20: Curse

Once the selected members were announced, everyone who had failed was escorted out of the venue. The injured were attended to as promised, although fortunately, the most serious injury of the day was a couple of broken bones.

The public announcement would be made the following day, where the new team would be introduced to the world, but for now, they needed to get to know each other.

Soon, everyone was gathered in one of the conference rooms at the Pentagon.

Yasuka looked around the place with some nervousness; it was her first time in a conference room like this. In fact, it was the first time she had been in such an "official" place. She had heard of the Pentagon before but never imagined that one day she would be inside it.

Her previous ordinary life seemed a little further away each day, which made her a bit depressed, but part of her was also somewhat excited. If you took away the constant danger of the last six months, it was actually pretty cool to have "powers" or whatever the thing on her left wrist gave her.

"Alright, now that we're all gathered, I think we need to discuss several important things," Invincible spoke. Yasuka looked at him, paying attention. Although she had no control over her actions when she let the dark influence inside her emerge, she could still feel what it felt and, in a sense, see what it saw.

The interaction they had after she successfully passed her test made her a bit embarrassed, making it difficult to look him in the face. At the same time, she realized why the man in front of her had called himself "Invincible." When the dark influence took control of her body, it awakened an ability in her that allowed her to sense the strength of others. When their eyes met during the previous test, Yasuka instantly knew that Invincible was dangerous, extremely dangerous, so much so that her dark side longed to fight him.

Of course, Yasuka didn't want that, so she forced herself to regain control and step back, which was quite difficult.

"Shouldn't we be discussing this at our headquarters? Wait, do we have a headquarters?" A girl with short blonde hair spoke. Yasuka remembered that she was the first to participate in the trials, Throwbolt or something like that.

Invincible looked at her and answered her question.

"We will have one; that's one of the things we need to discuss, and I think it's a good point to start with. Robot, if you could." The one called Robot nodded, and a projected screen unfolded over the conference table, showing an extremely detailed three-dimensional Blueprint.

Yasuka looked at the projection with interest. The futuristic aspect was the most obvious, but she could also see many small details; this had clearly been carefully designed.

"Speaking of our headquarters, the GDA considered letting us take over the old Guardians' place, but we felt it wouldn't be appropriate. We're not the Guardians of the Globe; we're a new team, and we need to work with that in mind. That's why Robot and I designed this proposal."

"Wait, you mean they'll build a new headquarters specifically for us?" The boy named Bulletproof said, amazed.

"It's already under construction," Mark said, smiling, causing the new members to widen their eyes in astonishment.

Indeed, Mark would have preferred to finish it before the team was formed, but a project like this requires time. Fortunately, it was almost ready.

"Wow, it seems like this is pretty serious, huh?" Monster girl said, whistling as she looked at the data of the headquarters design.

"If I may ask, why does this look like something that wouldn't be on land?" The one who asked was Black Samson.

"Because it won't be. Having a base on land has many disadvantages, so we decided that the best thing would be to situate it in space," Robot answered this time.

"Wait, space!?" That news seemed to surprise several of them.

"Yes, our base is designed for multiple purposes, with mobility being the main one. In a sense, you could say it's a spaceship, although it will normally function as a space station," Mark explained, starting to detail some of the features they had implemented.

For Yasuka, most of the explanations went in one ear and out the other; she was more focused on the fact that she would be traveling to space, something she never thought she would do in her life.

"This sounds cool and all, but how are we going to get there? Not all of us can fly," Britt said.

"With these," Mark responded, letting Robot change the projection, this time revealing what was essentially a personal spaceship.

"Each of you will have one of these. I call them Quinjets, but essentially they're personal spacecraft capable of navigating off-planet and beyond," he said. They were similar to the one he made for his father, but better designed and more compact.

The new members had to take a moment to process the fact that each of them would receive their own spaceship. Well, everyone except Glory, who didn't understand most of the terms being used at all.

She had wanted to ask several times but her pride prevented her, so she opted to remain silent and act as if she understood.

"Can mine be green?" Amanda said immediately, looking at the Quinjet design with desire.

"Well, we can allow some customization, so yes, it can be green," Mark responded, causing her to look up with a big smile.

"Do we really have the budget for this?" Kurr, better known as Savage Dragon, couldn't help but ask. He had previously been a member of the police force, so he understood a bit about the budgets allocated, and while this wasn't exactly the same, there should still be a limit, right?

"We do, but we're not using the resources given to us indiscriminately if that's what you're worried about," Mark then pointed to Eve.

"She's Atom Eve; many of you might already know her, but what's not common knowledge is that her power allows her to manipulate and transform matter at will. She can turn a hundred meters of muddy sludge into a hundred meters of the highest-quality diamonds with a thought. She's our primary material provider and the most valuable member of the team. Everything she creates can be used by us as free resources outside the market," he explained. Eve blushed a little at being praised so highly and at feeling the team's eyes on her.

Glory looked at her with a new perspective. Although she couldn't understand most of the terms used in the world of men, she did understand the meaning of the example Mark gave.

'So, she's an alchemist?' She had heard of them, though this was the first time she had met one.

