Villain Retirement

"Are you also not curious, Machina? Curious…

…of whether or not your conclusion will be written by me?"

[I would say that is a threat, but nothing really threatens my existence, Riley Ross.]

"It is not a threat, Machina. For to turn Creation into nothing, those who created it must also turn into nothing."

[Well then…

…shall we see if you are worthy to take over us?"

There was nothing but a cracking darkness in this universe that was not meant to be. Any color it had, it came from Riley and Machina, more on the latter. Very soon, however, Machina's cosmic form disappeared, instantly replaced by a small silhouette even smaller than Riley.

The silver which previously encapsulated its entire body, now just illuminating from its long silver hair. Its face now carries a tone that is alive; slightly pale, but not paler than Riley's. His face, however, did not really offer any distinct feature — average, entirely so.

"If you are wondering if this is my human form, it is not," Machina raised his hand to look at it, "This is still me."

"You wish to fight, Machina?" Riley tilted his head to the side.

"No. This is not a fight, Riley Ross," Machina pointed his palm at Riley, "Primordials do not know how to fight, the concept does not truly exist at the level of our existence. What this is, is merely a test."

Machina very subtly flicked his middle finger. And as soon as he did so, a small gun materialized in his hand. And without even saying another word, Machina fired the gun… and a beam wider than the moon blasted out from it and gushed straight toward Riley.

Riley immediately thickened and summoned multiple layers of his telekinetic barrier, but as the beam reached him, none of the barriers remained and he found himself being drowned by a force that seemed to scorch everything around it.

Riley, however, was completely unscathed as he was already completely immune to fire and heat. But if it wasn't for his telekinetic barrier reducing much of the impact of the blast, he would have probably been torn to shreds here and there.

"A gun," Machina whispered as the gun in his hand very slowly morphed into a bigger rifle, "In all the planets in all the universes, this weapon is a result of technology and progress. A progress in which violence is the goal, and yet always without fail, violence is always the forefront of progress."

Machina held the rifle with both hands, before shooting it toward Riley again — this time, however, Riley did not wait for the beam to go through him as he appeared right beside Machina; his hands, also shaped into a gun as he pointed his finger right on Machina's temple.

"Pavoom," Riley then whispered, releasing a beam of his own that turned the darkness into white along with Machina's head.

"You seem to not be aware of the dangers of that action." Machina, however, even without his head and half of his torso, was able to send his words into Riley's ears. And with the next word, his body just once again became whole out of nowhere; almost similar to when Riley resurrects,

"Or perhaps you do, that is your purpose, after all. That action of yours just now erased a part of the universe. Not figuratively, not metaphorically, but absolutely. The universe just repairs itself by stopping its growth and focusing on fixing what was lost of it."

"Hm," Riley only let out a breath as he released another Pavoom, completely eradicating Machina's entire body. Not even a second later, however, Riley found himself being stared at by Machina's cosmic body; Riley was not even a speck of dust in front of his eye, literally.

Machina then quickly floated away, gaining hundreds of millions of miles of distance with not even a fraction of a second even with his cosmic body that was the size of several giant stars. Machina then once again pointed his now silver palm at Riley… materializing what seemed like a cannon.

"..." Riley stared at this cannon that was probably the size of several large planets, before clapping his hands together. And as he did so, the cannon suddenly folded in half; almost like a can of soda that was squished by a hydraulic press.

Machina quickly shook his hand, destroying the cannon before raising both his hands up — summoning some sort of metallic star that was even bigger than his own body. Riley looked at this for a few seconds before taking in a deep breath as the darkness surrounding him started to distort.

Riley placed both his palms in front of him, almost as if he were holding an invisible ball. Soon, however, a white dot appeared between his palms — a dot that seemed to suck everything around it, even the cracking darkness of a failed universe.

Blood began trailing from his eyes and nose, but Riley did not even heed it any mind as the white dot between his palms released a pulse; a pulse that caused the shards of the broken universe to somewhat spin and rotate; the portal in which he emerged from, mysteriously washed away by the pulse. Riley began rotating his hand, and as he did so, the white dot began to flatten; turning into a disc the size of a vinyl.

This disc then floated above Riley's index finger as he pointed it toward Machina.

Riley once again let out a small breath; the disc in front of him, starting to tremble uncontrollably as it seemed to want to fly and be free. And for some reason, the metallic sun that Machina materialized was also doing the same.

"I believe that is enough."

"..." Riley could really only blink as Machina's cosmic form once again suddenly disappeared. His humanoid form, now once again just a few meters away from him. Machina still had his hand raised and the metallic star was still floating above him, but it was now just the size of a yoga ball.

Riley was not focusing on Machina, however, as there were now two other people present with them. One was facing Machina, and the other was looking at him.

"Any more of this nonsense and it would affect the entire multiverse."

Riley could recognize the voice of the one speaking to Machina. It seemed clearer now, but Riley would never forget the voice of the first Primordial he had a conversation with.

"Why are you interrupting this, Eldest?" Machina glared at Navi, who just looked like the average girl one would see walking down the street, "I thought you held yourself higher than all of us, and would never roam in the universes we have created?"

"Things have changed," Navi very slowly raised her hand, placing a finger on the metallic star above Machina and… poking it, causing it to just implode. As it did, however, the broken universe trembled,

"If all of you wish to interact with Creation, then I too wish it."

"Navi."

'Riley Ross," Navi only glanced back at Riley, before turning her focus back to Machina, "Go back to your domain for now, Machina. It is not yet time for us to be in this place and in this position."

"W—"

And before Machina could say another word, Navi tapped him on the forehead; causing him to just disappear there and then along with Navi…

…leaving Riley with the other individual that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

And of course, Riley recognized her too. Unlike Machina and Navi, who had real faces one could identify, the lady in front of Riley had no face whatsoever. She does, but it is almost as if one could not really determine what she actually looks like.

"We finally meet again, Riley Ross."

"...Death."

Death started floating and circling around Riley Ross, seemingly wanting to touch him but could not.

"I thought you were in pursuit of the God of Evaniels?" Riley followed Death with his eyes.

"I am," Death stopped in front of Riley and started looking at him from head to toe, "I am in every universe at once, I exist everywhere."

"..." Riley started looking around, "Do you have something you wish to tell me, Death?"

"I wish to welcome you to the family, Riley Ross." And very slowly and even more gently, Death stretched opened her arms and suddenly embraced Riley, "It has been a while since I last held someone else without taking them to the end of their story."

"...When was the last time?"

"Eternity ago, when Celestial's first children still roamed Creation," Death closed her eyes as she rested her head on Riley's chest, "The Eternal Child. Even now, I watch him travel."

"Will I ever meet this Eternal Child?"

"I am afraid his existence is beyond even ours now," Death's voice turned extremely somber, "If only I could hold him again like this."

"My purpose is to destroy all of Creation, Death. I believe that includes you," Riley returned Death's embrace, "I just do not know how to do it yet."

"If the time comes that you learn how to do it, then erase me first," Death let go of Riley, "For I do not wish to experience the gift of bringing my family to the end of their story."

"Are you not going to fight me, Death?"

"We will," Death floated away, "But for now, I still have purpose."

And with those words, a person very slowly materialized in front of Death, with her silhouette disappearing at the same time.

"Hm," Riley could really only let out a small hum as Chihiro's body emerged out of nowhere, completely unconscious as she floated toward him,

"I wonder if retrieving the others would also be this eventful?"