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Reki sat on the very top of a building and pulled off his mask. His red hair freely whipped around his face as the strong winds blew, threatening to knock him over if he didn’t have the ability to stick to a concrete wall.
It had been a year since Reki’s spider-like superpowers were forcefully bestowed upon him.
“I should never have gotten Langa involved…” He woefully ran one hand through his hair while shifting his eyes across the hideout he had been stalking.
This widespread gang that the two of them had been tracking turned out to be far more than simple thugs. Their leader had superpowers too. Unfortunately for Reki and Langa, the leader also had the ability to share said powers with his underlings, making fighting back far too difficult for them to handle.
Langa was taken because of him. And that wasn’t Reki being hard on himself. As Langa was being thrown into the back of a van in front of Reki –who was rendered useless at the time– the man explained that the only way to rid the city of Mechanic-Spider was to apply pressure where it really mattered.
When Reki saw one of the henchmen on guard duty move around the corner, he threw his mask back over his head and swung into action. It would be easy to enter unseen, as he was coming from the building adjacent to the hideout. The building had all but been abandoned, making it easy to forget. But for this group, it made the perfect hideout; hiding in plain sight. Reki noticed two men inside, one of them being the guard he was watching. Careful to stick to the wall just outside of view, Reki crawled through the open window and slipped easily into the hideout.
As he jumped down, he noticed that the empty first floor was much larger than he expected. Taking in his surroundings, Reki noted the high ceilings and thick plastic tarps that separated pieces of the entire open space. Debris littered the floor, which Reki made sure to avoid in order to remain unheard and unseen. He felt a tingle and immediately shot himself up toward the ceiling, coming face to face with one of the underlings.
“You look surprised!” Reki cackled, pointing at them with the hand that wasn’t holding him to the unfinished plaster.
Immediately, the man drew his handgun and aimed it at Reki. Before he could fire, Reki fired a string of silken webs and yanked the gun from the man’s hand. He leaped down from the ceiling and quickly leaned out of the way to avoid a right hook from the angered man.
Reki threw a punch of his own, sending the henchman staggering backward a few steps. To his left, the second man stomped into view from behind one of the thick tarps.
Stairs, Reki thought, catching a glimpse of the rest of the layout of the abandoned building. Langa must be up those stairs.
“It’s you!” The second man cried, moving a bit faster than the first.
His fluid punch barely scraped Reki’s cheek as Reki flipped over him, landing closer to the first man.
“Whoa, you almost got me!” Reki gasped dramatically. With a sweep of his leg, Reki managed to catch Henchman Number One off guard. He stumbled before falling onto his back with a loud thud. Reki then shot his webs at the wrists of Henchman Number Two, tying them together. That didn’t stop him from charging toward Reki as he attempted to reach for his firearm.
Reki rolled his eyes –not that they could see under his mask– and gracefully attached himself to the ceiling, causing the henchmen to crash into each other. Both of them grunted and stared up at him. Henchman Number Two managed to draw his weapon and fire one shot in Reki’s direction. When he struggled to do so again, he tossed the gun to his counterpart.
“Enough of this, guys!” Reki called out, snatching the gun and sticking it to the ceiling with a satisfied smirk.
As he dropped down, each underling took turns attempting to attack Reki. Neither of them could land a hit. Reki jumped onto the back of one and wrapped his arm around his throat. While he was being hit in the head, Reki shot his web at the second, sealing him tight to the opposite wall. The man gasped for breath and went limp beneath Reki. Once he hit the floor, Reki dashed forward and punched the second man as hard as he could, knocking him out as well.
Reki made quick work of dragging both unconscious men behind what appeared to be a large storage container. He skipped toward the stairs and jumped up to swing into the stairwell.
“That was too easy,” Reki commented out loud. But rather than think too much about it, he shrugged it off as he dashed to the second floor.
The second floor was just as empty as the first. He could sense Langa close by, making it easy for him to run down the wide hallway.
“Why aren’t there any more guards?”
It was strange that they would leave their prisoner unguarded, but it made Reki’s job much easier.
He skidded around a corner to find a closed door. Reki jiggled the handle and was surprised to find it unlocked. Upon opening the door, Langa’s fallen face snapped forward to reveal glistening blue eyes that made Reki’s heart soar. He was grateful his mask was still on, otherwise, his dopey grin would be on display for his best friend to see. Not that he didn’t want Langa to see how happy he was, but he was sure his smile would give away his true feelings.
“Langa,” Reki exclaimed.
Langa smiled but remained silent as Reki wasted no time in removing his best friend’s restraints. Langa had been tied to a chair, his hands behind him and his ankles attached to the back legs.
“I knew it wouldn’t take you long to find me,” Langa whispered as he rubbed the red marks on his wrists.
