Villain Retirement

"I guess you lost some weight?"

Riley currently had his hand up, with Megawoman floating in the air as she continued to hold Riley's wrist. Megawoman's outfit was already ripped due to their battle back in Toronto. But alas, Riley had to practically split it in half even more as there was no way for him to pass it through her arms… for the obvious fact that she was holding his wrist.

And so, Megawoman's outfit was closer to rags than it is to actual clothing– the only recognizable part of her uniform was her red skirt and red boots with golden linings. But even those had holes in them already.

Megawoman's outfit… was just made with cotton and polymer. Perhaps a testament to how confident she was that no one could really touch her in this world.

"..." Riley stared at Megawoman for a few seconds in the air, before letting out a long and very deep sigh. This can't and shouldn't be, Riley thought. They were going out, and he can't let the people see Megawoman in this sort of sorry state.

And so, with another sigh, he walked towards his bed– almost treating Megawoman as some sort of balloon as she floated in the air. The mattress of the bed then floated, revealing a set of black clothing– Darkday's outfit.

Riley touched the suit, causing it to somehow melt; turning into strands of goo as they floated towards Megawoman. The black goo crawled across Megawoman's skin, completely wrapping every corner of her body.

"..." Riley then tilted his head from side to side as he looked at Megawoman, now wearing an outfit similar to Darkday; accentuating her figure in a way that her previous suit did not. If Megawoman ever turned her back to humanity, this is what she would probably look like, Riley thought.

Quite an intimidating figure, if he may say so himself.

"...No."

But alas, after a few seconds, Riley shook his head as the black suit melted away and returned to the bottom of his bed; once again turning Megawoman nude. This did not last long, however, as his blanket floated and covered her skin.

Riley then once again stared at Megawoman for a couple of seconds, before once again trying her old tattered suit but immediately throwing it away.

"..." Riley then closed his eyes, trying to think up of ways to– And then midway through his thoughts, he thought of a solution that would end his dilemma.

And so… he remained still; his eyes closed.

A second.

A minute.

An hour.

He stood still like this for almost more than 2 hours until finally– a bell rang throughout the entire house. Riley finally opened his eyes as the door of his room immediately opened. He gently pulled Megawoman down, smoothly planting her feet on the floor and controlling her in a way that made it look like she was walking on her own.

Even as they stepped down the stairs, there was almost no lag or delay in Megawoman's movements– in the eyes of other people, it would just look like the two were strolling; strolling around a hotel, that is, since Megawoman was only wearing a blanket.

Riley then reached the door, opening it casually even with Megawoman beside him.

"Good morning, I have an express delivery for Riley Ro–"

The delivery man on the other side of the door immediately shut his mouth as soon as he saw Riley, and then toward the beautiful woman beside her. But after a few more seconds, he nodded his head and just asked Riley to sign the papers.

As a delivery man, after all, he had seen weirder things than an albino with a beautiful blind woman beside her.

"Alright, here you go!" The delivery man once again nodded as he left. As for Riley, he quickly rushed back to his room with the package in his hand. He first took off the tapes attached, making sure the carton box would not be damaged.

But finally, after a few more seconds of unpacking the package, the contents of the box floated in the air.

And it was none other than a replica of Megawoman's suit– a costume primarily used by cosplayers.

Riley then nodded several times as he looked at the costume. And in a way, the material used was even better than Megawoman's original suit– truly, an expensive hobby.

Riley then expertly cut the seams of the costume so he could allow the sleeves to be worn, before sewing it back together with Megawoman already wearing it. The costume even had a pair of undergarments, which saves Riley a lot of time.

And so, finally, after almost an entire hour of making sure everything was in perfect condition…

"Welcome back, Megawoman," a smile quickly crawled on Riley's face as he looked at Megawoman in all of her glory– there was just one final thing that was missing.

Riley stretched his hand to the side to open one of his drawers, and immediately, a pair of sunglasses flew straight toward his hand.

Riley once again pulled Megawoman back to the floor; his face, only a foot away from Megawoman's.

"And there we go," Riley then breathed out as he gently placed the sunglasses on Megawoman's face. Megawoman's feet then once again moved as if she was conscious, stepping back a few steps and even spinning around Riley like they were dancing. Panda Novel

"Shall we go out?" Riley chuckled as he stepped out of his room, with Megawoman's arm wrapped around his,

"What do you want to do first?" Riley said as they stepped down the stairs, "Do you want to kil– subdue some aliens? Or maybe we should focus on saving people, but that would be–"

"Jesus fucking, what the fuck!?"

And before Riley could finish his words, a woman suddenly appeared from the corridor near their stairs.

"It's just me, mother."

"Riley!?"

Diana quickly dropped the bags of groceries she was holding; her eyes growing wide as she stared at Riley for a few seconds. She looked at her from head to toe repeatedly– perhaps more than a dozen times as Riley continued to nonchalantly step down the stairs.

But before Riley could take the final step, a loud screeching scream reverberated throughout the entire house.

"My baby!" Diana then rushed towards Riley with her arms stretched open– but alas, once again, Riley floated along with Megawoman to avoid her completely.

"You… when did you get back!?" Diana didn't seem to mind, however, as the tone of her voice quickly became quivered; her eyes, slowly turning red with tears, "Your father said that you… you would be staying in the Hope Guild. I've been begging to see you but he said that… where's your father? Is Hannah here?"

"No, mother. Just me and Megawoman."

"I… I see, what–" And finally, Diana's moist eyes turned towards the woman that was standing close to Riley.

"Megawoman!?"

***

"That… all happened?"

It took almost another hour for Riley to recount the events that had happened that led to this point– of course, skipping some parts here and there that would probably take even more time explaining.

"Yes," Riley nodded; Megawoman, sitting quietly beside him on the sofa.

As for Diana… she didn't seem to be weirded out by everything in front of her– after all, Diana was and is Bernard's wife, she was used to even weirder things.

"But for Bernard to not even tell me they're going to space with my daughter," the tone of Diana's voice became slightly low as she clicked her tongue several times, "And with his side chick? I mean, what?"

"..." Riley, on the other hand, stared at her mother for a few seconds as she grumbled, before letting out a small and deep sigh and looking at her straight in the eyes,

"In prison–"

"I don't want to hear anything about your stay in prison," Diana quickly shook her head, "Who knows what awful things they do there. Did you even have access to a bath there? Was it even clean? They didn't even let us visit you and it's so frustr–"

"Did you work in the Super Max Prison before, mother?"

"...What?" Diana slightly squinted her eyes as she looked at Riley.

"There are people claiming there that you used to work in the prison's medical department," Riley said without any hesitation, "One was an old lady named Tsula."

"...No?" Diana tilted her head, "I was a doctor, but I've never really left the country for work."

"..." Riley looked at Megawoman for a few seconds, before turning his attention back to Diana, "Are you lying, mother?"

"No, of course not," Diana chuckled; and soon, an exciting glimmer could be seen sparkling in her eyes, "Have you finally taken an interest in mommy's life? Is it because we're being invaded by aliens and the world's about to end?"

"I am taking an interest, mother."

"Really!?" Diana quickly ran away, returning just as fast with a photo album in her hand, "Look, this is mommy when she was the same age as you!"

"I don't have a biological father, mother," Riley, however, did not even glance at the album as he looked his mother in the eyes.

"...What?" Diana only giggled upon hearing Riley, "Of course you do, we just don't know who it is. But if you're at that age… maybe we can have your father search?"

"Alice Lane underwent IVF with an unidentified… origin," Riley then said as he closed the album, "A friend injected her with it…

…are you not that friend, mother?"