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Clinking sounds sounded as metal touched upon metal. Giving the screwdriver one last twist, the cloaked figure pulled back from the contraption. He straightened his hunched figure with a satisfying stretch.
“Last one,” Zarc sighed. Finally, all the bombs were in place. If everything went according to plan, the timers activate and begin counting down the next day in the late afternoon. This would give him plenty of time to finish up his scheduled plans.
“Maybe I should bring Ray flowers for our date,” he mused. It was more of a dinner date thing, but surely he could make an exception for their lunch date. Humming happily, Zarc got to work concealing the box containing the bomb. Right when he finished, however…
“What are you doing?”
Zarc let out a strangled scream. Heart practically in his throat, he jumped and quickly turned around, causing the hood of his cloak to flop down over his eyes. Luckily, this hid his features from the woman, but it also obscured his vision enough that he couldn’t see her face either.
“Nothing!” he squeaked. Damn it, he didn’t need someone finding his bombs right now. “I was just looking for something.”
“Oh. Well, you’d probably have a better time finding it if that hood wasn’t in your face.” Now that he thought about it, there was something familiar about that voice… Zarc paused that train of thought and stiffened, however, when the woman started coming closer. “Do you need any— Is that a tail?”
Zarc’s hands quickly clasped his behind and he cursed when he felt the extra appendage. It must have popped out when he had gotten startled. Unfortunately, his draconic features tended to just come out whenever he was surprised or he felt particularly strong emotions and he wasn’t vigilant. The tail quickly shifted back into his body at his will, but if the woman’s gasp of realization was any indication, he was too late.
“You’re… Supreme King!” She jumped back and there was a bell-like chime. His ears pricked at the familiar sound and his eyes zeroed in on the woman’s wrist to find four bracelets.
“Natura,” he sneered. Of course it was her. His arch-nemesis for a good few years, Natura was a superheroine who was able to control the four elements. And she usually had the luck of stumbling onto his plans. He honestly should have expected her to show up.
Even after all this time, she still has all that luck, he thought in amusement.
Now that his cover was blown, he allowed some of his features to shift. Golden irises became crimson and gray scales appeared on his skin. Dull nails sharpened into claws, teeth into fangs. Zarc didn’t feel very inclined to remove the cloak, though, so he just kept it at that.
“What are you up to?” Natura demanded. One of her bracelets lit up with a fiery light—red like her pretty red hair—indicating that she was preparing to use her fire powers. Clicking his tongue, Zarc allowed his wings to form and, with a single stroke, took off into the air. Once he felt he was a good enough distance away, he hovered there, wings flapping easily despite the cloak weighing on them. From where he was, he could see Natura’s red hair flapping in the wind. While she was in civilian clothes, her simple mask adorned her face. She had most likely put it on the moment she realized who he was.
“Get back here! What are you scheming?” The red light died down and a green one took its place. She was likely readying her wind powers to chase after him. At least it meant she wouldn’t be trying to burn him to a crisp. What a shame that she couldn’t use more than one element at a time… For her, that is.
Zarc let his lips form a teasing smirk. He chuckled, the sound guttural, and replied, “But that would be telling, wouldn’t it? Sorry, sweetheart, but I can’t stick around. Places to go, things to do.”
The redhead heroine growled, preparing to fly after him. Seeing the tensing of her muscles, he laughed and saluted her before quickly flying away. Sadly for her, his body could handle much higher speeds than hers could, so he easily got away.
He landed in an alleyway, shifting back completely into his human form. This way, she wouldn’t be able to recognize him even if she did catch up. He stuffed his cloak into one of his many hiding spots in the city and walked away, whistling.
Tomorrow, he had two pretty redheads to meet up with. One his lovely girlfriend, the other his enemy whom he loved to tease.
He couldn’t wait for tomorrow.
—
Ray gritted her teeth in frustration as she flew on. Supreme King had always been faster than her and as such he was always able to get away. She definitely wouldn’t be able to catch up with him now, not after the time she had taken to investigate the area.
Once he had left, she had hurriedly investigated the pile of junk he had first been crouched in front of. Of course, she soon found the metal contraption inside. A bomb. And knowing him, he likely had more than just one hidden around the city.
After calling and informing the authorities, Ray had taken off with the futile hope that she would find him again. When it came to searching him out, she tended to have the better luck between the two of them.
So far, though, she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the draconic villain.
