Villain Retirement

"Superhero Agency, Riley!"

"...Why?"

Riley and Paige were still inside the coffee shop; with Paige still sitting beside Riley as she explained her so-called plan over and over again… and saying the same thing over and over again.

"Why not?" A glimmer appeared in Paige's eyes, "There's a loophole there we could exploit. Superhero agencies are training their heroes even before allowing them to take the test. We can make this work."

"I don't really see how–"

"This will work," Paige's voice trembled in excitement, "We can be heroes… and our own bosses at the same time. P… Paige and Paragon Superhero Agency! Maybe… maybe we could even replace the entire Hero Association Tower."

"Your plan seems to be getting bigger and bigger, Paige," Riley could only let out a sigh as he listened in on Paige's grandiose plans. If he still had his connections, then he could probably do it with the snap of his fingers. But Riley Ross is dead now– he had to deal with everything on his own, no matter how mundane.

But since Aerith asked him to be a hero… then he might as well be the best, no?

"Your plan is interestingly stupid, Paige…

…I am in."

"I knew it!" Paige stood up from her seat as she slammed her palm on the table; almost spilling Riley's milk, "I knew you liked my plan!"

"But you don't really have a proper plan, Paige."

"That can come later. Why aren't you taking off your mask, though? You ordered hot milk but you haven't taken off your mask once."

"I can't take off my mask, Paige. Mother's orders," Riley shook his head, "And I ordered a beverage since we are occupying a table. It is only proper manners, Paige."

"Then we should change venue! Somewhere we can think of a plan on how to execute this!" Paige then suddenly grabbed Riley's hand, dragging him away from the table and all the way outside the shop.

Her eyes, however, widened as darkness welcomed them as soon as they stepped outside. The shops that were once filled with light, now sleeping.

"W… what the hell!? What happened!? Has Darkday come back!? Why are all the stores closed?"

"Because it's 3 in the morning, Paige."

"..." Paige quickly let go of Riley's hand; her head, slowly turning towards him as she looked him straight in the eyes. But after a few seconds, she quickly grabbed a pill from her pocket and swallowed it without any delay in her movements.

"That… that was close," Paige's sigh of relief was almost loud enough to wake the entire street, "But weird, my powers didn't act up even though I'm 5 hours late with my meds."

"What kind of pill is that, Paige?" Riley looked at the pills inside the container in Paige's hand.

"Adderall or something, I don't know. I just drink it since they tell me to," Paige just shrugged her shoulders,

"...Wanna try some?"

"No. But thank you, Paige," Riley shook his head before turning it towards the sky for some reason.

"Hm."

"..."

"..."

"Where do we go?" And not even a second of silence later, Paige opened her mouth, "We need some sort of secret lair or something. We can go to my house, but it's pretty small since I'm practically just using the money I got from the orphanage when they kicked me out. Wait, maybe we can–"

"Adam, there you are!"

And before Paige could finish her words, Aerith suddenly popped up from behind her; almost causing her to jump and yelp.

"I've been looking everywhere for you, where did you children suddenly run off to?"

"You're the one who suddenly left, mother," Riley shrugged his shoulders.

"G… good morning, Aerith." As for Paige, the only thing she could really do in this situation was awkwardly wave her hand to Aerith.

"Hi, Paige," the frown on Aerith's face disappeared; smiling at Paige as she made her way towards Riley. As soon as she got in front of him, however, her frown returned,

"Don't you know what time it is? You should have at least called me, isn't that why I bought you a new phone in the first place!? Who do you think I am, Megawoman!?"

"Yes."

"T… that…" Aerith almost choked in her own breath as Riley answered without any hesitation, "Anyway, it's time for us to go home. I… asked a friend and she let us borrow a penthouse in Jersey."

"Okay," Riley nodded his head; his feet, already leaving the ground.

"It was very nice meeting you, Paige," Aerith then grabbed onto Riley's waist, making it look like he was carrying her as she too, floated in the air.

"O… oh," Paige could only once again raise her hand, "G… Goodbye, Adam."

