Adrian shook his head and replied casually.
He had always pictured Eros, the God of Love, as a youthful archer, but this version before him belonged more to legend's chaos than myth's innocence. This Eros carried golden pistols, ruthless and unpredictable, capable of striking hearts in ways no arrow ever could.
"Who exactly are you?" the Amazon asked, her voice edged with suspicion. "I don't recall anyone like you in the Underworld."
Adrian pushed himself up, brushing dust from his clothes. "You can call me Adrian Kent, or if you like," he added with a smirk, "Homelander."
"Is this how you treat someone who saved your life?" Diana Prince said coldly.
Adrian raised an eyebrow but kept his voice level. "I don't think anyone kindly comes to rescue a princess in Hades' territory."
Wonder Woman didn't soften. After just escaping from the Underworld's horrors, her nerves were taut, and trusting a stranger was the last thing on her mind. Even worse, he had spoken her name — a truth not known by just anyone.
"Hades, King of the Underworld?" she said, narrowing her eyes.
Adrian's lips curved into a careless sneer. "So you're the runaway bride from Hades' wedding?"
Diana squared her shoulders. She was daughter of Zeus, a warrior bred for battles grander than this — yet here she stood in a realm of shadows and woe, confronting a man as enigmatic as the underworld itself.
"So what?" she said defiantly. "I would rather be hunted than wed someone I don't love."
Adrian didn't laugh, but his gaze stayed steady. "If I were here on Hades' orders, you wouldn't still be standing."
His focus wasn't romance, not now. Survival was the priority.
"How do we get out of here?" she asked, skepticism flickering in her voice.
"You're human," Diana said, frowning as she regarded him. "How did you even survive among the dead?"
Adrian sighed, annoyance creeping across his face. "Seems like we're not on the same wavelength."
With a cold edge, he added, "Since I saved you, Diana Prince, you could say you're technically my captive."
"Captive?" Diana stepped forward, her long sword gleaming. "I fled because the vows spoke of being bound. Amazons cannot be bound by anyone. I owe you nothing but respect for saving my life. And if you want to fight, I'm ready at any time."
Their first meeting crackled with tension.
Then came an odd sound — click, click, click — like stones grinding together.
Adrian stopped mid‑sentence and instinctively extended his right hand. The Cosmic Scepter appeared in his grip, glowing faintly. Before them stood a grand structure, flanked by towering knight statues.
Adrian pointed the scepter's glow at the white marble floor beneath them. The surface rippled with illusions, then revealed a nightmare underneath: layers upon layers of undead bodies. Countless limbs intertwined in a grotesque mass.
"Oh my gods," Diana exhaled in shock.
Adrian remained calm. "The Underworld is built from souls. The dead aren't just around us, they are the very foundation of this place."
"The dead forge a kingdom?" she asked, incredulous.
Adrian shook his head, expression unreadable. "That's not forging. That's being trapped."
He gestured toward the knight statues. "Here, every soul is both eternal and snared."
Rubble cracked and fell as the stone shells began to peel away. Beneath the statues, skeletal steeds and knight forms emerged, their flesh vanished, muscle fibers clinging in macabre clusters. Armed, these undead cavalry charged toward them.
Diana sprang into action, raising her sword. "Who would choose this fate, Adrian Kent?"
But before she could answer, the marble beneath their feet cracked open. Countless spectral hands clawed outward, latching onto both of them.
Diana slashed furiously with her sword, hacking at the emerging corpses as they assailed her ankles. More rose with every blow she struck.
Adrian lifted the Cosmic Scepter, its beam expanding and pushing back the spirits like sunlight piercing a shadowed grove. The warmth of the light made Diana feel as though she stood under her own sunlit skies once more.
She watched in disbelief as the vengeful spirits dissolved under the scepter's glow. Who was this man wielding such power?
Adrian lowered the scepter and turned his gaze to incoming attackers — knights with jagged swords raised. Crimson beams of heat vision shot from his eyes, cutting through the undead with astonishing force.
Steel split and skulls cracked under his gaze. Diana stood momentarily stunned by the sheer destructive precision of the beams.
As the last knight fell, Adrian frowned and scanned the battlefield. Could these monsters resurrect endlessly?
Before he could dwell on the question, one of the fallen knights rose again, voice full of rage.
"You stole my beloved bride!" the knight bellowed. "Who are you to defy me?"
Adrian didn't flinch. Another blast of heat vision decapitated the knight instantly.
He moved with a blur of super speed, intercepting another attacker and shattering its sword and wrist with a single punch.
Within heartbeats, most of Hades' forces lay in ruin, save for one remaining knight.
Under normal circumstances, Adrian might never have interfered, but he spared this woman because of their tenuous connection.
Wonder Woman watched this with growing bewilderment. Her mind raced — did this stranger know her before? What power did he truly wield?
Then the air stilled as a deep voice echoed from the last knight's husk. Hades had entered his own champion.
"You are calamity incarnate," Hades' voice declared, resonant with ancient power, as though speaking across distant halls. "You bring disorder and ruin wherever you go. You are neither human nor dead bones. Who created you?"
Adrian lowered his heat vision and spoke with his usual blunt confidence.
"I am a farm boy from Kansas. My parents made me."
With that he accelerated with super speed behind Diana and neutralized the lone knight who had recovered, dispatching the threat before it could attack her.
Hades' voice grew wrathful. "You oppose my will, farm boy. You collide with destiny itself."
Adrian folded his arms and met that presence with unwavering calm.
"Marriage isn't something forced. It's chosen by both sides," he said.
Fury stirred in Hades' words. "Prove whether your bride loves you or not."
At that moment, the lasso of truth hung at Diana's waist snapped free and flew toward Adrian with unerring purpose.
___
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