The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Maple Leaf sat in the seat she found in the corner of the bunker, looking up at her eldest sister.

This corner is quite far from other places, so she can generally find some peace and quiet. Sometimes, it's nice to have some peace and quiet.

“Alright, girls,” the eldest sister said, “Sam and I are going out for a bit. A minute or two later, Aleya Iakta will be here to pick you up and—I mean… to look after you.”

You might have to go back to the train station. So behave yourselves and try not to cause trouble. If you're good, I'll buy you some treats on my way back.”

"Hamburger!" Teddy cheered.

"Hamburger! Hamburger!" Trinity shouted along.

Before long, Teddy and all the Trinity were jumping and dancing in a circle in the middle of the room, singing songs about hamburgers, or rather, repeatedly singing the word "hamburger".

Maple Leaf leaned back, hoping her friends hadn't noticed she hadn't participated in the dance. She'd never eaten a hamburger before, and now she wasn't even sure if she wanted one.

Will eating that stuff make me dance like them? That would be so embarrassing!

“Don’t worry,” Athena walked over and stood next to Maple Leaf, whispering, “Big Sister will quiet these idiots down soon.”

Maple Leaf nodded. Athena was probably right. In Maple Leaf's opinion, Athena was the smartest of her sisters, and she was also quite quiet.

Or at least be quieter than others.

“Alright, alright,” the older sister said, “stop singing. It’s creepy. You’ll get hamburgers—” She paused, waiting for the cheers to subside—“provided you behave.”

The eldest sister and her henchman Sam left not long after.

For some reason that Maple couldn't understand, the older sister wore a sweater with some cloth stuffed inside, and Sam even did her makeup, making her look a little strange.

After they left, the other Maple sisters wandered around the bunker for a while.

Trinity ran around to different places, trying to find something, while Teddy went to one of the dorm rooms to take a nap.

Maple hesitated, her hands clasped tightly together, unsure of where else to put them.

“Hey,” Athena said, “would you like to wander around and take a look at the surroundings?”

Maple Leaf looked up and met Athena's large eyes for a brief moment. "Okay," she said.

Athena grinned and took Maple Leaf's hand. Maple Leaf was then dragged around the bunker, exploring every room. It felt pretty good.

She actually wanted to explore it, but doing so alone in this place that wasn't home still felt a little strange.

Finally, the stairwell door leading downstairs slammed open, and a man stumbled in.

He was about the same age as the eldest sister, a tall and thin man with some uneven stubble on his cheeks and chin.

“Hey girls,” he said, “sorry I’m late. I went out and realized I forgot my flashlight, and then I tripped over something in the tunnel.” He held up a flashlight.

"But then we found out someone left the flashlight there, so it's not a big deal. Anyway, Sienna said I have to look after you guys, and... wait, you have one more person now?"

He stared intently at the maple leaf, which froze instantly. The sudden attention made her so nervous that her tail throbbed behind her legs. "Hi?"

"Where did she find so many little troublemakers?" the man muttered under his breath.

“Don’t be so harsh, Aleya Iakta,” Athena said. “This is my sister Maple Leaf. I like her much more than I like you.”

If you hurt her feelings, I'll make sure your brain comes out of your nose.

"What does a brain taste like?" Trinity asked.

“I doubt he’s very bright, so it probably wouldn’t taste very good,” Teddy added.

Maple Leaf blushed. Her sisters were all there to protect her, which warmed her heart.

Aleya Iakta stepped back. "Alright, alright. I thought I was pretty lucky. Come on, let's go back to the train. I bet you little guys are all hungry."

“How did you know?” Trinity asked.

"Because you're all kids, and kids get hungry easily. Come on, I've prepared several large bags of family-sized potato chips on the train."

"Do you have any candy?" Athena asked.

Aleya Iakta shook her head. "No, I'm sorry."

“That’s good,” Athena said. “Our older sister told us that if someone gives us free candy, we have to run away quickly.”

