A/N This chapter will focus on Zoe more than Percy. Sorry not sorry :) Also, she is pretty hard to write, so sorry if she feels bit OOC. I am trying my best here.

Since my two previous chapters were shorter, this one will be extra long.

Romania
October 17, 03:16

Percy's mind went blank for about a second or so after he woke. The realization dawned on him like a charging Hannibal. Zoe Nightshade, The huntress of Artemis, was kissing him. It wasn't even some chaste kiss on the lips, but rather something much more deep. Instead of thinking about it he let his instincts guide him and he kissed back. His mind was now completely awry and Percy couldn't formulate a single thought. No, that's not true. There were two things on his mind. Most of it was Zoe Nightshade, but (very) small, painfully rational part of his brain was screaming something like 'Artemis will turn you into a jackalope, make you immortal and hunt you until Hades Come.' Percy, being Percy, completely disregarded the rational part and focused on the beautiful young woman in front of him.

Zoe was not faring much better. She acted practically on pure instinct. It was supposed to be small peck on the lips, but before she realized it they were entwined into a deep kiss. Her mind long since fried. This was completely new experience for her. Even when she was with Heracles this brief period of time it was not like that. The son of Zeus had this aura of lies and pride around himself, like everything was always about him and he deserved everything. With Percy, she felt wanted, needed and safe. When she first kissed him there was this small spark that ignited something long since buried deep inside her. It was almost magical. For this few moments, she let go of any conscious thoughts and swam with the current. The closest thing to an actual thought was 'He smells like a sea breeze'. It really scarred her, but also felt right. Like it was supposed to be. She just accepted reality and focused on Percy.

The two of them would probably stay that way for whoever knows how long since they both had quite impressive lungs, but the sound of (fake) coughing brought them back to earth.

"I don't want to interrupt the lovers, but I think maybe you would prefer a better scenery... and less witnesses?" It was the Flash. Both Zoe and Percy quickly separated and turned their own shades of red with Zoe being close to Speedy's old outfit and Percy mimicking Red Tornado's plating. This caused rest of the Team and other leaguers who just arrived to let out a chuckle. Well, Batman stayed dead serious, but it was balanced with Wally and Artemis both rolling on the floor laughing.

Zoe's eyes suddenly had this faint silver glimmer to them and her expression hardened. "Not. Another. Comment. From anyone. Or I will gut you with a spoon." The threat fell on the barren land and only caused more giggles, chuckles and general laughing. Seeing that Zoe is getting more embarrassed he acted. Of course with his graceful social tacitness he decided that the best way to ease her was to pull her into a hug. She didn't protest.

Finally, Wonder Woman managed to calm herself and the other leaguers. She decided that the couple had enough embarrassment for the night. "It will be best to move. I imagine the whole 'incognito' was already blown the moment whole league appeared in Dracula's Castle. Let's just hope there will be some rational explanation and people won't start gossiping about Vampire Count returning to..."

"It was Scarecrow." Percy interrupted his cousin. "I saw him during the... nightmare. I woke up just for a brief second two or three times. He was always there and quickly sent me back."

"He was not working alone." Kaldur added what Percy couldn't have known. "Scarecrow had some kind of help. They..."

"Deimos and Phobos. Twin sons of Ares." Zoe jumped in. "They wanted to use us as a batteries trapping us into endless nightmare and sapping our energy."

"And what happened to the gods?" Captain Atom asked. He sounded like a sergeant demanding a mission report. This was really their first time since Team talked face to face with new leader of the Justice League.

"Zoe killed them." Wally burbled before anyone else had chance to say something. "She was a total bad-ass. Like seriously, she wiped the floor with them for the most part. Even when one of them captured her, she just used it as an opportunity to get closer and pierce his stomach with the blades. Then, she made the other beg for his life before also killing him after he cursed Percy." Kid Flash quickly summarized the events not sparing the less pleasant details.

At his description several leaguers grasped, but Captain Atom raised his hand stopping them from commenting. "We will discuss this later. For now we should move. After your urgent cry for help we weren't exactly covert about getting here." They all slowly started to move from the dungeon. It didn't escape adult's attention that there was something more to the whole story. The way their proteges held and supported each other, how they were silent and withdrawn, even Wally didn't try and tease, flirt or joke with anyone. The most solemn-looking were Kaldur and Robin. Maybe because the two of them did not have anyone to comfort them or maybe there was more to it...

Mount Justice
October 23, 17:23

Recognized: Batman, 0-2

A gloomy, hooded figure walked out of the Zeta tube. He looked around the team, only to see them still brooding and angst. After they got back to the cave almost a week ago, teenagers explained the whole 'collective nightmare'. Batman frowned. It was almost exactly like one of the training exercises he designed while he was still the leader of this team. It was too much of a coincidence to just shrug it off. Someone must have stolen the file and give it to Scarecrow of the Twins. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen or heard about since his stunt. No criminal in Gotham knew where to find him. He walked over to the computer to join Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Captain Atom.

