Villain Retirement

"Why… why does he look like that?"

"Ma? What… what's wrong?"

"M… No… No, it's nothing."

Charlotte's quiet stutters echoed through the maternity room; her eyes staring at the pale baby that the doctor was currently holding. And seeing the look of bewilderment on the doctor's eyes, he too, was not quite sure what was happening.

Charlotte's breaths were heavy; perhaps the heaviest they have ever been. Even through the almost thousands of battles she had been in. In fact, even when she gave birth to Alice, she had not felt this kind of anxiety before.

How could her breaths not be this dismayed, when the baby that the doctor has currently holding did not have any color in him. But most importantly…

"Why… why isn't he crying, doc?" Charlotte could not help but whisper.

"What!? What's wrong!?" 

But even with her attempt to whisper, her words still struck like thunder in Alice's ears. Alice wanted to get up, but even lifting a finger felt like she was trying to carry the entire world with her; her fatigue, reaching its limit. The only thing that was keeping her awake right now was the sheer willpower to see her child.

Alice could not even use her power—she was trying to lift herself up with telekinesis, but her body was already screaming due to the exhaustion of giving birth.

"Ma!? What's wrong!?" The only thing she could really do was bellow; her tears, already trailing down her ears, "What… what do you mean he's not crying!? Is that… is that bad!? Ma! What does that mean!?"

Alice was not alone with her panic—both the doctors and the nurses that were in the room were also quite in a bind; not necessarily because there was something wrong with Alice's baby, but because of Alice herself. If she were to become berserk and started losing control of her powers, then most of them would probably die here.

They were doctors and nurses specifically chosen for the job—specialists that are used to handling pregnancy of supers. But this was perhaps, the very first time they were worried about their lives.

Alice's popularity—notorious antics were quite popular amongst the masses. She had a very short fuse; the villains that happen to have her as their enemy would rather surrender to the authorities rather than face her.

And so, with those worries dancing in their minds, they quickly held onto all the equipment inside the room; afraid that the sharp scalpels and heavy metal tubes would start floating. But contrary to their expectations, nothing floated.

As for the doctor that was currently holding the pale baby; he could not help but take in a big and very deep gulp as the sweat on his face started filling up his cap and mask. He was about to do something that Alice might not want… but still he had to do it.

And so, with another gulp… the doctor gently held the baby on its ankles before proceeding to slap it on its bottoms.

"What are you doing, you fuck--!!!"

"Alice, calm down!"

Alice's bed started to shake as the veins around her body started to constrict. But before anything drastic could happen, Charlotte ran to hug her daughter,

"It's fine—it's a normal procedure," Charlotte then whispered in a very calm tone.

Calm—perhaps this was the first time Charlotte had to pretend to be one. Try as she might not to express her anxiety, but seeing the completely pale baby in front of her not responding no matter how many times the doctor urged a response, Charlotte could not help but also drown in her own sweat.

"M… Ma? Why… what's happening?"

"S… shh, it's fine… it's fine," Charlotte could only hold her daughter's hand as she saw the tears coming from her eyes multiply. Charlotte then turned her eyes towards the doctor's… and as soon as he saw him shaking his head, Charlotte's eyes turned wide; her grip on her daughter's hand, becoming tighter and tighter.

"M… ma? What's wrong? What's wrong? Where… where's my baby?"

"Oh… Alice," Charlotte was about to caress her daughter's cheek. But before she could do so, Charlotte let out a small gasp as her finger quickly pointed toward the baby.

"L… Look!" Charlotte then bellowed.

The doctor quickly turned to look at where she was pointing, only for him to almost take a step back as he saw the pale baby looking him directly in the eyes.

"This…" The doctor's bewilderment and shock were momentary, of course. Saving a life was, of course, still the priority. And so, with a shake of his head, the doctor started checking the pale baby for anything amiss.

But besides the baby's pale skin that caused one to see all of the tiny veins in his body, as well as wide lips that looked like it was cut with a knife, nothing was wrong—the baby was completely healthy.

