Chapter 3

Warning: Mature Content

Viewer Discretion is Advised

Percy glanced down at his clothes and shrugged. "Honestly, do I really need anything? All I have are these clothes, and I already have my sword." He patted his pocket, indicating that he had his magic pen.

Slade nodded, then leaned against a wall. "That may be true, but I can't very well have you go out on a job looking like a bum. I'm a professional, and professionals have standards." He turned and motioned for Percy to follow. "I have prototype armor I keep for potential candidates. I'm sure you'll find something you like, we can have a full suit tailored to you after the job. I want to see if you have what it takes."

Percy followed him around a corner to a door he hadn't yet seen. "What do you mean? We sparred earlier, didn't we?" Deathstroke grunted and opened the door, revealing yet another armory. Instead of just weapons, however, there were glass cases with full body armor suits, suits that looked very high tech. He walked up to one and saw it was sleek, the body armor done in a way that made it look like it was made out of black scales. "I had to hold back, you were injured, and I made a deal not to kill you. I wanted to test the full range of your capabilities, see if you were worth taking on. You still impressed me, boy. Even in a bad state, you showed some of the best sword fighting I have ever seen. I can't wait until you're fully healed to see what you're truly capable of with that blade."

Percy was browsing the body armor, astonished that they seemed so compact and lightweight. "Might not have to wait that long," he absentmindedly muttered as he turned and saw some armor that caught his eye. It was a black with dark blue running down the sides, the joints made out of a mesh material for more maneuverability. The arms had dark blue accents from the fingers all the way up to the shoulder, and the mask was simple, yet he somehow figured it probably held more secrets then it let on. It was a black domino mask that just covered the eyes, but he could see places where wiring went to the slightly tinted eyepieces. He figured that it must've been some display system, though he had no idea how something like that would work.

"What do you mean 'not that long?' Do you have a healing factor?" Deathstroke inquired, noticing Percy taking a liking to the body armor he was currently in front of. Percy turned around with a look of confusion on his face. "Huh? Oh, not that I'm aware of. I just feel better after that nap I took, that's all." Percy knew he didn't remember much, but he had as much common sense to keep his cards close. Whatever he could do, and he wanted to figure that out anyways, he knew he had to figure it out on his own. He also had figured saying 'water heals me' would just sound weird. Deathstroke didn't press the issue, however, and opted to walk up to the glass case and press the button on the side, causing the glass door to swing open.

"Try it on. The changing room is in the back." Percy reached out a tentative hand and touched the armor. To his surprise, it felt soft. He looked back at Slade with a raised eyebrow. "This is body armor? It doesn't feel like it'll stop a bullet." He turned back around and took the suit off the mannequin it was on, surprised by the lightness it displayed. "It's nanotechnology in-lined with promethium infused with Nyth metal. Lightweight, soft, and very durable. Trust me kid, this will stop a lot more than bullets. Only the sharpest of blades, magic and high caliber explosions can fully penetrate the suit."

Percy stared at the chest, where there was a blank circle over the heart. "This suit sounds invincible, that's pretty neat, not going to lie." He turned and walked to the changing room. "Hey kid," Slade called out. Percy stopped and turned around. "Just remember, it's not the suit, weapon or powers that makes the man. Keep that in mind, no matter how tough a suit may seem, there's always someone out there who can make that irrelevant." Percy nodded and Slade walked over to the door. "Meet me in the flight hangar when you're dressed." He didn't even wait for Percy to respond, he just walked out the door and closed it behind him.

Percy looked at the suit in his hands, "Of course he has a flight hangar," he muttered. He shook his head in disbelief and went to the changing room. He tugged off his sweats and started trying to put on the suit. He figured there would be either a zipper, or Velcro or something. But he couldn't find anything indicating where to open the suit to get it open. "Come on, just let me put you on!" He complained to no one in particular, so imagine his shock when a voice responded.

"Initiate Armor Application Sequence?" A robotic female voice asked. Percy freaked out and dropped the suit, backing into the mirror. "You- you can talk?" He questioned slowly.

"Of course, the suit has a built-in AI, me. Once applied, the mask will send brain waves to the brain, allowing only you to properly hear or wear me." That sounded pretty high tech to Percy, and he had to admit, also pretty freaking awesome.

"So," he began, "do you like, work for anyone?" He didn't see how it would be beneficial if someone else figured out the suit worked and told it to do something that Percy wouldn't want to do. "Of course not. The first person to wear the suit will have their biometrics read, and they will be the only ones authorized to wear and utilize me to their fullest capabilities."

Percy frowned. "Okay, I'm 100% sure you could have worded that in a way that didn't sound so wrong." But he realized what that meant. If he put this suit on, it would be his and his alone, which he had to admit seemed pretty cool. "My apologies. Would you still like to initiate the Armor Application Sequence?"

"Um, yes?" He hesitantly responded.

"Great!" The voice replied, before the suit started to disappear until only the blank circle remained and fell to the floor. "Apply directly over your heart. After sensing your heartbeat, the suit will be made perfectly to your size." Percy picked up the circular piece, and cautiously placed it over his heart. He was skeptical that the suit would be made to perfectly fit him, but he still did as the AI woman asked "Heart beat recognized. Initiating Application Process." The nano tech started covering his body, slowly working its way to a perfect fit. Percy watched as the suit spread out over his arms, completely covering them in a short span of time. He looked as his legs started to be covered by the tech, and he was honestly surprised by how comfortable it was. The suit covered his whole body in a short amount of time, and Percy looked at himself in the mirror. He had to admit, with the new suit on him, he looked pretty badass, if he said so himself. Though it wasn't long before he noticed something.

