The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Sienna was jolted awake by her cell phone ringing.

Her phone shouldn't have rung; it shouldn't have rung at home. So she mumbled a few words she couldn't even understand herself, trying to shrink deeper into the pillow. Of course, this movement made her elbows and knees twitch a bit, but by this point she was used to it.

The phone rang again.

Sienna's mind suddenly went blank, and she remembered some strange and unrelated things.

She asked Maple to find a way to disable cell phone signal in their underground bunker home, just in case. Then she asked Maple to make an exception for a disposable cell phone she bought with cash at the gas station, which she planned to plug into in her room.

Maple somehow made the phone "untraceable." Sienna wasn't very confident, but she was willing to take the gamble. Maple made a device, intending to make the tracking signal lose its way, but the device itself got lost. However, she claimed that it was all a success because anyone tracking the phone would also "get lost."

This is passable and usable.

And now this phone is ringing, because it's the only phone that can ring.

“It’s the capitalists, they want to sell us things,” Teddy mumbled sleepily. “Telemarketers. It’s all their fault.” She was snoring loudly, right next to Sienna’s ear, until the phone rang again. “It’s all a consequence of the Industrial Revolution.”

Sienna blinked a few times. The room was dark, but her eyes had already adjusted. "Could you move a bit?" she said to her younger sister, who was holding her. Her sister shifted, and Sienna wriggled to the foot of the bed.

Just as Sienna reached for the phone, it rang again.

She didn't recognize the number at all. But she noticed the time.

Someone called her at 4:30 a.m., and Sienna strongly wanted to let herself indulge any villainous impulses that might arise.

Sienna straightened up, snapped her phone open, and answered the call. "Hello?" she cleared her throat and said.

"Boss?" A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone. It sounded familiar, but it took Sienna a moment to remember who it was.

"Merrington?"

“Yes, it was me,” Meratton said. “But this… is unofficial, you understand?”

It's four in the morning.

"Half past four."

Sienna took the phone away from her ear and stared at it. What did this half-hour difference mean? "Okay? It's 4:30. It's still a weekday. I have... my own life? I have something to do... Why are you calling?"

“Okay, yeah, I guess you do have something on your mind. Not everyone's a night owl. Listen, we're in trouble here,” Meraton said. Sienna was more alert now, and she could hear the tension in Meraton's voice.

“Where are you talking about, ‘here’?” Sienna asked.

“Last night, very late, Handshaw called me and said he got some information from a friend of a friend that this friend knows someone who has some kind of precognitive ability. Not the kind of super strong precognitive ability, but the kind that can pay people to keep an eye on a lot of people.”

Sienna didn't quite understand what this meant, but it sounded like the kind of shady business Handshaw would be involved in. "Okay? Is he in trouble?"

“We’re hiding in the café,” Meraton said. “If we go out, we’ll be ambushed.”

"Ambushed?" Sienna asked. "By whom?"

"By whom?"

“This…this is correct grammar,” Sienna argued. “Do we have time to discuss this?”

“Yes. We think it’s Ruttles. He’s going to make his move, and he’s going to start by taking down anyone in his ‘territory’ who looks a bit villainous.” She clearly used quotation marks when she said “territory.”

Sienna began pacing in her small room. A tightness in her chest. She didn't want to see Rattles again. Certainly not at this hour. His name had haunted her nightmares enough; she didn't want to fight him in the dark.

“What do you want me to do?” Sienna asked.

“Well, ideally, you’d bring your little force over and rout the Rattles,” Meraton said. “But if that’s not possible, do you think you could get a few less-than-heroic friends to help?”

“This…this isn’t fast enough,” Sienna said.

“Oh, right, sorry. I may have given you the wrong impression. The situation isn't good, but it's not at the point where things are about to get really messed up. Ruttles is loitering suspiciously in that area. We know about it; we saw him on the security cameras. But he's not here with us. I don't think he knows where Handshaw is hiding, just the general area. If we stay put, we're safe. At least, that's what a friend of Handshaw's friend says. If we go out, we're doomed.”

"Can't you beat him?" Sienna asked.

“They’re not easy to deal with,” Meraton said. “In fact, I have a lot of opponents who are difficult to deal with.”

