The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Isabel was told that this would be a routine task.

All she had to do was drive to some middle-class American dream home, sneak in through the front door, and then look around.

The conspiracy group includes several individuals with extraordinary abilities who possess knowledge they shouldn't have: dealmakers, social manipulators, mind readers, and others who can predict the future in bizarre ways.

They are the backbone of this organization.

But dealing with them can be a real headache.

Isabel was disgusted by their arrogant and condescending attitude towards everything.

They think they're smarter than anyone else, and most of the time they really are, which makes things even worse.

So at this moment, she is following their cryptic instructions to head to the residence of some nameless, low-class villain to find a batch of intelligence about the conspiracy group.

If this intelligence falls into the hands of someone with ulterior motives, it could cause serious trouble.

This task was a huge waste of her talents.

She's Black Shield, an invincible hero, not some errand girl.

Of course, she never expected to run into a raccoon-like thief while running this errand.

She walked into the house expecting to see the kind of boring middle-class cozy she'd seen in countless sitcoms and cheap interior design magazines that she inexplicably liked.

To her surprise, there was someone inside, which made her heart skip a beat and a rush of adrenaline surge through her back.

The well-trained woman immediately assumed a fighting stance, preparing to summon her shield to block any attack... Then she came to her senses and saw the figure stealing inside the house.

She thought he was a thief.

The girl was indeed wearing a striped shirt, a domino mask, and a bag with a large dollar sign drawn on it.

There's hardly any other interpretation, but real thieves in reality wouldn't dress in such an old-fashioned outfit.

Perhaps it was an ironic expression? She didn't have time to think about it further, because she had already chased after the girl.

As she caught up with her and grabbed the child's ankle, she saw more details.

She has ears, animal ears, and a big, bushy black tail with white ring patterns on it.

"Hmph, don't even think about running away!" Isabel said, pulling her back into the house.

This situation suddenly became complicated from being a routine matter.

She had to report to her superiors. She couldn't care less about the rules of covert operations.

The thieving girl kicked and twisted, but Isabel blocked each of her attacks with her shields, which were thin, paper-like black non-energy sheets.

They move with her movements, and so far, Isabelle hasn't found anything that can break them.

Isabel dragged the child back to the living room. She wasn't heartless; since there was a perfectly usable sofa there, she didn't want to pin the girl to the floor.

"Stop kicking me," Isabel commanded.

"No! You're terrible!"

"You little rascal." "What are you doing here?" Isabel asked.

"I heard there was a really ugly person here, and then you showed up! You're so ugly, I just wanted to run away."

Isabel glared at her. Yes, she was wearing a full-face mask, and it was indeed a childish swear word, but it was still quite infuriating.

"Answer my questions obediently," she said, reaching into her thigh pocket to pull out her phone.

Then, the child lashed out at Isabel's face with its tail. A shield blocked the tail, but it also obstructed her view for a moment, allowing the child to kick her phone away.

"Damn it," Isabel muttered. She summoned several shields to hold the girl in place, then went to pick up her phone.

During this time, the girl kept calling her a stinky shithead, a bastard, a shit-eating idiot, and some other creative but still childish insults.

“This is definitely some kind of mess,” Isabel muttered. She went to the kitchen, opened a few drawers, and chuckled to herself when she saw a roll of duct tape. “I’d never have children.”

It's obvious this girl has superpowers, and Isabelle guesses she's probably on the villain's side. She'll likely be a troublemaker or a rascal.

Perhaps he's a potential new recruit? That would be great.

There will be a bonus; Isabelle is saving up to buy a nice house in the suburbs.

She still has a mission to complete here, but she feels that her primary task has changed.

She asked the wriggling raccoon girl questions as she tried to break free of the tape, while listening to her predictable and rather rude answers.

Isabel thought this was the child's defense mechanism for retaliating against those who were stronger than her.

She picked up her phone and started entering contact numbers, but then stopped.

Isabel has experienced many fights and brawls.

