Villain Retirement

"...Mother?"

Megawoman.

The world's hope. Earth's mightiest hero.

And of course, Gary's mother. Well, at least she is supposed to be. Right now, as Gary was looking at the imposing figure in front of him, the only thing he could really do was take a step back.

He thought he would at least feel something, as he has disappointed his mother to no repair. But nothing— there was nothing.

The only thing between them was a sort of emptiness that Gary had always been feeling when it comes to his mother.

But then why?

If he wasn't feeling anything, then why couldn't he stop trembling?"

"No…" Gary whispered to himself; shaking his head before suddenly slapping his cheek as he once again took a step back.

"No, no, no!" He repeated— and with each word, he slapped himself. He doesn't know the reason why, but he wanted to.

It was almost as if he was trying to stop himself from drowning in an ocean that didn't exist— an ocean that confined him and made him feel just… heavy. Like his entire head was soaked in nothing but water; tight, so tight.

But no matter how much he tried to hit his head, the weight inside it didn't dissipate.

"..." Gary then once again looked at the destruction he caused, and he once again saw nothing but darkness.

"It… it doesn't matter."

So why, why was it starting to feel like it does?

"No, no, no, no!" Gary once again started hitting his head; only stopping as he pointed at Aerith with both his hands.

"I… I did this for you!"

"..." Aerith did not really answer Gary and just took a step forward. And as soon as he did so, several blurs started appearing from the distance, before settling and positioning themselves in a circle; with some of them, even standing on top of the ruined buildings.

"..." Gary turned to look at the evaniels that suddenly surrounded them, but they didn't seem to be planning on doing anything. There were just there to… watch.

"It's time to stop, Gary."

"..." Gary then looked back to Aerith as she finally spoke again.

"It's time to stop, you've done enough."

And then, all of a sudden, Gary's breaths became calm. Almost instantly, without any warning, everything around him just became quiet.

And soon, tears started to trail on his cheeks as the loud whistle that has been ringing in his ears for weeks now finally stopped.

And just like that, there was a snap.

"…why? Why now?" He then whispered, "You have been absent my entire life, so why are you trying to be my mother now?"

"Because I didn't need to be there," Aerith let out a small but deep sigh as she shook her head.

"...But you're my mother."

"I… am not here as your mother."

Gary could really only suck in his cheeks as he heard Aerith's words; his face, not knowing whether to turn into a snarl or a laugh.

"What are your new friends doing here?" Gary then said as he looked at the evaniels surrounding them.

"Don't worry about them. The evaniels tend to flock whenever a themarian takes action."

"Oh, how am I supposed to know that when you don't even fucking tell me anything?" Gary forced a chuckle as he wiped the trail of tears on his face,

"I suppose Riley knows that? You two seem close as fuck."

"Riley doesn't have anything to do with this."

"He has everything to do with this!" Gary started to violently wave his hands, "Can't any of you see it!? Riley is doing something! I can feel it!"

"Whether he has something to do with this or not doesn't matter," Aerith sighed,

"You should never let him control you, Gary. That's what he does best out of everything."

"He doesn't!" Gary once again forced a chuckle, "Can't you see how stronger I've become, mother!? Riley may have been trying to control me from the start, but my powers are waking up now…

…we used each other!"

"..." Aerith closed her eyes and once again shook her head, "The fact that you think like that means he still very much controls you, Gary."

"He—"

"Look around you," Aerith did not let Gary speak as she started looking around the ruined city, "With just a little power, you think you can do anything you want…

…Riley did not do this, this is all on you."

"Shut up!" You think… you think you can lecture me?" Gary started to cackle.

"I'm not lecturing you. I'm just stating what you've done."

"Oh… Oh, no. No, no, no," Gary wagged his finger,

"You came here to stop me."

"I did."

"You came here to stop me because that is all you can do! What about Riley!? Why does he get to walk free!? Do you know why!? Do you want me to tell you!?"

"..."

"I am not the one that's weak, mother," Gary then stood right in front of Aerith, "You are. You failed to stop him."

"...Stop acting up, Gary."

"Wow!" Gary then quickly backed away from Aerith as he stretched his hands to the side; walking around as he looked at everyone present there,

"Did you hear that, everyone!? She said stop acting up, she actually fucking said that. Mother of the year, everyone!"

"..." Hannah and the rest of the Baby Crew that were watching on the side could really only let out a heavy breath as they heard Gary's words. They knew it in themselves, that once again, they failed as a friend.

They couldn't even see the signs.

"She told me to stop acting up!" Gary continued as he addressed everyone there, "Such wonderful and sagely advice…

…your son is breaking, beaten, and crumbling down and all you have to say is that I am acting up?"

"..."

"What the fuck kind of mother are you? No. No, no, no…" Gary forced a smile, "You're not even a mother. I fucking wish you weren't my mother."

"..." Aerith could really only keep her silence.

"You shouldn't have tried to have a child when you're not even capable of pretending like a mother!

"..."

"If… if you weren't my mother, then at least I wouldn't have to wake up each and every fucking day trying to compare myself to you!" Gary said as he once again pointed at himself,

"Ever since I was born I… I tried to compare myself to you. So… so when you left, I thought that was finally over— I could finally just be Gary. But no…

…I started comparing myself to your fucking clone!"

And as soon as he said that, all the evaniels turned their heads towards Silvie for some reason.

As for Aerith, she only closed her eyes and shook her head.

"None of you understand!" Gary continued, "None of you understand what it was like knowing how great your mother is, and here I am, just a little fucking piece of shit!"

"..."

"I see the way all of you looked at me. I knew, I knew no one would ever take me seriously so I just committed myself to it," Gary chuckled, "I commited to being the brunt of jokes, the fucking clown…

…because that's what I am," Gary's voice then started to lower as he once again approached Aerith.

"I'm a fucking joke."