Derek tried to keep his breathing steady. Judging by Emma’s face, she wasn’t reacting to the cellphone light, and therefore did not see Milo.

“Turn it off. Pippa and Akshi are close,” Derek whispered.

“Huh?” Emma asked.

Milo nodded. “They’re coming. From what I understand, Evelyn downloaded an app to this phone to track my presence.” He turned off the cellphone and stuffed it back into his pocket. The room once again plunged into darkness.

“That’s… genius,” Derek said.

“What?” Emma asked.

Derek hesitated, glancing in her general direction. “Can you hear me?”

“Obviously. Who are you talking to?”

“No one.” Derek was relieved Emma couldn’t see Milo, yet he wasn’t sure how to get across to her that they had hope now.

“Answer Emma’s question, Derek,” Pippa said.

His stomach clenched. Pippa appeared somewhere to his right. Maybe it was a dimension door. Had she seen Milo? Derek waited for the reaction, any reaction. It was back to being pitch black.

The silence was too much, and Derek started talking again. “I’m talking to no one.”

“Mmm.” Pippa did not believe him in the slightest.

“Why are you doing this?” If he had her attention, he might as well keep her distracted.

“Sometimes you need to be there to prove the good guys aren’t so good after all.” Pippa’s voice traveled as she walked toward the back of his chair. “Isn’t that right, Emma?”

Emma scoffed. “That’s complete bullshit.”

“It’s so fun to make good men realize how carnal they actually are. And I have a feeling one of my favorite subjects is in this room somehow,” Pippa said.

Derek fought the urge to throw himself against the chair to see if he could hit Pippa. His hands had been tied before they placed him in a chair, so his wrists wouldn’t break if he hit the wall. Judging by her voice, she wasn’t behind him anymore.

“There are few places to hide in here, Milo. And I see in the dark a lot better than you,” Pippa said.

Panic forced him to recklessness. Derek shoved himself against the chair, knowing the office was small enough. The chair hit the wall.

“Uh-oh,” Derek muttered as the chair kept falling backwards.

“What’s happening?” Emma asked.

All at once the chair collapsed on the ground, and Pippa tsked. “Really, Derek?”

“I… tried.”

“You thought I was behind there?”

Derek grunted as he tried to situate himself to a more comfortable position, but it was difficult with his ankles tied to the chair that was now dangling in the air.

In the darkness, words appeared, and Derek tried to see anything else with the green glow of the words, but there was no light.

Roll to hit.

Derek wasn’t sure how, since his hands were tied behind him, but he felt the d20 press itself into his hand. He gave a pathetic shake before letting it drop, unable to see how the dice landed.

It must have been good if he got the damage dice, and judging from the d8 and the d6 he sensed in his palm, Milo had prepared himself for a battle.

The room exploded in a fiery glow. Milo stood behind Mr. Anderson’s desk, pointing his flamethrower cannon in the general direction of Pippa’s voice. With the light of the flamethrower, he used his other hand to raise his glowing green crossbow and shot her. Pippa shrieked as she got the brunt of both the flamethrower and the crossbow bolt. In the dying light, Milo scrambled onto the desk, and with a leap, smacked the lightbulb with his wrench. The little office was once again bathed in light, and Derek blinked repeatedly as his eyes watered.

“What’s happening!” Emma shouted.

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“We’re being rescued!”

Time then came to a halt.

Roll for initiative.

Okay. Okay. Milo could do this. He was significantly stronger than when he was in the heist mission, and Pippa was surprised at the pure badassery of Milo right now. Hopefully. If he could get another shot at her like before, that would help immensely.

Derek rolled the dice once again behind his back. He didn’t know what was happening, but as he held his breath, he saw the options coming to his mind eye.

Roll to hit.

Perfect. Milo was going first.

Milo needed to do as much damage as possible, though he placed a shield in there for a buff, as he doubted anyone else could give him any buffs.

Milo didn’t hesitate. Having dealt with Pippa before, he didn’t want to waste one minute without dealing the most damage. Pippa barely had time to turn around before Milo smacked her in the shoulder with another acid bolt and the flamethrower. Derek, despite being on the ground, could feel the heat with his legs in the air and was worried another gray mark might turn into an injury.

Pippa looked battered. Her scorched skin glowed with embers as her eyes blazed red. Derek was on the ground between Milo and Pippa, and he really didn’t like where he was. Emma was hunched against the desk, her hands tied behind her. She looked unconscious, or maybe even asleep. Derek wasn’t sure what was happening, but he struggled in his chair to get out of the line of fire. Literally.

Pippa changed. Derek swallowed, his eyes widening as he watched Pippa somehow grow more seductive. Her waist got thinner, her hips expanding. Her boobs looking like they’d burst out of her dress at any moment.