Ray had been hoping to glean the number of explosives he had planted, but since he couldn’t be found… In their long history of enmity, though, he always tended to go for good, round numbers. If it was a low number, five. If high, twenty.
He never really strayed much, she thought with grudging fondness. While Supreme King was a villain, he had never actually done anything too disastrous in the years they fought each other. If anything, it seemed more like he tended to bait her.
“I like playing these games with you.”
They were some rather dangerous games, she must admit. But if she had to choose between his admittedly sadistic teasing and a villain who would actually try to do some large-scale damage…
“I’d pick this dumbass any day,” she muttered.
That was when she spotted familiar silver hair down below. Her eyes widened and she flew down into a nearby alley, hurriedly stuffing her mask into her bag. She ran out, chasing after the man.
“Zarc!” Ray waved as her boyfriend turned around, watching affectionately as those golden eyes lit up with excitement.
“Ray!” he exclaimed, arms open wide. She laughingly threw herself into his embrace and planted a chaste kiss on his lips.
Zarc, her goofball of a boyfriend, was a sweet guy. Honestly, he kind of reminded her of a puppy with how excited he always was to see her. An oversized puppy who was quite hopelessly in love with her. Not that she minded, she loved him just as much.
“What are you doing here?” he asked breathlessly. It always seemed like he had his breath taken away whenever she kissed him. It was really endearing.
“I was going to the library to do my report,” she replied. Ray ignored the pang of guilt at the lie, something she was unfortunately quite practiced in.
Zarc didn’t know of her identity as Natura. While she trusted him, she hadn’t had the chance to tell him. Whenever she had brought up the courage, she had always been interrupted. Usually by something stupid.
“Sounds boring,” he grinned. Ray’s heart melted at the sight. His smiles were always quite the sight and she felt like she could swoon whenever she saw them.
A thought came to her and her happiness faltered. Supreme King. The bombs. If she knew him as well as she did, they would likely go off pretty soon. And if they were as well hidden as she knew they were, it would likely take her and the police a while to find them all. Most likely by tomorrow afternoon, if they searched nonstop.
She would have to cancel their date.
“Um, Zarc…” Ray hesitantly glanced upwards, inwardly blanching at the guileless look he was giving her. He’s going to look like a kicked puppy…
“Yeah?” he prompted. His gaze became curious as she fidgeted slightly. “What’s up?”
“I’m… I can’t go on our date tomorrow. I have to finish my report.” Her already finished report. “I’m sorry.”
And there it was. Rather than looking hurt or anything, which was sort of a blessing, he just looked sad. Which, in a way, kind of made it worse.
“I’m sorry,” she repeated, sifting her fingers through his hair. Zarc shook his head, lips forming another smile.
“It’s okay,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I get it. Your report’s a pretty big chunk of your grade, after all. We’ll just go next time. I’ve got other things to do anyways.”
Ray sighed and leaned against him. He was always so understanding. In the months they had been dating, he never really complained whenever she canceled their plans. Something which happened a lot, unfortunately.
“Next time. I promise,” she said. The redhead was going to do her absolute best to keep that promise. “So, what are these ‘other things’ you plan on doing?”
His bright eyes glinted mischievously, matching the teasing grin on his face. “Oh, you know. Places to go, things to do. I’ll bring you another Natura souvenir, too, if you want.”
Ray had to laugh at that. One time, early in their relationship, Zarc had managed to find one of her bracelets. Luckily, he had thought it was one of those toys sold in stores and had taken her to be a Natura fan.
In actuality, that wasn’t the only hint to her secret identity he had found. It was both exasperating and relieving how oblivious her boyfriend was.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she laughed. Giving him one more squeeze, she stepped away. “Alright, I have to go. I’ll see you in a couple days, okay?”
“Okay,” Zarc parroted agreeably. It wasn’t like he would ever say no to seeing her. Smiling, she bid him goodbye before turning away.
She never saw the scowl on his face, eyes bleeding red.
—
BOOM!
“It’s all your fault!” Supreme King screamed, aiming a kick at her. When she easily dodged, his barbed tail smacked into her instead, sending her flying a ways with a grunt.
“It’s not like I was going to just let you bomb the city!” Natura snapped back once she righted herself. She, along with the police, had been successful in finding all the explosives. When the last one had been found, the villain had appeared in all his scaly rage.
Although, she thought, it’s weird that he’s this angry about it. Was he really serious about destroying the city this time?
“Not that,” he yelled, taking another furious swing at her. Natura dodged those sharp claws, things she wasn’t all too eager to feel again, and frowned. It was like he was throwing a tantrum. “I had a hot date and it was cancelled!”
