Villain Retirement

"Bring back the feed, quick!"

"Buy the nearest satellite if you need to!"

"But… the nearest satellite belongs to Ross!"

"Fuck!"

Whether the Reubens or the Government, the two were currently panicking as they tried to bring back their feed. They were nearing the most important parts, and now they could not even connect to their satellites—even their screen started to distort, showing nothing but a blue screen.

As for Bernard, he just quickly switched to another satellite—and he did this all standing on top of a building with nothing but his Whiteking suit. But switching to another satellite alone was actually not enough. There was a reason why the feed disappeared and their screens turned black, and that is solely because of Chihiro's sudden appearance.

Chihiro's abilities are passively capable of restricting any form of technology from working around her—something that only her abilities could control, and not her directly.

But Bernard, of course, found a reason to bypass this restriction throughout his adventures to different universes.

One would think he would have a confident expression on his face solely because of this face, but no. His fat cheeks were currently quivering and the smile growing on his face was because of extreme anxiety.

[The System… It's like it is afraid.]

Chihiro herself doesn't know the extent of her abilities, of what it truly is… but Bernard does.

Chihiro's powers were granted to her by Machina, a god. Specifically, the God of Machines…

…a Primordial God.

Primordial, as their name suggests, are the oldest gods in existence. They weren't old gods, but more ancient than them. They are beings of creation from creation.

The concept of the multiverse is foreign to them. As for them, the multiverse is all just part of a single plane on which they could just freely move.

These primordial gods do not interfere with the workings of the universe, as they have already done their part during creation—everyone and everything that has happened and will happen is insignificant to them.

A universe will disappear, and the most they would do is be curious. But sometimes, however, they would get bored—but they limit their interference as much as possible, and one of the ways of doing so is by a contract.

They choose an Avatar, and Chihiro is one of those people.

The Avatar of Machina—she exists in all universes without fail. This is also one of the reasons why the universes are similar to each other—the primordial gods make sure their avatars will be present everywhere.

They manipulate certain events, some even as small as a single atom, just to ensure the existence of their Avatar.

And the reason why Bernard knows all of this is that he had personally met Machina during his early ventures throughout the multiverse, or more specifically, he came to Bernard in a form of a nightmare.

And what Bernard saw was something… unfathomable. Bernard has always been confident that there were no secrets in the universe that could hide from him, but he was hit with a reality that might as well be a fantasy.

The Primordials are beings that will always be beyond him—something that can never be surpassed.

And a being like that…

…is afraid?

"Shit…" Bernard could not help but just cover his mouth as an unexpected breath escaped his shivering lips,

"Just what did we let inside our universe…?"

'And what was his variant thinking raising someone like this?' But then again, this thought made Bernard wince. After all, he himself knows how foolish he becomes when it came to family.

That was his greatest weakness.

"Anna," Bernard let out a sigh loud enough to drown the waft of air blowing over his head.

[Yes, Whiteking?]

"You do still have the location of the Universe Riley came from, right?"

[Yes. As it is saved in Ms. Hannah's files, it was completely safe from the files that were deleted. Would you like me to open a Portal for you in our super secret base?]

"Yes," Bernard nodded, "It is time to find out what is really—Wait."

Bernard was about to fly away, but before he could do so, another figure joined Riley and the others in the park.

"What the—I thought she was already sleeping in her room!?"

It was, of course, none other than the Hannah of this universe—just casually walking across the park, still in her pajamas.

"Riley, what are you doing here?" Hannah let out a subtle yawn as she just casually approached Riley out of nowhere, "And… isn't this Golden Fox? And who is the weird done with a ski mask?"

"I…" Gracy did not really know what to do from the sudden appearance of Hannah—probably the most famous woman on the entire planet, "I…

…am Shadowfox," and so, Gracy could really only cover half of her already covered face with her hand as she introduced her… new title.

"Shadow…fox?" Hannah squinted her eyes as she looked at Gracy from head to toe, before finally glancing at Chihiro, "The two of you a group?"

