Villain Retirement

"Alice and Riley…

…the ultimate freaks of nature."

"..."

"..."

"..."

A second.

A minute.

An entire hour.

An entire hour had passed, and none of the three titans opened their mouths. Perhaps the three of them were just waiting for something to happen, or for someone to just do anything in this quiet silver hall.

Aerith had always imagined what this moment would finally be like— she always imagined it would be a huge battle between her and Diana. But after the story she just told, it felt like the best thing to do right now was just to… remain silent.

Diana already willingly showed herself, fully knowing well that Aerith would cling to her from now on no matter what. It doesn't matter if she attacked her now or later, Aerith was never going to leave Diana's side from now on. And when she gets the chance to attack, she would.

A week, a month, a year? Even if a hundred years have passed, it doesn't really matter. But fighting her now would only lead to the death of more innocent.

"Interesting."

And finally, after only their breaths echoed through the air, someone broke the almost sacred silence they had. And surprisingly, it was Riley Ross who opened his mouth.

"But it really doesn't change anything," Riley then started stepping toward his two mothers.

"It changes everything, Riley," Diana shook her head as she moved to the side, "You've… always seen yourself as a monster, you're not."

"Oh, but I am," a small smile slowly crawled on Riley's face as he stood in front of Alice's body, "No. In fact, if your story is true— then that makes me even more of a monster. My existence… is a mistake."

"You're not a mistake, Riley," Diana sighed, "You're our son."

"..." Aerith could really only squint her eyes as she heard Diana's words. Was… this another one of her mind games? No, she wasn't one to manipulate in the first place. She pretends, yes— but manipulation isn't her style. If anything, that's more of Riley's.

"Hm," Riley nodded, "Be that as it may, I don't really like people inside my head, so…

…I think mother should stay dead."

And with those words, Riley very slowly raised his hand. Little Riley, who had been resting this whole time on Alice's stomach, could not help but stand up— quickly flying towards Riley's palm almost as if he was trying to push it away.

"S… stop. This is mother!" Little Riley muttered.

"..." Riley completely ignored Little Riley, however, as he raised his other hand. But as soon as he did so, he could suddenly fill a grip on his arm— no, on both his arms.

"..." Riley turned his head left to right, only to see both Aerith and Diana grabbing each of his arms.

"What are you doing, Riley!?" Aerith loudly whispered, "That's your mother!"

"She is," Riley nodded as he looked at Aerith, "And she is dead. There is no reason for her to—"

And before Riley could finish his words, his cheeks slightly sunk in as Diana suddenly grabbed his face and turned it towards her,

"Listen, Riley. It's only a matter of time now for Alice to resurrect— no. She's already alive, all she needs is to wake up," Diana stated, "The visions you saw of her, we are not even sure if that really is your mother trying to connect with you…

…or if you're suffering the same condition as her. What she had, started with her and it could be hereditary."

"Well, mother…" Riley let out a small sigh as he leaned his head away, "That's the difference between Alice and me— I have always known I was heading for madness. And also…

…You left Hannah alone."

"That—"

"That seems to be the theme for Themarians," Riley chuckled, "Leaving their offspring all on their own to chase their goals. Gary, Hannah. I suppose since the two of you live for a thousand years, you can always make more, no?"

"Themarians can only give birth once," Diana's voice became quiet, "Theoretically, we could have more— but it would take tens of thousands of years until then."

"Oh, so Aerith and I can't have a child?"

"What?"

"...What?" Aerith raised an eyebrow.

"Unfortunate," Riley sighed and shook his head, "But I suppose that's just how it is. But do you know what I find funny?"

"..."

"Both of you probably know that whatever I do with my hands…" Riley muttered as he started waving his hands, "...they're all just theatrics."

"Anna, get us to orbit now!"

The lights in the silver hall started to flicker as soon as Diana's words echoed through the hall— all of them could feel a little tumble in the air, but that was it. And as soon as Diana realized the ship wasn't moving, her eyes quickly fell onto Riley.

"Do you know what my advantage is if the three of us start fighting?"