"It seems a lot of things have already been thought of, but we still need to know who will lead this team," Black Samson finally spoke, causing the conference room to fall into a momentary silence.

The silence was quickly broken by Robot.

"Initially, the GDA had decided to assign me as the leader, but things have changed a bit. Now, Mark and I will lead the team together," he said. Black Samson narrowed his eyes for a moment before nodding.

"I don't know how well this will work, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt," Black Samson said, looking at Mark. After all, in his opinion and that of most people, Robot was, well, just a robot.

Glory interjected at that moment.

"Don't expect me to follow your orders blindly," her words caused Eve to frown, but Mark calmed her and responded.

"I know you distrust me, and probably some of you do as well." At these words, a few people frowned slightly.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"I'm not asking for absolute obedience; I just hope that when the time comes, you can think beyond whatever prejudices you have about me and act as a hero should. I don't want any accidents happening because of silly disputes." Everyone could agree on that.

Well, Yasuka had no idea how a hero should act, but she nodded along with everyone else anyway.

"With that said, I think it's time to talk about the main reason this team was formed." At Mark's words, everyone put on serious faces.

"Let me tell you about the Viltrumites."

...

The meeting lasted several more hours. Many things were explained, leaving the new members, who were unaware of the true extent of the coming danger, in shock.

After all, even though Nolan had said a lot on television, many details were left out for the general public.

"Now I understand why the headquarters is in space," Kid Thor whispered to his girlfriend, who nodded, still processing the information.

"I know this can be a lot to take in, so take the time you need. For now, this entire section of the Pentagon will serve as our temporary headquarters. There are showers, a cafeteria, several gym rooms you can use, and rooms if you don't have a place to stay," Mark said, looking especially at Glory and Yasuka.

"But before that, I'd like you to take these with you," Mark then pulled out a specially prepared box.

Inside the box, carefully arranged, were two rows of what appeared to be dark-colored watches with touchscreens. They didn't stand out too much and didn't have any brand logos, except for two hidden letters (JL) on the back.

"For now, Eve, Robot, and I will handle any potential threats, but if an emergency arises that requires your assistance, these communicators will alert you," Mark explained, giving a rundown on how to use the various functions of the devices, which were quite diverse.

Glory looked at the device now on her wrist curiously, she had understood how to use it clearly as mark was quite good at explaining, the only problem was that she couldn't read what was written, fortunately it had a voice control function so she could use it even if she decided not to learn to read the local language.

Soon, everyone started heading to different places. Kid Thor and Knockout went to the cafeteria, while Riley and Lily went to train together to clear their minds. Yasuka hurried to one of the offered rooms, clearly nervous, and Glory simply began to wander around the place.

Black samson, kurr and britt left the pentagon together and bulletproof went with them.

"Do you want to practice a bit?" Rachel looked at Kate with a friendly smile. The Asian girl thought for a moment before nodding, and soon the two left together.

Amanda was about to get up and go somewhere, but Mark stopped her before she could.

"Wait, Monster Girl, I'd like to discuss something with you." The girl raised an eyebrow at him but shrugged.

"Sure, but if you try anything weird, I'll break your balls," she said seriously.

Mark smiled and looked at Eve and Robot.

"If anything happens, call me," he said, raising his hand where his own "watch" was.

"I'll be working on the systems for the headquarters," Robot said simply and left.

Eve looked at Mark and then at Amanda. Although she didn't know why Mark wanted to talk to the girl, she didn't suspect anything strange, so she just said goodbye and went to do her own thing.

Soon, Mark and Amanda were left alone in the conference room, in a slightly uncomfortable silence.

"If you're going to say something weird, you'd better think it through, or this could end very badly," Amanda warned, snapping Mark out of his thoughts. He had been pondering how to approach the subject, but it was clear that being direct was the best course of action.

"I was going over your file. It says you're 24 years old, though obviously, your appearance suggests otherwise," Mark began, causing Amanda to frown.

"If this is about that, then you don't have to worry. I'm not actually a child; it's just how my powers work. The longer I stay transformed, the younger my body becomes," she said with clear irritation.

"Actually, it's more about that last part. During the tests, I noticed an external energy acting on you. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to know how you got your powers," Mark said.

"External energy? Wait, you can feel how my body gets younger?" Amanda was quick to catch on.

Mark nodded but didn't elaborate, causing her to frown. Still, she decided to answer his question, as she didn't mind sharing her story.

"It happened a long time ago; I was about fourteen or fifteen. It was in Europe, and I met... I met someone, a gypsy boy. Now that I think about it, I don't even remember his name correctly. We had a couple of dates, nothing too serious; we were just kids, after all. But his grandmother didn't think so. A decrepit old bitch," Amanda couldn't help but let her anger come out.

After all, that woman was responsible for almost all of her problems.

"I heard she was a witch. I don't know exactly what she did, but she clearly didn't like me seeing her grandson, so she decided to fuck with me. She cursed me, though at first, I thought it was a good thing," she recalled her first transformation.

There was panic, fear, and horror, but also excitement. She thought she had awakened some kind of superpower, that she could be a hero. She started helping people, unable to stand by when something bad happened in front of her. But she quickly realized the problem.

