Villain Retirement

"...What did we say about flashy entrances, V?"

"That it's cool as fuck."

The trickles of green electricity running through and across V's mecha suit made almost one close one's eyes with how bright it was. And from up close, the streaks of lightning almost seemed to have lives of their own– working together to form some kind of web surrounding the mecha suit.

"No…" Tempo could only let out a small sigh as he watched as V was still dramatically standing… for almost 3 seconds now, "That's not exactly what we discussed…

…Stop giving the others any weird ideas about the Hope Guild," Tempo then said as he noticed the slight curiosity in Riley's face.

"Heh, who cares," V then said as whirring sounds started to click as parts of her mecha suit started to expand and let out fumes. She then turned around– her mecha suit's head looking down at Riley and Crimson Paladin.

"You C listers stand back now," she then scoffed, "The elites are here!"

And as soon as she said that, she clapped her hands; once again causing a bout of electricity to trickle all over her body– the bright flashes of light, attracting the complete attention of the mindless monsters that were wreaking havoc throughout the streets.

V then stretched her arm to the side; catching the gigantic head of the leaping monster that wanted to try and swallow her and her suit whole. The palm of her mecha suit was almost planted on the monster's gigantic head, and like some sort of lock– the tips of her fingers embedded themselves through the monster's face.

And with a small but deep hum, the monster's head started to tremble. And soon, trickles of green started crawling through its face– moving almost instantly throughout its entire body. It did not take long for steam to fume out from all the orifices the monster had to offer; her huge eyes almost looked like it was boiling before they completely melted and trailed from their sockets.

And soon, the monster's whale-like jaw dropped to the ground; letting out a waterfall of blood and guts its insides completely melted.

"..."

"..."

And unlike with Riley and the Crimson Paladin… the monster did not immediately get up or regenerate– leaving it only to drown in its own blood.

"..." Riley could only squint his eyes as he looked at the lifeless gigantic head in front of them. So Tempo wasn't lying? Electricity really is their weakness? Is it possible it was Megawoman's weakness as well? Or did this have something to do with the fact that they were clones?

"Heh."

V, who noticed Riley's slightly lowered eyebrows, could not help but let out a condescending scoff; her voice, even more amplified by whatever sound system her mecha suit was using. And even though she wasn't visible inside, one could just imagine the look of superiority she was giving right now.

"Let the professionals handle this, kid," the tone of V's tone continued to whistle as she once again raised her arm; this time, the feet of her mecha suit slid at an almost propelling speed towards the nearest monster– the four-legged one.

She quickly hugged the monster's neck– before also wrapping it with her suit's legs and letting out a burst of electricity that almost roared throughout the entire city. And without even wondering if she had already neutralized the four-legged monster, she quickly flew towards another monster that was rushing towards her; her mecha suit's hands turning into a ball she slammed it straight towards the monster's breasts.

The entire body of the tall monster jolted– almost like its muscles have been suddenly woken up by a defibrillator; its breasts, caving in as steam and blood started to flow from its mouth.

"And that's three," V then once again let out a small scoff as she kicked the monster away– embedding it on a wall like some sort of sticky slime.

"See what I mean?" A screeching noise then pattered in the air as V started to dust off any imaginary dust she had on her mecha suit's arms, "These weird fuckers stand no chance against the likes of me– a veteran hero with a million years of experience."

"She's as young as you, by the way," Tempo quickly leaned closer to Riley and whispered into his ear, "But seriously, what is your generation eating for all of you to be this strong?"

"Milk," Riley answered without any hesitation.

"...Right," Tempo chuckled, "Maybe you could join the Hope Guild? I think it'll be good for V to have someone her age in the group– not to mention your biological mother was also part of… Wait, did I say something bad again!?"

"You do not have to worry, Mr. Tempo. I already know the story about my biological mother."

"Is… Is that so?" Tempo stuttered almost at the same time his entire body flickered; and with the 2nd static, his hand was already holding a chunk of flesh. A chunk of flesh from one of the deformed monsters rushing towards V– and judging by the tallest one of them suddenly crawling helplessly on the ground, Tempo just tore its heel.

