"Confidence is like a dragon where, for every head cut off, two more heads grow back." "From the necks up... well, whoever said two heads are better than one never met a hydra."--Anonymous
**Who We Are**-- Imagine Dragons
"Artemis," Cornelia's came out as a croak. She blanketed Artemis' body with hers and wept. Her tears pushed through her soot-stained cheeks. Apollo dragged himself to them, the only sound that punctuated her sobs. Near-death himself Apollo was, unable to even lift his head to see his sister as her soul passed on to the next life. Her screams for help the only sound in the deathly silence.
Until the shearing of metal pierced the sound of death and devastation, followed by the welcome sound of Hercules' grunted effort.
"Cornelia!" Hades cried out as he jumped through the small gap, "Cornelia!"
"Here!" She squeaked through the noxious mustard tinted fog; Another roar echoed through the hallway. It coursed through her veins, vibrating every muscle, tendon, and bone in her body, "you did not kill it?"
"Don't let it in here!"Hades roared as Hercules picked himself up and pulled the door closed. His body disappeared from view. The only space left was where his hand had pushed through to make a handle.
"Herc is keeping it busy," Hades yelled through the commotion. "Where are you? I cannot see!"
"Over here, be careful Artemis and Apollo are in here."
"Shnarzik!" Hades cursed in his native tongue.
"I put respirators on them," Cornelia's voice cracked, "but it won't help Artemis."
Hades was at her side in less than a breath. "Where's Apollo?" He asked as he examined the ashen skinned amazon.
"He's fine." She said, and a cough mixed with gibberish echoed her statement. "I think he's enjoying himself." His cheek turned to Artemis' nose, his eyes on her chest.
The yellow fog started to dissipate and eke out into the hallway through the gaping hole left by the sundered door.
Hades cursed and moved to his knees, positioning his body above Artemis' his knuckles interlocked his palms pressed on her heart. Cornelia caught a glimpse of a large scaly body as it slammed into the doorway, by Hercules' hand or it's, doing she could not ascertain.
"What are you doing?" Artemis' glassy eyes stared back at her from an ashen face, and she could not help but turn away. Her soul could not take it anymore. Death had become too familiar; but, not the death of a friend. This was something she was not sure she could handle being here any longer, "she is gone."
"Not if I can help it!" Hades roared pressed his hands into her chest. Her ribs crunched under his weight. Blue electricity crackled between his fingers, and her body lurched on impact."Come on, Art. You are stronger than this. Apollo cannot beat you. Not in this!"
Silence answered him, and he lowered his mouth to hers. For a moment, Cornelia felt a strange and unrelenting fury rise within her, and then Artemis' chest rose ever so slightly, and then she watched his movements much more carefully. He pressed again and again into her chest, and every so often pushed air into Artemis' lungs. Sweat beaded around his brow, and his breathing became more laborious.
"Artemis! You are not relieved of duty!" Again lightning danced around his hands as he pressed deep into her chest.
A cough answered him, followed by a retching sound. Hades carefully removed her mask just long enough for the substance to escape her lips. Artemis lay on her side, curled up in a ball on the floor, coughing. Hades studied her carefully with bated breath.
"Frack, my chest hurts," she groaned, "Was that truly necessary?" Her hand went to the respirator, "what happened?"
Hades held her other hand for a long moment. The expression on his face was all the answer Artemis needed. She clutched her chest and took several long inhalations of filtered air before getting up.
Apollo crawled over and held Artemis close to him, after a poignant silence, he whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "Looks like I am better at breathing than you are, sister."
Artemis shoved him playfully while coughing in place of laughter, "well I have slept long enough, where's the monster that made this mess?" In answer, a loud crash sounded outside, and the bridge door dented inward. Small bits of his skin, were already missing from the ferocious battle. "I guess we should see if he needs help."
"You are staying here," Cautioned Hades in his most adult voice.
"No, I am not. I have sat out of enough battles!" With that, she jumped up, still clutching her chest and whipped out what looked like an enormous crossbow. Cornelia could barely see her movements as she let loose a volley of silver bolts. The beast roared in the answer as the arrows sunk deeply into its flesh and sizzled the skin around it.
Apollo pressed a device into his arm and sighed in both pain and relief, "hold on Art, before you go getting yourself killed for a second time today, take this."
Her body twitched with excitement, but she allowed Apollo to administer to her whatever he gave to himself. "I have been waiting for this!" With that, she ran out of the room to assist.
Hades rolled his eyes and looked at Cornelia as she moved toward the door sword in hand, "Not you too?"
Cornelia smiled. "Oh come on, I have gotten better with this thing!"
Hades threw his hands up in defeat, "I cannot stop you, can I?" Cornelia shook her head, so he gestured for her to follow.
Apollo jumped up as well and poked Hades with his elbow, "We cannot let them have all the fun!"
Hades chuckled and followed his friends out into the hall, "no, I guess we cannot."
Cornelia froze as she caught her first glimpse of the creature. It sported over twelve heads in a chaotic mess of snapping fangs and gaseous fume. "Okay," she took another heavy breath, working to gain her bearings, "just like Artemis taught you. Evaluate your enemy. Find its weaknesses."
"Wait!" Hades hollered from behind them as he entered the immense room, "what are you doing?"
