Chapter 2

"So, um, quick question. Who bandaged me up and changed my clothes?" Percy asked Rose, realizing that as he was looking in the mirror he was in fact, clean now.

Rose just blushed and turned away. "My Father told me to clean you up since it was mainly my idea to bring you here. I have to nurse you back to health also. Luckily, though, you seemed to heal fast. After I gave you a bath you seemed to be in less pain. After that I bandaged you up."

"Woah woah woah. You took me a bath?" Percy held his head and turned away from her, feeling embarrassed.

"I kind of had to. Disappointing my Father is a bad idea, and he wasn't happy you were covered in blood and who know what else."

"Oh." He turned around and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "My bad, sorry about that."

"You really can't remember anything?"

"You will be banished from this World! This Realm!"

"No! I was set up! It wasn't me! They attacked me and tried to kill me! You know I would never do that!"

"Where are the bodies?!"

"Percy?"

"Huh?" He looked at her in confusion as she had a concerned look on her face.

"You were staring off into space with a blank expression on your face. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

She hesitantly took a step towards him. "Did you remember something?"

Percy looked at the scars on his arms while he answered her. "Just a conversation. The same conversation, bits and pieces of it, at least."

"What was it?"

Percy saw a white T-shirt on the dresser and walked over to put it on. "I don't know. It doesn't really make sense, anyways. Is it alright if I take a shower?"

"Not yet, we have to meet my Father, first."

"Alright." Percy nodded in thought. "Where is he at?"

Rose turned towards the door and gestured for Percy to follow. "He's in the training room."

"You guys have a training room?" Percy asked as he followed her out the room and down the hallway into a living area. Apparently, they were in a really big house because one of the walls was a glass sliding panel with a balcony, and it was over looking a crystal blue lake with forests and some mountains in the distance.

"Woah. Now that's a view. Where are we?"

"Wyoming."

"Oh cool, I don't think I've ever been to Wyoming."

"Would you remember if you did?"

"Fair point."

Rose led him to a door on the other side of the room and turned towards Percy.

"Listen, he only agreed to take you in because you might have potential with a blade. He's one of the best swordsman in the entire world, maybe even in the top 5. He's going to want to spar with you, be careful. He's trying to get on my good side at the moment, so he's willing to do anything, even not kill you. Well, not intentionally at least."

Percy audibly gulped. "Well, that's not terrifying."

"No pressure?" Rose winced and gave two thumbs up, then turned around to open the door.

"Woah," was all he could say, the place was huge! He was standing inside a room bigger than the size of a gymnasium, with wooden floors and wrestling mats spread out throughout the place. Against one of the walls were weapons racks with everything from swords, knives and spears to automatic rifles and missile launchers. On the opposite wall were a set of weights with several punching bags on either side of the weight lifting set.

On one of the wrestling mats was Deathstroke, not wearing his armor or his mask, but he has an eyepatch on his right eye. He was currently sparring with a female in a deadly dance of blades, so mesmerizing that Percy didn't even realize Rose was talking.

"-Cheshire. She's a world famous assassin."

"Yeah, she's good with a blade. They both are." Percy turned towards Rose while motioning over to the two assassins dueling it out. "You really think I'm going to be able to keep up with them? You can barely see the swords, they're just a blur."

"Honestly, no idea. But you better hope you can hold your own against him. If you can't, well you'll be up shit's creek that's for sure."

"Well thanks for that vote of confidence. If I have no memory, how am I even supposed to remember how to fight? That's if I can even fight!"

"Instinct and muscle memory."

"Holy Hades!" Percy nearly jumped five feet in the air and turned around to see Deathstroke and Cheshire walking up to them. "Memory or not, being a trained swordsman isn't something you can just lose overnight. Based on the shape of your physical body, I'd say you had to have training somewhere. Your scars are another indicator that you have either seen battle or have been tortured. Perhaps both."

"Father, this is Percy. Percy, Father and Cheshire."

"What's up, nice to meet you guys," Perct extended a hand for Deathstroke to shake, but he just stared at him. Cheshire spoke up, "He's kind of oblivious, isn't he?"

"What's she talking about?" He asked Rose. She just sighed and gestured towards her Father.

"He's called Deathstroke the Terminator, King of Assassins for a reason. He's the best assassin in the world. And you," she shook her head before continuing, "you just tried to shake his hand like you have a death wish."

"Oh come on! What am I supposed to do? If anything, wouldn't it be a good idea to be nice to the guy who's a professional killer?" Deathstroke smirked before turning to Cheshire.

"I like this one. Got a good head on his shoulders."

"Um, yeah. About that, I'd like to keep my head on my shoulders, thank you very much," Percy interjected.

"Hm. Maybe I take it back. Get on the mat boy."

"Right now? I'm still kind of healing."

