile of hers.

“Nervous?” Felix asked.

“Everyone other than your swordswoman is from my world. You make us nervous, and our skin tingles when you look at us.

“You have magic in you. We’re all very sensitive to it,” Goldie explained. “You’re handsome to begin with, but the magic that is you calls to us.”

Goldie suddenly stopped talking, her head turning down to the handle.

Felix looked down at the door frame and saw the hint of a shadow there, moving back and forth.

Then he heard someone mutter something on the other side before moving on.

Wishing he could still see inside, Felix felt his paranoia slowly ramping up.

“Do you want to see in there?” asked a light voice.

Glancing over his shoulder, he found the Winged Elf there.

“Yeah, I do. Can you do something for that?” Felix asked.

Nodding her head, the Elf got down on her knees and pressed her hands to the bottom of the door. Then she lifted her left hand and held it up to him.

In her hand was what looked like a small magical window. It was showing a view that seemed to be on the other side of the door from her right hand.

“See? Very handy,” said the Winged Elf with a grin. “We use similar spells for vision while flying.”

Handy. Har, har.

Ok, you’re the one who made the silly comment. Your humor is awful.

“Her name is Talia, and yes, she’s always like that,” Goldie said, watching him.

Felix wrapped a hand around Talia’s wrist and stared closely into her hand.

“If you wanted to hold my hand, all you had to do was ask,” Talia said, her folded wings quivering on her back.

“Hush, you silly thing.” Goldie poked Talia in the back of the head with a finger. “Flirt with him later.”

Ignoring her, Felix watched. So far, it all looked fairly mundane. Everyone was organizing themselves at their lunch tables. They seemed to be preparing to vote on something at the same time.

He didn’t like it. Didn’t like it at all.

It looked innocent enough, but it didn’t feel right.

Two minutes passed like this, with him holding Talia’s wrist and staring into her hand.

Finally, he felt like he could give up and leave this one alone.

“Alright, let it go, Talia,” Felix said, releasing her hand. “We’ll remain here just in case, but it seems like nothing’s happening.”

Talia nodded and canceled the spell.

“Of course, Felix,” she said, slowly getting to her feet.

Felix grumbled under his breath, annoyed. He’d argued for a while with the prime minister about putting in cameras before everyone arrived.

He should have taken his argument up with Kevin the moment he was elected. Maybe he would have let him put them in after the fact anyways.

“I just wish—”

There was a loud crash from the room beyond the door. Loud enough that Felix could feel it in his feet and knees.

A flash of bright red light washed over everything and vanished as it passed through the walls behind them.

Reaching out, he grabbed Talia’s wrist.

“No need for the rough stuff, I’ll get down on my knees for you,” Talia said, dropping down quickly. “Just don’t pull my hair.”

“Not now,” Goldie said sternly, all trace of humor gone.

Talia pushed her right hand down to the ground and her left hand opened up.

Standing in the middle of the room was Skipper. She was holding a gun and waving it around lazily. Some Powered Felix had never seen before was standing next to her.

“Is that Skipper?” the Wood Elf asked, staring into Talia’s hand next to him.

“Looks like it’s her. The pictures from the database look like her,” Faith said from Felix’s other side.

She took the time to dig through the database? Good. I’m glad to hear it.

Talia shifted the view around, and it was apparent that the room was full of soldiers and Powereds.

“I don’t think we can handle that much without the others,” Talia said. Apparently she could see it without looking at it.

Felix tapped the transmit button on his wrist.

“This is bureaucrat-actual. We have contact with multiple hostiles,” Felix said, letting go of the transmit button.

There was no response. Felix sat there waiting, listening to his earpiece for anything.

Pushing the transmit button, Felix tried again.

“I repeat, this is bureaucrat-actual. Multiple contacts; friendly targets are in danger,” Felix said. “Require immediate evacuation and assistance.”

Letting go of the button, Felix waited.

Nothing came back. There was only silence on the ANet.

Turning away from Talia’s hand, Felix looked to his wrist display. Tapping it open with a finger, he moved straight to the wireless connection to the Legion satellite.

There was nothing there. It was as if he wasn’t getting a signal at all.

Which was impossible.

Felicia had tinkered with their satellites before they’d sent them up. They were powerful enough to transmit through almost anything. The ANet depended on them and only rarely had any problems.

Those problems tended to be along the lines of a degraded connection for a short period of time. Usually around maintenance windows that were unavoidable.

A complete blackout of service was impossible.

Felix found a signal. But it wasn’t his, or Legion’s. It was a rogue signal he’d never seen before, and one he probably shouldn’t be able to see.

Certainly not on Legion property.

Tapping it impulsively, he waited for it to connect.

When it did, his screen flickered and loaded up what looked like a webpage hosting a photo.

It was of a young woman. One that looked incredibly familiar to him. A play button was just below her chin, signifying that it was a video rather than a photo.

Suddenly Felix realized who he was looking at.

It was Blake’s assistant. Shirley.

Or secretary. Or something. I never… looked into her that deeply. Her background was ordinary.

We picked her thoughts clean afterward, though. She wasn’t even wearing a ring to protect herself.

There was nothing there.

He poked at the play symbol, and the button started to spin slowly as it loaded.

“Hello, Felix,” Shirley said, waving a hand at him. The voice was coming over the connection to his earpiece. “If you’re listening to this, you’ve already lost.”

Uh huh. Isn’t that what every villain monologues about?

“And in this case, I’m not monologuing. Before you start raging about Blake, or something else of that nature, it’s best you realize that he had very little to do with this,” Shirley said. She leaned back in her chair and gestured to herself. “The mastermind behind your downfall from the very start was myself and no other.”

Felix looked at Talia’s hand; the room beyond the door remained unchanged. Skipper was starting to move people around the room. Sorting them for something.

“Honestly, there was only one point in time where you made me nervous,” Shirley said. “And you know what, I’ll even explain it all to you. Because… it’s already done.

“You’ve already lost. You’re stuck in a zone of control, broken away from your protectors, and trapped with Skipper, who is looking for you.

“Aren’t you?”

The smirk on the woman’s face made Felix want to pull her head off.

“It was all rather simple. Beating you was just about understanding you.

“You have certain tendencies you fall into. Most especially when you feel like someone is attacking you,” Shirley said. She got up and moved to one side of the frame, the camera tracking her.

“So… we attacked you. We left enough information and clues to get you to a healthy level of paranoia. To where you’d rather attack first and ask questions later,” Shirley said. “This was where you surprised me. I thought for sure you’d buy the bank at a company level. Or go after it through political channels.

“Maybe discredit it and buy it through a leveraged stock purchase.

“Who would have thought you’d rob it? Rob it and steal all our blackmail data.”

Shirley sighed as she walked over to a window, the camera still following her.

“So much work lost in that one hour. It was impressive on your part.”

Not really. Runner helped me there. If it wasn’t for him, I never would have known who was behind it the way I did.

It made it significantly easier.

“I almost scrapped my plan. Almost,” Shirley said. She reached up and grabbed the drawstrings on the blinds. “You did do what we wanted, though. You eliminated the bank that was providing all the funding for the government of Wal.

“You effectively gutted their ability to do business, as their largest credit line was there. After that day, Wal had little capital to work with.”

Shirley sighed and held up her arms. “What could we do at that point? We moved ahead and set Blake up.”

Felix grimaced at that. All along, he’d actually felt like he was missing something. From the very beginning, in fact.

“Blake was an obstacle in our way. One we didn’t want to move against, because that had the potential to reveal our presence,” Shirley said. She was slowly drawing the pull-string down, raising the blinds up. “The original plan was to have you remove him, so we went back to it. A few tweaks later and we felt like we could pull you back in to do our dirty work.”

When she’d finished drawing the blinds up, Shirley rubbed her hands together and looked back to the camera.

“And you did. Did it wonderfully. Blake was so crushed, so thoroughly beaten, that our candidate didn’t just win, he became a political powerhouse,” Shirley said. “Kevin was very appreciative of all the work you did for him. It’s a shame he works for us.”

Felix was feeling a bit sick to his stomach now. It seemed they really had been manipulating him from the very start.

“And that brings us to today. To now. To the fact that you sent your people to wipe out the last vestiges of what was keeping us back. Keeping us from simply… taking Wal,” Shirley said.

The camera moved to the window. It was overlooking a short, squat building. There were clearly guards in front of the doors, and it looked more like a military base stuffed into an office building.

“Inside there, right now, is your team. Killing everyone who stood for Wal. Its defenders.

“Those we couldn’t buy outright to our cause. And your people are in there, killing them,” Shirley explained.

“Isn’t it grand? I had you do all the work for me, without ever having to dirty my hands.

“You did it all. And now… we’ll launch a coup, take the summit hostage, and kill Legion off.”

“They’re coming,” said a voice off camera.

Shirley nodded and then pointed to the front of the building.

“Flip the little switch on the side,” Shirley said.

The camera bumped to one side with a click. Then the frame was righted, except the view was strange now.

It looked more like a strange infrared view, showing heat but also details at the same time.

The door opened, and a group of nine slunk out of the building. Moving away from it quickly.

Felix knew it was Miu and her group. Without even seeing her face or anyone in her group directly. He could tell by their armaments and by the way Miu carried herself.

“Ah, looks like they’re done. Which means it’s time for us to take over Wal, and then… well… kill you all,” Shirley said, pulling the camera back to herself.

“It’s been fun, and interesting, but it’s time for our game to end. Thank you for all the hard work you did, Felix. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

The video cut off abruptly, and Felix was left with nothing but his feelings about the situation.

He’d been played. Played expertly.

Predicted, used, and discarded.

“Hmph, we’ll see about that,” Felix muttered, looking back to Talia’s hand.

There was no way he or Legion would bend over for Skipper or Shirley. There was no possibility of that on any level.

Felix licked his lips and started to think on what he and his small group of people could do.

Preferably with the fewest amount of them dying.

Cutting off fingers sucks, and bringing people back from fingers is even worse.

Skipper raised a hand, leveled her pistol at a woman, and pulled the trigger.

The retort of the gun was loud.

The woman’s head split open at the top of her forehead and deformed terrifyingly.

She dropped to the ground, dead long before she stopped moving.

Skipper shrugged her shoulders and looked at everyone else, waving the gun around a bit.

“She’s asking where you are,” Talia said. “You specifically, Felix.”

“Great. Well, at least she doesn’t know where I am. Which means Dragon telepathy works at least well enough to protect us in a similar way to Kit’s,” Felix said.

“Now we just have to kill her and get back home.”

A large, loud explosion came from the opposite direction of Skipper.

To be perfectly honest, to Felix it felt like it was coming from outside the expo entirely.

Now what?

Another explosion went off, and Felix felt the very walls around him shake.

Damn me. It’s all going to hell.

Chapter 31 - Tongue Tied -

“Oh shit,” Talia muttered.

Felix’s eyes shot back to the Elf’s hand.

The many religious leaders who were there with national counterparts were now butchering them.

Some were using what looked like ritualistic weapons, while others were simply clawing at their faces with the bare hands. Others still were binding their victims up.

Skipper was gone.

“There is a lot of religious magic being thrown around in there,” Faith said. “It’s also rapidly building. Spiking. It’s going to overwhelm everything in the area.”

“Yeah. They’re already all dead,” Felix said, not wanting to get involved at this moment. “We need an exit.”

Reaching into his body armor, Felix pulled out a slim metallic card and brushed a thumb over the activation square.

It was a new version of the portal generator Felicia had put together for him. After his forced trip to the wild wastes of Vince’s home world, she had upgraded the device.

The card flickered and then turned a bright blue. As if literally ripping a hole through space and time, a portal popped open in front of him.

On the other side was the Legion portal receiving hall.

Vince stood in front of another portal, his glowing energy sword in one hand and his gifted sidearm in the other.

Felix couldn’t see the other side of the portal, but he got the impression it led somewhere quite bad. The blood pooling out from the bottom of it was ominous, to say the least.

Vince stood there, firing into the portal. When the hammer locked back, he tossed the weapon underhand to a Legion security member nearby.

Whipping his sword around, Vince swung through the portal itself. There was a high-pitched squeal followed by a thump, and a black, chitinous-looking claw dropped through the portal.

The Legionnaire handed the reloaded sidearm back to Vince. Who began firing into the portal again.

Legion itself is under attack as well.

Then a red film slid over the portal Felix had made before he could even think of going through it. A bright red light spun out in every direction, then detonated.

Where the portal had been was now nothing. The metallic card had literally split in half and was smoldering.

“A god just intervened,” Faith murmured. “Several of them. They do not want you to get back to Legion.”

Talia got to her feet, brushing her hands off against one another. “They’re all looking this way now; we need to go.”

“Goldie, I need you to become a Dragon. Now,” Felix said, then pointed at Faith and the Wood Elf. “You two, hold the door.”

Releasing the doorknob, Goldie stepped away from it and moved over to Felix’s side.

She pulled off the light body armor and handed it to Felix.

“I like these clothes. They fit and flatter me.

“If I change, I’ll just destroy them,” Goldie said as she quickly worked at her clothes. She unfastened her bra and undid her pants. “I’ll need something to wear after anyways.”

Then she shucked off her tank top and light pants, handing those to him too. Last came her undergarments.

Felix took everything and started putting them into his own clothes. The only thing he couldn’t wedge in somewhere was her body armor.

