Lilith idly tapped her phone, sorting through all the popular videos of the day, which consisted mostly of cute cats, people doing dumb stuff, and people claiming that the Asians were trying to destroy the world. Really, the usual stuff.
Letting out a sigh, she flopped back onto her bed, staring at the clock with an intensity that surprised even herself. She tried to will the clock to move forward faster, but alas, her will only worked on her own body. Grumpy, she hid her head underneath the covers.
No matter how much she tried to, she just could not sleep. It was the same thing for eating, no matter how much she tried to, she could not summon any real desire to do those things. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't pooped or pissed either.
Huffing in amusement, she cracked an eye open, since trying to sleep clearly wasn't working. Oh well. There were worse things that could have come along as a bonus with her power, and turning into a fleshy machine wasn't that bad.
In the end, she just spent the night going through as many forms as she could think, from a cute little kitty cat to a demonic tentacle monster filled with as many nightmarish traits as she could dream up. It was... cathartic, in a way. It allowed her to feel in control, something that she was beginning to sorely miss.
When the knocking at her door finally arrived, she'd been attempting to change the composition of her own body, trying to harden it, soften it, make it lighter... etc. She quickly turned back into her normal body, and swiftly ran over to the opening doors.
"Hey there." The lean man greeted. Lilith tilted her head slightly when she saw him, her eyes zooming onto his arm, which was put in a cast. Seeing this, the man chuckled awkwardly, taking a step back from Lilith.
"I'm going to guess that the other... 'metahumans'..." Lilith hissed slightly when she said the word, "Weren't quite as cooperative as I was."
"Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. Who knows. Follow me, please." The man said, his voice tense. Compared to his attitude from yesterday, he seemed much more subdued in his interactions.
Lilith obeyed, falling into step behind him. They took a different path from the one she'd taken when she'd been brought into this place, and she spent the walk trying to memorize the winding maze as best she could... just in case.
She would be lying if she said she wasn't looking forward to meeting others 'like her'... But she was also very nervous. The more she practiced with her powers, the more confidence she gained, but that didn't mean much in the face of social anxiety.
"I don't remember seeing that dress amongst the ones given to you." The man pointed out as they walked, only to wince when Lilith glared at him, "I made it using my powers." She explained curtly, not really wishing to talk to him.
Finally, a few minutes later, they reached their destination: A large, mostly empty room with one-way windows that allowed those outside of it to peer inside, but not the other way around.
There were a few chairs in the corners, as well as some food put on a table at the side. Still... Lilith wasn't very impressed. She could guess that they didn't trust them not to break stuff during their first meeting, and wasn't that just a slap in the face. She hadn't been treated like a kid since her high school days.
"Wait here, please. The others will be coming along shortly. You'll be allowed to interact, but remember, this is very much a test. If you immediately begin fighting, we'll have to seclude you again, and that won't be fun for anyone." She stared at him as he spoke, feeling more and more offended by his words.
"... I'm not a fucking dog, you know? The hell you mean 'seclude again'? Just you try and take away my phone, and I swear, I'll turn into your worst nightmare." She glared. They could imprison her, they could force her to become a pretty little showoff object for the military, but not even a god could save them if they touched her phone.
The man blinked, took a few steps back as his only capable hand rose in the universal 'calm down' pose, then stopped. He let out a sigh as he combed his hair with his hand. "My apologies. I did not... mean to make it sound that way. Everyone here is used to dealing with maximum security prisoners, the type that won't live longer than a month or two, so our manners are a bit... Again, my apologies. I'll leave now." He mumbled, quietly shuffling away.
Lilith stared at his back for a few seconds before focusing her attention back onto the room she'd been brought in. Humming slightly, she debated her next course of action. A part of her wanted to show off her powers immediately, another part said to hide it, and the last part just didn't really care. In the end, she decided to do a bit of everything.
She re-absorbed the clothes that were essentially just differently colored and textured skin before shifting into one of her favorite forms, that of a pure black cat with beautiful, piercing red eyes. If her claws were sharper than swords and tougher than metal... Well, nobody ever said that she had to be a real cat.
She grew a dozen or so arms out of her back, latching them onto the flat, metal ceiling through hardened spikes that easily punched through the 3-cm thick barrier of what she guessed was steel. Reeling herself up, she found herself securely latching onto the ceiling using her cat claws, staring down at the non-existent plebeians below.
Her inner showoff was practically vibrating in excitement at this point, but she reeled it in, instead choosing to wait patiently. Five or so minutes later, her first metahuman compatriot arrived.
She stared at him with open curiosity. He looked young, far too young to be in a place like this. She guessed him to be of Japanese descent, but she couldn't really be sure. It might sound racist, but she couldn't distinguish Asians between their ethnicities to save her skin. Still, she could at least guess that he was probably around 13-15 years old.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
He was nodding enthusiastically as he spoke with another, much older man in an officer suit, so she ruled out the possibility of him being the third metahuman.
"Yeah, I'm really excited. I mean, I know John told me to be cautious when I talk to them... But, I just really want to make some friends, you know? Nobody liked me back at school..." He whispered, his excitement dying down a bit. Evidently sympathetic, the guard patted his head gently, giving him a brief smile.
"I'm sure you will, kid. I have to leave now, though. Good luck." He said, waving at the boy as he left. The boy waved back, his smile a bit strenuous as he watched the retreating back of the guard.
After a few seconds, the kid finally deigned to look around, observing the area. His smile slowly fell as a frown marred his young face. "This place is so empty... I thought they'd at least put a gaming console or something in here" He murmured unhappily before going over to sit at one of the chairs.
"Yes. That would be nice, wouldn't it?" Lilith spoke, very much enjoying as the boy jumped up, shrieking. He looked around, wildly swinging his head to find the source of the sound. Unfortunately, it did not come to pass by his brain to simply look up.