"I hoped they would all have gotten over that by now."

"Such trauma is not easy to get over. I seem to remember about a certain young boy who couldn't deal with his for almost quarter a decade." J'ohn responded to Batman's statement.

The Gotham Vigilante just sighted, deciding not to dwell on that. Instead, he smoothly changed subject. "Any leads on Scarecrow?"

"None." Captain Atom pulled a holo-file to be displayed. "I still don't get it. How did they manage to infiltrate the cave, subdue them all without rising any alarm and transport them to Romania outside the system."

"Flashing." Captain Atom jumped as suddenly he realized that someone was standing right behind him. "Deimos and Phobos are gods. They can appear wherever they want whenever they want. Or rather could. You know the gig." Outside of all the young heroes, the one who suffered most was Percy. His voice lacked this spark of joy that was always there. His sarcasm became dull and if he smiled at all, it always felt forced. Like all others, he was scheduled for therapy session with Black Canary.

"First of all I would appreciate if you didn't sneak up on me." Captain Atom was still surprised how stealthy Percy could be. After taking a closer look he noticed how all the shadows in the room looked like they tried to reach him. He looked like he was coated in some shadows even now. It was like the world wanted to make him look gloomy. Heck, he could compete with Batman.

"Sorry. Didn't realize I was doing it."

"It's fine. Secondly, you mean that gods could just appear in let's say some bank vault and take anything they wanted?"

"In my world? No. There were 'ancient laws' in place, which forbade interfering with mortal world. But in this world there is no Drama Queen and no Fates to enforce the rules. So pretty much yeah, gods can do what they want here. That is why Ares was such a threat. Nothing would be able to stop him."

"that is indeed concerning" Martian Manhunter was deep in thoughts.

"Thank you Percy for your input, but isn't now your turn with Dinah?" Diana asked kindly.

"..." He had to take a moment to gather words. "Zoe is still there. It's taking quite long."

Since the memorable event, and even more memorable kiss, neither Zoe nor Percy really talked. They did manage some small talks here and there, but the tension was so thick that sharpest knife would be too dull to cut through it clearly. He had a lot to process. As stupid as this was to him, he felt like he was cheating on Annabeth. She was supposed to be his princess, his warrior queen. But something went wrong along the way. Her pride got in a way of their dream. He wasn't at fault, but he still felt guilty now. In his dream she told him to move on. At first, he thought this was supposed to be just his imagination fighting off the effects of whatever they drugged him with, but when he woke up he checked and indeed Dionysus pill was gone. It was his Annabeth. She came to talk with him for just a moment. She herself told him to move on and don't live in the past, but it was still hard. Zoe didn't help with it either. She practically cut herself from him. There was this strange awkwardness between the pair. Percy tired to understand her, but it was not easiest. This kiss was against everything she stood for throughout history, but after all she was the one to initiate it and didn't break once he was awake. Zoe sent him conflicting signals. It was as if she regretted what happened, but at the same time didn't. He could catch her starring at him when she thought he was not looking, but her glare was not the butter eyes, but... Percy couldn't quite place it.

Zoe sat in the armchair all stiff and on the edge. Across her Dinah Lance, also known as Black Canary, sat calmly.

"So, are you ready to talk now?" The blonde asked.

"What is there to talk about?" Zoe immediately reacted defensively.

"For starters, what are you feeling right now?" Dinah tried to carefully approach the more delicate subjects.

Zoe sat there in silence a little longer, pondering what to do. It's been a week since the event and her relation with Percy suddenly became a lot more awkward. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes, fearing what would she see. If they talked, she tried to mask any and all emotions, which made her sound cold. This is stupid. I can't go crazy because of a mere boy. I am the huntress of Artemis. It is ridiculous. At the same time, she couldn't even look at her reflection in the mirror. She betrayed everything she stood for. Being a lieutenant used to be her whole life. She built everything around it, including her very personality. Now she went against it. It was the only constant in her life ever since her banishment from the garden. And now she gave it all up for a boy once more.

"I... I don't know." She finally decided to try and speak with someone. It's not like there was anyone better than trained psychologist. "I have no idea how I am supposed to feel after all of this..."

"And why is that?"

"For starters, it's the first time in three thousand years that I am actually alone. I always had some of my sisters with me before... Even after my death I could watch them and serve as a guidance, even if only as a constellation." When she finished, Dinah silently nodded. Zoe had to give it to her, she didn't immediately started asking hundred questions about exact science behind it.

