Arrival
"Hera, it's hot in here..," Diana whispers. I look around and take in the scenery of Tartarus. It's exactly what I thought Hell would look like- fiery, dark, and very rocky. This sure isn't a place where I would want to live.
"You still have the map, right?" I ask. She nods and hands it to me.
"You haven't forgotten your Greek, have you?" she laughs.
"I'm not thatold, Princess," I reply.
I open the scroll and see an elaborate map with circles and Greek symbols and the Styx running throughout the land. "Body, Soul, and Mind," Diana tells me.
"What?"
"The names of the circles. My guess is what our challenges are going to be based off of."
"And center," I note. "That's where we're going."
"It's going to be really tough, Bruce. But luckily, we're both in our primes."
"Yes. Diana, we need to make a pact. I'm almost positive that they're going to try to split us up and then we will lose. You're my only help in this Hell, so we need to be sure to trust each other.. No matter what happens in here. I can't lose you again, immortal or not. I'm not going to live an empty life again."
I promise, Bruce."
A familiar white light encircles us and lifts us both into the air. "Hello again, my favorite couple," the voice of Aphrodite announces. As much as she is nosy, she is helpful.
"In the Underworld, you will meet incredibly tough challenges that test everything in your beings and will try the strength of your relationship. And to help you out, the Gods and I are giving you gifts! And who doesn't like gifts? These will help you tremendously in your journey."
Diana looks at me and holds my hand.
"Hephaestus has granted you both invincible swords, Artemis gives you enchanted arrows, I'm giving you unbreakable love, Athena is gifting you both with wisdom, Apollo blesses you with great health, and Zeus is giving you luck. So, you have a pretty big support group rooting for you, as you can see." The voice laughs and pauses for a moment.
"Oh, as a word of advice, Hades and Persephone are not your enemies- Hades is a softie at heart and Persephone is a sucker for love, so if you do encounter their presence at some point, do not be inclined to attack. And the events detailed in your journey are not directed at you specifically and were not created by any one God specifically. Heroes are no strangers to the Underworld, but few succeed. I wish you both the best of luck and I will try to help when I can. No loopholes in this, I promise you. Remember, just reach the center of Tartarus together and you will win. If you fail, Bruce will have to live in the Elysian Fields and Diana will live on Themysicra forever. But, we all know that isn't going to happen. Now, your journey awaits!"
The white light lowers us and fades slowly.
"Ready?" Diana asks me.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
She wraps her arms around my neck and brings her lips to mine. "A kiss for good luck," she smiles.
"You're lucky that we're destined to be together, Princess,' I joke.
"Wasn't the only good luck kiss we've had.. Well, I guess that would be considered a good luck escapade, right?"
"Touché."
She slinks away and we begin to walk into the depths of Tartarus.
Diana takes out the map and pauses for a moment. "We're going to Body first," and points to a picture of a Hydra.
Oh, God. A Hydra. Wonderful.
"Well, it is Tartarus, after all."
We've been walking for what seems like forever. All that's around are chasms and rock formations. At least I have her with me.
"Well, this isn't too bad, I guess. Bruce, watch out!" Diana yells. I duck down and pull out a batarang as Diana slings out her sword and swiftly beheads a winged demon, prompting the head and the body fall onto the ground.
"Well, that was strange," she sighs.
The body starts to twitch and reattaches its head to its body.
What the Hell is this"
"Diana? It's not dead.."
"Yes it is, I just killed it," she says as she turns around. "Hera!," she yells as she stabs it in its heart. She twists the sword deep into the chest and flings the demon into the distance.
"There, that should do it."
I hear a loud, shrill cry in the air, followed by the sound of wings flapping. "Princess, I don't think we're done here," I say as I take out my sword. A swarm of the demons head for us, circling around and trying to attack. We position ourselves back to back and prepare to strike. "Aim for the hearts, Bruce. That's the only way to kill them."
"Gods, Bruce!" Diana yells as she takes down the last of the creatures. "I hope that never happens again," she sighs.
"You did amazing, though." She really did. She showed no signs of fear and struck them right in their hearts.
She smiles and puts her sword away. "You did pretty good, yourself. You haven't lost it, old man."
"Hey, I'm pretty sure I'm doing better than any other 80-somethings you know."
"That's true," she laughs as she kisses me. She slips the cowl off of my head and looks into my eyes. "I love you so much, Bruce. I really can't believe this is happening to us. I'm still expecting my alarm to go off and wake up into the real world.'
"I feel the exact same. It's like it's too good to be true.'
"Well, we're both good people, and we deserve happiness. And we will get our prize."
"Hopefully. And even if we don't, I will never regret it."
"Neither will I, Bruce. Even if I have to be stuck on Themyscira forever."
"I love you, Princess." We kiss again and slowly break apart. We begin to walk again, further into Tartarus.
"It's funny, I feel like I'm in Heaven right now."
"I do too, Bruce," she says as I take her hand. This is perfect.
Back in the Real World..
"Hey, where's your cocoa powder?" Donna yells from the kitchen.
I don't have cocoa powder."
"Fine," she shrugs as she walks back into the living room. "They haven't moved a bit. It's been two hours and nothing's happened to them. Which is good, don't get me wrong," she sighs. She sits next to me on the couch and puts her knees to her chest.
"I guess even Hell isn't as bad as the evils on Earth."
"You can say that again.."
There's an awkward silence between us. I don't know, I haven't felt myself around Donna. We went through some really tough stuff when we started to transition from being just friends and then into a relationship, and then we just split up.
"What's new with you, Donna?'
"Well, other than this, I've started to work as an art critic for the New York Gazette."
"So you ended up doing something you've always loved."
"You can too, Dick. I mean, if you get this second chance, you can do whatever you want! You don't have to be stuck being a programmer or work from nine to five. You're a great guy, Dick, and no one can stop you."
"I guess you're right. I mean, the only thing stopping me from doing what I love is myself."
"It doesn't have to be that way. And if you ever need help, I'm always here for you. I don't care about what happened between us before this. I can forget about the stupid stuff we did as kids. I'll always be your friend, no matter what.'
"That means a lot, you know. I'm willing to start over if you are."
"Alright, it's a deal. A blank slate for the both of us."
I'm starting to feel for her again.. I haven't felt like this is a long time. Who knows, maybe I needed some time to give this a chance.
Our fingers interlock slowly and she puts her knees down, shifting her body towards me. I kiss her and she replies by slipping her tongue into my mouth. We widen the kiss as she crawls on top of me, straddling over my legs. We end the kiss as we run out of air, entangled in each other and laughing at ourselves.
"I've missed you so much, you know?" Donna laughed.
"Same here, Donna." Things are beginning to look up.