This Arc Is For Patricia

August 4th, 4:05 PM, Gotham City

I think the three of us men knew on some level they needed a bit of time to celebrate. Once we had Paula on the couch, Batman took the lead.

"You should have a doctor look you over. They can confirm how the healing went, and help you decide what rehabilitation would be best for you." He reached into a belt and slipped out a business card. "This is a woman who works in Gotham. She'll be able to help you."

"I have doctors." Paula said as she took the card.

"Yes. And I have mine."

'Nuff said. When the Batman gives you a business card, you take that person on the card as trustworthy.

Except, I was pretty sure the doctor in question was Leslie Thompkins. As I stood in that small room with Chansey next to me, I thought about that for a moment. Leslie had been a good person. A kind of girlfriend to Alfred, a solid doctor, someone who was well-loved by the Bat-family.

Until she let one of them die to prove a point.

And I know, retcons came into place and all. But even so-

Chansey tugged my jacket. I looked down to see her motion at my watch. "Chansey." She said pointedly.

"Oh shit, yeah." The others in the room looked over at me. "Sorry, I have to go. I got invited somewhere."

"Where to?" Green Arrow asked curiously as I headed for the door.

"Can't tell you!" I called back. "If you need me, call Diana! Thanks having me Paula!"

I rushed out with Chansey alongside me, shutting the door to the apartment behind me before anyone could say a word. As I ran through the beat up hallway, a quick thumb at my belt put Chansey back in her ball, the pink nurse giving me an encouraging smile before she collapsed into energy.

I rushed outside, pulled out my Eon Flute, and blew into it. Then I was off into the sky on Latias' back.

PYJ

Happy Harbor, Mount Justice

You're late. Latias said with a pout as we came down towards Mount Justice.

I know. I thought back to her. But I did something good today. Did she say why she wanted me today?

No, Latias sounded as confused as I was. Just that you had a test.

Huh. Before leaving to Gotham, Wonder Woman had called to ask me to meet her at the caves Zeta-tubes. Apparently she wanted me to go somewhere with her. I had no idea why, but apparently someone wanted to meet me.

As we flew, I saw someone floating higher above the mountain. A silent nudge to Latias over our link brought her attention to the figure, and she moved to meet the figure.

As I came closer, I started to feel like a kid meeting his mom after school. It was dumb. Wonder Woman was not my mom, and really I had no obligations to her except as a superior.

Didn't stop me from feeling that way as Latias carried me over to the super-heroine. She had her arms crossed, but was smiling.

"You're late." She said, slightly disapproving.

"For a good cause." I told her honestly. "I had to help someone."

"I know." She gave me a proud smile that made me feel ridiculously good about myself. "Batman told me while you flew here."

"Heh." I smiled goofily as Latias gave me a warm look. "So, uh, what's up? You called kind of last minute."

"Yes, I apologize." I blinked. She sounded… nervous? Well, not quite, but more like she was worried. "I was asked to bring you somewhere."

Where? Latias came forward to nudge Diana, a worried look on her cute face. Are you okay Diana?

"Yes little one." Diana patted Latias gently, smoothing back her feathers. She looked at me seriously. "Red… No, Mahmoud. What do you know of the Olympians?"

Oh shit.

"I uh… a lot. I used to love studying Greek Mythology. Though I guess here its history."

"Indeed." Diana floated in front of us, the wind rushing past us, and came forward to put a hand on my shoulder. "Do you trust me Mahmoud?"

I looked into her eyes, a cold feeling in my stomach. Even so, my answer was easy.

"Diana, you know I trust you." Of all the people in this universe, Diana was the only person other than my Pokemon I trusted one hundred percent. I knew she'd never lie to me. Granted, she'd never lie period, but that went a long way to getting my faith.

So why even ask?

"What's going on?" I said, confused and a bit anxious myself.

"I've been asked to bring to meet them. Apparently you've piqued their curiosity."

…Fudgenipples.

"The Olympians. You're saying the Olympians want to meet me?"

"Only a few of them, and only to prove yourself, if you wish." Diana sighed. "I don't know why. You haven't done anything to my knowledge to anger them."

