Chapter 24 - New God of War

Mt. Justice

"Oof!"

"Make sure you keep your guard up, you have to stay light on your feet." Artemis bent down and offered Raven a hand up, one which she graciously accepted. "You have a phenomenal skill set, if we just work on your close quarters combat, you'll be a force to be reckoned with." Raven rubbed her shoulder, wincing as she did.

"Black Canary said the same thing, I just don't think I'm really cut out for physical fighting. That's why I float when I attack." Raven had spent the last hour getting her ass handed to her, and it was annoying to her that no matter how much she trained, she just couldn't seem to get the hang of it. Artemis walked over so that she was side by side with her comrade, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, this type of stuff doesn't happen overnight. People train for years to get to where they are. You aren't in a rush, either. I'm sure with the caliber of missions this team gets, you can afford to use your powers. I'm just saying, one day that might be the difference between victory and defeat." Artemis took her hand off Raven's shoulder and walked to the kitchen, getting ready to pour herself a glass of water. Raven hopped off the training grounds and followed her.

"How long did it take you?" She asked, as she opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of Gatorade, taking a sip.

"Hm?" Artemis turned around with a confused look on her face. "How long did it take me to what?"

"To get to where you are today. You're super skilled, and in the training room the other day, you were splitting arrows in mid-air. That had to of taken a long time, right?" Artemis had a thoughtful look on her face before she turned around and dumped the water back into the sink, tossing the glass in after.

"I guess you could say that," she muttered, mostly to herself, but Raven still heard her. Deciding that this may have been a sensitive subject for her, she decided to try and change the subject. "Hey, have you noticed Robin looking rather preoccupied lately?" When Batman had stopped by the cave a week ago to tell them to relax for the weekend, Robin had seemed distracted. When they left for the night, Robin was one of the only ones who didn't stop by the cave the following day, along with Wally, who apparently was taking some time to himself. When Robin did show up, however, it wasn't to train, or even hang out. He simply asked if the Bat had stopped by, and when Raven had told him that he didn't, he just left.

"I don't know, I haven't really seen him so I couldn't tell you. But speaking of Robin, do you by any chance know what's up with Wally? Even if he was 'taking time for himself' I feel like he would have at least stopped by the cave or something." Raven raised an eyebrow at her friend's sudden interest in the yellow-clad speedster. Artemis, seeing the look on Raven's face held up her hands and clumsily backed into the sink. "Woah, it's not because I like him or anything! He's just our teammate, you know? Our comrade, it's only right for me to be wondering where he is." Artemis could feel her face heating up and rubbed her temples in annoyance. Raven smiled and leaned against the kitchen countertop, a knowing smirk on her face.

"Is it that obvious?" Artemis asked hesitantly, feeling rather embarrassed with herself. Raven just reached over and shoved her playfully, "Not until 30 seconds ago. Way to go, cupid." Groaning, the team's Emerald Archer walked to the table, taking a seat and letting her head hit the countertop.

"That's so embarrassing," Artemis muttered to the granite, and her purple clad friend just walked over, this time patting her on the back. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure Wally's fine. He probably did something and just got grounded or something. He is a troublemaker, after all." Still, Raven did find it odd that he didn't at least call or something. Honestly though, it wasn't something she was to worried about. What the speedster did was his business, and Raven had no right to pry. She would be a hypocrite if she did.

Artemis looked up from her sorrows, a sudden evil grin on her face. "So, who's your crush, hm? I'm sure someone on the team has caught your attention. Conner, perhaps?" Raven sighed, before smacking Artemis over the head with a shadow tendril. "Ow!" Artemis called out, not because it hurt, but mostly because she hadn't seen it coming.

Walking around the table and taking a seat directly across from her, Raven put her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands. "To answer your question, no one on the team has really 'caught my attention' as you put it." She made air quotes before replacing her head back in her hands. "Crushes are something that I'm not really focused on, if I'm being honest. I just want to better myself, and hone my powers so that I'm prepared for anything."

Leaning back in her chair, Artemis gave her a curious look. "You're what, 18? That's your biggest worry right now? Come on, Rae, these next couple years are your prime! You shouldn't take everything so seriously and learn to loosen up a little." Before Raven had a chance to respond, Conner and walked out of one of the training room's and headed over to the sofa, plopping down and looking bored. Artemis and Raven shared a look before silently agreeing to stop talking for now. Well, Artemis hoped it was for now, Raven secretly hoped to never have the conversation again.

As an awkward silence settled over the group, Megan floated out from the hallway that led to her room, as happy and chipper as ever. That didn't last long though as she soon noticed how everyone was just sitting around bored. With a frown, she floated over to where Conner was lounging on the couch and looked up at the girls in the kitchen. They shrugged, and Megan just sighed. "Anyone want to take the bioship for a spin? We could all use some time away from the cave, and it's been awhile since Batman gave us any missions."

"Nah, I think I'm good," Artemis replied.

"Ditto," Raven echoed. She was too tired from sparring with Artemis to really do anything. Conner, however just got up and stretched, looking between everyone before his eyes landed on Megan's upset face.

"I'll go," he offered, surprising everyone. Megan didn't say anything at first, as if processing what he said. After a few seconds though, she smiled brightly, turning around  to head to her bioship. "Great! Let's go then!" Conner looked at the girls in the kitchen and shrugged before following Megan, him having no idea what she even wanted to do.

"Welp, now we're officially alone." Artemis grumbled, getting up to take Conner's now vacant seat on the sofa. Raven didn't acknowledge her statement, instead standing up and heading to her room.

"I'm going to shower and meditate," she stated, following the path that led to her quarters. She opened her door and sighed, she was too tired to really do anything.  Figuring a shower could probably wait, she decided to pass out.

(-)

Floating over the mostly red barren landscape, Raven had to mentally withhold a sigh of irritation. It had been awhile since she had a dream-vision, and she had foolishly thought to herself that they were over. Still, curiosity got the better of her and she decided that she might as well look around and see what her dreams were about this time.

Without warning, she found herself being dragged towards a huge, menacing black building surrounded by a river of fire. She was approaching one of the walls fast, and something told her that the wall was in fact, solid. Trying to latch on to anything with her shadow tendrils, it didn't take Raven long to realize that her powers over darkness didn't work on the astral plane.

"Why me?" was all she had time to ask herself as her arms flew to her face and she closed her eyes as she prepared to brace herself for impact, one that never came.

Slowly putting down her arms and opening her eyes, she found herself in what had to have been a dungeon. "Okay then. This isn't creepy," she muttered before she heard screams of pain and sounds of laughter coming from one of the cells.

"Every single day I come down here, and your resolve still astonishes me to this day," a loud, deep booming voice echoed out, one that she could've swore she heard before. She heard the sounds of a man whimpering before the man who was talking continued. "I had nothing to do with my grandmothers plots or schemes, nor my foolish uncle's. So I cannot possibly fathom why you thought it a good idea to try and best me, in my own kingdom." Raven heard a sound which at first sounded like weak crying, but as she slowly flew closer, she realized the man who was screaming was actually laughing.

"Why, Perses? I already told you. I was bored and wanted a challenge." Raven realized with a start that they were the first two people she saw in her first dream, Percy and the Titan of destruction, Perses.

The Titan growled, and Raven heard the sound of something slicing flesh as Percy screamed again. "The Hero of Olympus will break, and when I get out of here, you will be my weapon of destruction against those pathetic Olympians!" As she slowly neared the cell, the midnight black bars flew open and the Titan stormed out, looking pissed. As he walked past, the bars slammed close and she contemplated with herself if she wanted to take a look or not. Curiosity once again got the better of her, and she peered around the corner of the bars to see Percy, on his knees shirtless, his arms chained to the wall. His torso was littered with scars, but his blood had a goldish tint to it, as if his blood couldn't decide what color it wanted to be: red or gold. As Raven heard the door slam up above, Percy's head cocked sideways as if he was waiting for the Titan to leave.

