I keeled over and fell on my bed, instinctively raking my towel over my hips. My heart raced as I tried to figure out how this chick got inside of my bedroom! I shook my head, trying to snap out of it. Clearly, I was dreaming, that had to be it. There was no way she just waltzed in here without anyone noticing! Unless….
“Nero Aldeon,” she sang and pulled out her hand for a formal handshake. “The pleasure is mine.”
image [https://i.imgur.com/H89ck49.png]
Her voice was rich and warm, almost like a soothing lullaby. The chick was a full-sized Amazonian, with long black hair and jade eyes. She had full pink lips, which curled into a mischievous smile. Her figure was curvy in all the right places, the kind that could make even a statue blush. I hesitated to take her hand, but when she wiggled her fingers, I relented.
If she tries anything funny, I have something in my back pocket for her….
When I took her offer, she quickly reeled me in. She scooped me up like I weighed nothing more than a feather, my feet stumbling as I stood up. The mystery girl jerked me right into her, my chest bouncing off her jugs like a slinky. I collected myself in a rush to not look so damn flustered, but she just grinned like she knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Tall, dark and handsome,” she purred into my ear, her breath tickling my skin. “You certainly look delicious../.”
Her words sent a jolt down my spine as I tried not to twitch under my towel. It was wrong to think of her in that way, but damn, if she wasn’t one heck of a distraction….
But I had to get my head straight here—she was still a stranger in Hayashi’s house….
“I’m Lady L,” she introduced. “A member of Organization VII.”
Wait, what the actual hell?!
“I’m also the one overseeing your sector. You can think of me as your boss.” She winked.
“Then, this would make this very awkward encounter even more taboo,” I joked.
“Aww, if it helps, you can slip some clothes on.”
I felt a sweat drop along my forehead as I continued covering my bottom half. “Yeah, I’m sure you’d like that.” She snickered. “So how about you answer the big elephant in the room?”
“Oh?” her voice peaked.
“No, not that elephant!”
“Now I really want to see what you’re hiding behind that towel.”
I fought a blush on my face. “Listen, lady, I’m not entirely convinced that you’re human let alone an elite council head. For all I know, this could be some sick trick to—”
“Then why don’t you let me earn your trust?”
I hesitated, not sure whether to trust this mysterious woman who called herself Lady L. On the one hand, she claimed to be from Organization VII and my boss, which seemed far-fetched. But on the other hand, she had an alluring presence that made me want to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“Alright,” I said slowly. “How do you plan on earning my trust?”
Lady L smiled, her red lips curling up slyly. “Well, for starters, how about I help you get dressed?” She lifted a finger and spun it over once, and then all of a sudden, my towel started glowing. Its size multiplied before it draped over my skin, my immediate reaction to step back and avoid it. At first, I thought she was being sneaky and trying to attack me, before I realized that what was magically clothing me was cotton fabric. And not just any fabric, it was my plain white T with the words ‘level up’ in boldface letters, and my pair of gray sweatpants.
My hands brushed down my chest as I tried to understand how she’d done that. And when I looked over to the folded pile of clothes I had laid out in my bed, I saw the towel I’d been wearing a few seconds ago….
“Matter replacement….” I whispered to myself, then turned to her with my mouth hanging on the floor. “Even if you were a shapeshifter, there’s no way you would have been able to mimic her powers. Unless of course, your power was mimic. Chances of that are—”
“Slim to none.”
I scoffed. “I had a recent run in with a crazy sword girl who could almost do that. She uses her blade to absorb soul extensions. But… my mind is still not processing something here….”
She tittered. “You’re overwhelmed, which is understandable. It’s not every day we grace the public with our presence. But you’re not just anybody, are you Nero?”
My heart raced. “You’re seriously Lady L… of Organization VII, aren’t you?”
“See? Now we are getting somewhere,” she sang, then she leaned back like she was about to fall. Instead, she sat down in some type of invisible chair, crossing one leg over the other and lounging easily as she studied me. I’d never seen Lady L’s face behind the golden mask. No one ever had. Quite honestly, all I had to go by was how well she pulled off her powers, and the fact that she sounded like her, and matched her body type to every last measurable detail. Even so, I was convinced, because the power around her felt like nothing I’ve ever felt before….
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Like I said, it was dangerous, the kind of dangerous that could put any brave SOB down. The more I focused on it, the more pronounced it was. And with the way she was studying me and smiling at me, I had to wonder why she paid me a visit like this in the first place.
Maybe Naomi was right about my powers drawing attention….
“I received a report from Kenji—you’ve passed your evaluation period. How do you feel, Nero?”
I broke out in a nervous smirk. “Good. Amazing, even. But… I hope you’re not here to take it away, are you?”
“Now how did you come up with such a bizarre assumption?”
“Don’t know. Sometimes when something good happens, something bad has a habit of happening right after. Seems to be the theme of my life, really.”
“Well, Nero had finally caught a break. Five gifts, each one unique. You don’t need me to tell you how rare this is, do I?”
“Not at all. I know I’m a walking phenomenon. Gotten quite used to it, by now.”
