Villain Retirement
chapter-452-30041322

"This… isn't this Alice Lane?"

"It is, sister."

"...Why did you bring her here?"

"I thought mother would be here."

Riley was back in Bernard's secret lair, using one of his obviously very expensive desks as a table for the unconscious Alice. Riley initially thought that she was dead when he found her suddenly lying on the sand, but it turns out she was just in some sort of comatose.

He was contemplating on whether or not to just leave Alice on the beach, but for some reason, leaving her there felt… wrong. And so, he just decided to bring him to where he thought Diana would be, but alas—

"She carried dad somewhere, mom said it will be a while before his body adapts to this Guardian Force shit."

"Hm," Riley only nodded before placing his focus back on Alice, "Then I will just leave biological mother here. Please tell adoptive mother that I found her unconscious some time at 11 in the evening, sister."

"...You're just going to fucking leave her here?"

"Yes," Riley nodded, "I can't bring her to Charlotte. I believe biological mother hates her, Charlotte doesn't deserve to be by her side."

"...And she deserves to be left alone like this?" Hannah raised an eyebrow as she pointed at Alice, "Look, I know you're trying to avoid Alice like how you're trying to avoid me now— which I do fucking mind, by the way. But at least hear her out; if not for your sake then for hers."

"..."

"I think she deserves to at least feel wanted by her son before she… leaves again, even if it's just pretend, Riley. And you're very good at pretending, so…"

"Why would I do that?"

"...Because you said you wanted to be human, right?"

"But it is also human to be petty, sister."

"You were cuter as a child."

"Very well, I will try to stay," Riley then let out a small sigh, before pulling a chair toward him and just casually sitting, "But what about you, sister? What are you doing in father's secret lair when he is not here?"

"Oh, you know… just checking to see if I could use something to—"

"You are trying to see if you can steal something."

"What!? No! When have I ever stolen anything from dad!?"

"..."

"O… on second thought, don't answer that."

"Hm."

"I… I think the better question is what are they doing here?" Hannah then pointed her thumb behind her, where Katherine, Tomoe, and Paige could be seen exploring Bernard's secret lair and examining all of his gadgets,

"This isn't a fucking museum!" She then raised her voice, causing the three to quickly stop touching whatever it is they were touching.

"They wanted to come, sister. So, I took them."

"What are they, your pets?" Hannah shook her head and rolled her eyes, "I can understand bringing Paige and Tomoe… but why'd you bring the other one?"

"Katherine?"

"Yes, Katherine," Hannah scoffed, "And what about the other one? Ellie?"

"She is preparing for John's funeral."

"...Right," Hannah's voice slightly toned down a bit, "Shouldn't… you be there?"

"I am," Riley said, "My clone is there."

"I… see," Hannah let out a loud sigh before placing her hand on Riley's shoulder, "I'm… really sorry, Riley."

"Why?"

"Really?" Hannah once again rolled her eyes as she lightly pushed Riley away, "You're feeling sad, bro."

"...Am I?" Riley slightly tilted his head as he looked Hannah straight in the eyes, "It… must be true, then."

"Y—"

"Auntie Hannah! I got the Wcdonalds! I didn't know what to get so I got everything. You said grandpa's credit card can buy anything so— Oh."

And before Hannah and Riley's conversation could go any deeper, Karina suddenly emerged from the stairs, hugging more than a dozen paper bags filled with nothing but food.

"Dad's back!? I would have bought more if I knew. How is your— Mom!?" Karina's eyes quickly turned wide as soon as they landed on Katherine. She then started to take a step forward— before her steps became uncontrollable as she didn't know where to go,

"This… This isn't what it looks like, mom! I'm… I'm not eating junk food! This is all for Aunt Hannah!"

"..." Katherine, who was just checking on some of Bernard's inventions, could really only sigh as she watched as her daughter almost tumble around; slightly panicking as she tried to find a table to place all the food.

"It's fine, just…

…giving in to your urges is okay from time to time."

***

"So…"

And while the group was consuming the unusually oily food in an also unusual silence, Hannah suddenly dropped a question that made all the other women choke on their food,

"From all of my brother's partners, who do you like most?"

"Hm?" Karina, however, didn't stop chewing as she looked at Hannah, before glancing at Riley who was still standing quietly beside Alice. And after more chewing, she looked at Tomoe, Paige, and Katherine, who all flinched respectively,

"I like my mother the most, of course."

"Fuck," Hannah whispered in frustration, "I almost forgot she's your mother. Okay, I'll change the question. Between Tomoe and Paige, who do you like more?"

"Hmm," Karina blinked a couple of times as she looked back and forth between Paige and Tomoe, and after a few seconds, she finally stopped chewing,

"I think I like—"

"Fuck!"

Once again, everyone flinched; thinking that they would get an answer. But alas, what answered them was Alice's loud voice that caused the entire basement to tremble wildly.

And before any of them could turn to look at what was happening, they saw Riley flung past them; only stopping short as he was only a foot away from hitting the wall.

"Bad man!"

"!!!"

Hannah and the others quickly leaped away as Alice shot out from her bed… the machines and the floor, breaking apart and circling around her as she did so. And like a drill that wanted to violently tear everything away, she left a crevice in her path on her way to Riley.

"Mother…"

And even with this raging torrent of death hurdling and rampaging toward him, Riley only let out a small and very short sigh as he landed his feet on the floor,

"...I admit that in our small exchange, your telekinetic abilities are obviously equal to mine— I could even say your raw power is a little superior to mine…

…But I have a hundred more abilities eager to show themselves."

The sound of static started to whisper in the air as trickles of electricity emerged from Riley's left arm. And with a flick of his fingers, all the debris that was violently circling around Alice all disintegrated away in an instant.

And without even waiting for anything else to happen, Riley disappeared from his spot; appearing right in front of the rushing Alice and placing his hand on her chest.

"Sleep until adoptive mother comes back, biological mo—"

But before he could do anything, Aerith suddenly appeared behind him, quickly pulling him away from Alice. This felt incredibly random, even for the things happening around Riley…

…and add to that the fact that there were three of her in full Megawoman uniform.

The only thing that Riley could move was his head, as the three Aeriths completely locked the rest of his body. But after turning his head left and right, he settled his sights on Paige.

"Aerith's breasts are not this soft, Paige. She uses padding on her outfit."