Amelia, Ch 397- Ayane
I took a slow, deep breath, calming myself for what was to come. The humiliation and self loathing that I would be experiencing soon. The basic armor they'd given me was as impressive anything I'd ever seen in Japan. The kind of armor that most Tinkers would envy and protect jealously from theft, and they claimed it was simple for Avalon to mass produce them.
A certain part of me wondered if it was a sort of salesman bluff, that they pretended this was 'basic' when really it was an improved model meant to impress consumers, with myself as the consumer. Selling our loyalty for this equipment. As powerful as it was, I had to imagine they'd be terrified of someone reverse engineering it. Speaking of which. I glanced over at Hoji. "So, have you taken yours apart, yet?"
He shook his head. "I'm afraid there's no point. It's over sixty five percent organic. And thirty percent modified Endbringer tissue. I understand none of it. The remaining parts relate only to the viewscreens and speakers and control systems. Advanced, perhaps even decades ahead of modern technology, but not Tinker advanced. And the shunt drive, which is what I don't want to mess with. I've no desire to accidentally teleport myself into nowhere."
So he can learn nothing from it. I'd hoped... but, no. "It is to be expected. They have almost every high level biomanipulator on record in their organization." Or the ones that were still alive and not an Endbringer, at least. I tactfully left out the Tinker powers I lightly called on, powers far greater than his, and got the same results.
Hoji hesitated and looked away. "Does this mean you'll be... fully... uniting our team with theirs?"
My heart broke for him. I reached out and cupped his face in my hands, turning his face so I could look him in the eyes. "I don't know. I just don't know."
I pulled him in and kissed him. His scent and flavor was weak. To be expected of someone who would barely rank a three on the American charts. My power considered him beneath its interest. Tepid, plain. To me it was the exact opposite. Clean water and a breath of fresh air in a land strong drink and perfume. A man I love because I love him, and no other reason. "I am so sorry."
We were the same age, but any looking at us would guess him to be my father before they'd suspect we were lovers. I never changed, staying perpetually the twenty two year old I was when Kyushu was destroyed. While each year his wrinkles deepened a little more, a few extra hairs turned gray. How many of those worry lines are for me, and us, and what I do?
His tears ran across my hands, feeding me what little power they could as they evaporated. My own fell as they may. "I have to go now." My words a plea for forgiveness.
He said nothing as I stepped back, taking my hands off of him before activating the shunt drive. In an instant too fast to be disorienting, I was on Avalon. I couldn't live with the shame of him seeing my behavior, not amongst people as powerful as Pantheon.
The boy waiting there was beautiful. A masculine face with feminine eyes. His scent that of a mysterious song loud enough to hear, but not enough to recognize the tune or lyrics. A love song half remembered. I reached out and took his hand immediately. "Oh. Uh, so you already know how my power works?"
I let my tongue snake out between my lips, wetting them. "Maybe I just wanted to hold your hand?" I understood the vaguery of his power. The need for contact to work, a wonderful excuse to justify the physical contact. And he had the ability to reach across great distance. A power of summoning and banishment. The rest was assumption, logic, and decades of experience. "So, what's your name, sir?"
He looked down at my figure. Even this generic, almost unisex armor couldn't hide my assets. "I'm Janus. I have teleportation powers. Now, this can be a little disorienting your first time-"
My laugh was low and soft. "I'm sure you'll be gentle."
His blush was a treat. We shifted. It was a little like the shunt drives, but mostly it was an entirely new sensation that danced across my skin and through my being. His power has a transformation element built in.
And then the smells hit me on the other side. My knees buckled, and only Janus holding me kept me from collapsing in a heap as pleasure intense enough to be indistinguishable from pain rippled across my body. I interpret my power as scents, and for the most part that was true. But when things got intense enough, it hit everywhere, my entire brain and every sense. This was too much, too fast, I didn't have time to scream or cry, merely to gasp and struggle to breath.
"Are you okay?" Janus asked, gently keeping me from collapsing while doing his best to not make any more physical contact than absolutely necessary.
I stood, my impulses no longer focused on him. I forced myself to take deep breaths. It's not really a smell. It doesn't come through the air. You can breathe without it causing problems. This isn't Kyushu. You have time, you have air. "Y-yes. My senses were overwhelmed, that's all. I'm already recovering. There are a lot of incredibly powerful people around here, aren't there?"
He kept his hand on my arm, and I found myself getting annoyed with it. What did I ever see in him? "I'm sorry, I'm sure if they knew it would inconvenience you like that, they would have arranged this meeting elsewhere."
"That's quite alright. I'm accustomed to it now." I hope no one would be too upset if I kidnap that purple eyed girl and take her home with me. I'll bring her back in a week or two. "So, where do I go?"
He pointed to one of the shorter buildings. "That's where you want to go. Right in the main doors, you can't miss it."
I smiled, just to be polite. "Thank you. I'll see you around." The last part felt awkward. It was hard to be flirty when I didn't mean it. I turned and let the suit's antigravity do the work for me. Hoji's meager Tinker abilities telling me just how remarkable the armor was. I'd used flight powers before, many times and from a lot of sources, but rarely were they as intuitive as this armor. I dipped into my reserve of Honoka's perfect agility to land gracefully and walk in. I need to find find time for a recharge with her, soon.
