Get ready, because it is time to face the Lord of the Underworld himself, Hades. There are still going to be some twists and turns coming your way. You already know the disclaimer, so buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Chapter 23: Lord of the Underworld + DLC: The Backup Plan

Music playing: Lord of the Underworld

It was time to face off against the Lord of the Underworld himself, Hades. Pit rushed to the door and kicked open the Three Sacred Treasures Case and equipped his weaponry. "Equipped again!" he said and flew through the door into the skies of Hades' Realm. "It's finally time for you to square off against Hades. Are you ready?" Palutena asked. "I am SO ready! I carbo-loaded and everything!" Pit responded. "Great!" said Palutena. Pit then continued to take down a lot of Underworld enemies that were trying to stop him. "Hades has overstepped his boundaries by exploiting and desecrating souls," Palutena continued. "He's disrupted the balance between the Earth, the heavens, and the Underworld. He must be stopped. YOU must stop him. It's a tall order, but if anyone can do it, I have faith that you can!" "Leave it to me!" said Pit. "In the name of the heavens, the Earth, the humans, and the souls bound for the afterlife... I WILL defeat Hades!" "Go now, Pit!" said Palutena. "With pleasure!" Pit replied as he flew onwards. Devil Pit, however, was watching him from afar. "You have forgotten that I have big plans prepared for you after you defeat the Underworld ruler," he said. "But even if you fail, I'll still continue with my work." Pit then took down a lot more Underworld enemies and received four more Recover Orbs to replenish his health. He then flew down into a ravine. "So where's his castle?" he asked. "Hades doesn't have one," Palutena responded. "What?! The lord of the Underworld can't even afford a roof over his head?" said Pit, confused. "No, no, it's not like that," Palutena corrected. "This is his realm, so he could be anywhere in this darkness. Or everywhere." "Then...what's the plan?" Pit asked. "Just stay alert, Pit," Palutena warned. "I can sense Hades' presence surrounding us." "Uh, that's great intel..." said Pit after receiving four more Recovery Orbs to replenish his health. "But do you think you could be a bit more specific? Just a little bit?" After going through some kind of tunnel, he was face-to-face with Hades. "Hello there!" he said as he punched Pit. "Augh!" he cried. "I've been so looking forward to your arrival, Pitty Pat," said Hades. "Hades!" Pit exclaimed and then they go on at each other by saying their own names. "Pit!" "Hades!" "Pit!" "Hadeeees!" "Piiiiitttt!" And then they both said, simultaneously, "It's ON!" The final battle has begun. Hades started it off by summoning his minions to stop Pit from reaching him, but Pit managed to take them down with his Three Sacred Treasures. "Ooh! Do I spy with my little eye the Three Sacred Treasures?" Hades gasped. "Even your darkness can't hide from the light!" Pit yelled. "Now isn't that just..." Hades started before launching a powerful blast at Pit. "PRECIOUS!" he yelled in finish. "Ah-oooooooooooh! Ungh!" Pit groaned as he lost the Three Sacred Treasures, since they were destroyed in the process of that blast. "Now that felt good!" said Hades. "Not the Three Sacred Treasures!" Palutena gasped. "What?! NO!" Pit cried. "Not quite so tough now, are ya?" said Hades. Devil Pit saw that who commotion right in front of his eyes and he was disappointed. "I expected more from you, Pit," he said. "You really disappoint me. But let's see how well you can defeat Hades without your powerful weaponry." Luckily, Pit has the Earthmaul Club equipped to fight against Hades. He then struck attacks at Hades, while the Underworld ruler uses his fists to attack the angel. Hades then suddenly teleported away. "Huh?!" Pit gasped but then barely dodge a surprise attack from the Underworld ruler. "Augh!" he cried. Hades then teleported again back to where he was. "Having fun, Pitty Pat?!" he mocked. "Oh, put a lid on it," Palutena groaned. "Yeah, shut up!" Pit yelled and continued to attack Hades until he was defeated. "Yowwwww!" he yelled in pain. He held his face with his hand before getting back up. "You know what, Pitty Pat?" he said. "You're looking mighty tasty! Down the haaaaaaatch!" He then opened his mouth to create a vortex that sucked Pit in. "No no no no no no no!" he cried. "Get out of there, Pit!" said Palutena, but it was too late and Pit was gobbled up by Hades. "Uh oh..." he said. "Where am I?" Devil Pit saw that all happened and was even more disappointed than before. "I guess all of my hard work might be all for nothing," he said. "Oh well, I guess it's time to pay him a visit. I just need to focus my power." He then held two fingers from both hands onto his head and deeply focused his powers.

