The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Lucas was both excited and nervous, and he felt a little worried about all of this. Within an hour, he had rubbed his palms against his jeans leg five times. To him, it was all crazy.

Although Liam and Ethan were keen to take their little group to various events, most of the time it was just to hang out at sports bars or spend an afternoon watching a college game in a nearby city.

These were all ordinary things, but they still made him feel a little uncomfortable.

He's not an introvert—if he were, he wouldn't go out with his friends so often—but he does enjoy his time alone.

Chloe is the same; she's outspoken and passionate about what she cares about, but otherwise, she's mostly uninterested in socializing and such things.

Now, the four of them are in what appears to be an abandoned underground train station, and he knows nothing about it.

He wasn't a native of Eau Claire, but he had lived there for three years to attend university, and this was the first time he had ever heard that the city had a subway.

Worse (or better?) the thing is, they were here because they were half-threatened and half-recruited by a teenage girl who could turn into a bear.

This was far beyond his usual comfort zone.

"Did we really just follow a bear into a dark underground tunnel?" Ethan asked.

“Shh, she might hear you,” Chloe said.

“We can probably outrun her,” Liam said. “She’s only… twelve years old.”

Lucas made a "hard to say" gesture. "Kids have a lot of energy. You might be able to run away, but with my overweight body, I wouldn't be able to run a block before I get a stitch, you know that."

Liam chuckled and grinned knowingly at Lucas. "I told you to come to the gym with me, bro."

“Oh, shut up,” Lucas said. “Besides, can you outrun a grizzly bear?” But now he was starting to regret not agreeing to Liam’s offer.

“What if we run in different directions…” Liam muttered to himself. Then he laughed and dodged Ethan’s fist that was trying to punch his arm.

“She seems like a nice person,” Chloe said.

“Yes, it’s really good,” Ethan said. He shuddered. “I think I almost wet my pants.”

“That’s so cool,” Liam said.

Ethan thought for a moment, then grinned. "Yeah, that's pretty cool."

The girl—Teddy—after successfully capturing all their attention, transformed back into human form and then explained that she was the boss, or "boss" (Teddy always made a finger sign when she said the word, which Lucas didn't quite understand), and that she thought they all enjoyed this kind of thing.

Yes, they really do like it. They were playing Heroes: Expansion when she interrupted them.

They were considered die-hard mask enthusiasts. But that didn't mean they were all ready to sign up as... well, henchmen.

"Isn't the word 'subordinate' inherently more associated with the villains?" Lucas pondered to himself.

Anyway, Teddy, the girl who can turn into a bear, went on to explain that the job pays very little and the hours are weird, but the best part is that they get to tell cool stories and get to take a free photo with a real grizzly bear.

Of course, she didn't say it exactly like that, but Lucas could tell what the girl meant behind her... frankly, ridiculously absurdly cryptic statement.

The man with her was also somewhat suspicious. Lucas still hadn't gotten a good look at his face.

He was just a guy wearing a baseball cap, a hoodie, a plain blue face mask, and sunglasses.

Beneath this disguise, he could be anyone, but something about this guy stirred up a vague memory in Lucas.

He leaned closer to Chloe, who was probably the best at recognizing masked celebrities among their group. "So, who's that tall, dark-skinned guy with the gloomy face?"

“He’s not that tall,” she said. “And I’m pretty sure it’s Aleja Ikta. That ‘Luck Thief’ villain.”

Lucas straightened up. A villain? Well, a villain with a low rating and a rather lame title.

Those forums love masked people and masked culture, but some people... aren't very good at naming themselves. So the forums gave them nicknames, which often made things worse. However, this also gave rise to a lot of great memes.

"The boss's here!" Teddy shouted. She ran towards Lucas and his friends, hands on her hips. "Alright, guys. Now, it's all about following the rules."

“You haven’t told us the rules yet,” Ethan said.

Teddy opened her mouth, then closed it again. "Oh no," she said. Then she started counting on her fingers. "No swearing. No making up swear words. Always act like a hero. No fighting with your sisters. Go to the toilet before leaving the house—"

"Pretend to be a hero?" Chloe asked.

“Yes,” Teddy said. She stared at her hands in confusion. “The boss set ten rules for us, but I can’t remember the other five.”

Um... I think one of the rules is no killing. Also, don't stuff garbage in your mouth unless the boss says so. Anyway, doing your best won't be too bad.

Teddy suddenly gasped, startling all four of them.

"Hold hands when crossing the street!" she exclaimed. "That's one of them!"

"Hey, Teddy, the boss's here." The man, still disguised and likely Aleia Ikta, pointed towards the tracks and gave a thumbs up.

Lucas found himself wiping his hands on his jeans again.

The first thing he saw probably wasn't the boss at all. Unless the boss was a kid. Actually, there were a lot of kids. Hmm, in this abandoned underground subway station, that's quite a lot, he thought.

“That must be the whole ‘Kids Gang,’” Chloe said.

He'd heard of them! Only vaguely, as he didn't pay much attention to the small-scale local masked activities, but a few weeks ago they'd made national news, albeit briefly.

“The leader is their boss,” Ethan said. “She’s worked with several heroes. She even destroyed a villain’s base a few weeks ago. I don’t think she’s been given a title on the forums yet.”

Lucas decided he would pay more attention to these kinds of things locally from now on. The bank attack a day or two ago, the attack on the human resources department, and now what seemed like a large group of people standing here… Yes, things were finally starting to get interesting in O'Clair.

Then, the eldest appeared, walking up the stairs at the end of the platform. She was tall and stood out among the children. Her slender figure blended into the shadows behind her. As she approached, Lucas suddenly found himself involuntarily focusing all his attention on her.

The young woman stopped about ten paces away from them, her gaze sweeping over Lucas and his friends. Lucas suddenly felt incredibly shabby in his Tar Arles t-shirt and jeans. His friends weren't much better dressed, which made him even more nervous.

This girl, this woman, possessed an aura he had never felt before.

She sighed softly. Lucas suddenly wanted to run away, but then he also wanted to quickly fix his hair. Why hadn't he gone to the hair salon this week? Was he sweating? He definitely was.

“Teddy,” she said.

"Yo!" Teddy replied, "Boss, these are the men I recruited. What do you think?"

The leader looked at them all, then turned her gaze back to Teddy. "Teddy, we need to have a serious talk later." Her attention returned to the group, and Lucas straightened up. "Uh… hi?"

Then his shoulders slumped slightly. It sounded… a little awkward.

"Hey?" Ethan said, waving one hand slightly. "We're super fans?"

Lucas decided not to point out that they weren't.

“I’m sorry Teddy dragged you all here,” the leader said. “She’s always very enthusiastic about things. But her intentions are good. I hope this won’t bother you too much…?”

“It’s okay,” Chloe said. “She’s quite lovely.”

Sienna nodded slowly. "Yes."

Lucas is unsure to what extent cuteness can shield a person from the consequences of their actions, but so far, it seems to work quite well with Teddy.

“Anyway, I’ve been thinking about this on my way here. I think this offer has some sincerity,” Sienna said. “You guys, uh, want a job?”

Lucas looked at his friends, and they exchanged hesitant glances. Mainly because the whole thing, viewed as a whole, was simply too outrageous.

It's like a scene from a comic book.

This means that in the end, he actually only has one answer.

“Sure, of course,” he said. “I’d love to have a job.”