The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Sienna had never actually been to a bar before.

Bars are places for adults to relax and drink, and she was neither old enough, nor did she drink, nor was she the kind of person who would go to bars to hang out.

She never imagined her first time in a bar would be sitting in the kitchen, shirtless. She hissed when Sam pressed something cold against her chest. "Ah, so cold, so cold," Sienna whispered, clutching the piece of fabric and unfolding it slightly.

It turned out to be a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a dishcloth.

“You need to reduce the swelling,” Sam said. “Actually, you should go to the hospital.”

Sienna groaned and pressed the bag back against her chest. It hurt, but a few seconds later, a cool sensation began to spread to the bruises on her chest.

The pain hadn't lessened much, but it was at least somewhat helping. "I can manage," she said. "I really don't want to go to the hospital."

“Perhaps you should go?” Athena asked.

She didn't dare look Sienna in the eye, and Sienna could almost sense the faint guilt in her younger sister's words.

Just a day earlier, she would have said that this youngest sister was the smartest among her sisters.

No, that's not fair. Athena is very clever. It's just a coincidence that Lutells is here today.

However, this wasn't the first time her sister had run off and caused trouble.

“Okay. Let’s set a new rule,” she said, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

Teddy and Trinity looked up. Their faces clearly showed they'd been picking at chunks of meat from the huge pot of pasta sauce on the stove.

She still had to clean up the mess before the kind barmaid returned.

Meanwhile, Maple was sitting not far from Sienna, the parts for her anti-vibration device spread out on the counter in front of her.

She had been searching for a while, seemingly trying to figure out what was wrong with the machine.

"What rules?" Athena asked.

"No one is allowed to leave home without my explicit permission."

Trinity going to the landfill is one thing, but encountering a dangerous villain alone is quite another.

I think this is the last straw.

“Here’s a box!” Trinity said, pulling a brand new box of plastic straws from her bag.

Sienna sighed. "Put it back. This kind bar lady was helping us; we shouldn't have stolen her things."

Please put everything else you took back. Also, Teddy, stop touching the sauce.

Teddy dropped the spoon he was using into the sauce.

"So, would you like to talk about what just happened?" Sam asked.

Sienna leaned back and then groaned as her chest muscles tightened.

She looked down at herself and saw a large patch of yellow bruises covering her ribs, chest, and abdomen, which was quite unsightly.

“I think we can talk,” she said. “Why did he run away?”

"Because we scared him so much he wet himself?" Teddy guessed.

“Maybe,” Sienna said. Losing his powers must have terrified him.

She knew that if her abilities suddenly stopped working, she would be terrified.

“And then there’s the reaction from the motorcyclists,” Sam said. “Throwing bottles and stuff. If he came here to recruit people and failed, then he has no reason to stay.”

“Maybe,” Sienna replied, “but it still feels strange. He was in the lead, especially after he hit me and broke the Maple Leaf device.”

Maple Leaf looked up. "I can fix it," she said, "but maybe I should make a newer, better one. This one didn't turn out the way I wanted. I'm sorry."

“Don’t say that,” Sienna said. “It basically did what you said. More or less. I don’t think you expected him to use his power like that either.”

"How did he use his powers?" Sam asked. "I was a bit too far away to see clearly."

Sienna shrugged and adjusted the position of the pea bag. "Maple Leaf's machine is working."

It eliminated all the vibrations around it. But then it started... shaking on its own?

“His name is Rattles (meaning to shake or vibrate), right?” Sam said. “Maple Leaf, how was your device originally designed?”

“Yes. It can block vibrations that travel through the air,” Maple Leaf said. “But I don’t want to make it too powerful because the scientists on TV say that sound is also a vibration, and I think it would be terrible if no one could hear it.”

Furthermore, blocking all vibrations could cause your heart to stop beating.

“Uh,” Sienna replied. She hadn’t thought of that before. “Then I’m glad you designed it that way. It really works.”

Maple Leaf shook his head. "He broke through its limitations."

Sienna sighed again. She realized she had sighed too much today. "We'll catch him next time."

“Yes!” Teddy said, “The Law of Three!” The others nodded in agreement.

Sienna and Sam looked at each other, and Sam shrugged. "What is the third law?" she asked.

"It's when heroes and villains fight, or when villains fight each other."

"If they can't completely subdue their opponent the first time, they'll have to fight three times, and the third time will be the last," Teddy explained.

“Oh… okay,” Sienna said. She wasn’t quite sure how accurate that was. Was it related to the mission? Her sisters knew far more about the superpower system than she did. In fact, they probably knew more than most people.

Sam jumped back and sat down on a counter next to Maple Leaf and her pile of parts. "So, you're planning to fight him again? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

“We can’t just let him get away with this,” Athena said. “If he doesn’t stop, soon everyone will think he’s the biggest villain in this city.”

No one will respect the boss or the rest of us anymore.

“That’s right, this city can’t accommodate two major villains,” Teddy agreed.

Sienna felt a heavy weight on her chest. The pressure had been added to an already mountain of burdens.

Rattles went from being a challenge she could choose to face to someone she had to fight and defeat.

“What if we lose again?” she asked.

Teddy chuckled. "We won't lose!"

The others cheered and expressed their agreement.

“Okay,” Sienna said. “Alright, then let’s fight him again. Very good.”

But next time, I don't want to do it like today.

We rushed here without a plan, and our victory this time was largely due to Ruttles' apparent reluctance to continue the fight.

“I’ll keep an eye out,” Sam said. “He’ll show up again sooner or later. It’s obvious that the League of Legends can’t handle him.”

Sienna nodded repeatedly. "We need a better plan. Maple, I think we'll have to rely on you more. The damper is working. Can you make an even better one?"

“I can do it,” Maple Leaf said.

"Can you make me something I can use in battle?"

Maple Leaf blinked. "Okay. Why do you want something like this?"

"I don't want to be this useless anymore," Sienna confessed.

Sam grinned. "Well, you can go to the gym more often first."

You need to learn real combat skills, even if Maple Leaf builds you something like an electromagnetic railgun or a toaster.

Sienna frowned at the thought, but Sam was right. "We should work with those lackeys too. Those motorcyclists were a big help today."

I think Rattles' weakness might be his attack range.

Although its range is quite wide, it's not very effective at dealing with attacks outside that range.

“Yes, I saw him get hit by that bottle,” Sam said. “Are you planning to give your henchmen grenades or something?”

“Uh…maybe not with grenades,” Sienna said.

“I want a grenade,” Trinity said.

“No.” Sienna refused decisively. She adjusted the frozen peas again.

The bag was dripping with condensation. "We're not going to give grenades to the henchmen, or Trinity."

Trinity and herself both sighed.

“Can you make some non-lethal weapons, Maple?” Sienna asked.

Maple Leaf nodded. "I think it's okay. Non-lethal means it won't kill you immediately, right?"

“That definition is scary, but it’s not entirely wrong,” Sam said.

"I can do it."

“Sounds… good.” Sienna nodded. “Let’s discuss it in more detail when we get home.”

Sienna groaned as she stood up and threw the peas onto a table.

She looked down at her chest again; the bruises were turning a bit purple. Curious, she poked herself, then immediately regretted it.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Sam asked.

“They’ll ask all sorts of questions,” Sienna said. She started to button up her shirt again and then tucked it into her pants.

"Maybe we can make a few sets of protective uniforms. It's better not to be so... vulnerable."

“Add this to your to-do list,” Sam said.

“This list will never end, will it?” Sienna shook her head. “Let’s go, I might need to report to the League of Legends, then we can leave.”