Villain Retirement

"W… what the hell is that!?"

"What's going on!?"

In one of the cities somewhere in South East Asia, a big, black worm-like creature was wreaking havoc– mowing down everything within its path. It was almost the size of a train; digging through the ground and treating the asphalt almost like sand as it swam.

The heroes were previously trying to stop it, but then just focused on evacuating the people instead when they realized that the worm was targeting the blue aliens. Of course, some still tried to push it away from its path since it was also killing people and destroying property– but they truly were understaffed to handle such threats.

The worm came from the skies– and like with the colossal robot that wreak havoc in the west, it was another sort of biological machine by the clovians.

Unlike the colossal robot, however, the damage it was doing was not as heavy– it was more targeted towards the blue aliens that were running rampant. The only problem was that there were more than a hundred of these blue aliens… and three of these big black worms almost in every city in the country.

As for the military in this country, it was practically non-existent. They had higher grade heroes, sure– but most of them were in other countries with better prospects and benefits.

The lack of heroes, the lack of soldiers– even though they know that the clovians were not their allies, the most they could really do was to let them fight each other and get out of their way. The establishments and properties could be recovered… the human lives, they could never be returned.

But with that being said… if the big black worm and the blue aliens did not stop fighting, the people that lived in the city would probably not be able to recover as their local government did not have any money for rehabilitation.

And perhaps the worst part is– the world would probably not even mention them after all of this is over. It would just be the first-world countries being centered in the news… how their people died and suffered. And them, as a third world country… would just be a footnote.

It happened before… and people called it the Battle of Toronto. Millions also died in their country when the battle happened, but their country was only mentioned as some sort of collateral. At least Brazil and Mexico were mentioned.

But them? They were neglected.

The world doesn't even see them…

…or so they thought.

The already dark skies above them suddenly and almost instantly turned even darker; pitch black– and almost as if the heavens were crying for them, a great thunder reverberated in the air; the clouds, flickering.

And soon, a bright light once again flashed before them– and then, lightning. Although their eyes were closed as it happened, they knew the lightning landed right on one of the big black worms that were rampaging in the street.

And they were right, it bombarded the big black worm; raining lightning upon it. But that wasn't all, the lightning scattered and crawled across the ground, moving straight towards the blue aliens that were surrounding the worm.

And soon, they heard a series of whistles howling in the air. They could feel their feet being pulled as a violent gust of wind almost caused them to be blown away– their legs, folding to regain balance.

Some instinctively tried to cover the civilians they were evacuating; they did not need to, however, as the wind softly dispersed whenever it made contact with people. It was perhaps a quarter of a minute before the thunder stopped ringing in their ears– their eyes, slowly opening but quickly turning towards the source of the deafening onslaught.

However, the first thing that their eyes caught was the blue aliens that sprawled on the ground– their bodies, all mangled and in pieces; their transparent blood, almost a river that littered between the cracks of the street.

As for the big black worm where the initial lightning landed, it seemed to have shrunk– and the clovians inside them, emerging from the tip of the big black worm like some sort of… something.

And finally, their eyes landed on the one standing on top of the big black worm. It was bright– her silver hair, flowing with the little wind left.

"Is anyone hurt?" And almost like a song that calmed their soul, the woman gently spoke– her words, flowing like a whisper in their ears.

And as soon as they saw who it was, smiles started to appear on the people's faces.

"S… Scarlet Ma– no. Silvermoon!"

Silvermoon– an A-Grade superhero according to the Hero Association. But most of the people who knew of her feats and what she was truly capable of knew she was Grade S all the way. 

The only reason she was not was because she didn't even try during the test. And Scarlet Mage always held back, whether or not that was still the case as Silvermoon…

…they do not know yet since the corpses that sprawled on the ground were aliens.

Most of the people from non-prominent countries knew clearly who she was. After all, before she took on the job of teaching supers in the Academy, she was one of the stronger heroes that stayed and responded to cities that didn't have a way to deal with the threats of villains.

And she didn't just leave after dealing with the threat, no– she stayed to oversee and personally offer support to those that were affected.

That was the kind of hero she was.