Smirking, Percy started chanting something, and before she could make out what he was saying the chains fell at his feet. Slowly standing, he rubbed his wrists, which were rubbed raw. "Jerk," me muttered before picking up a fragment of bone from a skeleton of some dead creature and taking it to the lock. Raven watched in fascination as his eyebrows knitted in concentration as he tried unlocking the cell. She knew that it would be impossible for him to unlock the door, even in the astral plane, she could feel the enchantments that were placed down here to keep the prisoners locked up. She looked behind her, curious as to what else could be locked up in this creepy dungeon, and as she was about to check another cell, she heard a very distinct click and whipped around. Her jaw practically hit the ground as Percy stood there with a look of triumph on his face.

"That shouldn't even be possible," she muttered and her heart froze as Percy whipped his head towards her, a now guarded look on his face. 'He can't see me, right?' she thought to herself in a panic as Percy seemed to be staring her in the eye. She could feel her heart beating fast, but the sound of the door above being opened snapped Percy's attention away from her. 'That was close,' she whispered to herself as Percy threw the bone fragment aside and ran in the direction of the door. Hesitant now that he seemed able to sense her, she slowly followed him from a safe distance. He seemed to know where he was going, and he stopped at a wall and put his back to the corner. Peering out, there was a woman who seemed to have scales for skin and snakes for feet standing guard.

An evil look now on his face, Percy casually ran out from behind his cover and blitzed the snake lady. She hissed, and readied her spear, but as she thrust it towards his midsection, he twisted and grabbed her throat.

"Time to die, little snake! This is for my Wise Girl. Maybe think twice before deciding who you work for." The snake woman screamed, and Raven watched in horror as her body turned to acid before being turned to dust and being swept away. Standing up, Percy opened the door the woman was guarding and walked out. They were standing in a hallway, with four more snake women guarding the way out. Bringing his fingers to his lips, he let out a loud, high pitched whistle. From the shadows, the large, black dog from before appeared and grabbed two of monsters in her jaw, before a tiny cat jumped off the canine's back and started flickering and growing. Raven watched with disgusting fascination as the two monstrous animals easily tore through the four creatures. Percy smiled and walked up calmly to both of them, petting them both behind the ear.

"What would I do without you guys," he whispered before reaching into a pouch on the dog's collar and pulling out a book and a pen. "Thanks for keeping this safe, Mrs. O." She barked, and it sounded like a canon being fired at point blank range. Percy smiled and then fell back as Mrs. O. started licking her friend's face. "Hey, cut it out! We still have to get out of here before Perses shows up." The dog sat down and looked at him as he slowly sat up and opened the book. Uncapping his pen, it morphed into a sword before he placed the cap on the hilt, and it turned back into a pen. He hurriedly flipped through the book, and the cat shrank and hopped back up on the dogs back.

Seemingly finding what he was looking for, he crossed something out before shoving both items in his pocket. From down the hall, Perses appeared with a multitude of grotesque looking creatures behind him, and he looked anything but happy. "How did you escape!" He shouted as he started bounding towards the trio.

Wasting no time, he hopped on his dogs back, right behind his cat and gave the Titan the finger. "Sorry, but it's time for me to go!" was the last thing Raven heard him shout before the dog ran headfirst into a wall, and they all vanished. Perses stopped running and fumed. "I want him found! No one is to rest until then, do I make myself clear?" The creatures behind him wasted no extra time as they all turned heel and ran. Perses, still pissed, let loose a loud, terrifying scream and punched the wall next to him, making it crumble into dust. "Mark my words, Perseus. I will track you to the ends of time, and I will kill you. I make this oath not on the Styx, but to the Creator, the Presence, Lady Chaos."

(-)

The smell of smoke and the sound of something being pushed over was enough to wake her from her strange dream. Confused, she turned to the clock by her bed and squinted, trying to read the time. 1:48PM. 'Weird, I only slept for a couple hours,' she thought as she stretched out, trying to get the kinks out of her back.

"Red! Snap out of it!" Bang!

"That sounded like Artemis," Raven muttered, before realizing something was wrong. Just as she sat up and threw off her covers, she heard the sound of an explosive arrow being fired, and she heard the sound of metal hitting metal as something flew back. Already dressed, Raven ran out of the room to see what was going on, only to stop short of the living room. There was Red Tornado, and he was standing with his back towards her. As she looked around, she saw that the entire central part of the mountain was ruined, as it looked like a huge battle had taken place.

Not seeing Artemis anywhere, Raven walked up to Red Tornado cautiously as she surveyed the damage to her new home. "Hey Red, what happened? Where's Artemis?" Red turned around, his cold, emotionless, lifeless eyes landing on her. Raven always felt weird when she stared at the android eye to eye, it was unnerving to her that something so lifeless could be alive, or whatever the technical term for him was. Only Red Tornado didn't say anything, instead lifting up his hand towards her. Taking a cautious step back, Raven raised both her hands in front of her in surrender. "Woah, Red! What's going on?"

Opting for the silent treatment, Red summoned a hand sized twister from his hand and shot it at Raven, sending her flying back. Before she hit the wall, Artemis' cries from earlier flew into her mind. "Red, Snap out of it!" Oops. Hitting the wall and cracking the rock behind her as she slid down, her next thought was Artemis, and where she could possibly be. That was enough to for her to snap back to the present, just in time too as Red fired another tornado at her, causing her to jump out of the way.

"What have you done to Artemis!" Instead of replying, Red instead summoned another tornado around his legs, lifting him off the ground. "Two can play that game," she growled out as she in turn also levitated off the ground, her eyes going black and the shadows dancing around the room around her. She lifted her hands, and glowing black orbs concealed them, causing her to grin. She was back in her element, and Red had no idea what was coming. At least, that's what she initially thought, only for that thought and grin to be immediately replaced with fear as Red didn't flinch, instead deciding to blitz her head on. Not having time to get out of the way, she tried to will shadow tendrils to lash out at the android, only for him to ignore them as they whipped him all over, denting his body. Yelping, she had to duck as his fist collided right where her head was a second ago, his metal hand shattering the rock as if it were glass.

The android slowly looked down at Raven, and her fight or flight instincts kicked in, causing her to try and fly away. Sadly that didn't work, as soon as she was airborne, she felt a cold, metallic hand grabbing her foot. Raven in hand, Red flew to the main chamber and flew up about ten feet. Panicking, she tried to cause the shadows to do her bidding but the fear of what was happening was stopping her. Red stopped, grabbing her other ankle with his free hand and started spinning, his torso moving so fast that she could feel herself starting to lose consciousness before he let go, causing her to go flying into the Zeta Platform, breaking it with her body.

As she laid there on the ground, she coughed, and blood splattered onto the platform. She put a shaky hand to her head and felt something wet and sticky, more blood. Weakly, she glanced up and saw Red descending onto her position, about to go in for the kill. She glanced behind him and saw that the vent in the kitchen was open, and without another thought, she used the last of her strength to go invisible, slowly flying around the homicidal android in a large arc as to not alert him where he was going.

Red seeing this stopped and looked around before he finally spoke in his cold, emotionless voice. "You cannot hide, Raven. Nor can you defeat me. Not having any feelings is what guarantees my victory, and when I find you and your stubborn teammate, I'll make sure to kill you both, slowly." But she wasn't paying attention, instead she made it to the vent over the stove and flew in, trying to be as silent as possible.

Continuing down the ventilation shaft, Raven could hear sniffling coming from somewhere below her. Stopping over a grate to catch her breath, she looked down and saw the shivering form of Artemis in the library, hiding behind a bookshelf. Willing herself to become visible, she slowly opened the hatch and floated down, right behind the emerald archer. "Artemis?" she called out, stumbling and catching herself on a bookshelf, the blonde girl whipped around, her puffy red eyes widening when she saw the state Raven was in.

"Raven!" Running over to her and catching her before she fell, she dragged her deeper in the library, hiding out in a far corner where no one would look, or at least she hoped.

