The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Sienna has never really liked Halloween. When she was little, it meant she was forced to dress up as a princess or something her mother thought was cute, and then be urged to knock on strangers' doors.

Of course, she could get candy, but her parents could have just bought some candy for her to eat at home; there was no need to push her anxiety to the limit.

So basically, even when she's in the best of moods, she's not very interested in Halloween.

That's why she mostly ignored the shiny decorations and pretty trinkets hanging all over campus.

However, when she returned to her room, she had to stop and stare wide-eyed.

The first thing that caught her eye was the enormous machine in the center of the room, which took up a lot of space. It was a large box, surrounded by some cloth, with a sign covered in stickers on top.

The machine is labeled "Changing Machine," and about seventeen wires extend from it. All the wires are plugged into several power strips, which in turn are plugged into other power strips, and finally into a wall socket.

Then she noticed that all her sisters were looking at her, while Sam stood there with a smug grin on his face.

“Okay,” Sienna said, “explain.”

“Hey, boss,” Teddy said, “we’ve built a magic machine.”

“It’s not magic,” Maple Leaf muttered softly. “And it wasn’t created by us, it was created by me.”

Sienna raised one hand.

Her sisters were all over the room; Trinity's two were sitting on the bed, Athena was sitting at her desk (which had been moved aside to make more room for the machine), and Teddy and Maple were standing at the front to show off the machine.

"What is that?" she asked.

“It’s a dressing machine,” Teddy said.

"We originally planned to make it into a clothing-making machine, but Teddy said things that cost money aren't good," Maple explained. "Would you like to see how it works?"

“I want to know first what it can do,” Sienna said.

Sam chuckled. "It can be used to make Halloween costumes."

“No,” Sienna said.

"Yes!" Sam and Trinity cheered at the same time.

Just then, Sienna felt someone gently pat her hand. It was Athena, who seemed to be trying to comfort her.

“Don’t worry, big sister,” said the owl girl, “Sam promised to take us door-to-door trick-or-treating. And I promise I’ll share some of my candy with you later.”

“What! Hey, I’m the communist who advocates sharing! I’ll share the most!” Teddy said.

Sienna looked at Sam, who shrugged. "I love the liveliness. Besides, it's only one day a year that they can run around and have fun, being little troublemakers without bothering anyone too much. And they'll be adorable!"

“I believe you,” Sienna said.

“Hmm,” Maple Leaf said. She shifted her feet nervously.

“You can tell me about your machine, darling,” Sienna said.

Maple sighed. "Okay. Here's the thing, you stand here," she pointed ahead, "and then someone pulls this lever, and it'll change you into a new outfit. It's that simple."

“Come on, let me show you!” Teddy said, jumping into the machine and then pulling the curtain closed.

Maple Leaf smiled and, before Sienna could protest, yanked the lever down.

The lights flickered a few times, and for a moment Sienna thought the circuit breaker was about to trip, but it didn't. Then Teddy jumped out from behind the curtain, spread his arms, and shouted, "Ding ding!"

The girl was wearing... a very old-fashioned suit, and a fluffy white wig that hung down to cover her face and upper lip.

“What are you dressed as?” Trinity asked.

Teddy glared at her. "I'm obviously dressed as Karl Marx. He used to be a very important man. You probably know nothing about him, you capitalist scum—"

“Alright,” Sienna interrupted her, realizing that if Teddy continued, it would probably become a long-winded monologue. She turned to Maple and asked, “Is this fake Russian accent also a machine effect?”

Maple shook her head. "No, Teddy did all that himself."

Teddy puffed out his chest.

“You know that Karl Marx was German, right?” Sienna asked.

Teddy was completely dumbfounded. "Huh?"

"Alright, who's next?" Sam asked.

In an instant, the three members of Trinity's family rushed forward and squeezed into the machine. "Uh," Sienna asked.

Maple Leaf turned to her, giving her a reassuring smile. "It's alright, I knew she would do that," she said, pulling down the lever.

The machine hissed and spewed out smoke, then Trinity stumbled out, trailing a cloud of smoke. She was wearing... three slightly different but very similar outfits.

She was wearing oversized hoodies and loose jeans, glasses, and her hair was noticeably dyed blonde. "How do I look?" Trinity asked.

Sam burst out laughing, "Sienna! This is you dressed up!"

“Hmm,” Sienna said, “pretty… nice?”

"Yay!" Trinity cheered. "Sam said we should dress up as whoever we like!"

“Oh,” Sienna replied. That was really…heartwarming. “Thank you, Trinity.”

"hug!"

Of course, hugs are a must.

Next up was Athena. When she stepped out of the machine, wearing an oversized sweater and her hair casually tied in a ponytail, Sienna wasn't surprised at all. She had another little "clone" of herself.

"Can I have a hug too?" Athena asked shyly.

“Of course,” Sienna said. But she had to pull Trinity off her first.

After giving Sam a few very serious instructions (roughly: wait until I'm inside before pulling the lever), Maple Leaf also went into the machine.

The woman who emerged was "Maple Leaf," dressed in a pinstripe suit, wearing a domino mask and a fedora. "Hmm," she said, avoiding Sienna's eyes. Then she raised her arms for a hug, which Sienna gladly gave her.

"Okay, it's my turn!" Sam said, squeezing into the machine.

While Sam went inside, Sienna turned to Teddy, who was standing with his arms crossed and pouting. She was dressed in a Karl Marx outfit and had two little bear ears sticking up on her head, making her look a bit comical.

"Do you want a hug too?" Sienna asked.

“Yes,” Teddy said stubbornly, “I didn’t even know I could play the boss.”

Sienna laughed. "It's okay. You can have idols other than me, you know?"

“Okay, fine,” Teddy said.

They hugged, and then Sam stepped out of the machine, causing Sienna to pause in surprise. "What happened?"

Sam was clearly wearing a very... sexy and mature version of the "Glamour Woman" costume, with much less fabric used overall, but a lot more skin exposed.

"What do you think? I originally wanted to dress up as a sexy nurse, but, oh my, this is much better than that. And I like the contrast!"

“Hmm,” Sienna said, “but… don’t instill any weird ideas in your sisters.”

"What kind of weird idea is that?" Maple Leaf asked.

“Never mind,” Sienna said. “Well… well, you all be careful, don’t fight, listen to Sam, and if anything Sam says sounds suspicious, call me. And… well, never mind, I’ll come along too.”

Upon hearing this decision, everyone cheered with joy.

Sienna just wanted to bury her head in the blankets and cry her heart out.