"Witnesses had reported seeing a large dog-like beast in the museum." The reporter was saying on live. "The authorities is now informing the public to stay calm and avoid going near the museum... Meanwhile-"
"Oh God, please don't tell me the thing gotten loose with the Hydra." Lloyd moaned as he watched the screen. V.V. was holding a large bag of chips in her hands she gazed at the screen.
"Lloyd," Glenn said rather abruptly. "I'm going to go to Columbia library. Maybe I can get the Greecian textbook from there."
"Actually, you can go to the bookstore that I'm working at." V.V. shoved an employee discount towards him. "Use this."
Glenn grabbed her into a hug and said, "Thanks, V. I owe you." He then grabbed his jacket and said, "I'll be right back." The door then close behind him.
"Looks like it's you and me again." Lloyd gave a mock cheery wave.
"Shouldn't we go and stop the puppy?" V.V. asked, tossing a chip to him, who caught it neatly in his mouth.
"Good point. Let's go."
***********
Reo parked his Suzuki right near Maggie's bookstore. He had received a call earlier from none other than Guy.
"I had a feeling they might try to stop the commotion. Stall them if you can." He had said.
Reo opened the compartment of his bike. An assortment of weapons ranging from commando knives to hand pistols and to a pair of long looking weapons tightly wrapped in a thick bundle of cloths.
There's no need to use them, he thought, eying the bundles. I just have to stall him, right? He then took out an old-fashioned Mauser and weighed it in his hands. Guess this'll have to do.
A cab pulled up in front of the bookstore. Reo eyed it with a feeling of familiarity. Oh yeah, of course. It's that cab driver, Arnie, the one who drove them to Brooklyn Bridge.
"Thanks for the ride, Arnie." Glenn was saying to him.
""Tis my pleasure, Glenn." Arnie said, tipping his cap to him. "You just look after yourself now."
Arnie then sped off, zigzagging into the road. Glenn hurriedly went into the bookstore, the bell tinkling.
Reo switched the safety off the gun and went in.
************
It didn't take too long for them to track Cerberus down. A three-headed dog is bound to not to attract people right? Wrong.
Lloyd brought his blade out of the boot as V.V. got out. Cerberus is attacking some of the people near the museum. Police are firing at it but are having no success. Cerberus had just caught hold one of the police and bite him from the head up, causing V.V. to turn away as she heard the screams and the sound of bones snapping.
"Ready?" Lloyd asked. She nodded in response.
They then made their way to the struggling police, who seems to be running out of firearms.
"Excuse me." Lloyd pushed his way through. One of the police officer turned around and yelled, "YOU!!!"
Yep, it's the same snobby police officer who wouldn't let the into the museum.
"What do you want? In case you did not notice, we're having a crisis here!"
Lloyd grabbed him by the collar, causing him to let out an alarmed yell.
"Now you listen you," He and the officer are a few inches apart. "I can see that you are on the losing side here, and you don't even have a clue what you're up against. We, on the other hand, had an idea what's going on here. So you either let us deal with it, or you can just carry on wasting your firearms."
"Are you threatening me?" His voice raised into an octave.
Before Lloyd could counter, several officers screamed as the Hydra slithered into view. Oh God, the officers seemed to have made its head multiplied into well, who knows. There's just too many heads in one body. Even as he watched, the Hydra struck multiple target at once, each one striking the heart.
"You know what, you can take over. I'm out." The officer squeaked as he saw countless of bodies with holes in their chest on the ground where the Hydra heads had struck.
"He learns fast." Lloyd said thoughtfully as the officer ran off.
"Here it comes." V.V. pointed.
Cerberus charged into view, its eyes tainted with fury. Lloyd swung his blade in front of him just in time to blocked himself from one of the heads from biting him. V.V. turned her hair into a schythe and diced it.
Or so she thought as a large red shield appeared out of nowhere and deflected her.
"V.V. Long time no see." A voice crowed.
She turned her hands into shield just in time as a large red spiked flail came swinging towards her.
"V.V. Come and drink with me." Guy turned his hands into large blades and tried slicing her.
"I should've known it was you." V.V. said as she tried to swing her schythe towards him.
"Tell me, V.V., do you like it?" He was breathing with excitement.
"No, I don't!" V.V. banged him hard with a mallet.
Lloyd suddenly came hurtling towards them, his blade stuck in front him, stabbing Guy through the stomach.
"So you're the mastermind behind all of this."
Instead of bleeding, like V.V., cracks appeared where he was stabbed. "That hurts, you bastard. Now I'm missing half of my stomach."