Music stops and switches to: Hades' Belly

Meanwhile, Pit slowly started to get up inside Hades' stomach. "Lady Palutena? Can you hear me? Hello?" he called, but no one answered. "I guess she can't hear me. Well, I'd better start wiping out bad guys. These guys are like grosser versions of Underworld monsters. Blugh!" "Oh, my. Don't tell me you're still alive, Pitty Pat!" said Hades, who heard Pit inside his stomach. "Hades!" Pit exclaimed. "Where am I?" "Why, in the belly of the beast, of course!" Hades answered. "Oh, no!" Pit gasped in shock. "Oh, yes!" said Hades. "I'm going to be sick," Pit groaned in disgust. "Me, too. Well, there's more than one way to get rid of a bad chicken nugget," said Hades. "Maybe I should just expel you the old-fashioned way." "No! Please don't do that!" Pit yelled. "Can't stop now!" Hades grunted as he tried to poop Pit out. (A/N: Sorry if this might sound gross to you.) "Nooooooooo!" Pit yelled, but luckily for him, nothing seemed to happen. "Whew. This is more difficult than I expected," Hades sighed. (A/N: What do you expect when you're constipated, Hades?) "Oh, man. I am NOT going out this way," Pit groaned. "That would be the opposite of a hero's death!" "Well you could say that Hades might be having trouble trying to get you out from his asshole," said a new voice. "What the?" Pit gasped. "Who said that?" "Why it's none other than me, of course!" said Devil Pit and then Pit recognized his voice. "How are you able to communicate with me?" Pit asked. "I have a rare power that can cause our laurel crowns to combine our powers to communicate with each other," Devil Pit explained. "Since Palutena cannot contact you because of Hades' big fat belly, I decided to not let you be by your lonesome." "Actually, it would be better if you could leave me alone," Pit scoffed. "I'm afraid I can't do that," said Devil Pit. "Besides, how else are you going to find your way out?" "I'll think of something!" Pit yelped. He then took down Cellular Underworld enemies to move onwards. He then found some squishy, cellular blocks. "What are these? Cells? I'll just bust through them," he said. "Nothing like a good ol' melee attack ought to do the trick," said Devil Pit. Pit did so and took down the blocks to move forward. He then took down more Cellular enemies and found more blocks, but they look green. "At this point, heading up has gotta be better than heading down..." he groaned. "Ugh. Sooo... Gross..." "What do you even expect from the inside of Hades' body?" said Devil Pit. "It's like you don't even know what COULD be on the inside of yours." "At least my insides are not as gross as his!" Pit replied. "Takes one to know one," said Devil Pit. Pit then took down the green blocks, which also act as elevators, and used them to move onwards. He then continued to take down more Cellular enemies. "I've been thinking about something," said Devil Pit. "What is it?" Pit asked. "I'm very disappointed in you for failing to take down Hades, especially when your Three Sacred Treasures were destroyed from that massive blast he unleashed," Devil Pit continued. "After all, he is a powerful beast that could do nothing but become stronger the more he makes everything off-balance." "Hey! It wasn't my fault!" Pit yelled. "I-I didn't even know he could pull off a trick like that! And besides, once I'm done with Hades, I'll be going after YOU next!" "Hmhmhmhmhm... We'll see..." Devil Pit chuckled. Pit then continued onwards and took down more enemies, until was ambushed and surrounded by more of them. "I'm trapped!" he cried. "All right, no panicking. Just gotta focus on defeating these enemies. Cells of Hades, hear my words! And, um...see my actions! Uh...something something...I'm going to rain death on you! I can't remember all the words, but that's the general gist." It turns out he tried to yell out his battle cry, but he failed almost miserably. "My innards have so longed to hear your battle cry. How could you forget the words?" Hades asked. "I didn't have time to rehearse. I've been busy fighting evil, OK?!" Pit responded. "Now you're making me even more disappointed in you, Pit," Devil Pit sighed while facepalming. "If you keep failing miserably, I swear I'm going to leave you to rot." "Oh shut up..." Pit groaned. "You're making it worse!" After that little skit, Pit defeated all of the Cellular