Villain Retirement

"Man, that jet was the favorite thing I loved to ride on…

…next are hot MILFS."

"Ugh, can you fucking not?"

"One day back on the big blue and everything turning into shit."

"G… good thing no one got hurt badly."

"You guys were freaking awesome!"

After almost an entire hour of managing the situation, Paige and the Baby Crew were finally able to relax. Perhaps the one that was most exhausted of them all was Bella and Gary, who had to make sure that each and every one of the crowd was unharmed.

And fortunately for all of them, the most injured person only had a slight burn on her arms. Hannah walked in directly inside the burning jet to at least find a clue of what caused the explosion– but judging from all the marks and by the way the debris were scattered, it was done by a bomb; most probably C4 judging by the motor oil smell.

If it was triggered remotely, then the one who attached it should have been near the area. Hannah tried searching for anyone that looked remotely suspicious, but with all the people gathered here; she would probably have more luck finding him in a haystack.

Hannah has also requested CCTV footage of the explosion from the nearby buildings… but judging by how close they got, they would have probably already deleted everything.

The question now is why? What motive could someone have to blow up their ship as soon as they landed back on Earth?

"...Do you guys think this could be done by Endless Dark?" Hannah said, pausing the heavy breaths that were coming out of everyone's mouths.

"No way, no," Katrina was the first to shake her head, "She… wouldn't do that to us."

"We not even sure it's our girl out there, H," Bella continued, "C'mon, are we really suspecting her?"

"...Endless Dark?" Paige joined in on the conversation, "Isn't that the supervillain group rumored to be–"

"Their leader used to be a part of our group," Gary turned his head up to the sky, closing his eyes as his sigh was loud enough to travel through the air, "It's a shame, really. She was the only one who had a womanly charm in the group… her and Katrina's gigantic melons."

"T… there's no use speculating," Katrina raised her voice, "We… we should probably get out of the police's way."

"We… we have shower facilities in the building!" Paige grabbed Katrina's hand as she dragged her back to the superhero agency. The other members of the Baby Crew also followed after a few moments of looking at each other– their path, however, was suddenly blocked as Paige and Katrina suddenly stood frozen right in the middle of the entrance.

They were about to ask why they stopped, but they didn't need to– because as soon as they got near the building, the scent of blood whiffed through their noses. And in front of their eyes, was a scene of carnage.

The friendly receptionist that was talking to them earlier, now a decoration on the wall.

"No… Paragon!" Paige quickly rushed in as soon as she recovered from her mild stupor, "Paragon, where are–"

"I'm here, Paige."

And very slowly, a melody started to enter everyone's ears. Paige and the Baby Crew slowly walked towards the music, only for Paragon to slowly come into view; his fingers… expertly playing a piano in the corner of the lobby.

"Paragon!?"

"...Was that piano there before?" Gary leaned closer to Bella.

"That's what you got out of this situation!?" Bella slapped Gary's chest. She was about to rush toward the receptionist to get her down, but all of a sudden, Paragon was in front of her.

"Wha–"

"Please don't move anyone," Paragon then said as he stretched his arms to the side… almost as if presenting the situation, "This is a crime scene, it needs to be preserved."

"A… crime scene?"

"Y… you didn't do this, did you?" Katrina took in a small gulp as her hair started to flutter, "Because if you did. We… would have to–"

"Only those three," Paragon then pointed towards three bodies with completely mangled faces of different degrees, "It would seem they used the explosion from your jet as a distraction. They killed everyone inside the building to get me alone."

"What!? What did they want from you!? Are you okay!?" Before any of the Baby Crew could ask any more questions, Paige once again ran towards Paragon– gently touching him everywhere as if to check his condition.

"No, my outfit is a little dirty," Paragon sighed as he shook his head.

"We… we're going to clean you–"

"No," Paige was about to wipe the blood off Paragon's chest, but he grabbed her hand before she could do so, "Leave them. I'm part of the crime scene."

"So you started playing the piano?" Hannah broke her silence as she stepped forward, "That seems like something only someone that's not in their right mind would do. You know…

…like someone in the spectrum," Hannah hardened her words as she glanced at the rest of the Baby Crew.

