Probably not my best work, but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway.
Guest 2.0: Glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, that was fun to write. Glad to hear it.
Philadelphia
Afternoon
Standing on the edge of a building overlooking the rest of the city, Medea smirked before looking up at the sky. When she spoke, it was in ancient Greek.
"Let my vengeance be done! Let the power of the gods rain down on this world. No one shall be spared my wrath!"
Medea laughed manically as storm clouds brewed, thunder piecing the air as lightning began to strike nearby buildings.
At Patty's apartment, Barry heard the sounds of thunder and sped to the window. Seeing the storm clouds when the forecast had been sunny skies, he knew it was Medea's work. Knowing it was time, Barry sped off.
With Medea, she smiled as she sensed something shift. A mental attack, a telepath trying to shut her down. It would have worked against this vessel, but her mind was far more evolved. With a wave of her hand, Irma was sent flying back, hitting the door as Medea advance menacingly.
"You thought you could stop me? I'm over a thousand years old, you can't stop me!" Medea raved as she stalked over to Irma.
Irma ignored her, containing her psychotic assault before Medea was suddenly hit by a wave of blue energy. She was thrown back, landing on the side of the building, out cold. A few feet away, Rokk and Garth lowered their hands.
"Nice link up!" Garth said raising his fist.
"For once," Rokk said, bumping his fist. "Medea's been weakened, but we don't have much time. We need to act fast."
The trio walked over to Patty's body, Garth pulling out a dagger. His hand shook, which Rokk and Irma noticed.
"I'll do it," Rokk offered, holding his hand out for the dagger but Garth shook his head.
"No. When I joined the Legion, I took an oath to do whatever it took. And I'm gonna honor that," Garth said, walking over to Patty, aiming the dagger towards her heart. "For once."
Still, Garth did not deliver the killing blow. After a moment, Rokk looked over at Irma, who nodded.
"It's okay Gar," Rokk said, holding out his hand for the dagger once more.
After a moment, Garth handed it to Rokk. Rokk stared down at Patty before preparing to deliver the killing low. However, just before the dagger pierced her skin, a red gloved hand grabbed Rokk's wrist, stopping it. Startled, the trio looked over and into Barry's rage filled eyes.
"Don't touch her," Barry snarled, yanking the dagger out of Rokk's hand.
"Barry, whoever she used to be, the woman you knew is gone," Irma reasoned.
"I refuse to believe that," Barry said firmly.
"Barry, in order to stop Medea, the host has to die. It's the only way," Rokk said and Barry laughed humorlessly.
"Do you people have any sense of right or wrong? You talk about a code. But if it had anything to do with me, rule number one would be never to kill the innocent, ever! The moment we choose to sacrifice the people we've sworn to protect, we're no better than the bad guys!" Barry said passionately.
For a moment, it was silent as the trio stared at Barry. For the first time, they could see a hint of the Flash they had grown up hearing about. Then, Irma heard something.
'Barry…Barry.'
Startled, Irma looked towards Patty. A disbelieving look on her face, she knelt down, staring at Patty as everyone looked at her oddly.
"Irma?" Garth called out.
"Barry's right…Patty's still alive," Irma declared to the shock of her teammates. "I can hear her."
Relief and hoping surging through him, Barry knelt down in front of Patty as Rokk and Garth exchanged a stunned look. This changed everything.
"You can hear her?" Barry asked Irma and she nodded.
"She's weak, but she's still there," Irma said and Barry nodded a thoughtful look on his face.
"Irma, can you communicate with Patty?" Barry asked suddenly.
"Yes," Irma said with a nod.
"Rokk, your powers over magmatism, does that include electromagnetic frequencies?" Barry asked.
"Yes," Rokk said, seeing that Barry had a plan. "What are you thinking Barry?"
"Medea is in control, but Patty's still there, just shoved down deep. Brain waves are electromagnetic. If you and Irma work together, can you boost the power of Patty's brain waves?" Barry asked.
"We've never done it before, but it's possible," Rokk said after a moment.
"Okay. Here's the plan. Irma, explain to Patty's what happening. You two will boost Patty's brain waves; give her a fighting chance against Medea. And if this doesn't work…I'll do what needs to be done," Barry said as he glanced down at the dagger in his hand.