For that, he buckled it together and slung it over his arm like a messenger bag. Looking back at her, he was momentarily at a loss for how lovely a naked gold Dragon could be.

Goldie gave him a bright smile before she went from completely naked to a Dragon.

She ducked her head and spread herself out as best as she could, but she wasn’t going to fit in this small room.

Lowering her head as her face elongated, she slammed her horns into the wall.

A second later, she was stepping out of the expo and onto an open lawn, fully in her Dragon form.

She was massive, with golden scales from snout to tail tip.

Moving away from the hole in the wall, her head turned one way and then the other.

“Let’s go.” Felix put action to his command and jogged out of the room after the Dragon.

Faith, Talia, and the Wood Elf all came after him.

A bright red dome was high in the sky above them, spreading out as far as the eye could see.

“Is that why we can’t get ahold of anyone?” Talia asked, pointing at the red shimmer.

“I would imagine so,” Goldie growled as her head swung toward them.

“We need to get out of here and do some recon to figure out what is and isn’t in the red thing,” Felix said. Memories of something similar happening years ago popped into his head.

He was much more prepared this time around.

“Let’s see if Legion HQ or New Legion City is in the dome first,” Felix commanded, moving toward Goldie.

The Wood Elf next to him crumpled to the ground. Her chest turned inside out and a spray of blood and gore spewed out from behind her.

A distant boom followed, after she’d already hit the ground.

Sniper!

Goldie moved in front of Felix, Faith, and Talia, and squatted down.

Wasting no time, Felix bent over. Pulling out his belt knife, he flicked it open and cut the downed Wood Elf’s thumb from her hand. After stuffing it in his pocket, he checked on the Elf.

There was no guarantee they’d be getting back to Legion anytime soon. Rather than risk it, he was determined to take a finger with him.

Besides, if he got lucky, he could resurrect her in the field.

She wasn’t quite dead yet, her eyes moving around wildly.

Pressing a hand to her face, he got her attention.

“I’ll bring you back,” Felix said when her eyes turned to him. “I promise.”

The Elf nodded slightly and then moved no more, her eyes unfocusing.

Standing up and turning to Goldie, Felix patted her mouth.

“Open that pretty mouth of yours. Faith, come over here. Talia, can you keep up with Goldie in the air?” Felix asked.

“Easily,” said the Elf, her wings unfolding behind her.

Goldie opened her mouth a bit, her wickedly sharp teeth visible.

“Wider. Enough to fit Faith and me. You’re playing taxi-cab for us rather than any of us trying to hold on to each other,” Felix said, pressing a hand to her jaw.

“I bet you could fit in my mouth,” Talia said.

Goldie opened her mouth wide, her tongue lying flat against the bottom.

“Are you ser—”

Felix grabbed Faith around the hips and tossed her into the Dragon’s mouth before she could finish her sentence. Then he grabbed two teeth and levered himself up into Goldie’s mouth.

Lying down flat against her tongue, he braced a boot against her molar. Pulling some thick para-cord from his vest he looped it around one of her wide front teeth and tied it to his harness.

Faith was wedged up in the side of Goldie’s mouth, watching him. When she figured out what he was doing, she immediately started doing the same.

“Alright Goldie, we’re good in here. Try not to swallow. Would prefer it if you could keep your mouth cracked, but I understand,” Felix called out.

“I’d have a hard time trying not to swallow you,” Talia said, her tone nervous, her voice breaking at the end.

Goldie’s mouth closed around them, and they were plunged into darkness.

“I’m sitting in a Dragon’s mouth with a man I’m trying to talk into bedding me,” Faith said aloud. “My life is very odd.”

“Yeah, I hear ya there. I’ve had that thought more times than I can count. The odd part, that is. First time being in a Dragon’s mouth,” Felix replied.

There was a sudden lurching motion, and Felix felt his stomach rush up to meet his throat. Especially when he slid down toward Goldie’s throat.

Her tongue came up and pushed him back up against the front of her mouth. His arms were pinned below his waist, her tongue wrapped up around his middle.

Faith was wedged up against the front of him. He couldn’t see her in the dark, but he could feel her face against his own. Her nose was in his cheek.

Her body was pressed hard to his own, her hands trapped below as well, it seemed.

Goldie must be taking off. A lot of g-force there. She doesn’t know we’re tied in, or she thinks it’ll be stronger than that.

Or she isn’t taking chances on eating us.

Faith turned her face a bit, her lips brushing against his own. Then she kissed him.

Really? Right now? Not the time or place.

Damn Nymphs.

Unable to resist her, since he was literally trapped by a Dragon’s tongue, Felix just accepted Faith and her determined kissing, which became heavier by the second.

Then she slipped her tongue in his mouth.

***

Eventually, Goldie let her tongue slide back into place, freeing Faith and Felix.

Breaking away from the Dryad, Felix moved to the side of Goldie’s mouth. He couldn’t see very well, but he could vaguely see Faith’s outline. His eyes had adjusted as best they could.

She seemed to fall backward against the side of Goldie’s mouth and sat down next to her molars.

“I’m so sorry. I couldn’t resist myself. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry,” Faith said, her voice high and fast. “You smelled so good, and then I could taste your attraction to me. I could feel your desire. I wanted it all so badly for myself.”

“It’s alright. No real harm done,” Felix said. There was a very uncomfortable tightness to his pants that he didn’t want to think of right now.

Sitting there in the gloomy dark of Goldie’s mouth, Felix wasn’t sure what to do next. He was effectively in time-out until she stopped.

Leaning his head back against a tooth, Felix let out a breath.

“Really? You’re not upset with me?” Faith asked. Her tone had leveled out somewhat.

“No. I’m not upset with you. Annoyed, but not upset. It’s partially in your nature, isn’t it?” Felix asked.

“Uhm… I don’t understand,” Faith said.

“Never mind. Now we just—”

Goldie’s jaw shifted and her teeth parted. There was an open airway, and it started to circulate around in her mouth. Which was honestly pretty welcome at this point.

The humidity had been getting unbearable.

That and there was also a bit of light coming in.

Moving to the front of her teeth, Felix peered out from between them.

They were high up in the air, looking down at the city. Goldie was flying lazily, her chin up so she wouldn’t spill the contents of her mouth.

Talia’s face appeared upside down between Goldie’s teeth.

“Hey,” she said. Her face was flushed. “We’re as high as we can go and circling a bit. I’ve got an illusion around Goldie, so we’re being left alone.

“As far as we can see, the area in the dome goes from where we were in the expo all the way to the bottom of the city. It covers almost the entire capital.

“It just doesn’t cross over Legion HQ or New Legion City.”

Felix sat back down on Goldie’s tongue, contemplating Talia’s words.

They’d built this little dome to lock Legion out as a whole, and everyone else in. That’s… odd. Isn’t it?

“In other words, we’re effectively trapped in this zone until it vanishes or we break free.” Reaching up with a hand, Felix went to scratch at his head and thought better of it. It was covered in Goldie’s saliva.

“That’s about right,” Talia said, agreeing with Felix’s assessment.

“Great. Alright, I guess our first order of business is supplies and a place to lie low. Any libraries in the area?”

“A library?” Talia said, turning her head to one side, still looking at him from upside down. “I’m sure there is, but why?”

“After the last time something like this happened, I put some serious thought into it. Libraries were mostly left alone. People didn’t think there was anything to take from them, and most of those buildings were so wide open they were hard to defend,” Felix said. “So I quietly bought up a number of them and transformed them into bunkers below ground. They also connect to one another through subterranean tunnels.”

“That… seems like a lot of work,” Faith said. “And money.”

“It was. Though it seems my paranoia was healthy and deserved. Alright, so… Goldie, can you spot a library and get us down somewhere we can get you back into human form?” Felix asked.

“Mmhmmm,” Goldie mumbled, her mouth vibrating under Felix’s ass.

“Oooh, that was interesting,” Faith murmured, running her hands back and forth over Goldie’s tongue.

Talia’s head vanished from view, and Goldie closed her mouth again. All was darkness again.

Thankfully, Faith didn’t do anything. She kept to her side.

They sat there in silence. In the quiet dark of a Dragon’s mouth.

As the minutes inched by, Felix would swear he could feel his ears adjusting to what felt like an altitude change. Which meant they were probably on an approach to a library.

There was a thump, and then Goldie’s head dipped forward and opened. Felix and Faith spilled out onto solid ground.

They were in a small, fenced-in area attached to a large building. A large trash bin sat to one side.

Getting to his knees, Felix watched as Goldie suddenly started to shrink, returning to her humanoid size.

Grunting, Felix stood up and started to pull her clothes out of the various crevices he’d crammed them into on his person.

They seemed drier than his own clothes.

“Blegh,” Goldie said, followed by spitting noises.

“I know he said not to swallow, but I also know for a fact he’d like it if you did. No need to spit,” Talia said from not far off.

“Talia,” Faith muttered, pressing her hands to the lower part of her back. “I think even I’m tired of that right now.”

“Sorry… she… she died. Ya know? We’re stuck and… and I don’t know…” Talia’s voice had taken on a slightly frantic quality.

“Pish posh, Faith,” Goldie murmured. “It’s alright. Your joke was funny, Talia, just not the right time.”

The nude and beautiful gold Dragon walked over to Felix and started to take her clothes back from him.

Turning away from Goldie as she got dressed, Felix moved over to the door set into the building. “I take it this is a library?”

“Yes. This is the rear of the building. Was that ok?” Talia asked. She was squatting down nearby, and shuddering a bit from head to toe.

Must be her first time in a bad situation. Or she was closer to the Wood Elf than I thought.

“You’re doing fine, Talia,” Felix said, reaching over to pat her on the head. “Just keep your chin up, alright?”

Talia slowly lifted her face up and looked at him.

She likes crude, immature jokes, right?

I can do that.

“See? It really gets me going if you look up at me when you’re on your knees for me,” Felix said.

Talia opened her mouth, then closed it. Then she started chuckling darkly. “Right? Need to see my eyes, yeah? Watch my lips stretch?”

Felix flicked her on the forehead and then pressed his Legion ring to the metal pad next to the key-lock.

“As if you would know. You’re as much a virgin as I am,” Faith muttered as she got close to Talia.

“I’ve seen movies. You can rent them from the ANet,” Talia said.

There was a soft click in front of Felix, and the door unlocked. Stepping through the doorway, Felix started looking around for the basement.

The conversation between Talia and Faith continued. Felix ignored it, figuring that he really didn’t want to know where it was going.

Finding a sign that indicated which direction the basement was, Felix set off toward it. He needed to get down there and find the lock-plate that’d open the bunker.

Goldie caught up to him as he was moving down the stairs.

“I take it what we’re looking for is down here?” she asked.

“Yeah. It’s a fairly secure little hidey hole.”

After opening the door, he stood there for a moment, scanning the basement.

There.

On one side, there was a metal sign. It was bolted to the wall and had instructions for what to do in the event of an emergency.

Felix pressed his Legion signet into its corner. Right atop what looked like a bolt head.

“Seems a bit convoluted,” Talia said.

Felix glanced over his shoulder to find Talia and Faith had caught up to him.

“It is,” Felix said to Talia. “But it’s also part of the mandatory emergency training. Everyone has ninety days to do it. I assume you haven’t gotten around to it?”

“No. Been learning from the bodyguards and the Elex girls,” Talia said. “No time.”

The entire wall popped, then swung open as if it were on a hinge.

“There we are. Time to go down,” Felix said. Stepping into the opening, he flicked the light switch on and moved down the stairs.

He’d half expected a comment from Talia about going down, so he was mildly surprised when she didn’t make one.

When he hit the bottom of the staircase, Felix immediately went over to a terminal that was powering on.

The rest of the entry room was a very simple-looking staging area with more than a handful of doors leading elsewhere.

Talia and Faith kept moving past him. They looked like they wanted to explore the rest of the bunker.

Goldie eased up beside him, a hand coming up to rest on his lower back.

“Faith had a word with her,” Goldie said softly. “She’s very young. Eighteen. Apparently her species is incredibly isolated. She’ll be alright, just… nervous.

“Thank you for giving her some leeway.”

Felix shrugged, closing the door above them with the terminal.

Opening up the details for the bunker, he found it was exactly what he’d wanted. Just as he’d ordered these bunkers and safe houses built and installed.

Each one was independent, but also tied to every safe house and bunker nearby. They all had their own communication channels, portals, and controls. There were cables laid in the ground itself from location to location, creating a massive network that functioned independently.

Nothing depended on anything anymore.

He’d learned his lessons from the last go-round.

“Train is powering up. We’ll get on it, ride it to the end of the line, and see if we can’t get back home,” Felix said.

“A train? This bunker seems rather complex and well stocked. How’d you get it all done? Or approved?” Goldie asked.

“A lot of money, years of unending work, and not asking Wal for permission or a dime. This was all done because I’m a paranoid man and experienced a similar situation before.

“I’m very glad to see that all that money I spent has been worth it so far.”

Felix wanted to sit down and go through the bunker system to figure out who else was in the area. See if he couldn’t get a survivor train going to Legion HQ.

Especially since Victoria had vanished in the expo.

Except he couldn’t.

He needed to get back to Legion as soon as possible. It was under direct attack.

Every second that he wasn’t there felt like a true disaster. He needed to be gone from here.

He needed to be back at Legion.

Now.