"If I may, what is the story behind your death?"

"By mortal standard it was four years ago. My mistress left to hunt one of the most dangerous monsters in the world and she got captured. I was tasked with leading the rescue mission. There was this prophecy... It was said that one would die at their parent's hand. And my father happened to be the one from the prophecy.

"Sorry that I interrupt, but I was never really that good at mythology, so if you could please explain who your father is?" Dinah scolded herself for her lack of knowledge.

"Atlas, the Titan of strength, forever forced to hold the sky." Even saying the name caused some pain. The memory of life running away from her returned, but she focused on the expression of woman sitting in front of her. Zoe was still stiff, but she slowly opened up. "That really isn't important. I died serving my lady. Look. I know that you think death would be traumatic, but for nymphs... It is a bit different with us nature spirits. While when mortals die they enter underworld, I would only be reborn as another plant, maybe even become a full-fledged nymph later on. I... I only regret I won't serve my lady anymore..."

Dinah was doing her best, but she had almost zero experience in such cases. "Why is this so important to you?"

"Artemis is... she was my best friend and only family I had. Now I am here, all alone."

"You might think you are alone, but remember that there are people who want to help you. You seem to have okay relationship with the team. I am also willing to talk if you need something. And there is Percy." Dinah regretted immediately the mention of the son of Poseidon. Zoe went into defensive.

"What with Percy?" Seeing that blonde woman didn't really mean to tease her, she relaxed just a little bit.

"Did the two of you actually talk after... what happened?"

"Why should we? It was nothing. I just had to wake him up somehow." She couldn't bring herself to face the truth.

"Are you sure? Because I've noticed that lately the two of you seem to avoid one another."

"The truth is I don't know how I feel. I spent three thousand years hating males, only for him to storm in and change everything I believed was true. Suddenly, he proved that I was wrong and not all males are bad. And then this whole mess with traveling to another world happened and we ended up living together and spending most of the days in the same space. Then I became a super-heroine and now we spend even more time together. And time after time he proves that he is more than meets the eye. And then to break the curse I had to kiss him. Of course I agreed. I owed him that much. He was the reason I was free from the stars and walking the earth again..." She paused for a moment and Dinah decided to ask something.

"But didn't you say you enjoyed being in the stars?"

"I did, but it was boring. When you spend almost your whole life traveling the world, just sitting and watching can get boring. I even bothered to actually learn modern English, although it can still get confusing from time to time."

"Okay... So you owed him. But was that the only reason? I can sense there is something more to it." Blonde heroine wanted Zoe to realize the truth herself, but she could point her in the right direction.

"At first, I just tried to justify the act itself, but the moment our lips met I felt a spark going between us. And then he woke up and reciprocated the kiss and I stopped thinking. I let my instincts get the better of me and I went against the very basis of my whole life." The huntress admitted. "It felt wrong, but at the same time I wanted it. But now I can't even bring myself to look him in the eyes. I am pathetic. I don't deserve my title..." She stopped herself. Luckily, the team was not awake enough to actually catch up on what she told Phobos and Deimos and the twins would not reveal it to anyone. Her mistress asked her to promise not to reveal it to anyone, especially Perseus, until the time was right. When asked, Artemis told her that she will know if it's okay to actually tell anyone.

"I can't tell you what to think about this situation. I probably would be just as confused if I were you. What I can tell you is that it would be best to face the situation head on before it gets out of control." Zoe nodded and without a goodbye left, too deep in her thoughts to notice the sight Black Canary gave her. She sneaked out of the cave without anyone really noticing. There was no general direction she wanted to go, just needing to be outside and alone. Crescent moon on her gloves lit and in beam of moonlight her moon chariot appeared in form of sleek, open roof Maserati. The paint was obviously dark silver. She had no idea why the moon chariot preferred this form, but she learned to enjoy it too.

Metropolis
October 23, 17:45

There was a sound similar to single bell and a glowing yellow portal opened. The perfect circle released something similar to a car, carrying five teenagers. The really bulky one with mane of red hair and wearing jacket which looked like it was made of some animals fur laughed.

"Hero Danjar!"

"Zon! Nos kemnos! Danjar tharan, thanka, tabore..." Another teen echoed. He wore what looked like cowboy outfit, complete with poncho and a hat.

Their leader pulled out a strange looking box which gave sound similar to opening portal. "I masked out energy signature and scanned the planet for her. She is here. The location was uploaded to navigation system. Let's go." Their vehicle began flying toward nearby city. Very far away, there was a small glimmer of silver light as another car was traveling over the skies of Metropolis.

Artemis sat in the armchair, looking more bored than anything else.

