Villain Retirement

'Don't… don't you even dare attempt what you are about to attempt!'

"The only thing I am attempting is killing you, Pirate Queen Xra."

'There are better ways to do it!'

"Perhaps. But this is a method I have never done before. I tried doing it to Aerith, but she managed to slap me away each time—she is probably thinking the same as you, now that I am remembering it."

'Of course, we both don't like it!'

"Is it because I am currently too small? Should I—"

'Size has nothing to do with— eet!'

Pirate Queen Xra flinched. Fortunately for her, it's not because of the reason she thought. Riley once again returned to his normal size, with his hand already wrapping around Xra's neck.

'You… like treating women rough?'

"I like to torture everyone equally, Pirate Queen Xra," Riley said as his hands started to tremble from how hard and heavy he was gripping Xra's neck; still, however, the most he could do was slightly crease her skin—like what a normal human could usually do to another,

"You really are strong."

'You haven't seen anything yet, boy.'

Xra then grabbed Riley's wrist, while covering his face with her other hand and trying to forcefully push it away. And with a slight smirk, her nails grew longer and lightly started to pierce through his telekinetic barrier.

'I suppose telekinesis is your most prominent ability?'

"It is the one I use instinctively, Pirate Queen Xra." Even with most of his face covered, Riley's still did not have any signs of change in tone; his eyes, seemingly just trying to look at Xra's fingers.

'What about the size alteration? Why don't you try and grow a hundred times bigger? That's useful.'

"But then you will try and go up my anus and drink my blood from the inside."

Xra's chest visibly trembled as she imagined Riley's words. No—she didn't need to imagine. Since she was reading Riley's mind, he had already made the image for her.

'What is with you and climbing—'

And before Xra could finish her words, Riley calmly placed his free hand on her stomach. And with the edges of his mouth peeking from the sides, Xra could feel Riley's warm breath as he let out a light chuckle.

'You…' Xra then started looking around her, only to see the asteroids that were floating nearest to them starting to tremble and move towards them; her hair and clothes too, were slightly vibrating as a force was starting to pull them to Riley's hand.

'Paboom,' and with that thought escaping from Riley's mind, a sort of… light exploded from his palm. No, it wasn't exactly light. It was more akin to what one would see when you rub off a marker from a whiteboard… almost as if deleting the darkness of space itself. Like a photo with inverted colors.

And this weird light expanded in a millisecond, like a wave of a blast that shot through the expanse of space—large and reaching far enough that it made Riley completely invisible from afar.

Instead of a shockwave pushing everything away, however, the white space pulled everything to it as it continued to expand. It happened to pierce straight through a planet, which instantly collapsed into itself before shattering in its own weight. It only lasted for a millisecond, like a flash… and yet it completely left its mark on the stellar system they were in.

And for that short moment in time, a part of the universe was completely torn apart.

"I am also making sound effects with my mind now, Pirate Queen Xra. That is how I imagined it would sound like. I've never done it before," Riley then tilted his head to the side, causing a large amount of blood to bubble and build up from his nose, 

"Are you still alive?"

Riley then stared at Xra's face; or perhaps more specifically, her skull. The front part of her face was completely shaved off—no. Most of her were already torn away. Her stomach was mangled in a way that it looked like a spiral, with all of her organs completely gone. Her limbs too were twisted and crooked in separate different directions.

Her hand that was grabbing Riley's head, however, was still latched onto his face.

"..."

A second.

A minute.

An hour.

"..." Riley just blinked a couple of times as he continued to stare at her skull, not leaving her even after an entire hour had passed.

'Are you really not going to turn around?'

"Because I remembered you telling me that you have already been dead for a long time," Riley's eyebrow slightly twitched as the empty sockets of Xra's skull started to form an eye, which immediately turned to look him directly in his eyes.

'A pity, I was hoping to surprise you,' and with those words, Xra's flesh, bones, and organs reformed themselves almost instantly; even her clothes returned even cleaner than before. Her hand that was still gripping Riley's face, finally retreating to her side.

'My turn, then.'

