Villain Retirement

"...What?"

The Guardians could really only stare at the gaping holes now painting their bodies. But after a few moments, they strayed their eyes away from it as they focused on the red stones that were floating in front of all of them.

After all, an injury like that is nothing to the Guardians-- they could lose their limbs, but the Guardian Force will regenerate any injuries in less than a minute no matter how severe. The only way for them to die was if they could be killed almost instantaneously.

Well, there was another way-- for the Guardian Force inside them to be forcefully pulled out. Once it does, any power the stone gives them instantly goes away, turning them back to their normal selves.

But this kind of cause of death was not common-- one would even say that throughout their almost millions of years of history, the number of times it has happened could be counted in one humanoid hand...

...and most were by themarians.

They were one of the only handful of races that were capable of doing so; as when the Guardian Force is already inside someone's body, pulling it is equivalent to pulling the weight of an entire planet.

The Guardian Corps are always the first to respond whenever a threat that would cause the destruction of a known planet springs forth-- and they are also the last to leave if needed.

Wherever the presence of the Guardian Corps is, that world will only know peace. They were feared, but even more so, they were respected.

They symbolize order of the highest degree.

And so why?

Why were the stones that were supposed to give them the ultimate power now floating in front of them?

And very soon, their uniforms that lit up like the surface of the sun started to flicker-- some of them, even very slowly starting to be pulled by gravity.

"W--"

And before their octopus-like leader could open its weirdly shaped mouth...

...they all exploded one by one.

"..." Zora, who was right in the middle of the formation, could really only cover his nose as a mist of blood now blanketed the air around him. His feline-like eyes, very slowly watched as the red stones flew... towards an individual floating just meters away from him.

"Sorry, I can't let anyone ruin Boss and Boss Mom's touching but violent reunion."

"..." Zora squinted his eyes as the 6 stones started to circle around the smiling, golden-haired individual,

"...You have the same scent as Riley Ross," Elder Zora then muttered as his nose started to move.

"I'll take that as a compliment," the smile on John's face did not disappear as he slowly floated closer to Elder Zora, "As for you... you smell different from the rest of the mosquitos that were flying around earlier. I assume you're not a Guardian?"

"You're quite calm and perspective... for a clone."

"Of course," John let out a small chuckle, "If I wasn't...

...then you would have joined your friends."

"Is this how you treat a guest that came from light years away?"

"No, they would usually be trapped inside a glass box."

"..."

"..."

And while John and Elder Zora continued their battle of words, Paige, Ellie, and her brother were now on top of the Paige and Paragon agency building, watching whatever it was that was happening from afar.

As for Katherine, she was still hovering above the air-- not minding the aliens that suddenly appeared and just focused on Riley and Alice.

Alice... was still embracing Riley, not even once letting go for even a single millimeter.

Darkday or Ms. Phoenix.

There has always been the old age question of who was the stronger telekinetic between the two-- and now, Katherine was one of the very first to bear witness to the answer...

...and she still had no idea.

The very air itself started to crack around them; like shattered glass. The light that bathed them was almost afraid to exist as the cracks started to create a void of nothing but darkness.

This kind of display seemed anticlimactic, but if one were to ponder what exactly was happening, then one would know that the two were pulling the very fabrics of reality itself.

This, even more so than the instantaneous destruction of Mars, is Riley's greatest feat-- and it was only possible because there was finally a telekinetic that could stretch and challenge his powers.

As Riley was pushing away, Alice was pulling him back. If this continues on... Katherine had no idea of what would happen next-- but the aliens suddenly appearing gave her enough of an idea.

This display was not the only thing that seemed anticlimactic, even the reunion of Riley and Alice is. Neither of them was really saying anything to each other, but then again...

...what words were there to speak?

They know nothing about each other except for the things that have been told to them. The two... were basically strangers.

"..."

No, she can't really say that either. Looking at Alice's face-- one would really only see a mother desperate for her child's affection.

She wasn't crying, she wasn't even opening her mouth. But the unexplainable expression on her face was enough to tell the world the millions of things that she wanted to say to her son.

Now that Katherine was also a mother, she could understand this.

Love, fear, anger, excitement, sadness; all the expressions one could think of happening all at the same time-- that is probably what Alice is feeling right now.

But alas, if one were to just look at Riley Ross, then one would see a face that was void of any expressions.

"Riley..." Katherine could really only close her eyes and sigh as she saw this, "Please... just give her the chance...

...she doesn't have long."

***

At the same time, inside one of the indoor fields inside the evaniel's ship, the remaining Guardians were there-- standing very still to the point that they almost looked like a collage of statues. They looked domineering, to say the least...

...but none of them were really breathing anymore.

"Riley, stop it!"

As for the evaniel Guardian, he was currently kneeling on the ground-- his face, completely covered by the hand of Riley Ross.

"Riley! Stop!" Princess Vera could really only scream as she tried to pull Riley away, even to the point that her entire body started to vibrate just to make him budge. But alas, even with Silvie's help...

....Riley was almost an immovable object.

"Not good," Silvie then said as her feet returned to the ground, "...It's not him."

"What? What do you mean!?" Princess Vera said as she didn't stop trying to pull Riley away, "This isn't a clone!"

"I know... but his consciousness isn't there," Silvie said as she very slowly started to step away as she realized something, "I... advise letting him go as well, Princess Vera."

"...Why?" Although Vera had no idea what was happening, she too, let go of Riley.

"I think..." Silvie then took in a small gulp as she watched the evaniel guardian struggle to get out of Riley's grip, "He...

...might be on autopilot."

"..."

"..."

"...He could do that?"