The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

"So, what's the situation? Whatever it is."

Sienna glanced at Aleya Ikta. The young man had already returned to a sofa in the train depot's living quarters, sitting down with a game controller in his hand; the game on the television had been paused and resumed playing.

At least he was sensible enough to turn down the volume before continuing to beat up Teddy, who was playing a fighting game with him.

“Well,” Sienna began, “it was three nosy girls who came to the dorm and wouldn’t leave until I talked to them.”

The whole experience was bizarre, but perhaps not so bizarre that it aroused her suspicion.

A few weeks ago, before she gained superpowers and had these sisters, she would have been anxious and at a loss if a few girls her age had come to her dorm.

Now, the whole thing feels unreal. Those three girls—whose names she'd forgotten in the blink of an eye—were clearly in her class, and they wanted to form a study group.

They were friendly, chatty, and seemed like really nice people.

But it's precisely this kind of person who shouldn't be looking for Sienna.

She didn't recognize any of them. Normally she probably wouldn't care, since her class was quite large and she hadn't bothered to remember every face, but... no, these three were definitely not ordinary students.

They were about the same age and were likely local students.

Sienna chatted with them for a while, trying her best not to act like a "leader" at all—this was Sam's advice to her.

The purpose of this was to dispel any doubts others might have about her being a hero (or villain).

The problem is, Sienna wasn't even sure how much different she was as the "leader" compared to her usual self. She wondered if she'd just become a little more confident. So she did the opposite, stammering and behaving like someone with social anxiety, which felt surprisingly natural to her.

“I guess this isn’t something a normal girl would encounter?” Aleya Ikta asked.

His on-screen character blocked Teddy's powerful attack. Teddy only uses powerful moves. Aleya Ikta's character grabbed Teddy's character and threw him off the edge of the ring.

Teddy started muttering under her breath until she noticed Sienna watching, and then the bear girl obediently handed the controller to Athena.

“Yes,” Sienna said, “this isn’t something a normal girl would encounter. Or… well, yes, it seems like something normal. I suppose study groups aren’t uncommon, but no one would invite me to join one of those.” To join one of those groups, you need to have some social skills.

"Why? Are your grades bad?" Aleya Ikta asked.

Sienna crossed her arms. She was a good student. Although she was very busy, she always made sure to complete and submit all her assignments on time. Whenever she had free time, she studied diligently.

She had no choice. Some of her courses had presentations at the end of the year, and she knew she was going to mess them up. She had to get good grades before then, or her year-end GPA would be terrible.

“My grades are pretty good,” Sienna said. She watched for a while and saw that Athena and Aleia Ikta had chosen two hero characters. The game offered a selection of heroes from all over the world, most of whom were famous and popular characters.

She noticed a "Mothman" character to choose from in the corner, but it wasn't selected. The game looked like it was from five years ago.

The two began to fight, with Aleia Ikta launching the attack while Athena retreated, attempting to attack him with ranged skills. But this had little effect on her.

“Hmm, it is a bit suspicious,” Aleya Ikta said. “Do you think it was done by that cabal?”

“It could be something else,” Sienna said. “I don’t know. I’m not even sure if those girls know what’s going on.”

The rear door of the train opened, and Sam walked in. She had a toaster with maple leaves tucked under her arm, and behind her were two sisters named Trinity. “We’re back,” she said, tossing the toaster onto the table. “We found the toast too.”

Trinity held up a slice of bread. It was a dark, almost reflective square. "This one's still intact. The other one's shattered. Maple, your toaster is no good."

Sienna glanced at Maple Leaf, who was sitting on a bunk bed with Trinity sitting next to her. The girl blinked and asked worriedly, "Is it not allowed?"

“No. The toast is too burnt. I like it slightly browned, not completely burnt like this,” Trinity said.

“Oh. But if it’s not baked well enough, the toast won’t turn out well,” Maple Leaf said.

“Yes, but then we can’t eat it,” Trinity retorted.

Maple thought for a moment, “I can solve this problem. Maybe I can add a protective shield to the toast when it flies out... We can even make it aerodynamic so it can fly faster.”

“Let’s not make this toaster even more dangerous than it is now,” Sienna said. “Actually… Maple Leaf, I think your abilities are indeed quite impressive, but if you’re planning to use it, please let me know. I’m worried you might create something too dangerous, understand?”

“Okay, big sister,” Maple Leaf said, “Hmm… but what would be considered too dangerous?”

Sienna closed her eyes, trying to ease her headache. "Let's set some rules later."

“Don’t limit Maple Leaf too much,” Sam said. “She needs to be able to make things. Abilities are meant to be used, right?”

“I don’t think setting some restrictions on her will stop her,” Sienna said. “And it will prevent her from building a nuclear bomb and then giving it to Trinity to play with.”

"Are nuclear bombs fun?" Trinity asked.

Sienna made a gesture, the meaning clear. "Today has been like a rollercoaster. I really wish I could take a break from all this heroic work, but I feel like we don't have much time left."

She knew that not only was time running out, but funds were also running out.

"So, you want to take this more seriously?" Sam asked, perking up at the idea.

“A little,” Sienna admitted. “If we want to use the good reputation we gained a few days ago to get around that protection money thing, time is running out. And then there’s that three girls thing today. If we don’t take action, someone else will, and I don’t want to be forced to do anything. By the way, any news from Fabian?”

“No,” Aleya Iqta said.

"You contacted him again?" Sienna asked. She had been asking Sam about Fabian, not Aleya Iqta, but he was too busy beating Trinity on TV to notice.

“Huh? Oh, right, we were texting. We were planning a poker night, but… well, it was a bit of a letdown. My superpowers made it impossible. But games based on skills are much fairer. Fabian cheated with his superpowers, and I cheated with mine, so we evened things out.”

Sienna nodded slowly. One of her subordinates was actually hanging out with a local villain. Fine, why not? "Alright, if he tries anything like last time, remember to tell us."

“Okay, boss,” he said.

“I can start collecting protection money anytime,” Sam said.

“We’ll get started soon,” Sienna said. “Before that, I want to talk to Handshaw.”

"That information broker?" Sam asked.

Sienna nodded. "Yes. He might know something about that cabal. And his extensive network might be helpful in knowing what others want to know."

“Then let’s call him,” Sam said.

Sienna didn't want to admit that the reason she hadn't called him yet was because she was still mustering up the courage. She really disliked calling strangers. In fact, she didn't like calling people she knew either.

“Okay,” she said, giving up her hesitation, “but I can’t use my usual phone to call.”

“There’s a phone booth in the subway station,” Aleya Iqta said. “It’s powered on and everything is working.”

“You mean inside the station?” Sienna asked.

"Yes, you need a 25-cent coin to make a phone call."

“Who would carry a 25-cent coin around?” Sam asked.

Aleya Ikta shrugged. "I can always find a few whenever I need them."

"Why did you use that phone booth?" Sienna asked.

"Ordering food. The signal here is terrible."

“What is a signal?” Trinity asked.

Sienna decided not to explain. "I don't think it's a bad idea. Whoever tracks this call will probably assume we're not actually using the phone booths at the station." She nodded. "Anyone want to come with me?"

A number of people volunteered immediately.

“We won’t be doing anything interesting there,” she said. “But…Athena, would you like to come with me? I think you’ll be very helpful in dealing with ‘Handshaw’.”

Athena puffed out her chest. "Of course, big sister," she said.

Sienna felt a little sorry for Handshaw, but then again, if he had a mind-reading subordinate, she bet he would use it on himself too.