Down By Law

"Hmm... This book isn't completely accurate." Leia said, peering into pepper's book about Zeus.

"Oh? What's wrong with it?" pepper said, leaning next to Leia to see the book as she reads. Leia got flustered because he came close so fast.

"Uh, uhm... Right here." Leia said, trying to focus, pointing at a sentence. "The book says 'Zeus is the strongest of the Gods, this is why he's the one who stands ontop.' That isn't correct." Leia said, guiding her finger across the sentence as she read.

"Is Zeus not the strongest?" pepper asked, thinking he may have over estimated Zeus.

"No, he isn't. My father, Poseidon is." Leia said, answering pepper's question.

"Then how come Poseidon isn't...?" pepper said, taking a second to think about it.

"It's because Poseidon didn't want the throne, he cares deeply for what his brother, Zeus, wants." Leia said, doing her best to teach pepper.

"Oh, I see. So, Zeus is actually weak?" pepper asked, hopinhng he can just go deal with Zeus.

"Oh, absolutely not, Zeus is likely second to Poseidon, maybe Hades is stronger, but I'm not sure." Leia said, beginning to speculate.

"I've heard of Hades before, who is he?" pepper asked, curious of this God he knows little about.

"Hades, my uncle, is a brother of Poseidon, and Zeus, he rules over the Underworld, or Hell, and he judges the souls of the dead to determine where they go, I know he determines if they go to Heaven or with him in Hell, but I've heard that there's actually a third place he could determine for them..." Leia said, moving her arms about as she spoke.

"Where?" pepper asked, trying to think of where else Hades could possibly send the dead souls.

"I don't really know exactly... But I think I heard father call it... the In-Between?" Leia said, feeling very unsure of herself.

"The In-Between?" Polly said, looking over at pepper and Leia. "What about it?" Polly continued.

"Do you know about it?" Leia asked, not realizing what Polly is.

"You see, it happens to be precisely where Daddy had found me." Polly said, with wide eyes.

"Wait... You're from the In-Between?!" Leia said, thinking she heard wrong.

"Yes, but not originally, I do remember my past life." Polly said, bobbing her head back and forth.

"Did... Hades send you there?" Leia asked, becoming interested.

"I do not know. I simply was alive one second and dead the next, before I had realized it, I was in the In-Between." Polly said, closing her eyes and smiling.

"What's it like?" Leia asked, trying to learn as much as she can, hoping she can help pepper. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Was anyone expecting someone?" pepper asked, growing cautious. Everyone nodded their heads left to right. "I see..." pepper said, getting up and walking to the door. pepper opened the door and saw two men standing there, they wore a sort of uniform. "Who are you two?" pepper said, sounding a little bothered.

"Would you happen to be... Mr. pepper?" The man on the right said, taking a moment to look into his uniform.

"I am pepper, why?" pepper said, growing suspicious of the situation.

"We're investigating an incident that occurred yesterday, apparently there were some citizens that witnessed you at the scene, they said you didn't run away like the others." The man on the left said, looking pepper intensely in the eyes.

"Indeed, I was there." pepper said, not knowing if that was a good choice.

"Well, I'll be damned." The man on the left said, with surprise on his face.

"What?" pepper said, confused about what's so surprising.

"Mr. pepper, was it? We'd appreciate it if you'd come with us, we have some people with even more questions. We'd rather not need to use force." The man on the right said, crossing his arms.

"Fine, I'd rather avoid trouble." pepper said, closing his eyes.

"Good, now come on." The man on the right said, pulling out hand cuffs.

"May I do something in my hotel room first?" pepper asked, hoping the answer is yes.

"...Fine, make it quick, I need to make a phone call anyway." The man on the right said, hoping he didn't make a bad decision.

"Right, thank you." pepper said, as he turned around and went into the bedroom.

"What's going on?" Kumo whispered, confused of the situation.

"I've gotta talk to some people, I think it's about what Peki did." pepper said, quietly, not trying to blame Peki.

"I apologize, pepper, I don't mean to inconvenience you." Peki said, quietly, with her emotionless face.

"It's alright, nothing I can't handle." pepper said, quietly, trying to assure them that everything will be okay. 'I hope...' pepper thought, knowing this could go awfully.

"Peki, you're probably the most powerful, so only you are allowed to leave, but only if necessary." pepper said, quietly, turning off the lights, and going back to the door.

"That was quick, he's still on the phone so if you need to do anything else then now's the time." The man that was on the left said, pointing his thumb behind himself, at the man that was on the right.

"No, I'm done, I just wanted to turn my electronics off." pepper said, closing and locking the door behind him.

"Just sit in the back, try to be quiet until we get there, okay?" The man that was on the left said, opening the back door to their police car. pepper nodded and sat in the back, his hands cuffed.

'I can't help but feel like this is a bit excessive... But I suppose you can't trust just anyone.' pepper thought as the man that was on the left started the car, and began to drive. 'I suppose that I'll take a nap until we get there... I'm rather tired today, I guess.' pepper thought, dozing off.

pepper slowly opened his eyes, he felt like he's been asleep for a while. 'How long was I out?' pepper thought, noticing that they're still driving. 'I don't recognize this place.' pepper thought, looking out of the window. pepper decided to look around inside the car, because he was bored. 'That steering wheel...' pepper thought, trying to see past the driver's arm. The driver put his arm down to turn the car, revealing the sterring wheel. 'I knew it! That symbol is... The same as the one on my book about Zeus!' pepper thought, trying to figure out what it means.

