When Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and Iolaus (Michael Hurst) save a young writer named Parentheses (Owen Black) from being hanged by a group of scoundrels, the excited young man insists on tagging along on their journey to the Cave of Echoes, where they've been summoned by Elopius (Mark Perry). They arrive to find the old man despairing over the disappearance of his beautiful young daughter Melina (Mandy Gillette) inside the cave several days before. As Elopius warns them that no one has ever come out alive from this terrible place, a monstrous roar is heard. Intent on rescuing the girl, Hercules and Iolaus enter the dark cavern followed by Parentheses, who disobeys Hercules' orders to remain outside in his eagerness to witness real heroes in action.
With each bloodcurdling roar, Parentheses begins to quake and it is only Hercules' and Iolaus' tales of monsters they have fought in the past that begin to calm the fearful writer. Just as they convince him it is useless to worry until something bad actually happens, the ceiling caves in. When the dust settles, a huge boulder is poised over Hercules, who smashes it to bits with one devastating swing of his fist. Eventually, Parentheses begins to see their plight differently when Hercules encourages him to concentrate not on his fears, but rather on how he can help others. At that moment, however, a stiff wind blows through the cave and extinguishes their torch, leaving them in total darkness.
After managing to relight their torch, the three men hear another unearthly roar, accompanied by a woman's plaintive wail, and know that they're getting close. They quickly reach Melina, who is clinging precariously to the edge of a pit. When Hercules holds out the torch and realizes that the "monster" clutching Melina's foot is, in fact, an ancient tree root, he decides to send an unsuspecting Parentheses down to save her. The young man bravely agrees to the mission in spite of his terror of the monster. Descending into the pit, he is overjoyed to discover that there is no horrible beast to fight after all, and pulls the girl out. Melina then leads them into an adjoining cavern towards another deafening roar, which turns out to be the cry of her tiny kitten Zeus, magnified a thousandfold by the Cave of Echoes. She explains that she was running after her pet kitten when she first entered the cave, before her foot became trapped. Later, as the group emerges from the cave, a grateful Melina introduces the now heroic Parentheses to her father and the young couple walk off arm in arm as Hercules and Iolaus are called to another adventure.
Starring: Kevin Sorbo (Hercules)
Guest Starring: Michael Hurst (Iolaus), Owen Black (Parentheses), Mandy Gillette (Melina), Mark Perry (Elopius), Grant McFarland (Scoundrel #1)
Written by John Schulian & Robert Bielak
Directed by Gus Trikonis