THE MOMENT
"I SAID NO INTERRUPTIONS!" Dark Lord Frank bellowed from his table when the door swung open. The strength of his voice pushed some of the loose sheets off and to the floor. He grumbled at that but didn't move. He realized it wasn't one of his guards that entered. It was a young teen boy in cloth and leather armor with a sword twice his size attached to his back. Dark Lord Frank did not recognize him, but he knew there was only one reason he was there.
"Another hero?" he asked with a low, amused voice. The boy seemed surprised; but, he nodded.
"Can you wait a bit?" Dark Lord Frank asked, then glanced at his table. "Or, can we reschedule? I need to get this done before the end of the month."
The boy tilted his head. He gave a curious grin and slowly approached the Dark Lord and his paperwork.
"The end of the month... today?" He asked. Dark Lord Frank rolled his eyes. It seemed even strangers found it easy to mock his procrastination habits.
"Yes," he sighed. "I put it off until the last minute. I'm a horrible person; would you please let me finish?"
"Whatcha workin' on?" the hero asked. He reached the table and saw piles of paperwork and lots of numbers with dollar signs attached. The Dark Lord sighed. He needed to be working, not answering questions. But, he hoped he could get the boy out of his hair quicker if they didn't have to fight.
"I need to amend the Dark Kingdom's budget, or it'll default," he replied.
"Huh," the hero said. The answer surprised him.
"We'll just make it quick," he said. "Just throw the match and I'll be on my way."
"Th..THROW THE MATCH!?" Dark Lord Frank shook his head. "Not a chance, kid. It took me years to conquer this place. Besides, if I lose, then the budget is your responsibility."
"What... what do you mean?" the hero asked. Dark Lord Frank looked at the boy intently for several moments.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" he asked. The hero immediately broke eye contact and looked down at the stone ground. He mumbled something; but, the Dark Lord did not hear it.
"Speak up, boy. We're both in a hurry it seems."
"I need to conquer a kingdom for school...," he shrugged. "It's due tomorrow." The Dark Lord let out a hearty laugh.
"We're not so different, you and I," he said.
"I'm nothing like you," the boy grinned. "I'm more than a program."
"Progr... you think I'm an NPC??" Dark Lord Frank asked with a broad smile. He realized that the misunderstanding would be over quickly. "Are you Unique?" he added.
"#14, La Muerte," he said. "My name's Sprocket; so you're not an NPC Dark Lord?" Dark Lord Frank shook his head.
"Sorry to tell you, kid. This is a PvP server. I'm not giving up my spot on the leaderboard for your homework."
"So.. why are you doing the budget?" Sprocket asked. "Don't you have NPC advisors for that?"
"I have several that I don't trust. Doing it myself means I'm sure where the money goes."
"Whoa. A Dark Lord that cares?" Sprocket asked. "I heard you looking for the school budget when I barged in." Dark Lord Frank nodded.
"Care nothing," he said. "If I don't divert all the funds to me, the system uses the default distribution and I lose out. I have to manually change them all."
"But, wait a second...," his eyes sparkled. "A muerte? You can stop time! Give me more time this month, and I'll fight you right now. I get my budget and you get your homework done." Sprocket shook his head.
"Sorry," he said. "It won't count on a PvP server, I need to go find a different kingdom to conquer."
"Oh c'mon! At least give me back the last five minutes; you made a save point, didn't you?"
"Yeah, alright," Sprocket nodded. "Good luck," he said.
Dark Lord Frank blinked. He heard the door to his chambers open and was incensed.
"I SAID NO INTERRUPTIONS!" He bellowed from his table. A young teen boy looked at him and nodded.
"Sorry, I'll come back another time," he said. He sunk into a portal at his feet and disappeared. The Dark Lord sighed in relief.
"Well, he seemed nice," Dark Lord Frank nodded to himself, then focused on his work again. He dug through the sheets. "School budgets... school budgets..."