"What the hell, Graves!?"

There’s nobody there.

"Why would you agree to this match!?"

Just Miss Furry.

"Is he jealous?"

Alone in her office.


Finger to chin. Brow furrowed. Eyes full of worry.

"Does he still think it’s his title?

Is he trying to punish me!?"

She shakes her head, trying to deny it.

"Is he…

Is he trying to hold me down?"

It lingers, but she shakes the thought.

"No—it’s a lesson!"

She nods assuredly!

"Whatever Graves is up to, it’s not a lesson—I assure you."

Startled, Furry turns to the open door to find—


"Gaah!" Miss Furry exclaims as she strikes a rather horrified defensive pose. "What are YOU doing here!?"

"I wanted to meet the woman who calls herself Fury," she says with a judgemental squint.

"Listen," she maintains her defensive—"I'm not really her! They just typo'd my name on the card a while back and I was like—screw it—if they want it, I'll be it...

but I'm seriously not her!"

"No, you're not her, but you have adopted her name, and in some ways, her cadence. Now I'm left to wonder just how deeply you have given yourself to her convictions."

Furry's hands drop in confusion—"Huh!?"

The Bat backs Furry into her desk. "What game are you playing, fiend!?"

"I'm not playing any games! If anything, I'm supposed to be training to face Latoya Hixx!"

Atomic Bat sizes Furry up. "Picking on the inexperienced? That's exactly the sort of thing Miss Fury would've done!" She steps back into the office and grabs Furry by the collar. "This is your only chance—what are you and Graves planning!?"

Fear fills Furry's eyes alongside tears. "I... I don't know what you're talking about! I swear!" She takes a big gulp. "I'm just a studen—no, wait, I graduated... But I'm still just an employee. If Gravy's planning something evil, it's above my paygrade!"

Atomic Bat let's out a soft sigh as she loosens her grip on the false Fury. 

"Though... if he were planning something evil, I'd imagine those plans might be in his journal." Atomic Bat's curiosity is peaked. "Journal?" Furry nods. "Yeah, he keeps it in his office just down the hall!"

Atomic Bat turns sharply on her heel. "Stay here."

Miss Furry doesn’t move.

The Bat strides into the hallway both certain and righteous.

The office grows quiet.

Too quiet.

Then...

"…okay then."

The fear melts off Furry's face.

Down the hall, Atomic Bat steps inside without hesitation.

Click.

The door SLAMS shut.

"—What?"

A sharp hiss cuts through the room as a pale cloud bursts from the HVAC.

"—GARLIC POWDER!?"

Back in Office 3B, Miss Furry leans casually against her desk.

Listening.

"…you walked right into that."

She reaches over and presses a small, almost hidden button beneath the desk.

A speaker crackles to life in the room.

"Hey, Bat!"

She can barely hold it together.

"If there were any evil plans—and there isn't—they wouldn't be your business anyway.

You just… kinda assumed you could come in here and bully me into talking."

Inside the sealed room.

The Bat coughs, her eyes watering, and cape whipping as she tries to orient herself through the garlic haze.

"You think this proves something!?"

Furry’s smile fades.

"Yes, actually...

It proves you came in here looking for a villain…

…and didn’t even check the room first.

That’s kinda been my week, honestly.

People looking past me…

…to get to something else."

Her eyes flick toward the door.

"Or someone else."

A quiet little laugh.

"You’re not the only one.

There’s this girl—Latoya Hixx?

Lots of yelling and very entitled, always demanding stuff."

She rolls her eyes slightly.

"She’s out there losing more than not, but seems to have title shots dropped in her lap ad-nauseum.

But not this time!"

That smile comes back.

"You kicked in my door looking for answers.

She’s kicking and screaming at everyone else hoping she gets to my door."

She shrugs.

Down the hall, the pounding on the sealed door begins.

"You both see me as an easy path."

Her voice softens.

"But I’m not a checkpoint.

Or the finish line.

I’m the part where you realize you were racing a Go-Kart in a destruction derby."

She reaches under the desk again… hovering over a button.

"And you?..

...both of you...

You don’t get to decide who or what I am."

Click.

Down the hall, the pounding stops.

The locks disengage with a heavy, mechanical clunk.

The door creaks open.

A cloud of garlic powder spills out into the hallway like smoke.

“…ghk—”

Atomic Bat steps through it.

Eyes red and her composure barely holding.

Miss Furry is already in the hallway waiting.

"Hey."

A small shrug.

"I could've had you!"

The Bat squares up instinctively.

"You—"

"But I didn't!" She cuts her off. "I'm not a villain, and I’m not Jessica (Miss Fury)...

I don’t want to be."

The hallway settles.

"But…"

She rubs the back of her neck a little.

"If a bunch of illiterate idiots out there wanna slap that name on me, then yeah, I’ll try to live up to it.

In the ring."

She gestures vaguely around the hallway.

"Not whatever you thought you were walking into here."

Atomic Bat studies her now.

…thinking.

"I’m just me.

Trying to survive in a place that—"

She glances down.

"—kinda sucks?"

Furry nods. 

"People come at you, already decided what you are.

Hero.

Villain.

Storm."

"Your opponent?"

"Yeah, they warn that a Storm is coming, but storms don’t hit what they can’t find.

And right now?

Nobody’s even looking at me right."

Silent contemplation.

Then—

"You should consider a name change... And goodluck with Latoya... She's strong."

With that Atomic Bat vanishes into the shadows.

"Hmph! Sure, she's strong—and loud.

But storms pass.

And by the time she starts swinging...

I’ll already be done with her.

Because I didn’t become Fury.

I just learned why she won.

And so will you."

End