Garden of the Hesperides
Same time
Together, Oliver, Slade, Percy and Annabeth entered the garden. Slade was decked from head to toe in his Deathstroke suit while Oliver was wearing his Green Arrow suit. Percy and Annabeth were wearing regular clothes. Oliver had the bow Artemis had given him clutched in his hands; Slade was holding a bronze sword half a foot longer than Percy's while Percy and Annabeth both had their usual weapons in hand.
The garden was a pretty beautiful place, exotic flowers like Oliver had never seen with sunlight that seemed to give the garden an almost heavenly glow. Then there was the dragon by the tree. It had a serpent's body and a hundred heads, looking like a hundred pythons tangled together. Percy tensed as he saw the dragon, eying it like he was swallowing a painful memory.
"You should not have returned."
The four demigods almost jumped at the sound of the voice. Four women suddenly appeared out of the shadows. There were probably four of the most beautiful women Oliver had ever seen. But the look in their eyes, like a deadly predator, eying their next meal. And they were looking right at Percy.
"You should not have come back, son of Poseidon," one of them said.
"Well, trust me, I would rather be anywhere else," Percy said bitingly. "But we need something from here."
"You wish to steal an apple?" Another of them said, sounding like she was fighting a laugh.
"If only it were that easy," Slade said dryly.
"In the end, it doesn't matter," the third said sounding dismissive of the whole thing. "Ladon will kill them all."
The fourth one laughed, as if the thought amused her greatly. Oliver, out of patience, pulled out a silver arrow and notched it in his bow, taking aim at the Hesperides.
"Get out of our way before you end up on the wrong end of one of these," Oliver growled.
"You think those will kill us?" the first one said amused.
"I know it won't. But I know what kills, what breaks, and what just hurts. And if you don't get out of my way, I will show you exactly how," Oliver growled, his eyes stormy as he glare at all of them.
Something in Oliver's voice seemed to scare them, because the four scattered. However, the commotion had woken Ladon. All one hundred heads were up, their eyes trained on the demigods, as if trying to determine if they were a threat or not.
"He's trained to guard the tree. Maybe we can use that," Annabeth said as Oliver narrowed his eyes.
"How'd you escape last time?" Oliver asked Percy.
"We didn't," Percy said solemnly. "One of us distracted him while the rest of us ran. He bit her and she died later that day."
"Not exactly in the mood to die," Slade said dryly.
"No one is dying today," Oliver said firmly as he eyed the dragon. "We came all this way to fight this dragon, we're not dying here."
"Hercules failed in a head on assault. It won't work against him," Percy warned.
"Well, it's a good thing we're smarter than him. Stick to the edges," Oliver ordered.
They followed his orders, Oliver and Slade went left while Percy and Annabeth went right. The dragon watched them, hissing as its heads opened their mouths. Oliver almost gagged at the smell, it was so much worse than he'd imagined. The dragon still couldn't seem to decide if they were friend or foe. Oliver put the silver arrow back in his quiver before pulling out one of his own. Notching it, making sure the dragon was watching; he fired it up into the air. Ladon's hundred heads all watched as it sailed into the air before it exploded in a bright flash of light.
"Now!" Oliver shouted.
All of them rushed the beast, which was temporarily blind due to the flash of light. However, it could still hear them. Only four lifetimes of training kept the demigods alive as they dodged the dragon's fangs. Slade whirled his sword, which the heads of the dragon avoided. It tried to take a bite out of Percy but the curse protected him, the fangs not having any impact on his iron skin. Annabeth hopped onto one of the heads, using her knife to try and cut off a scale. However, she was thrown off by the head. Another was about to take a bite out of her when Oliver fired an arrow that exploded into iron cables. They wrapped around the dragon's mouth, clothing it as Annabeth rolled onto the ground, dazed.
Angrily, the dragon opened its mouth and the iron cables snapped. It snarled as it moved to strike Oliver. But, suddenly, it stopped. Not on purposes, but something was stopping it. It took a moment for Oliver to realize why. Percy was looking at it, a look of concentration on his face and Oliver remembered how Percy had sent China White flying with only a hand.
While Oliver was processing this, Slade was springing into action. Pulling out a bronze knife slightly smaller than Annabeth's, he rushed over to one of the heads. The head hissed as Slade began cutting at a scale. It seemed to take forever but in reality, it was only fifteen seconds before Slade successfully cut off the scale.
No sooner had Slade retrieved the scale than Percy's powers seemed to fail him. Percy stumbled back as Ladon snarled, its heads moving wildly. However, before anything could happen, Oliver, Slade, Percy and Annabeth were surrounded by a bright light, blinding the dragon. When the light vanished, the demigods were gone.
