Previously on Soul Desire:
"It's a pretty impressive set from what we've seen," Lois said.
Kevin grinned again. "Yeah, it is. They really went all of for this." He looked around the tavern fondly, almost nostalgically. "So, should we get down to business?"
"Oh, let's do."
Lois and Clark looked up sharply. The voice had come seemingly from nowhere. Clark noticed that Kevin didn't look perturbed in the slightest. Angry, perhaps. And undeniably annoyed. But most definitely not surprised.
A blue spark appeared by the bar, then expanded into the shape of a man. There was a flash, and a man materialized before their eyes. He was an imposing fellow, with short cropped ebony hair and a neatly trimmed mustache and beard. Muscles ripped in his massive arms and his dark eyes fairly smoldered. He was dressed in black leather pants and a matching vest, beneath which his bare chest was visible. Each of the garments was studded with small nodes of silver, and he wore a pair of matching gauntlets and a silver earring shaped like a sword dangling from his left ear. A medallion hung about his neck on a sturdy leather cord. A sword hung in a scabbard on his left hip. The man eyed them all levelly, no expression visible on his chiseled face . He leaned casually against the bar.
Kevin sighed heavily. "What do you want, Ares?"
*************************
"Now, is that any way to greet your dear, big brother?" Ares asked, mockingly.
"Ares, I really don't have time to play games. Why don't you go find someone else to bother? Hmmm?" Kevin sounded bored, with a tinge of annoyance seeping through and coloring the edges of his words.
Lois and Clark exchanged a weighted look. Was this truly the ancient Greek god of war? After all that they had seen and experienced in life, it wouldn't surprise them in the least if this really was Ares. But if it truly was so, why was he there? And just what did he mean, calling Kevin his brother?
"I'm not here to play games," the war god assured the actor. "I'm here with a warning."
"Let me guess," Kevin replied, sarcasm rich in his deep voice. "Give up the merchandizing rights on this film to you? Stop acting altogether? You're starting a war in some remote little location in the world and I had better not try to stop you? That about sum it up?"
"No, Mister Know-It-All. As much as I miss our little battles, I'm not here to fight you, or threaten you. Like it or not, I'm on your side this time."
Kevin laughed, a short and disbelieving sound. "Pardon me if I don't believe you." He turned back to Lois and Clark. "Come on, let's find a pest-free place to do this interview, shall we?"
Kevin stood and took a step toward the door.
"Damn it, Hercules! Would you just listen to me for a minute?" Ares pushed himself away from the bar and took a step towards Kevin.
Kevin rounded on Ares, his features strained with tightly controlled anger. "How dare you use that name in the presence of others!"
Ares grinned, amused, and rested his hands on the pommel of his sword. "Oh please. Like you haven't just admitted to cavorting with gods in the past. And like it or not, you're not the only one here with a secret." He shot a pointed look at Clark.
Clark subtly but audibly cleared his throat. "Maybe we should go. We can do this at another, more convenient time."
"Uh-uh," Ares said, wagging a finger in Clark's direction. "You're the reason why I'm here."
Clark pointed a finger at his own chest. "Me? Why?"
Ares looked around unhurriedly. "I'll tell you just as soon as the rest of our little party arrives."
Lois scrunched up her brow. "Rest of the party?"
As if in answer to her question, another spark appeared in the air, this time in red. Another man materialized before them. He was dressed in black leather with a high neck, a red flowing cape, and held a heavy helm cradled in his left arm. A short, silver crown adorned his sandy, slicked back hair. He eyed them all and did not smile.
"Oh goody, Hades is here too," Kevin mumbled under his breath.
"Hercules," the newcomer said gravely, extending a hand to his nephew. "Sorry to barge in like this. But the world needs your help. And so does Superman."
"Well, I guess we've made it clear that my little secret isn't going to be kept," Kevin muttered, though his voice had lost its animosity. He sounded resigned to the turn of events.
Kevin grasped the god about the forearm in a friendly shake. Lois and Clark immediately remembered the last time that they had seen such an odd handshake, thirteen years prior. Lois had been newly pregnant with Michael at the time.
