Villain Retirement

"Fuck… Fuck!"

"There was nothing you could have done, Miss Liza."

"There's always something I could have done, Zero!"

The only sound to accompany Liza's weakening voice was the fading siren that signaled the end of an otherwise tiring battle. For Riley, however, it could not even be called an insignificant event — he was used to dealing with death in the billions already.

The number of lives he has taken, directly or indirectly, could perhaps even number to a trillion already; but none he could really say was intimate. After all, cut off the celestial tree, and you take everything away with it. He had been obsessing with turning everything into nothing, that sometimes he forgets just how beautiful it was to see death in person.

To see the hope fade not only in their eyes, but those they leave behind.

"He shouldn't have been left alone!" Lina was now sitting on the side of the street; her back turned against the wall as her hands lay defeated on the ground. Her eyes, wanting to look at where the old man died, but they stray away in fear of revisiting a recent memory of failure,

"Someone like that should—"

"Have died a very long time ago, Miss Liza," Riley stood beside Liza. The crowd who were previously gathered there, now all gone back to their lives; but never the same as they mourn for the life of a stranger. Humans have always been empathetic creatures, but never like this — something in them changed, that much was obvious from everything Riley has experienced so far,

"The old man could barely walk… It was time he crossed the road, Miss Liza."

"We've already lost too much!" Liza raised her voice as she slammed her fist on the wall, "Humans, and everyone else is so close to extinction, Zero. There's not even a normal human left, there's just us Supers."

"That would have been bound to happen anyway, Miss Liza," Riley shook his head.

"Not like this," tears once again trailed forth from Liza's eyes as she finally turned to look at where the old man died, "It's scary, isn't it? To watch life disappear before your eyes… and to know that after it is your turn, the rest will soon follow — and that's just that, just like that…

…everything has turned into nothing."

"..."

"No one even needs to do anything," Liza chuckled as she wiped the snot and tears coming out of her, "This is so fucking weird, why am I even crying in front of someone I've just met? Maybe the old man really did just kill himself, can't really blame him — what's the point, right? I mean, this is it… we're the last of us."

"Hm."

"No one even needs to do anything. No supervillains, no wars amongst the gods," Liza stood up, "We're just going to waste away, like food left in the fridge…

…I would have rather a super fucking villain ended all of us than this. Anyway, let's just go home. And by that, I mean your apartment."

"You would?" Riley very slowly turned to look at Liza, "Rather be killed by a supervillain, Miss Liza?"

"Fuck yeah," Liza sniffled as she took one final glance at the blood slowly drying up on the street,

"Like that, uh… that Darkday guy."

"You know Darkday, Miss Liza?" Riley blinked a couple of times.

"Oho…?" Liza beckoned to Riley to start walking back, "So, that's what makes you curious, huh? Darkday, the one destined to end us all — the greatest supervillain the entire multiverse has ever faced."

"Hm," Riley placed his hand on his chin.

"But then he disappeared or something," Liza sighed as she placed her hand behind her head, "Maybe he was killed by the gods, or maybe he's actually alive out there and he's doing all of this."

"You don't know what Darkday looks like, Miss Liza?"

"Nope, no idea," Liza shrugged, "I do think he's from Earth? Don't really believe that—wait…

…do you know what he looks like?"

"Not really, Miss Liza," Riley shook his head, "I don't really look in the mirror a lot."

"...What the fuck are you saying?" Liza gave one final sniffle before letting out a chuckle, "Anyway… that old man dying, that hit me really hard to the point it's making me think. I want a baby, Zero…

…so, let's go back to your apartment."

***

"Hmn… hn… that's it. This is…

Riley and Liza were now back in his newly acquired apartment, with Liza bent over the counter and Riley behind him.

"Ah… I think this is the one!"

"Hm…"

And of course, Liza truly wanted a baby, but not in the way some people might think. She was currently browsing her tablet, with Riley observing her from behind as he was curious as to what exactly Liza was doing.

"You can buy babies online, Miss Liza?" Riley could not help but squint his eyes as Liza placed her tablet right in front of Riley's face, only for him to see the photo of an actual human baby; white, brown hair, and almost yellow eyes — very much similar to Liza.

"What…? No, well… yes?" Liza shrugged as she just started swiping and tapping on her tablet again, "And… now we have a schedule!"

"I am confused, Miss Liza," Riley turned to look outside the window as the street lights began turning on one by one, "I thought people are no longer capable of giving birth?"

"...You really don't know anything?" Liza sighed, "These are androids. But they grow, they have emotions — they're pretty much alive. Some of the people you've seen earlier were androids. But of course…

…they're not really people."

[I heard that.]

"What the—who goes there!?" Liza expertly grabbed her baton from behind her; the trickle of electricity it emitted, causing the lights in the room to fade.

[Me.]

"W…what is that!?" Liza then quickly backed away as a small gray human suddenly emerged from Riley's chest, "What the—I thought you didn't know anything about the androids!"

"I do not, Miss Liza," Riley opened his palm for Ahor Zai to sit on it, "This is Ahor Zai."

"Ahor who?" Liza squinted her eyes before starting to calm down and returning her baton, "Did you… adopt her? Or is it your… lover?"

[Rude,] Ahor Zai crossed her arms as she looked at Liza from head to toe, [What do you mean the androids aren't really people!?]

"...Because they are not?" Liza raised an eyebrow, "And you're not supposed to think you are? Zero, where did you get this one from? I think it's defective."

[I know I am not human or any other species, but I consider myself a person too,] Ahor Zai harrumped, [Someone like you should not think of adopting that cute little baby if you do not think of it as a person — we are not toys.]

"I… didn't mean it like that," Liza could really only let out a sigh as she made her way to the sofa and let herself fall onto it, "I mean, I know there are a lot of people out there that treat the androids as real people, but that's just not the case for me — and I don't mean that in any offensive way. I'm all for… rights, but they are not really sentient, per se."

[Hmph,] Ahor Zai glared at Liza for a few more seconds before also just letting out a sigh, [But you are right, do not treat us as people — but do treat us as a person.]

"I'm… really confused right now."

[You should be,] Ahor Zai then flew away from Riley's palm before flying toward the tablet that was provided to him, [Anyway, I'll be gone for a while, Boss. I'll try to integrate myself and learn about this place — all this talk about androids intrigued me.]

"Did… that little just enter your tablet?" Liza could not help but blink a couple of times as she watched Ahor Zai just disappear into the tablet, "Where did you even buy one of those?"

"I did not buy her, Miss Liza."

"...I get it. Like a limited edition, huh?" Liza sighed as she rested her head on the sofa, "Your android is right, though — what was I even thinking wanting to adopt one if I just see them as machines? Ack… I have no right to be a mother. But maybe I should…

…I mean, I can still return it if I feel like I'm not capable, but… ack! Anyway, you should rest, Zero."

Liza then suddenly let out a yawn after speaking with pause before lying down on the sofa.

"You have an early day tomorrow too…" Liza then said as she just loosened her tactical uniform ever-so-slightly, causing it to almost bounce due to the mountains hidden beneath her shirt,

"...You need to find a job."

"Are you Katrina Collins?"

"What the—" Liza immediately stood up from the sofa as soon as she heard Riley's words; her gigantic bosoms, jiggling wildly,

"How do you know my real name!? Could it be you're a friend of one of my variants!? Wait…

…why are you only recognizing me now!?"

"I recognize you by your breasts, Miss Liza."