Still hung high and left alone by the Witch, Dalton heard the sounds of battle from beyond the window. This would be a perfect time to escape, but Dalton did not know how he could do that.

He tried swinging for a bit, seeing if he could grab something with his legs. The closest his toes got to touching something was the bed post. Even though he was an inch away from touching his chained feet, it may as well have been a chasm between them.

The situation was hopeless.

Then, Malcolm kicked open the door, holding two semi-automatic rifles.

“Witches!”

He scanned the room and frowned when he did not find any witches. He gave Dalton a look over and then turned to the door.

“Wait! Malcolm!”

Malcolm stopped. “What?”

“Can you get me down?”

“No. You are not a witch.”

“Hey! Wait, wait! Seriously, don’t leave me here! You owe me for saving you from those goblins!” Dalton screamed.

“Goblins?” He turned his head. “I want to be a goblin, so I can take Lord Zulo and-”

Dalton’s ears fazed whatever he said, because just like the eroge, his brain censored that information like the plague.

“-and after that, I put a sock on it.”

Based on the hearts in the center of Malcolm’s eyes, Dalton guessed that he had been charmed by Zulo. That was strange, considering Zulo was not into men.

“Okay, well, I can certainly help you become a goblin. You just have to help me down.”

“You have no power to turn me into a goblin so I can-{beep}-him.”

“No, but I can find Eira, and she can do it.”

Malcolm shifted his weight. “Eira has been shot by my special gun.”

“What?”

“She was getting in the way of my love for Zulo. Changing me back into a man. Because of her, I can never know the pleasure of being a woman.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Dalton blinked furiously. “Say that again? What about being a woman? What exactly happened to you since I’ve been up here playing eroge?”

“You’ve been playing an eroge?” He looked to the computer monitor and whistled. “That’s right, Lord Zulo did say something about you playing Doki Doki Wet Wet Happy Days. It is simply a masterpiece. You were lucky to be able to play something so amazing.”

Like a crack in a seal, the horrifying images of {beep} leaked within his mind. “It was not amazing.”

“Your eyes…they’re so empty.” Malcolm took a step back.

“Look, Malcolm. Just get me down. You’re looking for Yome right? If you get me down, I can lead you to her. Just think of what Zulo will say about you when you succeed in bringing her back so quickly.”

“Yes.” Malcolm’s back straightened and he aimed his gun at Dalton. “Yes, of course! Let me help you out!”

“Wait, no, not like that!”

Bullets blasted at Dalton. He screamed, for maybe the first minute, until he realized that the bullets weren’t even cutting through the chain cocoon he was in. It was ricocheting all over the place. One hit Malcolm in the shoulder, and that made him spiral. His gun was still going off when it hit an unfortunate man that had walked up from behind Malcolm, giving the man plenty of holes.

“Wow,” Dalton said once he heard the click of an empty gun. “You just killed an innocent person.”

“Damn. It hurts.” Malcolm held his shoulder. “Why did I think shooting you was a good idea?”

Dalton narrowed his eyes. Malcolm no longer had hearts in his eyes. “Malcolm? Are you still in love with Zulo?”

“Why would I be in love with that bastard?” Malcolm snorted. “If he was a big-titted woman that would be another story.”

“That’s good. Your no longer charmed. Can you get me down from here? I would very much like to come down now.”

“Give me a moment here,” Malcolm said. “I’m trying to process what I was doing. This poor bastard is dead because some invisible bastard shot him.”

Dalton opened his mouth in astonishment. “No. You shot him by accident.”

“Dalton, come on. He was obviously about to shoot me.” Malcolm slipped a gun under his hand. “I was just defending myself.”

“I just saw you put a gun in his hand. You killed him.”

“No, I did not!” He yelled. He turned his head around as if he were looking for an invisible man. “He tried to shoot me, and I defended myself.”

Dalton understood what was going on. “You think another assassin is going to be sent for us? Do you think that Zulo could even afford an assassin to be sent here?”

“Hey, I think I recognize this man.” Malcolm held up a red stained pike. “This is the Bloody Hole Piker. He’s an assassin that likes to shove this pike up people’s bums.”

There was an uncomfortable silence between them as they processed this information. Dalton’s face went pale.

Malcolm coughed in his hand. “So, let’s get you down from there. Luckily this pike has some anti magic formulas entwined in here, so it should be able to cut you down.”

He whacked the chain above Dalton’s head. After a few good whacks, the chain started to give away. He fell to the ground, the chains splayed on the ground like cut hair. Dalton clutched his hand close to his chest. He was finally free.

Malcolm’s nose crumbled and he covered his face. “You smell.”

“I was tied up there for two days. She wouldn’t let me down for anything.” Dalton’s eyes wettened with shame as he explained his soaked pants. “No matter how much I pleaded.”

His former boss smacked his back, giving him a lopsided smile. “It could be worse. Eira turned me into a woman for a few days.”

As they walked out of the room, it suddenly exploded behind them, and the floor underneath crumbled.

While Dalton fell, he could only think of how much he wanted to see Maya.