Chapter 7

Earning Respect

'Hey! Holy bitch!' Duncan's voice echoed through the dungeons. Waking up, Nody lifted her head. Her eyes were stinging of tiredness and the muscles in her arms were hurting more than ever. Sleep was another way to escape the harsh reality, next to praying. It never lasted long, but it made her less tired. The dreams weren't that bad either; she dreamed she was back in Heaven, having strolls in the garden of the Holy Castle. She had forgotten all about the pain and the sexual assault; she was back in Heaven and nothing mattered anymore. The sun shined on her face and there was a nice breeze.

That was until she was rudely woken up. Instantly, the pain returned and she could feel Scott's touches all over her body again.

Duncan entered her prison. 'It has been quite a while since you've washed yourself, so me and my buddies have decided to give you a nice shower!' Nody didn't even respond anymore. She had decided to no longer respond to any of the Demons' questions or insults. 'Alejandro! Noah! Get over here!' Emerging from the darkness, the two male Demons appeared. Alejandro was limping behind Noah, trying to keep up with him. Noah was holding a big bucket and a big dirty cloth. The two Demons entered the prison, grinning like maniacs. Noah handed over the bucket and cloth to Duncan. 'Alright guys... hold her legs.'

Noah and Alejandro grabbed Nody's ankles and pulled them, causing her body to be lift into the air. Clearly Alejandro had trouble holding her legs, but as vengeful as he was, he refused to let go. Nody gasped. 'No!'

'Oh look, guys!' Duncan exclaimed. 'The bitch can speak after all!' His two friends burst into laughter. The Demon grabbed Nody's hair and covered her face with the cloth. 'And don't even think of trying to shake it off.' he threatened. He grabbed the bucket. 'You see, this will be a very special kind of shower.' Duncan explained. Underneath the cloth, Nody's breathing grew faster in rapid speed. 'We've got this water for you, we had to go a long way to get it. It's from one of the lakes from Hell, the Phlegethon...' Smirking, he looked at his friends and nodded, for the build-up. Nody couldn't see a thing underneath the cloth. The Phlegethon... she had heard about that lake before, but she couldn't exactly remember what kind of lake it was. She would find out soon enough, though.

Then, Duncan shouted with a grin: 'The River of the Boiling Blood!'

He tilted the bucket and the content spilled out. Boiling blood. Nody screamed in pain when the red hot liquid covered her skin, but the cloth caused her scream to be muffled. Steam filled the prison. Nody could feel her skin burning and turning red. Her body twitched with burning pain. And there was nothing she could do.

'Enjoying your shower, bitch?' Duncan asked, laughing. 'Your face needs to be washed too. Here you go!' He tilted the bucket once more and spilled the rest of the blood over the cloth. The blood soaked into it, touching Nody's skin once more. Her face was on fire and she had the feeling she was drowning. Her muffled screams echoed through the whole dungeon.

'What took you so damn long?' Scott demanded angrily, slamming his fist on his throne. Noah was late; it was one of those things that displeased him so much. 'Pardon me.' Noah said, closing the doors of the throne room behind. 'Me, Duncan and that crippled piece of shit paid a little visit to the feathered bitch.' 'You guys didn't rape her, did you? You know that only our Lord can touch her.'

'I swear, we didn't rape her.'

'Good. Now, report. What is the plan?'

Noah nodded. 'Alright. Will you pay attention, even if it's just for once?' 'Yeah, sure. Now report already, damn it.' Noah rolled his eyes and sighed. Working for the mightiest Demon in Hell sure was a pain in the ass.

When Noah entered Hell as a doomed soul, he joined the long line of other souls who were about to enter Charon's vessel, facing their fate. Just when Noah was about to board, he heard a booming voice yelling to the Demon Guards to pick him out of the line. Looking up, he saw a huge Demon with flaming horns and wings looking down on him. The Demon Guards grabbed him by his arms and flew into the air, pulling him out of the line. Noah remembered the looks on the faces of the souls; they were full of agony and desperation. The Demon Guards faced him with the Archdemon. In the air, Scott gave him redemption. He told him he saw something special in him; an intelligence that shouldn't be underestimated. He could use a military strategist. Suddenly, Scott opened his mouth as far as possible and spat fire at him. But strangely enough, the fire didn't hurt Noah. But something else did; the skin near his shoulder blades burst open and two bat wings grew out with a massive pain. His skull was killing him; on each side of his head, a horn emerged. When the flames were gone, Noah's transformation was complete. He was now turned into a Demon and promoted to Scott's military strategist.

