Chapter 9

Batman showed no hint of the emotions that were storming deep inside of him, the dark wrath thundering through him barely held within his quivering grasp as he stood before the god of the Underworld. He was incensed first and foremost by Hades' intrusion in their lives and second with Thanatos for bringing Diana down here to the Underworld with them.

Diana didn't need to be a part of this, caught in the middle of this fight. This was between him and Hades.

"Hades!" Diana seethed from beside him, a boiling volcano of bottled up rage about to erupt at any second. "Return us to Gotham rrright now."

A wide smile spread across the god's face as he slowly stood to his feet, Thanatos standing by his side, Cerberus on the other. "Daughter," he pleasantly greeted her with a deep voice that resembled thunder itself. "It is so good to see you again."

"I am nnnot your dau…daughter," she ground out with clenched fists and eyes blazing like the inferno they were currently in.

Unruffled by her refusal to accept her parentage, Hades descended from his throne, making his way straight towards her as if Batman was not even there. "Always the fiery temper…the audacious obstinacy," he fondly remarked. "Just like your mother and yet some of your attributes just can't be so easily ascribed to her, can they? Tell me, Diana. Who do you think you got your raven hair from?"

"Let us gggo," she spat out with pure disdain dripping from every word she uttered.

Hades came to stand directly before his daughter, Batman instantly growing rigid. He was more than prepared to step in if he tried anything. Hades lifted his right hand, his fingers lightly tracing the curve of his daughter's face, admiring her flawless features. Diana stood as immobile as a marble statue, refusing to give him the least bit of satisfaction as she glowered at him.

"Get your hands off of her," Batman growled, his hand settling on his utility belt. "This is between us."

Hades ignored him as he stared deeply into his daughter's vibrant blue eyes. "So extremely beautiful…just like your mother," he murmured in remembrance. "Unfortunately, you seem to share Hippolyta's penchant for the dark and brooding."

The contempt was more than evident in Hades' voice as he finally turned his dark glare on Batman. "So undeserving of my daughter."

"Let him go," Diana demanded, wanting Hades' attention off of Bruce and back on her. "This is between you and me. He doesn't need to be here."

"Oh, I believe that he does," Hades countered. "In fact, the whole reason for your being here is all because of him and the choices you have made."

"Why would you care who I am with?" Diana demanded to know. "You've never cared about me before. Why do you suddenly want to be a father now?"

"Because no daughter of mine is going to join herself with a weak mortal," Hades snapped with a sneer. "At least, not until he has been fully tested by me of course. If he passes the trials that I have set out for him, then and only then will the two of you be allowed to join as one."

Hades turned his glower back to the Dark Knight who returned it with an even darker glower of his own. "I accept…but only on one condition," Batman readily stated, refusing to back down.

"And what is that?" Hades asked with sudden amusement at the mortal's audacity.

"Send Diana back to Gotham right now where I know she'll be safe and I'll take your damn tests."

Hades stared at him for a moment, appraising the man before him. It took guts to stand there and make conditions to a god no less. He was still not impressed, however. "I'm afraid I cannot accept your condition. You see I have decided to put my daughter through some trials of her own as punishment for giving herself to you in the first place."

"If you want to pppunish me fine, but llleave Bruce out of th…this," Diana stuttered, her anger getting the best of her. She was almost trembling with a need to tear something apart…starting with her so called father.

An amused smile played at the corners of Hades' lips as he looked at the two lovers standing before him. "How very…sweet…that you both want to protect each other from what I have in store for you both. However, you each must pass the trials that I have arranged. If you do survive, the path I have set before you will eventually lead you to each other. If one of you doesn't arrive at the end…well then, I guess you know that the other did not make it."

"You would do this to your own daughter?" Batman spat out as if his words were pure venom.

"I have every right as her father!" Hades roared. "She dishonors me by choosing to give her body as well as her life to a weak human male. She deserves to be joined with a god, someone who is worthy of her."

