:Hell's Arch (+2 Strength For Demons):

"Penny's not smart. She barely finished high school. She doesn't know anything about anything!" Penny said with a lot of sarcasm. "Well at least I know enough to NOT open a portal to hell, you morons!"

Sheldon shot her a glare as he braced his feet against the couch and pressed his back against the door more firmly. "No one was trying to open a portal," he hissed. "We were playing Mystic Warlord of Ka'A!"

Leonard nodded quickly. "I have a new expansion pack. There's this one card…"

The creatures on the other side of the door rammed it hard and Howard dropped the nails he was holding. He looked at the pool of blood they landed in and his stomach churned. That was his best friend's blood congealing on the floor.

A sharp tug on his hair brought Howard's eyes around to Penny. "Stop it!" she hissed. "Focus on securing this door!"

Howard and Sheldon both flinched as Penny scooped up the blood covered nails and continued nailing the side of a bookshelf over the door. "Stupid frickin' card game," she muttered angrily. "Playing with forces beyond their ability to control."

Sheldon clenched his fists. "Penny, how could we possibly…"

"Shut it, Cooper!" she growled. "You guys think this is a game? You. Opened. Hell!"

"It IS a game," Sheldon growled. "Mystic Warlords of Ka'A…"

"Is obviously based off of ancient runes and magiks," Penny told them. "The Carrot of Power? Obviously the Ka Rati spell. It grants the user increased strength. Temple of Yip? That's the Altar of Yi. Harpies, demons, hellhounds, and dryads? Real creatures turned into part of a stupid game? Yeah, the moment you opened that gate all those creatures you've been playing with decided to play with you now."

"But it's just a game," Leonard whined.

Penny shot him a look of derision. "Tell that to Raj," she said, pointing to a severed hand near the desks. Penny hurried back to the hall closet and grabbed a bag from the top shelf.

Sheldon looked at it suspiciously. "Where did that come from?"

Penny dropped it on the floor and unzipped it. She pulled out an old book and a small knife. Next came a chalice and a trio of jars. "It's my survival kit," she told him. "You have your plans and equipment, and I have mine."

Leonard moved away from the front door cautiously. "Is that…witchcraft?" he asked with fear and distaste.

Penny's hand shot out and grabbed Leonard's wrist. She quickly swiped the knife across his palm, cutting shallowly. Leonard tried to jerk away, his high pitched scream making everyone else cringe, but Penny held tight. Leonard's scrawny muscles were no match for Penny's. She squeezed tight and a small amount of blood landed in the chalice.

"You stabbed me!" he accused, scurrying back over to Howard and Sheldon.

"You opened it, you have to close it," Penny said, dropping some herbs on top of the blood. She lit a match and dropped it into the bowl as well. Penny opened the book and began reading quickly. "Inchideti poarta, inversa vraja. Restaurare voal intre iad si pamant. Inapoi ce a fost eliberat din acel loc."

White smoke spewed out of the chalice and spiraled overhead. From the other side of the door came screams of pain. Penny jumped back to her feet and grabbed the Gateway To Hell card from the stack on the coffee table. She tore it in half and then threw it on the fire. The smoke turned red and shot across the room. It blasted a small hole through the door and the screams got worse.

Leonard shrieked as heat shot from the cut on his palm, up his arm and across his chest to his heart. "Oh my god! I'm dying! You killed me!"

Penny rolled her eyes and walked over to the guys. She smacked Leonard on the back of the head. ""Stop whining, you idiot. You're fine. The demons have been sucked back into hell, and the door's locked tight again."

Slowly Sheldon stood and peeked through the hole in the door. The ghoulish creatures were gone. Raj was sprawled in the hallway, a giant hole in his chest. With a gulp he turned to watch Penny collect her items and pack them away again.

"You're a witch?" he asked faintly.

Leonard gasped. "That's it! YOU let those things loose! It wasn't our cards, or…or…me!"

Penny shot him a look of exasperation before looking at Sheldon. "I'm not a witch. I'm a hunter."

Howard looked at her skeptically. "Hunter? Like the Winchesters on Supernatural?"

Penny's expression turned stormy. "Idgits! That show is completely unrealistic! There's no demon killing knives, or guns. Time travel has never happened to anyone. Once you're possessed, that's it. There's no soul in there anymore. The demon eats it, and then wears you like a meat suit. You cannot un-possess someone."

She returned the bag to the closet, closed the door and took a deep breath. "Supernatural is a bastardization of what I do. It's not all epic battles and swooping in to save the day. It's weeks of research, spells that turn your stomach inside out, and headaches that make you want to split your own skull.

The fact is, hunters are not super heroes. We don't come back from the dead. No hunter worth their salt circle would ever try to make deals with crossroad demons," she scoffed. "I've never run across a single case of vamps, werewolves, or wendigoes."

"So what do you do?" Howard asked.

"Cast out ghosts, banish poltergeists, kill demons, and generally try to stop idgits like you four from bringing hell to Earth," she answered stiffly.

Leonard looked away sullenly. Penny headed toward the kitchen. She grabbed a couple of the large industrial garbage bags Sheldon used when he was cleaning the bathroom. She walked into the hallway and began pulling the bags over Raj's body.

Once he was bundled up and the ends of the bags secured, Penny pulled out her phone. "Pick up at my location."

"What are you doing with Raj's body?" Howard demanded.

She rolled her eyes. "You want me to leave him here for Mrs. Vartebedian to find? I'm sure he'll make a nice doorstop in a few days. A bit stinky, but hey, nothing's perfect, right?"

Penny sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm going to take him out to a dump, and burn the body. I can't let a coroner seen him like this. It would raise too many questions." She opened her eyes again and looked at them sternly. "When the cops show, act shocked and sad. Sheldon, I know you can't lie, so just keep your trap shut."

"You can't do this," Leonard insisted.

She shot him a glare. "And you can't open hell, right? Grow up, boys. There are forces out there you cannot imagine. Playing with them will get you killed. Now, take my advice. Grieve form Raj, pretend this never happened and get on with your life. It's the best thing you can do."

Two large men came up the stairs and nodded to Penny. They hefted Raj up and carried him away without a word. Sheldon, Howard and Leonard watched sadly as the men turned the corner out of sight.

Sheldon turned back to Penny. "How did you become a hunter?" Howard and Leonard looked at her curiously as well. Penny's eyes widened and she stepped back a pace.

"No," she mumbled. "Are you three insane?!"

Sheldon looked at Howard and Leonard who immediately nodded. He turned back to Penny. "No. We're geniuses. And we don't like not knowing something."

Penny looked at each one of them with astonishment. "Crap."

"…ex quo te in altum mittere peperisti."

A strong wind blew through the cemetery. The ghost screamed in agony, dropping the engineer onto the grass. Howard scrambled to the side and grabbed a violet crystal. He shoved it at the ghost and the crystal glowed brightly. A moment later the ghost was gone, scorched grass the only evidence it was ever there.

Leonard started gathering the unused herbs and returning them to the kit. Sheldon took the crystal from Howard and placed it in a warded box. Howard took the hand Penny held out and stood so he could dust himself off.

"That was a close call," he said with a sheepish grin.

Penny rolled her eyes and headed to the car. "Amateurs."

A/N: The card Leonard played should have given his demon card extra strength, only it opened a portal to hell instead, hence the title.