The redhead’s jaw dropped at that. What the hell, that was what he was throwing a hissy fit about?! Anger welled up and she lobbed a punch at his jaw. The irony didn’t escape her that she was in the same boat. While she had been the one to cancel her date, it was all this idiot’s fault!
“Oh, boo-hoo, sweetheart!” the superheroine snarled. “Your tragic life melts my heart. Considering your looks, I bet it was going to be your only date.”
“Hey, I get dates all the time!”
“Your next date’s going to be with justice!”
“Oh my god, that was so lame!”
“Your face is lame!”
“Elemental bitch!”
“Overgrown lizard!”
—
The next time they met, their respective anger had calmed down. Enough so that their last fight—while it wasn’t the first time they fought like a pair of superpowered five-year-olds—was remembered with a good bit of embarrassment.
Supreme King grunted as his back hit the ground. Natura straddled his waist, hands pinning his arms down by the wrists and legs crossed over his so that they couldn’t move. It was kind of funny, though. You’d think she would know how futile it was, what with his enhanced strength and all.
And while she wasn’t exactly the redhead he would prefer to straddle him like this, he wouldn’t deny that this was pretty hot. He grinned up at her as she shifted to settle on him more comfortably. No, he definitely wasn’t going to complain.
“Kinky,” he drawled with a leer. The woman’s skin, already flushed from exertion, turned even redder. Although she felt the urge to let go of him as he had burned her, she kept her grip firm with experience from long years of practice. It wasn’t the first time the guy tried to goad her like this.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Natura panted. Now that she had him pinned, she could use one of her bracelets to manipulate an element to bind him. Not ice, she’d already tried that before. Not surprisingly, the dragon-like villain could actually breathe fire. So this time, she’ll use earth. With all the stone surrounding them, it should be fine.
Of course, Supreme King knew exactly what she was thinking, especially when her earth bracelet started giving off a yellow glow. He tsked and rolled his eyes. “You know, you’re forgetting something.”
Before she had the chance to ask, the heroine yelped as she was wrenched away from her opponent. The scaled man sat up and arched an eyebrow with a smirk. “I’ve got more than just four limbs.”
Natura groaned at his tone of voice, clinging onto the tail wrapped around her midsection. He definitely meant that as an innuendo. “Oh my god, shut up. You’re such a pervert.”
“You love me anyway~”
“For the last time, I have a boyfriend.”
“I’m not opposed to threesomes— Hey, stop throwing fireballs at me!”
“Oh my god, shut up!”
—
Ray stared.
She had somehow stumbled once again on their local, scaly villain digging through a pile of junk. But since he didn’t seem to have noticed her even with his superhuman senses, she decided to keep quiet and see what he was doing.
Not two minutes in, though, she found herself thoroughly distracted by his rear.
He’s my enemy, Ray thought absentmindedly. It did not, however, deter her gaze one bit. Though that godforsaken tail was in the way—she wanted a clearer, betterview, dammit—she could tell that the villain was one fine piece of ass. She had to be blind to not appreciate the firm flesh her eyeballs were currently feasting on.
I feel like I’ve seen it before though… she thought. Not surprising, since I see him at least once a week and I’ve kind of looked at his butt before, but it looks more familiar than it really should. Maybe I’ve been looking too much. I really shouldn’t. I mean, I have Zarc—
The next moment, Ray was behind Supreme King and yanking on that tail.
“OW! WHAT THE HELL?!”
Ray ignored the man’s squirming and cursing, lifting the abused appendage upwards so she could get a clear view of his derriere. Her eyes skimmed over every curve, watching every movement of muscle, and she even groped it to double check. There was a familiar squeak and her lips parted in disbelief.
It wasn’t as if she had never noticed the similarities before. But her boyfriend was so…well, him that she had just chalked it up to small similarities. There was no way that he could be a villain. But here she was with her boyfriend’s butt presenting some undeniable proof.
“Zarc…?”
Zarc froze, wings still in the air where they had paused in the middle of flapping in an attempt to get away from the grip on his tail. He slowly turned his head and crimson met violet.
“…Ray…?”
His girlfriend stared back, taking in his wide eyes and surprised face. Yeah, that was definitely her boyfriend. A red light shone from her wrist and soon she was holding a pretty big fireball in her hand.
Red eyes widened almost comically. “Fuck—”
“You’ve got some explaining to do, sweetheart.”