Villain Retirement
chapter-205

"Ahahahaha!"

A laughter– perhaps the only other sound that reverberated in the air as the land within miles was covered in a raging green lightning. The already ashen ground, almost akin to a boiling ocean as the electricity that flows out from V's body continued to violently excite everything in its path.

A single spark from it, capable of causing the machinery of the highly modern city to explode; amplifying the already destructive wave of energy that was causing a ripple that could even be seen from space.

But of course, with V's powers dispersing in all directions, her otherwise calamitous powers started to slightly be dampened. This was joyous news for those who were far away from the green ripple, but for those who were just within its fading perimeter… it was hell.

A crawling giant is still a giant, as they say. With V's powers being dampened through the ends of the ripple, the death of the creatures that stood in its path did not come quickly. It might be insensitive to say from a perspective that was not affected by the tragedy, but those that were near ground zero could be considered the lucky ones– dying instantly; leaving nothing behind but countable ashes.

Those that were far but not far enough, however, could feel their skin slowly being eaten by the raging crackles. Like billions of small hands trying to yank their flesh away ever so slowly, their insides being fried… and the only thing they could do was drop to the ground and tremble in pain until the last of their breaths escape their mouth.

They said the pain was momentary– but with shock, the pain lasts until you die. Of course, no one could really tell what they were really feeling… no one but one, perhaps. And that one was still currently lying on the ground, relishing the fading screams from far far away that still whispered through his ears.

Riley Ross continued to relish on all the destruction that was happening. And perhaps the best and worst part of it all was that he did not need to do anything.

Was this what it feels like to have a weapon? A gun? Riley never really needed those kinds of tools in his life– perhaps the closest thing was Diana's cutleries. He never could really understand why people rely on them… but now he did– convenience.

Why do it yourself when someone or something else can do it for you? Riley thought. Truly… he should share this wisdom to Hannah once– wait, isn't she already doing that?

Truly, his big sister was wise.

"..." Riley then turned his focus towards V, who was still unconscious despite everything. He initially thought that V's raw power would be enough to cover the entirety of England… but the smell of blood seemed to have already stopped within just the outside perimeters of London.

…Or perhaps it could also be because of Tempo trying to rescue as many lives as possible; if there was anyone capable of that, it would be him… the strongest of the Hope Guild.

Well, it doesn't matter, Riley then thought as he placed slightly pushed V to the side as he got up; causing her to softly roll on the already ashen and sandy ground. Doing so, however, seemed to have caused the violent trickles of electricity spurting out from her body to fluctuate.

"..." And soon, the green electricity that surrounded London started to flicker.

"...Hm?" Riley then once again turned to look at V. Did… he break her already? Riley thought as he lightly tapped V with his foot. And as he did so, the green flashes of light that reflected endlessly through his eyes instantly disappeared.

"..." Riley then focused his eyes on her small chest, and seeing as it was still moving, it would seem she was still alive.

And now, finally, the green electricity that suddenly covered London disappeared; leaving nothing but… nothing in its wake. The ground that Riley stood on was almost sand, the previous towering buildings now left ashes to aimlessly float in the air.

Looking from above, there was almost a fading circle– the farther the land was from the center, the more infrastructures survived. It was… almost clean. Like if one would delete London from a digital map with a soft eraser– that is perhaps the best way to describe London now.

And within this horrifying destruction, was Riley's disappointment. He truly was expecting more– V's powers were stronger when she was still conscious.

"..." Did he need to wake her up and–

And before he could finish his thoughts, a soft thud whispered through his ears. He turned around to see what it was, only to see Tempo now suddenly kneeling in front of V.

"This… this is not good."

Tempo's stutters were almost enough to cause the sand beneath his knees to tremble; his hands, having a hard time deciding whether to comfort the unconscious V or leave her alone.

"Millions… millions of people," Tempo continued to whisper for a few seconds, before finally turning his shaking head towards Riley, "I… I thought you would remain in the sky… I told you… I told you not to… millions of people. Tang ina… ang… ang dami… sobrang dami."

Tempo's trembling whispers continued to stutter in the ashen air. Deaths happening so instantly made one almost detach to it; especially in this case with absolutely nothing to physically reflect the deaths except the empty desert they stood on.

Perhaps the only one that could truly feel it was someone who had already experienced what it would feel like to walk on a million corpses– and that is exactly who Tempo is.

