Villain Retirement

"I'm Darkday."

"..."

Silence. It wasn't enough that the expanse of space was shrouded in silence, now, even the inside of the strogans' ship was bathed in it. This silence did not last, however, as it was soon followed by a sort of chuckle.

"Pft."

Gary was the first to break the silence; the growing smile on his face, unable to be contained anymore.

"G… good one, bruh," Gary breathed out; his eyes, now staring at the clothes that Riley was wearing. It was tattered, exposing his shoulders and already exposing half his chest as the seams seemed burnt. But most importantly… it was black.

A jet-black outfit reminiscent of what Darkday was wearing. None of them noticed it before due to all the things that have been happening, but now they do.

"This… is a prank, right?" Silvie also chimed in, "It… It's good that you've already moved on with the government suspecting you as Darkday– but I… don't think it's really right to joke about something like this."

Everyone in the room held a certain rhythm to their breaths– even Megawoman. In truth, she didn't really have any plans of exposing Riley's identity. After all, her plan was to really take Riley away from Earth, as that was the only peaceful way she could think of to free the Earth from him.

She planned to take her back to her planet– that doesn't require him to tell anyone of his true identity.

But here he was, just casually saying it.

Empress and Whiteking could only look at each other, the silence between them, almost a full conversation.

"I am not joking, Ms. Silvie," Riley then stood up from his seat, and as soon as he did so…

…a silhouette emerged from the floor; the silhouette, turning into Riley without even a second after.

"I am Darkday," Riley then repeated his words as the clone disappeared just as fast as it was summoned.

And once again, silence. No one was even looking at each other anymore… they were just staring at their hands, the floor, anywhere that would at least briefly take them away from this situation… but Riley did not seem to allow that as he started walking around.

"...And this is my confession," Riley then placed his hand on Megawoman's shoulder– and the others might not notice it, but Megawoman could feel the weight of almost a thousand mountains gripping her shoulder, but she did not react; her head, only turning to Riley before nodding.

"127 Supers. I have kept 127 supers captive somewhere in the glaciers of Antarctica, all of them are alive and in good health– Empress can testify to this claim."

"..." Empress, who noticed that all eyes were on her, could only close her eyes; her breaths, almost loud enough to be heard throughout the entire room. She was about to say something, but before she could do so, Riley continued to speak.

"According to all the news and data, the number of people I have killed amounts to more than 25 million…

…including the people of London," Riley then said as he looked V straight in the eyes.

V could really only stare back; her mouth, slightly agape as she could not find the right words to utter.

"It was I who made Victoria lose control of her powers. It was also I that brought her to London with the intention of wiping out the entire country of England; but as most of you know, only London was destroyed," Riley sighed as he shook his head,

"I have also threatened to torture Scarlet Mage's mother so that she would work under me as my First Subordinate. The Seven Planes incident, in which the Dark Millennium was considered the perpetrator, that was my crime as well."

Riley continued to talk; the words that were coming out of his mouth, almost piercing everyone's ears as if they were knives. And finally, after a few more utter, Riley turned his eyes toward Hannah.

"I… truly am sorry for being your brother, Hannah."

"..."

"But it has recently also come into my knowledge that me being adopted by father and mother was not an accident. Diana Ross…

…is from Theran."

"...What?" Bernard finally broke his silence, "What do you–"

"Fucking die!"

And yet the moment he broke his silence, a scream thundered through the air– the room, instantly being filled with an almost blinding green light as V suddenly leaped towards Riley. The tears that she was leaving in the air as she did so, exploding into trickles of lightning.

Everyone stood up and quickly backed away from their seats, with the only one remaining seated down being Megawoman– with Riley's hand still resting on her shoulder. As for V… she was just floating in the air, her fist, only a foot away from Riley's face.

"If some of you still do not believe who I am," Riley then slightly tilted his head, and as soon as he did so, V let out a small and desperate gasp; the green lightning emerging from her body, slowly fading away.

The thunders, now replaced by V's disgruntled gasps for air.

"Let go of the girl, Riley," Megawoman sighed, "They get it, they just need time to process."

"..." Riley only glanced at Megawoman, before also letting out a sigh and casually letting go of V. She was about to hit the table, but Empress quickly caught her.

