Joe's was your run of the mill pizza place. Except for having possibly one of the best Pinball machine collections around, it wasn't much to look at. Sitting in a large corner booth were two small men. The larger of the two, a dwarf, ran his hand over his long grey beard, and looked at his watch. "Almost two", he said to the other. The other man, an elf, nodded as he looked at his watch. Though appearing much younger, as elves often do, he and the dwarf were about the same age. The two of them had been the best of friends since childhood and were hardly, if ever, seen apart. As they began to resume their conversation, Neon Glass walked through the door. With her new sword now dangling at her side and a backpack over her shoulder, she looked around. To her right was a group watching football on the big screen. To her left she saw two small figures sitting in a corner booth. At the end of the table sat a blue card that read: "Reserved for Quest Party". She walked over, looked directly at the dwarf, and said, "I supose you're the one funding this quest." "Yes," Replied the elf, "that would be Me." The dwarf chuckled at Neon's half shocked half embarrased face. "I'm sorry", she said, turning toward the elf. "I just thought..." The elf interupted, "You thought that an elf couldn't possibly have anything to do with the funding of a quest." "It's not that, I just..." He interupted again,"You shouldn't think that way. It's not a very good habit." "Wait, hold on you two",the dwarf interjected, "let's not start off on the wrong foot here. It's a common mistake, I understand. Why don't we start over with some introductions and go from there. Okay." "Alright", replied the elf, begining to calm down. "Humans can be so closed-minded." "That's it!" Neon yelled, reaching for her sword. "Stop it!", called a voice from behind, as a massive hand grabbed Neon's arm. "Leggo of me, you big...", Neon spun around to view her 'attacker'. "...TROLL!!!", she screamed. The three of them had been too preocupied to notice the huge mass that had just walked in. This seven foot tall behemoth was not something easily ignored. He stood there, hunched over, with his nuckles on the floor, like a giant gorilla. "I'm an Ogre, not a troll", he grumbled. "Same thing." Neon responded. He squeezed her arm. "Ow!" She winced. "What was that for?!" He let go. "For being rude. There are many things that seperate Ogres from trolls." Neon rubbed her arm. "Oh Yeah! Name one!" The ogre was speachless for a moment, and then, "Well, er, um... I can't think of any right now." "Ha! I knew it." Behind her, the dwarf was laughing. Neon and the ogre turned and stared at the dwarf. "It's not funny!", they both yelled in unison. The dwarf began to laugh even harder. Neon smiled, "Heh...maybe it is kinda funny." She looked at the ogre,"Sorry 'bout that....No hard feelings?" "I guess it's okay", replied the ogre. "Why don't we start over. My name's..." At that moment, The lights flickered out and it grew dark outside. A mysterious fog began to roll into the place. "Now what?", said the now ignored elf. Blue lightening flashed, and the doors flew open. Out of the black void stepped a tall dark figure. From behind the figure streched two massive lethary wings that nearly touched the ground and almost scraped the yellowed ceiling. Beneath the being's glowing eyes, and normal looking nose, an evil grin revealed a set of sharp, sparkling teeth. The sun broke through the clouds and the lights flickered back on to reveal the tall demon standing before them. The fog about the floor vanished and the four began to question whether it had really been there. By now the football fans had left and noone knew at exactly which point they had gone. Not that anyone truly cared or even bothered to wonder. "You know", started Neon, "you don't really give off that 'I'm an Evil Demon' feel if you're wearing a bowling league shirt." The glow of the demon's eyes faded. Staring back at her with newly visible green eyes, he smiled. "Evil's a rather subjective word, don't ya think?" "Well, I suppose." She paused. "That was pretty impressive back there. Do you do that every time?" "Thank you. Well, no, it's more of a sort of grand entrance thing. Generaly it's a big waste of time." He laughed a sort of reminisent laugh. "Once, I did it so long that half the intended audience had left before I had a chance to finish." "Intended audience? You a performance artist or something?" "Hey, you have to catch people when they least expect otherwise it just dosen't have the right effect," he replied. "But, since it pays nothing, I can't do it for a living." "Which means..." "Which means I'm rather glad this quest came along, I'm near broke." "Alright," interrupted the ogre who had been standing there watching the whole conversation transpire, "just who are you? And just why are you interested in our quest?" He glared at the demon. "Me? Oh well... I'm a member of this quest." He noticed the strange look on the ogre's face. "You look shocked, my large friend." The dwarf chuckled. Suddenly a crash is heard and everyone turned around to see what had caused it. Someone had come through the roof. Dust flew everywhere. Whoever it was began to cough. "So sorry... this is not what I had intended at all. Ooh... I need to do this again." The dust settled to reveal a young girl with long, green hair in dark clothes. "Is this the right pizza place?" She asked. "The last one wasn't right. Uh... actually the last few were all wrong." "What place were you looking for?", asked Neon who was staring at the hole in the ceiling. "I wonder how destructive you got at those places." "Oh that. I can fix that." The green haired girl raised her hand and uttered a few strange words. In seconds the hole was gone and the ceiling looked as if nothing had happened. "Hmm... my bet." The demon came over. "You're a witch." "That I am." "And I'll bet", Neon poped in, "you're a member of this quest." "Yes, as a matter of fact..." She began. The ogre interrupted, "No. It's not possible. A witch of all people?" "If she says she's a member, she's a member." noted the dwarf. He hadn't spoken for a while causing everyone to shut up. "Now that we're all he..." A flash of light stopped him from continuing. "You're queen is here!", shouted a voice from the flash. It was a fairy in shimmering clothes hovering in the middle of the air. Neon groaned. "Yes. Now that I am here," gloated the fairy as she gracefully lighted on the table."we can get this party started." "That finally makes seven." the elf stated. "Are we ready to get started?" Everyone else nodded.

Previous Episode <~ The Teflon Sword

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