Unwillingly Summoned: Chapter 4 – Cheap Shot

“I didn’t look,” repeated James.

Maggie stared at him in open-mouthed confusion before she finally asked, “Why?”

“Because it doesn’t matter.”

“How can it not matter? Your class determines what kind of powers you get!”

James didn’t think that hurling profanities at his friend would be terribly productive. So, he counted backwards from five in his head before formulating an answer.

“It doesn’t matter what class or powers I got because I don’t plan to use them.”

Those words seemed to hit Maggie like a bucket of cold water, because she straightened up and her face did some complex contortions that even James had never seen before. Her face finally settled into a kind of forced neutrality.

“What do you mean?” she asked cautiously.

She’s really going to make me say it, thought James. He didn’t want this argument. He hated arguing with people about anything, but he supposed that avoiding this one had always been an impossible long shot. Not wanting to fight wasn’t the same thing as not being willing to have the fight. He knew Maggie. He had a pretty good idea of the thought process she must have gone through once she got to this world, or universe, or dimension, or video game analogue, or whatever the hell version of an isekai this was. He had no intentions of playing along with these people like what they did to him was somehow okay.

“I mean that I’m not going to be some sacrifice for whoever brought us here. I’ve listened to you talk about these kinds of stories often enough to know that’s exactly what’s about to happen.”

“It isn’t like that,” objected Maggie.

“Oh, really?” asked James. “So, there isn’t a dark lord or villainous army or some other kind of looming threat going on?”

“Well—” Maggie started to hedge.

“That’s what I thought. The answer is no. I’m not going to help them. And neither should you.”

“Why not? People are dying. Doesn’t that matter to you?”

“Strangers are dying, Maggie. Just like strangers were dying back on earth.”

“But we can actually do something about it here!”

“Maggie!” James nearly screamed. “You seem hellbent on ignoring the fact that these people kidnapped us!”

“They needed help,” said Maggie, her eyes flashing.

“You know what you do when you need help?” James shot back. “You fucking ask for help. You don’t snatch people from another world and forcibly draft them into your fight.”

Maggie opened her mouth to say something, but James cut her off.

“Look. I get that this is probably some kind of dream come true for you, but do you know what my dream was? I wanted to go to college. Build a career. Have a family. That was the future I saw for myself. These people stole that future from me, and they can’t give it back!”

That finally seemed to crack through the fantasy armor that Maggie had erected around her mind. Uncertainty marred her expression. She even took a halting step away from him. James pounced on the opportunity.

“What do you imagine our parents are going to think?” he asked mercilessly.

“That’s a cheap shot,” she said, anger replacing her uncertainty.

“Is it? I don’t think so. We vanish. No explanation. No leads. They’re going to think we’re dead or, worse, that we ran off together and cut ties with them. There won’t be any bodies, so they’ll never know. Not for sure. They get to live out the rest of their lives wondering what happened. Did you not think about any of that, or you were just too in love with this fantasy crap to care?”

James was surprised that he actually saw the swing of Maggie’s hand. He was so surprised that he didn’t do anything to stop it. When the open palm connected with his face, the pain of it snapped him back to reality. He’d never been slapped by a woman before, but something told him that the starburst of white that exploded in his vision probably wasn’t normal. She had all but broken his jaw the day before, and he’d gotten the impression that she’d held back. The momentary burst of pain faded a lot faster than he expected. There also wasn’t a lingering sense that things were broken that should be whole. He didn’t even really have time to work up a full head of steam because she was shouting at him with tears on her cheeks.

“How could you say that to me! Of course, I care. My parents will be devasted by this, but I can’t change that. Nothing I do will change that!”

“Maggie—”

“No! You had your say. Now, it’s my turn. I’m not going to pretend that what they did wasn’t all kinds of screwed up. It sure isn’t like I imagined it would be. They did kidnap us, and we can never go home. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to forgive them for that. But that doesn’t change that fact that everyone here, every last person in this kingdom, is in real danger. Coming here gave us power. Maybe you don’t like it. Maybe you don’t want it. But punishing the entire population just to get back at the people who snatched us won’t fix anything. Do you think the demons and monsters are just going to give you a free pass because you said no to being a hero? They aren’t. They’ll kill you just as fast as they’d kill anyone else.”