The Hydra suddenly swing towards them, causing V.V. to stumble back. All of its heads opened its mouth wide, leering for the kill.
"Leave her!" He snapped. "She's mine. You and Cerberus take the guy."
To everyone's surprise, the Hydra slithered back and aimed for Lloyd who jab it with the handle of his blade. Cerberus leapt at him, swiping his blade away.
"Oh, darn." Lloyd swore as Cerberus loomed over him.
************
"Sorry, we're closing." Kelly began as Glenn trooped in.
He shoved the employee pass at her. "I'm Vivian's cousin. She told me to get a book of Greecian legends for her."
"Oh, er... Last second row to your right..." She said meekly, flinching at his hassled expression.
Without a word of thanks, Glenn sprinted to the back just as the bell tinkled a second time and Reo entered.
"Sorry, we're closing." Kelly began again.
Reo eyed wearily. He have to get her out without drawing any attention. The most efficient way would be is to knock her out.
And that is what he did.
One minute he was in front of her, next minute he gave her a swift chop to the neck, causing her to slump onto the counter. He heaved her onto the back of the counter and set her on the stool so that she looks as though she's resting.
Meanwhile, Glenn is at the back, browsing the books through their covers.
"No.... no.... no.... oooh....A book on stress management... No... What the heck is this???? No..."
He must've shifted God knows how many books till he finally found the one which he was looking for, a thick dusty book with a faded cover and yellowed pages. There's a large NOT ALLOWED TO BE BORROWED sticker taped onto the spine of the book.
"Sorry, looks like I'll have to bend the rule a little." He was about to tuck it into his bag when there's a loud crack.
"What-" He jumped with fright, biting his lip in the process. "Yeow!"
Reo stepped into view, the Mauser aiming for his head.
"Minamio!" Glenn exclaimed.
"Sorry, but you're not going anywhere." Reo said. "I won't hurt you unless you do as I say." He held out a hand. "Hand the book over."
"What???"
"Don't ask questions. Hand it over."
Glenn shook his head and ducked as Reo fired another bullet at him. He swung his bag, which must've weighed a lot, which went slamming into his stomach, knocking the breath out of him, which doesn't help as he was also sent stumbling against the nearest shelf, causing a cascade of books rained down on him. The Mauser had fallen off his hand and landed in front of his feet.
"I'll be taking this." Glenn said, picking up the Mauser. "See ya."
He then ran off.
************
"Let...go...." Lloyd yelled as Cerberus bit his leg. Thankfully, the bite wasn't deep, but still, blood is seeping through the material.
"I say....let...go!!!!" Lloyd try lashing out with his other foot but it just clung on.
Every time V.V. try to run to help him, Guy intercept her and threw her back into their field.
"Don't interrupt, V.V. Let the dog play with its toy." He laughed, swinging her back to their battle.
"You, step aside!" V.V. turned her hair into a mace and try to flail him with it He caught it with his bare hands and smiled, "Ding ding. Round 4."
Lloyd's hand flailed around wildly around him. His blade landed a few feet away from him, but with his foot getting chewed by a vicious three-headed dog, it's impossible for him to retrieve it.
His hand caught hold of something rough and solid. A jagged piece of rock lying on the ground. With scuttling fingers, he grabbed hold of it and stabbed it down onto one of its snouts. It gave a loud howl of pain and let him go. Blood still tainted its fangs. And the blood on his leg is slowly spreading like a rapidly blossoming blood flower.
Lloyd made a dash for it as Cerberus leapt towards him, smashing a statue of the President of the United States that stood in the middle of a fountain feature. He grabbed his blade and with pin point accuracy, struck Cerberus's heart as it tried to pounce onto him.
Cerberus's eyes seemed to bulged a moment. Then without warning, it gave a loud yelp, like an injured dog and exploded into dust. All that remains of it is a pile of sparkling grey sand. Without warning, he sank onto the ground, giving weight to his injured leg. Even though Cerberus maybe a mystical Greek creature, the bite seems to be infected like a normal dog's bite. Right now, in addition to bleeding, his leg is also slowly becoming swollen. Beads of sweat started to form on his head.
"Ah, it's finally gone..." He then collapsed onto the ground.
V.V. ducked a javelin which Guy tried to stab her with and run all the way to Lloyd, who's turning pale and feverish by the minute.
"I forgot to mention," Guy said casually. "Even though Cerberus is like a Greek myth, it's still a dog, in a way... You might want to get him checked for infections."
