Pluto was not an evil man. He was someone who cared about his family and friends and would do anything to protect them. Not everyone wanted to be protected though. Some of them were evil and abused their power, just like his super powered family had.
Pluto closed his eyes tightly. The twelve great heroes that had once saved Olympians Plains were going to be the ones who destroyed it. He could not allow that. Pluto took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He stared in the mirror.
His eyes had dark circles under them, from lack of sleep. The night before was spent planning their next few steps, and so far, they had been successful. Thalia Grace was captured, mostly unharmed. Hylla had been taken from her home. It aggravated him that the younger sister, Reyna, had her side used as a drum by Tisiphone, but he knew what to expect when he sent the three of them after the girl. They were violent, but they were effective.
Kore was able to get Bianca there safely, but his only regret was that he had no way to get near Hazel. She spent the night with her boyfriend, and if you asked Pluto, she was much too young to have a boyfriend. Pluto would have to question the boy once he captured him.
"Pluto," a voice said. After a moment, Pluto turned towards Kore, and she hugged him tightly. He hugged her back and then pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. Even with his decade in Tartarus, Kore had not left his side. She visited sporadically, under his orders. He did not want the Olympians to do anything to her, in order to hurt him. "I missed you so much."
"There was not a day that went by when I did not think about you," Pluto whispered. He kissed her once again. Ever since he was let out of Tartarus, there was no time for a proper reunion. All he wanted to do was take Kore to his room and make up for all of those lost years, but they had a job to do.
"A hour did not pass without thought of you," Kore answered. She reluctantly let go of Pluto. "I found Bianca some clothes, and she is in the infirmary with the sisters."
"Gather everyone else. We will discuss our plan," Pluto whispered. Kore nodded and kissed him one more time. She finally walked away. Pluto watched her go, and a small smile came to his face. After the death of his beloved Maria Di Angelo, he was lost for years. Nico had only been two years old, and Bianca had only been six. It was a surprise they even remembered their mother.
Trying to run his company and watch two kids took a heavy toll. He had plenty of flings over those years, trying to fill the void in his heart. It only produced him another child, one he never got to properly know. It wasn't until he met Kore that he started to feel like things could actually get better.
Kore was a brilliant girl, but she was shackled by her parents. Her father was long gone, and her mother insisted on keeping her at the farm. Pluto only went to the farm because he wanted their land for a new project. Kore's mother had promptly chased him off the farm with a tractor, and when he returned, Kore had almost done the same. Pluto suggested talking about the offer over some drinks, and the rest was pure bliss.
Pluto sighed and looked back at the mirror. There was no more time to dwell on the past. He needed to focus on the future. They had a very important task ahead of them, and it was time for him to correct his mistake. Pluto turned and left the room. He made it to the small room that they used as their infirmary.
Pluto stepped into the infirmary and looked around. Bianca was sitting in the corner of the room and nibbling on a sandwich. Her gaze was focused on the two sisters. As Pluto looked at them, a small smile almost came to his face.
Hylla was sitting on a bed, and she had Reyna's head on her lap. One of Hylla's hands pressed ice to Reyna's lower jaw, and the other hand ran through Reyna's hair. Upon hearing the door open, Hylla looked up and studied Pluto.
In Tartarus, Pluto heard plenty of things that the guard had to say about the villain Amazon. The woman used her enhanced strength to hurt criminals badly, and Pluto could understand the sentiment. If someone broke an arm while committing a crime, they would be less likely to commit another one. The woman still abused her powers though.
Pluto was going to handle the so called heroes and villains that could not control their powers. That is why Pluto had his friends vow to never use their powers again unless it was a matter of life and death, or he was able to make it out of prison. If his own friends could not control their powers, who were they to decide who lived or died based on that very criteria?
Letus had broken his vow, but since a deranged teenager held a gun at him, Pluto found it acceptable. Hecate broke her vow as well, but it was to protect a young girl outside of a bar in a very rough area of town. The others, including the three Kind triplets, held true to their word.