"Ow," Artemis let go and kneeled beside the girl, taking in the scene. Raven's raven black hair was matted with blood, and her nose and mouth also had blood dripping out. Her purple hoodie was ripped in multiple places, and her black jeans had more rips then were standard. "You okay?" Raven asked the worried girl, causing her to chuckle as more tears threatened to fall from her face.

"Me? Look at you! What were you thinking, Red is one of the League's heavy hitters, you shouldn't have engaged him!" Raven coughed and struggled to sit up, resting her back against the bookcase when she finally managed the feat. "He started it," she grumbled, her hand going to her head as she got light headed once more.

"Still, you should've ran! We have to find a way to call the team, or the rest of the League, do you have your communicator?" Raven pulled hers out of her pocket, and they both saw that it was busted. Artemis joined Raven and sat down beside her, putting her head in her hands and taking a shaky deep breath. "Against him, what can we even do?" she whispered out, not expecting her friend to actually answer.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, and Raven searched mind for a way to defeat the emotionless android. "Why?" She suddenly asked, causing her friend to look up.

"What?"

"Why is Red Tornado attacking? It doesn't make sense. He's a superhero, one who's fought side by side with the League. If he were truly evil and wanted to kill us, he knows where we sleep. Why trouble himself when we're awake, and why do it when there is only two of us here? It just doesn't make sense."

"I don't know!" Artemis replied, sighing. "He's an android, who know what goes on in his computer processor for a brain." She threw her head back against the bookshelf, causing a light 'thump.' Raven's mind was working in over drive now though, as she repeated her friends reply in her head.

"Artemis, he's an android." The two girls looked at each other, except they definitely were not on the same page.

"Yeah, I just said that." Closing her eyes, she went back to her wallowing, and Raven had to resist the urge smack her forehead.

"No, what I'm saying is, he's an android, and a computer. He has electrical parts, which mean they could be fried." Her friends eyes snapped open as she glanced at her, finally putting together what she was saying.

"The storage room, there's a generator down there! If I shoot the core, the failsafe will kick in causing an electro magnetic pulse! That should be enough to knock him out of the fight!" Smiling at her friend, they now had a way of defeating him. Except, how were they going to get the android to follow them down there? Realizing what had to be done, she let out an audible sigh.

"I have a plan, but I need you to trust me."

(-)

Making her way through the cave while invisible, Raven still had yet to see the killer robot. Not that she was complaining or anything, but she needed to find him so that she could get him to follow her down into the storage room. "Why the hell is this cave so damn big?" She muttered as she made it to the door she was looking for. Sighing, she decided to open the door and drop her invisibility, figuring now was as good a time as any to get this over with.

She looked around and saw a barrel sitting next to the wall, and had a terrible idea. Willing the shadows to pick the barrel up and taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, she smashed the barrel against the rocky wall, causing it to shatter, as well as the cave walls to echo the sound all throughout this side of the mountain.

She didn't have to wait long, because soon she heard the sound of wind in a cave rapidly approaching her. "Shit!" Going invisible and flying as fast as she could down the cave, she could hear Red Tornado gaining on her, his twisters propelling him faster and faster down deeper into the cave. She made it to the bottom and once again became visible, just as Red descended into the deepest part of the cave. She floated back towards the giant, building sized generator as her new foe landed gently on the ground, raising an arm towards her.

"You've been a nuisance, and all nuisances must be destroyed." Floating away from the generator slowly so his tornadoes didn't hit it, she kept her gaze on him.

"Why did you turn, Red? Why are you suddenly trying to kill us?" The robot may have creeped her out before, but as she thought back, he never did anything to hurt or endanger anyone on the team. She still couldn't wrap her head around why out of nowhere he would start trying to kill them, it seemed so random to her.

"The Red Tornado you knew is no more. He was defective, his programming inferior to that of the Red Tornado that stands in front of you. My father simply fixed me, made me see the error of my ways. The first step on my path of redemption is to kill you pesky children, then I can meet my brothers and sisters!" Red had stopped hovering and landed on the ground now, causing her to take an unconsciousness step back. Her eyes quickly flicked to the ceiling, where Artemis was slowly opening the grate that led to the storage room. After removing the grate, and using her legs to keep herself from falling to her death 40 feet below, she undid her compound bow and took aim. The spot she needed to hit was no bigger then a dime, and she was hanging upside down, more than 30 feet away.

Raven quickly looked back at Red Tornado, and raised an eyebrow. "So, your dad did this then?" She knew about shitty fathers, as she was practically an expert on the subject. But it never even occurred to her that Red may have a Dad. It made sense to her though, seeing as someone had to make him after all. "Why listen to you Father? Just because he made you doesn't mean you have to do what he says!"

"Unfortunately, my new programming doesn't allow for free will," Red replied, raising a hand.  "What it does call for, is your deaths." A twister started forming on his hand and Raven willed a wall of black energy in front of her, bracing herself for the attack.

"Any day now, Artemis," she practically growled as Red Tornado unleashed yet another, high powered twister directly at her. Luckily for her though, her makeshift shield held up. Coating one hand in black energy, she quickly lowered her wall and threw the ball at Red, causing him to go flying back. It didn't really phase him, as he immediately got to his feet a second later. Scowling, she looked back at Artemis once again, just in time to see her fire the arrow.

Time around her seemed to slow down. As she saw the arrow heading towards its mark, she didn't see the next twister that Red had sent her way. The last thing she saw was the arrow finding it's mark, an EMP that was so large it was visible, and the brown twister that hit her in the face head on as she turned around.

(-)

Manhattan (A Few Hours Earlier)

Percy so far was having a pretty shit day. Over the past week, he had spent every hour of the night trying to 'fight the good fight' as his lovely cousin had put it. But so far, zilch. Ever since his spat with Luthor the week prior, nothing of significance had happened and it annoyed the Hades out of him.

He had just gotten back and was about to shower when his phone had rang. Looking at the caller ID, he saw it was is oh so annoying cousin. Sighing, he answered.

"What's up Diana, I'm about to go to bed."

"Percy, it's 10 in the morning. Why are you just now going to bed?" He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a breath. He really was tired. A couple days ago, Clark had taken Kara to meet his adoptive Earth parents and they weren't slated to get back until next week. Needless to say, he was feeling extremely anxious and bored without the chirpy Kryptonian around. 

"I was out late last night," was is informative reply. He opened the door to his room and flopped on the bed, his phone still in his ear.

"Figures. Your nap is going to have to wait, can you come to the Watchtower?" Normally, he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to visit the secret floating space station. After a 14 hour night patrol? He definitely preferred sleep. "Can it wait? I really am tired."

"You're just bored because Kara isn't around to keep you company," his cousin teased.

A deep growl emanated from his throat, his cousin definitely knew how to get under his skin. "You know what? Yeah, I'll come. If for no other reason then to kick that smug grin off your face that I know you have." He could practically hear the grin on Diana's face when she replied.

"Great! I'll see you soon then." Then she just hung up, leaving Percy to contemplate just ditching and sleeping instead. Deep down inside though, he knew he couldn't stand her up, so with that last annoying thought, he pushed himself out of bed and mist travelled to the nearest Zeta Tube. He still didn't trust himself to mist travel or teleport into space, he had no idea if it was possible and it wasn't something he was eager to test either.

Sighing, he walked into the abandoned Port-a-Potty and said, "Watchtower." In the next instant, he was walking over the Zeta platform, now on the impressive space station. On the bright side, he didn't have to go very far to find his cousin, as she was standing right in front of the platform, a cheeky grin on her face.

"Morning sleepyhead, glad you could make it," she walked over to him and patted him on the back, stifling a laugh when he grunted and yawned.

"Shut it, I need coffee." Diana motioned over to the dining hall, where he remembered they had a coffee pot from before. Now with a distinct mission in mind, he made his way over to make himself a glass.

As he was in the process of making his coffee, Diana tried to talk to him, only for Percy to raise a hand and tell her to hold on. "Wait till I get some caffeine in me. It won't take long."

"But-"

"Ah, coffee."

"Perseus can I just-"

"Coffee."