V… V didn't really say anything anymore. Her gasps, now replaced by disgruntled and muffled wails as she burrowed her face in Empress's embrace. Empress glanced at Riley for a few seconds, before gently stepping down the table… and leaving the room with V.

"Dad… did you know?"

And finally, after keeping her silence for what seemed like an eternity, Hannah started to move; the tone of her voice, unusually calm as she looked at Bernard.

"...Yes," Bernard nodded, "I–"

"I don't need your explanation anymore," Hannah did not let Bernard speak as smoke slowly fumed from her mouth; her face, however, was as calm as her voice,

"Baby Crew…" She then said as flames started to trickle and wrap around her body,

"...Prepare to engage Darkday."

And as soon as she said that, a snap screeched in the room as the floor beneath Riley suddenly crawled around his legs and wrapped around it. Megawoman also disappeared from the chair, appearing behind Bernard and locking both his arms behind him. As for Butcher, he placed his knife on Bernard's neck.

"S… Stop them!" Bernard quickly said as he was forced to kneel on the floor, "The children will–"

"You underestimate the tiny percent of humanity left on your son, Whiteking," Megawoman whispered.

"Wha–"

"Surrender, or we will resort to using force!" Hannah's screams once again resounded throughout the room. Silvie, Gary, Bella, and Katrina were already behind Hannah. The veins on Bella's arms, almost protruding from her skin as she tried her best to bound Riley's feet on the floor.

As for Tomoe… he stood behind Riley, unmoving.

"What… is your order, master?" She then muttered.

"What it has always been," Riley sighed as a small smile slowly crawled on his face.

"I… will follow your orders, master."

And as soon as she said that, she stomped her foot on the floor– causing it to crack as a torrent of icicles started to emerge all over the room. Hannah was about to release a wall of fire to protect the Baby Crew… only to find they were not the target of the spikes.

Instead, the icicles surrounded Riley, almost like an iron maiden that completely wrapped every inch of his skin. And very slowly, Tomoe made his way towards the Baby Crew.

"Which… side are you on?" Gary took in a small gulp as he pointed his fists at her.

"Darkday," Tomoe did not hesitate to answer, "And his orders are absolute…"

And as Tomoe said that, her entire body was suddenly shrouded in dark ice– wrapping across her body like armor, "Protect Hannah Ross…

…at all costs, no matter what."

"Fuck… everything's so messed up," Gary's breaths stuttered, "Fuck!"

"Hannah…" Silvie leaned closer to Hannah, "Are you… okay?"

"No," Hannah answered without any pause, "I feel betrayed… again. Like the only pillar that was supporting me in this world just shattered and buried me with its pieces…

…but this is not the time for personal feelings."

"..."

"Baby Crew!" Hannah then once again roared as she slowly floated in the air, "Remember our training… we've run simulations again and again against Darkday. We–"

And before Hannah could finish her words, a series of thuds whispered into her ear. She looked down, only to see Silvie kneeling… while the rest were sprawled on the floor.

Silvie was trying to get up, her knees trembling uncontrollably. She seemed to be using all of her strength to do so, and finally, after a few more grunts, she was able to lift herself up, only for her to tumble towards the table… before joining the rest on the floor.

"They are not dead," Riley's sigh almost pierced her ears, "You seem to be misunderstanding something, sister."

Hannah then quickly turned her eyes towards Riley… who just casually stepped forward despite the icicles and his feet being bound by metal.

"If you truly want to kill me, then you would need everything that you have."

"What… what are you doing?" Hannah could feel her arms being stretched to the side as Riley slowly floated towards her, "L… let go of me!"

"If it's you, sister… then I don't mind."

A smile then slowly crawled on Riley's face– a smile that was different from the rest… a smile that was only reserved for his sister.

"What–" And before Hannah could say anything else, she felt a small prick coming from her arm. She looked, only to see some sort of capsule coming out from under her arm.

"Riley, no!" Bernard screamed.

"What… what did you do?" Hannah blinked several times as the flames around her began to fluctuate.

"What you told me to do, sister," Riley then whispered as he wrapped his arms around Hannah, "To you, and only to you…

…I surrender."