The Power Lounge. The big leagues. More importantly, the big leagues who had their own opinions running counter to the Liberty Legion from which her mother was a member of. Membership was basically one of the greatest middle fingers that she could give to her, and as such the chance of actually joining it as a full member, let alone a sidekick was one that was not just appealing, but in her eyes something that was her destiny.
Axel knew however that she wasn't exactly a big league hero. Sure, she could summon demons and speak them into protecting her while she did her tech things, but there was that and then there's being a tech-themed superhero operating on the national level, where their tech was not just needed but outright required for protecting the country or even planet. It was an incredibly dangerous gamble...
...One that she was absolutely excited for. But also very cautious.
Why shouldn't she be? Gold Sparkle DID say after all that she was only one of many different people who had been scouted out for this sort of thing. The competition was going to be fierce, and she needed to know what she was up against. For now, she put that aside for the night in favor of going through her usual routine of stopping a few more crimes, having dinner and drink at her favorite bar and then calling over a boy toy for both her and Stellae to share over the course of a hot, steamy night.
Next morning on the other hand was a different story. Sneaking out of their shared apartment while Stellae was still out cold and snoring on the floor, Axel got onto the roof in her Engi-Cubus uniform and pulled out all the rites for a proper ritual, complete with roast boar in place of a goat.
"C'mon... oh great gates of Hell, open up and let me make contact with a duke of the Ars Goetia..."
Cutting into the boar, she'd pluck out a rather succulent slice of meat and hold it up high into the air as the sky darkened. A few feet forward from her and close to the roof's edge, a portal emerged. This was shortly followed by a slender hand emerging from the portal, as the Earl of Hell known as Murmur climbed out, his slender and feminine looking body grabbing onto the slice of meat and... absorb it into his body, without even bringing it up to his mouth.
"You called?"
Standing upright almost completely, the air was tense as the Earl of Hell stared down his summoner. He was a Duke, and his power was strong enough to rule over other legions of demons, and here he was being summoned by some caped woman with a horny streak. Was this what the powers of Hell were reduced to, after numerous troubles both from God above and the rebellions of Satan's creations Whipped Daimou and the Scorpion Queen? Answering whoever had the knowledge of summoning them?
"I... I expected to summon an agent, not a actual Earl." The Engi-Cubus explained, shuddering a bit as she took a few steps back. "Holy crap..."
"Well as you can see, Hell has been suffering quite a bit since your planet's Delta Event. As such, we have been... forced to get more involved in mortal affairs. Now, what do you want?"
"Uh... information." Pulling out the piece of paper she was given yesterday, Axel slid it forth into Murmur's hand. "I'm applying for the Power Lounge, but I wasn't the only one. I need to know who I'm competing with, so that I may get the upper hand."
"A matter of competition?" At that mention, Murmer let out a smug grin. "I take it you want the fame and glory that comes from being among the more fit and athletic of America's two official superhero organizations? I can help you reach those goals... but first I must ask something from you..."
"I'm already going to Hell when I die." Axel admitted. "Selling my soul won't change that by much, considering I summon lesser demons on the regular. So go ahead and take it."
"A soul will also be acceptable, but I'm not going to take it until after you're dead and gone as per Hellish Law. Now, just let me get a bit closer and we can begin..."
Standing completely still, Axel let the Earl of Hell walk close to her and shuddered as he brought his hands up her abs and past her breasts, before finally reaching her vulnerable neck and chin. As he wrapped his hand around her neck, a golden glow emerged from his heart, travelling up from his chest and through his arm before leaving his body and entering Axel and travelling up further into her brain.
For a few brief moments, she could see everything Murmur saw across the entire planet. And from this vision, she saw who she was facing up against.
Thankfully, there was only two others she had to go up against that were actually a threat to her... at least so far. But both of these people were absolutely on the higher level of heroic competence compared to herself. Both had experience on the worldwide scale of power, with machines that were much more impressive than what she could come up with on a weekend binge drinking session. Sure, she had minions in the form of imps and hellhounds that she could call on, but who needed that when you had a laser that could blow up an entire warship?
Such was the case with the first person she saw, Brilliant. He was an absolute powerhouse of a man, 250 pounds of pure muscle and hot blonde-haired goodness combined with a pure genius that was almost unrivaled in the entire world. With a metagene power that enhanced his strength to superhuman levels alongside tech to give him long ranged laser punches and the power of flight, he protected the American Southwest against countless threats and helped in ensuring that few could stand against his raw, pure strength.
However, where he was strong he lacked in morals. He was arguably just as bad as Libertina and Celebrant were, being solely focused with pleasure and comfort over actually being a good role model for up and coming heroes. Combined with his astronomical ego, and he was just going to be another capitalist funding daddy for some of the more deviant members of the Lounge. At least with her, she tried separating her sexual fantasies from her job rather than just living in a continuous mix...
The reverse was true for her other competitor though. The Sonic Defender was very much a much more charismatic and morally upright woman, and apparently still a virgin despite being 25 and with a heaving rack and soft, motherly hips. She was always focused on saving lives no matter the cost, sacrificing herself and every single bit of wealth she has when she can in order to make a greater change in people's lives.
Her tech wasn't nearly as strong as Brilliant's though. While her mechsuit was designed with the goal of protecting herself from the likes of the world's finest, it wasn't made with the plans for punching back twice as hard. Rather, all of the tech she had whether built by herself or inherited from her more alien tech was made for utility. If it was mechanical, she could basically copy it, hack into it, and more.
She had no demons to conquer Brilliant, and her constructions lacked the ingenuity to compete with the Sonic Defender's adaptability. Being the middle ground did not help her whatsoever in this competition, and as she was dropped onto the ground there was actual doubts in her heart about what to do.
It was then where Murmur spoke.
"Some mighty fine competition you got out there. Someone who's got all the strength but not the right mindset to put it to good use, and someone with an incredible mind and moral code... that strangles her, and prevents her from going all out. Frankly, they're both undeserving of that spot on the Lounge... as are you."
"...Shit, I really am out of my league." Axel stated, falling on her knees as tears started to fall from her face. "Maybe I should've just let it be a surprise instead of doing this?"
"Hey, you're only undeserving at the moment." Murmur countered, slowly walking back towards the hole he crawled out of. "Calling for information is always a good first step. The first step to any empire after all is knowing your neighbors, and you took up the initiative to do such."
"W-what's the second step?"
"To ensure that those neighbors can't stop you. You've seen their weaknesses... now use them."
With a single hop, Murmur vanished into the gate to hell, causing it to vanish back into pure energy. All alone on the roof now, Axel ruminated on the Earl's last words to her and what exactly she could do. While they could deliver devastating blows and replicate just about any piece of tech respectively, she at least was good with talking with people. She could understand what made someone tick, how to motivate them, how to anger them...
...perhaps that was what he meant? They couldn't be sabotaged in the standard means but if she could get close to them, perhaps she could talk them into going after more risky ideals to the point that they'd be much less likely to be properly recruited. Add in her naturally corruptive personality from being around demons so long, and she was starting to get a vision on how she could turn this around.
But how to use it?
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