Chapter 200 - Time Bomb

"Uh, guys? Might need a little back up here."

Tempo dropped the hard chunk of flesh in his hand; pressing his neck and seemingly trying to contact other members of the Hope Guild. But seeing as he didn't say anything more, no one was responding.

"We have a big V problem," Tempo then said as he turned his attention towards V, whose mecha suit was slightly damaged by the earlier attack, "Guys?"

And with him trying again and having no one to respond, the only thing he could do was let out a sigh before his entire body flickered; soon returning to cast a shadow of himself, Riley, and the Crimson Paladin as he carried V to their position.

"Kh…" Tempo then quickly pulled his arm away from the layers of whatever material V's mecha suit was made off– his skin, almost letting out a hint of sizzle as it almost burned from touching it. And with his gloves already ripped from having attacked the monsters earlier, he felt every inch of the heat that was exuding from V's mecha suit.

"When was the last time you did maintenance on this thing!?" Tempo then said as he waved his hand several times.

"When… when Whiteking last–"

"That was almost a month ago!" Tempo let out a small groan as he heard V's words, "Just stay here and provide support– at this point, you're more dangerous than these monsters."

"But–"

V wanted to say something, but Tempo's deep and very loud sigh completely drowned her voice.

"So, what are we going to do about this?" Tempo then turned his attention towards the monsters. They were previously filled with aggression; attacking anything that dares to breathe within meters away from them. But now, they were all carefully approaching V and the others.

Tempo should be relieved that none of the monsters were actively trying to eat or kill them now… but seeing that their number was still the same as when they arrived, they were basically back to square one.

"I thought the members of the Hope Guild were supposed to be the strongest?" The Crimson Paladin, who was currently trying to catch his breath and resting while the monsters were idle, let out a cold harrumph as he glanced at V and Tempo,

"But I see now you're just like any other self-titled superheroes this society has produced– self-driven and egotistical."

"You… I would have punched you any other time," the tone of irritation in Tempo's voice could not be hidden; but still, the only thing that followed his irritation was his body suddenly disappearing.

"Hoy!" He then almost instantly appeared on top of the four-legged monster variant, this time, with some sort of sharp pole in his hands that he got from somewhere. His hands started to vibrate, almost disappearing as he lodged the pole on the monster's neck like some sort of drill.

"..." Tempo, however, could not help but slightly squint his eyes as he felt some sort of resistance; every muscle of the monster, seemingly trying to spit out his pole. The monster then quickly turned its head towards Tempo, but before its eyes could even land on him, he was gone.

"Hm," Tempo then let out a small hum as he returned to where Riley and the others are, "We're in quite a pickle. They're getting stronger by the minute… and the only thing preventing them from ganging up on us is they're wary of this huge chunk of metal," he then said as he tapped V's mecha suit several times.

"Our only real problem is that," Tempo then pointed towards rubbles that were dropping on a certain building; revealing Aerith who was brushing off all the debris and dust stuck onto and into her from Riley's earlier attack.

"..." Although Riley didn't use anywhere near his full strength, the force he used earlier should have been enough to completely turn Aerith into a cloud of blood… but now, all she got was her skin and flesh all mangled– but that too, was already healing.

Maybe she had 5% of Megawoman's durability already? Was she truly going to reach Megawoman's strength if he let her be?

"Tch, why do all heroes like to talk?" The Crimson Paladin once again let out a small scoff, before leaping forward and waving his sword towards the four-legged monster, who still seemed confused as to why it had a metal pole lodged into its back.

And before the pole could completely be pulled off by the monster's flesh, Crimson Paladin jumped high and stomped his foot on the pole, lodging it deeper and pinning the four-legged monster on the ground. And before the monster could try to lift itself up, the Crimson Paladin once again waved his sword; and although there was a slight resistance, his giant sword still managed to cut the monster's head off of its neck.

"...Who is that guy again?" Tempo slightly leaned closer to Riley

"He is one of the Pope's guards."