"So you're willing to take Diana's life if she fails your tests just because you feel disgraced?" Batman yelled, incensed by what he was hearing. "I hate to tell you, but this isn't about you. It's about Diana having the life that she wants whether you approve of it or not."

"You have no right to speak to me this way!" Hades snarled. "Diana is my daughter."

"And she's my life!" Batman shouted.

"Enough of this!" Diana screamed, taking Bruce's hand in hers. "I love this man and I'm gggoing to marry him wh…whether you approve of him or nnnot."

"It's because of him that you are damaged now," Hades ground out, turning his glare back to his daughter. "He is poisonous to you. I am going to prove to you once and for all that he is nothing but toxic human waste."

"Please…dddon't do this," Diana pleaded, her voice losing a measure of the fury that it had just held, hoping to get through to her father. "I lllove him more than my lllife. I will do wh…whatever I have to in order to lllet him lllive…even stay hhhere with you."

"Diana, don't!" Batman hissed, stepping closer to her. "Don't you dare sacrifice yourself for me."

"Would you dddo no less for mmme?" she asked as she turned to face him.

Batman lost himself in her bright blue eyes filled with love mingled with grief. It broke his heart to see what this was doing to her, how her father was ruining what was supposed to be the happiest time of their lives. "There is absolutely nothing I wouldn't do for you," he calmly stated before turning his attention back to Hades. "Send her back to Gotham and I will do whatever it takes to make her mine."

"I am not some ppprize to be won," Diana angrily spat out.

"I didn't say that you were, Princess," Batman shot back, "but I'm not about to let your father keep me from marrying you. You belong with me and no one else."

His words soothed a degree of the fury burning within, proving to her once again why she loved this man so deeply. Even in the face of literal death itself, he was not about to give up on them…on her. She would fight no less fiercely for him.

"I love you," she softly told him, wishing there was a way for them to get out of this, but knowing in her heart there wasn't. They were going to have to fight their way out of here if they wanted to survive.

"I love you too," he rasped deeply as his gauntleted hand came to rest on her cheek as he lost himself in her impossibly blue eyes. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Diana suddenly threw herself into his arms, holding him close as her lips met the side of his cowled face. "Do not eat or dr…drink anything or you'll be tttrapped dddown hhhere forever," she whispered low in his ear. "Please, Bruce…come bbback to mmme."

"I will," he promised as he pulled back, his lips crashing hard into hers in a passionate kiss that momentarily stunned the Amazon.

Her arms quickly snaked around his neck as she hungrily deepened the kiss, wishing for so much more. They were supposed to have the rest of their lives together, but now they would be fortunate if they had a few hours.

"Enough!" Hades bellowed, causing the lovers to part. "You will not touch my daughter again until I deem you worthy, mortal."

Before Bruce could respond, Hades waved his hand towards Diana, causing her to vanish from sight. "Diana!" Batman growled, instantly reaching out to the spot where she had just been, but grabbing hold of nothing but air. He turned his rage towards Hades, his lips twisted into a sneer. "What did you do with her?"

"I have sent her to start her punishment for allowing you to bed her," he snarled. "You are such an insolent little insect. You thought you could actually get away with taking my daughter's virtue without repercussion?"

"Last I saw, your daughter was an adult woman who could make her up her own mind, decide who she wants to love and who she wants to give herself to," Batman angrily bit out, his jaw clenched almost painfully. "Oh wait; I forgot who I was talking to. You just take whatever you want regardless of what a woman wants. Isn't that the way you operate…Hades?"

Hades' coal black eyes suddenly began to blaze red like the fires in the pits of Tartarus itself. He closed the distance between them in three swift steps, his chest heaving with bitter rage. Batman didn't even flinch as the god of the Underworld glared down at him as if he was nothing but a speck of dirt.

"You dare speak of my beloved wife?" Hades spewed the words like molten lava, his breath hot blasts against the hero's cowled face. "I guarantee you will not survive the tests that I have personally laid out just for you."

