The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

“Oh dear,” Trinity said. She used all the bodies she had available to speak; currently, only two bodies could speak, and the third body was sleeping, which felt particularly strange.

It felt like her arm was numb, except this time it was her whole body, and only a third of her body was asleep. Trinity had to force a yawn to dispel the strange feeling.

Sienna, who was doing her homework on her laptop, looked up when she heard the noise. "What's wrong?" she asked.

“There’s a problem,” Trinity said.

The older woman sighed. "What happened?" she asked. "Did you go over budget? Did you get caught stealing? I told you not to steal anything."

Trinity shook her head. "No, no, that's not it."

"Hmm, it shouldn't be too bad, right?" Sienna said. "What happened? Should I call Aleia?"

Trinity thought for a moment. What had happened before that guy in the black jumpsuit grabbed her and made her smell a stinky cloth?

She remembered seeing Maple Leaf faint, and... yes, Aleya Iakta must have been captured too.

He snorted, feeling like someone had punched him in the side. "I don't think he can answer the phone."

Sienna shook her head, her attention returning to her laptop.

"I don't think the kidnappers will let him use his phone."

The older woman's head snapped around so fast that Trinity worried she might hurt herself. "What kidnapper?"

“Oh, I guess since they kidnapped Aleya Iakta, they can’t really be considered kidnappers, since she’s not a child, right?” Trinity asked. She looked at her other sisters, wanting confirmation.

Teddy tapped his chin, then nodded. "Then what are bandits who kidnap adults?" she suggested.

“I’m pretty sure that even if an adult gets arrested, that’s still kidnapping,” Athena said.

“That’s a really stupid statement,” Teddy said, and Trinity couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

"Could we talk about Aleya Iakta's kidnapping first?" Sienna asked. Her voice rose considerably, almost as loud as if she were speaking outdoors.

Trinity wondered if her older sister would have to punish herself by not being allowed to eat candy before bed if she raised her voice any further.

“Well, at the time, Maple Leaf, Aleya Iakta, and one of my bodies were shopping for Maple Leaf,” Trinity said. “Then we came out of a store and a few guys in black suits grabbed us and made us smell the fabric scraps. Then Maple Leaf and I fell asleep.”

Sienna jumped up immediately, "No!"

“Uh…” Trinity said. She didn’t want to argue with her older sister, but that was really how it was.

“To me, this is just a regular kidnapping,” Teddy said. “Can we eat them? We’re the villains, we should be the ones kidnapping others.”

“Where are they taking you?” Sienna asked.

“I don’t know, I was asleep,” Trinity said.

Sienna cursed, then smoothed her hair back. "It's that mysterious organization, or the Hero Response Team. The Hero Response Team is more official; if they were arresting someone, they would definitely arrest Aleya first. No, this must have been done by the mysterious organization, or someone else."

She began pacing back and forth. “I can… I can teleport one of you back here. But not Aleya Iakta.”

“Oh, never mind me,” Trinity said. “I can smash my head or something and then come back to life here. Maybe they even have a toaster and a bathtub in the prison where they keep the villains.”

Sienna hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Athena, go and call Sam. Tell him it's urgent. Teddy, Trinity, go change your clothes. We're going to the base, just in case they've planted tracking devices or something on Maple Leaf."

"I swear, if they dare to harm a single hair on my sister's head, I'll burn them to ashes," Sienna said viciously.

Trinity felt a chill run down her spine, but it was a cool kind of chill because her older sister's words sounded so domineering. "And what about me?" Trinity asked.

"We'll teleport you out as soon as the skill cooldown is over," Sienna said.

Trinity nodded. She wasn't in any danger, or rather, only a third of her was, which she considered an acceptable risk.

They grabbed their belongings—villain costumes, some gear, snacks for the road, and thick coats—and hurried out of the room to find Sam waiting for them. “What happened?” Sam asked.

“Maple Leaf, Aleya, and Trinity have been kidnapped,” Sienna explained.

“Oh,” Sam said, “I’ll go get my men’s equipment.”

A few minutes later, they left the dormitory and headed toward the nearest subway entrance.

Trinity knew everyone was taking this matter seriously, because no one had suggested going to the bathroom on the way from home, and the atmosphere had changed.

