1 Inmate to Mate.
A camera noise echoed through the white, square room in which a jaded-looking young man stood, his inmate number written on a wooden plate he held with both hands.
He could hear the people on the other side of the tinted glass, proving that the place wasn't explicitly designed for interrogation. The Japanese photographer left the room in a hurry, probably not wanting to stay longer in the same room as him. After all, not knowing about the young man's misdeeds only fueled the photographer's xenophobia.
The prisoner sighed and closed his eyelids before putting the wooden plate on the ground. A woman's voice came to his ears from the tinted glass; he looked at it as if he could see people through it just to make them uncomfortable.
"He can see us through the glass?" asked a deep voice.
"No, he must just be faking it. Before sending this young man to us, the Canadian authorities told us that while they were teaching him Japanese, he always behaved sarcastically and provocatively," replied the same feminine voice as before in an amused tone.
"I see. So, can you confirm his background for me, please?"
"No problem..." she said as she pulled out her file. "Felix Fortier, 6 foot tall, 170 lbs, white-grey hair, yellow eyes, and all that with a slightly muscular body, apparently he didn't eat that much in prison since he believed other convict tried to poison him." she paused and analyzed the more judicial part of the problem. "A 21-year-old Canadian who was sentenced to 5 years in jail and 2 years probation for endangering others, unauthorized use of his quirk outside a legal framework, corruption, and since he was a repeat offender... This young man already spent 3 years of his life in jail, but thanks to his exemplary behavior and his willingness to change, the Canadians gave him a chance to get out early."
"And we weren't going to miss that chance, huh," sneered the man as he put his hands on the table in front of the stained glass. "I guess once again Hawk is going to be the only hero who knows about this kind of scheme?"
The woman gazed with annoyance at her colleague but didn't answer him. It's not as if she, the Hero Public Safety Commission's Chairwoman, wanted the n°3 Hero to know all this. He just happened to know things that no one else should know.
"Hawk had nothing to do with this. Don't bring this up on the table; if you want to discuss it, it's with him, not with me."
The two went away from the place and left Felix alone on the other side of the room. He, who had signed up to help a country in need in exchange for parole, had been treated since he arrived here as a terrorist. His multiple offenses had never caused any deaths, so he didn't really understand their behavior.
The place where he had been sent provisionally was called Tartarus.
—I guess it's not a place for choirboys, considering the name.
It wasn't really what he expected, especially since apparently THEY expected a lot from him.
Not that he didn't like the fact that they wanted him to do good, but rather that after already spending a year and a half learning Japanese. Plus, since he had been re-trained to use his quirk again because inmates using their powers in prison got longer sentences, he stopped using his abilities on others quite quickly and only did it on himself from time to time when they were constraint to fight in a cage to entertain the wardens. He would have just gone crazy like the other inmates if, at the time, he decided to refuse the offer of his government.
However, even after all this, he still didn't know the limits of his power and knew very well that his quirk was far from being the strongest. But also far from being the weakest.
Right now, he was sure of one thing, he was tired, and it wasn't with this white light and the tatami in the corner of the room that his sleep was going to be restful. The detainee still wondered how long he would stay in this room eating white rice at every meal. This kind of thing could be seen as psychological torture. Fortunately for him, he had only been there for 3 days, and he could always force himself to sleep by secreting a maximum of melatonin to avoid going crazy.
And then, a photographer greeted him during the day, how fortunate.
Nevertheless, one thing soon disturbed him. For a while, he had felt as if he was being watched. Little noises and breathing could be heard. He couldn't figure out exactly where it was coming from, but...
"Who is there?" he asked, sitting on his tatami. He waited for some time and continued with sarcasm. "Oh boy, what a creep to hide like this."
He got no answer, but very quickly, he was sure of one thing, someone was indeed there. He decided to simply remain static and wait; the person was probably going to be less patient than he was. After all, he had just gotten out of 3 years in prison.
After more than an hour of just waiting and making a rock-paper-scissors out of himself, Felix looked up at a noise coming from the ceiling.