Chapter 32 - Distractions -

Felix had them moving along at a reasonable speed in the underground Legion tunnels.

The “train” as he had called it had four cars. Two for storage, two with seats, and the engine. It had hip high walls and the engine was a sturdy little thing, but there was no speed to it.

“This isn’t very quick,” Talia said. “And it looks like this is the maximum speed.”

“It isn’t meant to be quick,” Felix replied. She was leaning over his shoulder, staring at the controls. “This is the fastest it’ll go, but it’ll go this speed no matter what load you put on it.

“One of Felicia’s oddities. She doesn’t quite understand it herself.”

Talia didn’t respond, just moved back into the passenger car.

Felix glanced down at the readout screen in front of him. They were coming up on another junction point. After this, he’d be able to get on the Legion railway. Which would require no further track changes.

There were no other trains on the rails. Either he was the fastest one to get down from the bunker into the system, or he was the only one to reach a bunker.

Felix couldn’t help but feel like a coward. Running away from what was possibly his Legionnaires in trouble.

He knew logically that everyone would argue he was more important, as he could bring the others back. Therefore, his own safety was paramount.

But that didn’t make it any easier for him.

Passing over the junction, Felix saw a red glow up ahead.

Realizing what it was, he smashed the brakes as hard as he could. Reaching over, he flipped the emergency brake as well.

There was the screech of iron wheels locking up and sliding along the rails. Behind him his bodyguards screamed as they were bodily thrown forward by the sudden change in speed.

The train slowed dramatically, but it still kept moving.

Up ahead, Felix could now actually see the dome. The red glow of it was distinct and obvious.

The speed of the train bled off quickly, and Felix felt his heart unclench when he realized they would stop short of the dome.

“Damnit,” Felix muttered. Flipping the train into reverse when it came to a halt, he looked over his shoulder. “Sorry everyone, looks like we’re not getting out by the rail either.

“Apparently it extends much further down than I thought. This thing is more of a sphere than a dome.”

Faith, Talia, and Goldie were righting themselves and looking each other over.

Goldie looked the least perturbed about the whole situation. She flicked her hands over her clothes and sat herself back down.

“So, what’s our plan now, then?” she asked.

“Back to the bunker. Last time I was in a situation like this, I played Mr. Run-and-Gun. Didn’t go so well. Going to take up a firm defensive position this time and figure out our next moves,” Felix said.

When they reached the junction, he maneuvered the train through the roundabout and got them turned around in the right direction.

It didn’t matter that much since it was a train, but he didn’t feel right going in reverse.

***

“How much does the bunker have stored away as far as food and water supplies?” Faith asked, stepping off the train and back into the bunker’s loading dock.

“Enough for thirty people to survive a year without ever leaving,” Felix replied, following her. “I figured anything beyond a year would mean there were much greater problems for Legion.”

“That makes sense,” Talia said, walking along behind them. She seemed much calmer now.

“What do you wish to do, nest-mate?” Goldie asked as they passed from the loading dock into the bunker’s entry room.

“Not sure. Probably take a look at the cameras to see what’s going on around the library and the surrounding streets. Maybe check in on the news to see what’s what,” Felix said. “Dial in to the Legion underground network to see if anyone else is on a terminal.”

“All wise plans. I will handle the cameras. Faith, you go check the radio. Talia, the television,” Goldie said, handing out orders.

The other two women immediately obeyed, moving off to do as instructed.

“Ah… you won’t be able to look at the cameras while I’m on the network,” Felix said, moving over to the computer terminal.

“I know. But I thought it’d be nice to get you alone to myself and give those two some time to process their thoughts,” Goldie said, moving to stand next to him. She pressed a hand into his lower back and looked to the screen as he began going through the system.

Unable to help himself, Felix could feel his brows pressing together as he worked. Goldie’s fingers were trailing up and down a short distance along his spine. It was making it a bit harder than normal to concentrate.

“You like to touch me,” Felix said finally, pulling up the system screen to see all the other bunkers and safe houses.

“I do. It helps me connect with you.

“Though to be honest, I also took the time to sort through your wives’ thoughts when I had the chance. As well as Felicity’s.

“You enjoy being touched, but you don’t ever ask for it,” Goldie said.

Feeling a bit like a lab rat, Felix wasn’t sure how to respond at first. Felicity and Goldie seemed to have both made concerted efforts to understand what he wanted and needed, without ever a word from him on the matter.

Maybe it’s just their background. Their world.

“Ah, there we are,” Felix said as he got the log to pull up. “And we have… several people in various safe houses. No one in other bunkers, though.”

“How can you tell who’s there?” Goldie asked, her fingers moving along his back to his neck.

“The rings everyone wears are security keys, through a form of RFID, as well as transmitters. They’ll pick up anywhere in Legion networks,” Felix explained.

Felix began to sort through each safe house roster and check their locations on the map.

He stopped at a safe house that was practically on the other side of the city.

It had three people listed as being inside.

“Oh, we should probably go collect them,” Goldie said, tapping the screen with a fingernail. “Though I’d be curious how those three ended up together.”

Edith Torres, Jessica Perreira, Erica Newberg.

Felix mentally flagged that safe house. They were part of his inner circle. He’d make the attempt to go get them.

Moving on, he kept reading through the lists.

He was looking for one name in particular, but he hadn’t seen it yet.

Miu should be here, right? She was out on a mission. She’s trapped in this dome, too. She’d move to a safe house or a bunker.

“Felix,” Faith said, coming out from the media room. “It’s a military coup. Kevin Dane just announced himself as King.

“Apparently the general in charge of the local forces here in Wal was murdered, along with his entire senior staff.

“Kevin just… stepped into the void and took over.”

Closing his eyes, Felix did his best not to grimace.

He understood Shirley a bit better now. She’d put every obstacle in her way—in Felix’s way. He and Legion really had been used as a tool to batter down all of Wal’s defenses.

“There’s a military curfew in effect right now. Anyone on the streets is considered an enemy of the state,” Faith said.

“And Legion has been declared a terrorist organization,” Talia added from the media room in a raised voice. “They broke into the HQ building, but they only seem to be in the lobby. Looks like they can’t figure out the security elevator, so that’s good.

“New Legion City was also a target, but apparently it was evacuated before they showed up.”

Felix nodded, not sure what he was feeling. Everything he’d worked for had just been thrown out the window by his own actions.

All of his actions had been based on circumstantial proof and little more than paranoid feelings.

Everything had been reasonable but never quite proven. There had never been a clear answer in any of it.

“Alright. We have to assume everyone is doing what they can to keep down and stay out of sight. First order of business is to start collecting all the Legionnaires we can. Or their bodies, or parts of them,” Felix said. He could lament and regret his actions later. He needed to act now.

Opening his eyes, he found Talia, Faith, and Goldie all looking at him.

“Talia, you seem particularly well versed in illusions. Can you maintain one in front of people? When they’re staring right at you?”

“Yes. That’s actually how my people stay… out of sight for the most part. We don’t do extraordinarily well around other races,” Talia admitted. “And no, I wasn’t caught because my illusion failed. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Felix stared at her for several seconds.

Slowly, Talia dropped her arms to her sides, her chin falling. “I was sleeping in a tree. They tracked me down with a Beastkin and stunned me.”

“I need you to break into a military outpost and find out what their plans are,” Felix said, not addressing her capture story. “Take one of the radios and earpieces from the supply crates. We’ll all go to frequency Lima-Four-Two.”

Talia nodded quickly, then moved back into the media room.

“Faith, I need you to take the train and go to this bunker here,” Felix said, pointing to the screen.

Moving around the side of the desk, she leaned over to look at what he was pointing to.

“Get it prepped and ready. I want it up and running as a fallback position. Make the weapons accessible, lay out the armor, and put together as many quick exit bags as you can,” Felix ordered.

“I can do that,” Faith said.

“Great. Goldie and I will go with you for the first part of the trip to get the second train. Then we’ll be heading out to start picking people up.” Felix shook his head. “Right now, I can’t think of a way out of the dome.

“If it’s anything like what they’ve been doing to my power set, it’ll fail all on its own with enough time.”

“That kinda feels like ‘let’s wait and see what happens,’” Talia grumbled.

Not hiding his sigh, Felix nodded. “Because that’s kinda what it is.”

***

Felix had parked the train in a pickup zone nearby the safe house Jessica, Erica, and Edith were at.

All the safe houses had been placed in locations that were relatively accessible by the Legion rail system.

The problem was there were a number of soldiers between the exit point and where they needed to go.

Sitting between a wall and a dumpster, Felix wasn’t quite happy with the situation they were in. Everything smelled like rotting milk.

Goldie was wedged up next to him, with little space between the two of them. She was practically in his lap.

The way into the Legion rail system looked like a big vent on the side of a building. It led into a short drop and the actual vent system. The entrance to the rail was behind a giant steel plate in the wall inside the drop.

Felix slid the control stick to the left, and the aerial drone skimmed along the roof top. The view it provided on the screen attached to the remote showed him a scene he didn’t want to see.

It was a near-perfect shot of the intersection below. A clear and solid viewing window of the entry to the safe house. A used book store on a corner lot.

Except parked practically in front of it was a tank. The rear of the metal monster was in the entryway to the shop itself.

In addition to the tank, there were several squads of Wal soldiers, and a machine-gun placement. There were a number of weapons facing each approach. It was clearly meant to be a checkpoint for anyone going in any direction.

Except almost every single intersection had a similar checkpoint.

Considering all of Wal was under martial law, that seemed a little odd to Felix.

“They’re hunting us—Legion—aren’t they?” Goldie said softly. It really wasn’t a question.

“That they are. There’s no other reason for all the checkpoints. Martial law more or less will keep the vast majority of the population indoors for now,” Felix said.

“How do you want to handle this?”

“Really don’t know. Though… how strong are you as a human? Can you knock down walls and the like?” Felix asked.

“I’m fairly strong in this form. Not as strong as Taylor or Kris, but blacks always keep more of themselves in human form than others.

“I don’t think I could disable that… metal… thing, though. Human steel on this world seems much stronger than on my home world,” Goldie said.

Setting the drone down on the edge of a building, Felix looked up from the display.

Turning his head to the side and up, Felix looked into the corner of the overhang on the building they were up against.

He knew there was a camera up in there that fed as a primary into the safe house his people were in.

With any luck, they were watching him right now, and they were hopefully aware he was trying to figure out a plan to get them out.

Because honestly, anything he did would rely on those three getting over to him as quickly as possible.

“I will cause a distraction,” Goldie said. Crawling off of Felix and over him, she slithered out from behind the dumpster and to its side.

She pulled her body armor off and tossed it lightly to him. Her clothes quickly followed, until she was naked.

“Goodness, with your eyes on me like that I actually feel a touch of embarrassment,” Goldie said with a soft laugh. Before he could respond, she gave her head a shake. “I’ll rejoin you later, once I break contact. My magic isn’t that far behind an Elf’s.”

“I’ll keep an eye out for you,” Felix said even as she transformed into her Dragon-self.

With a beat of her wings, she hopped the wall and launched herself toward the intersection.

There was a cry, the boom of the tank firing, and then a mass of rifle fire.

Felix squeezed out from behind the dumpster and peeked around the corner just as Goldie leapt away from the scene. Vanishing down a street.

Left in her wake was what looked like several dead or dying humans, a smashed machine gun, a tank with a bent cannon, and two dozen men with rifles who started chasing her.

The tank shuddered, and then the hatch opened. Men began pouring out of it as flames licked up from the inside the hull.

What the actual fuck did she do to it?

Felix watched from where he was. It wouldn’t do him any good to expose himself. Goldie had acted just to give him a chance to do this without being seen.

Jessica, Erica, and Edith popped out of a broken window and crept around the far side of the tank. The three women looked disheveled, but intact.

Their clothes were clearly ripped and stained, and Edith’s shirt looked like it had blood on it.

Moving low to the ground, they made a beeline for Felix and his position.

“It’s so good to see you, Felix,” Erica murmured, crushing him in a hug when she got close.

“Yeah, good to see you too—go, go,” Felix said, peeling the Rabbit off him and pushing her toward the vent cover.

Jessica thankfully didn’t stop to hug him, but she did kiss him quickly, chasing Erica down toward the vent.

Edith eyed him as she passed, but said nothing.

Then the tank detonated, and fire and flames erupted out of its top like an inferno.

Squeezing in behind Edith, Felix waited. When it became obvious she was having a bit of difficulty wiggling through the tight space, he put his hands on her rear end. Giving her only a second, he started pushing her roughly.

Goldie had encountered a similar problem and had been forced to go sideways instead of head on. They didn’t have the time or luxury for that now.

“Felix, what’re you doing?” Edith hissed.

“Getting us out of here—go already,” Felix said, shoving at her bottom.

“I hate this. I hate what you did to me. My hips were never this big,” Edith said between grunts as she forced herself forward. “Why did you have to put a dumpster here?”

“It wasn’t here originally. It’s not on the plans,” Jessica said from ahead. “Hurry up Edie, we need to go.”

After a minute of shoving and wriggling, Edith got through and into the vent.

Closing the cover behind him, Felix followed them through the security door and closed that as well.

After waiting till it locked, Felix started down the twisting stairway after the three women.

“I hope Goldie is ok,” Erica said.

“She’ll be fine. You saw her,” Jessica replied. “I’m sure she’ll be back before we know it.”

