Villain Retirement

"Everyone, welcome. Welcome!"

"What… is going on?"

"Isn't this the Guesthouse?"

Perhaps out of all the people there, only Katherine and Empress were familiar with Riley's Guesthouse.

"No." Katherine even more so, as it only took one glance to know they were not in Riley's Guesthouse; not to mention his Guesthouse had long been destroyed. And also,

"Riley's is much more elegant and has more rooms."

"...I don't think that is something to boast about," Empress commented, "But you're right, I remember being led to some sort of fancy restaurant. It was… beautiful and creepy. Weird, feels like a lifetime ago."

"...It is," Katherine could really only look at Karina, who was still having a conversation with Alice. Katherine did not mind, however, as Karina was basically the granddaughter of her variant.

"So… this is King's real hideout?"

Currently, almost everyone that was relevant to Riley and the supposed war was in King's fortress of solitude.

Diana and her variants, Hannah and Nannah, Bard, Aerith, Gracy, Alice Prime, Queen Adel, Queen Vania, Empress, and many more.

Most of them wanted to explore King's lair, but Riley asked all of them to gather in some sort of large hall with a large stage in the front — and they even had seats with their names on it.

"...Is this what the inside of a theatre looks like?" Gracy's eyes widened as she looked at the stages and the other people she was with, "Wait…

…are we watching a movie?"

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Aerith, who was seated beside her, could really only let out a long and very deep sigh as she looked at the daughter of her variant, "He even prevented me from finding Paige, saying he already found her."

"Are you open to having a conversation with my dad?"

"What?"

"What? I didn't say anything," Gracy quickly looked away.

"I'm… not your mother, Gracy," Aerith did not really feign ignorance as she gently held Gracy's hand, "And I can't replace her, ever."

"I know, psh," Gracy scoffed, "I never really knew my mother that much so it wouldn't matter."

"You—"

"It's starting!"

[Greetings, everyone.]

And while everyone was busy talking to each other and being confused, Riley suddenly appeared on the stage with a microphone in hand.

"Is… he really always this extra?" Gracy raised an eyebrow.

"You have no idea. That's a clone, by the way," Aerith said.

"...How do you know?"

"I… have no idea," Aerith shrugged, "I've faced so many that I just… know, I guess."

"Because you've slept with him."

"What…!?" Katherine, who was sitting behind them, could not help but lean over their seats as she looked at Aerith, "You… You slept with Riley, Megawoman!?"

"That's… oh, god…" Aerith could not do anything but just cover her face, "I'm… I'm sorry."

"No, it's…" Katherine backed away very slowly, "...I'm just surprised. Megawoman is my husband's mistress."

"What? Husband?"

"We got married," Katherine shrugged, "Well, he made his clone attend the wedding, but it still counts — he did it because Karina was requesting it."

"When the fuck did that even happen!?" Not only Hannah, but Diana could not believe what she had just heard, "Riley, explain yourself right this instant! I know I don't like Scarlet Mage, but you should have at least invited us!"

[Boss is currently preparing the show,] Riley's clone cleared his throat as he gestured to Hannah to sit down,

[I know all of you have questions, but they will all be answered shortly and—Oh, here comes the Boss!]

And with those words, the clone pointed at the side of the stage while walking away.

[Thank you, clone,] Riley just waved his hand as he looked at Hannah and the others. He did not really say anything else, however, as he just flicked his finger — dragging King along with him by the neck with an invisible rope onto the stage.

"Wait… are we actually watching a fucking execution?" Gracy could not help but gulp.

"Go, Dad! Kill the bad man!"

"End him! Pull out his eyes!"

"A…Alice!" Katherine quickly covered Karina's mouth as she started cheering and copying Alice, "Please don't teach her anything like that! Diana and I have been trying our best not to teach her anything violent!"

"Her powers are to disintegrate anything and everything around her," Alice scoffed and waved her hand, "If that isn't violent, then I don't know what is."

"T…that's right, Mom," Karina nodded; her cute little fangs, slightly showing as she smiled, "I'm as violent as Dad."

"...You cried when you accidentally killed a cockroach and could not sleep the entire night, dear."

