Villain Retirement

"..."

"..."

"..."

Clanging.

The sound of the forks and knives lightly hitting the plate was the only noise that was currently whispering into Empress's ears. She looked to the left, only to see Katherine Reeds staring at her; the steak knife she was holding in her hand, almost pointed at Empress.

"..."

She then looked to the right, only to see Riley Ross casually eating seemingly without care.

Empress then looked behind her, only to see… a couple of Riley's clones playing classical music with all sorts of fancy instruments.

She then looked slightly in front of her, only to see a plate that may as well have been served in some 5-star restaurants. Her steak remained untouched, however; for how could she even be comfortable eating in this kind of situation?

"Is the dish not to your liking, Miss Empress?"

The minute chimes then stopped as Riley seemed to have finished eating his meal– and immediately, several more clones appeared, taking away his finished plate and replacing it with… a shaved ice dessert.

"Please pack Miss Empress's food, she doesn't seem to be hungry."

Empress could not help but subtly flinch as the arms of one of the clones crawled in front of her; expertly taking away her plate and replacing the cutleries.

"Would you like to have dessert instead?" The clone then gently whispered as he smiled at Empress.

"N… no."

"We cooked up pampoenkoekies just for you, that is your favorite, no?" The clone insisted, "Just try it, we can't let our very first customer leave with an empty stomach. I am sure the flight here was tedious."

The clone did not wait for Empress to respond as he went away along with his team of other Waiter Rileys. They also took away Katherine's plate, placing a bowl of ice cream in front of her before leaving.

"Please forgive my staff again, Miss Empress," Riley let out a small sigh before taking a bite of the sweet shaved ice in front of him, "They hastily made the dessert when they learned you were visiting us."

"...Are you the original one?" Empress finally asked the question that has been hanging on the tip of her tongue.

"I suppose, Miss Empress," Riley answered without looking at Empress.

"Have… you been here the whole time?" Empress's eyebrows slightly furrowed; her gaze, also glancing at Katherine before moving back towards Riley, "Does that mean you weren't inside the Super Max in the first place?"

"I was in prison, Miss Empress," Riley answered as he took another bite of his dessert, "To clarify, the one you welcomed in the Hope Guild was also me– the one who came back after, however, was not; but you already know that since you met it inside my new room."

"Then… what about her?" Empress then turned to Katherine.

"Silvermoon is my First Subordinate. She is wherever she wishes to be or wherever I want her to be, Miss Empress," Riley once again answered without any hesitation.

"Silvermoon?" Empress's slightly furrowed eyebrows showed her slight confusion, 

"Since… when?"

"Riley doesn't need to answer your questions."

And finally, Katherine, who has been keeping her mouth shut throughout the entire supper, broke her silence, "You were here to discuss Megawoman, right?"

"What happened to you?" The tone of Empress's voice suddenly shifted as she turned her eyes towards Katherine; her tone, slightly showing disgust but also a hint of pity, "You were one of the potential heroes that we wanted to recruit in the Hope Guild… but how can you work with someone like him?"

"That is none of your business."

"You even involved– No. You even used your own mother to make the Seven Planes incident possible."

"How–" Katherine almost stood up from her seat as she heard Empress's words, but calmed down just as fast. 

"How can you even do something like that?" Empress's tone slightly became perturbed and cold, "You… you were supposed to be a beacon of hope to the people. You were different because you helped in any way you can and–"

"I threatened to torture and kill her mother if she doesn't become my subordinate."

"What?"

And with those words echoing in her ears, Empress quickly turned her head towards Riley; her breaths, almost stopping completely.

"I told her I would first cut her mother's tongue so that she wouldn't be able to call for anyone," Riley casually said as he took another bite of his dessert, "Silvermoon is not with me due to her own volition."

"..." Katherine could not help but look to the side as she heard Riley's words. 'Own volition'? What does that even mean for her now?

"You… fucking disgusting evil bastard," Empress's fists started to tremble; her eyes, however, now contained only pity as they strayed towards Katherine.

"I… promise I will help you out of the place you're in right now, Scarlet Mage," Empress then said as she looked Katherine straight in the eyes,

"...Or at least, Megawoman will."

And as soon as Empress uttered those words, the music that subtly whispered in the air abruptly halted. The clones that were playing with their instruments, suddenly leaving the dining hall they were in.

