『Chapter 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 his xenophobia.
The prisoner sighed and closed his eyelids before putting the wooden plate on the ground. A woman's voice came to his ears, escaping from the tinted glass. He looked at it as if he could see people through it to make them uncomfortable, just to kill time.
"—He... can see us through the glass?"
"No. He's probably just faking it..." sighed a feminine voice. "Before sending him to us, the Canadian authorities told us that while they were teaching him Japanese, he always behaved like a brat..."
"A brat, huh? In there?" The man chuckled, rubbing his forehead. "So, can you confirm his background for me now?"
"Isn't your job reading this stuff? Whatever..." She said as she pulled out her file. "Felix Fortier, 6 ft 2, 170 lbs, white-grey hair, yellow eyes, and all that with a slightly muscular body."
"Another foreigner freaks, huh..."
"Apparently, he didn't eat that much in prison since he believed other convicts 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 unauthorized use of his quirk outside a legal framework in exchange for money and sexual gratification, endangering others, corruption, and since he was a repeat offender... This young man already spent three years in jail, but because of his exemplary behavior, 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 will be the only hero who knows about this 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 left 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 understand their behavior.
The place where he had been sent provisionally was called Tartarus.
—Edgy name for a prison… I never expected to be that threatening, but obviously, they're wary of me. Sound alright... I know what I'm up against.
On the other hand, he didn't know what he was hoping for in the first place.
After all, the Canadian government traded him for a non-aggression treaty because of the current threat Japan represented because of all their superheroes and their new weapons and techs. Since the U.S. military failures in the United States of Africa, followed by the dollar collapse and Mr. Celebrity's retirement, nothing could stand up to Japanese nationalism except China.
Still, they had other things to do, such as supporting Africa with funds and weapons. Only Star and Stripe could still prove to be a deterrent to the other world powers.
Besides that, Europe had fallen; for Felix, even if the European Union doesn't exist anymore today, all these countries are still in the embryonic stage of their recovery. The future was in Asia, which is one of the reasons why he accepted this whole procedure to take place.
He accepted classes to learn Japanese in verbal and written form quite long ago, not even five months after being jailed. It was as if they had sent him to prison deliberately to use him as a bargaining chip.
—I wouldn't be surprised if they did. I know who could have sold me out to the government... If that's the case...
Next, he had been re-trained to use his quirk because inmates using their powers in prison got longer sentences. Well, of course, he didn't stop using it; he stopped using his abilities on others more often and only used it on himself, especially since he had in mind the caged fights he had to participate in to entertain the wardens.
—It's comic to see how far and deep corruption can go.
However, even after all this, Felix still didn't know the limits of his power.
Right now, he was sure of one thing: exhausted as he was, the white light and the tatami in the corner of the room wouldn't help him get some rest.
He 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 three days, and he could always force himself to sleep by secreting a maximum of melatonin to avoid going crazy. Even some meta-melatonin if needed.
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's there?" he asked, sitting on his tatami, waiting. "Is creeping on me that fun?"
No answer. However, he was sure that someone was indeed there. Remaining static, he waited like during those last years.
After over an hour, Felix looked up at a noise from the ceiling.
"Dammit..." began a male voice, between growling and sighing. "Talk about a shitty job… You're cleared…" concluded a man who until then had been hanging from the ceiling with his big, scaly, toad-like fingers, while his hanging tongue and color-changing skin were reminiscent of a chameleon or frog.
"You came in here at the same time as the photographer, didn't you?" Felix asked.
"…Yeah. Quite rare for people to detect m-" the man stopped, widening his eyes, and sighed again 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. At least, I guess…"
"You're all just like the mafia, aren't you?"
"Just enforcing the law, that's all. People need to do it."
—I'm gonna enforce something in your stupid frog face, moron… If I weren't six feet deep in this fucking mess, I would have given all these bastards Grave's disease by now… Goddamn.
He refrained from saying this out loud. Now that he was coming out of that shitty hole, it was better not to get into more trouble, even if this guy only seemed to be another of their agents. The chameleon man handcuffed Felix and took him out of his cell as he reluctantly followed him. Once outside, the convict could see hundreds of white cells that followed each other in an endless corridor.
A prison for the most dangerous supervillains. For those villains for whom even the death penalty is not enough, and given the security set-up here, getting out of there would be a feat. 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 or became lifeless because of the boredom. Or maybe it was just his jail cell that was like that…
"This prison level seems different from the one I saw when you dragged me here."
"Like in any prison, we have a level for traitors, enemies of the state, and prisoners of war. Tartarus's in no exception."
"Oh yeah, sounds like something officials would do," he muttered, looking at the number of one of the cells: 656698.
—Traitor, huh… All things come to those who wait.