That was for sure. The idea that one of the greater powers of the DC universe wanted to meet me was beyond crazy. The Olympians were dangerous. I felt a whole lot more confident in myself these days, but even with my Pokemon and the Team backing me up, I knew I had no chance of facing that much power.

"Prove myself how? Why?"

"I wasn't told." Diana placed her other hand on my shoulder as well. "But I will be with you, should you choose to go. And if not, I will defend you. All I was told was to have you follow me to the meeting place."

…Master? What will you do? Latias craned her head back to look at me from the corner of her eye.

"I don't… Man, I'm Muslim. This is weird on many levels." Scratching my head, I looked over at Diana. "What do you think?"

She placed a hand to her chin, humming in thought. "It is an honor, to have the attention of the gods." She ignored the way I winced at the word 'gods'. "That said, they would require you to show them the utmost respect. And I will be with you. While I won't do anything to directly interfere, as long as you act as a good guest, I will defend you if you somehow accidentally incite their wrath."

Had to love Wonder Woman. She may have worshiped them, but she knew full well how fickle the Olympians could be, and still planned on protecting me if need be.

"Anything you can tell me? Who exactly wants me, what I did to get their interest?"

"No." She shook her head. "Hermes only told me to have you meet them. And to bring all your weapons."

"…Can I bring a friend or two?"

"I," Diana blinked, surprised. "I suppose so. Who?"

PYJ

Moments later I was walking into the cave and strode up to the only ones there. One was watching static, while the other was going over some notes from our tactics lesson on a table nearby. "Hey Kaldur, Superboy. You guys want to meet the Olympians?"

The blank stares I got in response would have made me smile any other time. Right then though, I was staying calm.

The Olympians were asking for me. Time to find out why.

PYJ

August 4th, 5:05, Washington DC

In a back alley of Washington DC, a yellow light shone out as a wall slid aside.

"So I figure having muscle can't hurt." The Zeta-Tube closed behind the three of us while I continued to speak. "Latias went ahead with Diana. Between my Pokemon, you two, and Diana, I figure we can run if anything goes wrong."

"…Run?" Superboy was wearing his civilian clothes, his normal shirt turned inside out and a brown jacket on top.

"I agree." Kaldur, who was wearing sandals, a blue zipped up jacket and sweat pants, put a hand on Superboy's shoulder as he explained. "Superboy, the gods are an incredible force of nature. I would not wish to anger them. And if they are choosing to, as Red has said, have him 'prove' himself, taking every precaution means being ready to run."

"Okay, seriously, I think I should have brought a Q'uran with me." I groused, pulling my bag closer. Like the others I was wearing civilian clothes, my Pokeballs and uniform in my bag, as well as Kaldur's weapons and some tools. "How the hell am I going to deal with this? I've spent most of my life thinking of these guys as just another species, but I can't tell them that!"

Kaldur looked over at me sympathetically as we left the dark alley to join those strolling on the sidewalk. "I understand your issues. I've never met Neptune, and now I might be meeting Poseidon."

"Aren't they the same?" Superboy asked. Some guy with huge shoulders tried to bump him aside as we walked down the sidewalk. Superboy sent the guy sprawling without paying attention. "Poseidon became Neptune when the Romans rose."

Kaldur and I shared a look. "Well, it's complicated." I said with a shrug. "But just think of them as two different people with some similarities. In fact, probably better to treat all of the Pantheons that way. Norse, Japanese, Mayan, Egyptian. Lets not make comparisons. Let's just be polite, and hope the most they want is for me to not be a jerk. But if 'proving' myself," I made air quotes with my fingers. "Means punching something, I have you two, Chesnaught, and Wonder Woman to do it for me."

"Hmm." The Clone smiled a bit, seemingly happy at the prospect. "So why do they want you?"

"My Pokemon." We turned up a street, and I took a moment to admire the Washington Monument sprouting up like a massive white phallic symbol in the distance. America for the win. Eiffel who?

"You think they gained the attention of-?" Kaldur stopped himself. "Yes, that does make sense. Why now however?"