All V needed to do was stomp her foot towards the crawling monster– letting its body convulsed and melt from the inside as she once again released a barrage of green lightning.

"That's four, heh," V then once again let out a small scoff as she turned to look at Riley and the others, "I don't even need any of your hel– !!!"

And before she could finish what she was saying; she saw her entire vision shift as a sort of pressure suddenly slammed through her armor– strong enough for her to feel it from the inside. And seeing as she continued to violently roll meters on the ground and not even stopping at the first wall she hit, the force of the strike would have more than likely killed her if not for the armor she was wearing.

"F… fuck… what?"

And now, the arrogant tone that V held was no more; the shock that was seeping out from the cracks of her mecha suit– almost as strong as the strands of lightning that surrounds her body.

"How… how is that one still alive?" V then looked towards the one who hit her, only to see the monster with the gigantic head looking at her; its forehead bent from headbutting V's mecha suit.

"How… are you alive?" She repeated her stutters, "The… the other ones from the other city croaked instantly."

"Pft."

"!!!" And as soon as she heard the small chuckle that escaped from Riley's mouth, V's eye quickly started to twitch.

"You fucking monsters!" V then clapped her hands, and as soon as she did so, the ground in front of her cracked; almost like a million ice cubes perfectly cut as bursts of lightning emerged from them. A snap of lightning that almost rippled in the air, eradicating anything that stands in its path as it waved through.

The nearest monster that was unfortunate enough to receive the full brunt of V's wrath let out a shrilling roar– its eyes, instantly melting away as blood flowed from all the holes in its body.

"..."

However, almost like an egg being poached, the monster's eyes once again hardened and became filled with white.

"Wha–"

And before V could contemplate what was happening, another monster leaped towards her– the smallest one. Perhaps due to her sudden fit of rage, she couldn't notice that the small one was already trying to rip her mecha suit open– and is almost successful.

"G… get off!" V then also let out a roar; causing a blinding green light to once again explode through the entire street– the electricity she produced, enough to completely obliterate the small monster's body.

"..." But then, without even a second later, the puddle of blood in front of her started to wriggle.

"H… how? Why?" V stuttered as her mecha suit's knees touched the ground, "I… I thought electricity was their weakness!? I thought I'm the hero today!?"

"Uh oh, the kid's starting to act up again."

Tempo disappeared from Riley's side, appearing in front of V without even a quarter of a second later.

"Hey, it's fine," Tempo then said as he tapped the mecha suit, "Your effort is what matt–"

"Stay the fuck away from me!"

And before even a trickle of electricity could touch his suit, Tempo was already back to where Riley and Crimson Paladin were standing. They were currently doing nothing, as each of V's attacks attracted the monsters' attentions without any fail.

Some of them, seemingly even aloof as they just stood watching V.

"But seriously, though…" Tempo then whispered as his body once again blurred, "Why are they not dying? The ones we fought in the other cities died from V's powers."

"..." Tempo then looked at the chunk of flesh in his hand– only to see the tip of his gloves completely shredded off… all the way to his skin. He then tried to squeeze the flesh, only to notice that it was harder than it was before.

"These things… are getting stronger?" Tempo worded out the thoughts that Riley has been having since earlier.

"What are they in the first place?" Tempo continued to talk, "And that grey one that seems to be their alpha," he then pointed towards Aerith, who seemed extremely wary of V.

"I feel like I've seen its face bef–"

And before Tempo could finish his words, Aerith's entire body suddenly plunged towards a building– almost making a dungeon with how hard she flew away.

"..." Riley, who was the one responsible for throwing Aerith away, could not help but tilt his head to the side.

"Weird," he then muttered. In truth, he was trying to blow Aerith into pieces so that Tempo wouldn't recognize her anymore… but to think all his attack would do was just violently throw her away…

…Perhaps saying they were growing stronger...

...was starting to become an understatement.