Bruce closed what little distance was left until their noses were almost touching. "I will pass every single one of your damn tests and I will marry Diana. I promise you that."

Hades glared at him for a few moments longer before suddenly pulling back, a dark amused smile on his face. "You have great courage…or immense stupidity," he conceded. "Either way, you won't survive…I promise you that."

"Let's just get on with it," Batman stated through gritted teeth. "The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can get Diana back."

"Very confident of yourself aren't you?" Thanatos suddenly interrupted for the first time, unable to remain quiet any longer. "I don't think even a god could survive what is in store for you."

Batman turned his fearsome dark glare on the god of death standing behind Hades. "Just stay out of my way or I'll make sure you regret ever bringing me here, Thanatos."

Thanatos took a threatening step towards the Dark Knight, but Hades swiftly held his hand up, stopping him from approaching any further. "I believe it's time to put some of that arrogance to good use."

Hades waved his hand before him, Batman immediately vanishing from the throne room. He turned to Thanatos who was still standing behind him. "I want regular updates on his progress."

"I will be more than happy to keep track of him for you," Thanatos replied with a wicked smirk.

"Do not touch him," Hades ordered, his commanding voice leaving no room for debate. "The trials that have been set up for him will be more than enough to test his mettle as well as his worth without you interfering. It's just a matter of whether he can even make it past the gates of Tartarus."

XXX

"We've got to do something," Nightwing angrily declared. "We have to go after them now."

"And just how do you propose we do that?" Superman questioned him as he watched the younger man pace back and forth before him. "They're in the Underworld so unless you plan on dying any time soon I don't think there's anything we can do but wait."

"I believe Master Clark is correct," Alfred grimly agreed. "There isn't much we can do right now. Our hands are tied whether we like it or not."

"There has to be something that we can do to try to help them," Nightwing stated, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "We can't just sit here and wait to see if they ever come back or not."

"You and Tim need to focus on Gotham and making sure it's protected while Bruce is gone," Superman told them. "If it gets out that Batman is gone, chaos is going to rain down on the city. We can't let that happen."

"Superman is right, Dick," Tim interjected, trying to placate his elder brother. "I don't think there's much we really can do. This one is out of our hands."

"I can't just sit back and do nothing," Dick snapped as he paused to glare at them. "They're supposed to be married in six days. It's not fair that something like this should happen now."

"If any two people can handle something like this, it's Bruce and Diana," Clark reminded him. "They're both strong and highly intelligent. They will find a way out of this and come back to us."

"Except we don't even know what's going on down there," Dick grumbled. "Hades could be doing any number of things to them right now and we're not there to help them."

"Diana is Hades' daughter," Clark pointed out as he came to stand before Dick. "I doubt Hades is going to do anything to harm his own child. This is about Bruce."

"But didn't Di help send Hades back to the Underworld?" Tim piped up from his perch on a desk. "Maybe he still has a grudge against her."

Clark shook his head as he released a ragged breath. "From what Thanatos said, this has more to do with Bruce than Diana. Evidently, Hades isn't exactly thrilled with who his future son-in-law is going to be."

Tim frowned. "Then why even take Diana with them?"

Dick growled, his hands balling tightly in need of hitting something. "I still don't like this one bit. There's no way to contact either of them or to communicate with them."

"None of us like this, Dick," Clark calmly replied yet sharing his frustration. "Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do about it right now, but hope and pray they can somehow make it out of there alive."

Dick's expression suddenly brightened as he turned away from them, making his way to the large bank of computers at Bruce's work station in the Batcave. Clark frowned, sharing a confused look with Tim and Alfred who wasn't quite sure what was going on either at that moment.

"What is it, Dick?" Clark questioned him.

"I know someone who just might be able to help us," he informed them as he settled into the large black chair that belonged to his surrogate father.

Tim scratched his head, looking from Alfred to Superman before looking to his brother. "Who? It's not like we can reach Diana's mother on Themyscira very easily."

