Chapter Ten - Rattle

The old maple depot looked like the best and worst place for a hangout. It was in a rough state, the tin walls and cement base in dire need of some attention, but it was still a big building in a quiet little area, with a few windows on the second floor looking down onto the street and big sliding doors at the front allowing people entry.

Or they would have if they weren’t chained up at the moment.

“I can bust those down,” Teddy said.

“Best not to,” Emily said. “Trinity, can you run around the back? Just go check if there’s a second entrance.”

“Yup, I can do that!” Trinity said. She ran off with a pitter-patter of little feet.

“So, does this place count as a base or is it a lair?” Sam asked.

Emily shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“Boss!” Teddy said.

Athena shook her head. “Big Sis, you’re being silly,” she said. “Of course it matters.”

Emily flinched back a little. “What’s the difference then? Between a lair and a base.”

“There’s more than just the two,” Teddy said. “But yeah, a base is a place where people go to do stuff between doing things, and a lair is a place where people go to do stuff between doing things, but it’s cooler.”

Sam snorted. “Bases are for like, organisations. Lairs are for villains. I think the villainy matters more than the level of organisation though. Like, if a person is a solo villain and they have a hideout, then that place is a lair. And if the villain has an organisation, then it’s a lair too.”

“Alright,” Emily said. “What’s a hideout then?”

“That’s just a base that’s hidden,” Teddy said. “It’s better than a base, but not as cool as a lair.”

“They could be both,” Athena said. “Your lair can be a hideout as long as you’re doing villain stuff in it.”

Emily raised a hand. “Wait, so if you’re not doing villain stuff, then it’s not a lair?”

“I think that’s because part of a place being a lair is about the aesthetic,” Athena said.

“Yeah, those are important,” Teddy said. “Gotta be real fancy or scary to be a proper villain.”

Emily glanced up to Sam, who was very obviously hiding a grin. “Thanks girls, I’m glad we’ve cleared that up,” Emily said. “I’ll keep it in mind if we ever get a lair.”

“We totally should,” Teddy said.

Trinity tugged on Emily’s jacket, and she looked down at her smallest sister. “Hey, there’s a door at the back. It’s not locked. Oh, and there’s like, snacks and stuff inside. They have a tv, and a fridge, and a bunch of neat things.”

“You went inside?” Emily asked.

Trinity shrugged. “No one’s there.”

Emily considered what to do for a moment, then with a decisive nod started towards the depot. “Alright, Teddy, stay on the ground floor near the doors, Trinity, one of you will stay with me too, the other two and Athena, look around for anything suspicious. Athena, you’re in charge of the looting. Don’t take things we don’t need. We’re mostly trying to learn about the people we’re dealing with here. Sam, stay close too.”

It felt... interesting to take charge. At least when it was just her sisters who didn’t question her orders.

One of Trinity’s bodies charged ahead, arms raised in a cheer as she screamed “Loot!”

The back of the old maple depot had a single door with a rickety staircase leading to it. Emily paused by the door and retouched the latch. “Trinity, was this opened?”

“Nah,” Trinity said. “I used that bar there to wiggle the door open.” she pointed to a flat metal bar casually discarded on a pile of dead leaves and trash pressed up against the edge of the building.

That was... clever of Trinity, Emily admitted to herself. She patted the girl on the head, which set Trinity’s ears to wiggling and had the girl looking unreasonably smug for a moment.

The interior of the depot showed some pretty obvious signs of having been lived in recently. The floor was all old beams, and there was a loft on the level above, reachable via a spiral staircase tucked in the corner.

A few old crates were shoved up against the walls, but others were stacked up to divide the floor up. Someone had dragged in a big blue chemical toilet booth and tucked it away in one corner.

A beat up old couch took up the middle of the room, with a tv sitting on a table in front of it. Athena walked over to the tv, found the remote, and flicked it on. She started channel surfing while the others spread out a little. Trinity found a mini-fridge at the back and was tossing out beer cans on a quest to grab all the junk food out of there and stuff it into one of her dollar-sign bags.

“This place is, uh,” Emily began. She wasn’t sure how to describe it.

“It looks like a bachelor pad, but worse somehow,” Sam said. “Bet it’s super cold in here when winter comes around for real.”

“Somehow I don’t think the people who spend their days here are all that concerned about that kind of thing,” Emily said. She grimaced at some of the junk left on the tables. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any drug-related stuff beyond an old glass bong with a burned bottom. “I guess we should try to learn more about this gang while we’re in their, uh, lair.”

“I’m not sure if this is a lair,” Athena said. She paused her channel surfing on a cartoon channel that was currently playing some loud and colourful ads for hero plushies. “This is barely even a hangout.”

“It’s a dump,” Teddy said.

Emily had to agree. “I don’t think we’ll be finding much of worth here,” she said.

“What?” Trinity asked. “That’s not true, look at all the stuff I’ve found!” One of Trinity ran over and opened her bag to reveal a lot of junk food, some toys, and a few bits of trash all stuffed into the bottom.

“That’s... nice,” Emily said.

She was about to try and convince Trinity to dump all of that stuff somewhere when there was a heavy rattle.

Metal clinked against metal, and Emily stared at the front door as the chains holding it in place unwound themselves. She couldn’t see much through the growing crack in the door, but it was clear that there was more than one person on the other side.

“Uh, do we run, or?” Sam asked.

Emily hesitated, and that cost her. The chain finished coming undone and the door was shoved aside by the single heavy-muscled arm of a young man. He was far taller than Emily, with roughly chiselled features and a thick leather coat on.

Worse, there were chains hovering around him like coiling snakes, ready to strike.

“I guess we fight,” Sam muttered. She ducked down next to the couch and came up with an aluminium baseball bat.

Emily took a small step back, then she settled herself. “Teddy, get ready, Athena, do your thing if he turns hostile. Trinity, make sure at least one of you stays back at all times.”

“I’m gonna guess that you’re not fans,” the guy said as he stepped in. He stood tall, eyes narrowed as he scanned the room. He even glanced up to the Trinity on the second floor. “Care to tell me what you’re doing in my base?”

“It’s not a base, you idiot, it’s a lair,” Teddy said.

“It’s not even that, it’s too poopy to be a proper lair,” Athena said.

“Is this some sort of prank?” the guy asked.

Emily licked her lips and glanced at Sam. The girl gave her a thumb’s up, which was very much not what Emily wanted from her. Seeing as no one else was going to speak in her place, Emily shifted her shoulders and stood up taller. “I’m the Boss, these are my team-mates. You’re Iron Chains?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I thought that’d be obvious.” he jerked a thumb to the chains hanging in the air around him.

“It’s nice to be sure,” Emily said. “Now, we can do this the hard way, or the easy way. Please surrender.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said.

Emily blinked. “Oh, that’s really appreciated. While I’m sure we’d win a fight, I’d really rather not.”

He shook his head, frowning now. “No, you’re supposed to say ‘really’ then I’m supposed to say ‘no’ in a really sarcastic tone.”

“I, uh, what?” Emily asked.

“You’re going off-script,” Iron Chains said.

There was a script? Emily was just growing more confused by the minute.

“You know what, nevermind. I’m not going to surrender, alright. How about you and your toddler squad piss off instead, huh?”

Emily sighed, that was better. “No,” she said.

***