Super Sales on Super Heroes 6 -Chapter 1- (Patreon)

Chapter 1 - Time Stops -

“Uh… right. Er,” Ryker mumbled. His wild dark hair and eyes gave him a wild and sleepless look that never quite went away at times. He glanced at the beautiful golden dragon in human form named Goldie, then back to Felix.

“So… wanna join the end of the world with me and Runner? Should be a real bang. One way… or the other.”

A new voice came now through the portal. One that sent a shudder through him.

“Felix?” called Lily.

A second after that, Kit walked into view and stood still. She was framed perfectly by the portal and looked exactly as she did in his memory.

Short brown curls that hung down freely and framed her model-like face. Her brown eyes locked to him. He briefly had the feeling that she ransacked his thoughts instantly and already knew everything the moment their eyes met.

Then she smiled at him just as Lily walked up behind her, peeked over her shoulder, and smiled as well.

The soul-sucking magical lawyer’s black eyes latching onto Felix. Her black hair was pulled back in a pony-tail.

They looked exactly as they should from his memories.

Felix stood up, his heart lurching to the side.

Given the agony of losing Andrea, and now having Kit and Lily appearing before him, he felt like he didn’t have the emotional wherewithal to handle this any further.

Then the two women rushed forward and wrapped him up in a hug. Holding tightly to him. Felix hugged them back in return and held tightly to them.

Then Miu the insane assassin joined them and the four of them stood there hugging one another. He couldn’t see her dark brown eyes but he suspected she was just as happy as he was.

The dark haired woman had hidden her feelings for most of them or throttled them into nothing. For everyone around her so that she didn’t become overwhelmed due to her super power.

“This has been so long in coming,” Kit whispered. Lily nodded her head at that, forcing everyone else’s head to move as well. “A long time coming, but I honestly never doubted it. Not even once.”

“No, not ever,” Lily agreed, then let out a shuddering breath. “It was hard to handle it all, to keep going, but I never doubted it. Year after year, I never doubted it.”

“Year after year?” Felix mumbled.

“Uh, yeah, it’s been a bit for them,” Ryker clarified. “Two decades or something. Not all worlds flow at the same rates. Remember? You once got trapped on Vince’s world and that whole thing happened.

“Huh, never did quite figure that one out either, did I? Oh well. Millions of needs, thousands of plans, yet only so much time. Can’t get it all done.

“Anyways… uh… you know what, we’ll just… go. Go from here. You can chit chat and catch up on the way.

“By the way, any of you seen Edmund lately?”

No one answered Ryker. Everyone held to each other.

“I haven’t lately, no,” Faith reported. “We can check in with the Legate.”

“Not recently. I saw him last with Romina,” Goldie offered at the same time.

“Yeah, no. No time. Time to go and that’s it. Everything’s running away from me faster than I can catch up to it,” Ryker growled. He lifted his hands then brought them down. A black oval of nothing enveloped them and dropped them into an infinite inky space of emptiness. “You have your kissy huggy reunion. I owe you that. A farewell is necessary for a reunion after all. You did the first part now enjoy the latter. I’m going to get us moving. No time to lose.”

“I… don’t even know where to start,” Felix mumbled.

“How about with the simple stuff. Like… I missed you. I love you. I’m sorry for being as ridiculously goody-goody as I was,” Kit apologized. “I’ve had… I’ve had a while to really think about it all. A lot of time with nothing but Lily and my thoughts.

“I was… I was really sanctimonious. Overly righteous. That the world needed me to be a hero because without me it’d fail.

“That was all just my own insecurities. My own… superiority or inferiority complex. One of them. Maybe both.

“Any-anyways. I’m sorry. I was foolish. I’m glad that in the end I’m given a chance to fix it.”

“Yeah, all that, except the apology,” Lily put in before Felix could respond to that. “No need for you to comment either on what she said. She’s punished herself. You can just accept it and we all just move on.

“Now, I was told to be huggy and kissy by the dickhead over there.”