"It really won't take-"

"Coffee."

Seeing as this was a losing battle, she just shook her head and sat at a table, waiting for him to get his oh so important coffee. The water finished boiling and he took his time adding cream and sugar, then slowly, oh so slowly he started mixing it.

"Couldn't you have just boiled-" He held up a finger as he took a long, exaggerated sip, smacking his lips when he was done.

"Coffee," he repeated, a content smile on his face. It was the little victories in life that gave him pleasure, like annoying his cousin whenever he possibly could. Rolling her eyes, she gestured to the coffee in his hand. "Come on, you can take that with us. Cyborg and I want to talk to you about something." Following her out of the room, Diana led him back to the monitoring room where Cyborg was waiting with schematics for a suit on the screen.

"Sup Perce," he greeted as they walked in. Percy let a grin cover his face as he said hello to the mostly mechanical member of the team. "What's up Cy, how's it been going?" He took one more sip of his coffee and set it on a nearby table.

"Oh you know, saving the world, one computer virus at a time," they both fist bumped, then Cyborg took a seat and gestured to the screen. "Perce, me and Diana have decided that it's high time for you to get a suit, and a code name. I have some ideas that could be helpful, but we still want to hear your input on the matter."

Looking up at the screen, it didn't take him long to come to a decision. "Yeah, sorry guys. I really don't want a suit. Can I just wear a hoodie or something?" The two senior member of the League glanced at each other, before Diana sighed and put an hand on her cousin's shoulder. "Look Percy, I figured you'd say something like that, but you need something to keep your identity a secret."

"What about your identity?" He got the concept, sure, but how come his cousin never wore a mask? In fact, it was pretty well known that she was an ambassador to the Amazon's. "I'm a special case. You, on the other hand, still need a mask at least." He rolled his eyes as he thought about it, before an idea came to him. "What about this. My uniform is just a hoodie, sea colors or something, but I just have a face mask that covers my lower face, and eyes if you really want that." Honestly, he didn't want to wear a silly suit, but he got where they were coming from.

"Like the masks from Mortal Kombat?" Cyborg asked with his eyebrow raised, a smirk on his face.

Percy snapped his fingers and pointed at him. "Exactly! Though I didn't know you guy's had that here." He saw Diana smack her forehead as Cyborg processed his statement in confusion. "Why wouldn't we have that game? It defined a whole genre and is the reason that the Mature rating even exists."

"Right," he realized his mistake and had no idea how to recover from it. Luckily though, Diana saved him.

"He's only ever played the original game, he doesn't know that the series is still going on." Damn, Diana with the save! Cyborg just shook his head and smiled. "Sometimes, more chill members of the League have Mortal Kombat tournaments when we're bored. Me, Shazam, Arrow, Flash and Lantern sometimes just like to relax after a hard day. It's fun, you should stop by sometime to play."

Percy breathed an internal sigh of relief while he nodded at Cyborg's words. "Yeah, that sounds pretty cool, I'll have to stop by and play you guys." The other League member turned around and plugged something into his wrist, then typed something into the computer. "If you want a mask like that, it shouldn't really be a problem. Usually, Batman helps with the suit designs but seeing as he's on some secret mission, I've put it on myself to help you out." He finished typing and a face mask appeared on the screen, except this one also had an eye mask attached. "If you really want to wear regular civilian clothes, I can design some that can withstand heavy blows if you want," Cyborg helpfully added on.

Knowing that was pointless, he just shook his head. "It's alright, just this is good. My skin is neigh-invulnerable anyways." Ignoring Cyborg's pointed look, he instead just gestured to the screen. "Can you make it black? That way no matter what color hoodie I'm wearing, which would probably just be green or blue, it'll still look relatively normal?"

"I really thought you had a challenge for me. This mask should be done in less than 10 minutes. That is, if you're sure that it's all you want."

"Yeah, I'm sure." Shrugging, Cyborg typed some more stuff in and Percy could hear the sound of something turn on in the corner. "It's a 3-D printer. Normally, they aren't very high grade but after some adjustments from yours truly, the mask will be make of the same material as my body." He looked proud of this accomplishment, and Percy almost felt bad with what he was going to say next. But he had to, for the greater good of course.

"Does that mean I'm going to be wearing a part of your body on my face?" The look on his face made it worth it, and Percy couldn't help but laugh. Even Diana laughed a little, seeing Cyborg get flustered was totally worth it. "Relax, I'm kidding."

"The betrayal is real with this one," Cyborg muttered, before looking back to the screen and typing something else in. On a another monitor, one that was showing a news station, something seemed to catch Diana's eye. "Cyborg, turn that up," she pointed to the monitor she was looking at, and Cyborg turned it up. There was a lady on the screen talking and a destroyed building in the background.

"The man is claiming to be a God, the God of War to be precise. He seems to be looking for someone, saying things like, 'Come out New God,' and 'You've declared war on Olympus .' We only hope members of the Justice League can quickly neutralize this threat, before more people get hurt."

Diana and Percy shared a look, and Cyborg was already locating where the news station was broadcasting from. "It appears he's in Manhattan. You guy's going to be able to handle it? I can call other members of the League for assistance."

"No," Percy stated bluntly. Ares is ours." Diana had a stony pissed off look on her face, and the two cousins locked eyes.

"He will regret the day he descended to the mortal plane."

"Right. No one attacks my city and gets away with it, especially deity's." The two children of the Elder Gods ran to the Zeta Tube, appearing in a Manhattan alleyway a second later. Percy looked over to Diana and saw that she had somehow already changed, and she held something out in her hands. It was the mask that Cyborg made for him. "When did you get this?" He hadn't seen her grab it, and he didn't thing it would be done yet.

"You did run out in front of me. I had time to grab it and change before you even noticed. Hurry, put it on! The whole world is going to know who you are by today, and you can't have them already putting two and two together." Percy grabbed the mask and put it to his face. Something shot around the back of his head secured the mask in place, making sure it won't expose his identity. Pulling his blue hood up and taking out his pen, he quickly grabbed Diana and mist traveled them to the top of the nearest building to survey the damage.

"I half expected this thing to have a display system," he muttered as Diana gave him a murderous gaze.

"A little warning would be nice."

Percy didn't immediately respond as he surveyed the damage below before absentmindedly replying. "We're about to fight your God of War. Figured mist travelling would be quicker then you picking me up and flying." He saw a building by the beach smoking in the distance, and he had a revelation. "I know why he's here."

Ignoring the look Diana gave him, he put a hand on her shoulder and told her to close her eyes as he mist travelled to the spot where he claimed this Poseidon's domains. Sure enough, at the road that led to the beach was a man dressed as a black cladded Spartan warrior, Ares. "Why is he here?"

"When you told me to claim my Father's domain over the sea, this is where I did it. Poseidon must have found out and got furious, sending Ares out to do his dirty work." He willed his pen to form into his sword while Diana drew hers. "Well, I'm about to take my brother's domains. Again," she growled out as they both got into a ready stance.

"Hey Ares! Looking for me?" The God of War turned around, and Percy could see him grin from under his mask. "Well, if it isn't my dear sister and cousin. It's my lucky day! I get to kill two godspawn! I knew it would happen eventually, but for it to happen this soon? Saturnalia came early for me this year!"

"He sure does talk a lot," Percy muttered before Ares leapt down from the road and landed only a few feet in front of them. "You done fucked up, New God. Granted, none of us believed you would follow up on your threat to take ole Algae's domain, but you did. Got to admit to you, when Poseidon found out and asked me to kill you, I couldn't resist." A long, black broadsword appeared in his hands and he rested it on his shoulder. "You really gone and done it, thanks to you there might be a war on Olym-" Ares didn't even register that he was hit as he got sent black flying 100 feet. "He really needs to learn to shut up," Percy muttered as he launched himself at Ares, his cousin following close behind.

