"Crapola!" Natalie exclaimed, her eyes widening as she peered out the window. The familiar silhouette of the Golden Guardian soared towards our minivan, his golden wings glinting in the moonlight. "Another Wonderful Won is here and we don't have any dirt on Mr. Feathers, do we?"

Of course, Captain Celestial would alert the rest of his gang after our brief encounter at the jail. We'd barely had time to catch our breath, and now this. Outside the van's side windows, the Golden Guardian drew closer, giving us the perfect view of the bright light emanating from his hands.

"Don't worry, I think it’s time to play with fire." Madison lifted one hand off the steering wheel, her palm beginning to glow with an intense heat. The air inside the van grew noticeably warmer.

Before we could argue that driving and fighting superheroes simultaneously was a spectacularly bad idea, The Thunderbolt appeared out of nowhere. A crackling bolt of electricity arced towards the minivan, lighting up the night sky.

Elijah's super reflexes were amazingly fast. In a blur of motion, he crawled up between the front seats and jolted the steering wheel. We were sent flying all over the inside of the van, bumping into each other and grasping for handholds. Somehow, we narrowly escaped the initial jolt of electricity.

But while our backs were turned, The Thunderbolt got us with another zap. The minivan lurched violently, tipping to drive on two wheels. Time seemed to slow as we all held our breath, hoping against hope that we'd regain balance. No such luck. With a sickening crunch, the van toppled over.

For a moment, all was silent except for our heavy breathing and the creaking of metal. Then Jasmine sprang into action. She had the sliding door open – now on the ceiling – in no time.

"Everyone, hold on!" I shouted, my heart pounding. I flew up through the door and grabbed Elijah's outstretched hand first, helping him out of the van. Together, we got the other four Ladies in Leather out.

Hannah wiped a trickle of blood off her temple, her nose wrinkling as she sniffed the air. "Smell that? Gas!"

"Get away from the van!" Madison yelled. We dashed away from our beloved escape vehicle, our feet pounding on the pavement. We'd barely made it a safe distance when the minivan exploded in a ball of flames, the heat searing our backs.

“Well, that’s what I call trial by fire,” Madison managed to giggle.

As we ran, the Golden Guardian was swooping down, his wings casting an ominous shadow. Apparently, we were all looking over our shoulders because Natalie, not watching where she was going, ran smack dab into The Thunderbolt's chest.

"Fuck!" I muttered, skidding to a stop. "She’s caught."

The rest of our team scattered, but not before witnessing the intense gaze Natalie and the Thunderbolt shared for the moment in each other's arms. Superhero and supervillain, frozen in what looked almost like an embrace.

"Maybe she grabbed his ass," Jasmine threw out there, making Elijah and I chuckle despite the tenseness of the situation.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself. "I have to go back for her." I turned towards Natalie and her superhero arm candy. After lifting off the ground, I flew towards my friend, the wind whipping through my ponytail.

Halfway back, Golden Guardian blinded me with a bright light. My flight slowed, and my feet hit the ground. I pushed forward, one foot at a time, but it felt like I was walking through quicksand that only grew thicker with each step. This wasn’t the power absorbing orb…this was something different.

When strong arms enveloped me, I thought I was captured. My heart raced, panic rising in my throat. But then the sweet, yet spicy scent of my hubby sent my panic away. When a mighty clap filled the air, I relaxed into his arms, knowing he would protect me.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Elijah's sonic boom shattered the light and freed me from Golden Guardian's trance. The sound reverberated through my body, leaving my ears ringing.

It was also the wake-up call Natalie needed to tear herself out of The Thunderbolt's arms. She stumbled back, looking dazed.

"Ahh, sweetie. Thanks for the rescue," I quipped to Elijah, trying to catch my breath.

"How about we get out of this clown show and somewhere more private?" He kissed my neck in a way that sent a tingle down to my toes, momentarily making me forget about the chaos around us.

"Nothing like a little violent foreplay to win a girl's heart, but first, I think we need to lead these clowns away from my friends." I wrapped my arms around Elijah and shot up into the sky. The cool night air rushed past us as we ascended.

As the scene beneath me came into focus, I could see my fellow villainesses on the ground, fighting off The Thunderbolt. But the Golden Guardian had hit the sky and was hot on our tail, determined to capture us.

“Hold on,” Elijah said. “I need both hands.”

I tightened my grip around him, and I enjoyed the delicious squeezing of his thighs around my hips to help.

He clapped, sending another sonic boom flying. Golden faltered and fell back to the earth. The force of the boom rippled through the air.

But the backlash from the sonic boom sent me tumbling out of control, unable to fly straight as I plummeted towards the ground. The world spun around us, buildings and sky blurring together.

"Breathe," Elijah whispered, his voice surprisingly calm. "You got this, darling."

And I did what he said. I focused on my power of flight, pushing away the panic and chaos. Somehow, magically, without letting Elijah go, I stopped our downward spiral. We hung suspended in the air, both of us panting.

"Well, that was close," I chuckled. "I'm just glad we weren't impaled by the road's guard railing. It would have been a very Romeo and Juliet way to go."

"I knew it was in you all along." Elijah's voice was filled with pride.

"Right. As we were falling to our deaths, you had complete faith in me." I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help smiling.

Elijah brushed the stray hairs that fell from my ponytail behind my ears, his touch gentle. "I did. I guess we completely trust each other again." He grinned, his eyes twinkling.

I laughed, more out of habit than anything else. "Not quite."

But Elijah was completely serious. "I disagree. Out of everyone trapped in the minivan, it was my arm you grabbed first, and it's not that I'm valuable to the team anymore. I'm valuable to you. Then, it was me you swooped up to fly to safety… and when you were spinning out of control, you focused on my words and trusted me."

I bit my lip, really thinking about what he was saying. "Maybe it's that I know my team can handle themselves. And you? You have this nasty habit of getting caught. But at least you're consistent." I paused, letting out a small sigh. "Fine. You win. You're valuable to me… and I trust you… at least a little. I mean, you put yourself into harm's way, jumping into Golden Guardian's paralyzing light to save me instead of running away to safety. You earned one point back."

Elijah laughed, the sound warm and rich. "I think I earned more points than that."

Down on the ground, the rest of the girls had distracted the two superzeros who were scanning the wreckage to figure out what had just happened. The burning flames that used to be our escape vehicle lit up the night.

"See. They can handle themselves." I shook my head at the scene below. "Well, I guess we can finally get a vehicle more fitting of our evil ways. Do you think they need a ride?" I nodded to the team of four heading towards the bus stop a few blocks away from the flaming minivan.

"It looks like they have it handled." Elijah nodded to the approaching bus, its headlights cutting through the darkness. "It's nice they found their own rides. Who wouldn't want to escape using public transportation? It makes a statement about how they care for the environment."

"Where else could they disappear wearing their ridiculous leather costumes and nobody would even think twice about it? I'm sure they aren't the oddest ones on that thing." I paused, a thought occurring to me. "But I have one unanswered question about tonight."

"Just one?" Elijah chuckled. "Let me guess: is it… Do Natalie and The Thunderbolt have a thing?"

"You saw that too?" I playfully asked, remembering the charged moment between them.

"All I know is that those two will be interesting as your plan unfolds."

"Our plan. Remember, you're part of the team. And if by interesting, you mean a complete disaster, you're probably right."

As we flew off into the night, the city lights twinkling below us, I couldn't help but wonder what other surprises and twists were in store for our team of supervillains. We couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all as we soared through the damp night air.

Despite the chaos of the evening, we knew we were in this together and nothing could stop us.

Except for maybe getting caught again.