Villain Retirement

"To prevent a themarian that wants to die from reaching Eternal Death is the greatest disrespect one could do to us…

…you are disrespecting her, Riley."

Diana's tone was soft but stern at the same time; not even a hint of authority or command in it, all there was is pleading.

There was a shadow reflecting in her eyes, showing a certain… darkness. Her entire people just died—and now, the only remaining themarian aside from her chose to end her life. There was still Esme, but her chances of survival solely relied on whether she wanted to live or not, and even then… she might not make it.

But it didn't matter, not at this moment.

"Riley, listen to me…" Diana continued to plead, "...please, let me immortalize her along with the rest of my people, let me bury her with her son. At least give them that please…please."

"You are not making sense, Mother," Riley shook his head as he looked at Aerith. She stared at her face for a few seconds—and soon, her skin which seemed like a gray canvas started to be painted with color.

"Riley… don't," Diana took a deep breath as she saw this; her head, shaking ever so slightly several times, "Don't."

Aerith's eyebrows started to twitch; her lips, parting as a long and very deep breath escaped them. And very soon…

…she opened her eyes.

"Ah!" A smile quickly crawled on Riley's face as he saw himself being reflected in Aerith's eyes as she looked at him, "See, Mother? She's alive!"

"Riley!" Diana yelled as she slammed her fist on Riley's telekinetic barrier, breaking through it as she stepped closer, "Don't do that!"

"I'm not doing anything, Mother," the smile on Riley's face grew even wider as he watched as Aerith very clumsily stood up, "You're worrying for nothing."

"Riley…" Diana's eyebrows started to furrow; gritting her teeth as she looked Riley in the eyes, "...Stop this, now. I am warning you. Do not disrespect her any further."

"I'm not, Mother."

"You're controlling her body."

"I'm not, Mother. She is doing this on her own."

"The way her heart is beating is irregular. And we only really breathe if we want to," the tone of Diana's voice became lethargic as she looked at Aerith; her eyes, filled with sorrow and pity,

"You… are controlling every part of her. It's… not right, Riley."

"She's alive, Mother," Riley stood up as he walked in front of Aerith, "Are you alright, Aerith? It's going to be fine, I am going to take you away from here, okay?"

"..."

"Riley…I am going to explain this in a way that will be easy for you to understand," Diana tried her best to stay calm, "She is clinically dead, and you are serving as her life support. She is brain dead, Riley."

"That's not nice to say, Mother."

"Riley, I said enough!" Diana couldn't take it anymore as a roar once again escaped her throat, "

"I won't let you do this any lo—!!!"

Diana was going to rush toward Riley—her hands, already ready to grab Aerith away. But before she could even make it halfway toward them…

…Alice suddenly appeared in front of her.

"..." She seemed to be saying something as her mouth was moving, but Diana couldn't hear any words escaping her lips. Diana stared at Alice for a few seconds, before turning her head toward Paige.

"What are you doing, Ms. Pearson?" Diana almost growled at Paige as she looked at her.

"It's…" Paige very slowly shook her head, before looking at the ground; grimacing as she closed her eyes, "...It's not me. I'm sorry… I'm sorry."

"What do you—" Diana's words were once again interrupted as she felt a hand on her shoulder—Alice's hand.

Diana knew how Paige's abilities worked. They were real for her, but for others, the only thing they are are visual illusions—they don't produce sound, they don't even cast shadows unless it was part of the illusion.

But right now, she was definitely feeling Alice's touch.

"...Alice?" Diana blinked a couple of times; her hand, very slowly making its way toward Alice's face. But before she could touch her best friend's face, she let out a small but deep gasp.

She then turned to look at Riley, who was still trying to talk to Aerith, before once again turning her eyes to Paige.

"What… have you done?" She asked with a stuttering voice.

"I'm… I'm sorry," Paige, however, just repeatedly apologized as she shook her head, "It just… everything was happening so fast, and… and when Riley looked at me when Megawoman had her… when he was dying, he told me to—"

"You killed him…?" Hannah said as she also looked at Paige, "You killed him first? You… let him have your powers? Are you… are you crazy?"

"Oh, no…no, no, no…" Diana already reached that conclusion, and the only thing she could really do was shake her head several times as she looked at Alice…and what happened to her in her last moments.

"Are you not ready to talk yet, Aerith?"

And while everyone was losing their minds figuratively… Riley was losing his literally.

"It's fine now, Aerith. You don't have to be sad," Riley then let out a small and deep sigh before he stepped to the side—revealing Gary behind him, alive and well.

"Mom, we need to take revenge for what they did to us! Mom!" Gary started waving his hands as he approached Aerith; his thundering words, echoing throughout the air and…

…reaching only Riley and Paige's ears.

"Look, Aerith. See?" Riley then let out a small chuckle as he placed his hand on Gary's shoulder, "Gary wants us to take revenge against Elder Skeem. We'll do it, do you want to do it?"

"Riley…"

"Mother? Why—Oh? Isn't that biological mother? She's alive?" And as Diana approached him calmly, Riley started blinking a couple of times as he saw Alice standing behind her, "Did you revive her again? That is very hypocritical of you, Mother."

"Riley…" Diana whispered; the frustration and haste in her eyes were no longer there, only worry remained, "...I am going to talk to you again very straight, okay? I'm not going to talk to you as your mother, but as a doctor, okay?"

"Hm?"

"You are experiencing psychosis," Diana breathed out, "At least… I hope it's just that. So please, why don't you give me Aerith and we can check your condition, okay? Whatever it is you're seeing now, it's not real. Okay? It's not real."

"You mean that's not real?"

"..." Diana quickly turned to look to where Riley was pointing, but there was nothing there.

"Mom… what's… what's happening to him? There's nothing there."

"What are you seeing, Riley?" Diana took in a small gulp, "What—"

And before she could finish her words, a ship just suddenly popped up out of nowhere—Aerith's ship.

"..."

"...Aerith's ship was already taken by Elder Olseyir, remember?" Diana then calmly said as she looked at Riley, "You have Paige's abilities now, Riley. I don't think you know how dangerous that is, not only for us…

…but for you, especially to you."

***

"I then grabbed Aerith and flew straight into the ship. You tried to grab the ship. You were able to at first, but then you couldn't anymore because it truly only existed for me…

…and the only reason you were able to grab it in the first place is because I wrapped it with a telekinetic barrier."

"That's right, Riley…"

And as Riley finished recalling what happened 5 years ago, Diana closed her eyes and took in a long and very deep breath.

"...Interesting," Riley blinked a couple of times as he looked at Aerith, "So, I am subconsciously keeping her alive? How many times have we had this conversation, Mother?"

"A lot."

"And I keep repeating the same things over and over again as soon as I discover that Aerith is… dead?"

"Yes. Right about now, you're going to leave again."

"Huh…" Riley then let out a small hum as he finally let go of Aerith's hand.

"...Riley?" Diana took in a small gasp as soon as she saw this. This… never happened before.

What was different? What did she do differently to get this response? Diana tried to rack her brain to find out, so she could use it again next time. Her search was in vain, however… as she found out she didn't even need to.

"Not this time, Mother," Riley then shrugged as he carried Aerith in his arms, "Let's just go back to Earth."

"...What?"

"But on one condition…

…I'm keeping her in my room."