Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

"Jasmine, are you okay?" Avery asked in concern.
She had been eating her food perfectly fine at first but had started to slow down.
Avery had noticed this but did not think that it was anything to be worried about. He figured that she was just trying to savor the meal.
Now though, he figured that there must have been something wrong.
Jasmine was perfectly healthy, and with her augmentations it would have been extraordinary for any serious medical issue to suddenly occur.
"I don’t know why, but for some reason, my head hurts. Avery help me..."
As Jasmine started to weekly ask for assistance, she turned towards Avery and stopped midsentence.
A moment later, she yelped out in fear and pushed him away.
This came as a complete surprise to Avery. Yet, when he noticed that her pupils were dilated and she was sweating profusely, it was apparent what was going on.
’She’s been poisoned!’ Avery thought, glancing at her half-eaten meal.
He had no idea who or why someone would do such a thing to her, but that did not matter right now.
What he needed to do was help his wife who was suffering under the effects of something dangerous.
In his currently emotionally heightened state, Avery’s ability activated on its own.
As his mind raced the power he had barely learned to use for just a few seconds on his own was stronger than ever.
Immediately he could see that something was wrong with Jasmine.
There were abnormal electrical signals in her head, and he felt like he could visibly see some sort of aberrant substance flowing through her body.
How this worked was a mystery to him, but he was not going to question it right now since it let him somewhat understand Jasmine’s condition.
"Jasmine, I’m going to bring you to a medical room. Just hold on and fight it for a little longer. You’re strong, I promise that everything will be okay."
Avery moved to pick her up, but she was fighting him like he was some sort of monster trying to kill her.
At this point, other people were starting to notice that something was amiss.
Jasmine was screaming and thrashing around, and when Avery finally got ahold of her, she reached out with both of her hands and started to strangle him.
This was not a reaction that Avery was expecting, and with her strength it really hurt. Had he not been physically enhanced himself, her grip easily could have broken his neck.
’Nianni! Start singing!’
While he was not sure if his thoughts and feelings would reach her, thanks to his own ability, Avery could sense the psychic connection that Nianni was unknowingly emitting.
Normally, he kept detached from it now that he knew what it was, but right now he needed to do something.
If whatever Jasmine had ingested was affecting her mind, then perhaps Nianni could help mitigate it with her power.
Luckily, Nianni heard Avery’s impassioned plea.
It did not come to her in words, but as a very strong emotion. In fact, if she had to describe it, the intense feeling was almost disorienting with how powerful it felt to her.
While the circumstances were confusing, Nianni opened up her mind to Jasmine and began singing.
She went with a calming and hopeful song that was one of her most popular.
Immediately, the guests that had been starting to panic calmed down as they listened to the almost angelic voice laced with psychic power.
Except, there was immense resistance as she tried to empathically connect with Jasmine.
This type of resistance had never happened before with anyone that was a fan of hers.
She knew that Jasmine enjoyed her music already and that they should have been on similar enough wavelengths to form a connection.
Yet, it was as if there was something muddy getting in the way.
It was an awful feeling, and it almost made Nianni wretch with how disgusting it was.
Still, she continued to sing, and thankfully, this caused Jasmine to loosen her grip on Avery’s throat.
"Mom! I need your help as well!" Avery shouted out once he could breathe again.
For just a second, she hesitated, but it was impossible for her to ignore the impassioned plea from her son. Especially when it was clear that there was something wrong with her now daughter-in-law.
"I can’t do it here. We need to go somewhere we won’t be seen."
Avery nodded and looked for the closest exit. While his and Nianni’s powers did not have any visible effects, his mother’s did.
If she started emitting a red aura here, everyone present would find out.
"Avery, what’s wrong with Jasmine!?"
Of course, Avery was not the only one distressed by what was going on.
Jasmine’s mother had just rushed up and was looking at her daughter with a look of panic.
She was not thrashing around as much as before, but there were still nail marks in Avery’s neck from where she had grabbed him not long ago. Fortunately, his heightened regenerative abilities were already at work fixing the injury.
"I don’t know exactly. But I think that her food was poisoned. We need to get her to a medical facility right now. Whatever she ingested doesn’t seem to be fatal, but I don’t know what kind of damage it might do to her. She needs help quickly."
After Avery hastily explained the situation, Regina moved to call for an emergency pickup, but Avery told her there was not enough time for that.
"Just tell where it is. I’ll run her there. That’ll be faster than waiting around." Avery said forcefully.
Taken aback, Regina told him the way.
He motioned for Nianni and his mother to follow. He was going to need both of their help to deal with the substance inside of Jasmine.
"Out of my way!"
Shouting and emitting a heavy pressure on anyone in his way, Avery forced his way through the crowd of onlookers.
Several members of his team gave him concerned looks and were ready to help if needed, but Avery told them to remain on standby. There was nothing that any of them would be able to do right now.