Villain Retirement

A 7'4" muscular man that was more akin to that of a bear than a human stands in a narrow dark pathway, creeping up to you and suddenly grabbing you by the shoulder—What would you do?

They said that you should stay calm and play dead when faced with a bear, but this bearded muscular man isn't exactly a beast, no.

But for Riley, he might as well be—and so, Riley suddenly dropped to the ground, pretending to be dead.

"I'm not a bear!"

"Oh," Riley quickly got up, patting his white clothes clean as he looked at Edward's hairy arms, "Of course, Aerith would not be sexually attracted to an animal. Forgive me."

"...Aerith?" Edward slightly loosened his grip on the metal bat as he looked Riley in the eyes,

"How… how do you know that name!?" He then said as his grip returned; his stance which was previously just for a threat, now completely resolute to actually do something.

"I'm her lover," Riley answered without any hesitation, "We—"

"What did you say!?"

And before Riley could finish his words, Edward suddenly swung his bat straight toward Riley's head.

"..." Riley, however, did not even try to dodge, just allowing the steel bat to bend almost 90 degrees on his head,

"You're not a super. But I find it incredible you were able to bend the steel to this point."

"...Fuck," Edward clicked his tongue as he took a step back. He looked at Riley again before suddenly breaking the bat in half with just his bare hands.

"..." Riley's eyes once again twitched as he watch as Edward threw the other half of the bat, using the remaining one as some sort of… shiv. No matter which side Riley looked at him, he could not deny how manly Edward is…

…Riley couldn't even grow a beard.

"Maybe if I was manly enough, then Aerith wouldn't have killed herself and we would be together."

"You… keep my wife's name out of your fucking mouth!" Contrary to Riley's expectation, Edward did not even use the piece of the metal bat he had and just threw it away. Instead, he slapped Riley right on the cheek.

Of course, once again, Riley did not even bother dodging; surprisingly, Edward's arm did not even break, making Riley wonder whether or not he was actually a super.

"You are very brave, Edward Gray. Or perhaps.." Riley squinted his eyes as he looked at the slightly frenzied expression on his face, 

"...You want to die?"

"..." Edward did not really answer, and instead just once again lunged toward Riley, this time hugging him tight and lifting him in the air.

"So, it is the latter. Then I apologize, I am not really in the mood to kill anything or anyone right now. Perhaps just try committing suicide? It is not that bad, you will get used to it."

"Kh!" Edward grunted loudly as Riley very slowly started to pry his arms open. He held on as long as he could, but the difference between a normal human and a super like Riley is truly quite… infinite.

"Who are you!?" And as his arms were slapped away, Edward let out a roar as he took a step back; holding his right bicep as it seemed to have snapped,

"Just who are you!?"

"As I have said before…" Riley's eyes started to glow red as a smile crawled on his face. And as soon as Edward saw that, he came to a realization—or rather, a misunderstanding that many have made before. He thought Riley was a themarian,

"...I am Aerith's lo—"

"Dad!"

And before Riley could take a step closer to Edward, a shadow suddenly came from above; its knee, slamming down on Riley's face and causing him to slide a few meters back across the alley.

"No!" Edward tried to reach for the shadow, but it immediately chased for Riley before he could even get the chance to do so.

"..." As for Riley, he just watched the shadow lunge toward him. And it truly was a shadow—face, completely covered with a ski mask; a cloak that blanketed his entire body.

His silhouette was a little shorter than Riley expected, but he knew exactly who this was.

"Gary Gray," Riley whispered as he just let the shadow punch him in the face.

"Tch," the shadow did not say anything, however, as he just continued striking Riley from all directions, causing all the dust and dirt to be blown away. The makeshift houses made of thin wood, nearing their destruction with each passing second.

"G—"

"Dad, get back!" The shadow glanced back as Edward tried to approach them. He gestured to him to stay away. Sadly for him, Riley took this chance to creep closer to him—grabbing him by the back of his head before flying into the air.

"..." Edward sucked in a short but very deep breath as his child was just suddenly and literally yanked away from him. He watched which direction Riley flew to, before running to chase them; not even caring as he bulldozed his way through the thin houses and the people.

