Chapter 14
Death Trip: Part 2
In the Underworld
The X-men pushed through the line quickly, which immediately alerted the security ghouls. "The living have trespassed!" the yelled as they chased the X-men.
Cerberus started to bark. They burst through the gates the dead were all entering which attracted even more attention to the X-men, and raced farther into the underworld.
A few minutes later, they were hiding, out of breath, except for Dean, behind the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as the security ghouls passed by, yelling in rage or what they guessed sounded like an enraged ghoul. They waited for the ghouls to pass before moving on.
As they did they stumbled across a new type of landscape, the fields of Asphodel, basically purgatory. There was black grass that looked like it had been trampled by hundreds of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Black trees that no one could identify grew in clumps all around. The cavern ceiling was so high above them that it might've been a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites, which glowed faint gray and looked wickedly pointed.
The X-men tried not to imagine they'd fall on them at any moment, but dotted around the fields were several that had fallen and impaled themselves in the black grass. The dead probably didn't have to worry about little hazards like being speared by stalactites the size of booster rockets.
They ran into the crowd of souls staying close to each other trying to lose the ghouls for good. They tried to blend into the crowd as much as they could, keeping an eye out for the security ghouls. Although it would be hard to find them in the whispering masses of people that were just milling around in the shadows.
They tried to move through the crowd as fast as they could but looking at all the lost souls was really distracting. Their faces shimmered. They all looked slightly angry or confused. They would come up to one of the X-men and speak, but their voices sounded like chatter, like bats twittering. Once the souls realized that the X-men couldn't understand them they would frown and move away.
So they weren't just freaky, they were sad too.
The X-men crept along, following the line of new arrivals toward a black-tented pavilion with a banner that had weird writing on it.
Dean took a closer look, he recognized the writing. It was ancient Greek, the language of his ancestors. He knew this because when he lived in Greece he learned a little bit, but for some reason it came easy to him. Probably him being a 'Godling' as Charon said before.
The banner said: JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION
Out of the back of the tent came two much smaller lines. To the left, souls flanked by security ghouls (not the ones the X-men were being chased by) were marched down a rocky path toward the fields of punishment. How did Dean know it was the field of punishment? Well let's see. It glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and even miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas.
Even from far away, Dean could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music. Very loud and screeching opera. And he saw worse tortures, too….things that won't be described. So yeah if this wasn't the field of punishment then he would definitely not want to see it.
The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better. This one led down toward a small valley surrounded by walls….a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld. Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and Gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, he could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking. Looking over the beautiful landscape put a word in his head, Elysium, that world's heaven.
'That's the place for heroes' Dean thought to himself. But this was no time to stand there and admire its beauty. They had to find Hades.
They left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel fields. It got darker. The non-black colors faded from their uniforms. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin. In the distance looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. That's where they needed to go.
They got closer to the dark palace. They spotted three bat-like creatures high in the gloom circling the parapets. Dean couldn't really make out details but those things could be one of two things: Harpies or the Furies. Right now was not the time to try and decipher which one they were. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two story tall bronze gates stood wide open.
Up close, they saw that the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times….an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas mask wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls…but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago.
Inside the courtyard was the strangest garden the X-men have ever seen. Multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as Dean's fist, clumps of raw diamonds. Standing here and there like frozen party guests were statues….unlike the ones they saw before these actually looked human, sort of. Petrified children, these guys that had goat legs, satyrs, other guys that had a horse's lower body, centaurs…..all smiling grotesquely.
In the center of the garden was an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blooms neon bright in the dark. "The garden of Persephone," Dean said before frowning, "Keep walking."
"Ah but vhy? I'm starving here; I haven't eaten anything in hours." Kurt said rubbing his aching belly, the tart smell of those pomegranates was overwhelming to Kurt. "Oh just one little bit von't hurt." He said reaching for one of the juicy pomegranates.
