"Do we really have to go this fast?" Panic nervously asked as he and Pain clung onto the chariot for dear life; Hades was driving his chariot even faster than it's ever flown before and Pain and Panic were not enjoying the flight.

"Yeah, I think I'm about to invent air sickness." Pain moaned, sounding a bit sick.

"There's no time to lose, boys! We gotta hurry!" Hades argued, keeping his eyes on the dark sky ahead of him.

"Are you sure we'll find it?" Pain asked.

"What if we got lost?" Panic added.

"Don't worry. I know where I'm going." The flame-haired God scanned the area until he spotted a familiar forest down below; he finally made it to Aurora and Phillip's kingdom. "Hold on to your hats, boys! Things are gonna get a little bumpy!" With a whip of the reins, the chariot took a nosedive down towards the forest with Pain and Panic screaming and clinging onto the chariot walls all the while.

Hades sped through the trees and greenery of the forest, determined to speak to his love and hopefully propose to her. As he rode through, the animals and birds of the forest scurried out of his way, hoping and praying not to be run over or get hurt. Then finally, he made it to his destination.

"Whoa, Gotham! Whoa!" Hades shouted, pulling the reins to stop.

The dragon shrieked and stopped and the chariot screeched to a halt, leaving massive skid marks in the dirt behind it. Hades casually stepped out while Pain and Panic stumbled out and collapsed onto the grass beneath them, relieved and grateful to be back on solid ground. Hades rolled his eyes as he watched his minions kiss and caress the grass.

"Wimps." He muttered before he noticed Gotham started acting strange. The dragon sniffed the air around him, then he started rearing up, backing away, and screeching like a spooked horse. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy, Gotham! Take it easy!" Hades quickly went over to his monstrous steed and stroked his face to calm him down.

Gotham huffed, scratched the ground with his front claw, and narrowed his glowing eyes at the house as if he knew something was wrong. Pain and Panic also noticed the creature's behavior and started to grow suspicious.

"Uh, boss? Maybe the Fates had a point." Pain nervously said.

"Yeah, something's off." Panic added.

"You guys are against me, too? Ugh, I don't have to deal with this." Hades groaned in frustration before approaching the door.

The pair of minions then took Gotham by the reins and led him and the chariot closer to the trees and jumped back into the chariot to watch from a distance. Hades was about to knock until he realized the doors were completely covered in vines; he hadn't noticed those the last time he was there, even if he broke in through the back. So he reached out and started ripping handful after handful of vines off of the wooden doors until he was finally done. Then he knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He knocked again, only to realize that the door had slightly opened. He peeked in through the crack to see if he could make anything out.

"Come in." A female voice said from inside.

Taking a deep breath, Hades smoothed out his hair, opened the door, and stepped inside, eager to see Maleficent.

"Maleficent? It's me, Hades. I got your letter. You said you wanted to talk?" He called out as he walked further inside before the doors suddenly slammed shut behind him, making the room pitch black. His flames for hair and his Ember were the only light available. "Uh, excuse me. We did not order a poltergeist."

But before he knew it, Hades was suddenly pounced upon by three large figures and they seemed to be attacking him. He cried out in surprise as he struggled to get his aggressors off of him. He tried blasting fireballs at them, but he somehow missed every time.

"Hey, get off me! What are you doing?! Let me go!" Hades screamed before he felt something long and scaly wrap around his body.

Then the thing that was wrapped around him let go and Hades spun around and around really fast, like he was in a tornado. He was so dizzy that he didn't even notice that he was being wrapped up in some kind of silky, slimy, and sticky substance. When the spinning finally stopped, he was so dazed and confused that he could hardly stand up straight. He felt his stomach lurch.

"Oh geez. Going too fast, room spinning. Dizzy, gonna hurl." He moaned before he felt bile start to go up his throat, but a hand covered his mouth and stopped him; he reluctantly swallowed it.

"I wouldn't if I were you." A new voice said.

The moment Hades' vision cleared, he saw six unusual silhouettes standing before him. But then a bright yellow and orange light from the hearth lit up the room and the Lord of the Dead soon recognized who his attackers were. They were six women, but they were all monstrous and freakish… and they were faces he hadn't seen in centuries. One of them was a woman with deep red skin, a head of bright red hair that stood up like flames, and one goat leg and one prosthetic leg. Another was a woman with green skin, filthy brown dreadlocks, and the tale of a snake instead of legs. The third one had pale white skin, bright yellow eyes, messy black hair, and a spider's body instead of human legs. And the last three looked very similar to each other with scaly skin, wearing sunglasses, and snakes for hair; one was yellow, one was red, and the last one was green. Hades' eyes widened at the group of monsters.

