Villain Retirement

"...I will have to kill you."

"!!!"

Aerith found herself quickly flying away to the end of the atmosphere as soon as she heard those words being uttered by Riley. She quickly turned to look at the top of the building the two of them were just resting on, only to see he was also no longer there.

"I have latched on to you, Aerith."

"..." Aerith very slowly turned to look behind her. And there, he saw Riley also very slowly moving away from her peripheral vision.

"No matter how fast you fly, I will just always be behind you — figuratively and physically," Riley then moved away from Aerith's back and floated right in front of her, "I would prefer if you do not struggle, Aerith. This will not be a repeat of the Battle of Toronto. As you said yourself, I have become much stronger than you. If an undead variant of Princess Esme was not able to beat me, what hope could you have?"

"...What?" Aerith tried to fly away but found her path blocked by a clone. This clone, however, quickly faded away out of existence; just withering away.

"My obsession with you, Aerith…" Riley very slowly floated closer to Aerith, "...It is time to end it once and for all so I can be free. But most importantly, so you can be free."

"Wait…" Aerith showed her palm to Riley, "At least wait until these people are gone."

"..." Riley squinted his eyes, before he very slowly looked down toward the ruined city beneath them. And as soon as Aerith saw this, she knew she made a mistake saying that and immediately flew in front of him.

"No!" Aerith shook her head, "Do. Not. Kill them."

"There is no need, Aerith. All of them are dead already," Riley only shook his head and sighed, "I am only here for you. If you resist, then the people you have been trying to protect will be swept by our battle — I believe it is time to stop creating another Toronto, Aerith."

"..." Aerith could really only close her eyes, "And what will you do after you kill me?"

"Go back to the space station and tell the others I have sent you to your Eternal Death, Aerith."

"I meant after that," Aerith looked Riley in the eyes, "After you defeat King."

"I will end everything else."

"And after that?"

"Live with what I have done," Riley let out a long and deep sigh as he returned Aerith's gaze, "It will all be meaningless if I do not live through the nothing I have created, Aerith. That needs to happen."

"You really have…"

And before Aerith could finish her words, Riley suddenly moved closer to her; his arm, going through her chest. Aerith did not really fight back, however, as she even floated closer to Riley. The sound of her flesh being and pushed, whispering in the air as she stretched her arms to the side and wrapped it around Riley,

"...You really have grown, Riley."

"No," Riley also wrapped his other arm around Aerith as he stared at her heart, literally. He was holding onto her heart, staring at it as it barely even drummed, "The fact that I am hesitating now even though I have already resolved myself to do this from the start shows I haven't grown at all, I have not grown from you."

"The fact that you are hesitating already shows that you have," Aerith rested her head on Riley's shoulder, and there, the only thing she could really hear was the sound of Riley's heart beating faster than she had ever heard it before, "Just promise me, Riley…

…Promise me that after you have turned everything into nothing, you will be good to those that will emerge after."

"..."

"Whether you like it or not…" Aerith gasped as Riley very slowly started to grip her heart, "...You will become God to the people who will come after. Do not be cruel to them."

"I will not, Aerith. Because for them, I will not even exist," Riley sighed, "And I will make sure that another one like me will not be born."

"T—"

"Goodbye, Aerith."

And with those words, Riley crushed Aerith's heart, not even waiting for her to finish her words. He did not let her arms unwrap around him, however, as he used his telekinetic abilities to keep her arms embracing him.

A second.

A minute.

An hour.

He stayed like this for hours and hours, embracing Aerith as the two of them just floated in the air; seemingly alone in a dying universe. The night came, and the sun once again rose… but Riley remained completely still as he cherished the last warmth that was coming from Aerith's body.

"I do not think my life could have been as eventful as it was if it wasn't for you, Aerith…" And as Aerith's warmth was very slowly merging with the heat of the sun, Riley tightened his embrace as he rested his cheek on her head, "...Do you know that I was actually the one buying all of your merchandise back then? Only the licensed ones, of course. I should still have them back on Earth — I should have shown it to you just to creep you out."

