The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

"Then, she swaggered into the theater, so boldly, without even wearing a mask, her bear ears sticking out of her hair, and walked straight up to the manager."

Yezebel nodded. So far, the story had been quite interesting. In fact, the boy sitting across from her... was rather funny overall. Not in the traditional sense, though; most of his jokes were self-deprecating, and he...

Well, Alejandro Ikta is a bit awkward. But he seems to be aware of it himself, and when he's not so flustered, he's quite endearing, with a kind of melancholic, nerdy puppy-like charm. For someone with such dangerous abilities, he seems remarkably harmless.

Yezebel didn't know how to view him. He wasn't a villain, but he was definitely on the wrong side of the moral line.

"And then?" she asked.

Alea leaned forward slightly. He wasn't wearing a mask. She wasn't either, but this time she concealed her identity, giving them a bit of privacy. They were in nothing special, a slightly run-down pizzeria a few blocks from the school. The aroma of the pizzeria could be smelled from half a block away.

She usually avoids places like this because eating here would definitely make it impossible to maintain her figure. But this time, since it's a date, she might as well loosen her dietary restrictions a little for a few slices of pizza and a can of soda. Anyway, Aleya Ikta seems to really like it here.

“Yes, she just walked right up to me and threatened me,” he said. “My friend just ignored me and basically said it was my problem. Then we went to the dressing room, and she made me get some things. By the way, that's where the boss’s costume came from. It was an extra costume, uh… I can’t remember which movie it was. It had a gangster vibe.”

"Wait, was the boss's outfit stolen?"

Aleja laughed. "I know! I found it by luck, so I think it fits me perfectly. Yes, I just grabbed it straight from the shelf."

"Does she know?" Yezebel asked.

“I know, and if she knew, she wouldn’t care. Ted—you know, that bear girl—took a huge pimp-style coat and left. I don’t know what happened to that coat afterward, but I’m pretty glad she didn’t use it in her own clothes.”

Yezebel didn't know where to begin. "A pimp-style coat?" she asked.

"It's huge, all purple, made of faux fur. It even comes with a hat with feathers."

"No way," she said.

"Seriously! She was practically buried in her clothes. Actually, it was kind of cute. But can you imagine a grizzly bear wearing something like that and scaring people in the neighborhood?"

Yezebel chuckled. The laughter came effortlessly.

She...didn't come here for a date. Okay, she'd been telling herself that all day. She came here to dig up information about the boss and her kids. Aleya Ikta told her almost everything he wanted to know.

but……

Yezebel gently tugged at his shirt collar, laughed again, and then rested his elbows on the table. "And then?" she asked.

Aleya's gaze lowered for a moment. He swallowed hard. "Uh? And then... I think that's when I got recruited. Forced. Ursa didn't give me any choice. Either join or get eaten. But honestly, I think I could have run away if I had, but I don't regret it. The boss... wasn't actually the worst boss? It's kind of ironic."

“I have to ask,” Yezebel said, “you seem… a little afraid of her?”

“Oh? Oh, you’ll find she’s not scary once you get to know her. Actually, I think she’s a bit of a mess. Not in a sexy way,” he quickly added.

"Hmm," she responded, gesturing for him to continue.

"Yes, but she's a really nice person. Mainly towards her sisters, but she's also quite good to her other subordinates."

"Subordinates?" Yezebel asked. She noted down the information he mentioned about "sisters," intending to ponder it later. This only further confirmed her suspicions.

Aleya chuckled, not taking it too seriously. "That's what those kids call the boss and the people who do the work. I guess people with superpowers are included too."

"Are there that many people?" she asked.

"Hmm, not a lot, but not a few either? Every time I go to that bunker, I feel like I run into a few new subordinates I've never seen before."

“I guess she has so many sisters, she really needs a lot of help.”

“Yes,” he said.

Yezebel changed the subject. They started talking about their favorite TV shows, then moved on to movies and books. She was particularly fond of the "Ingalls' Ball" series because her father had read it to her when she was a child, and they even debated for a while whether the movie or the book was better.

At the same time, she was also thinking.

While this doesn't directly prove that the boss is a villain, it... well, it gives Yezebel even more clues to gather. Judging from this, she's almost certain that Rattles wasn't lying.

Of course, she couldn't confront him. The villain was being held in a Human Rights Foundation (HRF) facility somewhere, and he'd soon be on trial, likely to be thrown into some dark, gloomy place. There were prisons specifically for people with superpowers, and those places weren't pleasant. She'd seen job postings for those jobs. The pay was pretty good, but the work looked awful.

In any case, Jessbel's suspicions about Sienna were almost confirmed.

Sienna sided with the morally wrong side.

That makes a lot more sense. Her rapid rise, her refusal to cooperate with the Human Rights Foundation, her power, and her consistently evasive and cautious attitude.

All of this was because she secretly… well, maybe not a true villain. Perhaps a rogue? Yezebel wasn’t very familiar with the moral classifications of evil, but she couldn’t imagine Sienna being that bad; she wasn’t that awful.

Unless she's secretly influencing the children she's with.

The date ended rather uneventfully. Yezebel checked her phone and said she had to go. Alejandro stood up and saw her out. He looked like he wanted to hug her, but awkwardly shifted his body and shook her hand instead. She almost burst out laughing as she left.

She straightened her shirt and then zipped up her coat, because she didn't want to catch a cold.

On her way back to her car, which was parked a few blocks away, and then driving back into the city, she was filled with worry and a multitude of thoughts.

Jessbel was very lucky throughout her life. She was aware of this, unlike some members of her family. Of course, they weren't from a prominent family or were super-rich, but they lived comfortably, and she did most of the time.

Doing the right thing has always been easy. Be a good girl, help others, and reap the rewards of doing good. She's often thought about doing bad things, but she's never actually done it. Yes, she craves the spotlight, but she also strives to help others break through their limitations.

In high school, she was friends with almost everyone and joined every club. Becoming a hero, at least initially, felt like a continuation of that.

Now... now she has a secret in her heart, like a heavy millstone hanging around her neck as she drives around.

Almost imperceptibly, she arrived at her destination and parked her car. A moment later, she got out, checked herself in the mirror, and then reactivated her identity avatar. To anyone who saw her, a line of text appeared above her head in their preferred language: Glamazon, Hero. This proved her identity more clearly than any document.

The guards at the Human Rights Foundation headquarters checked her identification, scanned her eyes, and looked at her fingerprints. She even had to recite the weekly code word. These were all measures taken to prevent the most formidable villains from infiltrating.

Upon entering, she went to a place in headquarters that no one wanted to go into, but everyone knew where it was. At the very back was a small office. She rang the doorbell and entered a room with only a chair and a mirrored wall—nothing else.

If any member of the Human Rights Foundation suspected something was wrong, or wanted to report something strange, they would come to this place. She had hoped she would never have to enter this room.

“Female warrior,” a cold, emotionless voice came through the loudspeaker. It was likely someone several cities away listening in. “Do you have anything to report?”

“Yes,” she said, “I’m reporting the identity of a suspected villain. This person has been posing as a hero.”

She hoped she had done the right thing. She also hoped that one day Sienna would forgive her.