"Don't wanna make a mess of things, now do we?" The goat-legged creature taunted.

"Medusa? Arachne? Lamia and Empusa, too?!" Hades exclaimed.

"Oh, so you do remember us." The spider woman, Arachne, said.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" The snake woman, Lamia, added.

"What in the name of Chaos is going on here?! What are you doing here?! Where is Maleficent?!" He shouted before he looked down and realized he was tied up in spider silk. "What the—What is this?! Let me go! Untie me RIGHT NOW!"

"Shut up!" Empusa shouted, giving him a hardy slap across the face.

"Hey, easy! Easy, goat brains. We're not supposed to lay a hand on him." The red gorgon said.

"The boss wants to do it herself, especially if he gets out of line." The yellow gorgon added.

"Wait, what? Boss?" He asked before turning to Medusa. "But you…"

"Sorry, Hades. I don't believe you've properly met my older sisters, Euryale and Stheno." Medusa said as her sisters narrowed their eyes and hissed at Hades.

"Oh, your sisters! I've heard of you two, but we never officially met. How you doin'?" He nervously asked.

"Cut the formalities, hothead." Euryale, the yellow gorgon, demanded.

"Yeah, you'd better be quiet or else." Stheno chimed in.

"Or else what?" He asked, trying to sound tough.

"This." Medusa said as she leaned up closer to Hades' face. She took a deep breath, took off her glasses, and opened her eyes as they started glowing a bright emerald green. Then she started to sing to him as the serpents in her hair slithered closer to his face and quietly hissed at him.

"Trust in me

Just in me

Shut your eyes

Trust in me

You can sleep

Safe and sound

Knowing I

Am around

Slip into silent slumber

Sail on a silver mist

Slowly and surely

Your senses will cease to resist"

Hades tried his hardest to look away and resist Medusa's cursed lullaby, but it seemed he was no match for her in that moment. The longer he stared into her eyes, the more he started to feel helpless and powerless under her gaze. He soon felt sleepy and in a daze.

"Just relax

Be at rest" She continued.

"Like a bird

In a nest

Trust in me

Just in me

Shut your eyes

And trust in me

Trust in me

Just in me

Shut your eyes

And trust in me"

"Uh, you have… colorful language… Nighty-night." Hades muttered before his head fell forward and his eyes shut; he fell fast asleep standing up.

Medusa smirked and put her glasses back on before turning to her companions. "Works every time."

"Nice." Empusa said with a creepy giggle.

"Geez, why didn't Euryale and I get a cool power like that?" Stheno asked.

"Because all three of you can already turn mortals to stone AND you can already turn yourselves into winged serpent creatures whenever you wish. Some people would think that'd be enough." Lamia commented.

"Nobody asked you." The red gorgon argued; Lamia hissed in response.

"Ladies, ladies! Please, no bickering! We got what we came for. Now we need to move on to the next phase of the plan. Besides, we don't have all night." Arachne chimed in as she and Medusa went over to the hearth. They each used a bucket of water to put out the fire.

Euryale sighed. "You're right. Let's just grab Hades and go."

Empusa and Stheno stepped forward and helped Euryale hoist Hades up off the floor and onto their shoulders. Outside, Pain and Panic were still waiting.

"I'm bored." Panic yawned.

"Then how about a joke? I like my coffee the way I like jokes about the way I like my coffee… I don't." Pain said with a laugh.

Panic facepalmed in response before he heard the house doors open again. The impish duo quickly hid deeper inside the chariot, but they poked their heads out to see Lamia, Arachne, Empusa, and the Gorgon sisters exit the house with a knocked-out Hades in tow. They silently gasped and gawked as they eavesdropped on the monsters' conversation.

"Geez, why are people so much heavier when they're unconscious?" Stheno asked as she strained under Hades' weight.

"Quite whining." Arachne barked before she let out a high-pitched whistle.

"I didn't know spiders could whistle." Panic whispered.

"SHUSH!" Pain hissed, covering his friend's mouth with one hand.

