Rena Fic 1

        Cursing the unseasonable chill of the day, Rena clutched the warm loaf of banana bread to her chest as she made her way towards Monster Maestro’s apartment.  The dessert wasn’t all that much compared to her nemesis’ formidable cooking abilities, but she’d figured that some offering was better than just mooching and stealing the villain’s food as usual.  It seemed like something a “hero” would do.  She smiled as the wind shifted and drew some of the sweet scent to her nose, satisfied that she had finally figured out a recipe that she could pull off without utter failure.  Bridgette had tried her best to teach her the subtle art of cooking, but Rena could still clearly recall the poor girl’s expression when she had tried the quiche that Rena had made.  Baking had been her refuge after that disaster, since it was much harder to mess up simple directions like cups and teaspoons, and making sweets for people was much more fun anyway.

        Her baking had certainly made her popular at the hero headquarters while she tried out various recipes.  They didn’t mind being the guinea pigs for her experiments, and Rena found that giving heroes free food was an excellent way to ask for advice and pick their brains on being a good hero.  Well, surviving this madness that she had fallen into, really, but “being a good hero” sounded much nicer.  The gatherings could get pretty rowdy though, like the time that Anti-Hero and Giga-Gandhi got into an argument over the proper way to stop villainy, or this morning’s rather…interesting topic.

        Rena ducked her head deeper into her hood as a blush began to work across her cheeks.  There had been a lively debate over the merits of seducing your arch-nemeses to try to have them switch sides, which had quickly spiraled into discussing the techniques used and ‘examples’.  She had managed to flee before Desu-chan could tell the story of how the Tentacle Monster had been brought to work for the heroes, but she had heard enough stories to really make her start questioning this entire hero business.  It could be worse, she thought, at least her nemesis was fairly cute.  It wouldn’t be too terrible to…

Her blush spread all the way to her ears as she caught that line of thought before it could go any further.  “What the hell am I thinking?” she groaned.

        She firmly decided that she was spending entirely too much time around the other heroes and picking up their bad habits, she just needed to hang around some normal people.  Though the decision was complicated by her distinct lack of any other friends, since she had lost touch with all of people from high school, and there was no one from college that she could really call a friend.  Making more friends, that’s what she should do, she thought with fierce determination, ones that didn’t wear tights, dodge death every time they went to work, or seduce their greatest enemies for the greater good!  No matter how awesome their nemesis looked in a skintight leotard!

        “Nope, only thinking of food!  Delicious homemade food, no leotards,” she chanted quietly, wielding images of freshly cooked ravioli like a shield against any further unwanted thoughts.

        Thankfully, she soon caught sight of Bridgette’s apartment building and hunger took up most of her thoughts rather than mortifying embarrassment, and she sped up her pace in excitement.  “Come on, open up!” she complained as she pushed the door buzzer a few times, the cold making itself known now that she wasn’t being warmed by walking.  

        The few seconds until the lock clicked open were a torture spent huddling in the doorway to avoid the wind, but the warm lobby and the heavenly smell of Italian cooking wafting down the stairs soon made up for it.  She moved up the stairs quickly and knocked on the Monster Maestro’s door, already wondering whether it would be better to go for the garlic bread or for the main dish first.

        All of these dreams quickly evaporated as the door opened and she heard the most horrifying sound the world had ever known.  “Yes~?  Oh Rena, so good to see you again!”

        Some deep animal instinct, acting before her mind could even begin to process the terror that faced her, made her turn and begin to run.  Well, that’s as far as she got before the Monster Master hooked a hand into her collar and dragged her back into a rather tight hug, anyway.  

“My my, what’s this?  Trying to get away from me already,” Cynthia purred, “And here I was looking forward to dinner…”

        Rena tried to stop her shaking long enough to beg for mercy, but only got, “D-day off, please no b-b-blood,” out before her panic made her lock up like a rabbit facing down a snake.

        She mentally prepared herself for her death as she felt Cynthia’s arms pull her tighter, but the sound of laughter caught her completely off guard.  “Ufuu ufuu~, don’t you worry, my dear sister invited me over for dinner.  She’s out getting the bread now since she forgot to pick some up, and what is Italian food without bread, hm?  You are safe.”

        Rena tried to bottle down her panic as the older woman’s hug loosened, but squeaked as the older woman leaned closer and whispered, “For now~.”

        “Thanks—yes lots of thanks, gotta put dessert down,” she babbled as she wriggled out of the villain’s grasp and fled into the apartment, using the excuse of slicing the banana bread to hide in the kitchen.

        Well, that and to try ignore the elegant laughter coming from the front room if she was being honest, Rena thought miserably as she unwrapped her creation and began to slowly slice it.  She really wasn’t sure if Cynthia actually wanted to kill her or just scare the daylights out of her, but she desperately wished that MM were here.  After trying to stretch cutting the bread out for a good five minutes, she finally gave up the game and decided to face her death with a bit of dignity.  With a last, longing look at the delicious food festooning the table, she stiffly walked into the living room and sat down on the couch next to the terrifying woman.  “So…um, how are you doing,” she managed to squeak out before her voice failed her.

