The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Talking to the Heroic Response Force (HRF) is pure torture.

Finally, she faced someone who resembled a detective, trying to extract as much information as possible from her, while Sienna's social energy was already exhausted before the conversation even began.

To make matters worse, someone noticed Maple Leaf's device, and now League of Legends is pressing her for details.

They wanted to know what it was, how it worked, and whether it posed a danger to others.

The inventor of the small device needs to fill out some forms if he wants to take the device to the field.

At least, if they work for League of Legends.

If not, then even if the device is misused or stolen by the villains, the inventor bears full responsibility.

She felt this was at least legally reasonable. But that didn't mean she enjoyed going around in circles with League of Legends.

However, after several long hours, she was finally able to return to her sisters, who were in a bar, entertained by men on motorcycles.

These people weren't the type of temporary nannies she would choose, but actually they were quite nice.

A burly man with a gruff voice showed Teddy a knife and began recounting his fights and adventures; another knew a few magic tricks, keeping Maple Leaf, Athena, and Trinity mesmerized.

In short, when her sisters turned their attention to them, this group of tall, rough, and intimidating guys instantly transformed into a group of kind old men.

It was a bit strange, but Sienna decided not to dwell on this good fortune.

After gathering her sisters together, she headed outside. Sam drove around to the exit of an alley on the next street, and they squeezed into her van until it was completely full.

As soon as Sienna got into the car, fastened her seatbelt, and sat comfortably in her seat, all her tension immediately dissipated.

She slumped in her seat, resting her head back on the headrest.

She felt like crying.

"Are you alright?" Sam asked.

Sienna rallied. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said. The seatbelt was pressing against her bruises, making the situation worse.

"I will get better."

She hoped it was true. At that moment, she felt incredibly weak.

Ruttles wasn't even a clever enemy. He was just so powerful that she wasn't sure if they could defeat him.

“Girls,” she said, which silenced the chatter in the back row.

At least her sisters seemed to recover from this defeat quite easily. "How strong are Lutells?"

“What do you mean?” Athena asked. “Power is hard to measure. Are you referring to his rank and skills?”

“I think so?” Sienna replied. “What else could I be referring to?”

Athena shrugged. "There are many kinds of power. There's the power that comes with ability, and there are other levels of power."

Sienna had no idea what Athena meant, and that was certainly written all over her face, as Athena went on to explain.

"Well, first of all, it's your actual strength. This refers to the power granted by your abilities and skills. Teddy is the 'strongest' because she is physically strong."

But Maple Leaf, despite not having been exposed to superpowers for long, was able to fight and defeat her because her abilities were very flexible, while I was able to defeat Teddy because I was smarter, and my abilities were mental.

Trinity can't beat Teddy, but she's also hard to defeat completely, so that has an impact.

“Okay,” Sienna said. “I think my question was too… vague, so I couldn’t get a direct answer. Superpowers are like an extremely complex game of rock-paper-scissors. There’s no simple, straightforward answer.”

“Yes.” Athena agreed, “but in addition to that, there is the power of ‘influence’.”

“What is that?” Sienna asked.

Athena frowned and thought for a moment. "You saw those people on motorcycles, didn't you?"

They threw things at Ruttles to provoke him. They did it because we were more 'influential' than him when it came to getting people to like us.

"Is this a kind of power?" Sam asked. Her eyes were on the road, but she was clearly listening attentively.

“Yes, yes. Generally speaking, heroes have a greater influence in this regard than villains,” Athena said.

“The power of the people!” Teddy added.

“In this respect, we are far superior to Lutells. Nobody likes him,” Athena said.

“He doesn’t seem very bright, and I bet he doesn’t eat well,” Trinity said.

“He… he might still smell bad, maybe?” Maple Leaf also offered his opinion.

“Yes,” Sienna said. “So, there’s power based on ability, and influence based on the social level. I think he’s very strong in one aspect, but very weak in another.”

