Super Sales on Super Heroes 4 -CH4-

Chapter 4 - In the Dumps -

“A lot of churches, not much else,” Andrea said loudly over the rustle of the wind. Goldie was very slowly circling over the small location they’d found by following the road.

“Yeah,” Felix said under his breath with a shake of his head. What they were looking at really seemed like it was rural.

Very rural.

While he wasn’t against such a location at his starting point, it was also something that’d be rather difficult. If there wasn’t money in the area, there’d be even less for him to take from others.

With his power limited to possession, that meant ownership of material or land. Since people weren’t part of that equation anymore it meant he had to really change things up.

Miu was wrapped around him from behind, Andrea directly in front of him, and Faith in front of her. They were all clinging to Goldie’s back by their bare hands and thighs.

She had to go quite slow so as they didn’t get thrown.

“That one,” Faith said and pointed an arm toward a building off to one side. It looked much larger than any of the other building nearby and had signage.

It had the look of a chain or a store that was part of a larger operation.

“That’ll work. We need camping gear anyways since we have no money. Let alone identification,” grumbled Felix. “Goldie, get us down there on the roof. We’ll cut through and take what we need.”

“Okay. Please hang on. I’m doing my best,” called Goldie as she started to bring them in slowly toward the building.

“You’re doing great Goldie, just keep doing it!” responded Felix and as strong a hand pat on her spine as he could manage. Hitting a Dragon’s scales really wouldn’t do very much but he had to at least try.

In no time at all Goldie had brought them down right on top of the building. Before her claws even made contact with the roof she’d already started changing into her human version.

Everyone hopped off before that happened.

Everyone except Andie, who clung onto Goldie like a backpack.

“You… are amazing,” Andrea said in a tone that was more like a statement. “Truly… amazing to see. And beautiful. Beautiful and amazing. You make my heart beat a little faster. Not as much as darling, but a little faster than normal.”

Andrea finished by kissing the Dragon’s cheek though she didn’t get down yet.

“Thanks, Andie. I’m flattered. But I’m not interested in women at the moment. Just… just my Nest-mate,” replied the Dragon, patting the Beastkin’s knee. Then she turned and looked to Felix and tilted her head to the side, her hands pressing to the bottom’s of Andrea’s thighs and holding her up. “Now what?”

Andrea was peering at Felix over Goldie’s shoulder, while Faith and Miu were both looking to him for direction.

The clothes Andrea had stolen hadn’t been enough for everyone as their shapes were all quite different.

A simple and pants for Felix that were a bit lose but workable.

There was also a dress, pair of pants, and two blouses that’d fit Goldie or Faith.

The latter of which was wearing what she could, the rest of which was wrapped into the other clothes and she was carrying them.

If Goldie wore anything right now she’d just shred it during the shape change.

There was also a shirt that’d fit Miu but nothing for her bottoms other than the bright yellow panties.

Andrea was wearing one of the blouses but almost looked like a kid wearing their parents shirt. There was far too much room in the shoulders and chest for it on her.

She was also lacking in the bottoms department as the only other option were the pants Felix was wearing. Those weren’t very tail friendly, either.

“We break in, obviously,” deadpanned Felix with a shrug of his shoulders. Then he turned and looked to Miu, than back to Andrea. “Would… my dear Miu and lovely Andrea please break in without setting off an alarm?

“Then if you don’t mind, rob the place for us? Faith, myself, and Goldie, aren’t really cut out for this.”

“Nn! Happy to if you can promise me I can sleep in your tent tonight,” demanded Andrea as she got down from Goldie’s back. There was an odd look on her face as she did so, giving Goldie a lingering look. Then she gave her head a small shake and looked back to Felix. Except it almost felt like he was looking at Adriana or Myriad, rather than Andrea. “I can do it. Sure. We just need to break through the ceiling, rather than the door or anything like that. There’s never anything that can set off an alarm in the cieling itself.”

“I did say one of your Others could sleep with me a long time ago,” Felix confirmed with a small smile.

At this point it’d be harder to sleep without Andrea next to him, than with him.

“That’d work,” murmured Miu who came over to stand in the center of the roof. She got down on one knee and then slammed her hand straight down into the ceiling.

