The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

E-Isabelle: When can we meet?

Mel: Not in the short term.

E-Isabelle: But what about that hard drive?

Mel: I know. I'm still dealing with some things. I should be free tonight. Take it easy.

Sienna pushed her phone aside, stood up, and paced around.

Time was ticking away, and it felt like...

It's like waiting in line at the dentist's office, knowing full well that they're about to drill your cavities with those tiny drills, but you're powerless to do anything about it.

What's worse is that at least tooth decay is your own problem, but this hard drive issue... is not.

"Are we leaving now?" Teddy asked.

She was already dressed; that is, she had changed out of her pajamas and put on work shorts and a hoodie, and boots, though she hadn't tied the shoelaces.

Her costume was securely stuffed into Sienna's bag.

“Yes,” Sienna said, “we’ll go now.”

Her father once told her that sometimes you have to take the initiative to fight for something.

If you don't put in the effort to get something, you'll get nothing; relying solely on luck is a waste of time.

She picked up her backpack, slung it over her shoulder, and walked over to Teddy, tying the girl's shoelaces before she fell down the stairs.

“Let’s go,” she said, reaching out her hand for Teddy to take.

It wasn't until she stepped outside that Sienna realized she had no idea where she was going.

“Uh, did you get Aleia Iakta’s phone number?” she asked.

“He didn’t take it,” Teddy said, “but I know where he goes to relax two days a week.”

Sienna closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "This isn't a good start," she said.

“Go that way,” Teddy replied.

Given that she seemed destined for bad luck, Sienna simply sighed and gestured for Teddy to lead the way.

A few minutes later, they walked along a winding path that circled several times, crossing half of the campus.

Sienna asked Teddy several times if he really knew where they were going. Finally, they arrived at the old theater building near the center of the campus.

“This is it,” Teddy said confidently, though Sienna thought her confidence was a bit blind.

Before Teddy finally found the right way, they walked around the area around the building twice.

"Are you sure?" Sienna asked.

Just like that... rashly walking into a building I shouldn't have entered felt particularly inappropriate in many ways.

Teddy nodded, stepped forward and pushed the door, but the door did not budge.

"Uh, the door is locked."

“Oh, okay then,” Sienna said, “let’s go home.”

"Hey!"

Sienna was stunned for a moment, but Teddy reacted much faster and immediately turned around to look in the direction of the shout.

“Oh, hey,” she said, “it’s that black guy.”

“Teddy!” Sienna whispered, “You can’t talk like that.”

She turned around and saw that the person who had spoken was a tall young man, quite handsome, with concern in his eyes.

“Hello,” he greeted Sienna first, then looked down at Teddy, “and you, hello there.”

“Hello comrade,” Teddy said, “I’m looking for Comrade Jacob. Do you know where he is?”

“Oh,” he said, “I thought you were going to break into the theater again.”

“Teddy!” Sienna said, “Didn’t you say we were just going to go straight in?”

“I really did!” Teddy said. “The door wasn’t locked at all before, or something.”

The man raised his hands. "Wait, wait, she might be right."

She simply went into the theater without permission. We even had a meeting about it last night.

From now on, all doors must be locked.

“Oh,” Sienna said, “well, that’s fine then. Hmm…”

“My name is Matthew,” he said, “I’m the head of the volunteer drama club and a senior member of the non-volunteer club. Teddy is your… uh…”

“My sister,” Sienna said, “she’s my sister. We’re looking for Jacob.”

Matthew raised an eyebrow. "Looking for him? He's not here today."

There was no rehearsal today. I... think he shouldn't have classes right now, so he could be anywhere.

“Oh,” Sienna said, “do you know where his dorm is?”

Matthew sized her up for a moment. "What's your relationship with Jacob?"

Because, I must say, he's not the kind of person... I don't want to speak ill of him when he's not around.

“Sienna is Jacob’s boss,” Teddy said.

Matthew perked up. "Oh, right, I remember he got a job at that latte shop. You should have said so sooner. Did he skip work?"

“Pretty much,” Sienna said.

Matthew shook his head. "I'll send him a text and ask if he's in the dorm."

"Could you... not tell him we're coming over?" Sienna asked.

"Trying to launch a surprise attack, huh? Fine, then teach him a lesson."

If you'd like, you can send me his work schedule. God knows how much more discipline that kid needs in his life.”

“Okay…okay,” Sienna said.

Matthew had her copy Jacob's address onto his phone, then told them to be careful before letting them leave.

They walked around the campus again, this time following the navigation on Sienna's phone, and arrived at an apartment building two streets away from the main campus.

This isn't "Mothman's House," but the place is passable.

The building is a bit old and dilapidated. There are an unpleasant number of cigarette butts and a few bottles lying in the unkempt grass next to it, but it's not too bad.

Sienna had only ever seen places worse than this in movies.

She walked into the stairwell that served as the apartment building's lobby and found Jacob's room number on a mailbox on one side.

After climbing three flights of stairs, they arrived at Jacob's door.

"May I knock?" Teddy asked.

Sienna was still panting and didn't have time to refuse her, so she watched as Teddy knocked on the door three times.

There was a noise coming from the other side of the door. It sounded like someone had tripped over something, was cursing, and then hurriedly ran towards the door.

The door opened, and there stood the tall, thin Jacob, wearing only a sleeveless t-shirt and a pair of loose-fitting boxer shorts from the "Cucumber Joe" brand.

He looked up and met Sienna's gaze, one hand holding a game controller, the other a pair of headphones. "Oh, damn," he said.

"Please let us in, okay?" Sienna pleaded.

“Otherwise I’ll eat you up,” Teddy threatened softly.

They were ushered into the house, which reeked of sweat and soda, and was so dusty that the edges of the floorboards were stained discolored.

"What are you doing here?" Jacob asked. "I have a roommate."

"Is he there?" Sienna asked.

"It's not here, but that won't do either."

“I need your help,” Sienna said.

“No,” he immediately refused.

Teddy snorted. "The boss is pleading with you. You have to fulfill your responsibilities to the proletariat and your boss, and do as she says."

Jacob took a step back and raised his hands. "Hey, hey, don't do that. Don't do that in my own home."

I saw online how badly you beat that guy up. I don't want to get knocked to the ground by this little bear girl.

“We don’t want that either,” Sienna agreed. “We just need your help.”

It's like this... there's an information broker who knows a lot... um..."

Sienna didn't really want to lie, but she had never been in a situation like this before.

"He knew a lot about all the villains in E. Clair, and he stored that information on a computer, which was then stolen."

We need to keep an eye on this, or we'll all be in big trouble.

Jacob's shoulders slumped. "You think there's information about me on it?"

“Very likely,” Sienna said, certain that “Handshake” must know all of Aleia Iakta’s public little tricks.

"Please, I was planning to have a good time in Fairy Tale Alliance tonight and get angry with those bastards."

“I…I’m sorry,” Sienna said. “We don’t need you to do much, just know where to go and where to find someone called ‘buddy’.”