Dean grabbed his hand that was mere inches away from the juicy fruit. "Don't. You. Dare." He said sternly.
Kurt got aggravated and pulled his hand back, "Vhy not?" he grabbed the fruit and went to bite into it. Dean slapped the fruit out of his hands, "Hey!" Kurt protested.
"I told you don't eat it. If you eat a single piece of fruit you will forever regret it." Dean said returning to the front of the group, "Now let's keep moving, we're almost there."
Kurt stayed at the back mad at Dean for not letting him eat, 'who does he think he is not letting me eat?' Kurt thought to himself before picking the fruit up again.
Jean picked up on his thoughts and saw the anger on Kurt's face; she made her way to the back with Kurt, "I really wouldn't eat that if I were you."
Kurt sighed heavily, "Not you too. Why can't I eat? Aren't you hungry too?" Kurt protested.
"Yes Kurt I am hungry, but there's a reason why I'm not eating, why any of us shouldn't be eating." She took the fruit from his hands and showed it to him, "One bite of Underworld food, and we would never be able to leave. We would be stuck here forever." She threw the fruit away.
The realization hit Kurt right in the face, "Oh no. I'm such a jerk; I totally forgot the story of Persephone. It's just the fruit-"
"I know Kurt" Jean said understanding his pain, "I know they smell beautiful but you have to resist. Ok?"
"Yeah" Kurt said moving along.
They walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. The ceiling was filled with different drawings of great battles. One was of a man strangling a lion, Hercules and the Nemean lion. Another of a man holding the decapitated head of a woman with snakes for hair, Perseus and Medusa. A man holding a goat skin, Jason with the Golden Fleece. A man battling another man who had a bull head, Theseus and the Minotaur. Another of a man wearing nothing but a loincloth and helmet on a chariot charging at an army of hundreds, Achilles. That one made him feel proud.
There were a bunch of others that he didn't recognize; they seemed more recent than the ones with the Greek heroes. But then he stumbled upon two that really caught his interest.
One drawing was of two warriors battling. One of them was huge with armor all over his body except his head, definitely could be a giant, the other was normal sized but he had one sword In his hands lunging at the giant. He looked closely at that one and the smaller warrior seemed familiar somehow but Dean couldn't place it.
The second one was similar in only one way, again there were two. But this time it was clear that they weren't warriors. No, they were gods. One was dressed in full battle armor; the other looked like a Pharaoh or something. They both floated in mid air and looked as if they were about to charge at each other and use the earth as their battleground.
The last one looked epic, one of those battles that would echo in eternity from its magnitude. Dean refocused himself on the task at hand; every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear. Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulders. They carried spears or muskets or M-16s. None of them bothered the X-men, but their hollow eye sockets followed them as they walked down the hall, toward the big set of doors at the opposite end.
Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at them, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests.
"You know," Scott mumbled, "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen." Nobody laughed or even smiled.
"Well, guys," Dean said. "I suppose we should…knock?"
A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors swung open. The guards stepped aside. "I guess that means like enter." Kitty said.
They entered into a vast throne room with black marble walls and bronze floors. All their eyes peered to the end of the room where Hades sat on his throne. He was at least ten feet tall, for one thing, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair shoulder length and jet black. He wasn't bulked up but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther.
He seemed like the kind of person that should be giving orders. Dean gave him a good look over. The Lord of the Dead resembled pictures he'd seen of Adolph Hitler, or Napoleon, or the terrorist leaders who direct suicide bombers. Hades had the same intense eyes, the same kind of mesmerizing, evil charisma.
"So these are the intruders I sensed," he said in an oily voice. He immediately gazed upon Dean, "You are either very brave or very foolish to come here, champion of Zeus."
Sudden numbness crept into Dean's joints, tempting him to lie down, curl up and sleep at Hades's feet forever. This must be what it's like to be in the presence of a God. His aura was affecting the way Dean was feeling, making him want to enter eternal sleep. He fought the feeling and stepped forward.
