WilliamDArand
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Super Sales on Super Heroes 5 -CH10-
🕑 Added 2022-06-16 00:54:32 +0000 UTCChapter 10 - Delusions -
“I… but… I did?” Kit asked almost no-one. Her head slowly turned and looked toward him. “With you? Oh my god.
“Different universes and… oh my god. Oh my god! It’s all too much and… no. No!”
Fuck!
She’s getting it all from every Andrea nearby all at the same time. Chances are it’s just an overwhelming kaleidoscope of memories.
“Kit! You need to keep it all contained for now. I know it’s hard to suppress the area effect telepathy but… do what you can. I’ll fix it. Again,” promised Felix with a growl. “For now we kind of need to kill those supers over there.”
Felix shook his head and looked to the dome.
Goldie had taken off at some point and was now flying low over it. She slammed her tail into it as she passed. The whole thing shuddering and sparkling with the weight of the impact.
Pulling at his power he wanted to know who owned that power so he could buy their contract, or their power.
To know what the name of the power was, and how it worked, so he could properly evaluate the costs to purchase said power.
Once again a simple window appeared in front of him.
Shield of Faith: Spiritual
“Lily, that’s a spiritual shield. It’s made of faith magic. I can reasonably bet that if you created a really strong and focused point of magic, like a needle, you could penetrate it,” Felix advised. “Could you put a spell together like that, then tie in another spell to the back of it to inject an explosive like fireball through that hole?”
“I… yeah, alright,” mumbled Lily, the construct at her side rapidly changing. “Err… you really do know what my power is?”
“He knows everything about us, Lilian Lux,” Kit mumbled in a broken way. “He can even help your brother.”
Lily’s eyes went wide and her nostrils flared. Her entire body had locked up and grown still. At her side the runes were moving faster and faster now. Building into a tightly compacted and frightening looking construct.
Goldie passed by the dome once more, this time laying down a massive wave of fire down across it. Bathing it completely and absolutely.
Yet once again, nothing really happened. The shield held.
“Tribune, get ready to lay them out. Use some of those non-lethal ordinance we put in your systems. I’d love to question them,” requested Felix.
“Yes, Legate,” Tribune responded.
There was a series of loud thumps followed by a number of projectiles slamming into the shield. Bouncing off it and then landing all around the dome.
A second or so after they landed they began to disperse gas. A great amount of it that rapidly obscured everything.
Lily made a simple hand gesture and a roaring lance of magic shot forward from her construct. It rapidly condensed itself into a odd thermometer looking shape.
Then it was gone, faster than Felix could follow. Vanishing into the massive cloud of gas. He heard a detonation that rumbled and shook everything.
“You… can help Lucian?” demanded Lily, pulling on his gauntleted arm.
“Contact,” reported an Andrea. He could hear gunfire over the coms and also in the distance. “Multiple squads. Military gear, body armor, trained tactics.
“Taking losses, request reinforcements.”
“Coming,” stated Faith, who pushed past Felix. She Alma, and Carlota ran off in a triangle formation. Heading out toward the distant edge of the parking lot.
“No, I’ve got it,” Felix grumbled and then tried to call up how much it would cost to allow Andrea to create twenty more others of herself.
Because to Felix, twenty more Andrea’s would be able to do more than the three Dryads. They’d likely start absorbing their dead, arming themselves from fallen enemies, or just rushing them headlong.
Felix accepted the cost and then cleared his throat.
“Better, Pancake?” he asked, trying not to pay attention to this world’s Lily holding onto his arm.
“Nn!” came the short happy response.
He knew for a fact that she actually enjoyed having as many Others as possible. Especially now that she was so sure of herself.
The gunfire he heard continued though it eventually started to trickle off.
“D-1 through D-3, collect the survivors. We’ll interrogate them,” Felix said. “We’ll… we’ll let Kit poke around in their heads.”
“Confirmed,” Faith said and then spun away. Carlota and Alma followed her on each side.
“Lucian!” demanded Lily, jerking on his arm. “You can help my brother? How! What’s wrong with him!?”
Wincing, Felix sighed and looked to Lily and Kit.
