Villain Retirement

"Diana, what the fuck is this!? I thought you said Riley was here!?"

"Well, he's not!"

"You let your daughter talk to you like that!? I did not expect such insolence to pass you, Caitlain'Ur. But I suppose the humans are your weakness no matter the universe you stand—"

"Just don't, don't add to this, Aerith-1."

Hannah, Diana, and Earth-1 Aerith were currently in some sort of wasteland, flying in the air with their voices screaming in the wind. The wasteland wasn't entirely a desert, as the ground was filled with what seemed like hundreds of trillions of algae creating a sea of green.

No, it wasn't just a sea of green—as even in the air, microscopic algae littered everywhere.

"Fuck, I think I got one in my mouth!"

And it wasn't a pleasant smell, "Where the fuck is Riley!?"

"He's not here," Diana could really only let out a short but very deep sigh as the three of them continued to fly without stopping, "The radar I developed detects Riley's energy signature even if he is a million light years away."

"Then why the fuck are we here if he's not here!?"

"Because the radar detected a similar energy signature."

Diana once again let out a sigh, before the three of them all turned their heads behind them.

"...That does even look like Riley!?"

Hannah screamed in frustration as her eyes reflected a mountain, a moving mountain that happened to resemble a worm.

A colossal worm—no, a titan that devours anything that happens to be in its path, a world eater…

…and it just so happens to be chasing two and a half themarians.

"It somewhat carries the same energy as Riley," Diana sighed, "But it does look a little cute, no? Very interesting creature, it's a titan inside an atmosphere with gravity, yet it doesn't crumble and crumple in its own weight… magic."

"Why are you acting like a perv!?" Hannah once again screamed in frustration as she strayed her eyes away from the titan. And soon, the portal back to her Earth reflected in her eyes,

"And why can't we just kill it!?"

The air around Hannah started to distort; the heat she was emitting, killing every algae within a hundred meters of her.

"Hannah, no!" Diana quickly slapped Hannah's butt.

"What the fuck!?" Hannah moved away as she glared at her mother.

"No," Diana's eyebrows began to lower, "We don't belong in this universe, one single mistake we make here could cause a catastrophic—"

"Bullshit. Nothing's gonna happen if we kill that thing!"

"We all have a place in the ecosystem."

"And now you're some kind of humanitarian? Don't forget I know that you've destroyed several civilizations, you old relic!"

"..."

"Disrespectful," Aerith-1 commented on the side,

"Fuck…!" And with another roar, Hannah entered straight into the portal, followed by Diana and Aerith-1. Hannah did not really wait for the two, as she quickly walked away; patting herself off of any contaminants that might have attached to her body.

"Dad!" Hannah once again raised her voice as she looked around the vast gray hall surrounding her—the dome of Ahor Zai.

Diana and Aerith-1 stepped out of the portal behind her, but that wasn't the only portal within the dome, no. There were more, and soon, several people also started emerging from them.

"Ack, get it off me! Get it off me!"

"I told you to stay still, Rina! Do you want me to call your mom!?"

"Are you two children? Wait, one of you kinda is."

Karina stepped out from a portal, wildly swinging her hands as she seemingly tried to reach for something on her back. As for Silvie who followed behind her, her groans of frustration almost rivaled that of Hannah's as she tried to get Karina to stay still. Empress was the last to step out of the portal, shaking her head as she just stood quietly on the side.

And finally, after a few more violent strides and waving arms, Karina calmed down, finally allowing Silvie to examine her.

"...There's nothing on your back," Silvie's tone became quickly exhausted as she examined Karina, only to see nothing there.

"But I can feel some hairy strands like crawling on my neck. I swear, there's like some sort of multiversal spider there or something!"

"We didn't even go to a jungle, we were literally on another version of Jersey! You—wait, do you mean this?"

"Ack! That's it! Take it off, take it off!"

"That's your hair, Rina."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Oh."

"Silvie, any luck?" And with the two calming down, Hannah quickly approached them; her eyes, not really expecting anything, and for good reason, as Silvie just shook her head and sighed.

Another group emerged from the other portal—Aerith and Diana-1. And much like Hannah and the rest, they just shook their heads in defeat.

And then finally, Alice-1 and Bulwark stepped out of the last portal.

