Ah, that was a nice break. And I really needed it too! D-Sniper and I spent nearly an entire day just planning out everything we wanted to happen and now that we've got a good outline for the story, I can proceed with writing! I actually had this prologue written up a while ago, but I just didn't feel like posting anything until now.

Now, like arc 3, this arc will be a "finding things" arc. I know it can get repetitive, but as with arc 3, we'll be trying to focus on other aspects aside from the objects the heroes and villains are searching for. Namely, Drago's redemption. Drago didn't get a lot of focus since joining up with the Strikers all the way back in arc 1 and I felt he just sorta fell into the background. That's why we came up with the idea of this arc bringing Shen Du back into the picture as a way for Drago to confront his past and truly move past it. Besides, both Mala and Linos had confrontations and resolutions with their families, why shouldn't he? His commitment to his friends and life as a good guy will be tested.

NOTE: Some people have pointed out that I'm spelling Shen Du wrong. I don't believe I am. The show does spell it as Shendu, all one word, however, I choose to spell them as two separate words since they would be two separate Chinese characters. Besides, the other Demon Sorcerers names are spelled like that: Po Kong, not Pokong. So, I choose to spell it as Shen Du to keep it consistent.

ALSO, I'm starting a new job next week so I won't have as much time to write as I normally do. Kinda nervous and excited at the same time. It's only part time but it's better pay than what I make now and I know I'll learn a lot more than I currently am. Let's just say, I know for a fact there's no advancement for me in my current job.

And once again, while not required, it is recommended you read the previous story installments before reading this one.

It was dark, the only source of light being the bright glow from the moon high above in the sky and from the brightly lit city below. On the path leading up into the woods was a single black and blue motorcycle dashing through the night. When the rider spotted the sign signalling an upcoming exit, she gripped the handlebars and turned into the exit, slowing down as she went. She carefully gripped the brake and slowed to a stop in front of a large, old mansion, silencing the smooth hum of her vehicle. She reached her slender fingers up and pulled the helmet off, releasing thick locks of bright orange hair and revealing a beautiful blue-eyed face beneath. Stepping off the bike and putting the helmet on the seat, she carefully shook her hair and ran her fingers through to neaten her tangled strands. She pulled her hair back the right side of her head, leaving only a few, wild strands sticking up while pulling the rest of her hair to stay on her left shoulder. She walked up to the front door of the mansion and took the metal knock affixed to the door in her hand and knocked three times. She waited for a few seconds and no answer came. Just as she reached up to knock again, the door suddenly opened and the orange haired beauty came face to face with a handsome young man.

"Oh, uh, are you the exorcist?" he asked. She nodded. "You don't really look like an exorcist…" he commented, looking at her from head to toe.

"Were you expecting a priest?" she retorted.

"Actually, yeah. I mean, what's with all the weapons?" he asked, pointing to the sword on her back, the sais on her hips and the bow on the back of her waist.

"Dealing with demons isn't just spraying holy water and reading scriptures. It's far more complicated and far more dangerous," she said sternly.

"Is that the exorcist?" a female voice called from inside. The young man who answered the door rolled his eyes and sighed, moving aside and opening the door further as an older woman came into view. "Oh, I'm so glad you could make it here! The house has been doing some strange things since I inherited it from my mother."

"I told you, mom, it's an old house! It's not haunted!" the young man protested.

"Oh, don't listen to my son. He thinks I'm wasting my time with this, but I've tried everything! The last contractor I hired to inspect the place fell right through the floor on the second floor!"

"Because the wood is rotten and needs to be replaced! Not because it's haunted! You're wasting your money with this mom. Look, I don't mean to offend you but this is just ridiculous!" the man said to the exorcist.

"Do you mind if I take a look around?" she asked. The woman nodded eagerly and stepped aside so she could enter. "Oh, I didn't catch your name!" the woman called.

"Renita Ryder," she answered, stepping into the house and carefully examining everything in sight: furniture, artwork, even the floors and ceilings. "You said you inherited this house from your mother?"

