The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

“You really came!” said the Charm Girl. She opened her arms, as if expecting Sienna to walk straight up and hug her.

Sienna didn't want to do that. She didn't... dislike Yezebel, even though the woman was a complete extrovert, Sienna didn't usually like hugging, and Yezebel wasn't her favorite person.

“I’m here,” she simply said. “A friend suggested I come. Exercise is important in our line of work, uh, it’s necessary.”

This gym is small and located on the side of an outdoor outlet mall. The location is somewhat secluded, giving it a private feel.

The large windows in front face an enclosed golf driving range, and across the street is a row of residential buildings. The gym's sign prominently displays the words, "Take off your mask, put on your gloves."

“That’s right, of course it’s important,” Yezebel grinned. “Silver Fox always says that in order to become a great hero, besides having a good head of hair, a good aerobic exercise habit is the most important thing.”

"Because you're always running away?" Sienna asked.

Yezebel snorted. “Or head straight for trouble. We can’t forget that,” she said. “Alright, come on in. I’ve already spoken to the boss, and we can use this place today.”

“Uh, is it okay if all of us are okay?” Sienna asked.

She pointed to her sisters, who were unusually well-behaved at the moment. Promising them ice cream and snacks temporarily calmed them down.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. The boss is a very nice person. He used to be a superhero too.” Yezebel said, turning to walk towards the door and opening it.

"He used to be a superhero?" Sienna asked. "Wait, he used to have superpowers?"

“Oh? No, he still has them,” she said, “just not as often. This is much more common than you think.”

“Really?” Sienna said. She could easily imagine herself having superpowers but never using them.

For example, what if her superpowers were similar to those of Charm Girl, such as summoning distracting, exploding orbs of light?

That way, she could hide it, never use it, and keep it a secret. However, her own superpowers were much harder to conceal.

Yezebel nodded. "Yes. Do you remember going to the Human Resources Foundation not long ago? About a week after Superpower Day? I remember you were there with a group of people."

“I remember, I remember that,” Sienna said. She’d met the Quantum Mothman and thought it was pretty cool. After that, she worked with a new group of aspiring heroes, like the Leopard, Hindsight, and the Slaughterer. Were there others? She couldn’t quite remember. It was weeks ago; a lot had happened.

"Well, Cheetah went to a more prosperous city. What about the others? They've basically all quit, or joined some company to do advertising or product testing. Not everyone can be a hero."

Especially in ways like ours, fighting villains in outlandish costumes. Many people with superpowers either live alone, finding a job that allows them to use their abilities, or pretend to be ordinary people.

“How lucky,” Sienna said.

Yezebel glanced at her upon hearing this, but said nothing.

Sienna's sisters stood at the gym entrance, mouths agape, marveling at the various machines inside. Inside, there were only two other people: an older man in denim shorts and a vest, and a woman who appeared to be a gym instructor or staff member.

“The boss isn’t here right now,” Yezebel said. “Come on, there’s a room we can use. There’s equipment there. Do you need to change your clothes?”

Sienna nodded. Teddy was carrying a duffel bag filled with clothes Sienna thought were suitable for working out. Most of them were shorts and loose shirts, all inexpensive items that wouldn't matter if they got soaked with sweat, and they were also very breathable.

Yezebel pointed them in the direction of the changing room, and Sienna made sure everyone was dressed and ready.

When she came out and looked Yezebel up and down, she felt that she was dressed a bit shabbily.

Yezebel wore some kind of tights and a shirt that revealed a small part of her abdomen, all in the same color, clearly designed specifically for their upcoming event.

“Alright,” Yezebel said, seemingly oblivious to Sienna’s sudden unease. “There’s a medicine ball and jump rope here. This room can be closed off; it’ll be very private. Your, uh, sisters, do you know how to stretch?”

“I don’t think they know,” Sienna said.

Yezebel smiled and said, "Then I'll teach them."

So, Yezebel led everyone through a series of stretching exercises, mainly lunges and various bending movements.