She has fought against both villains and heroes. Although she has only been in the industry for a few years, she feels that she has developed an intuition for danger.

That intuition has now surfaced.

Was there some kind of noise? Or was there a shadow moving strangely?

She quieted down and walked towards the kitchen, her superpower poised to activate at any moment, ready to summon a shield. A chill ran down her spine; she even felt the shadows in the corner lengthening.

“Oh, no,” she muttered.

She had dealt with emotional manipulators before—she knew what the initial signs were like.

The situation was delicate, but not so delicate that she couldn't perceive it.

The problem with this superpower is that even knowing you're being manipulated doesn't necessarily mean you can break free from control.

It's that girl!

Yes, she has a raccoon tail and ears, but that's hardly a superpower. Perhaps she possesses more than just physical appearance.

"Hey kid, what do you think you're doing?" she shouted as she strode back into the living room.

The little rascal looked up at her, still chewing on the tape, which was her way of nibbling at the restraints on her body.

Just then, a loud crash came from deep inside the house. It sounded like wood hitting wood, and glass shattering.

Isabel strode over to check the situation. That feeling, that lingering doubt, was still there, but she could force herself to ignore it.

She gasped as she walked down the corridor to a bedroom at the end, something flying toward her face.

The thing hit the shield and bounced off.

Her shields had one problem—at least one problem—that they were almost invisible. Rather than being black, they were practically devoid of light.

Just like some points in the world, no light, not even ambient light, can affect them.

This means that she had no idea what she had just blocked until she moved away and put down the shield.

She stared at the pillow on the floor.

"If you come in, I'll smash another one on you!" A familiar voice came from inside the room.

“Are you kidding me?” Isabel asked.

The familiar sound of a door sliding open came from the kitchen.

Had the girl she tied up escaped? She rushed into the bedroom and cursed, only to see a figure with a raccoon tail dart past her legs and run back into the hallway.

She noticed the bed was a mess, a painting frame was broken, and there was clutter everywhere on the floor, but her attention was mostly focused on the little troublemaker who was running away in a panic.

"Don't run! Come back here!" she shouted as she chased after him.

Then, without warning, a bear pounced on her.

Her eyes widened as a strong sense of fear washed over her.

That was a bear, a real, enormous bear, its claws digging into the linoleum floor, its gaping maw wide open, as if it wanted to swallow Isabel whole.

The bear crashed into her shield, but was bounced away without even making a sound.

She lowered her shield and prepared her weapons. Two laser cannons—capable of switching between stun and burn modes—were mounted on her two arms, inside the shield-shaped shell.

Then, two more girls stumbled into the kitchen. One looked like a gangster, and the other was wearing a leather jacket and looked like a girl who wanted to be a biker gangster.

Isabel was puzzled; what was going on?

A muffled scream came from behind her, the only warning she received, followed by the raccoon girl slamming into the back of her knee.

She staggered back a few steps, but she immediately summoned a shield behind her, used it to steady herself, and then used the momentum to rush forward.

The bear roared, and Isabel felt the world in the corner darken again. Her heart began to race. She was outnumbered!

No. This is fear. Someone is manipulating her emotions, imposing fear on her, and she cannot give in.

She turned abruptly, aimed her arm at the bear, and fired a shot.

A buzzing sound of electricity rang out, and a red beam of light shot towards the huge animal, scorching its fur.

It roared, but one shot wasn't enough to bring it down.

She let out a low growl and increased the intensity of the beam.

Just then, the raccoon girl jumped onto her arm, causing her to lose her balance. "Let go of me!" Isabel shouted.

"No, let go!"

"Your argument doesn't make sense!"

She raised her other hand and fired a shot.

The beam hit her and then passed through the raccoon girl's leg.

The girl stared at the wound, then screamed.

Everyone was stunned.

Isabel held her breath.

She...she just...was she...?

She stood there, bewildered and completely at a loss, when a frying pan hit the side of her head.