Stopping his thought flow, he continued walking for more than ten minutes.
He was taken to a large room where many supplies lined the walls. A group of people was waiting around a large table, some of them already sitting around it, looking at both Felix and the chameleon man. In just a second, everyone sat on their chair, leaving only one seat available, and they invited him to join them with a hand movement. 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 three 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 suspect suspicious activity in our country these days, 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 he swung into his chair, she continued. "For all the 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 or chef." She snarled.
"Seems like you're not fond of jokes, huh."
The group around the table became tense, so the woman tried to ease the tension by asking an agent to make some coffee and give some to Felix. She also requested that Felix be unhandcuffed. During this time, several people around the table took out their files, aware that they would have to give him at least a minimum amount of information.
"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 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, increasing your strength and endurance and giving you greater awareness. It allows you to outperform many people, even with more powerful quirks. Is that right?"
"More or less. It's more complicated than that. I have some limitations." He half-bluffed, half-said the truth. "I can outperform most people who don't have some super-strength or super-speed quirk, for example. I'm not unbeatable, though. I lost some fights while fighting in jail."
"You're limited to what exactly?"
—If you dumb ho think you will have all the info you want, you're fucking delusional.
"So, Mr. Fortier?" she called again, squinting her eyes slightly.
"Well, it's hard to explain." he coaxed, using these few seconds to organize the lie he had been thinking about for months while also avoiding confronting the claims of the Canadian government about him.
"I'm all ears."
"Enhancing my capacity comes at a price. First of all, using too much of my own hormones by forcing my body to produce them ends up tiring me quite fast since it asks for energy at a cellular and molecular level." He conveyed while making a drawing with a pen they gave to him. "It makes calories-burning extremely potent, so I'm not good in long-run missions or fights. The only thing I can do about that is eat healthy stuff in considerable proportion, but it's costly. Plus, I may end up with adrenal fatigue at some point."
"I guess we need to test you to see if the risk is worth it, then… So, do you have another way to strengthen yourself? Judging by your phrasing, I guess so."
"Mhm, it's a bit different, but to counter these wrongful effects, I can borrow hormones from people and trample them because of their lack of responsiveness if needed."
"Borrow?"
"It's an exchange; if I borrow hormones, I need to fill the gap with other hormones." he completely lied, holding back a Machiavellian smile.
"Yes, it's in the record the Canadians gave us."
"Very well. Your medical studies will make it easier for us because you already know most of the hormones and their uses," sighed the man on the woman's left, almost relieved. "That said, I think you already know why we need your cooperation."
"You want me to boost people with hormones for their body and quirk to be more potent, superheroes mainly, I suppose. I pretty much grasped what your goal is."
"You're right… So, you can ensure that people you touch receive these various boosts: adrenaline, insulin, norepinephrine, etc. We know that you can alter someone for some time by heightening these hormones, giving a physical, mental, and quirk boost to someone. It's a kind of quirk doping while avoiding "ruining" their health. That's what you were sent to jail for, after all."
Felix sighed, realizing that these people were too predictable for their own good when they believed they had all the cards in their hands. First off, the Canadian gave them information that was already lies, so Felix was an unknown poisonous gift. Why would his boosts only work for some time and not indefinitely if he puts extensive work into it?
But he kept that for himself.
That said, the behavior of the Japanese government was alien-like in his eyes. They were literally accepting him—and using him—for what had cost him three years of his life behind bars. He had done this for money at the time, to pay for his studies, to have fun, and not to feel alone, but here it was, something else entirely.
However, the people around this table had no idea how he could do any of that. And that was their problem.
Boosting people can become addictive—if Felix decides to do so—for some people, even if he doesn't put in any happy hormones such as serotonin or oxytocin. It can act just like drugs if used in the long term, and some of these heroes might end up ashamed of themselves because of it, but the government didn't seem to care. What were they so afraid of that they rushed everything like that…?
"I can do it," Felix confessed, seeing here a goldmine and a way out of this mess. "I can boost people. It depends on what you want: agility, strength, etc. For boosting quirk, it happens when everything else is boosted. It's usually easier for men, though. That said, 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 a boost that causes no damage, 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. That said, it was also the process of boosting someone irreversibly, so he gladly gave a small part of his plan. "For men, it's fairly easy. I just have to touch the dude's head, preferably the back of it, cause, you know, the hypothalamus, pituitary, and pineal gland are in there. 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 hormone levels of ladies, so to boost them, I need to stabilize this aspect of their metabolism. To do this, I must 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 Hero Public Safety Commission chairwoman—the 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 kept 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 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 pinky toe mainly produces the hormones that feed the quirks; it says that they think you can absorb these hormones and steal someone's power for a while."