"Lord Hades, I come before you with a request." Dean said as nicely as he could muster.
Hades raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out.
"Only a request?" Hades said amusingly. He started laughing deeply; the throne room echoed his laughter. "Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet." He said as if it was totally normal for him to kill someone for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
This was going as well as Dean had expected. He glanced at the empty, smaller throne next to Hades's. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. Dean wished Queen Persephone were there. He recalled something in the myths about how she could calm her husband's moods. But it was summer. Of course, Persephone would be above in the world of light with her mother, the goddess of agriculture, Demeter. Her visits, not the tilt of the planet, create the seasons.
Jean cleared her throat and stepped forward with Dean. "Lord Hades," she said. "Look, sir, there has been a mistake. We didn't mean to end up in your domain, it was an accident."
The Lord of the Dead narrowed his eyes upon Jean as if he were studying her very soul. "An accident you say Ms. Grey? Enlighten me on how you 'accidentally' came to my domain." He said expecting a good explanation.
Jean looked at Dean for help with that subject. Normally Jean doesn't have any problem speaking to strangers; she's been that way from an early age. But in this specific case she was clueless as to how they ended up here.
"It was my fault. Something happened inside of me and I accidentally created a portal that led us here." Dean said singling himself out. "My request….our request is that you assist us in returning to the world of the living for I still don't know how to control this newfound power of mine."
Hades listened carefully to Dean's words. Not to the request plea but to the fact that someone from the world of the living can travel to his world whenever they feel like it, and with as much company as they wish apparently. "This is interesting. Warriors of Zeus have never been known to have such…odd but useful abilities. It raises the question whether I should consider you a threat." He said.
"A threat? What could I do against a god like you?" Dean asked with curiosity, cause really. What could a mortal do against a god? Couldn't they just zap you and turn into a random animal of their choosing?
Hades smiles for a second, "Well maybe not directly against me," his smile fades into a frown "But you could be a nuisance transporting dead or living souls back and forth."
"I assure you I would do no such thing." Dean said.
"Well I cannot simply take your word so I will just have to kill all of you" he said with a grin. Suddenly the doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in the world. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.
"Things aren't looking too good for us guys." Scott said powering up his visor.
Spyke sprout spikes all over himself, "I don't wanna die, I'm too young."
Dean tried to think of something to say quickly before they're really stuck here forever. "Um hold on a second, won't Zeus be mad if you kill me and my friends?" Dean asked the lord of the dead.
"No, warriors like you can always be replaced." Hades said. The skeletal soldiers all took one step forward, making their weapons ready.
Dean tried to mentally contact Zeus, 'Now would be a very good time to show up and help me out'. No answer. He was all alone, him and the X-men.
At that point, each and every X-man was terrified. The strange thing was Dean felt kind of excited about a fight like this. Nothing gets him more excited than trying to beat impossible odds. Of course by impossible he means very very difficult, he probably couldn't beat Cerberus in a fight. Now if he had the right weapon with him that would be another story.
Then suddenly an idea struck him, impossible odds? Overconfident God? A chance to live and beat up a bunch of dead guys? Perfect.
"HEY HADES!" Dean yells out. The skeletal soldiers stop in their tracks.
"What is it now?" he asked with an irritated tone.
"How long do you think me and my friends can last against your guards here?" Dean asked.
"How long you can last against my guards? Hahahahaha" his laughter echoed through the throne room, "You couldn't last more than 5 minutes." He said full of confidence in his skeletal soldiers.
"Well I think you're foolish to think that." Dean said with a grin. Hearing that everyone but Dean and Hades froze where they were.
Hades scowled at Dean and his eyes grew dangerously bright. The throne room shook with a tremor so strong, they probably felt it upstairs in the real world. Debris fell from the rocky ceiling. "Watch your tongue boy; don't forget who you're talking to. Now where are you going with this?"