Her fist went right through it. Then she moved her arm around and pulled her hand back.

There was a creaking and snapping noise as she quite literally tore a chunk of the ceiling free.

“Good idea, Miu,” complimented Goldie who got down on one knee near Miu and did the exact same thing that Miu had done.

Though she used both hands and tore up a large section of the ceiling.

Shit. How… strong is she? Almost as strong as Goldie?

Felix called up Miu’s stat screen.

Another Focus Type requirement. Yet… I have no idea what that is.

I’ll need to look into that as soon as I can. Seems to be a limiting factor to anything moving past a nine. It has to be exactly what Runner warned me about.

“Don’t break any glass or anything that might make a shattering noise,” warned Felix. “A lot of security devices in our old world had audio sensors that were tuned to glass breaking.”

Goldie made a happy chirping noise as she wrestled another section of ceiling. There was now a very reasonably sized hole that led into the building.

“Okay, it’s up to you Miu, Andrea. Do what you need to do. Just make sure you get some rope and something you can attach it to,” ordered Felix. “You’ll need a way back up and that means Goldie hauling you up here.

“While you’re doing that… Faith and I are going to take a looksie around the area since we’re dressed for it. Any concerns?”

Miu had already dropped down into the open hole and vanished the moment he stopped speaking.

“Nn! On it dear, darling, love. We’ll be back in a jif!” Andrea said. At some point she’d moved over to the hole. Giving him a smart salute, she simply fell backward and exited his view.

“I… shall remain and wait for them,” lamented Goldie with clear dissapointment. “Though in the future, when we can hide these and I have some clothes… I really would like to go out with you on a romantic walk.

“It isn’t fair that Faith and Miu will get all your attention since Andrea and I won’t be able to go into public.”

“I… alright. I’ll make sure to be fair,” promised Felix.

“Thank you, that’s all I ask. Now… shoo. Maybe see if there’s anything else we want to rob. Just go wait over there and I’ll come pick you up when it’s time,” suggested Goldie while indicating a rather dense thicket of trees to one side.

Felix could see that there were other buildings on the other side of it. For two people to hide in there in the dark it’d be a perfect place to wait.

Nodding his head, Felix and Faith wandered over to the side of the building. Below them was the backlot of the building they’d broken into.

All that was there was some dumpsters, trash, a bunch of cigarette butts, and a back door that was probably the loading bay. There was no way up, or down.

“My turn,” Faith said and stepped right up next to Felix. She wrapped her arms around his hips, then moved to the side of the building. Standing on the edge, she gave him a grin.

Then lifted him up into a princess carry.

Somewhat mortified, yet thankful neither Andrea or Miu could see it, he just held onto Faith. More so when she suddenly stepped off the edge and they plummeted to the ground thirty feet below.

When they hit the ground he felt Faith bend down then simply stand up. As if she hadn’t just dropped from a distance that could easily kill someone.

“There we are,” whispered Faith against his ear, her arms cradling him. It was at that moment that he realized he’d stuffed his face in her neck during the face. “I don’t mind carrying you, by the way.

“I’m not as strong as say Miu or Goldie but… I can certainly hold you without an issue.”

Felix knew first hand that Faith was actually quite strong.

“I’m good. Thank you, Faith,” said Felix and leaned back into her arms. “I… err… lovely view, and all. Quite comfortable. But I do need to walk.”

Faith was gazing at him and even before she did it, he knew the sex magic was coming. A second later and it washed over him, leaving him with a strong desire to get touchy-feely with her.

Another thing he’d learned about Faith was a lot of time her magic did what it wanted without her acting on it.

“Sorry, that one wasn’t on purpose,” she said quickly, putting him down on his feet. Unfortunately there’d been no shoes or socks in the laundry Andrea had stolen.

“I know, it’s fine,” Felix said soothingly, patting Faith on the shoulder. “Just you being yourself. I get it.”

Looking up from where she’d put him down he realized they were in a darkened area. There wasn’t any light that reached them here.

Distantly, across the street and a building down, Felix saw another person.

The only person, in fact.

The streets were empty and no one was about.

