Villain Retirement
chapter-123

"That's... That's Waxyman!"

As the dust and ashes were now almost cleared out of the air, the lights of the city and the moonlight once again merged, creating a sort of hazy neon to pester the broken infrastructures– completed by the blinking and rotating red and blue that came from the police vehicles.

"...Waxyman, what kind of stupid name is that?"

There were also a lot more supers and superheroes trying to fix the aftermath of Riley and Sophie's battle. One, in particular, was a super that was currently filling in the cracks of the road with... the wax that was seemingly coming out from his palm.

"...Is he putting wax on the road?" Hannah then squinted her eyes; her tone, slightly perturbed, "How is that even safe? Wouldn't it cause the tires to slip? It would melt with the heat of–"

"Why are you always such a hater!? And what right do you have to say his name is bad when you literally call yourself Nuclear Baby!?" Gary did not let Hannah finish her words as he dropped the large rubble he was carrying, his words almost traveling throughout Miami, "Don't you know that when his wax dries, it would be harder than steel!?"

"I believe big sister Hannah is right."

"What the–" Gary then look behind him, only to see Tomoe passing him by with her quiet whispers, "Just wait 'til you see him covering villains with it! Silv, Silv, where are you!? Back me up here!"

Gary then clapped his hands to try and get Silvie's attention. Silvie, however, only continued to walk while carrying two cars on her shoulders.

"Silv!"

"Oh..." But finally, after one more scream that almost caused Gary's voice to crack, Silvie carefully turned around, "...What was that?"

"..." Gary only looked at Silvie with his eyes squinted, before letting out a sigh as he gestured for Silvie to continue whatever it was she was doing, "It's nothing, carry on with your duties, madam."

"Hm," Silvie just nodded in response. But as soon as she was gone, Gary slowly moonwalked towards Hannah and whispered,

"...Something is wrong with that girl."

"Oh wow," Hannah took in a long and deep breath as her eyes widened in shock, "How did you notice that!? So smart."

"...You–"

"No, but seriously..." Hannah did not let Gary say another word, "I get what you mean. Even our resident stoic is getting worried about her."

"Riley?"

"No, Tomoe," Hannah scoffed, "My brother isn't stoic."

"...What?" Gary then turned to look at Riley, who was currently standing in the middle of the road with his arms stretched to the side while the rubbles, buses, cars, and debris that were safe to move away were floated by him to the trucks– doing it all with his face completely unchanging, not even a hint of sweat.

As for Tomoe, the exhaustion on her face was quite obvious already; letting out small sighs as her eyebrows furrowed from time to time.

"Even Tomoe has more emotions than him," Gary then pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Hannah blinked a couple of times, "My brother's feeling quite happy right now– probably because he gets to use his powers for good or something."

"..." Gary then took another look as he squinted his eyes with intensity. But no matter how hard he tried to see it, Riley's face was just... Riley. As for Tomoe, her exhaustion was reflected from the fumes coming out of her mouth. Of course, she made a huge dome of ice for the medics to tend the wounded in, so that was a given.

"So about Silvie," Hannah then said, "We were hoping to talk to her maybe tomorrow about–"

"You know..." Gary then scratched his chin, "...This got me thinking; why aren't there more healing-type supes? Even in the Academy we only have like 1, right? And he could only heal minor wounds."

"...Maybe you should start helping instead of thinking– it's not really your strong suit," Hannah then rolled her eyes from having her words interrupted.

"Why you gotta do me like that, bruh!?"

And so, with Gary picking up the rubble he placed on the ground, their relief work continued; everyone working together in harmony to ensure no one was trapped inside the ruined buildings or that the said buildings wouldn't collapse post-help.

But after a few more minutes, the whispers of the police started to travel the air. Their voices, carrying a slightly panicked tone as they started running around everywhere; carrying the static that spoke from their radios.

"...What's happening now?" Hannah and the others quickly gathered in one spot– even Riley was asked to join as there were people running around him.

"I overheard them talking about someone from the Hope Guild coming," Tomoe answered.

"...You heard that?" Gary blinked a couple of times, "What are you, some sort of ninja? Wait... I didn't say that because you're half-Japanese, okay? I... I'm not racist."

"...Okay?" Tomoe only squinted her eyes; her tone still monotonous. She did, however, take a small glance at Riley. Of course, she should know these kinds of stuff, it was the least she could do as Riley's Second Subordinate.

She was already getting less and less interaction with Riley for some reason; she wanted to prove her worth. Since a member of the Hope Guild is coming, this was information that Riley should know since he had encountered them before during his time as Darkday.