His voice was a soothing symphony to Reki’s ears. The confidence Langa had in him caused a wave of butterflies to flutter through his gut. Reki hummed and grabbed Langa’s hand.
“Come on, we need to get out of here.”
Langa ran alongside Reki in perfect stride, his hand still holding tightly to Reki’s.
“Where did everyone go?” Langa wondered aloud, nearly out of breath when they came to a stop to hide behind a wall. Reki turned sharply to stare at Langa in both confusion and concern.
“Everyone? Langa, there were only two–”
Before he could finish recounting how he only removed two men from the scene, a tingle ran up his spine, causing him to throw himself over Langa. In a matter of seconds, there was a small explosion that crumbled most of the wall they had been hiding behind.
The ringing in Reki’s ears was disorienting, but not enough to keep him down for long. He jumped to his feet and scooped Langa up along with him. Aiming his wrist at the ceiling, Reki held Langa close and swung over the debris. They were met with four lightly armed guards, similar to the two Reki took out downstairs.
He gently placed Langa down and gestured for him to hide. “Go! I’ll take care of them.”
“I’m not leaving without you! Let me help!”
Reki couldn’t argue much when the four men began to make their moves. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Langa flawlessly dodge punches and throw a few of his own.
“When did you learn how to fight?” Reki asked in awe of Langa’s graceful movements as he attached one of the men to the ceiling with his webs.
Langa chuckled, stumbling backward slightly into Reki’s back. Langa grabbed at the wrist of the man he was fighting, incapacitating him. His firearm hit the ground with a loud clank before Langa explained himself.
“The day you told me you ended up with these powers, I knew that one day I would need to be ready to fight by your side. So…”
Reki turned to face Langa after launching another one of the guards into the ceiling. Langa smiled, his cheeks tinged slightly pink.
“I went out and learned.”
The look on his best friend’s face could only be described as adoration. Sparkling blue eyes were locked on his, even under the mask. For a moment, Reki couldn’t breathe. His racing heart wasn’t just from the rush he got while taking down bad guys; Langa was almost always the cause of the most intense irregularities of his pulse.
“But I’ve wanted to keep you as far away from all of this as possible,” Reki whined after finally finding his breath. He waved his hands around, specifically to the now four men wrapped in spider webs hanging from the ceiling.
Langa giggled and took a step toward Reki, reaching his hands out to grasp his shoulders.
“Look how well that turned out. Aren’t you glad I could help in more ways than just being your tech guy?”
Reki rolled his eyes with a dramatic shake of his head. He scanned the walls for an easily accessible window the two of them could use as an escape. When his eyes locked onto one he was sure was accompanied by a balcony, Reki took Langa’s hand again and gestured with his chin for them to move along.
They ran as quickly as they could, hand in hand, toward the exit. Just as they reached the window, Reki had a sense they were no longer alone. But it came too late. Reki turned around and was met with wide, terrified eyes staring back at him.
“Reki!” Langa cried out, his hand slipping from Reki’s grasp.
Even Reki’s incredibly quick reflexes weren’t fast enough to grab Langa’s hand before he was pulled away. The hair on the back of Reki’s neck stood on end as he came face-to-face with the one responsible for Langa’s kidnapping.
The looming figure released a low, bellowing laugh as he held Langa tight. No matter how much Langa flailed and pushed, the one holding him wouldn’t budge.
“Did you really think I’d let you win that easily, Mechanic-Spider?”
Reki clicked his tongue, balling his fists at his side. He should have known it was a trap. It was far too easy to get in and find Langa. He could hear multiple sets of footsteps shuffling on the floor below them, which meant the self-titled “Empwrath of Japan” must have called in for backup.
Empwrath was known for having the ability to read a person’s aura and use their feelings against them in terrible ways. From forcing hallucinations to manipulating others with the knowledge he gained, this power was dangerous both psychologically and physically. Reki needed to act quickly if he was going to get Langa out of there before either of them were read.
“Leave Langa out of this, Wimpwrath!” Reki mocked the villain as he circled around him slowly, waiting for an opening.
“That is not my name, you pathetic little twerp!”
“It might as well be,” Reki sassed, throwing both hands into the air to launch himself toward the ceiling.
Just as Reki believed he had an in, a wicked grin pulled across the man’s face. He spun on his heels and dashed toward the stairs, his long legs taking no time to get there and through the stairwell.
He’s toying with me, Reki fumed, swinging himself toward the landing.
“Why are you bothering with Langa? Isn’t your whole spiel to take down others with powers or something? So then this isn’t about him!”
“That’s where you’re wrong!” Empwrath bellowed, breaking open a window on the fourth floor of the building.
Langa winced in an attempt to protect his face from the glass.
“I made him my target because of you! You see, my aura readings are never wrong.”