"You're going to pay for that," Ares growled out as Percy and Diana engaged him in a battle of blades. Percy sent for a quick, decapitating swipe as Diana went for his legs, only for Ares for jump between the blades with preternatural reflexes. Ares held up his hand, and all the metal within a 100 foot radius turned into black swords and floated behind him. "I expected better," he said with a mock frown as he launched the weapons at the cousins.

"Shit," Percy snapped his wrist and his other sword appeared in his hand as he leapt back and started knocking majority of the swords away. Two managed to clip him though, and the force of the impact sent Percy backwards.

"You will die, Ares!" Diana yelled as she deflected the weapons sent at her with her bracelets, before launching herself at Ares to engage him in a slugfest. "I think not." Diana threw hook after hook, only for Ares to casually dodge them all as if it were some sort of sick game. "Tell me something, dear sister. How exactly did you manage to beat me before?" Letting out a war cry, she went for a deadly uppercut, only for Ares to stick out his hand and stop it, causing a shockwave of power to erupt around them. "Oh, I remember." He reared back his free hand and punched her in the face, causing her to land next to Percy, who was just getting back to his feet looking pissed. "You took off your bracelets and unleashed your true power. A pity the new one's won't come off, or so I heard." He licked his lips and his sword appeared in his hands once again, and before Percy could process what was going on Ares was already in front of him. "A shame, it was a good battle back then, but it did cause me to reevaluate me position as the God of War." Percy was now locked in combat with the crazy god, and he had to keep his defenses up at all times as this Ares seemed to be a lot better in combat then his Ares.

Percy tried to maneuver the god towards the water, but he was smarter then that. He twisted around Percy and backpedaled away from the surf, a crazy grin on his face. "You forget, I grew up challenging every opponent I possibly could, including my dear uncle." Growling, Percy had to think of a new way to attack the God. Behind Ares, he saw Diana struggling to her feet, wobbling from the force of the blow. She quickly shook it off and drew her Lasso. "You will fall!" she bellowed as she charged the War God. Ares smirked and jumped up, twisting in mid-air as he met his sisters charge head on.

Frowning, he was about to join the attack as the two siblings were falling back to earth, only for their adversary to quickly raise his hand and a crack appearing in the ground in front of him, causing the young god to stumble back, confused. "Have fun with my playthings!" The god yelled as he blocked a strike from Diana's whip, never once looking over his shoulder. Percy was about to ignore his statement when a skeleton hand reached out from the ground, a dead skeletal soldier appearing from the ground a second later, with even more following close behind.

"I hate skeletons," he growled out as he leapt into action, his swords a blur of black and bronze with a goldish tint, easily dismembering the dead warriors. With a shout and a stomp of his foot, the crack in the ground closed, and he turned to face his foe once more. Ares had gotten in to close to Diana for her to effectively use her lasso, and the combination of Ares' sword and shield was causing all her focus to go into keeping her alive. Feigning a strike to her head, she brought up her blade do block and he smashed his shield into her gut hard, sending her flying again. Percy winced before he charged the God from behind. He was too quick though, and turned around, his shield gone and a sinister grin on his face. Blocking the strikes from the young God, it was clear to see the difference in skill between the two immortals. Ares, at least this one, had thousand's of years of experience, and he actually learned from every battle, while he only had a few hundred.

The Old God went for a fatal strike to the heart, and Percy let him, not missing the look of surprise on his face when the blade ricocheted off his skin. Not missing a beat, he slashed the god's torso with both swords, causing the blades to go deep in his chest and spilling the god's ichor. Ares just growled, and his sword ignited in a menacing blackish-orange fire. "Bathed in the River Styx did you?"

"Bathe is such a strong word," Percy mused as he eyed the blades warily.

"It doesn't matter, by the days end you'll still be dead!"

When he went for another fatal strike, Percy somehow knew that if he let those fiery blades hit him that he would be done for. He blocked the strike to his gut with Retribution, and with Riptide he went for the gods ribs, trying to put him out of the fight for good. Ares seeing this, conjured up another fiery blade and blocked his godly weapon, and the two god's leapt back and studied each other. Glancing up, Percy saw Diana launch herself into the sky, preparing for a dive attack at the god. "Alright then," Percy muttered and willed a hurricane to form around him, strong winds and lightning striking around him in an instant.

"You're tricks won't save you!" Ares bellowed and stabbed his swords into the ground, three black wisps of smoke emerging form the ground and gathering behind him. The wisps of smoke formed into two men and a woman, each dawned with battle armor. Ares had a sadistic grin on his face as he motioned for the three newcomers to engage Percy in battle. "My children, Phobos, Deimos, and Adrestia. Fight along side me! For Olympus!"

The three newcomers all went to engage Percy while Diana flew down to the ground to deliver a devastating punch to Ares. There was a large shockwave of power that erupted from the blow, but Percy didn't have time to see if it was a direct impact as he was currently fighting three gods at once. Phobos and Deimos, they looked exactly the same except on wore blood red armor and one wore black armor. Their skill with their blades wasn't as good as Ares though, and Percy had an easy time defending against them. Adrestia however, seemed to be getting better as the fight drew on, and he knew he had to dispatch the two brothers before he could focus on the unknown goddess.

Jumping back and stabbing his own two swords in the ground, he called on his less often used domain of earthquakes, summoning a somewhat controlled earthquake all around him. "Your fear will be the downfall of you!" Phobos yelled as he stumbled back, trying desperately to get his footing. "You will know true terror!" Deimos tried yelling, but it was hard for him to sound serious as the shaking of the ground caused his own voice to shake.

Percy smirked and walked over to them, his own earthquake unaffecting him. "You know, it's not hard to see the resemblance to your father. You all talk a big game," the two gods tried swinging at him but Percy nonchalantly swiped their blades away, "but you can never back it up." The hurricane became stronger around him, and lightning started flickering down his body. With a quick swipe of his swords, he decapitated the two gods simultaneously, their now headless forms becoming a blackish golden dust and being swept away by his winds. Percy didn't notice the little wisps of essence that crept into him from the downed gods as a scream caught his attention.

"I'll kill you!" He just had time to turn around as the goddess Adrestia lunged at him, the ground shaking seemingly unaffecting her anymore. Her strikes became faster, and Percy had to maintain a level of focus he didn't think he needed just to block, before he remembered he didn't even need to. It was still bizarre to him though that she seemed to get better as time went on. "How?" he managed to ask as he ducked under a swipe to his head and swept her legs out from under her. Instead of answering, her face just contorted into one of anger, causing him to sigh.

"You shouldn't follow your father into battle, he has a reputation for losing."  He had his knee on her gut to hold her down and was about to stab her when she let loose a guttural cry, and her sword became engulfed in the same blackish orange flames that her Father's blade had. The hurricane didn't seem to effect the flames at all, and Percy's eyes widened. "Shit!" She went to stab him in the side and Percy had to roll away to avoid the flamed blade.

"Just what the Hades is that?" he growled out as goddess stood up and an old scale appeared in her hands. "You will face Retribution!" The goddess cried out, causing Percy to hold up his black and gold sword and look at it.

"Alright, done. Next task?" He grinned behind his mask as the goddess screamed in anger and lunged at him, her fiery blade making her more of a threat. "Hey now! I didn't want to kill your brothers! Besides, they'll be back!"

She had a look of pain in her face at his words, and her next strike was slowed. Ignoring the sudden change, he blocked the predictable swipe at his head with Retribution and held Riptide in front of him, willing his sword to form a trident instantly.

The goddess had a look of shock on her face as she looked down and saw her gut now impaled by the gold and silver weapon, ichor pouring from her wound. "You were a great combatant, just make sure you think about who it is you're fighting for," Percy said softly as he willed his trident to turn back into a sword, causing the goddess to turn into dust and be blown away by the winds. Her sword and scale fell at his feet, before disappearing and flowing into his blade. "What the?"

He didn't have time to think about it as he was soon brought back to the present when he heard Ares curse and land at his feet. He held up his sword to go for a finishing strike but his cousins voice stopped him. "Don't! He's mine." He looked behind him and saw Diana with a look on her face that could kill if it was possible.

