The Devil's Foundry

“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.”

She blinked at me owlishly. “We do?”

Dear god please smite me where I stand.

Unfortunately, god remained as dead as he had been since the beginning of time.

“Getting back to Earth.”

“Oh, sure.” She rolled her eyes. “Cause you’ll just take us both back, with no strings attached.”

I frowned at her. “You’re right. I will.”

She laughed. “Is this that ‘honor among thieves’ shtick people talk about?”

“There is no honor among thieves. Some thieves,” I placed a hand on my chest, “just happen to have honor all their own.”

“Yeah, nice sell. Not sure I’m a fan.” Electra crossed her arms. “How do I know you won’t just add a mind control beam to the teleporter, or dump us both in your secret lair and take me prisoner?”

I glared. “Where else would I even take us back too? Nevermind that even gaining access to a different dimension wouldn’t be nearly that exact.” I’d have to be careful not to dump us an ocean, in all honesty.

“Headquarters, preferably.”

“Oh, I see, it’s a crime if I do it, but I’m supposed to just walk right into your base so you can slap handcuffs on me.” I nodded. “Of course, why didn’t I think of that. And why is it that I know all of your bases are shielded against teleportation, but the hero who works there doesn’t?”

At least she had the grace to look embarrassed. “Well, that’s not the point. People have broken in plenty of times.”

“What do they even teach you people about technology?”

“That tech villains can do anything, and you shouldn’t give them time to get set up.”

“NO!” I stopped. “Well, yes.” Actually, that was rather flattering. “But that’s not the point. It takes resources, time, and energy to make the impossible happen. And right now, I don’t have any of those. It will take an incredible amount of time and effort even with your help to make a teleporter that even gets us back to the same dimension. Nevermind slapping on… mind controllers, or shield piercing effects, or whatever other nonsense you’ve come up with!”

Electra blinked. “Uh.”

I stared at her. “Or did you forget that someone blew up my giant robot. And then someone drained my power core. And then someone still assumed I could whip up some miracle teleporter despite all that that could take us right home for lunch!”

“Okay, okay, I get it!” She held up her hands. “No need to bite my head off, Empress.”

I let out a deep breath. She was right, which of course only made me more irritated, but getting into another fight was the worst thing I could do right now.

“It’s not important.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Just… I wouldn’t bother with that garbage. A teleporter itself will be hard enough.”

She frowned at me. “Why me though? You don’t need me, so why are you acting like you’re gonna make sure I get back home as well? The heck is in it for you?”

I scoffed. Really, to think she was caught up in such a trivial dilemma. “You saved my life twice, idiot.” Electra jumped at the words, eyes going back to me. “The very thought that I’d leave you marooned here, without even making the barest attempt to pay you back? It’s unacceptable. The equivalent of winning by default.” I smiled at her. “And when I defeat you and your little band of heroes, it’s going to be because I was better, not because of a technicality.”

Electra stared at me for a few seconds, working her jaw silently. “That…” She shook her head. “And here I thought you were gonna say something nice.”

“Nice, to you?”

“You’re really not making me want to work with you.”

“Fine then.” I waved a hand. “Go do whatever you want then, I’ll be sure to collect you after I solve our problems. It won’t even be a change from the paradigm.”

Electra grumbled. “Geeze, humble too.”

I smirked. “So long as we’re on the same page.”

She met my eyes for a second, before groaning and looking away. “We’ll stick together until we find civilization or something. It’d be a shame if you bit it after all the work I put into saving you.”

“How generous.”

“Yeah, well, it’s the best you’re going to get.”

I huffed. Fine, it wasn’t as if I needed her help. Yes, an electro-kinetic would be useful, but no more than having adequate copper wire would be. If she was being stubborn, then I didn’t have the time or energy to waste babysitting her.

“What’s your class, anyway?” I asked.

Electra gave me a suspicious look, and I rolled my eyes again.

“If we’re going to be trekking through the wilderness together, we should at least know what the other is capable of.”

“Sure…” Electra rolled her neck. “I got a thunder mage thing. Hopefully, I’ll be able to use it to recharge my power as well. What’s yours?”

I quirked my lip. “Demogogue.”

She blinked. “What’s that even do?”

“You know, that’s the first good question you’ve asked all day.”

“Hey! I asked you to give up at the start of this mess, didn’t I?”

I didn’t even offer a response to that inane statement. Instead, I focused on the idea of a ‘menu.’ Electra mentioned it was a staple in Isekai settings. And while part of me wanted to call the idea that fiction would apply to reality idiotic and misguided at best—

Ding

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.