A New Plan
We raced away from the library. Taking this road and that road, making sure that if anyone was following us we would lead him or her on a goose chase across town. In the end, we did eventually make it back to the old abandon building in the ally. I placed the orange and black disk into the slot on the door and it opened.
"What is this place?" Arella asked.
"It's the main base and hideout for the Masked. You should be safe here." I replied.
"Safe from what?"
"Those Scath, the people that want you. Here you'll be safe until I can find a way to get rid of them." I said. We took the elevator back to the training hall and found most of the Masked there.
"Slade, who is this and why is she here!" Master Shinobi asked sternly.
"This," I replied, "is Arella, my good friend. And she's here because the Scath want to make her the next Bride of Trigon."
"The next WHAT?" Shaun cried.
"What are you talking about?" Arella asked.
"Those weird people in black robes, they believe that the evil inter-dimensional demon named Trigon wants to take over this world. In order to do that they must send him a bride with whom he can do what he wants with. With a bride he can conceive a person called the Gem and send the Gem back to earth. When the Gem comes of age, they will open a portal to Trigon's dimension and allow him to rule this planet and possibly this universe." I explained.
She looked at me, and then looked around the room and back to me. "You're all crazy." She said, and turned back toward the elevator.
"Arella wait…" I said, placing my hand on her shoulder.
"Don't touch me, Slade. I don't want anything to do with you or any of these sick cults or gang rivals or what ever they are." She said, shoving my hand off.
"Maybe you don't, but they do." I said. "If you go back out there, they will be looking for you. Always looking for you. You can't escape them. They believe in this so much that they will hunt you down, every waking moment they will be after you. And I might not be there next time to stop them. Do you really want to be captured by them?"
She stopped in her tracks. Waited for a second, quiet. Then turned back. "Can you stop them?" She asked.
I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. "I don't know." I said. "I have to talk with the Masked council, they won't be happy, and maybe we can come up with a plan." I turned to Master Shinobi and Shaun. "Can you keep her safe?"
"Yes. Nothing gets past us." Shaun replied.
"Good, because she's very important to me. I'm going to speak with Master Kinchi and the Masked council." I said. I then stepped into the elevator and went up to the Masked council room.
"So, this girl that you have known for years is the mother of the Gem." Master Kinchi said.
"Future mother." I corrected. "We need to make sure that that future doesn't come to pass."
"And you claim that you have been to their secret worshiping place." Master Alexander said.
"Yes." I replied.
"Then what is the problem?" Master Joseph asked.
"The problem is that there are now thousands of Scath in this one room and we can't simply storm in and take over. Their numbers are too great. They will easily over come that type of attack. Plus, the Fire Scath is still there." I said.
"Thousands of Scath?" Master Lee asked.
"Yes, thousands." I said.
"We don't have nearly enough experienced Masked to fight that kind of fight. Most of the masked now are still apprentice ranked." Master Brandon said.
"What about those Masked robots?" I asked. Masked robots are machines that look mostly like Masters except for the face, which has an orange circle inside the black mask and they are programmed with about the experience of a fifth year apprentice.
"Production of the Masked robot prototype is still incomplete. Besides, they aren't strong enough to take on thousands of Scath. We'll get no help from the robots." Master Alexander said.
"Don't worry, Slade. We've gained a tactical advantage now that we know where their hideout is. Because of that, we will not expel you for disobeying orders." Master Kinchi said. "You are dismissed."
I went back to my room and threw myself on the bed. Now what? I thought. What are we suppose to do now? Arella came into my room and sat on the end of my bed. "Hey, Arella." I said.
"Hey, Slade." She replied. I groaned and dragged my hands across my face. "What is it?"
"I don't know what to do." I said. "We now know the location of our enemy strong hold, but they're too strong for us to take over. And then with you, we can't simply let you go home because likely before you get five blocks away they will have captured you. And I'm not liking the idea of keeping a Masked body guard following you everywhere you go."
"So you want to capture me instead." She said, flatly.
"We just want to keep you safe." I said, sitting up. "And keep you out of their hands."
"So you believe all the insane things that those whacko's do, don't you?" She asked.
"I've seen some of these insane things. I've encountered the Fire Scath before; he got his powers from Trigon himself. His job is to find a bride for his demon master, someone who can carry Trigon's child." I replied. "I'm not going to let that girl be you, Arella."
"What do you mean?"
"How do you think you become the carrier of a demons child?" Her face turned from speculation to horror. She knew the answer was sex, but not just sex. Rape. A fate worse than death for whoever is chosen to be Trigon's bride. "That's why we need to keep you out of their hands, because even if you don't believe in any of the things they do, you know what they'll do to you."
"How do you plan to stop them?" She asked.
"I don't know. The only thing we can do is to destroy all of them but we don't have half the power to do so! Rrah!" I slammed my fist on the table by my bed and the wood cracked and splintered leaving a creator in the wood. Resting on that table were the jars filled with magic powders, the scrolls, and other items given to me by the Old One. They shook and rattled when I punched the table. "Wait a minute." I said. I grabbed one of the scrolls and unrolled it.
"What are those?" Arella asked.
"These are ancient spells and magics that the Old One gave to me." I replied. Written on this scroll were a list of special symbols on the left side and on the right was an Asian brush painting of a humanoid creature glowing orange with fire. The Flame Monster. "Perfect." I whispered. Then I yelled, "Perfect!" I put my arm around Arella's waist, pulled her close and kissed her fight on the lips. I raced out the door, the scroll in my hand, leaving Arella more than a little stunned.
I ran back up to the Masked council room and confronted with Master Kinchi. "Sir," I gasped, "I know how to destroy the Scath once and for all."
"How?" He asked.
I unrolled the scroll and laid it out before him. "This is how. The Flame Monster has more than enough power to destroy them all. And I know how to create it."
He looked skeptical at the scroll. "Can you control it?" He asked. "This thing is very powerful, if you can't control it and if it goes on a rampage can it be stopped?"
"I was taught how to destroy it before I knew how to create it." I said. "I'll use my water controlling abilities, more specifically the Water Dragon, to destroy this thing before it can cause any damage to civilians. In fact, I can use the Flame Monster and the Water Dragon at the same time to crush them."
"And what of the Fire Scath?" Master Kinchi asked.
"I'll deal with him personally."
"Well, it look's like you have it all planned out. We can put this plan into action ASAP."