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Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap.
Momoko tapped her fingers on the table, waiting for the call.
When she had asked Mitama what she was doing today, Mitama simply flashed her a coy smile, kissed her on the cheek, and whispered, "You'll find out later."
Which meant that Momoko, unfortunately, was going to have to deal with whatever Mitama had planned.
Momoko's hero branded device rang, and she sighed.
"Get straight to the point. Where's the fight happenin'?"
Sometimes, Momoko wondered why she had an evil chemist for a girlfriend. As she ran towards the site, she saw the words "FUCK THE MAYOR" in the sky, formed out of some chemical fumes Momoko probably couldn't name.
Mitama could, however, and as Momoko approached the empty lot, she found her girlfriend with what looked like a camera, idly waving her signature see through cloth around. Another woman in black armor, which Momoko recognized as Kanagi, was checking on the camera. Several citizens were leaning against the wall, unconscious, behind her. Mitama smirked as she noticed Momoko.
"What took you so long, Miss Elfriede?" She taunted. "Here I was thinking you wouldn't show up."
Underneath her mask, Momoko rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't I show up, Lady Totentanz?"
Mitama simply giggled. "Maybe you weren't in the mood. I can't read your mind, after all. That's Catacombe's job." Momoko heard a small huff from Kanagi. "Where are your two minions, by the way?"
Momoko's eyes steeled. "They're not my minions, you know that. What did you even do to those people?"
"What did I do? Why don't you guess?" Mitama hummed, twirling around her cloth. The air grew heavy, and Momoko instinctively covered her face, trying not to breathe in the air.
HQ didn't tell me that there were people here. Wait a minute, why do they look like…
Momoko internally swore. Somehow, Mitama and Kanagi had managed to knock out and kidnap the mayor and her associates, and guessing from the camera, they planned to either make the mayor and her associates say that they were finally going to support the east-west unity effort, or make them quit their jobs. It was a gamble on which one they were going to do, and while Momoko thought that it was a noble effort for the people of the east, threatening the mayor wasn't the best way to do it.
Momoko needed to stall until Kaede and Rena arrived. She couldn't fight until they arrived, especially with the chemicals in the air. Momoko had learned her lesson far too many times that trying to set something on fire while Mitama's chemicals were dispersed wasn't going to end well, for her and her medical bill.
"Hm. Her guess is correct," Kanagi noted. Dammit, I forgot Kanagi could read minds. "Though your plan to stall us out won't work. Totentanz, keep the camera safe. Elfriede, I will not let you interfere." She summoned her javelin-like pennon. "Prepare to be eliminated."
"Aye-aye!" Mitama chirped. "Don't beat her up too much, she still needs to have a face for me to kiss later!"
Momoko groaned, face faintly tinted pink, and summoned her greatsword, her arm still covering her lower face.
Even if Mitama had asked Kanagi not to hurt her too much, a beating from the Boss of the East was still a beating.
"Shit!" Momoko swore as she nearly dodged a hit from Kanagi's pennon. She quickly blocked a swing with her claymore, and then kicked towards Kanagi's legs, forcing her to move back.
Momoko coughed, choking on the chemicals in the air. She knew Mitama wouldn't put anything lethal, but whatever was in the air was slowing her down.
Where the hell are Rena and Kaede? They normally don't take this long to come…
The news helicopters flew around in the air, broadcasting their fight. As much as Momoko would prefer they stay away and not take the risk of getting hurt, she knew the media ate their fights up like candy.
Momoko then heard the crackle of electricity. She immediately knew that Kanagi was preparing an attack, and probably the one she was most famous for: her Light of Conviction attack. By generating spheres of electricity, she could hit multiple targets at once. From experience, Momoko knew that it would hurt even more if they locked onto one target alone.
She quickly charged at Kanagi to stop the attack, but was blocked by a sudden puff of smoke.
"Nuh-uh~" Mitama said, waggling a finger. She was now wearing a pair of goggles that amplified her mad scientist look. "You're not stopping us this time." She then set off a flash bang, light searing into Momoko's eyes.
Momoko swore and blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of the burning feeling. Stumbling around, she collapsed on the ground.
"'Kay, Catacombe, it's your time to shine. Remember not to mess her up too much~"
Kanagi hummed in acknowledgement, and powered up her electric spheres.
Welp, I guess I'm going to lose. RIP my medical bill…
When the spheres were about to fire, Momoko heard a rumbling noise from underneath, and then the sound of something cracking. Momoko braced for impact, but after a couple seconds, she heard Kanagi click her tongue in annoyance. She then felt someone's hand on her shoulder.
"Heya, Elfriede. Sorry we're late, we were on the other side of town and HQ held us up a bit."
"F-fuyu."
Momoko blinked as her vision slowly came back. Rena was kneeling next to her with something in her hand, while Kaede was reinforcing her wall of vines. Both of them wore masks covering the bottom half of their faces.
"Can you see now?" Rena asked. Momoko nodded. Rena then handed Momoko a mask identical to the ones they were wearing.
"Where did you get these from?" Momoko wondered, as she put the mask on.
"HQ heard that Mitama was gonna be here and that she developed a new kind of weakening chemical. Hinano and the others were rushing to finish developing the masks, so they held us up."
"No wonder my body feels like it's got chills…" Momoko trailed off. Rena offered her hand and helped her stand. Momoko then felt the chills disappear, and knew that Rena had used a Connect.
"Just a little extra power boost."
"U-um, are you done talking? I d-don't think my wall's going to last much longer!" Kaede squeaked. Crackling electricity could be heard striking the wall, until a pennon stabbed through the growth, causing Kaede to squeak again.
"Alright, drop the wall, Kaede. It's time for a fight."