"Donna Troy."

XXX

Diana quickly looked around to find herself all alone, Bruce nowhere to be found. A warrior's scream of pure fury filled the air as she threw her head back, her hands curled at her sides in fists bent on destruction. Hades had no right to do this to her…to them.

She couldn't wait to get her hands on him. He was going to pay for his interference. "Hades!" she yelled. "I'm not dddone with you! Sh…show yourself to me rrright now!"

Diana waited for several moments, receiving nothing but silence. She was met only with the sound of rushing water, surrounded by barren desolation everywhere she looked. The air was near stifling, the acrid stench of death filling her nostrils.

She needed to find Bruce as soon as possible before something happened to him, but she had no idea where he could be. The Underworld was massive. There was no telling where Hades could have sent him or the horrifying trials he was about to face all alone. She felt ill to the core with the thought of never seeing him again, never being able to touch or kiss him, to feel the strength and passion in his body or hear the steady beating of his heart beneath her as she lay tangled with him.

She forced herself to focus; knowing the best thing to do first was to fly towards the river so she could get her bearings. Once she knew where Hades had sent her, she could hopefully find a way to get to Bruce. As much as she hated to dwell on it, she had a terrifying feeling she knew where Hades had sent him.

The Pits of Tartarus.

It would be the worst place in the entire Underworld that he could possibly have sent Bruce.

The thought of him being trapped in Tartarus nearly buckled her legs, but she steeled herself against the cold fear that trickled like ice water through her veins. She needed to get to him as quickly as possible, find a way to get him out of the Underworld and then she would deal with Hades herself.

She immediately took to the air, heading straight for the sound of the rushing water as she constantly scanned the abysmal landscape for something that would give an indication of where in the Underworld she actually was. She had already ruled out Elysium. It was far too malevolent and barren here to find the promised peace that was prevalent in Elysium.

The closer she got to the river, the more her blood boiled with rage with Hades' interference. How dare he suddenly drag her and Bruce into the Underworld like this, acting like he was her father, trying to dictate how she should live her life and with who.

All of the other worries that had been bombarding her and threatening to steal her confidence for the last several months suddenly fell away knowing the sickening danger that Bruce was in. Furious tears momentarily blurred her vision and nearly choked her, the thought of what he was going through all because he had fallen in love with her threatening to crush her, but she wouldn't allow it.

She knew she needed to channel that rage and heartache into finding him before it was too late. Nothing in this world meant more to her than him….nothing.

She had never truly understood the concept of a love like this until him. She had known love between mother and daughter, the bond of love between her and her Amazon sisters. She had learned the sweet love of friendship forged through the fight for good among the Justice League.

But she had learned a far deeper, more intimate love from Bruce; an all-consuming sacrificial love that not only permeated her heart but every fiber of her being. He had taught her…showed her with every touch of his hand, every brush of his lips, every move of their bodies how the physical expression of that love bound them together as one, their hearts and souls intertwining and becoming inseparable.

Diana swallowed back a strangled sob that caught in her throat, pushing herself harder. If she lost him, she lost herself as well.

She slowed to a halt as she approached the river, her heart suddenly in her throat. It was not the rushing of water that she had heard, but the coursing of blood and flames. It was the River Phlegethon that flowed through the Underworld and directly into Tartarus.

It was where all the immoral souls went after death, souls not wicked enough to go to Tartarus. She was in the Fields of Punishment. Although not as far away from Bruce as she had originally thought, she still had quite a ways to go to get to him and she knew that Hades wasn't going to make it easy for her to get to him.

Setting down on the barren dirt along the river of blood, Diana looked around, her gaze drawn to the flames shooting high up into the air from the river. Sobs of suffering and pain rose up from the bloody current before her, relentless cries for rescue going unheard…unmet. It was their punishment for their wicked deeds done when they were alive. She held no sympathy for them now.

