Villain Retirement

"Hi, Hera!"

"Hello, Hera!"

"I like what you've done with your hair, Hera."

"Thank you, Hera!"

Hera there, Hera here, Hera everywhere. Just a few moments ago, Hera was on the verge of being ripped apart by pink large balls of fluff, about to spend the rest of her life with Riley Ross in a universe dead. A life that is most likely for eternity.

In truth, in that last second where she started feeling her flesh being pulled from all sides by the sheer gravity of the cherbis, she had actually thought of life with Riley. And suffice it to say, she…

…imagined all sorts of stuff. Most are on the lines of… having to repopulate the dead universe with the two of them. And as soon as the images of little Hera-slash-Riley mixed breeds running around crossed her mind, she was suddenly here.

On a beach, with the setting sun calmly warming her tanned face. Sand, almost whiter than Riley's skin and as fine as powder.

"Where… the fuck are we?"

"Oh, this here's the Hera beach."

"Huh?" Hera was asking so many questions, not even realizing that the woman who screamed with her earlier was already answering all of her questions even as she was busy greeting everyone who was greeting her back.

But as Hera finally turned to look at the other Hera wearing a bathing suit, the other Hera squinted her eyes and also started looking at her from head to toe.

"Now, hold on just a minute," The other Hera pointed at her face, "...Could it be your wholesome just got here, dear?"

"Yes…?" Hera blinked.

"Well, I'll be," The other Hera let out a small gasp as she placed her hand on her chest, "I did hear me some news that there have been new Heras popping up and abouts. You must have been so desperate for a beach to pop up right here — most just appear in front of the Gates."

"...What?" Hera was still completely confused as she once again started looking around, and everywhere she looked, Hera.

"Your confusion is completely normal, girl. I remember the first time I got here. Oh lord, they gots me good," the other Hera started giggling.

"Why are you speaking in a southern accent?"

"I don't have an accent," the other Hera slightly raised an eyebrow, "Let me find someone to takes you and your companions to the gate so you can get all orientated about. W—Now, hold on…"

The other Hera started lifting up and fixing her bikini as she finally noticed Caitlain and Riley. And with her eyes suddenly widening, she started pointing back and forth between Caitlain and Riley violently.

"O…outsiders ain't supposed to be here!"

And as the other Hera raised her voice to the point of screams, the other Heras who were already curious about Hera started gathering in a crowd around them. And like the other Hera in front of Hera, the other Heras also started screaming as soon as they noticed Caitlain wasn't one of them. Things, however, got out of hand as soon as they realized Riley was a man.

"What… what in tarnation is that!?" The other Hera in front of Hera was the first to speak as she pointed at Riley, "Why… why is my body telling me to stay away from him, but at the same time stick to 'im!? What… what is this weird feeling!?"

And like a douse of cold water violently falling on top of her, Hera finally woke up from her stupor and realized what was happening. She had always thought that she would just endlessly float in the expanse of space when everything ends — something she truly did not look forward to.

But of course, she chose not to think about it since she had really only lived for 30 years. The curse of her immortality has still not completely dawned on her just yet. But still, there was this fear of being alone.

And now that she was seeing all these Heras in one place, she realized that wasn't the case at all.

Once a universe gets destroyed and she has nowhere left to live in, this was probably the place where she would go… where they all go.

"This… this is insane," Hera made sure not to let go of Riley and Caitlain, afraid that she was going to drown on… herself, literally.

"Oh, good," Caitlain let out a sigh of relief as she heard Hera's words, "I was trying to gauge whether or not this was a normal occurrence for you otherworlders. It is nice to think that this is also weird for the two of you."

"Not at all, Dr. Caitlain," Riley shook his head, "Much crazier moments have happened to us."

"Huh. I suppose living for a few more years may not be so bad," Caitlain placed her hand on her chin and nodded.

"Can the two of you share my anxiety for a moment here!?" Hera's breaths started to get heavier by the second as she kept hearing herself talking over herself endlessly.

[Everyone, please return to whatever it was you were doing earlier and stop crowding in one place! We have received your calls of an intruder, let us handle this.]

"H… hey! Don't land here!"

"The sand is getting all over my skin, I just put sunscreen there!"

"I swear, I am going to talk to your manager!"

Fortunately for Hera, the crowd started dispersing, along with the sand as a large helicopter started to descend from the sky. And with the parasols and the blankets all blown away, the helicopter landed close to Hera and the others.

Four people wearing a dark gray, skin-tight suit quickly stepped out of the helicopter.

"Jesus…" Hera immediately covered Riley's eyes as their suit, although covering her entire body, was stretched and tight enough that it showed the shape of her body to the point she might as well be naked.

"Are you the newly arrived Hera?"

"Ye—"

"Confirmed, she's not tagged."

"Huh?"

Hera could not even get in a single word as one of the four Heras flashed her with some sort of scanner. They instinctively did the same to Caitlain and Riley, and as the one holding the scanner showed the other Heras the result, they all let out a gasp and started looking at them.

"Call the Hope Guild! Call the Hope Guild, right now!" The one holding the scanner started pushing her comrades back to the helicopter, before putting all of her attention on the unexpected trio,

"Calm down."

"I am calm, Sexy Hera." "Okay." "How can I stay calm in this situation!?"

Riley, Caitlain, and Hera all talked over each other as the Hera in front of them started softly waving her hand up and down.

"I am going to need the three of you to hop on with us in the heli. Can you do that without us having to force you?"

"I do not care, Sexy Hera." "As I said, I'm all in." "How about explaining some stuff first? Did you just say Hope Guild? Are Empress and Whiteking there?"

"Please, just cooperate and all your questions will be answered," the other Hera gestured to the three to move toward the helicopter. The trio looked at each other for a few seconds, before just nodding and following their order, with Hera still refusing to let go of Riley and Caitlain even as they entered the helicopter.

The Heras in tight suits seemed to be saying something, but Hera just found herself once again hearing blanks as the helicopter started gaining distance from the ground. How could she not… when this entire beach resort was actually just an island?

A floating island, with the beach just casually ending like some sort of infinity pool. But what surprised Hera more as the helicopter started flying, was that there were other floating islands there, each of different purpose and category — with some obviously still being constructed by Heras wearing construction safety outfits.

"What the heck…?" Hera looked at the endless horizon, only to see nothing but an endless sky with the sun in the far distance, "Is this… my version of heaven?"

"That is a nice and accurate way of putting it," Caitlain also enjoyed the view; her eyes almost glittering as they reflected this… paradise. As for Riley, he seemed to be more interested in the other Heras, as he was clearly making them uncomfortable by staring at them, causing even one of them to just outright look down.

And soon, the helicopter started to slow down as they reached a floating island with a single tower erected right in the center of it. They did not land on the roof of the building, however, and instead landed on the designated helipad beside the building where several aircrafts were already docked.

"Get out of the way, this is urgent!" The sexy Heras, as Riley called them, did not waste any time as they hastily escorted the trio inside the building. Hera did not even have time to observe the building as they immediately threw them inside an elevator.

And with an awkward silence lasting for half a minute, they reached the top floor which seemed to be an entire conference room judging from the large table that welcomed them.

And there, 7 people immediately stood up from their seats at the table as they all stared and watched as the trio entered the floor. And there were, in fact…

…no other members other than Hera herself, just wearing different versions of the outfits of the members of the Hope Guild. There… was even a bald Hera.

"Of course…" Hera could really only cover her forehead as she sighed, 

"What was I even expecting?"