Kit was down on the ground on her hands and knees. She was currently throwing up violently onto the ground. Her entire back arching with each heave.
“Ooough… it’s too much,” groaned Kit, followed by a burp.
Then more vomiting.
“Lucian is just… suffering because of his power,” mumbled Felix. “It’s astral projection. Think of your own power but instead of mana, it’s him. He launched himself out of his body.
“He’s just lost and trying to find himself. That’s all. I’m sure I can put something together that’d help guide him back. Not something I can do easily or quickly.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes!” hissed Lily, her eyes flashing dangerously.
Felix could only nod his head. That all made perfect sense of course. That was who Lily was. She’d become a soul-eating monster in her previous life because she refused to bend or bow to anyone.
She’d never break and never crumble.
To turn away from the possibility of saving her little-brother would be impossible for her.
“I’m me but not me,” moaned Kit, pressing her forehead to the ground. “I’m me but not me. There’s other… other woouuuugghh-”
Kit once again began to throw up.
“It’s… gonna be a long story,” muttered Felix.
“Cloaked vehicle detected. Engaging,” reported Tribune a moment before her cannons opened up. The deafening roar of her ordinance cut any further chatter off.
Not far away a large saucer like vehicle was starting to lift off into the sky. It was rapidly gaining altitude in a way that didn’t seem normal.
Felix wasn’t sure of the means of propulsion but it was absolutely silent.
He’d bet on it being a super power, in fact.
All the rounds slammed into it. Tearing off a massive section and sending it careening sideways through the sky.
Only for Goldie to intercept it and snatch it out of the air. Holding onto it with all four of her limbs she began to wing her way back to the Association.
“Legate, Tribune reports the situation has been resolved,” declared the VI.
Yeah… no… not so much.
Lily was glaring at him, still holding onto his arm, while Kit moaned above a large puddle of puke.
Goldie landed not far away and dropped the large saucer like ship to the ground. She hesitated for a moment and then looked to Felix.
“Leave it to the Pancakes,” he said when he realized what she was contemplating. “Just wait for them to get here and then we—”
Andrea Prime, Third, and fourteen all came over. They were unarmored but armed. All smiles and looking quite lethal as well. Prime even had blood splashed across her face.
“We’ve got it,” said Prime with a wave to Goldie. “Go get changed and help Legate.”
“Alright,” rumbled Goldie. Moving away from the saucer and then shifting into her human form. Though her ears and horns were visible now. She met Felix’s eyes and then sauntered over to him.
Her strut-like walk had been fully incorporated into her gait. It gave her a provocative and seductive look whenever she moved.
It often made him feel like prey.
Grinning at him she watched him for several seconds before moving past him to Kit. Laying a hand on the woman’s back, Goldie was peering at the back of the woman’s head.
“There, see?” Goldie asked in an odd way.
“I… yes. I do,” mumbled Kit. “Okay… o-okay. That… helps. Thank you, Goldie.”
“Of course. This, too, though,” the Dragon continued.
“Oh. Oh… yah,” Kit whispered, her voice trailing off.
It seemed like the conversation was continuing through telepathy now and no longer with words.
“Enemy in retreat, Pancakes in pursuit,” called an Andrea. “Let none escape we’ll— oh, hi Shadow. I missed you!”
There was a thump followed by a groan.
“Andie, not so hard,” moaned Miu. Somehow it managed to make it through Andrea’s open microphone.
“But I missed you!” Andrea argued. “Oh! Another Miu! Hi hi, come here. Huuugs!”
“Mmf,” grunted a new voice that was likely the other Miu.
“I have two Mius, one Dragon, and one Human! I’m rich!” proclaimed Andrea.
“I missed you too, okay? Stop. Let go of the other me,” Miu huffed, then sighed. “Did you take care of him?”
“Yes. I reminded him often that about everything you said to—”
Before it could go any further Tribune thankfully cut the feed. He wasn’t sure who did it or why, but that wasn’t anything he wanted to hear.
Miu would likely have started killing as many Andrea’s as she could.
“Thanks,” Felix got out and then turned around. Heading for the lobby he was surprised to see all the windows were darkened and shielded.
There was no way anyone in the lobby could have seen what was happening.
