Villain Retirement

"Val, stop running!"

"Only if you catch me!"

On a large field, several white streaks could be seen blurring across the sea of grass; and from time to time, a silhouette of a boy emerged from those blurs. A wide smile, plastered on his small and innocent face.

"This is why I told you not to bring children aboard."

"He snuck on board, there's a difference."

On the side of the field were two older men. And like the boy that appeared from time to time from the blur, the color of their hair was also silver. Their eyes, lazily looking at this white streak that didn't seem to have any plans of stopping. Behind them was a wall, a large silver wall that extended and actually surrounded the entire field— and above them… was the view of space. Not the night sky, no… but the expanse of space itself.

"Well, he's your problem since you let him snuck on board."

"Wh—"

"So, I'll leave you to it, Varen."

The wall behind the two men then suddenly opened, revealing a large hallway that also had white streaks blurring about. And before one of these silver-haired men could even finish his words, his companion suddenly disappeared— also turning into a white streak that moved through the large hall.

"..."

Varen could really only sigh as the wall closed, before turning his head back to the boy running around the field. And even though the speed of the boy was enough to leave only streaks of his silhouette, Varen's eyes still followed every step the boy was making.

"Val, I am going to count to three. If you're still not in front of me by then…"

And suddenly, Varen's silver hair began to glow almost into a white color; patterned marks, suddenly appearing on his face, "...Your face is going to meet the palm of my hand."

And as soon as his words echoed through the large field, the white streak that has been terrorizing the peaceful sea of grass instantly stopped; fully revealing the small boy. And before his long silver hair could bounce back to his shoulders, he once again disappeared— only to appear right in front of Varen.

"I'm here!" The boy, Val, quickly saluted towards Varen with a wide smile on his face, "Officer Val, reporting for du— Ack!"

And before Val could finish his words, a mark of a palm could suddenly be seen plastered on his face.

"You… you said at the count of three!" Val quickly said as he touched his swollen cheek.

"Yes, And I started my count at 3."

"...What?" Val snarled, "This… this is abuse of power! A crime!"

"It's not. But do you want me to tell you what is?" Varen scoffed as he placed his hand on Val's shoulder, "Illegally entering and boarding a diplomatic ship or any ship that is not yours, really."

"But this is my ship," Val then smirked as he crossed his arms, "My mother is the Queen of Evaniels, and she owns everything the sun touches! Even y— Ack!"

"...No, she doesn't."

And once again, before the boy could finish his words, Val was smacked on the head.

"Y… Stop that!"

"I am afraid not, it's the order of the Queen to smack you on the face whenever you misbehave." This time, it was Varen who let out a smirk as he once again raised his hand.

"N… No, she didn't!"

"Oh, she did. She even sent us a signed document," Varen let out a somewhat evil chuckle, "Do you know how much trouble you've caused when your mother found out about you missing? Don't even get me started on your sister."

"T… they told Vera?"

"Oh yes," Varen nodded several times, 

"See?"

He then retrieved some sort of transparent tablet from behind him, before showing images of a green-haired woman furiously throwing all sorts of objects everywhere.

"She… she'll kill me once we get back," the sound of Van's gulp was enough to almost echo throughout the entire field.

"There's a possibility, yes," Varen chuckled as once again hid his tablet.

"The… the planet we're going to…" Val stuttered as he looked Varen straight in the eyes, "Do… do you think they could adopt me?"

"I don't think so," Varen smiled, "Brats aren't welcome no matter the planet. And based on the readings we're getting, you won't be able to live there anyway— they are a Type 1 Civilization at most, maybe even barely."

"But Voris said it was not like any other planet he had seen?"

"It is. But that's because it has a sort of energy we can't quite get a grasp on," Varen let out a small sigh as he shook his head.

"...Can you show me?" Val's eyes widened.

"No," Varen, however, quickly turned around as the wall behind him opened, "And even if I did, you wouldn't even be able to understand a single word. And speaking of which, you should be studying right now."

