Chapter Three - The Smallest Barbearian

The door clicked shut, and just like that, the Boss was gone.

Teddy settled into the pillow, enjoying its warmth and its smell. There was something about it that just felt nice and warm and safe, like a cave away from a harsh storm.

She pulled her blankets closer, wrapping them over her shoulders and tucking in tight in as small a ball as she could make herself. It was just a bit chillier in the room than she would have liked.

Teddy didn’t have many memories to rely on, just a few minutes spent with the Boss while the Boss flailed around and acted as if the world was ending. But those memories were nice ones. Especially the few little touches, and the hug she’d given to the older girl.

The Boss was warm.

Teddy liked that.

Her eyes, already heavy, started to droop down while the warm embrace of slumber crawled over her. She slid into the hazy world of deep hibernation, time moving along at a slow crawl only marked by the occasional thump of feet in the corridor or the rumble of passing trucks.

Something banged. A door, she guessed. It was enough to have her open one eye to peek around.

And then, much to her annoyance, something popped up in her vision.

New Quest!

Ravage an Innocent!

Reward: 1 Skill Upgrade Points Per Person Incapacitated. 2 Skill Upgrade Points Per Person Killed. Villainy +2 per success!

Accept? Refuse?

Teddy shifted in her bed. That sounded like a lot of work, and the Boss hadn’t told her to go out and eat anyone.

Quest Refused!

New Quest!

Mug a Stranger!

Reward: 1 Skill Upgrade Points Per Person Successfully Robbed! Scoundrel +1 per item!

Accept? Refuse?

Teddy could use something to eat. The Boss hadn’t left anything that she noticed in the room, and she was getting to be a bit peckish.

Quest Accepted!

And now her sleep was spoiled.

Sighing, she flung the blankets off and rolled off the bed. She was still in her shorts and t-shirt, because they were comfy enough for sleeping in, but she had taken off her hiking boots before climbing onto the bed.

On the boots went, with only some frowning and pouting and a bit of grumbling as she tried to remember the rhyme for tying shoelaces, a rhyme that she sorta knew even if she didn’t have memories to go with it.

Her boots all knotted up, Teddy went to the door and almost opened it when she remembered the Boss working hard to hide her identity.

A bit of focusing later and the words above Teddy’s head faded away and she slid out into a big corridor.

There was another girl there, way older, like the Boss. She stared at Teddy and waved.

Teddy wondered if she should mug her, but the girl didn’t have any food on her so she just waved back and walked on past.

She had a choice between taking the elevator or walking down the steps, so she enjoyed the old pop music as she rode on down to the first floor. A few dozen more steps and she was outside.

The sun beamed down atop her head, warming her ears and making her feel all sweaty and lethargic.

Teddy turned around to go back to bed--she could mug people later--but the door was locked. She tugged at it some more to no avail.

Teddy frowned at it.

She could just activate her power and break it down. She knew she could. But that would just make her more tired, and hungry besides.

With a soulful sigh, Teddy turned back around and took in her surroundings. There were a lot of buildings around. She figured that if she wanted to find someone to mug, it would be best to just head out in the direction that looked the richest and wait to find someone alone.

Trudging along, Teddy kept to the sidewalks and let her head rotate around to follow all the posters and advertisements stuck to telephone poles and mounted on the side of passing busses.

There were a lot of images of people in tight costumes, standing tall and proud with their foot on the necks of ugly people. They looked like kings and queens, especially in the images where crowds of people were cheering them on.

The posters on the telephone poles weren’t as colourful, and their art was a lot less interesting. Stuff like ‘Call 011 at the first sign of VILLAINY!’ or ads with addresses to websites where people could give anonymous tips.

Teddy still prefered all of those over the ads with food on them. Those made her tummy ache.

She was a long ways from home when she saw a reedy older guy, maybe a year or two older than her Boss, slip into an alleyway with a box under one arm and a suitcase in the other.

Teddy grinned. She’d struck honey!

Walking a bit faster, Teddy rounded the corner into the alleyway and found the man grumbling to himself as he faced a pair of crooked dumpsters. They were blocking his path.

