The instantaneous shift in the air—from blissful to uncomfortable—was not lost on Shadow Angel, who was attentive to the two sidekicks, despite her apparent nonchalance. Siren, for her part, seemed visibly disappointed by Supernova’s evident discomfort towards her; this feeling was not long lived, though, as it was soon replaced by a hint of annoyance that was only marginally more concealed. Shadow Angel sighed a little to herself, contemplating how she might help these two to solve their differences.
The remainder of the patrol was uneventful and spent in the same rather uncomfortable silence. Supernova seemed relieved when the agency building came into view, meeting the sight with a soft sigh. Siren seemed to pick up on this, too, as her lips pursed a little before she shifted her gaze further away from the other sidekick. This was going to be a challenge. Shadow Angel, however, had never met a challenge yet that she would back down from, so she smirked to herself as they arrived, having made her decision on how she might whip her little sidekicks into shape.
For now, though, she led them through the doors of the agency and up the stairs, back to her office, where she took her seat at her desk. She gestured for the two of them to take their seats as she propped her elbows up on the desk, interlacing her fingers in front of her. “Alright. I have a few things that I want to go over with the two of you, but first, as promised, I want to hear a little more about your quirks,” she began, her eyes shifting between the two of them. “Siren, how about you go first? Tell me anything that you think it relevant or important about how your quirk; a description, how it works, what sorts of things you can learned to do so far, and so on,” she gave her the task before resting her chin on his interlaced fingers, tilting her head a few degrees to the left, as a gesture of curiosity.
Siren took her seat as requested and focused her attention on Shadow Angel rather than the young man who sat in the chair to her right. “Right. So, the name that my ability kind of depends on who you ask; Siren Song, Angelic Voice, and Empathic Voice are all commonly used. Whatever you call it, it is sound manipulation, although I do tend to focus on the vocal component,” she explained, pausing to ensure that what she’d said made sense before she went on.
“Essentially, I can create, control, and manipulate sound waves in a variety of ways. Usually, I manipulate them in a way that allows me to manipulate the emotions or desires of others, such as mesmerizing them to prevent them from moving, lulling them to sleep, instilling calm, and so on. I can also change my voice to sound to sound like someone else, or to mimic various sounds, such as a bird’s chirp, a dog’s bark, or even a distant explosion,” she continued her explanation before pausing, as if to decide if she’d missed anything.
“Oh, I have tried to use it to create illusions, such as making someone believe that they see something that isn’t there. I can also use it as a form of suggestion to make someone want to agree to something, perform an action, and so on. Both of those usually only work on people with weaker minds or who are open to suggestion,” she explained, “For example, someone very intelligent or who has a lot of mental fortitude will not be affected, or if they are, they will see through it quickly,” she added before falling silent and leaning back in her chair to indicate that she was finished.
Shadow Angel listened carefully to what the young sidekick told her, nodding periodically to indicate her understanding. “I see,” she said thoughtfully when the young woman had finished. “Have you ever tried to use it to support your allies? To rally them or boost morale, for example?” she asked curiously. Siren shook her head, “No, not really. To give them a confidence boost or something if they are afraid, maybe, but nothing more than that,” she admitted. “Hmm. Maybe we can work on that. What about trying to affect your target physically rather than just mentally? Sort of like a buff or debuff in a video game? Giving your allies a boost in power or weakening your enemies?” she queried, trying to get an idea of what the young woman might have tried in the past.
“No, the closest thing would be making them stop or sleep, but those are more mental alterations that lead to a physical change,” Siren explained. “Got it. Well, mental is important, because if they believe they are slow or less powerful, they may temporarily be such, but it might be possible to create a physical change, although it would probably take a lot of work,” Shadow Angel explained her thought process. “What about using sound waves to affect the physical world? Like using sound waves to create explosions or manipulating the sound waves so that they take on a physical form, like a barrier?” she asked her final question.
“I have tried to create sonic waves, sort of like Present Mic. I can do it, but I haven’t really practiced it that much, so it is harder for me to manage it, and they are probably much less effective,” Siren admitted. “I’ve never thought about trying to manipulate the sound waves into a barrier or anything before, though,” she added with a hand on her chin in thought. “Well, perhaps that is something we can try to work on. It isn’t exactly the same as the way I manipulate energy, but you might be able to apply the same principles that I do to create physical objects,” she told her as she materialized a sword made entirely of purple energy before banishing the object.
“Alright, what about you, Supernova? What can you tell me about your ability?” she asked, resuming the same position as she had with Siren, but tilting her head to the right this time. She recalled having read that the young man manipulated energy to create explosions, so she was curious to know exactly how his ability worked. She wondered if he, too, could apply some of the principles she used to his own ability, and if there were any principles he used that she might be able to use. She could create small explosions and blasts with her own ability, but nothing fancy, at least not without expending more energy than she was usually willing to. She hadn’t put a great deal of practice into it because loud and flashy wasn’t really her style, but she had to admit that having a trick up her sleeve to help her in a tough spot against a power type was appealing.
_________________ Check out my resume!"One day the earth will open wide and I'll follow you inside, because the only hell I know is without you." - Starset.
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