"That… that's not true! W… watch, I'm not even going to look away as Dad executes the bad man!" Karina focused her eyes on the stage, trying her best not to look away, but her eyes were already closing on their own; almost making her look like she ate something extremely sour.

[None of you need to worry, I will not be executing anyone,] Riley raised his palm and shook his head, [Instead…

…King will be the one doing the execution.]

"N…no! You promised me!"

And there, everyone watched as King practically crawled on the stage toward Riley; crying on all floors as he grabbed Riley's foot.

[That wasn't me, King. That was my clone,] Riley smiled and snapped his fingers, and as he did so, a bed that looked like it belonged to a hospital floated from the backstage and flew right in front of Riley,

[Everyone, let me introduce you…]

No one was on the bed, but as Riley swiftly removed the blanket covering it, a person suddenly appeared; his mouth, sealed by a gag, and his limbs were chained to the bed,

[...A variant of Steve Bridges! Most of you probably know him as Prophet!]

"..." Bard could not help but squint his eyes as he looked at the Prophet variant. It wasn't only him, both Hannah and Nannah closed their eyes as they already knew what was going to happen.

[You might be wondering why Steve is lying here in front of all of us. Well…] Riley then grabbed something from one of his many pockets — a scalpel,

[...King has been nice enough to volunteer, and share to us how exactly he lobotomizes people!]

"No! No!"

[No…?] Riley squinted his eyes as he placed the scalpel on the bed, just beside Steve's face. Suffice it to say, Steve's eyes were already as wide as they could be as he looked at his reflection on the shiny blade. After all…

…Steve had already seen what was going to happen to him in a few moments.

[Then like you have done with many others, I will let you choose, King,] Riley then slightly pushed the bed away as he grabbed King by the chin and raised his head a little, [Either I torture them in ways you have never seen before, or you lobotomize them and show us all how you acquire your abilities.]

"I… I can't," King shook his head as he pleaded.

[Okay.]

"!!!"

Riley then suddenly rushed toward the bed, grabbing the scalpel he placed there, and stabbed Steve through the temple.

[If you are not going to do it, then I will,] Riley smiled as he started slicing—no. As he started sawing Steve's face; not the top of his head, but his face, [Forgive me, everyone. I have never really operated on someone before so I do not know where to cut.]

Steve's muffled screams whispered in the air as his blood started seeping out from his face. Before the blood could dampen the bed, however, they all just quickly returned into Steve's face as Riley just continued sawing it.

And once Riley was done, he just gently pulled off Steve's face from the rest of his head; including the front part of his skull.

[Look at this, King,] Riley then placed Steve's face in front of his face, using it as a mask as he looked at King, [I'm your best friend now.]

"Jesus… fuck," Gracy could really only grasp her seat, "I've already seen how violent he could be. But this is just… insane."

"Mom, we should stop him…" Hannah whispered to Diana. Diana, however, just shook her head; her eyes fixated on watching King suffer.

"We will, child." The one to answer Hannah was Queen Adel, who was seated next to Diana, "But not today, maybe not even a year after — but we will stop your brother, I promise you that."

[Ms. Dee, perhaps you want to assist me?] Riley then said as he turned Steve's head toward his audience, [Which part of the brain do you think King extracts?]

"M…mom," Karina quickly closed her eyes as she gripped Katherine and Alice's hands, "I… I don't want to become violent anymore."

"It's—" In truth, Dee truly also wanted to know how King was able to extract not only a super's abilities but also the racial traits of other alien species. But if she went along with Riley now, she would probably find herself being dragged along with his insanity — and she did not want that. And so, she just kept her mouth shut and shook her head.

[You could calculate the future. Correct, Prophet?] Riley then moved Prophet's eyes, [So, I suppose you know what is going to happen to you, right?]

"J…just…" With the gag covering his mouth gone, Prophet was now able to speak even without the entirety of the front of his face, "Kill… me."

[No, King did not give you that option,] Riley sighed, [If he was the one lobotomizing you…

…then he could have removed your prefrontal cortex and everything else that would make you feel what is about to happen next. But you don't have to worry…

…you won't be alone.]