Villain Retirement

"I don't think I need much protection here."

"I disagree… I think you do."

"!!!"

With Riley raising his hand once again, Aerith finally decided to make a move as she rushed to move between him and the prince of the Evaniels. As for Admiral Varen, he was also already behind Val, pulling him away from Riley.

This all happened in the span of less than a second, with some of the people in the control room missing everything that just happened as they blinked.

There was one, however, amongst the other humans that were able to see everything that happened— Tempo. Instead of worrying, however, a smile slowly formed on his face. Ever since his powers awakened, he has always been the fastest sprinter on Earth, it wasn't even a contest.

Tempo wasn't really able to stretch his powers because he didn't have to. But with a race filled with sprinters like him, maybe he could finally touch the peak of his potential— there was also the fact that whenever Tempo tries to go beyond what his body is capable of, he could feel himself slowly disintegrating.

Tempo knew he could move even faster, he just needed something that would help him survive. Maybe the Evaniels have an answer to that?

"..." Well, at least that would be the case. If everything goes south here, then he wouldn't even have the chance to talk to these foreign visitors of them. But alas, all Tempo could really do was watch, as once again…

…Riley strikes.

"Riley, what are you doing!?" Aerith raised her voice as she tapped Riley on the stomach, "I thought you're not going to cause any more trouble?"

"When did I say that?" Riley blinked a couple of times as he tilted his head.

"Isn't that already implied since you chose to stay on Earth?" Aerith then grabbed Riley by the collars, pulling him closer to her as she whispered into his ear, "If you're going to cause trouble then just stick with me and your mother. These humans already had enough of your antics."

"I actually wanted to try ruling the world first."

"...What? What do you mean!?" Aerith slightly raised her voice as her lips moved even closer to Riley's ears, "Why would you do that? That's illegal."

"It's not. Didn't you hear from Empress? I can do whatever I want now."

"I— I'll explain later, just keep your mouth shut for now, okay?" Aerith was about to lean away, but once again leaned closer to Riley, "Also, don't go around telling the Evaniels that you destroyed one of the planets. I already told Empress the same."

"...Why?" A small and very subtle smile slowly crawled on Riley's face."

"I'll tell you later, just stop acting like a menace for once."

"But…"

And as the two were talking and whispering to each other, the other people in the control room could really only watch and look at each other from time to time. As for the Baby Crew, well… they were all looking at Gary— who was too stunned to even breathe at the moment.

Although he didn't really believe it when Riley told him that he was probably closer to Aerith than even him, Gary also didn't take it to heart. After all, Gary knew his mother's responsibilities. Megawoman is a figure that stood above everyone, for everyone. He wasn't just his mother, he was the world's hope.

But now, seeing the two talking like this with their faces sticking to each other…

…could it be that… Riley was insinuating something else when he said he and Aerith were close?

"Just… enough, okay?" Aerith finally stepped away from Riley as she approached Admiral Varen and Val, "As for you… I just advised you and your men not to approach Riley Ross, what do you think you're trying to do right now? Have the Evaniels become battle hungry since the last time I saw all of you?"

"That—"

"Keep the boy on a leash, Admiral Varen, please."

"I apologize, Princess Aerith. It won't happen again," Admiral Varen bowed his head, before dragging Val by the ears as he returned to the other Evaniels. As for Val, his glaring eyes were still completely focused on Riley.

"...Princess Aerith? You're a princess!?"

Paige, who had been keeping quiet the entire time beside Riley, could not help but open her mouth as she pointed at Aerith. The others didn't really hear Admiral Varen's words that clearly, but they did now.

"That…" Aerith could really only let out an exasperated breath as she looked at the others, before settling her eyes on Empress, "...Can you just focus on what matters right now?"

"..." Empress could really only let out a sigh. She brought the others here as a show of power; but it was slowly turning into a shit show, "Perhaps it is best to take our talk elsewhere, Admiral Varen. Since Aerith has personally assured me that you wish to only build friendship between our two races, then I would like to invite you on—"

"Think fast!"