"Uh oh... Seems he's noticed, Al." The man that was on the right said, sitting in the front passenger seat.

"I told you we should of covered it, Yankee..." Al, the man that was on the left said, with a sigh, shaking his head left and right. "And here I thought this would be easy, but you just had to look around... Jeez." Al continued.

"Who the hell are you?" pepper said, worried about what he's gotten into.

"We're angels, Lord Zeus sent us to Earth to watch over the Humans, and protect them, we blend in as any other Human and do what we can to protect them." Yankee said, looking at pepper through the rear view mirror.

"We decided to become police officers, we though it'd suit people who protect. Then we heard about the investigation that involved you, so we decided to step in and take you to Zeus, he so desperately wants to meet you, pepper." Al said, driving the car.

"I can't believe Shushu failed." Yankee said, changing the subject.

"It was likely the girl's fault, Zeus can't tell that she's useless..." Al said, questioning Zeus' choices.

"What girl?" pepper asked, assuming they're talking about Niku.

"What was her name? Tenshi, I think Zeus called her, it means Angel in... Japanese... he said?" Al said, feeling confused.

'Japanese...? That sounds like one of the countries on that odd map... but I think it was called Japan, is that their language.' pepper thought. "Japanese? Never heard of it." pepper said, seeing if he can get any information.

"Yeah, it isn't from *this* Earth." Yankee said, turning around to look at pepper.

"Yankee, I don't think Lord Zeus wants us to give away information, especially not to the enemy." Al said, trying to get Yankee in check.

"Right." Yankee said, shutting up.

'*This* Earth?' pepper thought.

"So, where are you really taking me?" pepper asked, getting bored in the long silence.

"Like I said, Zeus wants to meet you, obviously we're going to Mount Olympus." Al said, thinking he may have said too much.

"So, he's been on Mount Olympus this whole time... I see." pepper said, knowing he isn't ready to meet Zeus.

"No, the mountain is just a gateway, only the Gods and Angels can open it. The gateway takes you to the realm of the Gods." Yankee said, explaining to pepper how the mountain works.

"I am not ready to meet Zeus, I already met Poseidon and he could have easily killed me, but he spared me." pepper said, gaining an idea.

"You met Lord Poseidon?!" Yankee said, feeling extremely shocked.

"I don't believe that Lord Zeus has heard of this..." Al said, with a worried tone. pepper realized that he could use his spider legs, and he shot them out of his back, as a threat and warning to Al and Yankee. "You didn't use the cuffs that Lord Zeus had given us incase of emergency?!" Al shouted, at Yankee.

"I thought that it'd give us away even faster!" Yankee shouted, in fear. pepper used his spider legs and stabbed them right through the car seats and into Al and Yankee's chests.

"Hear my prayer, my Father, Lord Zeus. pepper has already met Lord Poseidon, and we've failed our mission. Forgive our souls, Father." Al said, praying to Zeus with his final breathe.

"They're dead, doesn't seem like they had any abilities, I'd probably feel sick if they did..." pepper said, talking to himself. "Shit! The car is still going!" pepper said, realizing that he might crash. 'Think, what can I do...?' pepper took a moment, thinking. 'I can try to teleport... I practiced a little, it's really hard, but I've got no choice.' pepper thought, beginning to try to teleport. "Hmm..." pepper said, focusing outside the car's window. "Oogie Boogie!" pepper shouted, as he disappeared from inside the car and reappearing on the road. pepper looked up, his left foot was firm on the road, his right knee holding himself up, and his hands were still cuffed, pepper heard a loud scratching sound, likely a tire, and then a massive explosion happened behind him, all in the moment he teleported out if the car.

pepper turned around to look at the explosion. "Damn, that was close!" pepper shouted, breathing heavy. 'I thought for sure I was dead...' pepper thought, trying to calm himself. 'These hand cuffs are annoying.' pepper thought, looking down at his cuffed hands. "Ora!" pepper shouted, as he used one of his spider legs to break the cuffs.

"I've been walking for about six hours now... I'm hungry and I'm tired..." pepper said, walking down a road that he's never seen before. 'Maybe I can teleport back to my girls... like I did before...' pepper thought, closing his eyes and straining himself. "Gahhh!" pepper shouted, in frustration. "It's not use, I can't focus..." pepper said, feeling hungry and tired even stronger.

"You there, boy." An old lady with a stick said, looking at pepper.

"Me?" pepper said, confused since he's never met this lady.

"Yes, you. I've seen your face somewhere before..." The old lady said, pausing her sentence.

'Oh great... Another person after my bounty...' pepper said, growing bothered.

"Ah, yes, now I remember, it's the entire reason I'm even out here this late." The old lady continued.

"Do you need help or something?" pepper asked, not really listening to her.

"You are the one that the prophets spoke of, oh so long ago." The old lady said, smiling.

"Huh?" pepper shouted, in confusion.