Hercules, who was in the middle of tearing off yet another head, with his bare hands, froze.
"You wait!" Apollo sneered through heavy breaths, "trying to kill a big scary monster while you Stand there!" He groaned as a pair of fangs narrowly missed him, "your electricity would be beneficial right about now!"
The words spilled out of Hades' mouth in a worried rush, "Do you guys not remember the legend of the Hydra?" They stared back with blank expressions, "The heads just multiply the more you cut them down. You need to kill it another way!"
"Petaq!" Apollo cursed, "I could not see there was too much fog." He paused, looking at the bloody serpentine heads on the ground and then back at the beast. "We have a problem." As if in answer, three heads converged on his location, and he jumped off.
"Hades, what are we supposed to do?" Artemis yelled as she changed the aim of her bow in hopes of hitting something vital.
"On it!" Hercules hollered and disappeared into the poisonous gas.
"Apollo!" Cornelia shrieked as two serpentine heads converged onto his location. Fear and sweat trickled down his face. He spun to make another hazardous slice, it made it worse, but it bought him time. Teeth dripping with venom were inches from his face when Hercules jumped out of the fog and grabbed one head, and then knotted it with the other. The two tangled heads snapped impotently at each other. Hercules switched gears from tearing to distraction. Once again, keeping the creature occupied while the others worked on a solution.
"How do we kill it?" Cornelia cursed in exasperation as she stabbed one of the thrashing heads, which came too close, in the eye. She was careful not to add more jaws to their current predicament.
So lost in thought, Hades was unaware that one of the heads came right for him. He did not even notice. Cornelia felt terror race through her; she could only go through one near-death experience today, so as long as she could help it, she would stop it. She launched jumped up just in time and struck her sword deep into the creature's neck and sliced clean, leaving a gooey stinking mess on the floor. In a very delayed reaction, Hades sent a lazy lightning bolt straight for the wound. The neck sizzled and bubbled. A terrible gastric smell infected the room's air; but, no more heads formed from the cauterized wound.
"Idea!" He shouted.
"Good!" Artemis groaned as she launched another flurry of silver arrows at the beast's chest. It roared in protest and charged her. Cornelia again sliced at the head the closest head as it nearly snapped at Artemis' leg. Again, Hades shocked it. More sizzling noxious green fumes filled the air; but, no heads replaced it.
"Not a permanent fix, but I like it!" Hercules emerged with a booming laugh. Pure glee scrawled on his face. "This is going to be fun!" Hercules started bouncing around the beast, slicing wildly at the heads. Hades launched lightning bolts at each one. The Cascades of green noxious ooze flooded the floor.
Artemis noticed a strange substance leaking out from a pipe in the ship. The floor around and underneath it melted away, and she smiled. "Let's see how it likes the taste of its own medicine." She dipped her crossbow in it and fired. As the bolt sunk deep into the beast's chest, it did more than sizzle. A dark sickening ooze poured out around the wound. The creature howled a deep and painful cry.
Artemis smiled and repeated the motion. Another volley of silver arrows sunk deep into the monster's flesh. Each one was creating a sickening black substance that poured out from the wound and spread across the creature's flesh.
Ripping echoed across the room, and Cornelia watched as the first head they had cauterized, tore through the skin. Their hope t apart with the sound.
"It only delays the growth, not stop it!" She shrieked as she slid underneath it and made a wild stab at its stomach. The monster howled in rage, and its enormous feet pounded down around her. Hades yanked her out from underneath the thing right as a massive talon came crashing down where she had been.
"Artemis," Hercules bellowed, "we have to get that stuff inside of it."
"I am trying!" a poison coated arrow flew across the room as she spoke.
"Herc, think fast!" Apollo called out as he threw a large cylindrical container across the battleground.
Hercules grinned and dunked the metal container in the acidic ooze, "see you in the next lifetime!"
"Wait. What?" Cornelia's attention now entirely on her robotic friend. "Hades, what is he talking about?"
"You are not going to like it." Hades turned his back to her, "but it is what we do best."
"Ready?"
"Ready!" Artemis, Apollo, and Hercules called together. A poison coated arrow flew through the air and nailed the creature on the chest. Apollo jumped down, sticking a long sharp metal object through the wound and used his body weight to lengthen the injury.
"see you on the other side!" Apollo shouted to Hercules, who wasted no time and charged straight for the opening and dove inside the Hydra.
Cornelia stared mouth agape as her companions waited with held breath. A horrid cry escaped the remaining heads of the monster. White foam spilled from their mouths as one by one they came crashing down to the ground.
"Run!" Hades ordered, and they spun and headed for the bridge to take cover from the raining acid, poison, and enormous Hydra heads.
Cornelia hesitated at the door, "we cannot leave him."
"He's fine!" Hades grunted as he dragged her inside and slammed the door shut.
"One," Hades took a deep breath.
"Two," Apollo chorused, wringing his hands as teeth pulled his lower lip into his mouth.
"Three!" Artemis roared and ripped the door open and disappeared into the vast room.
Cornelia followed in a daze. The gaseous substance dissipated like a late morning fog revealing the true horrific size of the beast. One neck rivaled the width of a back ally in Rome and the body it was attached to dwarfed a Roman warship.
"Where is Hercules?" She whispered, and they answered her with tense expressions, they had no idea if he survived.