"The hell..." began a male voice. "Talk about a shitty job. You're cleared; they had nothing to worry about," concluded a man who until then had been hanging from the ceiling with his claws; his hanging tongue and color-changing skin were reminiscent of the power of a chameleon.
"You came in here at the same time as the photographer, didn't you?" Felix asked with a friendly smile.
"Yeah, guess I need to train this skill more," sighed the man as he came to lay on the ground. "Now follow me. Those three days here were your final test of whether you're worth it or not."
"What if I wasn't worth it?"
"You would have stayed here indefinitely."
—A very heroic way to thank someone who is offering his help.
He refrained from saying this out loud; now that he was coming out of that shitty hole, it was better not to get into trouble. The chameleon man handcuffed him and took him out of his cell. Once outside, he could see hundreds of white cells that followed each other in an endless corridor.
A prison, and given the security set up here, not just a simple jail. That said, the silence that reigned throughout the entire place confused Felix, especially considering the number of inmates living there... or else they had all already lost their minds.
After more than ten minutes of walking, he was taken to a large room where many supplies lined the walls. A group of people, presumably people at the table, sat at a table where only one seat remained free. Felix slumped down on the chair and cracked his neck using the backrest. His boiled back and sore neck because of the living conditions he had been living in for 3 years were ruining him.
"I am deeply sorry for the treatment you have been subjected to, Mr. Fortier," began the woman he had heard from his cell. "But we have to take precautions. We have suspected suspicious activity in our country for some time now, and the fact that your government is sending you now was very much suspicious," she paused, but seeing that Felix was content to look her straight in the eye as she swung into her chair, she continued. "For all your health problems you're having due to your life in jail, we contacted Recovery Girl to help. She has agreed to treat you."
"Oh?" Felix said, raising his eyebrows. "The woman who can repair bones in seconds?"
"That's the one."
"Hmm... That would be nice," he said with a sympathetic smile. "But I'm not an idiot. What do you want in return? I'm pretty good at pastry if you need a cook-"
"We didn't recruit you to be a stupid maid." replied the woman, making it clear to Felix that his humor would have no effect on her.
The group around the table became a little tense; however, one of them made a hand movement to the chameleon man, who took off the handcuffs. He came back afterward with a cup of coffee in his hands and gave it to Felix, who drank it in one go. During this time, several of them took out their files, aware that they would have to explain at least a minimum amount of information to him.
"Our request is brief. But before we get to that, I'd like to talk about your quirk," began an elderly man, his white hair backward. "We are aware that you can manipulate your own body's hormones as you please, so for example, if you are in a dangerous situation, you can force your body to secrete a lot of adrenaline, which gives you increased strength, endurance, and greater awareness. It allows you to outperform many people, even with more powerful quirks. Is that right?"
"Yeah. But I'm limited to what my body can handle. I can go over that limit for several days depending on the hormones before I feel the effects, but if I stay too long like this, it ruins my health."
"Very good. Your medical studies will make it easier for us because you already know most of the hormones and their uses," sighed the man, almost relieved. "That said, it's also possible that you can make sure that the people you touch receive these various boosts, adrenaline, insulin, norepinephrine, etc. We know that you can irreversibly alter someone by heightening these hormones, giving a physical, mental and quirk boost to someone. A kind of quirk doping while avoiding "ruining" their health. That's what you were sent in jail for after all."
Felix widened his eyes. He expected everything but that; the Japanese authorities accepted him for what had cost him 3 years of his life behind bars. He had done this for money at the time, to pay for his studies and then to have fun, but now it was something else entirely.
However, the people around this table had no idea how he managed to do that. And that was the problem. He wasn't ashamed of it, but the heroes who he should be boosting would be, perhaps, ashamed of it.
"I can actually do it. It's usually easier for men, though, but it takes some time. For a woman, it's even longer and requires more... investment."
"Which is?"