He had the feeling that most of these places had closed up at about seven or eight pm. The area being almost completely deserted by ten, let alone the time now.

He wasn’t sure what a clock would tell him but he’d bet on it being close to midnight.

Felix focused in hard on the person, a bare shadow with a human like outline at this distance, and tried to see what their stats would be if he owned them.

Ah, I see. In other words… ten might be the average. That means that… my people are all incredibly exceptional.

Good to have the baseline settled then.

There was a clatter to the side that got his attention.

A rat scurried out from under the dumpster and slunk off into the dark, moving alongside the wall.

A bottle slowly rolled away from the trash having been knocked free by whatever the rodent had done.

Staring at it as it rolled toward him, Felix had an idea starting to form in his head. One that entirely depended on a single simple law.

“Faith, what do you know about public domain and trash,” asked Felix and then bent down to pick up the glass bottle. Rotating it over in his hand he saw a notation on the back. One he recognized admittedly.

Recyclable.

Smirking to himself, Felix than tried something.

He wanted to make the bottle vanish into nothing and give him the points that it would be worth. For it to be stocked away in his point bank.

It was there one moment, then ceased to exist.

Raising his eyebrows he called up his point totals.

“Uh, what?” Faith asked.

Felix remembered belatedly that Faith was indeed a Dryad. A nymph.

A sex monster from a medieval apocalyptic world.

Her view on the world was quite different than his own. What she knew of public domain and trash law was likely limited.

“Anything that goes into the trash is considered abandoned property,” observed Felix as he walked over to the dumpsters. “That means anything in these is fair game for me to take, utilize or… destroy into points.

“Come on my pretty Dryad, come help me with our first harvest.”

Grinning like a mad man, Felix stepped up to the dumpster as a man might if he discovered buried treasure.

***

“I… you… smell,” Andrea grumbled, looking at Felix. Her nose was wrinkled and she was looking at him in a most displeased way.

“I do. I’m also much richer in points. For the price of smelling a bit south, I gained two-hundred points to spend.

“And before you ask how, trash is public domain. I cleared the dumpsters of everything behind the building.”

Felix gestured backward with a thumb thrown back toward the building.

Goldie clapped her hands together excitedly at the news, while Miu gave him a small smile and a nod of her head.

“Regardless of anything else, I can at least start scrounging up points like this. While it’s dirty, and not exactly… ideal, it’s workable,” Felix emphasized. “It’s points that I can turn into other materials that we can then sell. Possibly just for the gold-melt value or to a pawn-shop if I’m just modifying a ring or something.

“It’s a starting point. One that most people would fight us to have.”

Andrea looked excited now. Her brows were down and she was nodding her head emphatically.

Behind her, her tail was raising and partly quivering. A clear sign of her excitement.

“Yes! That’s brilliant. Good job, love,” Andrea said though in a tone that sounded a lot like Myriad’s. “That’s adaptive thinking that we’re going to need. This is why I put my faith in you, Felix.”

Andrea smiled at him and then gave his cheek a very gentle pat, but did nothing further. Letting her hand drop down back to her side.

“I… yeah. So, how’d you all do?” Felix asked, looking to Miu, Andrea, and Goldie.

The last was current in her dragon form and trundling their way. There was a very large number of packs, ropes, and things tied all about her body.

It gave Felix the impression of a strange fantasy type of novel. Where Dragons and other things might be used to transport goods and people rather than what they were.

Monstrous killing machines.

“Very well,” Miu said and then gave him a trembling smile. One that slowly became a wide grin. “I made sure to find good sleeping bags for us.

“Unfortunately, we only found one large tent. All the others were… damaged… somehow. It’s a shame.”

Miu’s eyes skittered away from him and ended up focusing on the point to the left of his boot. Though her smile continued to quiver on her face.

Yeah… you did that on purpose.

But that’s fine. That’s actually fully within my expectations.

“That’s fine. Somewhat of a shame though,” mused Felix in an almost offhand way. “There won’t be any chance for privacy. But that’s okay. We’ll make it work.”

Miu, Goldie, Faith, and Andrea all looked pole-axed at that. Apparently they’d considered all being in the same tent, but not the fact that it would limit them by all being in the same tent.