The ground suddenly began to rumble, stones on the dirt around her vibrating with the fierce impact. Someone or something was coming for her. Her tests or 'punishment' as Hades called it was about to begin and it was no doubt going to be a living nightmare.

XXX

Batman immediately assumed a crouched fighting stance, ready for anything as he quickly assessed his new surroundings. He was not the least bit surprised to find himself in Tartarus or at least that's where he assumed he was. He knew from the very beginning that Hades would send him directly to the worst part of the Underworld to make sure his trials were the most arduous he could create, forcing him to climb his way out of the dark pit that was reserved only for the vilest of offenders.

He released a small breath of relief, thankful that Diana didn't appear to be anywhere in sight. Hopefully, she was safe in Elysium, but he knew it wasn't going to be nearly that easy for either of them now. Hades was determined to punish them both for surrendering to a love that could no longer be ignored, not when each of them held the other's heart.

And now, her own father was more than determined to make her pay for the love that they had found in one another.

It incited overwhelming loathing and rage, slicing deep like a blade into the desolate cavity that lived within his soul and tearing open old wounds. Diana had been the only one who had been able to fend off the vile darkness inside of him, helping to heal what had once been so broken.

She had found the real Bruce Wayne that he had been burying beneath layers of pain and bitterness and fear since he was eight years old. She had brought solace and light back into his life, an all-encompassing love that he thought he'd never have or even deserved.

Now, though, that darkness was threatening to take over once again.

Straightening up to his full height, Batman studied his new environment. Dressed in his cape and cowl, he appeared a natural part of the grisly landscape that encompassed him. He was immediately assaulted by the cacophony of groans and cries that echoed from all around him, making it both unnerving and disorienting at the same time.

The voices encircled him, wrapping around him and coming at him from every side – below and above, nearby and yet so distant at the same time. The disparaging sobs were unlike anything he'd ever heard before, causing a shiver to lance through him despite himself. They were wraithlike…inhuman, filled with such unending misery and pain.

He couldn't help but be drawn in by their woeful song that seemed to enclose around his heart and mind, making him long desperately for Diana. He couldn't stop thinking about her, wondering where she was and what she was going through at that moment. Was she even still alive?

Bruce drew a couple of deep breaths to refocus his mind as he shook his head to ward off the overwhelming sorrow and fear that had washed over him, attempting to drown him in unending anguish. He knew that he needed to get out of here and to Diana as soon as possible.

There was no telling what sort of punishment Hades was putting her through for sleeping with him. He did his best to force those terrifying thoughts aside as well as the tremble of panic that accompanied them. It wouldn't help him get to her any faster.

Glancing up, all he could see was a veil of pure inky blackness, leaving him to imagine what could be hiding above him. Nearby, sulfur lakes belched bubbles of putrid gas, the nauseating stench burning his nostrils as he struggled to gain a point of reference. There was a hazy smoke that seemed to blanket everything around him as far as he could see, rocky formations attempting to block his view.

Batman began the treacherous climb in order to escape the desolate hell he'd been banished to, but quickly realized that he was going to have to use his grappling gun to conserve his strength. He also discovered that the air was much thicker and heavier down here making breathing difficult.

He knew that he was going to have to work fast to get out of here not only to avoid whatever Hades was going to send to stop him from getting to Diana, but also because of the factor that time played into it…or didn't play into it.

Time was nonexistent here. It would be so easy to just lose track of hours and days in the Underworld, to lose yourself completely here in more ways than one, but he was determined to make certain that he and Diana were there in time for their wedding.

Nothing in this world or any other was going to keep him from her.

Shooting his grappling gun at a rock formation, Batman channeled his rage as well as his fear for what was currently happening to Diana into finding his way out of here. His knowledge of the Underworld and Tartarus itself wasn't as extensive as Diana's, but he had learned more than enough to know the longer he stayed here, the worse his chances were of getting out.