"I don't know." I sighed. "In my world, the universe my Pokemon and me come from, Legendaries like Zapdos, Heatran, and Jirachi, they were fundamental parts of existence. There could be multiple versions of them, but at the end of the day a trainer who had gained their trust was something to be feared. They can change the balance of the world, turn a losing battle into a winning one. Almost no normal Pokemon can match them without a trainer to guide them."

"They sound like the gods." Superboy said. I sighed at that.

"Man, every time someone says 'gods' I feel strange, like I'm committing secondhand blasphemy…" Shudders went through me. "Oh Allah, I'm just going to talk to them. They are dimensional beings to me."

"And now I feel strange as well." Kaldur noted, looking as uncomfortable as I was.

"Not me." Superboy shrugged. "They didn't talk a lot about religion in Cadmus."

"Oh yeah." I hadn't thought of that.

I didn't say anything for a bit while we turned to walk down another street to where we were supposed to meet Diana.

We stopped in front of the Library of Congress. The building was massive, with a few columns, and a large green dome with a small tower popping out of the top. I resisted the urge to run in and see about getting my reading on, and looked over at Superboy. I kept my voice low in case someone was listening in. "I can… tell you about Kryptonian religion? Or Kaldur and I can tell you about ours? Not to convert you or anything."

"You are familiar with Kryptonian religions?" Kaldur cocked an eyebrow. "How?"

"That's… classified." Superboy and Kaldur both looked unconvinced. I scratched the top of my head, sighing as we stood in front of the building. "Trust me, I can't tell you how I know. But I have a lot of info on Krypton. I can tell you some stuff?"

Superboy frowned. "What would be the point?"

Huh. Good question. "Not much of one I guess, you seem to be doing fine without it. A real die-hard dude would be warning you about heaven and hell or something. But religion is complicated really. Lots of people have a different idea about it, similar to politics or general philosophy."

Not to mention I knew for a fact that this universe had multiple afterlives, some of them with revolving doors. Who was I to try and push Superboy in any one direction, especially considering I wasn't the best Muslim in the world? Some people are okay without religion, some looks for answers in it, and some just believe something is out there without wishing to put a name or rules to it. As long as they don't try to hurt people because of their beliefs, mentally or physically, I was fine with the 'live and let live' philosophy.

"I guess I'm just letting you know I'm here if you have questions." Was my final word on the matter.

"We both are." Kaldur smiled kindly at Superboy. "We will not push you, and whatever your choice is, we will support it."

"…Thanks." Superboy looked over at me. "You said, earlier. That Wonder Woman might be able to train me?"

"Huh?" I thought back for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, if she decides to. She's one of the best fighters on the planet. And she has experience fighting guys and girls as strong as or stronger than her."

"You think I should ask?" He looked anxious. Nervous. I think he was trying not to get his hopes up, but on some level he was excited at the prospect of growing stronger. "Because Canary said she'd help me no matter what, and Batman said to ask her myself."

"It would be worth the chance." Kaldur responded. "When I first agreed to be Aquaman's partner, I had no idea how it would go. But I have learned more fighting by my king's side than I ever could in the classroom. A good mentor can teach you more than decades of learning in a school."

Superboy looked down at the ground. Then he lifted his right hand up and slowly clenched his fist. His next words carried a lot more emotion than three words should have. "A good mentor…"

Easy to tell where that was coming from. On some level, we all knew who Superboy wanted as a teacher. And maybe someday that would be possible. But right now, he was a superhero. And a superhero who isn't constantly improving will die.

You know, barring any plot armor.

"Training with Ted is one of the best things to ever happen to me." Superboy looked up at me. "He's not a Pokemon Trainer like me. But he has a lot of lessons to teach. And Batman has given Kaldur, Chesnaught, and me a lot of lessons in tactical fighting."

Superboy seemed to think about that. "I'll ask her." He finally said. "After this. I'll ask if she can teach me."

Right on cue, a woman walked up to us, coming down the steps of the Library. She was about a head shorter than me, a bit overweight but in a comfortable way. Her bliue eyes sparkled merrily under brown hair cut into a pixie cut. She looked pretty but approachable, the kind of person who loved a good time with friends.

