Chapter Nine - The Simplest Plans

Emily was feeling pretty good about her prospects as she left the barber shop. The owner was a kindly old guy who had talked to her while snipping away at the hair of an equally old man. The youngest person in the room was a few years her father’s senior.

He had been receptive to her questions... well, alright, Emily wasn’t going to lie to herself. Sam had been the one doing most of the talking on her behalf. The girl was a lot more personable and friendly than Emily could ever manage, and somehow that charisma made everything so much easier.

As it turned out, there had been some trouble lately. A group of what the barber and his clients called ruffians were going about, kicking over trash cans, playing music at impolite volumes, and most important of all--at least to Emily--they’d been extorting money away from some shops. It hadn’t turned into outright muggings yet, but the clients were worried that the young folk making a mess of their little corner of the world wouldn’t take long to progress towards that kind of violence.

In the end, it only took Sam asking them where the ruffians hung out to give Emily everything she needed to know.

“The old maple depot, next to Roson’s garage,” one of the old men said. He raised his cane and pointed in the rough direction he was talking about. “Old rusty place, a street over from the old main road from back before they tore down the bridge.”

Emily nodded. “And, ah, did you happen to see how many there are? Maybe? It’s alright if you didn’t notice.”

“Just a few of them,” another man said. “You’re not planning to head over there on your own, are you?” he asked.

Sam grinned, big and proud. “The Boss here’s a big damn hero, and she’s hardly alone. We’ll have those kids behind bars before you know it.”

“Could be dangerous,” the barber said. He shifted around to his client’s other side and continued to snip away at stray hairs.

“We’ll handle it, don’t worry on our account,” Sam said. “We’re just doing our part to help the community. You know how the big-name heroes are. Always chasing after the big scores and the big villains. The Boss here is a lot more of a street-level sort of hero. We’re just doing what needs to be done. Others have done the same, like Cement. He cared for the community the same way we intend to.”

Emily stared at the back of Sam’s head. The girl was just so damned subtle about things. Or at least, more subtle than Emily imagined she could ever manage. If the customers didn’t know Cement, they’d assume he was some other hero. It was unlikely they’d look him up either, if they even remembered the name by the time they could. But the way the barber’s shoulders tensed up...

“Tell you what,” he said. “You girls take care of our ruffian problem for us, and I think I could make a small donation to your cause. Just being a fair neighbour, right?”

A few of the clients seemed pretty proud with the move, and Emily nodded along. “Th-thank you sir, that would be very appreciated.”

It didn’t take much after that for them to say their goodbye and leave.

Emily eyed her sisters and counted heads. One, two, three, four... she glanced around and found one of Trinity’s rear-end sticking out from under a bush. That was five.

“Hey girls,” Emily said. “So, I think we know where to find that Iron Chains guy.”

“Cool,” Athena said. “I can’t wait to put the fear of spankings into him.” She grinned up at Emily, surprisingly feral.

“Right,” Emily said. “Sam, do you know if it’s a long walk from here?”

“Roson’s huh? We got our tires changed there a few times. That’s like, two blocks over that way,” Emily’s new... friend said. She pointed and Emily followed with her gaze. That was down a mostly empty street with a few older bungalows along it and a trio of guys halfway down the road.

“Alright then, I guess it’s far enough that we should get back in the car. I wouldn’t want to have to run only to find that the car’s a few blocks off.”

“Why’d we have to run?” Teddy asked.

“I’m hoping we don’t run into anything that bad,” Emily said. “But if we do, I want the option to run to be available.”

Teddy nodded sagely. “That’s some good villain thinking there. Only heroes and idiots stick around when running’s smarter.”

“Aren’t they the same thing?” Trinity asked.

“Nah, heroes are more dumb than idiots,” Teddy said.

“Yes, I’m sure they’re very dumb compared to my wonderful sisters,” Emily said. “Come on, back to the car. Trinity, why are you still under that bush?”

“There’s wrappers,” she said.

“Leave them there,” Emily ordered.

The raccoon girl looked disappointed for a moment, all three of her shoulders slumping, but it only took all of a minute until she was distracted by something else and was running down the road to be the first back into Sam’s car.

Once everyone was piled in, they pulled out onto the road and Sam navigated around the city. The older parts of the city so close to the industrial area were mostly made up of narrow roads and one ways, which made crossing a few blocks a surprisingly time-consuming affair.

At least Emily had time to take in the area and make sure it was at least moderately quiet.

They parked not too far from the maple depot. It was an older building, with a tin roof and siding stained by water and rust.

There were a few interesting cars parked by the front, low-riding sports cars with very obvious modifications, some of them painted in bright colours, others with parts of their body not matching the rest.

Emily eyed the place for a bit before shifting in her seat. “Alright, we might want to come up with a plan here.”

“There’s going to be a fight, right?” Sam asked.

“Maybe,” Emily said. “I hope not, but I... I guess there might be.” She should have felt a lot more worried about it than she did. Was she getting used to the idea of fighting people? That was strange, she was still anxious about talking to people, but getting into a fight didn’t make her nervous? It wasn’t just strange, it was downright nonsensical.

She didn’t have time to really examine herself though.

“I think Trinity will go in first. We can wait outside. Teddy, you’ll be at the front. Sam and I can wait a bit to the side with Athena and another Trinity or two. If the area is clear, then we’ll go in and snoop around.”

“Pretty simple plan,” Sam said.

“We’ll figure it out as we go,” Emily said. “Hopefully that Iron Chains guy will be willing to surrender peacefully. Then we’ll just need to hold him until the police arrive.”

“Not gonna call the Hero Response Force?” Sam asked.

Athena scoffed. “They work with heroes,” she said.

Emily shrugged. That was the same reason she was worried about calling them. They probably still thought she was a hero too, but she was certain they had ties with the Cabal.

“Before we head out,” Emily said. “If you have any quests that apply here. Uh, like taking out a powered person, or something like that, then maybe now would be a good time to accept them.” She didn’t like the quest system that came with powers, but it was a path to becoming stronger. Teddy’s last upgrade made her tougher. Emily liked the idea of her sisters being that much harder to hurt.

She had her own options to pick from.

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”!

Accept? Refuse?

That seemed like it was a recurring quest. She accepted it easily enough. Any path towards something other than villainy was welcome.

She scrolled through all the other quests she had, outright ignoring any of those that would push her deeper into villainy.

New Quest!

Breaking the Chains

Take apart a local gang before it becomes a problem!

Reward: +1 Skill Upgrade point per adversarial gangster eliminated.

Accept? Refuse?

That was an easy one to accept.

New Quest!

Queen takes Knight

Defeat Iron Chains

Reward: +1 Skill Slot for defeating, capturing, or killing a powered adversary. + Villainy for properly securing your territory.

Accept? Refuse?

Emily chewed on her lower lip. That villainy was awful. But... and it was a big but, that skill slot was invaluable. Skill upgrade points would allow her to improve an existing skill, but a skill slot? That was a whole new facet to her power unlocked.

“Boss, you coming?” Sam asked.

She glanced around, realized she was the last one left in the car, then with a flush, tapped the button to accept the quest. She hoped it would be worth it.

***