"You sure?" He willed his hurricane to die out and the lightning that covered his body also petered out, as he stepped back and gave Diana room to do her thing. "How?" Ares asked, a slight tremble in his voice. Percy raised his eyebrow and glanced back at Diana, who also now had lightning flickering up and down her body. She didn't answer though, instead reaching for her bracelet and pulling out a sword. "I will kill you, and I will take your place as the God of War once more." She proceeded to stab Ares in the heart, and a golden black mist traveled out of his body and into Diana. Absorbing it caused her to promptly pass out, and Percy caught her before she could hit the ground. Glancing back at Ares, he saw his form also turn to dust before fading away, leaving behind a black Spartan helmet that soon also turned into a wispy goldish black energy, one his cousin also unconsciously absorbed into her body.

"That's a new one," he muttered to himself before he looked up and saw just how damaged the beach really was. All around him, there were huge deep craters and cracks that led to a deep abyss far below. "Well shit, this got out of hand," he muttered to himself as he glanced up and noticed a helicopter, a woman hanging out the side door and filming the whole thing. He picked his cousin up bridal style and sighed. "I seriously need a nap," he groaned to himself before teleporting to the Zeta Tube and telling it to take them to the Watchtower.

When Percy stepped off the platform, Flash and Cyborg were waiting for him, but he motioned for them to move away so he could place her in one of the spare cots that the space station had in the infirmary. "Don't worry, she's alright. She just needs rest, that's all."

The two heroes still followed him as he made his way to the infirmary, and he placed her down on the bed. "A few hours, and all should be good." He reached up to his face to pull his mask off and pulled his hood down. His mask shrank into a black rectangle the size of a credit card, but before he could ask about it Barry put an arm around his shoulder. "Dude! That whole fight was televised, the whole world knows about you know! How cool is that?"

Slipping his mask into his pocket, he shrugged. "It's cool, I guess. Wasn't exactly planning on it though."

"Still, that was pretty impressive, you just fought the God of War, and you two won!" 'Wouldn't be the first time,' Percy thought to himself. Cyborg frowned as he looked Percy over. "You sure you don't want me to make you some clothes? Yours are in pretty bad shape." Looking down, he noticed that his clothes, were in fact in very bad shape. His hoodie had tatters from the blows he took from Ares, and there were slash marks from all the God's he fought earlier. He also noticed little black splotches that littered his entire outfit, and he frowned before he remembered the lightning. Laughing nervously, he looked back up at his mechanical friend.

"Um, yeah actually. When you asked earlier, I was thinking of body armor or something and figured I didn't need it because I was neigh-invulnerable." Cyborg chuckled and had both heroes follow him back to the monitoring room. "Yeah I figured. You may be near indestructible, but regular clothes sure as Hell aren't. We can't have a member of the League fighting naked, that would cause so many problems." Cy walked over to his computer and sat down, and started typing some stuff in. "You said you wear a lot of hoodies?"

Percy saw his mug of coffee from earlier and picked it up, instantly getting sad as it was now cold. "I wear hoodies and jackets a lot when it's cool out. On regular days, I just wear normal shirts, usually plain." Victor sat back and thought about what to make for a second before sitting up and typing something else in to his computer. "I can make you a couple jackets and hoodies, made out of a highly dense polymer infused with promethium. Three and three sound good?" He turned in his chair and faced the two heroes, looking at Percy specifically.

Percy nodded, before asking, "What's promethium?"

"It's the same stuff that Vic is made out of," Barry responded. "Super dense, and one of the hardest metals on Earth. It's also super light."

"Well, it's technically depleted promethium, it's mixed with titanium and vanadium, making it super hard to break."

Percy whistled in appreciation. "That sound's legit. Wait, my mask is made of the same stuff?" Vic nodded, and Percy got a whole new appreciation for his friend and his abilities.

"What colors do you want them in?" Victor asked as he turned back to his monitor.

"Sea green, blue and black? One of each, if you could." Typing the requirements in, he also pulled up another screen, this one with a shirt on it. "I'm also going to make you armor for your torso to wear under, mostly made out of the same material. Probably a couple pairs of jeans as well. Are you a jeans guy? Who am I kidding, you're a jeans guy." Percy and Barry both laughed as Vic grinned.

"Two pairs of jeans then, one black, one blue. My scanner can get exact measurements, so don't worry about them not fitting."

"Wait, you scanned my jeans?" Percy asked nervously, not entirely sure how he felt about that. Even Barry had a look that told him he was feeling a little awkward at the situation.

"Dude, weird," Barry said.

"Relax, it was just an outer body scan so that the, well I guess now suit that I'm making function's to the best of it's ability. Now I'm going to be honest with you Perce, because your clothes are going to have a fabric texture and it's mostly going to be in-lined with the metal, the integrity isn't going to be nearly on the same level as your mask or my body. Still, it should withstand some heavy blows, and if they rip or the metal's integrity fades over time I can easily fix it."

"That's alright, it's still better than my clothes being immediately ripped up after a fight." The torso's body armor zoomed in closer to the screen, and it focused on the chest area. "Will, seeing as you are now a member of this League, you need a symbol. What's it going to be?" Percy brought out his pen and willed it to form his trident. Cyborg raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he scanned the trident and it appeared on his body armor, running up the center before forking off at his pecks. The trident was glowing a faintly blue, and Percy was taken back by how good it looked. "That's sick man, I don't even know what to say."

Cyborg just waved him off. "Don't mention it. I'm also going to put the outline of the trident on the back of your hoodies and jackets, for shits and gigs mostly." Flash held out his fist and Percy fist bumped him, smiling. He didn't initially want a suit, but if he were to have one then this was the most basic and efficient thing he could think of. "How long till you get these done?"

"Within a week for sure. The fiber mesh material is going to take a little longer than normal, but after that the rest is a breeze." Percy patted his shoulder and thanked the man, happy he wasn't going to be wearing spandex and tights, or even worse, a cape. He took a sip of his cold coffee, but was starting to feel better about this day. He should've known his luck though. Good things never last long with him.

Without warning, another alarm went off throughout the space station. As Percy internally groaned and cursed himself and his luck, Cyborg checked the computer on his wrist and frowned. "That's weird. It's coming from Mount Justice."

"What's Mount Justice?" Percy asked the duo as they shared an uneasy look with each other. "It's the place where our protégés work out of. A place for young up and coming heroes. That's where Batman had suggested we send you, you know." 

"Right. What's the situation then, Cy?" The man had a confused look on his face as he typed something into his computer. "I set up a failsafe in the mountain's generator. If tampered with, it'll cause an EMP and send me an alert. Something must have happened because I just got that alert." He pulled up a schematics chart and there was a red dot at the bottom of what looked like a hollowed out mountain. Percy just sighed. "I'm assuming we should probably check it out then?"

"Yeah, the Zeta Tubes aren't powered by electricity so they should still be functional, let's go." Barry zoomed over to the Zeta platform, Percy and Cyborg running after him. "Does he know anyone on the team?" Percy asked Cyborg as they approached the platform.

"His own protégé, Kid Flash is on the team. Great kid, but we can talk about that later when you meet him." They arrived to see Flash trying to tell the Zeta Tube to take him to Mount Justice, only for an error to keep occurring. Barry quickly turned to Cyborg, an expression of worry clear on his face. "Vic, you're going to have to boom us there, the Zeta Tubes aren't working!"

Without a word Cyborg brought up his right arm and his fist receded into his arm, something looking like a cannon taking his hands old place. He pointed it next to him, and something shot out creating an ominous looking, large floating circle. The inside was a swirl of yellow, with a hint of orange and brown. Percy felt almost drawn towards it, like it was almost familiar and it was calling to him as if asking him to come home, and he took an unconscious step back.

Barry wasted no time as he quickly ran into the vortex, and Cyborg was about to follow but his steps faltered when he noticed Percy staring at the boom tube, almost longingly. "Perce? You alright?"

