Chapter 271: A Pity

VR 270

"You're going to be my 3rd Subordinate."

"3rd… Subordinate?"

"People who serve under me, Miss Hera. Following my every order."

"You… have people?"

Besides their breaths, the silence of the dry land was the only thing that whispered in the air. Well, if you consider the sizzle that came from the sun as it boiled the rocks on the ground a sound, then perhaps the silence might have been filled with noise after all– but it didn't matter.

The only thing that Hera could hear was the thundering drum of her heart as it seemingly wished to burst forth from her trembling chest. But still, she tried to be calm; her breaths, heavy they may be, were not erratic.

Her gaze, afraid she may be, did not leave Riley for even a second. She took a few steps back as Riley let go of her hand; she did not let go of her transformation, however.

"Yes, Miss Hera. I already have a name for you."

"..."

"..."

And after what seemed like an eternity, the look on Hera's face became free as her feet took a step towards Riley.

"Ah, what the heck. It's either I die or I live, there's really not that much choice," Hera then said as she stretched her hand towards Riley; her grey skin and large muscular frame, once again returning to their normal state.

"Deal, whitey. I'll be your Third subordinate or whatever fucked up fantasy is going in with that head of yours, it's better than dying."

"..."

Riley stared at Hera's stretched hand for a few seconds, before removing all the metal armor wrapped around his body and reaching for her hand.

"I already have a name for you, Miss Hera," Riley then repeated as he shook her hand, "Dev–"

"Yeah, fuck no."

And before Riley could finish his words, Hera suddenly pulled him closer to her body– specifically onto her shoulders as she once again grew in size,

"I'd rather die than serve a homicidal maniac like you!" And with those words, Hera flung Riley's body like a ragdoll, smashing him straight on the warm hard ground.

And without even the sound reaching her ears, the ground erupted almost instantly, causing a crater that may have very well been the size of an entire town. Of course, this tremor was felt by the nearest cities– the tremor was enough to shake even the very clouds that sat above them.

But that wasn't enough, no. Hera knew the monster beneath her would not die with just that. And so, her already butch arms became even more nuanced– almost as if turning into something other than flesh as they slammed their way to the laying Riley.

Not just once, not just twice– but a flurry of cobbles that was slowly starting to rearrange the very land they stood on.

"Fucking die!" Hera screams; her roars, only drowned by the sound of her fists thundering in the air. With every hit, they found themselves deeper and deeper into the ground– perhaps creating a crater enough to be called a sea.

Perhaps a sea of blood for all the millions of people that Riley killed?"

"This is for all the people you killed!" Hera's voice cracked as the veins on her neck started to turn red; an ominous contrast from her grey skin. The crater continued to cave in, and soon her wails started to echo…

…Perhaps echoing the cries of the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters– all the people that have lost their loved ones from Darkday?

"All those children! They have done nothing to you!" Hera's voice continued to echo; echo deeper into the hole that she created. It was deep…

…But perhaps not as deep as the hole that Darkday had created through the hearts of the people.

"You… are a fucking monster!" Hera's voice once again cracked. And soon, the crack was all that remained as blood started to spurt out from Hera's noise– her grey skin and muscular stature, fading along with the light that already barely scratches them from above.

"...Why?" Hera then gasped as she continued to slam her fists on Riley's face– despite not even giving a whisper of her strength, "All… all those people."

"..." Riley… was completely unscathed. Only tears and blood trailing on his face…

…but even that was not his.

Throughout the entire rage, the roars, the fury… Riley just watched. Not even closing his eyes as Hera hit continued to hit him repeatedly.

Superheroes– No.

Heroes.

They always seem to cry not for themselves, but for the people they failed to protect.

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"Are you not afraid of me, Miss Hera?" Riley then said as he continued to take in Hera's frail punches.

"...Of course," Hera whimpered, "...But I am more afraid of what would happen if I let you live!"

And with those words, Hera's fist once again became grey… but only her fist. The difference in weight caused her to almost tumble, helplessly falling on top of Riley as she screamed from the pain of her joints fracturing.

"Hm…" Riley let out a small breath as he slightly nodded his head, "Megawoman said something similar before she finally decided to kill me. It happened a few days before Toronto. But ironic, the day she decided to kill was the day I truly became… a calamity."

"Kh!"

Hera could not help but let out a pained gasp as Riley stood up– grabbed her hair as he did so.

"You are strong, Miss Hera," Riley then let out a small sigh as he lifted Hera in the air and looked her straight in the eyes, "It is a pity that you can't be my Third Subordinate."

"F… fuck you," Hera whispered some corners of her face turned grey… but once again gained color immediately.

"And you can't become my guest… you're too strong," Riley continued to sigh as he looked to the side,

"This is the 2nd time this had happened, truly a waste. I apologize, Miss Hera…" Riley then turned his eyes back to Hera; and soon, they gleamed in red,

"...But it would seem I will be breaking my promise after all."

"Tch," Hera smirked as she returned Riley's gaze, "You know what's really a pity? That we couldn't get to shoot that drama after–"

And with those words, the light that wrapped around Riley's eyes went straight through the air beside her left ear.

"...What?" Although Hera could not turn around to see what just happened due to her being lifted up in the air, she could somewhat hear a small… grunting whimper groaning behind her– a somewhat familiar sound that she had been hearing the past few months.

"They really are born to hunt me, aren't they?"

And with those words, a small thud whispered in the air as Riley let go of Hera's hair; finally allowing her to see what was going on. And as soon as she did so, she saw… someone– No… something.

A homunculus? Not quite– the creature that was wriggling on the ground just a few feet away from her could still somewhat be called human, but not quite. Her skin was completely reminiscent of just flesh; her veins, exposed for the world to see.

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Her legs were unusually longer than most of her limbs; along with her fingers that each looked like some sort of sickle.

And unlike the rest of the homunculi, this one had hair… and an actual head.

"This…" Hera knew exactly who or what was in front of her– she had reviewed the tapes with the other members of the Hope Guild. The creature in front of her was one of the abnormal homunculi that were in Los Angeles.

"Aerith," Riley whispered… before kicking Hera straight on her head, causing her to roll violently across the ground for several meters; her eyes, completely breaths, only having the chance to let out as her body finally stopped. If not for her abilities instinctively and automatically protecting her as her skin turned grey, then she would have probably already died there and then.

But alas, her vision started to blur– with the last thing she had seen being the homunculus rushing towards Riley.

"!!!"

"Fucking hell!" A thunder erupted in the air, jolting Hera awake from her momentary coma. And the first thing that entered her view was an endless sea of green– causing her eyes to once again close due to how blinding it was.

"Hera, fuck!"

"H… huh?" Hera then opened her eyes, only to see that Tempo was hugging her.

"I… I thought you were dead!"

"W… what?" If it were any other circumstance, then Hera would have surely pushed Tempo away and kicked her repeatedly on the balls; but right now, she was deeply confused.

"What's… happening?" She then looked around her, only to see Empress and Butcher also there. V was also there, raining down her lightning… towards something?

"Don't you remember anything?" Tempo then let go of Hera; and even though his eyes were covered by his half-face helmet, one could easily assume he was looking at her directly in the eyes,

"You guys were attacked by a bunch of monsters."

"...What?" Hera breathed out as she looked around her… only to see dozens of corpses sprawled everywhere– and standing quietly in the center of these corpses, was Riley.

"More came after you lost consciousness, Miss Hera," Riley then casually said.

"...What?" Hera repeated; her upturned eyebrows, completely showing her confusion.

"Could it be…" Tempo then gently held her face,

"...you don't remember anything?"

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