The Greek Hero woke up with a splitting headache. All the sounds from the event had died out, and all he could hear was ringing within his ears. He had yet to open his eyes, due to the fact that his first instinct was to grab his head in pain. He winced under the feeling of knives going into his head. The pain in his head slowly died out, and he was suddenly very aware that he was still in the middle of the street. His eyes opened, and immediatly went to the ground below him. It appeared that he was lying in a small pool of his own blood. Turning his hand over, he could see that his hand too, was covered in blood. Where the blood was actually coming from was another question. There appeared to be no cuts, bruises, or anything as he scanned himself over real quick. His clothes didn't even have a spot of red on them. A glance towards the driver would reveal that he was no longer in the driver seat, or in his truck at all for that matter. Zarek got to his knees and viewed the scene that had onfolded. There was a dent in the hood of the blue F150 where Zarek had hit, a few splashs of crimson red, but that was about it. Zarek cocked his head to the side, expecting to see onlookers, questioning his well-being, but much to his surprise there were none. He looked to his other side, but he saw the same...nothing. A frantic wave came over him, as he began glancing back and fowarth. All the people that had filled the Atlanta street just moments ago had suddenly vanished, and he was all that was left. It was something straight out of I Am Legend, without the whole cure for cancer gone wrong thing. Zarek rose to his feet, his mind now consumed with the question, what the hell was going on?

"Don't look so paniced Zarek, you know exactly what the hell is going on..."

Zarek swiftly turned toward the voice and saw a man dressed in black. Unlike Zarek, he didn't appear to be frantic, but seemd almost calm. Entirely calm, actually. He had jet black hair, and a short beard. His dark green eyes could almost pierce an arrow through your heart. He stood there, a hand extended and helping him rest on the wall. He had an arrogant smile upon his face, and his expression said he has been waiting for this.

"Who are you, and where the hell did you come from?"

Zarek's panic had faded away, due to the fact that this man seemed to know everything. The man let a small laugh out at his question, as if Zarek was supposed to already know the answer. Zarek's confused expression stayed true, forcing the man to divolge.

"Oh come on Zarek, don't play dumb, you know exactly who I am. You've seen me around plenty a time, I know this to be true. I've been reffered to as Pluto, Orcus, Aides, The Rich One, The Unseen One, and many others, but you can call me...Hades."

Zarek's moment of clarity hit him like a ton of bricks. The fact that the truck had hit him, there was blood on the ground, but he wasn't bleeding. It made sense as to why there was no one around now. He must have made a surprised face, because Hades began nodding his head as if to say, it's true, he had died. Now, he was face to face with the god of the underworld who apparenly was excited to see him. Great.

"So...Hades...right? Is this supposed to be the underworld, because I just doesn't get the same feel from it that the Hollywood version gives me..."

Zarek turns as he is speaking, gazing upon the scene that is apparently supposed to be the Underworld that just looks like a normal day in Atlanta without the tons of people filling the streets.

"Well, the underworld is highly different from all of the Hollywood special effects that you are used too. This whole good versus evil thing, it doesn't really exist. Why I'm the one associated with evil, I will never understand. I mean, Zues is the one up on Mount Olympis controlling everything like some tyrant....yeah, anyway...you're not quite dead yet. There must be a long line because the fates have yet to cut your string."

He says it so calmly, as if he tells people they're about to die, everyday. Then again, he is the god of the Underworld, so on the other hand there really shouldn't be any sympathy in his tone. He's just here to collect another soul. Then again, does he personally collect all of his souls when they don't die right on time?

"If you don't mind me asking...Mr. Lord of the Underworld Sir...is it really 'my time' to go? I highly doubt my 'life's goal' has been reached. I have yet to get my hands on the World Heavyweight Championship, so how can my time be up?"

Even with the taste of his death upon his tounge, Zarek was still thinking about his World Heavyweight title match against Drew Stevenson in the coming days. How could Drew even begin to question the drive of a man that wants the title even after death?

