Issue #35: X, The Judge.

More advance chapters in Pat.reon.com/saintbarbido.

&

Ko-Fi.com/saintbarbido.

::--------------------------------::

Issue #35: X, The Judge.

(Kane's P.O.V)

The second time, I walked through the halls of the underworld,

Deja Vu hit me with the force of a 12 Wheeler truck.

I could almost catch a whiff of Diana's scent lingering in the air. Could almost feel her warmth next to me, her hand hooked on the crook of my elbow.

I wonder how she's doing...

Knowing the family drama we witnessed last time, she was probably back in Themiscyra.

Hades gave me the impression he was wise- he wouldn't keep her around after what had happened with Zeus.

I didn't have all the details but the King of Gods had seemed angry at Hades for something. That fury culminated in the battle that led to Diana and I getting separated.

I wonder what the aftermath was.

Judging by the freshly covered cracks lining the hallway, the palace was just recently restored.

I was away for a week or so, Diana must think I'm dead. Nothing could survive the waters of the Underworld rivers. I was immensely fortunate.

Now whether word has reached to the world of the Living about my being alive, is a different thing.

All said and done, I had to know what I'd missed. And for that reason, I was having a servant show me the way to Aeacus.

The last time I saw him, he'd been amenable and had welcomed Diana and I.

The only other option was Minos who did not like me, Rhadamanthus who I did not like and Hades.

I doubted I could just be granted audience with the King of the Underworld out of the blue, so the last one was out.

That left my buddy Aeacus.

-0-

"The Judge is busy."

A tall suit of armor holding onto a diamond shaped shield and a pole axe said in Aeacus' own voice.

All my senses told me this was an automaton. There was a distinct lack of breathing and from such a close distance, I should have been able to hear the heartbeat.

"Well that's a shame."

I sighed as Spyra combusted into place on my shoulder, curiously staring at the armor. Specifically, the golden accented cape strapped to it's back.

I sensed her crouch in preparation for a jump.

"Whoa, not so fast."

I lightly admonished, snagging her form in midair before forcibly absorbing her into me.

Was it animal abuse? Maybe. But I had no patience for her crazy appetite over any fabric.

I could sense her anger through our link.

'I'll get you some curtains to munch on later.'

I sent through our link, turning to regard the long hallway behind me.

The Dryad that had been showing me the way, had disappeared the second we arrived at our destination.

But I easily remembered the way back. It wouldn't be an issue to locate my room.

That said, I wanted to do a bit more exploring. There was nothing to do back in the room except trying to stop Spyra from intentionally vandalizing our hosts' property.

Was it weird that she liked eating cloth? It was weird right?

In any case, I would rather try my luck at finding the library as mentioned before.

With Aeacus being seemingly busy, that left me with the library as my best if only source of information.

While I couldn't find it, I stumbled across something even cooler.

The training room.

-0-

It was a few turns through the dark and shadow clad hallways that I came up on it.

A massive mural painted along the end of the wall. Quite literally, the Hallway simply came to an abrupt dead end.

The mural depicted a black haired man holding onto a soft looking woman.

Hades and Persephone.

These two shared something real. It was in the way they gazed at each other.

One wouldn't think they were the king and the queen of the Underworld.

Just a man and a woman...in love.

"Ah, one of Da Vinci's best."

A voice said.

From nowhere. I couldn't discern it's origin point.

I looked around, a bit spooked. You had to remember this was the Underworld. It wouldn't be out of the question to have ghosts flying about.

"What are you looking around for?"

The voice came again, sounding a bit amused.

It echoed through the empty alcoves, resonating across the whole corridor.

That's it.

"Spyra, time to come out and play."

I instructed, similarly getting ready for a fight.

My spider Totem jumped out, fire blazing around her, prepared to take on any phantom and show it why you never mess with an assassin and his burning spider.

With a slight groan, the mural to our front split at the middle, both sides retracting to the walls and revealing an unimpressed looking shirtless Rhadamanthus on the other side.

The Judge was covered in a light sheen of sweat across his scar ridden body.

I made note of that, before studying the entrance. With a keen eye, you couldn't miss the scuff marks on the ground under the mural.

But somehow I had.

"It was a door..."

I muttered dumbly.

We had an awkward stare off.

But too bad for Rhadamanthus I was the king of acting non-plussed in situations that required a lot of plussing.

"Whatever you're on, don't bring it inside."

The Judge ground out, staring at me like I was insane, before he turned around and walked in.

Accepting the invitation but a little bit embarrassed, I followed after him.

Spyra didn't make it easy for me. I could just feel the mockery wafting off her, the fire around her flaring up with her humor.

She had the nerve to snicker at me.

Let's nip that in the bud.

"We're never speaking of this again, understand?"

I warned the little shit, squeezing her body to show I was serious.

She quickly agreed after I threatened to cut down her fabric supply.

It wouldn't do for someone to think a hardboiled assassin like myself was scared of ghosts.

I stepped through the entrance and promptly fanboyed.

There was a fully equipped gym within the huge chamber. Most of the equipment used was wildly different from the standard weights I was used to.

There was nothing modern here.

Yet no one could deny, this was a place that turned men into super men.

The weights even included large polished discs of rocks stacked in plates that had no business in a gym.

A single plate was easily taller than me. And the big rack the weights were placed on had some that were as big as Cerberus himself.

Who was even using those?!

A number of one handed dumbbells were stacked on the left wall- made of the same black stone as the lifting weights.

There was even a small obstacle course. But different from the one in Themiscyra, this was smaller but with deadlier traps. Like a pair of blades constructed onto the ceiling ready to swing away on the gang plank, and reap lives.

Or send them careening into the water below.

You heard that correct. In the middle of the Obstacle Course was a pool of water with chaotic rapids and cutting whirlpools.

The pool ended on a ledge, where the water washed over the edge, through a spillway and fell out of the palace into the lake below.

And last but not least, along the alcoves on the wall, was all manner of weapons.

From metal blades, to slingshots, to stone daggers and wooden bats, to even a few a few unfamiliar armaments.

"Clearly someone has a hobby of collecting dangerous tools."

I whistled, spinning around with wonder in my eyes.

A pair of shiny looking daggers had grabbed my attention. I wonder if they would be open to me borrowing a few stuff.

"You like it boy?"

Rhadamanthus' voice reached me from deeper in.

I clenched and unclenched my jaw. Then slowly, I turned around to find him sitting on a practice mat in a crosslegged position.

The first time I let it go. This time, nah.

"Call me boy one more time."

I told him seriously.

Judge or not, he was pissing me off.

Rhadamanthus opened his eyes, revealing a sharp glint in them. His lips twisted in humor.

"What are you going to do about it, Boy?"

He did it. He seriously did it again.

I shrugged off the coat I wore, letting it fall on the ground in a heap.

"Don't. Eat. It."

I warned Spyra who was stretching out her grubby little legs toward the coat.

She froze like a deer caught in headlights.

Snorting, I felt something flying at me.

My hand snapped out and grabbed the Kendo Stick thrown my way.

"You look like you want to fight."

Rhadamanthus said, smoothly getting to his feet before taking a few steps back and brandishing his own Kendo Stick at me.

His form was impeccable. And clearly he was aware of it as he smirked.

"I shall indulge you."

The plan was to look for Aeacus as he was the only person in the underworld I was cordial with. That would have to wait.

First, I had a bone to pick with this guy.

"What are the stakes?"

But just because I was willing to kick his ass, didn't mean I was going to do it for free.

The judge said nothing except for holding up the black butterfly within his two fingers.

The message was clear.