Cut Yourself Free

Bad Apple!!

Max sighed deeply as she approached the rainbow sidewalks near the bar where Lenni hangs out. She had only been to this area a handful of times, and two of the time she came resulted in her getting into a motorcycle wreck. Fun times, although, she really wish she knew the name of this part of town.

She happily greeted the drag queen outside the bar before making her way inside, her eyes adjusting to the low blue light of the bar. It was a small building decorated with glow-in-the-dark paint and neon lights. Most of the patrons in the bar, she assumed, were a part of the LGBTQ+ community, since she was in that part of town. She looked around, not noticing Lenni anywhere. She slipped an earbud in and walked over to the bar counter, ordering a water and looking at her phone.

She turned on the comms and could hear laughter coming from Josh's mic.

"Don't ask her that!" he yelled in the distance, his voice getting closer to the mic before he let out a loud huff. 

"What's wrong, boss man?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"Riiiiight."

"Did you find Lenni?"

"No, she's not here yet."

"I'll see if I can track her."

Almost immediately, he got off the comms, making her mumble "Yeah, good talk" before noticing someone enter from the back. Their eyes locked for a moment, and Max recognized the mischievous smile.

Lenni. Oh lord.

Lenni sauntered over to her, getting up on the barstool casually. Max pretended not to notice, taking another sip of her water. The bartender walked over to the other female, who ordered a beer, looking at Max with an all too familiar smirk.

"What's a pretty doll like you doing in a place like this?" she asked, taking a sip of her beer and staring longingly at Max.

"Just looking for some fun~" Max smiled sweetly, tucking her hair behind her ear, which made Lenni smile even more.

"Some fun, hm? Anyone in particular?"

"I swing either way." She received a look of approval from the female, and the loud sound of static from the comms. She could hear Marcus arguing angrily with Josh about why he shouldn't be worrying about anything besides coding. Max quickly muted them.

"So what's your story, um..."

"Aidyn, but my friends call me Foxholes."

"Mm, I see." Lenni let her name run through her head before nodding. "What's your story?"

"Oh, well, I moved here from New York in High School. I've gotten into coding recently, and I really admire the vigilante hacker groups on the news." Lenni chuckled at her daydreaming-like talking.

"Vigilante hacker groups?"

"Like Prime_Eight!"

"I wouldn't call them 'vigilante', sweetheart. But I like your admiration. How would you feel if someone apart of that group offered for you to join?"

"I'd be elated!" she said with an airy tone, easily convincing the other female. It seemed almost too easy, but the point of this op wasn't about just getting in. With a seductive smile on her face, Max changed the topic away from herself and towards Lenni. Naturally, the female bragged about her accomplishments and what could easily be found online about her, but slowly the more important details trickled in. It didn't take much for Max to figure it out. She just had to play her cards right and show Lenni her charm, which almost instantly made the female's heart melt. 

"Yeah, DedSec is a bunch of fucking posers!" said Lenny smugly as she finished off her second beer. "Although, there's this cute boy who's caught my attention."

"Oh?" said Max, her eyes shifting from her drink to the female.

"Some kid going by Hawt Sauce." Josh. "He's cute, but he doesn't look my way or give two shits about me." Max felt jealousy rise in her chest for a moment, but it quickly went away when she ran the sentence through her mind again. Josh was already taken, right. She just smiled back at the female. Naturally, Lenni went on about what she planned on doing with him sexually, not only disgusting Max on the inside but making her hate her even more.

After their long talk, Lenni offered to let Max come to her house. It was a surprise, and she was cautious about the offer, but nonetheless she agreed to it. Now the real op was about to begin.

-----

Lenni's apartment was a lot bigger than Max expected. It was nice and definitely expensive, but it was cluttered with a bunch of devices Lenni was probably working on. There were a lot of posters painted in spray paint, ranging from propaganda to Prime_Eight adverts. The kitchen was filled with snacks and junk food, but it was also really messy, with a pile of dishes in the sink. Lenni probably wasn't home enough to really care about the way her apartment looked. That or she never received many visitors.

"Don't mind the mess. I work a lot."

"Yeah, no worries!"

Their eyes immediately darted to the bedroom door opening, a tired Pete walking out. Max's heart stopped for a moment before she gave him a friendly wave. He stared at her for a moment, analyzing her closely with an almost predatory smile. It made her skin crawl. He came over to greet her, seeming unaware of who she was. That or he was just playing ignorant.

"So how'd you two get to know each other?" asked Max curiously. 

"Originally, it was just mutual business," she replied, grabbing a soda from the fridge. "but then him and I became sex friends and hit it off from there."

"We wouldn't mind another, if you're interested." suggested Pete, giving her a wink, which made her gag mentally.

"I-I've never had a relationship like that before." she said, blushing slightly.

"You should try it. It's so much fun." Max pretended to consider the offer. She knew that the only way to get close to them would be to take up the proposition, even if she really didn't want it.

"Sure! I'd love to try it~" she chirped, placing a hand in her bag and resting it on one of the rods of her bo staff. There was no way in hell that she'd go through with her previous idea of seducing the both of them, so she decided to go with the next best thing: nonlethal electrocution. She smiled at them happily before pulling out the rods. Pete reacted first, but he wasn't as fast as her. She electrocuted both them with a glare, although Lenni took a little more time to put down. Once the deed was one, she disconnected the two parts of the bo staff and put them back into her satchel.

"I'm in!" she announced to the comms.

"In where?" asked Josh.

"Lenni's house."

"What's going on?"

"I electrocuted her and Pete."

"...Both of them? Max, that's like--Are you sure you know what you're doing? What happened to th--"

"Just trust me, boss man, I know what I'm doing."

She pulled out her phone and broke into every important device in the room with ease, getting all the information she could. It was a stupid idea for Lenni to keep everything in one spot, and Max practically caught her lacking. Before leaving, she looked back at the two knocked out figures, having the urge to kick their shit in. However, she restrained herself.

I'm the better person here.

...

Sike!

With an angry smile on her face, she kicked Pete in the ribs and Lenni in the face, laughing triumphantly and making her way out of the apartment with a pleased expression.

(Title song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lNZ_Rnr7Jc)

(Bad Apple!! by Masayoshi Minoshima)