"..." Riley watched as Xra bit her own tongue, before sticking out her tongue and sloppily licking her lips; letting a mixture of her blood and saliva to trail down her chin.

'Blood Moon.'

And with those words echoing in Riley's mind, he felt a warm wave waft through his face as the blood in her lips expanded, retaining its shape before completely drowning both him and Xra inside it. It still did not expand, it continued to grow and grow as it started to lose the shape of Xra's lips, and instead now turning into a colossal sphere of blood.

And from afar, it truly did look like a moon covered in blood.

"..." Riley looked at his hand, before rubbing his finger and thumbs together, letting a small amount of blood enter his telekinetic barrier.

'You're also capable of multiplying blood, Pirate Queen Xra,' Riley whispered in his mind as he tried to look for Xra, but could not. And it wasn't only because the blood was dense, no—Xra completely disappeared, 'I have never seen that befo—'

And before Riley could finish his thoughts, his hand that was feeling the blood rush through his skin was torn apart—leaving only his bones exposed. This only lasted for less than a second, however, as his hand reconstructed itself and healed.

'I hold complete domain in all and everything that has life. In this moon, my will is the authority.'

"..." Parts of Riley's face started to shave off, before also completely healing as he started to look around, 'Where are you?'

'Everywhere. I am blood, life itself.'

'...Does this mean I am inside you right now, Pirate Queen Xra?' Riley squinted his eyes, 'Then why were you pretending that you didn't like it when I was trying to go inside you earlier?'

'You really are different from the rest,' an echoing chuckle whispered in Riley's mind as he allowed himself to be dragged through the current of blood, 'Still teasing even in the midst of threat. And no, Riley Ross. I do not multiply blood…

…I call upon the blood of those that have fallen in my hands, and this is a fraction of them.'

'Interesting,' Riley nodded several times as he removed his telekinetic barrier, letting the blood touch his skin.

'Do you feel it? The pain, anguish, and regret of trillions of people?'

'I prefer to feel their pain, anguish, and regret while they are still alive, Pirate Queen Xra,' Riley closed his eyes and smiled, 'I suppose you will be adding me to your collection?'

'I am not a fool, Riley Ross. I know the secrets of the Common Council, I know what they are hiding, and now that I feel all of you…

…I know what you are now.'

'And what am I, Pirate Queen Xra?"

'The same as me.'

And almost like a storm withering away, the blood that surrounded Riley completely dissipated almost instantly. There was still warmth wrapping around Riley, however, as Xra now had her arms around him; her lips, sticking close to Riley's ear. The warmth was… cold, however, but not colder than the darkness.

'I can smell it in you, it latches onto you even more so than it cares for me.'

"Are you talking about my perfume? It is a limited edition by Whiteking," Riley's nose started to twitch as he sniffed Xra's neck; his lips, almost touching her skin, "But you don't have any scent, Pirate Queen Xra."

"I am talking about the reflection you see every time death holds a grip on you," Xra finally spoke with her mouth as Riley expanded his telekinetic pocket.

"You… have seen Overvoid Riley?" Riley's eyes slightly widened; his breaths, slightly adjusting as he returned Xra's embrace; holding her by the waist and grabbing the back of her head as they felt the temperature of their bodies blending with one another.

"Overvoid Riley… Yes, it is a reflection of us. And that is a fitting name for that place," Xra's lips started brushing Riley's ear, 

"I met it the time I died, and it never really left me."

"I meet it each time I die. Do you know what it is? Is it perhaps Death itself?"

"No," Xra shook her head, letting her cheek touch Riley's, "Death is kind and fair. This thing that lives… in the Overvoid, it's sinister— unapologetically evil, devoid of anything else."

"I know that already, Pirate Queen Xra," Riley tightened his embrace, "What else do you know?"

"Are you ready to hear my story now, then?"

"..." Riley let out several breaths, before nodding his head.

"Then I am going to start at my home planet," Xra let out a very long and deep breath, "I believe you already know where that is?"

"Yes, you have been speaking their language since earlier, Pirate Queen Xra—Sumer…

…Earth."

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