And then, once again— Prince Val's voice echoed through the control room as he was once again able to escape the clutches of the people that were supposed to be guarding him. Admiral Varen was about to rush towards Val as he saw him in front of Riley again, but before he could even take a single step, Aerith grabbed his arm.

"W—"

"I already warned you twice," Aerith's voice no longer held any friendliness in them as she looked Varen straight in the eyes, "At this point, I'm starting to believe you and your men are doing this on purpose."

"We're not—"

"What happens now, it's your fault."

"What do you—"

"Ack!"

And just like that, once again, chaos started to erupt throughout the control room as Val suddenly found himself being lifted into the air; his neck, tightly being squeezed by Riley's hand. Empress was going to order Riley to stop, but there was no point in doing that— and she didn't want to in the first place.

Aerith was right, something was wrong here. The first occurrence could just be attributed to an arrogant young noble boy wanting to exert dominance— but this was the second time their prince was able to approach Riley even though they were guarding him.

Should… she just let it play out?

"Prince Val!"

Commander Voris and the four guards they were with quickly surrounded Riley, Tomoe, and Paige. But before they could approach any further, spikes of ice started to emerge on the floor in front of them.

"Let go of the Prince now!" Commander Voris raised his voice; his hands, starting to vibrate at a speed enough to create a whistle to whisper in the air.

"Commander Voris, order your men to stand down!" Admiral Varen ordered. Voris, however, completely ignored him as he just focused on Riley.

"The safety of the Prince is my top priority!" He stated as he slowly stepped forward, causing the spears of ice in front of him to shatter as soon as they made contact with his seemingly vibrating legs,

"Let go of—"

"Okay."

"Ack!"

And before Commander Voris could finish his words, Riley suddenly let go of Val, causing the little prince to yelp as his butt hit the cold hard floor. Commander Voris seemed to want to say something else, but Riley already turned around before he could even open his mouth.

"Alright, I think everyone's a little too excited right now."

And before the tension could get any worse, Aerith once again stood between the two races, "Varen, why don't you take your people back to your ship for now? Then come back alone once you've secured the prince."

"That—"

"Now. Empress, have someone escort our guests."

"...Okay."

"..." Admiral Varen could really only let out a sigh as he nodded. He then turned to look at Empress to apologize, before ordering his people to leave. And as soon as all of them left the control room, the sighs of everyone instantly hummed in the air.

"Well…" Hannah was the first to speak as she placed her hand on Empress's shoulder, 

"...That went well."

***

"You don't leave this room as long as we're in this System, you got it!?"

Back in the colossal ship of the Evaniels, prince Val was currently in his room, being surrounded by Admiral Varen, Commander Voris, and Dr. Vella.

"But—"

"You don't do that, Val! We are trying to build ties with the people of Earth! Why would you even do that!?"

Admiral Varen was not letting the prince speak, "No. We are going to send you home. Commander Voris, ready one of our pods."

"Wait, please. I was just trying to see if—"

"The kid is just trying to have fun, Varen," Commander Voris gestured to Val not to speak, "Besides, he was the one who got hurt. This is a good lesson for him."

"This is not the time for lessons, Commander Voris." This time, it was Dr. Vella who spoke; her eyes, looking at Val in disappointment, "We might lose the chance to study a new species and make friends because of this."

"Just… make sure the prince doesn't get out from now on," Admiral Varen pinched the bridge of his nose, "And call the Queen, I have a feeling she might want to visit the—"

"You have a very large ship, Evaniels. It makes sense since your species could move fast."

"!!!"

And before Varen could finish his words, he and Commander Voris disappeared from their spot; appearing beside the prince as they looked at the visitor that was suddenly in the room…

…standing right behind Dr. Vella with the widest smile they have ever seen.

"I hope you people don't mind…

…the door wasn't locked."