Villain Retirement

And once again, in just less than a minute, Riley was back in the Overvoid. He was truly hoping that whatever makes him tick just give up and stop reviving him, but alas—he was not rid of himself just yet.

Riley looked around for any signs of Nothing, but even after what seemed like eternity, Nothing did not show itself.

And so, Riley just stood there; waiting. Waiting until color once again entered his eyes, waiting until he found himself back in the cave again.

"Hm…"

Riley was expecting to find himself in the center of a crater that is smoother than James's bald head, but instead, he was surrounded by crevices that almost seemed like veins. Unlike Riley's original 'pavoom' move, which just erases anything it touches into nothing, the 'nuclear pavoom baby' seemed to pull anything near it… and then erases it into nothing. The former's aftermath was calm, while the latter was nothing but violent.

"...Like sister," a small giggle escaped Riley's wide mouth as he continued to walk on the uneven crevices. Riley was expecting to already see the outside when he revived, but to think the cave was still intact—truly, a proof of how strong Theran is as a planet, literally.

"..." Riley started looking for any signs of James and his remains, but even after what seemed like an hour—there was nothing. No flesh, no organs, not even a single strand of hair… although there wasn't anything from the start.

Was he disintegrated and sent to his Eternal Death?

"..." Or was he able to escape while Riley was in the Overvoid?

Either way, Riley failed. He was going to place James's corpse and put him beside his family back in his mansion, but it was impossible to do so now.

"...Time to go back to the surface, I suppose," Riley then looked at the ceiling, before pointing his index finger to the ceiling and whispering,

"Pavoom."

***

"Is it just me, or does that look like a small fucking planet?"

"It… probably is."

Hannah, Hera, Vera, Tomoe, and Tsula were still at the giant lake. Even after an entire month had passed, not even a single themarian checked on their location—surprising, considering there was a small planet literally forming on top of the giant lake.

No, perhaps calling it a lake was a mockery, as there was no longer even a single drop of water in it. Everything was sucked in by a giant orb that slowly revealed itself to be a miniature, and probably habitable planet.

A month ago, the radius of the planet was just the length of a bus—but now, one could probably fit a thousand buses in the sphere and still have room for some more.

Aerith sent them the location of this miniature planet, but it is clear that this is Diana's doing.

"Oi, grandma. It's time you fucking tell us what's really going on here."

Hannah and the others already set up camp beside the empty lake—no. Perhaps it was more like a settlement now as they did not just have tents, but houses that Tsula sprouted from the ground.

Each of them had their own little house just meters apart from each other, and at the center of it was some sort of campfire the women used to gather around. In short, they could just approach each other when they want something… and everyone else would hear it.

This time, Hannah approached Tsula… perhaps for the hundredth time.

"I was wondering why the fuck would mother bring you here, but that thing…" Hannah pointed at the small planet forming above them, "...I think you know something about that. It's just too convenient that a woman that could shift the terrain and connect to an entire fucking is here, and a planet just happens to be forming right fucking above us!"

"..." The others did not really say something, and instead even turned to look at Tsula. Hannah's vernacular may be vulgar, but she has a point; Tsula being here was planned.

"What. Is. My. Mother. Planning?" Hannah then stood in front of Tsula, whose once wrinkled skin now showed only youth.

"Hm…" Even with Hannah right on her face, Tsula just closed her eyes and calmly breathed out, "...If you must seek the answer, then that means you are not ready for it."

"Stop it with the wise old native American talk!" Hannah almost screamed in frustration as she took several steps back. She then suddenly raised her palm toward the growing planet, before the air above her started to distort,

"Talk, or I will fucking destroy this thing."

"Hannah, relax," Hera quickly stepped in between the two, placing her hand on Hannah's shoulder to calm her down, "She might look young now, but she is still our elder. You can't talk to her like that."

"Look at us, Hera! You think seniority fucking matters here? We are on another planet, that's growing another planet. We are clueless on a planet that could kill us with a single breath. How can I relax?"

"..."

"We're supposed to only be here to have a memorial for Ms. Phoenix," Hannah removed Hera's hand from her shoulder, "We haven't even done or prepared for that. We—Mom is trying to duplicate Theran."

"...What?" Hera, as well as Vera and Tomoe, could not help but blink a couple of times as they heard Hannah's last words, "...What do you mean trying to duplicate Theran?"

"It… it makes sense," Hannah then finally dropped her arm as she looked at the growing planet, "She…she's been telling us that Themarians have been stagnant. What if… what if she's trying to create another planet like Theran for them to migrate into?"

"Bullshit," Hera shook her head, "Why would she do that? I thought she hated her own race?"

"I… don't know," Hannah's breaths started to become weaker as she looked at Tsula, "I don't even know if I'm right. Please, just fucking tell us what's happening here…

…What is my mother planning?"

***

"Hm, I suppose this is a mistake."

Although Riley's experience with climbing back through holes was limited, one could say it was oddly the same. The very first time was back when Julius carried him all the way to the Earth's core—and when he resurfaced, he was already being surrounded by soldiers.

And now, the same scenario is happening.

What surrounded him were not soldiers, however. By the casual wear that they were… scarcely wearing, they were just normal themarians, civilians—all women.

"I believe a misunderstanding is about to happen," Riley quickly raised both his arms in the air as he looked at the… group of women surrounding him; all of them, barely even wearing anything even as snow blanketed the air around them.

Riley could try and do his 'nuclear pavoom baby' again, but with dozens of them here—there was bound to be more. The last thing Riley wanted was to be killed over and over again before his body fully recovers, being sent to the Overvoid as soon as he revives.

"..." The women have not reacted to him yet, and were just staring at him from head to toe. Seeing this, Riley just very slowly took a step back into the hole.

"Get the beast!"

But alas, before his feet could even dive down into the hole, he was rammed and pinned down by several women—all taller than him.

"This… can't be good."