"Where's the mask?" He asked. The voice rang out from the circle over his heart. "The mask will make itself from your hands. Take two fingers, close your eyes, and trace your eyes from the outside to the bridge of your nose." Percy brought his fingers to his face and did as the computer lady said. Sure enough, the nano tech extended from his fingers, and within a short time he had a domino mask just covering his eyes. The nanobots covered his eyes, before turning into a tinted display screen. In the bottom right corner, his vitals were displayed. The top left corner had what looked like suit diagnostics on it, a picture of his suit slowly rotating in a circle, with a green 100% displayed faintly over it. There were other display options, but he didn't know what they did. They all just appeared to be floating in front of him, and Percy reached out and tried to touch one.

Nothing happened at first, but all of a sudden there was a slight sting to the side on both sides of his face, where the eye mask started. "Processing neural link. Neural link processed. Suit integration complete. Congratulations! I will now only be worn and operated by you." The voice sounded like it was in his head, and he would definitely deny it if anyone ever mentioned the fact he yelped. He thought about trying to figure out the display system, but decided that he had time to do that on the plane. Reaching into his sweatpants, he brought out his pen.

"Magical item detected." The voice said. A picture of his pen started floating in front of him, a green grid scanning the pen.

"This is my weapon. It's my sword." He went to put it in his pocket when he realized that he didn't exactly have pockets in his suit. He uncapped his sword and studied it. "Hey robot lady, where am I supposed to put this exactly?"

"Scanning." The display changed from his pen to his sword, rotating out in front of him. He reached out his free hand a second time, this time when he swiped the sword in the opposite direction it was spinning, it actually changed directions. "No way," he muttered under his breath as he slowly grasped his hand around the handle. He knew there was nothing actually in front of him, but the projection seemed so real that it didn't really matter. It looked like he was carrying two identical swords, one just slightly transparent.

"Scan complete. Scabbard created. The nanotechnology will create anything you need for melee combat, including swords, shields, knives and in this instance, a scabbard on your back for you to sheath your weapon." He turned around and looked over his shoulder and sure enough, a scabbard had appeared in his back.

"Cool," he grinned, sheathing his sword. He opened the door to start the process of locating the hangar. "Hey Miss AI lady, what exactly should I call you?" He didn't want to keep calling her robot lady or names like that, and figured a technology this advanced would have a name, like Alexa or something.

"You may call me whatever you like, sir." The pleasant voice responded in his head as he made his way back to the living room. He also didn't think he was ever going to get used to hearing a different voice in his head, either.

"It's Percy, call me Percy."

"Alright Mr. Percy." He sighed and ran down another hallway to a big metal door. "Please, no mister or sir. That's going to get old real fast."

"Affirmative, Percy." He opened the door and found himself in a large open room, futuristic jets in a line off to the side. Slade was waiting for him at the closest one by the door, and he was looking rather annoyed. He made his way over to the mercenary, trying to think of a name to call the female AI. The tech seemed sophisticated, and he needed a name that would symbolize that much. As he was heading closer, something crossed his mind, and he remembered a bit of information.

"How about Athena, like the Wisdom goddess?" As soon as he finished the sentence however, his head exploded into pain and he had a flashback, standing in a giant room, surrounded by giants on thrones. One of the giants, a female wearing white robes with a spear and shield on her back, grey eyes and black hair stood up and drew her giant spear, pointing it at Percy.

"I gave you my blessing, and you killed her! How could you kill the one who freed me from my curse!"

"You know I would never-"

"Silence, male, and to think you once had my respect." Another giant woman said, this one with auburn hair, silver eyes and a bow and quiver on her back. The giant lady drew her bow and notched an arrow, aiming at Percy.

"Something isn't right here, something isn't adding up," another voice said from the other side of the room, another 20 foot tall man with golden blonde hair and blue eyes. One of the beings at the front of the throne room, one that looked suspiciously like Percy, nodded along with the blonde man's observation. The man stood up and pointed a massive trident at the enormous man who appeared to be in charge, a man who had lightning flickering from his eyes and beard, sitting on a marble throne looking pissed. The man who looked like Percy spoke, "If you take any action against him, mark my words brother, there will be war, and you will fall."

Before the man could respond, the flashback ended and he looked up, seeing Deathstroke was making his way over to Percy. "You alright kid? One minute you were walking over, the next you were bent over grabbing your head."

"How long did that last?" Percy asked slowly, because to him the vision had seemed like it lasted a long time, but Slade had only moved a few feet to make it to him.

"'Bout 5 or 10 seconds I reckon."

"Huh. I'm alright, just a headache." Deathstroke raised his one visible eyebrow, and Percy realized he was in the same suit he was in when he first met the man, minus the mask. Percy could tell he didn't by his story, but the man didn't call him out in it.

"Whatever you say kid, there's Advil on the plane, take some." He nodded and followed Slade up the ramp, entering the jet. Slade sat down at the cockpit and the back ramp lifted and closed.

