Villain Retirement

"Are… they together?"

"We are."

"!!!"

Inside a room with a view overlooking the recovering city of angels, the warmth that was being kept at an ideal temperature suddenly started to lower– enough to almost crack the large windows as the temperature shift was almost enough to create bubbles through them.

Of course, this was not due to the airconditioning system malfunctioning, or the freezer suddenly bursting out its freon– it was due to the Asian American that was residing inside the room; her dark-brown almost black eyes reflecting the four monitors in front of her.

A series of snaps also whispered in the air as this mysterious Asian American covered in blankets bit her nails; her gritting teeth, seemingly showing the frustration she was feeling right now.

But this was not always the case for the mysterious Asian American– just seconds ago, the smile on her face could not be contained; her breaths, almost jubilant with their beats.

How could she not be happy, when her master finally once again returned?

When Riley was imprisoned, she kept asking Katherine if Riley's clones were approaching her; but alas, Katherine only shook her head every time. What sort of First Subordinate was that? The Asian American thought; she didn't even seem to be trying to reach out to their master.

And so, the Asian American, Tomoe, took it upon herself to try and see signs of Riley– using the skills she gained from obsessing over Darkday throughout the years, she scoured the internet. But alas, completely dark.

And so, when a livestream appeared that had even a pixel of white in it appeared in front of her earlier, she quickly clicked on it– and lo and behold, Riley was suddenly in front of the Hero Association Tower.

And without even any hesitation, she launched the plan she had been storing in the archives of her computer– Project 'PANDA'.

People.

Are.

Never going to suspect Master Riley as.

Darkday.

Again.

It was a plan to make Riley Ross as famous as possible that people wouldn't even think to suspect him as Darkday. And it just so worked that Riley seemed to like wearing black and white outfits, hence Tomoe thought it was the perfect name for the fan's club.

And so, Tomoe quickly changed the Facelog group she created almost a year ago– a Facelog group that appreciated and compiled photos of beautiful people with any form of albinism or leucism.

And of course, as the founder of the group, Tomoe made sure to upload Riley's photos almost every day.

It was a Facelog group named 'The Colorless Are Beautiful', in now which she changed to 'PANDA' and deleted photos and posts unrelated to Riley.

It had over 120,000 members– a number that would surely dwindle after she suddenly changed it. But that doesn't matter, because Tomoe projected that the number would multiply as soon as Riley is done with the Hero Association's test.

And she was right– with Riley doing his stunt, the fan group shot almost half a million in a matter of minutes. How could they not, when Riley just figuratively spat on the government's face?

And so, seeing an influx of anti-government people joining her group, Tomoe quickly released a hashtag– 'rileyishope'.

Which made even more people join the group in an instant.

She might not be as connected as the First Subordinate, but this was something she could do. Tomoe continued to post the drafts she had– garnering thousands of shares each time she did so.

And all of this, in just the span of an hour.

But then, something very unprecedented happened– a suddenly clung onto Riley's arm… saying that she and Riley were a couple.

"B… Blasphemy!"

Tomoe quickly tried to fade this rumor away by posting another post in her drafts– a post of Riley Ross's potential lovers. Of course, she just happened to put herself as the No. 1 candidate.

But alas, for some reason, it was flagged as misinformation the minute it was posted. And so, we are back to the room lowering in temperatures that would be considered dangerous to normal people.

Tomoe continued to bite her nails before searching everything she knew and had on one of the members of the Hope Guild, V.

"..." Should she start a rumor that V meant for London to be destroyed? No, that might implicate Riley.

Wait, was it possible she was the Third Subordinate? If so… then Riley was probably just using her.

And with that thought entering Tomoe's mind, her heavy breaths were finally slightly sedated.

[Baby Crew…]

And as she leaned her back on her seat, Gary's voice whispered from the small radio she had on her desk,

[...We're complete again.]

"I know."

And surprisingly, Tomoe was the first to respond as she took off the blanket and stood up– revealing her superhero outfit, a white kimono. She then grabbed the sunglasses that were also littered on her desk, wearing them as her mask.

