Villain Retirement



"Chihiro, what's wrong?"

"...Do you know of any supervillains from another planet?"

"A supervillain from another planet? Uh, no one really comes to mind. And even if there was, do you really think Whiteking would allow them?"

Chihiro, aka Golden Fox—Japan's No. 1 Superhero.

Out of all the billions of supers, she probably holds the most unique ability in the entire universe. Unlike most abilities which were either straightforward or just plain simple, Chihiro's ability was unique in a way that there seemed to be a 3rd party entity that 'talks' to her.

And unlike the other supers who needed to be lucky with the power lottery to ensure their future potential, Chihiro grew stronger in a way that was completely different from the rest.

Her ability gives her tasks to complete, and if she manages to complete them well, she grows stronger and sometimes even gains abilities similar to other supers. She was also able to summon weapons from a separate space, which was literally called an 'Inventory Box'.

She didn't really know what to call her powers, but her friends did.

They call it 'The System'.

And now, The System was giving her another task.

[Defeat the Villain that came from another world. The Villain has already killed you before, don't let it happen again!]

Chihiro stared at the words floating right in front of her; her eyes, slightly trembling at the second part of the message.

A Villain that has already killed her before? As far as she knows, the only time she got closest to death was when she almost died as a child.

A villain that came from another world—The System can be quite literal, so what does it exactly mean from 'another world'? Another planet? Or perhaps… 

…from another dimension completely?

Chihiro was capable of summoning portals that she could use to store items, or travel anywhere she wanted. Could it be there's someone else out there that is capable of creating portals… but connecting to another dimension completely?

"...Do you know of any villains capable of creating portals? Or any super?"

And once again, Chihiro looked to her friend as the two of them felt the violent winds breeze through their faces. The two of them were currently standing on top of Japan's highest tower, their eyes, reflecting the busy streets of Tokyo.

The two of them were wearing some sort of ninja suit, with Chihiro wearing a golden mask and a golden scarf that snapped in the air.

"A super capable of creating portals?"

"Can you please stop repeating my questions?" Chihiro let out a small and quiet sigh as her shoulders dropped.

"Hmm… Well, aside from you, I don't think there's anyone, really," her friend just crouched down like a cat, before shrugging her shoulders and scanning the city below them, "Why are you suddenly asking these questions? Do we have a new quest or something?"

"...Yes," Chihiro nodded as she once again looked at the floating words in front of her, "It's asking us to defeat a villain from another world."

"...An alien?"

"I don't know," Chihiro shook her head, "But it seems pretty important. I've been trying to wave it off, but the System won't allow me to at least minimize it. A villain from another world… do you think it's possible that it's not from… our Earth?"

"Not from our Earth?"

"Can you stop repeating—"

"Wait, wait…" Chihiro's friend quickly stood up and she looked Chihiro in the eyes, "No way…

…are we finally getting monsters from another dimension!?"

"...What?"

"It's like in the novels and comics!" Her friend then grabbed her by the shoulders and started shaking her, "The time of superheroes is over…

…it's time for Hunters to take over!"

"...What?" Chihiro squinted her already small eyes even further as she tried to figure out what her friend was trying to say.

"Ugh, seriously, Chihiro…" Her friend then let out a groan and a sigh at the same time as she took a step back and started flailing her body side to side, "...Why did an ability that's straight from the novels gifted to someone that hasn't even read a single word of light fantasy literature?"

"...I read books."

"I don't mean math books, Chihiro."

"..." Chihiro only glared at her friend for a few seconds, before just letting out a sigh of her own and shaking her head. And after a few seconds of quiet contemplation, she finally tapped the floating words in front of her.

"!!!"

And as she did so, a lot more words popped up.

[Chihiro, this is your time for revenge! A being from another universe has come to this world to wreak havoc, death, and destruction. This villain has already killed you before, and it will do so again as soon as it gets the chance to do so…]

"It's… from another universe," Chihiro muttered as the System just answered their question.

