Villain Retirement

Chapter 115: Intimidation

“Fuck… I knew it.”

With the sound of tires still skidding on the hard pavement; whistling in the air over and over again as more and more people surrounded them, Hannah’s eyes were just focused on one person– the cyclist that she had arrested earlier.

The dubious-looking people had guns and knives in their hands. There were also those, however, that was only cracking their knuckles and stretching their bodies– and they were the ones who looked completely confident; smirking, smiling, licking their lips, or otherwise just plain chuckling as they just stared at Hannah and the group.

It wasn’t until the last person stepped out of the car that they started to move, all making way for him. The man’s ponytail swung in the air as he confidently walked through the crowd of gangsters; the gold chain around his neck, almost as eye-catching as the flower-printed shirt he was wearing.

“I knew I recognized this place,” the man then let out a small chuckle as he looked at the grocery.

“Fuck, the fucking drone, man!” Gary threw the bottle he was holding towards the drone hovering above them, only for it to perfectly move to the side.

“You, girl,” the man that seemed to be the leader of the group then pointed towards Hannah, “I don’t appreciate you doing in one of my couriers.”

“…” Hannah then turned her head towards the cyclist earlier, whose smile almost stretched out his already large nose. He should be in jail right now being detained… but seeing as he was here, then that would mean this group was powerful enough to have people inside the police.

Fuck the government, Hannah thought as she returned her glare at the leader of the crowd, “Are you… drug dealers?”

“Why, hello there detective,” the leader of the crowd then let out a small but deep chuckle as he looked Hannah straight in the eyes, “Our boss ain’t so happy with you meddling with our affairs. Our little pets are afraid to go out with you walking around boasting your spandex. We have rules here, you see– rules that even superheroes abide by.”

“I suppose this is just your unlucky day, isn’t it?” Hannah’s words traveled arrogantly in the air as she let out a little smirk, “No corrupt supers in sight. You really think you can win against 5 supers with just these?”

“Of course not,” the crime leader once again chuckled, “That’s why we brought a dozen.”

And as soon as he said that, the ones from the crowd of gangsters that weren’t carrying any weapons took a step forward.

Of course, not all Supers wished to be superheroes or supervillains– some just work normal jobs, albeit at a higher rate than others as they could do what normal people could not. And there were also those who fall into the world of crime, not as supervillains, but as just… criminals.

“And we know who you are,” the crime leader then licked his lips as he once again focused on Hannah, “Whiteking’s children, right?”

“…Shit, we really should change our costumes, Riley.”

“No, sister.”

“Y–“

“I bet the two of you will fetch a very high price in auction… especially you,” the crime leader then said as he once again licked his lips at Hannah, looking at her from head to toe, “Or maybe I could just ask the boss if I could keep you for myself; the two of us could have a lot of fun.”

“You–“

“Jesus, can your script be any more cliche!?” And before Hannah could utter her disgust, Gary suddenly stood in front of her,

“You evildoers are all the same!” Gary then roared as he pointed at the crime leader, “And all of you shall die and kneel before the Dragon Monarch! Begone, bane of the earth and scum of the cit– Blergh!”

And before Gary could finish his words, the sound of him retching suddenly echoed throughout the parking lot– even with the sounds of engine running, his puke dropping to the ground whispered to everyone’s ears.

And soon, he dropped to the ground completely unconscious.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Even the drug dealers could not help but look at each other, shrugging their shoulders as they did not know whether this was some sort of plan to let them take off their guards.

“…Fucking useless,” Hannah then pulled Gary away; his puke sliding on his cheek as she dragged him to somewhere safe– under the truck.

And now, she returned to Silvie and the others, her eyes carefully observing every movement of their enemies. Judging by the way most of the supers in the gang were acting, most of them are probably strength-type supers– chest up, one of their feet stepping forward, as well as stretching and cracking their knuckles.

The gang most probably knew what she and others were capable of, so there should at least be one of them capable of neutralizing her powers.

The Academy never taught them how to fight as a team, but judging by the spacing of the supers on the other side, neither were they.

“I’ll handle the non-supers,” Hannah breathed out as she stood beside Tomoe and Silvie, “You two… just do whatever you want. And Riley– why the fuck are you still just sitting there!?”

“…” Riley blinked his eyes a couple of times as he looked his sister in the eyes. But after a few seconds, he let out a small sigh and raised his hand; he was about to snap his finger, but before he could do so–

“Master!” Tomoe bellowed. “Please… let us handle this.”

“…What are you saying?” Hannah raised an eyebrow, “We should use everything we–“

“I… agree with Tomoe,” Silvie then said as she took a step forward, “If Riley joins, then this will be over before we know it.”

“…That’s the plan,” Hannah furrowed her eyebrows.

“I… wish to know…” Silvie then breathed out, “If this… monster inside me truly seeks to hurt people.”

“…You too, Tomoe?”

“I have already embraced my monster, big sister Hannah,” Tomoe shook her head, “I just didn’t want to bother Master Riley with these small fries.”

“Why does it feel like I’m the only one without a cool catchphrase?” Hannah let out a small sigh as she shook her head, “I–“

“Ho,” and before Hannah could say anything more, the crime leader once again licked his lips, “I suppose we should all be thankful to the Academy for making all of you into arrogant little shits. This is the real world, ladies– people die here.”

“You’re already late in that regard,” Hannah scoffed as her feet burst in flames, “We’ve already seen death.”

And as soon as she said that, her body flew backwards, using Riley’s head as a pivot to rush towards the super that most likely could prove troublesome for her.

“Y–” And before she could truly find out if the man could truly counter her powers, the man’s jaw had already received the misfortune of making contact with her knee. Hannah then carefully landed on the ground, her knee still on the man’s jaw.

She looked at him for a few seconds, only once again rushing to the nearest person before making sure he was completely unconscious. And this time, since she was just facing normal people… she wasn’t even using her abilities to attack.

“Die!” One of the gangsters pointed a gun at her, and this time, a sort of wing flapped from her back, instantly propelling her away from the bullet’s path and shooting her straight towards the one holding the gun.

“E… eep!” The man could only step back as Hannah suddenly appeared in front of him; but his retreat was sorely limited, as Hannah quickly grabbed the hand he was holding the gun with. She then pulled him closer to her, before spinning her body and swinging her elbow straight towards the center of the man’s chest.

“!!!” And now, with the man’s gun in her hand, the others could not help but slightly back away.

“…Seriously, you’re scared of this?” Hannah then shook her head as she removed the gun’s magazine… before proceeding to disassemble the pistol in less than 2 seconds, “This is a Colt 1911, it wouldn’t even leave a scratch on the girl’s skin over there.”

Hannah then pointed the now disassembled grip and trigger towards Silvie, before dropping it on the ground and causing the non-supers to flinch and some of them to even run.

One of Bernard’s lessons– intimidating the weaker ones in the group has a very high chance of leading them to their demise, no matter how strong the group is.

“What… why are all of you just watching!?” The crime leader then let out a roar,

“Kill them!”