“You’re welcome, Legate. I closed them after I let Hero Kit and Hero Lily exit,” Tribune reported. “Legionnaire Georgia identified them as Hero’s Guild prospects. Encouraging heroic behavior on their part would be ideal.”
Probably.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Kit will likely peel my thoughts out of my head and realize what I’m doing, that is. Given her heroic nature in her other life, it’s quite likely she’ll be the same way here.
This is likely not… going to go very well.
“Let’s wait, dear,” Goldie said, lifting her head and looking to Felix. “Tribune will hold the perimeter and the road closed until Andrea’s back.
“Then we’ll head inside. Besides, Kit could use a few minutes. She’s still processing everything.”
“Tell me you’re help my brother,” demanded Lily, once again.
Nodding his head, Felix felt overwhelmed. He didn’t feel like there was much else he could do.
***
Felix sat down in his office. Hesitating for only a second he then pulled his helmet off. There was no point in trying to hide anything from Kit at this point.
She’d be better off knowing all that he did, realistically. So long as he didn’t think at her roughly, or push thoughts, she’d be able to work through it gradually.
Lily, Kit, Goldie, Andrea, Miu, Faith, Alma, and Carlota were all here with him. All staring at him and each other in equal measure.
All the Andrea’s had condensed down into their Prime, though the Miu’s were sticking close to one another.
Thankfully Felix could tell who was who at a glance. He’d be concerned if he ever mixed them up visually. He wasn’t sure Miu would forgive him.
“She would,” whimpered Kit, her head resting on the desk. “She’d forgive you even if you carved out her intestines and fed them to her. So long as you told her you loved her.
“And she missed me. That I accepted who she was with only a modicum of concern. But I’m not Kit. I’m not your Kit.
“All your feelings, your thoughts, your emotions, they’re too much. They resonate in my head like a bomb going off with an unending echo. I can barely think.”
Felix had an inkling that it was because she was Kit, but also not Kit.
That there was some type of problem with the “congruence” as Uncle had called it.
No sooner than he thought of the man, then thoughts Felix had tried to keep quiet bubbled up. Thoughts he didn’t want to consider that were problematic to say the very least.
Thoughts that made Felix question the very reality of the world he was in.
That he’d somehow “soft-locked” the world.
As far as Felix knew, the only thing that could be soft-locked were computers and video-games. When he started to follow that thought further he started to feel an incredible pressure inside his forehead.
Skittering away from that he instead concentrated on Uncle himself. Along with the fact that he needed the man’s help.
He had the feeling that whatever was wrong with Kit was only going to get worse.
Pushing out with his power, Felix simply wanted to know what it would cost to help Kit with whatever was wrong with her. As if Uncle had intervened and provided him with assistance.
There was no response.
Nothing came back to his inquiry and his power made no move.
“That’s nice of you,” mumbled Kit. “I’ll be fine. Just fine. I just need some time to process it all. If you can fix my power like you did the other me, that’d be great.”
Lily was watching the whole thing quietly, her eyes moving about the room as things progressed. She didn’t say anything though, she merely watched.
“You’re not wrong, Lily. They knew an alternate version of you, too. You were married to Felix,” Kit got out in a whisper, one hand pointing at Felix. “He loved you desperately. Would do anything for you.
“For me. For all of us. Legion… Legion First. They’re not from this world. This universe. They’re from another universe. Their universe version of you and me… we… fled. Sacrificed ourselves.
“They’re here to get them back. Even if it means turning the whole world upside down.”
“Well, not quite,” interjected Felix. “I wouldn’t want to do anything that Kit, my Kit, would hate me for. Nothing that would make her despise me.”
“She’s a goody-goody,” groaned Kit, gently tapping her forehead against the desk. “I don’t know what happened in her past, but it didn’t to me. I’m all for doing the good thing, the right thing, but not at my own expense.”
“Right,” huffed Lily. “Let’s say I believe it. There’s no way you could prove it. Unless you want to help my brother. That’d make me believe it.”
“I’m not here to make you believe it,” Felix said with a shake of his head. “I’m not here to convince you, know you, or anything else, to you.
“I’ll be honest, to me, you’re strangers. Your not the people I care about, even if you look like them. Sound like them. You’re not them. That’s just the reality of it.”
