Issue #3

Gullibility was a hard one to wrap your head around. The description seemed pretty straight forward in the Pocketbook, but it seemed like its application in the real world was more nuanced than just stats and numbers. Like once you had used the ability, some inhibitions seemed to disappear, but the target was completely conscious and sober and held firm in certain places.

For example Rae had stripped out of her clothes at your suggestion just as easily as Vivian had. And then she had straddled you, completely naked, and asked for your opinion on if her boob job took any attention away from her ass. She even guided your hands to compare the curves. All the while her bare pussy was only separated from your incredibly stiff erection by the fabric of your pants. She had treated all of this like it was par for the course of a normal meet and greet.

You had considered not using your ability for the third interview to regain some normalcy, but the devil on your shoulder won out. Now you had Lexi. Lexi with her short bleach blonde hair, intricate tattoos around her body and hands, and piercings everywhere from her cheek, to her nipples, to her clit. She was standing in front of you stark naked. Her fake tits bounced lightly as she mixed a cocktail in a shaker. In between vigorous shakes and twists, she was giving you the rundown on why she ended up bartending. She had run away from home at sixteen because her mom had put so much pressure on her to follow in the family business and had spent the past six years serving and bartending.

"What was the family business?" you asked trying to seem engaged and interested in more than just the naked, fit body in front of you.

She set the shaker down and turned around to grab the glasses from the cocktail cart she had brought in. While turned, the tattoo running all the way down her left side began to move. Your eyes went wide and you were about to say something, but the ink rearranged itself to say:

(New Effect) No Need for Those: The use of Gullibility is more effective when it is being used to talk someone into stripping out of their clothes.

(+1 Charisma)

The ink returned to where it was before as quickly as it had come. You guess that was your sign to go check out the Character Sheet after these interviews.

"My mom is a teacher and recruiter for the Superhero College here in town. She wanted me to follow in her footsteps, but then I never ended up getting my powers. She always said she saw a bunch of potential for me to be a super but it just never came," Lexi vented frustratedly.

"Ohh that's re-" you began before she cut you off.

"Oh my God. I shouldn't have said any of that," she stated suddenly. "That's like super confidential. Boss you can't tell anyone that. Like. Anyone!" she said, her breath raspy with regret.

You nodded your head quickly, "Oh Lexi, I would never. What you say in my office stays with me and me alone. I don't know much about super heroes in real life. I used to be a penciller for some comics, but I think the heroes out in the real world could never live up to the ones on the page."

She breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you boss." A few moments went by as she looked at you, trying to discern if you were being truthful. Finally she decided and continued, "You really don't know how good it feels to be able to share that with someone."

You smile back at her, "Anytime Lexi. Now let's try out these drinks and get you into a uniform," you paused for a moment, "and you don't have to call me boss. Monty works great."

This was going to be the first real test of your power. You looked down at Lexi's emergency contact sheet. Listed was her mother, Josie Chandler, living here at 1941 Themyscira Drive. It was a relatively normal suburban neighborhood. Kids were rushing around to get back to their houses before the street lights kicked on. The smell of burgers and hot dogs being grilled permeated thickly through the air. You tucked the sheet away into your glove box and hopped out of your car.

You straightened out your shirt and fixed your hair while you walked up to the door. If anyone could point you in the direction of other super powered people, it would be the woman that recruits heroes to a superhero school.

Big breath in. This was the moment of truth. Your hand pulled back in the air to knock, but the wooden door swung open before you could make contact.

"Hi there," stated a striking woman, standing in a bath robe and holding a glass of champagne.

"Ummm. Hi. I'm-" you got out before she cut you off.

"Come on in. Take a seat," she said before turning and walking back in, not bothering to even let you introduce yourself.

"I'm here because a couple of friends wanted to plan a surprise party for Lexi," you said, sticking to the excuse you had rehearsed in your head on the way over here while trying to activate Gullibility.

In front of you, the woman paused and her whole body shuddered. Her single, thick, blonde braid rubbed back and forth across her back as she regained her composure. Once she was back again she walked into her kitchen as if nothing had happened. "I don't really care about that. Champagne or tequila?"

You followed her into the house, closing the door behind you. It was a very open concept type room with a large kitchen at the center of the space, overlooking everything else. You walked up the steps and sat down at the kitchen island where she had gestured to. "Ummm. Whatever you're having I guess." You were at a loss for words. It was not even like Gullibility hadn't worked and she didn't believe you. It was more like...she was expecting you and wanted something.

She reached up on to her tiptoes to grab two shot glasses from the top shelf, letting the bottom of her short robe ride up her tanned, muscular legs. Out of the freezer came the tequila and a few moments later one of the shots was in front of you.

"Why do you have so much potential?" she asked ominously, before she took the shot and casually chased it with champagne.

You tipped back your own glass, the cold liquor immediately giving you the heebie-jeebies. It was sharp and cutting, yet also like an ice cube had rotted and then burped down your throat. In the place of the cold liquid came the warm and acidic aftershock of the ****. "You sound a bit like my high school teachers. But. Uhhh. I don't know. What's that even supposed to mean?"

She took another sip of the bubbly fluid and looked at you curiously, "You don't know do you?"

"Lady what is with these questions? If you have to ask if I know, then I probably don't know, right?" you shot back with a bit of edge, still very confused.

This caused her to laugh. It was the first time that you had seen her smile and it was surprisingly comforting, as if she was not laughing at you but instead at your observation and realizing it was a little absurd.

"Fair enough. I had assumed you knew already. I've got a power that lets me see how much potential someone has for supernatural abilities and how much of that power has already been realized, among other things. You have begun to develop abilities right?" she asked.

That actually did connect a few dots and made sense why Lexi was frustrated about her mom always being mad at her for not living up to her potential. You thought for a moment about the best way to answer her question, "Uhh yeah. I've gotten a weird power recently. It's a long story, but I think the first power I got was really mostly meant to get me to my next power. The being that gave me my powers said that I have the...capacity, I guess...to gain one physical and one mechanical power," you summarized, trying to not give too much away but also detailed enough for her to help you. "Which I guess, might be something you're able to assist with?" you added hopefully.

"Maybe. But first, I've got a lot of questions. Are you able to show me your power? Or is it something that is hard to show?" she asked, her brows narrowing as she tried to process what you were telling her.

You had to chuckle at that. "Ummm. No. No. It's totally possible for me to show you," you stood up out of your chair and faced her as you activated Gullibility, "we just both have to be naked for it to work."