The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

The old maple warehouse looks like both a fantastic and a terrible party spot.

It was dilapidated, with its corrugated iron walls and concrete base in dire need of repair. However, it was still a large house in this quiet little area, with several windows on the second floor overlooking the street and several large sliding doors in front for people to come and go.

Of course, if the door weren't locked with chains at this moment, it would be possible to get in and out.

“I can break that door down,” Teddy said.

“It’s best not to do that,” Sienna said. “Trinity, could you go around to the back and check if there’s a second entrance?”

“Okay, I can go!” Trinity said, and then ran off with small, quick steps.

"So, is this place a base or a lair?" Sam asked.

Sienna shrugged. "What's the difference?"

"Boss!" Teddy called out.

Sienna shook her head. "Big sister, you're being silly," she said. "Of course there's a difference."

Sienna shrank back. "What's the difference? The difference between a lair and a base."

“There are more than just these two interpretations,” Teddy said. “But yes, a base is where people hang out in between tasks, and a hive is also where people hang out in between tasks, but a hive is cooler.”

Sam snorted. "Bases are generally used by organizations. Lairs are used by bad guys. But I think whether someone is a bad guy is more important than the size of an organization."

For example, if a lone villain has a hideout, that place is his lair. If that villain is part of an organization, that organization is also a lair.

“Well,” Sienna said, “then where is the hiding place?”

“It’s one of those hidden bases,” Teddy said. “It’s better than a regular base, but not as cool as a lair.”

“They can be both,” Sienna said. “Your lair can also be a hiding place if you’re doing bad things inside.”

Sienna raised a hand. "Wait, so if it doesn't do anything bad in there, it's not considered a nest?"

“I think part of what makes a place a den is the atmosphere,” Sienna said.

“That’s right, atmosphere is important,” Teddy said. “To be a decent bad guy, the place has to be either really fancy or really scary.”

Sienna looked up at Sam, who was clearly trying not to laugh. “Thank you, ladies, I’m glad we figured this out,” Sienna said. “I’ll remember this when we have our own nest.”

“We definitely need a nest,” Teddy said.

Trinity tugged at Sienna's jacket, and Sienna looked down at her youngest sister. "Hey, there's a door in the back. It's unlocked. Oh, and there are snacks and stuff inside. They also have a TV, a fridge, and lots of fun things."

"You went in?" Sienna asked.

Trinity shrugged. "There's no one inside."

Sienna considered what to do for a moment, then nodded decisively and walked towards the warehouse. "Alright, Teddy, you stay on the first floor near the door. Trinity, one of you come with me, and the other two go with Sienna to check around for anything suspicious."

Sienna, you're in charge of gathering supplies. Don't take anything we don't need. We mainly want to understand the people we're dealing with. Sam, you stay close too.

Giving orders...it feels quite interesting. At least that's how it is when dealing with these sisters who won't question her commands.

Trinity's body charged ahead, cheering and shouting, "Let's loot!"

There was a door at the back of the old maple tree warehouse, and a rickety staircase leading down to it. Sienna stopped at the doorway and touched the latch again. "Trinity, was this door always open?"

“No,” Trinity said, “I pried the door open with that iron bar over there.” She pointed to a flat iron bar carelessly discarded on a pile of dead leaves and rubbish against the wall of the house.

Sienna inwardly admitted that Trinity's move was quite clever. She patted the girl's head, which made Trinity's ears twitch, and the girl felt smug for a moment.

The warehouse showed clear signs of recent habitation. The floors were made of old wooden planks, and there was an attic upstairs accessible via a spiral staircase in the corner.

Several boxes of old goods were piled against the wall, and some boxes were stacked to divide the space. Someone dragged in a large blue chemical toilet and placed it in a corner.

In the middle of the room stood a worn-out sofa, and on the table in front of it was a television. Sienna walked to the television, found the remote, and turned it on.

She started changing the channel, while the others dispersed a little.

Trinity found a small refrigerator behind her, and was throwing beer cans out, determined to scoop out all the junk food inside and stuff it into her bag with dollar signs on it.

“This place, uh,” Sienna began, not knowing how to describe it.

“It looks like a bachelor’s place, but it feels worse,” Sam said. “I bet it will be freezing here when winter comes.”

“I don’t think the people here care much about this kind of thing,” Sienna said. She frowned as she looked at the remaining trash on the table.

Fortunately, apart from an old glass pipe with a charred bottom, there didn't seem to be anything related to drugs. "I think we should try to learn as much as possible about this gang while we're in their, uh, lair."

“I’m not even sure if this counts as a den,” Sienna said. She switched to a cartoon channel that was currently playing brightly colored superhero toy commercials. “This is more like a party place.”

“It’s just a garbage dump,” Teddy said.

Sienna had to agree, saying, "I don't think we'll find anything of value here."

“What?” Trinity asked. “It’s not like that! Look at what I found!” One of Trinity’s bodies ran over, opened the bag, and found it stuffed with junk food, some toys, and some trash at the bottom.

“This…is quite good,” Sienna said.

She was just about to persuade Trinity to throw those things somewhere when suddenly there was a heavy crashing sound.

A metallic clanging sound rang out. Sienna stared at the front door, where the chains locking it had come loose on their own. Through the widening crack in the door, she couldn't see clearly what was happening outside, but she could clearly sense that there was more than one person on the other side.

"Uh, should we run, or..." Sam asked.

Sienna hesitated for a moment, and in that instant, she missed her chance. The chains came loose completely, and the door was pushed open by the muscular arms of a young man.

He was much taller than Sienna, with well-defined facial features, and wore a thick leather coat.

To make matters worse, several iron chains hovered around him like coiled snakes, ready to attack at any moment.

"I think we'll have to fight," Sam muttered under her breath. She squatted down next to the sofa, and when she stood up, she had an aluminum baseball bat in her hand.

Sienna took a small step back, then steadied herself. “Teddy, get ready, Sienna. If he’s hostile, then make your move. Trinity, make sure at least one of you stays in the back the whole time.”

“I guess you’re not my fans,” the man said as he walked in. He stood ramrod straight, squinting as he scanned the room, even glancing up at Trinity on the second floor. “Can you tell me what you’re doing in my base?”

“This isn’t a base, you idiot, this is a den,” Teddy said.

“This isn’t even a proper nest, it’s too dilapidated, it doesn’t qualify as a proper nest at all,” Sienna said.

"Is this some kind of prank?" the man asked.

Sienna licked her lips and looked at Sam. Sam gave her a thumbs-up, which was definitely not the response Sienna wanted.

Seeing that no one spoke up for her, Sienna shrugged and straightened her back. "I'm the boss, these are my teammates. Are you the chained man?"

“Yes,” he said, “I thought it was pretty obvious.” He gave a thumbs-up to the chains levitating in the air.

“It’s good to be clear,” Sienna said. “Now, we can choose the simple solution or the hard one. Please surrender.”

“Sure, of course,” he said.

Sienna blinked. "Oh, thank you so much. Although I'm sure we could win if it really came down to a fight, I really don't want to get involved."

He shook his head and frowned. “No, you should say ‘Really?’ and then I’ll say ‘No’ in a particularly sarcastic tone.”

“Me, uh, what?” Sienna asked.

“You didn’t follow the script,” the chained man said.

Is there another trick to it? Sienna is getting more and more confused.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. I'm not surrendering, okay? You bunch of brats might as well get lost, how about that?"

Sienna sighed. That's more like it. "No."