“Ok, and how can I help with the control?” Felix asked. He genuinely wanted to help.
Miu suddenly made a lot more sense to him. All the way around, even.
She wasn’t avoiding him, she was controlling herself.
She didn’t despise him, she loved him, and hated herself.
“Don’t… look at me. Let me rebuild my defenses. I just need time. If I can get a f—” Miu stopped, her eyes unfocusing. “Someone is suppressing my power.”
“Isn’t me, but Victoria did mention that villain around here. Come on, we need to go,” Felix said. Looking around, he found the exit and started making his way over.
Miu grabbed him and pulled him through a doorway and into an office. She immediately went about reorganizing the room, moving things in front of the door to block it.
“They already know we’re here, I could hear them, right before my power was squashed. We’re surrounded. We’ll need to hold out till help arrives,” Miu said grimly.
“Miu, no one knows we’re here,” Felix said, watching her from the corner.
“I know. But the good news is in squashing my power, they also gave me my control back,” Miu said, shoving a filing cabinet over.
Felix shook his head. That was a strange thing to be happy over when people were slowly encircling you for god only knows what.
“Come on out. We’ll be taking everything off you, then deciding what to do from there,” called a voice.
Yeah, fuck that. That usually ends up with a gang bang and a bullet.
“Don’t answer that, we’ll pretend we’re deaf for the time being. Ammo count?” Felix asked.
Fumbling through his pockets, holster, and belt, he found he had his pistol and all three clips.
“Didn’t plan to. Offers like that never stand up. Forty-eight rounds,” Miu said. She’d moved everything heavy to the door, and now was crouched low in a corner nearby.
“Hey now, come on out. We can make this quick and easy. Painless even,” called the voice again.
Felix pulled two of his clips from his belt and underhanded them to Miu. “You’re a better shot,” he said by way of explanation. He kept the clip that was in his pistol, and a second for himself.
Settling back into his original position he held his pistol in both hands, waiting.
“So… you’re not… sickened with me?” Miu asked.
“Huh? Oh, no, not really. You sound a bit on the cracked side but… so do most of you. I mean, you should have heard Kit before I started poking around in her power set,” Felix said seriously. “I’m flattered in a way. Not sure what I did to deserve your attention.”
“I’m unsure myself, but I cannot help but admit I was attracted since the start. Not in love, but attracted. It built slowly,” Miu said, leaning her head against the wall. “And here we are. I finally lose it, you find out, and don’t even seem to care. And we’re going to die here.”
Pursing his lips, Felix couldn’t exactly disagree with that sentiment.
Looking around the messed up office, he tried to take stock of everything, and what he had available to him.
There really wasn’t a whole lot. Everything you’d expect in an office.
Even an old landline phone.
Felix snatched up the old cordless phone and pulled the receiver off the hook.
He got an immediate dial tone.
“Ha, no signal to block or deny. It’s a hard-line,” Felix said. Flipping his wrist over, he checked his personal phone. With a flick of a finger, he looked at his address book.
Who to call? Who would be the most likely to get here as quickly as possible. They could rush us down at any second.
Wait.
No.
Lily and Andrea worked in these circles. Let’s… let’s try them first.
Looking from the phone to his wrist display and back, he began to dial Lily’s phone number.
“What are you doing?” Miu asked.
“Calling Lily,” Felix said, pushing in the last number.
“Lily? What?”
Smiling at Miu, Felix pressed the phone to his ear.
The line began to ring.
Felix held his breath. He didn’t stop to consider what to do next if she didn’t pick up. Or if her signal was bad as well. Or if—
“Legion, this is Miss Lux,” came the silky voice of Lily.
“Oh thank god,” Felix said into the phone. “Lily, it’s Felix. I’ve got a bit of a problem here.”
“Felix? What are you—wait, no. What problem? How can I help?” she asked.
“Do you know anyone by the name of… what was it, Miu? Neutralizer?” Felix asked.
“Yeah, Neutralizer,” Miu said.
“Neutralizer?” Lily repeated curiously. “I’m not sure. It sounds familiar. Andie, do you know Neutralizer?”
“Huh? Vaguely. You sure you don’t want another pancake? Who are you talking to? Can we leave yet? I want to see Felix,” came the faint voice of Andrea.
“I ask because he’s got us cornered in an office. Miu and I, that is. His special power is literally neutralizing others’ powers,” Felix said.
“What!? How’d that happen! Where’s Vicky?” Lily asked in a dangerous tone.
“Long story. Short version, lots of shit,” Felix said. “So, anything on this Neutralizer I can use? Kinda stuck h—”
“Andie… Andie. Andie! I need Myriad, Felix is in trouble,” Lily snapped at Andrea.
The chattering on the other side of the line went deathly silent.
“What?” Andrea asked finally after a few seconds.
“Someone named Neutralizer has Felix cornered. Do you know anything about him he can use?” Lily asked, the phone slightly muffled.
“Yeah, put me on the phone with Felix,” Andrea said.
“Ok, here. One second Felix, here’s Andie. Oh, before I go, does Neutralizer know it’s you? That it’s Legion? Start there,” Lily said.
Then the phone was audibly passed to someone else.
“Lily is right, first check and see if he knows who you are. This might be easily avoided,” Andrea said into the phone. Her natural personality was gone.
Myriad was here.
“One second,” Felix said, covering the phone receiver. “Hey! My name is Felix! Felix Campbell. Owner and CEO of Legion. I think we should talk before this gets any worse.”
“Oh! A CEO? Great. Let’s talk about your bank numbers,” called back the same voice.
“No go. They don’t know me. If they do, they don’t care,” Felix said back into the phone. “Any possibility they’d know you? Can I use you and Lily as leverage and a fear factor?”
“Yes. Throw the phone at that idiot. I’ve met him a few times. I can end this immediately. I’ll tell him exactly what’s going to happen if he doesn’t fuck off and leave you alone,” Andrea said into the phone.
“Hey! Does it help if I tell you Mab and Myriad work for me? In fact, Myriad says she’s even met you. I have a phone in here with me and she’d like to talk to you,” Felix called out.
There was silence in return.
Seconds ticked by and Felix was starting to wonder if this was about to go sideways on him.
“Myriad and Mab?” came the voice again. Less confident this time.
“Yeah, they work for me in Legion. Along with Augur and War Maiden,” Felix added, sensing this might be his chance to make this swing in his favor.
Again the silence for a response.
Miu smirked and shook her head. “I now wish I had worked harder to make a name for myself. To inspire fear in the hearts of your enemies.”
“Well, considering I pushed your powers into a whole new dimension the other day by giving you all of Wraith’s and a few others’, I’d say earn your name now. In Legion,” Felix said.
He really had given her Wraith’s entire powerset along with an on/off switch. The only problem was that it was just as vulnerable as her normal powers to this Neutralizer fellow.
“I… think I will do so. To be known for my work in supporting you would be acceptable. I’ll need a good name though. Miu is not very impressive,” said the crazy woman who wanted to kill and eat the women around him.