Villain Retirement

"May I ask you something, Riley Ross?"

"You already have, Ms. Dee."

"May I ask you something personal?"

"Of course, Ms. Dee."

"Stop calling me Dee, only Alice calls me that."

"Not anymore, Ms. Dee. And it will be hard to differentiate between you and Mother."

"..."

In an interesting turn of events, Riley and the ever-serious Dee were currently flying into the expanse of space together. She wanted to see what a dying universe looks and feels like, what sort of energy they gave off — and it just so happens that one of their transmitters pinged.

And so, Dee just opted to go with Riley, and so here they are, flying alone in a universe in which the solar system seemed to have completely vanished without a trace.

"May I know how your fascination with killing people began?" Dee did not really mind the tone of Riley's voice and his words, which were seemingly monotonously sarcastic and sincere at the same time.

"I do not really know how to answer that other than it was already there in the first place, Ms. Dee," Riley closed his eyes and let out a small hum, "But I am glad you asked me that, now that I have some sort of emotional maturity, I could somewhat remember the details differently."

"Go on," Dee squinted her eyes.

"Are you studying me, Ms. Dee?"

"Yes," Dee nodded without any hesitation, "I have learned that having a deep or fun conversation with you is the only way one could survive near you. You have already taken a liking to Alice, but I am not sure if you will show me the same courtesy. I am already taking the risk of just being alone with you in this dead universe."

"You look like Mother, you are already automatically liked, Ms. Dee," a small smile crawled on Riley's face as he looked at Dee.

"Redking, my universe's Bernard Ross, looked like your father," Dee's eyes began to lower, "That didn't help him from being decapitated by you, Riley Ross."

"Well, I felt like killing him would be more fun than having a conversation with him, Ms. Dee," Riley shrugged.

"Then are you having.. fun with our conversation?"

"No."

"Hm," Dee looked away toward the empty and dark horizon, "How differently do you feel now about your past?"

"That if I truly were raised in a different circumstance, I would have probably been completely different. That if I had been raised by someone who truly understood what I am, all the things I have done probably would not have happened. I was enabled to become what I am, because the people who raised me are much larger than the world they are in," Riley also looked at the dead space around them,

"Bernard Ross was always meant to explore the stars, Diana Ross had already been there. They thought of my actions as inconsequential, meaningly in the grand scale of things."

"Are you saying you wouldn't be the destroyer you are today?"

"No. I would have been worse if I was not raised by them," Riley then looked Dee in the eyes, "As I said, what I am has already been there from the start. It is just what I am — and if it was somehow suppressed, then I would have definitely turned out worse today."

"That does not make sense at all," Dee raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps I should phrase it like this," Riley placed his hand on his chin, "The only reason you and the others are alive now is that I have already heard all the screams I wanted to hear — there is no thrill anymore."

"...What?"

"The screams, Ms. Dee…" Riley then closed his eyes as the smile on his face returned; gentler this time, "...They all said our voice is unique to us, that the breaths escaping our mouths are things only designed for us, but that is not exactly accurate."

"..."

"The screams, one way or another, they are all just the same…" The smile on Riley's face turned somber as he opened his eyes,

"The gasping breath of the Elderly, the silent crying of a child, the annoying wail of a baby, the groaning whistle of a man, the high-pitched screeching of a woman — all of them are just the same. Fear, anger, hopelessness, they all just seem… irrelevant now…

…I have heard all of them, and that is why I do not get the urge to just order the miniature clone inside your ear to eat you from the inside, Ms. Dee."

"Wha—!?" Dee quickly started shaking her head and brushing her ear, but as soon as she saw the playful smile on Riley's face, she knew she had been had, "So, your emotional maturity means you get to play pranks now? What did you mature from, a toddler?"

"No, I just wanted to see what it would be like to actually play with my mother," Riley let out a chuckle, or at least he tried to, "I can't do it with Diana."

"Why not?" The inquisitive tone in Dee's voice returned.

"Because I am afraid I might enjoy it," Riley shrugged.

"And you're not allowing yourself to enjoy things? That is very unhealthy, Riley Ross."

"Good," Riley nodded.

"You're punishing yourself, is that it?" Dee let out a small groan as she flew closer to Riley, "Are you trying to punish yourself since you can't stop yourself from being an evil piece of shit?"

"No. I have accepted what I am from the start, Ms. Dee," Riley shook his head, "I am doing it… for them. As much as I do not deserve to get attached to them, they also do not deserve to get attached to me—only for me to just try and rip it away. I can't do that to them."

"You're saying that after saying all those things to your sister the other day?"

"Well, Sister is the exception," Riley smiled and nodded, "I can be selfish with her."

"The irony of this all is that you're still going to destroy everything," Dee let out a very long and deep sigh as she looked ahead, "I sense your clone about 670,000 miles in that direction."

"Are you stronger than Mother, Ms. Dee?" Riley nodded as both their speed started to increase.

"I haven't thought about it."

"Your Alice is stronger than my Alice," Riley shrugged.

"Your Alice died more than 20 years ago," Dee scoffed, "I have a feeling that if she was alive, she would be a lot stronger than my Alice."

"Why so?"

"Because I have a feeling that if Alice and I ever decided to have a child…" A small, but glimmering smile crawled on Dee's face, "...She would learn to love it even more than she loves me, and she would protect it at all costs. I know this, because I will do the same…

…The length some parents would go through is something I would never understand, Riley Ross."

"Is that so?" Riley once again placed his hand on his chin as he thought of Karina, who he had really not spent any time with at all. Perhaps he should ask Katherine to bring Karina to the space station?

"Whiteking, your father…" Dee let out another long sigh, "I heard all the reports and also saw whatever was left of the footage when King attacked, he died protecting your sister."

"Yes," Riley nodded, "I have his head with me, do you want to see it?"

"What…? Why do you—no. It doesn't matter," Dee shook her head, "As I said, I reviewed the footage and heard what happened from your mother. King…

…he stopped time, didn't he?"

"Was it really that?" Riley blinked a couple of times as he looked at Dee in the eyes, "...Interesting."

"That's the only conclusion that makes sense," Dee hummed and nodded, "He could may have very well just been moving at a speed millions of times faster than light, but Diana would have perceived that. There was also the fact that when he disappeared and appeared in the footage again, King was profusely bleeding — but all completely internally."

"Hm."

"For a man with the ability to heal himself and control blood, that is quite impossible. No?" Dee scoffed, "My theory is that the stress of using the ability is too much for him and is eating him from the inside, and that he also can't use any other abilities while using it."

"Interesting," Riley squinted his eyes, "Why tell me this, Ms. Dee?"

"In hopes that you two just get rid of each other," Dee smirked.

"May I suggest something, Ms. Dee?" A smile also crawled on Riley's face, "Instead of trying to figure out a way to kill King, you should have been trying to find a way to convince him to join your side. Because unlike me…

…I believe King could be changed by the power of talking and friendship."

"A man like that is beyond conversation, Riley Ross."

"I do not believe so, Ms. Dee," Riley shook his head, "Because if he was, he would not be giving any of the universes an option to kneel."

"..."

"I would never make you bend the knee, Ms. Dee. I would just rip it off and then smash the head of the person you love with it in front of you. And the only words you will ever hear come from my mouth…

…is my laughter."

"...You're even more fucked up than I imagined, Riley Ross," Dee shook her head as she just looked forward, only to finally see who it was that was trapped in the dead universe they were in. Or perhaps more specifically, what it was — The Cherbi,

"We should just leave it here."

"No...

...I want to see it play with my new pets."