Hades had no idea who he was up against. He had prepared himself for every single eventuality that he could conceive…all except for one thing. He hadn't anticipated falling madly in love with Diana or that Hades would one day be his father-in-law.

When he had gone to Themyscira to fight Faust in order to save the Amazons, he had discovered himself unprepared for what they had been forced to face and had almost lost Diana that day. Even now, the memory of Hades trying to drag her with him into the Underworld still caused his chest to seize with fear. He had returned to Gotham to begin an in-depth research into Hades and the Underworld, learning everything he could possible get his hands on. He was not about to be caught unprepared again.

Shooting his grappling line again, he flew through the air as sure as if he had been born with wings, his cape billowing wildly behind him as he skillfully landed on top of another large plateau. The feel of the heavy air against his face did little to squelch the heat of his current environment, but his temperature controlled uniform was helping to some extent.

He straightened up as he retrieved his grappling line, searching for the entrance to Tartarus. At this height, it almost reminded him of the Grand Canyon, but far darker…desolate and bleak, ravaged by the depravity that dwelt here, the overwhelming anguish that clawed at his very sanity.

From his new vantage point, he noticed more sulfur lakes releasing rancid gas into the thick blanket that he was forced to breathe in. Gnarled back trees without leaves twisted in odd angles littered the barren landscape, adding to the menacing atmosphere.

There were rocky formations everywhere that flattened out into level planes before suddenly dropping off into large pits of pure fire. Red flames shot several feet up into the air like spewing lava, creating a red sinister glow to everything. Dark smoke rose along with it, adding to the hazy suffocating fog that hung in the air.

The voices of the dead seemed to rise in a fierce tidal wave of despondent moans only to suddenly crash into bone-chilling wails before starting all over again. The undulating surges of gut-wrenching anguish made the fine hairs prickle on the back of his neck and stirred his own sense of pain, reminding him once more of the loses in his life – the loss of his parents, friends and lovers…the possibility of losing Diana now.

Batman quickly shook off the sudden sense of desolation and sorrow that had crept over him, threatening to drag him down. Turning, he suddenly froze, noticing movement out of the corner of his eye to his left. His hand immediately went to his utility belt, his fingers resting on it in anticipation of what was coming for him.

He remained locked in position, waiting to see what exactly was coming for him before making a move. Unfortunately, there was nothing around him to conceal his presence or that he could use for cover unless he wanted to take a bath in a sulfur lake.

Pretending to be inspecting the area, he glanced to his right to find something moving in from his other side as well. They definitely weren't shy about hiding their presence or the fact that they were coming straight for him.

His gut clenched tightly as they drew near, swiftly realizing that there were several more coming behind them. They were trying to surround him. He smirked to himself as he realized they were Hades' army of the dead, no doubt ordered to come and take him out before he could even get a chance to escape Tartarus.

Little did any of them know he was more than prepared for whatever they were going to throw at him. He waited patiently as the skeletons approached, biding his time before making his move. They were similar to the dead army that Hades had raised beneath Themyscira when Faust had released the god of the Underworld, walking bones with beady red eyes. Bits of flesh and sinew hung from their rotting bones, carrying with them the fetor of death as they approached, their focus solely on him.

When they finally moved in to create a wide berth around him, Batman flung his arm out, releasing a bat bomb and creating an exit through the skeleton army. He flew up out of the smoke rising from the ruins he'd just created with his grappling gun, leaving behind him piles of bones and dust as well as what was left of an enraged skeleton army bent on getting their bony hands on him.

The break out at Arkham and the ensuing pursuit afterwards had depleted some of his supplies. He needed to make sure he used what he had sparingly or he would have nothing left to help him escape this literal hell he found himself in now.

Not to mention, he knew this was only a very small taste of what Hades had in store for him. Bigger and fiercer foes still awaited him, ones that would require much more skill and intelligence then this mindless skeleton army if he was going to survive this.

And he would. For Diana, he'd do anything…even traverse the very pits of hell.