And that was that.
Felix grunted, and rewound the footage. He took a screen-capture of the black and white costumed man and sent it over to Lily.
Closing up his terminal, he laid his hands on his desk and thought.
The best option was to power up both Miu and Eva.
Doing so to Eva would reveal everything else though.
Making a decision, Felix looked up at the closest bodyguard.
“Please get Miu, and send her over to me. We’ve hit a snag and I seek her counsel,” Felix said.
Nodding his head, the bodyguard turned to one side and said something into his mic.
So be it. We’ll need to go about this another way I suppose. The Hero guild might not be the only one who knows.
What about the Villains? Nothing wrong with seeing what they know, right?
Maybe they’ll even trade me for the information.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Right up until I have to kill them, at least.
Chapter 4 - Hopscotch -
Miu came quickly. Stopping in front of his desk and then standing at a loose sort of attention, her eyes boring into him.
“Everyone out,” Felix said. “If your department head can’t protect me, no one can.”
The night crew of bodyguards only left after Miu gave them a quick nod of her head.
Felix laid his head back against the head rest of his chair when the door clicked shut.
“Wraith committed suicide while obeying orders,” Felix said simply.
Miu stood stock still for a moment, then nodded her head once.
“I’m considering upgrading you, and powering you up, in such a way as to replace him. The problem being that you’re also the department head for my bodyguards. I’d like your thoughts,” Felix concluded.
Miu shifted her weight uneasily from one foot to the other then clicked her tongue.
“I dislike it. But I agree that I am probably the best candidate. My natural power makes me formidable with even the least bit of training,” Miu said, her mouth turning down into a frown. “Victoria could take my place as department head, and probably should. She’s who they look to if I’m not around. To be honest the position was never permanent for me. I was only filling in.”
“And what position do you want then? You’re the mystery, Miu. I’ve tried to get into that head of yours. Heaven knows I’ve tried. But I can’t seem to get anything out of you. I want to know more. Know your desires. Your wants,” Felix said, leaning forward now.
He didn’t get too many opportunities to get into Miu’s comfort zone. Not ones that she brought up herself.
Miu’s nose twitched and she looked away to one side. After what felt like forever, she turned her eyes back to him.
“You would use that information to beguile me into working harder for you. Your carrot, as it were,” Miu said.
“I can’t deny that. But is that so bad? To be rewarded for your efforts? It’s not as if you’re not doing the work anyways,” Felix said, doing his best to sound reasonable.
Miu’s lips pressed together tightly, then shook her head.
“My wants and desires wouldn’t be attained easily,” Miu said.
“Try me, I’m open to suggestions.”
“No, you are not. This isn’t something that could be given,” she reaffirmed. Her voice had an odd pitch to it, and her eyes flashed in a peculiar way.
Kit had once said your mind was unique. Different even.
What are you hiding in there?
“And how would you know unless you asked?”
Miu shook her head again, then folded her hands together behind her back, and went into a rigid stance.
Recognizing it for what it was, Felix let the subject drop.
“List out everything you’ll need training- and power-wise to do Wraith’s job, if not better. I’m willing to dump a ton of points into you if that’s what it’ll take,” Felix said. Leaning back into his chair, he felt tired and drained.
“Understood,” Miu said. “I’ll have it for you by tomorrow at noon.”
“Thank you, Miu. You can go,” Felix said. There would be no further conversation without dragging it out of her.
And that wouldn’t really get him what he wanted.
Not really.
Grunting, Felix decided to wait up for Eva.
Then he’d crawl into bed and wait for tomorrow.
And whatever joys the day might bring.
Felix scoffed once and pulled up his terminal again. He might as well get some work done.
Before he even started to type, even before his bodyguards retook their positions, his phone went off.
Glancing down at the display he frowned.
Dimitry?
Tapping the accept button he pushed his earpiece a bit deeper.
“Felix here,” Felix said into the phone.
“Felix, it’s Dimitry,” said the Russian loan shark.
“What can I do for you?” Felix caught the eye of one of his bodyguards, pointed to his phone, then held a thumb up, then turned it down, then back up while shrugging his shoulders.
“Line’s clean, boss,” said the bodyguard.
“And by the way, line is clean on both ends,” Felix said, making sure to be direct and to the point.
Dimitry chuckled darkly.
“My thanks. I’d like to call in that second marker I have,” Dimitry said slowly. “It’s a simple meet and greet. I’m somewhat cut off from the rest of my organization here. It would go a long way to have a proxy relay information face to face about the situation. Having you do it in person would… I’d feel much better about it.”
That doesn’t seem like everything. What else does he want? I mean, he could just call someone or send an email in a cryptic way. Couldn’t he?
“I’d also appreciate it if you could give them two hundred thousand in cash,” Dimitry finished.
Felix mulled that one over. He owed Dimitry two more favors. Transmuting items to gold, changing it to cash, and then handing it over wouldn’t be terrible.
Not exactly pleasant, but not horrible.
“And that’d be your second favor? That’s all? Deliver the money, this is from Dimitry, thanks bye?” Felix asked. He wanted to clarify the situation. To make sure everything required was stated simply.
“That’d be it,” Dimitry confirmed.
“Alright. Send me the contact information. I’ll see if I can take care of it tomorrow or the next day. It’ll be done before the week is out though, I can promise that,” Felix said.
“Ah, thanks, Felix. I appreciate you keeping your word.”
“I wouldn’t be a good ally if I didn’t, now would I? Oh, I was wondering about that order of rifles?”
“Ah, yes. I turned those over to your personal bed assistant. She was quite eager to get another order of them.”
“Eh? Alright. I’m sure she has something in mind.”
“Wait, so she is?”
“Is what?”
“Your bed assistant?”
“For a bit now. Why?”
“She’s Myriad, right?”
“Yeah,” Felix said slowly.
“Does she… uh…”
“Does she?”
“Multiply… as well?”
Felix let the line hang open for a few seconds, a small smirk on his face.
“She does.”
It was two days later before Felix finally managed to make the time for Dimitry’s chore. That and to get the gold transferred to cash without creating a serious issue.
The IRS was probably watching Felix like a hawk. He had no doubt a few government agencies had suspicions about his newfound wealth.
In the end, he’d resorted to having a few trusted people take ownership of the gold and transfer it.
How many villains would trust their employees with that much cash, after all? None.
So no one watched as his people walked around with all that money.
Which led up to him sitting in the car.
Nervously sitting in the car.