She felt her grin sharpening as she stepped into the shadowy path. “Hey, old guy,” she said.

The man jumped and turned around, revealing a reedy young man and a face covered by a big bushy mustache. “Yes?’

“Give me everything you’ve got,” Teddy said.

The man blinked, and then he was smiling too. “You came for my rally?” he asked. Before she could ask him what he was on about, he knelt down and dropped the box he was holding. It was just a wooden crate with a step built into the side. Then he opened his briefcase and rummaged through it before pausing. “Ah, well, uh, this isn’t the most auspicious place for this kind of thing, is it comrade?”

“What?”

“Ah, and here I was hoping today I would be able to inspire the masses into joining in the glorious revolution against the heroes and their fat capitalist pig leaders. But one girl is better than none. Sometimes it’s the smallest ear that counts, right?”

She reached out and touched her ears. They weren’t that small. His were smaller than hers, probably. Definitely if she counted the fuzzy fur around them. “I don’t get it,” she said. “I just want food.”

“Don’t we all! But the capitalists in their ivory towers wouldn’t allow it, not without breaking your back first!”

Teddy took a small step back. Someone wanted to break her back? She growled deep in her throat and stepped forwards. “I won’t let them. I’m too strong.”

“Oh, I can see the fires of the proletariat burning in you already, comrade. Look, I’m sorry that the rally was canceled because of that nasty business with the villain, but... here, take this. It taught me a lot, but I have other copies.”

He pulled a book out from his suitcase, then stuffed it in his armpit to hold it in place as he closed the case. The man shoved the book into her hand, then rubbed the top of her head.

“Good luck, little comrade!” he said before stepping past.

Teddy blinked down at the little red book in her hands. She was confused. Who were the capitalists, and why didn’t they want to give her food and to break her back? Did... the book tell her?

Quest Complete!

Mug a Stranger!

Reward: 1 Skill Upgrade Points Per Person Successfully Robbed!

Teddy grinned. A reward! And then her smile faltered as her tummy rumbled.

Sighing, she slipped her new book into one of her short’s pockets and went on to find someone else to mug. Maybe this time they’d have some food. She walked a little slower, still heading towards the richest sections. She was keeping an eye out for capitalists though, just in case.

She didn’t know what they looked like yet, but she figured she’d know one when she saw it. The man had said they were fat and pig-like.

A loud gong sounded out. Teddy tensed, expecting trouble, but it turned out that it only meant that a bunch of people started leaving a bunch of buildings all at once. They all looked like normal people, though some were pretty fat (but not pig-like so they were probably not capitalists).

Teddy moved over to the side of one building where the entrance jutted out a bit and stood in the partial shadows there. A few of the people moving by looked her way, but they dismissed her as soon as they saw her.

Teddy waited until the crowds thinned out, a lot of them heading to some parking lots or towards a bus stop just down the street, others milled about and chatted animatedly.

What she was looking for was a loner that she could mug.

And then a single girl stepped out. Her back hunched, her eyes downcast, her hands fretting over the strap of her bag. The perfect target.

That was, if she wasn’t also blonde and wearing the same clothes as her Boss.

Teddy sighed and gave up on the mugging idea. She could just ask Boss for food. She’d pay her for her work, right?

“Heya Boss,” Teddy said.

Her Boss jumped an impressive height and spun around so fast she almost knocked Teddy out with her swinging bag. “W-what are you doing here?!” she said a moment before slapping her hand over her mouth.

A few people were looking their way now, but Teddy paid them no mind. She was too busy staring as the Boss took her hand and started pulling her along.

Had she done anything wrong?

She had left the house to mug people, but the Boss hadn't told her not to.

Teddy figured the Boss was just being cautious.

“We, we need to talk. Right now... as soon as we get back to the dorms.”

“But Boss,” Teddy said. “I’m hungry.”

The Boss made a weird noise. “Then... then food first.”

Teddy’s grin was enough to set a feral wolf running. The Boss was proving to be great. She couldn’t wait to tell her of all the work she’d done so far.

***