Villain Retirement

"Describe them."

"They had 2 eyes, 2 arms, and standing on 2 legs– the golden ratio, sir. The male one has white skin and a long, straight white mane. The female one has a brown, somewhat golden mane, and skin that was similar to the An'tria desert."

"And they were here?"

"Yes, Messenger."

Ruman was currently a kilometer outside the only city of the micro planet, Hotis 4J. He was on top of a small mountain, kneeling as he seemed to be talking to someone; there was, however, no one in front of him.

And yet, a voice still reverberated through the air; enough to cause the lifeless planet to almost tremble.

"Tell me more about the female," the thunderous voice echoed.

"She said they were from a planet called Protus from the Sol System." Although there was a tremble in Ruman's voice, his words were as clear as they could be,

"She denied being from the Higher Races, but the reports said they flew away into space when they le– !!!"

Ruman could not help but take in a long and very deep breath as the green sky above him suddenly split open; he still did not dare to look, but the shadows that now filled the entire planet were enough to cause him to grovel on the ground.

He could also hear a crackle as the temperature within the entire planet rose.

"Protus? Is what you say true?"

And with those words, once again, the planet trembled. This time, Ruman looked up towards the sky,

"Yes, I dare not lie to you, Messenger," Ruman's shivering eyes now reflected the entity in which he exchanged words.

It was a face, almost covering the micro planet's entire sky. It's 6 eyes, only looking at Ruman.

"Protus has been torn asunder a few rotations ago," the Messenger uttered as its face finally slowly faded away from the sky; his voice, however, still echoed throughout the entire planet,

"The female you speak of may or may not be a themarian. It was wise for you not to anger them," the voice lingered as the face slowly turned into a cosmic silhouette; the sight, almost drowning,

"And you were also wise to report…"

And finally, after a few more seconds, the voice withered away with the wind as light once again showered the empty fields.

Hotis 4J was a micro planet, only capable of inhabiting a single massive center city. But still, for the Messenger's face to almost fill the entire sky of the planet– he knew it was real, but the size of the Messenger still baffled him to this day…

…and to think there were 5 of them that still exist to this day. Truly, a frightening existence.

Ruman was finally able to breathe as he let himself fall to the ground; his legs, shivering to the point that he was no longer able to use them. Each of his breaths was filled with fear.

This fear, however, was not solely focused on the Messenger, no.

A themarian? He was so close to almost offending a themarian.

Themarians, one of the Higher Races, are known for their generosity and empathy for the lower races– they were, however, not known for their mercy and patience. Offend them, and one might find yourself begging them for the lives of one's people.

Themarians are a race of sleeping warriors– one that you truly do not want to wake.

Even the Messenger left as soon as it found out that the two might be themarians.

Themarians were respected…

…but they were feared even more.

And right now, one of those themerians was having the hardest time of her life–

"No, no… They will recognize you even before you breathe out a word."

Hundreds of kilometers outside of Earth, Aerith was flying around in circles; almost like a moon as she orbited around Riley, whose white hair that now reached his elbows floated freely in space.

"I thought we were going to cut my hair, mother?" Riley rotated in place, his head, following Aerith as she circled around him continuously without pause for more than an hour now.

"I changed my mind," Aerith then said as she finally stopped; instead, she flew towards one of the metal crates, rummaging through the stuff inside for more than a minute before returning to Riley,

"Swallow this."

"Your hand?"

"No!" Aerith quickly grabbed Riley's hand, placing something on it.

Riley picked up the thing with his fingers– a pill.

"...Is this poison, mother?"

"Why would I try to poison you?" Aerith raised an eyebrow, "Just swa–"

"Okay," and without any more hesitation, Riley swallowed the pill before Aerith could even finish her words.

"...Oh."

And before any of them could start talking again, Riley could feel a sort of tingle suddenly surrounding his entire body– almost like a million needles lightly drowning him with their blunted tips.

"You poisoned me?"

"No," Aerith sighed as she gently grabbed strands of Riley's hair and placed them in front for Riley to see. And very slowly, Riley noticed that his white hair which reflected even the darkness… slowly started succumbing to that darkness.

"It's a pill that permanently changes the color of your hair."

"..." And as soon as Riley heard that, his eyes started to squint as he glared at Aerith.

"Don't worry, child," Aerith's sigh once again whispered into Riley's ears, "I bought another pill to turn them back to normal. Now the only problem is your skin."

Aerith also squinted her eyes, but for a different reason.

Riley's new hair may have somewhat made him slightly unrecognizable– but he was still quite noticeable due to the color of his skin.

"Why can't you grow a beard?" Aerith shook her head, "I suppose this will do for now. And finally, one last thing…"

Riley then watched as Aerith once again rummaged through one of the metal crates. If it wasn't for Riley keeping the things that were being removed from floating away, then there surely would be a lot of trash floating around the space by now.

"Found it!" Aerith then quickly disappeared from the metal crate, only to appear right in front of Riley with another object in her hand.

"...What's that?" Riley slightly floated back as she saw the thing in Aerith's hands.

"To complete your look," Aerith smiled, "Don't refuse, Riley. This…

…is all part of the plan."

***

The Hero Association Tower.

Previously directly owned by the World Government. But ever since Empress took the highest position, she ordered the creation of an entirely separate department– the DSA, Department of Super Affairs.

Most say it should have been built decades ago, but with the previous governments refusing to give supers a position of authority, even signed petitions were completely dismissed. But now with a Super as the World Government's leader, an official department was built with just a snap of a finger.

And thus, the Hero Association Tower was finally run by actual Supers.

And in front of that tower, was a girl whose eyes almost twinkled as she stared at the statue of Megawoman that gloriously sat on top of the Hero Association.

Paige Pearson.

Her eyes glimmered not only because it was Megawoman's statue– but because of the one that made it.

Riley Ross– one of the heroes that sacrificed himself in defeating the evilest supervillain of all time, Darkday.

She watched it all, Riley's exploits from the Mega Academy, his entry to the Hero Association… as well as his last appearance with the aliens.

It has been more than a year and a half since the First Invasion as well as the Departure of Megawoman, and things…

…Things have started to settle down.

The threat of aliens still existed, of course– but the world could barely feel it anymore because the heroes would make them retreat even before they step foot into their atmosphere.

And Paige… Paige wanted to be one of them.

"Here we go," Paige then lightly slapped her cheeks several times as she let out a deep breath. She was about to take her first step into the Tower…

"Excuse me."

But before she could do so, someone else stepped inside first which caused her to halt her steps.

It was a man.

His long black hair, softly waving with the wind as he entered the tower. It was hard to see his face since half of it was covered by a white mask, only allowing his dark eyes to be seen– but even then, one could not help but assume that what lies underneath was without a doubt a beauty.

His white mask that covered his nose and mouth was seemingly connected to the rest of his ivory outfit that finely wrapped around his sharp, lean muscular silhouette.

A white ninja– perhaps was the best description that Paige could think of as he watched the man disappear into the tower.

"W… wait!" And before the door could slide close, Paige finally recovered from her mild stupor as she caught up with the black-haired white ninja.

"Hm?" The man turned around, causing his long silky black hair to once again flow with the wind.

"Were we…" Paige then muttered as she looked at the man from head to toe, "Were we…

…required to bring our costu– I mean outfits?"

"No."

And with just a single word, the man once again turned around and walked away… once again causing his hair to flow with the wind. All the eyes inside the lobby, staring at him as he gloriously walked toward the receptionist.

There was one, however, who was trying her hardest not to laugh– Aerith.

"Pft."

After all, the black-haired white ninja was none other than Riley Ross.