Villain Retirement

"...Truly wonderful."

And there, standing amongst the dead variants, was a Bernard who was calmly clapping as he looked at Riley. Just Riley, not Bernard or even Bard, just Riley. Perhaps calm was not the right word to describe the clapping variant, no — he was more than that.

He was standing there as if he truly did not care about anything or anyone. His white armor was also the simplest of the bunch, not even a hint of any personality.

As for Bard, he did not know yet what action to take. Was this Bernard in front of them King? But one of the characteristics they actually know of King was that he looked younger than them, not a day older than 25.

And as Bard watched the variant slowly make his way toward them, not even floating and just stepping on the seats and tables, he could not help but feel extremely worried.

"I have heard of you, Riley Ross," the still unknown variant continued to step down toward the center of the auditorium, "I have heard of your feats, what you are capable of, and what you are. And I must say, perhaps there is a chance that we may be able to come to… a coalition of sorts."

And with those words uttered, it was finally clear to Bard and everyone else there that this variant in front of them could be none other than King.

"I do not form alliances with people I do not know, Bernard variant," Riley hovered back as the variant got closer.

"Ah, of course," the variant let out a small chuckle as he reached the end of the stands and hopped onto the center of the auditorium. He then suddenly held his face… before ripping it off — revealing a face that was almost devoid of any wrinkle or pore, a much younger version of Bernard Ross. His black hair, very slowly growing longer and turning silver.

"My name is Bernard Ross," the variant then placed his left hand on his chest, stretching his other hand to the side while he bowed to Riley, also nodding at Bard and Bernard after, "And most of you probably know me as just…

…King. It is a pleasure to—"

And without even waiting for King to finish introducing himself, Bard and Bernard suddenly rushed toward to attack him; with Bernard aiming for his head and Bard aiming for his legs… but King did not even move a single millimeter. What did move, however, were his eyes — specifically his irises that… suddenly fell from the rest of his eyes, taking away any color they had.

"Rude," King sighed. And without even doing anything, Bard and Bernard were suddenly violently thrown away by an invisible force,

"But I will allow it. Now, where was I? Ah, yes… It is a pleasure to meet you, Riley Ross."

"Hm," Riley nodded before glancing at Bernard and Bard, "That was telekinesis."

"It was," King smiled as he started walking toward Riley, looking at him from head to toe as he just hovered there,

"You and I are somewhat alike, you see. We can both copy other Supers' abilities. Except you have to die to get their power, and I need to… kill them, mildly putting it. And by that I mean I lobotomized their brains."

"Interesting," Riley also looked at King from head to toe.

"Indeed," King then started circling around Riley, "And I knew it was interesting as soon as I first saw you in my universe — the look you had in your eyes was unlike anything I have seen. You and I have the same goal, Riley Ross…

…the end of everything else."

"Not quite, King," Riley shook his head.

"Well, yes…" King chuckled before scanning everyone in the auditorium, even looking up at the people who were watching on the deck, "...We have different reasons, but the end goal is… almost the same. You want to end everything for the sake of ending everything…

…I want to end everything else for the sake of protecting the people dear to me."

"You have people dear to you, King?"

"Indeed," King stopped walking as he once again stood in front of the hovering Riley,

"Myself."

"Hm…"

"So, how about it?" King opened his palm to Riley, "Do you want to work together until a certain point, Riley? I know you treasure your sister above all else, so I am willing to make a covenant that I will not, under any circumstance, go to your universe."

"Riley, don't listen to him!" Hannah wanted to rush toward King, but she was quickly stopped by Nannah. She was going to push Nannah away, but Bernard suddenly appeared in front of her and stopped her as well.

"Don't…" Bernard shook his head, "This… King. Something is definitely not right with his mind."

"Ha…" King's eyes slightly twitched as he let out a tiny breath. He glanced at Hannah for a brief moment, before turning his attention to the other Hannah variants in the auditorium, "Well, since these ones are not needed…

…they can go."