Quicker then the his eyes could follow, Deathstroke had his sword to Percy's neck. "If you want, I could spare me the trouble and take your head right now. What do you say?"

"You know what? I just had a great idea. I think I'm going to head to the mat now." Percy gently pushed the sword away from his neck and walked to the mat where Deathstroke and been sparring Cheshire earlier before. Deathstroke followed him up.

"Your blade disappeared when we brought you here, so Cheshire is going to get you a blade that's balanced to you."

Percy reached into his pocket and sure enough, the ball point pen was in there. He pulled it out and held it up. "No need, I have my blade."

"When they say the pen is mightier then the sword, I don't think they were intending for you to bring it into battle."

"Ha ha, funny," Percy deadpanned before uncapping his pen, his three foot glowing bronze blade appearing in his hands. After a moment of silence, Deathstroke nodded.

"So you're blade is magical, then. A xiphos. Haven't seen anyone ever fight with one."

Percy studied his blade more closely in the light. It was glowing slightly, and the hilt had golden studs decorating the handle. The base of the sword read 'Anaklusmos,' "Riptide," he whispered.

"You can read Ancient Greek?" He turned to his opponent and shrugged.

"No idea, but this is my sword, Riptide. You ready to get this over with?" They both got into a ready stance with their swords held out.

"This blade is called the Deathstroke, A Scottish Warblade with Promethium infused into the blade. Hopefully, it has found a worth opponent. The rules are simple, if you can disarm me, you win. If I disarm you or kill you, I win. Ready? Go!"

Percy didn't even have time to comprehend what he said because Deathstroke went for a killing blow right away, forcing Percy to roll underneath his blade and come up behind him, stunned he just did that.

"Not bad, but let's see how you do in actual combat!"

Deathstroke advanced and stared to press him faster and faster, forcing Percy to go on the defensive . Suddenly, it was like a lightbulb went off in his head and the world around him slowed down. He was able to see the muscles tensing, able to predict where he was going to strike next. Suddenly, Percy went on autopilot and started to force Deathstroke back across the mat. Every jab was knocked away, every slash parried, and before he knew it he had Deathstroke on the defensive. He was a beacon of Death, participating in a deadly dance of blades, one that he knew he had been a part of many times before. He had no idea how, but in a last ditch effort to end it, Deathstroke went for a finishing overhead blow. Percy saw it coming from a mile away and met his blade with his own, slid Riptide to the base of Deathstroke, forcing all his weight to off balance the mercenary. He twisted his sword and the assassin's blade tumbled to the mat, leaving him unarmed with Percy's sword at his neck. They were both breathing heavily and Percy's autopilot turned off, causing him to stumble off the mat from exhaustion.

Rose and Cheshire just stood there with shocked expressions on their faces. "Percy, how did you-?"

"No idea," he panted, on hand on his knee with the other hand on his ribs. He grimaced in pain and slowly stood up. "Whatever adrenaline that was, it left my system. Anyone have a water bottle?"

Deathstroke walked up from behind him and patted his shoulder. "That wasn't just adrenaline, boy. You have a gift, a talent. It's been molded into a fine tuned beacon of death. I can't wait to see what you can do when you're fully healed, and what other surprises you have in store for us." He walked over to a fridge against the wall, taking a water bottle out and tossing it to Percy. "Drink up, kid. You're going to need a shower and some rest. Rose, show him to his more permanent room here. And get him a change of clothes. He's going to be joining our new Titans group after all."

Rose slightly bowed her head in acknowledgment. "Yes Father." She turned to start heading out of the training room, "Come on Percy, you can go take your shower now."

"One last thing." Deathstroke walked up to Percy and held his hand out. Percy hesitatingly reached out and shook his hand. "You have my respect, Percy. I'm Slade, Slade Wilson."

"Good to formally meet you, Slade." He nodded and motioned for him to join up with Rose. Percy let go of his hand and turned to follow the Daughter of Slade for a shower.

Once they were out side the training room and the door was closed, Rose turned to him.

"How on Earth did you do that? You beat him! There's very few people in the world who could beat him!"

"I don't know, but I got the feeling he was holding back some. I mean, he doesn't just use a sword, right?"

"Well, no. But that shouldn't matter! He's one of the best swordsman in the world, and you, someone around my age beat him. You talked about not even seeing the blades from his spar with Cheshire, but you guys were moving so much faster. It was nuts."

"We're we really?"

"Yep. Who trained you? Lady Shiva? Ra's?"

"Look," he lead up his hands to stop her from talking. "I have no idea who trained me, or who those people are. I have no memory, remember?"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, she just turned and walked down the hall towards Percy's new room. "One way or another, we're getting your memories back. You have to have been enhanced somehow. There's no other way you could've kept up with him other wise."