The evil time traveler, Tempus, had kidnapped them while they had been out for a jog and taken them to ancient Greece. Passing himself off as a god, Tempus had manipulated a group of warriors into capturing Clark and selling him as a gladiator. Clark had nearly died in the arena after Tempus convinced Julius Caesar of his godhood and demanded that Clark be killed. But luckily, for both Lois and Clark, they had befriended a fierce warrior woman named Xena and her best friend, Gabrielle. Xena had posed as a gladiator herself. Under the guise of Blade, an Amazon gladiator, she had entered into the fights in Rome and saved Clark's life. Lois and Clark had finally been returned to their own time after Autolycus, the self proclaimed King of Thieves, stole the Chronos Stone, a mystical rock with the ability to send people through space and time.
"Superman?" Clark asked, echoing Hades.
The god of the dead turned a knowing eye on him. "Yes. I'll let Ares explain in a few minutes. But first I need to do something."
Hades stood back, closing his eyes. His hands rose into the air, straight out in front of him, fingers spread wide. Pure energy and light flowed outwards from his fingertips. The very air crackled with electricity, until the short hairs on the back of Lois and Clark's necks stood on end. Goosebumps rose on Lois' arms as well. The light grew in intensity until Lois, Clark, and Kevin had to look away. Even Ares shaded his eyes with one strong hand. There was a sound like the crack of thunder, then, abruptly, the light was gone and the electricity fled from the air. Hades' eyes snapped open and he smiled at his handiwork.
Lois, Clark, and Kevin looked back into the space where Hades had directed his power, though Lois and Clark were half expecting to see a still empty space. Instead, three people stood there, looking rather confused. Lois and Clark recognized the two women immediately, though the last time they had seen the blonde woman, her hair had been much longer. The man they did not know - a short, curly blonde dressed in leather pants and a purple vest over his otherwise bare chest, with an odd, squiggly looking medallion hanging about his neck.
"Xena? Gabrielle? Iolaus?" Each name was a thousand different questions rolled into one as Kevin spoke them. His voice broke a little on each name. Tears welled in his icy blue eyes and glimmered there, but did not fall.
"Hercules?" Iolaus asked, just as disbelieving, eyes wide. "Is that really you, buddy?"
"Of course it is!" Kevin, or rather, Hercules replied, forgetting, for the moment, the presence of Lois and Clark. Pure excitement shone on his face. "I can't believe it! You're back! I've missed you, my friend. It's been...the gods only know how many centuries since I last saw you."
"You mean, since I died," Iolaus said, a wry smile on his face. "By the gods, it's good to see you again, Herc!" He closed the distance between himself and his best friend, drawing him into a back slapping hug. When they had pulled apart, Iolaus regarded his friend for a moment, his eyebrows arched. "But I have to ask. What in Tartarus are you wearing?"
This caused Hercules to laugh, though the sound was watery with unshed tears of joy. "Times have changed, Iolaus. And so has the fashion." He turned to Xena and Gabrielle, drawing each of them into a fierce embrace.
"You look good," Xena said with a mischievous smile as she appraised him. "A few more gray hairs since the last time I saw you, but otherwise the same."
Hercules laughed loudly as Xena smirked. "I do not have gray hairs," he protested.
Clark noticed how Hercules regarded Xena, and instantly knew that there was more to their history together then Xena had told them about. In fact, the two had briefly become lovers once, back when Hercules had helped Xena turn from her evil ways to fight for the Greater Good. But their romance had been short lived, as Xena had felt it best to go on her separate way as she began to atone for her past misdeeds. A glance at Ares told Clark that the war god had feelings for the warrior woman as well. The god was practically fuming at the outpouring of affection between Xena and Hercules, though he looked with affection at Xena. Clark blinked as realization dawned. It seemed that the god of war was not only capable of jealousy, but of love as well.
Xena and Gabrielle turned to Lois and Clark. They smiled as they recognized their friends.
"Lois, Clark," Gabrielle said, hugging them both with easy familiarity. "Nice to see you again."
"You too," Lois said, hugging the blonde bard back.
"You look well," Xena said to Clark.
"So do you," he replied.
"For a dead woman, yeah," Xena replied with a wink. "I guess so."
"Dead?" Clark asked.
"Long story."
Ares cleared his throat, almost shyly. "Xena. By the gods, I've missed you." He awkwardly shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking for all the world like he wanted to embrace Xena as well. He held himself back, however.
Xena regarded the war god coolly. "You never wrote." She swiveled her eyes to Hades and crossed her arms. "All right. Enough of the reunion stuff. What gives, Hades? How did you pull me from the Japanese land of the dead? And more importantly, why?"
Hades shrugged. "I made a trade. Your soul, which, as a Greek, belongs to me, for the soul of a renowned warrior of theirs."
