Chapter 3: Prosperous New Relationships

Chapter 3: Prosperous New Relationships

“Wow.”

Electra grinned at me. “Right?”

She’d just finished explaining the concept of an ‘Isekai’ to me. I shook my head. “I just don’t know what to say.”

“Amazing right?”

“That’s not the word I’d use.” I ran a finger along the smooth material of my power armor. “At all.”

Electra frowned. “C’mon, you can’t call it stupid if we’re in an Isekai.”

“I mean, you’re here aren’t you?”

Electra’s frown narrowed into a glare. I would have cared more if she hadn’t blown her entire charge killing the giant tentacle monster. “That’s just rude. Did you forget who saved your ass?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Villain, remember? Or is ‘we fought together so now I ‘respect’ you’ or some garbage a thing in this Isekai?”

Electra coughed, glancing away

I blinked. “What, really?”

“Well it’s more of an anime thing?” She poked her fingers together. “But that’s where Isekai came from, so...”

“From those not-novels.” I nodded. “Got it.”

“Light novels.” Electra crossed her arms.

“That’s what I said.”

“God, you’re such a bitch.”

“Villain.” I leaned forward. “V I L L A I N. I’m not going to pretend to like your favorite book just to get your pants like Wonder Man.”

She blinked at me. “He wanted to get in my pants?”

“Electra, look in the damn mirror.” I waved a hand at the statuesque woman, with her shimmering blonde hair, baby blue eyes and cheeks that could cut glass. “Every straight guy in the continental United States wanted to get into your pants. Have you seen your fan website?”

She shifted, rubbing the back of her spiky blond hair. “I... tried not to look at it much, actually.” She paused. “And hey! Whattaya mean continental United States?”

“Hawaii has Riptide.”

She raised a finger, before lowering it. “Riptide is pretty hot, I guess.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You guess.”

“Well, yeah?”

I shook my head. “What am I going to do with you?” While her head snapped to me, I reached up and fiddled with the control panel of my suit. My fingers found the small lever hidden into the frame of the control panel, and I pulled it.

With a soft hiss, the different pieces of my armor fell off, disconnecting from my undersuit.

She blinked. “If you could start by not stripping in front of me after making ambiguous statements, that’d be nice.”

“Don’t be a fucking prude.” I stepped out of the armor panels. “I’m wearing an undersuit; it covers exactly as much as your own costume.” I tilted my head. “Or did you not realize how big your butt looks in it?”

Electra’s face shaded red. “Ass.”

“You have a delightful grasp of synonyms.”

“That’s not what I meant!” She glared. “You’re the one who said you didn’t know what to do with me.”

I paused, turning to look at the hero.

We’d moved from the cove to a small alcove we’d found in one of the surrounding cliffs, so it was a bit darker in here, but not dark enough to cover up how she was already half on her feet, hands up in front of her.

I shook my head. “You need to calm down. I’m hardly going to attack you after taking off my power armor.”

“Yeah well, that sounds like something a villain would say.”

“How strange.” I rolled my eyes. “It is almost as if I, a Villain, did in fact say it.” I turned to face her. “Are you done yet? We have important things to discuss.”

She cocked her head at me. “We?”

I pinched my brow. “What, are you going to try and arrest me instead?”

She stared at me for a moment more, before huffing and lowering her arms. “No. But that doesn’t mean I trust you as far as I can throw you.”

I sighed. “So we’re doing this then.”

She shrugged. “I mean, you’re the one who keeps reminding me you’re a villain.”

I raised a finger, then paused. “...Be that as it may.” I glanced off to the side. “That doesn’t mean we aren’t connected. We both share a similar goal.”

Name

Via Rodriguez

Class

Demogogue

The mighty Demogogue summons beings from the beyond to do their bidding, binding their servants in cages of words.

Skills

[1/5]

Summon Demon: Level 1

Summon a creature from beyond. Be wary of your words.

Status

Physical

Strength 1

Endurance 1

Agility 1

Dexterity 1

Ethereal

Charm 1

Faith 1

Attunement 1

Soul 1

Status Points

5

Well, it wasn’t stupid if it worked.

“It looks like I summon demons, for some reason.” I shrugged. “Not sure what demagoguery has to do with that but—”

“Wait, wait!” Electra waved her hands. “Demagogue. Demon. Demon-gogue.”

I blinked. “No.”

Electra grinned. “I’m pretty sure that’s what it is. That would explain the weird spelling, at least.”

“Why is my class a pun, but yours is something normal like ‘Thunder mage’?

She gave a little laugh. “Actually, the name of my class is Buzzkiller.”

I froze in place. “That’s... horrible.”

Electra just laughed again. “I think it’s pretty funny actually.”

“You would.” I sighed. “Still, hopefully that’ll be enough to see us through for the time being.”

“Oh don’t worry.” Electra held out a hand. “If you get in trouble again, I’ll save you, Empress.”

I took her hand, removing my domino mask. “My name is Via.” She blinked, and I rolled my eyes. “Please, secret identities hardly matter in a place like this.” More importantly, if Electra wasn’t going to be on my side, than I wanted her off balance. “Besides, calling me Empress may cause confusion around other people.”

If we managed to find any at all.

“Well... uh, sure, if that’s what you want.” She let go of my hand. “But I’m sure as heck not giving you my name.”

I grinned. “Whatever makes you comfortable, Elenore.”

This time it was her turn to freeze. “Where’d you hear that name?”

“Well, I did tell you I hacked into your organization’s servers, didn’t I...” I paused. “Elenore?”

She glared.

And I just laughed.

Revenge, dear reader, is always best served immediately. Whoever told you ‘cold’ is selling something.