"Goodbye, Ms. Pearson."

"Wait."

But before the two could gain any distance, Aerith suddenly jumped from Riley's arms and landed in front of Paige, "Do you have any place to stay the night?"

"Me?" Paige who was about to leave, pointed at herself, "No? Well, yes. My house is in Georgia so–"

"Jersey's nearer, you should stay the night with us," Aerith gestured to Riley to come down.

"...Sorry?"

"I was told the penthouse was going to be too big for just two people to live in, so you can stay with us for a while."

"...Okay?"

In truth, Paige thought that this would be the last time that she would be seeing Riley. After all, she had this way with people that made them want to be as far away from her as possible. When she said goodbye to Riley earlier, she truly meant it as a farewell.

But now… she suddenly found herself flying in the air on the way to New Jersey. Of course, why would she even refuse the chance to spend more time with someone that could potentially be her first friend?

Riley… was the first person that listened to her for hours on end without even complaining once or acting like he was bored… since he always seemed bored in the first place. But still, never once did he ask her to stop even though she repeated herself over and over again.

Also… she didn't even act up even though she was way past her medication time. Spending time with Riley…

…helped improve her condition more than any of the trials the doctors did on her.

Perhaps all she ever needed was a friend that actually listens to her without any prejudice.

"..." Paige then placed her… floating jet-ski in cruise mode as she stared at Riley, who seemed to have quickly noticed that she was looking at him.

Paige didn't really avoid Riley's eyes, however, as she just smiled at him and said,

"...Thank you."

And with Riley only nodding in response, Paige found herself in a state she thought she would never be in– silence. Her mind, for once, was silent; with the only noise entering her ears the wind that blew past her face.

Peace, at last.

Well, until they reached Aerith and Riley's penthouse, that is.

"E… E… Empress!?"

Paige was already shocked by how fancy and large the penthouse was as soon as they landed on its large balcony. She did, however, almost faint in shock as soon as she saw Empress casually enjoying a cup of coffee outside.

"What are you doing here, kid?"

"K… Kid!?"

Paige almost jumped from the balcony right there and then. Her eyes, looking back and forth between Aerith and Empress. Did… Riley's mother just call Empress a kid!?

Contrary to the thoughts emerging from Paige's mind, however, Empress didn't seem to mind as she just sighed… before looking at her and Riley.

"..."

"..."

"Y… your mother knows Empress?" Paige subtly leaned closer to Riley as she whispered into his ear.

"Yes."

"For reals!? We–"

And before Paige could finish her words, Empress stood up and approached them; causing Paige to completely freeze.

"So, you come back to Earth and immediately find two strays?" Empress then shook her head as she once again let out a long and deep sigh, "Remember one of your strays working with the government to harvest your organs?"

"Well, one of my strays is now the leader of the World Government," Aerith just casually waved her hand as she walked away, "If you want to talk, let's do it inside. These children should be exhausted from all the things they were up to today."

Aerith inviting Paige… was not by impulse. It was exactly for this reason that she brought Paige here– for Empress to think she was just once again adopting children and training them to hone their powers.

If it was Riley alone, then Empress would surely sooner or later make some sort of connection that Paragon was actually, truly, Riley Ross.

"Paige, honey. You can just pick any room you want– I think there's like 5," Aerith then smiled as she opened the glass door, "Adam, you're in the master's bedroom with me."

"Okay," Riley only nodded as he made his way inside; not even looking at Empress. As for Paige, the only thing she could really do was follow Riley inside; the smile on her face, almost cemented as she still could not believe that Empress was within her arm's reach.

"G… good night, Aerith."

"Goodnight, Paige," Aerith once again smiled as she nodded at Paige. She then let out another sigh before looking at Empress, "You want water or something?"

"No. No need, master," Empress gestured towards the coffee she was just drinking earlier, "I'm also not going to stay long. I just wanted to inform you about something since you're back on the planet…

…I'm not the only one that knows you're back."

"What? Who else?"

"Well…" Empress then looked inside the penthouse, "Another lost stray…

…Thousandblade."