Villain Retirement

"I… don't believe I ever had the chance to see something like this before."

It took an hour, but Riley and Hera were able to tell Caitlain everything she needed to hear. There were moments when Caitlain couldn't really believe what they were saying, but she continued to listen and just nodded her head until they reached the part when King sent them to this universe, where Earth was completely different.

It was a good thing that the refrigerator and the bar were filled with drinks, because Caitlain probably drank several gallons of water and soda by herself. Themarians do not really need to consume food or drink liquid, but this was actually the first time Caitlain tasted Earth's soda as she had allowed herself to be kept in captivity all these years so as to punish herself.

Even now, as she was holding a plaque — the plaque that ultimately led to the discovery of multiversal travel, she was gulping down an entire bottle of soda; not even bothering to put it in a glass. Riley, who was sitting in front of her, could not help but be slightly amused at this scene. How could he not, when Diana has always told him and his sister that they shouldn't drink soda?

And yet now, here was a version of Diana that was completely skinny, unkempt, and even slightly clumsy to the point that she was spilling the soda on the plaque. Of course, it didn't really matter as the plaque was only a recreation using Paige's abilities, and Riley was only using his telekinesis to fill up whatever needed filling up.

"This is useless," Caitlain returned the plaque to Riley, but it just disappeared into thin air before Caitlain could fully stretch her arm to him, "And the race you mentioned that created the plaque, they do not exist in my universe as far as my knowledge goes. It is not only them, the races you have told me have either died out or do not exist."

Riley had also already shown her the device that created portals itself, but it proved even more useless as it felt more akin to absolute magic rather than technology. Paige is able to create things even if she doesn't know how they worked, but Riley can't seem to be able to do the same to the extent that she does it.

"...Shit," Hera, who was still seated close to Riley, could really only clasp her head as she stared at the floor, "So that waxy version of Bernard… sent us to an extremely different universe? I thought all universes were at least somewhat similar!?"

"You mentioned something about the primordials having the same Avatars in each universe, correct?" Caitlain let out a small sigh as she cracked another bottle of soda open, "This universe probably was not… alloted the same treatment."

"Hm," Riley quickly nodded in agreement, "The only reason why the universes are similar to each other is that the Primordials… act indirectly to make sure their avatars exist."

"But they're gods," Hera leaned back. Her face that was previously looking at the floor was now staring at the ceiling as she let out a long and deep groan, "They shouldn't be fucking making mistakes."

"Any creature that has the capacity to think will make a mistake," Caitlain closed her eyes and sighed, "And perhaps this applies to gods of creation too…

…I apologize I was not as helpful as you thought I would be."

"Wh—don't say that," Hera raised her voice and looked Caitlain in the eyes, "We're only just starting to deliberate our options here."

"No," Caitlain shook her head, "My AI has been destroyed, my laboratories, data centers, storage — I am afraid I don't have the capacity to make this portal you speak of. And even if I did have them, it would take me at least a hundred years to even have an inkling of how to make that kind of technology without any sort of prototype to base it on…

…most of your human friends would have already perished then."

"I wish to try one more thing, Dr. Caitlain," Riley then raised his hand, and as soon as he did so, a man covered in an immaculate white armor appeared in front of them, "Dr. Caitlain, meet Bernard Ross."

"This…" Caitlain immediately stood up from her chair as she looked at Bernard from head to toe, "This is—!!!"

And before Caitlain could even say another word, Bernard suddenly embraced her; letting out several shushing noises with his mouth each time Caitlain wanted to speak.

"It's okay now, dear," Bernard whispered into her ear. And as Riley was only recreating his voice through telekinesis so that the others could also hear him; his voice was quite… overly clear, "I'm here… I'm here… you don't have to suffer alone."

"..." Caitlain could really only bat her eyes a couple of times, before finally pushing Bernard away and taking back a few steps; taking her chair with her as she pointed at Riley, "Get… get that guy away from me."

"Hm. Father," Riley called for Bernard, who immediately turned to Riley, "We need your help in—"

"Where is your sister?" Bernard did not let Riley finish his words as he started looking around, "Where… are you? I do not feel any trace of my satellites here, no supers."

"We were separated by King after you died, Father," Riley sighed.

"...I died for nothing, then," Bernard forced out a tiny chuckle, before also sighing and closing his eyes.

"Perhaps not," Riley shook his head, "The Diana of this world needs your help to recreate the device to allow us to travel back to our universe, Father."

"..." Bernard glanced at Caitlain for a few seconds, before shaking his head, "I can't do that."

"But you perfected the technology, Father."

"I am not real, Riley," a small smile crawled on Bernard's face.