enemies. "Oh, yeah!" he cheered. "Not bad, but you're not done just yet," said Devil Pit. Pit then continued onwards to find his way out of the beast's belly. "If only Lady Palutena were here to help me. She'd be so grossed out," he said. "Unfortunately for you, I have a stomach of steel," said Hades. "So that's why I can't communicate with Lady Palutena," said Pit. "But the only person that can communicate with me is you, Devil Pit." "That's because my powers are stronger than Palutena's," Devil Pit explained. "Take it from the Devil who wishes to become a god himself." "Wait what?" Pit wondered. "And you're just lost without her to do all the thinking for you, aren't you, Pitty?" Hades asked. "She doesn't do ALL the thinking. I have ideas too. Occasionally," said Pit. "Then answer me this, little angel," said Hades. "Why exactly are you trying to defeat me?" "Yeah. Why are you trying to defeat Hades?" Devil Pit asked. "We're all responsible for maintaining a certain order in the universe," Pit started to answer. "As Lord of the Underworld, you know this better than anyone. But your greed has thrown everything out of order. You've overstepped your bounds by exploiting and desecrating souls. And you've disrupted the balance between the Earth, the heavens, and the Underworld." "I'm impressed by all the big words you used, but I didn't ask for a sermon," said Hades in amazement. "Did you come up with that all by yourself, or did you have some divine inspiration?" "Like I said, I have ideas too. Sometimes," Pit replied. "Sure you do," said Devil Pit. "Now answer me my question. Why do YOU plan in stopping me, too?" "Because unlike Hades, you just want everything to be in complete chaos!" Pit started to answer again. "You will not stop your crimes until no one is left alive! But once I'm done with both you and Hades, peace will be achieved to the whole world! I will NOT let you destroy everything, not when you hurt all of the innocents! Including an innocent family Hades told me about!" "I see that your answer is clear," said Devil Pit. "But there is only one error of your speech." "And that may me?" Pit questioned. "You don't even know the full truth about the both of us," said Devil Pit. "But don't worry, the answers will arrive very soon." Pit then continued onwards through Hades' belly. "It's pretty convoluted in here," he said. "This is definitely the weirdest place I've been to yet." "I can't even blame you about that, since my own realms are only the scariest ones. Don't you think?" said Devil Pit. "Kind of," Pit answered. He then walked over to a spot which suddenly lifted him up. "Augh!" he gasped before noticing more Cellular enemies. "OK, self, pull it together. Out of my way, monsters!" After taking them down, it would seem that he defeated all of them, but then a Cellular Igniot appeared right behind him. "Augh!" he shrieked. "No need to lurk all creepily." "And here I thought I was the only one that could scare you in any way," said Devil Pit. After taking down the Cellular Igniot, Pit continued onwards where he encountered more enemies. Then he tried something else. "'It looks like there's a way forward, Pit.' Thanks, Lady Palutena! 'But you have to be careful, Pit. You're too handsome to lose.' Now that's something we can both agree on!" he said, trying to act like he was talking to the Goddess of Light, but then stopped. "...I'm really starting to lose it." "Yeah. A few more times and you'll start act all crazy like I did," said Devil Pit, who facepalmed at Pit's stupidity. "After all, I can hear everything you are talking about. Also, what the hell was that even all about? Were you even pretending to have a conversation with your goddess lady?" "That doesn't even help at all," Pit groaned. Then he continued onwards and found a Grind Rail. "How is there a Grind Rail in here?!" he wondered. But he decided to waste no time and hop onto it. "Weird. I thought Grind Rails were, like, a gift from the gods," he continued. "I'm hurt. Have you forgotten that your dear friend Hades is a god too?" said Hades. "But why would you help me get to my destination?! What's in it for you?!" Pit questioned. "Always the optimist, Pitty Pat," said Hades. "Who's to say this Grind Rail goes anywhere at all?" "Uh-oh," Pit groaned. "Just relax and enjoy the ride," Hades continued. "Wherever you go, I'm sure you'll be dead." "Nah. I