Snapping out of his stupor, Percy glanced at his friend and managed a resolute nod. Cyborg motioned towards the boom tube frantically. "Come on man. It's basically just a teleporter, it'll be alright." He turned around and ran into the vortex after Barry, and after a deep breath, Percy followed him.

Stepping into the boom tube was a strange experience for him, it only lasted for an instant, but he could've swore that he felt it trying to take him somewhere else. As quickly as the sensation came, however, it left and he was now standing in a hollowed out mountain that used to be refurnished. Percy saw tell signs that a battle had taken place, and when he glanced at the Zeta Platform, he saw it cracked with a pool of drying blood.

"What happened here," he muttered to himself as he turned around and saw a part of the wall shattered. He went to observe it, the surrounding rock was shattered, but there was a human sized fist shaped indent.

"Wally! Wally!" Whipping around, he barely saw the blur that was Barry as he tried looking for his protégé, running around frantically trying to locate him.

"Check the storage room with the generator, that's where the EMP went off." Barry went off ahead, Vic and Percy following close behind. He was letting Cyborg lead the way, but as they got closer, he started to feel a presence that was almost familiar, yet way too foreign. Confused, he ran out in front of Cyborg until he came of an open door with stairs that led down. Taking them three at a time, he emerged into a large cavern, one that looked like the storage room. He almost did a double take when he surveyed the room though, seeing two females, one passed out and one hovering over her as if trying to wake her up. Barry was already there, and he gently picked up the fallen girl and looked at the girl wearing green. "I'll take her to the infirmary at the Watchtower. Is there anyone else here Artemis?"

'Artemis?' The girl looked up and shook her head and Percy finally got a good look at her, and it was giving him a headache. The girl had a lithe athletic body with blonde hair and grey eyes, and she seemed to have some Asian descent. 'It's uncanny how much she looks like a daughter of Athena,' he was thinking to himself before the presence from before caused him to look at the girl Barry was holding. He couldn't tell much about her, except she was wearing black jeans that were ripped and a ripped purple hoodie. Her short, raven black hair contrasted oddly with her pale skin, but he knew that the presence was coming from her.

"We'll go back to the Watchtower and have the Lanterns fix this place up. You can tell us what happened there." Percy glanced behind him and frowned, Red Tornado was lying off to the side, dents in his armor.

"What about him?" He pointed at the android, and Cyborg motioned for them to also take him. Groaning, Percy went over to pick him up as Cyborg opened another Boom Tube. "All I wanted was a freaking nap," Percy grumbled under his breath as he followed his teammates through the strange vortex once more, the lifeless android on his shoulder.

(-)

Watchtower

"So Red Tornado attacked you guys out of nowhere?" Diana asked Artemis as she retold what happened to them earlier. The Lanterns, Cyborg, and Martian Manhunter were currently at the cave fixing it up as the now awake Diana, Shazam, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Dinah, Barry and Percy were all in the commons room, looking over a now lifeless Red Tornado. Robin, Miss Martian, and Superboy were all in the infirmary watching over Raven as she recovered.

"That means T.O. Morrow is alive somewhere, and we have to figure out where," Dinah said while Percy just processed the name.

"Woah wait a second." He held up his hands and couldn't stop himself from grinning. "T.O. Morrow?"

"Yes?" Green Arrow questioningly replied.

"You're telling me, someone named their child, T.O. Morrow. Tomorrow. Wow, his parents must've hated him." Shazam and Green Arrow glanced at each other and shared a grin, while Percy was still trying to figure out what kind of parent would even think that was a good name.

"Perseus." Diana said in a scolding tone. "Focus. Red Tornado was watching over them at the cave, after it's fixed up someone is going to have to take over." Groaning, he just raised his hand. "I'll do it. Not like there's much I got going on anyways." His leads on Lex Luthor in Manhattan were practically nonexistent, and as much as he tried, he couldn't find out anything about the girl the demon had mentioned. He really need the Bat's help, but the man was still gone on some 'secret mission.'

Diana smirked as she crossed her arms. "Has Kara mentioned she might join the team within the next few days?" Percy felt his cheeks get hot as he glared at his cousin. She really knew how to embarrass him.

"As a matter of fact, she did not," he retorted, because it was true. Still, he had to admit that he was a somewhat glad that a familiar face was going to be around, he didn't necessarily want to get to know an entire team alone. Again.

"If you're going to be watching over them, you still need a code name. Have you decided?" He looked at Diana as a few water based names crossed his mind.

"Maelstrom?" He asked shrugging. He thought the name was cool, and it sort of had to do with his power set.

"Maelstrom, like a whirlpool?" Shazam asked, and Percy nodded.

"It's water based, so it fits. Also I just like the sound of it." He noticed Aquaman give him a strange glance, but Percy ignored it. By all accounts, technically he was their new Patron god, but he wasn't exactly planning on saying anything anytime soon.

"Alright, Maelstrom it is. There's going to have to be an official press release about it, seeing as your a new member of the League and all, and while you're at it, you can officially claim Manhattan is under your protection." Percy nodded, and everyone else showed their agreement. "We'll take care of Morrow, you go be with your team," Diana told Artemis, who silently got up and walked over to the infirmary. Percy noticed the girl seemed really tense and figured if he was going to be watching over the team, he would probably have to make sure the girl was okay. Diana turned to the rest of the League, rubbing her forehead as she did.

"We'll track down any leads pertaining to this incident. Seeing as Red Tornado was a League Member, this has become a League responsibility. If any of you find out anything, report back to me and we'll check it out." She turned and started walking away and Percy followed after her.

"Diana, you look stressed," he pointed out, and she just sighed as she continued over to the Zeta Platform.

"Batman is still out on his secret mission, and Superman is with his newfound cousin in Kansas. Of the three leaders of the League, only one is readily available, and that's me. Sometimes I just forget what it's like to lead without back up, that's all." Percy smirked and gently patted his cousin's shoulder.

"I know what you mean. Still though, you're doing a great job. Take some time to destress if you can, though. Also, get some rest, you did become an Olympian today, and I'm not sure how it works over here, but you're going to be very tired for a very long time." They stopped at the platform and Diana turned to face them. "I know what you mean. The first time I became the Goddess of War I slept for a week. I'm just glad that it didn't happen again, Hera only knows what could have happened."

Percy winced at the goddesses name, but didn't say anything about it. "Good luck. If you need me, just call." The two cousins briefly hugged before Diana turned to the platform, a second later being teleported away by the Zeta Tube. Checking the time, he groaned. It was 7:30 at night.

"Way to go Percy," he muttered to himself as a Boom Tube opened up and Cyborg, the three Green Lanterns, and Martian Manhunter stepped out.

Cyborg, seeing Percy walked over to him. "The cave for the most part is fixed and the generator is back online. Where's Diana?" The two started walking and Percy pointed over his shoulder to the Zeta Tube. "She just went home. I'm sure the other Leaguers can fill you in, but I'll be taking Red Tornado's place watching over the team."

Cyborg nodded. "Well, the Zeta Tube is working now, so you can head over any time you like." The two heroes stopped outside the infirmary as a confused Barry walked out. "Barry, you good?"

"Something isn't right guys. No one has seen Wally for a week, not even his family. The guy's on the team said the last thing he told them was his powers were on the fritz and he wanted some time for himself, but Wally came to me about everything. He never came to me about this, so where is he?"

"We'll find him. I'm sure we can figure out a way to use the Speed Force to locate him. Until then, Percy here is going to be watching over the team. You saw today, he's capable enough to protect them should the need arise." Barry looked up and walked over to Percy.

"Whatever you do, don't let anything happen to anyone else on that team." Percy nodded, and Flash turned away, him and Cyborg walking away as they discussed plans to find his lost protégé.

"Guess that's my cue to leave." He walked over to the Zeta Tube, looking at his ripped up hoodie as he did. "Maybe I should've listened to Cy the first time when he said he could make me more durable clothes," me mused to himself.