"N—"

"Yes," Gracy was the one to answer, "We are all part of a secret organization."

"There is no such thing," Chihiro quickly said as she shook her head. This was followed by an awkward silence; an awkward silence that lasted for a few seconds before the three ladies started looking at each other.

Their eyes, squinted as if they were sizing each other up.

"Riley," Hannah was the first to break eye contact as she walked closer to Riley, "I… woke up and you weren't home."

"Yes," Riley nodded, "I went out for a walk in Canada and then went back here."

"I see… so that's why the signal did not reach," Hannah let out an awkward giggle, "Don't misunderstand, the keycard that I gave you has a GPS since I always lose even the spare."

"It is fine even if you are stalking me intentionally, Ms. Hannah. But know that at the end of everything, I will really only come home to you."

"That's… stop it," Hannah rolled her eyes as she looked away; trying her best not to almost squeam right there and then, "Stop… being so cringe."

"Hm."

"Anyway…" Hannah once again looked at Chihiro and Gracy, "...What are you even doing here with Golden Fox?"

"I—"

"I can answer that, Lady Hannah," Chihiro bowed her head as she stood in front of Hannah,

"Perhaps it is fate that you are here right now. I need your help."

"...Huh?" Hannah raised an eyebrow.

"I have actually been trying to reach your father," Chihiro sighed, "But he seems to be very busy at the moment."

"...What do you need from him?"

"I… need his help in trying to find a villain, the Villain."

Chihiro then started explaining the mission she received from her System to Hannah. Telling her everything, and how Riley seems to be one of the keys in trying to find the said villain.

And of course, Gracy was also there listening.

"A… villain from another world!?" Gracy almost choked from gasping too hard, "That… the multiverse is real?"

Hannah, on the other hand, found it hard to feign amazement and confusion. After all, she had known the existence of the multiverse for a very long time now.

"That… sounds ridiculous," Hannah breathed out.

"Yes…" Chihiro sighed, "But it's true."

"And are we just supposed to take your word for it?"

"...Yes."

"Okay. Let's say what you say is true," Hannah squinted her eyes as she tried her best to pretend ignorance and skepticism as much as possible, "Your system or whatever says the villain is here? Where here?"

"Just… here," Chihiro once again sighed as she shrugged and looked around to nowhere in particular, "I approached Riley because he was there in the memory the System showed me. I thought maybe he could… help me find the Villain."

"And does this villain have a fucking name?"

"I… it's not really clear. His name was mentioned, but there were too much screaming and noise to understand. The only name I heard was Riley's," Chihiro glanced at Riley, before turning to look at Hannah again,

"You were there as well, wearing some sort of pink suit similar to Nuclear—"

"I was there as well!?" Hannah did not let Chihiro finish her words, "Wait… you mentioned you saved Riley from this tall villain…

…so what exactly was your relationship with Riley in that memory?"

"I…don't know," Chihiro subtly grasped her chest, "But he is probably important to me if I risked my life for him."

"..."

"One of the Jackson twins was also there, Bella. And then a beautiful blonde lady that…

…looks somewhat similar to her," Chihiro pointed at Gracy… whose head was completely covered with a ski mask.

"Wha—How do you know what I look like!?" Gracy quickly pulled down her mask to make sure it was still there.

"...You weren't wearing it earlier."

"Oh… right."

"Wait, wait…" Hannah stretched her arms to the side as she stopped everyone else from talking, "So, what you are basically saying is that in that memory… You, me, that crazy metal chick, and another beautiful woman were there?"

"Yes, well…" Chihiro slightly tilted her head to the side, "We were obviously a lot younger, but yes."

"So, you mean to say…" Hannah's eyebrows began to lower as she looked at Riley,

"...Riley was surrounded by only women, like he is now?"

"Ah!" Gracy pointed at Riley, "You're a harem protagonist, ew!"

"..." Chihiro blinked a couple of times before her already small eyes also squinted as she looked Riley in the eyes.

"Wha—is that true!? Fuck you, Riley!"

"..." Riley could really only look at the three, slightly confused,

"...What did I do?"