In the alley, Roger and the Cerberus approached an empty street as the sky turned gray. A rainstorm must be arriving, and Roger doesn’t want to get a cold while being half-naked. Plus, grabbing guns and equipment was the best thing to do before they face Medusa and her super-strong henchman.

Across the street was the Fisty-Cuffs shop, a police store where Roger usually shopped for his police gear. However, there was a giant hole through the front entrance, and pieces of debris lying around the sidewalk.

“It looks like something has attacked that shop,” Cilla whispered.

With all the underworld monsters running around, that kind of made sense. But Roger needed good gear if he was going to enter a violent fight for his life. “Let’s just hope it didn’t take everything.”

Roger and the Cerberus raced across the street toward the shop. Everything was quiet except for the thundering noises from the dark clouds.

Roger stepped through the hole and found the entire place a gigantic mess. All the shelves laid on the floor, over bullets, clothes, boxes, and other equipment stuff. Someone broke the glass counter, leaving pistols and knives open for the taking. The cash register was strangely closed and the gun rack behind the counter had fallen.

The place may look like it was loot, but something had rampaged through the shop. How many more monsters were in the city?

The Cerberus stepped in and looked around.

"Damn! This place got trashed!" Katina exclaimed.

“Let’s hope they didn’t take everything.” Roger checked the back where the clothes, uniforms, and bulletproof vests hung.

He found a helmet, riot shield, armor plates, and anything that could militarize a police officer. But first, Roger needed some clothes first.

He grabbed a black shirt, black weatherproof tactical pants, boots, and placed them on. He checked the armory and rubbed his chin. There were plenty of armor suits to wear, but Roger doesn’t want to wear too much gear. It would slow him down and make him vulnerable to the monsters’ attacks. Wearing light would be a better option for him.

From a closet, he grabbed a bulletproof vest, assault webbing, and armor pads for his elbows and legs. Last, he put on gloves, armbands, and a pair of sunglasses to protect his eyes. In the mirror, he looked like a police soldier, ready for battle.

The Cerberus approached him.

“What a marvelous look!” Cilla exclaimed.

Roger smiled at her. “Thank you.”

“Is that what you warriors wear now?” Katina asked.

“It might not look much, but it will protect me from guns and explosives.”

“Is there a gear we can wear?” Labda asked?

Roger looked around. “I don’t think so. They don’t have eight-foot sizes here.”

“We can fight without armor,” said Katina. “If we get hurt, our body will heal fast.”

“Oh good. I don’t have to worry about dragging you to the vet.”

“What’s a vet?” Cilla asked.

Roger shrugged. “Never mind. Let’s grab some weapons.”

He picked up a duffle bag and carried it toward the armory storage room, passed the counter. All the weapons were still stacked on each rack, including ammo, grenades, and rockets.

Roger could wear a long list of weapons he wanted to use, but too much would slow him down. Still, he needed bigger weapons to take down bigger monsters.

The Cerberus’s heads peeked through the door.

“Those are the weapons?” Katina asked. “No swords, no shields?”

Roger grabbed an assault rifle off the rack. “Time has changed. We preferred using weapons that can shoot far and kill quickly.”

“Arrows and darts can do the same thing.”

“Yes, unless your enemies are wearing heavy armor.” Roger placed the rifle into the duffle bag.

“What can we use?” Cilla asked.

Roger glanced at the weapon rack. "How…… about this one."

He grabbed an AK-47 and handed it to the Cerberus.

Katina took it and observed it while the other heads looked at it.

“How do you use it?” She asked.

Roger moved her hands to hold the gun correctly and pushed her finger on the trigger. “You hold it like this, aim, and then you pull the trigger.”

Labda aimed the rifle and pulled the trigger. The gun only snapped.

“Nothing happened,” said Cilla.

Roger smiled. “It isn’t loaded yet.”

Katina placed the rifle down. “Using projectile weapons isn’t our style. Got any blades or something?”

Roger stared at the right corner and spotted a knife rack. It held tasers, batons, and knives. Below the shelf was a stun stick and a machete, as big as a man’s arm.

Roger grabbed the machete and handed it to Katina. “This is like a sword. It can cut through flesh quickly.”

Katina stared at the large board blade and smiled with her fangs shown. “Nice!”

“Is there another one?” Cilla asked.

Roger handed her a second one.

Katina held two black machetes and swung them. “This is perfect! Now we can hack and slash!”

“We truly don’t need weapons in this for,” said Labda. “Our strength is our weapon.”

