Villain Retirement

Dead.

That was the last thing Riley heard before his consciousness slowly slipped away from him. He was still alive, of course—but not for long. Riley tried lifting a hand, but his body was no longer really following him.

But that was alright.

This is something he has experienced more than a hundred times. This time, however, will probably be the longest time he will succumb to death. He wasn't disintegrated like when Hannah killed him; his brain was just stabbed.

No, not quite. It would seem that James was not yet satisfied as he sliced off his head; poetic, considering Riley decapitated him and all of his family members.

"...Are you girls alright?"

"Y… yes?"

Riley could then hear James talking to Aita and the others as his head rolled across the cold hard ground; only stopping as his long white hair was caught between the gaps of rubble and stones.

"Stand back, I'll try to clear the rubble so we can get out. We—wait, let me make sure this alien is dead."

"..." Riley then blinked a couple of times as he heard footsteps walking closer to him. And very soon… his vision turned dark.

"..."

"..."

[Good evening.]

"Hm…"

Drowning.

That is what it felt like—continually drowning even as Riley got up, opening his eyes to see nothing but darkness. No, it was darker than dark. Even in darkness, one could see one's imagination floating.

But here…

…here there was nothing.

The Overvoid.

Or at least that is what Riley has learned to call it. He had been here more than a hundred times, and yet unlike death and dying, he could never get used to the feeling of waking up in the Overvoid.

The Overvoid wasn't really darkness, it wasn't even a void since Riley exists here. It was silent, but not the sort of silence one could hear when one is trapped in a room devoid of any sound—no. It was just silent; there was no ringing, there were no breaths, and one would not be able to hear one's heartbeat.

It was just… silent. As if nothing truly exists, even Riley himself. But he does.

He does exist in this space that is not space—and not just him, but also the entity in front of him… Him.

[We meet again, you.]

"I suppose. I do not really want to talk about it, so…" Riley then pointed his finger toward his reflection, "...Pavoom."

[Rude.]

There was no white, not even a streak of anything really. But even so, Overvoid Riley's entire body shattered into nothingness; the smile on its face, however, remained strong and sinister as it disappeared.

[You will be here for quite some time, you.]

But almost as if nothing happened, Overvoid Riley just appeared behind Riley, stepping out from the darkness that isn't darkness with its hands behind his back,

[And please stop trying to kill me, you are scaring the others.]

"..."

Overvoid Riley's voice wasn't the same as Riley's; instead, it sounded like a collection of voices. A choir that seated itself inside Riley's ears, unable to remove them even as he covered his ears.

[It hasn't been long since we last met, but I see a lot has happened.]

Overvoid Riley then starts walking in circles, and each time it passes Riley, it spins… and its face changes.

[This woman,] Overvoid Riley then said as his face morphed into that of Pirate Queen Xra. And with another spin, its face changed into that of Alice,

[And of course, your mother.]

"..."

[They're quite interesting. Too bad I only got to meet them once.]

Overvoid Riley continued to talk. Riley, on the other hand, just stood there with a blank expression on his face.

[You really should talk to me, you know. You've been here less and less, don't you miss me?] Overvoid Riley suddenly disappeared… only to reappear in front of Riley; his eyes, almost as large as the moon; his palm, threatening to squash Riley like a bug.

[Don't you miss us?]

And with those words, several other Overvoid Rileys appeared—surrounding Riley almost in a line as they all looked at him.

[Boo!]

And in an instant, everything disappeared; only a single Overvoid Riley remained to try and scare Riley. Riley, however, remained completely still.

[Boring,] Overvoid Riley rolled his eyes as he moved away, [Talk to me.]

"..."

[Talk to me!]

Overvoid Riley grabbed Riley's shoulders as he screamed at his face,

[Why don't you talk to me!? Do you think I am not worth talking to!? Is it because you know you're just going to resurrect again and again!? You think that just because you are out there, you are better than me!?]

"..."

[I made you possible!] Overvoid Riley continued to scream, [Without me, you will be nothing but a machine that ends all of life! Without me, you will just be like the rest of them! A being that doesn't know what it is.]

"..."

[I apologize,] a small chuckle then escaped Overvoid Riley's lips as he fixed Riley's clothes, [I may have lost my cool for a little bit there. We're okay, right? Right?]

"..."

[But it's true, and you know it,] Overvoid Riley giggled as he walked away, [Without me, all of these…]

Overvoid Riley stretched his arms to the side, and as he did so, hundreds of Overvoid Rileys appeared again; this time, holding hand to hand. Everyone looked like Riley, but none carried the same expression… some did not even seem like Riley at all.

[...All of these will be you. I prevented you from becoming something else entirely. That's me, I stopped that from happening. I am not the monster here…

…you are.]

"Hm…" And finally, after what seemed like an eternity of not responding, Riley finally looked at Overvoid Riley, "...I suppose."

[...] Overvoid Riley's eye started to twitch, [You are alone, you. At least I have them—what about you?]

"A being like I am deserves to be alone, Overvoid Riley."

[You do not even know what you are.]

"It doesn't matter, Overvoid Riley," Riley just shook his head as he started walking around, "What matters is I know what I must do."

[And what do you think that is?]

"To kill everything," Riley looked Overvoid Riley straight in the eyes, "Including you. If I can not bring death to myself, then I will bring it to everyone else."

[Death. Is that what you think we are?] Once again, the rest of the Overvoid Rileys was absorbed until only a single one remained—the expression on its face, completely mimicking that of Riley's,

[You think we are Death?]

"Isn't that my role?" Riley then let out a small sigh as he looked down, "Death."

[You are sorely mistaken, you.] And all of a sudden, Overvoid Riley's voice became similar to that of Riley's; completely imitating him as he also looked down,

[We existed even before the universes, before the darkness, before the before itself. Death? We are the end of Death.]

"Are you God?"

[No,] Overvoid Riley looked Riley straight in the eyes,

[We are Nothing.]

"..."

[But because of you, I am becoming Something, something else,] Overvoid Riley—Nothing's silhouette very slowly started to fade,

[You should not exist. You have never existed. Out of all the Universes, this is the only one that has You.]

"..."

[Out of the chance of infinity, You were given birth in this universe. An anomaly.]

"...A freak," Riley smiled.

[A mistake. A universe will always end and will turn into Nothing. We make certain of that, that is constant,] Nothing continued to fade as it shook its head, [Every universe must come to an end, and there will always be a variable that makes that happen.]

"Me?"

[No. It was never you.]

"The Cherbi?"

[That cute fluff? No,] Nothing chuckled, [She is there to maintain the growth of the universe.]

"...Pirate Queen Xra?"

[...] Nothing only smiled, [Different Universes have their own way of giving birth to its Ender.]

"There are other universes, Nothing?" A wide smile then started to crawl on Riley's face as Nothing's silhouette was now just a translucent face,

"Then I suppose when I am done with this one, I will go to the next."

[No,] Nothing's fading eyes slightly widened as he looked at Riley, [There is an order that must be follow—]

And then, before Riley could hear the end of Nothing's words, light once again entered his eyes…

…and an even darker day opened for the universe.