"Athena, I like that name," the newly christened Athena whispered in his head as Slade started turning on the jet. Percy smiled, glad she liked the name, but confused by the flashback. Who were those giants, and why did the one who looked like him threaten to start a war over him? "Are you alright? Your brain waves went sporadic for a few seconds," Athena pointed out, causing Percy to curse under his breath, unknowingly in another language.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said out loud, causing Slade to turn around and glance at him.

"Kid?" He asked, seeming mildly concerned that the person he was having on a job was seemingly talking to himself. Percy blushed and pointed to the mask.

"Sorry, this thing has an AI that I can hear in my head. Where'd you get this thing from anyways?" Slade looked a tad confused for a second before seemingly shrugging it off. "The man who makes the suits and uniforms for me stole tech from Lex Corps and Wayne Enterprises, said something about that being his greatest work yet. He gifted it to me after I did him a personal favor, but I quite like my current suit. He just told me what it was made out of, the bloody bastard never mentioned an AI..." he trailed off and turned around in his seat, inching the jet towards the back of the hangar and turning it around. He put big headphones with a mic over his ears and yelled back, "Strap in!" Before the jet launched at Mach Zeus out the hangar.

Percy had just managed to strap in when they first went airborne, and that was when he realized his mistake. He must've forgotten, seeing as he had no memory and what not, but he absolutely got terrified when the jet was in the air, climbing higher and higher into the sky, Slade seemingly oblivious to Percy's turmoil. It didn't just seem like some innate fear though, it seemed fundamentally wrong for him to be this high in the sky. He felt as if any second, the sky was going to punish him for even daring to fly. But that line of thinking was crazy, right?

He didn't get to think of about it much though, because sooner than he thought possible, they were at maximum altitude and traveling across the United States. Slade took off his headset and made his way to the back, where Percy was clinging to the seatbelt straps around his shoulders for dear life. Slade just chuckled at Percy's misfortune though.

"Don't fancy heights I take it?" He jokingly asked him. Percy's knuckles were turning white with how hard he was clutching his straps, and he shook his head. "Being up this high just feels wrong!" He said, fully aware of the crack in his voice as he spoke. Slade sat down next to him and patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry kid, this jet is safe. No radar can detect it and we'll be in Africa within four hours for the job." Percy stared at him, processing what he just said. "Wait, Africa? Four hours? What? How? And why there?" He just rolled his eye and stood back up, walking over to the opposite wall and grabbing a small black object.

"Our job," he started as he pressed a button and a hologram popped up from the black device, showing a vaguely Italian looking man with black hair and a nice three piece suit, "is in the employ of several local warlords. What people did you think he was selling child soldiers to? The Joker?"

Percy just stared at him blankly and Slade sighed, swiping the hologram to the right as 3-D blueprints for a building popped up. "Never mind that. This is where my intel says he's holed up. An abandoned government office building now under the management of one the local warlords. It's only two stories and has virtually no structural integrity, but it will still pose a challenge. I get a bonus for killing the warlord, so leave that to me. You focus on the building, find the bloody bastard and kill him, as well as locating and freeing the captured children." He pinched two fingers over the building and the picture zoomed out, showing a compound with quite a few buildings. They were all about one story and made of stone, but there seemed to be a lot of them, all spread out into a grid. "Now here's the tricky part," Slade said, pressing another button, this one making red blinking lights appear, scattered throughout the streets and some inside the brick buildings. "This warlord, he has a small army. We're going to have to get through them if we want to complete our main objectives. Problem is, if this warlord dies, there's going to be a power gap among his troops, with someone inevitably taking his place. Kid, I'm going to be real with you. There's going to be a lot of bodies tonight, think you can handle that?"

Percy thought about it for a moment, and came to an agreement. These people deserved to die, they were tolerating freaking children being kidnapped and sold off to use as child soldiers, and something about having children fight battles just didn't sit right with Percy. He felt like he had some experience in that area, and he started feeling a growing sense of hatred and anger swelling up inside of him. He looked Slade directly in his eye and nodded. "By the end of the night, they'll meet my blade," he said in a cold, emotionless tone, his demeanor completely changing in seconds. For some reason, other emotions seemed suppressed, and he felt as if something was dulling his sense of hatred. But the hatred he did feel? Well, Percy was going to make sure those guys regret every decision that brought them here.

Slade noticed the sudden abrupt mood change in Percy, but he didn't say anything, just nodding, acknowledging his statement. He needed him to be in the right mindset. If he sent him in and he was unsure of killing, it would be his life that ended tonight, and Slade made his daughter a promise, one he intended to keep for as long as possible. Slade turned around and walked to a small black box on the wall, opening it and taking something out. "Depending on how you do tonight will dictate if I want you to join my little experiment I have going on." He tossed Percy what he pulled out, him catching it and inspecting the little white bottle in his hands. He tried reading it, but he couldn't hold still because he was shaking with fury and the words seemed to be floating around on the bottle. He looked up at Slade and raised an eyebrow at the man. "The Advil. I can't have you having a 'headache' on the job kid." He raised his hand and made air quotes when he spoke, but didn't say anything further about it. Percy nodded in thanks, opening the bottle and popping two into his mouth.

"So," Slade began as he swiped over the hologram once more, this time showing a forested area outside the encampment. "There's a clearing in these trees about 3 kilometers out. We'll land the jet there, and make our way on foot. We have the element of surprise for now, the jet will be silent as it lands." Percy may not know much about jets, but he did have one question. "Um, don't you need a runway or something to land?" Slade shook his head no, but said nothing more of it.