“Out of curiosity,” Felix said as they kept walking down the steps. “How’d you three end up together here? I didn’t even know you knew each other.”

“We were having lunch outside the office,” Jessica said.

“We wanted to go over some photos Edith took. She has a really steady hand and seems to capture some great shots,” Erica added quickly.

Edith only nodded.

The sound of their steps moving ever downward felt loud in Felix’s ears. He could feel the tension in the three women in front of him. He doubted they’d had an easy go of it, judging from their torn and stained clothes.

Supposedly, she takes pictures of me.

“Got any good ones of me? If so, you could probably sell them to Miu and make a killing,” Felix said.

“Ahhh…” the three women said in unison. The tightly constrained tension bled away immediately to pure embarrassment.

Felix started laughing and patted Edith on the shoulder.

She really does take pictures of me, doesn’t she? Ha.

As they walked down the stairs, Felix chuckled to himself the whole way down.

Edith, for her part, remained absolutely silent.

The ride back on the train did manage to get them talking, but mostly about small things. It was clear to Felix the three of them were shaken up to a degree.

Edith was handling it better, but even she looked as if she’d seem something she hadn’t wanted to.

The three of them crashed out pretty quick by the time they’d gotten back to the bunker. It didn’t hurt that evening had settled over the city.

Talia and Faith both checked in to report things were progressing, but neither were quite done yet.

For Talia, she reported that she’d secured a station she could use the next day, but she couldn’t access it today. She was sacking out in what she described only as a roost.

Faith slept in the bunker she’d been prepping for a fast evacuation. She felt she’d be done by the next day and would be back that night.

For this part, Felix sat and waited at the terminal. He took the time to put out an alert to all safe houses and bunkers, for everyone to make their way into the tunnels and head towards the bunker where Faith was.

If someone entered the tunnels, small alerts on the network would signal a need for a pickup.

All throughout this, though, his eyes were glued to the monitors.

He was waiting for Goldie to come back.

Chapter 33 - Photo -

Sometime in the small hours of the night, Felix got an alarm that jerked him awake.

He’d set up a number of alerts to trigger sounds if any movement was picked up on the external entry cameras. Sitting upright from behind the desk the terminal was on, Felix blinked several times.

Getting to his feet, he knocked over the speakers he’d attached to the terminal and set to each side of his head.

Looking at the screen, he saw Goldie. She was in her human form, hunched over at the rear entrance to the library.

Felix punched in the commands to open the rear door and the security door into the bunker.

Leaving the terminal, he took the steps two at a time and sped through the door as it was still opening.

He was practically on top of Goldie before she’d even managed to get inside.

“Felix?” she asked, her head coming up as he came toward her.

“Yeah, it’s me. Come ’ere, you alright?” Felix queried, moving in close to her. Slipping under her left arm, he wrapped his right around her middle and started to bodily drag her forward toward the bunker.

“I’m wounded, but I’m alive and will live. I’ve returned to you as I promised.

“Though I must confess, the rifles of this world are much stronger than I expected,” said the Dragon.

“Yeah, guns are rather dangerous even for most superheroes and villains.” Felix shifted his hand around, trying to not to get a handful of her chest. It was hard to hold her without doing that, the way she was leaning.

“Stop moving your hand and just hold me,” Goldie said, her tone pained.

“Sorry, just a bit awkward is all.”

“I don’t mind.”

Felix took a firm grasp on Goldie and kept her moving. When they got to the stairs, he wasn’t quite sure how to proceed.

“I can do it. Just… walk in front of me. Just in case,” Goldie said.

Felix didn’t argue with her. Letting her go, he went down two steps, took hold of the railing, and looked back at her.

Goldie’s right eye had destroyed completely; a squashed-looking meatball was there instead. Blood covered her face and dripped down her shoulder and neck.

There were small holes all over her body as well, each one dribbling blood.

“What the hell—are you alright?” Felix asked, about ready to turn around.

“I will be. Dragons are hearty. I will heal. Even my eye. I just need time,” Goldie said, swaying a bit on the top step. Then she slumped forward toward Felix.

Facing forward, Felix backed up a step into her while grabbing the hand rails on each side of the stairwell.

Goldie’s face was resting on his shoulder now, her single golden eye looking at him.

“Just, uh… hang on. I’ll carry you down like this, I guess.” Felix reached back with both hands. Grabbing her rear end, he pulled her up onto his back and then started to shuffle down the steps as carefully as he could.

Remind me to thank Miu for always making me work out with her. I don’t think I could handle this without all that training.

Felix’s mind shied away from the thought that came next.

I wonder how she is?

Reaching the bottom, Felix glimpsed the medical room and carried her there.

After pushing the door open with a foot, he got her to the bed and slid her naked body into it.

Felix started grabbing bandages and medical tape from the nearby cabinet. Loading up a small bedside rolling table and tray.

“The entire army is out there in force. They’re going from building to building, looking for anyone who might be in Legion, a sympathizer, or just against the new king,” Goldie said. “I was forced to fight what seemed like two flying versions of that tank contraption. They had spinning blades on top of them.”

“Helicopters,” Felix said, pulling over a bottle of disinfectant.

“Can Dragons get infections? If you have an open wound, can it fester?” Felix asked.

“Of course,” Goldie murmured softly. “We’re still mortals. It’s just unlikely.”

“Are there any bullets or fragments inside you?” Felix asked, popping the top off the disinfectant.

“No. They were all pushed out with the change.”

“And your eye, you said it’ll grow back? Do I need to clear the wound or just leave it as is?”

When Goldie didn’t immediately reply, Felix looked at her. Her one good eye was watching him.

“I don’t know,” she said softly after a few more seconds. “I’ve lost fingers, and they grew back. I think my eye is the same way.”

“We’ll leave it alone and have Faith look at it tomorrow when she gets back. I’ll see if I can’t modify it myself as well,” Felix said. Taking the disinfectant in one hand and several gauze strips in the other, he gave her a grim smile.

“For now, though, it’s time to clean and dress those wounds. Dragon or not, you need care.

“I’m sorry,” Felix said sincerely. “This’ll probably hurt.”

***

“There’s a military camp where they’re sending anyone suspected of being in Legion,” Talia whispered into the line. “They’re also sending the remains of anyone suspected to be in Legion there as well.

“There is an unhealthy amount of fear that the bodies will come back to life.”

Given that Legionnaires don’t stay dead, and the enemy has no idea why, I could definitely see that concern.

“The side with the dead isn’t that heavily guarded; it’s just secured. The other building with the prisoners is much more heavily guarded,” Talia continued. “There’s also a list of incidents where they believe they had contact with Legion.”

Felix sighed and rubbed his hands across his face.

Things definitely didn’t seem as bad as he’d feared, but they weren’t good either.

“Alright. Good work, Talia. If you end up coming across more information, get back in touch. Otherwise, stay there and keep an eye on them for me, and check back in at night,” Felix said.

“Sure, sure, keep a girl on the hook for the late-night booty call, why don’t you? Next you’ll be telling me you’ll respect me in the morning,” Talia said.

“Of course I will. So long as you brush your teeth before you try to kiss me,” Felix said.

Talia snickered and then closed the line.

“She likes that you don’t get mad at her jokes, and that you give her some back,” Goldie said, easing up beside him.

“Clearly. Though that’s the mark of a good boss, isn’t it? You can identify with them. Even when they’re giving you orders, you still respect them.

“Anyways. How are you doing?” Felix asked, turning to address the Dragon. “You feeling better today?”

She’d endured him cleaning her up and bandaging everything he could find, only to pass out as soon as he was done.

She’d slept through the morning and into the early afternoon. It was just after one o’clock right now.

“Yes… I’m feeling better.” One of her hands drifted up to the gauze eyepatch. “I’m a bit nervous about this, though. I’m not sure how good a bodyguard I’d be with only one eye.”

“Guess we’d just have to find you a position with me that isn’t a bodyguard. There’s always seamstress,” Felix said, turning back to the terminal. “That or I’ll just regrow your eye myself. I can’t do it right now because of the suppression, but I could do it once it goes away.”

“There is that,” Goldie said softly. She looked around the room with her one eye. “Where are the girls?”

“Faith picked ’em up and took them to the third bunker. Two are staying there to prep it like the one she was at. The third is going to help with hers.

“They’ll be rejoining us when they’re done,” Felix said, slipping through multiple windows on the system.

“And what are you going to do?” Goldie asked.

“I’m going to go look for Miu,” Felix said, then pointed to a spot on the map he’d pulled up. “There was an action here against Legion forces. The army threw in grenades and the whole damn thing came down.

“Chances are Miu and her people are inside there. I want to see if I can help them. You’re going to stay here and play radio operator for us.”

“No.” Goldie’s voice was firm, and she rested a hand on his shoulder. “You will not go without a bodyguard. Even if I must go myself, I will.

“Either call Faith or Talia back, don’t go, or take me with you.”

Felix wanted to snap at her. To shake her hand free. Push her away. Except she was right.

Rationally, he knew she was absolutely right.

“Call Faith,” Goldie said, her hand coming up to pet his cheek and jaw. “She’ll do everything you need her to.”

Felix grunted at that, then did exactly as she told him to and called Faith back to base.

She’d come immediately, of course, Edith taking the train back to the bunker they’d come from.

On top of that, she’d insisted that she drive the train and have loaded it up with everything they might need for a search-and-rescue mission.

He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about being treated like this, but he couldn’t really argue with it, either.

The previous issue and Goldie’s missing eye loomed in his mind.

“Faith, what’d you think of Goldie’s eye?” Felix asked suddenly, breaking the silence as they walked up the spiral staircase to the exit.

Faith had taken the time to check Goldie for him on his request. She’d spent several minutes just standing there with her hand on the other woman’s head.

“It’s growing back, if that’s what you’re asking. It’ll take some time is my impression, but she’ll get her eye back eventually,” Faith said. “Though I have no idea how long it will take. Guessing from the way her other wounds were healing, a few months.”

Felix felt better with that information. Not great, but better. It meant he didn’t have to feel guilty for possibly maiming her, even if he could make her eye just reappear.

“Besides, it’s not like you couldn’t solve it yourself if you really wanted,” Faith said with a shrug. “You’re practically a Demi-God.

“Your brother is all physical aspects. Physical dominance, charisma, and personal leadership,” Faith said. “You’re the opposite. You lead through emotion, intelligence, and exerting your control on others through changing them.”

Hm. Vince’s screen did list him as a Demi-God. If he’s the same blood as I am, except for his mother, doesn’t that mean I’m possibly a Demi-God, as well?

It wasn’t the first time Felix had wondered about that.

“Be silent, darling,” Faith whispered. She had stopped up ahead and seemed to be looking into a dimly lit display in the wall.

Staring up at her bottom mindlessly, he tried to control his breathing. These steps were killer, and he’d already done the massive climb twice in two days.

“We’re clear,” whispered the Dryad, pressing her Legion ring to the security plate.

The large and thick steel plate slid to the side, and the doorway showed a view of utter blackness.

Wherever it led had no direct outside access.

“Whoever chose these locations left something to be desired,” Faith said, stepping through to the other side. “Though the two camera views make more sense now.”

Felix followed her in, and he had to stop and agree with her. They were standing in a large access pipe, clearly in the sewer. Off to one side was a ladder that led up and out.

They kept silent and quiet as they made their way up to street level. There wasn’t anything or anyone nearby.

“This way,” Faith said, her battle rifle held low and ready. She’d traded out her SMG for the new weapon.

Her concern had been that to her, it looked like the armor the soldiers were wearing could probably stop smaller rounds.

Up ahead, Felix could already see the building that had been dropped down on Miu and her team. It looked like an apartment building.

“It’s not what I’m particularly good at, but with so few people around, I can feel life in the building. Just not who,” Faith whispered as they moved quickly down the sidewalk. They vanished down an alley that ran parallel to the destroyed building.

“How many?” Felix asked, keeping pace with the Dryad.

“Twenty, thirty. Something around that. They’re spread through the building, though there’s some out behind it as well.”

Sounds like they’re guarding it, or trying to find Miu and her team.

That or I’m much luckier than I thought, and it’s just the Legionnaires with Miu waiting for orders or regrouping.

Faith slowed down when they got to the corner of the wall that separated the collapsed building from the one next to it. Slowly, she peeked out from around it.

Then she pulled her head back behind cover.

“Squad of six or seven. Fanned out and looking very bored. Not our people,” Faith said, turning to face Felix. “We can try to enter another way and see what we can do. There’s no guarantee we can even reach those alive inside.”

Felix nodded, not quite sure what to do. He really wasn’t cut out for active things like this. He did substantially better with corporate.

“That’s our plan, then,” Faith said, patting him on the shoulder with one hand. “Follow me; we’ll go through a window. I saw it when we came. We’ll try that and see if we can’t work our way in.”

Not arguing, Felix followed the Dryad back the way they’d come.

Picking their way around the side and up into the collapsed building, Faith got them into what was probably the remains of the third floor without issue.

“They’re below us,” she said, peering down and to the side. “Feels like it’s probably the basement. Unsure.”

Slowly, they started to make their way down. Slithering as quietly as they could through debris and shattered, broken rooms.

Suddenly, Faith held up a closed fist.

Felix froze in place, getting down into a low crouch and not making a noise.

He tilted his head around, listening. He could just barely hear people talking. Barely.

