Chapter Thirteen - An Interrogation or Two

Emily didn’t know what to do.

There was a hand on her shoulder, a hand belonging to an actual, bonafide hero, and he was telling her to stop.

What if he knew?

She dismissed the thought. If Silver Fox knew she was a Villain then he wouldn’t be asking so nicely. They’d wait until she was in a holding cell or something before asking her anything. No, Silver Fox and Glamazon didn’t know. She just had to play it cool and she would be fine.

It was with a sinking realization that she recalled that she had never played anything cool in her entire life.

Emily turned around. There might have been something on her face because the hero stared at her for a moment before carefully pulling her arm back and letting out a sigh. “Sorry Miss,” he said. “Just had a few questions, nothing big.”

“Oh-okay,” she said right back. It sounded like the right thing to say.

He nodded, the fox-mask he wore shifting a little with the motion. It was only a half-mask, allowing her to see his eyes through a clear visor above it. “Did you get a good look at the villain that ran past?”

Emily waffled for a moment. “Not... really?” she said. “Um. A bit?”

Glamazon stretched behind Silver Fox, then sighed. “Do we really need to question her?” she asked.

“She might have noticed something,” he said.

“Just give her a fine for interfering or something and get the cops to question her,” the girl suggested.

“A fine,” Emily repeated, feeling faint all over again.

Glamazon looked at Emily, her eyes narrowing behind her sparkly domino mask. “Hey, I recognize you,” she said. “You were at the college earlier.”

Emily swallowed. “Um.”

“Oh?” Silver fox asked. It wasn’t just a noise, it was an outright question.

Emily wondered how hard it would be to get a power that would allow the ground to swallow her up.

“Can you tell us what you were doing out here?” he asked when she failed to reply to his prompt.

“Dirty water,” she said. There was meant to be more after that, but she had a hard time finding the words.

“Can you elaborate?” he asked.

Emily nodded and gestured to the door behind her. “The... I work at this soup kitchen here. I came out to empty the dirty water.”

The hero’s shoulders slumped a little and she had the impression he was smiling wryly. “I see. And then what happened?”

“Um. I heard screaming? A man, a Rascal? He ran by and bumped into me and the water.” She gestured to the still-wet and soapy ground. “And then you came and tripped.”

Glamazon sniffed. “If you weren’t so clumsy,” she muttered.

“Glamazon,” Silver Fox said, his voice a warning. “She’s a civilian. You’ll learn not to expect too much out of them with time. It’s hardly her fault. I suspect that Alea Iacta has some sort of luck manipulation ability.”

The heroine tilted her head to the side. “How’s that? Cause she just happened to be here on time with soap water?”

“And his luck before too. Also, we used to have Latin in school when I was closer to your age. I do know what his name means. It’s a bit pompous but it’s a hint if I ever heard one.”

Glamazon barked a laugh. “Showing your age there, old man.”

“Showing your age doesn’t mean you’re showing your weakness,” he said. Glamazon groaned and if Emily wasn’t completely mortified and wasn’t in the same postal code, she might have groaned too. It was the catchphrase of his shampoo commercials, and it was cheesier in person.

Emily shifted on the spot a little. “Can... can I go?” she asked.

“Of course,” Silver Fox said. “We’ll just need your name and number. In case we need to call you up for anything.”

She could do that much, and with a minimum of stuttering too.

Emily thought she was home free when the door behind her opened up and someone jumped out. “Hey, Boss. You alright?”

Silver Fox and Glamazon both turned to stare at a bored-looking Teddy. The bear-girl had her hoodie up, Emily noticed. Her ears were safe. That was only a small blessing because the girl took one glance at the situation and her entire face scrunched up.

“Who’re these people?” she asked.

“Hello little Miss,” Silver Fox said. “We were just asking your... Boss here some questions.”

“What kind of questions?” Teddy asked. Her eyes narrowed and she stepped closer to Emily’s side.