Sienna sighed and ran her hand through her hair. It was a mess. She'd have to take a shower and then spend a few minutes combing it. She glanced back at the bed. Several arms and legs were stretched out haphazardly, and soft, peaceful breathing could be heard. At least compared to the feeling she'd had on the phone with Meraton, this was reassuring.

“I don’t… I need time to think,” Sienna said.

“You can think about it. We’ll just stay here and pray that the bastard doesn’t find us and then decides to rip the ceiling off,” Meraton said, sounding like she was trying to make her tone casual.

Sienna stopped pacing and took a deep breath. She needed to… do a few things. First and foremost, get Ruttles out of there. “Do you think we can ambush him?” she asked.

"Maybe."

Sienna absolutely did not want to face him alone. Even if she set an ambush, she would need help. What if this happened a week later… two weeks later? Or even a year later? She didn't know if she would be fully prepared to fight him.

“I can think of a few people I can call,” Sienna said, “but I don’t know if they’d be willing to come. And at this time of year, it’s hard to find a car to get anywhere.”

"Yes, I know, but this might be—"

Sienna was pacing when she heard this and stopped, staring at her phone. The call hadn't ended, but Meraton stopped mid-sentence. "Hello?"

The phone had clearly been answered by someone else. Someone cleared their throat and then spoke. "Boss?"

“Handshaw?” Sienna asked. She was quite certain it was him.

“It is I,” Handshaw said. “Please consider this: I owe you a sum of money that is not large but still considerable, and if I die, you will never get it. Moreover, if you help me, I will owe you even more. If you can solve the problem with Ruttles… I will give you two thousand dollars. If you can scare him away, I will give you a thousand.”

Sienna bit her lower lip; it certainly made the matter incredibly tempting. Two thousand dollars, plus a possible favor, was no small sum, especially since her savings were dwindling rapidly. It was too tempting, extremely tempting… But it meant fighting Ruttles.

“Alright,” Sienna said. “I’ll help you. We’ll help you. But remember, you owe me a favor, Handshaw, and I’ll get it back.”

A relieved chuckle came from the other end of the phone. "Deal, boss. Thank you. It's been a pleasure working with you."

Sienna hung up the phone and turned around.

She noticed six pairs of eyes staring at her, their reflections gleaming in the dim room. "So, who are we going to beat up?" Teddy asked.

“Lattles,” Sienna said, “and we’re going to win this time. Girls, can you get dressed? Put on your full gear. Maple, is your stuff ready?”

Maple Leaf nodded. "Ready," she said.

"Very well. I need to make a few calls. Come on, get ready quickly, please. Oh, and... Athena?"

"Ok?"

“Could you turn on the coffee machine?” Sienna asked. She would need coffee.

Sienna glanced at her phone again. She had entered a number she had carefully memorized. She pressed the dial button and held the phone to her ear.

The phone rang twice more before someone answered. "It'd better be someone who's about to die," Sam said on the other end of the line.

“I know,” Sienna said. “It’s late. We need a ride. We’re in trouble. It’s Ruttles.”

There was a long silence, followed by a sigh. "What do you need me to do?" Sam asked.

“We’re planning to set up an ambush. I need a ride there. It’s a bit far, especially so late. I’m also asking a few other people for help.”

"Ha, looks like it's finally time to make a move. Okay, I'll join. Text me where we're to meet after I'm dressed."

"Thank you," Sienna said. "See you in a bit."

She hung up the phone and then picked up her usual phone to look up a number. This time the call was answered immediately.

"Hello?" came a young man's voice.

"A desperate gamble? Get ready. Tonight we're taking down the city's biggest villain. I need your help, and your luck."

"Damn it. Is this why my sleep schedule is completely messed up?"

Sienna had no idea what he was talking about, but she still told him where to meet.

She entered another number, and this time it took quite a while for someone to answer. When the other person answered, their voice was the sleepiest Sienna had heard in a long time. "What's up?"

“Yesebel?” Sienna asked, “Are you awake?”

"what?"

She was practically awake. "I'm Sienna Wright. Remember me? I need your help... It's work-related. It's urgent."

“Oh,” Yezebel said, becoming more sober. “Well, damn it.”

“Yes,” Sienna replied. She explained as quickly as possible and then hung up. A wave of nervousness washed over her. Most of the time, she needed to rouse herself for days before making a call. Finishing these calls so quickly felt like tearing off a band-aid.

But the deed is done, and now she has to prepare for trouble.