        “I am doing wonderfully, dear, thanks for asking.  I managed to get my teeth into an S-Rank hero recently, picked up a few new ideas for monster forms, you know how it is,” the Monster Master said warmly, though her satisfied smile at the mention of the S-Rank hero made Rena sink further into the couch.

Laughing weakly, Rena decided that another topic would probably be a better idea, “Yeah, cool.  Are you uh, hanging out with Bridgette more?”

        Cynthia smiled at the mention of her little sister.  “Why yes, your idea with the clothes worked out just perfectly.  She’s still a bit distant, but I suppose that’s what happens when a girl grows up,” she paused, glancing slightly at Rena before continuing, “Though she keeps talking about this new hero boy.  Vash something or other, very brooding, dark past, the works.  She seems obsessed with defeating him to show her power.”

        Rena shot up in surprise as the villain continued going on about her sister’s plot to defeat the new rising star in the hero community, “I thought I was her nemesis!” she blurted before sinking back into the couch to hide her massive blush, “I mean, um, yay.  She won’t be trying to fight me anymore?”

        Her attempts to bury herself into the couch made her miss her companion’s satisfied smirk.  “And what if I told you all that was all a lie?” Cynthia drawled, dragging out the sentence like she was savoring every word.

        “Oh awesome, you had me worri-,” was all that Rena managed to get out before the Monster Master’s tail whipped out and dragged the redhead closer.

        “So, you are interested in my dear, dear sister,” she said with a grin that would have been pleasant if not for the canine teeth slowly growing into fangs, “And what exactly are your intentions?”

        Rena tried desperately to come up with an answer that could possibly get her out of this, but the realization of how jealous of the fake ‘Vash’ she actually was shocked her into stuttering for an answer.  Well, that and panic from an enormous snake’s coils slowly wrapping about her, she thought with an almost hysteric humor.

        Her desperate fumbling only made Cynthia’s smile grow wider, “Were you hoping to get close, find out all you could, then destroy her?  Maybe use her as a shield against me?”

        The coils began to squeeze tight, making Rena’s desperate attempt to find an excuse all the harder.  The Monster Master continued talking with a glare that did not bode well for the future, “Or could it be something to do with that conversation about seducing villains that you had earlier?”

        “Oh don’t be surprised, we have our ways of finding out information,” she said when Rena’s eyes shot open (though she wasn’t sure if the blush was the blood being squeezed to her head or crushing embarrassment that caused her face to flush.), “But I digress.  So you wish to steal my sister in such a -lewd- way?”

        “Um, I didn’t, uh, maybe…” she gasped, which only made her captor lean in closer.

        “Well I won’t allow it, she’s much too young to date that seriously yet,” Cynthia said as she brought her fangs closer to Rena’s neck, her warm breath making the anticipation of death all the more nerve-wracking for the hero, “I might just have to make sure that you can’t try to steal my sister.  Shall I drain you dry?”

        Finding her voice at last, Rena desperately begged, “Anything else!  Please, I’ll do anything!  I won’t come over again, I’ll leave you two alone I’ll- .”

        Her voice trailed off as she realized Cynthia was no longer at her neck, but was staring at her with a devious smile instead.  “My my~, did I hear you’ll do anything?  And I don’t think you staying away will do any good, Bridgette has taken entirely too much of a liking for that,” Rena locked up in utter bafflement as she felt a coil brush between her legs, and her captor’s smile turned predatory, “Maybe I should just claim you for myself.  You are pretty enough, and it would solve all of our problems, hmm?”

        “You’re very, um pretty, but-um, I, wait,” Rena desperately babbled as the villain drew closer, not entirely sure if this was going to be a fate worse than death or strangely pleasant.

        Suddenly, thankfully, the door swung open at just this moment.  Bridgette walked in and stopped as she caught sight of the two on the couch.  “Sis, stop trying to kill my friend, will you?  She’s our guest, and we’ve got better food to eat.  Let her go and help me make some garlic bread.”

        “Aw, you never let me have any fun~,” Cynthia pouted, and slowly began to unravel the coils that were constricting Rena, “And you interrupted right when we were getting to the good part.”

        Rena was a shaking, blushing mess by the time that the Monster Master had gently deposited her onto the couch, her mind so busy trying to catch up with what the hell had just happened that she didn’t dart away immediately.  The older woman gently brushed by her to follow her sister into the kitchen, but paused when she passed in front of Rena, leaned down, and whispered, “Not a word of this to Bridgette, and don’t you dare try anything with her, you’re mine.  And remember,” Rena started as she felt the woman’s fangs on her neck again, “I will be watching.  Just to make sure, hmm?”

        With that, she drifted into the kitchen, that infernal laugh floating behind her as Rena sat and tried to brush her shattered psyche together.  After a few minutes of hyperventilation and panic, the redhead staggered to her feet and slowly made her way to the kitchen table.  She sat with an audible thump, her legs not quite up to the task of gently lowering her, and stared at the food to avoid looking at either of the sisters that were busily bringing the various dishes to the table.

        She only looked up once the two had seated themselves and began to dish out the admittedly wonderful looking ravioli, and started as she realized Cynthia was looking right at her while Bridgette was distracted with filling dishes for everybody.  The woman smiled, winked, then said, “Ara ara, everything looks utterly delicious~”