“Hey,” Ryker muttered, his hands upraised and creating squares, rectangles, and straight lines in thin air. “Well… yeah. I’m a dickhead.”

“I got my huggy, now for the kissy,” Lily growled and then pushed Miu and Kit to the sides and forced her mouth up to Felix’s. Her kiss felt like it really did indeed have the weight of years behind.

“Oh… oh uh… well,” Faith murmured from behind him. Felix got the impression there was more than kissing Lily wanted to do.

“Ah… hello,” Goldie said with a clatter of golden rings on her horns. It sounded like to Felix that she’d reached up to touch her hair. Right now he couldn’t see anything as Lily was now searching his mouth with her tongue. “We didn’t know each other very well or for long. I’m Goldie. Gold Dragon. Leader of Felix’s Dragon Flight.

“This is Faith. I’m not sure if you two knew her or not. She’s essentially… well… she took over many of your duties while you were gone. I picked up many others.”

“I do remember. Somewhat,” Kit admitted with a wary tone to her voice.

“Don’t worry, we always knew the goal was to get you two back. I’m perfectly happy to relinquish my duties back to you two,” Faith confessed with a laugh. “I’d much rather be his body guard and follow him around. The busier I got, the less I saw him.

“Oh, and just to get it out of the way, the short version of events is we went to a new world and started Legion over. Started with a dump, literally, and worked our way up. We now hold power over the Heroes guild, the league of Villains, and a good portion of political power throughout the world.

“We just finished destroying a villain that showed up that was similar to Skipper… Andrea… Andrea died… and Ryker came and got us.”

Lily broke the kiss at that with a jerk.

“What? Andrea died?” demanded the sorceress.

“Yes. She’s dead,” Ryker confirmed. When Felix opened his eyes he saw the man had kept building out his magical boxes. They went as far as the eye could see in every direction now. “Not for long if I can help it. She wasn’t supposed to be dead in any way. I plan on fixing it. I’ve fixed worse.”

“Alright… time for our first pickup. You don’t need to do anything or say anything. These are all… err… reserve forces. In fact, you know what, don’t say anything at all,” ordered Ryker. “Just keep talking to one another. We have a few things to do before we get to the main portion. You can help with a few of those.”

“Oh,” Kit murmured, peering at Felix. Then she laughed. “I guess my other self thought I was a goody goody, too. It’d be interesting to meet her at some point.”

Lily frowned and looked to Kit with a scowl on her face.

“He said he’d fix it,” Kit said to whatever Lily was thinking at her. Or so Felix guessed. “If the Architect of the universe says he’ll fix or find Andrea, who am I to argue? It’s not as if we could do better than him.

“Now… it’s my turn, isn’t it? This is something I’ve never really done either so… it’ll be exciting. I’ve been dreaming about it for years.”

Kit moved in on Felix, put her hands to his chest, and kissed him.

Something he’d often fantasized about since he’d met her.

Unfortunately those fantasies always led to something he was positive he wouldn’t get to experience at the moment. Given his emotional state though, that felt like a boon rather than a curse.

***

For the last hour, Felix and company had watched Ryker push them through countless worlds. Some of them he opened portals and gave them orders, others he flung them through something similar to what he’d done to them.

Through it all, he didn’t offer much in the way of explanation. Other than he was collecting his various forces.

Felix had been shocked at first, then bored, only to become floored when he realized the scope of it all.

The Architect really had planned a massive thing and put it into motion. To slowly rise over time and make itself ready. This was on a scale that he couldn’t really comprehend.

In fact, he was fairly certainly the only person who could comprehend it was Ryker himself and that was due to the fact that the man was slightly mad. He’d only had to look into the man’s eyes when they first met to know that.

Over time, it’d only solidified into absolute truth.

Ryker laughed to himself, punched at the air, and a tear in reality rent itself into visibility. Chaotic energy spilled out from beyond and into this world.

“Hey, time to do your part,” commanded Ryker while peering into the rip.