And very slowly, the smile on Riley's face reached from ear to ear as his head lazily swiveled between Diana and Aerith, "The two of you, one way or another, seem to love Earth…

…I don't."

"!!!"

Riley then suddenly stepped forward— ripping off both his arms in the process.

"This will be fun, no?" Riley then whispered as his arms quickly grew back, "I always wanted to experience what it would be like to do it with two Themarians."

"Wh—"

"Riley! When did you start learning this kind of language!?"

And for the very first time, Diana raised her voice as her eyes glowed in red, "And I'm your mother!"

"That's funny," Riley suddenly burst out in laughter, "Alice, Diana, and Aerith— the three of you were my mothers at different times."

"Huh?" Diana raised an eyebrow as she gently dropped her son's arm to the ground, before looking at Aerith with a confused expression on her face. As for Little Riley, he once again floated towards Alice, going into a fighting stance as he stared at his creator.

"It's… a long story. And I'm not on your side, Caitlain!" Aerith moved away from Diana, "But for now…

…you're not the threat," she then said as she looked back towards Riley, "Why are you doing something like this, boy? We're supposed to just leave this planet, didn't you want to explore the universe?"

"You keep forgetting, Aerith. No matter what past I have, no matter if something is wrong with me or not, no matter if I was once loved or not…

…I am the big bad evil in this story."

And with those words, Riley's eyes also glowed in red as his feet started to leave the silver floor,

"And now I know why—

—the universe itself wills it to be."

"Fuck, Diana…" Aerith furrowed her eyebrows, "...your story had a different effect."

"Well… my son is special," Diana let out a small chuckle, "But perhaps it's time to remind him of something…

…I'm still your mother, young man!"

"!!!"

Riley found his vision suddenly turning dark, before starting to feel his head almost being pulled off his body as Diana flew up— not even caring about her ship as she went through the tunnel leading to the surface… while grabbing Riley on the face.

"What the…"

And as soon as they reached the surface, Angela quickly widened her eyes as she just saw something spinning in the air— and afterward, she saw Riley being catapulted towards the sky.

"D… Diana!?" Angela quickly raised her sword, but Diana completely ignored her as she flew towards the sky to follow her son. And before Angela could even be confused, Aerith came out of the hole.

"Call Empress, tell her to declare Threat Level: Riley Ross."

"Wait… what? What's going on!? There's no threat level like that!"

"There is now," Aerith then said, before almost blowing Angela and the Pope away as she flew up.

"What's—" And once again, before Angela could ask, the ground started to tremble, "Fuck!"

She then quickly lifted the Pope and leaped away, and it was a good thing she did so when she did— as what followed was Diana's ship violently emerging from the ground, before also shooting towards the sky.

"God damn it!" Angela could only curse,

"I told you that kid is Satan incarnate!" She then pointed her finger at the Pope, before she started dialing Empress's number on her phone. Before the call could connect, however, the Pope covered her hand.

"If Riley wanted us dead, we would have already been dead," the Pope then whispered,

"The thing with the Devil is, we are all just playing his game…" He then looked towards the sky, "...and even if you call Empress, what do you think anyone could do with that? The world is already in distress as it is, they don't need to know… Let the people hope that—"

"Ah, shut the fuck up, dad!"

"..."

***

"Fuck!"

Back in Toronto, everyone rushed out of Empress's tent as she suddenly burst out in a fit of rage— destroying not only the phone she just finished using, but also the table in front of her.

"This stupid fucking planet is cursed! Can't it just rest from all the fucking tragedies!?"

"I take it the call you received is another bad news?" Butcher, the only other person left in the tent, could really only rub his bald head; as the reason why the table was destroyed in the first place was that it hit his head as Empress flipped it.

"100— no, one fucking million percent it's bad news! We just finished dealing with all this terrorist bullshit!"

"Technically, Riley Ross was the one to end it."

"Oh, is that right?" Empress nodded her head and laughed, "You know what else he is about to end today?"

"..."

"The entire fucking planet!"