Villain Retirement

Chapter 113: Life… of a Hero?

“N… no, please… please don’t!”

In a dimly lit alleyway, the dust of the city was currently being swept away as a man was pushing himself backward, his butt sliding against the hard and dirty pavement. The man was holding a red purse, gripping it tightly even as he used his other limbs to try and crawl away.

“That’s not yours.”

“E… eek!” The man started to hasten his movements, causing him to slightly tumble as the young woman in front of him approached ever so slowly.

“Please… can you just hand it to me so we could return it?”

Silvie then stepped out of the shadow, shaking her head as she let out a short but deep sigh that echoed through the alleyway, “I’m not going to hurt you, so please. I still have to surrender you to the police since you did something bad, though…

…so please, give it back,” she then muttered, her tone still containing a slight worry as she tried to gesture for the thief to calm down.

“N… no,” The thief pleaded, “My… my family needs to eat!”

“Sir, you…” Silvie then could not help but let out a small sigh as her head slightly dropped in frustration, “…and you think the one you stole that from doesn’t? Please, give it back to me. Maybe if you apologize to the grandma she would just let you go with a small–“

“I can’t let you have this!”

And all of a sudden, the man grabbed a knife from his waist.

“Sir, that’s not–” And as soon as Silvie saw the man pointing the knife at him, her posture suddenly became as straight as a flag pole, 

“Sir, I warned you already…” Silvie once again let out a small sigh, “…Under the law, I am obligated to surrender you to the police for larceny, as well as possession of dangerous arms with intent to use.”

Silvie then once again slowly approached the man, her hand slightly stretched towards him.

“N… no!” The man then swung the knife, hitting Silvie’s hand.

“…” This made Silvie completely stop moving. And when the thief thought this was his chance to escape, Silvie’s eyes slightly turned red as she lightly hit the man on the chest.

“Huk!” The man slid a couple of meters away, only stopping as his back hit a dumpster. And before he could move, he felt a crushing pain in his neck.

“You are a danger to the people,”– was the last thing he heard before he was thrown to the wall.

“Kh…” The man started to cough vehemently, stretching his arm and begging for Silvie to stop, “W… wait… please… I… I have a daughter.”

“…” Silvie only looked the man straight in the eyes, before she once again started walking towards him; but before she was halfway towards him, a sudden drop in temperature suddenly whisked in the air as a wall of ice blocked her path.

“What are you doing, Silvie?”

Silvie blinked a couple of times, before turning around to look at Tomoe, who was now quietly standing behind her.

“I am arresting a criminal,” Silvie then said as she stretched her hand towards the thick wall of ice, easily penetrating and crushing it without any effort. However, as soon as she was able to mow her way through, another wall of ice, thicker than the one before, appeared in front of her once again.

“This is obstruction, Tomoe,” Silvie’s eyes started to tremble as she looked Tomoe straight in the eyes, “If you continue, I will also be forced to subdue you.”

“…”

Silvie then once again turned around, before lasers quickly shot out from her eyes– almost hitting the thief’s face as it easily went through.

“…” Tomoe then let out a small sigh as she snapped her fingers, and as she did so, the ice blocking Silvie’s path quickly melted,

“Then arrest him if you want,” Tomoe then said as she leaned her arm on the wall, watching as Silvie nodded and started dragging the thief by his foot. This was the second time, she thought. This was the second time Tomoe was seeing Silvie holding this kind of expression.

The first time was when she attacked Riley. It was almost as if… she was a completely different person.

“L… Let me go! Please let me go!”

The thief continued to plead, but Silvie just continued to drag him away. However, as soon as a somewhat familiar click whispered in the air, Silvie quickly dropped the thief’s foot and looked at him.

“You… you forced me to do this!”

“…” Silvie then stared at the object that the thief was now holding– a gun. And without even any more warning, he pulled the trigger– causing Silvie to blink as the bullet went straight for her left eye.

Another click then whispered in the air… as the bullet just dropped to the ground, not even leaving a scratch on Silvie’s eyelid.

“Y… you are– Argh!”

And before even the thief could say another word, Silvie suddenly disappeared from her spot, only to reappear right in front of him. A mixture of metal and bone cracking then snapped in the air as Silvie crushed the thief’s hand without any hesitation, causing the gun’s metal parts to protrude through his flesh.

“Grah!” The thief continued to scream in pain– and as his wails finally reached Silvie’s ears…

“W… what?” Silvie quickly let go of the thief’s hand as she looked at her own; her palm, completely covered in blood, 

“What did I…” Silvie then turned to the thief, who was already groveling on the ground as he held his hand, “Did… I did this?” Silvie then said as she turned towards Tomoe.

“Yes,” who answered without any hesitation.

“But… but why?” Silvie then slightly backed away as the whites of her eyes started to moist, “I… why?”

“Are you… are you alright?” Silvie then slowly approached the groveling thief, only for his pained and terrified cries to pierce her ears.

“I… I’m… I’m sorry,” Silvie’s breaths started to become heavy as she once again took a few steps back. And as soon as her back hit a wall, she quickly covered her ears as multiple sounds started ringing inside her mind.

But alas, she could still hear the man’s cries– even the footsteps that were walking down the street… their breaths, their heartbeat. She could hear everything echoing, almost causing her other senses to shut down.

“Stop it… please… make it stop,” Silvie then dropped to the ground as she continued to cover her ears.

“Stop it!” She then let out a deafening roar, pushing the thief, as well as Tomoe away.

“N… no… I… I did… I did not mean… to.”– and those were the last words she heard coming from her mouth before her vision completely faded.

And as soon as she was finally able to open them again, she found herself in a suffocating darkness.

“This…” Silvie raised her hand, only for them to not fully stretch,

“What… no… let… let me out.”

Her breaths began to echo as her arms started flailing around, trying to touch the walls that seemed to confine her in a small box, “No… please… I… I won’t do it again! I won’t… Please let me ou–“

“Alright, jeez.”

Silvie then blinked a couple of times as light suddenly drowned her eyes. She then slowly looked towards the source of the voice, only to see Hannah looking at her weirdly.

“…” She then looked around her, only to realize that she was actually inside some sort of… sleeping pod; complete with her own small flat-screen TV and retractable desk.

“You okay?” Hannah then said as she slid open the pod’s cover all the way.

“W… what?”

“Stop moping and get out of there before you destroy the truck,” Hannah then shook her head, her sighs fading as she left Silvie alone.

“…” Silvie then quickly stepped out of the pod, only to see that she was actually inside the trailer of their truck.

Just… how are they managing to fit everything here? She thought as she slowly made her way out of the trailer… only to see the others sitting around a campfire…

…in the middle of a parking lot.

“This is…” Silvie breathed out. Why…

…does it feel like they were some kind of homeless group of individuals instead of aspiring superheroes?