[Weight Gain]

“Another night, another villain tossed away.”

A gruff sounding voice echoed throughout a dark alleyway, only for a bit of light to illuminate it courtesy of a young woman’s flaming hand. This wasn’t normally how she’d activate her powers, but considering the condition her body was in, it wasn’t going to hurt much in the long run.

The woman, Akane Araya, had died once before. So setting herself on fire with the remnants of the powers that she once had wasn’t a big deal. It was only when she tapped into the power that kept her walking that things got interesting, but for now this would have to do.

She had once been one of the city’s most popular and most devoted heroines. Natura Rouge. The leader of the Natura Couleur, and a shining beacon for everyone to rally behind. Sure, she had managed to defeat the enemy, but at the cost of her own life… If not for that same enemy to bring her back like a parasite, resulting in this horrid amalgamation between the two of them. It meant that she never truly felt alive, yet at the same time her conscience kept that thing from acting out, so… in the end, neither of them truly got what they wanted.

“You’d think with ‘Bris not fueling their powers, they would stop coming out. But no, they still do.” The long-haired redhead muttered to herself as she flicked her wrist, putting the fire out now that she made it into the main street. She quickly pulled her hoodie up to hide her distinct red hair away before walking away casually like everyone else around her, just another face among the masses.

As she walked, she thought back to how she had been before all of this began. Something she had forgotten ever since she met that tiny light. The light that had forced her into service as the beacon of justice. She remembered how she kept getting into fights with the trashiest people around, and how she kept standing up no matter how many times they knocked her down. Well, the one time she got back up as a hero, this happened.

It sucked. It sucked even more that she had to fight her friends, even if it resulted in something positive. She made up with them all, and she got to see how far Bleu and Vert had come since she passed. It gave her closure, but she couldn’t just pass away again. So, this was her solution. Linger around the streets, beat up villains that they didn’t have the heart to eliminate, and just keep on living. Even if it meant that she couldn’t feel much, it was still enough to make her blackened soul resonate positively…

“Heh. I wonder what Bleu would say now, if she saw me doing all this?” Akane muttered to herself as she rubbed away at the back of her head, feeling a little sheepish as her cheeks started to flush red. Even with her mind freed from the influence of the thing that turned her into a heroine, she still harbored some feelings for her former partner.

Her brief remembrance was interrupted as her eyes fluttered wide open, darting around in a mild daze as she caught wind of some wonderful scent. “What… What is that?” She kept her voice down so it wouldn’t be too loud and people might think she’s a bigger weirdo than she really was, but the way that the scent tickled her nose had really managed to set her off.

She couldn’t help herself as she almost barreled through the crowd, doing her best to not push too many people aside before coming to a stop as she reached the source of the scent. A place she had never before considered when she was a heroine, but now it seemed irresistible.

...A simple fast food joint. That’s what had gotten Akane’s attention, even though she had done nothing more than stare at it with longing eyes. She could feel a little bit of drool running down her chin as she carefully stepped inside, still not wanting to attract too much attention.

Thankfully, it had one of those automatic ordering stations, so she didn’t have to bother anybody. She could just survey the menu, looking at every single picture with an increasingly desperate need. From different types of extravagant fries to burgers as big as her head, her desire couldn’t be quenched.

“I… I need it all…” She muttered as she quickly fished her wallet out of her pocket, and as soon as she laid her eyes on the money she had managed to scrounge up thanks to all the villains she had dealt with, a voice in the back of her head tried to whisper through to her.

...Why was she so fixated on all of this? She tried to think about the reason, without even noticing that she had ordered every single thing that the joint had to offer. Even their salads. Her mind and her body were out of sync, and it was only after that she had sat down with her ticket that they resynced.

“What the hell is wrong with me…” Akane muttered to herself as she rubbed her cheeks and her forehead, struggling to use her brain for what it was meant for. Which could only mean thing… “...Of course it’d be you. Of course you’d make me this hungry…”

Her eyes lit up ever so slightly as she put her hands on her face, letting her stare into an empty black void where only a single pair of eyes stared back at her. The consciousness of Tenebris, the Darkness of the city that she had once defeated and forcibly fused with after her revival. Who… didn’t seem quite so pleased with the look her host was giving her.

“What? Don’t look at me, I was sleeping.” The black-eyed creature spoke, and if it had a body to express itself with it would’ve probably crossed its arms. “I haven’t done anything to your body in weeks, ever since they gave me that beating. I still need time to rest and recover.” It explained, only to cough moments later. “And you’re the one rubbing off on me, not the other way around! I was content being gentle and kind to the ones society had cast away, but your ego is causing me to have roughed up thoughts! Think nicer!” ...It paused, before speaking one last time. “Please be nicer, I can’t take your old thoughts.”