"And what about those forty thousand souls I was guarding?"
"A replacement was found," Hades assured her. "A much more deserving replacement, believe me. Listen, it isn't important right now. What matters is why you are here. All of you." He gestured to the chairs all around. "Please, sit."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Lois protested as she sat, finally pulling out of her shock enough to think straight. "Can we just back it up for a second here? Clearly you all are having a happy little reunion, and I really hate to interrupt it, but I need a moment to wrap my head around all of this. You're gods?" She gestured to Hades and Ares; they nodded solemnly. "And you're really Hercules? Son of Zeus? Strongest man alive?"
"Yes," Hercules admitted. "I am. Although Superman probably has me beat in the strength department."
Clark hesitantly ventured a question. "And...what? You just never died?"
Hercules shook his head. "The immortal blood that flows in my veins has kept me alive."
"And well preserved," Iolaus said, a wry, teasing smile tugging at his lips. "Gray hairs aside."
"So you can't die?" Clark continued.
"Oh, I'm sure that I can, under the right circumstances. If I took a bullet to the heart or something. But apparently not from old age." The demigod shrugged.
"And Kevin Sorbo is...?" Clark asked.
"Just a disguise that I chose for myself. Every so often I have to shed my identity and pick up a new one, start a new life. It's tedious, but necessary. It would be too suspicious if Kevin Sorbo got to see his one hundred and thirtieth birthday."
"How old are you?" Clark asked.
Hercules shrugged. "I've lost count. After the first couple hundred years, it didn't seem to matter anymore."
"And you three," Lois pointed towards Iolaus, Xena, and Gabrielle, "are...dead?"
"They were," Hades confirmed. "I've given them back life until they accomplish the task set before them. Once they have achieved their goal, they must return to me."
Xena arched one eyebrow. "And me?"
Hades smiled a half smile. "Your son awaits you in the Elysian Fields."
Xena's eyes widened in surprise, but that was the only outward sign of her shock. Based on what Lois knew about the warrior princess from the brief time that she had gotten to know the woman, she guessed that Xena had never expected to atone enough for the evil deeds that she had committed early on in her checkered past. She certainly looked surprised that Hades had deemed her worthy enough to pass into the ancient Greek equivalent of paradise.
"We're getting off track here," Ares growled, growing ever more bored with the pleasantries.
"I agree," Clark replied, amiably. "You said that whatever is going on involves Superman somehow, right?"
"Right," Ares nodded.
"So, I guess that begs the question - what do you need Lois and me for? Shouldn't we, I don't know, go find Superman for you?"
"Oh? I'm sorry. You mean, you aren't Superman?" Ares asked, sarcasm heavy in his smooth voice.
Lois shook her head. "Of course he's not," she said, as casually as she could, while rushing to Clark's aid. Inside, though, she felt nervous lying to a god. Especially one that was the patron of violence and war.
Ares huffed impatiently. "Are we really going to do this?"
"Do what?" Lois asked innocently.
"The thing where you keep denying the truth and I keep asserting that Clark Kent moonlights in tights."
Clark eyed the war god levelly, his expression giving up nothing. He was all too aware that he was using his Superman mask, but he felt unsure of what other options he had. Ares rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, then grimly smiled as a thought occurred to him.
"Last chance," Ares said. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
Clark did not move. He did not speak.
"Fine, have it your way. We do this the hard way," Ares said. "Or, as I like to see it, the more fun way...for me."
In the blink of an eye, he'd formed a ball of fire in his right palm. Waves of heat shimmered in the air above it. Rearing his arm back, Ares pitched the ball at Clark. The fireball hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him back off his chair and slamming him into the sturdy wall of the tavern. The fire held him there, suspended two inches above the floor, for a long moment. Lois and the others could feel the extreme heat coming from it, even from halfway across the room.
"Clark!" Lois screamed, genuinely afraid that the god's powers might somehow be able to hurt her husband, despite his invulnerability. Making a split second decision, she rushed at Ares, beating on his chest with her fists. "Stop it!"
As suddenly as the fireball had appeared, it vanished. Clark fell heavily to the floor, blinking in surprise. Lois left Ares and hurried to her husband's side, checking him for injuries with her eyes and hands. Clark stirred after a second or two, coughed, then looked down and grimaced. He patted down a few remaining tongues of flame that were happily devouring his shirt and jacket. A gaping hole in the front of his clothing revealed the blue suit and S shield beneath.
"Was that really necessary?" Hercules asked.
