Villain Retirement

"...It will snap from its own weight."

"..."

"..."

"...Well, that's all I have to say about that."

Diana just pushed Queen Adel's leg away. Adel, who still seemed to be processing everything she heard, just allowed it to happen as she very slowly floated away from Diana.

"Anyway…" Diana then shrugged and let out a deep breath, "Should you really be here? You know, unlike Aerith, when I migrate people from their homes…

…I don't like leaving anything behind."

"..." Queen Adel quickly collected herself; batting her eyes several times as she looked Diana straight in the eyes. But after a couple of seconds, Queen Adel's mouth started to slightly open,

"You didn't?" Queen Adel breathed out as her head slowly started to shake.

"Tick tock."

"You!" Queen Adel lunged toward Diana without any warning. This time, Diana no longer blocked or dodged her, but instead fully flew away.

"You will destroy Theran!? Our home!? Have you no shame or loyalty at all!?" Queen Adel roared. She did not even question if Diana was capable of destroying the planet she was born on—because she was and is,

"Caitlain, tell me something!"

"Well…" Diana only smiled as she saw Queen Adel desperately chasing her, "When I destroy a dying planet, and leave those that caused it behind."

"Theran is alive and well!" Queen Adel's roars turned into screams, "You hid a bomb somewhere! Where is it!?"

"Why are you so worried, Your Highness?" Diana turned around; flying backward as she smiled at Queen Adel—the two were just circling on one part of the planet… the images they leave on their trails, almost looking like a donut from below,

"It's just a little Star Obliterator," Diana heavily breathed out, "It may destroy and swallow an entire stellar system, but mighty Theran? No. For Theran, it will just be as simple as a quake, maybe some stones being swallowed here and there by the vacuum it creates—but it should die down before it does real damage."

"Where is it!?"

"Hm. But what if I am telling the truth?" Diana started chuckling, "Theran would snap and crumble, taking all of you with it. As you said, Theran is the only planet that could survive us…

…but it also could crush us and suck us into the vacuum with it."

"Traitor!"

"Chase me all you want, I am not telling you anything, Queen Adel. Go back to King Arthus, tell him about the bomb—that is your best option right now."

"..." Queen Adel gritted her teeth as she looked Diana in the eyes. But after a few seconds, she clicked her tongue and just disappeared.

And as soon as she was gone, Diana also stopped flying around.

"It seems you do not need me after all." And as soon as she did so, a voice whispered in the air.

"Themarians treat Theran as their god, Xra," Diana then looked behind her as a pool of blood started to emerge from her back.

"That's good," the voice whispered from the blood as it quickly started to take the form of a pale woman, "I did not want to meet the mother of the man I killed in a duel. But is it true…

…is Theran really dying?"

"Well… what do you think?" Diana only smiled as she started looking around.

"...So all the planets you destroyed and committed genocide in—were you actually trying to migrate their people?" Pirate Queen Xra flicked her hair to the side, "But I thought your goal was to create a species that will break the balance of the Universe?"

"Oh, I do. I am obsessed with creating a new species," Diana chuckled.

"That—I'm not even going to try to figure you out anymore," Xra rolled her eyes, "Just help me revive my husband, and I help you with anything you fucking want."

"Your husband is dead."

"He's not."

"..." Diana could really only sigh as she looked up to the sky, "Let's just get this over with…

…I miss my sweet babies."

***

Somewhere in the dark expanse of space between Theran and New Theran, there were 4 Rileys holding a single themarian… ripping him apart and tearing him from limb to limb.

Each of the four was holding their own body parts. The body parts that were within each other's reach seemed to want to connect and regenerate together, almost desperate to be together again.

But before any of them could once again regain their other halves, the four Rileys all whispered something at the same time—and with their breaths escaping their lips, the reality they were holding was ripped apart; the limbs, completely erased from existence.

The four Riley then looked at each other in satisfaction, nodding their heads as their eyes lost what little color they had. And then… they just crumbled.

"From 1 to 10, how much pain are you feeling right now?"

"Let me—argh!"

"That's a 6."

On some other part of the expanse of space, there were 8 Rileys holding a single male themarian, while another one that was wearing a white coat was watching them; seemingly jotting down notes, but no paper or pen in his hands.

