Chapter 5 – The Three-headed Beast
When the group entered the Base of the tower they were greeted by a humongous Dog-type monster immersed in an icy shell, and it wasn't about to let them pass without a fight.
"No mortals are allowed entry into this place. Begone with you!" The three headed monster stated.
"Whoa, the only talking dog I've seen was myself. Now if you were to be in a dog show I know that you'd seriously take the grand prize." Zell admitted
"How dare you, insolent mortal! None who've ever spoke that way of the great Cerberus lived beyond this point!" The dog barked from anger.
"So, what're you gonna do Fido? Lick us to death?" Trish added, making the dog more furious.
"Useless mortals! You all shall regret crossing me." Cerberus growled, making Sam, Clover and Britney shiver.
"Oh yeah? Then let's play puppy!" Alex retorted and approached Cerberus with Rebellion in hand.
"Zell, what's the plan?" Mary asked.
"Each pair target a specific head. It won't be able to focus on all three groups unless we stand like scarecrows, y'know?" Zell replied then directed the other girls of what to do next.
"Right, let's get this started!" Trish yelled and bolted toward the middle head of Cerberus with Alex closely behind her.
Zell, Sam and Mary went for the left head and Clover and Britney went for the right head. Sam, Clover and Britney used the full power of their lipsticksabers and changed the appearance of their weapons. Sam's saber was really long, it resembled Sephiroth's katana in length and was neon green; Clover's saber was normal length and was similar to that of sith knight's saber and she was able to shoot bursts of red lightning from her blade; Britney's saber was simply a neon blue version of the Buster Sword, except she was able to wield it with little effort.
Zell's trio was the first to break the dog's shield of ice. Zell and Sam rushed the dog with weapons in hand and crossed it's face swiftly and the shell had been shed. Zell motioned for Mary to fire off a Kalina missile at the head from afar and that caused a great amount of damage. Trish and Alex used a similar approach when it came to getting the shell off of the head, but instead of a rocket blasting into the demon, Alex hurled Trish at the head with full force. Clover and Britney used their accelerator earrings for speed and their jetpacks to stay airborne as they slashed their way past the demon's icy defenses. The groups repeated their strategies until one head remained. This was the more hostile head and it began to cast it's icy shell multiple times, making it very difficult to break through. Cerberus slammed his front paws onto the ground of the lobby of the Temen-Ni-Gru and frosted the entire ground and making the hunters, Trish and Mary, slide around uncontrollably. The spies all used their jetpacks and hovered above the floor. Cerberus took an advantage and began to inhale deeply several times, forcing Trish and Mary to move closer to him and high speeds. Alex and Zell reacted the fastest and did a nosedive toward their corresponding allies. Zell saved Mary, and Alex saved Trish from being dog food. Cerberus used this brief moment to slam his paws down once again, but this time it had knocked ice shards from the ceiling of the room, which caused further chaos in an advantage. During the chaos of the spies frantically trying to avoid becoming pin cushions Alex had lost control of her backpack and was sent into a crash course toward a wall. During her descent, Alex had just positioned herself so that Trish was in her arms and there would be no damage to Trish at all, and when Alex hit the wall and slid to the ground she and Trish were locked in what appeared to be a kiss. Trish got up slowly and pretended the kiss hadn't happened, despite the fact that she was as red as Zell's hair, as was Alex, who seemed to enjoy the accidental smooch between them. Zell hadn't paid any attention to any of the events, only until it was pointed out that Alex hit the ground, and even then it wasn't important because Alex quickly regained herself and took Trish in her arms and flew up again to continue the assault on Cerberus. The guardian shot several balls of condensed ice at the team, the team dodged the ice and the balls shattered behind them and froze the spies jetpacks and they all had fallen. Trish returned the favor of saving Alex by taking Alex in her arms and landing with a soft thud of her shoes, and she let Alex down to stand on her own feet, and while she did this the two sneaked another quick kiss to one another and enjoyed the feel of one another's lips. However the other spies hadn't had such luck, but they all did have decent reflexes and did a tuck-and-roll upon their landing on the ground to reduce their pain.
"Okay, now I'm mad!" Alex yelled than dashed toward Cerberus with the Rebellion in hand, Zell, Trish and the other spies followed suit and jumped high into the air after Alex.
"Now girls, use the Quasi Slash technique!" Zell ordered and the girls all separated then flew into various directions and slashed Cerberus multiple times before the final head was scarred and the demon flew backward in defeat.
"You all… you all are not mere humans, are you?" The guardian asked.
"Who knows? I'm not quite sure my own self anymore." Alex replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
"We are the world's top class spies, there's nothing we can't do!" Clover added and Britney and Sam nodded with their arms crossed with approval.
"We are demon hunters and we are going to put an end to this place." Mary and Trish said simultaneously.
"Hmph. I'm just a being without a label. I'm just here to assist these young ladies." Zell sighed and approached the guardian.
"Nonetheless you all have proved your mettle; however only one of you may have my blessing. Choose who it will be and go forth." Cerberus stated proudly.
"I'll try it out. Give it here." Zell said and moved his hands to say 'bring it'.
"Very well." Cerberus agreed and turned into a bright blue light then moved toward Zell's hand.
"Hmm…what've got here?" Zell said with a smirk then the light turned into an odd type of nunchaku.
Zell waved the new weapon around and whipped it and showed his ability to use the nunchaku with great ease, but he didn't like it.
"Hmmm… here, Alex you take these." Zell frowned and tossed the weapon into Alex's hand. Then she tried to use the nunchaku and suddenly knew how to use them.
Alex's sudden prowess of the Cerberus weapon shocked everyone, including Trish and Zell.
"W-wow… that's kinda cool." Trish stated with a dreamy tone.
"Eh, it's not bad for a beginner." Zell shrugged trying to sound cool.
"It was cool and you know it Zell. Stop being jealous." Clover remarked
"I'm not jealous. I'm just saying that her skills are good for a beginner." Zell retorted smoothly.
"Sure." Britney shrugged and shot a look at Zell that was less than approving.
"So guys, what's the plan now?" Alex asked, snapping the group back to what they had been discussing outside the tower.
"Hmmm… I guess we'll just have to go inside and get to the top of the place." Zell stated with some thought.
"Let's just figure out what there is to do inside okay guys?" Sam asked with a smile directed at Zell, who returned the smile slyly.
"Okay then. That's what we'll do. Let's go ladies." Zell agreed and led the girls into the Temen-Ni-Gru's frozen doors.
The group saw a huge spiral of stairs and landings when they entered the real base of the Temen-Ni-Gru.
"So where do we start?" Britney and Mary spoke simultaneously.
"Let's head up there." Zell answered and pointed to an azure door several flights up.
"I wonder if we'll encounter the same types of monsters as the ones at WOOHP and that club." Clover mumbled to herself.
The group headed up the stairs and toward the door with little conversation, as the groups were together, Sam and Zell were holding each other with warm embraces, and Trish was holding Alex as if she were Dante himself, and Alex was holding Trish like she was the greatest thing in the world and they didn't want to let each other go, not for a moment.