“Then why on earth would I ever pull someone with your skill set out of the field?” She smiled. “You’re more than a diamond in the rough, Nero. Which means that you ought to be protected at all costs. And valued at all times. Frankly, I don’t think it has really sunk in yet, the extent to which you’re special. Not only have you been gifted at such a late age, you managed to acquire beyond the maximum number of talents we’ve seen to date.”
“And that’s why you’re here?”
She giggled. “Exactly.”
“But, why like this? You know, in Hayashi’s spare bedroom and not in a tower in headquarters or something?”
“I wanted to meet you in a more personal space,” she explained, her jade eyes glinting in the low light. “Getting to know my most gifted agent on a one on one level this way is important to me. I want you to be comfortable with me, Nero. To be someone you can rely on, and to be someone you can trust.” Her words seemed innocent enough, but then her face shifted into a more serious tone. “Because in this industry, you need someone like me to survive….”
“What do you mean?”
“While I am more than impressed that you have these unique and one of a kind gifts, there are others who would see you as a threat. Your gifts are extraordinary, but they also make you a target. There are those who would seek to use your powers for their own means… or snuff them out entirely,” she warned me, her voice hardening at the last words. “I despise both ideas. We as a society are so easily offended by those who are different, those who don’t conform to expectations. Your gifts set you apart, make you special, and that unfortunately breeds cruelty and resentment in small minds. But I see your potential, Nero. I see how your powers could change things for the better, if properly guided. Your gifts should be nurtured, not suppressed or exploited.”
“By they, are you referring to the other six members of the organization?”
“I am. Alastair, Enujin, Saiyer, Bors, Mavees, and Predemcer.”
My breath hitched. “The other members of the elite guild want me dead?”
She giggled. “No silly! They want you neutralized.”
Like that was supposed to make me feel better?!
“Have you ever heard of the human condition? What does society tend to do when they don’t understand something? A select few study it, others try to manipulate it, and the majority tend to fear it. And fear breeds hostility,” she continued. “Human history is rife with examples of all three. The other elite heads are no different. You are an unknown element, something to be wary of,” she went on. “They don’t fully grasp the extent of your abilities, and that makes them anxious. They prefer things to be orderly, systematic. Anything that doesn’t fall under that is put under the spotlight under a very strict lens.”
“So all in all, they see me as a threat? That’s the only reason they’d be hostile about my powers.”
Her eyes softened on me. “They do, Nero. They fear that you are the beginning of something that cannot be controlled in the future, and for that, they would prefer you neutralized.”
“I could see that, but, why aren’t you worried about me?”
She smiled. “I have no reason to fear abnormalities. If everyone were the same, then we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in right now, would we? There’s never such a thing as balance. Whether we like it or not, some are destined to be leaders, and others, not so much. Those who are afraid are usually the ones who are jealous and spiteful, and we will put them in their place, together.”
“Put them in their place? What did you want me to do about it?”
“All I want you to do is reach out when things are in disarray,” she said, getting off her invisible throne and walking up to me. She reached her hand over my temple and tapped her finger along it twice, and somehow opened up my system dashboard without me wearing my H-Tec device! She then went ahead and added a five digit number in my items slot before turning everything off.
“I didn’t know we could activate our sys boards like that….”
“Well, you can’t, but I can. I added my number via your unit’s power residual. It should still be stored the next time you put it on.”
“B-but, how, di-did—”
“Don’t worry. It isn’t your job to understand Organization technology! It’s like trying to decode the premise of our Hunter Game arenas.”
“Damn, what money can buy….”
She smirked. “Right, money….” She winked. “Don’t tell anyone we met tonight. And don’t tell anyone you have my direct line. In order for this partnership to work, we must be discreet about these things. It’s only for your own protection, Nero.”
“You’re saying that you’re going to protect me?” I smirked. “That’s going to be hard to do if you want to keep this partnership between us on the hush-hush.”
“Not if you consider the repercussions of not being careful from here on out.” She frowned. “Nero, I want you to gauge how serious this is. The Organization isn’t going to come down themselves and pull you out of the corp. I told them that I will look after you, and to prove that you’re not as dangerous as they are making you seem. But some of them are thick-headed and will go against my assignment to deal with you themselves. I just know it.”
I straightened my face and nodded. “I get it. Still, it seems weird that my higher ups are willing to throw me into the fire because of my powers…. I wanted so badly to believe that I had nothing to worry about getting this strong.”
“And you won’t have anything to worry about. This is a working partnership. I made an oath to support every meta-human in my sector, and that includes you. We work for the people, not each other, understand?” She smiled. “And I’m going to make sure we continue doing our work for humanity here to the best that we are able to.”
“Thanks, Lady L. I feel a little relieved after hearing that.”
“Of course. After all, I could never let them hurt such a sexy face…” she cooed, Lady L giving me bedroom eyes.
She inched closer, the back of her finger grazing along my neck and down my scales. Her eyes followed the trail, her lips puckering at the feel of my skin against hers before she whispered, “Those scales… they look just like his up close….”
I raised an eyebrow at her, before those jade eyes met mine. “You take good care of yourself, Nero. And remember what I told you.”
“Yeah, don’t tell anyone, and buzz in when shit seems off. Which, honestly, right now is going to be every day of my life if you think about it.”
She giggled. “I can see why she likes you.” I flashed her another confused look before she leaned into me and gave me a soft kiss on my cheek. “Don’t be a stranger, all right?”