"What we do need," he started, "is to improve your arsenal. As of right now, all you have is your sword. What happens if you lose that in a fight? I'm not the world's greatest assassin because I rely solely on one weapon. I'm a walking armory, and I've mastered every single weapon I've ever gotten my hands on. We need to make you more versatile, kid. One day you might end up fighting someone who excels in long range combat, and as of right now you'd have no way of retaliating. Luckily for you, tonight the men you'll be killing are not experts. They're men who'll just point and shoot, causing their shots to be jerky and all over the place."

Percy nodded along with his statement, though he didn't know what other weapons he could use. "I'm not sure if I've ever even shot a gun," he admitted. Then again, he supposed he wouldn't remember even if he had. "That may be true. I'm still holding out that you're a meta human, or something of that nature. From the way those scars looked, and your instincts, I know you've seen battle before. Here's to hoping you have a few tricks up your sleeve." What Slade didn't mention, was that was partly the reason he had brought Percy along with him in the first place. He knew that if someone was battle hardened, even with amnesia their body would take over and the full scope of their known abilities would come out. Just because the mind didn't remember, doesn't mean the body forgot. He tested that theory earlier when he sparred with the kid, and he had been proven correct. If he's right about this, then the full scope of the kid's abilities should come into effect, especially if he goes into a rage and loses control. Slade wanted, no, needed to know what the kid sitting in front of him was capable of.

Percy nodded, and Slade laughed out loud. Percy was confused, and Slade pointed to his hands, which were now at his side, no longer clinging for dear life. "Looks like you forgot about your fear of heights there for a few minutes. Get some rest kid, I'll wake you up when we're 30 minutes out." Slade walked back over to the cockpit and made sure the autopilot was working properly, before walking back and laying casually on the bench opposite of Percy, closing his eye, not even bothering to look at him or to set an alarm to wake up to. He waved it off though, figuring he'd wake up at the right time. Figuring he should probably also get some rest, he closed his eyes trying to sleep, never noticing Athena sending calming signals directly into his head, helping relax.

(-)

The sound of a loud echoing alarm and a flashing red light caused him to jolt out of a dreamless sleep, causing him to look around at his surroundings, momentarily confused. After a brief second, he remembered where he was, as well as what he was doing 30,000 feet in the air. He shook the grogginess out and looked to see Deathstroke already standing, loading and holstering his weapons. Slade looked at Percy and pointed to a gps at the front of the aircraft. "We're approaching the LZ, get ready, we can't afford to be ill prepared."

"Good to go," Percy responded, undoing his straps and standing up, stretching his back out, it popping in the process. "When we're in the woods, make sure you watch out for local predators, I used to hunt around here and there's dangerous game out in these parts." Percy cracked his neck and loosened up his shoulders, the last of his grogginess finally leaving him. "You used to hunt?" He asked.

"Of course. Dangerous game made for the best hunts, and I was good at it. Lions, tigers, elephants and such. Africa is one of the best places for it," Slade replied, inspecting the magazine of one of his pistols

"Hm." Percy walked over to the back of the jet, looking at the transparent displays his mask showed.

"Percy, I mapped out the location and have rendered a 3 dimensional display for you. It'll be in the top right corner of your field of vision," Athena said in his head. Sure enough, the map of the layout, the same one Slade had shown him on his hologram, was floating in front of him. "Cool," he muttered before a thought struck him.

"Hey Athena, what happens when someone goes to shoot me in the head?" He liked the suit and all, but as he was thinking about it, while his body seemed protected, his head, a vital part of living, he assumed, wasn't. Apparently, Athena had that covered though.

"This," she responded, and where the suit started at his neck, nanobots quickly covered his entire head, another protective layer covering his eyes, this one causing a blue light to emit from the eyepieces. An image of the new helmet came up, and Percy had to admit, it was pretty cool. It was sleek, and only black. But the simpleness of it, coupled with the blue light from the eyes, gave it an otherworldly appearance. Just as suddenly as the mask appeared, it disappeared back into his suit, the nanobots retreating from his head.

"It appears that suit has more going for it then I had originally known," Slade said from behind him. Percy turned around and saw Slade standing by the gps, his mask in hand. "Get ready kid, we're over the LZ and landing. We got a small warmup hike through the woods, hope you brought your bug spray."

(-)

The jet had hovered over the ground and landed silently, and the two men worked their way through the woods. The display on Percy's mask helped him keep to the trail , and the added night vision that came with the mask also didn't hurt. After they had landed, Slade pointed in a direction and made it a point to walk separately, in case there were traps along the way it would only slow down one of them. So there Percy was, alone in the woods, the local mosquitoes attracted to his face, hungry for blood. He did his best to ignore them, but they were becoming irritating.

Swatting the petulant bugs away, he finally saw lights in the distance. The woods ended within 100 more feet, and there was a clearing of about 50 yards to the compound. Percy crept up to the nearest tree and knelt behind it. He subconsciously reached for the handle of his blade when a hand landed on shoulder. His grip tightened and he whipped around, only to see Slade kneeling down beside him, mask in hand.

"You ready kid?" Slade asked him, to which Percy responded with a nod. "Good. Try and be silent with your kills, we don't want the whole compound to be alerted of our presence. That'll just make the job harder."