V.V.'s hair morphed into a pair of fists and tried punching him, but he ducked out of the way, laughing.
That was when something twisted around her and tried strangling her.
"Hisss-ssss."
Uh-oh.
"No! No! No! Leave her!" Guy yelled at the Hydra who is strangling V.V. "Leave her, damn it! Take him instead!"
The Hydra gave a hiss and dropped V.V., who coughed for breath as it slithered towards a very weakened Lloyd. Before she could even make a move, Guy lunged at her, slamming her hard onto the ground. She's aware of her forehead cracking a little. And she could practically feel Guy salivating as the Hydra slowly wrap Lloyd into its embrace.
Suddenly, there was a loud crack and Guy loosened his grip on her. Taking advantage of the surprise, she turned her hair into a sledgehammer and smashed his face with it. There was sickening crack as it made contact.
"Good one, V." Glenn's voice came from behind her. He's holding his Sauer ready. He looks a little disheveled. There's blood flowing from his swollen lip and his hair is all messy. "You alright?"
"Y-Yes, thank you." She shakily got us. Guy was lying on his face. A bullet had embedded itself deeply into his back.
"Where's Lloyd?"
The Hydra came launching towards them, its many heads bared open to reveal venomous fangs. In the midst of its body, Lloyd is being bound tightly by its body. His eyes aren't fully shut, so that you see the whiteness of his eyes through the silts.
V.V. shuddered. "This is sickening."
Glenn was too busy shaking a faded yellowed book out of his bag. "What?"
"Noth- Isn't that a non-borrowable book?" She suddenly caught sight of the book.
"Er-yes." He said meekly. "Please don't report me."
"If that book goes missing, then you're responsible for it," she warned as he frantically flip the pages.
"Twelve Labours... Twelve Labours... Aha..." He stopped at a chapter. " 'Heracles' nephew, Iolaus used a blazing firebrand to scorch the stumps of the Hydra after each decapitation to prevent the heads from regenerating, because the weakness of the Hydra is only one of its many heads is immortal.' "
The Hydra slammed itself onto V.V. who gave a loud wail of pain as three of its heads bit her arm hard. Cracks started appearing at the punctured area.
"You leave her alone!" Glenn fired three shots straight into its heads. He didn't notice strands of red hair had wrapped itself around his legs till he felt something tingling. "Ahhh!!!"
Guy, whose face is badly smashed, though it's slowly recovering, tossed him onto the badly smashed statue.
"Screw you, you retard." Guy scowled.
V.V. inched away from the Hydra and felt something hard in her hands. Lloyd's blade...
As the Hydra lunged for her again, she grabbed the blade, which is surprisingly durable, and swung it hard at its head, managing to cleave many at once. While its headless stumps is writhing, she quickly pulled Lloyd to safety.
"That hurts." Glenn picked himself up. That blow would've break a normal human's bones, but thanks to his vampire heritage, all he suffered was blue black bruises. He then rummaged in his pockets and brought out a box of matches. "Good thing I always carry these around me."
Guy's eyes widened. "You wouldn't-"
"Watch me." He tossed the matches to V.V. who caught it without looking, struck a handful and tossed it to the writhing Hydra. At first it started as a small flame, but it gradually grew bigger and bigger as she tossed more and more matches, each one catching a part of it and eventually consuming it. The charred, unrecognizable thing that had once been the legendary Hydra was being burned into nothing.
"Damn you!!!!" Guy screamed, charging towards Glenn, his hands outstretched, each one turning into a sickle blade. But before any of them could make a move, a tall dark hooded figure swooped down between them, causing him to halt.
"Get out of my way!" He roared.
"Your little grand scheme had failed." Revarie sneered beneath his hood.
"Shut up!"
"Your plan to use Reo to stall also failed."
"Wha-"
Reo emerged from behind him. He suffered a few bruises and a cut lip from the book debris, but otherwise he's fine.
Guy gave a snarl of defeat as his hands morphed back to normal and his hair went back to its usual length.
"Next time, you won't be so lucky." Guy turned away with a huff.
As Glenn picked Lloyd up, Revarie said to him, "Be warned. Next time we meet, I will claim your head to prune my family lines."
He and Reo then left, who snatched back his Mauser without anyone looking.
"We have to get him to the hospital. You too." He nodded at her.
"I'm fine." V.V. protested.
"No, you're not. That Guy just gave you a beating. You need treatment." He tugged her hand. "Come on."
They then made their way to the parked Land Rover as the evening sun begins to set into the dusk.
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