"What do you mean, 'enhanced?'" He asked her as he followed on her tail.

"My Father was part of an experiment that turned him into something other then a human. The only way he can die now is if he falls in battle, and he's stronger, faster and way more smarter. He can utilize his brain 90% more efficiently then a regular person's, not to mention he has a regenerational ability."

"Woah. That sounds nuts!"

"It does, but you have to have had some experiments like he did done on you. That, or you're a meta."

"A what?"

"Meta-human? Someone with a latent gene that grants them powers?"

"Nope, not ringing any bells."

They stopped in front of a door and she turned to him, leaning against it. "Look, I get it. You have no memories. But we'll find a way to get them back so we can both have answers. Till then, though, this is your new room. Make yourself at home." She opened the door and Percy was left almost speechless. Apparently everything in this house was just big by default.

There was a King sized bed in the middle of the room, with a 75" flat screen TV mounted on the wall opposite of it. Underneath, there was a dresser with a huge mirror on top. The back wall had a glass door and a balcony overlooking the Lake, and to the right of that was a door that lead to the bathroom. He walked in and was blown away once again. There was a huge shower with a glass door, a wrap-around sink, a tub that looked like it could fit 4 people, and a Hot-Tub. He turned to Rose and gestured to everything around him.

"Is this really all mine?"

She just nodded before walking to the bathroom door. "The towels are in the bathroom closet, the shampoo, body wash and conditioner is in the shower all ready. There's some clothes that might fit you in the dresser, but if not we can go shopping some other time. I bought some when I got you your sweats a week and a half ago. I kind of guessed your size though, so not sure if it'll fit."

Percy was speechless, he may not have his memory, but he was pretty sure he never had anything as nice as this to call his own. "Thank you, Rose."

"Eh, don't mention it. Just shower and do your thing. Take a nap after or something. Dinner will be ready by 9:30." She turned and walked out, leaving Percy standing in a bathroom that he figured would've made the gods jealous.

"Wait, what?" All of a sudden, a searing pain flared in his head, but as soon as it came, it passed. "Ow." He slowly stood back up and opened the water that Slade gave him, downing it. Almost instantly, he started to feel better. "This has to be some special water or something, Holy Crap that's cool!"

He went to his new dresser and found some black sweat pants and a black T-shirt with some boxers. He then went and got a towel out before stripping to take a shower. Looking at the bandages covering his torso, Percy made the executive decision to take them off. Slowly unwrapping them, he winced in pain as he finally got the last bandage off, noticing more scars and the unusual looking bruise that went from his ribs and wrapped all the way around him. It looked nasty.

Sighing in pain, Percy turned on the water and got in, hoping to feel slightly refreshed. What he didn't expect was for him to get a feeling of power surge through him as soon as the water made contact. His ribs didn't hurt as much and when he looked at his bruise, it appeared to start shrinking. Slowly, but shrinking nonetheless. Percy put his hand on his ribs and he could feel them mending together, bone grinding against bone as his body worked to put itself together faster in the water then what should've been possible. "Okay then?"

For about 20 minutes Percy just stood still, letting the water heal him. He wasn't fully healed by any means, but instead of a searing numb pain everywhere, he just felt really, really sore. He cleaned himself up and got out of the shower to dry himself off. He grabbed his towel, thinking about drying off when the strangest thing happened: he was instantly dry.

"Oi!" Dropping his towel, he looked at his arms to find no trace of water on him, almost as if he never took a shower in the first place. Rubbing his temples, Percy shook his head really hard. "I need a nap." He got dressed, tossed his discarded clothes in the corner of his room and flopped on his bed. His final thought of consciousness was that the bed he was in was hella comfy when he drifted off to sleep.

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Percy was standing in a dimly lit cavern, at least he thought it was a cavern by the black rocky walls and black sand on the ground. When he looked up though, he saw a red sky, with misty blood like clouds looming overhead. He realized he was actually in a canyon, and he had a bad feeling about the place he was in. Almost like it invoked innate fear. He stumbled backwards and heard laughing behind him. Slowly turning around, Percy stood paralyzed, petrified by fear.

Standing before him was a giant humanoid shadow, his body swirling around itself with grotesque images that couldn't be made out clearly. His face was was a swirling vortex, with eyes so black he couldn't really make them out and a mouth with sharp, purple teeth.

"The little hero, stands petrified before me."

Percy felt like he was being pulled towards the mass, so he took a step back, trying to find proper footing. He steeled his nerves and managed to get himself to speak.

"What- who are you?" The shadow giant put one hand on his chin like he was deep in thought before putting his hand down and addressing Percy once more.

"Who or what I am doesn't matter right now. But I guess you could say we're family."

"I'm related to you? Funny, I don't think I've seen you at family reunions."