But he couldn’t make out the words or what was being said.

He sincerely doubted it was his Legionnaires, though. There was a certain amount of lazy calm in the voices. It felt more like people comfortable in their position, rather than those in hiding. Especially in a building that had been knocked down.

It also sounded like they were getting closer to Felix and Faith’s.

Faith turned her head and looked at him, then slowly shook her head.

Ok, got it. Not Miu. Time to go then.

Faith gestured toward a room they hadn’t been in.

Moving quietly, the two of them eased into the small room. Felix immediately noticed there was a small crawl space between two collapsed walls that looked like it could hide them from view. He also noticed a piece of paper rustling slightly.

As if there was an airway back there.

Making a choice, Felix got down and started to shimmy through the space.

He heard Faith make a small hissing noise behind him as he got half his body in. Then he felt the floorboard shift under him as she apparently got down behind him.

Coming up on the other side, Felix saw what he’d been looking for. Getting to his feet, he brushed himself off as his eyes went straight to the light source.

It was a hole in the wall itself. It looked as if it’d been dug out by hand, the material shifted to one side of the room.

“Damn,” Faith said as she got up next to him.

Glancing at the Dryad, Felix noticed she was looking down and to the side.

Following her gaze, he saw Miu there.

She was lying on her stomach in the corner of the room. He could see she was pinned beneath what looked like an I-beam twisted over her. It had her pinched from the hips down.

Except she was very clearly dead.

A pool of blood had spread out around her. It looked like it was seeping out from where she’d been crushed.

There were boot prints in the dust all around her. There were also clear smudges of hand prints all over the beam that had her pinned.

They must have tried for quite a while to get you out, didn’t they?

And in the end, you made them leave.

Moving closer, Felix squatted down next to her. She was facing away from him, her left hand curled next to her shoulder.

Gently, he took her hand in his own and pried her fingers apart.

Except her pinky finger was missing. Cut from her hand.

You stayed here and died by yourself. And they left with one of your fingers just in case. Because that’s standard protocol now.

Feeling morbid but determined, he pushed the blade into the webbing of her ring finger. He wasn’t about to risk losing her like this either.

Pushing the blade in deep, he began to saw her finger off at the base. It only took a bit of effort, and it came free with relative ease.

He put the finger away in his pocket intending to add it to the Wood Elf’s later. Then he leaned over her now that his grisly task was done.

He looked into her face and found it was still and calm. Her eyes were open and glassy, staring at the wall next to her. There was a strange, small smile on her face.

Following her gaze, he found she had wedged a picture of herself and Felix into a crack in the wall.

The photographer had taken it when she’d been fiddling with something on her dress. Felix had ended up laughing at her when she’d gotten frustrated and started cursing at the fabric.

In the end, the photo had looked very natural, with Felix smiling as Miu suddenly looked up into the camera.

“She is very… loyal… to you. I don’t think anyone in either your wing or my detachment could ever match her,” said Faith, who had apparently noticed the picture as well.

“She is absolutely insane. The things she does are on an order of magnitude that just isn’t even… human. But she’s mine. My little psycho,” Felix murmured, running a few of his fingers through her silky hair. Reaching over, he gently pulled the photo from the wall and slipped it into a vest pocket. “And I’ll be bringing her back as soon as possible.”

There was a sudden crack of thunder from nearby, and Felix felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Faith snapped into action, her rifle coming up to her shoulder. She immediately went to the hole in the wall and pointed her weapon at it.

The sound of screaming reached Felix’s ears.

“Someone is attacking the soldiers,” Faith said.

“Let’s go see who it is. The enemy of an enemy, after all.”

Faith ducked low and crawled out of the hole, her weapon held firmly.

Felix looked down and checked his SMG slung low at his side. He wasn’t sure how much it’d do against a soldier in body armor, but Faith had insisted he not carry a rifle.

If it came down to it, she wanted him to run, not fight.

Faith turned the corner and vanished toward the sounds of the fighting. Getting his legs under him as he got out of the hole, Felix followed suit.

When they got back to the back of the building where they’d seen the squad, they saw a man, a young boy, and a bunch of men in soldier uniforms all pressed together in a screaming, burning heap.

“Oh, hello, Mr. Campbell. It’s good to see you,” said Al. He was standing off to one side, his head turned toward Faith and Felix. “Uncle overhead them saying some things and decided they needed to die.

“Whether it was boasting, bravado, or simple trash talking, it doesn’t matter to him.”

Looking to Uncle, Felix watched as the man literally held eight men still in a bunch and roasted them alive.

The amount of magical energy pouring out of him was so high Felix could actually taste it.

“Are you here because of the energy disturbance as well?” Al asked.

“No… I was following one of my people. Energy disturbance?” Felix asked.

“Yes. There was a significant—” Al paused and looked up at the sky above him. “Uncle, look.”

The screams abruptly died off when Uncle made a hand gesture. All eight men crumpled into one another, seeming to have been cut in half. Then he looked up as Al had.

Felix finally turned his eyes skyward, and he froze.

Snow was falling.

A lot of snow.

“I don’t understand,” Felix said simply.

“Your father wouldn’t like this, Al. It’s time for us to let this go and wait for him,” Uncle said severely.

“Yes, Uncle. I think you’re right,” Al said, shaking his head.

“Wait, do you know what’s happening?” Felix asked. “You said you’d share info with me. Our deal is still ongoing, is it not?”

Uncle snorted at that, reaching into his coat pockets.

“I suppose it is. It’s the end of the world,” Al said, catching several snowflakes in his hand. “It would appear the religious heads have been coerced into starting the end times.

“The end times for multiple religions.”

“How does that have anything to do with snow falling?” Faith asked.

“Because that snow is passing through the dome,” Al said simply. “Which means it’s beyond the realm of the divine. I would seek shelter if I were you.”

Uncle flicked something out toward the wall of the building, and a spiraling blue portal opened.

Glaring at Faith and Felix, Uncle said nothing, but he was clearly waiting for Al.

“Good luck,” Al said simply, nodding his head. “I hope to see you when it’s all over, but the rules are the rules.”

Walking through the portal, Al vanished.

Uncle took several steps to the portal and stopped just outside its edge.

Clearing his throat, the man shrugged a shoulder.

“This world is fucking toast. Hunker down and wait for the dome to fail if you can,” Uncle said. “Won’t last forever. Try not to die; you’re mildly interesting.”

Then he stepped through the portal and vanished.

Chapter 34 - The End Begins -

“Right. If they’re getting the hell out of here, we need to as well,” Felix said.

Shouldering his SMG, Felix set off at a quick trot back to the entry point for the Legion rail. Faith passed him by quickly, her movement swift and compact. It was a wonder to watch her.

She’s actually really athletic despite her build.

Felix shifted his gaze from Faith to the alley they’d have to dive in to get to the sewer.

Ducking around the corner, the Dryad warrior took it at the same speed, her rifle coming up to her shoulder as she went.

Feeling like a slow-ass turtle given how far she’d gotten up ahead of him, it took Felix several seconds to catch up with her.

Turning the corner but having to drop speed, Felix saw Faith levering the manhole cover out with one glowing, green hand.

And incredibly strong. These Dryads are just too much.

Dropping the manhole cover to one side with a clang, Faith peered down into the sewer.

A dark hand lashed out from inside the shadowed interior.

Dodging backward with inhuman reflexes, Faith almost got out of range in time.

Black claws raked across her chest and stomach. The impossibly long arm whipped back into the sewers, dark smoke rising from it.

Stumbling to her rear, Faith lifted a hand and checked herself.

There were long gouges in the Legion body armor. The trauma plates underneath looked cracked, as if hit by an incredibly strong force.

Wheezing, Faith rolled to one side and crawled over to Felix.

Reaching down, he got his arms underneath her and hauled her to her feet. “Are you alright?”

“What the fuck,” Faith got out between pants. “It felt… like a Dragon… punched me.”

“Ok, got that part, but are you alright?” Felix asked, starting to undo the body armor to get a look at her.

“I’m fine… stop it. Didn’t break… through the armor. Just winded,” Faith said, hunching over.

Nodding at that, Felix spun Faith to one side and started working at the webbing on her hips that held her grenades.

“Felix, what… are you doing?” Faith asked, now bent over in front of him.

“Getting your HEs. Going to pop the pins and drop them down the chute. Whatever that was can enjoy a pineapple salad.”

Before he could get the first one pulled free, Felix turned around to what sounded like someone walking behind him.

Then he was bowled over as if he were nothing more than a doll. Looming over him was Miu.

Her lower torso crushed and her intestines hanging out of her like a sweater unraveling.

Faith lifted her rifle, but before she could do anything, Miu had backhanded her, sending her flying and tumbling away.

The Dryad slid to a stop up against a wall and remained unmoving.

Then Miu dropped on top of him, her eyes glazed over with death and her mouth wide open.

“The fuck, Miu!?” Felix got out as her head bent down toward his face.

Her hands clawed at his body armor as she forced her head closer and closer, Felix’s hands pressed to her throat and forehead to keep her back.

Damn me, it’s like she’s a zombie!

Miu’s teeth clicked together once as she got within an inch or two of Felix’s face.

Holy crap, she really is a zombie.

Al said it’s the end of the world.

Her right hand grabbed hold of his shoulder and pinned him firmly to the ground. Her left hand came up and grabbed at his forearm.

“Miu, stop! Miu. Listen, it’s Felix. Felix! Miu!” Felix shouted in her face. “Miu Mikki, stop!”

The zombie who had once been Miu stopped pushing closer. Her head slowly tilted to one side, her eyes focusing on him ever so slightly.

“Miu. It’s me, Felix. You’re Miu Mikki. You’re mine. Remember? You gave everything to me. That includes when you’re dead. You gave me your soul, remember?” Felix asked, unable to move her at all, still struggling with her casual strength.

Miu’s mouth slowly closed, her head slowly tilting back the other way.

“Come on, Miu. Wake up. You’re mine. I need you. Ok? I need you. Wake up already!” Felix shouted.

Her left hand closed around his forearm, her fingers feeling like clamps.

Miu’s head shot forward the last two inches, her forehead pressing to his.

She wasn’t breathing, and her skin felt hard and cold. Risking a glance at Faith, Felix realized she was still unmoving.

She was dead or unconscious.

Felix gave up and slumped to the ground. Everyone had warned him he’d come to a bad end with the Yandere known as Miu.

“Left me,” came a hissing voice from between her teeth.

Blinking, Felix realized there was something of her left in there.

“No, I came back for you. Look at your left hand. You’re missing two fingers, not one. The second one is in my pocket. I came for you. Just you,” Felix said. “I have your photo as well.”

Zombie Miu didn’t move for several seconds. Then she moved back from him. Her eyes slowly focused in on her hand on his forearm. Her fingers flexed, the missing two becoming obvious.

“Look,” Felix said, letting go of her shoulder and reaching into his vest pocket. He fished out her picture with two fingers and held it up to face her. “I took it because it seemed like it was important to you. I came for you, Miu.”

Looking at the back of the photo, he saw the words “my love” written there in pen.

Miu’s eyes were locked on the photo.

“Came for me,” Miu wheezed. Then there was a slow, hissing noise as it seemed like she was forcing air into her deflated lungs.

Huh. Can’t talk without air, right? I guess that makes sense.

Felix was mildly perturbed by the detached thought.

“Yes, Miu. I came for you. Because I need you. And I need you now,” Felix said. Slowly, he put the photo back into his vest pocket.

She didn’t seem as insane right now. Her eyes were focusing correctly, though belatedly.

“Need me,” Miu repeated.

“I need you. Now, will you help me up? We need to get back to Legion,” Felix said.

“Love you,” Miu said suddenly.

Sighing, Felix reached up and put his hand behind her head. Pulling her down a bit, he pressed his forehead back to hers.

“Love you, too. Now get off me already,” he said, patting the side of her head gently.

Miu’s lips turned upward into a small smile, and she shambled up to her feet. Her hands came down and lifted him up off the ground.

He was covered in her blood and bodily fluids from the waist down.

Looking over to Faith, he realized she was just now getting to a seated position. Blood was trickling down from her temple.

“Miu?” asked the Dryad, looking very confused.

The zombie turned its head toward Faith. Her body posture slowly changed the longer she looked at the Dryad. Then she took a step toward her.

Felix moved in front of Miu and put both hands on her face. Her eyes had just started to lose some of the little comprehension they’d held.

“Miu, you must keep your eyes on me at all times,” Felix commanded. “If I give you an order, I need you to follow it and then immediately look back at me. Ok?”

Miu’s eyes unendingly gazed into his.

“Nod if you understand me, Miu.”

She nodded her head incrementally.

“Good. Miu, something is trying to kill me. It’s in the sewer. I’m going to drop grenades down there, and then I need you to go in and kill it for me,” Felix said. “Do you understand?”

“Kill it. Save love,” Miu hissed. “Look at love.”

“Yes. Exactly right,” Felix said. Releasing her face, he moved to Faith, keeping eye contact with Miu. “Give me your grenades.”

He heard the pop of items coming free, and then he had several grenades in his hands.

Moving closer to the sewer entry, Felix looked down.

He pulled the pin on a grenade, flipped the lever off, and rolled it into the sewer. Then he proceeded to do it twice more.

He heard something snort in the sewer. Immediately followed by explosives detonating. One after the other.