think you can just ignore the beast and continue to find your way through," said Devil Pit. "At least SOMEONE appreciates my time," said Pit. He then continued onwards through the Grind Rail and found another Zodiac Chamber. He picked up the Aquarius Blade and then exited the chamber. He then continued onwards and hopped on another Grind Rail. "This grind rail just keeps going..." he said. "And going and going and going." "Something tells me you're starting to crazy," said Devil Pit. "No I'm not!" Pit yelled after hopping of the Grind Rail and entered an enclosed space. "You know, Pitty..." said Hades. "I'll miss you when you're gone." Suddenly, he burst his own arm into the enclosed space. "Augh!" Pit gasped and Hades' arm continued to throw punches which the angel avoided. "Ha ha ha ha! Surprised?" he chuckled as he withdrew his arm. "Uh, yeah. How did you just punch yourself?" Pit questioned. "Aww, now you're making me feel bad," Hades sighed. "And when I feel bad...I get hungry." He then ate different broken structures and his own Underworld troops. "Waaaah! What is all this?!" Pit gasped upon seeing all of that. "STOP eating things! It's bad enough that you eat souls!" "But souls are delicious. They're like bacon—they taste good on everything," said Hades. "But if you eat them, you completely remove them from existence!" Pit exclaimed. "They can't move on or...or be reincarnated!" "Huh. I never really gave it much thought," said Hades, who was unware of reincarnation. "Besides, what do you mean by reincarnation anyway?" "You know, being reborn as someone or something else," Pit answered. "Which means a different body, different memories, and different experiences, yes?" Hades questioned. "So isn't being reborn as 'something else' the same as being 'removed from existence?'" "I... I... Eating souls isn't right!" Pit yelped. "That depends on your definition of 'right.'" said Hades. "All living things survive by eating other living things." (A/N: Technically, Hades is not wrong. Have you ever heard of cannibals? Yeah. They are terrifying.) "So what?" Pit yelled. "You're a god. You should be above all that!" "Gods are above living things, which doesn't necessarily mean we care about them," said Hades. "What?! I can't believe you just said that!" Pit shouted. "That's it! In the name of the living, I WILL destroy you!" "Ugh, you're so boring. I really wish you'd leave," Hades sighed. "Unfortunately for you, there's only one way out." "No no no no no!" Pit yelped in disgust. "Cheer up. You've been PRIVY to a side of me that no one else has—my insides!" said Hades, smugly. "And now you'll be privy to the inside of a privy too. TootleLOO!" "OK, OK, fine. I give up. Please spare me. PLEASE!" Pit cried. "Obeying the call of nature is part of the cycle of life," said Hades. "Tell me, Pit, why do you hate life?" "Don't even think that I heard all of THAT!" said Devil Pit. "Besides, how do you even know about reincarnation?" "Because all souls that need to move one can have reincarnation," Pit replied. "No other soul should stay stuck in the Underworld." "So, that's how you want it to me," said Devil Pit. "Though I will say that I HAVE been reincarnated once before." "What? How?" Pit asked. "Unfortunately, I don't have time to answer," Devil Pit replied. "You'll have to figure that out for yourself." After taking down all of the enemies, Pit continued onwards through a tunnel. He then entered a long hallway where he saw the Forces of Nature footage on the walls. "Hm?" he wondered. "What's that?" "Viridi can't seem to mind her own business," said Hades. "Pardon me, if you will. I must go entertain my guests." "It would appear that your Nature Goddess ally is doing her best to slow Hades down," said Devil Pit. "But I'm not sure if she's only trying to stop him, or save you." "Hello?" Pit called to her, but there was still no response. "Hello? If Viridi's army is attacking, they're doing it awfully quietly. 'At least I'M doing something, Pit. You're such a slacker. Ugh!' I really need to stop talking to myself." "Yeah. You better stop!" said Devil Pit while facepalming. "Also, did you just try talking to my arch-nemesis. Because if you were, that was the most saddest attempt ever." "Oh just shut up for a few minutes!" Pit groaned. He then drank another Drink of the Gods and went through the door to find a way out.

