Villain Retirement

[Riley Ross has shown us what we are truly capable of! He saved Megawoman, before ultimately sacrificing his life in the battle that would decide the fate of the Earth! And what did the humans do all that time?

Nothing! They cry, they run, and they beg for us to save them! And while they do that, they also defiled Megawoman — ingrates! We are not meant to serve the humans, they are meant to serve us! We—]

"I was watching that!"

"Not anymore."

"...I just want to launch the agency."

And so, once again; the Paige and Paragon Superhero Agency was empty. The citizens were ordered to return to their homes as Empress ordered a worldwide lockdown… because the bombing wasn't just in the US, but rocked the entire world.

One would think the casualty would amount to millions, but it wasn't even in the ten thousand. The attacks were calculated, precise to the tiniest little detail. They targeted those in the government, normal humans that even had a tinge expressing dislike for supers.

Perhaps the odd one out was the attack on Paragon — but since he killed Thousandblade, a presumed high-ranking member of the House of Super, they ruled it out as an act of vengeance and a show of strength of their organization.

Sadly for them… Paragon was actually streaming live as he turned the attacker into a cheese ball.

Because of this, Empress personally ordered for them to just stay inside the building — as they might be attacked again once they go outside. In truth, though, she just didn't want to handle any trouble they would cause if they went outside.

As if she wasn't already dead busy surveying the expanse of space for anything amiss, a civil war on the surface of the planet just had to happen. There was also the threat of Caitlain — suffice to say, she was tied on all sides.

She was going to ask Tempo and Hera for help, but Butcher, as her head of security and sometimes legal advisor, told her that they might just make matters worse being a superhero powerhouse.

She asked Bulwark for help, but once again, he refused — saying that the students of the Academy were his main focus.

And so, because of this, she was as stuck in the office as much as the Baby Crew, Paige, and Paragon was stuck in the agency.

"We should be out there busting out some neo-terrorists!"

"I… didn't think it was real," Katrina whispered as she fiddled with her phone; before showing a forum to the rest of the group, "I happened to come across this while I was searching for memes to send in the group chat."

"..." Gary and the others quietly looked at the contents of the forum, only to be bombarded by an onslaught of slews, hatred, disgusting words, and bigoted content against normal people. And judging by the replies and the comments, most if not all of the users were supers.

And then, there it is — House of Super. Some of the users started mentioning the House of Super.

"Can we still reply to this thread?" Hannah asked.

"No, it's been archived a year ago."

"This has been going on for a year!? What the fuck is that useless tall bitch doing!?" Hannah let out a loud scoff as she looked at the newly installed CCTV camera on the corner of the lobby, "I know you can hear us! We're going out there whether you like it or not!"

"S… shouldn't we just stay here?"

"C'mon, K. Where's your sense of adventure?"

Bella, who didn't seem that interested in what was happening, started walking away; her suit which seemed to be made of metal, opening up into some sort of wing of steel. She looked at the blades for a while, before they once again blanketed her like a cloak.

"...Did you just try to do an Australian accent?" Gary said as he too, tightened his gauntlets.

"S… Silv? Shouldn't we stop them?" Katrina could only approach Silvie as the rest of the Baby Crew started suiting up. To her surprise, however, Silvie also started stretching,

"W… weren't we strictly ordered not to leave!?"

"Yes," Silvie shrugged, "But Megawoman doesn't really follow the government's orders. And since I am walking in her footsteps, I might as well do the same."

"...What the fuck happened to you while you weren't with us?" Hannah could only chuckle as she heard Silvie's words.

"I did a little soul searching," Silvie smiled, "Trying to find myself and all that stuff. And besides, it's not like the situation outside doesn't involve us. If these guys were inspired by… your brother, then all the more reason we should be the ones to actually handle this."

"...Yeah," Hannah let out a small but very deep breath, "Even when he's gone… he still causes pain and suffering to the world."

"That's… not what I meant," Silvie could only look to the side as her voice became weaker.

