THE MOMENT
"Welcome Mr. -, " Ruby stood to smile at the gentleman, but he interrupted her greeting.
"Why was I rejected from joining the Hero's League?" The man placed a sheet on her desk with a heavy hand, then planted himself in the seat with crossed arms.
"Well, Mr...," Ruby smirked and sat down to study the sheet. " Ah, you're 'Negatory'," she added once she took in the important information. She was the top of the top at Chroma Corp., and she couldn't keep up with every detail of every division. However, every now and then, an interesting situation or person gets forward to he; the Super wannabe 'Negatory' was one such person. Objectively, his powers were useless, but they were still interesting from a universal perspective. He could do something almost no one else could, however impractical it was.
"I apologize, you should have also received another letter with this rejection informing you of another division where we'd like to study -,"
"I got it," the man shook his head. "I'm going to say no to that. I want to be a hero. I've got the powers for it, and I deserve it," he said.
"Well, if you're that insistent, maybe Sharp Development has room for you in their hero registry, or we could help you find a private group on some Earth somewhere...," she suggested.
"No," Negatory shook his head again. "I want to join Chroma Corp.'s League."
"It feels like bad business to turn away someone so eager. Unfortunately, you don't meet the baseline criteria, but we can get you started as an intern to get your foot in the door," she said.
"No!" he raised his voice slightly. "I can say NO whenever the hell I want! No matter what methods you try on me! How is that not useful in a world where mind control super powers are pretty common??"
"Oh, I see what the issue is. You haven't actually tried your powers yet, have you?"
"I got tested by a Chroma Corp. lab!" Negatory replied. He always felt like he had a superpower. He had to, a majority of the population could do something or other superhuman. He applied to the Hero's League on a whim, during promotion. Power-testing, conducted by Chroma Corp., was on sale and he got his powers certified. Despite his claim of mind control super powers being common, he wasn't in a hurry to put himself through that until he had to. He was comfortable in the knowledge he was officially determined to have powers, and they were defined by the company.
"Chroma Corp. is a multiversal corporation operating across millions of realities...," Ruby replied. "As you can imagine, clear communication is quite important. Internally, our reports tend to be as plain as possible. When it comes to parallel universes, there is literally no room for 'in between the lines' assumptions. Neither when writing a report, nor when reading one. This certification about your powers is one such document. The description of your powers says: 'Ability to say 'No' regardless of circumstances.
"I know what it says...," Negatory sighed. He was disappointed that he was already getting the run around and he was planning his next move.
"You read what it says, and yet you still applied your own assumptions," she said. "May I try something? I'm Unique Soul #47, La Corona, if by some chance you didn't know," she smiled.
"Oh...,"Negatory sat up straighter and gave her his full attention. Maybe he wasn't being given the run around after all. 'La Corona' had the power to mind control anyone. He didn't know she was one, but he was ready for a test. This was finally the time he had to put himself through it. "Alright, give me your best shot," he nodded.
He'd never actually used his powers before and he tried to prime his mind so that 'No' would be the only words out of his mouth no matter what she asked. He watched as rubies protruded slightly around the crown of her head and they glowed with red light.
"Walk over to the door, knock three times, then hop back to your seat," she said simply.
"No," Negatory shook his head with a laugh before he realized he was already on his feet. "NO!" he repeated as he walked to the door. "NO NO NO " he knocked three times. "NOOoooOOOooOOooOOO," he continued whining as he hopped back to his seat.
"That's so fascinating," Ruby giggled to herself.
"What the hell happened!??" Negatory asked.
"It's exactly as the certification determined," Ruby nodded. "You have the ability to say 'No' whenever the hell you want, but that's just a word. There's nothing in this report that indicates you have the power to actually resist mind control."