"But you should still know," Riley looked Bernard in the eyes, "You said so yourself, Paige's illusions know things that even she does not know. It—"

"But Ms. Pearson is not here," Bernard shook his head, before once again focusing on Caitlain, "Saving your planet is not your responsibility, Diana. Stop punishing yourself for something you do not have control over."

"..." Caitlain could really only squint her eyes at Bernard's words.

"And Riley."

"Hm?" Riley blinked a couple of times as this time, it was Bernard who looked him in the eyes.

"The key to solving your problem is already right beside you," the tone of Bernard's voice suddenly changed, "You don't need a portal."

"..." Riley blinked a couple of times before he subtly glanced at Hera, who was sitting right beside him.

"T—I don't think you need to take that literally," Hera was slightly taken aback as she looked back and forth between Riley and Bernard, "Bernie's illusion, tell him that—"

"And lastly," Bernard completely ignored Hera as he stepped closer to Riley, "Remember your promise, protect Mom and Hannah."

"Of course, Fa—"

"Goodbye…" Bernard placed his hand on Riley's shoulder, "...My son."

And without even waiting for Riley to finish his words, Bernard's illusion just suddenly disappeared; not even fading, not withering, he just disappeared.

"Hm," Riley glanced at his shoulder for a few seconds, before letting out a sigh and shaking his head, "It would seem we are truly stuck here, Miss Hera."

"W… what about the delivery guy!?" Hera almost jumped from her seat as she pointed at Riley, "You said he could travel through the multiverse, right!? What if we make him deliver us the portal thingy!?"

"I already tried, Miss Hera," Riley let out a long and deep sigh as he showed Hera his phone, "But I can't access his app or website."

"Shit!" Hera wanted to pull out her hair there and then, "I thought that's what Bernard meant!"

"This Bernard guy, he seems very interesting," Caitlain placed her hand on her chin as she looked at the part of the floor where Bernard was standing, "But why do I get the feeling that he is a womanizer?"

"He is. He—"

"Uhm… guys!" And before the three could get sidetracked with their conversation, Special Agent Miller, who was slowly losing his mind and sense of reality upon hearing their talk, rushed from the balcony waving his hands, "We have a problem!"

"Yes we do, Special Agent Miller," Riley sighed and nodded, "Yes, we do."

"N…no. Not that multiverse talk!" Miller raised his voice, "The… the hotel's currently being surrounded! There's an army out there!"

"Oh," Riley stood up from his seat, "You do not have to worry about them, Special Agent Miller. The entire building is enveloped by my telekinetic barrier — even if this planet is destroyed, this building will remain completely intact."

"Shit… this is crazy," Miller started biting his nails, "What… what are we even supposed to do now? What am I even supposed to do now!?"

"You should relax," Caitlain sighed as she just casually returned to her seat and started cracking another bottle open, "Your heart rate is incredibly elevated. You're going into shock in a few more minutes if you keep this up."

"Rel—" And before Miller could say anything, he just suddenly went limp. Before he could fall to the floor, however, Riley pushed him toward the sofa.

"You… did you just kill him!?" Hera gasped.

"No. Why would I do that, Miss Hera?" Riley looked at Hera disappointingly, "Please stop thinking that I always kill."

"You do," Hera groaned in disbelief before shaking her head, "The shorty does have a point, though. What do we do from here on? We obviously can't stay in this cit—country anymore."

"We leave the planet, Miss Hera," Riley shrugged, "Now that we have someone that could navigate through the expanse of space, we could just go to another—"

"Oh. Not possible," Caitlain quickly interrupted Riley as she started waving her cola, "I told you about the other races being dead, right? Well, this is it."

"Hm?" A smile crawled on Hera's face as she looked at Caitlain.

"This is it," Caitlain pointed her finger around, "Aside from the Common Council, which is made up of just AIs, Earth is the only planet left with… intelligent life, as far as my knowledge goes."

"Oh…" Hera's eyes turned blank before her head very slowly turned to Riley; her voice, now completely monotonous, "...Please don't tell me this is one of those dying universes?"

"I do not know," Riley's eyes also very slightly turned wide by a micrometer as he looked Caitlain in the eyes, "How did your people die, Dr. Caitlain?"

"The same as the others…" Caitlain's voice slightly turned somber, "...Cherbis."

"...That pink fluff?" Hera covered her forehead, "How did—Wait, did you just say Cherbis?"

"Yes."

"Cherbis, with… an S?" Hera looked back and forth between Caitlain and Riley, "Plural?"

"Yes…?"

"How… many?"

"A million," Caitlain let out a very long and deep sigh, "And…

…they should be on their way here."