"Shi… Really!?" Chihiro's friend almost shrieked in excitement. As for Chihiro, she was trying her best to hide the grim expression that wanted to crawl on her face—she was completely hiding the fact from her friend that the system was telling her that this villain killed her before.

But alas, she could no longer hide her distress as she read the next parts of the task.

[Would you like to accept this quest? Failure to complete this quest will result in your death. Not accepting this quest will result in your death, but at a later time, and along with everyone else that you hold dear.]

"...Chihiro?" Her friend finally stopped dancing in excitement as she noticed the quiver in Chihiro's eyes, "...What's wrong?"

"..." Chihiro looked at her friend for a few seconds, before quickly pressing and accepting the quest, 'less she accidentally refuses it and caused everyone to die, "It's… nothing."

[The Ultimate Villain of the Multiverse!]

"..." Chihiro once again blinked in surprise as another message popped up in front of her—something the System has never done before.

[You have already died once from this entity, do not let yourself be fooled! Another version of you has already died from this villain, it is not your friend! You have been warned.]

The System… was warning her?

"...Open Quests," Chihiro whispered to herself, and as she did so, another window popped up in front of her. And without even any delay, she started clicking at each of the quests listed there,

"Abandon everything," she then said as the list became smaller and smaller until only one remained. Chihiro waved his hand, going back to the window of her latest and only quest. She reviewed everything again, before pressing on the icon that was on the lower left of the floating window.

A map of the Earth then quickly appeared in front of her, telling her where she needed to go.

"This… America?" Chihiro tilted her head to the side, "Are there any news in America that's worth a look, Aoi?"

"Hmm," Her friend, Aoi, quickly grabbed her phone from her pocket and started searching the web for anything interesting. But after a few minutes, she just let out a sigh and shook her head,

"Nope, just more super to non-super violence, guns. Oh, and there's a super that killed a bunch of his classmates."

"...So, nothing new?" Chihiro placed her hand on her chin as she started looking at her quest again; pressing randomly as the System might give her another clue. But alas, there was none.

"Oh, Jonas Reuben is in the news again," Aoi giggled as she started watching the news, "Seems like he got into a fight with someone that doesn't care about who he is. Ah! He got kidnapped!"

"..." Chihiro only glanced at Aoi as she started bursting out in laughter, "Aoi, please…"

"S… sorry. Pft…" Aoi grasped her stomach as she tried her best to stop laughing, "It's just that… it's kinda funny. Look, he got kidnapped by someone that looks like he's doing cosplay."

"..." Chihiro only glanced at the screen as Aoi showed it to her. She was going to focus on the map again, but she suddenly grabbed Aoi's phone away from her.

"Hey!"

"This man…" Chihiro blinked a couple of times as she zoomed in on Riley's face, "He looks—"

And before Chihiro could finish her words, her eyes suddenly turned wide as visions started to crawl through her mind.

[Downloading the last moments of your death.]

"!!!"

Chihiro gasped as she suddenly found herself in some sort of large dome, surrounded by all sorts of people—most of them, heavily wounded.

Chihiro couldn't really focus well, as there was a tall man screaming and violently waving his hands.

"..." Chihiro doesn't really know what she was feeling right now, but it felt like she was hurting for some reason. She started looking around again, only to see the white-haired man that was on the video just calmly standing near her.

Chihiro wanted to examine him more, but the tall man started getting aggressive… before he suddenly lunged himself toward the white-haired man.

"...Riley?"

And before Chihiro knew it, she leaped in front of Riley, using herself as a shield as the tall man's fist went straight through her torso.

"!!!"

"Chihiro!?"

Chihiro let out a deafening gasp as she woke up from the visions that suddenly bombarded her mind. She quickly turned to look around to try and see where she was, only to find herself back at the top of Tokyo Tower.

"..." She then quickly turned to look at the phone she was holding again, zooming in further onto Riley's face.

"I… I saved him?" Tears started to fall from her cheeks. Her eyes that reflected Riley's face, containing a hint of yearning, "You…

…Who are you to me?"