"..."

"I also killed the ones selling illegal and unlicensed merchandise, by the way. That is why the counterfeit percentage of products under your name was the lowest among all the superheroes," Riley chuckled, "I know you didn't want your face on figurines, so I kept buying all of them instead. The perks of having Bernard as my father."

"..."

"Do you know that I do not necessarily get the urge to relieve myself? Sexually, I mean. But when I—"

"Stop. Just… don't continue whatever it is you are about to say. You do know I'm not dead, right?"

"I know," a small smile crawled on Riley's face as he felt Aerith move in his arms, "I just wanted to know how long you will stay in my arms and not let go, Aerith."

"I don't really know what to do with you, Riley…" Aerith gripped Riley's back as she tightened her embrace on him, "...Just what do you actually want with me?"

"Kill you, Aerith," Riley opened his eyes as he brushed Aerith's hair, "But even more than that, I want you to be there to still and try to stop me until the end — that is really the only way this all makes sense."

"I can't stop you even if I wanted to, Riley."

"Even if you wanted to? Does that mean you do not?"

"That's not what I meant," Aerith buried her face on Riley's chest, "We've already established you are already a lot stronger than me."

"We can fix that, Aerith," Riley smiled, "I learned a little something from the child of your variant. She said it was impossible to learn it in another universe, but I have delved deeper into my core and done research and found a way — Dual Cultivation."

"...What?"

"You can sense it, right? The weird energy I did not have before."

"..." Aerith blinked a couple of times as she increased her senses, and true enough, there was some sort of condensed spherical energy resting in Riley's stomach, "What's… that?"

"I am sure you are aware of how I can share it with you, Aerith," Riley smiled, "After all, it was Mother's variant who deduced a way how to do so."

"That's…!!!" Aerith quickly let go of Riley, even pushing him away as her face instantly became flushed and red, "You… you're really starting to get cheeky, child."

"You only call me a child when you are embarrassed, Aerith," the smile on Riley's face became wider as his arms remained open, "It is fine. Even if you hate me or do not harbor feelings of love, you must do what you need to do to obtain power."

"Stop—"

"!!!"

And before Aerith could finish her words, a slight whistle whispered into her ear; a roar which came from thousands and thousands of miles away. And without even any hesitation or another word to Riley, she disappeared from her spot. And as a matter of course, Riley was latched onto her as she instantly flew to the other side of the Earth — and there, a gigantic eyeball was floating in the air; turning everything it sees to stone.

Riley watched as Aerith did not even deliberate the situation; unafraid that the eye might also turn her into stone as she just immediately rushed toward it and started pushing it up into the sky and out of the atmosphere — freezing it almost instantly.

She then quickly dived down to the surface, helping anyone and everyone she could see. As for Riley, he just waited for Aerith to do what she needed to do; sitting beside a person that was turned into stone and… accidentally bumping into it and causing it to shatter into a thousand pieces.

"Hm…I guess everyone here is dead," Riley shrugged as he just continued to watch Aerith try to save what she could. And he continued to wait — even after another day had passed, he watched Aerith rescue people as another monster emerged; then talking to her during the times she was not saving lives.

Trying to understand her deeply, letting the days just pass.

"What motivates you to save these people, Aerith? You do not need to."

"Honestly… I don't know."

And as the two once again found themselves sitting on top of a building, they once again just casually talked to one another. The distance between the two, slowly shortening with each day that passed until…

…Aerith's head was just resting on Riley's shoulder; the two of them, watching as the last monster razed through the ending horizon.

"I just feel like I need to, and they need me to," Aerith let out a small but very deep sigh.

"...Do you know what I feel like I need to do, Aerith?"

"Hm…?" Aerith removed her head from Riley's shoulder as she looked him in the eyes.

"This."

And without even avoiding or moving…

…she allowed Riley to push her down; her back, hitting the cold floor, but the warmth coming from Riley's lips as he placed it upon hers completely caused everything else to just fade away.