A distorted and garbled voice came back. A language that Felix couldn’t understand as well as one that made him want to throw up for some reason.

“Yeah? Fuck you, too. Do it or I’ll send you to the Rainbow Unicorn education camp. You want that? I’ve got an opening. Nice and cushy,” Ryker asked.

A squeal of dissent came back. One that sounded very afraid and very respectful all of a sudden.

“Great,” Ryker hissed and then shut the tear. “Elder gods. They always think they’re the be all end all. Am I right?”

Ryker asked, looking over to everyone. They’d all taken seats and had been watching silently.

“I only know three gods. You seem the most terrifying,” Felix blurted out.

Ryker frowned, stared at him, then shrugged.

“Eh, whatever,” he said instead. Rather than bringing up the patterns that were starting to look familiar, Ryker started to do something else. “We’re finally all done with that crap. Time to move to the next phase. One where you get to be helpful.

“Your brother-cousin is currently keeping a very scary man busy. We need to go make sure he doesn’t knock his head off. So we’re going to go get the other piece of the puzzle.

“Amusingly, I can’t go there or it’d make some things go kaboom. Nor can anyone else. But you? You can. You can go right in there Felix and make this happen. Because you and your brother-cousin… ha… I like saying that. It sounds like daytime trash tv.

“You and your brother-cousin aren’t beholden to the same rules anymore. Part of me shipping you off world fixed that.”

“And what am I doing?” Felix asked.

“Finding a sweet little girl named Nia, who really wants to see her dad. For them, he left about a month ago. For Seville, or Steve I guess, he’s been gone… longer than any sane man would count.

“You’re going to pick up Nia, take her to Steve, and show him that our promise to him is true. That what we offered, is legit. Once he see’s Nia… he’ll know we were honest with him. Then it’s time for him to join us.”

“So… you counted it? The time, that is,” Felix asked instead. He was curious about how long it’d been. He could never tell when Ryker was being excessive or insane.

Ryker snorted at that, grinned, then nodded his head.

“Of course I counted it. How would I know it wasn’t worth counting otherwise? Not worth mentioning, really.

“Let’s just say it’s been a long time for him,” Ryker muttered then looked to his side. He held out a hand and slowly the magic he’d been building formed into an oval. “Only Felix and Faith can go in, to be clear. The rest of you would be horrible altered. I’ll send you to where they’ll go next. You can have a chit chat with his brother-cousin. And Steve. Try not to say too much to him. He’s probably the definition of ‘on edge’. Just wait, be pleasant, tell him Nia is coming.

“And before you ask, he could one shot Goldie with a slap. Or Gaia. Or Vince. Or… or me. Do not fuck with Steve.”

As Ryker finished speaking, the portal finalized and became material. Opening where they were to somewhere else.

“Before you ask, I’m going to be looking into Andrea right now while I have some time,” Ryker stated. “It’s better than sleeping. Sleeping is just a waste of time at this point. No time for it.”

I… okay.

The Architect is… is…way gone. He makes Miu look sane.

Right, Kit? Tell me you’re reading my thoughts my beautiful good-goody.

Just like you used to.

Please?

Kit didn’t say anything, though he did hear a momentary squeak that sounded like her.

“He makes me sound normal,” Miu whispered, stepping into the gap that Felix had hoped Kit would.

Ryker laughed at that and gave her a thumbs up at that. He grinned at her as he did it.

“Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t. Depends on the… timeline,” he said with a laugh. “But hey, I think you’re a lot of fun, Miu. It’s a pity my own Yandere is still trying to kill me, to save me.

“Seems kinda standard trope-meme-bullshit for it but I’d really prefer more Dere, less Yan. Whatever. Find Nia, talk to her, tell her you need to take her to her daddy. I’ll be back in a second to pick you all up after Felix goes through.”

Then Ryker simply winked out of existence. He wasn’t even there anymore. There’d been no inbetween moment.

He was just suddenly gone.

