Chapter Seventy-Three – Interrogations

Emily didn’t quite know how or where to stand at first. In fact, she wasn’t sure she wanted to question the woman on the floor at all. It didn’t help that Black Shield had her hands and legs tied behind her back and was resting on her side. It was an awkward position to be in no matter how she looked at it.

“I’m not a Villain,” the woman said. She tugged at her arms, trying to free them.

Teddy growled, her large paws flexing from their position in front of the Heroine’s face. She stopped wiggling.

“That does sound like what a Villain would say,” Emily replied. She had to reframe things. Her interrogating a Villain, for the second time, no less, was… too much. But her chastising an unruly child? She was growing increasingly familiar with that. “I need a chair,” she said.

Athena was the first to jump up and run over to the kitchen. She came back, a chair dragging across the floor with a loud squeal.

Emily took the seat, spun it around so that it was facing the Heroine on the ground, then she sat down and shifted until she was comfortable.

She folded one leg over the other and her hands on her lap while the Heroine stared up at her from the floor. Teddy edged closer, a huge, comforting presence, and Athena grinned wide and planted herself on Emily’s other side. “My name is the Boss,” Emily said. She was impressed that her voice didn’t waver.

“That’s cute, now untie me. I was here on official business.”

“On whose behalf?” Emily asked.

“The police!”

“So you have a warrant to enter this property?” Emily asked.

“What? No, but I’m allowed to be here.”

Emily sniffed, as if she’d heard one of Teddy’s excuses. It was so easy to imagine the Heroine’s reply sounding like “The cookie jar fell and the cookies just happened to land in my mouth.”

“I don’t believe you,” Emily said.

“You were here first! That raccoon girl!”

“Are you wearing a camera? Do you have any proof of that?” The Heroine squirmed. “So, you broke into this home, and seeing as how we’re all Heroes, we stopped you. You”

Emily glared.

“And you shot a laser into my sister.”

“She… she doesn’t look injured?”

“She got better, but that doesn’t change anything! Heroes don’t laser kids. Even when they deserve it!”

“That is not what happened!” she screamed. Teddy growled, and the Hero’s attitude calmed down a notch.

Emily shook her head. “Indoor voice.”

“Should I?” Athena asked.

“… Yes,” Emily said.

“What?” the Heroine asked. “You can’t use mental powers on someone! That’s illegal.”

“You haven’t been terribly forthcoming about what you’re doing here, who you are, or who sent you,” Emily said, signalling Athena to wait. “What am I supposed to do?”

The Hero twisted onto her back, and looked up at Emily. “You let me go, because I’m a Hero,” she said.

“Likely story,” Emily said. “Do you know what happens to liars?”

“Oh no,” Teddy growled. Emily knew she sounded concerned, but when a massive bear said “Oh no,” that lent a whole new level of distress to the words.

Emily nodded. “Liars get punished. I’m not beyond putting you in time-out, and spankings are very effective.” That was a twist on the truth. So far, the threat of those had been more than enough.

“What is wrong with you?”

Emily sighed, moved on her chair so that she was sitting wide, then leaned forwards and rested her elbows on her knees. She stared into the woman’s visor, and into her own tiny reflection in the blackened glass. “I don’t know who you are. But I do know about this place. This is the home of a Villain, isn’t it? A small-time, local Villain, one who was just taken out. Now, let’s be a little more honest with each other. What were you doing here?”

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“There was a noise complaint.”

“Lie,” Emily said. She turned to Athena. “Not too strong.”

“Hey, hey, wait, what are…” she paused and then shivered, her head turning to look this way and that. “Oh, that’s not good,” she muttered.

“What were you actually doing here?” Emily asked.

“I… I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“Who told you about this place?”

The woman clamped up, jaw working and mouth set in a straight line.

“Fine,” Emily said. “Does anyone know you’re here?” There was a slight twitch that Emily decided was a yes. “Alright then. My companions and I are leaving. We will be calling the police to come and take you in. Enjoy your stay on the floor.”

“You’re going to leave me here?”

“I have things I need to do. And between the two of us, I think I’ve learned plenty.” Emily gestured to the chair. “Could you put this back in its place, please?”

“Yup,” Athena said. She dragged the chair back while Emily headed for the back door.

She inspected the house. It was probably full of hairs and fingerprints and all sorts of evidence, but she couldn’t think of a way to wipe it clear that didn’t devolve into arson. “Come on, everyone, we’re heading out.”

The moment she was on the back porch, Emily started to shake and shiver. That had been a lot. “You okay, Boss?” Teddy asked. She’d returned to being a plain girl, and was currently fixing her mask back on.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Emily said. She began walking after taking a quick headcount.

That was it. They’d gotten the files, they had the information, and, if anyone asked, she could say they’d been doing their Heroic duty. It was… not perfect, but it was something. She didn’t know if it would hold up to inspection, but maybe it would win her some time and an excuse.

Quest Complete!

Join the Battle Against the Forces of Good!

Kill or incapacitate Heroic figures.

Reward: 3 Skill Upgrade points per Hero incapacitated.

Emily glared at the prompt. Typical. Though she admitted to herself that the added points might come in handy.

They reached the fence at the back, and Emily helped her sisters up and over, then she hopped up and climbed over herself. Once her feet hit the ground on the other side, she tugged her phone out of a pocket and texted Melaton.

She didn’t exactly trust Melaton, but the woman was a decent contact. She gave her the address and said that she’d captured someone she thought might be a Villain and left them in that house.

Melaton’s reply was fast, but Emily ignored it in favour of tucking her phone away. “Okay, now we go home,” she said. “Or… well, I suppose we stop to get changed first.”

“Alright,” Teddy said. “Come on, I remember where home’s at. Bears have a natural sense of direction for that kind of thing.”

“No, they don’t,” Athena said.

“How would you know? You’re just an owl.”

“Owls are best. They can fly.”

“Yeah, but they don’t migrate, do they?” Teddy asked.

Athena sniffed. “We don’t need to migrate. We’re too cool to be scared off by something like a bit of cold or whatever. Unlike bears that need to hide away.”

“It’s not hiding, it’s hibernating.”

“Same difference,” Athena said.

“Raccoons eat trash,” Trinity added to the conversation.

Her sisters both stared at her.

“What?”

Emily held back a laugh. At least she had three good distractions to keep her thoughts from straying too far into the dark and depressing. “I think we can put all of that aside for now. All three of you are great… part-animals.”

“Hell yeah,” Teddy said. “Hear that? I’m the best.”

“That is not what she said!” Athena shot back.

“I’m the most animal of the bunch of you.”

“But there’s three of me, so I’m twice and one more more animal than you.”

Emily rolled her eyes. There was no avoiding dumb arguments, it seemed.

***

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