Normally, everyone would be jumping around, chatting and laughing. Teddy would even banter with Athena, and Sam would chat a bit. But now, everyone was silent, completely focused, almost simmering with anger.

Sienna strode forward. Several times they encountered passersby, who glanced at her and quickly ran away. Sienna was clearly unleashing all her villainous aura and intimidating presence, trying her best to appear as threatening as possible.

They entered the underground through an entrance under a skybridge, and Sienna immediately went into a room with a small bed. She raised her hands above the bed and muttered something.

In the blink of an eye, a maple leaf appeared and fell onto the small bed. Sienna immediately went over, checking her for injuries while gently patting her head.

Maple Leaf was also carrying a bag she bought from a dollar store. Her mouth was taped shut, and her face was covered with a kind of hood, but there were no holes for her eyes.

“Sam, go online and look it up. What should you do if someone inhales too much chloroform?” Sienna asked.

"This isn't even the strangest thing I've searched this week," Sam muttered, taking out his phone.

Sienna told Teddy to get the scissors—but not to run—and then laid Maple Leaf flat so the little inventor could be more comfortable in bed. “Wake up, baby,” she said, carefully peeling the tape off Maple Leaf’s face.

Athena carried a small bucket into the room containing a rag and some soap, which prompted Sienna to thank her. She then used these items to clean up the residue from the duct tape.

Maple Leaf snorted, dodging the manipulations, then blinked and looked around, clearly confused. "Hmm?" she asked.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Sienna said. She pulled Maple Leaf up and hugged her tightly. “You’re alright, you’re alright, right?”

"Uh? Wait, big sister? Where am I? My head hurts." This earned her some comforting pats, and then everyone gathered around to hug her. No one would refuse a group hug; they were formidable villains, not fools.

“It was quite touching,” Sam said, “but we need to ask Maple Leaf what he knows before deciding what to do next.”

“Yes,” Sienna said. “They also have Trinity’s body, and Aleya Iakta as well.”

“I can save myself,” Trinity said.

Sienna nodded. "You definitely can. If they dare to hurt you, tell me right away, and we'll get you out."

“But at the same time,” Sam said, “could Trinity transfer things between her different bodies?”

“I can!” Trinity said.

“That’s great. If we give her a tracking device or something, and she transmits it to her…other body, then we’ll know where they’re taking her, right?”

“I don’t have any of those things on hand,” Sienna said.

Maple Leaf shifted its body slightly. "Oh, uh, I could make something like that."

They looked at her, then exchanged glances. "Okay, let's do it this way," Sienna said. "Maple Leaf, are you sure you can do this? You've just been through so much."

Maple Leaf nodded. "Yes, I'd like to help... Please, is that alright?"

That was settled. Soon they brought Maple Leaf to the base's small restaurant, where Maple Leaf began to prepare the food.

The tracker had to be small enough to fit in Trinity's pocket or even into her mouth, so Maple found some small gadgets to use.

"I need an old cell phone, one of those with a small antenna, oh, a flip phone will do, and a garage door opener or a TV remote. I also need some flashing lights, and socks."

“I have socks!” Teddy said, starting to take off his boots.

“I’ll go check out the corner store,” Sam said. “They sell prepaid phones there; I’ll buy a few.”

"Oh, um, if you see a map, you should bring one back too," Maple Leaf said.

Sam nodded and ran off. Meanwhile, Maple began disassembling an alarm clock, several pens, and other items she had found at the base.

When Sam returned, Maple Leaf immediately got to work. Within minutes, her hands moved with such skill and fluidity that it was almost impossible to keep up with what she was doing; she quickly created three small devices.

One of the devices had a rubber keyboard with glowing numbers above it and a ring next to the numbers. She placed the ring on a city map. The other two were smaller gadgets with batteries, antennas, and some flashing lights.

"Here, take this." Maple Leaf said.

Trinity took the device and put it in her pocket. A moment later, the device appeared in her other pocket, the pocket of her still-sleeping body.

“Got it!” Trinity cheered. Maple placed the ring on the map; the glowing numbers on one side were brighter than the other, the light flashing continuously until the ring moved above a specific street. However, Maple had to keep moving the ring along the street. “Hmm, that’s where the tracker is,” she said.

“Well…” Sam said, “Now that we know the location, what’s next?”