We are finally back to Blade of Olympus. This chapter will focus mainly on the team really taking shape in their new circumstances, a couple of them settling into the cave, the usual issues with Speedy's three buddies, and we will also see a bit of canon like the establishment of a team leader and team roles.
Pretty excited to get this story underway and start making progress.
If you want to join a discord server or two, links can be found here→ /7x4YFstKcz and here→ /auc4PQjVtz
A couple review responses and we will jump in.
From Thisdude4: this is really good, i like the close familial relationship Percy and Diana have and look forward to seeing more of that. i especially appreciate the contrast to the other pjo/young justice story ive been reading, *the oncoming storm*
Response: Thanks man, I'm really happy you like it. I definitely want Percy and Diana to be close. In the comics she has a couple people who are her siblings in one way or another. Sadly they typically have a very unfortunate fate. So I wanted to run with that fact and have her be a bit overprotective of her baby brother, Percy. That being said I think Wonder Woman is one of the more levelheaded heroes. I'm pushing that concept a bit further and making her pretty THE most well rounded at least emotionally in the League. So when she sees Percy needs to grow she steps back and let's him. After writing this chapter I also kind of came to the conclusion to do more with her than originally planned. Lastly Oncoming Storm is really good. Reading it partially inspired me to do a fic of my own for Percy in Young Justice.
Review from ImHellaUgly: actually it's a super long review so if you want to read it check the review section. Much love for folks that leave big reviews though.
My response: I'm stoked that you liked the first chapter. For Percy's parentage I will say he is a son of Posieson still. More about his conception and childhood will be revealed as the story goes, but the fact he is a son of Posieson would have been revealed in this chapter either way. I am running with Diana being naturally born to Hippolyta from Zeus. More on the family will play a big part in this story. We will definitely see Superboy later, we got Power girl instead at CADMUS but she definitely isn't the only Kryptonian project underway. She isn't a blend of human and Kryptonian DNA though. Just Kryptonian and Genomorph. The only reason Kaldur and Wally didn't die is because Desmond explicitly commanded for them to be captured alive. Thankfully under her own control she can willfully hold back so not to butcher the baddies. I will admit that Power girl is one of the three of the girls Percy will become involved with, however the decision to introduce her earlier is to try and reverse the big three of the original Justice League. I had almost had Batgirl instead of Robin but went with him. So now our superman stand in is a girl and vice versa for wonder woman. Powergirl is definitely the strength and durability center of the team, Percy is incredibly powerful and tough but he isn't actually the best in anything besides perhaps leadership and combat with weapons. He is the jack of all trades but each member of the team has something they do better than him by design. I hope to keep you coming back for more and that you love the story.
Now with those handled let's get to the story.
Settling In
Mount Justice
July 17
Percy had been happy to move into Mount Justice. Beyond being a new though relatively mild adventure, he was also pretty happy that he was essentially going to be changing schools.
It wasn't that he disliked the school that Diana had set him up in. It was definitely one of the best preparatory programs that he could participate in while still actively working in heroics. It didn't really allow him a chance to properly befriend others his age though.
That had been something Percy had always struggled a bit with. He had plenty of friends back on Themyscira. That was a bit different though. Even when with the other Sons of Themyscira, Percy was a bit separate from the rest. Being the son of Queen Hippolyta and through technicality second in the line of succession after Diana, not that Percy would ever succeed the throne or even want to, meant he didn't get the same treatment as the others.
So growing up he had known he would either end up with the rest of the Sons, or leaving his homeland altogether with Diana. He never got a chance to get close to those he knew he wouldn't see after his twelfth birthday.
His superior abilities to most of those born on his home island hadn't helped. Like Diana he was a demigod and was heavily blessed by the Olympians as true Demigods were incredibly rare now.
Now though he was moving into Mount Justice. The headquarters for a team composed of others like him. Gifted with powers and abilities that set them far apart from the normal people of the earth. He would soon be attending his senior year of Highschool with at least two of those team members.
It was all exciting in its own way.
But not as exciting as the Heroic side of things. Even now he got a taste of it as he and Powergirl sparred brutally. Their blows were loud enough to reverberate through the hallways of the mountain and draw Megan in to watch the two go at it. Shein a bit of awe at the power both possessed.
As Powergirl managed to land a surprise snap kick to Percy's stomach, he felt himself wheeze as the air was compressed out of his lungs and he was sent stumbling back. While such a blow might literally take his breath away and stun him, it would have easily killed most other members of the team. Perhaps only Aqualad would be able to resist something like it. But even then he would have likely been down for the count in a fight.
Powergirl grinned at the mild flash of pain on her opponent's face. She wasn't happy about hurting him of course. Merely that she could let loose so much of her strength and power while fighting him. She typically felt like a bull in a china shop or like she was living in a world made of cardboard and paper as her…cousin put it.
