Coughing. Gagging. The air was thick with dust and dirt. He swatted his left hand to try and clear the air so maybe, just maybe, he could see beyond a scant couple of meters. He struggled to get up and found he couldn't. His right foot was wedged underneath the fallen rock.
He shifted in hopes of loosening the stones' hold on his foot. In doing so, he jarred his right hand and he gasped loudly as pain shot through his wrist. *Oh, marvelous!* He thought sarcastically.*This is just great! I think I broke my wrist again!*
When all amounts of shifting and tugging did not free his foot, he settled on his side and tried to relax, to think. His last coherent memory was a flash of blue lightening, then he was being picked up as if he weighed nothing and thrown into this cave by his larger companion.
And rocks. Lots of rocks coming down.
*Oh, no!* He twisted as best he could to gaze at the cave entrance. It was totally blocked. Was his friend under them? Had he managed to get out of the way in time or was he lying injured just outside? He swallowed heavily, his mouth and throat suddenly gone dry. *He can't be dead! I have to believe he's still alive!*
In frustration, he kicked at the rocks holding his foot captive, to no avail. Realizing he was just wasting precious energy, he gave up the effort. Unless his friend was alive and able to find a way to get him out of there, he was stuck for what could be a very long time. Nobody knew exactly which tract they were going to hike and how long would it be until somebody realized they were missing?
At least, the dust was settling. He could breathe somewhat easier now. Not that it helped his vision any. It was still dark and knew his earlier attempts to clear the air had been a futile move on his part. Clear out the dust just to peer into darkness. Real clever.
Moving carefully, he shifted his right arm, bringing his broken wrist closer to him. Using his left hand, he tore some strips of cloth off the vest he wore. Gently, he wrapped the cloth thickly around his wrist, hoping to immobilize it. Using his good hand and his teeth, he managed to tie off the makeshift bandage.
His left hand brushed against his forehead and he felt something sticky. Blood. He rolled his eyes. "Ah, great! What else can happen?"
Suddenly, a flash of light filled the small cave. He closed his eyes against the brightness. After several seconds, he cracked open his lids, then found himself staring wide-eyed at the sight before him.
The entire cavern was now lit up, but he couldn't see any light source. Towering above him, dressed in black leather armor, stood a tall, dark-haired, bearded man. It looked just like...but it couldn't be! Could it?
It *had* to be a hallucination. He'd injured his head; maybe he was seeing things. Yeah! That *had* to be it! Afterall, he and his companion had just been discussing the person he thought he saw in front of him.
"I wasn't aiming for you, you know," the figure stated matter-of-factly.
He groaned. He was in real trouble now...when a figment of your imagination starts talking to you, you just know serious damage has been done.
The black-clad figure stepped closer and shook his head in wonder. "It's incredible how *much* you look like that irritating little man. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were twins."
"This is a joke, right? I'm being set up, right?"
"Oh, no, this is real, all right. No joke," the man assured. "Of course, I can't expect you to understand-"
Just then, there was the sound of rocks falling. Both men looked towards the cave entrance to see light coming through the hole at the top of the rubble that had blocked the entrance. More rocks were pulled away on the other side.
He sighed in relief. Rescue!
"Michael!" came a familiar voice.
"I'm here, Kevin! Are you all right?" Michael Hurst answered.
Kevin Sorbo pushed his way through the opening. "Fine. Sorry it took me so long to get...Ares." The last word spoken was guarded. The bigger man quickly made his way to the cave floor. He moved to stand beside his fallen comrade.
"*You* see him, too?" Michael asked, incredulous. "That means I'm not hallucinating."
"No, I'm afraid you're not." To the other, he growled, "What are you doing here, Ares? You know you're not allowed to interfere."
"Ares? As in 'God of War' Ares?" Michael asked. "You mean, this isn't Kevin Smith? This isn't some sort of joke?" The last was spoken with a hint of hopefulness.
Ares turned menacing dark eyes on the Kiwi actor. "Do I look like a joke to you?"
"Back off, Ares, this doesn't concern you." Kevin turned to his friend. "Are you hurt, Michael?"
"Well," Michael replied, trying to regain some semblance of normality about the whole situation, "my foot's caught and I think I broke my wrist again." He cracked a small grin. "How do you think the writers will put *this* into the scripts again?"
"Luckily, we just started hiatus. Maybe it'll be healed before we have to start shooting again."
"Yeah, maybe," Michael agreed, then twisted to regard his foot. "Could you try to free that?"
"You bet." Kevin regarded Ares, who still stood with his arms across his chest and his head cocked as he returned the other's gaze steadily. "Don't even think of trying anything," he warned.
"Who me?" Ares asked innocently.
Michael glanced at the God of War then watched as his friend made his way to the pile of rock holding him captive. "Melissa told me about some of the things that happened at that camp retreat. I know she wasn't suppose to, but I thought she was just joking when she mentioned Ares showing up."