"He… he's perfectly fine," the doctor said; still somewhat in disbelief with what happened. He was about to hand the baby to Charlotte, but Charlotte quickly gestured to the doctor to let Alice hold him first.

Alice quickly stretched her arms towards the baby; the smile on her face, completely drowning the tears that have previously plastered there before.

"Be gentle with him, Alice," Charlotte then whispered, "He's not—"

"He's not a pet, I know, ma…" Alice then very gently grabbed the baby from the doctor's hands, 

"…I know," she then breathed out as the smile on her face grew even more jubilant; even though moving a single finger sapped most of her strength, Alice still embraced her baby as gently as she could.

"Hello…" Alice then whispered; her words, very quiet with not even a breath coming out of her mouth, "…Hello, it… it's me, your mama."

"…" Seeing her daughter having this kind of expression, a tear could not help but also fall from Charlotte's eyes. She had never seen Alice like this; perhaps that was a failure on her side as a mother… or perhaps she had forgotten how happy she was when she also gave birth to Alice.

"Say hello to grandma," Alice then said as she let the baby hold her finger.

"H… hello," Charlotte almost gasped as she saw the baby looking at her; a smile, slowly crawling on her face as she waved her hand towards the baby. Her smile, however, almost faded away as the baby smiled back—the lines of his mouth, almost reaching from ear to ear.

"…" Charlotte quickly looked towards the doctor, her eyes almost asking if there was something wrong with the baby. The doctor, however, only let out a small but very deep sigh as he shrugged his shoulders.

Were… they sure nothing was wrong with the baby? Charlotte thought. But seeing her daughter this happy… Charlotte could not dare to say anything.

"Say hello to grandma," Alice repeated as she very gently waved the baby's hand,

"Say hello, baby Lucifer."

"No!"

And so, months passed. And the rumors that Ms. Phoenix gave birth spread like wildfire through all the news outlets. The Hope Guild, however, did not let the rumor last as they announced Ms. Phoenix's break from the guild—confirming the news.

The entire world wanted to know the details, but as they were superheroes; there really was no information they could divulge. And besides… they too, have no idea what was happening. As far as they know, Alice didn't even have a partner.

None of them pried any further, however.

Every member of the Hope Guild has already introduced themselves to Alice's son; most of them, initially shocked by how he looked. But like with Charlotte, they couldn't really say anything with how happy Alice was.

And besides, this was better than her wreaking havoc outside. This was the very first time they all saw how peaceful Alice could be if she chose to. This was the first time she was waking up and not choosing violence as her breakfast.

Alice… was happy, and so they were too.

"Ow, come here. Come to mama."

"Alice, don't force him—he is still a couple of months away from walking."

"Oh? But little Riley seems to want to walk? Don't you, little Riley dubs?"

"…" Charlotte's sighs once again echoed through the air. This time, however, it was followed by a smile as she saw the whitest baby she had ever seen in her life trying to crawl their way towards Alice.

Charlotte wanted to know what exactly Alice injected in herself, but Alice refused to reveal anything else no matter how many times she asked. The only thing she said was that it was some sort of IVF that didn't need a sperm donor.

Charlotte tried scouring the so-called internet for it, but nothing was popping up. She opted to ask Whiteking for help, but she was afraid he might discover something—the guy has been giving her creeps ever since he joined, after all.

And so, after a few weeks, Charlotte just gave up. What was important right now was that Alice was genuinely happy.

She was happy.

Granted, they have been spending all their time inside the Hope Guild since Riley was diagnosed with some form of albinism. Alice tried bringing him outside once, but when Riley's skin started to turn red, Alice quickly returned back to the base, crying and telling everyone that Riley was dying.

He was not, of course. But since then, Alice just stayed inside.

It wasn't just Charlotte, but everyone noticed how much Alice doted on Riley—one might say a little too much.

She doted Riley to the point that she rearranged the entire Hope Guild to become baby-friendly—putting foams on every wall and shaving all the edges and turning them round.

No one could stop her. But why would they try?

Alice was happy…

…but then she was not.