The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

The kind motorcyclists led Athena into the bar, and one of them helped her sit on a high stool at the bar.

“Sit still, little girl,” he said.

The woman behind the bar glanced at Athena, then at the men in their big leather jackets.

She pointed at Athena and asked, "Where did you find this little girl?"

One of them ruffled Athena's hair. "Ah, we found her in the alley ahead."

This little girl is lost. Do you have a phone here that she can use?

The barmaid raised an eyebrow, her lips, painted with red lipstick and makeup, pursed to the side. "Wait for me."

Athena took this opportunity to look around the bar.

This place is quite strange.

Everything was made of old wood, and the lighting was dim.

In the corner, there was an old jukebox playing hoarse country music through speakers connected by several dangling power cords.

The music wasn't loud, but it couldn't drown out people's laughter and conversation.

There are posters everywhere, advertising beer and motorcycles, and most of them feature blonde, blue-eyed, and voluptuous women.

There were quite a few men inside, some sitting at the table, others standing in groups of three or five.

Almost everyone was holding a large mug, and occasionally someone was holding a brown glass bottle.

An enticing aroma caught her attention. She turned her head and saw a man sitting a few stools away, eating something.

It was a large piece of meat, topped with a brown sauce, and a handful of fries was placed next to it.

It looks a bit unappetizing, but it smells amazing.

"Hey, Sue!" the kind rider who helped her called out towards the kitchen, "Get this little girl something to eat while you're at it, she looks starving."

Athena felt her cheeks burning a little, but it subsided after a while.

She had nothing to be embarrassed about; it was just ordering food. "Do you guys just loiter around here all day?"

The big guy laughed, and his friends laughed along with him.

"Of course not. We all have work to do. But it's nice to relax once in a while and have a few drinks with the guys here."

Athena nodded.

That makes sense.

She enjoys spending time with Sienna and sometimes likes to play with Teddy. "It's pretty cool. You guys all look really nice."

He looked down at her and smiled, a hint of smugness on his face.

"Brothers, did you hear that? Someone's praising me as a good person."

One of his buddies scoffed. "That's the best compliment you've heard from a girl since your mom kicked you out of the house!"

This remark drew laughter from the crowd. Her new friend pretended to be offended, then turned to her.

"We'll make sure you have a good meal, give your parents a call, and then take you home safely, how about that?"

Athena realized there were a few problems. "Well, okay," she said, "but I don't have parents."

This made everyone frown. "Why?"

“I live with my older sister Sienna,” Athena said. “She’s the best.”

"So she just let you run away alone?" he asked.

Athena shook her head; she didn't want these people to think that Sienna wasn't a good older sister.

"No. She had something very important to do today, so I wanted to help her, and then... I got a little lost."

One of them patted her on the back. “It’s good that you’re thinking of taking care of your sister,” he said. “We should look out for each other.”

Besides, anyone with a brain wouldn't dare mess with us.

Athena pouted, "I really hope no one will dare to mess with me."

She's taller than Teddy, so why can't she be as scary as Teddy?

Even her somewhat cool superpowers don't seem as useful as Teddy's.

When Teddy goes out to help Sister Sienna, he always manages to find a uniform and recruit new followers.

But when Athena went out to help, she was almost attacked in the alley.

That's not fair.

She's an owl, a clever apex predator!

She should have been smarter and more capable.

She sniffed, then pursed her lips even higher to hold back her tears.

The barmaid returned, holding a cordless phone in one hand and a plate in the other.

She glanced at Athena, then glared at the men around her.

"Hey, you idiots, let this child calm down first!" she said, placing the plate in front of Athena. "Here, have something to eat, it'll cheer you up."

Athena sniffled. "Thank you," she said. She picked up her fork, looked at the steak, potatoes, and gravy on her plate, and it smelled delicious.

"It's so kind of you."

"Oh, don't worry about it. These guys may look like big oafs and act recklessly, but they're all pretty good people," Su said.

It really does look just like a teddy bear.

Athena began to eat the steak that had made her a little nervous, occasionally cutting off a few pieces with her knife.

Meanwhile, the men who had helped her were chatting about motorcycles and discussing some exciting accidents, which Athena thought were exaggerated.

They sound really cool.

She really wished she could be as cool and useful as them...

Athena blinked, realizing she had made a silly mistake.

She turned around, found the man with the thickest beard—she figured a thick beard probably meant he was someone of high status—and tugged at his sleeve.

The man was listening to another person tell a story about fighting with a group of thugs when she pulled him, causing him to stop, bend down, and get closer to her.

"What's wrong, little girl?" he asked.

Athena swallowed hard. "Hey, can I become as powerful as you?" she asked.

The man paused for a moment, his beard twitched, and then he burst into laughter.

He patted her head, then sat down on the stool next to her, propping one elbow on the table. "Oh, you want to become awesome, huh?"

Athena nodded. That would be perfect.

He rubbed his chin and moved his mouth slightly. "Hmm, I'm not sure. It'll be a bit difficult for someone with your small frame to become strong."

Athena clenched her fist. "There must be other ways to become powerful!" she said.

The big guy chuckled. "Well, I think it's partly due to my looks."

Nobody wants to mess with someone who looks like they could handle a fight.

Athena nodded and silently made a mental note of it. Her exceptional intelligence hadn't brought her as many benefits as she had hoped; she would have to make up for it by becoming even more powerful.

If this guy is right, then it means we need to start by working on our appearance.

She looked around the room and saw many men who looked particularly powerful.

They were burly, muscular, and tall.

She might not be able to do those things, but they were all wearing leather jackets and black clothes, and their posture was very stylish.

"I need to get a nice jacket."

The man said, "Of course! I think we might have a suitable one in our kitchen."

"And what about the other half?" Athena asked.

"what?"

"The other half of the secret to becoming amazing." She wanted to know all the secrets, not just a part of them.

"Oh, it's all in their hearts. You see, a lot of cowards wear nice clothes and new coats, dressed up like they're all tough guys, but when it comes to actually fighting, they're all cowards. No matter how strong they are, they just don't have the guts."

He pointed into the crowd.

"But what about some of the people in this group?"

Some of them are old, and some are not very strong, but even if they get punched in the head, they can get up immediately and fight back twice as hard as before.

Whether you can fight or not is not important; that's not the key to being good at it.

What's truly impressive is the ability to be prepared to work even harder, even in difficult circumstances.

Su snorted. "What kind of nonsense ideas are these?" she asked.

However, Athena had no time to pay attention to the barmaids; she was imagining herself—wearing a super cool leather jacket, of course—standing up, wiping the blood from her mouth, and protecting Sienna from those annoying villainous heroes.

It doesn't matter if she's not as hard to defeat as Teddy, as long as she can keep fighting.

“Yes,” Athena said, “Yes! I can become powerful too.”

Su rolled her eyes. "Little girl, are you planning to call your parents yet?"

“Ah,” Athena said, “um… I don’t know my older sister’s phone number.”

However, the lesson she had just learned about being capable came in handy: "But it's okay, I can walk home by myself, no problem."

The bearded man shook his head. "Don't be like that, do you even know where you live?"

She nodded. "I know."

Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?

She shook her head. "No."

"Hey, little girl, you're in luck today. I've called a few of my buddies; they're itching for an excuse to go for a drive around town." He pointed to her plate. "Finish your food first, okay?"

"Thank you!" she said.