Villain Retirement

"It… it's just a tiny booboo, okay?"

Katherine's breaths were almost as loud as Karina's growing sniffles. Her stretched hands showed that she truly wanted to rush and hug her daughter; but still, her legs did not move even a single inch.

"M… mommy?" Karina then slowly sat up from the ground, the scratch on her knee, already healed and was just covered with dirt and mud. Still, even with the wound gone, Karina's face was just beginning to twist from the short pain that suddenly terrorized her leg; her unnaturally wide lips, turning into a frown.

"It… it hurts, mommy," Karina's voice began to tremble; and soon, the grass, the stones, and everything around her started to float in the air.

And as soon as Katherine saw this, the only thing she could really do was grit her teeth; her eyebrows, also trembling as she stretched her hands to the side– and as soon as she did so, the ground beneath her opened up, swallowing her inside…

…and leaving Karina alone on the surface.

Karina didn't seem to mind, however, as she seemed to only be looking at her already healed leg… and very soon, even the very ground itself started to lift up in the air.

Karina then sniffled several times; trying her best to keep her mouth closed. But soon, however, tears started to trail on her face as she screamed.

"Mommy!"

And her scream was weak, barely even a whisper from a short distance… but it rippled. And almost as if they were just blown away…

…the mountains on the horizon disappeared, disintegrating along with everything else in the surrounding area.

And soon, small thuds started sputtering on the lifeless ground. Karina, who heard a whisper of these thuds, quickly gasped as she wiped the tears trailing on her cheeks.

"N… no," she then quickly rushed towards one of the things that fell from the sky, quickly lifting it up and embracing it,

"N… no, I'm… I'm so sorry, little birdy… no."

And while she was cradling the bird, more and more started to fall from the sky– but before they could fully hit the ground, they stopped in the air; preventing their bones from being shattered into pieces.

But still, even with their bodies clean– they remain lifeless.

"No…" Karina's tears once again started to flow down on her cheeks; her cries, growing even stronger as a hand suddenly, but gently touched her shoulder.

"M… mommy."

"It's okay, honey… It's okay," Katherine, who emerged from the ground, immediately embraced her daughter; caressing her head… before Karina's arms suddenly dropped.

"..."

"I'm… sorry…" Katherine then threw away the syringe in her hand as she wiped the tears on her eyes before they could fall, "I… hope you're having sweet dreams, my beautiful child."

Katherine then gently lifted Karina, cradling her in her arms and kissing her on the cheek.

"This is actually not okay at all. We stimulated her growth too much."

And before Katherine could even lift her lips from her daughter's cheek, her eyebrows began to furrow as another thud landed near them.

"We?" Katherine's voice almost scratched the air as she turned around to look at the person that landed behind her, "This is all you."

"Well, yes. I was just being nice and sharing my achievements."

It was Diana– No, Caitlain'Ur. Still wearing the same lab coat she was wearing 2 years ago when she abducted Katherine.

"How long is this going to go on?" Katherine then let go of Karina, letting her float with the bed of wind she created, "Just what are you hoping to achieve here!?"

"Progress, Reeds. Progress," Caitlain then started looking around, scanning everything that wasn't there anymore, "You have to understand, Reeds. Everything we're doing here is for the child."

"You… you say that bullshit every time!" Katherine was about to scream, but stuttered as she just chose to whisper loudly in fear that Karina could be awake,

"What the girl needs is to have friends! You're making the same mistake you've made with Riley!"

"..." A sizzle quickly hissed from Caitlain's eyes as they turned red. But not even a second after, she let out a small but very deep breath and closed them,

"Terraformer," she then said. And as soon as she said that, another woman emerged from beneath the Earth– Tsula, the old woman that Riley met in the Super Max,

"Reset the terrain. We don't want our child to wake up to all this…

…death."

"...Hm," Tsula didn't really say anything. Instead, she just kneeled and planted both her palms on the ground– and as soon as she did so, the ground beneath her… started to breathe.

It was then followed by a rumble as everything started to tremble, as far as the eyes could see. And soon, on the horizon, the mountains that were lost began to once again rise up from the ashes.

"Let's get her back home, it's too cold here."

And while Tsula was practically turning the scenery back to the way it was, Caitlain just casually started to float away.

"..." Katherine stared at her disappearing silhouette for a few seconds, before ultimately just sighing and shaking her head before once again cradling Karina in her arms.

"Are… you going to be alright here?" Katherine then glanced at Tsula as her feet left the trembling ground.

"Worry about the child," Tsula muttered; not even looking at Katherine as she talked, "We… are all just here to pay for our sins. We're not friends."

"...Karina calls you grandma, you know that… right?"

"I'm not," Tsula shook her head, "Now leave me in peace."

"You… should join us in the house."

"..."

"..."

Seeing as Tsula was no longer interested in talking, Katherine could really only let out a sigh as she gently flew away– making sure not to disturb or harm Karina in any way.

"..."

"...Grandma, pft," And a few seconds after they left, a small smile grew on Tsula's wrinkled face. But a few more seconds later, blood started to ooze from her nose,

"No…" She then shook her head as she continued to fix the terrain, "I…

…I'm not allowed to be happy. None of us do."