Chapter 8 - A Demon, A God, And A Bitch In Red

CHAPTER SEVEN: A DEMON, A GOD, AND A dog IN RED

Using Matt’s smell and Viper’s direction sense, the party made it across the sea to China and were now standing outside a magnificent temple surrounded by a beautiful garden. Red and Matt left the rest of the group outside and entered alone. They were soon stopped by a bunch of guards, but instead of being rational and talking to them, Matt and Red drew their weapons. To make matters worse, the guards summoned reinforcements and soon guards were circling Matt and Red while archers positioned themselves along the temple walls.
“Well this should be fun” stated Red.
“If this is fun for you, remind me never to do any more fun activities with you again” remarked Matt.
“Oh well, we all have our own opinions”
“Yeah, but your’s are just messed up” Matt said.
The guards parted to let their captain into the circle. Red laughed hard when he saw her familiar face.
“Hi Argol! Fancy meeting you here!” said Lotus cheerfully.
“Hey. What are you doing here?” asked Red.
“I was called back to duty” replied Lotus.
“So how’s Spade?” Red questioned.
“Will you stop chit-chatting and get her to call of the guards!” shouted Matt.
“Sorry. Guards, leave these two for Spade and me” ordered Lotus.
Spade walked in shortly after the guards and the archers had left.
“What do you say Spade, you and me verse these two?” asked Lotus.
“Oh hey Argol…yeah I will join” replied Spade.
“Argol? They called you Argol?” laughed Matt.
“Well it is my name. Maybe you should start calling me by it as well!” Red retorted.
“Fine. But not only do you have messed up opinions, but you also have messed up friends too…wait, that means I’m messed up!” Matt stated.
“Well I wasn’t going to say anything but…” Red started.
“Can we get on with this?” interrupted Spade.
Lotus and Spade drew their weapons and faced Argol and Matt, ready to fight. Matt and Argol nodded at each other and then they too drew their weapons. Matt didn’t know what to expect because he had never met these two until now, but he was prepared for anything. Spade made the first move by running at Argol, but at the last minute he planted one of the pitchfork’s ends into the ground and, using the momentum, lifted himself into the air above Argol and came striking down.
Matt moved to stop this but Lotus jumped in his path and proceeded to slash away at him. Matt delivered a powerful kick to Lotus, who fell to the ground. When Matt moved closer she sprang up, catching Matt off guard, and cutting into his shoulder. Argol had dodged Spade’s attack but was not prepared for his next move, which involved Spade twirling his double pitchfork around in front of him. Spade’s move knocked Argol to the ground but he hit the ground falling backwards, so he rolled using the momentum and got straight back to his feet. Unfortunately, he was unaware of Lotus waiting for him. She used the hilt of her sword to break Argol’s nose, making him fall to the ground next to Matt.
“Argol, we need to learn to work together like these two” said Matt.
Argol wiped the blood from his face.
"Let’s just finish this okay"
Matt got up, took his cloak off, and threw it to the ground. Argol was shocked that Matt wasn’t shifting, but understood why, so he got up with his katanas in hand. Argol and Matt looked at each other, nodded, and ran at their targets. Both Spade and Lotus braced themselves, but at the last moment Matt jumped at Spade and Argol dived straight at Lotus. Lotus, slightly surprised, only just managed to avoid Argol, but he rolled forward between her legs and got up behind her. He then grabbed her and whistled; throwing Lotus at Matt. Matt knocked Spade to the ground and gave Lotus a roundhouse kick to her stomach. Spade was back on his feet, but Matt used his gladius’ to grab his pitchfork and wrench it out of Spade’s grasp. Lotus was up again but she had lost her sword. Argol and Matt looked at the two, sheathed their weapons, and Matt grabbed his cloak.
“Great fight, but you have to expect the unexpected. That is why Red and myself beat you” Matt stated.
Spade looked over at Argol from on the ground.
“Why does this man call you Red?” asked Spade as Argol helped him up
“My alias is Red dragon” explained Argol.
Lotus got up with help from Matt.
“Wait, wasn’t that guy at the arena called Red dragon?” questioned Lotus.
Matt looked at his friend.
“What are they talking about?”
At that point, a loud groan interrupted the conversation and Viper sat on the ground pouting.
“I thought you were going to kill them”
Amy sat down next to Viper.
“Haha, Viper you are so predictable, but I must say that was an amusing fight”
Summer and Skye just stood up next to Amy.
“Forget about the fight, I want to know more about this impostor” stated Skye.
“Fine, Manta and I will tell you all about it” said Red reluctantly.
Argol began to explain the event that took place several days ago. He told them about Tiamat and the dark agents, and with every word Viper had a powerful hatred overcome her. Amy noticed this and laughed at the thought of this happening to Viper. After Argol finished, Viper jumped up stamping her feet on the ground.
“If she wants Underworld Shadow that bad, she will have to go through me first. I will do anything for my master, so I will protect it from that beast!” shouted Viper.
Amy burst out into laughter and everybody else just looked at her in shock. Argol had a puzzled look on his face.
"Did she just say Underworld Shadow was her master?” asked Argol.
“Yes, she did. She works for Demon and Underworld Shadow, killing anyone else who pursues that damn sword” explained Matt.
“Whoa, you knew about this and didn’t tell anyone?” questioned Argol.
“She has not shown any hostility so I decided it would be safe” said Matt in a casual tone.
Argol shook his head disappointedly at Matt.
“Yeah but you didn’t tell me, what if I ended up alone with her?”
Viper snuck up behind red and grabbed him by the waist.
“You need not worry about me, you are helping me take down my master’s enemies” explained Viper.
“Well anyway, we’d better get to that sword as soon as possible.

