Villain Retirement

Chapter 151: The Difference

"This better fucking hurt!"

V screamed as loud as she could; her screams, however, were quickly drowned by thunder.

A roar of thunder, whispering throughout the city in a raging wail; loud enough to ripple throughout the entire state of Massachusetts– deafening all those that dared even turn their ears towards.

Her mecha suit opened up, revealing her body that had already turned into green streaks of lightning clumped together to form the shape of a young woman. She then clapped her hands, causing the lightning to protrude and emerge from her body; almost like a web of a million streaks of lightning, blinding everyone with its green brilliance.

And without even a blink of an eye, that web falls upon Hera and Darkday.

"I… I'm so sorry, Hera!" V then let out a cry as another thunder erupted through the air, reaching the skies and opening up the clouds that darkened the entire city– once again allowing light to reach the lonely ground.

"Grah!" V continued to scream as she released all the power she could, to the point that her own light was almost fading.

"V, enough!" Empress, who already had the other members of the Hope Guild ready to strike at any moment if Darkday remains moving after V's finishing move, could not help but bellow as she saw V's body starting to flicker,

"That's enough!" Empress repeated. V was the newest member of their team, replacing a previous member that died in a battle a few years ago against Lady Divider, aka Sophie Palmer. And like what everyone else in the team said, she was the youngest super to ever join the Hope Guild at 16 years old.

She was young– and if she died here… Empress wouldn't know what to do anymore. She will probably quit and just join Bulwark in the Academy to teach children how to become a better hero than her.

"V, please sto–"

"You should listen to your boss, Miss V."

"!!!"

And with those words whispering in the air, the members of the Hope Guild all turned their eyes towards the other end of the lightning web… only to see the web slowly expanding into a sphere.

And without even any warning, V suddenly dropped violently to the ground, instantly killing the lights that drowned the vicinity off.

"V!" Empress quickly rushed towards V to check on her, letting out a sigh of relief as she saw her still coughing without any problems; trickles of electricity, still emerging from her eyes in a sputter.

But soon, the trickles of lightning flickering around her eyes turned into tears as she turned them towards Empress.

"…H… Hera… Hera is…"

"…" Empress did not answer her, only making sure that she does not get up to rush towards Darkday in her condition. However, she did not really need to answer– as Darkday answered for her.

"Miss Hera is alive."

And with those words, Empress suddenly stretched her arms to the side… catching Hera who was nonchalantly thrown away by Darkday like some sort of dirty laundry. She quickly turned to check if she was alright, only for Hera to slightly push her away as she stood up… without even as much as a scratch on her body.

"Why did you also save me!?" Hera then let out a roar, causing the clouds of dust gathering around them to slightly ripple away.

"Because I do not like to break my promises, Miss Hera."

"…What?"

"I said I would retire until Megawoman remains dormant and asleep, Miss Hera," Darkday let out a small but very deep sigh as he shook his head, "There was a misunderstanding on my part. I apologize…

…for scaring all of you."

"Who said we were scared!?" V, who was no longer being held back by Empress, suddenly stood up from the ground as her eyes once again sparked; releasing huge amounts of lightning that sputtered and flickered towards the ground.

"You're going to fucking die today, you bitch!"

"V, no!"

Seeing a torrent of green lightning raging on the ground and crawling towards him, the only response that Darkday returned was another sigh. He did not even try to move, nor block it with his telekinetic abilities. He just… stood there.

The lightning instantly swallowed his entire body whole, almost also turning him into worms of lightning in the shape of a human; but with his entire outfit not reflecting even a single hint of light, it looked quite… odd in a sort of unexplainable way.

But even with him drowned in thunderbolts, Darkday… began to walk.

"Do you see this, Hope Guild?" Darkday then muttered as he stretched his hand to the side; the streaks of lightning, still threatening to burn him to the ground… but alas, it remained only a threat,

"You were so proud and happy in having defeated a percent of Megawoman's power, but now I show you the real difference between her and all of you. And perhaps…

…I should remind you of that."

"!!!"

