The angel Pit rushed down the dark corridor that would lead him out of Skyworld and into the mortal world. Within the past six months there had been a few missions that Lady Palutena gave him. Most of them required him to gather new materials only found in the lower plane for the new weapons the both of them had been engineering. But there were a few that called for his specialty: fighting monster like the hero that he was. Even with Hades gone, there still lingered the aftermath of war. Monsters of the Underworld still roamed the mortal world causing destruction wherever they went. It had been up to Pit (and with the help some amazing bounty hunter, like Magnus) to play a little search and destroy.

But today was different. The urgency in Palutena's voice shook him awake. An angel is always ready for duty!, he had told himself many times before; thus, he had slept in his tunic and sandals since as long as he could remember. He should get around to washing those. With the golden daggers strapped to his belt and the glowing crests the goddess of nature, Viridi, gave him on his right arm, Captain of the Angels Pit was ready to face anything. Bring it on!

"Captain Pit reporting for duty!" he cheered himself on as the door to the outside opened. He took a great dive out. The warmth and shine radiating off of his wings was assurance that Palutena had granted him the Gift of Flight once again. He silently sighed to himself. Six months and his wings still haven't grown one bit. Sure he was more than appreciative that she would do this for him. But come on! It was getting so embarrassing that the great hero Pit, vanquisher of the High God Hades, had to—"

"Whoa!" the speed picked up like never before. He was taking a dive straight towards the surface world faster than gravity would allow. She was pushing him faster than he had ever gone, almost as fast as when he faced Hades in the Great Sacred Treasure. "Laaaaaaady Paaaaluuuuutenaaaaaaaa?" His face was flapping around from the layer of air resisting him.

"This is a huge emergency, Pit!" her voice rang in his head. "I need you on the surface as quick as we can get you."

A flash emitted from his wings. Oh no. She was making him go even faster?

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh," he screamed as tears swelled up in his eyes. If he were a human the layer of air would have torn him apart or had him burst into flames. But even if angels were much stronger than humans, it still hurt!

He understood why she had pushed him to go so fast the second he broke through the cloud barrier. His heart sank to his stomach. Everywhere he looked— EVERYWHERE he looked— was a massive ocean of monsters of the Underworld. The humans that were fighting them in an all-out warfare tactic were greatly outnumbered. Human soldiers could easily topple the grunts, sure, and there would still be a great deal of casualties in the end. However, they weren't going to stand a chance against a horde of Reapers!

It was only half a second for him to soak this all in. Palutena had other plans for him and made his wings fly north. "As you can see, there are an immense amount of Underworld monsters!"

"What in the world is going on?" Pit nearly shrieked. The moment he said those words, a variety of those monsters and mini Reapers flew to intercept his path. Palutena wasn't slowing down. He would have to just cut them down.

Even if she was guiding him, Pit could still move around in a small area to dodge enemies. It was more like he was floating inside a bubble and Lady Palutena was guiding the bubble and not him. Which was good for him. It meant he could move around on his own just as well as he could on land. Nothing was going to stop him!

"I don't know," Palutena's voice was grieved. "Lord Zeus ordered all available gods into the Underworld and that's where we're going."

'Was that why she made me grab Thanatos' key before I took off?' he questioned to himself as he hacked away everything in his way. Not a moment was wasted. Every movement of his body was a movement that killed. When he slashed, the arc was also used to draw an arrow to the bladed bow. When he shot an arrow, the release allowed him to active the power of the Viridi Palm. He had spent the past six months learning to use more than one weapon at a time. It was impossible at this point to combine an Arm and a Cannon together, but he was also a master when it came to the Bow and Palm.

"Lord Zeus?" the realization of who issued the command didn't slow his movements. Lord Zeus, king of all the gods and a guardian of all worlds, was issuing an order? The guy only got involved with things that got his attention. The whole war against Hades wasn't even enough to get his attention. Instead he was too distracted, from what Pit heard anyways, with political indifferences between he and the Egyptian gods. For his attention to advert from one thing to another meant that it was something very big.

After Pit came back into the real world and reexamined his situation, yeah, this was a pretty big deal.

"But what about the humans?" worry shook Pit. There's no way they would survive like this.

"Don't worry, I've sent our entire fleet to help the humans, and Viridi is sending her Forces of Nature," her tone didn't change. "But right now I need you in the front lines. The sooner we solve what's wrong, the sooner everyone gets to go home safe and sound."

"I got it!" Pit assured. "Full-speed ahead, Lady Palutena!"

Pit activated a super-move. By charging energy through his weapons he could unleash either a concentrated single attack at a powerful foe or— like instances like this one— a large amount of single-shots at multiple foes. Pit did just that. He released the energy forward in the form of a single arrow. That bright blue beam split apart in a shotgun formation and from those smaller arrows split into even more arrows. The end result was every Underworld force in front of him was defeated.