James forced himself to keep his mouth shut until he could see past his anger, at least a little bit.

“Maybe what you’re saying is true,” he conceded. “But none of that changes the fact that none of this is our problem. We didn’t have a hand in creating this situation. I don’t see any reason at all why solving it should fall on our shoulders. Sure, maybe we do have special powers now, but only because some interdimensional d-bags scooped us up. And you want me to help the people who set all of that in motion? They can go screw themselves.”

Maggie went to say something else, but a muffled cry caused both of them to spin toward the noise. There was a brawny man and young woman standing there. The man was almost absurdly tall and well-muscled with piercing blue eyes and flecks of silver in his otherwise raven-black hair. The girl didn’t share the man’s height but was clearly his daughter. She had the same raven-black hair and stared at James with nearly identical eyes. It seemed that she had been the source of the noise, judging by the hands she had over mouth. She was ashen-faced and looked to be on the verge of tears. The man had better composure, but he looked pale as well.

They’d rather obviously overheard at least the last part of the argument and weren’t taking it well. The four of them all just sort of stood there, awkwardly staring at each, and with nobody speaking. Terry could imagine more embarrassing situations but not very many. Just when he thought that the overwhelming awkwardness had struck its peak, the young woman rushed over to him, sank to her knees, clasped her hands together, and proceeded to talk.

“Please, Sir Hero, I beg you not to forsake us!”

No, this is so much more awkward, thought James. He desperately yearned for the stifling awkwardness of just a few moments ago, instead of the crushing awkwardness that was on him now. What made the whole thing even worse was that the young woman was either the greatest actress ever born, or she meant it. Given that the odds of running into sincerity was, oh, about a billion times more likely than meeting the greatest actress alive on this world or his old world, she probably meant it. All of that aside, though, he still had a simmering cauldron of anger inside of him that was threatening to boil over.

“Ariana!” snapped the older man. “Show the dignity of your station!”

James glanced at Maggie. She looked reluctant, but she did what she knew he wanted her to do.

“James, these are King Edvin and Princess Ariana.”

The princess ignored her father completely and said, “The people are this nation are doomed if you do not aid us.”

The strangeness, the despair, and the awkwardness were all too much for James, and the contents of that cauldron spilled over the side and directly onto the princess. With a coldness in his voice that made almost unrecognizable to himself, he went for blood.

“Tell that to my mother.”

Ariana flinched back like he'd slapped her. The king took a step toward them, his hand dropping the hilt of a sword as if he meant to strike this cruel stranger down. James froze the man in place with a look. He didn’t know exactly what kind of powers he’d gotten from being thrust into this sideshow, but it was pretty clear the king wasn’t in a hurry to find out.

“James!” said Maggie, shock and warning in her voice.

“I owe them nothing,” said James.

Part of James knew that the situation was spiraling out of control, and he wasn’t helping matters with his anger. He just couldn’t let it go. He couldn’t get the image of his parents and siblings wondering what had become of him out of his head. Fortunately, the king proved to have better self-control than James.

“He’s right, Ariana,” said the king in even tones.

“Father,” said an aghast Ariana.

“He’s right. He owes us nothing. We took him from his home, his family, and offer him nothing in return but the certainty of violence and no way back. If he possesses even a fraction of the strength that the heroes of legend had, we should consider ourselves lucky that he hasn’t left this castle a smoking ruin.”

The princess turned pleading eyes on James, and it almost worked. She wasn’t that much older than his sister. He hardened his heart. No matter how sad and desperate she looked, her problems weren’t his problems. She seemed to sense the futility of her actions and lowered her head. The king spoke again. He sounded old, weary, and broken.

“Young man, I cannot send you back. No one can. I can see to it that you are given enough to start a comfortable life here.”

James looked at Maggie with a question on his face. She stared back at him for a moment, seemingly locked in place by indecision. Finally, she turned away. He had his answer. She meant to stay and fight whatever disaster was threatening this kingdom. He was disappointed but unsurprised. He turned his gaze to the king and offered a short, curt nod.

“Very well,” said James.