She didn't really care for hiding her identity, but since Riley sometimes also wore shades with his outfit, she did the same.

"I'm heading to the base now."

***

Whiteking and Empress.

…And now Riley and V?

Why was the Hope Guild starting to look like a nest for couples? Tempo thought as he sat on the sofa in the lobby of the Hero Association Tower. Didn't they have a rule that romantic relationships with team members weren't allowed?

So what exactly was happening right now? Granted, Whiteking and Empress's relationship was an affair and is not really out there– but Riley and V?

V just announced to the world that they were together; by now, Empress and the others would have surely heard of this.

"..." Maybe Hope Guild would start to lift the rule? If so… then should he try his luck with Hera?

"What's with that disgusting smile on your face?"

Tempo's fantasy, however, was disrupted by the sound of secretary Jane's voice, who was sitting on the sofa opposite to hers, "Just so we're clear here, I have a boyfriend."

"...What?" Tempo almost ripped off the visor of his half-face mask right there and then, "Who would want to be with a robot-like lady like you?"

"You–"

"The results are in!"

And before the two could once again argue with one another, one of the registrants from another super category screamed, garnering the attention of everyone in the lobby. Tempo, Secretary Jane, Gary, and V all stood up from their seats.Want to see more chapters? Please visit panda-novel ,com

Their eyes, quickly moved towards the large screen plastered on the wall nearest to them; and there, the results of the tests were posted.

And as expected, the entire wall was filled with 'Fs'. Then E, D… the numbers lowered almost exponentially. And out of the 232 registrants, only 4 were Grade-B.

The number of Grade-A Supers, zero.

But still, the sound of exclamations surrounding the lobby was almost enough to create an orchestra of joy. Those who earned the Grade of B, immediately being swarmed by what Tempo could only assume to be from Superhero agencies.

"...Bro, I don't see your name?" Gary squinted his eyes to try and find Riley's name; his eyes were almost already closed, and yet there was still no sign of it.

"What? Can't be?" V also focused her eyes on the screen.

"It's not there," Tempo then breathed out as he furrowed his eyebrows, "I searched the names a hundred times already…

…What's the meaning of this?" Tempo then turned his head towards Secretary Jane, who had a very creepy smile on her face almost rivaling that of Riley's.

"This only means one thing," secretary Jane then raised a finger, "Just wait."

"...Wait for wha–"

And before Tempo could even finish his words, all the screens inside the lobby suddenly turned dark. Everyone wondered what just happened, as some of them were still taking a photo of their names to show their friends; soon, however, a guitar riff started to drown the lobby with music.

The screens then once again became alive– instantly showing Riley's silhouette as he floated in the air. The images then shifted to several moments of Riley's test, even capturing the moment that No. 24 started provoking him… their voices too clear.

"Wait…" Tempo then muttered, "Could No. 24 be planted by you guys?"

"..." Secretary Jane, however, did not respond as she just watched the montage. And by the end of it, a slow-mo footage of Riley landing on the ground showed– with an animation of his name falling beside him…

…as well as the words 'Grade-S'.

"...That's kinda extra," Gary muttered as he let out a small chuckle as the video finally stopped, the screens, once again returning to the list of registrants– now with Riley's name lit up in gold with the Grade S at the end of it.

The other registrants, who previously wanted to take a photo of their names on the screen, all pointed their phones towards Riley and started snapping photos. The people from the superhero agencies, quickly scattering and rushing towards Riley– with documents already in their hands.

"If you sign with us, we will let you–"

"Nope."

But before they could even offer anything, however, V blocked their path.

"I don't think so," V then said as she placed her hands on her waist, "Riley Ross is not allowed to take on any sponsors for the reason that…"

V then turned to look at Tempo, who immediate nodded his head as he stood beside V,

"Riley Ross is the newest member of the Hope Guild."

"!!!"

Some of them knew it, but still, they could not help but let out gasps as they let the cameras of their phone express their shock. As for Gary, however, he also let out a gasp– a different kind.

"W… wait, Riley…

…What about the Baby Crew?"