Villain Retirement

"We are here live right in Central Manhattan where a hostage situation…"

"It is unknown what the hostage taker wants as of this moment…"

"We are seeing this live on T.V. The person you are seeing on the window right now is allegedly an agent of the CIA. And the albino holding him…"

"There also seems to be a woman. We don't know yet if she is…"

And just like that, the entire country was woken up from their routine as anywhere on the news, anywhere in social media, one could see the view of the most prestigious hotel in New York. There were probably more than a dozen helicopters currently surrounding the hotel — already several times than the allotted airspace for such aircraft.

The media were already being warned by the authorities to leave and land, but no one was really listening to them as this was the scoop of a lifetime.

"Seriously… Riley!?" Hera was trying her best not to be seen from the windows, but she could not help but stay close to Riley as she also tried her best to persuade him to do whatever it was he was planning to do. But alas, her words fall on deaf ears,

"If you wanted this kind of attention, then just go lift the entire CIA building up, why don't you!?"

"..."

"No! Don't actually do that!" Hera raised both her hands at Riley, "Where are you even going with this!?"

"Espionage and laying low is not my style, Miss Hera," Riley let out a small sigh as he stepped forward; walking outside to the large balcony of their suite while grabbing Miller by the neck. Suffice it to say, Miller was currently trying his best to free himself, but to no avail — perhaps if there was a consolation in his situation, it was that Riley was not really gripping his neck tight… he could even say it felt soft like he was floating instead.

And perhaps if there was an antagonism in his situation, it was that Riley did not stop walking until they were right in front of the ledge of the balcony.

"Wait… wai—" Miller wanted to say something, but his body suddenly swaying like a ragdoll completely locked his throat. And even after he found himself still again, he could no longer say anything. How could he, when there was nothing beneath his feet for a good 500 meters?

All he could really hear now was the sound of the harsh wind violently hitting his face, as well as the drumming blades of the helicopters around him.

"Riley! Why are you doing this!? He came to us with information!" Although hesitant, Hera still followed Riley outside.

"He is safe, Miss Hera."

"!!!"

"Oh my god!" Miller could really only scream as he felt his organs almost shoot out from his body. Figuratively, of course. Riley suddenly let go of him but caught him again before he could leave his reach.

Hera also found herself extremely frustrated as she almost leaped to save Miller, "Damn it, Riley! You can at least just let him stand on the floor!"

"I can't do that, Miss Hera," Riley shook his head, "There are snipers that already have their scope on me. If I place Miller on the floor, they would attempt to take a shot at me."

"And so!?" Hera raised her voice, "You're freaking bulletproof!"

"I do not want them wasting their resources on us, Miss Hera," Riley sighed, "These people have no superpower, they need all the bullets and weapons they could get to fight against real crime."

"What are you even on about!?"

[This is the NYPD! Put the hostage down or we will be forced to use lethal force!] And finally, police helicopters, as well as military helicopters started appearing — forcefully pushing away the other civilian and media helicopters as they stopped warning them.

"I think they want you dead, Agent Miller."

"They meant put me down on the floor!"

"The ground floor?" Riley blinked a couple of times as he tilted his head. Hera, however, completely saw through the smile that was mischievously crawling on Riley's face… She knew there and then that Riley wasn't going to let anything stop him. Well, not like anyone could.

He was enjoying this.

"Citizens of New York."

And finally, after gaining his much-needed audience, Riley turned his head toward the nearest camera he could find from one of the media helicopters that refused to land. And although he was far away, his words reached the microphone as if he were right in front of it.

Everyone who was watching on their screens could not help but hold their breaths as the camera zoomed in on Riley's smiling face.

"It has been brought to my attention that the CIA has been hiding a person that my friend and I are very eager to meet and talk to," Riley glanced at Hera, who only covered her face in response,

"She is unlike you, she comes from a place far away from here. So, I wish to make a deal where everyone wins. Bring me the woman I mentioned, and I will give you Special Agent Mill—"

And before Riley could finish his words, he suddenly placed his hand in front of Miller's chest. Miller was about to look down, before he heard the muffled and faint sound of a gunshot echoing even through all the noises scattered in the violent air.

"It would seem you hold no value to them, Special Agent Miller," Riley showed his hand to Miller, only for a bullet to fall from it; bouncing down across the walls of the building a few times as it fell.

"They… tried to shoot me?" Miller's eyes turned wide as he watched the bullet disappear into the distance.

"They shot you, Special Agent Miller," Riley really only let out a sigh as he looked at the helicopter where the bullet came from,

"Well then…" Riley then turned his focus back to the camera as he shook his head, "I would take the fact that you tried to kill Special Agent Miller as you not wanting the deal. So I will change the conditions."

"!!!" Miller once again found himself screaming as his organs once again shifted. Fortunately for him, he did not need to scream for long as he landed on the balcony instead of the cold hard floor hundreds of meters beneath him.

"The woman I mentioned…" The smile on Riley's face very slowly reached from ear to ear,

[...For the lives of everyone within 10 kilometers from where I am standing. You have an hour.]

"...What the fuck is this guy saying?"

"He's a terrorist!? Did he place bombs all over the city!?"

"What are our soldiers doing!? Shoot him! He's right there in the open!"

The people who were watching from their screens still could not believe what they were watching, but at the same time, they were completely intrigued. Shootings and hostage situations were not that uncommon in their country, but something this theatrical?

It almost felt like they were watching some sort of movie. Little did the watchers and viewers know, however, that they were truly about to witness something they had never seen before.

First, it started as a whistle.

"What's… that sound?"

The whistle was then followed by a quiet explosion, as the helicopters all found themselves suddenly surrounded by a violent turbulence which almost caused all of them to hit each other. And after a short panic, there… they saw something unbelievable.

A person, floating in the air. It was hard to see because there was a slight glare and a blur on the lenses from being cracked due to the sudden shockwave that thundered through the air, but it was a person.

A woman wearing a white gown, a lab gown.

"..." Riley, who had his back turned since he was going to relax back inside the suite while waiting for the ultimatum he gave, very slowly and casually turned around; his eyes, reflecting the unfamiliar silhouette that floated in front of him.

"..." Riley then looked at the woman from head to toe as her gown snapped in the air. The woman's eyes were completely blank, but even more blank was her face which did not show an ounce of expression.

"I was ordered to eliminate you, human," the woman then said; her voice, almost robotic in nature.

And as Riley heard her words, he only closed his eyes and let out a sigh, "I—"

And before Riley could finish his words, a red violent beam burst forth from the woman's eyes and gushed straight at him.

"Why are you so weak, themarian?"

"..." A slight hint of emotion could be seen flickering on the woman's face as Riley… just casually stepped forward even through the blast. He did not stop walking even as he passed the ledge, breaking it completely as he walked through the air closer and closer to her.

"I do not need to be Miss Hera to know that you are acting like you have been brainwashed," Riley then started floating closer to the woman. And as the woman heard her words, she could not help but let out a small breath as the violent beam gushing from her eyes completely dissipated away.

How could she not, when the stranger in front of her was suddenly speaking her people's language?

"The supervirus seem to not exist and flourish in this universe. But the rest seem to be the same," Riley let out a long and deep sigh as he looked the frail, skinny woman in the eyes,

"Even your failure to save your people, Dr. Caitlain'Ur."

"You know… who I am?" Caitlain's eyes widened in shock as she returned Riley's gaze.

"Of course. And fortunately you are not the other themarian," Riley sighed, "I love her…

…but she is stupid and will not be able to help us leave this universe."