"Told you so," Ares happily pointed out.
"Gods above," Iolaus said, incredulously. "To take a hit like that and live...Is he a god?"
"Why does everyone think he's a god?" Lois asked to no one in particular. "No, he's not," she said to Iolaus, though she did not turn away from Clark.
"Aw, man. My favorite jacket," Clark said with a groan as he stood. He gave Ares a hard look once he was back on his feet. "Why?"
"Because we don't have time for these games," Ares replied, the hard edge to his voice matching Clark's.
Clark dusted himself off, then righted his chair and sat. "Okay, fine, you proved your point." He sighed and dragged his hand through his hair, unhappy with the turn of events. "I admit it. I am Superman."
"Unbelievable," Hercules muttered, with a shake of his head.
A pink spark materialized before the group, stealing Hercules' focus from Clark. When it receded, a curly blonde woman in pink negligee and a robe made of mostly diaphanous material stood before them. Things were definitely getting weirder by the moment, Clark mused to himself, even as he felt his face flush. He averted his eyes, staring at the wooden tabletop as though it had suddenly become the most interesting thing in all the world.
"Whoa! That was way harsh, Ares! You so need to chill out. Hiya, bro!" She flashed a winning smile at Hercules.
Lois shot a questioning look at Hercules.
"My sister, Aphrodite," he said, looking somehow pleased to see the goddess. Clark guessed that the two were on good terms.
"I think I'm getting a migraine," Lois muttered under her breath, dropping her head into her hands.
"Ugh, honey, that tie is such a fashion don't," the goddess of love said, looking at the tattered remains that hung about Clark's neck. With a flick of her finger towards Clark, she restored his clothing to its previous, whole state. "There. That's better. When this is all over, we have got to talk about your sense of style," she continued.
"Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but what are you doing here, Aphrodite?" Hercules asked, drawing her attention away from her appraisal of Clark's wardrobe.
The goddess smiled. "How could I pass up a chance to see Curly again?" she said, nodding towards Iolaus. "Besides, Xena and Gabrielle are my friends too. And, like it or not, I'm here to back up what Hades and Ares have to tell you. I knew you'd never trust them on their own."
Hercules nodded. What Aphrodite had said was the truth.
"Ok, now that we're all properly introduced, let's get down to business," Ares said impatiently. He looked Hercules square in the eye. "The world is in trouble. And your life is in danger," he said, pointing at Clark.
"And why should we believe anything you have to say?" Hercules asked.
"Because you have no choice."
"Sure I do." Hercules crossed his arms defiantly.
"There's no other way to say this. Dahak is trying to force his way back into the world," Ares said.
The words were softly spoken, but they exploded in the room like a bombshell.
Hercules, Iolaus, Xena, and Gabrielle all exchanged a weighted look, even as the blood drained from their faces. Lois and Clark could see flickers of fear and concern in their eyes. For a long moment, none of them dared to utter a word.
"Yeah, I thought that would get your attention," the war god said smugly.
"That can't be. I destroyed Dahak," Hercules said finally, confusion dueling with fear in his voice.
"No, you defeated Dahak. You never destroyed him," Ares corrected him.
"Excuse me. I'm sure I'm going to regret asking. But what's a Dahak?" Lois said.
"Not what. Who," Hercules said with a heavy sigh.
"He's an entity of pure evil. And his only hobby is trying to break free of the bonds that hold him outside of this world so that he can destroy all life." Xena leaned on her elbows on the table.
"So he's, what? Another god?" Clark asked. "I've studied tons of world religions and mythologies. I've never heard of Dahak before."
"He's not exactly a god, but for all intents and purposes, you can consider him as one. It's a little hard to explain," Hercules said, shrugging as he tried to find the right words.
"Evil incarnate? Is Dahak...the devil?" Lois asked.
Hades shook his head. "No. But that isn't a bad way to look at him either. He's a being that thrives on suffering, evil, and death."
"Dahak can't break into the world on his own," Xena said, the expression on her face evidence of her whirring thoughts. She looked uneasy for the first time that Lois had ever seen.
"No, he can't," Hades confirmed.
"So who's helping him?" Gabrielle asked. It wss the first thing that she had said in a while, Clark noticed.
"Glad you asked," Ares replied. "An old friend of yours, Xena. Someone who once promised you that the world would fall at your feet."
Xena's mouth set into a hard, thin line. "Alti."
"Alti," the war god confirmed.
To Be Continued...