"Look. I know it might be a shock, but I was actually 'dead' for the most part of it. The beam hit me and suddenly I wake up on the floor of a wrecked dungeon to witness Zoe battle two villains. No need for the shrink-wrap."

"You are too tough to need help..."

"Whatever. Maybe." Artemis got defensive. and closed a bit.

"Or maybe too tough to admit you need help. Artemis. It's not a sign of weakness to open up to your friends."

She gritted her teeth. "I know that."

"But you still keep secrets from them."

This caused Artemis to panic. All of her supposed calmness and 'whateverness' disappeared in an instant and she almost leaped out of the chair. "You won't tell them anything. You can't!"

"I won't." This caused Artemis to actually relax a bit. "But you should. You can start by admitting you are not really Green Arrow's niece."

She instinctively grabbed the necklace with three pronged star. "I think some secrets should remain just that, secret. Besides, can you imagine what Wally would do with that?"

"Interesting..." The subtle gesture didn't avert Black Canary's gaze, but she decided not to ask about her jewelry. Instead, she chose to dig on the 'Wally subject'. "So the person you are most worried about is Wally."

"Duh! I did..." She cut herself before she admitted that she traded her free will for his life. "watch his recovery. I was the only one who visited him. Do you honestly didn't care once he was moved to the Star Labs?" to avert the suspicion, she decided to shift the guilt.

"We both know that others visited as well. I think it's enough for today. Thank you."

Zoe was traveling over the eastern Seaboard. Her vehicle drove itself so she could freely stand up and not hold to the wheel. She used her bow to shot at every Target advertisement that was on the nearby road. Some companies remained the same in every reality. She put from three to seven arrows in each billboard just for a good measure. It's not like she could run out of ammunition nowadays. Suddenly, a large car flew right in front of her. She quickly pulled the manual break. The chariot came to halt mid-air. The people in the other vehicle did not look particularly friendly.

"You must come with us at once." Their leader, Vykin, demanded in stern voice. It was like he would not accept 'no' for an answer. "It's abo..." he didn't finish as a silver arrow flew right next to his helmet, leaving a tiny scratch and and embed itself in the hull of their car.

"I am in really bad mood for kidnapping so start running. I much prefer when my target moves." While her voice was completely calm, her face did not leave space for doubt. She was pissed and they just angered her even more. "If you think you stand a chance against me just because I am alone..." The arrow materialized as she pulled the string of her bow and this time it had a head glowing with red light. "Think again before I actually hurt you."

To her surprise, the big guy in front gave out a deep, hearty chuckle. "I like her already. She has a true spirit of a warrior."

The only girl in their group spoke next. She was dressed in pink skirt, pink top and short black cape with pink accents. "Forgive our leader. Vykin has good intentions, but he sometimes is a bit..."

"The word you are looking for would be stiff, uptight, overzealous, by-the-book." Serifan decided to use the new vocabulary he learned from his westerns.

Zoe was still frowning. "You have one minute, then I start shooting."

"We are forever people of the New Gods of New Genesis. The Highfather sent us to meet with the new New Goddess here on earth. We tracked your energy signature and came to greet you. It is almost unheard of for a new New God, or Goddess, to just appear like that." Dreamer explained.

"Time is ticking." Arrow was still notched, but Zoe let herself lower the weapon just so slightly. "And speak in a way that I can understand..."

"What my friend dreamer tried to say, is that we are just like you. Infused with the remaining power of the Old Gods." Moonrider explained. "The New Gods live on two planets: Apokalips and New Genesis. They used to be the graveyards of the Old Gods, where all the essence of fading deities went after they were no more. In time it formed first of the so called New Gods."

Zoe's mind was working overtime. When her mistress told her that she would become a New Goddess, she expected it meant that she would just inherit her position, but with less power. Becoming member of completely different species, an alien at that, was... surprising could not convey the feeling. Suddenly, another thought came to her mind.

"I am older than humanity and in my whole existence only a handful of gods faded. How can it be that there was enough power to actually form... you all. I assume there is more than the five or six of you?"

This time, Vykin came with an answer. "Well, Earth was not the only planet on which Old Gods were present. Almost each planet with sentient life on it had some of them. A handful was settled at Mars. We never really knew why the ones here lingered so long and never faded."

"Probably because they were anchored to more than one reality." Zoe mumbled under her breath, but it was loud enough for them to hear.

"What do you mean Warrior?" Bear asked in his jovial voice.

"Well, apparently there is more than one reality and while some Old Gods are limited to just one, others exist in several. Earth, which had more than one pantheon, just happened to be one of the constants in each of them."