"Yes, she passed away a few months ago and when I came up a few weeks ago to have a look around, well… I saw a ghost!" she fretted as he son simply rolled his eyes once more.

"The house isn't haunted, mom. The sounds you're hearing are probably just animals that got in!" he tried reasoning.

Ignoring her son, the woman continued with her story. "I think it might be my mother's ghost. Do you think you could speak with her? Find out why she hasn't passed on? Is there something I'm supposed to do?" she asked.

"There is a presence here," Renita spoke.

"I knew it!"

"Of course there is," the son remarked.

"But it's not your mother's ghost," she quickly added.

"Th-then what is it?" the woman asked, growing concerned.

Renita reached up to her neck and pulled the crystal pendulum necklace off. She held it out in front of her, allowing the pendulum to dangle from her hand. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, focusing all her energy on the pendulum. The woman and her son, who despite his skepticism, couldn't help but watch closely at what she was doing. All of a sudden, the pendulum began moving back to forth before quickly pointing straight ahead, pulling on the string, but Renita kept a firm grip.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that whatever is here is coming, fast. You don't have a ghost problem. What you're dealing with here is a malevolent spirit. They're attracted to empty houses and take on the form of deceased loved ones in order to lure in their prey. It's a good thing you called me when you did." Renita put the pendulum back around her neck and reached behind her back, pulling out the jian sheathed on her back. "Stay back," she cautioned as the pair moved behind her and stood in the doorway. "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao, Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao." She repeated the chant over and over as the wind suddenly began to pick up. All of a sudden, a spectral creature appeared from the hall in front of Renita. The figure had a twisted, grotesque face and wild hair, screeching loudly in rage. Renita narrowed her eyes as the ghostly spirit dashed towards him and swiftly sliced through the ghost twice, leaving a glowing X marked on the ghost's chest. Renita turned away from the spectre and sheathed her sword as the spirit wailed loudly, the X on its chest growing brighter before exploding in a ball of light, leaving nothing behind.

"I-is it over?" the woman asked meekly.

"Yes, I've eliminated the spirit. Your house is safe."

"I-I can't believe it. This place really was haunted!" the woman's son said with wide eyes.

"I learned a long time ago that I shouldn't tell people what to believe, but rather let them learn for themselves what to believe. I suggest that you don't mention this to anyone, not even friends or other family. You don't want people to think you're crazy after all," she smirked.

"Oh, here!" the woman took out a large wad of cash and handed it to Renita. "It's all here, as agreed."

"Good. Take care," she said, pocketing the money and leaving the house. She climbed onto her bike and rode back into the city, which despite being in the middle of the night, was rather bustling with nightlife. She pulled aside to grab a quick bite to eat, leaning against her parked motorcycle as she ate. Suddenly, she stood up, eyes wide and alert.

There was a demon nearby and she had never felt such a strong energy before! Normally it was small and weak, like that of spirits and ghosts, but whatever it was nearby, it had to be a powerful demon. She quickly tossed her trash into the nearby garbage bin, put on her helmet and hopped on her motorcycle. She zipped through the street, following after the signal as best she could. She turned into an alley, feeling the demon's presence stronger than ever. She slowed her motorcycle and hopped off, carefully and stealthily creeping up to the end of the alley. Across the street, she could see a large delivery truck parked outside a museum as the building staff carefully loaded the truck with large boxes. At first glance, it didn't look like there was anything suspicious going on, but her senses were never wrong. There was a demon and it was here! She pulled off her pendulum and began focusing her power on it. The pendulum began floating and pointing up to her right. Renita looked up and saw a large, crouched figure perched on the rooftop with bright glowing red eyes. Before she had time to react, the figure jumped from the rooftop and onto the truck. Fire erupted from the demon's hands and mouth, frightening off the workers as they ran in panic. The demon leapt off the truck and onto the street, slowly moving to the still open back doors. Renita quickly stepped out of the alley and reached behind her waist, pulling out her compound bow and and quickly drawing back an arrow. She fired the first arrow and another two in quick succession, each hitting the truck and earning the demon's attention. The demon stared at her before narrowing his eyes and reaching for the large blade on his back. Renita narrowed her eyes back at the demon, collapsing her bow and instead drawing out the two sais on her hips. The two charged at each other and Renita easily blocked the demon's blade with her two sais.