"I bet that I and my friends can stay alive longer than 10 minutes." He said.
Hade's scowl lessened upon Dean, "Ah a bet then. What do you wager?"
Dean turns to his teammates, "Guys, you're going to have to trust me on this one."
"What exactly are you going to wager?" Scott asked.
"That doesn't matter. What matters is can you guys stay alive for 10 minutes?"
They all looked at each other for mental support; this was going to be their fiercest fight yet. But could they do it? There was only one way to find out. "We're going to have to if we want to get out of here. Go for it." Scott said.
Dean turned around to face Hades. "Here's my wager. If we last more than 10 minutes against your guards then you send us back to the world of the living. If we don't and we end up dying….we will serve you for all eternity." Dean said that last part hesitantly.
The X-men didn't like those odds but they couldn't argue at this point, it was either that or just simply dying right then and there. Hades face went blank for a split second before turning into a wide grin. "You really are foolish godling, fine you have a deal."
Before Dean could say anything else he heard a voice in his head, 'Swear on the Styx'. At this point Dean accepted any help he could get, he could complain to Zeus later for not helping him sooner. 'Styx? Oh the river Styx' Dean thought. "Swear on the river Styx" Dean said.
Hades's grin shrank a little but it was still there. "I swear." He said. "Now, begin!"
The skeletons aimed their weapons.
"X-men take'em down!" Cyclops yelled. "Marvel girl, take their weapons". She lifted the majority of them, she made sure to take away all the M-16s. They floated in the air and were mashed into a ball, Cyclops then blasted the ball of weapons into ashes. "That'll even the odd a bit."
Hades look surprised at the sight of Jean and Scott using their abilities, as if he didn't know or forgot that they were all mutants. Dean was counting on it, he had a feeling that the lord of the dead didn't know his 'friends' were mutants.
Achilles jumped into the air and landed on top of a skeletal samurai warrior toppling him, he grabbed the samurai sword in the skeletal warrior's hand and started fighting other armed warriors.
Spyke shot bone spikes at the skeletal army; this was a rare opportunity for Spyke because he usually can't directly hit anyone with his spikes out of fear that he could kill them or severely hurt them. In this case he didn't have to worry because his opponents were already dead. This helped a lot.
Spyke shot a spike right in the face of a Viking, immediately the skeletal warrior collapsed to the bronze floor. He shot another spike, this one a bit longer, it impaled a British redcoat and pinned him to the black marble wall.
Nightcrawler was also doing well, he had attacked a weird looking guy who was either French or English judging by his outfit, and he had one of those round white things around his neck that looked like one of those collars that dogs wear sometimes that look like satellites. He was carrying a rapier sword which was good for Nightcrawler because he was an expert at fencing.
Nightcrawler teleported behind another skeletal warrior and sliced him in half, unfortunately the separate warrior halves were still alive and moving. "Uhhh that's nasty!" Nightcrawler decided to leave the chopped warrior where he was and continue to fight somewhere else.
Rogue was having a blast now that she could focus on something else besides this creepy place. She was going at it with the unarmed skeletal warriors. Since she had no real offensive powers, and there was no way in hell she was going to try and absorb one of these dead beats, she stuck to her hand to hand combat.
She was the only X-man besides Dean that really knew hand to hand combat. Kitty was starting to learn a little from Logan's karate sessions he had with the X-men once in a while. Dean did not participate for obvious reasons. Rogue not only had to learn it but also really liked it, she enjoyed hitting the punching bag in the gym and this was a similar situation.
There were a few skeletal warriors that were wearing armor which made it a little tricky but nothing she couldn't handle. An unarmed Knight came towards Rogue, Rogue sidestepped and used his momentum to swing him around and throw him into a pile of other skeletal warriors. "Strike!" she yelled with enthusiasm.