"..." And as soon as Riley nodded when they met eyes, a small smile quickly crawled on Tomoe's face.

"But the Hope Guild, huh..." Hannah let out a small but deep breath as she looked around the broken walls and roads, "...Destruction of this scale shouldn't warrant the attention of the Hope Guild; does it have something to do with the identity of the two people we saw?"

"Well... they were capable of doing this without moving their fight," Silvie muttered, "They might be of a higher threat than we thought."

"Pft," Gary waved his hand, "If we arrived earlier, I am sure we could have stomped the both of them into smithereens!"

"For once, I agree with you," Hannah scoffed, "Those two bitches should pay for what they've done here– all these people, dead."

"..." Hearing Hannah's words, Riley could only let out a small sigh. As for Tomoe, her eyes slightly squinted as she once again glanced at Riley.

Could the other person be him? She wasn't sure... Riley wasn't telling her anything anymore.

"The police are really... riled up," Silvie said as she took a few steps back to avoid the rushing officers.

"...It's not dad, is it?" Hannah furrowed her eyebrows, "Maybe he–"

"Helicopter, helicopter!"

And with Gary suddenly pointing towards the sky, a loud whirring sound soon reached all of their ears. And soon, the helicopter that Gary was pointing to hovered above them; it quickly went away, however... but not before someone jumped out of it.

"Aw shit!" Gary then stretched his arms, slightly pushing the others away, "Is he going to do it!?"

But alas, contrary to what Gary expected, the man that jumped from the chopper did not land the way he wanted to. Instead, he just landed... normally odd.

Considering the height of his fall, the rubble and ground beneath him should have at least cracked in a way; but it was almost as if he just hopped where he stood, with the white bag he was carrying not even bouncing.

What did bounce, however, were the gazes of the people as their eyes could not help but take a double look at the man's bald head; reflecting the setting moon even brighter than the large knife he had strapped behind his waist.

"It's Butcher..." Gary then took in a small gulp, "So that's why the police are acting the way they are."

"...Why?" Silvie muttered, "Is he that hard to deal with?"

"You could say that," Gary nodded several times, "He is freaky af. I heard he eats people."

"What!? How could someone like that be a hero!?"

"Don't believe everything the idiot says," Hannah could only shake her head as the group continued to watch the scenario in front of them.

Even after touching ground for a few minutes, Butcher still had not talked to anyone; just looking around everywhere as if assessing each corner of the ruined street. But finally, after a few minutes more, he approached the police that were standing by on the sides.

The men in uniform quickly flinched; their heads instinctively turning to the side to avoid Butcher's red, almost glowing eyes. They seemed to be talking about the situation, until finally, as they reached the end of their conversation, the officer pointed at Riley and the group.

Of course, this also caused Gary and the others to slightly flinch.

"Aw shit... he's gonna eat us," Gary loudly whispered as Butcher's steps tread nearer and nearer.

"Shh, shut the fuck up!" Hannah managed to hit Gary in the stomach before Butcher arrived.

"The 5 of you are the students from Mega Academy, correct?" Butcher then said, the tone of his voice completely monotonous.

"W... why are you asking t... th–"

"Yes, sir," Silvie responded before Gary could make the situation trickier than it already is.

"Good job," Butcher nodded, "According to the reports I received, the estimated damage if you have not arrived on the scene the time that you did would be approximately 73.2%"

"...Yes?" The group did not really know how to respond to that as they all just turned to look at each other.

"Thanks... I guess?" Hannah then muttered; her eyes, slightly squinted as she tried to gauge Butcher.

"Hm," Butcher once again nodded in response, before he once again started looking around the area without even saying another word to them.

And so, once again; Silvie, Gary, and Hannah could not help but look at each other. With Riley, Tomoe, and now Butcher... it was as if they were surrounded by robots.

"You reported that there were two individuals who left the scene as soon as you arrived?" Butcher then once again approached the group; the bag that was hanging on his shoulders now in his hands.

"That's right... they flew away before we could–"

"Is this one of them?"

"!!!"

Not only Hannah, but Gary and the others also could not help but take a few steps back as Butcher suddenly pulled something out of the white bag he was holding. Even the police that were meters away from them almost tumbled to the ground as they saw the thing in Butcher's hand.

"I... I... I don't know," Hannah then quickly said before looking away, "We... did not really get the chance to–"

"It... it might be!" Silvie also stuttered as she tried her best to not look away, "She... she has the same hair color, I... I think!"

The two could only let out stutters– how could they not...

...when Butcher was holding a severed head straight to their faces?