With that, the dark void vanished and she was looking into the palms of her hands once more, leaving her connection to her parasitic entity cut off. Maybe it was just her natural urges amplified thanks to the lack of other senses? Maybe she was lying and she didn’t want to reveal it. Whatever was the case, she was stuck without a proper answer to the riddle at hand, and she was still incredibly hungry…

Thankfully, while she had been busy with her mental conversation with her lesser half, all the food had arrived. And a couple of extra tables to hold it all too. She was looking at so much food that she wasn’t going to be starving for… well with how her body worked, was she ever going to starve after a meal like this?

Akane couldn’t control her unrelenting drooling, especially as she picked up one of the burgers that was at least as thick as the rest of her head. Maybe she should think about what she was doing. Maybe she should take it all home with… oh right, she didn’t have a home. It was going to be spoiled and go rotten if she didn’t eat it all now, or at the very least during the evening.

She thought long and hard for a second, before just digging in. The gluttonous urges that had welled up within her won out, and she was going to be busy for quite some time. There was a practical mountain’s worth of food, and she was still just one woman.

Once she finally got through the mountain, it would do quite the number on her...

---

A few hours later, in another part of the city, trouble was erupting. Another set of villains were causing their own brand of mischief, and the only Natura who was awake and ready to deal with it all was the newest member.

Natura Or. Forced into service thanks to the light that powered the Natura needing a new specimen, she was… well, given a bit of a shock in the process. The result was a rather huge girl, at least for her age, who could wield the power of earth as she pleased. Though she was slow in many ways, she was equally positive and did her best despite her setbacks.

Though this slowness did hamper her against the villains she was now faced with. A gang of demonic gym students, all dressed in proper uniform which left little to the imagination. They giggled and they laughed as they vaulted over the girl’s portly posterior or her entire bloated body, causing no end to her auditory suffering.

“Stop running around so much!” The gold-haired heroine cried out as she slammed her fist against the ground, sending shocks throughout the area to try and make them all lose balance, but they instead just jumped over her technique with another laugh.

The leader of the group, a short black-haired girl with a bright grin to match her deep blue skin, stopped right in front of the gold-themed heroine with that smug expression lingering on her face. “What’s the matter, fatty? Can’t keep up with demons that’re in shape? Maybe we should put you through the wringer, I bet you’d look nice in a uniform after you lose all that weight!”

Before Or had a chance to land a blow on the stationary target, she vaulted right over her head and continued running circles around the gentle giant. She couldn’t take much more of that before she’d end up expending all of her energy…

In one of her innocently genius moments, she had an idea. She just needed to stop them, but she didn’t have to knock them down, did she? There was another way to stop somebody, and… And…!

The oversized heroine let out a frustrated yell as she slammed both of her fists into the ground, sending shocks through the area once more. This time, as the villains jumped over them, they found themselves jumping straight into a wall. Most of them, anyway. The leader saw through her plan and vaulted over it while her lackies slid onto the ground, knocked out by the violent and sudden shift in tactics.

“See? You’re not that bad after all, fatty! Maybe if you put as much thought into your diet, you’d actually get fit.” The demonic gym-girl giggled as she got closer, kneeling down as she put her hand on the heroine’s cheek. “Come on. Eyes up here, cutie. Just look into my eyes and we can get you started on your new routine. I bet you’ll turn out much better than those losers…”

Or looked straight up into her opponent’s eyes, her mind a little too slow to realize that she was playing straight into the villain’s hands. “I…” She muttered as her eyes immediately grew dim, her breathing growing heavier as she was slowly losing herself to the sporty demon’s influence. “I’m… cute…?” She asked in her haze, her cheeks flushing red as the thought stuck in her mind.

“Of course you are! You know, before I gained these chumps as underlings, I was kind of a big butterball, just like you! But I managed to work it all off, and now everyone wants to be with me. Especially after I teach ‘em a thing or two about what they miss out on by not committing to their fitness. So, what do you say, cutie? Wanna be a fit demon too?” She was still a bit mocking, but there seemed to be some genuine emotion in that offer of hers. Maybe it wasn’t just a big ol’ lie that she was trying to sell her after she had taken out her flunkies…

Not that the golden heroine got much of a chance to reply favorably to the offer before a blast of black fire consumed the entire area, causing all of the demons to let out a pained cry. Moments later, a familiar crimson-clad woman arrived on the scene, though she seemed… three times her regular size.

“M-Miss…” Or panted as she slowly got back up on her feet, feeling a little woozy from laying down on her front for too long. “Miss… Araya? Why’re… Why’re you…” She muttered, rubbing her eyes to make sure that she wasn’t seeing things…

Indeed she wasn’t. The pseudo-heroine Tenebris Rouge was standing right there in the same outfit she had worn when she had fought against the entire team. A skintight mess made out of solidified black flames that snugly clung to her curves and left little to the imagination, while at the same time serving as a perversion of the dresses that the Natura normally wore. Of course with her increased weight and thicker figure, it looked like she was spilling out of that ‘outfit’ more than ever. In fact, it looked like the flames would snap off if she made as much as a wrong move, though that was outright impossible thanks to their nature. Instead, it just gave her a much more strained look and made her look frankly ridiculous in the process.

