A/N: Today in my free time I wrote almost 4 pages of born out of time. Way to be productive, eh? Anyways, enjoy!

I go Cowboy on Snake women

They're true. The Greek Gods and legends are actually flesh and blood.

As we're hurrying down the streets and trying to hail a taxi I'm having difficulty concentrating on what he means, like actually means. He's telling me about how the Gods have been mingling with mortals in the past, and their children, called "demigods", have been raised to fight monsters and save the world.

"Demigods have this kind of scent that other monsters smell, so they go and try killing them. The more powerful the demigod's parent is, the stronger the smell."

His explanation wasn't helping my anxiety. My stomach was churning violently, creating a whirlpool that threatened to exit through my mouth any second. I'd need a stronger medication after all of this.

He talked about how the camp was- sorry, still is- a refuge for demigods, a place that offers safety and training on how to fight monsters. I'm a kid that just finished seventh grade, and already I'm thrust into a game of Dungeons and Dragons. That, or a pretty cheap fanfic.

We just pulled up to a forested area near Long Island. Stephan thanks the driver, pays him, and pulls me out with him. The skies were starting to cloud over, faint rumbles of thunder on the horizon.

"Almost there, Andrew, almost there-!" he froze as a chorus of hissing emanated from the bushes around us. I see a woman emerge from the leaves, looking human from the waist up but with snake tails for legs. Four more followed behind her- did I mention they're all holding a spear?

"Foolisssh mortalsssss," the leader hissed (pardon the pun), "you've played right into our handsssssss."

I hesitated just as Stephan brandishes his spear, trying to look threatening towards the snake women.

"Four on two, Andrew. We can take this!"

Before I can remind him that I'm a kid with OCD and he's a goat-human with weird eating habits, not one, not two, but five more snake women slithered (another snake pun, sorry) out of the woods. And they're all carrying spears, directing them at us in a threatening fashion.

"Stephan, if you have any other abilities that can kick butt, now's the time to show me."

"I'm a satyr, man! I'm only good at the pan pipe and using a spear against uno baddie. It's usually the demigods who fight the monsters."

"But I don't have any weapons; all I have is my bag and a teeth necklace."

"Use it, then!"

"For what!?"

Before he can answer one of the snake ladies jabbed at him with a spear, leaving a gash in his side. He cries out as he dropped to his knees. Another grinned maliciously at me and thrust her spear. My stomach tightens in a knot as I wait for the pain, I turned away in what's very likely my last moments.

The moments turned into minutes, and I'm left wondering when death's going to come. I peek an eye open, only to see the snake woman, ready to throw her spear.

The only problem is, she's frozen. Not in ice, it's just as if she turned into a statue. I rose up carefully to my feet as I inspected the woman. Her manic expression looked like something out of a movie, eyes narrowed in glee and mouth open mid-laugh. I looked towards Stephan to show him the oddity, but he's frozen too. In fact, as I glanced around me at the other snake women, they're stuck in place: unmoving, expressions frozen. It's like they're put on pause.

I turned back to my original captor, still frozen where she was. Then I look at the spear she's holding as a wicked idea began to form in my head.

I wouldn't consider myself as a rascal, but I have to confess I am somewhat mischievous. Kinda like Loki, except for the part about killing a god by accident and being eternally condemned for it. However, I don't bother resisting the smirk as I carefully pry the weapon from her hands, noting the uncomfortably long fingernails (did these women know what a nail clipper was?) and scaly hands. I took a moment to admire the craftsmanship of the weapon: almost balanced, the tip was crudely fashioned to work effectively.

I tossed it between hands before I redirected it to the snake woman.

"Poke."

It was just a light touch, but in that second she unfreezes and is sent flying towards a tree, screaming all the way. She turned into dust before she crashed into the bark. Her friends all snapped their heads to where she disappeared, then turned to stare at me.

I threw the spear away in an attempt to look innocent.

"Sorry?"

It fell on deaf ears however, as they all redirect their spears at me. In a panic I did as Stephan told me, grabbing the necklace and tearing it off-

And I yelped again as the whole strand catches on fire… green fire, and… okay, I'm definitely getting stronger medication.

The eight snake women recoiled in surprise as the necklace elongated and transformed into a freaking chain link whip that, as I mentioned before, is doused with emerald flames. I'm glad it doesn't hurt me, but still… a bit much, maybe? Reminds me of that one Marvel hero.

Eventually one of the snake women got the guts to try attacking me, stepping up and swinging their spear. I sidestep easily and bring my whip across her. It missed by a wide amount, but I slashed it in front of me. The end flew the other way and wrapped around her midsection and the flames burn brighter, earning a wail from the prisoner before she's reduced to dust. The others hissed in outrage at the sight of their dead comrade, ignoring Stephan and focusing on the threat.