An uneasy silence dwelled in the room. 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.
"They indeed forced me to try this," he uttered, thinking about his answer, another big lie with a bit of truth in it. The Canadians only speculated. They didn't have any proof, but still, he had to be careful about that. "The results are null whatsoever. Plus, it makes me amorphous. That said, if you want me to try it, I can try again." he expanded with an idea in mind.
"We could indeed try to see if something like that can happen…" she murmured with a sharp glance, definitely thinking about someone.
"If that's really what I need to do to get my freedom back, then I'm okay with it." Felix intoned, still in character.
"Yeah… Understandable. I'm sorry to ask about this since it's the main reason you have taken the wrong path, but what would be the process of trying to copy a quirk?"
"I need to extract these special hormones 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 can create fire; if I do that, then maybe I can create some sort of… weak flame for a short time…"
"Lack of certainty, huh? This is also in the file."
"So, theoretically, it's possible. But just theoretically…" asked the same man as before.
"Mhm… May I at least know why you want all this from me?" the former inmate asked, playing the fool. "I'd also like to know if I'm getting paid or… what did I gain thanks to this, especially since it may cause me some damage to my body."
"Well, we suspect that a quirk-boosting drug has already begun to be produced in Japan. Our country seems to be the new El Dorado, which might attract more attention than needed. 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, an apartment, and state financial aid. And you will meet a lot of good people. Nice, isn't it?"
"…Seems fair." he retorted sarcastically. "It's not like I can protest anyway."
"Just know that we will need you soon to fight a heroine who is reluctant to work in a team. She promised that if she lost her match against the individual we selected, she would agree to follow our full orders for a month to help us with… an underground problem."
"—? I'm not really a fighter, you know."
"Said the one who almost KO'd an entire gang in jail to protect a warden."
—For personal gain… Exemplary behavior was needed if I wanted to go outta here. Sometimes, putting aside your ego is needed…
"You know a lot about my deeds. Didn't know you were that interested in me." he sneered with a smirk. "Aren't you a little rascal? Don't tell me you-"
"Cut that crap out."
"Rude."
"More importantly, you aren't expected to perform heroic deeds, 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. Standing, she left for a corner of the room while everyone patiently waited for her to return 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 and returned to the table but didn't sit down.
"Gentlemen, we have to go. It seems that two heroes have been tricked again by this bloodsucker. The media will surely want to see us." she said firmly. "As for you, Mr. Fortier, a cab is ready to take you back to your new apartment. Here's your professional phone. Don't use it for anything else. Roger that?"
"Yes, Ma'am… Are you some kind of dictator or something?"
"Just someone working for the greater good. 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-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 would be even more trained to use his quirk now. All this left a bitter taste in his mouth, but for now, he'll comply, but at the slightest opportunity…
It wasn't so bad for now, from a soiled cell to a white cell to a freshly paid apartment, the dream, you can say.
He, who just wanted freedom, was partially satisfied; all that was left to do was get rid of the Japanese government's hold on him, and he would be good.
He looked at his hands, capable of miracles 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, so most people thought he was quirkless.
Sadly for the Hero Commission, he was born and built different.
Even if he has normal hormones in his body, his quirk is [Hormone Control], and for that, just like a quirk for [Fire Generation], he needs super-hormones—also called meta-hormones—and so, he also needs meta-glands, and not just the gland around his feet, mainly around the pinky toes and in the feet. His own adrenaline or oxytocin he secretes aren't normal ones, but meta-adrenaline and meta-oxytocin, and that is for 80% of all his hormones. The potency and power of these are something else.
—I'll just make them believe I'm perfect for the job.
Despite 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, the quirk he got from his father, something he didn't like since it made him remember everything that happened.
—Nothing has changed since then… huh… I need to find a way to change that shit. It's been like that since I was 15 years old…
●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●
[Metabolism & Libido Check → 100%.]
[Exceeding Body's Capacities → 0%.]
[Stored Hormones & Pheromones → 12%.]
[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, making people less aware and sleepy.}
●{Norepinephrine}— {Increases heart rate, blood pressure, attention, and focus.}
●{Oxytocin Crush}—{Enhances bonding & jealousy, regulates emotional responses, including trust, empathy, positive memories & fidelity.}
[+]—More skills here.
●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●—●
—Still capped at level 69… I need to find a way, like my fucking old man, to level up… I can probably reboot this system while keeping most of my capacities intact… but how…
For now, he didn't want to think about anything. He just wanted to rest.
Still, just before getting into his cab, he remembered his past. The heroes of his childhood, then his mistakes. The way people treated him back then. His parents and friends. Turning their backs. Fueling in him the worst feelings. The 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 accomplish anything good 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.
If you get a second chance, don't waste it.