If given a chance to get a superpower, most people would immediately become a superhero. But not Noah. He was not such a goody two shoes.
Inside a convenience store, Noah stood in front of a bookshelf. Behind him, a guy with a backpack entered the store.
Noticing him, Noah smiled. He walked a bit and picked up a box of cigarettes.
His left hand held the cigarette box, but a moment later, the cigarettes suddenly disappeared from his hand.
At the same time, a small thud could be heard from inside the backpack of the guy from before.
But the guy didn't notice at all.
Noah smiled, then grabbed a keychain in the shape of a devil from the shelf beside him and walked to the counter.
"This one, please," Noah said with a smile as he handed the keychain to the young woman behind the counter.
"Su-sure," the cashier said, stunned by Noah's handsome face.
The cashier nervously scanned the keychain, trying to maintain her composure as she handed it back along with his change. Noah thanked her. But before he left, Noah leaned a little on the counter, surprising her and making her blush.
"Anyway, you might want to check that guy's backpack," Noah whispered as he pointed to the guy with the backpack. "I think he was shoplifting."
The cashier's eyes widened. "Re-really?"
Noah shrugged. "Just check it yourself if you don't believe me."
The cashier talked to her coworkers, and then they confronted the backpack guy.
"Sir, can we talk for a bit?" one of her coworkers said. "Someone said he saw you put something inside your backpack."
"What?!" the backpack guy said in surprise.
Noah left the store with a grin on his face as the backpack guy got angry.
"What are you guys doing!" the backpack guy yelled as the cashier and her coworkers grabbed his backpack. "Stop it! I didn't shoplift anything!"
"Let us check your backpack, then!"
"Fine!" the backpack guy gritted his teeth as he let go of his backpack. "But there's nothing in it!"
They quickly checked the backpack, and then the cashier pulled out the box of cigarettes from inside.
She looked at him. "Sir?"
The backpack guy gulped, his face suddenly pale.
"No!" he said. "I don't know anything about that!"
Noah, watching from outside the convenience store, smiled one last time and started walking again, but not for long.
"Stop!" a girl's voice came from behind.
Noah turned his head and saw a girl with short hair staring at him.
"I saw what you did!" the girl said.
"What did I do?" Noah said, looking confused. "I didn't do anything."
"Don't lie!" the girl said. "I saw you teleport those cigarettes into his backpack!"
"Oh?" Noah said, suddenly looking happy.
His reaction was not what the girl expected. She stepped back, getting a bad feeling about him.
She then stabbed her hand to the side, and as if she tore open the space, her hand disappeared, entering some sort of portal to another dimension.
The girl pulled out a knife from it.
"Ho... interesting," Noah said, showing no fear even with the girl pointing her weapon at him.
"Don't move!" the girl warned Noah.
"Easy now," Noah said, still as calm as ever. "You don't want to do that."
"I said don't move! Using your power to hurt others is unacceptable," the girl said. "I won't tolerate it!"
"Yes, about that," Noah looked at his hand, holding a palm-sized keychain in the shape of a devil. "I have plenty of questions I want to ask you."
"What do you--"
The keychain in his hand disappeared. At the same time, the girl choked.
She dropped the knife, grabbing her own neck, and started coughing uncontrollably.
A keychain came out of her throat and fell to the ground as she continued coughing in pain.
Noah took the chance to grab her knife.
"Trying to scare me with this when you already saw what I can do? How cute," Noah said with a smile.
Fiona backed off, scared. She never expected he could teleport the keychain inside her throat just like that. Her throat still hurt, tears on the corners of her eyes. And now he had her weapon.
At that point, she knew she was messing with the wrong person.
"Let's talk," Noah said. "I want to know about the group you're part of."
"You... already know about us?" the girl said in fear. "Am I... baited?"
"There's no way I wouldn't notice, right?" Noah said. "You guys were hunting for me, so I hunted you back. It's that simple."
The girl stared at Noah in disbelief. "So you purposely waited for me to go on patrol alone...?"
"More or less," Noah said. "Anyway, let's continue this talk over there. I don't want to keep talking while standing."
Noah pointed at Foridian Cafe, a renowned modern cafe situated in the middle of town.
---
Inside the cafe, Noah and the girl sat in the corner, a little hidden, so they wouldn't be bothered by other visitors.
"Let's begin with name," Noah said, relaxed. "I'm Noah."
The girl looked uncomfortable but had no choice but to open her mouth and said, "Fiona."
"Alright, Fiona," Noah said, "I can guess to some extent, but why don't you tell me who you guys are."
The girl looked reluctant.
"Fiona," Noah said with a smile.
Fiona gulped.
"I... I think you noticed too," she finally said. "That the numbers of people who awaken their superpowers are suddenly rising these days."
"Ah, yes," Noah said, nodding. "Continue."
"More people with superpowers mean more problems," the girl continued. "Normal people won't be able to handle them. So we decided to create an organization to deal with it."
"Oh, making your own heroes' group?" Noah said. "Very good. Tell me more."
Fiona wasn't sure how much she could tell him, but it's too early to stop now. That much she knows. If she makes him angry, who knows what else he will teleport inside her mouth. She shuddered thinking about the possibility.
"Our... group is named Arcane Keepers. While we are still in an infant state, the organization is starting to grow rapidly," Fiona said. "Our leader is even starting to have conversations with the government. I believe soon we can operate more officially."
"I see," Noah said. "I guess it will be beneficial for me to know what you guys are doing. So I have a proposal."
Fiona didn't like the sound of that.
"What do you mean...?" she asked, feeling uneasy.
Noah smiled. "I want you to be my spy. Leak information from this Arcane Keepers group to me."
"Become... your spy?" Fiona blinked. "There's no way I'm agreeing to that!" she said, standing up.
Noah calmly stared at her, but an intimidating aura was emanating from his body. "You're rejecting my offer?"
"D-Don't try to intimidate me! I'm not scared!" the girl said, clearly frightened.
"Really? I think you misunderstand something," Noah said, smiling. His intimidating aura disappeared. "I can do more than just kill you. For example," he said, leaning forward.
Noah whispered to the girl, "I can teleport my semen directly into your..."
Blood drained from Fiona's face as she understood what Noah meant.
"Instant pregnancy."
The girl glared at Noah with fear and loathing.
"You monster!!" she said.
"Hey, now. I never said I would actually do it," Noah said playfully. "I'm just talking about the possibility. Get it? So, how about it? Are you interested in becoming my spy now?" asked Noah, smiling.
The girl was sweating profusely, grabbing her belly, starting to imagine something happening in there.
"Ho-how do I know you didn't do anything to me yet...?" the girl asked, scared.
Noah leaned back in his chair.
"I see, fair enough, I guess," he said. "But I won't do something like that in the middle of negotiations."
Fiona was obviously unhappy with that answer. "Do you mean I just need to trust your words?"
"That's the beauty of this," Noah leaned forward, with a mischievous smile on his face. "You just need to trust me."
"That's unfair!" The girl raised her voice.
"Obviously," he said, laughing. "Aren't you cute? This isn't supposed to be a fair trade; you're not in a position to make a bargain. Have you forgotten you're at my mercy?"
She glared at him full of hatred. Noah just smiled calmly in return.
"...fine."
"Yes?" Noah said.
"Fine, I will do it," the girl said, with a pained expression.
"Wonderful," Noah said, clapping his hands. "You should have said that from the beginning! Then let's meet up here again tomorrow, at the same time. I expect you to bring me some useful information, okay?"
Fiona nodded in pain.
---