"Good to go," Percy replied before trying to turn around, only to be stopped when Slade once again put his hand on his shoulder. "Wait, my comms frequency is 1980 megahertz. And kid? If you need help, don't be afraid to ask." Slade stood up and donned his mask, pointing to an area that had no guards roaming the area. "You'll be going through there, I'll circle around and find an opening. Let's give them hell." He didn't wait for Percy to respond, instead turning and running under the cover of darkness and shrouded by the tree's shadows. Percy took a deep breath and looked at the location Slade told him to infiltrate from.

"Athena." That was all he needed to say, as his full mask appeared an instant later, covering him completely. "I also added Slade's comm frequency, if you need to talk to him you'll be able to," Athena added. "Cool," Percy muttered under his breath as he took off in a dead sprint, using the cover of shadows to his advantage.

He ducked behind a stone building, just as a guard walked past, slowly drawing his sword. He waited until the guard walked fully past him before he snuck up behind him, grabbed his mouth with one hand and stabbed his sword through his back. At first, his sword seemed to just go through him, but after a second, his sword shimmered and blood splattered from the wound. The man died, and Percy withdrew his sword from the man's body, turning him around and glaring at him. He let the body fall to the floor, eyes still open and now lifeless, before giving a glance to his sword.

"Athena, did you see that?" He asked his suit.

"Indeed. It appears as if your sword had decided not to kill the man, before changing its mind." She replied, directly into his head.

"Right," he muttered, knowing full well that that was impossible. He decided to drop it, his sword still got the job done, and that's all he needed.

"I'm picking up on hostiles in your local area. Around the corner of this building there's two armed men standing guard," Athena informed him. Percy crept up to the edge of the building, peeking around the corner, seeing two men with their backs towards him. Both men were armed with AK-47s, and they were both smoking cigars. He rounded the corner, his back to the wall and sword held at the ready in his right hand. He crept up behind the one on the left, and he shot out his left arm, locking the man in a choke hold while striking the man down on the right with his blade. He then proceeded to turn the man around to face him, stabbing him in the heart. The last thing the man saw was a menacing man in a black suit, glowing eyes and covered in blood.

Percy threw the man to the side in disgust, before putting his back to the corner of the building. Slowly peeking out, he saw four armed guards standing by one of the building doors, laughing and joking around as a woman was crying on the ground in front of them. Percy's blood started to boil, and he ran out into the street, forsaking all manner of cover as he blitzed the four men taking advantage of the woman. The men didn't see him until it was too late, as all the armed men were focused on the woman.

The man closest to him had his head separated from his body, and the other men freaked out, jumping back in surprise as they raised their guns and opened fire. The rounds bounced off his suit, and Percy slowly advanced on the men, Riptide glinting wickedly in the moonlight. The woman screamed, and he lunged, slashing his sword in a wide arc, taking one of the men's arms with him. The man screamed as he fell, dropping his weapon. Percy stabbed the man in the temple, silencing his cries forever. The other men saw this and turned to run, but Percy instinctively raised his free hand and closed his fist. There was a cry of pain that escaped both of the soldiers' lips, before they fell to the ground, never to move again.

Percy looked at his hand after in confusion. "What the hell?" He muttered, before the sounds of shouting and people running snapped him back to reality. He looked at the woman on the ground and ran to her side. "Hey, are you okay?" The woman freaked out, however, and ran inside the building, probably spooked by the man in black and blue and covered with blood. "I was just trying to help," he complained as a round bounced off the back of his shoulder, the force of the impact causing him to lose balance and stumble forward. He regained his footing, spinning around and seeing 20 armed men with guns running in his direction. He tried raising his hand again and making a fist, but this time nothing happened.

All the soldiers then opened fire, and the force of 20 fully automatic weapons being fired at once caused him to tumble back once more. "Oh shichst!" He yelled as he managed to stop himself from falling with one hand and ran for cover behind the building the woman had run into.

"Sir, it appears that we are taking heavy fire," Athena helpfully said directly into his head.

"Oh really? I haven't noticed!" He shouted into the night, looking down the alley. Seeing no one, he ran to the end and ran around a corner, finding himself behind more stone buildings. The gun fire stopped and he heard the men shouting in another language as they ran towards the direction Percy had darted off to. Percy hid right behind the edge of the building, waiting for the men to turn the corner. If he couldn't fight them from a distance, then he'd have to bring them closer to him.

"What the hell kid!" Slade's voice rang out in his head, momentarily throwing him for a loop. At that moment, the men rounded the corner and came face to face with Percy.

"Not now, Slade!" Percy yelled as he started cutting through the men left and right, leaving a path of dead bodies and a river of blood flowing into the streets. Within a minute, all the men were dead or dying, bleeding out in the back alley.

"Whatever it is you did caused you to lose the element of surprise!" Slade hissed into his head. Percy looked at his sword, covered in blood. He glanced at the map and saw that if he continued down the alley he would only be two streets from the old government building where Giovanni was currently held up. "Percy, 6 more hostiles approaching from behind."

"Not now!" He shouted as he still spun around, facing 6 very surprised looking soldiers. Percy leapt into action, the men not even having time to react as Percy made his way through the squad of soldiers, adding another 6 to his body count for the night.

"Kid, what the hell are you doing?" Slade shouted, and Percy found it weird that he heard Slade fighting in the background, but in his head. He turned around and started running, following the path Athena laid out for him.

