Villain Retirement

Amid Deb'rah— the commander of the fleet responsible for the checkpoint in Hotis 4J. Like most of his men, he did not expect that they would actually come face to face with the newest threat in the Known Universe.

This didn't mean that he wasn't prepared, however— as someone trained from birth, he already had several plans ready, and another set of plans when the previous ones failed, his plans were as many as the tendrils on his chin. But with Riley Ross being categorized as a Galactic-level Threat by the Guardians, there really wasn't that much he could plan for.

The number one priority now was his men's safety. And so, with the first sign of Riley Ross finishing the destruction of Hotis 4J, Amid ordered all of his men to evacuate so they would be safe from the planet's debris.

"Is everyone safe? Then, let's—"

"Commander, something… is happening with the planet."

And as Amid was about to order his own crew to disappear, their ship detected something— an insane amount of pressure building from Hotis 4J.

"Bring up the feed, quick!"

Commander Amid pushed some of his crew to the side as he rushed to look at the console at the very center of the deck.

"Where is it!?" He once again roared as there was nothing popping out on his table.

"B…bringing it up now, commander!"

And there, as soon as the hologram of Hotis 4J popped up, Amid could not help but take a few steps back. Hotis 4J, the planet he thought would be bursting into millions of pieces and creating a torrential storm… remained intact.

"We… we're reading insane amounts of pressu—"

"I can see that!"

Amid roared as he saw Hotis 4J becoming smaller and smaller. He shouldn't be surprised by something like this— after all, based on their reports, Riley Ross destroyed a planet several times the size of Hotis 4J in the time it takes for an average humanoid to breathe.

But bursting a planet open, and compressing it are two different feats completely. But once again, he shouldn't be surprised.

Riley Ross is a Galactic-level Threat.

"Commander! Your orders!?"

"..." Amid then took in a small gulp as the tendrils on his chin started to curl. And after a few more seconds, he shook his head, "Transfer the energy we gained from hyperdrive to the shield, but leave at least 20% so we could move away if we need to."

"We're not… joining the others, sir?"

"We're ordered to observe, that is what we are going to do," Amid then said as he focused his eyes on Riley Ross's figure— only to see him looking directly straight at the feed.

"..."

And very soon, Riley Ross very slowly floated toward their ship.

"Go! Let's go! What are you waiting for!?"

***

"..."

Riley, who was making his way toward the remaining lahestia ship, could not help but blink a couple of times as it suddenly disappeared. He was going to ask them something regarding Raleerus and his other clones, but alas.

They said they were ordered to hold him and keep him in place. If he waits here, would that mean someone would come? If it was another group of Guardians, then he might as well just return to his ship.

He was keeping Hotis 4J intact so he could throw it to whoever and whatever was coming for him. Maybe he would even get to see one of those Messengers? He saw from Diana's codex that one of them was even larger than Earth, so he was wondering what would happen if he used Hotis 4J like some kind of bullet.

But if it was just another group of Guardians, then that would just be boring. When Vera told him about the Guardian, he thought they would at the very least be as strong as Aerith whenever she was holding back, but no.

He was at the very least excited when he learned that a group of them was capable of defeating a themarian. But in the end, he learned another thing— it would seem even themarians have weaker people in their race.

"..." He then turned his focus back to the planet he was holding, before scanning the expanse of space around him and wondering which direction Earth is. Aerith said that you could tell by trying to find and looking at the Solar System's sun…

…but where is that, exactly?

There were more than a hundred sparkling lights around him, some even disappearing as he blinked.

He wanted to learn about astronomy when he enrolled in Mega Academy; sadly, they weren't really offering it. He tried to ask Hannah if she knew anything about space, but all she told him was that she was a Capricorn.

Perhaps he should start learning from Diana and Aerith, 'less he wanted to be lost in space. No, perhaps he should forget learning from Aerith, as she got lost the first time they traveled across the expanse of space.

"..." Riley then once again scanned the stars around him, before letting out a sigh and shaking his head. And with another breath, Hotis 4J suddenly disappeared from its spot— shooting out to where there were as fewer stars as possible so he wouldn't accidentally destroy Earth; after all, with him gone, he was expecting another season of Italian Mafia Reborn to be already made when he comes back to the planet.

And now that he finished what his clone started, he finally turned his focus back to Diana's ship. He was expecting Aerith or even Hannah to try and stop him; that was the only reason he took his time in the first place, but to think they were just letting him do as he pleased.

Was it some kind of reverse psychology? Because it was somewhat working, Riley thought. It was incredibly boring to destroy things when nothing and no one was resisting him. But since they were on their way to Theran, that was about to change— he could really only imagine how fun it would be to wreak havoc on a planet filled with beings as strong as Aerith.

How many times would he die? And if he was lucky…

…maybe his life would actually finally be extinguished. It was a fitting end, he will finally die at the very same place where his biological mother will be bur—

"..." And before Riley could finish his thoughts, his mouth very slightly opened and his eyes started to blink several times— the closest he would really get to expressing shock.

The times that Riley has been completely in shock could probably be counted on a single hand, and this definitely now tops all of them. After all…

…Diana's ship was now nowhere to be seen.

He initially thought it was just charging up since he was returning inside… but to think it would just leave him. He was just imagining what it would feel like to be left alone in the expanse of space…

…now here he was, all alone.

"..."

"..."

Or perhaps not? Riley then focused his eyes toward where the ship was supposed to be, only to see a dark silhouette floating about— almost reflecting the darkness around it like a mirror.

"..." Riley's eyebrows slightly furrowed as he pulled the silhouette closer to him. And very soon, he realized what it was… or rather, who it was.

"...Hera?"

"..."

"..."

"...'Sup?"