"Genocidal maniacs will always exist," Hannah sighed, "The last one just happened to be my brother."

"So… cool…"

Paige, who had been watching them from the piano with Paragon, could not help but stop herself from squealing as she recorded what was happening. She chose not to do a livestream, as doing so would give out their plans and their position — but once she uploads this and the people see it, more people would certainly apply to them; hopefully, someone actually passes the screening.

"This… this is so cool," Paige said as she looked at Paragon, who was just casually playing the piano.

"They're okay," Paragon only tilted his head, "The current Hope Guild was still stronger when they were complete."

"Well, duh. They have more experience. And how would you even— right, right," Paige stopped her words as soon as she remembered who she was talking to, "So wait, you're saying that if the Hope Guild and the Baby Crew fight, they Baby Crew will lose?"

"Yes," Paragon answered without any hesitation, "Empress and Hera will gang up on Silvie, while Tempo picks the rest of the team one by one — neutralizing Hannah first, then the rest. The fight will be over before it starts."

"...What about the rest of the Hope Guild? I know they've basically disbanded and V went to the Academy, but—"

"They won't be needed," Paragon shook his head.

"No…" Paige squinted her eyes as she stared at Paragon's eyes, "...You're lying. Seriously? Megagirl and Nuclear Seraph are like the two strongest supers out there right now! Hannah can literally go as hot as the sun if she wants to!"

"I suppose," Paragon shrugged, "They will still lose."

"W–"

"Not you're just talking shit about us."

"H–Hannah!" Paige almost jumped as Hannah's voice suddenly echoed behind her; Paige turned around, only to see the Baby Crew there looking at them with slightly furrowed eyebrows,

"J… just so you know. I'm… I'm team Baby Crew. He's the one talking feces about you guys."

"Hm," Hannah crossed her arms as she stared down at Paragon, who hasn't stopped playing the piano for hours now; creating some sort of weird tune that didn't really make any sense, but worked,

"How about you test us yourself to see how strong we are?"

"...I thought we were leaving?" Katrina, who was against leaving the building, could not help but scratch her head as she looked at the others, who just shrugged their shoulders in response.

"We don't even know where we're going yet. And besides, we have time," Hannah smirked as the air around them started to become hotter,

"And we also need the warm-up."

"Well—"

"And if we're going to be working with Paige and Paragon from now on, then isn't it just right to know what they're truly capable of?"

"We have a training hall! You guys can fight there!" Paige smiled in excitement as she looked back and forth between Paragon and Hannah, not even noticing the weird mood that was lingering around them.

"..."

"..."

"It's okay," Paragon stopped playing the piano; sighing as he stood up, "It's a better way to waste my time than just playing the piano."

Hearing those words, Silvie could not help but squint her eyes…

…where has she heard those words before?

***

"...This was here the whole time?" Gary waved his phone around, livestreaming as he explored the so-called training hall of the Paige and Paragon building. Well, they called it that… but it's basically just an empty floor.

"P… please do hold back, okay?" Paige raised his voice so everyone could hear, "I… I think they haven't really reinforced this area."

"!!!"

And as she said that, Silvie stomped her foot on the floor, causing the entire area to shake.

"Should be sturdy enough for a light exercise," she then said before looking at Paragon. In truth, she also wanted to know what he was truly capable of— there was also the fact that he seemed to be underestimating them.

"So, who do you want to spar with?" Hannah once again smirked.

"I volunteer to be first," Bella stepped forward as her metal suit seemed to vibrate, before lightly exploding away from her body and scattering in the air like butterflies, leaving her in an all-black inner suit.

She then snapped her fingers, and as soon as she did so, the fragments of her metal suit that were fluttering in the air all collected in one area, turning into some sort of large spear that was sharp enough to penetrate the floor.

"Shall we dance?" Bella said as she got into a stance.

"No," Paragon, however, only shook his head as he stepped forward, "You'll lose in one second."

"...Excuse me?"

"How about all of you…

…just fight me at the same time?"