That was when a large chariot of gold and black pulled by four massive winged snakes suddenly appeared. Euryale, Stheno, and Empusa practically threw Hades onto the floor of the chariot before they and the other monsters all climbed in. Arachne took the reins.

"Hang on, girls! Persephone is waiting for us!" The spider woman said before whipping the reins.

And with that, the chariot of monstrous women sped into the air and out of sight, taking Hades with them. Pain and Panic only stood in shock, unable to process what they had just witnessed. They slowly climbed out of the chariot with their terror-stricken eyes as big as dinner plates.

"What. Just. Happened?" Panic asked.

"No idea." Pain said before he noticed something moving in the forest. "Wait, what's that?" He pointed a finger towards the trees.

"What?" Panic asked, turning his head to where his companion was pointing.

Then they saw it. Three little balls of light were darting through the forest along with a silhouette that seemed awfully familiar. When the figure finally came into view, Pain and Panic saw that it was Dementia and the lights traveling with her were Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. When the group saw the open doors, they all gasped.

"Oh no! Are we too late?" Dementia cried.

"Dementia? What are you doing here?" Pain asked as he and Panic approached their co-worker.

"And who are they?" Panic added, pointing at the three fairies.

"It's okay, guys. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are cool." The purple imp explained before turning to the Fairy sisters. "Girls, this is Pain and Panic. They've been Hades' minions A LOT longer than me."

"Um, nice to meet you two." Fauna nervously greeted.

"Uh huh." Pain and Panic said in unison.

"Now would you mind telling us what just happened here?" Merryweather asked.

"Yeah. If Hades' chariot is here, then where's Hades?" Dementia added before she noticed the terrified expressions on their faces. She glared at them. "Guys…"

Pain and Panic thought about coming up with an excuse, but they knew that Dementia was so much smarter, calmer, and more level headed than the two of them combined so they could never fool her. Plus, it didn't help that she could basically read them like a couple of open books and she already had a hunch they were hiding something from her. After a few moments, the two elder imps finally broke down and fell to the ground at her feet.

"Okay, okay! You win!" Panic cried.

"Just quit staring at us!" Pain begged.

"He's been TAKEN!" They both screamed.

"WHAT?!" Dementia, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah! And to make things worse, he was taken by a bunch of MONSTERS! He went into the house, then the doors closed, and after a few minutes, Hades came back out!" Pain explained as he and Panic got to their knees.

"But he was out cold and in the arms of Empusa, Stheno, and Euryale!" Panic chimed in. "And Arachne, Lamia, and Medusa were there too! Then Arachne summoned some kind of chariot pulled by snakes with wings and they all flew away in it and they took Hades with them!"

The four women gasped.

"We've got to get him back!" Flora declared.

"Why? What do you three want him for anyway?" Panic asked, squinting his eyes at the sisters.

"We need him because Maleficent needs him!" Fauna replied.

"She's trapped in a cursed and poisoned coma and we need Hades to break the spell and save her!" Merryweather said.

"But wait… if you three are supposed to be enemies of Maleficent, why do you wanna help her?" Dementia asked.

Flora sighed, remembering Aurora's words clear as day. "Because a dear friend of ours wisely said even if we don't agree, nobody deserves such a fate."

The three imps stared at each other, then at the fairies.

"Wow. That is wise." Dementia said.

"So what do you suggest we do, hmm?" Pain asked, sounding suspicious.

"Well… perhaps we should all work together." Fauna suggested. "The six of us would be much better than four… or two."

"I hate to admit it, but she's got a point." Panic commented.

"Ugh, fine! We'll work together, but just this once! Got it?" Pain asked as he and Panic reluctantly shook hands with the three fairies.

"Then it's settled." Flora said.

"But where do you think those monsters went with the boss?" Dementia asked.

"I overheard one of them mentioning Persephone, Hades' craziest ex. So SHE must be behind this whole thing." Panic explained.

"But what does this Persephone want with Hades?" Flora asked.

"I don't know. We haven't heard from her in a while. But maybe, just maybe, they're taking Hades to Mt. Olympus."

"Olympus? The home of the Gods? But we won't be allowed; we can't go up there." Fauna nervously said.

"No… We can, and we must." Merryweather said with a determined look on her face.

"But we can't just storm the gates; we'll need a plan to break in. And luckily for us, I already have an idea. Now come closer, here's what I think we should do." Dementia said before pulling her companions closer to her to whisper her idea to them.