Ange clapped three times at the same time, taking Max out of his stupor with a loud sound. "So, Max! I will come clean and tell you about my power. It is called Impossible Surgery and allows me to perform any kind of medical procedure with a 100% success rate. Now, could you kindly tell me what your power does?" she asked.
"Fine, only because you are cute." He went into full offensive flirting, more like a reaction than a proper plan.
"Do you think I am cute?" She asked, caught off guard by the compliment.
"Of course! Love that smile," he added.
"Oh my . . ." Riley blushed.
"Anyway, this is how my power works." Then Max gave her a fast rundown of his power.
Working together with that monster would be the best option for surviving. So better sooner than later; maybe she would even have some tips on how to improve his body.
"Great! You are like Sis Cat, but you only work with yourself!" She made a jump of happiness, her eyes glowing with intrigue and ideas.
Max raised an eyebrow. "Cat?"
"Brigid, the healer," Ange said with a small smile.
Max nodded, getting a vague memory of a super with healing powers with that name in Maine. "Oh right . . . yes, I am kind of like her," he answered a little bit confused, as that woman disappeared from the face of the earth one day.
"That is amazing; we will make the best team ever!" Ange yelled and raised an arm in the air.
"So, can I check inside you for inspiration?" Max asked both as an excuse to get to know her better and to try to get some upgrades for his own power.
Ange nodded a few times. "Sure!" She then opened her lab coat, revealing the girl's naked torso.
Before Max could enjoy the view, one hand grabbed a small zipper on her collarbone and pulled down.
The skin opened, revealing the woman's internal organs behind a transparent mesh of plastic. Every single biological structure throbbed as hundreds of small electronics were scattered around the tall girl's interior.
"I meant with my power . . ." he mumbled. It was the first time that a girl had flashed him, and he was disgusted and intrigued at the same time.
"Oh right, silly me." One of the girl's hands hit her on the head as she closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue.
She zipped up and put on her lab coat again.
[Error! Mechanic non-human traits are impossible to analyze.]
Max shook his head after the message window informed him of his failure after touching the girl's head.
"Better get moving," he said, and began to think about what to do next.
"Right, I need to find a place to sit and work." She made a small pause and got closer to the three corpses.
"But before that, can you give me a hand to collect those heads?" Ange said while using a box cutter on the neck of one of her victims.
"Sure . . ." he muttered with a nervous tone, making some makeshift bags out of her victim's clothes.
"Neat backpack, by the way," she complimented him, trying to cut the silence that was passing between them.
The man nodded. "Thanks. . . . So, what is our water and food situation?" The man asked as he placed another head inside his backpack.
"Well, we have a lot of food right there!" Anathema pointed to the corpses.
(She . . . has a point.) They could consume the human meat, but just as a moral principle, he would like to avoid it.
"And water?" He asked.
"Nothing," she mumbled, more focused on getting a clean cut on the spine to reattach later than the current conversation.
"Well . . . this place is kind of moist . . . Maybe I can find a way to take it from the environment like a plant?" He asked, playing with the idea of finding a way to extract the moisture from the air like a cactus.
Ange rubbed her chin with one of her free hands while the others were busy packaging the meat. "Hmp . . . I could make a machine-plant thing with your meat that could extract water from the environment!" The woman exclaimed, beaming a big smile at Max.
"Really?" The young man asked.
"Yes! You are my perfect 3D printer of biological material," Ange added while finishing packing her materials for easy transportation.
Max felt a wave of relief from being able to shut down his pain receptors. "Well, that solves a problem . . . let's search for people then," he said and made a small pause.
(Or component.) It all depended on the situation they found themselves in.
Now, both covered in some clothes, they were standing in the middle of this corridor. However, Ange took a deep breath and nodded a few times. "Fine, let's get more friends for our group. Also, Max . . ." she mumbled, her tone getting serious at the end.
"Yes?" He asked, a sliver of fear polluting such a normal question.
"I know we came from a highly stressful situation into an even more dire situation. Do you want a hug? I am doing my best trying to respect personal boundaries now, and I am just asking for consent," that monster covered in gore and grotesque implants asked, trying to sound calm.
Max didn't know if that was a way for her to ask for a hug or to try to establish some trust. However, he could not say no; the man would actually like a hug right now. "Sure! Come here," he said, falling for the abomination's charms.
The monster got near and hugged Max with her six arms.
They closed around him like a bear trap, holding him with a firm grip. Shocking the man for a second as the accumulated leaking electricity from the implants on her flesh made contact with him.
"Hey, do you want to have intercourse? It helps people to relax, and judging by your face, you need it," she whispered in the young man's ear, her small breasts pressing against his chest while those words assaulted him.
"What . . . wait?" He asked, confused but intrigued.
"Are you really surprised about it? With all the things I do daily, do you think that I would draw the line in the sand with that?" Ange talked with a cold tone as her lips moved dangerously close to Max's skin.
"No . . ." Max mumbled as he could smell that chemical perfume around the woman; it was horrible, but at the same time, there was this temptation to jump into the abyss.
"It is just another biological function of our bodies, and I am trying to atone in some way. . . using my body for something that is not causing pain is the most logical approach." Each word felt cold, calculated, and precise, with surgical precision to expose her ideas. There was no malice, no good intentions, no shame, no lust, just an uncanny lack of emotions.
"What do you say?" She broke the hug and looked at Max with a smile.
The young man felt in danger; he didn't want to reject her, but he also didn't want to do it here. Actually, he was so surprised that he mostly focused on his own survival and not triggering that woman.
"I would want to wait until we are in a better place." It was the more reasonable option. As for his trauma from the multiversal war, that was a problem for future Max.
For a fraction of a second, there was a grimace of disappointment on the woman's face that the man caught. "But a kiss is fine," he added. A compromise that would keep things stable.
The smile came back, but he could only see it for an instant before she was over him. "Lovely," she purred and attacked him.
Two arms held the back of Max's head, two grabbed his arms, and the last ones squeezed the man's ass.
Then Ange began to kiss the young super. She forced her tongue inside his mouth; a strong chemical flavor assaulted the man as the wet intruder explored each corner.
It felt warm, and there was this tingling sensation like electricity going on.
Ange took her time dancing with her pink tendril all over Max's mouth. She licked the interior of his cheeks and the gums of his teeth and touched the flesh under his tongue and on the roof of his mouth.
When she was done with it, the long tentacle coiled around the man's tongue, stroking as if she wanted to suck each single drop of saliva while also pushing as much of her own fluids into him.
Max was frozen, as this was not what he had in mind as his first kiss. He was completely overpowered by this woman. Then, as soon as his knees began to get weak, she broke the kiss, leaving only a long string of saliva connecting them both. A string that Ange collected with one of her long fingers and licked it clean.
"Well! That was really good, buddy! I hope I did a good job! I am not used to doing this kind of stuff raw," she exclaimed with a cheerful tone.
Max blinked a few times, still flabbergasted by what he expected to be a simple kiss on the cheek. "Yes . . . wait, what do you mean by raw?" He asked while the chemical flavor of the woman lingered not only in his mouth but also on the back of his throat.
"Zero drugs included. Well, not on me, but on the victim," she mumbled with a dismissive tone.
He didn't have the guts to ask more questions for now. Max only grabbed another freshly peeled femur to use as a blunt weapon and followed her.