But even though Scott saved him from everlasting torture, he sure was an asshole.

'So this is the plan,' Noah explained. 'I was thinking of letting our pretty little bitch walk to Heaven's Gates, seemingly all alone and harmless. And without a hymen.' Scott snickered, but Noah continued anyway. 'Of course they will open the Gates for her, and that's when we come in. Satan, who has consumed the virgin blood before the attack, shall wipe out all the Angels and defeat God. Of course we shall stand next to him, killing off the remaining Angels. There is no way possible for us to lose, trust me on this.' Noah smirked at Scott. For once, he managed to catch his attention; the Archdemon smirked back, approving the plan. 'Capturing Nodelle was possibly the best thing we've ever done.'

A short earthquake made Hell shake. Scott raised from his throne. 'What was that?' Noah asked. It remained silent for a little while, but quickly another earthquake followed. The frequency of the earthquakes increased, louder and heavier. It sounded like heavy footsteps.

Like something had broken loose.

'I'm going to check it out. Noah, summon up the Demons.' Scott spread his flaming wings and flew out of the throne room.

Flying as fast as a he could, he flew through the dark hall ways of the Dark Castle. Was it a Beast that has broken loose? What happened? Where was its tamer?

Scott knew he had to be a role model for the Demons. Satan had put all his trust into him. He had to be the most sadistic, powerful and relentless unholy creature that Hell has ever known. He was created to be Satan's image, the embodiment of this unholy world. One failure and he would disgrace his Lord. And disgracing his Lord meant punishment. He would get stripped from his title as Archdemon and he would be banished to the lowest ring of Hell. There he would be forever trapped in the cold ice, amongst the souls of those who have committed treachery in their mortal lives. If he was lucky, he would get killed.

No failures.

Scott reached the exit of the Dark Castle. There, he saw a familiar Demon. It was the Demon Witch Courtney. She looked panicked.

'Courtney!' he yelled. 'What's going on?' 'Something has broken loose, master.' Courtney replied, her voice slightly shaking. 'I think it's a Beast.' 'Damn it!'

Suddenly, Scott saw something in the dark, fiery distance. It was gigantic, far more bigger than a Beast. This creature had the size of the frozen giants in the lowest circle of Hell. But it wasn't a giant, though; this creature was four-legged and approached in rapid speed. Scott narrowed his eyes, revealing one of his privileged powers as Archdemon. His sight fixated on the strange creature, who was a few kilometers away from the Castle. He could clearly see what is was.

The creature had no fur, a skin full of burns and scars covered his powerful muscles. It had three heads, resembling the heads of dogs. The three pairs of eyes were blood-red and constantly rolled back into the back of their skulls. A long row of razor-sharp teeth filled their mouths, dripping with drool. The mouths opened and let out three ear-deafening roars. Doomed souls ran in front it, screaming in fear. Many of them got crushed underneath the huge paws with razor-sharp nails.

'A Cerberus!' Scott exclaimed, his sight going back to normal. 'Demons!' he yelled. 'Attack!' Every Demon in and around the castle obeyed the command. They unfolded their unholy wings and charged towards the hellish canine. Pulling out their swords, they prepared themselves for their first strike. They would strike the Cerberus down with pleasure, hoping for their master to praise them. Scott was their hero. They would give their lives for him. But little did they know that Scott cared little to nothing about them. They were just his puppets, he was the puppet master. They were only good for slaying Angels and souls; in any other ways, they were mindless sacks of shit.

Wildly moving his heads around, the Cerberus snapped to the Demons. Most of the strikes were successful; he caught the Demons between his teeth and gobbled them up. Trails of blood trickled down the chins.

'Shit!' Scott shouted, activating his vision once more. Now, he noticed something new about the Cerberus. Foam emerged from the corners of the mouths, mixing with blood and dripping in thick cloths on the ground. This could not be... 'What do you see, master?' Courtney asked. 'Rabies.' Scott mumbled, his sight turning once again back to normal. 'That damn mutt has rabies.' 'What?!' Courtney shouted, her eyes wide with shock. Never before, a tamed Cerberus got struck with rabies before. How could this happen? 'It has fucked up his entire nerves system and brains; controlling it will be extremely hard. We're gonna need help.'

'From who?'

Scott never thought of this, in a million years. 'Come with me, Courtney. We have little time.'

