Jordan's Little Lie and Seiza's New Power

I couldn't believe what I heard. Jordan wasn't on our side for a week?! His mental state— I was right to think about it. He has been infected by that "witch". He wasn't thinking straight.

"And that's exactly why you're my first target, Zeed? You know me too well."

He even read through my thoughts. I couldn't believe you, Jordan. You betrayed us.

"... How could you! HOW COULD YOU, JORDAN!"

You've done it! You made Wiwin cry. Great job, dimwit!

Now look at all of us! We are scared of you. We couldn't trust you anymore.

"I'm sorry. I need to take action. We have been working on this investigation together for 10 years, and we haven't gotten a single lead up to this point. I'm sick of waiting."
Harold answered, "We still have time. We aren't rushing this. We have to get it perfect."

He's right, Jordan. You need to stop.

"We have almost reached middle age. You think this is funny? When we started, I was twenty-seven. When I lost my parents, I was fifteen. Do you have any idea how long I was waiting?"
Tasyah answered, "You IDIOT! We're here together! We're here to help each other. Are you trying to break us apart?"

No one sided with you, Jordan. Just give up.

"I know this would happen. Too bad... I have to do it this early."
I felt it inside me. He was calming me down from the inside. I scanned around. Wiwin stopped crying. Harold stopped being mad. And Tasyah stopped being frustrated.

"Jordan... What did you do to them?"

Jordan and I looked at Seiza. She... didn't get affected? What in the...?

"AHH FUCK! Of course! You sniffed the blood."
"Huh?"
"How does it feel, Seiza? Tell me! You're probably developing power inside of you."

What...?

"... Power? What do you mean by power? I'm... a hero now?"
"And it might also make you not a dumb-dumb anymore. I was quite surprised to hear you call my name right for the first time."

While they were talking, I tried to wake up the other three. They snapped awake within a second I slapped them.

"What...?" The three said at the same time. After waking them up, I stood my ground.

I faced Jordan again and said, "You don't want to do this, Jordan. You can do it to me, but not to them. They're just people who have similar ambitions. We were the first two. It's between you and me. Released them."

He just stood there frozen. I felt he squished me from the inside. He was mad.

"Fine", he released them. "I won't do anything to them."

I looked at him. I gave my furious face. He seemed calm; he even grinned at me. What is he planning now?

Wiwin cut our staring contest. "Jordan! Answer us? Are you still trustworthy? I... I don't want to lose... another person. Another comrade I dearest."

She paused briefly, "... if you're still with us, then... then..."

He interrupted Wiwin's proposal, "You know my answer."

"Huh?"
"I still want to kill them all. I still want to stop this whole hero business. I still want you five to help me achieve my goal."

Suddenly, we heard Seiza gagging.

"Uegh! Wha... What was that?"
"That must be a reaction to another power. Didn't you see me doing something to the others? I did it to you, too."

Then, we learned about her power. The floor was covered with black goo. The same blackness I saw surrounding the building the other day.

"Hmm...? Black Goo?"
Tasyah answered, "Slimefy?!"

Everyone looked at Tasyah, and she continued, "Tasyah, you can swallow anything, breathe anything, and hear anything. Your body won't take the damage. The damage will solidify into this goo thing, and you will spit it out. The goo will also provide some ability, which means..."

Not long after Tasyah's explanation, the black goo reformed and turned into a slime monster, complete with one eye, two mouths, one below and one above its eye, and one set of arms on each side. It grew tails slowly.

"Uwwaaaa....!!! What the fuck???" A very understandable reaction from Seiza. She never thought she would get this kind of power. So, she screamed and fell on her back.

"A counter to my power, huh? Very interesting."
"Interesting? INTERESTING?! MOTHERF*CKER, I want a normal life. This is happening because of you! And now I only have three to five years of life left. You make me a monster! I never asked for this! NEVER!"

She cried her eyes out. While she was crying, her creature came close to her and tried to pet her. She refused and pushed it away.

"Get away! I'm not your mother!"

While all of this happened, I heard Harold come forward and talk to Jordan, "Normally, I would kick people like you, but I don't want any people outside to find us out. So, I'll give you two choices."

Jordan frowned and looked very serious.

"Either you get out and never talk about our operation again, or never use that power ever while we are doing our mission."

Jordan closed his eyes. He tried to do something.

"Hello? Hello, hello?"

What is this?

"Ah, seems like we finally got a connection."

Jordan? You can do this?

"I was trying to do it before; it seems like it finally connected."

I could hear his thoughts in my head. Did his aura finally reach my head?

"Jordan, answer me."
"Fine. I leave. I won't tell anyone about this operation anymore."
Harold then pointed at the door and said, "Then leave!"

Before he left, he looked at me for one last time.

Through his "telekinesis", he said, "I'll be in touch. Wouldn't want to miss the latest news about the research, right? Friend..."

After that, he left. We were in a very bad state. One of us had betrayed the team, the other had turned into something she didn't want, and I had become a third party to him, who betrayed us.

"Zeed."
"Yeah? What is it, Harold?"
"Since you're the second-longest after Jordan, who plans this operation, you should take the role of leadership."
"Me?"
"We need someone to guide the team."

I looked around the room. Seiza was still crying. Wiwin and Tasyah were trying to calm her down. We were really desperate to keep the mission going, but without a leader, we were screwed.

I stepped forward and announced my leadership to everyone: "Today we lost a comrade, and one of us has a ticking bomb inside her body, but that's not going to stop us from moving forward. We need to finish this operation fast, and by the end of the year, I promise, we will take down this hero business once and for all!"