"Let go of me!"

"I will in a bit, Gary," Riley let out a small chuckle as Gary started struggling. He didn't let him go just yet, however. Not before they were out of the stadium city, in which Riley immediately threw him straight down.

"Shit!" Gary let out a high-pitched scream as his silhouette became smaller and smaller until it finally created a deafening thunder as a human-shaped crater formed the ground.

"...Hm," Riley nodded to himself as he saw Gary crawling from the small crater. Riley had to adjust his strength just right so as to not kill Gary. Fortunately for everyone involved, the Gary of this world seemed slightly stronger than the Gary in his universe.

"Are you hiding in fear that you will also be killed like your mother, Gary?"

"I… don't know who the fuck that is!" Gary grunted as he started patting all the dirt and concrete stuck on him, "Who even are you!? Why were you assaulting my dad!?"

"Do you have a sore throat, Gary?" Riley tilted his head to the side as Gary's voice seemed too strained, cracking with each syllable, "And it would seem you have the wrong information—he was the one who assaulted me."

"...What?"

"Yes," Riley nodded, "I was just on my way to Ms. Claire's house, but your father suddenly hit me on the head when I told him that I am Aerith's lover."

"You… know my mom?" Gary slightly flinched as he started looking at Riley from head to toe; kicking the large debris in front of him to the side to get a better view of him, "What even are you? Are you… a themarian?"

"No," Riley blinked as Gary did not even react to him saying that he was his mother's lover, "I am as human as you, Gary. Maybe just a little different in certain ways. What about you, Gary? What are you supposed to be in this world?"

"What?"

"You do not seem to be a superhero," Riley blacked his hand on his chin as he also looked at the cloaked Gary, "And you do not seem to be a supervillain as well. Are you perhaps some sort of secret agent of the government, then?"

"Fuck you!" Gary clenched his fist as he violently pointed at Riley, "You think I am one of those fucks!? They killed my mom!"

"Whiteking killed your mother."

"What's the difference? Whiteking is the government," Gary let out a small scoff. His eyes slightly turned moist, but before any drop could fall from them, they started to glow red, "You…

…are you from the government?"

"N—"

"Is that why you're trying to hurt dad!?" Gary took a step forward, cracking the already ruined ground of Toronto as he slowly approached Riley, "Have you not taken away enough from me!? Isn't letting me live like a cockroach not enough for you people? Now you want to take away everything that's left!?"

"Hm, I already did that to you once," Riley let out a small breath before nodding.

"So, you are from the government!" And with those words, Gary once again rushed toward Riley; his fist, already locked onto his head.

"I am not from—"

And before Riley could finish his words, Gary suddenly disappeared—only to reappear already beside him; his fist, just an inch away from his cheek.

"Oh?" Riley leaned back to avoid the strike, but as he did so, a beam of light shot out from Gary's eyes and aimed straight at his temples, "You are better than your counterpart, Gary. But still…

…weak."

Riley did not stall any longer as he grabbed Gary's wrist, pulling him closer to him before slamming his arm on his neck and causing Gary to somersault in place before violently kicking him down to the ground.

"Kh!"

"You know, Gary…" Riley then crouched on the ground as he grabbed Gary by the head, slightly tugging on his ski mask, "...I honestly do not know what I even tried to find you—perhaps because I thought it would be fun? But without Aerith, this is just useless."

"You… what do you want?"

"As I said, I don't know," Riley lifted Gary's head and causing him to groan in pain, "I honestly don't know what to do anymore, my job of trying to turn everything into nothing is getting larger and larger by the second…

…I suppose I just want variety in between."

"Fuck you!" Gary grabbed Riley's hand, before pushing himself away and leaving Riley to hold his ski mask, "What the fuck are you even saying!? Are you retarded!?"

"Maybe we can—Oh?" Riley turned to look at Gary, only for his eyes to blink a couple of times as he stared at his face—or rather, her face,

"You are not Gary."

"Who the fuck is this Gary you keep mentioning!?" The woman that Riley thought to be Gary groaned in frustration; no longer putting any effort to deepen her voice, "My name's Gracy…

…Gracy Gray!"