"I like playing the piano," Paragon shrugged his shoulders… before walking back to the piano, "It calms my mind…"

...And it also lets Riley pretend he's not who he is– by imitating the actions of one of his many clones.

"...The dude could just be a psycho," Bella then commented as Paragon started playing the piano again, "I ain't finna mess with that, is all I'm saying. But he doesn't seem to be in the spectrum, though?"

"Psychopathy is in the spectrum," Hannah quickly said as she slowly approached Paragon,

"Are you my brother?"

And without any more hesitation, Hannah finally dropped the bomb– or in her case, dropped the nuclear bomb she had been carrying ever since she met Paragon a few hours ago.

"No."

Fortunately or unfortunately for her, Paragon also answered without any hesitation. And as soon as he did so, Hannah squinted her eyes as she looked him straight in the eyes.

"Okay, I believe you," Hannah then said as she turned around and walked away, before whispering to Gary,

"It's him. I am sure it's him."

Gary, however, could only sigh and shake his head. He wanted to say something, but he knew if he did, then another blasting argument would happen again. In truth, their group was hanging in a thread– and the only thing that was really holding the Baby Crew together was their friendship.

"...Why did you mistake Paragon as your brother?" Paige then breathed out, "Wait… is that the reason you guys wanted to join the agency? Because you think Paragon… is Riley?"

"Paige, that's not…" Katrina quickly tried to calm Paige down, but before she could even take a single step, Paige suddenly burst into tears… before leaping toward Hannah and hugging her.

"You… you miss him that much?" Paige almost gasped from how erratic her breaths were, "I… I don't have a brother. So I don't know what you're feeling but… it'll be okay. It'll be okay."

"..." Hannah could really only stand there with her arms completely stiff; not knowing what to do. She was about to push Paige away, but as soon as she saw her crying face. A… sort of wave suddenly crawled throughout her entire body, causing her face to almost frown into a grimace.

"Shit, Hannah… don't!" Gary wanted to pull Hannah away from Paige as soon as she saw the sudden shift in her expression. But before he could do so…

…Hannah also started to burst out into tears.

Her shoulders, almost shivering as she fell to her knees and returned Paige's embrace.

"Fuck!" Hannah screamed, "I… I know it's not right. But I do! I do miss him!"

"..." Gary, Katrina, and Bella could only look at each other as Hannah's cries screamed through the lobby. They knew– they've always known that Hannah was in pain after everything she has lost. It wasn't just the loss either, it was how she lost them.

But seeing her breakdown like this, they realized they never truly tried to understand her through the 2 years they were together. But… how could they, really?

How could they properly comfort her knowing what they know?

Your brother, which tortured and killed more than a dozen million people, is dead? It felt like if they tried to comfort her, then it would be a slap to the faces of those that were left behind by everyone that Darkday killed.

Hannah is their friend– that's why they didn't leave. But it would seem not leaving was not enough.

As for Riley… he suddenly once again started playing the piano– this time a melancholic tune to partner with Paige and Hannah's cries.

"..."

"..."

"...Pft. Fuck!" Gary was trying his best not to laugh; cursing and kicking the floor immediately when he could no longer stop himself from doing so,

"Why would you do that, bro!?"

And with that, Paige and Hannah also stopped crying as they looked at each other… and then also started chuckling. Katrina also joined them as she sat on the floor and embraced the two.

"...You white people do know we still surrounded by dead people, right?" As for Bella, she could only cross her arms as she watched the spectacle unfold in front of her.

And as soon as they heard her words, the three women quickly wiped the tears off their faces and nodded. Hannah was about to go outside to call in the cops, but Paragon grabbed her wrist before she could do so.

"I'm not your brother, Nuclear Seraph," Paragon whispered, "I'm… sadly just an only child. But if I was your brother. Then there's absolutely no reason for me to hide it from you because you…

…you're a beautiful person, Hannah."

"...What?"

"And if I was your brother...

...I would want you to move on."