“There are easier ways to burn my dress off, sugar.” Pippa’s voice was sickly sweet.

Derek glanced at his character, terrified, but realized he wasn’t rolling a wisdom saving throw. The seduction, the charm. It didn’t touch Milo. Instead, Milo lifted his cannon and crossbow. “Never try to seduce someone who’s best friends with a cleric.”

The acid bolt smacked Pippa on the shoulder, and she leapt out of the way of the flamethrower. There was sweat and blood running down Pippa’s face as she shrieked. Horns grew from her head as her fingernails lengthened. She leapt over Derek and slashed her fingernails across Milo’s head. Milo braced himself with a luminous shield, but Pippa broke right through it. Milo shouted in surprise as her claw marks hit his forehead and cheeks, blood dropping down his face. His hit points dropped to forty.

Milo tried to shoot her with the crossbow, but it went wide, and he barely got a flame going before Pippa smacked it out of the way.

“Come on, sugar. Like old times.” Pippa grabbed Milo by the throat and forced him up against the wall. “That night, so long ago, I knew you couldn’t possibly be a religious man.” Derek stared at the ceiling as Pippa’s dress fell off, her lips inches from Milo’s. Infernal whispers filled the small office, and Derek’s heart seized up in fear.

“I’m religious enough to feel satisfied telling you this.” Milo pushed her away, pointing his flamethrower at her chest. “Burn in hell, bitch.”

Pippa shrieked as the flames surrounded her, eating her flesh. Derek kept his eyes closed, sweat trickling down his face as Pippa’s shrieks disappeared. The burst of flame ended, and Pippa was nothing more than a pile of ashes on the ground.

“You did it.” Derek didn’t mean for that to sound like a question, but as the dust and ash settled, he realized Pippa really was gone. “You did it!” He started laughing. “Milo, you did it!”

The mana fusor gently touched the blood running down his forehead before lifting Derek’s chair up. “I… suppose I did.”

“Badass.”

“She’s gone. She’s finally gone.” Milo sighed as he started untying the rope keeping Derek to the chair.

“James Bond would be so proud,” Derek said.

Milo beamed as he worked on untying Derek’s wrists. “They’ve really got you tied up good here.”

A thousand one hundred experience points entered Milo’s bar. “Damn, that’s a lot.”

“What?”

“You got a lot of experience points fighting her all by yourself.” Derek glanced again at Emma, who was slumped against the desk. “Is Emma okay?”

Milo glanced over at her, frowning. He handed his dagger over to Derek before moving to Emma. Derek took the dagger and cut the ropes around his legs.

“Emma?” Milo asked.

She didn’t respond. She was completely out to the world. Derek finished cutting the bonds before walking over to her. Milo finished untying her.

Roll for insight.

Derek was happy to roll the dice this time. Sixteen total wasn’t bad.

“You mentioned before that she did not see Akshi and Pippa’s true form?” Milo asked.

“Yeah. She called Akshi Asher.”

Milo nodded as he eased Emma from the desk. “I believe she’s still unable to see like Hazel can, and therefore her brain was overloaded with information. There’s a chance she might wake up and think this is nothing more than a dream.”

Derek grunted. “That’d be nice.”

Milo chuckled as he lifted Emma into his arms. “Let’s get back. The others will be worried.”

Derek nodded as he stumbled toward the door. It was hot in here, and he wouldn’t mind some fresh air. He shoved the door open and into the darkish classroom. The sun had set, and the light filtering from the office was enough.

A glittering orange appeared behind Derek, and before he could properly react, a steel sword was pressed against his throat. Derek froze in place, because there wasn’t much else he dare do.

Akshi threw out a hand in Milo’s direction, chanting under his breath.

“No!” Derek shouted.

Roll a constitution saving throw

Derek felt nauseous as he rolled, and did not feel the relief he wanted to as he was told it was a success. Pippa was one enemy Derek was delighted that Milo beat alone. Akshi was one they needed the entire group for.

As though to confirm his fears, Milo stumbled. Emma slipped from his arms, and he had the foresight to make sure she was on the ground before the spell took hold. Milo gasped, but even his gasp sounded strangled. A dark energy entered Milo, and it was like watching a spider suck the juices out of a bug. Milo’s face became sallow, and his usually thin frame became almost skeletal as his knees buckled. His eyes turned bloodshot as a tiny trickle of blood dripped from his nose.

“Milo!” Derek tried to get to him, but Akshi tightened his grip on the sword.

“What an intriguing piece of this puzzle you’ve brought me,” Akshi said, placing his free hand on Derek’s shoulder. Tears pricked Derek’s eyes as Milo’s hit points went from forty to seventeen. And that was on a successful roll. Derek had never seen Akshi use this spell before. Was he learning spells?