Villain Retirement

"..."

"..."

"...Why is everything so slow in this world?"

"I believe they think we are extraterrestrial life forms, Miss Hera."

"We might as well be."

A sharp, almost screaming screech scratched in the air as Hera stood up; the cold metallic seat she had been sitting on for hours now, threatening to fall back but instead just rubbed across the floor with its rusted legs.

"But man, is this supposed to be an interrogation room? Class E supers could probably break out of here." Hera raised her hands as she yawned; her body almost purring when she stretched her arms,

"The security in this place sure is lax," she then turned to look at the surveillance camera at the corner of the room; moving her head exaggeratingly to make it obvious that she knew they were trying to make them impatient.

"Should we just leave, Miss Hera?" Riley also stood up from his seat, but his chair that was also rusted on its legs did not create even a whisper of a screech,

"I read online that they also have a NASA in this world. I do not know how useful they will be since they still have not discovered the existence of extraterrestrial life, but they might be able to build us a compass."

"Ssh," Hera placed a finger on Riley's lips, "Don't say anything anymore regarding that for now, we can't have them knowing everything about us."

"Why not?" Riley his head to the side, causing Hera's finger to brush across his cheek, "The information will be useless to them, Miss Hera."

"You said so yourself — the people of this world have retained their capacity for violence. They might start asking favors from us in exchange for trying to find a way to get us home," Hera then subtly glanced at the only mirror in the room; her eyes, almost glaring at the people on the other side and causing them to back away.

"What the… do you think they could see us!?"

"Relax, Miller. The two are obviously friendly."

"Until pincers come out of their mouths and eat all of us!"

There were several people watching—observing Riley and Hera on the other side of the glass. Most were soldiers in uniform, trying to look as stern and stoic as possible. But their fingers that were already touching the triggers of their lowered guns showed just how anxious they truly were.

But perhaps the most nervous of them all was the slightly short, brown-haired man who was almost hopping around the room as he bit his nails, Special Agent Miller.

"They're aliens, Rob. Aliens!" Agent Miller wanted to pull out the strands of his hair as soon as he started walking.

"We don't know that yet, Relax." Miller's partner, Rob, on the other hand, just had his arms crossed the whole time he had been observing Hera and Riley. But much like the soldiers, however, his fidgeting finger made it obvious that he was also quite nervous about the situation.

"We have footage of one of them literally coming down from space, Rob. They're fucking aliens, I know it!" Miller stood beside Rob as he started looking at Riley from head to toe, "Look at that. Does that man look remotely human to you?"

"Yes, stop discriminating," Rob's breaths slightly stuttered as he glanced at Miller, "And we also have footage of him leaving the planet first."

"Okay, okay," Miller started nodding vehemently, "I'm just saying, what if he has been here for like hundreds of years before the cameras were invented, eh? He still could have come from space then."

"W—"

"And, and!" Miller did not let Rob talk as he raised a finger, "Even if he is from here, how the fuck do you explain him flying!?"

"Could be some sort of jet pack."

"And how are they even alive when our boys practically riddled them with bullets!?" Miller started gesturing to Hera and Riley, trying to show that they were completely unscathed, "And before you say they are wearing bulletproof shirts, their clothes are completely intact!"

"Hm…" Rob squinted his eyes, "What do you think, Defense Secretary?" He then turned to look at the old person beside him, who had just been quietly observing Hera and Riley without even straying his eyes for even a single second ever since he entered the room.

"Has the president said anything yet?" The defense secretary let out a small grunt; his eyes, still refusing to leave the two. The wrinkles around the sides of his eyes were plenty, but the eyes themselves still fully reflected Hera and Riley, "What about Russia? Do you think they also saw them flying from their satellites?"

"I doubt it, they were deep in the country when NASA picked them up," Rob shook his head, "Have you ever seen anything like this when you were still leading the Marines?"

