Blackguard | Seungjin

seven

It was well past midnight and Tempo was still out on patrol. He met up with Shift for a few minutes, crossing paths with the older hero and chatting with him for a shirt while before going their own ways again. They weren't necessarily stuck by the hip, only during Tempo's first few months, but after that, they did as they wanted. That didn't mean Tempo had fully shed off his subtitle as Shift's sidekick, though, and whilst that didn't bother him, Minho made sure to tease him with it every chance he getsㅡ and that's when it bothers him, because Minho likes being a pain in the ass.

If he was to spend every waking moment as Tempo with Shift, he might as well punch the older in the face. How Jisung managed to not get sick of him was a marvel, but Tempo reminded himself that whipped culture is a beautiful, beautiful thing. He also reminds himself that Minho wasn't nearly as annoying with Jisung as he is with himㅡ maybe it was something about Jisung not having powers of his own, or Seungmin having indestructible skin, or Minho just being so utterly in love with Jisung that he can't make mean enough remarks to him without kissing his pouts away, or Minho and Seungmin naturally had that relationship where pissing each other off meant caring about each other.

Tempo lands on the sidewalk and looks around the quiet city. It was still a bit early for the whole city to be fast asleep, but it wasn't out of the ordinary, given that it was a school night. There's still several groups of people out, rushing through midnight tasks or simply wandering around to pass the time.

He sees two teenage girls through the window of a convenience store, his eyes watching as they stuffed their coats with snacks. It was not unusual for him to see pickpockets and shoplifters. Usually, he'd just let them go. He just watched them, thinking that although it was immoral, it wasn't something he should butt into, and that there really isn't too much harm done. Sometimes, as he watched, he would even remember the very rare times in his childhood where he would do the same, ultimately feeling guilty afterwards and going back to the store to pay for the candies he stole.

After the girls are long gone, he enters the store and pays for the snacks they stole.

When he's outside of the convenience store, a cloud of darkness materializes on his feet. He's trained to be alert, so he sees it at once. He jumps off the cement pavement with a backflip. When he lands on the ground a couple of feet away from the convenience store door, he feels someone behind him and hands on his upper arms. His blood runs cold at the threat.

He looks behind him and sees blood red lips curved into a playful smirk. Tempo freezes in place, eyes going wide behind his mask. The alarms in his head yelling at him to fight go silent, stagnant because the threat hasn't done anything to merit a fight just yet.

"How generous of you, Tempo. Letting a bunch of girls off the hook for stealing and paying in their stead." Haze's voice cuts through the almost eerie quiet of the night, supplying the atmosphere with another type of eeriness. It's the type of taunting that's not asking for a fight, tethering between provoking and playful; a lot teasing and a lot in control of the situation.

Tempo pulls himself away from Haze, glaring at the boy. "What are you doing here?"

"Causing trouble, maybe?" Haze laughs and Tempo suddenly felt himself being lifted off the ground. He stumbles at the lack of control of his limbs, but it's not long before he realizes what's happening.

Fucking telekinesis, he thinks as he tries to struggle, knowing full well that it was no use. How could he even break out of a telekinetic hold? How was he even supposed to go against someone that had this much control over their powers? This is someone that managed to stay under the radar until a few nights ago when he made himself known, to Tempo, at least. To the city? Not so much yet.