Shadowcat was having the most trouble out of everybody. For some reason she couldn't phase through the ground underneath her, maybe it was enchanted or something? So she was forced to constantly phase through her enemies for a quick escape. She came across a warrior that was mostly covered in chainmail and had weird symbols all over him; he looked like he belonged in that Mel Gibson movie Braveheart.
Then an Egyptian warrior charged at her with his Khopesh sword, a blade that started out straight but then made an arc towards the end of it. The warrior slashed at Shadowcat but the blade phased through her as if she was a ghost. Another slash, the same result. The Egyptian warrior was quick; Shadowcat had to handle this carefully. She lets the skeletal warrior slash again and after it phases through her she kicks it in the face decapitating it. The rest of the body momentarily stands there before attacking again without a head. Shadowcat squealed, "Ew ew ew!"
Marvel Girl found herself surrounded, lots of the skeletal warriors were very upset she took away their weapons and now they wanted payback. She formed a telekinetic shield around herself and expanded it to give herself some breathing room. Cyclops was near her so he started clearing out skeletons with his optic blasts. Cyclops had to be careful because a full power blast might accidentally hurt one of his team mates which means in this case he's shooting them one by one with weaker blasts.
Achilles was preoccupied with fighting a Roman Legionnaire and a Greek warrior. The Greek warrior didn't wear anything specific which made it difficult to identify where he was from. He wore traditional Greek armor but the one thing that stood out was his bronze short sword that was slightly glowing. Achilles was a little busy to pay any more attention to it.
Achilles blocked a blow from the Legionnaire and dodged a thrust from the Greek warrior. Achilles then slashed at the Greek but he blocked with his bronze shield. The bronze shield was tough to get around; it was almost as large as his torso which covered like 80% of his body when he was on the defensive. When attacking it with the Steel Katana Achilles was using it would slide off as if it was smothered in butter. He would have to find a weak spot in the Greek's defenses.
The steel katana felt foreign in Achilles hands, he wasn't used to handling two-handed weapons but he quickly adjusted.
The Legionnaire wasn't as tough because he had lost his shield, thanks to Marvel Girl. But whenever he tried to finish off the Roman the Greek would step in and vice versa. He would have to attack at a precise moment. Achilles decided to go for the Greek's feet, he managed to get him and knock him over. As expected the Roman stepped in but this time Achilles was prepared. He did a quick slash with his katana removing the hand which held the Gladius, the Roman short sword, and then he back kicked the Roman in the chest sending him flying into other skeletal warriors.
Achilles picked up the Gladius which he felt more comfortable with using. He spotted the Greek was up again and came up with a quick plan to end it, he threw the katana at the Greek like a spear straight towards his face. As expected the Greek lifted his shield to block which left him blind. Achilles ran and after the katana had been stuck inside the bronze shield, the Greek peaked his head out which left him wide open. Achilles jumped into the air and thrust his sword into the side of the skeletal warrior's neck and removed it quickly shattering his spine in mid-air. The Greek collapsed; Achilles picked up the glowing bronze sword and examined it. It was interesting; if he could he would bring it with him.
When the fighting had passed the 10 minute point Hades yelled, "Enough!" Both X-men and skeletal warriors stopped at his demand. Dean could tell from Hades's dark and angry face that he was extremely pissed off; his eyes were getting very bright again. He should have known the Godling was hiding something when he bet servitude for all eternity. Of all things he could have expected, mutants were definitely not one of them. They were still relatively new to him so he didn't know very much about them, but after today he would pay close attention to them.
"A deal is a deal." He waved his hand and all the skeletal warriors returned from where they came from. "But know this Godling. You now have my attention; I will be watching you and your friends carefully." Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded a few feet away from the X-men, and there was the danger room. "Now leave my presence!" he said in a commanding voice.
Dean quickly put the glowing bronze sword on his belt on his backside so Hades wouldn't see it, he dropped the Gladius. Kurt saw that and he dropped the rapier and then they all entered the portal.