Villain Retirement

"Interview her! Interview her!"

"What do you mean 'her'!? The guy shouldn't even be in the female category! It's unfair!"

"The fuck? Sexist much? Her heart is a woman!"

"Say that again after looking at his biceps which are larger than the other competitors' legs! Let's just change the channel, I heard Feetopia is on Maxflix right now."

"She's just using her god-given gifts! And stop watching that degenerate stuff! And that's the local team, you should be cheering for her!"

"Being a ma—"

[We interrupt this program for some important breaking news!]

"What could be more important than—]

[There is currently a supervillain that is flying amok and rampaging above the state of Florida and have caused complete damage and death to surrounding areas. Currently, the mysterious figure is fighting with an unidentified female superhero and was last seen in the skies of Miami.]

"...Oh. That's here."

Somewhere in the joyous city of Miami, there was currently a couple just casually spending their weekend and watching TV; enjoying their time together and arguing every minute or so. You know, just two people in love that thought nothing eventful was going to happen with their day.

[The total casualty is still unknown for now but we are getting news from the local fire department and the local authorities that roughly… is this real?]

Their expressions of bliss, however, almost reflected the person on the other side of the TV as they read words at the bottom of the screen. Their mouths, very slightly opening as they looked at each other.

[Uhm…] The newscaster cleared his throat, pulling on his necktie as he tried his best to be composed in front of the camera,

[...According to local authorities of the cities they have already been in, the total casualty should not be lower than 3 million. 3 million American lives lost. And we are just getting the news that… that they were just first spotted in New York less than an hour ago. In fact, we have a video…]

"..." The couple once again looked at the TV, where they watched a mysterious honey blonde-haired woman fighting against a shadow. At first, the woman seemed to try and push the shadow away from the city and was successful in doing so.

"Oh wow, the new Dimsungs s42's camera is really nice."

"Shh!"

But as they disappeared into the clouds, the woman was seen being pushed down as the shadows she was fighting with multiplied. And very soon, they disappeared from the frame as they seemed to fly to another city.

The couple thought that it was over, but after a few seconds, a cloud of mushroom lit up from the distance; causing the camera to shake and ultimately cut off.

[According to our sources, the explosion we all saw in the last part of the video is… Staten Island? But my… my parents live there. What!? What do you mean continue rolling!? I need to call my mom now! No, fuck you, Chris! You—We apologize for the sudden intrusion, we will return shortly.]

[Oh my god, help us!]

"Oh my god!"

The couple thought the dread was over when the news was cut short. But as soon as the feed switched back to what they were previously watching, they saw a scenery; the once clear pool was now filled with red. The competitors they were just previously watching, now just floating face down.

The lights from above were hanging, and the walls were crushing several people that were calling for help.

"..." The couple just stared at the TV for a few seconds, before the feed was once again cut-off and faded into black, showing the couple with their expressions of shock and disbelief.

"What… that's only a few blocks away from us," the woman was the first to stand up; her feet, not knowing what to do as they started panicking on whether or not they should walk away or stay. But soon, with a heavy breath, the woman leaped over the sofa and started undressing there and then.

The man just glanced at her for a few seconds, before shaking his head and also leaping over the sofa, also undressing as they both presumably ran to their room. And after a few seconds of noise, they stepped out…

…wearing what could only be their superhero outfits.

"I'll go first to the pool!" The woman yelled, tapping her husband's shoulder before running toward the window and leaping out.

"Go, I will—"

And before the man could finish his words, he watched as his wife's body disintegrated into millions of bits of pieces as a shadow suddenly rammed through the walls of their building—also shaving off the floors and the walls of their living room.

"..." And although his face was already covered with a mask, his eyes were clearly blank. He just stood there, staring at the sudden view of the city in front of him; the wind, blasting all the dust into his apartment.

"Lois…?" The man muttered as he stepped forward,

"Lois… are you okay?" He asked, even though he clearly watched her disintegrate into pieces just seconds ago; her guts, still swaying with the wind as they continue to fall toward the ground like pieces of wet dry-aged spaghetti.

"No…no," the man started shaking his head as he stood at the edge of his now opened living room, "Lois… Lois!"

The man was about to step over the edge, but before he could do so, another silhouette appeared in front of him.

"Mega…woman?" He subconsciously blurted out, but soon shook his head as Megawoman has long been dead before. Instead, he squinted his eyes as he looked at this individual floating in front of him, only to quickly realize she was the woman on the news.

Aerith and the man stared at each other for a second, before Aerith started looking at him from head to toe.

"Are you a hero?"

"Y—"

"Evacuate everyone in the building as fast and safely as you can, now!"

"That—Yes!" And perhaps due to the shock of suddenly losing his wife, he just nodded his head and watched as Aerith dove down. The man did not even waste any time as he quickly ran outside of his apartment, knocking on each of the doors and telling everyone to come out.

He didn't need to do so, however, as most of the tenants were actually already running outside—and when he reached the floor, everyone was already packed and pushing each other down the stairs.

"Everyone, please! Calm—"

"Are you a hero!? What is happening out there!?"

"Are you here to save us!? I saw the news!"

The man wasn't even able to say what he wanted to say as everyone just started rushing at him.

"Please, my baby… get my baby out of here!"

A woman was about to hand him a toddler, but the man watched as a sudden force came from below. It was weird, it was almost as if everyone… everyone was from bottom to top; like the man was watching meat being ground inside a blender.

The man was going to pull the toddler away. But perhaps because of the pain she was feeling, the mother gripped her child tightly… pulling him along inside the torrent in which the toddler's small body was instantly turned into mince.

"What… the fuck?" The man stared at this scenery for a few seconds, before just very slowly stepping back and closing the door of the staircase; his eyes, just bouncing back and forth in disbelief with what he had just witnessed.

He could really only hear his breath; not knowing whether it was calm, or already actually dead. His hand was still holding the handle of the door, waiting for the screams to stop—and it did.

The screams did not even last long.

And as he could hear the whistle of silence whispering into his ears, he once again opened the door… and there it was—

—Hell.

"What the fuck… what the fuck is happening?" The man wanted to puke, but the thought of puking at this sight seemed wrong to him. How could it not be, when the staircase was now filled with everyone that probably lives in this building?

"..." The man was going to close the door again, but then he heard the whisper of someone crying. And without even any hesitation, he stepped on the wet floor and quickly started going down toward the cry.

"Hello…?" And soon, he saw a small child cowering in the corner of the stairs, "Are you… come here. It will be fine."

The man did not even want to ask the boy any questions, he just very gently turned the boy to face him; welcoming him with a gentle smile. And surprisingly, the boy also welcomed him with a smile…

…a smile that reached from ear to ear.

"Bitch," the boy then said before he plunged his small hands into the man's mouth… and tore half of his face completely off.

"Welp…" The little boy then snapped his fingers, blowing away all the blood painted on his hair and body; showing his unnaturally pale skin and white hair,

"...On to the next building."

Aerith knew. She knew what was happening.

Aerith knew that Riley's clones were causing destruction everywhere. And right now, Riley was in each of the buildings in Miami causing damage and killing everyone individually—but what could she really do? She could hear the cries of everyone, but if she left Darkday just for a single second, she knew just how much more damage he would cause to get her attention.

This is the true Darkday. He could just outright destroy everything…

…but he wants you to feel that you are helpless, and he will laugh at you while doing so.