Well, This Guy Sucks

 In spite of themselves, the group followed Kevin through the halls. Millie kept a hold on Final Draft, wondering if this guy had simply forgotten to disarm them, or if he was confident enough that he didn’t feel the need to. Either way, something about this felt incredibly off to her (as did, admittedly, everything about this place).

He led them into what looked like a corporate boardroom, complete with a large screen on the wall. Millie sighed, hoping this wasn’t going to result in a slideshow. That was not something she needed right now. Or, well, ever.

Kevin gestured for them to sit around the long table.

“Take a seat, and we’ll begin.”

None of them sat down, Talia’s arms crossing. This guy had given none of them any reason to trust him, and the fact that they’d followed him here rather than just attacking was mostly courtesy. Millie and Amaia both glared at him, Nibbles growling a little. Sara was pointing at where that one leg used to be, giving him a look that almost certainly blamed him.

“Suit yourselves,” Kevin replied with a shrug, snapping his fingers.

A barrier of gold energy surrounded the group, keeping them right where they stood. Millie might have still been getting used to the combat thing, but she would have much preferred that to the monologue they were about to be subjected to.

Kevin cleared his throat, starting up the slideshow Millie had been dreading.

“Now, back home, I was just starting out in the stock market…”

He showed a picture of himself, his hair much shorter back then. His suit was pristine, his wide grin cheesy as hell. And was that a bad spray tan? Millie narrowed her eyes to get a better look at that. Yes, yes that was a terrible spray tan.

“But then this portal opened up and I got pulled into some land of nightmares. I found myself in a castle, where she-” He pointed to Talia, as a badly-rendered portrait of her appeared on the screen. “Tried to sweet talk me into doing her dirty work. Told me I’d get all the women I wanted if I did this, said I’d be loved by all...but what did I get instead?”

Another slide, with more poorly-drawn creatures on it. Amaia muttered something about how that was not how ghosts looked.

“A freakshow. An utter freakshow. How could I surround myself with beautiful ladies when most of them would drink my blood, or possess me, or...what is it you do, anyway?” he asked Amaia.

“Reconsider my stance on breaking someone’s kneecaps?” they offered.

If Millie could get rid of this shield, she was more than happy to let Amaia do just that. But Kevin just chuckled.

“Cute. But as I was saying, I couldn’t find the source of whatever she was going on about. And these ‘monsters’ she kept talking about? I saw absolutely none of those. I was getting sick and tired of the endless night, and realized that if the freaks could find some way to create that, I could create an endless day. Thus, Daylight was born.”

So far, none of the group had made a connection between this and why they deserved whatever he’d throw at them. All they really picked up from this guy was that he was bitter.

“I’ve learned that magic comes to humans that are summoned here, not so much to those that step into Fae Circles. And whenever one of them came upon Daylight, I’d offer them a job and a place to stay. They were more than happy to help kill any vampires that came our way.”

“And what about that library?” Millie asked. “Pretty sure that thing stole someone’s soul.”

“Isn’t that what libraries do? I had that built by a true professional. It only took him minutes while it would take anyone else months.”

At this point, Millie’s teeth were starting to grind in frustration. On the one hand, she could get the human blood sources wanting to run, and find a place that didn’t invite anyone to drink their blood. But on the other, this guy seemed A-OK with genocide, and if she wanted to see that kind of attitude, she’d miss home a lot more.

“Is there any way we can convince you to just let us leave and go back to the dark?” Talia asked him, tone even.

“You’ve ruined my future, parasite,” he said. “The only way you can make things up to me is letting yourself burn in the sun.”

“If I could find some way to send you back home, I would,” she replied. “Believe it or not, I don’t like the idea of anyone being forced to do something.”

“But why would I go back? I could have just been an investment banker back home, but here? Here, I am a GOD! I don’t have magic back home. ”

Millie was tapping her foot, annoyed. “Maybe compared to being a human, but you’re not the only magic user in this room. Get over yourself.”

“Then what about a little challenge?” he asked. “We have a magic battle. No weapons. Just my power versus yours. If you win, I’ll show your group to the back exit. When I win, I kill all of you. Well...maybe not the dog.”

“Oh, look, some little semblance of a soul,” Millie scoffed.

She glanced to the others for their thoughts. “Sound like a fair trade to you guys?”

None of them were entirely sure. On the one hand, Millie tended to rely on Final Draft in combat. On the other, they knew what she was capable of when worked up enough.

“Intent is key, remember,” Talia told her.

“Give him hell,” Amaia added.

Sara just nodded her approval, wanting to see this.

“Fine,” Millie said after a moment. “Magic battle. But one question: how do we decide on the winner?”

With a chuckle, Kevin opened the nearest window. “Simple. If you stay in this room and don’t get knocked out the window, you’re the winner.”

Millie nodded, as the shield went down just long enough for her to step outside of it. She handed Final Draft to Amaia, telling them to guard that with their life. She stretched a bit and adjusted her hat, facing the former champion in question. She had no idea how long he’d been there, how much time he’d had to hone his magic.

Granted, she had no idea how long she’d been there, either; the endless night/endless day factors had made it incredibly hard to tell actual time. But she was getting an internal rhythm down by now, so it wasn’t too horrible.

The pair began to circle each other, his eyes taking on that golden glow again. In turn, hers began to glow pink. Each was trying to decide on their first move. Until Millie took the initiative, that is.

She began to visualize him hitting the floor. Being pulled down by ethereal glowing hands. As she tried to focus on this, though, she was knocked to the floor, herself, by a blast of golden energy.

“Gonna have to do better than tha—” He was cut off by her kicking him in the gut, before she pulled herself back up.

“I said only magic!” he shouted.

“No, you said no weapons. Said nothing about throwing a good punch.”

She then went to punch him in the face, as he gripped her wrist and pulled her arm behind her back, twisting it. She yelled, given that that was her drawing arm.

Mille slammed her head into his chest, groaning at the feel of the armor. She had no idea if she was bleeding or not, but he still let go of her arm. She whipped around to face him, now visualizing him moving toward the window and falling out.

As a pink glow surrounded his legs and he found himself sliding toward the open window, he focused on the floor below Millie, wanting to make a hole in it for her to fall through. She could hear it begin to crack beneath her, cursing under her breath.

Kevin was sent out of the window, just as the floor beneath Millie gave way. Her focus then changed to one thing: Keep grounded.

She landed on the next floor down, the piece of the above floor she’d been standing on stuck to her boots. As she went to get up, she was greeted by a punch to the face from Kevin.

“Rematch time,” he said. “That was a tie.”

“...Was it, though?” she replied, pointing to the floor piece attached to her boots. “Because technically…” She made her way upright. “My feet are still touching that room’s floor.”

Kevin just stared at her for a moment. “...Did you just manage to use Fae-style logic to argue that you won?”

“Yup.”

He was quiet for a moment, before starting to laugh. “Okay, okay, fine. I’ll give you that. I’ll show you and your friends out.”