The cuffs unlocked and Nody immediately cradled her painful wrists. 'What is this?' she asked suspiciously. 'What are you going to do with me now?' Her skin had turned red, not only from the burning pain, but also from the blood. The blood had soaked into her dress and hair, causing them to stick on her body.

'We need your help, right now.' Scott said. He turned his head to Courtney. 'Do it, Courtney.' 'Are you sure, master?' the Demon Witch asked. 'She can't be trusted! What if she...' 'Shut up!' Scott yelled in her face. 'There is little to no time! Just do it!' Courtney sighed, but opened her book and searched for the right page.

' In nomine Domini nostri Satanas opes revertentur.'

A beautiful light surrounded her. There was barely any pain. The energy Nody felt, was good. It was familiar. It reminded her of an important moment of her life.

The moment were she received her Archangelic powers.

It didn't feel corrupted in any way. The pain on her skin faded away and the blood in her hair, dress and on her skin washed away. A divine energy flowed through her body. The strength in her limbs returned. The only pain Nody felt was in her back, in the bones were once her wings were. She could feel the bones grow to their normal size. The feathers grew back, like leafs on a tree. The light disappeared.

'My powers...' Nody whispered, touching her new wings with disbelief. 'They are back...!' She looked at Scott, completely surprised by this unexpected gift. But there was no time for more amazement.

'Come.' Scott said. He grabbed Nody's arm and pulled her out of her prison, walking through the dungeons. Courtney followed them. 'Listen now.' Scott said, glaring at the Archangel. 'Just because we gave you your powers back doesn't mean you are free. We only returned you your powers because you need to help us. We are in some deep shit right now. When you're done, we'll take it away from you again and throw you back in your prison. And don't even think of turning your back on us, got it?!' Nody nodded. 'Yes.'

A weak voice emerged from one of the prisons. 'Master... will you return my powers to me too?'

'Shut up, Alejandro.'

The roars of the rabid Cerberus could now be heard from inside the Castle. Heading outside, Nody could see the gigantic creature for her own.

'A Cerberus?' she asked. 'What's the matter with it? Can't you control it on your own?' 'I was planning to do that,' Scott answered. 'But then I noticed it has a bad case of rabies, which makes control extremely difficult. That's why you need to help us.'

Nody knew like no other how to kill a Cerberus, but she never had to deal with a rabid one before. The Demons had used a Cerberus for many times when Heaven and Hell collided, but each was slain by her. They are a challenge, but this was much more difficult... and dangerous.

'I have a plan.' Nody said after a while of thinking. 'But you need to help me. I will go for the right head of that thing, you will go for the left head. We will go for the middle head together, alright?'

'Right.' Scott mumbled. He would've never thought of obeying the Archangel's commands, he would've refused 'til the end, but right now there wasn't much choice. This mutt had to go down, no matter what. It couldn't be saved anyway.

'Then let's go!' Together, the archenemies ascended into the dark skies and headed towards the Cerberus in amazing speed.

The unimaginable had happened.

The Arch creatures were now working together.

More Demons and doomed souls had become victim of the veracious creature. Blood had now covered its paws and jaws. 'Hey, you ugly shit!' Nody said, her confidence returning. The Cerberus stopped right in front her, much to every creatures' relieve in Hell. The right head of the Cerberus turned into her direction, revealing its bloody sharp teeth. A low threatening growl emerged from the back of its throat. But it didn't scare Nody for one bit. She felt like nothing could touch her now. Not even this unholy thing.

'Scott! Go!' she yelled. Scott nodded. Suddenly, he underwent the same transformation as Nody saw back in Heaven. In an instant, his skin turned black and his muscles grew. The flames on his horns and wings turned black and the three rows of teeth grew back into his mouth. Über-Archdemon Scott was ready to strike.

With a mighty roar, he charged towards the left head of the Cerberus and grabbed its muscled neck. Launching his sharp claws into the flesh, he made sure his grip was nice and tight. Nody clapped her hands together and summoned the Whip of Discipline. Much to her relieve, the power of summoning her weapons had returned as well. With a powerful lash, the holy leather wrapped around the neck, burning into the Cerberus flesh. Its roars nearly deafened the Arch creatures ears.

Both of them pulled as hard as they could. Their muscles ached and sweat poured out of their skin. The cervical vertebrae were nearly impossible to break, but suddenly, the Arch creatures heard two loud cracks.

The skin of the left head slowly started to rip apart, followed by the muscles. One last roar emerged from the throat before its head got brutally torn off by the Über-Archdemon's brutal strength. Blood poured out like a waterfall and nearly flooded the area. Unfortunate souls got trapped and dragged away in the blood.