"Oh, I heard about them," Tempo then let out a small gasp as he quickly returned his gaze on the Crimson Paladin, who was trying to cut all the monsters while they were all busy being wary at V,

"They are Supers bred and trained early, sometimes from birth and they just pick the ones who awaken their abilities ear– Oh my god, we really do like to talk."

"..."

"V, just provide support from the rear for now."

"Y… yeah," V quickly responded. The arrogant tone she held very dearly just earlier, now replaced by a slightly somber and sedated voice.

"Guys," Tempo then once again pressed his ear, "We really do need one more member here. The Threat Level is way higher than we expected– it would seem their queen or whatever this grey woman is is here. Butcher will do, these things are as hard as– What? No! Not Hera!"

Tempo's voice slightly became louder as he shook his head, "No, not you! We're trying to keep the damage to a minimum since there is already a lot of collateral– Hello? Hello!? Fuck! If Whiteking was here then this surely would have already been… Ack, why am I talking again!?"

And with those words, Tempo once again disappeared from his spot; appearing behind the Crimson Paladin, seemingly matching his speed perfectly.

"Let's lure them away from the streets, sir."

"...Sir?" The Crimson Paladin was a bit weirded out first with Tempo's sudden change of tone but quickly nodded his head as he slammed his fist on the flat surface of his giant sword; creating a sort of a ripple that rang throughout the entire street.

And as soon as most of the monsters looked towards their direction, the Crimson Paladin once again slammed his fist on his sword, before running away as soon as he made sure that the monsters were all following.

"...The grey one isn't following us," the Crimson Paladin then let out a small but deep breath as he looked at Aerith, who had been standing on the same spot for almost a full minute now, "She… seems to be targeting only Da… Riley."

"...The Riley?" Tempo squinted his eyes, "It should be fine. Whiteking's son is a monster, and with V with him, the grey one shouldn't be too much of a problem. And besides… another grey one will be joining them soon. Come, let us show these kids how we adults get things done!"

"..."

"..."

And with that, the Crimson Paladin and Tempo successfully started to lure the other monsters away, leaving only V, Riley, Aerith, and all the dead bodies to litter the streets.

"What… what are we going to do now? Why did they leave!?"

"..." Riley then slowly turned his head towards the mecha suit; his ears, being bombarded by the panicked whispers that were seeping out from the cracks.

"Why… why aren't my powers working on them anymore? It was working fine just earlier… the ones in the other cities all dropped dead… so why are they still standing up?"

"..." Riley could hear her trembling voice– a far cry from how arrogant her tone was earlier. How exactly is a child like this in Hope Guild? Even during the fight with Megawoman, she was the first one to give up.

And if Riley was right, then V is stronger without the mecha suit. Her mecha suit serves as some sort of limiter… just like what Bernard did to Hannah; he said he inserted some sort of needle in Hannah's arm to prevent her powers from losing control.

For V, it was her mecha suit.

"..." And with that thought, a small smile once again slowly crawled on Riley's face. His place was considered as the most peaceful one by Tempo… maybe it's time to change that?

Riley then looked towards Aerith, who still seemed to be completely wary of V– that changed, however, as Riley subtly flicked his finger, causing Aerith to fly straight towards V.

"Watch out."

"Wha–"

And before V could turn to look at Riley, his arm was already stretched towards her, pushing her away from 'harm's way'. But alas, it would seem he was a little too late as Aerith's very deadly 'attack' grazed V's mecha suit.

And even though it was just a graze, for some reason… it completely ripped the mecha suit apart– completely exposing V, whose eyes were already wide as she slowly felt herself separating from her armor.

"N… no," V's eyes started to release vast amounts of green electricity from her eyes; and instantly, almost travelling throughout her entire body as she failed to grab onto her mecha suit. The color of her hair, almost undetermined as the green lightning enraptured all of her.

"Run…" V then quickly turned her head towards Riley; the tears that were coming out of her eyes, floating away from her face as they turned into some sort of green particles, 

"Please…

…run away!"