“I… there… might be one in there that isn’t torn up,” stammered Miu, turning to look back the way she came.

“No… no… there isn’t,” Andrea groaned with a shake of her head.

“Anyways. Let’s get going. We’ll see if we can’t spot another city from the air and head that way,” said Felix with a gesture to Goldie. Grinning to himself he was enjoying the moment. He was actually starting to get a handle on all these semi-cracked people around him. To the point that he felt somewhat teasing. Something he’d thought of doing, but had never actually done to the Dragon. “My dear Goldie, tell me where I should ride you. Do I grab your horns and hold on tight?”

Goldie’s golden eyes swung his way and locked onto him. Staring at him from a few feet away. Her pupils were slowly dilating the longer she stared at him.

Until the color fell away entirely and it was as if they were black cauldrons filled with ink.

“Yes. You will do that,” Goldie said in a growl while staring at him.

I… right.

Forgot that lesson.

Don’t… don’t tease the crazy person.

Miu, Faith, and Andrea were all talking about finding more tents and how to go about it. That or working out some type of sleep rotation, Felix wasn’t quite sure.

Don’t tease the crazy people.

Plural.

Moving forward he laid a hand to Goldie’s scaled brow and then moved to mount up on her. They needed to get going.

There were only so many hours in the evening and they needed to get a move on.

In short order everyone got up onto Goldie.

Who spent nearly the entire time staring at Felix with a sidelong look. One of her bottomless eyes always focused on him on her back.

“Goldie, this is on you. You’ve got the best eyes,” murmured Felix while feeling rather awkward. He really didn’t know what to do at this point.

Goldie had been staring at him for the better part of three or four minutes.

“Yes. I’ll do that,” she replied, watching him for several seconds more. Only then did she finally look ahead and start into the sky.

The beats of her wings took them rapidly upward.

Thankfully the motion only pushed them all down more firmly onto her rather than backward. Once she got going forward she’d have to do it at a much more sedate pace.

“It was better in her mouth,” grumbled Faith. “You should ask her to use her mouth.”

That was the absolute last thing Felix would be asking Goldie right now. He’d already rang a bell with his horn comment. He didn’t need to do more.

They gained altitude and began to slowly move forward.

Distantly, he could hear something thrumming behind them.

A rapid, repeating, and deep thudding that came through the darkness.

“That’s a damn attack helicopter!” yelled Andrea. “We need to get the fuck out of the sky and now!”

Goldie didn’t wait for further instructions. It was obvious she remembered what a helicopter was.

In fact, Felix felt like she’d already started to move as soon as they heard it. As if she remembered the sound quite clearly on her own.

Tucking in her wings partly she began to bring them down in a controlled dive. She was pitched at a very strange angle and was leading with her clawed feet.

Thankfully what she was doing had Felix plastered to her spine and unable to move. She wasn’t going to accidentally fling him free.

Then they slammed into a small wooded field several miles outside the small city they’d just robbed. Before she’d even fully come to a complete landing Goldie pushed herself into the trees.

Stuffing a great part of her body into the leaves and branches. Almost as a small animal might into a bush when hiding from an airborne predator.

Her head was low to the ground and she was peering up at the sky above.

Okay, she seriously has some trauma.

I didn’t even think about it.

Maybe she tried to grab a helicopter or flew into one directly?

The rotors on that would be pretty strong if it hit her, right?

Twenty seconds later and a v-pattern of helicopters with their lights off blew past over head. They were in a great hurry and didn’t seem to be slowing down for anything.

“Were they here for us?” Miu asked, watching the helicopters as they moved into the distance. It was a straight line with Goldie’s own path. “It seems unlikely.”

“I don’t know… it’s something we can’t really discredit either.. Helicopters take time to get moving and they don’t just… put to flight immediately. At least in our old world that held true.

“However, it’s not worth us tempting fate. At least not for tonight,” announced Felix. “We’ll just… camp for the night and talk tactics. Lots to discuss.

“Faith, have a chat with the trees. I know the last bunch didn’t have much to say of use, but here we’re just trying to find out if people come out this way.”

There was a lot to do still.