"The damn job!" Percy growled as he rounded a corner and saw a man with an RPG pointing at him. "Fuck me," Percy groaned as the man fired the missile at him. Percy dove to the right, narrowly avoided the middle as it continued sailing behind him, hitting a building and exploding. Percy whipped around and winced when he saw the explosion. Now they officially lost the element of surprise. More shouts could be heard, and when he turned around he saw the man reloading the missile launcher.

"Kid! You're causing quite a ruckus. What's your body count right now?"

"Like 30," Percy absentmindedly said as he chose to charge the man head on, running faster than a normal human should've been able to. The man fired the RPG, but Percy twisted to the side at the last second, the missile harmlessly sailing past him. The man yelled something, and Percy closed the remaining distance faster than should've been humanly possible. The man dropped his missile launcher and tried pulling out a pistol from his holster, but Percy stabbed him in the throat, then withdrew his sword from the man's flesh. He did a quick count, then said out loud, "Actually, now that's 30." The shouts were getting closer as even more men appeared, around 50 soldiers, 40 on the ground and 10 on the roofs of the buildings.

"Gods dammit! I can't catch a fucking break!" He yelled, deciding to charge the big group head on. They were twenty yards away and opened fire, causing Percy to have to forsake his plan of a straight on approach.

"Kid, you killed 30 already?" Slade asked. "Um, yeah. Now I got like 50 on my ass!" Percy yelled out, crashing into the door of a building to take cover. There was a soldier with a gun waiting for him, but Percy bolted forward and stabbed him in the gut, causing the man to cough up blood. He heard something behind him and he whipped around, just in time to see a man throw a grenade in the building and dive for cover.

"For fuck's sake!" Percy groaned as he dove behind a wall, the blast shaking the building. He quickly jumped to his feet, and decided to charge the door anyways. Another man appeared with another grenade in the doorway, but Percy jumped on him and stabbed him in the face, before picking up the grenade and throwing it at the men firing at him. It exploded, killing 9 more of the men. "Only a small army to go," Percy groaned out loud as he ran and took cover behind another building.

"Would you like to request some assistance?" Slade asked as Percy ran down another alley, explosions from grenades following his trail.

"Not now!" He yelled, coming across three more men, their guns pointed at his face. They fired, and Percy lashed out with his sword, taking the hand of the man closest to him. As he screamed and fell to the ground,, Percy stomped on his head, before grabbing another by the neck. He swung at the last man with his blade, carving a deep, fatal gash in his chest. He then picked up the man he had a hold of, before slamming into the dirt so hard it shattered his skull.

Percy was getting pissed, the army never seemed to end! He didn't realize the clouds forming overhead, or the fact that the winds were picking up around him. He just continued running, looking at the map Athena had made. He found himself on the main road once again, and realized that the building he needed was only several hundred feet away. The only problem was the army of men that awaited him. Around 40 armed men stood between him and his main goal, and he was to pissed to even think rationally. He felt the splatter of a raindrop, then water started swirling around him, creating his own personal hurricane. Lightning flickered throughout, and Percy felt a surge of power flow within him, starting deep in his gut and spreading throughout his body.

He didn't question it, forsaking logic and instead going off instinct. He quickly decided that rushing the men that stood between him and his target was his best bet, so that's what he did. The men seemed terrified, but knowing what would happen if any one of them survived, he opted to show no mercy. He was met with little resistance, and he became a whirlwind of death. The soldiers tried shooting, but they never hit their target, both because of the strong winds around him and his new body armor. He lost all train of thought, instead relying on pure instinct alone as he painted the streets red with blood. He started seeing red, but his body seemed to know what it was doing before Percy even knew what it was doing. His blade became a blur, as he hacked, slashed, and twirled, even though he was in the midst of enemy denizens, it was the enemies, the guys with the guns, who were falling left and right. Percy would have slaughtered the entire army if it hadn't been for the single person with common sense.

A man on the roof, armed with another RPG, fired right into the midst of friend and foe. The force of the blast causing Percy to get thrown backwards into another building, momentarily knocking the wind out of him. He looked through the hole in the wall to realize there were only about three survivors on the ground, each with their weapons trained on him. The man on the roof readied another missile, and took aim at the whole in the building. Slowly getting to his feet, a tight grip on his sword, he stood defiantly. He didn't have time to process that the hurricane had stopped, or that the clouds overhead had grown larger and darker. Percy's sole focus was the man on the roof, as he readied his missile launcher.

"Slade," Percy growled out.

"Finally asking for help?" Slade retorted, still on the other side of the compound.

"No, I want a raise." The man on the roof fired his weapon, and Percy darted forward, leaping over the three men on the ground. He ducked his head under the missile as it flew over him, killing the three men still standing at the hole in the wall. Percy set his feet, squared his hips, and reared back, preparing to throw his sword. The man on the room quickly fumbled with a grenade, shouting something in that same foreign language he didn't understand. Not that Percy cared, because before the man could throw his grenade, Percy threw his sword with deadly force and pinpoint accuracy, nailing the man right in the throat. The mask over his head receded into his suit as Percy started breathing heavily, gulping in fresh air. "What's your status, kid?" he head Slade's voice in his head ask.

"Athena? What is my status?" He inquired to his suit, finally feeling the adrenaline fading from his body and the pain in his ribs coming back in full force. "Suit is at 37% capacity, damage was sustained to the suit but I still remain fully operational. Total casualties thus far equals 129," Athena suit happily replied.