"Who's there!? Show yourself, or I'll... I'll..." He hesitated, holding his hands in front of him. Lilith was momentarily tempted to spook him further, just to see what he could do, but quickly discarded the idea. He was just a kid, after all, and first impressions were important.
"Up here, kiddo." She called out. The kid quickly did so, staring upwards with wide eyes. From his perspective, all he would see was a black cat sitting on the ceiling, staring down at him.
"... YOU CAN TALK!?" He shouted, amazement in his voice. Lilith snorted, dropping down below. The kid's eyes widened as he threw himself at her falling body, obviously trying to stop her from falling.
However, before anything could happen, she just... stopped in the air. Lilith blinked, feeling some sort of power blocking her from moving. She didn't try to struggle, not knowing if doing so would hurt the kid. 'Is this telekinesis? Cool.' She thought, enjoying the sensation of floating in the air.
"Oh my god! I'm sorry! Are you ok? Uh, hold on." The kid called out, quickly regaining Lilith's attention. She looked at him curiously as he gently lowered her to the ground, before releasing her.
Lilith tested out her body, finding everything in order. Although, really, she figured that even if she broke a bone or two... Or all of them, really, she could always just will them to put themselves back together. She hadn't tried that yet, but judging from her current abilities as well as the hunch in her mind, she figured it would more than likely work flawlessly.
"That was... an interesting experience. Thanks, kiddo. Name's Lilith, what's yours?" She asked after finishing her quick self-checkup. He blinked slightly, taken aback before a small blush rose on his cheeks. "I'm... I'm Hiro. Hiro Mitsuya."
"Fancy last name you got there. You from Japan?" She asked, to which he quickly nodded, his eyes twinkling in amazement as he stared at her. Really, the kid was cute. A shame he was both far too young and a bit too innocent for her tastes.
"You know, as long as you're careful, I don't mind it if you pet me." She commented, watching as his eyes practically began to glow as he scrambled over himself to crouch down in front of her, his hand slowly going towards her head.
She didn't really feel anything from his touch, but that was more of a decision on her part than any fault of his. After all, she'd cut off any and all sense of pain, effectively meaning her sense of touch was quite dull. It was obviously more complicated than that, but Lilith didn't really care. As long as she willed her body to do something, it always did.
"You're so soft... Are you one of the metahumans?" He asked, obviously hesitant. She purred in response, watching with hidden glee as the kid's face softened even more. She was tempted to whip out one of her nightmare forms and scare him into pissing his pants, but, again, he was just so innocent that she'd probably feel like a puppy kicker if she did that.
Stepping back and away from his touch, she transformed back into her human form before his eyes, suddenly feeling very thankful that she'd figured out a way to make her own clothes. Once the four-second-long transformation ended, she smiled at him as he gaped at her. "Yup. That's me. So, what do you say? I'm cool, right?"
He blinked as she looked at him expectantly, quickly nodding after digesting her words. "Yes! You're very cool. You're very pretty, also." He added, almost as if it was an afterthought. She blinked as his cheeks slowly reddened before barking out a laugh.
"Hah! Good one. I think I'm pretty average, to be honest. Or at least, this form is. After you see some of my more... exotic forms, I doubt you'll ever say that again." She said, trying to stop giggling. Now, it was his turn to blink dumbly at her.
"Wait, you're a shapeshifter? That's amazing!" He shouted excitedly. Lilith nodded indulgently as he went on a rant about his favorite powers, proudly proclaiming that his own were the 'coolest', to which Lilith allowed him to believe. He was just a kid, after all. How could he ever understand how amazing her own powers were?
All of a sudden, she frowned as her improved ears picked up on footsteps coming from further away. Loud footsteps, too, or she would have missed them. Whoever it was that was coming was apparently loudly stomping.
A few dozen seconds later, the lean man arrived, and in front of him was a tall man sporting a fiery haircut... Literally. His hair was on literally on fire.
He glared at the lean man, who quickly backed off without a word, practically scrambling to leave. Lilith watched on with quiet amusement, but the boy, Hiro, wasn't quite as amused as she was.
"Hey! Don't be mean to John, he's a nice guy!" He shouted angrily, storming up to the fiery man. The poor guy blinked as Hiro stood in front of him, hands crossed on his chest as he glared at him, looking like an irritated kitten standing before a tiger.
"Uh... Sorry, do I know you, kid? What are you doing in this hellhole?" He asked, voice surprisingly awkward as he took a step back.
"We're the metahuman gang," Lilith commented as she stood further away. Lazily pointing at the kid, she explained, "He's the supposed psychic, and I'm the shapeshifter. I'm gonna guess that you're the Fireman, yeah?"
"Yeah... I suppose..." He said, somehow even more awkwardly than before. Lilith sighed, "Brat, lay off of him, would you? Sure, he could treat your friend better, but remember, we're all prisoners here. Unlike you, neither he nor I really want to be here, from what I'm seeing." She said, gently putting her hand on the boy's shoulder and firmly dragging him away from the man.
He shot her a grateful look before returning to his grumpy persona. Walking over to one of the chairs, he sat down on it, careful to keep his suprisingly solid-like flaming hair from touching it. Hiro glared petulantly for a few more moments before going to sit to one of the chairs as well.
Letting out a sigh, she did the same. Staring at the two supposed metahumans around her, she was suddenly reminded of how some of the students back at the academy she'd briefly worked for acted.
"Alright, boys. Stop squabbling, and let's get down to the issues at hand, please?" She asked, although it wasn't really a question.
Really, this was far too troublesome. She just wanted to go back to creating the most terrifying and nightmarish creatures she could think of, it was both easier and much more fun than this.