Villain Retirement

"And here we are, what you're looking at…

…is the base of the Hope Guild."

The jet that Riley was on finally slowed down; the view beneath them, a vast sea of murky waters. There was a tiny island; no, perhaps a rock formation was the better word to describe it– and this rock formation was the entrance to the Hope Guild.

"Right at the very center of the world," Tempo then breathed out; the tone of his voice probably containing years of pride, "Who would even think that the base of the Hope Guild is somewhere in the Black Sea, right?"

"The Black Sea is filled with weird creatures, Mr. Tempo," Riley replied; not even seemingly curious with the view below, "I believe Empress made the right decision to choose this place."

"...I don't know if that's a compliment or not," Tempo could only let out a sigh. He had thought that Riley would at least show a little bit of excitement– but he just remained sitting on his seat like he really had been here a thousand times.

It was a far cry from Tempo's reaction when he first joined the Hope Guild– the base wasn't even as fancy as the one they have now, but still… he couldn't wait to explore all of it.

Was Riley not lying then? Has he really visited the Hope Guild unbeknownst to him?

"Landing now," V's words then resounded inside the jet as they started to descend to the ocean floor,

"You see that rock there?" V turned her eyes towards Riley; her finger, pointing towards a large boulder sitting on top of the sea, "That's connected to my room– basically where my mecha suit shoots up."

"I know, Victoria," Riley only glanced at the rock before looking to nowhere in particular again.

"..."

What's with this mood? Tempo could not help but once again sigh. Nonetheless, Riley should be impressed with what's to come.

 And as soon as Tempo thought of that, the ocean floor beneath them suddenly opened up– and not in a way you expect the ocean to split; with water falling to the crevice that suddenly opened uu… but no.

The water… just disappeared. Almost as if that part of the Black Sea was just a hologram– flickering as it disappeared. Tempo then turned to look at Riley's expression with much excitement… only to see him with his eyes closed.

Open your eyes, Tempo thought as the best part of the Hope Guild's entrance was about to show itself. And almost as if the gods were giving him the chance to boast the guild, Riley did open his eyes…

…and what welcomed him was the world beneath the ocean floor. Sharks, circling the transparent and tempered, and reinforced nano-polycarbonate glass that is the entranceway of the Hope Guild; almost like their very own colossal aquarium.

And finally, Riley seemed to have slightly widened his eyes. But alas, contrary to Tempo's expectations, Riley… just sneezed.

"..." Tempo gave up.

"!!!" V, however, seemed shocked as soon as the sound of Riley sneezing reached her ears. She hasn't realized it until now… but Riley had never sneezed during the time they spent together in prison.

Their unnecessary thoughts, however, were all dispersed as soon as they finally landed on the landing bay– almost a dozen jets, parked alongside theirs. With some somewhat collecting a little bit of dust already.

"Ack, we're finally here," Tempo was the first one to get off, quickly stretching his body and limbs as soon as his feet touched ground, "I thought I was going to die of old age with how slow you were piloting."

"Then why didn't you just go ahead?" V groaned as she rolled her eyes.

"And leave you two love birds alone?" Tempo smirked, "I won't be responsible for another member being born in the Hope Guild's base."

"W… what are you saying!?" V then quickly got off the jet to chase Tempo– but even with the almost blinking speed she was going, she still was not able to catch Tempo as he disappeared deep into the base,

"C… come back here!" And with those words, V also disappeared… leaving Riley alone in a place he has supposedly never been in.

"..." Riley then got off the jet; his eyes, quickly scanning the landing bay and eventually fixating on the largest ship along the lot by a mile– one of the floating bases of the Dark Millenium.

And since it looked like an unfinished pizza right now, they seemed to be currently in the process of fixing it. Although… 'they' is probably not the right word since it was most probably only Bernard that was fixing it.

"..." Riley then once again turned his eyes to the clear walls of the landing bay with the view of the ocean floor, looking at the shark he had been looking at since earlier and nodding at it. And after doing that, he casually walked towards where Tempo and V disappeared to. Not before, of course, leaving the 'candy' that Gary placed in his pocket in the jet.

[Member: Riley Ross, recognized.]

And as soon as he stepped in front of the door leaving the hangar, a series of lights bombarded him; almost as if scanning his entire body.

[No anomalies found. Welcome to the Hope Guild, Riley Ross.]