"But—"

"Admiral Varen!"

"See? Even the stars are aligning for you."

And as soon as the wall opened up, a woman quickly appeared in front of Varen; her long silver hair, still glowing as she looked at Varen in the eyes.

"Don't worry, Dr. Vella, I already caught your student."

"What?" The woman, Vella, only glanced at Val before shaking her head and turning her focus back to Varen, "It's not about that! We're getting a massive energy reading heading straight for us!"

"A massive energy reading?" Patterned marks once again started to emerge from Varen's skin as his silver hair started to light up, "Where is it coming from? Do we know what signature?"

"Y… yes. It's coming from the unknown planet," Vella took in a small gulp as she nodded, "It's possible that it's a Themarian."

"You should've started with that!" The light on Varen's hair quickly dissipated, "Tell everyone to shut off all our weapons and anything that could be perceived as a threat… and can all of you stop running!?"

And as soon as Varen's words thundered through the large hallways in front of him, the white streaks that were endlessly blurring about disappeared; replaced by people that were now just walking around.

"We… we already disconnected all of our reactors and we're basically just going on a slingshot," Vella didn't mind Varen's loud voice as she only glanced at the people behind her, "But… I don't know if our readings are right or if something is glitching."

"...What? Why would it?" Varen tried to calm his breaths as he placed his hand on Vella's shoulder, "Don't be nervous, okay? We already knew that there was a Themarian on this System, possibly the Princess. That's why we're here in the first place."

"Well…

…our sensors are reading two Themarians."

"I see."

"A… Admiral?" Vella could only take in a small gulp as she could feel her clothes creasing from Varen's tightening grip on her shoulder.

"You…

…You should have started with that!"

***

"Hello, father."

"...Riley?"

At the same time, back on the familiar ground of Earth, Bernard was Inside a bright and large hall. He was confined in a glass box, with a size just enough to be considered a small room. Bernard was kneeling, surrounded by the piece of the white vest he was just strapped in earlier; his saliva, also on the floor as the gag on his mouth was removed.

He had been hearing several screams and shouts since earlier and wondered what it was about— until Riley just entered the hall, practically dismantling the large thick door as he casually stepped inside his cell.

As for the multiple soldiers and guards that were guarding him, they were now all lying on the floor; as to whether or not they were alive. Well… Bernard could really bet on the former considering who just visited him.

"How… did you find where I was being kept?" Bernard then wiped the saliva trailing on his chin, before stretching his neck and all of his limbs.

"They didn't even give you a bed, father?"

Riley very slowly approached Bernard's glass cage, "As expected of the world's most dangerous normal human. They are not taking any chances of you using that bed to escape the prison."

"...I can't do anything like that," Bernard sighed before sitting on the glass floor, "And how did you find me?"

"Oh, I killed Empress to get your location."

"...What?" Bernard's eyes widened.

"I'm just joking, of course. I just asked her."

A small and subtle smile then appeared on Riley's face as he slowly approached the glass box, before it completely shattered into a billion pieces and just rained down towards the floor. 

Bernard, however, didn't flinch an inch… as he knew the shards wouldn't reach him, and they didn't. They just floated above him before they completely turned into nothing but dust.

"You do know that people could still breathe those in, right?" Bernard then let out a sigh as he moved forward, "So…

…Why are you visiting good ol' dad?"

"Oh, you're free, father. I asked permission from Empress to remove all the charges against you," Riley said casually.

"...What?"

"Yes, I can do that now, apparently," Riley then let out a small sigh, "I actually came here to ask you how I could rule the Earth once I conquer it."

"...What?"

"But then Paige and the others realized something, father," Riley continued to sigh, "The rules of the world don't apply to me. The entire world knows who I am, most of them fear me and some of them respect me. I can do whatever I want and no one can and would do anything against me. People will kneel before me if I tell them to. In all aspects and contexts…

…I already rule the world, no?"