Villain Retirement

A somewhat chubby but handsome face; a strictness that ties it all together, then an easygoing expression to loosen it all off—that is the charm of Bernard Ross that makes everyone quickly disarm themselves around him. In a way, Riley learned a lot from him.

Out of all the people around him, Bernard was the one to influence him the most. Espionage, manipulation, strategy, combat, tech, and most importantly, ruthlessness—these were the things that Bernard gave him. There was also the fact that the existence known as Darkday only grew to be the way it was because of him.

He enabled Riley to be what he is now, and for that, Riley will always be grateful.

And now, once again, the Bernard of this strange world found him again. Riley doesn't know whether it was just because of the TV, but the Bernard of this world was skinnier than his father; his face too, was completely clean shaven… like he has everything in control.

"Is now a good time for you, Riley Ross? Can we talk?"

"..." Riley looked at Bernard through the screen, before turning to look at Alice and Diana's living room in search of a camera.

"I don't have any cameras installed there, but I can see you through the windows," Bernard let out a small breath as he smiled,

"You are a threat to this world, Riley Ross."

"I am a threat to any universe, Bernard Ross," Riley responded with a sigh as he walked toward the kitchen and left the living room, not even bothering to look outside the window. And when he came back, he was already holding a glass of milk.

"I interrogated all the other Travelers we have in confinement," and as soon as he came back, Bernard started talking again, "They all barely know each other… but more than half of them knows who you are."

"I admit I was a little famous in my universe, Bernard Ross," Riley shrugged as he relaxed himself on the sofa and just focused on Bernard.

"Destroyer of Worlds, Legion of Death, Tamer of the Cherbi, The Living Calamity, The Darkcloud…"

Bernard breathed out as he stood up from his seat; revealing his hands that were dripping with blood and a table behind him as he started walking around and continued speaking, "...And although it was hard to translate, the majority of them just call you…

…The Devil."

"I haven't heard most of those titles, Bernard," a small hint of amusement crawled on Riley's face as he heard the names. It is true that he was unaware of most of them—could it be that while he was experiencing psychosis for those 5 years, his clones were still continuing to wreak havoc?

"Hm. But there is one title that stood out to me the most," Bernard just shrugged as he started wiping his hands clean from an already red towel resting on the table, "One little title that I can't get out of my mind…

…Aerith's Lover."

"That one is true," Riley answered without any delay, "Who said that so I could offer my gratitude?"

"You have a relationship with the Rebel Queen?"

"It is a complicated one."

"What can you tell us about her?"

"She is the kindest person you will ever meet in this life, Bernard Ross," a small smile crawled on Riley's face as he took a sip of his milk, "An existence that you and I could never really touch. She is immune to corruption, one of the two lights that kept my universe filled with life."

"You said you have a complicated relationship?"

"I killed her family," Riley sighed as he rested his head back on the sofa, "We had a falling out when she found out I was responsible for wiping out her people."

"You… wiped out the themarians?" Bernard stopped wiping his hands clean as he heard Riley's words,

"How?"

"It was mostly my comrades that did it, I just gave the order."

"How much do you know about the Rebel Queen?"

"She's a Princess in my universe, and I know everything about her except for the details that I don't. She has lived a long life, after all."

"If you have the ability to destroy her, then perhaps you can help us?"

"You are at war with them, correct?"

"Correct. They are the last people that stand between us and Earth's safety. With them kneeling to us, our place in this universe will finally be secure—no more will we fear the existence of the unknown, because we will control it."

"The Unknown? Have you explored it?"

"A fraction of it. But with the themarians, we will use them to explore more of it. To ensure that there is nothing out there that can harm us."

"But you already have Diana, why not use her?"

"Diana is a long-time comrade, but she refuses to fight against her own people. We need someone like you, Riley. Someone who knows how dangerous they truly are, someone who has defeated them before."

"Hm."

"So please, how did you defeat them?"

"You do realize you are asking help from the devil, Bernard?"

"I have asked help from worse."

Do you truly want to know how I defeated them?"

"Yes."

"I defeated them because I am Riley Ross…" And finally, Riley looked out the window; slightly causing Bernard to flinch as he stared exactly to where the satellite is,

"...son of Bernard Ross."

"I am aware of our relationship in your universe."

"Were you hoping to use that as a way to pull me closer to you, Bernard?"

"...It's an advantage," Bernard scoffed as a small smile crawled on his face.

"You would find that it's not. Your life in my universe is miserable, Bernard."

"Because I had you as a son and that woman as a wife?"

"Mostly the former," Riley let out a small chuckle, "But at least the Bernard of my world still has a daughter. Yours died early, no?"

"..." Bernard's eye twitched.

"5 years old, burnt to death by one of your archnemesis. I don't like the screams of children; once you realized that they haven't lived at all, there is no joy in their screams because they scream for nothing but the pain," Riley then stood up and walked toward the window,

"She doesn't scream for the pain of lost love, she doesn't scream for the future because she has no concept of it yet. But what she probably did scream for…

…is for mommy and daddy."

"You think you can play mind games with me, son?" Bernard's entire demeanor changed as he just looked straight at the camera almost as if he was looking at Riley straight in the eyes,

"You think I haven't resolved myself for my greatest failure?"

"It's not your failure, Bernard. You could say it's not even your fault," Riley chuckled, "Empress is there with you, isn't she? I know she's listening, she is obsessed with you."

"..." Bernard subtly looked to the side, confirming Riley's assumption.

"It's not your failure, Bernard—it's hers," Riley then let out a small sigh as he shook his head, "Adaeze also had a child in my universe, and it died too. You could say it was neglect, but whatever it is…

…she let her child die."

"How fucking dare you!?"

"Ada, no!"

Riley glanced at the TV, only to see Empress on the screen, seemingly shaking the camera.

"How... How dare you say that when you know nothing!?"