"Fascinating. The question that bothered greatest minds on New Genesis answered just like that." Vykin was frantically scribing something on holo-notepad that extended from his glove. Suddenly, there was another ping-like sound. The device he held in his hand glowed momentarily. "It seems more of my questions will have to wait. Motherbox detected our secondary objective is also on this planet. Forever People! Let's go!" They were about to drive away, but he stopped and turned to Zoe "We would be honored if you accompanied us. It would be a chance for you to show us your skill."

Huntress was still unconvinced. What they said made some sick sense, but she was still wary about trusting a group of random people in a flying car. "Fine, but remember. If any of you try something funny, you will see my skill in gutting people with rusty spoon." She would really need to thank Artemis for this threat. It was a nice break from constant 'castrating this and that'. It also worked on both men and women alike.

Kaldur sat there in the room, leaning forward and resting his head on the closed fists.

"I was supposed to be the general, yet I behaved worse than a soldier. Instead of leading the others, I allowed my feelings to blind me. I am not fit for command and must resign as team leader." He closed his eyes. The confession visibly pained him.

"And who do you recommend to take your place?" Black Canary inquired.

"Artemis is to rough and distrustful. Kid Flash is too rush and can have problems keeping his head in the game. Miss Martian remains too eager to please. Superboy carries too much anger. Both Garth and Tula lack required experience. And Zoe is too... prejudged toward others." His voice was full of sorrow. He went through most of the team already.

"that leaves Robin and Neptune." Black Canary summarized.

"Robin is so young... But Percy is a natural. He took the lead while we all grieved. He rallied us and formed a plan." There was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Kaldur. You are all young." She paused. "And Percy already went through it twice. He is older than he should be."

"I cannot shift this burden to either of them. Eh. It appears I must withdraw my resignation.

The boy in cowboy outfit introduced himself as Serifan. The young woman was called dreamer. Caucasian male with weird hairdo was Moonrider and their leader's name was Vykin. Only problem was with the man in front.

"I was named after animal that does not exist on earth. But you can call me... Wolf. That sounds nice.

Zoe gave him a skeptic look. "You never met any wolves, did you?"

This didn't bother the big man. "No. But I heard tales about their strength and incredible abilities. But what about Bear then?"

She gave him one look before focusing on the imaginary road. "Suits you much better." In truth she had no idea what to think about the weird batch.

They flew a bit further until Vykin pointed to a construction site. "Our rescue drill is down there. Sixty feet under ground."

Zoe looked around and saw what was across the building. "Great. Just our luck. The building on the other side of the street is Federal Reserves. Government keeps money there and if you asked me, it stinks robbery from a mile."

"It's a heist!" Serifan seemed overly enthusiastic. He stood up and pulled his guns. "Comeone' partners. Let's rat' in guns a' blazin' and round up them outlaws."

Dreamer gave Zoe an apologetic look. "Forgive him. He watched too much of those earth 'westerns' and..."

"You have my condolences. I am not the one to deal with 'em every day." She accepted. "But there is time to go in hard and time to go smart."

"It's your world, so we will follow your lead." Vykin agreed. This actually surprised Zoe. This male accepted her leadership without a shadow of doubt or spite. Huh. Maybe they won't be THAT bad.

Everything went smoothly for the most part. Dreamer created an illusion that distracted the thugs while Moonrider and Vykin sneaked behind and took them out. At the same time, Zoe and Bear jumped down onto the other group that stayed down the hole. The others joined them once criminals were knocked out. Zoe ushered them to remain silent and swiftly jumped from rock to rock, remaining out of sight of anyone but her allies. They got to the site where several members of the Intergang were loading the carts of gold into the drill. She summoned her bow and already notched an arrow when Vykin straightened up and walked into the light.

"This drill and carts are the property of New Genesis. You will return them." He said that like it was supposed to actually get them to obey. Zoe just shook his head. And I thought that this males were actually smart.

"Interfere... and things get ugly." Whisper A'daire, the second in command of intergang spoke while smiling.

"I am ugly." Bruno pushed her aside and activated his backpack which morphed into chest-mounted cannon. It started firing several red discs with bright red circuitry. Vykin created a mould of earth in front of himself to stop the attack, but projectiles just avoided the obstacle and surrounded him, shocking him with electricity. He was quite quickly brought to his knees. The discs flew to Bear next, but Serifan quickly disposed off them. Zoe just sighted deeply.

"Does this ever work with you guys?" She asked no one in particular before leaning from her cover and firing several red-tipped arrows in quick proximity. they all hit the villains square in chest and exploded, sending all flying into the wall. Their tech managed to survive undamaged, but one of the thugs got knocked out cold. She then fired some normal arrows at the discs surrounding Vykin. Only one remained when she had to stop and dodge because moonrider came flying with red thing on his back. The earth around them started to come at him like he was some weird magnet and soon he was burried alive. Whisper, who was the only one not affected by exploding arrows, summoned two red whips.