I'm fairly certain that while the grip of the whip won't burn me, the other end will, so I have to be careful when swinging. I started making circles with my hand, creating a wall of flaming chain between me and the snake women. It's a start, but they just try circling around the wall, so I'm forced to walk forward and drive them off.

But I'm vastly outnumbered. And these reptilian women won't let up. I also don't want to start a forest fire, because of the animals that may get killed and the potential camp-

I see something move out of the corner of my eye and I turned to see three of them sneaking round, trying to distract me. I redirect my whip at them and they withdrew away-

Leaving me open for the others to hurl their spears. Two miss, but one managed to graze my arm and the other embedded in my ankle. My defense dropped as I fell to my knees, teeth clenched to distract me from the pain.

"Andrew!"

I heard my friend scream but I couldn't move. I felt the tips of the other spears press into the base of my neck, forcing me lower.

"Sssssssso closssse, and yet ssssssso far," a snake woman hissed (what is it with the puns?) triumphantly. I'm waiting, waiting for a window to show and the pain to subside. "A demigod, ssssslaughtered jussssst on the reachessss of Camp-gyah!"

Camp Gyah? My eyes flicked upwards to see a snake woman stagger backwards, arms reaching up to try removing a certain Hispanic satyr from her neck. All right Stephan, my man!

I draw my whip and toss it around, startling the enemies before reducing them to piles of dust. I staggered to my feet, the pain in my foot still strong to affect me as I watched my friend keep a chokehold on the snake woman, only to be thrown off as one of her legs/tails ("tail legs"?) wrap around his legs and pull him away. He landed hard on the dirt, and the open wound he had wasn't helping. I stumbled as best as I could, but she was faster, snaking (again with the puns!) over and raising her spear.

"Death to the sssssatyr!"

The spear was thrown into his chest, prompting a quiet gasp from him before his arms fell limp.

Time seemed to slow for me as I watched my friend get murdered. Stephan, part-time goat boy, all around friend to me as I struggled growing up. His only mom was killed by a dog from Hell, and now he was killed.

Because of me.

My vision became red, the edges of my sight tinted with scarlet. My hands clenched and the whip blazed angrily, as if responding to my rage. She was about to pay. Utterly and absolutely pay.

I didn't give her time to look up, completely throwing my whip at her and hoping that it would work. The chains wrapped around her arms, binding her while I stormed towards her. Her face didn't show it, but I saw a glint of fear in her eyes.

"He was my friend," I spat. "My best friend, and you killed him. Do you know his name?"

Her brows knit in confusion.

"Stephan. You don't have a name, do you?"

"Why would we have namessss?"

"Exactly, why would a monster like you have a name? I'll tell you: because you're a monster. Each and every one of you, who kill teenagers and families for fun." I unclenched my right hand, concentrating as I held it up for her to see. "Normally, a human like me doesn't enjoy watching someone disintegrate right before them. With you? I'll make a special case."

"Mercy!"

Mercy, eh? Pulling that card out? I looked between her and my two fingers, feeling a numbness course through my arm. I shrugged.

"Sorry." I flicked her shoulder, seeing a spark of grey shoot from my fingertips into her scales. Seconds later her scales turned grey, in even less time they were reduced to dust as the effect travelled across her body, her expression giving me a sick satisfaction.

"Should've showed some to Stephan."

I stood for some time over the pile that used to be my friend's killer, breathing heavily. As I turn away, my head starts pounding, causing me to squint in discomfort. I staggered over to my friend's body, the grass around him soaked crimson by his blood. Normally I'm squeamish around bloody scenes, needing a pair of gloves before proceeding. But this is Stephan. He gets my full respect.

I expected him to be heavier than he looked, since he could eat whole boxes- both the meal and the box- of pizza on a good day. In my arms though he felt as light as a newborn. I did grunt with some effort, only because my ankle's acting up and my head's in league with it. I turned, vision darkening as I walked, chain whip forgotten, kicking up piles of dust.

Through hazy eyes I can see a pine tree. I've seen some big Christmas trees in my childhood years, but this one? Easily belongs at the White House; it's absolutely massive. And I feel it reaching out to me, almost glowing with a soft halo of light.

Or that's the setting sun behind it and I'm being dramatic. Either way, I'm having trouble staying upright, staggering up the hill with labored breaths. I thought I heard horns blowing, voices yelling out to me.

I slipped on a patch of damp grass, trying but failing to keep a hold on Stephan. I'm unconscious before I hit the ground.

A/N: yeah, Andrew's unintentionally OP in this chapter, huh? I got the whip idea from Ghost Rider (the film starring Nicholas Cage wasn't a terrible movie, but there was a lot of room for improvement), except this time it's surrounded by Greek fire. Let me know what you think. Up next: Andrew gets a visit from his father. Dun dun DUUUUUN!

Also, as of right now, 8:51 p.m. mountain time, The Hero and the Malig Knight has... *deep breath* OVER 9,000 READS! Thank you all so much for the support! I never expected to get this far, but we did it!

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