Patty's apartment
Same time
"What are we doing here? We're running out of time," Rokk said as Barry set Patty on her bed.
"If Medea wakes up, I don't want her near that place, let's not give her a chance to finish what she started," Barry explained. "Rokk, Irma, are you ready?"
"As we'll ever be," Irma said.
Barry stepped back and the pair got to work. Rokk put his hands on Patty's temple as Irma put a hand to her hard, a orange light surrounding Patty.
In Patty's mind, Patty was standing in what resembled her apartment. Turning around, she came face to face with a woman with long blonde hair, glaring hatefully at her.
"Medea I presume?" Patty asked and Medea sneered at her.
"You think you can defeat me? I am the daughter of Hecate, I am more powerful than you can ever imagine! You will bow or you will die!" Medea sneered.
"You're right," Patty said, taking Medea by surprise. "Out there, you are more powerful than me. But the things is…we're in here. And this is my mind."
Suddenly, vines broke through the walls, wrapping themselves around Medea. Before the ghostly demigod knew what happened, she was wrapped from the chest don in vines as Patty calmly walked over to her.
"You cannot do this to me!" Medea snarled as she struggled against the veins.
"Actually, I can," Patty said as she pulled out a knife." I'm a daughter of Athena. And you're trespassing in my mind. So get out of my head."
Patty then stabbed Media in the throat, slitting it.
Back in the real world, Patty gasped as Irma and Rokk stopped. Outside, the storm clouds vanished, the sun shinning over the city.
"Patty? Patty?" Barry was by her side as Rokk and Irma stepped back. "Patty? Come on, don't do this to me."
For several long, painful moments, nothing happened. Then, Patty's eyes fluttered open, revealing the beautiful blue eyes Barry had always known.
"Barry," Patty breathed as she sat up.
Overcome with emotion, Barry pulled her into a hug, which Patty immediately returned.
San Francisco
Not long after
Oliver, Slade, Percy and Annabeth appeared in a flash of lights by the docks, looking around in bewilderment.
"What happened? How did we get here?" Slade demanded.
"I have an idea," Oliver muttered.
"Well done."
"And Idea confirmed," Oliver muttered as Mar Novu appeared in front of him.
"The Monitor I presume?" Slade asked dryly and Novu smiled.
"Slade Wilson, son of Ares. I thank you for your assistance," Novu said as he held Ladon's scale. "But I'm afraid this is where your part on this quest ends."
"And who says I have to listen to you?" Slade asked, not sure he trusted this Novu.
"You will have a role to play Slade Wilson. But for now, Oliver must journey on without you," Slade said pointedly. "I could have sent you home with no memory of this. But I choose to let you keep those memories. Do not make me regret it."
"Slade," Oliver said and Slade turned to him. "It's okay. You have a job to do and it's not protecting me, not anymore. I'll be okay."
Slade eyed Oliver, not wanting to leave his side, not until he knew this quest was over. But, rationally, he knew that if Mar Novu was telling him he had a role to play, than he would be wise to listen. It was never a good thing to defy a god, or in this case, a being with god like powers.
"Don't die out there," Slade said.
"And let you gloat for the rest of time?" Oliver joked and Slade chuckled.
"So, what now?" Percy asked as they turned back to the Monitor.
The Monitor waved a hand and a boat, a wooden boat big enough for three or four people, appeared by the docks.
"This boat shall take you to your next destination. You must search for a weapon you will need. You will encounter an old ally who will guide you. Then, you will learn the identity of your enemy," Novu said before he vanished.
"Thanks for the help!" Percy shouted annoyed.
"You sure about this kid?" Slade asked after a moment.
"No," Oliver said honestly before moving towards the boat. "But I've come this far, I can't go back now."
"Careful out there kid. This whole thing…I don't like it," Slade said as Percy and Annabeth joined Oliver on the boat, looking like they liked this as much as Slade.
"Me neither," Oliver said as, of its own accord, the boat began to move. "Take care Slade."
"You to kid. You to," Slade said, watching until the boat vanished from sight.
Patty's apartment
Later in the afternoon
"What do you remember?" Barry asked as he and Patty sat on her bed, the Legion choosing to give them some privacy.
"It's all a little burly after Minotaur showed up. I remember talking with you but once the room started shaking…nothing," Patty explained and Barry nodded.
"It's probably best you don't know," Barry said, remembering the Minotaur cutting him with a wince. "How did this even happen?"