Dreamer stuttered. "Th-this... This weapons aren't from New Genesis. They are from the Enemy." She had fear in her eyes.

Zoe was now crouching and firing several arrows at once to keep up with constant barrage of red discs. "Which enemy? Be more specific."

"THE Enemy. The gods of Anti-life. They are from Apokalips." Dreamer finished.

Vykin was barely holding the pain. Seeing this, Bear charged blindly. Zoe gave up on reprimanding them at that point. Two thugs trusted their hands into the ground and turned it into quicksand which consumed charging giant. The momentary break from constant assault finally allowed Serifan to take care of discs that tortured Vykin.

"So you are telling me that after all you went through, including your own death in fire explosion, you are... peachy?"

"Peachy is not the word I would use." Wally was sitting there upside down with his legs gripping the top of the armchair. He was eating the popcorn by tossing it and catching it into his mouth. "But I think you got the core of it."

"So the feeling of burning again didn't phase you? And what about Artemis death?" At the last sentence he actually started to choke on his popcorn. He finally managed to swallow, but she noticed he subconsciously started to play with a ring on his finger. This ring had Man symbol on it. Dinah couldn't remember when he got it.

"Just because my organs went through BBQ twice in last few months does not automatically make me pyrophobic. And Artemis is my best friend. Of course I was worried. I would much rather talk about you and Olliver. Comeon. Give me some juicy gossip." He masked his emotions with smile

"Wally. You are in denial."

"I'm comfortable with that." he slightly relaxed.

Whisper jumped in front and started to slash her whips at them. If not for Vykin manipulating earth, she would probably cut Bear into pieces.

"The narrow tunnel gives them terrain advantage. We must."

"You must shut up and listen. Your tactic clearly isn't working." Zoe snapped at him. She then summoned another arrow, this time with bright white tip and aimed at the villains. "Close your eyes on my signal." She was aware that her enemies heard her scream and suddenly the tip turned black. She screamed "Now!" And let go of the arrow. Just as she expected, her enemies shielded their eyes just as her teammates. But to their surprise instead of a flash of light came cloud of darkness that consumed most of the light. Zoe morphed her bow into twin scimitars and jumped into the melee, taking advantage of confusion among her enemies. Her cuts and slashes were aimed mostly at the tech. Each of her slash was followed by a trail of silver light, which was the only thing that stood out of the sphere of darkness. While Huntress had no problem with seeing inside there, the Forever People were amazed. Trails of silver appeared and disappeared inside there, often followed by a scream of pain. When the darkness finally faded, out of the seven thugs and their two leaders, only Whisper was actually standing. Her whips were folded, but she quickly fixed that, lashing at Zoe. the energy coiled around her swords, but huntress just plunged the blades into the ground and let go before red electricity could shock her. Whisper tried to pull her whips back, but the could not move the swords from the ground. Each scimitar had a two-and-a-half feet blade and more than half of it was buried into hard rock. Zoe just cracked her knuckles.

"Time to teach thou some manners lady." She didn't even notice that some of old English slipped in. She then lunged at the criminal, who had to let go of her whips in order to stand a chance. The forever People wanted to jump and help, but Dreamer stopped them. Instead, they watched catfight in awe.

After first few seconds, it was clear as day that Huntress was just toying with intergang lieutenant. She effortlessly blocked each punch, kick and swipe that Whisper could throw at her without actually retaliating. "Listen sister. I had a really hard week. I accidentally kissed my friend and got us into awkward situation, I had to fight two gods who I really don't like, I had to watch all my friends die during sick mind game. To add to that, I missed last episode of my favorite series while stuck here in the corridor with you. And did I mention that I just learned that I am in fact an alien now? I. am. angry." Probably, the whole sentence would be scarier if not the mention of some TV show, but Zoe made up for it with last sentence. While the most of the speech was mostly calm, the last sentence held all the rage. For the first time, she actually confronted her emotions instead of bottling up. Whisper was no threat to her without the whips. Sure, she was master martial Artist, but Zoe had a hundred times more experience than this woman could gather through her whole life. So she just talked. Guess it was easier to open to someone who she knew would then get hit hard enough to forget all about it. "For three thousand years I remained faithful to my mistress and her alone. I followed her rules closely. Then she is gone and I suddenly find myself having feeling for a male. To worsen that, I had to kiss him to save his life." Whisper actually managed to get a hit into Zoe's stomach, but was met with her armor. "And you know what? It felt right. I enjoyed it. What am I supposed to think? I have no one to ask. This put a strain on relationship with only person besides my mistress, who mind you, is now gone. The same day I encountered some of the most irritating gods I had pleasure encountering. In their sick power-play they tried to use me and my friends as nightmare-fuled power generators. I of course killed them, but watching all my colleagues die and then go through trauma was actually painful. Not to mention that today I learned that my mistress, before she faded, transformed me into an actual alien." Whisper landed another hit when Zoe got distracted. This time, Zoe decided to retaliate. She grabbed the other woman's hand when she tried to follow on her previous punch. with a swift twist, she dislocated her shoulder. Then, a swift low kick from the huntress broke the right shin. Whisper wallowed in pain. Relentlessly, former Hesperid continued her assault. She served three straight punch to the solar plexus, only to then deliver a killer haymaker as a finishing blow. Whisper was knocked out cold and black brusies were already forming on her body. Zoe turned to see Forever people starring at her open-mouth.