Reki felt blood rush to his head, the room around him spinning as his mouth went dry. He fell to his feet, looking up at Langa rather than the one he was fighting. His heart thundered in his chest at the terrifying realization.
“You…read…”
“It’s quite easy to read the aura of someone in love! It was crystal clear!”
Another roar of a laugh echoed off of the concrete walls as Empwrath dropped Langa onto the floor. He swiftly held Langa’s arms behind his back and pushed him toward the balcony.
How could Reki have been so careless? When he realized he was in love with Langa, he told himself that it would never get in the way of their pact to protect the city.
“You son of a–” Reki seethed, taking a few steps closer.
“Ah ah, come any closer and I’ll send this one to his death.”
Reki paused, a lump rising in his throat. Langa looked over his shoulder, his eyes wide in total fear. “Reki…”
“Langa, I’m so sorry. I tried to hide it the best that I could, especially knowing what he could do. I never meant to put you in danger like this!”
“Well isn’t that sweet!” Empwrath whipped Langa around, away from the ledge, forcing him into closer proximity to Reki. Langa stumbled, blue hair falling into his pale face.
“Mechanic-Spider is in love!”
“Wh–why are you acting surprised? You said your readings are always correct. Should we call you ‘Empwra-Liar’ now?” Not one of Reki’s better burns, but the small smile that pulled across Langa’s face was worth it.
Empwrath tugged on Langa, pulling him into his chest and squeezed his cheeks with one hand. “My men actually reported this one’s aura to me! He was oozing with nothing but fondness and devotion for this city’s Mechanic-Spider!”
Empwrath backed up again toward the open window and hollered. Reki felt completely helpless as a tear fell down Langa’s face. The closer Reki got, the closer Langa was to being hurt more than he already had been.
“I’m sorry you had to find out like this, Reki. It turns out I was the one who put you in danger.”
“That’s enough of that.” Empwrath snapped. “Make your choice, Mechanic-Spider. Have me arrested, or save the one you love!”
Before Reki could speak, he watched in horror as Langa was dropped by the evil man. Everything happened in slow motion; Empwrath walked right past Reki as his eyes followed Langa’s trajectory.
But for Reki, the choice was an easy one to make. It was one that could potentially be detrimental to the whole of their operation, as well as to the city.
The friendly, neighborhood Mechanic-Spider let the big bad villain escape in order to save Langa. Faster than he ever flew, Reki leaped from the fourth floor and gathered Langa into his arms in mid-air. Lean, shaking arms immediately wrapped around Reki’s neck. Langa buried his face in Reki’s chest and let out a low whimper.
“I’ve got you. Okay?” As gracefully as he could, Reki swung the two of them into a dark alleyway, far away from where the action had taken place. Once they landed, Reki held Langa by the shoulders and looked him up and down. “Are you hurt?”
Of course Langa was hurt; if not physically, then emotionally or mentally. There didn’t seem to be any marks on Langa, but he needed to be sure. “Did they do anything to you that I didn’t notice? I’m so sorry, Langa, this is my fault. I should have been more careful to–”
“So, were his readings correct?” Langa asked, cutting off Reki’s rambling apology.
Reki swallowed hard. “H-his readings? Um…” Langa reached for Reki’s hands and took them in his own.
“Reki, do you love me?”
Reki was grateful his mask was still on. His face immediately burned at the very pointed question. After a moment of deafening silence, Reki nodded slowly. “Yeah. I-I do.”
Langa exhaled a soft laugh through his nose and let go of Reki’s hands. Reki watched as glimmering blue eyes checked their surroundings before reaching for the seam of Reki’s mask. Langa’s fingers curled under the material, pulling it off completely so the two of them were eye-to-eye. The mask hit the ground with a soft plop as Langa cupped Reki’s cheeks in both hands.
In one breathtaking motion, Langa’s lips connected with Reki’s. Reki snaked his arms around the small of Langa’s back and pulled him in as close as he could. No amount of tingling would ever compare to the way everything inside of Reki burst into a pleasant warmth. It was like there were tiny fireworks going off between the two of them with each gentle tilt of their heads. Langa’s hands slid back into Reki’s wild hair, sending a shiver down his spine. He smiled against his best friend before they pulled away at the same time.
“I love you, too, you ridiculous spider.” Langa nuzzled his nose against Reki’s. Reki beamed and quickly glanced up at the city skyline. He met Langa’s gaze with a smirk, to which Langa adorably cocked his head to the side, furrowing his brows.
Reki lifted one arm overhead and reached the other around Langa’s waist, yanking the one he loved toward him. Langa yelped and stumbled a bit, crashing perfectly into Reki’s hold. Reki pressed their lips together as he released a string of webs at the closest building.
“Let’s go home.”
