The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

“That’s a stupid idea, boss,” Teddy said.

Sienna stared at her little sister across the table. The bear-like girl was sitting, but leaning forward, arms crossed, and pouting.

“There are some risks,” Sienna admitted, “but I don’t think it’s dangerous enough to be called foolish.”

“That’s because that stupid hero tricked you with her wicked methods,” Teddy said. “When I wasn’t looking, wasn’t she trying to lure you with capitalist tactics? Maybe she offered you insurance or private medical services or something?”

“No,” Sienna said. “She just offered to work with us for a day. It’s really like a patrol. I don’t think it’s too bad an idea.”

Sienna, her sisters, Sam, and Aleya Iakta were all gathered in the train's planning room area. Sienna sat at the head of the table, while the other seats were occupied by her sisters and subordinates.

She realized that things with the villain might have gotten out of her control, and she didn't know how to stop. Teaming up with Charm Girl wouldn't help much, but it might provide some basic cover.

It can also be considered a form of alibi, albeit a relatively weak one.

"Have you already officially agreed to be with Glamour Girl?" Sam asked. During the previous conversation, she was sitting a little further back, but not so far that she hadn't heard the nickname her sisters had given Glamour Girl.

“I don’t,” Sienna said, “but we exchanged phone numbers.”

Sam's eyebrows shot up. "Wow, that's pretty bold."

“Yes, I’ve never gotten anyone else’s number before. I’m already incredibly lucky,” Aleya Iakta said.

“It’s not what you think,” Sienna said.

Sam grinned at her. "Oh, don't worry, I know that's not it."

Sienna didn't understand what that meant at all, and she was sure she didn't want to. "Anyway," she continued, "I gave this phone number to Charm Girl." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a flip phone that looked like it hadn't been around for a decade.

“This isn’t your usual phone,” Sam pointed out.

"Um……"

Everyone paused for a moment, then looked at Maple Leaf. Suddenly, Maple Leaf shrank back into her seat as everyone paid attention to her.

“It’s alright,” Sienna said. “Do you have a problem?”

Maple Leaf nodded, then took a moment to muster her courage, "Is this a special villain's phone?"

Sienna smiled. "No, it's just a cheap old thing with a prepaid card inside. I use it in emergencies if I don't want to reveal my real number."

“I heard the Hero Response Team issues special phones to heroes who request them. Even if you’re not a member of that organization, you can get one. You know, it’s for emergencies,” Sam said. “They claim those phones are untraceable. That way, the heroes can keep their identities separate.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t give villains that kind of preferential treatment. This is simpler.” Sienna said, waving her phone in her hand.

“If you’d like, I can make this phone even better,” Maple Leaf said.

"Oh?"

Maple Leaf nodded slowly, looking more confident. "I can turn it into a stun gun, or a small flamethrower. Or I can make it make a really, really loud sound. Oh! I can make it impossible to flip over."

"Can't open it?" Sam asked.

Maple Leaf nodded. "It means you'll never be able to open it again."

Sienna blinked at her phone, then put it back in her pocket. "I'll keep these ideas in mind," she said.

She secretly made a mental note to find something that Maple Leaf could use her abilities on. She didn't want her new little sister to feel unwelcome, and it seemed that being able to make things to help everyone was very important to Maple Leaf.

“I found some things for Maple Leaf,” Trinity said, just as Sienna was thinking about it. The girl dumped her bag on the table, scattering a pile of odds and ends. There were several empty cans, a hair straightener, some candy wrappers, some candy—though Sienna noticed that there were fewer than Trinity had before—a few pebbles, some cut cable ties, and a pair of headphones with a badly worn cord.

It was all junk, and Sienna wasn't even sure if she wanted it on her desk. Then Maple let out a genuine gasp, making Sienna's heart skip a beat. "For me?" she asked.

“Yes,” Trinity said, clearly pleased with her hard work, “make me a gun so I can use it to rob people.”

“No,” Sienna quickly said.