Music stops and switches to: Boss Fight 1

Pit then arrived out of the door and encountered Hades' Heart. "Are you Hades' heart?" he asked, but the heart didn't say anything and instead quickly ran away. "Wait! Come back here!" he yelled. "It looks like the heart is trying to get away!" said Devil Pit. "I guess I'd better catch it," Pit continued. "It's actually pretty cute. Especially when you compare it to his...bowels." "Yeah. That's constipation for you, buddy," said Devil Pit. Pit then continued to chase after Hades' Heart while also trying to avoid its devastating attacks. "I thought using souls to create monsters was evil..." he continued. "But at least those souls are being used in some other life. Hades and the Underworld have taken this too far. They've stolen so many souls that they're disrupting the proper balance of things. It's just like what Viridi says about humans disrupting the balance of Nature. But it's worse than that because Hades threatens the earth AND the heavens! He has to be stopped! And the only ones who can stop him are Lady Palutena and me. But I guess I'm just talking to myself here. Again. It's just me and that heart. That adorable little heart. Aw, it's so cute! I have to admit, it can really bust a move. Seems almost wrong to destroy it." "Focus, dipshit!" Devil Pit yelled. "If you want to get out of there, you need to defeat it! And don't even think that you're still talking to yourself, I can still hear you!" "That's because I WISH you would stop listening!" Pit groaned. "But at least Hades is distracted by Viridi's forces so that you can gain the upper hand to take it down," Devil Pit continued. Pit attacked the heart a lot more to try and find a way out of Hades' belly. Then he tried his imaginary communication with Palutena again. "What a pain! I need to get ahead of it instead of chasing it. 'And watch out for fakes, Pit!' Thanks, Lady Palutena!" he said. "Oh for fuck's sake..." Devil Pit groaned while facepalming. Pit then continued to fight against the heart while trying to avoid the faker one. "Did I forget to mention that Hades' Heart gets angrier when you hit it?" said Devil Pit. "And you decided to tell me this now?!" Pit yelled. He then decided to find a good strategy to take it down. "If my shots have enough homing ability, maybe they'll go over these walls," he continued. "Some forward-dash charged shots should help get the job done." "Well that's one way of using your brain," said Devil Pit. After all of those shots as he strategized, Hades' Heart was defeated. "Your heart wasn't even in it!" he yelled in victory. "...And I'm still just talking to myself!" "No. I heard the pun..." said Devil Pit. Hades' Heart suddenly exploded, causing Pit to fly into the air from the push of it. "Whoo-oa-oa-oa-oa!" he cried. Suddenly, Dark Pit and Phosphora, riding the Lightning Chariot, zipped by and the dark angel grabbed his original counterpart. They then burst out of Hades' chest, allowing Pit to finally escape. "Ugh..." he groaned. "If it weren't for that explosion, we never would've found you," said Dark Pit. "I'm sure glad you did!" said Pit. "Good thing Mistress Viridi gave us a call to save you while she was keeping Hades occupied," said Phosphora. "It's good to see you, Pit!" said Palutena. Hades then saw his enemies and attempted to grab them. "That wasn't very NICE!" he yelled. "Good-bye, Hades!" said Palutena as she whisked the heroes away very quickly via a light pillar. The only things Hades managed to grab were a few of Pit's feathers from his wings. "That really hurt," he groaned, but then he struck a pose. "But hey... At least I'm not dead."

Music stops and switches to: (M)TMB ARC Extended Music: Athenaeum Riba's Theme (A.K.A. Devil Pit's Theme)

After Hades left the scene, Devil Pit came out of his hiding spot. "Well, it looks like our conversation time has come to an end. For now," he said. "But now that they're gone, it's time for me to gather what I came for." He flew into the spot where the Three Sacred Treasures were destroyed and landed where the pieces of the treasures were dropped. "So, this weaponry was destroyed from that big blast," he continued. "It's time that I use my powers to put them back together." He closed his eyes and focused his powers deeply. Suddenly, the pieces of the Three Sacred Treasures came back together forming them whole once again. "Perfect! Now I shall put these treasures in this case for good use," he said after finishing his work. He then took out his Three Sacred Treasure Case he stole from Palutena's temple, after he snuck into it on the quiet and before Pit left to begin the mission, and opened it. The Three Sacred Treasures then flew back into the case and Devil Pit closed it up again. "Excellent! The next step of my backup plan is complete!" he said. "Now it's time to pay a visit to that old man. Soon, there will be nothing left of this universe! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He then flew away from Hades' Realm.

Music stops

Oh boy! That was only the beginning of the Finale arc. Hades may not be dead yet, but he did weaken a little bit. Devil Pit has gotten hold of Pit's Three Sacred Treasures after he repaired them. What will happen next in the Finale arc? Stay tuned for chapter twenty four, review, and have a great day!