Villain Retirement

Gracy Gray.

Weird.

Riley had seen a couple of variants, and they do differ from what he was accustomed to in his own universe.

There was someone that was a bit overweight, skinny. One that looked somewhat older. And there was even Aerith, who looked completely different and was a complete copy of her mother.

But this—for another variant to be a different sex completely, the multiverse truly was a wonderful and random thing.

"...Are you crazy? Why are you laughing on your own?"

Gracy was already confused as to who Riley was. And now that she was seeing him just chuckling by himself even though nothing funny was going on, she could really only come to one conclusion—this person in front of him is a crazy themarian. She couldn't even be bothered anymore that there was still some small debris stuck to her body here and there.

"I just find it quite interesting that you are a woman, Gracy."

"...I don't know if I should be offended by that."

"Hm," Riley just shrugged as he looked at Gracy from head to toe. It was not really that hard to prove that Gracy is indeed Aerith's daughter—after all, she looked just like King Arthus's sister. Aerith's aunt, Princess Tifa.

Of course, she obviously looked younger by several decades, but this is what Riley imagined what Princess Tifa would look like when she was young.

Long, slightly rugged blonde hair, eyes so blue they were almost silver. She wasn't what people would consider cute, no. In a way, she was similar to Hannah—rough but contained a somewhat… creeping beauty.

"So… if you're not from the government, and you're not a themarian—what exactly are you?"

"I still have not figured that out."

"...You're not some kind of secret master that lurks in the shadows, are you?" Gracy squinted her eyes as she started walking, "If you are… then I am ready to be trained."

"I am a secret and a master, but not both together," Riley nodded to himself, fully confident with what he just said.

"...So, there's no use using honorifics with you, then."

"You were not using any honorifics."

"Shut up," Gracy's eyes glowed red as her feet very slowly left the ground.

"Oh," Riley let out a small hum, "You could fly?"

"Oh, I could do a lot of things," Gracy stretched her arms to the side, summoning a ball of energy on each of her palms; pulsing as it grew to the size of a watermelon.

"A half themarian might as well not be a themarian at all—that is what I read from a codex on Theran," And even as the violent energy ball reflected in his eyes, Riley just casually started looking around the ashes of the concrete jungle they stood on,

"And yet here you are, exhibiting more and more powers similar to what the themarian have."

"Oh, we haven't even started yet," a small smirk grew on Gracy's face as the red orbs she summoned were now the size of a yoga ball, "You don't have to worry, I will show you everything…

…so why don't you show me yours?"

"..." Riley immediately started looking around again as he heard Gracy's words. He seemed to consider it for a few seconds, before ultimately letting out a sigh and shaking his head, "If I show you what I am capable of, I am afraid this planet will not be able to survive."

"Ah, there is it—the good old arrogance," Gracy giggled as she literally looked down on Riley, "And I wondered when it was going to make an appearance."

"It is not arrogance, Gracy Gray," Riley quickly shook his head, "This is also something you didn't understand back in our world—there are levels to this."

"...What?" Gracy raised an eyebrow, "What are you even talking about?"

"You wanted to be strong because you are Megawoman's child. You pushed yourself again and again, only to be met with someone that did not even have to train or work for his or her powers," Riley sighed; his eyes, seemingly showing a sort of clarity as he continued to explain to Gracy,

"You could use all of your strength right now to try and punch through the Earth, but the most you could do is create a crater that would shake the neighboring areas."

"Yes, isn't that obvious?" Gracy, instead of being frustrated by Riley's words, just scoffed as she placed both her palms together, merging the two energy balls and doubling their size as she raised her left hand, "That's why I only deal with things I can deal with…

…like you."

And with those words… the energy ball that had been assembling from Gracey's hands disappeared, seemingly absorbed by her own body almost instantly.

"I know how strong you are."

"..." And without even any warning or hint, Gracy disappeared from her spot, only to appear whispering behind Riley's ear.

"That is why I am going all out!" Gracy quickly wrapped her arms around Riley's neck; her skin, giving off a certain heat, almost as if every fiber of her muscles were grinding on each other with each move she made.