He told the AI to take him to Manhattan, and when he arrived, he mist travelled to his apartment. He saw Mrs. O. and Small Bob asleep on the couch, and he just shook his head and smiled. He quickly changed and packed himself a bag of clothes and hygiene gear. He briefly contemplated grabbing his Nemean Lion coat, before deciding he wouldn't need it. He was at the door when he immediately reconsidered his choice: he grabbed his coat.

Taking a last look around, a small piece of him wondered how exactly he was going to openly declare Manhattan as under his protection if he was going to be at Mt. Justice, but he figured he would figure that out when the need arises. He had a long day, and he wanted more than anything to just sleep. Mist traveling back to the Zeta Tube, he told it, "Mount Justice," and in the next instant he was back in the cavern. Where as earlier today, the cavern had been a wreck, now it was as if it never happened. The Green Lanterns, Martian Manhunter and Cyborg really cleaned up the place within such a short amount of time, and he thoroughly impressed.

He whistled, and after a few seconds, Mrs. O appeared with Small Bob, and the two bounded towards him happily. "Woah girl! SB, chill!" While his cat turned and jumped over onto the nearest piece of furniture to lay down, his dog just sat and looked at him happily. She was in her small form, so he bent and started petting her behind the ear. "For the time being, this is going to be our new home." He walked over to the couch and was bout to sit down when the Zeta Tube lit up once more. The team he had volunteered to look after walked out and stopped short when they saw him.

"Who're you?" A kid dressed like a traffic light asked him. He dropped his bag on the couch and turned back around.

"I guess I'm Red Tornado's replacement for the time being. I'm Maelstrom. But you can call me-"

"Percy Jackson. It's you!" The pale girl in the ripped up purple hoodie said. He cocked an eyebrow at the girl, now that she was awake, he felt the same strange feeling from before, like he was drawn to her or something.

"Um, yeah. It is me." He looked at everyone curiously while the girl stepped forward. "I never thought I would get to meet you, maybe you can help me," the girl who was now in front of him nearly whispered. Percy, who was just confused, nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"I have to admit, you seem familiar. Have we met?"

"Not exactly. But I've been getting visions of you." This threw him for a loop. He knew demigods sometimes had visions of people, but considering he was from a different reality, he didn't know what to make of it. Something in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and when he glanced at it, he saw the shadows at the corners of the room moving, as if they were agitated. Looking back at the girl, he realized she did somewhat resemble what a child of Hades would look like, but he had a feeling the girl in front of him wasn't a daughter of the Lord of the Dead.

"You're a halfblood," he said in a low voice. She nodded without meeting his eyes, but Percy had a feeling that whatever her other half was, it wasn't god, or at least Olympian. With a start, he realized where he felt this presence before, in Tartarus. It was so long ago, but several times, he felt as if he were being watched. Her presence reminded him of the time he called the Pit home. A sudden realization occurred to him as well. Her presence, while not exactly, faintly matched with the demon he had encountered in Manhattan. What had it said? "I need to find the girl. She fled before she could complete her task. My master needs the key to claim this pathetic excuse for a world." He was sure, without a shadow of a doubt, that this was the girl they were looking for, and he had vowed to find and protect her from that fate. He never thought he would meet her under such circumstances, but Fate had a funny sense of humor, and he knew that from first hand experience.

"What's your name?" He asked her.

She took a deep breath and finally looked him in the eye, deep purplish-blue meeting sea green with flecks of orange and silver. "I'm Raven."

(-)

Los Angeles Beach Front

"Sorry I couldn't make it earlier, had some business to attend to down in Hell." Constantine and Batman had met up with Lucifer after a week of trying to figure out where he was. Constantine managed to contact Etrigan, who relayed that the King of Hell, was in fact, in Hell.

The trio were on the beach where the Door's of Death had appeared, and Batman was looking around the surrounding areas to try and find any clues. Standing about 30 feet away, he knelt down and picked up a shard of bronze metal. Removing a tube from his utility belt, he placed the shard in the tube before placing the tube back in his belt where it came from. "Are you sure that nothing else came out of the door's"? He asked the devil, who looked offended.

"My my, aren't you the little detective. Sorry to inform you, but I never actually said that nothing else had exited from the doors. In fact, a dog and cat exited the Door's with that man, seemed to be following him around like his pets or something."

Batman nodded as he saved what Lucifer told him in his mental notes. "So, Perseus was followed by a dog and a cat, pets from Hell. That all?" Lucifer shook his head with a stupid smile on his face, while Constantine just stared at the Devil with a look that was a mix between disbelief and respect. "Lucy, why the Hell would you keep something like that to yourself?"

"We had to leave to go get duct tape to enchant it, when we came back I felt the presence of several anomalies that managed to escape. And for your information, I did tell someone. I have several underlings on the case, thank you." Bruce stared at the Devil and withheld a lecture he wanted to give the Lord of Hell. Instead, he decided to ask the obvious.

"Which underlings did you send after them?"

"Mazikeen and Etrigan, of course. Now that it is in their very capable hands, we should just let them handle it." Bruce walked up to the Devil, irritated by his nonchalant attitude. He already got enough of that with John. "This needs to be a top priority. How can we know we can trust a couple of demons to do the job?"

Lucifer's eyes turned blood red as he got right into the face of the detective. "I'm sorry, Bruce, I'm pretty sure I rank just a little higher on the divine hierarchy then you do, mortal." Bruce wasn't fazed though, in fact he seemed amused.

"Maybe," he replied, "but frankly I don't care. In fact, maybe we shouldn't let the Devil roam free on the mortal plane, considering you think you're so superior then all of us."

Lucifer seemed ticked off now. "How about this, Bruce, tell me. What is it you truly desire? Hm?" Lucifer smirked, knowing he had him now.

"For you to get out of my face and focus on the task at hand." Bruce smirked at the Fallen Angel's shocked expression. "You know I could kill you, right?"

"You can't. You're forbidden from harming mortals. You may talk a big game, but at the end of the day, you're just a scared kid, hiding the fact he was just a disappointment to his Father." Lucifer was now teeming with rage at his words and held up his finger to Bruce's face.

"I'm the Devil, little man. What makes you think I won't break a few rules and kill you now?" Constantine shook his head and lit a cigarette, amused by the interaction going on between the two. It was rather refreshing not being on the receiving end of Lucy's insults and threats, even if in reality he couldn't back them up, against John, at least.

Bruce hit something on his wrist and a hologram showed up, and he showed Lucifer, who took a hesitant step back. "Is that-"

"It is. Or if that doesn't 'suit your fancy', what about this?" Bruce swipe the hologram to the right and another item took it's place, making the Devil go pale and causing John to raise an eyebrow. Bruce was really threatening the Devil, and John was severely impressed. Until then, he only knew of a few mortals who could get away with that, him, Cloe, and her daughter Trixie. Now he could add "Man with a Bat Fetish" to that list. The idea amused him.

"You're bluffing, you don't have those. They have been lost to time!" John stepped in and patted Bruce on the back.

"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. I think you forget what money can buy. Did you forget that Bruce here is a billionaire? The man has resources all over the world, mortal and magical alike. I wouldn't exactly under estimate him." Oh, John was having a hay day with this, he didn't care if the Dark King was bluffing or not. Frankly, he had no idea, but if he really had what he said he did, or at least knew of the locations, the things John could to with items as powerful as those. If he wasn't bluffing, then they needed to be in the right hands, John's hand, but alas, a problem for another day. Lucifer huffed and dusted off his suit.

"Fine. We'll go see what my two demons have uncovered, and I'll have them help you on your little quest to find a way to kill the man on your team. Oh wait, I'm sorry. 'Come up with a contingency' for. It's all rubbish and you know it." Bruce didn't say anything and instead looked at the moon in the sky. "Come on, let's go. The sooner we can find those demons, the sooner I can return to Gotham and the League. They did manage to have a busy day today, or so I've heard."

A/N Just wanted to say Happy Birthday Percy Jackson, the PJO series as a whole helped me through a lot as a kid and I always reread the entire series and spin-off series once a year. Without Percy, this story wouldn't have been possible, nor my desire to write, so thank you.