Chapter 26: Hades' Deal

Just as Meg was preparing to leave the garden, a nearby statue depicting two lovers melted as Hades emerged beneath the remains.

"Pardon the intrusion, Meg," Hades said as he dusted himself off. "Hope I'm not interrupting the date."

Meg said nothing as she turned away from Hades.

"Okay, assuming the kid isn't here, what's Hercules' weakness?" Hades questioned.

"Forget it," Meg murmured.

Hades rubbed one of his ears in confusion. "Sorry, what was that?"

"I said, forget it!" Meg snapped, facing Hades as she spoke.

Taken aback, Hades chuckled. "You can't be serious! I thought you would have wanted to be free, but now you've changed your mind?"

"Yes, I have."

"So I was right. You do have feelings for the kid."

"He's not a kid, but a real Hero."

"You realize if he becomes a true Hero, he'll be hanging out on Olympus with his father Zeus and not with mortals like you."

"Even so, he'd be better up there than with the likes of me and you. He's too honest, sweet, and doesn't have any weakness as far as I know."

Suddenly, a malicious look came across Hades' face. "I think he does, Meg, and it's you."

Then Meg was bound and gagged by solid mist as Hades transported the both of them to the Disney Academy football stadium where Hercules was lifting giant weights. While Pain and Panic went to distract Pegasus by luring him away with a female version of his kind, Hades hid Meg before approaching Hercules.

"Hiya, Jerkules!" Hades announced. "I'm Hades, Lord of the Dead. We met a long time ago, but you probably don't remember since you were only a baby on Olympus."

This peaked Hercules' interest. "So you're another God?"

"Yep, I'm your father Zeus' brother so that makes me your uncle," replied Hades. "But I'm not here to talk about family. Instead, I want to make you an offer."

"What kind?"

"If you're willing to give up your super strength for twenty-four hours, I'll free your girlfriend."

Snapping his finger, Hades made Meg appear who tried to speak through her gag. In response, Hercules lunged toward Meg who transported a few feet away.

"Nice try, kid, but I'm in control here," Hades grinned. "Now I promise Meg won't get hurt, even during the time you don't have your strength, so you've got nothing to lose."

Hercules clenched his fists before saying. "Is there a particular reason you don't want me to have my strength on this particular day?"

"No reason whatsoever," Hades claimed, though Meg knew he was lying. "Just thought I'd kill some time while I was down here on Earth. So what do you say?"

"You're a sick God, Hades, but I'll do it for Meg's sake," Hercules responded.

"All right, then let's shake on it." Hades held out his hand.

Reluctantly, Hercules took it and there was a bright flash of light as Hercules flinched kneeling on the ground as he did so. Meanwhile, Meg's misty bounds went away and she immediately ran over to Hercules.

"Now with that out of the way, I've got some Titans to unleash and a whole cosmos to conquer with my name on it!" Hades declared as he snapped his finger to summon a black winged chariot that he flew away on.

"Titans? Cosmos?" Hercules repeated as Meg helped him up. "What does he mean?"

"He's going to unleash the Titans that existed on this world millions of years ago, before Zeus defeated them and sealed them away somewhere," Meg explained. "But on this day, all the planets will align to show Hades where the Titans are and allow him to free them so he can take over Mount Olympus."

"How do you know this?"

"Because I was…bound to him."

Hercules took a step back. "Earlier, Phil told me that he overheard you and Hades talking in the garden. He said you were working for Hades, but I didn't believe him until now."

"I would've told you, but my soul was bound to Hades after I made a deal with him years ago to save my ex-boyfriend. So I was in debt to him, and given what he's capable of I didn't want to piss him off."

"So all those times you hung out with me…was because Hades made you?"

Reluctantly, Meg nodded. "But overtime, I grew to love you for your innocence and kindness. That's why I didn't tell Hades your weakness after our date, even though he promised to free me. Yet he somehow figured out that I was your weakness."

"Well, he was certainly right."

Then Hercules stormed off angrily, while Meg broke down crying.