"She–"

"Before you tell me anything more, may I ask you something, Miss Empress?" Riley finally also placed his spoon over the napkin on the table as he finished his dessert, 

"Since I know now that there are more of you– supers that have been personally taken care of by Megawoman…

…Why not just asked her other students for help, Miss Empress?"

"They…" Empress let out a small sigh as she paused, "...I don't know where the others are. The last time I was at the sanctuary was when I mentored V– but they were no longer there."

"Are they once again just going to be idle as their mentor is in trouble, Miss Empress?" Riley let out a small but very deep sigh as he shook his head, "This… is truly disappointing. If I was one of her students, then I would have probably killed all of you already… maybe except you, of course– you were the only one who even tried to help her back then."

V was right– Empress thought as she listened to Riley's words. V told her that Riley becomes talkative whenever he discussed things that interest him; especially if it was about Megawoman. Just what sort of infatuation did she have with her, exactly?

"Megawoman was still in the process of healing the last time I saw her."

And without any more delays, Empress stood up as she started to explain the situation,

"You… beat her to death. It was a miracle that she was even alive when I saw her."

"Megawoman is immortal," Riley blinked a couple of times, "Didn't she tell you?"

"..." Empress only slightly furrowed her eyebrows as Riley suddenly interrupted her. But after a few seconds, she let out a sigh and continued to explain,

"She was healing… but she was already conscious," Empress then stated. She waited for Riley to react, but he was just busy staring at her.

"The doctors and a super capable of healing wounds said that she was on her way to recovery. But due to Megawoman's biology being slightly different from ours, they really couldn't give an answer as to when she would fully recover. It could be weeks, months… but they said it was impossible for it to reach a year," Empress's tone soon became sedated,

"I… trusted them, of course. But as I told you– as I told your clone earlier, the facility is gone."

"And where is it now, Miss Empress?"

"I know where," Empress let out a short but very deep breath, "But you will just have to follow me to it…

…and you need to go as Darkday."

"This sounds like a trap, Riley," Katherine interjected.

"It's not," Empress quickly said.

"Is this all the information you can give me, Miss Empress?" Riley didn't seem to mind.

"...Yes," Empress nodded, "I will tell you when the time is right."

"Riley, I don't think she is–"

"Okay."

And before Katherine could finish what she was saying, Riley also stood up, "If that's all, then shall we return back to the base of the Hope Guild?"

"...You're going yourself?" Empress slightly gasped.

"Yes," Riley blinked a couple of times as he tilted his head, "I only asked a clone to proxy for a while since I missed the taste of my own cooking, Miss Empress."

Riley then casually walked toward Katherine and gently placed his hand on her cheek,

"It's your choice if you wished to go with me when the time comes, Silvermoon," Riley then whispered, "In the meantime, will you be alright here on your own?"

"I… am returning to the Academy in a few more days," Katherine sighed, "The enrollment for the 2nd batch is happening soon. And since the government planned for the Academy to be the sole one in the world… there's going to be a lot of students."

"Okay," Riley removed his hand as he walked towards Empress, "Shall we g–"

"Please wait, Boss!"

And before Riley could finish his words, one of his waiter clones barged inside the dining hall, giving Empress's takeout before once again leaving abruptly.

"Shall we go?"

And with that, Empress and Riley left– leaving in a different exit that seemed to solely be used by Riley himself. Of course, it was not really something that Empress could use… since the path was covered by probably a block of hundred-meter-thick ice; only passable via Riley's masterful control of his monstrous telekinetic powers.

And there was also the fact that it was under freezing water. Empress could probably try to break the prisoners free– but getting them out alive was another issue.

"Miss Empress."

And as the two were flying above the skies and making their way back to the Hope Guild; surprisingly, Riley was the first to open his mouth.

"...What is it?"

"Alice Lane-- I heard you tried to rescue me from her when I was still a baby?"

"...Did Charlotte tell you that?"

"Amongst other things, Miss Empress."

"Trust me, I regret trying to save you. If I knew what you will become, then I should have just let Alice kill you."

"I share the same sentiment, I should have just died then, Miss Empress. The world would have at least did not have to deal with a monster like me."

"Alice knew... Alice knew what you will become."

"Diana Ross, what do you know about her?"

"Why...

...are you suddenly asking me about your mothers?"