"Even in the face of the King of Nightmares, you manage to joke? I like that. Which is why you can thank me for your current situation."

"Wait, what?"

"Young, young Perseus. You have survived something not many others have even attempted to face. Walked where men and gods were too terrified to walk. You had impressed me, so I decided to watch you. When I caught wind of an elaborate plot to kill you, I seized that chance!"

Percy took another cautious step backwards. "Chance for what, exactly?"

"Why, to intervene. A certain, Uncle, of yours became paranoid about your power. You accomplished things he couldn't even dream of, and you started to scare him. Going behind the councils back, he came up with an elaborate way to frame you for an act you didn't commit, all to make sure you disappeared from the face of the Earth."

"Wait, my uncle wanted me dead? What could I have possibly done to scare someone so much that he wanted to kill me?"

"You murdered your cousins and your love."

Percy fell back stunned, processing what the supposed King of Nightmares just told him. He killed his own family? His lover? That couldn't be right.

"At least, that's what he wanted everyone to believe. One of my kin had to have been working with him, because his plan was genius, and there's no way in Me that he could've came up with that plan on his own."

"One of your kin?"

"Precisely, someone with a grudge against you. I couldn't figure out who it was, but I figured I'd reward you at least and not get you killed. His original plan was to kill you, but I managed to manipulate him to send you here instead.

"And where is here, exactly?" Percy asked as he gestured to his surrounding landscape.

"Not this place, another Earth. A place free from your treacherous family. This place," the giant shadow gestured all around him, "this is me, my home, and my domain."

"I don't get it."

"No, I suppose you don't. All in good time. You will get your memories back, eventually. And you'll hate everyone when you do. What they did, it was enough to drive you over the edge. I couldn't suppress all the feelings, but suppressing your memories for now has dulled that sense of hatred, the need for revenge, for bloodshed. It's not gone, not at all. But it's nowhere near what it will be in the future."

"My own family tried to kill me, do you really blame me for getting pissed?"

"Not at all. You had closer ties with family then I ever did, or ever will. But our time is going to be cut short. Just know this, on this World, you are not alone. Do what you must, be who you want to be, but be vigilant. In time, all will be revealed to you."

The swirling mass of shadow started to dissipate, and Percy ran after him with his hand outstretched. "Wait! Why can't you just tell me what's going on? Who are you, really?"

"All in good time. You'll understand one day." With that last ominous sentence, the giant shadow man disappeared completely, leaving Percy alone in the dark, hellish canyon.

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Percy woke up with a sweat, heart pounding fast against his chest. "Percy?" He looked over and saw Rose standing in the doorway, curiously watching him.

"You good?"

Taking a deep breath, he nodded. "Okay then. Dinner's ready. My Father had to leave with Cheshire, but you're welcome to come down and eat. It's chicken."

Percy's stomach growled, and it occurred to him that he actually couldn't remember the last time he ate. He got out of bed and stretched, before following Rose to the kitchen for some food. On a table, was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. A whole roasted chicken, with Macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and corn covered the entire table. "That's a lot of food, what's the occasion?"

Rose just rolled her eyes and sat down, grabbing a plate and helping herself to the food. "There is no occasion. My Dad has a personal chef and he makes way to much food. There's probably going to be a lot left when you're done."

Percy sat down and grabbed a plate, grinning wickedly.

"Oh, you're on!"

30 minutes later

Rose just sat back, wide eyed as she stared at Percy demolish the last of the Mac, absolutely eating everything he could. He finished his final bowl and closed his eyes and sat back, a content smile on his face.

"How the Hell are you even in shape? There's nothing left!"

"Was I supposed to save some?"

"Well, no. It was going to get thrown out anyways."

"Well, glad we didn't waste anything. Though I am stuffed now."

Rose just shook her head, standing up. "Come on, help me clean up."

For the next twenty minutes, Percy was doing the dishes while Rose was who knows where, when he heard someone walk in.

"Hey kid, we got a job." Percy turned around to find Slade back, dressed like a business man. "A job?"

"Someone is paying us to kill someone. And you're coming with me."

Percy put the dish he was working on down back in the sink and leaned against the counter. "Alright, cool. If I'm going with you does that mean I get a cut?"

"Of course. You'll be getting most of it, actually."

Percy raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Really? Why?"

"Because you're the one whose going to kill the bloody bastard."

"Alright then. Who's the target?"

Slade handed him a tablet with a picture of a man. "This is Giovanni Williamsen. A crime boss who specializes in human trafficking, especially children. He kidnaps them then sells them off as child soldiers for developing countries, and we just got offered to take him out."

Percy felt a rage boiling up in his gut as he handed the tablet back to Slade. "I'm in. This son of a bitch won't know what hit him. When do we leave?"

Slade looked up and smirked, "How soon can you get ready?"