Villain Retirement

So…

…what can I do for you?"

The two cops were slightly surprised with how well Riley was treating them despite the sudden and intrusive visit. They have done this several times with other establishments, and most owners quickly fume in anger as soon as they introduce themselves as cops.

"My name is Dorothy Adams, and my partner here is Detective Jake Suarez," the woman, Dorothy introduced herself and her partner.

"I am known as Zero," Riley bowed his head before joining the two at their table, "So, what can I do for the two of you?"

"..." Dorothy and Jake just looked at each other as Riley casually joined the two of them at their table,

"We are here because someone filed a complaint at your restaurant pertaining to an injury and intent to do harm."

"It's those drunkards, right?" Miss Pepondosovich arrived with a bottle of wine and some glass; shaking her head while scoffing, "Those sorry excuses for men should just be sent out of the planet."

"Sadly, we value all life now," the woman nodded, "The 5 were still even under the influence when they filed a complaint. All of this is just protocol, we're just here to get your statement on what really happened and we'll be on our way. The… drinks are not necessary."

"They made a mess of the restaurant, that's what," Miss Pepondosovich breathed out before just leaving the table, "We had to fix one of the tables since one of them jumped on it."

"Right," Jake let out a sigh and shook his head.

"If it is about that…" Riley then stood up and opened the wine as he poured the two some drinks, "...then we are willing to cooperate fully, Detectives. We have several cameras in the establishment, and we will be more than happy to surrender them to you with no trouble at all."

"Meh. There's actually really no need," Jake chuckled as he grabbed the wine of glass Riley handed to him, "It's obvious they just injured themselves by being idiots, it's as Detective Adams said — this is just protocol. But…

…you said they made a mess of your restaurant?"

"Yes," Riley nodded, "They had intent to harass my staff as well, Detectives."

"And they had the guts to file a complaint. Jake, remind me to find those idiots later — we need to lock them up," Dorothy shook her head in disappointment as she received the wine, but did not really drink it, "We… can't really drink, we're technically still on the clock."

"No, we're not," Jake laughed as he took a sip of his wine despite Dorothy's words, "Wh—this is good. How much is a wine like this?"

"Worth more than a year of our salary," Dorothy let out a sigh as she looked at the glass of wine. And after a few seconds, she just sighed and drank the whole thing, "W—You're right, this is fucking good. Honestly, we've been alive for like 600 years…

…so why are we still broke as shit and can't afford something like this?"

"Tell me about it…" Jake groaned as he shook his head, "So, Zero… how'd you even manage to afford something like this?"

"Generational wealth without the generations," Riley smiled before turning to look at Liza, who was just eavesdropping in their conversation while she stood at the bar, "Miss Liza was kind enough to help me make all of this possible."

"Oh…" Jake nodded and smiled, "...You snatched a good one right there."

Liza could not really help but just feign like she wasn't hearing them; not knowing whether to smile or look away.

"Well, since the two of you are already here…" Riley then stepped away from the table and nodded, "...How about I cook some steak to go with the wine?"

"What? No…" The woman shook her head, "...We're intruding already. We—"

"Please…" Riley smiled,

"...I insist."

***

"So…"

A few hours later, the two detectives were on their way back to their station; the two, just relaxing in their car and looking at the ceiling.

"...Are we not going to talk about how fucking good their food was?"

"That's all we've been talking about since we left. My god, I wonder how much that steak was? W—"

[You have arrived at your destination.]

"Yup, time to go back to work," the woman fixed her seat as she let out a long and very deep sigh, "What's the case this time?"

"5 males. They were spotted by a civilian in the alleyway while she was throwing trash."

"5…? Fuck," the woman could not help but shake her head as she stepped out of the car — and there, a crowd was already formed; red and blue lights, scattered everywhere. The couple then made their way through the crowd, the other cops who were already there, letting them in.

"Dorothy."

"Nate, what's going on in there?" The woman, Dorothy, wore her gloves as she asked one of the cops at the scene.

"Nothing pretty, can't really explain it at all."

"That bad?"

"Most death we've seen in the last decades."

"Ha… fuck," Dorothy shook her head as she entered the crime scene; the alley was dark, too dark…

…but the gruesome sight in front of her was clear to see even from meters away.

"What the fuck, Jake."

"...I think I'm gonna puke, are you gonna puke?" Her partner, Jake, could not help but just look away from what he had seen. How could he not, when several body parts were currently stuck to the walls of the alley? Their guts, flesh, and bones exposed — what was weird, however, was that their bodies were clearly placed in elegant poses; almost as if they were in a painting. One of them was even holding a rose… although it was hard to tell who was really holding it since all of their arms are twisted and tangled together as their bodies made a circle,

"But…

…I guess we don't need to find them, huh?"

"Right…" Dorothy whispered out as she carefully looked at the faces of the victims — they were the very same group that filed a complaint against the restaurant they were just eating at earlier,

"...Just what in the world happened here?"

Dorothy then approached the crime scene — and this is not something anyone would do — whoever did this was a monster who held life as… nothing.

Dorothy could really only stare at the crime scene for a few seconds before proceeding to look away at the crowd. She just wanted to wash her eyes or have a full-blown shower at this point…

…but then, she saw something that almost made her lose her breaths.

She saw someone in the crowd of bystanders and onlookers — the owner of the restaurant they were eating at just earlier, just standing in the middle of the crowd with a very wide and sinister smile on his face.

"What the—"

"Adams, we shouldn't be here," Jake grabbed her by the shoulder, "We're literally clocking out in a few minutes, let's just let them handle this and—Adams?"

"Do… isn't that Zero!?"

"Huh…?" Jake blinked a couple of times as he looked to where Dorothy was pointing, "The restaurant owner? Where…?"

"There, right—" And before Dorothy could even finish her words, Riley was already gone, "What the…"

"Woman, let's just call it a day…

…you're already seeing things."

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