"That. was. awesome. No cowboy could be that cool. You didn't even flinch and yet you kicked her. She only landed two hits... And then you started... and she couldn't... so cool..." Serifan was first to break the silence. He started to awe at how Zoe handled the situation.

"That was indeed impressive show of strength. Worthy of a true warrior. Even if a bit... brutal." Bear roared in his usual, booming voice

"I agree with Bear. It was indeed something. But it was also very brutal, if not outright cruel." Vykin commented. "But tell me. What language were you speaking in? Motherbox recognized it as 'Greek', but yet it was unable to translate all of it."

Zoe let out a sight. She completely forgot that they were standing there. Silently, she thanked the fates that she subconsciously reverted to Ancient Greek. "It was my first language. The Greek you know is modern form while I spoke the one that was used before humanity came. And in different reality at that." She walked over and picked her scimitars. Good thing they couldn't understand. I am definitely not discussing my problems with strangers.

"I still don't get it. How did this bunch got their hands on both Apokalyptian and New Genesis tech?" Moonrider asked. They all turned to Bruno, who was massaging his head.

"Me not talking."

"You don't need to." Dreamer said. Suddenly a smoke came out of 'Ugly's' mind and formed into a deformed figure wearing a cloak over robes.

"Desaad." The Forever people grasped in surprise and fear.

"And he is?" Zoe asked, trying to be patient.

"We told you that there are two worlds which host New Gods. The New Genesis is the world of gods of Life, Freedom and The Source. We are at war with Apokalips, where live gods of Anti-life, Slavery and Degradation. Desaad is their chief scientist and torturer. His experiments are pure evil. His woks... Abomination."

"heh. He gives good stuff." Bruno chuckled. Suddenly, there was a familiar sound of single bell and all the members of the Intergang were eaten by a boom tube before heroes could react.

The Forever People plus Zoe in her moon chariot-turned-Maserati arrived on an old plane field.

"Motherbox detects Apokalyptian tech inside this building."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Bear was eager to rush into battle again.

"We are waiting for you males to find your brains." Zoe scowled. "Didn't you learn anything? I am pretty certain this is a trap that you males would just rush in."

"Am I supposed to feel offended by you calling on my gender?" Bear was visibly confused.

"Ugh. Gods help me..." She muttered under her breath. "Males stay here. Dreamer and I got this."

"Why do you let dreamer go and we stay? That's no fair!" Serifan cried.

"that's why. You are all useless, like all males." All except one... Ugh. Stop thinking about him.

Zoe and dreamer made their way to the back doors. With her hunting knife, huntress swiftly removed the lock and doors opened. They sneaked in and jumped behind nearest crates.

"Wait here" Zoe ordered the New Goddess. She then gracefully jumped up onto the crates, avoiding any patches of light. From there, she leaped onto the scaffolding and took a look from the top. She saw several intergang members readying their weapons. Bruno was next to a large table. Whisper was nowhere to be seen (testament to the beating Huntress gave her). Without really thinking, Zoe notched an arrow on her bow and took aim at the weapon crates. The tip turned bright red and she let go. Time seemed to slow down for her as projectile flew through air. It almost got to the target when someone caught it by the shaft. Huntress starred wide-eyed at Bruno Mannheim, who was now spinning the arrow between his fingers. All the goons turned their weapons at her location, as if they knew she was there all along. But that was impossible, right? She was far too superior for any males to spot her just like that.

"Get that bitch!" Without much ceremony Ugly unlocked his weapon and started to fire at her. All of his subordinates followed their leader and Zoe found herself under constant barrage of glowing red discs, energy beams and sonic waves (also in shades of crimson). She had to remain ever-vigilant and jump from one beam to another. She cursed under her breath as one of the beams managed to scratch her. The armor took most of the blast, but her shoulder was now hurting. She tried to retaliate, but even with all her huntress training it is impossible to aim while under this amount of barrage. She sent some random explosive arrows and knocked out few of the goons, but more just kept coming.

