Villain Retirement

"..."

"..."

"..."

Silence.

They once again found themselves in silence. They have previously planned to go and see the situation outside, but after what happened, no one was in the mood to do so anymore.

Silvie Savelievna, the one who held the current position as the No. 1 Superhero based on the surveys that the Association made, completely defeated. The same thing happened to the one who held the No. 3 position, Nuclear Seraph.

And as if that wasn't enough, the rest of Hannah's team was also beaten badly by Paragon — and everyone saw it live. They have probably never been humiliated like this; not even when they were still at the Academy.

Perhaps calling them defeated was even an understatement. None of them were able to fight back, with Paragon just moving once or twice during the entire sparring session. They thought he was just underestimating the strength of the Baby Crew, but to think it was the other way around — Paragon was just too strong.

"...Fuck. Pass me that bottle."

And so, once again, the Baby Crew found themselves in the bar area of the Paige and Paragon Agency.

"S… shouldn't we go out there instead of sulking—"

"I thought you didn't want to go out!?"

"..."

Hannah's voice broke the silence — no. She shattered it with her voice that almost thundered throughout the entire building. As for Katrina, the only thing she could really do was shut her mouth and look to the side.

She was a little dismayed that the others seem to have forgotten about her during the matches, but maybe she was actually lucky. At the very least, she didn't have her ass handed to her in front of the thousands of the viewers that were watching Gary's stream.

Of course, mid-way through it, Gary disconnected his stream to save themselves from being properly humiliated in front of their fans — what they didn't know, however…

…was that Paragon was actually also streaming.

It was weird, he seemed to always be streaming at the right time without anyone else knowing — this time, his phone was recording near the corner of the hall… on a tripod, and no one noticed.

"I… Isn't it okay?" Katrina then said as she forced a chuckle, "At least… we know that Paragon is strong and—"

"Argh! He treated us like children!"

Hannah could no longer help herself as she reached for a bottle of alcohol herself. But as she was about to open it, a long and very deep sigh whispered from her mouth; and with it, the bottle returned to its place.

"He's not Riley," Hannah then let out a sigh as she rested her head on her arms, clumsily letting it fall on top of the counter,

"He's not Riley," she repeated.

"...What?" Silvie, who was hearing Hannah's suspicions for the very first time, could not help but raise an eyebrow at Hannah's words,

"What do you mean he's not Riley? Of course, he's not Riley….

…What's going on?" She then muttered as she looked at the rest of the Baby Crew, "...Guys?"

"It's nothing," Bella was the only one to respond to her as she rolled her eyes, "Hannah here just thought Paragon was her brother."

"...What!?" Silvie's eyes turned wide, "But they look so different. Paragon has those long, black… beautiful silky hair. Not… not to mention those— Y… yeah, you get what I mean," she stuttered, trying her best not to utter the words she wanted to utter.

"I know, right!?" Hannah once again leaped out from her seat as she looked at Silvie, "How could I have even compared the two? Sure, they're both weird… but that's it. Riley would never say those kinds of words."

Hannah was sure of it now. Paragon is not Riley. Because if he was—

"..."

Hannah then took in a small but very deep breath as she remembered the way Paragon's chest felt, before violently shaking her head. Because if he was Riley, then she wouldn't have felt something like what she felt earlier — it would be disgusting to feel something like that to her own brother; her murderous genocidal brother.

But Paragon's bare chest, his abs — and then partner that with the long jet-black hair that flowed across his torso. Even if he was still wearing a mask, he looked quite… dazzling. No, maybe it was the mask that added to his allure.

"Oh my god," Hannah could not help but cover her face as these thoughts once again resurfaced in her mind. Her ex-boyfriend was literally an old man in a young man's body, and she had been stuck in the expanse of space ever since with the only person of the opposite sex being Gary.

It was no wonder her hormones were a little more wild than usual. She was already 22 years old, and yet she hasn't even had a normal relationship with a man once.

"I… think I might need that drink, after all," Hannah finally gave in and opened a bottle.

"Y… yeah, I think I need one as well," Silvie whispered as she sat beside Hannah. Katrina was about to grab the bottle as well but was stopped by Bella.

