Chapter Thirty-Six - Wherein Everything Goes Terribly Wrong

Nearly everything was going terribly wrong, but at least some things were working out in her favour.

First among those was the distance they had to travel. The Aim Stop that they suspected Fabien was going to attack was only a few minutes walk away from the campus. It was in a busier part of the city, with a four-lane road in front of it and shops lining either side of the street.

Plenty of parking lots and open spaces all around, and, of course, alleyways.

Emily peeked out to see if anything was happening, but other than a few customers slipping in and out of the store, not much was going on.

“Alright,” she said as she backed up. “Girls, I’m really hoping this won’t require us to do anything, but just in case. Masks on. Don’t show your labels no matter what. No using your normal names.”

“Got it, Boss,” Teddy said. “The rest of you can call me Ursa Minor, cause I’m a bear as big as those star things.”

“That doesn’t actually make sense,” Athena said. She looked to Emily. “What about Trinity and me? We don’t have hero names, just our normal names.”

Emily winced. Those were meant to be their heroic names, but at some point that had just become what they were called. She eyed her two sisters. Athena was rocking something of a punk look, with her leather jacket and some ketchup-stained jeans that had a few tears in them. Her big glasses sat on the end of her nose and made her eyes look even bigger as she stared back.

Trinity was in her burglar outfit, big bag with a money-sign hooked to her side. She grinned back, and there was no missing the... racoon-ness of her. “Can I be Trash Panda?” Trinity asked.

“Pardon?” Emily asked.

“Yeah, it’ll confuse people. They’ll think I’m a panda.”

“You’re nothing like a bear,” Teddy said.

Sam snorted. “How about the Holy ones?”

“I don’t have holes,” Trinity said. “Not unless I’m dying or something.”

“No, holy as in... you know, the holy trinity?” Sam asked.

Emily shook her head. “A bit too... meta, I think. And Trinity is many things, but holy isn’t one of them. Besides, isn’t that too big of a hint as to her real name?”

“Yeah, fair,” Sam said. “What about, ah, what’s that dog with the three heads? No, nevermind. Maybe when you get a dog-themed sister. What about Bandit?”

“That’s rather villainous,” Emily pointed out.

“It fits the costume, and she can play up the whole anti-hero angle of things. Besides, she can take refuge in cuteness,” Sam said.

Emily frowned. “I’m pretty sure that’s not a thing.”

“I like Bandit,” Trinity said, which pretty much sealed the deal. She high-fived herself.

“What about you, Athena?” Emily asked.

Athena pursed her lips. “If we were being proper villains instead of pretending to be heroes, then I’d go with something like Paranoia. But since we are pretending to be goody-two-shoes then how about Owlwatch?”

“That works,” Emily said. She leaned back and checked on the shop again. Nothing unusual. “We’re going to have to wait a bit more.”

“Check your quests,” Sam suggested. “I mostly just want to see what that looks like, but I heard that they’re the only way for a mask to get stronger.”

Emily reluctantly nodded. Sam wasn’t wrong. She had originally hoped to avoid having to become stronger at all. But things weren’t working out that way. If she had to use strength to get what she needed, then she might as well do what she could to make that strength a little more... more.

“Girls, can I trust you to pick out good quests for yourselves? Nothing that involves killing or seriously hurting people, or blowing our cover,” she said.

She got five nods back.

Emily wasn't sure how much she should rely on her sisters’ common sense, but she chose to hope that they knew what they were doing.

She leaned against the edge of the alley, rough brick pressing into her suit-top. It was cool, which wasn’t bad. The weather was slowly turning warmer, but there were still hints of coolness out, especially as the day turned a little late.

With a stray thought, she opened her quest menu and picked through them. A lot were immediately dismissed. Too dangerous, or far too violent, or they pushed her deeper into villainy in a way she didn’t appreciate.

In the end, she only kept two quests running.

Quest!
The Queen with the Silken Sword, Continued
Become an outstanding member of your community!
Reward: +1 Skill Upgrade point per 10 people who recognize you as “good.” Scoundrel +1 per 10 people who recognize you as “good”!

Quest!
Queen Takes Bishop
Defeat, through subterfuge, manipulation, or force, a rival group of powered individuals!
Reward: +1 Skill Slot for defeating, capturing, or killing a powered adversary. + Villainy for properly securing your territory.

“You know,” Sam said. “I was expecting glowing screens. I know that normies can’t see anything, but still. That’s how they show up in the movies and games, you know?”

“Oh, you can make others seem ‘em,” Teddy said. She pinched her tongue between her lips and narrowed her eyes, then a small screen popped into existence over her hand. It had a quest called Being a Better Bear which asked her to defeat someone in combat for some Skill Upgrade points.

“That is so neat,” Sam said. “Can I take a picture of it?”

“Sure,” Teddy said.

Emily almost stopped her. “Maybe do it with a quest that’s less obviously one of yours?” she asked.

Teddy shrugged and the image changed to something that didn’t mention bears, though it was certainly on the more villainous side.

Emily stuck her head out of the alley again and jolted when she saw who was standing before the Aim Stop. Fabian the Fabulous, in a fresh costume which made him look like a cross between a rogue and a pirate.

“Girls,” Emily said. “It’s time to move in. Trinity, think you can intercept him?”

Trinity nodded. One of her had a coat on over her costume and some big shades. “I’m right on it, Boss,” she said.

Emily gave her head a pat as she ran by. Then she gasped as Trinity sprinted right across all four lanes of the road without even glancing to the side. She spun to face another Trinity. “What did I say about crossing roads?”

Trinity shrugged. “If I don’t see the cars coming, it’s not as scary,” she explained.

“We’re going to have road crossing lessons,” Emily decided. “That counts for the rest of you too.”

“Uh, Boss, there’s other people there,” Trinity said.

Emily whipped around and stared out across the road. Trinity was right. She was standing between the shop and Fabien, clearly talking to him. The people passing by were giving them a wide berth, and Emily could tell that some people were reaching for their phones already.

That didn’t concern her as much as the unmarked van which turned into the parking lot, rumbled over the embarkment on the lot’s edge, then opened up to disgorge half a dozen heroes.

“Let’s move,” Emily said.

She stepped out of the alley, her sisters behind her. Sam remained behind to keep an eye on things. There wasn’t much the woman could do if things turned to a fight. Then again, Emily wished she was the one staying behind.

“Let’s hurry, Boss,” Teddy said. “I wanna kick butts.” She swung a few punches forward, bleeding off some excess energy. Her other sisters were just as hyped up.

“Oh, the heroes are screaming things now,” Trinity said.

Emily looked for a spot to cross the road, but she didn’t have to look for long. The traffic was slowing down as people noticed actual heroes on the roadside. It only took one or two people slowing to a stop to create a traffic jam.

Emily took a deep breath, then crossed the road with her sisters in tow. She walked with her back bowed for a bit, but she slowly straightened up as they came closer to the heroes.

She wasn’t Emily, she was the Boss. She couldn’t afford to be nervous, even if she would much rather be back in her room, on her chair, in pjs and wrapped up in a few layers of blankets.

She stepped on the sidewalk behind the heroes and her sisters arrayed themselves out around her.

There was Glamazon, Iron Chains--or whatever name he went by now--Hindsight, Cheatah... and Black Shield.

Emily’s hands balled into fists. Five heroes. One of which might actually be pretty strong, and a rather big threat at that.

The heroes noticed them eventually, half turning so that they could split their attention between Emily and her sisters and Fabien on the other side.

“This is going to be a problem,” Emily said.

Somehow, her voice didn’t tremble.

***