I worked and reworked this chapter, and even consulted NefariousScalin for help, so kudos to her. Hades finally shows himself, and we do have a language and violence warning (because Hades is not a nice tug).
Enjoy!
"Now what seems to be the matter you three?" Hercules calmly asked, his facial expression surprisingly blank. He looked like he was anticipating the group's arrival, but he was still impressed that they had managed to reach him. Especially with how incredibly thick the fog was.
"We got worried about you, especially after we saw you head towards Dender Rocks!" Sunshine answered in a quiet voice, looking up to Hercules with worried eyes. "What are you doing out here anyway?"
"I was going to ask you as well. I was just finishing up on some salvaging, that's all." The ocean tug answered in a soft voice, letting out an assuring chuckle "I get uncomfortable doing salvages during the day, which is why I do it at night. You don't mind me doing this, don't you?"
"Now Hercules, it's not your job to go and salvage this guy. Let the salvage company do it!" Zorran snapped. However, he noticed something in the corner or his eye and turned his attention to Columbus. To his shock, the ferry's face had vanished completely! "Hercules… what happened?"
"Hm? Something caught your eye Zorran?" Hercules asked, remaining calm as ever. However, something about him began to change, as if he was annoyed at the other tug's presence. The smile on his face quickly vanished, replaced with a frown.
"Well, it's just that this guy had a face this morning! And now I'm wondering if you had something to do with it!" Zorran explained, standing his ground. "That is something the lead tug of Star and Marine shouldn't be doing."
Hercules' demeanor changed, and he bluntly said, "Columbus died this afternoon. Sometimes a vessel loses their face quickly upon death. You're starting to ask too many questions boy." As he spoke, the air became unbearably cold.
"Died?" Ten Cents asked, raising an eyebrow in response to Hercules' answer. "We went searching for you and saw a bright light! And we also heard the scraping of metal!" This prompted Sunshine and Zorran to say that they too had seen something similar. "We know you tend to keep things private, but what you're doing is unacceptable! Why do you keep on ignoring us each time we ask you about the grim reaper?"
Hercules finally lost patience. There was simply no point to deflecting questions like this, especially since the switchers were still being nosy. He looked at Ten Cents right in the eye and said in a voice much deeper (and harsher) than normal, "My little angel, my sweet little angel. Stop panicking over such things. It's clear that you're getting more and more nervous."
Ten Cents stood back, knowing that he had pushed Hercules too far. However, it was the words that he had spoken that shook the switcher to the core. "Only one vessel has called me 'my little angel'." He exclaimed, looking up at the ocean tug with terror and fear in his eyes. "His name was-"
"Hades?" Hercules replied, not caring that he interrupted his friend at this point. His mouth curved to form a grin, but his teeth had become serrated. He chuckled and shook his head before saying, "You figured it out. You actually figured it out." Before anyone could reply, he was covered in a thick cloud of fog!
The three remaining tugs were alarmed, wondering if the ocean tug made his getaway using the fog. Instead, they were greeted by a terrible sight. Standing in the place of Hercules was a maroon tug who was frowning, but was baring his razor sharp teeth. He was extremely similar to Hercules, right down to the black hair and straight moustache. However, the tug was wearing a black cap that was adorned with gold ribbons and a red star as opposed to the white sailor's cap Hercules wore. The eagle statue was replaced with a raven in flight, mouth wide open. His eyes were glowing a fiery red, but his black sunglasses and the thick fog made them flicker like hellfire.
Ten Cents was intimidated by what he was seeing, but his attention was focused on the name on the tug's bow. He carefully read it and was mortified by the information. "H-HADES!? You didn't tell me that you were Hades!" He was trying his best to not get angry with the tug, lest he and the others should suffer a terrible fate.
"Yes, that is my name." Hades replied coldly, glaring at the three tugs. To say he was furious was an understatement. He was in no mood to be questioned whatsoever, and looked like he was ready to use force. With a hiss and a snarl, he asked, "What business do you have here? You are making my work here much more stressful than what it needs to be. Now tell me!"
"W-We wanted to figure out where you went Hercules- I mean Hades! These two idiots dragged me into this mess." Zorran replied, sweating nervously. It looked as though he was pleading for Hades to spare him, but kill the switchers.
Hades slowly inched forward, curving his lips into a grin. "You're a curious lot, aren't you? This ship would have died from drowning by the time he went under, and that is a painful way to die." He said, silencing Zorran with a cold stare. "I did the poor lad a favor and ended his suffering before those things could overtake him. I also did the same thing with that whaling ship, and so many countless others."