“I touched his mind,” Kit whispered. “Briefly. Ever so briefly. It was when he was finishing up that last portal spell.

“I… he… there was too much. If you’re a cabinet Felix, with all your memories locked into drawers… Ryker… Ryker was like… a planet. A planet filled with cabinets. Never-ending cabinets.

“Cabinets within cabinets within cabinets made of cabinets. Where every drawer is a cabinet. I don’t… I don’t want to… ever… even think a thought towards him ever again. That… that hurt.”

Turning his head, Felix looked to Kit.

She was crouched down low on the ground with her hands on her head. It reminded him of how she used to react to people overwhelming her with their thoughts and feelings.

“Sorry!” came a voice from nowhere followed by a clunk sound. It sounded like Ryker but Felix wasn’t sure. It could’ve been someone else.

A second later and Kit lifted her head up. She looked around, looked at her surroundings, then back to Felix.

“I… I was in pain. Why was I in pain?” she asked, sounding confused.

“You uh… looked into Ryker’s mind,” Felix answered, concerned. “You weren’t doing so well. You basically told us it was infinite.”

“Oh. I see. Alright. I suppose he removed it then,” Kit murmured, her eyes flicking from person to person around her. “Because I remember everything except touching his mind and that seems-seems like something only a god could do?”

“He did say sorry,” Miu stated flatly and without emotion. “You should go and get this over with, Felix. It seems dangerous to be around him. Around situations with him. We’re very strong as a group.

“But we’re not immortals. We’re not deities or gods. This is beyond us I think.”

“I agree with Miu,” Lily stated, pointing at the assassin. Then she gestured at the portal. A line of spellworking flashed into the space above them and activated. It was the fastest he’d ever seen Lily build and cast a spell before. “I’ve cast several enchantments on you that will hopefully help if anything happens.

“Go take care of the task so we can go, as Miu said.”

Sighing, Felix tore his eyes away from Lily and Kit. He didn’t want to leave after finally being reuniting with them. The whole situation felt bitter due to Andrea’s loss despite his gains.

Damnit.

Everything has gone so wild. So out of control. There’s too much going on.

Too much to handle and deal with. Far too much.

“I’ll catch up while you’re gone,” Kit offered. “And by the time you come back, Lily and I will be able to start helping. We’ll help. Don’t be so glum.”

Blinking, Felix looked back to Kit.

He’d lost Kit and Lily, depriving him of people he relied on.

He had to come here, and lost Felicia. A woman who had worked desperately to keep his mind moving in the right direction at all times.

Now he’d lost Andrea, something he thought that’d be part of his life regardless of whatever happened. That regardless of the situation, her inability to truly die would keep her at his side.

The idea of having two of the four pillars in his life stepping back in sounded wonderful and needed.

Nodding his head, Felix looked away, feeling somewhat cold inside. Things just didn’t feel right and nothing seemed to be correct.

A hand was laid to his back and began guiding him toward the portal. He didn’t have to look to know it was Faith.

Well… I do have Faith.

So is it five pillars?

I don’t even know anymore.

I just need my people around me. Need those who know me and help me, just as I do them.

Entering the portal, the pair exited it instantly. They were standing in an open green field. All around was a massive plain of grass.

In front of them was a wall made of logs. Or what Felix thought of as a palisade. It was massive and impressive. Stretching from one end of where he could see to the other. Stretching out in both directions.

There were towers dotted along it and people watching him from it. They were armed with what looked like either crossbows or bows. Felix couldn’t quite tell.

“Who’re you?” called someone from the tower. They sounded bored and curious in equal parts. “And what’re you here for?”

Felix took a slow breath, his eyes focusing on the tower.

Here we go.

“I’m here to talk to Nia!” Felix called. “I was told to come pick her up, so I can take her to her father. Steve!”

Seconds later, the drawbridge slammed down without a word. The thud of it hitting the ground caused Felix to feel his teeth might be shaken loose with the impact.

Putting on his best ass-kissing CEO smile, Felix bravely marched forward.