Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Hanna blinked, struggling to process the information. “You… you… I did all of that… and you… and the door…” She turned from EDJ to the door behind her, confused and disheartened. After a moment, she turned back to EDJ, rage in her blue eyes. “Oh, you’re in for it now.” She spun her sword forward as it started glowing, though the light was very faint. Hanna smirked. “If your plan was to demoralize me, it backfired. I have even more reason to lock you up now.” She started circling, revitalized. 

EDJ smiled as he matched her speed. “It almost worked too.” 

Hanna sneered at him. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” she asked. 

“I was voted third-smartest supervillain,” EDJ replied. “You’ll find my picture in the dictionary next to mastermind. I’m kind of a legend.” 

“So smug.” Hanna narrowed her eyes. “Bet you won’t look so smug with your face smashed in.” 

She could have sworn his eyes lit up when he grinned. “Bring it, harpy!” EDJ shouted.

Hanna launched into the air straight for EDJ with her sword raised high. “AAAAUUUGGH!”

All the lights died and the room returned to pitch black darkness. Even the orange light from EDJ’s sword disappeared. Hanna landed on the ground in a crouch and her sword clattered as the edge bounced off the floor in front of her. All at once, ultra-bright light flooded the room, temporarily blinding Hanna. “ACK!” She squeezed her eyes shut and forcefully opened them several times, trying to adjust to the light. Hanna let go of her sword when an arm looped around her neck and pulled back. In panic, she grabbed the arm and covered it in a layer of ice. She ducked out of the assailant’s grasp and dove for the ground. Vision almost adjusted, she grabbed her weapon and turned to see a guard on the floor behind her, yelling and clutching his ice-encased arm. Two more guards ran toward her. Hanna froze the ground in front of her. One guard slipped and fell, the other dove over the ice in an attempt to tackle her. She dodged the second guard and turned to kick away another. Hanna saw a guard rushing toward her out of the corner of her eye. She spun and cut him down with her blade. 

“Hold,” EDJ commanded. 

Hanna stood panting as all the guards around her halted their advance. She turned to see EDJ in the back of the room, sword sheathed. Quite a few guards had filled up the large space between them. Where did they all come from?! Hanna thought. 

“I think that’s enough bloodshed for today, don’t you?” EDJ asked as he slowly walked up between the guards. Hanna watched a couple guards pick up the fallen one and drag the body away, leaving a red smear on the white tile. Another one guided the guard with the frozen arm out of the room. It was then Hanna noticed panels jutting out from the walls. Hanna frowned and pointed her blade at EDJ. “You sure are going to a lot of trouble just to stop one girl,” Hanna said. “What’s the deal here?” 

“Just taking no chances,” EDJ said with a shrug before looking down at the red on the floor. “... and apparently I was right in doing so.” He looked up at her. “What say you to a truce?” 

“A truce?!” Hanna balked. “Why would you want a truce?!” 

“Look around you,” EDJ said coldly. “You’re surrounded. Sure, you could continue to resist and fight. You might even win… but after spilling how much more blood?” 

Hanna bit back the guilt and covered it with anger. “Don’t pretend you care about what happens to your men!” she spat. 

“You’re right, I don’t,” EDJ agreed calmly. “They knew the risks when I hired them. It’s about resources, not sentimentality. You’ve made quite a mess trying to get to me already, I’d hate for you to wreck your way through any more of my castle unsupervised.” EDJ waved a hand and took a more agreeable tone. “Listen, I’m a negotiator at heart. You put in the work, so I’m willing to meet you halfway.” He smiled. “Name your terms. What’s in it for me if I surrender?” 

Hanna still glared at him suspiciously. “How do I know I can trust you?” she asked.. 

EDJ laughed cynically. “That’s the best part. You can’t. You’ll just have to take that risk.” Seeing Hanna still internally debating, EDJ raised a hand. The guards all raised their weapons. “I could just settle this fight now,” he reminded her. “Name your conditions.”

Hanna straightened and reluctantly sheathed her sword. “How about this,” she started, one hand on her hip and the other in the air counting as she listed her demands. “You leave Lui and DJ alone. You promise to never hurt either of them ever again. You stop trying to kill me. Aaaand you give up.” She smirked. “Reasonable enough to you?” 

EDJ motioned to the guards to lower their weapons. They also backed up a bit, giving Hanna more space. “Well now, that depends on how you answer the rest of the question,” EDJ answered, slowly starting to circle again while still keeping a row of guards between him and Hanna. “What do I get in return?” he asked. 

“Your life,” Hanna answered with spite and watched him with suspicion. “And as long as you keep to the terms, I promise not to hunt you down and inflict terrible pain on you. How does that sound?” She crossed her arms. “I’d say that’s quite a bargain.” 

“Oh, so you admit to being the vengeful, bloodthirsty hero, do you?” EDJ asked with a smile, still circling. 

“I never said that,” Hanna replied. 

“You kind of did.” EDJ raised his brows, tilted his head, and nodded to the spot on the floor. “Your actions speak loud and clear, dear. But back to the issue at hand… I have one more condition.” He paused and looked at her with a thoughtful expression. “I really, really want to keep my awesome castle.”

Hanna stopped and considered it. I guess if you take out all the guards and traps and access to all the illegal stuff… It’s just a big, empty castle, she thought, chewing on her lip. He’s already isolated from the rest of the world here at Everest. We could secure the castle so he can’t leave… I guess that just ends up being more like house arrest for him anyway. He doesn’t have to be in a maximum security prison if he’s locked up here… I could live with that. 

Meanwhile, EDJ motioned for the guards to give her more space, seemingly in an attempt to relax the tension in the atmosphere. It worked. Hanna appeared noticeably less agitated. “I could be persuaded to let you keep it,” she started. “As long as you don’t plot anything evil and the conditions aren’t broken...” 

EDJ smiled politely. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Hanna raised an eyebrow, arms remaining folded. “I still don’t trust you.” 

“Nor would I expect you to,” EDJ answered, still smiling politely. 

Hanna found his smile creepy and off-putting, though there was no logical reason behind it. Perhaps it was his uncanny resemblance to DJ and Lui. Sure, his clothes and physical traits were different, not even mentioning the extreme difference in personality, but something about the face was still the same. Hanna dismissed the thought and focused on the situation. She was still surrounded, but had quite a bit of breathing room between her and the enemy, for which she was grateful. EDJ had been standing in the same spot for a few minutes now and it was starting to bother her. Where she once found his silence a welcome relief, now it was a growing concern. Was he waiting on something? Hanna narrowed her eyes and asked, “You’re not planning anything evil anytime soon, are you?” 

EDJ shrugged nonchalantly. “Just the usual plundering and occasional kidnapping, you know. Nothing too evil…” he said. “I can downscale.” 

Hanna frowned. “I’d prefer it if you stopped completely, but I guess it’s a start...” She nodded, mostly trying to convince herself. “Alright, I accept your truce.” 

“I’m happy to hear it!” EDJ’s smile widened, but he did not move from his position. 

Hanna suddenly got the feeling like he knew something she didn’t. “You’re seriously just going to give up like that?” she asked. 

“BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!” EDJ broke out into laughter. “NEVER! Drop the cage!” 

Hanna turned to see one of the guards flip a switch on a panel by the door. She looked up just in time to see large, glass walls drop from the ceiling. 

“What? WAIT!” Hanna dove forward, but not in time to escape the trap. The floor dropped out around the cage. Hanna flew up only to smack into the glass ceiling and fall back down. She sat up to see EDJ laughing at her. 

“You fell for it!” EDJ said almost in disbelief between laughs. “What now, genius?”