Suddenly, the wall was detonated and rest of the Forever People run inside. To Serifan's enjoyment, they did enter guns blazin' and took down some of the criminals. Now with their attention split between two separate attacks, the thugs found themselves loosing. That is until Bruno Mannheim opened several crates with a push of a button, only to reveal dog-like machines. They were easily the size of a hell-hound. Their joints glowed with omnious red light. On their head, besides giant maw full of sharp, metal teeth, there was single, giant red eye. Their tail was similar to Whisper's whip, except it was armored in several places.

"The Dogs of War!" Vykin screamed to his team. "We can't overcome that many alone. It is time!"

The other Forever People, now including dreamer, gathered around their leader. He rose the motherbox in the air and others did the same with empty hands. "TARO!" They slowly faded into golden energy and seemingly entered the alien computer. Their essence started to form into giant humanoid figure. At that, one of the thugs stepped to Ugly. His face and body split in half to reveal Desaad inside. He handed similar computer to the crime boss. Bruno just chuckled before tossing it at the forming giant. Zoe noticed it in the last moment. An arrow flew faster than she thought possible and pierced the device, pinning it right in front of the giant. The infernal shriek that came after that almost masked the ear-piercing bell ring.

"You... You killed him!" Desaad face was twisted in anger. "You killed the fatherbox!" Out of nowhere, he pulled a complicated gun and started firing at her. The weapon had a perfectly round barrel attached to hand-gun grip. Below the grip there was another barrel, but only half-round. They were almost equal in length, with lower part ending just a bit shorter. The beam that came was also crimson in color. He managed to fire several shots before Infinity Man just smitten him with his eye-beam. Desaad cursed and allowed a boom tube to consume him, leaving the battle scene before he got consumed. The torture-master was not looking to the meeting with his overlord. He would get some first-hand experience with his profession.

Other thugs were quickly dealt with. Once all the Apokalyptian tech was no longer a threat and the thugs were out cold, Forever people separated and Dreamer run over to Zoe. While none of the beams that the Apokalyptian New God fired at her connected, the previous injury got strained and did not look that great. Of course, Huntress tried to shrug it off, but Dreamer could actually be quite persuasive with her care for others. They used Motherbox to heal her injury and patch the armor.

"Thank you. I... I don't know what I would do without you..." She swallowed her pride and continued. "All of you. I acted like a male and rushed without actually checking the situation over."

To her surprise, Dreamer stood up and gave her a stern look. "What is it with you and Male? Just because they were born of different gender does not mean they are better or worse! It was your distrust that could've killed us all!" Of all the people that could have scolded Zoe on that, Dreamer seemed like the least plausible candidate. And yet, there they were, two New Goddesses, arguing over her trust issues.

"Look. I came to learn hard way that males are nothing but trouble. I would suggest you think about it before they drag you down." Her expression darkened at the memory of Heracles. Several thousands years and that betrayal still pained her.

Dreamer calmed. Her expression was that of compassion and understanding. "One bad experience shouldn't cross out entire species. Maybe if you give them chance, some men can prove you wrong." Zoe wanted to frown, but she couldn't. One already did. Maybe... "Please. Promise me that you will try, okay?" This woman was truly an embodiment of compassion if Zoe ever met one.

"I... I will try. Thank you again... For everything. And for the love of the old gods, can someone explain to me what that thing was supposed to be? You morphed into giant robot!" She swiftly changed the subject. Her mind kept replaying the words in her head. Give them chance...

Metropolis
October 24, 03:03

Lex Luthor stood next to yellow-claded man as several Lex-corp employers unloaded a large chunk of ice. Inside, there was a body of one of the most scary monster that dared to walk the face of earth. Doomsday.

"I see our plan worked. There weren't any trouble with moving the giant through the country?" Luthor asked the other man.

"Not at all. The League was so busy handling the missing of their protegees that they did not bother with some robbery of government property in Alaska. Not that anyone would now reveal what they lost. It is sad that we lost both of the gods, but they served their purpose."

"How fast can you... show our friend here the light?" Lex continued to question his ally

"Soon. By the end of November at worst." Eobard Thawn grinned. "Soon, everyone will see the light... in some form." He let out a chuckle.

A/N: surprise surprise. Also, I have finally finished the last planning for this story. Most things are now set in stone and I will do my best not to bounce too much from main plot now. The final length is now only dependent on how much I will prolong the descriptions and that stuff.

On the side note, I put a poll on my profile. I have several ideas about which story to write after this and why not let my readers choose? The second part of Hero's Trilogy won't be coming that soon. I need a break from YJ. I love it, but I want to wait for season 4 to come. So far, I am leaning toward RWBY x Ben 10 crossover or RWBY x PJO crossover. The details are on my profile.