The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

So far, the interview has been going well, Sienna thought.

Michelle seemed like a friendly person, and at least his questions weren't as pointed as those from Handshaw. So far, most of the questions had been... a bit childish.

What are their hobbies? What do the girls usually do for leisure? Are there any embarrassing or funny stories?

He asked her for her opinion on several topics, but most of them were relatively safe topics, never involving politics or things that people held strong opinions about.

Sienna answered the questions as best she could, and when she encountered questions that might be difficult to answer, she politely asked Michel to move on to the next one. The reporter seemed to quickly understand which questions could be asked and which could not.

“Well, if you don’t mind, we can get into something more… I think it can be called a general question,” Michelle said.

Sienna nodded and took a sip of her drink. She only ordered a soda, while Michelle ordered some cheese sticks and more garlic bread.

After taking a few bites, she wasn't sure if she would want to eat anything else.

"I don't mind general questions."

"That's great. So, as a female hero, what are your goals? What are your grand ambitions?"

"Eau Clair is a small city. I find it hard to imagine anyone who wants to accomplish something great and heroic would want to stay here." He chuckled softly.

Sienna thought about the question for a moment, then decided to answer as honestly as possible. "I think a quiet place like Auclair is quite nice."

I really don't want it to get any more chaotic than it is now. I...you know there are a lot of animated films and movies about heroes, right?

"of course I know."

“I’ve never understood those heroes. They’re always so attention-seeking, and…so public. I don’t think I have that kind of personality, nor do I want to be the center of attention.”

“You should be more low-key,” Michelle said.

Sienna nodded. "That's right. I think it's understandable to be dazzling when you have extraordinary power, but I've always believed that you can get more done by keeping a low profile."

Of course, it's impressive to fight and defeat villains in the street, but if you can take them down at 3 a.m. on a weekend while they're in the bathroom, the collateral damage will be much smaller.

"Yes, I was just giving an example."

“Yes, of course.” He chuckled quickly, then cleared his throat. “So, how does this affect your goals?”

"Oh," Sienna said, a little embarrassed that she had gone off-topic.

"Yes, my main plan is to protect Auclair as my city. To make it a place where my companions and I can live in peace."

If it were up to me, there wouldn't be any big fights in the streets. Any villain or hero who isn't good at playing the hero would understand that in Auclair, they can't do whatever they want anymore.

“Because you will stop them,” he replied.

She shook her head. “It’s not necessarily me,” she said, meaning she hoped other heroes would share the same attitude. “I think there are a few cities like that.”

"Oh, I can think of a few, yes. But those cities are usually either inhabited by an extremely powerful hero, or they are the headquarters of a hero organization."

"Yes, that's the kind of place—peaceful, tranquil, and safe."

"And you intend to maintain this state with your team of pre-teen superheroes."

Sienna blinked. "No, of course not. That would be... terrible. At most, we'd use the intimidation of having so many heroes around, but we wouldn't... you know, really put the girls in danger."

“Yes, of course,” he said. “Well then, shall we move on to the next question?”

“Okay, I don’t mind—” Sienna suddenly stopped because she felt something vibrating beside her.

She reached out and patted it, then took her phone out of her pocket. It was a call from Sam. "Excuse me, could you please wait a moment?"

"Of course, of course."

Sienna stood up and immediately answered the phone. "Hello?" Sam wouldn't call her for no reason. If she just wanted to tell Sienna something non-urgent, she would most likely have sent a text message.

Sienna had already told Sam how much she disliked making phone calls, and Sam surprisingly respected that.

“Hey boss,” Sam said, “how’s the interview going?”

"Everything went smoothly. What happened?"

"Well, we've got a bit of a situation here, and I think you might need to come over and handle it in person. That is, if you can leave the interview area. It's not a particularly urgent situation, just a bit of a hassle."

"What happened?" Sienna asked.

“I was with the girls, doing what we usually do.” (meaning we were collecting protection money.) “Then, Charismatic Superwoman suddenly appeared and started following us.”

"Does she know what you're doing? Is she causing trouble? How are my sisters?"

“Everything’s fine, everything’s fine,” Sam quickly said. “Well, I don’t think she knows. This is the only time I can call you after finally getting rid of her.”

Trinity is stalling her. We've abandoned the mission and are just patrolling now.

Sienna nodded. That was wise. Hero patrols were a fairly common, albeit somewhat tedious, activity after becoming a hero. "Okay, where are you now?"

“We’re heading north, and I think we’re pretty close to where you are now,” Sam said, naming a street.

“It’s not far,” Sienna agreed. “About five or six blocks away. Okay, I’ll come over and meet you. Make sure the girls don’t reveal anything they shouldn’t.”

"I'm working on it, that's right. Thanks, boss. See you later."

The call ended, and Sienna walked back to the booth she shared with Michelle. "Sorry, Michelle, something came up. Um, I have to go."

“Oh, it’s alright,” he said. “We’re almost done anyway. Would you like to take the food with you?” He gestured to the table and the remaining food. She almost refused, then changed her mind. “Okay, I’ll pack everything in bags. Is it urgent? Is there a villain or something?”

“That’s not it,” Sienna said. “It’s just… we ran into some problems during the patrol.”

"Oh, your other team members went out on patrol?" he asked.

"It was just a routine patrol in a relatively safe area of ​​the city. They were with... a friend, and they could call for help if needed. But they ran into a bit of trouble, and I had to go help them out."

"Okay, I hope everything goes well."

Sienna nodded, then took a step back. At that moment, a waiter appeared and deftly packed the garlic noodles into a brown paper bag. Sienna took the bag, nodding and smiling in thanks.

"Thank you for arranging this interview. I hope you can write a good article."

"Oh, I'm sure I can. Thank you! Maybe next time I can convince you to let me interview your partners?"

“Maybe!” Sienna said. She thanked the reporter several more times, then walked out of the restaurant with a somewhat hurried air. She didn’t even pay attention to the stares from the other customers.

They may rarely see masked people walking past them with takeout bags.

Sienna took a moment to figure out her direction, then hurried along the street. She didn't want to run, lest she arrive at her sisters' place breathless and drenched in sweat.

But then again... even if it's a little messy, arriving a minute or two earlier is worth it, she thought to herself as she quickened her pace.

The people she encountered either looked at her with astonishment or near panic. A person running in the street wearing a mask usually meant something bad was about to happen.

The only problem was that they didn't know whether they should run in the direction she came from or in the direction she went.

Half a block later, Sienna slowed her jogging pace, one hand pressed against her side where a sharp pain throbbed. She gritted her teeth and focused solely on walking briskly.

She walked through one block after another, and finally, she saw her sisters ahead of her.

Teddy led the way, with Trinity close behind. Behind them, Athena walked alongside a familiar figure.

Charm Girl was wearing her bright, sparkling jewel-encrusted outfit. Sam followed behind, with Trinity by her side.

"Boss!" Teddy called out. She jogged over and gave Sienna a tight hug. "You're here! We've run into a hero who's been following us. Can we beat her up?"

Fortunately, they were far enough apart that Sienna figured Charm Girl wouldn't hear her. "Not yet," she said. This elicited a slightly worrying smile from Teddy.

"Hey, boss." Charismatic Superwoman waved slightly, and after Sienna's other sisters had all come over to say hello, she said, "Long time no see."

“Yes, it has been a long time, hasn’t it?” Sienna asked.

She smiled, but it looked more like a defiant grin. It was time to figure out what Charm Girl was up to.