Meters. Perhaps a dozen or so meters and Tempo would finally be able to touch a trickle of the trail of electricities that were shooting out of V's body; then maybe perhaps another dozen to actually reach her and Riley.
He was only ever so slightly slower than V and Riley now, who almost seemed like a meteor flying at the speed of light– or as the people on the ground see it, a raging bolt of lightning. Tempo could try to overtake them and increase his speed.
…But then he might just end up adding to the destruction that might happen. The last time he tried to move to a speed he was not comfortable in, the ground beneath him completely split open; the mountain he was staying on, completely ravaged and almost showing its core.
Of course, that too, was censored by Whiteking and Government– placing it in the category of just a natural calamity. Of course, there were no human lives lost… but still, the destruction destroyed the homes of millions of wildlife.
But then again, if he did not try to overtake V and Riley… the unconscious V might also end up wreaking havoc once they fall to the ground. And if he did manage to overtake them… what exactly was he going to do, catch them and die?
"..." Tempo then once again placed his eyes towards Riley. And seeing that he was still fully conscious and even looking at him despite being completely wrapped in V's green electricity while going almost at the speed of lightning… then he truly was his only hope in this situation.
But then again, how exactly would he tell Riley to try and keep V in the clouds, or at the very least, land where there were no people for at least a hundred or so miles? They could also definitely not land in the ocean– they would probably end up frying a huge chunk of the ocean; the marine life would be fucked.
Tempo was about to try and shout… but he was not stupid enough to think that Riley would actually be able to hear him with the speed they were going.
"..."
"..." But still, Riley was looking at him; his eyes, almost curious.
His current thought?
He was thinking that he was going to have an audience– he now had to work harder to make it look as if he was just a victim here; after all, he was only a student.
"..." Riley's mouth then slightly shivered as he tried his best not to let out a smile. All this pretending was somewhat getting him excited; almost like a child getting away with a naughty deed.
The meaning of his shivering lips, however, was completely different from Tempo's perspective.
"...Fuck," he whispered, "The boy isn't going to last any longer."
It's been a full minute now, if Tempo was right, then they were about to pass Ireland's aerial territory. He looked at the HUD installed on the screen of his helmet to confirm, and he was right– they just passed Ireland.
…They could probably land on the Isle of Man. There are lots of empty fields there; if there would be lives lost, then it would at least be minimized.
But then he was back to his main problem– how was he going to tell Riley Ross?
"..."
"..."
Tempo blinked a couple of times, before looking back towards Riley and starting doing gestures with his hand. And surprisingly… Riley also gestured back.
"!!!"
"Fuck, yes!" Tempo fought the urge to strangle the air in excitement. Riley Ross knows sign language. Finally… Finally.
And so, also fighting his excitement, Tempo once again started doing signs with his hands– telling Riley to try his best to keep the unconscious V in the air, or at least land on the next big island, which would be the Isle of Man.
And seeing Riley nodding several times, Tempo could finally let out a short but very deep sigh. As of this moment, everything truly did rest in Riley Ross's hands. Riley Ross, in quite a literal sense, was today's lifesaver.
Even back in Los Angeles, if it wasn't for his presence, then the loss of life would have already been at tens of thousands. And now, here– he was about to prevent millions.
Tempo had no idea why V's power was acting up the way it was; shooting in a straight line like some kind of railgun– but it shouldn't matter now since Riley is here. They should really invite Riley to the Hope Guild once all of this is over.
Tempo then let out another sigh of relief… but it was cut short as they just passed the aerial territory of the Isle of Man.
"..."
"..."
Maybe Riley just planned to keep V in the sky– that was the best-case scenario with no loss of life besides some few birds, after all. Good, that's good. The only thing left for him to do was to signal the Hope Guild HQ to find a way to intercept V and Riley so that they could place V in her chambers.
And so he did; typing something on the keyboard installed on his sleeves. He then once again gestured to Riley that he shouldn't be surprised if a floating base station blocks their path.
And seeing Riley once again nodding, Tempo raised both his thumbs up.
"Good, that's goo– Why are you guys going down!?"
Tempo then blinked a couple of times as the clump of electricity that was previously moving like it was following a rail was now slowly but surely moving downwards. He blinked again to make sure he wasn't mistaken… but no matter how many times he opened and closed his eyes– V and Riley were surely going down.
Moving straight towards the most populated city in England– London.
"...Oh," Tempo's momentum then instantly slowed down; the echoes that sounded like stepping stones, also stopped as Tempo also slowly descended towards the ground,
"...Oh fuck."
And within just a second of V and Riley landing right in the middle of London… half of it was already covered in a bursting green light.
"Fuck me," Tempo then whispered as he once again typed something on his arm; alerting the rest of the Hope Guild…
…that Country-wide calamity was– is happening.
His priority– save as many as he could.
***
"No…"
Julius, whose eyes were reflecting the feed from one of the thousands of satellites they had acquired through Whiteking, almost dropped to the ground. Even from the view in space, one could clearly see the blinding green light rippling in the cities of England. It seemed slow from afar… but the situation on the ground was anything but.
"No…" Julius once again repeated as his hand let go of his cane, causing his knees to finally touch the floor.
'I will kill each and every last one of your people.'
"..."
Julius then let out a small but very deep gasp as he suddenly remembered Riley's words. Just because he used Hannah… he was going to– No. He should have expected something like this from Darkday.
"Fuck!" Julius then slammed his fist on the floor, causing the whole building he was in to tremble; the floor beneath him to shatter.
[Uploading all footage of Darkday and Riley Ross.]
"Hm?"
[...Upload Complete.]
And as the monotonous voice that whispered into his ears disappeared; his heavy breaths soon followed and filled the entire room he was in.
"It's… over," he then whispered, "It's over, Darkday."
A small chuckle then slowly build and escaped from Julius's mouth; his trembling legs, slowly lifting him up as he smiled at the flashing screens in front of him.
"It's done… the people will know who you are after this," Julius then pulled his hair back as he wiped his slightly moist eyes, "And with what you're doing with England… there's no way you can escape the world's eyes anymore. It's…
…It's over."
Julius then limped towards the corner of the room, picking up a picture frame that fell on the floor when he slammed his fist.
"It's over," he then repeated; his eyes, trembling as he looked at the several people in the frame he was holding. And soon, his tears dropped and slid on the broken glass; sipping into the frame and slightly soaking the photo.
"It's time… it's time for me to join you," Julius then embraced the frame tightly to his chest,
"...But not before I at least try to snuff out his life with my very own hands," and as soon as he said that, a trail of smoke quickly fumed from his eyes as they glowed in a violent red.
"Not only for me, not only for you, not only for Megawoman," Julius whispered, "But for the world…
…I will die fighting for this world."
And with those words, the floor beneath Julius completely shattered; a thundering explosion, reverberating in the air as a skirt of wind formed around him as he pierced the ceilings of the room that confined him.
And with the sheer force of his ascent, the house he was in completely burrowed– burying his dead brother along with it.
"..." Julius then glanced down, only for his eyes to see the grounds of the Academy beneath him– he was still inside the Academy's designated Family Villa.
His eyes then started towards a certain house… the house where Diana Ross currently resides. But after looking at it for a moment, he continued to fly up– destroying a part of the dome that separated the Academy from the rest of the world.
"Darkday…
…Let's end this."
***
Meanwhile, in a certain street in London, Riley Ross was currently lying on the ground– his chest, almost exploding from how loud he was laughing. The echoes of his laughter, mixing with the sparking, horrifying, and short screams of the people.
As for V, she was currently resting on Riley's arm, still unconscious…
…Not knowing she was about to slaughter millions of people.