And as soon as he said that, Darkday suddenly disappeared from his spot, leaving only the streaks of lightning that V was relentlessly but uselessly raining down upon him. Seeing this, V could only let out a small but very deep sigh… before her entire body completely gave up on her.

"Where did he go!?" Hera let out a small scream as her eyes looked everywhere; trying to search any spot that only contained darkness. And she did not have to search for long, however, as she caught a glint of a shadow hiding behind Whiteking.

"W–" and before she could even warn Whiteking, Whiteking's left leg lit up; his chausses, opening up into a rocket that propelled his left leg straight towards Darkday's head– using its momentum to spin his entire body.

"Getting slow there, Whiteking," Darkday muttered as he easily bent his body backwards, avoiding Whiteking's foot with a hair's breadth– almost making the two of them look like a yin-yang symbol.

This symbol of balance quickly became that of disorder, however, as Whiteking's foot continued to spin his body, bending his other knee to lower his body and strike straight towards Darkday's legs.

"!!!"

But when his foot was just an inch away from striking Darkday's ankle, Darkday quickly lifted his foot… and stomped Whiteking's shin.

"Kh," Whiteking tried his best not to let the scream escape from his mouth as his shattered bones pierced straight towards the ground and through his flesh.

"Predictable, Whiteking," Darkday let out a small scoff… before stomping Whiteking's head to the ground and casually walking away and turning towards Butcher, not even bothering to see whether or not Whiteking was unconscious or not.

"You," Darkday then muttered, "Your abilities have something to do with nullifying friction, correct?"

"I–"

"You don't answer villains!"

And before Butcher could even say a word, Hera appeared behind Darkday, her fists already clasped and on their way to clobber Darkday's head into smithereens. One could almost hear her muscles constricting and contracting; the red veins popping out her grey skin, throbbing almost in a vibrating manner as if it was charging up.

Darkday, however, only casually raised one of his arms, letting her fists strike it seemingly without any regard.

And as soon as their arms made contact, the ground beneath them rippled; causing an earthquake that caused the buildings even from miles away to sway. The ground, almost a tidal wave as the crater they were fighting on became even wider… much wider– enough to reveal the underground structures of the Academy.

The Academy grounds, however, remained completely intact due to the energy shield that was blocking any outside forces from getting in, and with Bulwark still shielding it with his powers, it was the only thing left standing for miles. The fake towns near the Academy, all wiped out from the sheer force of Hera's strike that almost resembled the strength of a comet.

Truly, a feat worthy of someone that belonged to the world's no. 1 superhero group.

"…See?"

"You… are a fucking monster."

But alas, the difference between a member of the No. 1 superhero group and the strength of the No. 1 superhero seemed to be… almost like heaven and earth.

Hera could only let out a small chuckle as she stared at Darkday; half of his body, embedded through the ground. But even still, his arm remained above his head; his sleeves, completely ruined as it revealed his skin. But even that was momentary, as ever so slowly, his sleeves woven and fixed itself up.

"…That wasn't one of Megawoman's abilities, Miss Hera," Darkday then let out a small but deep sigh as he swung his fist towards Hera's chin before climbing out of the ground, "It would seem I actually lost today."

"Not yet."

And as soon as Darkday got out of the ground, a knife was already on its way towards him, swinging straight to his chest.

"…" Darkday quickly pinched the blade of the knife but found that even though he was already gripping hard enough, the knife was still able to slide between his fingers. The only thing that he could do was watch as the knife went straight to his heart.

"Interesting ability, Butcher," the knife, however, completely stopped as soon as it reached his flesh, "But still not a match for Megawoman."

"!!!" Butcher's vision then instantly darkened as Darkday suddenly placed his hand on his face, before a snap thundered in the air as he gripped it tightly. But due to Butcher's mysterious ability, instead of his face being ripped away, the only thing it did was throw him away; sliding meters away from Darkday.

"Hm," Darkday slightly tilted his head to the side, before letting out a small hum and turning his head towards the only one left standing near him– Empress, who had in her arms an unconscious V and Whiteking.

"Since Mister Tempo is busy doing something useless," Darkday then muttered, "I guess…

…It's your turn?"