Sienna felt awkward the whole time, but somehow she was more coordinated than some of her sisters.

Seeing how clumsy Maple Leaf was at everything, she was both cute and endearing, but Sienna said nothing except to encourage her.

Teddy was stocky but surprisingly agile, while Athena was always clumsy, a fact Sienna knew all too well. However, Trinity was practically a little gymnast; Sienna suspected she had double joints.

Then Jessbel divided them into pairs. Trinity was paired with Athena, Teddy with Maple, and Sienna with Jessbel.

Before dividing the group into groups, she demonstrated the exercises to be performed. These mainly consisted of floor exercises such as rope skipping, push-ups, and sit-ups, as well as alternating between tossing a medicine ball back and forth.

“This…is much harder than it looks.” Sienna said, catching the heavy medicine ball, struggling for a moment, and then throwing it back to the grinning Jezebel.

"But this is great for working out your arms and core. Spread your legs a little wider so the impact is cushioned by your knees. Yes, that's it."

Sienna nodded in agreement. Her back was already soaked with sweat, and she regretted not bringing something more secure to tie her hair up, as it had slipped out of her ponytail and was now covering her face.

"So...do you want to talk about...something else?" Sienna asked, panting.

Yezebel nodded. "Yeah, I'd like to chat. I mean, exercising doesn't stop us from chatting, right? The kids seem to have a lot of energy to burn."

“You have no idea how much energy they have,” Sienna said with a wry smile.

Her sisters treated it like a game, which makes sense; they had a lot of fun, and hopefully they'd all be exhausted by the time they got home. "They can be hard to manage sometimes."

Sienna wanted to ask Yezebel what he wanted to talk about, but the topic had already been steered away, and she wasn't sure how to bring it back.

At this point, Jessbel helped her steer the conversation back on track. "Well, I'd like to talk about rattlesnakes."

“That villain?” Sienna asked, blushing. How many people could be called Rattlesnake? Clearly, Yezebel was referring to that villain.

“Yes, that bastard… uh, that jerk,” Yezebel said. She was clearly still angry with him. “You know the Human Resources Foundation doesn’t investigate the real identities behind people’s masks, right?”

“Uh, don’t they investigate?” Sienna said. She actually knew a little. People dressed in outlandish costumes were often put on trial as “heroes.”

In many ways, it's like having a completely new second identity. However, she's always felt that the government doesn't seem to care much about these things on the surface.

"Yes, they don't investigate openly. Some villains' true identities are known, but everyone pretends not to know."

The main reason is that many heroes are in the same situation, it's like... returning a favor, you could say.

"You don't expose me, and I don't expose you. If we bump into each other at a kids' baseball game, we'll just glare at each other instead of throwing fireballs around."

“Uh, okay,” Sienna said. That made sense, but she was pretty sure there was something obviously wrong with it. “What does this have to do with rattlesnakes?”

“Well, Rattlesnake has been around for a while now, and he’s changed his mask a few times. Anyway, the Human Resources Foundation doesn’t spy on people, but they actually do,” Yezebel said. “And I… I may have stolen some very private documents about Rattlesnake’s past.”

Yezebel reached into one of the pockets of his leggings and pulled out a small USB drive.

Sienna looked at it for a moment, considering how illegal this might be, then remembered that she was, after all, a villain, and took the USB drive. "Thank you," she said.

"Don't mention it. Really, please don't mention it."

"Why are you giving me this?" Sienna asked.

"Because this might give you an advantage when dealing with Rattlesnake. I haven't found any useful clues, but maybe there's something in there that can help you fight him. And even if nothing else, seeing his life listed as a series of increasingly heinous crimes might give you enough motivation to do something to deal with him."

“Oh,” Sienna said. That makes sense. She looked around, then rushed to their duffel bags and tossed the USB drive in.

She wasn't sure what to do with the information on the USB drive, but she wouldn't easily give up any advantage that others had given her.