Villain Retirement

"Did… you just pop the bubble!?"

"Yes?"

Although it wasn't a guarantee that Paige's mind would calm down as soon as she took her pills– they've helped so far. But now, in the hour that her pills should be taking the most effective right now, she found her mind and her heart moving erratically in a way they never had before.

Her eyes which were already wide, now almost popped out as she violently stared at Paragon's face. Throughout her life, she had been trying to search for the meaning of her abilities– or even the meaning of her life itself. But now…

"You… e… even the butterfly was able to land on your finger."

"Yes."

"W… what?" Paige quickly took a few steps back away from Paragon; hitting her back on the rails of the terrace, "But… but that's impossible."

"..." Riley slightly squinted his eyes as he returned Paige's gaze. But after a few seconds of wondering why, he blinked,

"Oh," he muttered, "I thought you were the only one that could interact with your illusions, Pa–"

And before Riley could finish his words, Paige threw a yoga ball at him that appeared out of nowhere. And of course, as most balls do, it bounced back… straight back to Paige.

"Eep!" Paige quickly erased the ball, but it was too late as it already pushed her over the railings– causing her to fall.

"..." Riley, however, didn't really react as he just stared at where Paige fell.

And perhaps he didn't need to, as a few seconds after, Paige's head slowly emerged from the other side of the fence; her eyes, still as wide as they could be– if anyone else were to see this, they would probably start running for their lives.

"You… you can interact with my abilities!?" Paige then said as she fully emerged… standing on some sort of floating carpet, "H… how!? How is that possible!?"

"I wouldn't know, Paige. It's your ability."

Although Riley seemed disinterested, as a matter of fact, he was quite curious as to how Paige's abilities worked. Every time she used her powers, it was evident that they truly were just illusions to other people and that only Paige could interact with them– he would know.

After all, the very reason he tried to pop the bubble in the first place was that he always attempted to interact with whatever Paige was summoning throughout the days they had been together.

The time he floated in the sky to showcase his power during the opening of the Paige and Paragon Superhero Agency earlier this morning? He did that to see if the fireworks would actually touch his skin– and they did not.

He was actually quite surprised when he was able to pop the bubble. If it wasn't for his mask, then Paige would have probably realized that his mouth was slightly open for about 1 millimeter.

"This… w… what?"

As for Paige, she was probably the visual representation of what Riley was feeling right now as she clasped her head with both her hands, "How!?"

"I don't know, Paige," Riley then shook his head as he suddenly floated towards Paige… calmly stepping beside Paige on the flying carpet.

"..." Paige crouched to check whether or not Paragon's feet were actually standing on the carpet, and they were.

"Y… you… you're not just flying, are you!?"

"No."

"This is crazy!" Paige then stood up, almost losing her balance as the carpet started to shake, 

"How is this possible!?" Paige once again repeated her question, and once again, no one was able to answer her. The only thing she could really do was take a sit on the carpet to calm herself down.

"..."

"..."

Paige then summoned a large spear, before suddenly throwing it towards their sofa… only for it to go right through without doing any damage; not even a waft of air.

"It's… only you?" Paige turned her focus back to Paragon, who was now also sitting beside her on the flying carpet,

"...Why?" And finally, she changed her question, "Is it because I like you? Is that it?"

"..."

"No, if that was it– then my abilities would also work on Empress and the Baby Crew since I like them as well," Paige squinted her eyes, "Is it because we've been spending time together without separating? No… if that was the case then the people in the orphanage should also be able to interact with my abilities."

"What… what could it–"

"I think it is useless to think about it now, Paige," Paragon interrupted Paige's words as he brushed his hand on the carpet, "There could be many reasons why I can feel and touch  your illusions, but since I am the only one; it would be hard to pinpoint the–"

And before Paragon could finish his words, he found Paige's face suddenly resting on his; her lips, touching his mask.

"...What are you doing?"

"T… that's cold. The mask, I mean," Paige then pulled her head away as she touched her lips,

"You–"

"We don't need to talk about it!" Paige raised her voice before Paragon could say anything, "I… I did it by impulse, it… it happens when I am extremely excited."

"You kiss people when you're excited?"

"N… no! You… you're my first," Paige took in a small gulp, "Well… I guess not since you're wearing a mask? Maybe if you can take it off– what am I saying! We've only known each other for three days and I am already…"

"It's okay, Paige," Paragon shook his head, "I… had a woman in my past that fell in love with me in less than a week and proceeded to do anything I wanted her to do. And in the end, she died."

"..." Paige's eyebrows began to furrow as she heard Paragon's words– and without even any warning, the flying carpet suddenly shot up to the sky; almost creating a skirt of wind around them.

"You didn't have to ruin the moment, you know!" Paige then scoffed before an oxygen mask appeared on her face, "I'm the one that's supposed to not be able to read the mood!"

"..."

"..."

And as the silence between the two slowly expanded, the clouds started to become their floor. Paige created another oxygen mask to give to Paragon, but he shook his head and said that he didn't need it.

"Are… you sure?"

"Yes."

"Tch… I was hoping you take off your mask," Paige scoffed before letting out a small giggle; her eyes, slowly moved towards the sea of clouds that shattered the moonlight as they met... shining, shimmering.

And very soon, a colossal whale suddenly emerged from the clouds, hovering over Paige and Paragon very slowly. The salty water that was brushing off the mammoth, showering the two of them softly.

But even with this majestic scene drowning them, Paige was seeing nothing but Paragon– her eyes, following the droplets of water that were trailing on his face. And very soon, tears also started to trail on her face.

Throughout her life, she had been trying to search for the meaning of her abilities– or even the meaning of her life itself. She may not have found the meaning yet…

…but now she had someone to share it with. And that is all that really matters.

"Adam," Paige then held Riley's hand as she looked her straight in the eyes, "Let…

"...Let me show you the world through my eyes."