“You have a birth-mark right next to your privates. On the right side,” Kit whispered, still tapping her head against the desk repeatedly. “He knows you used to call it your spunk-spot.
“He knows all the details about me, too. It’s almost too much. I can see all his memories of me, that aren’t me. It’s too much.”
Sighing, Felix leaned back in his seat and looked to the ceiling above them.
“Look, you’re strangers to me,” he said, firming his resolve and looking to the two women. “It’s nice to see you two doing so well, that there’s alternate versions of my loved ones, but you’re not them. So… let’s just go from there.
“In fact, let’s just—”
Felix leaned over and pulled Faith’s Legionnaire helmet out of her arms. Leaning over pushed Kit’s head up partially, then shoved the helmet down over her head.
“Oh,” came Kit’s voice, though severely muffled. “Oh that’s… that’s lovely.”
Laying her head down on the desk she went still. Her body started to relax.
“We’ll need to make her an Augur helmet I guess,” Felix guessed with a shake of his head. “As well as some type of homing beacon for your brother, Lily. That shouldn’t be too bad.
“Though I do have a favor from the two of you I need you to do for me. Something I think both of you can do easily.”
Lily lifted her chin up, looking down her nose at him. Her mind had clearly jumped straight toward wanting a sexual favor.
“Sure. Whatever. Just want a helmet like this,” whispered Kit. “Ever since a week or two ago, I can’t tune it out. None of it. It’s constant. Constant and never ending. I can hear the evil of everyone.
“Their dirty thoughts. Constantly. Never ending. The cruel and criminal wishes of the many.”
Err… was it her power itself that skewed her personality?
Huh. Something to consider I suppose.
“That’s fine. It’s a simple request,” Felix continued. “I need people to lead the Guild of Heroes. Or at least, guide it if not lead it.
“People I can put in charge of it so that the guild has a good chance to do the right things. At the right times.”
“Liar,” whispered Kit.
Felix smirked at that and then sighed. He’d figured out how to make this work for him, but it would also be rather strange in a way.
“The second part of that favor is for you to give me control over your powers. For you, Kit, I’m going to modify it a bit so it’s more controllable but allow you to temporary modify the memories of others.
“Then I’m going to have you wipe the memory of this whole thing from your own mind, and Lily’s mind. You’ll receive your helmet, and your homing beacon, from the Association, rather than me.
“I’m going to make sure all my people get a telepathic blocking device so this situation doesn’t repeat itself.
“That’s my favor and the the price I’m willing to pay.”
“Yep, I’m good,” mumbled Kit. “Fire away.”
“Lucian will wake up?” Lily asked, her eyes softening slightly.
“He will. Though… err… did you want him to be normal? I accidentally fixed his… different… nature last time,” Felix admitted. “You weren’t exactly thrilled about that, but you didn’t seem angry either.”
Lily looked shocked, blinking rapidly. Then she shook her head slowly.
“Just… have him wake up please,” she answered. “He’s just fine how he was.
“If that’s what the deal is then… yeah. I’ll take it, too. I can do that.”
“Alright. Then we can move this along,” Felix said and turned to looked at Goldie.
She gave him a small nod of her head, which meant Lily had definitely agreed to it. There was no way he could make this happen without Kit being on board, but he imagined she wasn’t lying when she said she’d do it.
“Uhm, uhm… nn… can I hug both of you, before you get the mind whoosh?” Andrea said suddenly. “You’re not… not my friends but… you look just like them. Can you just pretend for a minute and hug me?
“Hug me like I’m your best friend and missed me? Just… just once. Just for a bit. Please? I miss you guys. So much.”
Lily’s face twitched and Felix saw her soft heart become exposed. Lily could be kinder than Kit when it came down to it.
Kit saw herself as a crusader of goodness and did what she did out of duty.
Lily did everything that she did because she believed in her emotions. Good or bad.
“Okay, that’s fine,” Lily said with a sad smile. “Come here then. Let’s give you a big hug, Andie.”
Andrea made a soft huffing noise and then slammed into Lily. Nearly knocking her out of the chair.
The sorceress hugged her tightly, just as the real Lily would do.