###

As the sun came up the following day, it was blotted out by colossal shadows of large creatures that roamed the lands. One was a two-headed rock giant, another was a frost giant, the third was a tornado creature, the fourth was a lava giant, and the fifth was a Cyclops. The one leading them was Hades in his flying chariot on a path across the country towards Mount Olympus, where the Greek Gods resided. However, he asked the Cyclops to stay behind and destroy the city where Disney Academy was located.

While Hercules decided to take on the Cyclops, despite not having any of his strength, Meg freed Pegasus from the stables he was locked up in by Pain and Panic. Then together, they located Phil who was about to leave on one of the ships that was evacuating people out of the city.

"Phil!" Meg cried, keeping steady on Pegasus' back. "Hercules needs your help!"

"No, he doesn't!" Phil argued. "All he needs is you, even though you're nothing but a fraud!"

Frowning, Meg persuaded Pegasus to land and then she walked up to Phil. "Listen, Goat Boy! I know I did some bad things in the past that I'm not proud of, including dating Hercules under false pretenses, but if you don't help Hercules he will die and we will both be responsible for it!"

Looking shocked, Phil changed his mind and got onto Pegasus with Meg. They soon located Hercules, who was getting kicked high in the air by the Cyclops before landing in a nearby fountain. While Pegasus dropped Phil off near the fountain, he took Meg to a higher ground. For several hours, Hercules used his wits to take down the Cyclops by taking some fallen power lines and tying them around the Cyclops' legs which made it fall down sending shock waves that made a nearby column from the government building shake and begin falling toward Hercules.

"Look out, Hercules!" Meg shouted as she pushed Hercules out of the way of the stone column.

"Meg! NO!" Hercules cried, seeing Meg's body underneath the column. So he tried to lift it, and miraculously he held it above his head. "Has it been twenty-four hours already?"

"No," Meg groaned. "Hades' deal is broken…he promised I wouldn't get hurt."

"Phil," Hercules said to his Satyr mentor. "See if you can get Meg some medical attention. I've got to stop Hades."

Then Hades took off on Pegasus, while Phil attempted to look for a working phone in the desolated remains of the city. Meanwhile, Meg felt her breathing become more difficult as blackness clouded her vision. From an unknown place, she thought she heard a pair of scissors snap and her body became limp.

###

Sometime later, Meg woke up and looked up at Hercules who was glowing. From there, faint memories came back where she was floating in a river with several others and then Hercules jumped in. But as he swam towards her, his body was rapidly aging to the point where he was an old man by the time he got close enough to reach her. Then miraculously, his body was restored to his former self and it glowed as he picked her up. From there, he emerged from the river and punched Hades into it before leaving the dark cave they were in.

"Well, Wonder Boy," Meg smiled. "Looks like you became a true Hero after all."

Before Hercules spoke, a cloud came toward them. So Hercules picked Meg up and they stepped on the cloud. It was surprisingly solid as it took them into the sky and up towards a shimmering palace, which several glowing figures stood in front of including a man with a white beard and a woman with pink hair.

"Hercules," the woman with the pink hair said as she walked up to Hercules and hugged him. "We're so proud of you."

"Thanks, Hera — I mean, Mother," Hercules responded.

"You did it, my boy!" The man with the white beard wrapped his arm around Hercules' shoulder.

"I know, Father Zeus," Hercules said to the man with the white beard.

"What you did was no easy task," Hera claimed, looking at Meg who was standing nearby. "You willingly gave your life to rescue this young woman, because you loved her."

"That is what I meant by 'look inside your heart,' son," Zeus added. "Because while defeating monsters and gaining fame are admirable, a true Hero saves those he truly cares about. And now that you've come to this realization, Hercules, you can finally live among us in your true home."

While the other glowing figures cheered, Meg smiled politely and started to walk back to the cloud that brought her and Hercules here. But she was stopped by Hercules, who then looked back at Zeus and Hera.

"Father, Mother," Hercules addressed. "While I would very much like to live among you someday, I feel like there are a lot of things on Earth that I haven't experienced yet which I would like to do with Meg."

Sighing, Zeus said, "Very well, you may remain on Earth as long as you wish."

Hercules then kissed Meg, as the glow around him vanished. The two then waved to Zeus and Hera before heading back to Earth on the cloud they originally flew on.

End of Chapter 26