"Alright, that's enough," the White Coat Riley then clapped his hands as he sighed, "You can let him go now."

"..." The 8 Rileys that were holding the man all looked at each other as soon as they heard that. They then turned their eyes toward White Coat Riley… before all of them just started bursting out into laughter.

And then, all of a sudden, they all just stopped and whispered… and then the man was gone.

"Hm…" And as the 8 Rileys slowly started to crumble, White Coat Riley stopped laughing and placed his hand on his chin, "Out of the 40, only about 10 of them were hard to completely kill, all women… but none are as durable as James. They don't necessarily grow stronger with age, hm… if only I can detect their energ—Hm?"

And as White Coat Riley was whispering to himself, he very slowly turned his head down, only to see a hand pierced through his chest… holding what seemed to be his heart.

"..." And before Riley could turn his head, his heart was crushed. And as he crumbled, an old woman showed herself from his ashes.

"This one is fake too?" The old woman furrowed her eyebrows, "Just what are we fighting he—"

"We have been ordered to retreat!"

"What!? Ordered!?" The old woman raised her voice, "We're not soldiers, why are we following orders!?"

"It's from the Kingdom! Retreat!"

"..." The old woman looked at the dust freely floating around her, before just clicking her tongue and disappearing. It wasn't just her, those that were desperately trying to get into New Theran to destroy it also disappeared one by one.

"Oh, they are retreating."

[!!!]

Tedi, who was watching everything happening from afar, almost yelped as she felt another Riley Ross floating out of her hair.

[How… long have you been there?] Tedi slightly backed away to look at Riley, [Have you been there the whole time?]

"I suppose," Riley shrugged, "I believe we can go to New Theran now, the first wave is gone."

[They might come back with an army before we can blink, themarians can do that.]

"Not for a while. They said the Kingdom ordered them to retreat."

[...This cloning of yours, how does it work?] Tedi could not help but adjust her colossal glasses, [Does the information transmit in real time?]

"Limited range, but if I have more scattered everywhere, the range extends—I suppose like a satellite, Tedi."

[And all the information you receive… enters your mind too? Like a server?]

"I suppose."

[...Everything? Even pain?]

"...I suppose."

[...]

"Shall we go? We should probably land from that direction—you are almost as large as New Theran, they might get scared of your large size."

[...Can you please stop saying 'large'?]

"Humongous."

[...Let's just go.]

***

"Oh my, why are there so few?"

"Mom!"

In New Theran, the people that were brought from Theran gathered; with some already leaving to settle into their new home—but with the crowd they have right now, there were probably less than a thousand, with Diana adding to it as she entered the new planet.

Hannah, Bernard, and the others were also gathered there, with Aerith, Elder Olseyir, and Hera busy talking with the…immigrants.

"If I recall, there should be around 500 million of us… and the data I have is old."

"W…what?" Hannah, who was about to run toward her mother as she landed on the ground, could not help but halt her steps,

"There's… that many of you? I thought you guys could only breed like a thousand years after the last one?"

"Hm, give or take," Diana shrugged, "And we can also live as long as we want to. I know this old man, I call him Grandpa Fe. I think he's been alive since the evaniel war. Actually…  I don't know if he's still alive now, I should visit him before we leave."

"...So how do you guys die?"

"Suicide…" Paige, who was standing behind Hannah, was the one to answer her question, "...Most of the people that we are seeing here right now, they will kill themselves in the far future, fascinating."

"You, I like you," Diana smiled as she looked at Paige, "We met before right? You're one of Riley's girlfriends?"

"Th—"

"You see this, Hannah? You should find someone that would follow you to the other side of the universe."

"I told her that," Bernard also joined in on the conversation, "She—"

"Can you guys fucking stop!? This isn't about us!"

"But it is," Diana breathed out as she shook her head,

"Didn't all of us travel here to have a memorial for Alice Lane?"

"..."

"...I completely forgot that was happening," Hannah grasped her head, "So wait… you weren't talking about Theran when you told us we would bury her?"

"Immortalize, but yes…" Diana nodded as she looked around her,

"I want her to be buried here… where she can roam freely."