"You should really cut your hair, you look gay!" Gracy screamed directly in Riley's ear as she flew upward, taking him with her.

"What is wrong with looking gay, Gracy?" Riley, on the other hand, tilted his head to the side even with Gracy's arm pressuring his neck.

"That… well… I'm not a homophobe!" Gracy's screams stuttered as the two of them reached the clouds. And as soon as the clouds rippled away from them, Gracey wrapped her legs around Riley's thighs, locking them completely before she spun her body to face the ground,

"The Gray Special No. 13…

…Descending Diving Dragon!"

And with those words leaving a sort of echo in the air, the clouds that were still left around them instantly dissipated and were blown away as their silhouette that was being bathed by the dim sunlight disappeared.

All that was left was a thunder—a sort of howl as she and Riley dove back to the ground; with Riley's head nearing the concrete.

But then, all of a sudden, they just stopped.

"...Huh?"

Once again, without any warning, without any signs… they just abruptly stopped in the air halfway through reaching the hard ground. And their path wasn't blocked by an invisible wall either, they just… stopped; almost like a video being paused, they just froze in the air.

"You do not know how strong I am, Gracy."

A whisper then very slowly started to creep into Gracy's ears as she felt her limbs losing their grip on Riley. She wanted to move, but it felt like there were millions of chains attached to her… attached to her muscles individually, completely constricting every millimeter of her movements.

"Because if you knew how strong I really am, you would have already run far away." And as the two of them were still upside down in the air, Riley's long white hair started to flow down, making him look like some sort of white Christmas tree,

"Perhaps you would have even made an effort to get out of the planet, or maybe even this universe. Because if I wanted to, Gracy…

…I could bat an eye, and everyone you hold dear would be dead. Even without an amplifier, I could destroy this planet in a single second."

"..." Gracy no longer answered and instead just looked Riley straight in the eyes; after all, that was really all she could do.

"I was thrown to another universe because my own could no longer handle me," Riley let out a very long and deep sigh as he shook his head, "That is one of the reasons why I do not freely run amok, because I feel like it would not be fair for you if I started indiscriminately killing all of you without all of you knowing who I am. What was that? Then why did I kill hundreds of billions in the other universe?"

"I… am not saying anything," Gracy took in a small gulp; her eyes, clearly showing her confusion.

"Well, a local told me to do it—so I just obliged," Riley let out a small chuckle, "Anyway, back to your world. You do not even know who I am, your world has not yet been introduced to a Darkday or a Riley Ross. It would be weird for me to just start killing without an introduction."

"..."

"I think this is the reason why I wanted to find you, Gracy."

"...What?" Gracy started blinking a couple of times as she watched as Riley's silhouette was very slowly covered by some sort of black goo; crawling across his entire body like a suit.

"You will help me in my debut in this world," Riley then whispered as his head was covered by a black helmet. And then, with a snap of his finger, the dark clouds that cursed Toronto instantly cleared—revealing the setting sun and bathing the ruined land in orange.

"Kh!" Gracy gritted her teeth as Riley grabbed her by the neck.

"I am going to introduce you to the world, Megawoman's daughter," Riley's chuckles could be heard even from his helmet, "And in turn, you will also introduce me, just like your mother did when—"

"!!!"

And before Riley could finish his words, a white blade suddenly swung between him and Gracy; causing Gracy to widen her eyes as she watched Riley's arm be cut without any resistance; his blood, showering on her face.

"Oh?"

Riley was then kicked away by a white silhouette, who used the momentum he gathered from the kick to grab Gracy away before just recklessly throwing her toward the settlement in the stadium.

"I suppose you are Whiteking?" Riley floated in the air; his head tilted to the side as his arm regenerated back almost instantly.

"And you? Who are you supposed to be?" And while Riley's limb regenerated, the white blade wrapped in Whiteking's arm retracted back…inside him. He then started scanning Riley's blood for any information, only for his suit to come up with nothing—and that usually only means one thing, "Oh…

…you are a rat that is not supposed to be here."