Percy frowned when he heard that. He killed over 100 people in one night? He shook the thought from his head and started walking towards the building the target was supposed to be hiding out in. "I'm approaching the target now, I'm just ready to end this," Percy replied to Deathstroke, walking up the path of the building. "Good kid. I took out the warlord, you just have to finish off your target, free those kids, and then we can leave this infernal place and patch you up."

Percy didn't respond, instead throwing open the door to the old government building and walking in. He reached to draw his sword from his back, taking solace in the fact that it returned to him, sheathed and ready to reap more souls. He drew his sword and started inspecting the first room he found, only to find it empty. It appeared to be an armory that was recently cleaned out, which probably explained the whole mass of weapons the army was using against him just a few minutes ago. Seeing as his target was not present, he closed the door and continued trekking the building.

"Athena, can you locate anyone in the building?" He asked his Ai.

"I count 23 heat signatures on the second story, third door to the left from the stairwell," she informed him. She updated the map on his display, and he followed it to a set of stairs in the back of the building. Slowly creeping up the stairs, he could hear the faintest sounds of multiple people crying coming from the room Athena had mentioned. His sword at the ready, and his mask forming up over his head once more, he made his way do the third door on the left and slowly put his hand on the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, he threw the door open to find a horrifying scene. The kidnapped children were in their all right, but not all of them were alive. He counted 7 dead bodies, along with 22 other kids, doing their best to cower in the far back corner of the cramped room. The kids screamed when they saw him, but he couldn't focus on that, as he had to focus on the man holding a gun, pointing it at the nearest child's head.

"Well, isn't this a surprise," the well dressed man intoned, clearly looking irritated. Percy went to take a step forward, but the man help up a finger on his free hand, halting his advance.

"Not uh, uh. You take another step, and I unload this fully automatic weapon into the skulls of these children. Keep that in mind." Percy let loose a feral growl and tightened his grip on his sword. "Good, good. Now then, onto business. We should get our introductions out of the way, seeing as I haven't exactly heard of you, or a man who fits your description. I, am Giovanni Williamsen. Care to tell me who you are?"

"Go to Hades," Percy growled out, his anger threatening to take over. He knew he had to keep his cool, this man obviously wasn't bluffing when he said he'd kill those children, the 7 dead bodies in the room were enough proof of that, the youngest appearing to be no older than 8 years old.

"That's a new one," Giovanni replied, waving his hand in the air. "But I can assure, I know what you meant, and you're certainly not the first person to tell me to go to Hell. Still though, I want to know who it is that was able to tear through all my employers men, and who is the one bloodthirsty enough to do it. How about you take off your mask and show me who exactly you are under there."

"And why would I do that?" Percy growled out, realizing it was growing harder and harder to suppress his rage. His breathing turned ragged, and black dots started to slowly cover his vision.

"Why? Because if you don't, this room is going to have a lovely new paint job."

"Fuck you!" Percy spat, his helmet coming off against his wishes. Athena must've made an executive call, and Percy couldn't exactly blame her, even though he wanted too. This man should never get anything he wanted.

"Well, would you look at that, another mask. How annoying," the man deadpanned. "Disappointing as it may be, I am regrettable to inform you that you have overstayed your welcome. Leave, if you don't want these children's bodies on your conscious." Percy, however didn't leave. Instead, he instinctively raised his hand and started speaking.

"How dare you, how dare you use and exploit children in such a manner. You're a murder, and you deserve all the punishment the afterlife has to offer." His eye's started glowing a fiery phosphorescent green that was visible under the tinted eye lenses, and Percy felt a tug deep in his gut. "I'll make sure your death is painful, and that the last thing you ever see is my eye's, eye's that you'll remember until the end of time as you endure eternal torment." He slowly closed his hand into a fist and Giovanni screamed, dropping the weapon and clutching his head.

"Wh- what are you doing ah! To me! Ah!" Percy had an evil glint in his eyes, and a malicious smile on his face. He walked up to the man and knelt down, his glowing green eyes boring into the screaming man's brown ones. "Nothing much," Percy replied with a sadistic grin. "I'm boiling your blood, any second now the pain is going to be to much to bear. Tell me, are you going to use that gun to shoot yourself, or are you going to let me kill you in the most painful way I can manage?"

Giovanni, squirming and screaming on the ground, tried to reach for the fallen weapon, desperate to put an end to his misery. Percy smirked, grabbing the weapon and throwing it behind him. "Wrong answer," he said with a grin. He looked over at the frightened children and motioned his head to the door, indicating that he want them to get out of there. The children, not needing to be told twice, all ran for the door, scared and frightened. Seeing as the room was clear, he turned his attention back to the man, who was screaming, begging for his life.

"You know," Percy began, "I have no idea what I'm doing. My body took over, and I'm just going off instincts now." Giovanni was now writhing in so much pain, he couldn't form coherent sentences even if he tried. "But would you like to know what by instincts are saying, right now? What my body is telling me?" Percy reached out a hand and placed it on the man's head, the nanobots receding up his arm. He bent down till he was only an inch away from his face, so close that he could spell the fact that the man had wet himself. "My body is saying I can make this much, much more painful, if I just. Do. This." He had no idea what he was doing, but it clearly worked, as the man screamed so loud that boiling blood started gurgling in his throat, his eyes bulging out of his skull. With one last, extremely loud cry, the man stopped moving, never to harm another child again.