And without even any warning, all the Hannah variants there were on the stands all exploded; their blood painted the auditorium; their flesh, hanging everywhere and dangling from the seats and the tables.

"..." Bernard could really shudder. They may not be his Hannah, but all of them still carried the same face, and even their personality was the same. And to see them brutally die just like that, he could not help but just look at his Hannah and hug her tight,

"Please… don't do anything."

"This.." Hannah's breaths stuttered as her eyes started trembling from seeing herself explode. If it wasn't for Bernard holding her tight, and Nannah also gripping her hand, she would have probably fallen there and then as her legs gave out.

"Ha…" King then let out a sigh of… relief as he turned his focus back to Riley, "...Now that no one is interrupting us, may I hear what you have to say about my proposal?"

"Sister said I should not, King," Riley shook his head, "So, I have to apologize and refuse your offer."

"A shame, really," King's sigh of relief quickly turned into disappointment as he shook his head and started walking away, "Then I suppose…

…everyone here di—Kh!"

And before King could turn around and finish his words, Diana suddenly appeared out of nowhere; her feet, already planted on King's arm, who seemed to have managed to block Diana's sudden attack.

"Dr. Caitlain'Ur…" And even as his bones started to crack, a smile still formed on King's face as he looked up at Diana,

"...I could see why most of my inferiors have you as a wife."

Even with the sound of his bones fracturing, it wasn't his arm that cracked first and gave up — no. It was the space station he was standing on; if it wasn't made with themarian materials and self-healing, it would have probably already shattered into pieces from the webs of crack that formed on it.

"But you see…" King then grabbed Diana's leg with his broken hand, "...I would rather prefer you on a leash."

"!!!" Diana's entire body seized up as she felt some sort of electricity crawl through her veins.

"It's not just a simple trickle and tickle, themarian," King slammed Diana on the floor. And although she was clearly not in pain, she also seemed unable to move. King then very softly removed his hand from her leg, revealing thread-like tentacles on his palm; all pierced and lodged through Diana's flesh,

"Those are nanites crawling through you, all emitting pulses that weaken your species. It's simple, but trust me… I spent a very long time making them work. I had to experiment on themarian children first since their flesh is not really as hard as—"

"Your tyranny ends here!"

"Ah!" King quickly tilted his body to the side as Aerith's fist brushed his cheek, causing a cut to form on his face. But before he could even finish his gasp, the cut already healed. Aerith continued to attack him with a speed invisible to almost everyone's eyes… but King seemed to avoid each time. And as he did so, a certain thumping pulse could be heard quietly echoing throughout the council hall.

"That's…" Hera, who was watching everything from the deck, could not help but let out a tiny gasp as she quickly recognized the sound, "...Tempo's ability."

"Do I really need to say it aloud…?" King's eyes followed Aerith's movements as he continued to dodge all of her attacks—no. He wasn't exactly avoiding them completely, as parts of his flesh could be seen being ripped away. But with how fast his wounds heal, they were completely meaningless,

"I do not like being interrupted."

And with his words completely calm, he suddenly stopped avoiding Aerith's attack… and instead caught her fist with a single hand.

"..." Aerith's eyes slightly turned wide as she looked King in the eyes. And before she could pull her hand away, King suddenly punched him straight on the cheek — violently slamming her down on the ground as the floor that had just finished fixing itself once again formed a series of cracks.

"Ha…" King then shook his head, brushing back his silver hair that slightly got messy during the brawl.

"Themarians," he breathed out, "I am coming to find that they are truly the trickiest to deal with. But, I suppose they also proved to be the most useful ones. You see, Riley Ross…

…there is actually a major difference between us."

"..." Riley seemed to not even be listening to King as he just stared at Aerith, who was groaning on the floor as King stepped on her.

"You seem to only be capable of copying the ability of Supers…" King once again smiled, showing his gums as he once again violently pinned Aerith to the floor,

"...I can do it to everyone and everything, as long as they have a brain to dissect."