Chapter 203 - Race To Hope (1)

A few minutes earlier, Riley was currently staring at the lump of electricity in front of him; his finger, still raised from having sent Aerith's compressed body in the oblivion called space.

Interesting– he thought. The trickles of electricity that was coming out of V's body were enough to pass through the invisible barrier surrounding him; slowly trying to crawl through his entire body like snakes wanting to swallow him whole.

The web of electricity was also slowly trying to drown the streets. If left be, then it would probably cover the entire city within minutes– the only reason why it has still not done so was probably because of his barrier absorbing most of the energy.

"..." A small smile then also slowly crawled on Riley's face; if he put her in England, would he end up killing everyone there? He thought as he slowly reached his hand towards V, and seeing the electricity seemingly trying to prevent him from approaching him, he could not help but let out a small sigh.

If they just used him during the fight with Megawoman, then the Hope Guild would have probably helped in actually neutralizing him. Megawoman and V's raw power might have had a chance.

And the small pressure he was feeling in his arm just proves that; for the first time since Megawoman, Riley had to actively strengthen the barrier surrounding his body. Most of the time, the armor… is just there– almost like a second layer of his skin. Perhaps his biological mother was the same?

"..." Riley then once again thought of the woman he saw in the reflection earlier– was it really possible it was Ms. Phoenix? She did kill him because she was turning crazy… could it be he also inherited her mental illness?

…Was he also slowly turning crazy?

And as the thought surfaced in Riley's mind, the smile on his face grew wider. Turning crazy… was perhaps a fitting end for a monster like him.

He then grabbed V by the neck as he finally removed all the thoughts of his biological mother aside, for now, proceeding to then slam V to the ground without any hesitation. But of course, he just needed her slightly unconscious, so he still protected her head from being turned into squashed watermelon.

…But alas, she seemed to have fully held onto her consciousness. He could just flick something in her brain to make her unconscious… but doing so might cause V's power to also sleep.

…But why is she crying? Riley curiously tilted his head as tears suddenly fell on V's face. It would have been alright if it was just that… but why was a smile also forming on her face?

"..." Riley decided not to think much of it as he flicked his finger, causing V's entire body to shoot in the air– with a g-force strong enough to knock an elephant down. But alas, once again, as Riley followed her through the skies, V remained completely awake…

…the smile on her face was even more present.

…Was she also crazy? Or maybe… she also had a condition?-- Riley then thought as he let out a small sigh. This is bad; he hasn't really interacted with people in the same spectrum as him besides Gary.

Soon, however, an ocean of lightning filled the entire sky, causing the air itself to tremble… but as if a tidal wave done with its destruction, the electricity surrounding V just faded.

"..." The smile on her face, however, remained– this time, the smile seems to be targeted… towards him?

Seeing this, Riley could only once again let out a sigh. If he knew that V was on the spectrum as well, then he would have probably at least hesitated with this plan of his. But alas, it was already too late.

Riley then slowly wrapped his arm around V, causing her to slightly stutter. Riley ignored her words, however, as he looked at her from head to toe.

"..." It would seem there was one major flaw in his plan– England was about 5,000 miles away from here. If he traveled at the speed of sound, a speed he had shown he was already capable of several times, then he would reach England in about 8 hours.

That was just too far and too long. He wouldn't be able to use the excuse that the fight was dragged over there because he was trying to stop V's uncontrollable rampage.

He could try using Megawoman's flight speed, but the problem is he had never tried using it– even if he did, it would look suspicious. Even without the helicopter watching their every move, how would he even explain flying to England in less than 3 minutes?

"Are you… are you alright?" V's somber and stuttering whispers then interrupted Riley's ears, "Are… are you not hurt?"

"..." Riley then blinked a couple of times as he looked at V. He then looked at his body; he didn't notice it earlier… but he was already completely drowned with V's electricity.

"...Oh," Riley then let out a small whisper. Couldn't he use this as an excuse?

Lightning travels around 200,000 miles per hour or so if he remembers. That's a speed that would also allow him to reach England within minutes. And the cameras should have already captured how completely unstable V's abilities are… no one would suspect him if V's power 'suddenly and accidently' fires up and shoots them somewhere far away… and killing everyone within that land.

The blame will all be hers. And in the end, Riley would just be a helpless victim that was dragged by a violent calamity.

"Pft," a small chuckle then escaped Riley's mouth as his smile now reached from ear to ear. It was starting to get really fun, he thought. Although he misses the way he could just kill anyone as Darkday; there was also a certain satisfaction in having to think of ways on how to stealthily murder people– the Seven Planes incident was like this as well.

"I… I think I am alright now," V then once again whispered, "Can we… please go down now? I need to get to my private chamber… you seem to be able to handle my electricity… but… but I can't burden you with that…"

V started to once again stutter her words; her face, almost turning into cherry with how red it is now.

"Are you alright, Ms. V?" Riley then curiously asked as he saw her red face.

"I… I'm just starting to get dizzy," V then looked away, "It might be bad if I lose consciousness… So–"

"Oh," Riley did not let V finish her words as he looked at her straight in the eyes, "Then sleep."

"Wha–"

And once again, before she could say anything, her eyes suddenly turned white as her body completely fell onto Riley's arms. And as V speculated– her power once again going amok.

The electricity around Riley started to dance; the pressure they emitted, growing stronger by the second– almost as if they were trying to fold  Riley into two.

"Interesting," Riley then whispered as the smile on his face returned. And soon, his eyes shone red; followed by a loud boom as he disappeared from his spot– crashing through a helicopter as he used Megawoman's speed to fly away.

"!!!"

Down below, Tempo's deep and sudden breath quickly whispered into his own ears– almost as if even his own breaths were not enough to follow him as the world surrounding him completely stopped moving. The only one that was able to follow his eyes, was the lightning that suddenly exploded in the sky.

"...Fuck," he whispered as he casually walked forward, casually moving away from the claw of a monster that was only an inch away from ripping off his face. But perhaps if he didn't move, the claw wouldn't still have hit him as everything around him truly did seem frozen.

He then took another step; the sound of his feet, almost like water dripping from a pipe. He then turned his head towards the Crimson Paladin, who was currently surrounded by 4 gigantic monsters.

"..." And without any hesitation, left him to follow the lightning moving across the skies. Hera would be in Los Angeles soon to provide backup– the Crimson Paladin should be fine if he holds on.

Chasing V and Riley Ross should be his priority right now.

"Fuck!" He once again whispered; his voice, causing the air to crack. It was stupid of him to leave the two alone– even if they could indeed stop the grey monster, he forgot the risk of V losing control.

Tempo then took another step, once again seemingly cracking the air as he used it to lift himself up.

V and Riley Ross were children– why did he even decide to leave them all on their own!? Stupid, fucking stupid.

Tempo's eyes then focused on V and Riley; and even from afar, he could see that Riley was still conscious. As expected of Ms. Phoenix's son, he thought. The child of a lion is still a lion, as they say. No, he shouldn't be thinking of that right now.

With the speed they are going, it would be a few seconds or so before he would be able to catch up to them… and even then, it might already be too late.

"...Fuck," he once again repeated. Even in this situation… Riley Ross was once again the only hope he… no, they all had.

Hope… He was the only hope that V doesn't land back on the ground with her powers still running wild. It would be hard, but if Riley could find an isolated place without any people, then he should be able to land her there. If not…

…then even the minimum loss of life would surely be in the millions.