"You know young Zarek, you really shouldn't try to play innocent in the presense of a god. I know exactly what you have been up to all of these years. Take BUD for example, we both know despite what you say, you haven't exactly been the hero you make yourself out to be. Back at BUDmania you pushed Leaky Format off of a ladder and into a flaming cage. In June you aligned yourself with Dante Cross, someone who would definitely be near the top of the evil list if there was one. Now you plan on destroying an individuals dream, Drew Stevenson's dream of becoming champion."

At first it struck Zarek odd that a God would take time of his busy...godlike...schedule to sit down and watch a showing of BUD. Then again, they'd have to do something for fun, one would suppose.

"Hold up, hold on now. I pushed Leaky off of the ladder because he was on his way to taking what was mine, which was the BUDvision Championship at the time, I alligned myself with Dante because Emerald always had Nova in her corner, so it was a bit off base, and it's not just Drew's dream of becoming World Heavyweight Champion. I can tell you right now that even though I can honestly see Drew with the title, he doesn't want it half as much as I do. In fact, many share the same dream, and you can't punish me for wanting the same thing. Besides, Drew's had his time up on the mountain. Maybe not in BUD, but in other federations. So wouldn't it be my right to become champion? You're not exactly playing fair."

Zarek took a step forward. Not threatening, but showing that he wasn't afriad of the God.

"I'm the god of the Underworld Zarek, I don't exactly have to play fair now, do I?"

He let go a methodical laugh, but then soon transformed into a straight face. It was his way of showing that even though he ran a world that consisted of him and dead people, he can still have a sense of humor. There was a short pause after that, before he continued on.

"Besides, even if you were to escape your fate of swiming with the rest of the souls for eternity, do you honestly believe that you'd be able to defeat Drew? Drew's been at this hero gig for longer than you have, and with that time came a lot more talent. Why do you think you'd be able to measure up to somone like him? He's practically destined by the God's themselves to become a legend, and that's if he isn't already."

The words came out of his mouth so easily, as if they were true, or as if they might as well be true. Zarek knows that everyone believes Drew to be better than him, and Zarek has even expressed that he feels Drew is better, as well. But that's not going to stop him from making a run at the prize. It's not going to stop him from attempting to reach the very goal that he'd been trying so long to achieve. In their first match together, the critics said the same. It didn't stop him then, and Zarek even walked out as the victor, so it sure as hell won't even begin to stop him now. Not now that everything is on the line.

"I'm not doubting that Drew doesn't have talent, because I know he does. I know he has tons more experience than me when it comes to World title shots, and I know he knows the buisness inside and out. While Drew is positively all of those things...he is not a god, which means he is beatable. I've proven this myself. It's been said many a time that I respect Drew greatly. I can honestly see him up there with the greats of the wrestling world. He's pretty much already a wrestling icon, but with enough heart and soul, I believe I will outlast Drew Stevenson.Out of everyone, I've proven that I have massive amounts of drive, and when I want something I go for it. Drew Stevenson may out play me on paper, but when we step into the ring, it's just to people going head-to-head, in a steel cage. The amount of experience one posesses is nothing compared to the drive that one posesses. It isn't to hard to see that Drew might just have to wait a little bit longer for him to put something in that display case of his."

The fire was hot now, not that it ever went out, but it was blazing now more than ever.

"Wow, someone's confident..."

Zarek shrugged. Confident? The only person he's ever been truley confident against was Leaky Format.

"Maybe. When it comes right down to it, I know very well that Drew might be the one walking out of Krystmas Kaos with the World Heavyweight Championship, but you can bet your ass that I will use my last breath to stop him from doing so. Resurecting BUD is my job, saving BUD is supposed to be my job, I'm the resident hero. I'll be damned if I'm going to let Drew walk back in and steal it from me, no matter how good he is. There's going to be nothing stopping me from getting to the belt on Sunday...err...besides this whole little ordeal."

It had occured to Zarek that he had yet to make it out of the street. Although he knew that no cars would be coming anytime soon, he still felt a bit awkward standing in the middle of the street. With that, he made his way over near Hades, and sat on the curb.

"...and of course, Drew will be standing in your way..."

