Villain Retirement

Chapter 153: …s

Hannah's palms, already red from having to hit Silvie's door for almost a minute now. Her heavy taps, echoing throughout the entire hallway of the girl's apartment complex. There were also other people curious as to what was happening– those who watched the news, however, knew exactly what was happening.

"You guys get the fuck out of here!" Hannah then bellowed as she looked at the overly curious crowd slowly building up around them. Granted, the people initially gathered in the first place because Hannah's screams were loud enough to travel across the entire hallway– that didn't matter though, as Hannah just continued trying to get Silvie to come out or for them to be let in.

If it was any other circumstances, then Hannah would have just let Silvie be and let her cool down. But all throughout her breakdowns, she had never seen Silvie carrying that kind of expression.

An expression that showed you're alive… but slowly dying and being eaten from the inside. Even with all her strength, Silvie was a sheltered individual; that showed through the stress she was releasing every time she lost herself.

But this time, when she saw Dark Millenium's face, it was as if everything around her crumbled. She did not even say anything to Hannah and the others and just rushed outside the shop– breaking Charlotte's glass door in the process.

Charlotte did not even seem to mind, however, as she also just stared at the TV, her eyebrows knitted and almost showed her real age.

"…Darkday is outside the Academy."

"Y– what?"

And finally, with Tomoe's whispers reaching her ears, Hannah stopped smashing her palms on Silvie's door, "What do you mean Darkday's outside?"

Tomoe did not answer her, and only showed her phone which was playing the news– and true enough, Darkday was there, seemingly talking to Dark Millenium.

"What… the fuck is going on?" Hannah then muttered, she was about to say something else, but before she could do so, Dark Millenium's head suddenly exploded.

"What the fuck!"

"!!!" Even Gary, who was just slightly glancing at the phone, could not help but widen his eyes and take a few small steps back.

"S… Silv, we really need to get out of here!" Hannah then once again slammed her palms on the door, "Darkday… Darkday is here! Silv! Gary!? What the fuck, man!? Help me tear down this door, wake the fuck up!"

Hannah once again violently tapped Gary's shoulders; Gary, however, still had a blank expression on his face as he stared at Dark Millenium's headless corpse. And soon, the battle between Hope Guild and Darkday started.

"Gary, why are you zoning out!?" Hannah bellowed, "Silv might be doing something drastic inside!"

And with those words entering his ears, Gary snapped out of whatever it was he was thinking; immediately kicking down the door and causing it to crumple. And with another crack snapping in the air, Silvie's door was forced open; the edges of the door, completely flayed and cracked.

"Silv!?" Hannah immediately rushed inside, her eyes, moving almost nonstop as they tried to spot Silvie. She needed to take a couple more steps inside the apartment, however, to find Silvie's silhouette in the kitchen– surrounded by a couple of knives that were completely either jagged or split in half.

She was also holding another knife, trying to cut open her arms; but fortunately, the only thing it did was snap the knife once again in half.

"What the fuck are you doing!?" Hannah then quickly rushed towards Silvie, kicking the broken knife away from her hands before embracing her tight, "You stupid fucker!"

"I… Stay away from me, Hannah," Silvie then whispered; just letting her arms fall on the sides of her body almost lifelessly, "Didn't… didn't you see Dark Millenium's face? She… she looks exactly like me."

"And so what!?" Hannah bellowed as she tightened her embrace on Silvie's body; feeling her warm tears falling onto her bosom, "That… that doesn't mean anything!"

"It… means everything, Hannah," Silvie's sedated voice started to weaken even further, "My… my fake mother, all these visions, my mind losing it… the feeling of drowning and the whispers… I'm… I'm not stupid, I know what those mean…

…I'm… I'm a clone of Megawoman."

"…Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Silv," Hannah let out a small sigh before letting Silvie go and holding her cheeks gently, "That's a bit of a jump in logic… she… she could just be your sister?"

Hearing Hannah's words, the only thing that Silvie could do was let out a small but heavy chuckle; standing up from the floor as she looked at Gary and Tomoe, who were quietly watching on the side.

"W… well, why does it matter if you're a clone?" Gary also let out an awkward chuckle of his own; his eyes, not even daring to look at Silvie's, "She… she's dead now anyway."

"W… what?"

"Gary! What the fuck!?"