Then all was silent.

In a strange, shambling gait, zombie Miu moved past and dove into the sewer.

The muffled sounds of fighting came up from the bottom.

Felix wasn’t sure he wanted to go down there. Even if Miu seemed to be on their side, it seemed like she’d been moments away from killing him.

Or eating him.

“That was Miu,” Faith said.

“Yeah. She’s a zombie now,” Felix said, staring at the sky above. Snow had continued to fall in ever-increasing amounts.

“Doesn’t that mean the soldiers Uncle killed are zombies, too? And they might be coming this way?” Faith asked.

“Oh. That’s a good point,” Felix said.

Then a bright and fiery orange ring of flame opened in the sky over the center of the city. It was pitch black within the center, and out of it came a giant bulbous leg.

It was followed by another, and finally a waist.

When the truly massive creature dropped out, the portal slowly shut above it. What it left behind was what Felix thought of as a giant, froglike monster with thousands of teeth he could see from here.

It stood up, and Felix realized he’d underestimated its size.

“Oh… shit,” Faith said, looking at the same thing.

Not far away, a black portal started to open in the wall of a building.

Right, ok. Yeah, time to go.

Moving to the sewer, Felix got his legs in, grabbed the side rails of the ladder, and slid down. He’d seen Andrea do it over and over, and he’d never tried it.

But the idea of standing above on the street seemed worse.

Hitting the bottom, his boot heels cracked against the slimy concrete. He moved to the side quickly so Faith could join them, then scanned the area.

A massive black-skinned monster lay not far away, with gaping wounds in its flesh from the grenades.

Its head had also been torn from its shoulders. Apparently Miu had practically landed on it and set to work making sure it was dead.

Miu wasn’t far away, though her spine had been severed. The lower half of her body was wedged under the creature, one of her legs clutched in its clawed hand.

She was little more than a torso now, having lost everything below her navel.

And she was crawling towards him, her eyes only on him.

Damnit, Miu.

Moving over to her, he scooped her up and flung her around his shoulders like a backpack.

“Hold on, Miu,” Felix said, patting one of her cold hands.

Faith clacked to the concrete in the same way he had, her eyes wide.

“There’s a fireball heading for the city,” she said, then turned and sprinted for the staircase that led into the rail system.

“What?!” Felix called after her.

He could feel Miu’s cold face against his neck, bobbing against his skin as he chased after Faith.

“It was a giant ball of flame. Huge. Heading for the center of the city.” Faith jammed her ringed hand to the railway security door.

The door slid open, and they hurried inside.

“We need to get to the train and contact everyone,” Felix said.

The security door slid shut behind them, and then the entire world shook and rumbled.

Felix wedged himself up into the corner of the stairwell, reaching out and grabbing Faith by the hair.

He dragged her up the stairwell and pressed her against the wall next to him.

The world continued to tremble, and the lighting from the rail system flickered several times.

Then it went out.

***

Making it down the staircase in the dark had been a trying time. There was no way to validate that the step below was still there without stepping on it.

Still, they’d managed to reach the bottom without incident.

Miu remained a mostly inert backpack. She didn’t move, breathe, or say anything.

“Will it work?” Faith asked as she got into the train’s first passenger seat.

“Yeah. It’s powered by the engine, remember? It runs off a power source she made specific for this. It’ll last for a very long while,” Felix said, getting on the train. As gently as he could, he pulled Miu from his shoulders and set her torso down in the corner of the engine cabin.

He braced her up against the wall by pushing a heavy ammo can in front of her.

“Sorry, Miu. Best I can do for now. You alright?” he asked, looking down at the zombified woman.

She nodded her head a fraction, her eyes glued to him.

As soon as it felt like everything was secured, Felix sat down in the engineer’s seat and sighed.

Then he lifted his head to the ceiling of the rail tunnel.

“Runner! Runner Norwood! This is a… a clusterfuck!” Felix shouted at nothing. “I could use a hand right now, because this feels a lot like people interfering in ways you wouldn’t approve of!”

Felix waited, growling.

Except nothing happened.

“RUNNER!” Felix screamed at the top of his lungs.

There was no response.

Nothing.

“Are you alright?” Faith asked.

“Runner is the name of the god of this entire world. The god of gods. I’ve met him a few times,” Felix said, sinking into his seat. “I was hoping that… well… he could intervene.”

“It would seem he cannot hear you.”

Shaking his head, Felix pressed the starter for the train and waited as it powered to life.

The screen flickered twice, and then alerts began flooding into his system notification window.

“What the…” Felix watched as hundreds of red exclamation points showed up in the middle of the railway system. “There’s been a breach. A big one.”

“A breach…? The fireball, maybe?” Faith asked.

“That’d be my guess. I didn’t think it would penetrate that deeply, but apparently it did. Let’s see where… oh.” Felix frowned at the screen and continued to flip through the windows available to him.

The information wasn’t changing, however. It seemed to be exactly what was presented.

“Oh, what?” Faith pressed.

“Everyone evacuated into the tunnels. Everyone. They’re all heading to the closest train tunnel to Legion.

“The safe houses that could reach the rails, Jessica, Erica, Goldie, Edith—everyone. Literally everyone is in the tunnels,” Felix said.

“If they did that without an order from you, that means they’re seeing something we’re not.

“What would that be?”

Felix didn’t know. The only thing they could access that he couldn’t was the cameras.

Tapping into the communication system, he pulled up one of the trains. It was marked as the one Edith would have had access to, and the one Goldie was apparently on.

He could see it slowly moving forward down the track toward Legion HQ.

“This is Felix to train two. Come in train two,” Felix said as he held down the transmit button.

“Felix? Where are you!” Edith just about shouted over the line.

“I’m on the train. I found Miu, or… what’s left of her, at least,” Felix said, looking down at the undead Miu. He gave her a small, sad smile.

She didn’t return it, of course, but she watched him as he’d ordered her to. “Now I’m wonder—”

“Get the fuck out of there. Get to the Legion HQ tunnel as quickly as you can,” Edith said.

“Why? What’s going on? I don’t understand.”

“The city is filled with undead and monsters and… and lots of things. Lots and lots,” Edith said. “There’s so much wrong up there that I don’t know what to do. There’s also things in the dark. If you have lights, turn them on. Now. Turn them on as bright as they’ll go.

“As many as you can.”

Felix frowned and then flicked the switch for the lights on the train, moving it over to maximum illumination.

Out ahead of him, creatures and things fled and howled as the headlights kicked on.

Feeling an entire freak-out building up inside him, Felix crushed it down as hard as he could. He didn’t have time to lose his mind.

His sanity was all he really had going for him.

Looking over his shoulder, he made eye contact with Faith. She was looking back at him as wide eyed as he felt.

“If you have a light spell, I’d really appreciate you using it right now,” Felix said.

Faith only nodded. Her hands held close to one another. She must have already been doing exactly that.

“What else can you tell me?” Felix asked, pressing the transmit button.

“Jessica and Talia are dead. I cut their thumbs off and got the finger from your bunker. Goldie told me about it,” Edith said.

“What? How’d that happen?”

A brilliant light burst out from Faith, lighting the tunnel in both directions.

“A creature came out of the shadows and ate Talia. Jessica got split in half when she grabbed Talia’s arm and got slapped away for it.

“Thankfully she came away with the Elf’s arm and her own. I got the thumbs, got on the train, and left with Goldie.

“Seemed like it was time to go. I told everyone to hit the rails, with lights, and get to the Legion tunnel ASAP.”

Felix pulled the lever to get the train going and started pulling it around to head in the same direction Edith had stated.

It was as good a plan as any. They’d be trapped, but they’d also limit the approach vector.

“We’re heading into a dead end,” Faith said.

“Yep.”

“With only one way in and one way out.”

“Yeah.”

“Unless the dome falls, it’s very likely we’ll die.”

“Definite possibility.”

“If the time comes, will you make love to me? I’d really like to not die a virgin,” Faith asked. “I’d like to feel a child growing in me, too. At least once for both.”

Felix didn’t respond. He really didn’t want to consider the end.

Nor the idea of trying to have sex as hordes of zombies were rushing down the tunnels.

You need to get your priorities straight, my lovely Nymph.

Chapter 35 - A Brief Glimpse -

They’d been hunkered down at the end of the tunnel for six days now.

A number of Legionnaires had joined them, along with Edith, Erica, and Goldie.

In her infinite wisdom, the Dragon had hauled some crates onto the train while recovering. She’d figured if Felix was having them get a bunker ready, why not a train?

To that end, she’d loaded a five-five six round dispenser, a crate of battle rifles, a field-grade med lab, several machine guns, and a generator.

Without her forethought, the defense of the tunnel wouldn’t have lasted long.

Felix was on a watch shift, staring down the tunnel with one of the mounted machine guns she’d brought. Down the train line, ten or so zombies were shuffling around amongst the corpses there.

“Might be time to clear them out,” Goldie said, stepping up next to him.

“Probably. I was waiting for one of them to start walking this way,” Felix admitted, looking up from the weapon to the Dragon.

She was still wearing a gauze eyepatch, though the eye was clearly healing. The rest of the wounds she’d picked up had long since closed.

Turning his gaze back on his zone of control, Felix sighed.

“We can’t stay here forever. The dark ones keep pushing closer every chance they get,” Felix said.

The dark ones were the creatures that lived in the shadows. They came whenever there was a break in the light. If the generator had even the slightest hiccup, they were there.

Thankfully, one of the Legionnaires had enough know-how to strip one of the train engines and attach it to the grid they’d jerry-rigged together. When the generator dipped for even a second, the train engine source picked up the slack.

“True. Though we do have the other train engine. So that’ll buy us some time.”

Felix couldn’t argue her point. They’d cannibalized two trains and their cars, turning them into barricades. Which meant they had an extra engine power source they weren’t using right now. The same Legionnaire who had linked the other into the grid had put it in a secondary position with an on/off switch.

A tremendous boom came from somewhere above them. Whatever had been going on in the city, it was still happening. The strength of the explosions must be considerable if they rattled even the Legion rails this far down.

“They’re getting louder, and more frequent,” Goldie said, her eyes on the ceiling above them. “I worry and wonder. Were the tunnels designed to take such abuse?”

As do I. But that’s neither here nor there since we don’t have a choice. That and I have to be the rock to support everyone else.

Felix cleared his throat.

“Center position, opening fire to clear hostiles loitering nearby,” Felix declared loudly.

The other machine-gun positions acknowledged his statement.

Felix lined his weapon on the zombies and pulled the trigger. Rounds began spewing out the end of the big weapon, and he began to sweep it from one side to the other.

He could see the zombies drop as they were practically cut in half. They toppled where they fell.

What was unnerving for Felix wasn’t the zombies, though.

It was the things just beyond the edge of the shadows that he could see with the flashes of the muzzle.

They didn’t to go down easily, either. The machine guns could drop them, but it wasn’t a sure thing that it’d happen before the creatures turned and ran away.

Letting go of the trigger when his ammo went empty, Felix stood and looked down the rail line.

There were no zombies standing.

Picking up a full ammo box from the pile nearby, he pulled the old one out and set it to one side.

Goldie picked up the box, secured it under an arm, and walked toward the rear of the fortification, where it would be recycled through the arsenal and refilled.

Giving his head a shake, Felix went through the process of getting his weapon back into action.

Pulling the bolt back and letting the first round cycle, Felix got back into position.

There was no change in the tunnel. Everything was the same.

Minus the zombies and some of his hearing. All he could hear now was ringing. It would fade in time, but he also knew it was a precursor to permanent hearing loss.

So everyone was spending a few minutes a day with the field lab getting their hearing fixed.

“Felix!” someone shouted from behind him.

Peering over his shoulder, he didn’t see who was talking to him at first.

Because he was watching the bright red wall of light that was the back of their encampment flicker wildly.

Is it… failing?

Then he looked at the speaker. It was Faith.

“Faith, I need you to become a human beacon on the dome wall,” Felix said, standing up. “We haven’t put any big lights or defenses facing that way.”

Faith froze in her tracks for a second, then turned ducked her head and sprinted in the other direction when his words sank in.

If there were creatures waiting on the other side of the dome wall, the camp could be destroyed outright. There was some light, sure, but not much.

They’d figured out early that the creatures could cross the dome, but not without catching fire.

That’s an oversight on my part. I don’t think anyone actually expected the dome to fall.

A Legionnaire on backup hurried over to Felix and took over his position without a word.

Felix patted the man on the shoulder and hurried toward the back of the camp.

Stopping for a second to pick up his Miu backpack, he hoisted her over his shoulder.

She’d become almost unresponsive by this point. Her eyes followed him wherever he went, but little else. She didn’t even hold on to him anymore as she had originally. Forcing him to stuff her into a rucksack after putting her lower body into a trash bag

He’d be damned if he left her behind, though. She’d given him her all and then some.

Zombie or not.

Though thankfully, he’d long since become deadened to the smell of her.

He caught up to Edith, who was talking with several other people.

“Edith,” Felix said, stepping in close to her. “The dome is failing. I need everyone armed, armored, and ready to move. We’re loading up on the train.

“Right now.”

Edith blinked and then nodded. “Got it.”

Swinging wide toward where the arsenal was, he saw Goldie.

He moved at a jog to catch up to her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her away.

“I need you to start getting everyone on the train,” Felix said to her. “Make sure we don’t leave anyone—or anything we need—behind. Ok?”

