Villain Retirement

"Is the government selling out supers?"

And almost as if a storm suddenly stopped, everything in the observation deck went quiet. Even the men from the so-called superhero agencies stopped their bickering and discussion as they all turned their heads toward Tempo.

Even V, who was busy watching Riley, could not help but look at Tempo as she heard her words. They could almost hear a clock ticking and their hearts beating from the painful silence; all of them, waiting for secretary Jane to answer Tempo's question.

But thankfully, secretary Jane did not let the deadly silence last as she let out a short but very deep sigh.

"What made you think that?" Secretary Jane answered, "The supers are not owned by us, we are merely giving them a way to make their talents and activities legal. Supers are the future of the world– it is estimated that in a hundred years, there would be more supers than ordinary humans, we are just trying to ease our way into it."

"And letting these agencies pick them like their cherries is your idea of easing our way into it?" Tempo shook his head, "To my knowledge, Megawoman didn't like this kind of exploitation."

"We're not celebrities, Jane," V joined in on the conversation with a scoff, "We're just people gifted and cursed with the power to save other people. If Megawoman is still here, then she wouldn't allow for something like this to even happen."

"Because Megawoman is an alien," secretary Jane's monotonous voice once again shifted along with her eyebrows, "She lives in a fantasy where the world is one happy place– it's not. And why would you let someone who wasn't even born on Earth decide what is best for it?"

"Megawoman is the best of us," V followed; it would seem the days of Riley indoctrinating her of Megawoman's prowess were starting to take effect.

"Megawoman is not even one of us," secretary Jane replied.

"You seem to have a lot of opinion despite just being a secretary," V raised an eyebrow as the limiter on her back started to light up, "One might think you're the one actually running this place."

"..." Tempo could not help but look back and forth between the two; wiping the sweat on his chin as she watched the two exchange some… unpleasant words.

Wasn't he the one debating with secretary Jane? So why were the two now getting in a heated discussion instead? Tempo wanted to butt in but did not see the chance to do so anymore as the two seemed to have no intention of surrendering.

And so, the only thing he could do was watch the test– whatever the world government was truly planning, Tempo had no power to stop it anyway.

The test below seemed to be reaching its climax, with most of the telekinetic supers already tired. Even the tan-skinned woman, No. 11, was already sitting on the ground and resting. As for Riley… he was still just standing where he had been standing since the start.

Could it be… that was really it? Was Riley just waiting for the test to end? But if that was his only display, then by the way the guys from the superhero agencies were talking, it wouldn't even be enough to get into Grade-B.

He knew the tests were shit– but still, Riley deserved to at least be Grade-A with everything he has shown so far. And if he truly has the same raw power as Alice, then it was an easy Grade-S.

So why… exactly was he not doing anything? Tempo then turned to look at the screens monitoring the health of the participants… only to see all the screens dark.

Tempo once again wiped the sweat trailing down his chin as he– Wait. Tempo then quickly turned his attention towards the ventilation on the ceiling. He didn't notice it since he thought he was just frustrated with the government… but wasn't it getting too hot?

The air conditioning system was also no longer working as he could no longer hear even a whisper flowing from the vents.

"Tang ina."

And with Tempo suddenly speaking in a language they couldn't understand, both secretary Jane and V, who seemed to have no plan on closing their mouths, could not help but turn their heads towards him.

"...Tempo?" V breathed out. She somewhat recognizes Tempo's words, as he uses them a lot whenever something shocking happens or whenever he's pissed about something. And seeing as how his mouth was slightly agape, then it was probably the former.

"Check your phone."

"...Why?"

"Just check the news!"

And with Tempo's slightly hurried words, V quickly grabbed her phone– a tailor-made phone that has voltage protection strong enough to hold off extreme amounts of electricity. She then quickly unlocked it and went to find some news, only to see a lot of people on her news feed streaming live.

"Oh fuck, I knew it."

And as soon as V tapped on one of the live streams, Tempo quickly let out a forced chuckle as he quickly walked around in place. The men from superhero agencies, as well as secretary Jane, quickly also grabbed their phones and laptops to check what had Tempo up in fits…

…only for their eyes to turn wide and their hands instinctively and quickly latch on to the nearest thing they could.

After all, how could they not… when the hall they were currently in was now actually floating in the air? The news was currently showing a huge metal box floating beside the Hero Association Tower– and since a huge chunk of the 35th floor was missing, that metal box could none other be than the testing hall.

But truly, for the tower to not even bend or break with half of one of its floors gone–a testament to the strength of the materials used to build it as well as the engineers who made it possible.

"Like mother, like son," Tempo then once again forced a chuckle as he sat on the floor.

"...What do you mean?" Secretary Jane's eyes started to furrow.

"Ms. Phoenix used to do stuff like this," Tempo let out a long and very deep sigh.

"Wait, are you saying Riley Ross is doing this!?" Not only secretary Jane, but all of the people in the observation deck turned their eyes towards Riley… only to see him just standing there; where he had been standing since the start.

"I thought you guys did your research on Riley?" V also sat on the floor; a smile, crawling mischievously on her face, "Apparently and clearly not enough for you to be this shock about it."

Secretary Jane then checked on her other phone to call for someone, only to see dozens of missed calls on her screen. She was about to unlock her phone, but before she could do so, another call came up.

Secretary Jane answered the call almost instantly, not even letting the person on the other line speak as she quickly asked for them to do something about the situation.

"Send a helicopter for–"

And before she could even finish her words, a small rumbling thundered through her ears. Light also started to bombard the observation deck, causing everyone but her and V to slightly close their eyes.

[Miss, are you alright!? Miss–]

Secretary Jane then dropped her phone as her eyes…

…looked at the view of the sky as well as the city beneath it.