And with that, the door slid open; or perhaps it was better to say doors, as there were almost a dozen sliding open leading to the hallway.

"..."

"..." Riley then casually walked inside the long hallway, until he reached a room… that eerily just looked like some sort of hotel lobby. And there, the members of the Hope Guild were waiting for him– with V blowing up confetti as soon as Riley showed himself.

The colorful parchments that fluttered like butterflies, however, froze suddenly froze in the air– not fulfilling their only purpose as Riley stepped forward. Riley looked at the members of the Hope Guild one by one, his gaze, staying for a few seconds through each of them.

V had an excited smile on her face– slowly getting stiff due to Riley's lack of response.

Tempo was just sighing, as he had been doing so since earlier.

Hera was wearing sunglasses and a cap so it was hard to see her expression.

Butcher was still bald.

Bernard just nodded at him.

As for Empress, she was staring at him. And since Empress was the tallest of the lot, it was hard not to notice this. Riley then let the confetti move again; Empress's gaze, now looking to the side as the color pieces rain to the floor.

And that makes them 6, 7 including him making the traditional number of the Hope Guild since it was established.

In truth, Riley was getting ready to kill the members of the Hope Guild at any given time; this whole set-up might have been a trap to neutralize him. After all... Bernard knows who he is.

"W… welcome to the Hope Guild, Riley Ross!" V then broke the somewhat awkward silence that unexpectedly festered the air. And as soon as she did so, some of the members of the Hope Guild started welcoming Riley.

"Welcome back to the Hope Guild, Riley," Butcher was the first to approach Riley; in his hand, a knife with a ribbon neatly wrapped around it, "There is a 78.2% chance that Alice would have wished for you to have this."

"..." Riley opened his palm, letting the knife float in his hand, "Thank you for the gift, Mister Butcher."

"I am starting to think you're pulling those percentages from your ass, baldie," Hera let out a small scoff as she approached Riley; her eyes, looking at Riley from head to toe several times,

"You know, my agency has been calling me ever since they learned you joined the group," Hera then said, "How about it, would you like to earn some money from the sides?"

"Agency?" Riley blinked a couple of times, "I thought the Hope Guild was not allowed to join these… superhero agencies, Miss Hera?"

"What, no!" Hera removed her sunglasses as her eyes remained fixated on Riley, "I meant my talent agency!"

"..."

"No…" Hera then took a few steps back, "Don't tell me you don't know what I do? I'm an actress and a model for Zucci!"

"...A model for a vegetable?" Riley once again blinked a couple of times, "But last I checked, you turn grey and not green, Miss Hera."

"Wha–"

"Forget it, old hag," V joined in on the conversation, "The only show he knows is anything related to Italian Mafia Reborn."

"Oh…" This time, it was Hera's time to blink, "...I voiced one of the main characters there."

"!!!"

And as soon as her words reached Riley's ears, his eyes instantly widened as he looked Hera in the eyes for the first time. And as soon as Hera noticed this, she let out a small smirk.

"I can introduce you to some of the voice actors if you visit my agency."

"Okay," Riley immediately nodded. He was about to say something, but before he could do so, Bernard stepped forward.

"Now, now," Bernard then clapped his hands, "Let my son rest, I am sure he's tired from everything that's happened. V, take him to his room."

"Su–"

"If it is alright, may I explore the surroundings first?"

"That–"

"That's fine," and before Bernard could talk, Empress, who had been quiet the whole time, finally spoke up, "The sooner you get accustomed to the base, the better."

"..." Bernard suddenly shut his mouth as he heard Empress's words. He also turned to look at Riley, who didn't seem to have any reaction to anything, as always.

"Then I will tag along with you," V said as she clung to Riley's arm, garnering the attention of everyone in the room, "Although the older members may seem bleak, there's actually a lot of entertainment to--"

"I…

…would like to explore the base and the surrounding area alone, Victoria."

***

"..." Riley was now floating above the base of the Hope Guild– he was given an earpiece that all the members have, but he gently removed it and placed it in his pocket as he flew away. Only stopping as he reached the nearest shore from the base.

He then stared at the shore for a couple of seconds, before deciding to land on it– not even disturbing a single speck of sand as he did so.

"Everyone…" Riley then breathed out. And with those words, several people started emerging from the lush greenery covering the shore…

…several people that looked exactly like him,

"...Good job. I will take it from here."