Percy stood up, and a wave of exhaustion over took him, causing him to stumble backwards. A pair of arms caught him, easing him to the ground. "Woah there, kid. You put a hell of a lot of strain on your body tonight, take it easy for a bit." Slade laid him down and took a knee, surveying the damage to Giovanni. His body was a bright pink, and he could smell something burning, as if his insides were charred.

"What about the children?" Percy asked, already feeling himself fade into unconsciousness. "I contacted the man who gave us the contract. He's having them get picked up by interpol, after a few questions they'll hopefully make it back to their families."

"Good, good," he muttered before he promptly passed out. Slade sighed and looked over at Giovanni's body once again. Percy hadn't noticed him, but he was standing behind him while he was kneeling over the man. He could barely make out what he was saying over the screaming, and if the mountain of dead bodies was anything to go off of outside, coupled with the screams from the dead man if front of them, well, mercy clearly wasn't much of a top priority on Percy's list tonight. He pulled out a disposable camera he keeps with him at all times, for proof that the job was done. He snapped a picture of the corpse, before hoisting Percy up in a fireman's carry and carrying him back to the jet.

(-)

Slowly opening his eyes and looking around, Percy noticed that he was in the room that Rose had given him the previous day. He threw off the covers and tried to sit up, only for him to gasp in pain and grab his ribs. He had momentarily forgotten about the job, but the pain was a quick reminder of the previous nights endeavors. Taking a deep breath and throwing off the blankets, he made his way out of his room and into the living room, where Slade, Rose and Cheshire were lounging around, apparently taking a day off. Slade looked up once Percy entered the room and held up a beer in his hand.

"You did good last night, kid. I had Wintergreen make you a bank account, and last night's employer wired you the money, plus a bonus for taking out over 100 men last night." Cheshire, who was lounging on a recliner, looked up and lazily grinned.

"I heard you were brutal last night. A true bred killer through and through. Heard you also tortured your target somehow before you killed him. That's some heavy stuff."

Percy scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. "Honestly, I don't remember much of last night. I remember there were times where my vision went black and red, and when I came too, I would be standing over more bodies then before." Slade nodded at his statement while Rose just looked at him curiously. "Speaking of which, how much did I end up making last night?" Percy asked.

Slade stood up and stretched, before walking into the kitchen, grabbing another beer from the fridge. He tossed his bottle in the trash, and the sound of glass hitting other glass and shattering could be heard. He used his fingers to flick off the cap, before taking a huge gulp. Smacking his lips, he looked over at the green eyed teen and smirked. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"That bad?" He asked surprised, taking a seat on a free chair and running a hand through his hair. He groaned and grabbed his ribs, before throwing his head back and closing his eyes. He was so freaking tired for some reason.

"Try 5.2 million dollars." Slade casually replied as he took another sip, causing Percy to jerk straight up and look at him in disbelief. "Come again?" he said cautiously.

Slade shrugged and repeated himself, "5.2 million, American dollars." Percy's jaw dropped and everyone in the room chuckled. Rose finally spoke, "Look Percy, you're a millionaire." Percy remained speechless, he had no idea that the job was that high, or that people would pay that much to have someone killed to begin with.

"Holy Hera!" he exclaimed, not noticing everyone's question gazes at this unusual exclamation. No one said anything, though, and Percy noticed something. He was wearing a watch over his left wrist, only a few inches below his SPQR faded tattoo. He held up his arm and cast a questioning glance at Slade.

"It's your suit kid, we tried to take it off, but if just formed that watch and spouted something about recharging. We left it there, figuring it wasn't going to do you any harm." Slade then stood up and grabbed a bag from the ground by his feet. "Anyways, I'm off. I'll be back in a week, I need to head to Markovia. After I get back, me and you kid, we got some training to do." He took another large drink of his beer and tossed it through the open door and into the trash can in the next room over. No one said anything though, as if it was a normal, casual occurrence for him to make shot like that.

Percy glanced at the bag, it seemed pretty big and he was wondering just what was actually in there. "Training? Sure, I don't think extra training has ever hurt anyone." Slade smirked and started walking away. "While I'm gone kid, I want you to do some research."

"Research on what?" Percy already knew that studying wasn't exactly something he liked doing, he didn't need his memories to remember that.

"Apparently everyone is getting a new protégé these days, hero or not. Ra's has a new top assassin. He showed up a few weeks ago, and the man is a ruthless killer. No doubt he'll try and make his move against my new organization, and I can't have him interfering with my little experiment that's going on."

"Ra's?" He knew he heard that name before, as he was trying to remember, it suddenly clicked. "Oh wait! Ra's," he turned to Rose. "That was one of the people you brought up when trying to figure out who trained me." Rose nodded, and Percy turned back to Slade. "But who is he?" Stopping at the door and turning around, Slade had an annoyed look on his face.

"Who is he? Well, the bloody bastard leads a top secret organization called the League of Assassins. A group of highly trained, deadly mercenaries that are not only trained to kill, but also espionage, black mail, cyber and political warfare."

Whistling, Percy leaned back in his chair. "That seems like a lot. Why exactly am I researching them? Are we going to take them all out or something?" Smirking, Slade turned around and put his hand on the doorway. "No kid. You're going to infiltrate the League of Assassins."