Villain Retirement

VR 404

The Goliath Space Station.

The previous space station was blown into smithereens by the House of Super, but with the help of supers, rebuilding another and a better one could not even be said to be a difficult feat. And right now, in this newly built space station, the people that were previously just idling and arguing inside the Korean Shaved Ice store could be seen.

All of them were just looking at a large screen; their eyes, reflecting another ship that was being surveilled by the GSS— the very reason why Hannah and the others were called in the first place.

After what seemed like months, another extraterrestrial visitor was on their way to Earth. In truth, Hannah and the others— no, not only them, but the rest of the world temporarily forgot the existence of these would-be invaders because of the attack of the House of Super.

But now, the Baby Crew were reminded of their real jobs— to fend off these aliens.

"Why can't we deal with them just like the other fuckers?"

"Because they are not like the other fuckers. They— can you tell your father not to touch anything?"

And while the rest of the people were busy checking at the large screen, Empress's eyes followed Bernard; who seemed to be examining every inch of the space station. Riley did ask for permission to free his father from prison… but Empress didn't think that Riley would actually do it not even an hour after he asked.

Bernard lost some weight in prison, almost bringing him back to how he was during his prime— muscular, rugged, and completely dash—

Empress quickly shook her head as her thoughts suddenly turned for the worse. How could she even think of something like that at a moment like this? And so, Empress just completely decided to ignore whatever Bernard was doing.

There was no use in trying to spy on him anyway— as the very reason he was imprisoned in the first place was for aiding to hide his son's existence… and his so-called son was free to walk everywhere now.

Empress then turned her attention towards Riley, who was just quietly looking at the large screen along with everyone. She was told that the one with them right now was only a clone and that the original will be arriving later with Paige and the others… 

….but this truly was a sight to see.

Empress then turned her attention to the other people that were there.

Bulwark, Butcher, Hera, and Tempo. Aside from V, all of the members of the Hope Guild were here. It was almost as if she was brought back to simpler times when none of them knew of Riley's true identity.

But of course, V's absence was a grim reminder of the tragedy that all of them have faced— Riley Ross. Although she ordered his immunity, she was probably the most confused as to what to feel right now.

Darkday– Riley was and is still the world's greatest threat. And to see him casually standing beside all his victims was just… a weird irony. It was almost as if everything Empress had been fighting for had been nothing. 

There was no justice here.

"Let's just scare them so they would go away," Hannah then said as she finally removed her eyes from the screen and looked at the rest of the Baby Crew, "Same plan as before, just a little tap to show them what we're capable of and—"

"No," Empress gently pushed Hannah to the side before she could finish her plans, "I didn't call all of you here because I needed some muscle."

"Huh?" Hannah raised an eyebrow as she looked at the other people inside the room, "We're in a room filled with Earth's strongest supers… and you don't need any muscle?"

"No," Empress once again shook her head, before pressing something on the console in front of the screen and changing the view, 

"I called all of you here for a diplomatic mission."

Empress then stepped to the side as she gestured towards the screen— which now showed images of men and women all sporting silver hair.

"...Why are you showing us images of a rock band?" Gary looked at the others.

"They're aliens," Empress raised her voice, "They own the giant ship we've been showing you on the screen since you arrived. And as most of you may have already surmised, they are different from all the other species we've met. And unlike the other species that have visited us, they did not come here to invade— but to talk."

"...Talk?"

"They—"

"They are called Evaniels."

And before Empress could say another word, Riley's voice resounded throughout the control room. The voice, however, did not come from Riley's clone, but instead from the door that just slid open as… the real Riley finally arrived and entered the room.

And behind him were Paige and—

"Tomoe!?"

Katrina, who had been keeping quiet like the others, could not help but raised her voice as she saw a person she had not seen in over 2 years. Tomoe, however, only bowed her head before quietly following behind Riley as he continued to walk into the room.

"Good work," Riley then said towards his clone, who only nodded before disintegrating into the ground like mud.

"Riley… you know what those things are?" This time, Bulwark stepped forward.

"They are a species from the Higher Race," Riley stated before moving to the side of the room with no people, "But I think Empress knows more about them than me, I just wanted to make an entrance, Bulwark."

"..."

"..."

The people stared at Riley for a few seconds, before turning their attention back to Empress.

"Right…" Empress could really only sigh from Riley's sudden interruption, "...As Riley said, they are called Evaniels. And based on the information that Megawoman sent me, they are a very peaceful race. But at the very same time, they are a very arrogant race…

…so I am just telling all of you now not to seek trouble with them," Empress breathed out as she looked at Hannah and Gary.

"..." Hannah only let out a small scoff as she focused on the images on the screen. As for Gary, he looked completely confused as to why Empress also singled him out.

"I want all of you to treat them as supers because that is what they are," Empress continued, "They are fast. Each of them can move and run up to speeds of 4 times that of the speed of sound, even their children could run at the speed of a jet."

"..." Tempo's eyebrows quickly furrowed as he heard Empress's words. A race… filled with sprinters like him? He didn't really know what to feel about that.

"They belong to the Higher Races— civilizations that are not only technologically advanced but also hold great power in the expanse of the universe. In short, they hold the strongest nations," Empress took in a long and deep breath, 

"This is it, people. This is the moment our world will become bigger, a lot bigger. I am tired of fighting and fighting, so please… don't fuck it up."

"If you didn't want us to fuck things up…" Hannah rolled her eyes, "...Why bring us here in the first place? You could have just told us or sent us an e-mail saying these fuckers come in peace."

"Because first impressions are important."

"Huh?"

Everyone then turned their heads towards Bernard, who suddenly spoke out of nowhere after just examining everything and minding his own business. And as soon as Bernard realized everyone was looking at him, he quickly waved his hand and smiled,

"Don't mind me. I'm just… sorry," he then said before looking away; not before, of course, glancing at Empress and gesturing to her to continue.

"..."

"...Right," Empress, however, feigned not to mind as she just cleared her throat, "The fugitive is right. First impressions are important. These evaniels would more than likely see us as cavemen as people of lower a class— and that's not going to be okay for me."

Empress then took another long and deep breath as she looked at each and every person in the room except Riley,

"I brought all of you, the Earth's mightiest, as a show of strength."

"..."

"...Fuck yeah," Gary whispered loudly.

"They may be a peaceful race," Empress continued, "But that might just be because they are scared of Megawoman. Right now, Megawoman is on board their ship; briefing and also explaining to them about our species and what we are capable of…

…Don't disappoint her."

"When…" Bella raised her hand, "...when are these silver-heads coming?"

"They are already here, kid."

And as soon as Bella asked that question, the door of the control room opened— with Aerith stepping inside the room and causing everyone there to just straighten up their bodies… with Silvie stepping forward and even saluting.

Aerith, however, only sighed as she turned around to look at the door; before talking in a language that none of them had ever heard before.

And as she gestured with her hand, several silver-haired men and women started entering the control room. Most of them just stopped right behind Aerith… there was one, however, who continued walking around the room, a boy.

"Val!" One of the older evaniels seemed to be calling to the boy, but the boy completely ignored him as he just walked around the control room almost as if he owned it— he even brushed his fingers on the console… before just flinging his hand away in disgust almost as if he touched a rotten fish.

Soon, however, the boy stopped walking around as he stood in front of one of the humans in the room. He seemed to be saying something— but Empress and the other humans didn't really care about what was coming out of his mouth… but rather who he was talking to.

"Za vet ek veg…

…Rali Rus?"