"Jesus… those guys were mighty racist," Alice quickly commented as she looked at Bulwark, "I thought my Earth was racist already, but those guys… whew. Can you believe it, they called you Goldy, Bulbul!"

"...Please don't call me Bulbul," Bulwark could really only let out a sigh, before looking to Empress and shaking his head.

"Dad! Tedi!" And with none of them successful in trying to find at least even a hint of Riley, Hannah once again raised her voice, "Change the portals again!"

"Hannah, no," Diana quickly approached her; glancing at the others as she shook her head, "We have been at this for an entire day now without rest."

"Rest?" Hannah scoffed, "All of the people here are literally either the strongest supers of Earth, or a themarian. We could do this for a week and not get tired."

"I'm not talking about that," Diana once again glanced at the others, "Let's just rest for a few—"

"This is your fault," Hannah placed a finger on Diana's chest, "We wouldn't even be doing this if you weren't so hasty with your decision. You and that woman," she then pointed the finger at Aerith.

"I think I've had enough of listening to you, brat," Aerith-1 clicked her tongue as she approached Hannah and Diana; each of her steps, causing Ahor Zai to tremble, "You do nothing but complain and complain—and from what I am hearing, you're actually patronizing the devil. The devil who eradicated my species in two universes, and killed hundreds of billions more."

"None of you would've been involved in the first place if Diana didn't give up on my brother."

"Your brother is a lost cause," Diana closed her eyes, "I don't think you truly understand what sort of existence he is. I love your brother and—"

"No, you don't. You just feel responsible for everything. You adopted him because you felt responsible for what happened to Alice."

"...Me?" Alice-1 pointed at herself.

"No, not—Ugh!" Hannah raised her fists in frustration as she groaned, "Fuck! You guys go rest, I am going again. Dad! Change one of the portals…

…Dad!"

***

And while the drama grew in Riley's universe, the action grew in the current universe he is in. The civilians were running, screaming, and trampling on one another as they ran for their lives in the busy streets of New York.

'Finally', Riley thought—a sense of normalcy. Finally, a scenario he was used to. Life truly is simpler when there is just a blatant line between heroes and villains.

And soon, the villains of this chapter showed themselves.

The Jackson twins, someone Riley was very familiar with.

"Prepare for trouble!" Bella Jackson emerged from the panicking crowd, pushing all of them to the side with a pair of metallic arms that protruded from her back like wings. Her brother, Benjamin, also followed behind her… dancing as petals of metal circling around him.

"And make it doub—"

"No, oh no!" Bella did not let Benjamin finish his words as she slightly pushed him away, "We will be the ones in trouble if you continue that!"

"Aight, aight," Benjamin just gracefully returned beside Bella, before covering half his face with his hand and introducing himself,

"Benjaya!"

"Bel—"

"Black Bell."

"That's…" Bella couldn't even twist her tongue as Riley suddenly interrupted her introduction. Instead of being mad, however, she just raised a finger; her eyes, slightly squinted as she looked at Riley, "...I ain't goin' to lie, that sounds hella nice."

"Ah, is you!?" Benjamin also pointed at Riley, "Wasn't you on the TV last night!?"

"Of course he is, Benjie," Bella rolled her eyes and tilted her head, "He's our target."

"W—"

"Jackson twins!" And before the twins could continue their charade, Officer Grimes moved in front of Riley, seemingly covering him from the twins as he raised his arm to the side, "Just leave. The Reuben family can only back you so far."

"Well, we still here, ain't we?" Bella let out a small giggle, "The rich boys up there has bailed us every time, honey. Just back off, Grimes. We just want the pretty white boy you're hiding there."

"I can't do that," Grimes did not back away even as the twins started approaching them. He gestured to his men to surround the two, but the twins didn't even heed them any mind.

"Then, I guess we're using force—Benj."

Benjamin stretched his arms to the side, causing the petals of metal circling around him to pick up speed. And with a small smirk crawling on his face, he rushed toward Riley and Officer Grimes.

But before he could even take 3 steps, however, a loud clanging rang in the air.

"..." Benjamin quickly halted his advance as he looked at one of the petals circling around him, only to notice a bullet was already halfway through it.

"You…

…did you just try to shoot me!?"