* * *

That night the party stayed in the security of the garden. In the morning Argol awoke only to find Viper missing.
“Well I guess she has her reasons” shrugged Argol.
The party bid farewell to Lotus and Spade and headed south. The party moved across a town shadowed by rumours of a strange man lurking around. Summer stayed in hopes of putting her brother to rest. Amy, Matt, Skye, Argol, and Manta continued forward to Europe. Amy walked up next to Argol
“So where are we going? We have been travelling for days and we haven’t found anything”
“I know, I know, but something tells me we are almost there” explained Argol.
Skye gave an annoyed moan.
“Almost where, are we near Demon?” she asked.
“Yeah, I started to pick up a stronger scent of Underworld Shadow earlier on. It’s getting stronger with every step” Matt stated.
The party arrived at a dark forest covered by a strange mist. Matt and Argol lead the way through it and soon they found themselves facing a huge cathedral. Once inside echoes of a fierce battle surrounded them, the sound of steel clashing with steel, and the cries and shouts of two people desperate to kill each other. All five of them ran and entered into an opened up room facing out to a magnificent lake. In the centre of the room, an ape-like beast wearing gold armour fought with a knight in blue armour. Argol could easily tell that the beast was Demon, but the knight in blue armour was unknown to him. Demon shielded himself from an attack by the knight and forced him back. Demon growled and charged at the knight, who tried to brace himself. The knight wasn’t strong enough and soon slumped to the ground with a fatal wound. Demon faced his new opponents.
“Mwahahahaha, you shall all perish!” he yelled in a husky voice.
A cloaked figure appeared and walked toward the scene.
“I think not. I have come too far to allow Underworld Shadow out of my sight”
Matt recognized the figure and clenched his fists
“Hades, what are you doing here?” Matt asked as Hades removed his cloak
“I was able to trick Zeus into releasing me from the underworld. What a fool he was!” replied Hades.
Demon just stood there laughing.
“What is a god going to do? Even you can't match my power!” he protested.
“Boys, boys, enough of this. You can just forget about that sword because I will be taking it”
Everyone turned toward the newcomer. It was a woman. She had long blond hair and a perfect figure. She wore a red dress and she carried two Sais. Argol drew his katanas and sneered at the woman.
“Well if it isn’t the dog in red”

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