“I understand, nest-mate. I’ll collect the fallen and make sure Erica is on board.” Goldie smiled at him.

Thank goodness she knows how I think.

Felix internally fretted at the fact that he was prioritizing certain people, but even he wasn’t above a certain amount of favoritism.

Letting go of the gold Dragon, he moved to the train engine.

He sat down in the driver’s seat and booted the system up. While he waited for it to load, he pulled Miu’s pack off his back and set her down in her corner.

“You ok, Miu?” he asked, glancing at her.

There was no response, but her eyes continued to track him.

“We’ll get you fixed up soon. Then we’ll go get something to eat or something,” Felix said, looking back to the display.

The entire rail system was flooded with undead now. Undead, dark creatures, and monsters. The interface had been pointless after that, since it was all warning messages.

The fireball had ended up being a meteor. One that had impacted the city and torn a hole into the earth. Which went straight into a rail exchange point. People had begun entering after word spread that it might be an escape.

Which led to thousands of people dying in the tunnels to the dark beasts.

Switching to the radio interface, Felix immediately called up the Legion HQ frequency and dialed into it.

There was nothing but static.

Looking up to the dome wall, Felix caught it just as it flickered again. Fading to almost nothing and growing bright again.

Behind him, he could hear people clambering into their seats. Everyone getting in their assigned positions. Some would be wedged between the seats, and others between the low walls and the seats. There would be little to no room for anyone.

This was the last train out of hell, so to speak. There wouldn’t be a second trip.

Felix stared at the shining red wall. The intensity of his gaze would have blown a hole through concrete.

Then the evil red light began to fade again.

Faith stepped up to his left side and put a hand out in front of herself. A bright beam of light shot out from her palm in a cone. Illuminating the dark beyond the red light.

Squeals and shrieks could be heard.

They were there after all.

Goldie stepped up on his right side, Miu now shouldered on her back. The zombie’s gaze still locked on Felix.

Diminishing by the second, the glow of the dome faded away.

Finally, it vanished into nothing.

Felix sat there, waiting. After four breaths, he pushed the train into gear and they got rolling. They passed from their camp into the Legion tunnels, heading straight to HQ.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Felix watched as their well-lit home grew more and more distant.

Looking forward to the path ahead, they rode on.

***

As they got closer to Legion HQ, the radio frequency it was broadcasting out of slowly came to life.

First it was little more than clicks and whistles. But it was more than just static.

Now, though, it was a looped message.

“Full evacuation protocol. A-Zero-One,” said Kit on the recording, followed by ten seconds of silence, only to then repeat.

Pulling into the lower receiving yard of Legion HQ, Felix was at bit of a loss.

The bay was in shambles. Signs of violence were everywhere. Shell casings, scorch marks, and corpses strewn about.

“Everyone out,” Felix called as the train came to a full stop. “Evacuation protocol is engaged. A-Zero-One. That means everyone is heading for the emergency portal to Legion Prime.

“If it’s not in Legion colors, shoot it. If it is in Legion colors, do a verbal challenge and then shoot.”

Felix stood up and took Miu from Goldie, swinging her pack into place on his back.

Edith was marshaling their forces, getting them off the train and into formation.

As he got down from the engine, Felix wasn’t sure what was waiting for them.

Erica joined him, holding a rifle out to him.

“You doing alright?” Felix asked, taking the weapon from her. He turned it over, pulled the bolt back and flipped the safety off.

“Yeah… I miss Jess, but… yeah. You have her…” Erica’s voice trailed off.

“Yes. I have her. We’ll see her back soon enough. Just have to get to Legion Prime,” Felix said.

Edith came over and sighed.

“Well, at least it isn’t far. We just have to get through the lab and the choke point,” Edith said.

“True enough. For now I’m going to see if there’s anyone here,” Felix said, walking toward the bay exit doors.

Legionnaires were going about their business, clearing and marking the area.

Stopping in front of the panel next to the door, Felix pressed his ring into the security plate.

With a chime, the computer display turned on.

As quickly as he could, he moved to the communications part of the system and then tapped into it.

There were four signals he could see. They were all in the portal evacuation room.

Felix tried to call any of the signals up, but failed. Either they had their radios off, or the portal was causing interference.

It’s done that before, but… not normally.

“Looks like the portal room is being held. Possibly by Legion forces,” Felix said, looking to the women around him.

“Right. Then we push on in and get out of this hell hole,” Edith said. “I’ll go get the troops and tell them to stack up and get ready to move.”

Nodding at that, Felix waited beside the door. He wasn’t about to go charging in.

“You think it’s our people?” Faith asked.

“They didn’t respond,” Felix said honestly. “So either they’re there but can’t be hailed, or it’s a bunch of Wardens that weren’t deactivated.”

Goldie nodded and then made eye contact with him.

“You should remain behind me at all times, then,” she said.

“Yeah, got it.”

Edith tapped the door button to open, and the Legionnaires moved into the hall beyond the bay.

Immediately, there was gunfire. It didn’t sound like there was any return fire, though.

Zombies, I guess. Or… dark beasts.

Taking in a slow breath, Felix moved into the middle of the column as it went by. Faith, Erica, Edith, and Goldie moved with him.

Stepping over corpses of soldiers that confirmed his thoughts about zombies, Felix kept moving.

As they walked, sounds came from inside the rooms around them, but nothing that seemed living.

Slowly, they crept past the darkened lab. It looked like a fire had swept through it, followed by enough explosives to knock out a building.

“Do you think Felicia did it?” Erica asked.

“Probably. She was always very protective of our tech,” Felix said.

Coming to a stop at the entryway to the evacuation point, the column didn’t move any further.

The Legionnaire in front of him turned to face him.

“Door’s locked. Should we proceed?” asked the man.

“Yeah, pop it open. But don’t enter. Tell whoever’s up there to see if anyone responds instead. They’re probably just as jumpy as we are,” Felix commanded.

Turning back to the front, the Legionnaire passed the message up.

“I suppose this is it,” Goldie said.

“Don’t jinx it,” Felix and Faith said at the same time.

Looking ahead as best as he could, Felix was able to see the moment the door slid open. But he couldn’t see what was going on beyond that.

A minute passed, and then suddenly the column moved forward.

Felix felt like his heart was about to race out of his throat.

Turning the corner, Felix saw four of the newest Wardens standing guard over a swirling portal. On the other side of the portal, he could see numerous Legionnaires waiting from behind defensive positions.

Before he could get through it, Kit, Felicity, Andrea Prime, Adriana Prime, Lily, and Vince all stepped through. They moved to one side and immediately spotted him.

Breaking away from the column, Felix moved to join the others.

Smiling as he went to them, Felix felt relieved.

A loud, hissing crack boomed through the air.

Across from the bay, a massive orange portal sprang into life. At the same time, the portal to Legion Prime winked out.

On the other side of the orange portal was an empty backlot. In the distance, Felix could see a billboard with a man drinking what looked like a sports drink.

Beyond the backlot, he saw a number of people quickly moving their way.

“I can’t close it,” Kit said, her hand flicking out at the portal repeatedly.

“I can’t either,” Felicity said.

“Damnit,” Lily swore.

“I can solve it,” Kit said suddenly, her head turning to Lily.

The magician winced and looked at the portal.

“Yeah. I can,” Lily said aloud.

“Can what?” Felix asked, getting closer to them. “How can you solve it?”

Lily turned to him and gave him a deep kiss.

“I love you, Felix,” she said. “Don’t give up.”

Kit typed something into her wrist communicator quickly, then looked to the portal.

“Ready when you are,” Kit said.

“Wait, ready for what?” Felix asked.

Lily took a step away from Felix and sprinted for the portal.

“Lily!” Felix called after her. Then he started to chase.

Only to feel something wrap up around his ankles. Glancing down, he saw an illusionary metal band encasing his feet.

Kit was a few steps behind Lily as they both ran through the portal. Felix saw them standing there, completely at a loss.

Lily clapped her hands together, and a purple shield of magical force expanded around them.

Almost at the same time, weapon fire started to impact the shield.

Kit wasn’t idle during all this. She gestured at the portal and then looked to Lily, who nodded.

A portal appeared beneath their feet, and the two women vanished through it.

The portal closed up behind them, and they were gone.

Soldiers in uniforms swarmed up to the portal from around the other sides. Then they stopped, staring at Felix and his people.

One man lifted a hand and slowly stepped through the portal.

Except he didn’t. He winked out of existence as he walked through.

“She made a portal in front of the other one,” Felicity said. “It’s almost on top of it. They can’t go through the portal to get here, because she put one in front of it and locked them together.”

“Where are they, then? Did they portal back here?” Felix asked.

“No… she tried. I felt it. But it seemed to rebound off the dual portal and… fizzled out. She opened a portal to the billboard, then again somewhere else from there,” Felicity explained.

“What do you mean?” Felix asked. His mouth was dry, and he felt lightheaded.

“They… they went deeper into wherever that is,” Felicity said.

Numerous soldiers were milling around the portal. But they couldn’t get through.

Opening his mouth and then closing it, Felix didn’t know what to do. His brain refused to work.

A giant silhouette made of crackling static simply appeared beside the portal.

The strange creature’s hand flashed out, and an orb the size of a beach ball made of black and white flashing light zipped out toward Felix.

With a boom, a woman came into existence ten feet in front of him.

She was tall. Very tall. Towering in front of Felix. She had an hourglass figure that would have come close to some of the Dryads’ figures he’d seen. Long blond hair fell down her back and hung nearly to her hips.

She backhanded the ball of energy to one side, and it flew off and down the hall. Her other hand flicked out, and a bright blue lightning bolt shot from it and blasted into the strange silhouette.

Crumpling to the ground, the giant flickered and simply ceased to be.

“Sunshine,” whispered a voice from Felix’s right.

Felix’s head whipped around, and there was Runner. Beside him were Al and Uncle.

Looking back at the woman, Felix watched as she turned her head to face Runner.

“Darling,” she said with a smile.

“I’m almost done, mother,” Al said, taking a step forward.

The woman smiled at the child, then simply vanished. The spot where she had been was gone.

When he looked back to his side, Runner, Al, and Uncle were gone as well.

“What… the fuck?” Felix asked, and then his world turned white.

***

“It would seem I’ve once again failed your world.”

Felix looked up and found Runner standing in front of him.

“Bring Kit and Lily back. Now!” Felix shouted, quickly moving toward Runner.

Getting a hold of the Overgod, Felix leaned in close, feeling rage and unending fury in his veins.

“I can’t. That portal will never close, and that means I can’t roll time backward. This world is… what it is now. I can’t fix it,” said Runner. “Though it is of little worth to you, I can promise you no other world will ever fail like this again. I know how he did it. I can stop it from ever happening again.”

Felix lifted his hand and punched the god. Then he did it again, and again, and again.

He wailed on Runner as if the Overgod were a punching bag.

After what felt like an eternity of beating, Felix slumped to his knees, panting.

“Believe me… I truly understand what you’re going through. I’m not much different than you are,” Runner said, kneeling down in front of Felix.

He was completely unharmed.

“I can make you a promise, though. The favor I asked of you? It’s to help me kill that… man… you saw. He’s the god of the world on the other side of that portal. An Overgod in his own right, I’m afraid.

“My goal is very simple. Kill him, take his world, and take back what’s mine. The moment we do that, I can find Kit and Lily. Return them to you completely unharmed.”

“What good are you as a god if you can’t even fight that devil?” Felix asked, his chin sinking down to his chest.

“Never were truer words spoken. I give you my promise, though, Felix, that once I take back that world, I’ll return them to you. Just as you saw them today.

“I can’t bring them back. But I did modify their souls before my enemy exerted full control over his world again,” Runner said. “I made them immortal. They can’t die. We need only take back that world, and they’ll return to you. Even he can’t change what I did, or even find them.”

Felix closed his eyes and shook his head.

“By the way, that zombie you’re carrying around is terrifying. The soul is still inside. It refused to leave.

“My collectors actually had to leave it alone given how violently she responded. The magic holding the whole thing together should have failed, but it held on by force of will,” Runner said. “Absolutely terrifying.”

Felix ignored the god. He didn’t care.

All he wanted in the end was to have a family and get out of all the business he kept putting Legion in.

Except, when he’d thought of a family, his thoughts had included Lily and Kit.

Now they were gone.

Epilogue

Felix was sitting in his office. In front of him on his desk was a stack of very mundane-looking papers.

Without warning, the door opened and Vince walked in.

“Brother,” Vince said, coming to stand next to the desk.

“Brother,” Felix said, his voice feeling rusty and unused.

“I brought the contract. I’ve already signed my part. Time for you to do yours.” Vince set down a packet of papers in front of Felix.

The very top page read: “The Legions of Yosemite Act.”

It was an agreement between Yosemite and Legion to become one unified body. Felix would oversee all government functions at the top.

Yaris and Vince’s progeny would act as the leaders to Yosemite.

Felicity and Andrea were in charge of Legion on Legion Prime. The city leaders and feudal lords would roll up as they had previously.

In essence, Felix had been made master over it all.

Ruling at his side was Vince, the general. He was in control of all security and military. From the door guards to the general of the armies. It all rolled to Vince.

There had been some personnel shuffling as well in the exchange. Two of the most notable in his mind were Ioana and Elysia.