Hylla's head would not be on the chopping block though, not this time. Pluto would respect Nico's word that Hylla should not have to suffer anymore. The woman would need to prove her self control though. If she stepped out of line again, Pluto would handle her.
A small cry of pain escaped Reyna, and Pluto looked at the girl. Hecate had one hand to the girl's side and an apologetic look on her face. Pluto spoke, "How is she doing?"
"Her jaw is a mess, and she might have a minor concussion. That is my fault, I am sorry," Hecate said. She pointed to the nasty bruise on Reyna's side. "One rib is a flick away from being broken. I'm not a dentist either, but I would rather get her teeth out of my pocket."
"I would like my teeth back too," Reyna whispered. It sounded like the painkillers had kicked in, and she seemed out of it. Questioning the girl seemed cruel, but Pluto needed answers. He walked towards her.
"Do you know why they did this to her?" Hylla asked. Pluto slowly looked at her and shook his head. He did not think that he could get into the head of the monster.
"Enhance powers," Reyna whispered. She blinked a few times and focused up on Hylla. "Kronos thought I could take away powers permanently, if he gave me some kind of material that was locked in a briefcase. I used the material a few days ago. Never got a chance to test if it actually worked.
A frown came to Pluto's face. He knew exactly what Reyna was talking about. After the nuclear plant incident, the government had sent teams to gather the nuclear material from ground zero, and they tested some of it to figure out exactly how people got powers from it. When the Olympians really came into power, there was still pieces of that material left. Pluto, Jupiter, and Neptune each used a piece of themselves, and their powers became much more stronger. Would it work the same for this teenager though?
"It was suppose to be locked away under city hall," Pluto commented. Hylla tensed. "But, the Titans broke into city hall, didn't they? The Titans put on a whole show, just to steal the material. Then, they made it look like they killed Reyna, so they would have time to enhance her powers and also manipulate her memory."
"I don't remember anything about city hall," Reyna said. She stared at the ground and winced as Hecate lowered her shirt. "I don't remember anything for the five months before waking up at the Titan base. I tried to get my answers from Mnemosyne, but Tethys stopped me."
Pluto remained silent and heard the door open. The rest of his friend filed in. Kore moved to his side and stood by him. Letus walked towards Hecate's side. The three Kind triplets followed behind him and stood in the corner of the room. Charon took up the rear and stood a few feet behind Pluto.
"Now that we are all here, we can discuss our next step," Pluto said. He looked around the room. "My friends here have been keeping an eye on this city, until it was time to fix the mistakes of the past. We allowed the Titans to live when we first defeated them, and that was our mistake. They have hurt so many people, and it is time for them to pay for their mistakes."
"The Kind sisters kept an eye on all of the super powered teenagers in the high school, and Charon kept an eye on my own children. Kore spoke to the so called heroes about their trauma, and Letus worked on making sure the structure of my company stated the same, so there would not be anymore instability in our humble hometown," Pluto continued. He looked at Reyna. "We did not realize you were keeping an eye on your sister, until Hecate and Letus thought you might not be dead. A rather useless camera outside of Kore's building caught you standing in an alley and keeping an eye on your sister."
"I just wanted her to be safe, but the Titans kept telling me I could not talk to her yet," Reyna whispered. "What are you going to do?"
"I am going to kill the heroes and villains," Pluto stated. Hylla stared up at him, and Reyna's eyes moved to the ground. "The Olympians have abused their powers for too long and kept the city named after them under their thumb. The Titans are monsters; we all know that. Any of the teenage heroes will be spared though. It is not their fault they were taught terribly."
"I want to work with the two of you, but I have heard about your reputation. I know what your ideals are, but I am willing to forgive you, once. After we finish this, the two of you must promise to not use your powers unless it is life or death. My friends have taken this vow as well," Pluto stated.
"If we don't agree to work with you, are you going to kill us?" Hylla asked. There was a dangerous look in her eyes. If she thought her sister was going to die, she would jump in front of the bullet and take out as many people as she could. Hylla wouldn't be able to do anything against them, but she didn't need to.