"I have to equalize the hormone level in the person's body. In other words, if I want it to create an irreversible boost that causes no damage, then I have to 'upgrade' all the other hormones to the same level... So, if I do this for adrenaline, I need to do the same for every hormone one after another." He explained by putting his hand on his chin. "For men, it's fairly easy. I just have to touch the dude's head, preferably the back of it, cause, you know, the pituitary and pineal gland are in there, same for the hypothalamus. No need to affect other areas to bring significant long-term results, but..."
"But?"
"For women, it's different. The menstrual cycle constantly changes the hormones' level ladies have in them, so to boost them, I need to stabilize this aspect of theirs metabolism. To do this, I have to approach the few glands responsible for this as closely as possible."
"So... the ovaries..." replied the only woman in the room in a weak voice.
"And how can you do that?" tactlessly asked the man, which bothered the chairwoman of the Hero Public Safety Commission—HPSC.
"I can do the first treatment with my hand through the skin, so just by touching the area around the pelvis, but usually it has almost no effect. So, I have to go directly to it and get a... closer look... I can do it with my hand, but well, it's better for everyone if I do this with my 5th member."
The chairwoman seemed to regret coming all the way here to meet Felix, but she managed to keep her sigh silent and put her purse to the ground before placing an elbow on the table to hold her head.
"One thing is confusing me about the file the Canadians gave us. Something isn't very well explained," she mumbled. "It says that there's a high probability that you can absorb people's hormones." Seeing that Felix once again did not respond, she sighed and continued her monologue. "The hormones that feed the quirks are mainly produced by the pinky toe; it says that they think you can absorb these hormones and steal the person's ability for a while."
An uneasy silence dwelled in the room, forcing everyone to find a way out of the situation. Some knew the capabilities of the hormones it would need to boost, which wasn't very heroic. Otherwise, if Felix accepted this plan, they would have to trust him fully with no other alternative.
"...Don't know how they got this information, but... Yeah, I can do that indeed, but only with powers that don't alter my body."
"Why?" she asked with a sharp glance.
"Well... I don't know how my body will react if I alter it with All Might hormone, for example... I think I would just explode..."
"Yeah... Understandable. I'm sorry to ask about this since it's the main reason you have taken the wrong path, but how can you "steal" a quirk exactly?"
"I need to extract this special hormone that is unique to every human possessing a quirk, and I "ingest" it, but it dilutes very quickly in my blood. So let's say I steal the hormones from someone who is able to create fire; if I do that, I could only create fire for a short time... I don't know if the quirk can be of the same strength as the original... I have almost no experience with that..."
"Don't worry about experience. We gonna get you trained."
"Mhm... May I at least know why you want all this from me?" the former inmate asked, placing both hands on the table. "I'd also like to know if I'm getting paid or... what did I gain thanks to this."
"Well, we suspect that a quirk-boosting drug has already begun to be produced, right here in Japan. We don't know by whom or where it started, but two villains have already been arrested with even more powerful powers than before, but only for a limited time. We'd like to make sure that we have our own "drug" to counter them if this "boost" ever becomes a real thing," the woman explained with a sigh. "And yes, you'll be paid, but according to your results, at least at first. You will get free food, a free apartment, state financial aid. And you will meet a lot of good people. Nice, isn't it?"
"...Seems fair." he sighed sarcastically. "It's not like I can protest anyway."
"Just know that we will need you soon to push a heroine who is unwilling to work in a team, to work in a team. She promised that if she lost her match against the person we selected, she would agree to follow our orders for a month."
"Uh…? I'm not really a fighter, you know."
"Said the one who almost killed an entire gang in jail to protect a warden."
Again... How did she know this? The Canadian penitentiary had tried to hide it because it would have shown that security wasn't up to par... Anyway, the only reason he defended the warden was to get praise from the staff and to get a reduced sentence if he continued his exemplary behavior, not to defend someone who was exploiting him to gain money. Well, of course, he let his former wardens a little spicy "gift" before leaving. But, yes, sometimes you have to put your pride aside to get by.
"Didn't know that you liked me that much." he sneered with a smirk. "I know that I'm handsome, but if you could avoid stalking me-"
"Cut that crap out."
"Rude."