The other Maple Leaf sisters nodded. She made a mental note of it. She still had so much to learn. Speaking of which… she jogged to catch up with her sisters, and they followed the strange boy out of the bunker.

They entered a large, dark tunnel. Maple Leaf felt she should be worried, but actually, she felt quite comfortable inside.

It's underground, with thick walls and all-earth surroundings. Being here makes you feel both safe and comfortable.

After walking quite a distance—with only the few flashlights Trinity carried providing light—they finally arrived at a large train stopped in the middle of a tunnel.

Everyone walked towards the back of the train one by one, and then climbed onto the last carriage. Maple Leaf struggled a bit to climb up, her eyes wide open as she curiously looked around at everything.

Wow, there's so much stuff!

It was clear that Aleya Iakta had been living in this carriage for some time.

Some of the beds were folded up, and there was a television against the wall, with a video game console underneath it.

“I picked this up from a junkyard,” Aleya Iakta said. “It only has a few games, but they all work. Does anyone know how to play them?”

Trinity and Teddy were fighting over the second game controller when Athena suddenly rushed over and snatched it away.

They roughly arranged who would play and when, and then another Trinity ran to the front of the car to get some food.

When Trinity returned, carrying three large bags of family-sized potato chips, she stopped next to Maple Leaf. "Hey, wanna play too?"

“No need, I’ll just take a look,” Maple Leaf said.

Trinity tilted her head to one side, her little ears twitching. "Well, if you're looking for something to do, having a toaster in the kitchen isn't very useful."

Maple Leaf perked up immediately. She could try to fix it! "Oh, okay!"

It took her quite a while to muster the courage to leave her sisters, but she eventually made her way to the front of the train and stopped in a small kitchen area.

There were several electrical appliances around, including a toaster that wasn't plugged in.

Maple Leaf picked up the toaster and examined it from all angles.

The power cord was worn near the bottom, and after disassembling the side, she found that a heating element was not properly plugged in.

Could it be that the solder joints holding it in place broke due to temperature changes?

She looked around for tools and found some odds and ends in several cabinets.

Later, she walked to the front of the train engine, where there was a large table, perfect for her to work at. How perfect!

She started scavenging for parts. There was a heating element on the coffee machine, and a clock in a bedroom; these things might come in handy.

She found some springs in a mattress, the big, bouncy kind. Hmm, these are pretty good.

Maple Leaf hummed a cheerful tune as she happily repaired the toaster.

The heating element in the coffee machine isn't powerful enough. She needs more power. Maybe...right, the light bulb is incandescent.

But then where would the toaster get its electricity from?

She found some batteries, large D-type batteries, but even when she connected them in series, the power was still not enough.

It would be too inconvenient to have to plug it into a wall outlet.

Fortunately, there was a generator at the back of the train. But the sisters were using it... No, she had to think of another way.

Finally, she found some copper wire and started winding it around the battery, and then she found a hand crank with a convenient grip.

Maple Leaf was so engrossed in the joy of fixing the toaster that she felt completely smug.

Just then, the eldest sister returned. "I'm back!" Her voice drowned out the sounds of the game characters exploding while everyone else was playing.

Maple Leaf blinked, then suddenly came to her senses.

On the table sat the toaster, along with a dozen or so other appliances she had disassembled.

When she realized what she had done, she could barely hear her sisters cheering anymore.

This toaster now has a hand crank on the side; just a few turns of the crank will charge the solenoid.

The solenoid then supplies power to the electromagnetic railgun barrel located next to the bread-baking element. Although there is no trigger, the small clamp that originally stood in front of the toaster is still there.

That digital clock has now become a timer that tells the person using the toaster how much time is left before the bread is launched.

How fast would the bread fly? At once the speed of sound? At twice the speed of sound?

"Maple leaves?" the older sister asked as she entered the room.

Maple Leaf grabbed the toaster, trying to hide it, but the toaster was taller than her.

Her eyes welled up with tears. "Big...Big sister. I'm sorry. I made a mistake," she said.