"It's a long story, Michael." Kevin replied. He reached down to grasp the rock atop the Kiwi actor's foot. Slowly, he lifted the heavy burden. "Pull your foot out!"
Michael reacted instantly, but found himself staring as Kevin managed to lower the stones without too much effort. *He must be working out more than I thought!* Shaking his head, he pulled himself into a sitting position and started to probe his ankle and foot.
Kevin quickly crouched beside him and felt the injured foot. "Nothing's broken."
"I'm afraid you'll live," Ares commented sarcastically.
The American actor rose to his full height. "You have a reason for being here, Ares? Coming after us?"
"Oh, I wasn't after *him*," the God of War gestured to Michael, "as much as I would like to be. Nobody has any right to look that much like that irritating mortal you had as a best friend!"
"Ares," Kevin hissed in warning.
"Isn't it about time, *brother*, that you stop playing games and come clean?" Ares snarled.
"Brother? Come clean?" Michael repeated, staring at his friend. "Kevin, what's he...oh, my G-the rocks, you got my foot free without even breaking a sweat...you're *really* Hercules, aren't you? For real?"
Kevin/Hercules sighed, dropping his head.
Ares smiled in triumph. "He's pretty smart. For a mere mortal." The black-clad god scratched his beard, trying to take on an attitude of nonchalance. "Now that the proverbial cat's out of the bag, I'll leave you two to hash it out." In a blue flash, he disappeared, his laughter echoing throughout the small cave.
"Kevin?"
Hercules sighed, raised his head and turned. "Yeah," he said finally after a long moment's debate with himself, "I'm really Hercules." He smiled. "For real."
"And 'Kevin Sorbo'?"
"He's the myth. I couldn't continue to go by 'Hercules' now, could I?"
"You would have an awful lot of explaining to do, I suppose."
The demigod smiled again, wider this time. He was glad his companion was taking this so well. He really liked the Kiwi actor and was happy to call him friend. It was kind of a relief not to have to pretend with him anymore.
"Let's get you out of here, shall we?"
"I think I can make it," Michael insisted, reaching up to grasp the taller man's hands and pulling himself to his feet. He wobbled unsteadily for a moment as he tested his injured foot. Gratefully, he accepted his friend's support and began limping towards the cave mouth.
"How's the head?"
The New Zealander reached up with his free hand to feel the dried blood. "No concussion, I think. It's nice to know I wasn't hallucinating when, um, Ares showed up. Of course, this whole thing could be one big hallucination, I suppose." He laughed. "Hercules, huh?"
"'Fraid so."
Getting over the fallen rubble blocking most of the cave entrance proved a bit of a challenge to Michael in his injured condition, but they managed. Hercules got his friend settled on a small boulder and offered him a drink from his water bottle. Michael passed back the bottle after quenching his thirst, then Hercules used a wetted piece of cloth to clean away the blood on his friend's head. He checked to make sure Michael's wrist was bound properly and he wasn't in too much pain before sitting back on his heels and helping himself to a long, quenching draw from the water bottle.
The two sat in companionable silence for a long moment.
"Kev-um, Herc-um, what *should* I call you?"
"Maybe you better stick with 'Kevin.' You're used to it and I'm used to it now."
"All right. Kevin, what did Ares mean when he said I looked too much like your best friend? Was he referring to who I *think* he was referring to?"
"Iolaus?" At Michael's slow nod, he continued, "Yeah, Ares is right about that. You *could* be Iolaus' twin brother."
Michael was silent a moment before commenting, "What are the chances of *that* happening?"
Hercules stared at his feet for a few seconds, then looked up at his friend. "Have you ever looked into your family tree? Checked out your ancestors, your *ancient* ancestors? I figured it was too much of a coincidence you looked exactly like my best friend."
"I'm descended from Iolaus? *Your* Iolaus?"
"Yeah."
"Wow." Awe filled that single word.
"Why do you think Renaissance kept after you to play the part of Iolaus? It's because *I* insisted they get you for the part. I guess I just thought it would be nice to 'fight' back-to-back with my 'best friend' again, even if it was in a movie. It wasn't until later, I found out you were actually one of his ancestors. I'm ashamed to say I lost track through the centuries."
Michael dropped his gaze. "I hope I haven't disappointed you."
"Oh, no, on the contrary," Hercules remarked, smiling gently when his friend met his gaze, "you're like Iolaus in a lot of ways. You're athletic, energetic, brave, fun, great with kids and you've got a loyal female fan following."
They shared a laugh at that last remark.
"So, Iolaus *wasn't* your nephew, like the myths say?"
Hercules grimaced. "I'm afraid where the myths are concerned, there's a lot of things wrong." He glanced at Michael. He frowned when he saw the sudden look of trepidation on his face. "Michael?"