“Hey, kid, c’mon, the adults are talking. Do you want to see a lightshow?” Glamazon asked. Her hands sparkled as little motes of light flashed around her fingers.

Teddy stared for all of a second before dismissing her and looking up to Emily. “Who are these weirdos?”

“They’re heroes,” Emily said. “Just... asking me some questions. It’s nothing.”

“Yeah, I can read,” Teddy said with a gesture over their heads. “Are they making trouble for you?”

“N-no, it’s okay,” she said. Wiggling her hand a little to tell Teddy to stand down somehow backfired and ended up with the girl reaching up and holding onto her hand. She squeezed it and tried to meet Silver Fox’s visor. “This is Teddy, she's a bit... uh.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “We were just on our way off anyway... here!” He reached into one of the pouches on the hip of his silver costume and pulled out a little card that he handed to her, and a second which he gave to a confused Teddy. “Have a good day you two, and keep up the good work!”

Emily waved them goodbye and hoped that they didn’t notice the glare that Teddy gave them as they left.

The moment the heroes were around the corner, Emily thought she might faint. All the stress and anxiety... or at least, a lot of it, leaked out of her like a pierced balloon.

She stepped to the side, and headless of how dirty it might be, leaned against the nearest dumpster. She read the little card she’d received. On one half there was the Silver Fox logo. On the other a tear-off coupon for some men’s shampoo.

Teddy was glaring at her own coupon. “Wait, they were capitalists?” she asked.

Emily didn’t even bother answering. She needed a moment. She needed a few moments. Maybe some moments spent laying down on her bed, face buried in her pillow, while screaming. But not screaming too loud or else the people in the next rooms over would hear.

“That was certainly stressful!”

Emily jumped up and whipped around to see the top half of an unwelcome face poking around the back of the dumpster.

The words above his head were gone, but there was no mistaking Alea Iacta’s mask and costume.

“Who’s this one?” Teddy asked.

“Just a friendly neighbourhood ruffian,” the man said. “So, the men in tights are gone?”

“You... you...” Emily said.

“Me!” he said right back. “Thanks for the distraction by the way. Turns out.” He pointed to the end of the alley the heroes went down. Emily followed his finger and stared at the brick wall across from them. The alley obviously forked between two buildings. She could hear the cars and such on the street but not see them. “While you can come from that way, you can’t leave that way.” He pointed over his back with a thumb. “Bit of a dead end. I’m quite lucky you were there!”

Something in Emily clicked. “Teddy.”

“Yeah Boss?”

“You remember what you did to that man in the bar?”

“Yeah?” Teddy said.

“Do it to him,” she said while pointing to Alea Iacta.

The villain stared at the two. “What, is the tyke going to kick my shiiiiiit what the hell!”

Teddy’s transformation into a grizzly bear, now that she wasn’t hidden in the depth of a dinghy bar, and now that Emily was so far past stressed that she couldn’t muster the energy to care, was actually quite impressive.

One moment she was Teddy, a normal girl, a bit chubby and kinda cute when she wasn’t asking uncomfortable questions about the values of communism. The next she was taller than Emily while on all fours, her body covered in bristling dark-brown fur.

Alea Iacta stumbled back, but he couldn’t move backwards faster than a car-sized bear could move forwards, and he found himself rather quickly with no space to maneuver.

Emily had never intimidated anyone in her entire life, but she figured with Teddy helping her, she could maybe manage a little.

The Rascal’s eyes were looking all over for an escape. Then Teddy’s paw crashed into the wall next to him and her claws bit into the bricks.

His only other route of escape was through Emily.

She glared.

He didn’t seem that impressed.

Do You Wish To Reveal Your Identity?

“Yes.”

Alea Iacta’s eyes slowly traced up from her face and to the words hanging above her. What little she could see of his face turned white, then went a bit green.

She glanced up too, just in case.

The Boss

Villain, Level One

“I... have questions,” Emily said.