His wings glowed brighter as speed was picked up. A second wave of monsters were blocking his path. "Take this!" Pit activated the super-move of his second weapon, the Viridi Palm. Flower petals and blots of energy (that always looked like hearts for some reason) exploded from his extended hand. A cyclone of red and pink struck everything in the same manor. He plowed his way through without slowing down.

"Yeah!" he cheered gleefully, "The fight is on!"

And after two minutes of fighting nonstop as well as having to use another super-move, Pit dove fearlessly into the black hole that he knew all too well. It still crept him out. The lightshow of eyes and rainbows sent a shiver throughout his spine. But he was relieved when he saw the key attached to his belt start to glow. Wait. He was RELIEVED? He was heading into the Underworld! That was worse than this creepy tunnel.

What he saw in the underworld shook him more than what he saw on the surface world. It was just too crazy! Gods of every color were fighting against ginormous monsters that Pit couldn't recognize. As far as his eyes could see were explosions, tumbling debris, and, duh, monsters. The Underworld forces were each as tall as mountains with either multiple heads and arms, claws, wings, or made of the elements like fire and water. From what Pit could see, it took two to five gods to defeat one at a time. The gods were just as out-powered as the humans were. What in Zeus' name was going on?

"Pit, watch out!" Palutena gasped.

"Wha—" Palutena flew him away before whatever it was attacked him. It was just a flash but Pit caught glimpses of some black ooze flying around. "What was that?"

"Here it comes again!"

Pit spun around and started to fly backwards entirely depending on Palutena to guide him. Coming after him looked like a living flood of black liquid. He heard it groan and soon could make out two glowing eyes and a mouth. It was closing in fast.

"What is that thing?" he cried out as he fired several arrows at the gunk. But it had no effect. He tried to blast charge shots of the Palm, but all it did was make little splashes. The flood monster kept charging at him.

"Nothing's working!"

"Don't panic," Palutena tried to keep him as calm as possible. "There's… uh… something we can do…"

"Really?" Pit's eyes sparkled. "What's that?"

"…" Palutena didn't answer. She didn't have anything.

"Lady Palutena…" Pit sobbed.

"GRAAAAAAHHHHH!" the flood of black ooze sped up. It opened its great mouth and leapt at Pit.

"Aaaaahhhh!" Pit screamed.

"Pit!" Palutena shrieked. There was nothing she could do.

Before the thing could close its mouth, arrows of light by the hundreds began to rain down from above. No, they were swords! And they kept coming! The monster howled in pain as the swords of divine energy tore it apart. Gunk flew everywhere. Pit was able to free himself and watched in amazement as more and more swords struck at the creature. The rain stopped when the liquid beast was splattered in every direction.

"B-Big sis?" Palutena nearly flinched by the sight.

A god flew down from above to float in front of Pit. Her eyes were as solid and cold as steel as they locked into Pit's. It only took a second for him to realize who it was that saved him. She was just as old looking as Lady Palutena, and just as beautiful. But there was a difference between the two. Whereas Palutena was warm and kind-spirited, this goddess was as cold and stiff as marble. Her green hair was short and didn't even touch her shoulders. She was decorated in light gold armor that was ten times more magnificent to look at than the armor of the Three Sacred Treasures. In her left hand was a spear as long as she was tall and in her right was a book.

It was none other than the original user of the Three Sacred Treasures, the Goddess of Strategic War and Law, Athena.

"Leave," her voice was forceful and demanded obedience. "This is no place for children. You have less than a minute of flight left."

"Sister," Palutena pleaded, "Father Zeus ordered us specifically to—"

"Father left me in charge," Athena countered. "I'll not tell you a second time."

"No," Pit stood his ground. Er, position. "You need all the help you can get and I—"

The cold glare of her eyes forced Pit to shut his mouth. Those eyes have seen countless battles, slain countless monsters, villains, and evil gods, and have seen hardships and cruelties that Pit could never be able to live through. Who was he to question the mighty Athena? He was an angel. She was a goddess. One of the Gods of War, at that.

"I don't need the help of an angel," she spat. "If you insist, then continue onward. Die by your ignorance, little boy. Our half-brother and that traitor went into Tarturus. That is where the problem lies. I shall slay these beasts and then deal with the core myself."

"T-Tarturus?" Palutena gasped, again.

"Half-brother?" Pit tilted his head to the side.

She flew away, off to face yet another titanic beast.

"Pit," Palutena urged, "we need to hurry. There's only a few seconds left of flight left!"

The young angel had noticed that his wings were starting to get hot. Really, really hot. Shoot, they were burning and it hurt so much! "Yikes! Hot! Hot! Hot! Let's go!"

