CHAPTER 19: ENDYMION
No one was having a good sleep that night. Even with the experiments winding down and the promise that everyone would go back to school safe and sound, the Styx facility was still like a cage in many ways. Eventually, slumber was found, but even then, strange dreams lurked in the subconscious… flickers of another story echoed through the night…
A beautiful cloudy clearing was revealed in the sky, full of gods of all shapes and sizes. A new baby, Hercules, was sitting in a cloudy carriage, with everyone fawning over him.
"How sentimental." Hades, his dark form billowing slightly in the air, made himself known. "You know, I haven't been this choked up since I got a hunk of moussaka caught in my throat!" He smiled, but no one else seemed amused at his joke. Hades made his way to the front, greeting the other gods only to get scowls in return, when he was suddenly grabbed by Zeus.
"Hades, you finally made it! How are things in the Underworld?" the head god asked, putting his hand on Hades' shoulder.
"Oh, it's fine. A little dark, a little gloomy, and hey… full of dead people, what are ya gonna do?" Hades said sardonically, dropping Zeus's hand. He then went over to greet the baby Hercules, giving him a spiked lollipop shaped like a skull, only for Hercules to grab the elder god's finger. Hades winced in pain and pulled away, only for Zeus to put his arm around him again.
"Come on, Hades. Don't be such a stiff. Join the celebration!" Zeus said.
Hades ducked away from the embrace. "Love to, babe," he spat. "But unlike you gods lounging about up here, I regrettably have a full-time gig. That you, so charitably by the way, bestowed on me, Zeus." He glared at his older brother. "So can't. Love to, but can't!"
"Slow down, you'll work yourself to death," Zeus cautioned, only to laugh at his own joke. "Work yourself to death…!"
The other gods laughed as well, leaving Hades to storm away. "If only…"
"H-Huh…?" Grim opened his eyes blearily. The grayish Styx bedroom seemed so big and empty when he was all by himself. The small blue lights around the room stayed constant, but Grim could've sworn he saw a strange white light from the monitor on the wall. As soon as he saw it, the light went out instantly, like a flashlight being turned off. He glimpsed an odd silhouette in that flash… like three circles on top of each other…
"Turn out that light, Jill…" Grim mumbled, and fell back asleep.
...
In the bowels of the Underworld, Hades was consulting the three haggard Fates about his plans for conquering the Underworld. The single eyeball that the three sisters shared floated into the air, and it glowed brightly as the trio recounted events to come.
In eighteen years precisely, the planets will align ever so nicely
The time to act will be at hand, unleash the titans, your monstrous band
Then the once-proud Zeus will finally fall, and you, Hades, will rule all
A word of caution to this tale…
Should Hercules fight, you will fail…
"M-Mehhh…?" Jill woke up, sitting up in her bed while trying to remember where she was.
There was a monitor attached to the wall, like every room, so that Jill's new overlords could keep an eye on her. With the dim blue lights and the reflective screen, the monitor was almost like a mirror. She saw a fading light, and a very familiar silhouette…
"Mickey…?" she mumbled. "What are you doing here…?"
She had no answer.
...
In the middle of the woods, the god of death was berating a beautiful brunette woman named Megara.
"So instead of subtracting two years from your sentence, hey, I'm gonna add two on, okay?" Hades smirked. "You gave it your best shot."
"Look, it wasn't my fault! It was this wonderboy 'Hercules'!" Megara said, leaning against a tree.
Hades' two imps were panicked, asking themselves if maybe this was someone they owed money to. Hades angrily asked for the name again, and the woman confirmed that yes, the man who saved her was Hercules, the baby god that Pain and Panic were supposed to get rid of years ago.
"You got rid of him, huh? Dead as a doornail?!" Hades grabbed the imps and choked them. "Weren't those your exact words?!"
"M-Maybe this is a different Hercules!"
"Yeah, it's a very popular name nowadays!"
"Remember when every other boy was named Jason, and the girls were all named Brittany?!"
"I'm about to rearrange the cosmos," Hades seethed, "and the one schlemiel who can louse it up is WALTZING AROUND IN THE WOODS!"
The imps changed to bugs, and Megara narrowly avoided Hades' flames as he roasted the entire forest in his rage.
"Huh…?" Ace woke up. He had been restless all day, confined to his room like a prisoner instead of the hero he thought he would be. But now even in his dreams, he couldn't get any rest? There was a fading light coming from the monitor on his wall, and he guessed it was a camera light of some sort. Maybe in case he was trying to dig a hole out of his room with a spoon, or whatever Styx thought he was up to.
"This bites…" he grumbled, turning on his other side. "I'm giving everyone an earful for getting captured and dragging me into this…"
Granted, he volunteered… but when your girlfriend and your housewarden were in dire straits, what was a card soldier to do?
...
The scene changed to a barren stadium under a stormy sky. Hercules was shown shaking hands with Hades, and afterwards, the famous hero staggered back and looked exhausted. He had given away his godly strength.
"You might feel a bit queasy, it's kinda natural… maybe you should SIT DOWN!" Hades lifted a barbell and threw it at Hercules, pinning him to the ground. Megara, who was wrapped in smoky chains, was forced to watch in horror.
"Now you know how it feels to be just like everybody else. Isn't it just peachy?" Hades mocked. "Oh, and Meg, you're off the hook."
The restraints vanished, and Hades grabbed Megara as if she was a dancing partner, holding her mockingly. He explained that Megara was an actress, an agent of his, who had been working for him this whole time. Megara pleaded that it wasn't true, but at this point, Hercules just looked defeated.
After his gloating, Hades victoriously took off into the sky, ready to arrange the universe in his image…
"Hrrrghhh…? Whaaa…?"
Idia's eyes opened to see the monitor still in front of him. It had an odd glow that went away the instant he noticed it. Idia waved his mouse, and the dark monitor flickered back to his line of code. That's right, he was working on the Lethe system to rewrite everyone's memories. Ortho wanted him to sleep, but there was still so much to do as acting director…
"A dream about Hades acting evil… Jill must be getting to me," he said begrudgingly.
DRIP, DRIP…
Author's Note: Mickey has joined the party (sort of)! Now everyone can have the Disney Dreams of Doom :D