"Not even—"

"That's one more thing that's weird!" And before the defense secretary could respond, Miller talked over him as he got between the two, "Don't you think it's weird that they just happen to be in the US? I thought that was only in the movies. Wait… 

…are you sure this isn't some weird experiment, General Kent?"

"I'm retired," Defense Secretary Kent glared at Miller before stepping to the side to remove his hand that was placed on his shoulder, "And even if there was some kind of experiment of this level, I will not be divulging that information to you two. And enough speculating, go interrogate them."

"...Do we have to?" Miller's eyes widened.

"If you want to keep your jobs—Jesus, where do they keep finding you sorry lot?" Secretary Kent could not help but look back and forth between Miller and Rob.

"Sorry, he's just stupid, Defense Secretary," Rob quickly stood up straight and saluted to the retired general, before quickly pulling Miller away and dragging him straight in front of the interrogation room.

"Do not." Rob then raised a finger and placed it on Miller's face, "I repeat, do not fucking say anything that would rile these aliens."

"...I thought you didn't believe they were aliens?"

"I'm not saying they're from outer space, okay? The woman's slightly brown," Rob whispered, "Extremely beautiful, probably the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes upon, but slightly brown."

"So, you're just a racist fuck?" Miller raised an eyebrow.

"No," Rob scoffed, "I'm just saying they might not be from this country. The albino also looks foreign."

"You just said the woman's a brown alien, Rob. That's racist."

"It's not," Rob's eyebrows began to lower, "I am just telling you what she looks like."

"I know what she looks like, I have eyes."

"Y—"

"Boys."

"!!!"

And as the two were arguing in front of the door of the interrogation room, they could not help but quickly reach for their weapons as the door, which should be impossible to open, was casually opened by Hera.

"Are you going to come in or what?" Hera gestured with her head to the two to enter. She was, however, welcomed by a platoon of armed men suddenly surrounding the door and pointing their weapons at them.

"Stand down!" Before anything could happen, however, Secretary Kent quickly stomped his way out of observation and quickly ordered the agents to lower their weapons, even forcefully pushing down some of their weapons as he rushed to the situation, "Are all of you fucking stupid!?"

Secretary Kent then also pushed Rob and Miller to the side as he stood in front of Hera. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, before Hera shrugged and casually moved to the side of the room, resting her back on the wall while Riley sat back down on the seat in front of her.

"You boys could have at least offered me some tea," Hera crossed her arms and sighed, "And my friend here, a glass of milk. I'll have you guys know we haven't had a proper meal for almost 4 days."

"..." Secretary Kent looked at one of the agents behind him, gesturing him to go and fetch what Hera requested, "Miller, Rob. The two of you, with me."

Secretary Kent then carefully stepped inside the room, while Rob and Miller quietly followed behind him as he sat in front of Riley.

"My name is General Lex Kent, retired," Secretary Kent carefully placed his hand on the metal table as he looked at Hera and Riley, "I am the Defense Secretary of the USA."

"My name is Riley Ross," a small smile crawled on Riley's face as he quickly introduced himself, "I am the bane of all creation."

"Talia Tal." Hera could really only let out a sigh as Riley just casually introduced himself. And with another heavy breath, she made her way back to her seat; pulling it slightly farther away from the table as she sat down and crossed her legs, 

"But most call me Hera."

"Hera?" Secretary Kent looked at Hera, "The Queen of the Gods. Is that some sort of code name?"

"Sure," Hera shrugged, "You have a minute to convince us to stay here or we're leaving. And we can, the only reason we're not doing it is out of respect and courtesy."

"I know," Secretary Kent glanced back at the door, only to see that the lock was smoothly cut, "You have made that very clear so far with your and your friend's actions. I am going to ask several quest—"

"No," Hera shook her head, "50 seconds."

"What do you want from us, exactly?" Secretary Kent subtly took in a small gulp.

"Bernard Ross, Supers, Themarians, King, Whiteking."

"...What?"

"I am just trying to see whether you're going to react," a small smile started to crawl on Hera's face as she slowly leaned forward,

"And you did…

…but which one are you hiding?"