The Battle of Toronto wasn't even a year ago. And yet now, around him… a calamity equal to it has happened. As for the other one present during that said battle, he was currently trying his best not to let out a smile.

"But you told me to bring her down, Mr. Tempo," Riley then said as he approached Tempo.

"...What?" Tempo then blinked a couple of times before looking at Riley, only to see him moving his hand almost to an arc above his head, dropping downward almost towards his waist.

"Yes…" Tempo then said, "That's… that means sky. I told you to keep her in the sky."

"..." Riley also blinked a couple of times, before letting out a short but very deep breath as he closed his eyes,

"My mistake, Mr. Tempo," Riley then muttered, "I thought it meant that I should bring her down to the ground gently."

"No…"

Tempo's knees, which were already touching the ground beneath them, burrowed even deeper into the sand. His mind, completely empty as everything around him seemed to have shut down– even his breaths were completely halted.

He truly wanted to say something, but doing so might just cause his sanity to dive down even deeper than his knees. If Riley mistook his orders– then who was really at fault here?

No, there wasn't even a need to ask that. It was already a miracle that Riley was able to survive, even more so control V as the electricity around her tried to ravage him. But to also expect him to understand everything he said in sign?

Tempo knew… Tempo knew the mistake was all his. All this death was on him.

"...Huh?"

Tempo's stupor was momentary, however, as a sharp blur suddenly passed by him– mowing Riley along its path. Tempo instinctively already had his hand stretched to pull Riley away, but it was too late.

The only thing that Tempo could do was watch Riley being violently dragged across the remains of London.

"Riley Ross!?"

And soon, Tempo could only see the trails of sand and dust blanketing everything; the rumbles and trembling of the desert city, however, was still very much alive around him. Whatever was happening out there… Riley Ross was surely in trouble.

…Was it perhaps the grey monster earlier? Was it still alive?

Tempo was about to rush to help Riley, but before he could do so, a sedated voice suddenly whispered into his ears.

"W… what happened?"

"V!?"

Tempo quickly turned around, only to see V's trembling arms trying their best to lift her up.

"What… where… where are we?"

"Tha–"

And before Tempo could answer, another rumble exploded behind him. Both him and V turned their eyes towards the noise, only to see a blonde man lying on the ashen ground; his eyes flickering in a red light– Julius Reuben.

The young man then slowly stood up, brushing up his hair before looking at the two of them.

"...Hope Guild," Julius whispered, "Take the child to safety, Tempo. Leave me here to take care of this evil."

"What? Who are you?"

Julius completely ignored Tempo's words that were filled with confusion, and instead looked at V for a few seconds, before closing his eyes and letting out a small sigh.

"I am truly sorry for having involved you in this, child," he then muttered, "This… was not supposed to happen."

"In…volve? What? What is happening?" V caressed her aching head; her eyes, slowly starting to trail across the destruction she herself caused, "Wha–"

But before she could actually see anything, she suddenly disappeared along with Tempo; leaving only a formation of dust that held their shape, but that too slowly dropped to the ground.

Tempo had no idea what was happening right now or who the young man that suddenly appeared was; what he was sure of, however, was he needed to get V out of London… out of anyone and everyone's sights, really.

After today, London and its people were no more– and V was the one to do that.

"Whiteking…" Tempo whispered as he ignored V's surprised gasps, "...Where the fuck are you right now when we need you the most?"

"..."

"..."

Julius's eyes trailed as they watched Tempo disappear into the skies. And ever so slowly, he turned towards the calm and almost rhythmic steps that were slowly approaching him; the owner of the steps, almost completely untouched by all the destruction that surrounded him.

It wasn't only him that was untouched; even the sand lying beneath his feet was calm, not even moving as he landed on them.

"Darkday…" Julius muttered, his lips almost trembling as he looked at the white-haired man approaching him, "No…

…Riley Ross."

"Julius Reuben," Riley replied with a small smile on his face.

"Philip Reuben."

"Hm?"

"My son…" Julius whispered; his eyes, not leaving Riley even one bit, "Leia, his wife. Cory and Jonas, their children. My niece, Lauren. Her children, Holly, Elli, and Mylo. My brother, Archibald…

…and I, Alistair Reuben. You killed us all almost a year ago– Now their ghost is here to make you pay and make your life a living hell."

"You...

...have grandchildren?"