Palutena guided him through the canyon at ridiculous speeds. They didn't have time to waste. All around them the battle was intensifying. Explosions were everywhere as giant rocks were falling from above. Pit had to maneuver himself from getting crushed. It was a difficult feat considering that he was in a great deal of pain. He probably had only ten seconds left. Palutena led him into a hole in the cavern. A dark hole. He couldn't see anything around him, not even where he was going.

"I'm sorry Pit," Palutena's voice was barely audible. "But I have to drop you or you'll burn."

"You have to WHAT?" Pit asked just as the burning sensation stopped. It didn't seem to change much. He was still heading straight down at the same amount of speed. Oh, no, he was falling. Which meant that eventually there was going to be an end to this fall. Which meant that there would be a big splat with Pit juice all over the floor.

"Lady Palutena!" he cried. But there was no answer.

Now he was beginning to panic. Especially when he's been falling longer than he was flying. At one thought, it was almost funny at how long the fall was. Seriously, why would there be such a deep hole? Was he going to the center of the world, or something? At a second thought, he was still going to hit something. Not even an angel could survive a fall like this.

Then again, most angels wouldn't have to. They could fly for crying out loud!

Suddenly he could see something in the distance. He had been falling long enough to get disoriented and couldn't which direction the objects were. Oh wait… duh! He was falling! So obviously they were down. At first all he saw were small dots much like sparkling stars. After another minute of falling they started to grow closer. They were moving around like fireflies. Then he could start to make shapes. They looked kinda human.

He heard a faint growl and then friction crawled up his back, pushing his tunic up. It felt like he was sliding on something extremely rough. Like it was made out of rocks or… or…

Something slapped him across the face. Something slimy. Well, whatever it was caused him to spin out of control until he crashed into something. He didn't know if it was the wall of the cave or the floor or some other obstacle. But after a few disorienting seconds he figured it was the floor at last! Sweet, sweet, holy and ever so sacred ground! Or… at least he thought it was until he found out it was the same slimy and rough texture as what it was that slapped him silly. Oh, and it moved.

It jerked, but then disappeared all of a sudden. Pit could make out the familiar glowing spectacle of Hearts as they split apart and gathered around two sources: the lights. The angel didn't know that he was falling again until he, finally, struck the ground. It caused him to groan. At least he didn't go splat.

The two lights approached the young angel. A third light appeared, hovering at the end of what looked like a wooden staff until it flew off and rested above Pit's head. With the third light, he could make out the silhouetted figures. The first was a really, really, really, really, REALLY huge man. He was, like, ten or twelve feet tall! And he looked so strong! A single bicep was just as big as Pit's torso! He wore a ragged black and brown tunic with leather bindings, shoulder pads, and boots. In his hand was a sword no human would be able to lift on their own, but this gigantic man could left it with one hand.

The other was just, and thank the gods!, a good foot taller than Pit. He was dressed in a hooded robe with chains and scrolls wrapped around him. Pit couldn't read, so he had no idea what they said. He had wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. In his right hand was a jagged and crooked wooden staff that was a little bit taller than him. His face was hardened, vengeful, and had seen a different kind of cruelty than Athena had. Despite that, he stood poised like a god.

"A seraphim?" the shorter one questioned. His voice was very terrified. His next tone showed disappointment, "No, just a common angel. How did an angel find their way into the deepest pit of hell?"

"Hm," grunted the giant, "he fell."

"Ugh," the other groaned and put his palm to his brow as if his head was in raging pain.

Pit jumped to his feet. "Hey! What's going on? Are you two at fault for the monsters?" He readied himself to fight them.

Instead he got his head smacked by the staff. "No!" said the holder. "We're here to stop it. Now what in the world are you doing here, boy?"

"Hmm," grunted the giant again.

"Oh," Pit rubbed his head, "so you two must be the 'half-brother and traitor', right?"

The blonde man crossed his arms and made another face of pain. His brows were twitching remarkably. "That woman…" He cleared his throat and announced, "I am the Elder God Prometheus."

"Alcaeus," greeted the giant.

"Elder God?" Pit tilted his head to the side. In what way was this guy old? He looked— in a hypothetical theory that they were all humans, Prometheus looked three or four years older than Pit. Now as for Alcaeus, the guy looked like in his early thirties, even if he was a giant of a man.

Pit got another smack on the head for gawking.

"Ow!" Prometheus motioned to smack him again. "I mean— I am captain of Lady Palutena's guard, the angel Pit."

Prometheus' brow arced. "Pit, the supposed angel that defeated Hades?"

Pit clicked his heels and saluted, "Sir!"

He got another smack. This time it felt like Prometheus put some effort into the strike. "Oh so YOU'RE why we're down here." He groaned and rubbed his temple. "What a mess you made. Are you willing to clean it up at least?"