Katina glared at her center head. “But it gets boring! I want to see blood fly from my enemies!”

“Using weapons won’t hurt,” said Cilla. “We used a sword and shield before in the Underworld.”

“That is correct.”

Roger held up a belt with two sheaths on both sides. “Put this on so you can carry your blades.”

The Cerberus placed the belt on and slid the machetes into the sheaths. The belt fits around her waist without breaking.

Roger continued to grab the other weapons and packed them up. “So is it true you were Amazons?”

“It is true,” said Labda. “Cilla, Katina, and I were born in the country of warrior women. We weren’t like this, naturally.”

“Are you sisters?”

“No, we’re not siblings,” Cilla answered. “But we are very close friends.”

“We trained together and fought together for a long time,” Labda added. “Like the Spartans, we were raised to protect our kingdom from the wars of men.”

Roger grabbed two shotguns. “Must be tough being a woman back then.”

“Most men think they are stronger than all women,” said Katina. “That is why our women ancestors built our own kingdom to kick the men’s asses.”

Roger placed the shotguns into the bag. “How did you become a Cerberus?”

The heads lowered their ears.

“Hercules murdered our queen,” said Labda. “We went on a journey to bring him to justice.”

"Hercules? Thee Hercules? The legendary hero?"

Katina spat at the wall. "He isn’t a legendary hero! He is a bastard and a murderer!”

“He killed our queen and got away with it,” Cilla explained.

Roger knew Hercules did some terrible things from the mythology books he read, but he never thought the hero was extremely bad. Well, he was never born in ancient times.

“It took us two years to find him on our journey,” said Labda. “When we heard he went to the underworld to capture the Cerberus, we traveled to the gate of Acheron in the Underworld before he reached there.”

“We got rid of the Cerberus so Hercules couldn’t complete his final labor,” Katina continued. “After we slew the beast, we waited near the gate to ambush him.”

“Instead of Hercules, Hades appeared,” said Cilla. “He wasn’t happy when he found Cerberus’s corpse.”

Labda stared at the floor in sadness. “Hades transformed us together into this monstrosity.”

She held up her claws and stared at them. “The gate needed a guardian so the wicked souls in the Underworld wouldn’t escape. We became the new Cerberus.”

Roger grabbed four packs of C4 and placed them into the bag. “Did Hercules arrived?”

Katina gritted. “He did, and he thought we are the Cerberus.”

“Hades allowed us to fight him, but he was too strong,” said Cilla. “He crippled us and brought us to Eurystheus.”

“It was humiliating, being tied up and placed on display in front of everyone!” Katina growled like she was ready to break something. “And the crowd cheered for Hercules like a f**king god while we rested below his feet. We failed our quest and lost our pride. And there was nothing we could do about it.”

Cilla sniffed. “But Hercules safely returned us to the Underworld and said he was sorry for our curse.”

Roger zipped up his bag. “Well, at least he apologized.”

Katina barked at Roger. “Hercules is still a bastard! If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t be cursed to live in the Underworld as Hade’s dogs for eternity If I ever see him again, he will never see daylight again.”

“But he died soon after he completed his labors, right?”

Katina smiled a bit. “Yup, but it would be better if it was from our own hands. We heard he joined the gods instead of going to the Underworld. Lucky bastard.”

Roger took some ammo and placed them into the pockets on his webbing. “What is it like being a Cerberus?”

“Hard, but manageable,” Labda explained. “Three of us control the same body. To work together, we take turns to avoid mistakes.”

Must be like sharing the same game controller, Roger thought.

“Hades trained us how to cooperate and fight in our new body,” Labda continued. “It took years, but we had infinite time to practice.”

“How about you, Roger.” Cilla pointed her finger at him. “Where did you come from and how did you become a cop?”

Roger slid a knife into a sheath on his belt. "I was born and raised in this city. My father was a cop too. A good man. He taught me to stand up for myself and protect people. After he died, I joined the police academy and became an officer. I always respected the law like him."

"How did he died?" Cilla asked.

Roger rested both his arms on the duffle bag. "My father and his partner found a drug ring and attacked it. He took a bullet to save his partner's life. Sometimes I wished he didn't do that, but sometimes you have to sacrifice for the greater good."

"He does sound honorable," said Labda.

"And badass too," Katina added with a grin.

Roger smiled at them and rubbed a tear off his face. "Okay….. Let's find a truck and find Medusa's hideout."

The Cerberus gave him two thumbs up.