A very beautiful woman waited at the front desk. She looked at me "Akaihana?"
I nodded. "Yes. Have you been waiting long?"
"Not at all." She stood and approached me. "I'm Noelle. If you'll just follow me." She led the way, and I ignored the tingling sensation of my legs brushing together as I approached possibly the most potent gathering of powers I'd ever been able to experience. Instead, I focused on Noelle. She was without any power, so my assessment of her beauty was a simple acknowledgement that the tall redheaded woman was naturally good looking.
She reminded me of that one character in that old American movie. I couldn't remember anything about it, except that it had normal people and cartoons at the same time. And she looked like a real version of the woman in that who was married to a rabbit for some reason. I spent my time trying to remember more details, anything to distract myself from what was coming. Something about bowling balls? Meanwhile, Noelle led me along in silence. She seemed nervous about me, for some reason. Maybe she just knew that I was a high level Trump, and that frightened her?
"We're here," she announced, placing a hand on the door, which pulled itself open like a set of living curtains.
I walked into the room. Gaea I met, Khepri I recognized. Their aroma blended in a way that I couldn't describe, but it made me warm all over. It took me a few seconds to even bother checking the others in the room, the pair was so overpowering.
A woman in battle armor that was clearly not a parahuman. The sickly sweet, rotting cherry scent of Hecate. The beautiful purple eyed girl whose name I'd forgotten, but was ever so delectable, next to a small blonde whose power to bend space I'd seen used, and a boy that I didn't know. They were all very powerful, any one would have been a centerpiece in most teams. This is not most teams.
And several others I didn't know. Most were fairly unremarkable, but for three. In the back, near two uninteresting parahumans, and two of the monster capes- one that smelled of poison and another of dying flesh, was a girl with an incredible, elusive power. It changed from moment to moment. Familiar and alien all at once. As if reading a beautiful and fantastical poem.
In front, near me, a blonde with a scent very similar to purple-eyes. And a man in obviously high end Tinker armor. His power was... strange. His scent neither sour nor sweet as I was used to, instead it was bitter and hot. Like the still glowing embers of a campfire that had died out. A deadly, terrifying smell that made me feel just a twinge of fear. I would attempt nothing with this one.
"A pleasure to meet you," Khepri opened. Her voice was lyrical. She didn't sound particularly pleased, but that didn't matter to me. My body responded with a heightening of anticipation. She could have threatened to murder me and I would have loved every syllable.
"The feeling is quite mutual." I let the last word come out low and sultry, enticing her to think of meanings. Her scent shifted, blending again with Gaea's. I had trouble distinguishing one Empress from the other, but I could smell that Gaea's reaction to the comment was far more favorably than Khepri's. And despite my flirt with Khepri, she was the one who smelled of jealousy, not Gaea. I wasn't certain how to interpret that reaction at all.
The blonde snickered, then coughed, then just started laughing. A couple of others in the back joined in. "Oh man, the reactions from all of you are priceless. Every. Last. One." She pointed over at the armored woman. "Especially you, Dragon. Because you find it as funny as I do and are too polite to enjoy it."
Dragon? The Dragon? How do I not sense her power? She should be incredible, as potent as anyone else in the room, she can build practically any- oh, of course. Remote controlled presence. Robot. Hologram. Could be anything.
The tall blonde walked up to me. Every bit the definition of the American image of beauty. Tall, slender, large breasts and a youthful face. Okay, I won't be stealing the purple eyed girl away.
"Hey, I'm Victoria." She wrapped her arm around my shoulder, and I couldn't figure out why her scent wasn't changing, why she didn't find me attractive. "So, while these doofuses are still recovering from the shock of watching you perv up someone who can kill you with a thought in front of her fiancée who can also kill you with a thought, I'll give you a rundown. Yes, they can totes give you battle armor that boosts your powers. Way better than that, they can give you battle armor that gives you up to four different powers and a constant source of power for them. So, y'know, making you one of the most powerful parahumans on the planet."
I stepped back, out of her grip. She pinched my shoulder before I could get too far away. Rento's danger sense belatedly kicked in to tell me how easily she could kill me. My current pool of powers would barely slow her down. "H-how?"
Vicky shrugged. "Which part? The part where they can give you super god armor? Or the part where I'm beating out your instinctual Thinker power to behave in a way that I find attractive? The answers are 'Tinker bullshit' and 'Thinker bullshit' in that order. So, anyway, I've already determined your trick is limited to one at a time and it's always the one who's most immediately desirable to you at that moment..."
She leaned in close enough that I could feel her breath as she whispered in my ear. "A little secret? I'm not immune to your effect, my power just lets me fake it. Play your cards right, and I'll let you taste me before the day is over."
I shuddered.
=================
A/N- No. Seriously. My take on powers is like the exact opposite of Wildbow. He takes shitty powers and makes them awesome. I take awesome powers and make them barely preferable to death.
The smiley is golden because of my Primacy power. The smiley is sad because of my Primacy power."