"More importantly, you aren't expected to perform heroic deeds at all, especially from someone like you. Whether you're fighting, fucking, or whatever has absolutely no importance for us. We just want results; we don't care how you get them. If you... cross the line from time to time, we can always back you up, but don't overdo it-"
The chairwoman's phone rang, cutting off their discussions; she got up and left for a corner of the room while everyone patiently waited for her to come back to end this meeting that no one but Felix enjoyed. She seemed rather distraught by what she had just learned but quickly calmed down.
She turned off her phone, went back to the table but didn't sit down.
"Gentlemen, we have to go. It seems that 2 heroes have been tricked again by this bloodsucker. The media will surely want to see us." she said firmly. "As for you, Felix, a cab is ready to take you back to your new apartment. Here's your professional phone, don't use it for anything else, understood?"
"Yes, Ma'am... Are you some kind of dictator or something?"
"Maybe I am. Just remember to keep everything secret; you know what will happen to you if not. For now, goodbye, we will meet again soon." she paused and continued to talk without looking back at him. "Consider yourself as one of our mates or comrade now, no longer as an inmate; this life is over for you," she concluded just before closing the door.
"I will keep that in mind, then."
—Just wait till I transform you into an oxytocin-serotonin-dependent bitch... You'll get fucked by dudes every fucking day of the week... God, I hate her already…
He stayed there, along with the chameleon man behind him. So, finally, he was going to be even more trained to use his quirk now.
And he had a freshly paid apartment, the dream, you can say. He who just wanted freedom was partially satisfied, all that was left to do was to get rid of the hold the Japanese government had on him, and he would be good.
He looked at his hands, capable of miracles that few people could understand. After all, he could stop himself from sleeping for two days without feeling the effects, use adrenaline to get a way better reaction time and strength, or secrete testosterone to make his muscles more robust and have a better libido. These were all invisible powers, and so most people just thought he was quirkless.
In spite of his laziness, he decided to do something he hadn't done for some time. He quickly concentrated and closed his eyelids; shapes of letters appeared in his mind, like a screen directly integrated into his brain.
—Nothing has changed since then... huh...
●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●
[Metabolism & Libido Check → Sheeesh.]
[Exceeding Body's Capacities: 21%.]
[Stored Hormones & Pheromones: 42%.]
[Level 69 — {138/138}.]
●—{Skills}—{Leveling-Up boosts all skills.}
●{Adrenaline Rush}—{Increase physical capacity & reduce pain.}
●{Cortisol Burst}—{Boost metabolism, memory formation & reduce inflammation.}
●{Melatonin Bed}—{Cools the body, makes people less aware and sleepy.}
●{Norepinephrine, or the word impossible to pronounce aloud on the first try.}— {Increases heart rate, blood pressure, attention, and focus.}
●{Oxytocin Crush}—{Enhances bonding & jealousy, regulates emotional responses, including trust, empathy, positive memories & fidelity.}
●{Lemon Pheromone}—{Releases a cloud of releaser pheromones within a 5-meters radius.}
●{Copium lethargy}—{For those incapable to accept the harsh reality, this skill can help, but be aware of the dangerous reality check that can happen afterward.}
[+]—More skills here.
●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●
—It's not like I don't like the idea of using my quirk, but I'm still caped at level 69... I need to find a way, like my father and his quirk, I probably can reboot this system of mine while keeping my abilities intact. But hey, all this is going to be very profitable for me... but that's not what makes me feel like it right now...
For the time being, he didn't want to think about anything; he just wanted to rest.
Still, just before getting into his cab, he thought back to his past. The heroes of his childhood, then his mistakes. Things he could no longer change. All these times, he had dreamed of having a time machine to go back to fix his errors, to change just a tiny moment of his life. But all that wasn't reality, even in a world as incredible as this one.
He had been unable to do anything good for anybody else, not even for himself. His parents were no longer there to watch him fail or succeed, but this time it was the right one. Hope is life, and a new life was waiting for him here.
—It's almost time for me to open some shop in the black market, I guess.
If you get a second chance, don't waste it.