Ioana and her entire organization now reported to Petra.

Elysia, a High Elf who had served as chamberlain to Vince, was now Felix’s.

Only bodyguard departments remained as they had.

Vince set his rough hand on Felix’s shoulder.

“I know, Brother. If I could fix it myself, I would. But you heard the Overgod. It isn’t a question of if, just when,” Vince said. “We’ll storm across that portal and take them back.”

Felix nodded. No matter how much he wanted to believe that, he knew it was still an if.

They would always be waiting for him, but there was no guarantee he’d find them.

Save them.

Shaking his head slightly, Felix tried to change his thought process.

It’d only been a week since he’d lost Lily and Kit. Everything still felt too raw. He’d more or less been secluded since then.

Other than Vince, only Miu had been able to see him, and that was because the moment after he’d resurrected her, she’d refused to leave his side.

He talked to Felicity on occasion through the door, but by and large, Felix was in voluntary seclusion.

Picking up the quill nearby, Felix dipped it into his ink pot and then signed his name to the contract.

The Laurens had drawn it up and made it into a Legion contract. So when Felix lifted the quill, suddenly, all of Yosemite was part of what was his.

Including Vince, even.

“Thank you, Brother. I appreciate this deeply. I’ve been wanting to step out of the limelight for a while. This’ll make it significantly easier to do so. For you as well, since you can focus on your piece of it,” Vince said. “Will you come to dinner tonight? Meliae would very much appreciate it.”

Felix looked up at the younger man and gave him a tired smile.

“I’ll see what I can do. No promises,” Felix said.

Vince picked up the packet and nodded. “See you at the coronation, then. Yosemite does love its pomp at times.”

Turning, the man left and closed the door behind him.

Miu oozed out of the shadows from nearby. Ever since the zombification, she’d seemed less insane than she had previously.

Or at least, Felix thought so.

“Love,” she said, moving in close to him. She nuzzled him affectionately, pressing her face to his neck. “He means well. You should go to dinner. Take Andrea, Adriana, or Felicity. They want to see you.”

Reaching up, he gently patted her on the back of her head.

“Not like you to tell me to see other women,” Felix murmured.

“You’re hurting. A lot. You won’t even see Andrea or Adriana at all. That’s not normal,” Miu said. “You always sought comfort in those two. Or Felicity.

“You won’t see anyone.”

“I’m seeing you, aren’t I?”

“Only because I threatened to kill everyone if you wouldn’t.”

Felix snorted at that. She had threatened him with that. He didn’t quite believe her when she said it, but he wasn’t going to risk it, either. Spending points on avoidable deaths seemed a bad idea.

“Will you please at least see Andrea? I grow tired of hearing her cry at night,” Miu said.

Felix winced at that, his heart shuddering inside of him.

She was the last person he wanted to hurt or harm.

Miu is right.

“I’ll go see her and Adriana immediately,” Felix said, and then stood up.

Miu smiled at him and nodded her head sharply.

Following that line of thought, Felix immediately started to flesh out plans. He’d need a crash course on Yosemite. As well as starting the transfer work for everyone leaving and coming at the same time.

On top of that, he needed to get with Felicity and start arranging everything accordingly. Legion was going to grow and shrink.

“Right after I see Felicity, Faith, and Goldie, that is. I need to arrange a meeting and start getting everyone moving in the right direction. Rewards and awards to all those who performed above and beyond the call in the battle.

“Then I need to set up some one-on-one time with those we picked up in the transfer. I imagine there’ll be a lot of tribal knowledge we’ll need to learn.”

“Goldie is outside the door. She never left,” Miu said.

Felix sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It felt oily.

Then he brushed his hand over his jaw.

Need a shave, too.

“Let her in. I’m going to go take a shower and shave real quick,” Felix said, and he went to his private bathroom.

By the time he’d gotten out of the shower and shaved, someone had hung some casual clothes for him on the inside of the bathroom door.

Probably Goldie.

Getting dressed in the suggested clothes, Felix felt… better.

He still hurt. A lot.

But he didn’t feel like he was sitting in a pool of filth.

Walking out into the main part of his bedroom, he found Faith, Goldie, and Kris waiting for him.

“Ladies,” Felix said, then smiled at them. “My apologies. I’ve grieved for them, and I’m ready to rejoin the living.”

Walking over to Kris, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight hug. “I understand I have you to thank for getting my inner circle out unharmed.

“Thank you, Kris.”

The black Dragon seemed uncomfortable, but she slowly put her arms around Felix in return. Then she turned her head slightly and kissed his cheek.

“Anything for you nest-mate,” grumbled the black. Clearly unused to being given direct affection.

Felix released her, then stood between Faith and Goldie.

“My loyal little Dryad,” Felix said, then turned to Goldie. “And my lovely Dragon.

“Between the two of you, I had little to worry for or care about.

“I cannot express how much I appreciate you. And I need you further.”

Goldie turned a deep red and smiled at him, twisting imperceptibly from side to side. “Will you hug me as well?”

“Yes, right after I hug Faith,” Felix said, and then he wrapped Faith up in a tight hug.

The Dryad hugged him back just as forcefully, her hands pressed to the bottom of his lower back.

Any further south with those hands and she’d be getting a handful of… oh… there she goes.

Smiling at the Dryad’s antics, Felix let go of her and then opened his arms to Goldie.

Who promptly kissed him deeply, smothering him in a bone-crushing hug.

Ten seconds must have passed before she released him.

“Ooh. That was nice,” Goldie said, wiping a finger across her lips.

Unable to even muster up the desire to reprimand her, because it had been nice, Felix only shook his head.

“Alright, come on. I decided on seeing Andrea and Adriana first. I think they’re probably hurting as much as I am. After that, we need to see Felicity.”

“Good. They need you, nest-mate,” Goldie said with a nod of her head.

Leaving his own living quarters, he walked the short distance to Andrea and Adriana’s shared rooms.

They were right next to his own.

Entering quietly, he closed the door with a soft click.

Andrea Prime and Adriana Prime were sitting next to their pregnant Seconds on a couch.

All four of them looked up when he entered the room. Their eyes were red, their ears and tails limp.

“Hello, my loves. First,” Felix said, before they could say anything. “Let me apologize for keeping you out during my grief. I… didn’t handle it very well. I should have realized you were equally hurting.”

Felix went over to the four Beastkin and got down on his knees in front of them.

Before he could continue talking, all four of them moved in and pressed in close to him.

The bawling and wailing started almost immediately.

Listening to them, and doing his best to give them each attention, Felix settled in.

He figured it might be a while.

***

“Are they settled?” Felicity asked as Felix entered his office. She was sitting at a desk set to one side of what was apparently his own.

Must be hers.

“Yeah. Took some time. They, uh… cried themselves to exhaustion, then passed out. All four of them,” Felix said, feeling sheepish.

“I’ve already taken care of a large number of personal tasks for you. A lot of the rest is… personnel and management things. I thought it’d be best to leave those to you,” Felicity said.

Felix nodded and went to his desk. Grabbing the chair there, he dragged it over to Felicity’s side and let go.

Then he took the seat and edged even closer to her.

Andrea had told him just how much Felicity had been doing in his absence and on his behalf. That she seemed to be running herself ragged for him.

And yet she’d still made time every day to check in on him frequently. He knew her feelings, and he was tired of running away from them.

She eyed him warily, setting the quill in her hand down in its holder.

“Thank you,” Felix said simply, smiling at her. “You’ve done everything I could have ever asked of you. You kept everything running when I fell apart.

“Without you, I don’t think I could do this. This is going to be a lot bigger than just managing Legion.”

Felicity gave him a beautiful smile and shifted around in her chair, facing him directly.

“It won’t be so bad. Between Elysia and myself, this’ll be rather easy. We just don’t have your knack for knowing what to do with people,” Felicity said. “As for your thanks, you could always reward me.”

“Oh? And what would you want?”

“Dinner. Several times this week. You and me,” Felicity said immediately.

“Alright. Though I think I’m going to take a number of people out for meals this week. Any chance I could get you to limit it to once per week for four weeks instead?” Felix asked.

“What… just like that? You’ll agree?”

“No reason not to,” Felix said, and smiled sadly.

“Ah… yes… I see.” Felicity’s smile faltered. “Uhm, also, something came in your inbox. I needed something from the old Legion servers, so I had Talia sneak in—she’s rather useful for stealthy needs, actually—and download all our data. Then wipe the servers clean.”

“I… didn’t read it past the first line once I realized what it was. I put it on your portable terminal. It’s in your desk drawer.”

“I’m going to go get some coffee. Can I get you something?” Felicity asked, standing up.

Felix lifted his chin and met her eyes. He gave her a smile.

“Yeah, but we’ll talk about that later, over dinner tonight,” Felix said, resting his hands on her hips.

Her eyes widened slightly, and then she gently ran her fingers through his hair. “You sure about that? One might worry they’re just a replacement.”

“I’m sure about it, and no. Not a replacement. Just me realizing something I already knew,” Felix said, then shook his head with a chuckle. “Now, are you going to go get the coffee, or should I keep flirting with you?”

“I don’t know. I kind of like this right now, but I think you should read that letter,” Felicity said. She curled a finger around his ear and then tapped the tip of his nose. “You’re a turd, dear. But I do love you.”

Felicity pulled away from him and left the room.

Moving his chair back to his desk, he opened the drawer and fished out the terminal.

These were rather rare now. Most of their tech had been left behind in Legion HQ.

Going there at all was a risk. Dark beasts, undead, ghosts, and all sorts of nasties were crawling around everywhere now.

The portal area was the only permanently secured station.

Flipping it over, Felix powered it up. There were two files.

He focused on one that read “read me” and tapped it open.

Felicity tended to be as direct as possible. He ignored the second file for now.

Dear Felix,

If you’re reading this, it means I did something stupid and probably heroic.

I’ll start by saying I’m not sorry.

I was always a hero, first and foremost. It’s who I am. Or was, possibly.

What I will apologize for, though, is lying to you. I was afraid of pursuing a relationship, even though Lily had agreed to me joining your little open marriage a long time ago.

I was afraid that if I agreed and admitted my love for you, I’d be trapped by it. I’d never be a hero again.

Maybe it isn’t fair that I’m waiting to do this in a letter to be sent after I’ve possibly died in a way I can’t be retrieved from, but that’s what it is.

I’m a selfish coward. Sorry.

All I can ask and say is to please live on, and move forward.

If you can bring me back, do so. We’ll talk about this letter then.

Maybe it’s time I put up the hero title and become something new.

You were the most interesting thing that ever happened to me, and it’s been a ridiculous and wild ride.

Yours Alone,

Kit

P.S.

Lily loves you, and she said you should love freely.

We’ll find somewhere to hunker down. Bring a Dryad who can sense magic. I’ll leave a trail.

Come get us!

“Just had to have the last word, huh, Kit?” Felix said, shaking his head with a smile.

Though the last bit was interesting. He got the impression that Kit had added that just before they’d jumped through the portal.

Leaning back in his chair, Felix thought on the situation.

“Well. Should probably start planning on how to storm through that portal, turn it into dust, and get them back,” Felix said. “First, though… drones… satellite maybe… need to start recon.

“Can’t save the princesses without knowing the lay of the land. Even if it’s years away.”

Felix went to set the terminal down and then looked at the second file.

When he opened it, a small window popped up first.

Who are the other two? Where did they go? the note read.

When Felix closed the note, there was a picture of Kevin Dane standing at what looked like a press conference.

There was no sound, but Kevin was talking.

Off to one side were three people.

“Seville, Shirley, and Skipper,” Felix muttered, looking at the three of them.

Then there was an explosion off camera.

The three people Felix would love to see hurt looked surprised at something. Then they all pulled something out of their pockets. Felix leaned in close and squinted at the screen.

“Are those the cards?” Felix asked. He’d seen Seville use one just like that.

At the same time, Shirley, Skipper, and Seville simply vanished.

Frowning, Felix set the terminal down.

Skipper was in league with them all along.

Hm.

I should tell Runner.

Thank you, dear reader!

I’m hopeful you enjoyed reading Super Sales on Super Heroes. Please consider leaving a review, commentary, or messages. Feedback is imperative to an author’s growth.

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If you enjoyed this book, try out the books of some of my close friends. I can heartily recommend them.

Blaise Corvin- A close and dear friend of mine. He’s been there for me since I was nothing but a rookie with a single book to my name. He told me from the start that it was clear I had talent and had to keep writing. His background in European martial arts creates an accurate and detail driven action segments as well as his world building.
https://www.amazon.com/Blaise-Corvin/e/B01LYK8VG5

John Van Stry- John was an author I read, and re-read, and re-read again, before I was an author. In a world of books written for everything except harems, I found that not only did I truly enjoy his writing, but his concepts as well.
In discovering he was an indie author, I realized that there was nothing separating me from being just like him. I attribute him as an influence in my own work.

He now has two pen names, and both are great.

https://www.amazon.com/John-Van-Stry/e/B004U7JY8I
Jan Stryvant-
https://www.amazon.com/Jan-Stryvant/e/B06ZY7L62L

Daniel Schinhofen- Daniel was another one of those early adopters of my work who encouraged and pushed me along. He’s almost as introverted as I am, so we get along famously. He recently released a new book, and by all accounts including mine, is a well written author with interesting storylines.

https://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Schinhofen/e/B01LXQWPZA