"W… we're alright, Silvermoon!"

"That's good."

One of the people that knew how to speak English approached Katherine, "But… I think there are many more trapped when the–"

"Gather those who could help in evacuating the injured," Katherine stepped down off the big black worm,

"I'll handle the threat," Katherine nodded before her feet slowly left the ground, "All of you should focus on helping those who are not able to move."

"O… of course!"

"Thank you! Thank you for helping us!"

And with the people around her starting to cry, Katherine could only take a step back and look to the side; her eyes, slightly squinting as they once again reflected the flames, the explosions, and the burnt corpses during the Seven Planes Incident.

"I…

…am just doing what anyone else would do."

And with that, Katherine once again floated in the air, flying through the skies as her eyes scouted for more aliens. And after making sure there were no more, she moved on to the next city to do the same.

The barrage of lightning, once again raining down upon the aliens that wreaked havoc on the ground. But hidden deep within the thunder, unbeknownst to the people, were Katherine's screams of anguish.

The happiness, solace, and relief she once felt in saving people– now completely missing. There was only shame, almost as if what she was doing was just a way to pay for her sins. She felt disgusted and abhorred for herself.

She wanted to puke and vomit… but everything about her was already tainted by Riley. And the worst part of it all…

…is she couldn't help herself.

This was no longer about her mother being taken hostage– No, perhaps it hasn't been like that from the start. Perhaps… she had always been this way and Riley only opened up the darkness and filth inside her.

All these thoughts, circling and surfacing in her mind as she continued to strike down the aliens that threatened humanity. The cheers of the people felt more like a shard of glass that she needed to walk on; she repeated this countless times– until the only thing she could hear were the imaginary screams of the people that were in all of those planes.

And soon, unbeknownst to her…

…a smile formed on her face.

"!!!"

And as soon as she realized this, she quickly fell to the ground– puking and trying to vomit whatever it was that seemed to be stuck inside her.

"Silvermoon!"

"S… stay away!" Katherine quickly waved her hand; gesturing to the people not to approach her– almost to the point that she wanted to cover her face.

"Are… are you ok–"

"Help! Please help!"

And before the others could express their concern for Katherine, a weak scream whispered in the air. They all turned to look, only to see a woman being pinned down by a large debris.

"S… stay, I… I'll help her," Katherine then took in a very deep breath; standing up straight to collect herself before floating towards the woman.

"P… please, help…"

"It's alright," Katherine quickly reassured the woman, "We can't remove this before we're sure nothing is stuck…"

And midway through her sentence, she noticed the woman's diamond-like eyes.

"!!!"

She quickly waved her hand, crushing the clovian with the debris it was trapped in. Everything happened so fast that the people that were there did not know how to react…

…but as soon as they saw some sort of blade stuck on Katherine's stomach as she turned around, they all quickly rushed towards her.

"S… Silvermoon!"

Katherine still managed to walk away… her legs, however, were already wobbling. One of the people was able to catch her as she fell, quickly but gently placing her on the ground as a spray of blood gushed from her mouth.

"M… Medic! We need a medic!"

"We… we have no one, they…"

"Where… hospital…"

And very soon…

…Katherine could hear no more.

***

"It's okay, just stay still."

And the next time she opened her eyes, she was in some sort of tent– surrounded by several doctors as her consciousness faded from time to time. She wanted to get up, but one of the female doctors gently pushed her head down.

"Please, stay still, ma'am. We're doing our best to give you the care you need," the female doctor said before turning her eyes towards the other people in the room, "Let's give the hero some space."

"W… what?" Katherine wanted to remove the oxygen mask attached to her face, but she was too weak to even move a hand, "What… what about the civilians… are they–"

"Everyone is safe, ma'am. All thanks to you."

Katherine was not able to see it, but the people behind the doctor were bowing their heads toward her before leaving the tent.

"I… I'm alive?" Katherine managed to breathe out.

"Yes, and we will do our best to keep it that way, ma'am," the doctor said as she checked on the IV bag, "You're very lucky, ma'am…

…Just a few inches, and you and your baby would have been in grave danger."

"...What?"