THE MOMENT
"TEN!?" It came as a surprise and Valentine's voice came with audible doubt. This wasn't what she wanted; but, she was already in the situation. She was in the villain's room in the middle of the night surrounded by his guards. "Can we skip to the end and you trying to kill me now?" The teenage ninja wearing deep red garb sighed when the head boss shook his head.
"The one thing I want you to understand before I kill you is that I am a man of my word," he replied. "You intruded in my home, attacked my men and attempted to murder me in my sleep."
"I mean, not really," Valentine shook her head with a giggle. "If I was trying to murder you, you wouldn't have woken up."
"And, yet I did," the boss chuckled to himself. They both found the situation amusing, although each had a different understanding of what was happening. "I wonder what kind of assassin gives herself up at the first sign of trouble. I'd assume not a very good one. Frankly, I find it insulting that someone sent an amateur to kill me."
"Insulting enough to try and kill me, right?" Valentine asked with the enthusiasm of a child pleading their case for extra dessert.
"In approximately eight and a half minutes..., you still have time to convince me to spare you. I'm not entirely unreasonable."
"I shouldn't have come alone...," Valentine sighed. She had a few trustworthy friends that she could have asked to join her if she knew how things would happen. It would've been nice to pass the time with someone, either figuratively or literally.
"Oh, you have friends?" the boss asked. He made a gesture at some of his men and they ran out of the room in search for other intruders. "If I know anything about friendship, you're not as alone as you might think...," he said. "I think we'll give your friends a few more minutes to try and save you. I'm already awake after all, this could be exciting...," he said.
"What? NO!" Valentine complained. "I'm ALONE!" she said.
"We'll see," he nodded. "Let's give them 15 minutes, maybe they'll get to watch you die," he said.
"FIFTEEN!!??" Valentine's hand went to her sword; but, she fought off the urge. "FINE!" She was annoyed more than anything, and she didn't want to make the situation worse. She realized her best bet was to let things happen naturally. And, luckily, that didn't require anything from her.
"Nothing to say?" the boss asked after 14 minutes of silence had gone by. Valentine remained still, and ready with her hand on the sword grip. As time wound down, his men returned one by one and surrounded her.
"Well, it seems you were telling the truth, and you are quite alone...," he nodded as he drew his own sword and held it ready. "...it's a shame really, that's no way to die...," he added. He held the blade for an extra second, then finally nodded.
"That's time, goodbye," he said. He had just enough time to tighten his grip before Valentine disappeared.
"Finally!" she said as she reappeared behind him and his body instantly slumped and toppled forward with his head traveling further than it should've. With the leader gone, his men disintegrated into white dust as Valentine knelt to inspect the body.
"I'm not doing this again without help...," Valentine sighed as she stood up. He hadn't dropped the item she was looking for, and she needed to repeat the encounter to try again. But, now she knew there was a hard time limit that couldn't be skipped just by asking. She made the decision to ask a friend before trying again and walked out of the room.
As she left, the room went dark again and heavy snoring filled the air. The boss was asleep again, waiting for the next adventurer to try and threaten him.