"Then… will… will Darkday also kill me?" Silvie then clasped her head, her face, once again wincing from all the thoughts surfacing out of his mind, "Maybe… maybe that's for the best. I'm… I'm an abomination and–"

"…Whiteking was the one who killed Dark Millenium," Tomoe then joined in on the conversation, "He… is hiding something."

"Everything leads to that fucker," Hannah let out a small scoff, "You don't have to worry, Silv. I am going to drag that adulterer by the ankles to let him answer everything."

"It… it doesn't matter anymore," Silvie once again let out a small chuckle… and soon, her light chuckles turned into a burst of laughter, "I'm… I'm a clone… I'm not even a human. I just… I just wanted to be a hero. Wait, maybe even that is implanted on me or something? I watched a documentary about–"

"Snap out of it, Silv!" Hannah did not let Silvie finish her frenzied words, "Your identity doesn't matter to us, you are our friend, okay!? Isn't that right, guys?"

"Hm," Tomoe quickly nodded.

"…"

"…"

"Gary!"

"Hm? Oh, yeah… yes," Gary blinked a couple of times before nodding his head several times.

"I–"

"You're a clone of Megawoman, Silvie."

"!!!"

And before Silvie could even say anything, Riley suddenly appeared in her apartment, "You're not his daughter… you're a clone."

"What the… where did you suddenly pop out from!?" Hannah almost jumped as Riley's head suddenly popped out from behind the kitchen counter, "And what the fuck, bro!? What are you saying?"

"I always thought you resemble Megawoman, Silvie," Riley then placed his hand on his chin as he walked out of the counter, "But to think you're one of her clones. The Government is really pushing its boundaries this time. I wonder how many of you are there?"

"I… ignore my brother's words!" Hannah then quickly covered Riley's mouth as soon as she saw Silvie's hand starting to tremble.

"Y… you're right," Silvie then muttered, her tears once again trying to burst out from her eyes, "I'm… I'm a monster."

"No, Silvie," Riley tilted his head to the side to speak,

"You're even more beautiful now."

"…What?" Silvie could not help but take in a very small but very deep breath.

"If you were Megawoman's daughter with a human, then you would have been tainted," Riley muttered as he looked Silvie straight in the eyes, "But now that we know you're a clone… doesn't that make you closer to Megawoman than before? You, Silvie Savelievna…

…you're perfect."

"R… Riley," Silvie once again took in a deep breath; before wiping the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

As for Hannah, she could not help but slightly squint her eyes… Riley's words, she feels like she heard it somewhere before. But before she could even say anything, Silvie spoke up; her voice, now containing a bit of strength.

"Wait… you said it's possible that there could be more of me out there?" Silvie then whispered; her eyes, now somewhat glistening.

"Perhaps," Riley muttered, "But it is also possible that it's only you left now that Dark Millenium is dead, Silvie. I assume cloning… is quite a complicated process without an ability."

"…Like Replica Ricky and Darkday?" Hannah furrowed her eyebrows, "But wait… maybe they are using Megawoman's technology? Almost all the facilities inside the Academy are using it, right?"

"…I feel like you guys are recovering way too fast here," Gary then muttered as he stepped forward, "Silvie… just tried to kill herself earlier."

"…"

"…"

"…We're trying to forget that–"

"I believe it is alright," Tomoe let out a small sigh before Hannah could finish her words, "I think we have all tried to kill ourselves once or twice. I think it's completely normal."

"Yes," Riley added, "I've died several times already."

"Why do I feel like I'm the only one normal here at this very moment?" Gary blinked his eyes a couple of times as he looked at the others, "Baby Crew is a bit loose in the–"

"Stop," Hannah raised her palm before Gary could finish her words, "I… I think we shouldn't use the name Baby Crew anymore."

'…What? Right when it was starting to grow on me?" Gary muttered, "What the hell is happening right n–"

"Silvie Savelievna."

And before Gary could finish his words, a bunch of people suddenly barged inside Silvie's apartment… led by other than Empress; who seemed to have rushed here as soon as she woke up inside the Academy.

"We need you to come with us," Empress then commanded. Her tone, not containing even a single hint of warmth as her eyes looked at Silvie from head to toe, "We need you to answer some–"

This time, however, her words were the ones interrupted as Hannah blocked Silvie from her view.

"I don't think so…

…slut."