Hercules and the Golden Apples

A Somewhat Happy Ending

Back at King Eurystheus' castle, the king himself was lounging in his throne room, feasting on a pig's leg with servants all around him. He smiled to himself.

"Ah, life without distractions is just heavenly, isn't it?" He said.

That was when Copreus barged in; he ran up to the throne, gasping and wheezing for air. "Your... Majesty! Hercules has... has returned with the Golden Apples! And he's on... his way back here!"

"Hercules?! That's impossible, it can't be! ...I have to hide!"

Eurystheus shot up, stuffed the haunch into his mouth, and climbed into the urn closest to his throne; his servants, including Copreus, quickly left the room just before Hercules, Phil, and Pegasus came in with their heads held high. Hercules was carrying the basket of Golden Apples in one hand.

"Oh, Eurystheus!" Herc called out as he approached the urn and looked inside; the king was sitting inside with the haunch still in his mouth. "There you are, Your Majesty. Here, I thought your daughter might enjoy these as a wedding gift." He handed the basket of Golden Apples down to the king; Eurystheus inspected the apples and was surprised to see that they really are gold. "How's that?"

"A few apples of gold for a king who's ROTTEN to the core." Phil said as he and Pegasus joined their friend. "Now, the kid did as you asked, Kingy. Does Herc get a passing grade or what?"

After a moment, Eurystheus nodded.

"Then in that case, let's go home, guys. Our work here is done." Herc said as he, Pegasus, and Phil proudly left the room.

"You mean your work here is done, kid. I'm proud of you." Phil said, gently nudging his student in the leg with his elbow.

"Thanks, Phil."

The moment they stepped outside, Herc and Phil climbed onto Pegasus' back and flew all the way back to Athens with big smiles on their faces.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"Phew, that was a LOT of weeds." Pain sighed as he and Panic walked up the stairs up to Hades' lair that evening. They had just finished up weeding the Hesperides Garden for Catalina and they were eager to get back home. "That Catalina girl was nice, though."

"Yeah. I just wish the boss gave us a bit of warning ahead of time." Panic replied as they entered the Lair. "Yoo-hoo! Hades, we're back!"

"Did you miss us, boss?" Pain asked, but there was no answer. "Uh... hello! Hades, where are you?"

"Ssshhh!"

Panic quickly covered his companion's mouth and pointed a finger at Hades' throne, which was covered by a dark blanket. They tiptoed over to it, failing to notice the half-empty basket of fruits and vegetables from the Garden sitting on the table in the middle of the room. The imps looked at each other nervously before reaching out and grabbed the blanket and with a quick yank, they pulled it away to see Hades sound asleep on his throne; he had a satisfied smile on his face and one arm hanging on the side with the other arm laying on his stomach. Not wanting to wake up their master, Pain and Panic slowly snuck away to another part of the room.

"He looks so peaceful." Panic whispered.

"Yeah, and at least he finally got something to eat." Pain added.

"Oh yeah. So much for going into feral mode."

"What a relief."

With each of them letting out a deep sigh, Pain and Panic collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion, feeling happy and relieved that their mission was a success. But then, Panic shot up.

"Wait... doesn't the boss usually sleepwalk whenever he falls asleep on a full stomach?" He asked.

"Sleepwalk? I always thought he would just get sick with a bad stomachache when that happens." Pain replied.

That was when a ball of fire shot at the two imps; they looked up and saw Hades with his eyes half open with his hand gripping his midsection. He let out a pained groan in his sleep.

"You know, I'm starting to think it was both." Panic said.

"You think?" Pain asked.

Suddenly, another fire ball appeared in Hades' hand, causing Pain and Panic to duck and run away screaming.