That Hades, always one to make a point.

"True, he will be standing in my way, but I'm just going to have to knock him down like the rest of the people that stood in my way. Unlike Drew, I had to fight my way into this match, and I will continue fighting my way up until I have that strap around my waist. I know Drew has somewhere near the same mindset as me, so I suppose it just comes down to who wants it more, but there's no question there. Is there something I should know about what's going on here? I mean, there's got to be some reason why you obviously have something against me. You're pretty much indirectly trying to kill me, while telling me Drew would have beaten me. That doesn't sound like typical behavior for a god of the Underworld. You must be a Stevenson mark."

The lines between Gods and humans had been crossed several times before, and Gods even took interests in certain humans. In the tale, The Odyssey, Odysseus was said to have seen Athena many a time, and she favored him over most humans. Calypso even tried to marry him. So there was no surprise that Hades would favor a human.

"Guilty as charged."

He anounced, putting his right hand into the air and smiling.

"Of course, Drew has Hades backing him up. That figures, and I love how people still underestimate me even to this day. Drew begs to differ that he's doing anything of the sort, but in almost every one of his promos he takes a shot at me saying how I'm not ready to hold a title that was once held by Seifer, Valek, Sparrow, Syck, and all of the other names he mentioned. Believe me, I don't need a history lesson. I want to be written among the greats just as much as he does. It's actually quite funny. So we know that Drew has Hades in his corner, who do I have in mine?"

Hades gaze had strayed away from Zarek and he had caught eye of the nail filer that was now in his hand. Apparently, he had gotten bored with Zarek, either that or he didn't particularly like him. He did say he was a Stevenson mark, so that could have something to do with it.

"You know, I'm not even sure why you're talking about this, because you're DEAD. What does it matter what happens with the belt? They'll probably replace you with Leaky,"

Ultimate burn. They'll replace you with Leaky Format

"Hey! You're the one that brought it up. As for replacing me with Leaky, I doubt that will happen. If so, then Drew is definitely going to walk out of that cage with the strap on his shoulder. Unfortunantly for him, I'm not Leaky. Personally, I think the reason as to why Drew questions me so, is because he's insecure with his own ability. He constantly has to remind everyone that he doesn't think I can hang out with top dogs, and he can. I think he needs to be reminded that we're in the same boat. We both have never won the World Heavyweight Championship, which makes him my equal, nothing more. Whoever walks out of the cage will be crowned the BUD World Champion for the first time in their life. Up until that point, nothing he has done in his career makes him better than me. We're both going for the same prize that we've never tasted before."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

Hades was still filing his nails, uninterested in Zarek's words towards his favorite superstar.

"What, do you have money on this match or something?"

Zarek laughed, figuring such things to be impossible, as he shifted in his seat. He didn't expect Hades to look up from his nail filer for the first time in a few minutes. He especially didn't expect Hades to crack a smile out of the corner of his mouth, put away his filer, and then sit down right next to Zarek.

"You know, that's actually a very funny story. You see, we Gods get bored just messing around with you humans sometimes. So sometimes we make little bets on things, here and there. It just so happens that you and Drew are important enough that there is a godly wager on who will win the World title."

Normally, Zarek would have been wide-eyed with an open mouth, but in these few minutes that he had been talking with the God, he didn't really deem it impossible anymore. Instead of coming up with some witty remark, like how bored does a god have to be to beat on a wrestling match...or something along those line. All he could think of was this.

"Let me guess, you're betting on Drew."

Zarek turned his head to face Hades, and made sure he recognized the look on his face.

"Psh, and Ares called you dumb the other day. He was so wrong."

"You're killin' me here with your nevereding Drew Stevenson patriotism. Who's betting on me?"

A hint of wonder in his eye. If Hades was betting on Stevenson, then who was betting against him on Zarek?

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. Speaking of killing you, I should probably go have a talk with those damn Fates to see what's taking them so long?"

With that, Hades disappears without so much as a blink of an eye (for the heroes fans out there). Oh damn, the God of the Underworld is betting on Drew Stevenson. That can't be good.