Girls were amazing. Seriously. Other than the inhuman flexibility required to put on a bra and other clothes, applying making-up was a skill of its own. I’d taken a day off from work on Friday to perform my scouting mission and pinpoint Iron Pack’s location while Troy was still out. But, of course, since there was a chance I would get to meet her, I needed to become Aster again. However, this time, I had to perform the entire transformation on my own.

And oh boy, I always thought girls spent an ungodly amount of time in front of the mirror prettying themselves up, but after trying it out myself, I realized they were actually inhumanly fast. I’d spent so long trying to make myself look perfect, but even when armed with the knowledge bestowed upon me by Kelly and the YouTube tutorial ladies, I simply couldn’t seem to get it right.

It took me until two in the afternoon to get myself looking acceptable. It wasn’t the same as when Kelly helped me, but I couldn’t delay my excursion any longer. I needed to get going.

I tossed something random from the fridge into my stomach to not starve and set out. The clues pointed to a worn-down part of the city with several abandoned factories and warehouses, barely working street lighting, and graffiti decorating the walls. There were barely any people around; It felt like I was walking into some kind of post-apocalyptic setting. But that was fine, I’d played plenty of zombie apocalypse games. I was a professional at this sort of thing.

Anyway, this area… whenever Iron Pack escaped, it was roughly in this direction, and whenever she made an appearance, her sightings originated from around here as well. I had no doubt she either lived here somewhere or at least had her lair in these parts. Where exactly though, I had no idea. That’s what I’d come here to find out.

Now, if I was a cool supervillainess commanding packs of iron wolves, where would I station my base? That was the million dollar question.

I wandered around looking for any potential hidden entrances and secret passages but ended up finding nothing. Instead, I ran into some of the residents of this post-apocalyptic world.

Tattoos, crowbars and spiked baseball bats, weird hairstyles, bandanas covering their faces… yep, they nailed the scavenger in a zombie apocalypse world look perfectly. Unfortunately for me, I currently looked like a cute girl with scuffed make-up, so as soon as I saw their party walk down the street opposite of me, I immediately turned down another street to avoid them.

But Murphy and his stupid law had different plans for me and decided to smack me in the face. Or more precisely, I ran head first into another scavenger as I turned the corner.

I fell down on my butt and looked up at the bald man who looked like he could bench press trucks. He seemed kinda annoyed.

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“Uh, hi?” I tried diplomacy.

My diplomacy only exacerbated the situation. He frowned and took a step toward me while reaching out with his hand. I immediately scrambled to get up and dashed away… right into the direction of the group I’d initially tried to avoid.

Well, I was trapped. Riiight, there was a reason why Miranda came with me the first time around. Maybe coming here into this dangerous part of the city all alone was a bad idea, after all?

I glanced back and forth to the two sides of my impending doom, as I slowly backed up. Yeah, the sneers and grins kept lowering this whole endeavor on my scale of good ideas.

My back hit a wall. There was nowhere to go now. Well, if this was a superhero story, and I was the protagonist, this would be the time I got some amazing superpowers and then proceeded to beat these thugs up, right? Yes, yes, exactly! There was nothing to fear in the end! Who cared this was real life and not a fictional story? I just had to rely on plot armor to save meeeeee--

I fell backwards. The wall I had backed up to was actually made out of vertical wooden boards. And it had opened like a door as I’d pushed my back against it.

Well, not a superpower, but I’ll take it!

I picked myself up and scuttled inside the premises I’d just accidentally invaded. It was a warehouse.

A thought struck me. That had clearly been a secret entrance to this place… and in front of me, an abandoned warehouse, the perfect place for a villain hideout. Had I done it? Had I found what I’d been looking for?

Despite the gruff men still pursuing me, I found myself grinning. Danger? What danger? Everything according to plan! I would meet Iron Pack, she would help me shoo off my pursuers and then I would confess my undying love to her! Happy end!

I got to the main entrance to the warehouse, but unsurprisingly, the door refused to budge. Right, it wouldn’t have been a respectable secret base if the main entrance was the actual entrance. I decided to circle around the building and look for more hidden doors.

With the thugs still hot on my feet, I kept my eyes peeled as I kept going. And because I was amazing, I eventually found it. There was a stack of boxes, but my hawk eyes saw the hole they were blocking.

Thank god I still forced myself to exercise from time to time, the boxes were freaking heavy, but I managed to push them aside. Just as I heard yells from behind me, I entered the secret entrance and plunged myself into darkness.

Luckily, modern technology was amazing. I didn’t have a torch, a candle, or any flashlights, but I did have my phone, which was enough to light up the way.

I began by descending down a stairwell and found myself in tunnels that definitely shouldn’t be under a warehouse. That told me I was on the right track. This couldn’t have been anything but a villain hideout. My grin widened.

After a few minutes of wandering around and listening to echoing shouts from my pursuers, I found another staircase leading up. I climbed up without hesitation.

This was it. In a few minutes, I would get to meet Iron Pack again! She was this close!

I emerged inside the warehouse and kept going while looking around. Just as I suspected, it wasn’t abandoned. There were some futuristic devices, guns, crates filled with powders, macho men seated at a table playing poker… uh, wait, what?!

Someone caught me from behind. I immediately tried to struggle free, but instead got lifted up and found myself face-to-face with someone I didn’t expect at all.

A man clad in silver armor, red visor covering his eyes, Fractal.

“Now, what do you think you’re doing in my base, little girl?” the modulated voice asked.

Blood drained from my face as I stared at the man in front of me.

Uh… wrong villain.