"Normally, I would have already killed you. Simply put, you are an adult who has made your own ideals, but Nico said that you do not deserve to suffer anymore. I will respect his wishes, for now. If you two do not want to work with me, you will stay here. We will do our job and then let you go. If you use your powers after that, you can guess what happens," Pluto answered.
"I want to help," Reyna said. She slowly sat up and placed a hand to her side. "The Titans manipulated me and took away my memory. I want to make them pay."
"I'll help too," Hylla said, and she pulled Reyna close. "What do we need to do?"
"Rest for tonight," Pluto answered. "Spend time with each other and make up for lost time. We will prepare for the next steps. The Titans will know that something is wrong, with three of their numbers and Reyna missing. We must move on them soon, but we will take out Kronos first."
"How?" Bianca asked quietly. Pluto looked back at his daughter.
"That is why I kidnapped Rhea, to draw him out," Pluto said. A look came to Bianca's face, and she closed her eyes.
"Is that why you kidnapped Thalia? You wanted to draw Jupiter out?" Bianca asked. Pluto did not say a word, but he knew it was answer enough. Bianca took a shaky breath and turned away from him.
"The three of you rest tonight, and we will worry about the Titans tomorrow," Pluto said. Bianca still didn't look at him. Did she think her father was a monster? Hylla just nodded and rubbed Reyna's back. There was a look of fierce determination on Hylla's face. She would go to the ends of the earth to protect her sister. Pluto looked at his friends. "You all know the plan. It is time to prepare. Alecto, come with me."
The eldest Kind triplet, by a total of three minutes, followed behind Pluto. The two of them left the infirmary. As they walked, Pluto reached into his pocket and pulled out his mask. The last time he used it was many years ago, when he decided that villains should no longer walk around without consequences. Pluto put the mask on.
"Was she screaming too loud?" Alecto asked. She seemed to pull a bloody knife out of mid air and cleaned it. A small smile came to Pluto's face. They stepped into another room, and Pluto slowly looked around.
At the far end of the room, Mnemosyne was hanging by her wrists. There was cuts all over her body, and while it wasn't enough for her to bleed out, it was enough for every single movement to cause pain to ripple through her body. Pluto wanted to do so much more, to avenge his son. They did not have the time though.
The other woman in the room, Tethys, stared at them. Her eyes focused on Pluto's mask. Pluto knew that the pitch black mask had been associated with death more than once. The name Hades was synonymous with darkness. There was small cuts and bruises on Tethys face, from where one of the Kind triplets had forced Tethys to watch the thousand cuts.
"What is going to happen is very simple," Pluto said. He could feel the way that the words practically left his throat in a growl. It was Hades' signature voice. Pluto walked towards Mnemosyne and grabbed her jaw tightly. "You destroyed Reyna's memory and caused her to doubt everything. You murdered my son. What other sins have you committed through the years? But, I do not want you to answer me. I am not the person you are going to have to explain your actions to."
Pluto felt a tug in his gut, and it felt like a chill shot through his heart. Mnemosyne gasped and choked on air. Then, she went limp, as her heart stopped. Pluto stepped away from the woman and released her from her chains. She collapsed to the ground. Pluto spoke, "That is the first Titan to die, Tethys. Tell me everything you know, and you will join her."
"And I will join her? Why would I tell you anything?" Tethys asked. Despite how confident she was trying to sound, her voice was shaking.
"If you do not tell me everything, what Alecto did to your friend is only a fraction of what is going to happen to you," Pluto said. He turned around and started to walk towards the door. "And, I will torture your husband before I kill him."
"You're a monster!" Tethys yelled. Pluto frowned and left the room. He took off his mask and stared down at it. Without the mask, he was a simple businessman who wanted to protect his family. With the mask, he was the infamous villain Hades, and the last anyone had ever seen of the mask was when Hades was put on trial, as he took the fall for all of the heinous things he and his friends had done. After a moment, he put the mask back on. Pluto was not an evil man, but Hades, he was a very evil man indeed.