Chapter 140
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Note: Xena, and each of these five villains, are from "Xena: warrior princess."
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Xena had heard of the deal made with D'Hoffryn. She feared that some of these new ones might be some of her old enemies, she was right. It wasn't long before they confronted Xena. They included the warlords Toxeas, Darphus, Theodurus, and Dagon, as well as the serial killer Atimantes.
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Toxeas: Remember me, Xena?
Xena: Unfortunately yes.
Toxeas: First you killed me.
Xena: Because you threatened to kill me for refusing to join your army.
Toxeas: I got lucky, the spirit of death was confined, so me and my new undead army were free. But then you had to release her, and we were taken to the underworld. I got lucky again. My new friend Atimantes stole Hades helmut of invisibility, put the good souls into Tartarus and us bad souls got free run of the Eleysian Fields. But then, you couldn't leave well enough alone. You had to fix things, got me sent back to Tartarus. Then the worlds broke down, I wound up in Hell, and got the chance for a little vengeance.
Xena; So I've killed you three times, I'm willing to make it four.
Dagon: And don't forget me.
Xena: I won't. You killed Barias, the father of my child.
Dagon: To be fair, I honestly thought I was protecting you. I heard you tried to rewrite history, but you wanted him dead that night.
Xena: I know. And I blame that slave woman for tricking you. I see her again, I'll send her back to Hell. And you Theodorus, Callisto killed you. She was in my body at the time but it was her.
Theodorus: So I heard. Unfortunately, I'm still obsessed with her. Figure killing you will win her favor.
Xena: It won't. Matter of fact, she was reincarnated as my daughter.
Dagon: Is it me, or does fate have a twisted sense of humor.
Xena: I prefer to think of it as restorative justice. I destroyed her family, her childhood, then I had the chance to give her a genuine fresh start.
Toxeas: Anyway, we all know none of us could kill you by ourselves. But together, we have a chance.
Xena: I wouldn't bet on it. They say that all souls will, eventually, get into Heaven. Therefore, I give you each one chance. Walk away, try to live better lives than you did in the old world. You try to kill me, and I'l just send you back to Hell.
Theodorus: Funny thing about Hell, it's actually a lot like prison. You fear it for so long, but once you've been there, you don't fear it as much. Each of us knows we can handle it, can have some power there, can be sent back here to kill you.
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These five fought Xena. Together they did put up more of a fight. But, in the end, the result was the same. Xena killed them all, and they were presumably sent back to Hell. But Xena knew that they were right about one thing. Even if Evil punished them for their failure, it could release them, or any number of Xena's other enemies. And as strong as she was, Xena knew she couldn't fight them all forever.