“Kid.” Akane spoke up as her hands caught on fire while the gym-clothed demons jumped onto one of the walls, staying out of the range of the flames still burning on the ground. “How many times have I told you to stop calling me miss? At least use my name next time.” The crimson-haired woman said casually, not bothered by her weight nor by her appearance. She seemed in better straits than ever in fact, since she had a satisfied grin on her face. “And quit staring, you know Vert would grill you if she knew you were being a pervert.”

The golden heroine yelped as she snapped out of her awe-struck state, blushing as she waved her arms back and forth. “N-No! That’s not why I’m staring, miss Araya! I’m just shocked since you were so much smaller when we last saw each other! A-And, uhm, thanks for saving me again, I-”

“I just had the best meal in ages, don’t ruin it because you’re commenting on my size!” The crimson-haired woman shot back as she turned her gaze towards the sporty villain as both of her arms caught on fire. “Forget it, I’ll work my frustration out on these guys since they gave you so much trouble.” Her eyes flashed as both of her irises turned into flames and the pyres that were her arms intensified. “You guys really deserve it too, for bullying my favorite little Kouhai…”

The black-haired demon and her underlings tried to take the opportunity to rush down the bloated mountain that had just set the battlefield ablaze, but they ended up bunching together which just left them open to what came next. And only as they got within a meter of the flabby woman did they realize their fatal error.

“Tell the demons on the other side to knock off on bully my Or!” Akane cried out as her entire body was consumed by her flames, which briefly took on a black shade as they were about to explode outward in the form of a beam. One of her signature attacks, altered for a single use instead of repeated fire due to her new figure.

“SANG CROSS SPECIAL!”

The enemies were all incinerated in a second as a dark inferno erupted from the anti-heroine’s gut, the flames dying down as her body remained red hot while the ground seemed to be almost melted from the heat of the blast. Normally, that move would’ve required teleporting around and firing off high-output Rouge Crosses since her body would be able to take the brunt of the punishment, but instead she just increased the output tenfold to compensate. As a result, she did cause some property damage around the area, but that wasn’t her problem. She wasn’t really alive after all, and it was their fault because they bullied her Kouhai.

Or, on the other hand, was… well, stunned would be an understatement. “G-Geez, Miss Araya…” She muttered in disbelief, watching the sheer destruction that move had wrought on the city. She could look through at least five other buildings before she saw another wall, and that was just the damage the beam itself had done…

“Would you just-” Akane muttered before shaking her head, causing her entire body to shake with her. “Never mind, you’re never going to learn.” The crimson-haired girl muttered as she snapped her fingers, causing her flames to consume her once more. Once they vanished, she was dressed in her usual hoodie, and it even fit thanks to the magical nature of her outfit. “Now, if you excuse me, I need to go. Don’t wanna be around here when they try to interrogate and ask questions.”

The golden-haired heroine quickly grabbed her savior’s hand before she tried to run off, her irises looking like cute stars. “W-Wait!” She stammered as she dispelled her transformation, leaving her in a cute pink tanktop with a cream-colored cardigan ontop, as well as a slightly-frilly skirt and a pair of stockings that looked like they could rip at any time. “I… I-I um…” She kept fumbling her words so cutely, an issue she always had since she wasn’t the most clever girl ever since she became a heroine…

“Out with it, kid. I don’t have all night.” The anti-heroine shot back, while looking away slightly so she couldn’t see the blush on her cheeks. Granted, thanks to her oversized cheeks, the slight shade of red was ever-so-slightly visible regardless.

Or bit her lip to try and concentrate before blurting it all out. “W-Wannagoeatwithmei’mactuallyreallyhungryandidon’twannabeallaloneatnight” Her words went out so fast that she had to catch her breath afterwards, the sweat running down her cheeks. “S-Sorry, I… I should-”

This time, the older heroine was the one to stop her junior from embarrassedly running off. “...It’s your treat, okay? I just spent everything, and I could still go for another bite.” Akane smiled as she grabbed her chunky Kouhai’s hand, ready to go eat out one more time tonight.

Her Kouhais eyes lit up again as she practically started running off, dragging her huger friend along with her using all of her strength, all while babbling about all the fun food they were about to eat together.

The night was still young after all, and they were just as young. Sure, the rest of the team were going to have a lot of questions for the anti-heroine the next time they’d see her, especially considering she threw herself and her weight around like it was nothing, but in the end they’d have to deal with her new vice-fueled self.

For now, it was Master and Student bonding time. Over a bunch of junk that was going to do a number on their bellies. But that was another problem for another time.