"Medea has always been a fascination of mine," Patty admitted as she looked away. "I settled here about a year ago. Chiron mentioned that she had a temple not far from here. I went to look at it, I was just curious. The next day I woke up here with no memory of how I got there. I thought I was losing my mind because I kept having blackouts where I would draw her temple or some other crazy thing. Turns out I was being possessed."
"Why didn't you say anything to Chiron or anyone?" Barry wondered and she scoffed.
"The daughter of Athena, losing her mind? Yeah, that would go well. Turns out, my fatal flaw is stubbornness," Patty said and it was silent for a few moments. "Thank you…for never giving up on me."
"I will never give up on you," Barry vowed.
Patty's heart fluttered before she looked away from him. He's married, she told herself. He doesn't feel that way about you anymore.
"Unfortunately, that's not our only problem," Patty said and he raised an eyebrow. "Medea raised the Minotaur. It's my fault."
"You know that's not true. Medea was going to raise him whether you were here or not. She's been planning this for over a thousand years," Barry pointed out.
"Maybe," Patty agreed. "But still…"
"You feel responsible," Barry said, remembering how he felt after Flashpoint. "What are you gonna do?"
"I'm gonna go looking for it. I have to kill it," Patty said and Barry watched her silently. "Don't try and talk me out of this."
"Wasn't going to. I learned three years ago that it is damn near impossible to change your mind," Barry said and the two shared a laugh. "But you're not going alone."
"Barry, this is my mess to clean up," Patty said immediately.
"Patty, that thing nearly killed me and I'm the Flash, which is the only reason I' still alive. Going after it alone is suicide. You're not going without me," Barry said in a voice that left no room for argument. "It's damn near impossible to change my mind to."
Patty stared at him with a mix of exasperation, dread, and affection. It warmed her heart in ways she couldn't explain that he showed her such loyalty, after all the lies. But she worried how this time with him would affect their relationship. Already, she was starting to remember what she felt for him when they were together. She couldn't fall in love with him again, he was a married man. But, if the feeling in her heart was any indication, it might be too late for that.
Patty was broken out of her thoughts by a knock at the door. Barry got to his feet as Irma opened the door.
"Am I interrupting?" Irma asked.
"No," Patty assured her as she got to her feet. "Is something wrong?"
"No, we just thought it was time to say goodbye," Irma said with a long look at Patty before looking over at Barry. "We've accomplished our mission. I scanned Patty's mind, Medea is gone. Now it's time for us to leave."
A few minutes later, Barry and Patty stood in the living room, facing Rokk, Irma and Garth.
"We owe you an apology," Rokk told Barry. "You were right; there can never be an exception to protecting the innocent. It can never be acceptable to sacrifice an innocent life, whatever the reason."
"You were right to," Barry said, taking the trio by surprise. "I'm not the man you've heard about. It's why I'm out here instead of in Central City; I'm trying to find that man, the best version of me. And I haven't found him yet."
"Not yet, but you're on the right path," Irma said with a kind smile. "Keep walking it."
"It's been an honor," Rokk said, holding his hand out to Barry, who took it in a handshake.
"I hope we can see each other again someday," Garth said and Barry smiled as he dropped Rokk's hand.
"Maybe we will. Preferably without the world ending," Barry said.
Rokk gave Garth and Irma a look and they nodded, walking a little further away as Rokk looked back at Barry with a grim look.
"Barry, be careful in the days to come," he warned.
Barry nodded, knowing Rokk was talking about Crisis. Rokk then walked over to Irma and Garth, the trio pointing their hands with their rings into the air, their hands clenched into fists.
"Long live the Legion!" Rokk declared
In a flash of purple light, the trio vanished, leaving Barry and Patty staring at the spot where they had vanished.
"What was Rokk talking about?" Patty asked.
"It's a long story," Barry said as he looked over at Patty. "So, where to?"
"You don't have to come with me," Patty said in a last ditch attempt to get him to stay out of it.
"I know. Where do we start?" Barry asked.
If X-Men the animated series can get away with having Magneto increase the power of Xavier's brainwaves, I can do the same thing here with Patty.
The Hesperides would be played by Angelina Jolie, Alexandra Daddario, Erica Durance, and Eliza Dushku while Medea would be played by Cate Blanchett. Thank you to Aragorn II Elessar for his help with the castings.
Here is where Slade and Oliver part ways for the moment, but that does not mean this is the last we will see of Slade. I do plan to have him return later on.