Villain Retirement

"Why… Riley?"

"Because I can."

In the midst of a universe turning asunder, Riley and Hannah floated at the center; their eyes, just locked on to each other. Of course, Nannah was also there, but she wasn't important in what was happening right now according to Riley's eyes, which were seemingly trying their best not to reflect her silhouette at all.

Hannah's almost translucent body, very slowly gaining flesh as the breaths escaping her lips sound defeated.

"All… all of these people… they…"

"Please stop being too dramatic, Sister. A lot more people are dying as we speak," Riley did not let Hannah finish her words as he raised his hand. And as he did so, the three of them started flying away, "A billion, a trillion does not matter at all. There is no need to sacrifice your life just for these people."

"W—"

"How were you able to do this feat, though?" Riley looked forward, only to see the expanse of the universe they were flying through seemingly cracking; almost as if the entire universe itself was just one big giant glacier, "I know your abilities are capable of melting an entire star system if you wanted to, but covering an entire universe with a warmth that does not kill is beyond what you should be capable of. Did it have something to do with the two of you holding hands?"

"...I do not want to talk to you right now, Riley," Hannah just covered her breasts and private parts as she looked away.

"Hm…" Riley flicked his finger, causing a black goo to seep out from one of his pockets. It then expanded and flew toward Hannah, covering her body like a suit. As for Nannah, well — Riley just left her naked.

"Do… you have something for me too?" Nannah weakly said.

"Oh, I thought you preferred being naked, Nannah," Riley blinked before also covering Nannah with the black goo, "Since Sister does not seem to want to talk to me, perhaps you can answer my question? Did the two of you holding hands amplify your abilities?"

"Oh…" Nannah turned to look at Hannah, who was squinting her eyes at her as if silently telling her not to talk to him. Nannah, however, just let out a sigh and shook her head, "...Our powers were not really amplified. It is more of a collaboration, one controls the strength of the flame, and one delivers it."

"Like a central radiator."

"No, th—Actually, yes," Nannah raised an eyebrow, "We served as the radiator of this universe, making sure the heat is evenly distributed, ensuring life to everyone and everything."

"T—"

"Why are you just talking to him so casually!?" And before Riley could say another word, Hannah suddenly yelled and pointed at him, "Are we really so desensitized with all the deaths that we could really just move on from a universe dying…? We were keeping them alive! And you were the one who proposed all of this in the first place, you said you wanted to atone for your sins and actually try and save people!"

"...And we have, Hannah," Nannah closed her eyes and sighed, "Because of us, the people of this universe had the chance to live again — to hope."

"For what… 6, 7 months!?" Hannah almost growled.

"It never would have been enough," Nannah shook her head, "At least this way, they died instantly. And the last memory they have was them actually living, not just freezing to death. And don't forget, Hannah…

…We're not gods."

"We're not," Hannah raised an eyebrow, "No one is playing god here."

"What I meant is that we will die. We're not immortal like your brother. These people… they would have died eventually too along with us."

"..." Hannah looked Nannah in the eyes for a few seconds, before turning to look at Riley, "You could have at least let us choose what we wanted to do."

"No. As I said, I was feeling selfish lately, Sister," Riley shook his head, "I felt that my choice mattered more, and my choice is you…

…always you, no matter what."

"If that's true…" Hannah looked Riley in the eyes, "...Then stop destroying and killing everyone."

"No," Riley shook his head, "I said my choice is you, not your worthless decision."

"What did you—"

"What the fuck is that!?"

And like a wail that rippled across the cracking universe, Nannah suddenly screamed as she pointed at a frozen glass cage… with a frozen dead themarian in it.

"Isn't that… Princess Esme?" Hannah squinted her eyes, "Why does it look like she's still moving—Wait, I thought the themarians of this universe died like thousands of years ago because of the endless cold?"

"I don't know— and if they did, then Princess Esme shouldn't even be—"

"Oh, there is no need to deliberate or guess," Riley grabbed the frozen rope hanging from the glass cage, "This is our new pet, Sister."

"Pet!? She's a fucking human, Riley!"

"Technically, she is Themarian, Sister," a small smile crawled on Riley's face, "And she is clinically dead, and therefore does not have the same rights. I took her from a universe that ended due to a zombie apocalypse."