“There are many other powers as well,” Athena said. “Information is very important. Mastering information can make you very powerful.”

Then there are allies, like having the law on your side, having a lot of money, and knowing the right people. Power is very complex.

“Yes, I think so,” Sienna agreed. “So, in terms of power based on abilities, where do you think Ruttles stands?”

Athena stroked her chin like a wise woman in a statue, pondering for a moment. "I think he's much stronger than any of us," she said.

"You mean he's much uglier?" Teddy muttered.

“I think he only has one ability,” Athena said, “but it’s much stronger than ours.”

I guess he's been playing the villain for a long time, so he's had time to complete a lot of tasks and accumulate a lot of points.

He may have even pushed his abilities to their limits.

Sienna sat up straight. "The ability can be raised to its limit?"

“Yes,” Athena said. “That happens. That’s why there are ‘final missions,’ so you can gain another ability to continue doing missions and such.”

“I’ve never heard of this before,” Sam said.

“Me neither. I think that makes sense. And heroes don’t go around proclaiming they won’t get stronger,” Sienna said.

Now she has one more thing to worry about, but perhaps it's not close enough for her to be concerned about right now.

“We’ve lost,” Athena said. Sienna turned around and found Athena staring at her.

"But that's okay. Sometimes heroes win, and sometimes other villains are stronger."

The hallmark of a good villain is the ability to rise again and do even more evil things than before to make up for their failure.

"Yes!" Teddy cheered, "Let's rob a bank!"

“Oh! Is that alright?” Trinity asked, echoing her own words.

“No, we’re not going to rob a bank,” Sienna said. “But… maybe you’re not entirely wrong.”

“Uh, Sienna?” Sam asked, “Could you explain that a little more clearly?”

"I mean, we lost because we were too weak. We tried to improve a little, but it wasn't enough. I think we can work harder and become stronger."

Learn how to cooperate better, to the point where you have a better chance of winning in any battle.

And Athena's description of other types of power is also correct.

I... I need to learn not to be so shy. If we can't defeat Rattles in battle, then we'll have to defeat him in other ways.

We can outnumber him, we can make heroes his enemies, and we can spread information about him.

If we attack from another angle, perhaps we won't have to defeat him in a direct confrontation.

The car was quiet for a moment, until Teddy started clapping. "Boss, that monologue was really good!"

“That wasn’t a monologue,” Sienna said.

“It does look somewhat similar,” Sam said.

Sienna felt her cheeks burning. She turned her head to stare out the window, feeling awkward and unwilling to talk to anyone else.

That wasn't a monologue; it was just a bit of complaining, and maybe a little bit of morale-boosting talk.

Sam continued driving along the street toward the entrance to the underground passage to their hideout, while Sienna's thoughts raced.

What Athena told her touched something deep within her, though she wasn't sure what it was.

This felt much more important than a discussion in the car.

Her life was constantly plagued by worries, always afraid that she would say or do the wrong thing and end up becoming a laughing stock.

She had seen others stand up to give speeches, or greet new friends with smiles and laughter, and she envied them. They could do things she thought were impossible.

This was a power she had never possessed before. Perhaps she only had it now.

The person who commands respect and is approachable is not Sienna Wright, but the "boss".

But that doesn't matter, because beneath that mask, she is the "boss".

Those motorcyclists in the bar are a good example.

They had no reason to support Sienna and her sisters, but they did anyway. Was it because girls are naturally charming?

Or was it because they all harbored resentment towards Lutters? Or perhaps they simply sympathized with the weak?

In any case, it is a power, just as real as any superpower or invention.

The small truck slowly came to a stop on the side of the road near the underpass. Sienna sighed.

That kind of thinking can wait. Her sisters are probably hungry and will definitely rush to the bathroom in a swarm. Then she has to check her homework, look at her class schedule, not to mention checking on her followers...

Sienna got out of the car. Let's do one thing at a time.