“Oh knock it off, Andie,” growled Lily as the Beastkin began to whimper, than cry loudly. “Stop it. You’ll… you’ll see your own Lily soon enough I bet.
“Okay? She wouldn’t want you to be like this. If she’s anything like me, she’d just tell you to tough it out and push through.”
“She wooooooooould,” howled Andrea loudly. “Lily come baaaaack!”
Wincing, Lily just gently patted the other woman and held her. Almost exactly as their own Lily might.
Comments
DiabolicalGenius
"For you, Kit, I’m going to modify it a bit so it’s more controllable but allow you to temporary modify the memories of others." Can't quite tell if he's saying he's going to temporarily give her the ability to modify other's memories, or if the ability will only modify their memories temporarily and they'll get their memories back later.
Kevin McKinney
Really good chapter …
William D. Arand
I always read the comments.
Paul Bystrom
Arand himself. It's like I drew the Overgod's attention by thinking about the world too hard. :)
William D. Arand
Because it isn't -his- Kit. he doesn't own her.
Paul Bystrom
Good chapter BUT... How is kit reading his mind at the end? She couldn't read his mind in the first series or at the end of the last chapter. At the end of this chapter though she's reading his mind as he thinks about Miu.
Eliseo Rios
I second this lmao
David Fletcher
Faith magic is different.
David Fletcher
Why hasn’t anyone called her Miutwo?!?!
William D. Arand
Actually, that was kind of the goal. It needs to be trivialized. It isn't Kit. It isn't Lily. They're strangers. It isn't a Reunion
yo dude
I don't think it's unreasonable, since the premise is basically redoing what Felix did in his first world, but better, so skipping management minutia makes sense. Just kind of hoping for a bit more depth. Like, the reunion of kit and Lily was something that's been building up for a while. If it'd happened outside of a fight, it'd get a lot more attention it's due. Or at least unpacking the emotional bomb going off in her head. Asking her to just bear with it until they can delete her memories seems like it's treating it too trivially.
William D. Arand
That's fair. First arc does tend to move swiftly and quickly. First book most definitely so. Second book tends to be where things start to get off the rails further and further, often with the second arc. I can try to add some filler or fluff I guess to bridge it. I just tend to skip it since it feels like a waste of words.
yo dude
Something I've kinda wondering about, especially with dragons around, couldn't they just table flip the whole barrier or just punt it? I always thought of barriers and shields to just be anchored to the person rather than the physical location
yo dude
I'm not unhappy with the end results or direction things are going. It's just that there's no real passage of time. People talk about needing to do something in one city, and then the next chapter they're already in that city doing something.
yo dude
The pacing of the last few books seems too fast. A lot of fights just end up getting steam rolled. No build up or tension. Things just kind of happen explosively and then resolve itself just as fast. There seems to be minimal fallout or consequences.
Drew Risch
Oh, I didn't know I'd be crying today. Cool. Cool cool cool.
KiwiHermit
Damnit. I'm currently in my workplace break room and thankfully alone because I just teared up HARD reading this chapter. Will, your writing absolutely rocks my dude.
Nicholas Donovan
Felix is going to Awaken soon isn't he? He is a few steps in that path, all he needs is an oopsie and light push of a thought he refuses to let go of.
James Breaux
Kill em or screw em, either way someone is getting stabbed with something.
Nicholas Donovan
If it does my bet is the middle end of this book before the end spiral where there is only action and issues, and the actual consequences being in the third book of this trilogy right before he is in the position he needs to be before ending up where he will be. It's also likely that either they will be fully sidelined or some heartbreaking scene that will galvanize Felix's resolve to get his own Kit and Lilly back while full of regret. It all really depends on how much of a twisting William wants to give a dagger to our emotions.
David Fletcher
Wow. That hit hard. Edit: I can’t see the memory removal working anything beyond the very short term. They’re going to accidentally treat them differently and will have to tell them some of it again so Kit and Lilly don’t leave or go rogue.
James Breaux
I bet the mind wipe wears off and he somehow ends up with 2 kits and lillys
Drfman
OK that was heartbreaking seeing Andie cry. Worse than last trilogy's post epilogue.