"It, I, um, I just realized. I'm Iolaus' descendant and Ares doesn't seem too fond of the *real* Iolaus. Even if he doesn't get me...I mean, what about..." Fear-filled blue eyes locked on the demigod's. "What if he decides to go after..."
"He can't," Hercules interrupted firmly. "Zeus and the rest of the gods decreed on my request that *nobody* can take vengeance on *any* of Iolaus' ancestors or their families. Don't worry. Jennifer and Jack are safe, as well as any other kids you may have."
"And Ares will follow this edict?"
"Absolutely. It wasn't you he was after earlier. I'd said something to him that," Hercules smiled abit, "well, ticked him off."
"From what little I've seen, that doesn't take much."
"Yeah, he's got a temper, all right," the bigger man agreed with a laugh.
"This is incredible." Michael shook his head. "This sounds like something one of the writers would come up with or one of those fan fiction things... 'Kevin Sorbo is a myth, but Hercules is real.' Unbelievable!" He chuckled to himself, then gave his companion a questioning look. "Why 'Kevin Sorbo'? Why an actor?"
"Why not?"
The blond actor considered then laughed once. "Yeah, why not?"
Hercules took another swig from the water bottle before returning his gaze to his friend. "Thanks for taking this so well. It's not always easy to-"
"Play an actor playing yourself?" Michael finished.
"Well put."
"You're doing a pretty good job, but then, I guess you're used to it after all these, well, centuries." He paused, his expression turning to one of curiosity. "Tell me something, is there such a place as the Elysian Fields?"
"Yes. Iolaus is there. I've been to visit him on occasion. When he found out one of his descendants was actually playing him in this series, he was delighted. He's very happy and proud of the way you're playing him. You're being true to *him*, even if the series isn't true to the actual history."
"I'm glad to know that. I can't imagine playing the character any differently. It feels sort of, well, right."
"It's probably genetic."
"Could be," Michael remarked. He met his friend's gaze and they laughed. The Kiwi actor glanced at the sun, now beginning it's decent in the sky. "We'd better get going. It's going to take longer to get back with this ankle."
"Good point." Hercules stood, tucking the water bottle back onto his belt. "You sure you want to chance walking on that? I could always fling you over my shoulder." He grinned.
"Oh, very funny. Just take it slow and I'll be fine." He grabbed the pro-offered hand and pulled himself to his full height. He looked up at his tall companion. "I appreciate the trust you put in me, telling me all this stuff."
"I know I can trust you not to give away my secret."
"Who would believe me?" Michael grinned, then added, "Besides, how many people in today's world can say they've played second fiddle to Hercules?"
"Not second fiddle. You forget you have your own fans who don't see you as a sidekick at all, and they're right."
The Kiwi smiled. "Right. How about we get out of here?"
Hercules put his arm around his friend's waist and helped him along the dirt track back the way they had come. Michael's limp wasn't too bad, but he still required help to get along.
"You know, Jennifer's going to kill you for allowing me to sprain my ankle and break my wrist again."
"*Me?* It's *your* foot and wrist!"
"But *you* tossed me into that cave!"
"And I can toss you back in and leave you there."
"What? And have all those Iolausians out for your blood? I don't *think* so!"
The laughter of both men filled the air.
Neither noticed the black-clad god standing near the cave. Ares watched as the forest slowly swallowed the two friends. "Someday, brother, someday," he muttered with contempt before disappearing in a flash of blue light.
2/20/99
Disclaimer: Michael Hurst was not permanently injured during the writing of this fanfic and was well healed before shooting resumed.
Personal Disclaimer: The author does *not* know Michael Hurst personally and asks for forgiveness if I have portrayed him against his actual personality. I just wanted to do an alternate story to the "Kevin Sorbo is the myth, Hercules is real" fanfic that came out after the episode "For Those of You Just Joining Us." Not knowing any Kiwi slang or phrases, I decided to 'do' him 'in American' and do not mean any insult to Michael or any New Zealanders out there. Just think of the Michael in my story as an "Alternate Michael Hurst" (well, if they pulled it off on the series with an Alt. Iolaus, why not here, too?)
Some images, characters and other things used in these works are the property of others, including but not limited to Renaissance Pictures and Universal Studios. Everything else remains the property of the artist or author. No money will be made on anything appearing on this webpage and no copyright infringement is intended. This site was created by fans for the enjoyment of other fans.
For information on reprinting text and/or artwork (including privately owned photos, photo manipulations, and other images) from this website, please contact IolausianLibrarians , who will assist you in contacting the original creator of the piece. Do NOT reprint, republish, or in any way link to items on these pages without obtaining permission from either the original creator of the piece or the webpage owner. A written one-time use statement may be issued to you at the discretion of the artist or the author. Please respect the legal and artistic rights of our contributors.