The leather of the Whip of Discipline burned right through the muscles of the neck of the right head. With a sickening crunch, the head disconnected from the neck and fell with a loud splash into the lake of blood. The waterfall of blood made the sinister lake almost reach the Dark Castle. The Cerberus howled in pain, more bloody foam dripped down his jaw.

Two heads were down. One more to go.

'Scott! The middle head! Now!' Nody yelled. 'I know what to do. You don't have to tell me.' the Über-Archdemon growled. Looking at the middle head, he grinned. 'Let's punch those fucking teeth out.' He charged towards the sharp teeth, reaching his muscled arm forward, ready for a shattering punch. But the Cerberus had different plans.

Just when Scott's fist was about to touch the teeth, the Cerberus suddenly opened his mouth as far as possible and clamped down... right down on Scott's arm. The teeth pierced the muscles of his arm, trapping it. Blood trickled down the bones. The Über-Archdemon's scream made Hell nearly tremble.

'Oh shit! Hang on!' With all her power, Nody crashed into the teeth, shattering them to pieces. The crash caused Scott to break free, but his arm disappeared into the throat of the Cerberus. Blood poured out of the severed limb. Taking advantage of the time the unholy creature was in pain, Nody decided to check on Scott. 'Let me help you!' she shouted. 'No!' the Über-Archdemon yelled back. But the Archangel ignored him and took a look at his mutilated arm. She touched the bloody stub. She hoped her healing spells still worked. 'In the name of Jesus Christ...' she whispered. 'Heal his arm.' A gentle light heated the wound, soothing the pain. In an instant, the arm grew back. Scott looked at her, opening his mouth to ask something but quickly shut it. 'I need you right now.' Nody said in a very serious voice. 'No time for questions.' Scott nodded. 'Let's do this.' 'Fine with me.' Together, they charged towards the last remaining head. They slightly ascended into the air, aiming for the thick neck.

'We are going right through it. Together.' Nody said.

'What? You mean going through the neck?' Scott asked.

'Exactly.' Nody replied.

Scott started to grin. This technique... he liked it. A lot. He would've never thought of that from the Archangel.

'Then let's do it!'

And together, they crashed down with all their power. Hitting the cervical vertebrae was like hitting a brick wall, but the muscles snapped immediately after they tore them. Scott's flaming wings made it easier to cut through the muscles. They could hardly breathe in the blood. This was possibly the bloodiest way they had destroyed an enemy, but there was no other way. They exited on the underside of the neck, gasping for air. They were welcomed with a shower of blood.
The last head of the Cerberus was cut clean off. For the last time, another waterfall of blood made the lake increase. The head splashed right next to the others. Thunderous cheers filled Hell.

Nody and Scott flew back to the Dark Castle. Once they had reached the entrance, they collapsed to the ground, panting. This battle took all their energy. 'Nody...' Scott gasped for more air, now returned to his normal form. 'Thank... you...' 'You're welcome...' Nody gasped back.

'In nomine Domini nostri Satanas et Paulo, copias carebit.'

In an instant, Nody felt the pain she wished she would never feel anymore. Once again, her organs clenched together and her veins were on fire. Blood poured out of her mouth along with a scream and her body started to convulse. She could the bones in her wings snap again, ending the short lives of her new wings. Her spine arched upward. She felt her powers fade away. The pain caused her mind to go numb and her eyes seeing black spots.

She was mortal once more.

'You've done a well job.' Courtney said, appearing from the shadows of the entrance of Castle. 'Now it's time to return to your prison. Guards. Take her away.' The Demon Guards emerged from the shadows next to the Demon Witch, grabbed the once again fallen Archangel by her arms and dragged her into the Castle, heading towards the dungeons.

Scott wanted to get up and yell at the Guards, but he didn't get the chance. His Demons surrounded him, helping him to get up and cheered for him. They had forgotten all about the effort from the Archangel, the only one they respected was their Archdemon.

But during the fight, Scott noticed something about Nody. It was something he never saw before in someone, not even in his Demons. The Archangel fought like a man, but yet moved with a certain grace. It was pure, it was beautiful. It was special. Besides, she was a very skilled fighter, she sure had some good training back in Heaven. Scott always had an admiration for great fighting skills, and this holy creature was something new. She might've been the most talented fighter he had ever seen.

He felt something he never felt for someone else before.

Respect.