Maple Leaf shook her head. "Big Sister said we're not allowed to make weapons. But, well, I'm sure I can make other things out of these things." She carefully rummaged through the pile of junk, as if looking for something useful.

Sienna rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Okay. Maple, let's go to the pawn shop. I'm sure we can find a few things you can use there."

We don't need anything specific right now, so... I'll just find you some things to fiddle with, okay?

Maple Leaf turned to her, her eyes wide. "Oh, really? Okay, okay, thank you." She seemed so excited she didn't know whether to be quiet or cheer, and all her emotions turned into suppressed little screams.

“Sam, how are our finances?” Sienna asked. Half the purpose of this meeting was to make sure everything was arranged properly.

“Not bad,” Sam said. “Actually, quite good. Here you go.” Sam reached into his bag, pulled out a crumpled envelope, and tossed it onto the table. The envelope was stuffed with cash.

"How much money is this?" Sienna asked.

"Oh, not as many as it looks. Mostly five-dollar and ten-dollar bills. There must be at least a thousand dollars."

Aleya Iakta nodded and hummed. "I mean, for a day's work, this is pretty good pay."

“And they even promised to pay me every month,” Sam said, as she rummaged through her bag again, then pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it. “Most of the money is about those advertising and promotional things.”

I've already drawn up a schedule. Could you confirm which days the children are free? I don't want to promise them something and then not be able to show up on that day.

Sienna took the paper and found it to be a well-organized schedule, with each day divided into three periods: morning, afternoon, and evening.

Several time slots had already been marked with pencil, mostly indicating the schedules of the bakery they had visited. "Yes, the children have to go to school," Sienna said.

“We don’t care about skipping class to do villainous things,” Teddy said.

“I don’t want to miss math class, but the other classes are pretty boring,” Trinity said.

Sienna shook her head. She wouldn't allow the children to fall too far behind in their studies. She might use them for chores, but she wasn't entirely evil.

"No, we need to mark your school hours. This is important. Hmm... we also need to make sure you have regular rest periods."

“Yeah, I don’t want this to turn into one of those capitalist jobs where you’re working every single moment you’re awake,” Teddy said, making a disgusted face. “Overtime, uh.”

“Don’t worry,” Sienna said, “there’s no overtime unless there’s a really urgent situation.” Mainly because, given the current situation, she was barely able to handle her sisters. If she had to work overtime, she feared she’d die young. “How about we take turns resting? You don’t have school on Saturdays and Sundays, so we can treat those days as our days off and take turns.”

“One day off a week might not be enough,” Sam said. “Kids need time to play and things like that.”

“Yes, we definitely need to,” Teddy agreed.

“Yes, we’ll have lots of time to play.” Trinity bounced on her seat.

Athena agreed, replying, "I agree."

Sienna resisted rolling her eyes. "Okay, then let's mark... Tuesday and Thursday. Maybe we'll just go to school on those two days and do nothing else. I also need time to catch up on my homework, so this makes sense."

“You need to keep up the good grades, right?” Sam asked.

“I don’t want to fail my lessons,” Sienna replied. “Alright, besides that… Aleya, how’s Fabian?”

"Oh? Oh, he's pretty good. I think he's mostly low-key. We've been hanging out... never mind, let's not talk about that. Do you have any work to give him or something?"

“No, but on the day I go on a joint patrol with Charm Girl, I think he’d better stay home,” Sienna said.

“That’s right. We need him to act as bait. To raid one of the shops the kids are protecting, so we can show just how much our exploitation business is worth,” Sam said.

Sienna shifted in her seat. Sometimes she would suddenly realize that she had unwittingly become entangled in villainous activities without really thinking about it.

Then again, that kind of thing wouldn't hurt anyone. It was all just an act. She wondered if that mysterious organization thought the same way.

“Then, our only other concern is that mysterious organization. If they are truly worth worrying about.” Sienna hadn’t clashed with any of them for a while.

Perhaps their interests won't interfere with each other, and they can coexist peacefully?

She doubted it.