"Cendrillon, you take Catacombe and I'll take Totentanz! Zola, make sure that the mayor and her associates are safe. Once they are, combo with Cendrillon!"
"'Kay!" "F-fuyu!"
Momoko turned to face Mitama, who pouted.
"Hmph. Cheater, you got a way around my fumes. Oh well, guess I'll actually have to fight." Mitama pulled out another bomb and threw it, creating a large plume of smoke. "Catch me if you can~"
Momoko huffed and waved her claymore around, quickly trying to get rid of the smoke. Mitama took the opportunity to throw another bomb, creating an explosion and knocking Momoko back into a wall. Another smoke bomb was thrown and Momoko blinked, looking for some kind of opening.
An easier way to get rid of the smoke and get in a hit…oh, I've got it.
Momoko jumped up high and wreathed herself in fire.
"Now…the Universe's Edge!"
Momoko flew down like a torpedo, creating a blast of rubble and debris.
Meanwhile, Rena clashed with Kanagi, weapons repeatedly clanging against each other. Kanagi jumped back and shot a bolt of electricity at Rena, who quickly transformed into Sana and disappeared. Kanagi let out a tch sound and began to rain down lightning.
"Where are you…" Kanagi huffed. She heard a small squeak of pain and threw her pennon at the noise, hitting Rena and forcing her to drop her transformation.
Kanagi summoned her pennon back and rushed at Rena, who blocked with her trident.
"Hey, Zola, I need some help here!"
Kaede fuyu-ed in affirmation and created a barrier of plants around the mayor and her associates. She then called more vines to trap Kanagi, who struggled against the restraints.
"Now!"
Rena and Kaede Connected, and both used their weapons to create a blast of both water and flora. The blast collided head-on with Kanagi, pushing her against the concrete floor.
The dust from both Momoko's attack and Rena and Kaede's combo strike settled. Kanagi and Mitama stood up shakily, with parts of Kanagi's armor destroyed and most of Mitama's scientist outfit charred.
"Ugh…Elfriede, you didn't have to hit me that hard. You're not even that rough with me in bed!"
"Hey, hey, TMI! I don't need to hear what you and Elfriede do in bed!" Rena exclaimed. Kaede fuyu-ed in agreement, and Momoko's face went pink.
"Ah, Totentanz, we should retreat before the authorities come."
"You are the leader of the police!"
"You know I can't just show my face. Come along."
"Hmph, fine. Bye~!"
Mitama and Kanagi quickly made their escape. The trio went to go wake up the mayor and her accomplices. The police arrived and took care of the mayor and the others, while news outlets began showing up.
"Shoot, the news outlets are here. Do we have to do this?" Rena whined.
Momoko sighed. "Yeah, we have to. Just part of being a hero, after all."
After a checkup from HQ, Momoko arrived home, where she found Mitama in the kitchen.
"You're back~" Mitama went to give her a kiss on the cheek. "We didn't hurt you too much, did we?"
Momoko gave her a kiss back. "You roughed me a lot, though no major injuries. You and Kanagi okay?"
"Kanagi's mostly okay because of her armor. I got some burns, but nothing too bad. San healed up most of the burns."
"Eh, some of the Takarazaki girls are back in town? "
"Yeah, though I think San is here to promote her festival."
Momoko sat down at the table and sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder why I became a hero. Fight to keep innocent people safe because the government wants to stir the pot, and deal with all their consequences. Don't even get any benefits."
"Well, they give me discounts for buying groceries."
"Maybe I should be a villain instead, so you're not the one buying groceries all the time."
"Maybe you should~ Join the dark side and commit crimes with me!"
"On second thought, maybe not. I don't think I'd be able to pull off the stunt you did. Like, I get that the mayor hasn't been treating the East well, but you didn't have to kidnap her."
Mitama shrugged. "Oh well. What's done is done. She deserved it anyway, for rigging the election."
Momoko sighed, and then paused for a minute. "Wait, do I smell smoke?"
"Eh? You do? I wanted to make sausages with rice, strawberries, and ice cream."
The pan Mitama was cooking on suddenly burst into flames, making her squeak and jump back.
Momoko ran to get the fire extinguisher (who she personally called Sayu, because every time Mitama tried cooking, she'd rather listen to Sayu-Sayu) and quickly sprayed it around, leaving the kitchen a foamy mess.
"Let's just order takeout."
About 20 minutes later, the kitchen was cleaned up and Felicia arrived with their takeout from Banbanzai. Momoko made sure to give her a generous tip for delivering their dinner.
They jumped on the couch with their food, and Mitama leaned down, putting her head on Momoko's shoulder.
Momoko flicked through the channels on the TV until she found some kind of cheesy horror movie.
They watched the film, eating the greasy food, until Mitama suddenly turned around to face Momoko. "Are you mad at me for kidnapping the mayor?"
"Why do you ask?" Momoko wondered, glancing at Mitama.
"You just seemed kind of annoyed earlier."
Momoko smiled. "Well, I am a little mad 'cause I had to deal with all the hero things, but I'm not mad at you, specifically. It's kinda hard to be mad at you with that cute face of yours."
"Since when were you so smooth?" Mitama purred.
"Are you implying that I wasn't good at flirting before?"
Mitama giggled. "No, no. You've always been good at flirting, you know~"
Momoko then pulled Mitama into a kiss. When they both pulled back, Momoko said, "I love you, Mitama. And you know that's not gonna change unless you do something horrendously evil. "
"Ehehe, I love you too, Momoko. Even if you keep stopping my plans."
Momoko smirked and gave Mitama another kiss. "Stopping your plans is my specialty."
Mitama huffed. "Whatever. Let's keep watching."
The two snuggled together, watching the movie in blissful peace.