She stopped aging. Then, she started getting younger.

"The point is, this is due to magic, and it can't be undone," she sighed a bit, finishing her story. Even though so many years had passed she still couldn't stop her heart from clenching every time she remembered the reason why she kept missing out on more and more things.

An adult woman eternally trapped in a child's body. How many things had she missed out on? How many things couldn't she do because of her appearance? Listing them always depressed her a bit.

"If that's the case, why not stop transforming? Why continue being Monster Girl?" Mark asked. If transforming made her body younger, then why not stop doing it?

Amanda looked at him with a slight smile.

"I'm a heroine, cutie. No matter what, if someone is in trouble, I won't just stand by," she said, her eyes seeming to shine for a moment.

Mark understood then; It wasn't that she didn't want to, she just couldn't stop helping others. It seemed that the witch who cursed her somehow should have known about this and used it to screw her even more.

"If that's all you wanted to know, then I'll go," she said, preparing to stand up, but Mark stopped her.

"Actually, I think I can help you."

Eh? Amanda blinked in confusion at his words, trying to process the meaning, even though it should be clear.

"Do you remember that I told you I could feel an external energy acting on you when you transformed? Well, to be more precise, I could feel the current of time acting on your body, going back, making you younger."

Upon hearing this, Amanda gave him her full attention, feeling her body tremble. To feel the flow of time in her body? Helping her? If he was talking about what she thought, then… No! She couldn't give herself false hope now; she had already accepted her condition.

She didn't want to be disappointed again.

"No one knows this, so I hope you can keep it a secret. I actually have other powers that aren't part of what I inherited from my father," Mark continued, ignoring how Amanda's body shivered.

"I won't go into too much detail, but I can feel and manipulate the time of things I touch. It's not easy, and I can only make the flow of time go forward, which is somewhat dangerous, so I don't use it much. But when I felt your transformation, I had the feeling that if I could study the effect of time on your body, I could improve my own ability."

"Don't joke," Amanda growled through clenched teeth, seeming like she didn't want to believe him.

Mark simply pulled out an apple he had been saving for this and held it in front of her. With disbelief, Amanda watched as blue lightning flashes danced across the surface of the apple for a second, and in the next instant, the apple began to change visibly.

It wrinkled, its color started to darken, its smell changed, and in an instant, it rotted to dust.

"I'm not joking," Amanda remained silent, staring at the dust that fell to the ground.

Was this real? How long? How long had she been searching for something to help her? A solution, no matter how insignificant?

"It's not a perfect solution, but I think I can help you with your problem. In exchange, I hope you'll let me study the effects of your transformation on your body. What do you think?" Mark didn't believe she would reject this.

Amanda clenched her fists and looked at Mark intensely. To her eyes, he seemed to shine with a golden light.

"Do it now," she said, stretching out and taking his hand. It seemed all the patience she had appeared to have vanished in an instant, replaced by a noticeable urgency. There was even a hint of pleading in her voice.

Mark quickly tried to calm her.

"Wait, even though I can do it, we still need to prepare. There are some side effects to this." Hearing that made her frown.

"What effects?"

"The energy intake. Whether it's me or you, we both will need to have a large amount of energy within us. I need it to use this ability, and you need it so your body can withstand rapidly aging in a short period of time without getting hurt."

Explaining this seemed to calm her down a bit, but she still looked agitated.

"So what's the plan? How do we get this energy?"

"Does that mean you agree to the deal?" he asked to be sure. She frowned at him.

"Do I really have to say it? Of course, I want to do it." She had thought there was no solution, that she would always live like a damned kid, and had even resigned herself to it. But now that the opportunity had finally knocked on her door, she'd be a real idiot to let it go. What Mark asked for wasn't even difficult for her to give. Even if he asked her to beg on her knees right now, Amanda might actually consider doing it.

"Well, I've been working on a super nutritional serum with Robot. It's not ready yet, but it should be soon. Consuming it should give you enough energy for me to speed up time in your body by about 8 or 9 years."

Eight or nine years. Amanda did some quick calculations. Her body was currently about nine years old. If this really worked as Mark indicated, she could finally reach adulthood. Just thinking about it made her dizzy with excitement.

Even so, swallowing nervously, she forced herself to calm down. She needed to stay composed; she couldn't mess this up, no matter what.

"H-h-how soon will this serum be ready?"

"At least two or three days."

Two or three days—that was fine. She had waited years; she could wait two or three days. That would be a piece of cake.

Calming her excitement, she gave Mark a mischievous smile.

"You know, I'd kiss you right now if I could reach your face."

"Preferably not. I don't want to go to prison."

Unlike other occasions, this time Amanda laughed.

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Note:

It's been a while, hasn't it?

I must apologize; I have no excuse.

Writing this chapter was a bit complicated, but I think it turned out well. Anyway, share your opinions; I'll be reading them. If there are any mistakes, I'd also appreciate it if you point them out so I can correct them.

In the previous chapter there was a mistake in Yasuka's name, I've already fixed it.

support me on p)atreon! (p)atreon com/EmmaCruzader) thanks ;D