So yeah lol no. I didn't finish it before BoO. I'm kind of glad I didn't then, because now my epic scene will be even epic-er! Sorry for anyone who hasn't read BoO yet, but there will be spoilers later on in the story: ( sorry. I'm a very hardcore Solangelo shipper now and I'm sorry in advance.

The Word of the Devil

Nico didn't actually kill anyone. He thought it would be a waste of time. When he blew up the building into itty-bitty pieces – well, no one was going to live anyway. No point doing it individually. But what he had done, was buy himself some time. Dr Three, from what he had gauged, was all about drawing it out. If Nico had said he was coming right away, Three would have slaughtered Alex on the spot. Now that he believed he had time to kill, he would be making sure Alex's 'last moment's' were as painful as possible.

Nico hated to put his friend through that, but there was no other way. It was either that, or death.

In his pocket he could feel the good luck token Eagle and Jaguar had given him. He gritted his teeth and moved along the corridors. He'd see those two dorks again, he promised himself. He and Alex both would see K-Unit again. He'd make sure of it.

Nico stole along the last passage, sensing Alex's soul just down there and in a room to the side. The son of Hades noticed a large pair of double doors, seemingly made of oak, but he could vaguely feel the overlays of iron and bronze to reinforce the door. It was beyond sturdy, impossible to penetrate.

Unless you were a demigod son of Hades, one of the Big Three, and had a three-foot Stygian Iron blade in your hands. Then it was a piece of cake.

Nico swung his sword. He was completely unaware, as was everybody else, that the good luck charm in his pocket was transmitting his location to the SAS headquarters in Wales, and that four Units, twenty instructors and the Sargent were gearing up for a frontal assault on the nearby remains of Scorpia to 'rescue' their two boy soldiers.

Alex was down to feeling dull throbbing all over until the door caught fire, crumpled in half and crashed into Dr Three's office. The four guards standing in there with the two enemies reacted instantly, their guns peppering bullets everywhere. There was a small shuck noise, and something air-borne zipped towards them. It hit, and they fell to their knees, their eyes wide and fearful and blood spilling from their chests. They were dead before they hit the floor.

Dr Three grabbed Alex's hair and yanked his head up, exposing his neck. Alex was still slumped on the floor, his previous wounds feeling like dull hammers against his skin and the newer ones stinging like all get out. His grit his teeth, determined not to yelp as the grip on his hair tightened. He watched the doorway, which was swirling with darkness, like a smoke bomb had just gone off.

Then two eyes appeared in the smog, glowing red. It was all they could see and even though Alex know who it was, he shivered.

An aura of death, fear and darkness entered the room and Dr Three's hand was shaking as he lowered the scalpel to his side. He stared at the door, and the man Alex thought would never flinch from anything had terror in his eyes.

A black combat boot appeared from the black mist. A body followed, and the red eyes moved to take their place in the face of a dark haired teenage boy with murder written all over his face.

"Y-You," Three stuttered, backing into his desk. Nico gave him a cold smile.

"Mmhm," he hummed. "Good of your to remember."

"What are you?" The Scorpia man was thoroughly spooked now, the whites in his eyes getting intensely bloodshot and his pupils dilating.

"Beyond pissed off," Nico replied, taking a step. "And you don't want to piss off anyone whose power you can't even begin to understand, Dr Three. I mean come on." He gestured to Alex. "We have you plenty of warning before when we came here. If you didn't see it, you're more fucking demented then you look."

Alex winced one eye closed as the tugging on his hair became painful again. A cold something laid across his neck.

"If you keep walking, I'll kill him."

Nico stopped and stared at Dr Three.

"I don't understand," he finally said, "how someone can be so stupid."

Pressure started on Alex's throat and he made a face at Nico telling him to hurry the hell up.

"I don't care if I die," Three said, his voice shaking but cold. "As long as I take Rider with me. I'll drag him to hell, brat. So you're too late."

Nico put his face in his hands and sighed loudly.

"Every time," he muttered. "It's just the same place." He peeked between his fingers and sighed again. "Even if you did kill him with you, there's no way you'd be able to take him where you're going, Three." He rolled his eyes. "Alex is already going to Elysium and he's not even dead yet. You're going to Punishment for eternity, Tartarus if I can arrange it."

"Not the time for Underworld lectures, dude," Alex croaked. Dr Three pressed harder on his throat.

"What the hell are you talking about!" he shouted, his voice cracking. Nico paused to give a creepy smile.

"You're probably confused," he said unnecessarily. Then he bowed low, stepping his foot out as he did so. "Your privilege to make my acquaintance, I'm Nico di Angelo, Ghost King and Prince of the Underworld, Heir to Hades throne. And you." He pointed at Three. "Are going to meet my father. I promise."

Something black shot out of his fingerless gloves and ripped Dr Three's hand away from Alex, sending him tumbling over the desk where he lay still. Nico rushed to Alex and picked him up, then started for the door.

"Hey hey hey!" the teen spy protested. "Untie me, dumbass."

"No time," Nico replied, starting to run down the corridors. "I set a bomb down in the middle of the complex and it's going off soon."

Alex's eyes widened.

"How in mother's name did you get a bomb!" he yelled. Nico winced.

"It's just something Percy, Leo and I made," he said. "After the war." He pulled a face then. "And since Valdez was involved I don't know what it'll do so we should get out of here before it goes boom."

Nico ran down another corridor and was relieved to see light streaming through, signalling they were at the exit. When he reached the door, Nico shoved his shoulder into it and it popped open, spilling wood chips on the ground. Nico only broke his stride to stumble once, readjust Alex in his grip, and then kept running. He was on open ground now and the tree line wasn't far, but he was distracted by a sudden glitter from the bushes. His toe caught a rock and he tripped, Alex spilling out of his arms and rolling along the ground. Nico barely had time to scramble to his friend and position himself over the fair haired boy before the whole building shook.

Then fire black as coal belched out of it and into the sky, sending the headquarters up in the biggest explosion Nico had ever seen. He felt something running down the side of his face and touched a hand to it. His fingers came away red, and he realised his ears were bleeding. Most likely his eardrums had burst. He couldn't hear a thing. Below him, Alex's face was gathering ash from the on-going blast. Nico didn't doubt his own face was covered in soot.

The son of Hades made his way to his feet, numbly bending down to get his friend. He got two steps before another blast made him fall again. His arms, legs and hands got cut on the sharp gravel ground, but he managed to take the worst of it and spare Alex any more pain.

A third explosion ripped the air and Nico felt the blast wave hit his back. He gave up on trying to get to the tree line and just positioned himself over Alex again, protecting him from falling debris. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated.

He had no power for shadow-travel now. But he could still use them.

With one last ditch effort, Nico raised his and Alex's shadows from the ground and ordered them to cover the two boys and protect them from any more explosions and litter. The darkness obeyed and formed into a dome above their heads. Nico gave it its order – protect them. One final explosion rode across the property and, with the question of whether he'd wake up again, Nico slumped onto Alex's chest and they both passed out.

So, apparently my definition of soon is three weeks. Sorry guys, I meant to post but then, just life, you know? This story's nearly finished, and I'm making a pact with myself to update at least once a week. See you then!

Jasmine Out!