"A favor? How?!" Sunshine snapped, not believing the tug for one second. Even if Hades was doing this for a good cause, his reasoning behind it rubbed the switcher the wrong way. "Many of those ships could have had a chance at recovering and being repaired! You're just killing ships for sport, not letting them pass away!"
Hades laughed rather loudly and replied, "Everyone dies sweetheart. Some do it naturally, others need my help." As he spoke, smoke began to trickle out of his smokestack and headed towards the three tugs. The smoke began to contort, and soon changed into a plethora of wailing spirits. Ten Cents, Sunshine, and Zorran all went pale at the sight. They wanted to get as far away from the tug as possible, but were so frightened that movement was difficult.
Sunshine soon spotted something disturbing in the smoke, and he screamed! "Is that… Is that Burke and Blair in there?" He whispered, recognizing the tugs' faces amidst the smoke. He quickly went pale, and shut his eyes in fear. Ten Cents noticed and started trembling, while Zorran was sweating and looking for a quick way out.
No sooner did the smoke turn into spirits suddenly turned yet again. However, this time, the smoke turned into tentacle-shaped appendages. They headed towards the trio at breakneck speed, scraping along Columbus' hull to create a loud screeching sound and leave massive scrapes. Surely the same would happen to them! Zorran, wanting to save himself, tried to push the switchers forward towards the smoke. However, Hades noticed this and quickly sent one of the appendages to grab Zorran by the neck!
"These are vessels who gained my trust, only to break it." Hades smirked, his voice changing to Hercules' for a second. "It seems one of you wants to join them too." The appendages retreated back into his smokestack, but the appendage that was wrapped around Zorran became even tighter. Zorran's face started to change color, and the maroon tug gave a dark chuckle.
Ten Cents turned to see the situation unfold, and he was stuck! Should he convince his friend, now a monster who was very capable of killing them all without breaking a sweat, to spare Zorran? Or would he simply leave the Z Stack to his fate? Either way, his time was running out fast. "Stop, stop!" The switcher exclaimed, looking at Hades with pleading eyes.
"Me, stop strangling the bastard?" Hades was not phased in the slightest, and ignored his pleas. "Why, I'm simply doing you and your friend Sunshine a favor. Zorran wanted you to die in his place, but I'm letting him taste his own medicine! I saved you once before, and I am not letting you get yourself killed, especially now!"
Ten Cents gasped, realizing it was Hades who had spared him from getting infected with microbonic plague. He frowned however, feeling that his pleas were in vain. However, he noticed the maroon tug's reflection in the water change. What shocked him was that the reflection was not that of Hades, but of Hercules! Was the ocean tug approving of what Hades was doing? He looked back at the other and said with determined eyes, "Zorran may be an enemy to the Star Fleet, but this is not acceptable at all! What do we do once you kill him, hm?"
Hades snarled, refusing to listen yet again. "It seems Hercules has shown you how to respect life. As always." He said, now inching close to Ten Cents. "What are you trying to do then, solicit an opinion out of him?"
Ten Cents defiantly nodded, looking right into Hades's eyes. "I'm sure he isn't approving of you strangling his rival to death." He added, turning to see that Zorran was near death.
Hades wanted to retort and even mock the switcher, but a nagging feeling came to him. It was gentle, yet firm, telling him that enough was enough. It was so easy to resist, but that would incur something unpleasant. With a low growl in defeat, he caused the smoke around Zorran to dissipate. "There, I let him go. But his time will come soon." Hades said, taking one last glance at Ten Cents before vanishing in the fog. Zorran was slowly panting, struggling to catch his breath after being viciously strangled.
The fog cleared away, revealing Hercules once more. He was significantly calmer than what he was earlier, but he looked physically exhausted. It took him a few minutes to regain his composure before saying, "Forgive me. I hope you three learned a lesson from this whole experience. However, you must not tell ANYONE about what you saw and did. Hades is just as serious about this as I am."
Ten Cents, Sunshine, and Zorran were visibly shaken, but they gave cautious nods. The sun started to rise over the horizon, a sign that morning was here. The four tugs hurried back to Bigg City before the Coast Guard and other vessels arrived, but the experience would forever be etched into their minds.
Here is a quick bio of Hades in case anyone needs it:
The maroon counterpart of the ocean tug Hercules, Hades is harsh and demanding. His job is collecting the souls of deceased vessels and sending them to purgatory, but is merciless to anyone who catches him doing such things. Hades is incredibly protective of anyone who is a friend of Hercules. Likewise, he is cruel to enemies and often tortures them to the point of death.
Although Hades is free to do what he pleases, Hercules is ultimately the one who reigns him in when things go too far. Likewise, Hades does the same (especially when something is going to die).