"Girl… this is reserved for those who got their asses whooped."

"I… is that so?" Katrina could only force a chuckle, causing her massive breasts to bounce.

"Ack, it's all because of that!" Hannah screamed as she suddenly pointed at Katrina's bosoms.

"W… what?" Katrina quickly took a step back as she covered her breasts, "What… what did I do this time?"

"If only I had a bigger pair, then maybe I would have a boyfriend right now!" Hannah groaned in frustration as she once again let her head fall on the counter.

"Oho, do I hear my name being called?" Gary's ears almost became bigger as he slowly slid close to the women of the Baby Crew, only for a bottle to be thrown at his face — he caught it, of course.

"No!"

"..." Gary could only blink a couple of times, before a tear started to fall from his eyes, "Am I… Am I not good enough?"

"..." Bella quickly offered her support to Gary as she patted his shoulders, "You're our bro, G. You're off-limits."

"...So if I quit, I can pursue one of you?" A weird smile quickly grew on Gary's face.

"..." Bella didn't answer, but instead just looked at the rest of the women of the Baby Crew.

Silvie shook her head, Katrina looked to the side, and Hannah just let out a chuckle.

"Well… there's your answer."

"Ugh," Gary quickly clasped his chest as he took several steps back in a daze, letting himself fall on the sofa as he croaked, "My heart, it burns."

"Stop being so over dramatic, Gary," Silvie giggled as she looked at him, "Weren't you dating Gintsune before I left the crew? What happened to that?"

"Golden Fox, she goes by Golden Fox now," Gary laid himself down on the sofa as he sighed, "It… didn't really work out between us."

"What… why?" I thought you guys looked cute together," Silvie moved away from the bar as she approached the lamenting Gary, "Gintsune is cute and small, and you're like an ogre."

"W… well, you know," Gary stuttered, "Long-distance relationship and all that. She was in Japan... and I was in space. It---"

"It didn't last because he was insecure as fuck," Hannah was the one to answer as she too, moved to the sofa; holding a new bottle and several glasses, "I still remember that, when Chihiro called us crying because you two had a bad fight."

"Aw shit, I remember this."

"Y… yeah, I… I really felt bad for her then."

And so, all of a sudden, Gary became the topic of the group. If he knew he was suddenly going to be in the hot seat like this, then he would have just kept his mouth shut.

"...What happened?" Silvie tried her best to look concerned; but the creeping smile on her face showed how much her curiosity was bursting out.

"It… It's really nothing," Gary wanted to get up. But for some reason, the eyes of the women caused the weight of his body to turn into a mountain.

"It's fine, you don't need to tell me," Silvie could only let out a small sigh as she shook her head. But after a few seconds, the smile on her face returned… along with a phone that was already dialing someone,

"I'll just ask her."

"Fuck… the girl's drunk as hell," the teasing smile on Bella's face disappeared as soon as she saw who she was calling. As for Hannah and Katrina, they only looked at each other; not knowing whether to wince or chuckle.

"W… w… wait!" Gary tried to reach for the phone, but alas, Silvie could fly.

"What's… going on here?"

"Ah, Paige! You're right on time," Silvie giggled as she looked at Paige and Paragon, who just stepped out of the elevator, "We're calling Gary's ex."

"...Why?" Although Paige was confused as to what was happening, she quickly jogged to the lounge due to her sudden growing curiosity.

"P… Paragon, bro!" Gary then immediately ran towards Paragon, "As… as the only other men here, tell them to stop! Help a brother save some dignity!"

"Running away from your previous lover is not dignified, Mr. Gray."

"You should be on my si—"

[H… hello?]

And before Gary could finish his words, everything suddenly became quiet as a small, and very demure voice whispered in the air.

"G… Golden Fox, hi."

And now that she actually answered, Silvie could not help but take in a small gulp as she slowly descended to the floor. She was really just trying to tease Gary, but to think the call would connect.

[How… are you? Did… you need some— oh, hello everyone.]

"S…Sup, Goldie," Bella waved her hand as she was caught on the video call.

[Uhm… can I call you guys back later?]

"S… sure, sorry. We didn't mean to—"

[I'm… actually under attack right now.]

"..."

"..."

"...What?"