"Aren't you a little young to be a slayer?" the demon taunted. Now that she was closer to it, she could see the demon's details more clearly. He was large, much larger than she was but that size would still be considered small by demon standards. Either he was a low class demon, or was still considerably young. He had a broad figure, dark green scaly skin and two large horns sprouting from the top of his head. He was covered in thick brown body armor and black, red and blue cloth.

"Aren't you a little small for a demon?" she shot back, which only made the demon narrow his eyes at her angrily.

"Hmph, you've got quite the sharp tongue, hot stuff," he grinned. "I wonder what else you can do with it," he leaned in to whisper.

Renita narrowed her eyes in disgust. She didn't like demons and she certainly didn't like it when they talked to her like that. Still holding his blade away from her with her sai, Renita swiftly brought her foot up to the dragon's crotch, causing him to drop his blade and clutch his croft in pain. Renita stepped back and spun, kicking the demon in the side of his head. He roared loudly and launched a fireball from his mouth towards her. Renita quickly swapped out her sais for the jian on her back and easily sliced through the fireball, leaving the demon puzzled.

"Surprised? You should be. This is a special material enhanced by Chi Wizardry to cancel out demonic magic," she explained. "Now, what is it you're after?" she asked sternly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he teased with a grin. The two kept their eyes locked on each other until they heard the sound of sirens in the distance, getting louder as they grew nearer. "Sorry, hot stuff, but that's my queue to leave!" he demon declared, reaching for his fallen blade. Renita was about to advance and stop him, but he threw two fireballs just in front of her, creating a roaring wall of flame. Renita raised her arm to shield herself from the heat as she stepped back. "Maybe I'll see you again, beautiful!" he called, his voice sounding farther away than before. Renita narrowed her eyes and moved around the flames to chase after the demon, but he was nowhere in sight. She tried sensing his presence, but felt nothing nearby.

"He's fast…" she muttered. And she still hadn't found out what he was doing or what he was looking for. Powerful demons like this one rarely did things on their own; they usually had lesser demons to work for them. It was rare for a higher class demon to be out and about like this, and she had a feeling that whatever the reason, it couldn't be good. Hearing the sirens getting louder, Renita quickly sheathed her sword and ran back to her motorcycle, fleeing the scene before the police could arrive. As she reached the temporary apartment she was staying at, she couldn't help but recall the demon calling her "hot stuff" and "beautiful". What on earth was that about? She had never known a demon to be a flirt, perhaps it was some psychological tactic to throw her off her game? Maybe it was because she was a girl. Male demons always had the tendency to underestimate female opponents because of their gender. Yeah, that had to be it. Either way, she couldn't let a powerful demon like this one roam freely.

Once she got inside, she placed her weapons on the coffee table and opened up her laptop, quickly searching up the museum they were fighting outside of. "Hm… ancient weapons exhibit," she read. She looked at the dates and saw that yesterday was the final day of the exhibit here and that it was moving to Los Angeles for the next show. He had to have been looking for something in the exhibit. It wasn't uncommon for museum artifacts to actually be ancient and deactivated magical relics. She scrolled through the images of the artifacts that were on display, but so far, none of them stood out to her. She kept looking until she stopped at a large, thick bladed dagger. Compared to the other weapons in the exhibit, it certainly looked more ornate and detailed. She was about to brush it off and move on to the next artifact when something caught her eye. In the middle of the crossguard was a circle, and on that circle were three sets of lines. The top most was a solid line, but the middle and bottom had a break in between.

"A trigram…" she realized. Without another thought, Renita reached for her phone and dialed a number. "Come on, come on, pick up," she whispered, tapping her foot impatiently. When a voice on the other end answered, Renita spoke, "Hey, you still in Los Angeles? Good, I'm on my way. I'll be in the city in a few days. We need to talk."

Curious to see these new characters? Head on over to my deviantart to see them and the objects this story will revolve around: Keys of the Demon King.