"Mahmoud Schahed?" She asked brightly.

Looking over at her, Superboy and Aqualad took spots behind me on either side. "Yeah." I said simply.

"Nice to meet you." She extended a hand for me to shake, which I did. "I'm Etta Candy. Diana sent me to meet you. Her and Bianca."

The last name made me relax. "Oh, good. Where will we be going?"

Etta's smiled widened. "Just follow me! A room in the Library has been set aside for you."

She turned to go up the steps. As we followed, Kaldur leaned in to whisper to me. "Who is Bianca?"

"Latias." I answered. "It's a name I told her to use when she needs it. Based on an old story."

We entered the doors of the Library. If you've never been in the Library of Congress, I recommend it for the décor alone. The inside of the place is amazingly beautiful. It's open to the public, thought only high ranking government types can borrow books, so anyone can go in.

The one we entered at least. There are three Library of Congress buildings. The one we entered, the Thomas Jefferson Building, is the one that people usually think of. At a guess I'd say it was in a different location than the one in my home universe, as the various monuments of Washington DC were within sight of it, but it looked the same as the one I'd been to on a field trip as kid. Beautiful murals on the ceilings and walls, cool statues, and everything having that smell only well maintained libraries can have, like new paper. It was like a museum full of books.

Heaven for guys like me, who love both museums and books

Etta led us to a door that entered into a corridor with several offices, all with wooden doors and opaque windows that had plaques underneath with the names of the offices owners on them. As I followed, with Aqualad and Superboy looking around as curiously as I was, I thought about what I knew of Etta Candy.

Best friend of Wonder Woman. A tough woman who also really kind, loud, and all-around pretty cool. Sometimes married to Steve Trevor, depending on the universe. Sometimes a good fighter. Always a good friend.

She brought us to a door again. A weird door. Unlike the others, this one was a pale white. It looked like it was carved from stone, marble or something. Two small pillars were imbedded in the wall beside it.

"They just put it in." Etta said. For the first time she sounded a bit annoyed. "Apparently they wanted a place of their own to speak to you."

"Wait." Superboy blinked. "The Olympians made this door?"

Etta chuckled. She reached for the handle, which was a bright blue that seemed to glow softly. She opened the door.

The three of us stared into the room.

"Huh." I said quietly. "I wonder what the zoning board would think. This has to be breaking so many regulations."

"Don't get me started." Etta groused.

Before us was a massive room, as large as the Library itself. The door opened into a courtyard with floors that could have been made of solid gold. Sunken in the center was a circular pool of water the size of a large pond, maybe thirty feet in diameter. There were large pillars spaced out around the pool, matching ones on the outer perimeter of the room itself. And the walls were made of stars.

I don't know how else to explain it. Somehow I knew, deep in my souls, that the bright spots in the blackness of the walls were stars, ones the size of coins, dinner plates, and tables. Shrunken down galaxies and solar systems, now used as decoration. Maybe new ones, maybe real ones. But they were enough to illuminate the room.

Latias had been floating over the pool, staring at her reflection. She looked up when the door opened and smiled nervously, looking at the other occupants.

Wonder Woman turned as well, and gestured for me to enter with a wave. In front of her stood a man. A big one, maybe a foot taller than Batman or even Martian Manhunter, and massively muscular in a way that was somehow more majestic than anything.

His hair was long and grey, with a beard of the same color. He watched the three of us enter with his bright blue eyes, a stern expression on his face. He wore a simple toga and sandals.

But standing front of him, I felt a massive pressure weighing down on me. As if the air itself was trying to force me to bow in front of his majesty. It was an awe-inspiring feeling. Somehow I knew that beneath this simple form, a great amount of power, enough to turn me to ash, dwelled.

I was used to that feeling. Anyone who'd spent time with Zapdos had felt it.

Etta allowed us to enter, then closed the door behind Superboy, leaving us there.

Zeus, the Ruler of Olympus, glared. And I knew my day was going south.