"A universe… with themarian zombies? What the fuck were you even doing there?"

"I see…" Nannah let out a small gasp as she raised a finger, "...We were all sent to a dying universe by King. So, that is what the device was—I was wondering why Dad panicked when he saw it. Does that mean you've figured out how to recover all of us? Is Dad leading the rescue!?"

"We have not found your father, Nannah."

"What… what about Dad, Riley?" Hannah slightly stuttered as she looked Riley in the eyes. And even though she already knew the answer, she did not care as she just wanted to hear it from Riley.

"Yes, I found Father."

"...What!?" Both Hannah and Nannah looked at each other; with a smile growing on Nannah's face as she grabbed Hannah by the shoulders.

"Dad… dad is alive!?"

"No, I found his head," Riley then grabbed a miniature decaying head from his pocket; slowly enlarging to normal size as he presented it to Hannah,

"Mother wanted me to give it to her, but I told her I would like to show it to you first, Sister. You can thank me late—"

"You…

…why would you even show that to me!?"

***

"Mom!"

"H… Hannah!?"

And as soon as Hannah and Nannah emerged from the portal, Diana, who was previously discussing things with her variants, instantly disappeared from her spot and embraced her daughter.

As for Dee and Caitlain, the only thing they could really do was sigh as they followed her. The expressions on their faces, slightly different from each other, almost completely opposite. Dee was completely hesitant, while Caitlain seemed extremely curious as she looked at Hannah from head to toe.

Caitlain has already seen Hannah from the holograms, but seeing her in person made her feel a certain way she couldn't quite explain. And soon, her eyes landed on Nannah, who had a wry smile on her face as she watched Hannah being embraced and welcomed back by her mother.

And almost as if there was someone whispering to her… she also suddenly hugged Nannah.

"W…" Nannah could really only bat her eyes as Caitlain suddenly hugged her. She was initially going to pull away, but when she found that she couldn't even budge Caitlain for even a single millimeter; a small whimper escaped her lips as she just suddenly burst into tears.

"It's okay… you did good," Caitlain very gently brushed Nannah's head.

"..." Dee, who was suddenly left alone, could really only just shrug. She was about to walk away, but suddenly felt someone tapping her shoulder — she looked around, only to see Riley with his arms open.

"You are feeling left out, Diana-2."

"W—Get away from me. You—"

"...Psst, Dee," and almost as if teaming up on her, Alice also arrived as she started whispering loudly, "If you're feeling lonely, we could adopt orphaned Hannahs — I am sure there are many out there since you're such a lousy parent. Pft."

"You're the one with a variant who literally killed her son, creating a god that is out to kill all of us."

"Kh…" Alice grasped her heart as she was the one to wrap herself in Riley's open arms, "That hit me right in the kokoro."

"..."

"Kokoro means—"

"Heart, I know."

"Oh, you do? I thought you didn't have a heart?"

"Ugh," Dee just groaned as she quickly made her escape from this… very uncomfortable situation. Unfortunately for her, this uncomfortable situation lasted for more than an hour as both Hannahs cried on the shoulders of her variants. Unbeknownst to her, however, she was actually subtly watching them from afar with a sort of… longing gaze.

And of course, this longing gaze did not escape Alice Prime's eyes.

"Oh… oho… ohoho," Alice approached Dee while covering her mouth; dancing at the same time as she laughed, "Someone regrets not having a child."

"I don't! Stop bothering me!" Dee clicked her tongue as she started walking away. Before she could even take 3 steps, however, she almost choked on her own themarian breath as she saw Riley standing in front of her…

…wearing a dress; a flower pinned on his now brown hair.

"What in the…"

"Since you seem to be longing for a child, I asked Riley to dress up!" Alice boasted, "I even did his makeup and colored his hair so that he would at least have your features since he already has mine."

"Please…

…just get out."

"Pft… can't even be joked around. Let's go, Riley," Alice stuck out her tongue before just walking away.

"...Where are the two of you going?" Dee watched as Riley started following Alice… the two of them seemingly walking toward a portal.

"To another universe, one of the clones found someone," Alice shrugged, "But he escaped for… reasons."

"...Does that reason have anything to do with this freak dressing up as a woman?"

"Oh…

…Oh yes."