Pit was ready to cry. There were at least three layers of bumps on his head now. "Yes, yes! Just please stop hitting me…"

"Good!" the robed god seemed relieved by that. He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a glass ball that held a flame of blues, greens, and purples. It reminded Pit of Hade's outrageous hair. "Take this, head towards that direction—" he pointed 7'oclock, "—and when you reach a giant pool of… something… Overlord of the Universe knows what… just throw it in there. It'll get rid of the pests above ground and on the surface."

Pit held the glass orb firmly. It gave off a presence that didn't feel right. But if it really would fix everything what did he care? "But, what are you two gonna do?"

Prometheus' face grew dark. A small part of his expression also showed fear; a deeper fear than when he thought Pit was a seraphim. Whatever a seraphim was. "We're to make sure this prison can still hold. Especially in the core. Now go! You've wasted enough time. Make haste!"

Pit was more afraid of getting hit again by that stick than failing the mission. He took off sprinting at full force in the direction Prometheus told him to go. He was to run until he saw some pool with unknown contents into it. He had been running for so long now. It was by the fifth time he had to stop and catch his breath that he was beginning to lose hope. And the contents of the orb were eating away at his hope. He knew it was, but he didn't know that it was also implanting him with doubt. He was losing faith in himself. He even feared that he didn't make it in time. How many humans died because of him? How many gods perished?

He stumbled. The orb fell out of his hands. "No!" he shrieked and tried to grab it before it rolled into something that he couldn't see. Some hole or tunnel.

And it did fall into something. He didn't know what. All he saw, even with the faint light above his head, was the orb sink and disappear. But there was a sound of a small splash as it sank.

The ground trembled. A large hand twice the size of his body shot out. It seemed to glow a neon violet essence. The hand extended up into the air, clenched into a fist, and shook as power was being drawn in streams through the air from every direction. Bright red glowing energy crawled down the arm like veins. Immediately something surfaced from below ground with enough speed and force to cause the ground to crumble apart. What Pit saw surface shook his world.

"Pitty Pat?" the lord of the Underworld questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"Hades?" No. No. No, no, no, no, no! This couldn't be happening.

The mountain-tall High God yawned and stretched, "My word, that was quite the nap. How long have I been out? Did Nintendo tell the tale of our battle through a hand-held game yet?"

"S-Six months," Pit stuttered.

"Only six months?" Hades laughed, "Oh Zeusy, you couldn't have missed your big brother that much already, could you?" His interest turned to something else, "What's this? A jail-break?"

Before Pit could react, Hades scooped the small one in his grip and stuffed him inside his breast pocket. "Hang on, boy! No one breaks out of MY prison!" He bent his knees and jumped.

The G-force caused Pit to be pressed all the way to the bottom of the pocket. It also felt like a thousand pounds was pushing down on him. He couldn't move or breathe. There was a crashing noise and all of a sudden that pressure was removed. Pit found himself being thrust out of the pocket and high into the open air— the open air of the Underworld.

"Attention all maggots," Hades roared in rage as the upper half of his body was the only thing that broke through. "Warden Hades is back and He. Is. NOT. Happy!"

Hades leapt out of the hole he created. All the gods, which had been as horror-struck as the monsters, scattered like ants. No one got in the way of one of the three High Gods when they were mad. The Lord of the Underworld struck a monster made of ice first. His fist collided with the head, shattering it, and the impact of his landing created a shockwave that knocked down the beasts that were nearby. And blow Pit around as he was still falling from such a huge height.

Hades didn't stop there. He punched, he kicked, he sliced with his claws, and he snapped some in two like twigs. He fired powerful blasts of red and purple energy from his hands that created enormous explosions that surpassed any of the gods' attempts of assault. He body slammed monsters as they tried to flee, suplexing the few that dared to challenge him. None stood a chance against his wrath. At least a few were smart enough to flee into the canyon and back into their prison.

However, for Pit, it didn't matter. One monster in particular was about to eat Pit as he was still falling. And it was a monster Pit could do nothing about: the black blob. "Oh come on!"

And just like that, the black thing gobbled him up.

"Oh no you don't!" Hades roared and shoved his hand into the creature's body. He ripped Pit out of its stomach. "Pit is mine to destroy!"

There was a flash of red coming from Hades' eyes. Immediately, a roaring flame ignited the blob. It screamed in pain but quickly dissolved into nothing. That was the last monster to take care of.

There was cheering. Triumphant cheers and praise came from the gods.

Hades joined in to his own cheers. "Yeah!" he leapt into the air with his fist (the one that held Pit) up into the air. "Touchdown!"

There was silence after Hades slammed Pit onto the ground, creating quite the deep crater for the angel. "Why Pitty Pat, how did I forget about you?"

Pit didn't hear it. He was out cold.