Powergirl, like Percy, was excited to settle into the mountain for all the social and more simplistic reasons as well as the Heroic aspects. She was still struggling with the fact she was so much more powerful than the majority of the planet. Thankfully Superman had occasionally dropped by to speak with her.
He wasn't about to take on the actual role as her mentor and he clearly was uncomfortable around her to an extent but he was still kind to her. Besides she had her fellow residents in Mount Justice to rely on for her more social aspects.
She did worry a bit about her unintentional donor though. Did Supergirl want to meet her? Did she hate her for existing? Powergirl had no real way of knowing, though with the way the various members of the League seemed to tiptoe around the prospect she was beginning to suspect that Supergirl wasn't exactly thrilled to have been cloned.
"Keep your head in the game." Percy said as he planted a harsh right hook into Powergirl's cheek and followed it up with a left that took the blonde off of her feet.
Percy didn't let up as he followed her to the floor. Grappling a Kryptonian wasn't exactly among the brightest of ideas, but Percy had been raised by his sister and the other Amazons in styles of fighting that often had a lot of grappling.
His own strength was pushed to it's limit as he forced Powergirl into a painful lock and tightened down. She could have flown up and used the change of their fighting space as well as her superior durability to force her win, but they were focusing on method right now, not power.
With growing pain in her shoulder, neck, and elbow from the steely hold of Percy, Powergirl finally tapped and conceded to the boy.
Percy crawled off of the blonde and helped her to her feet sharing a grin with her as they both caught their breath from the exertion. They thanked Megan as she floated over with a set of towels and water bottles for them as well.
"You know, we should think of getting you started on a more physical routine too." Percy said to the martian causing her to pale slightly from her usual skin tone to almost lime green in color.
"I don't think he meant one quite like this, Megan." Powergirl calmed her friend.
"Oh. I suppose working on my weaknesses is probably a good idea." Megan said a bit quietly as she considered her shortcomings harshly.
"We all have things we are going to be best at. You don't have any reason to feel bad about not keeping up in physical abilities with me and Powergirl." Percy reassured her.
"We'll think about where to get started with you later. I could really use a snack and a shower right now. What about you, Powergirl?"
"Actually, I do need a shower. Your sweat got on me. You might have stained these workout clothes that Canary and your sister brought me." Powergirl seemed pretty unhappy about that.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Percy said glancing at the snug sports bra and skin tight leggings the girl was in. There was a very obvious wet blotch from where he had wrapped her up against his chest tightly.
Megan seemed to notice his glance, though Powergirl was oblivious.
"Well go get cleaned up, I'll make a snack for both of you. Then we can do something together."
The demigod and Kryptonian clone did as ordered by the domestic boss of their odd little group. They were quick, though not as quick as she was in putting together a mix of fruits, crackers, and cheese. It actually reminded Percy a lot of the typical snacks and treats his mother and sister gave him growing up. A divinely blessed and created body he might have, but that didn't give him the ability to eat nothing but junk.
"Good selection Megan." Percy praised as he enjoyed a handful of grapes.
"I just got Uncle J'onn to bring me a bunch of fruits and other snacks so that I could try more earth foods." She said with a smile.
"It's weird. I knew what apples looked like and everything. Even what they felt like. But actually smelling and tasting them is so different." Powergirl said in surprise as she quickly devoured an apple.
"We really need to go out and try things. Actually I can't believe I am suggesting this, but we should go shopping so you two can get a better idea of man's wo- I mean a better idea of earth." Percy said.
As he somewhat expected, Megan gasped excitedly and grabbed a hold of the sleeve of his shirt. Her other hand snagged the hand of the surprised Powergirl and pulled her closer.
"We have to go. We can even buy some clothes and decorations for the house, err I mean the cave. It's going to be so fun."
"That decides that." Powergirl chuckled as she watched her friend practically jump in place.
"Yeah, I guess. Wait, Megan can't all your clothes shape shit to whatever you want them to be?" Percy asked.
"Well yes. That doesn't mean I don't want to go shopping. Besides Powergirl and I could share outfits and things like that." She said like it was obvious.
The boy quickly glanced at the two girls and doubted they could really share clothes that easily. Megan was shapely for a girl their age. She definitely struck him as the cute girl next door type he had seen on television.
Powergirl was a bit different though. She looked like a model and funnily enough was far more buxom than even Supergirl who she was supposedly a clone of. A younger clone at that.
Needless to say, unless Megan intended to use her shape shifting at all times she and Powergirl had very different body types. Percy wisely decided not to bring that up though.
"What about the rest of the boys?" Powergirl asked.
"They went to harass Speedy. They want to try to recruit him onto the team." Percy said, noticing how Megan shifted awkwardly. Speedy had not left the best of impressions on her.
"You didn't go with them?" Powergirl asked.
"I'm not really all that close to him like they are. Not all that close to any of them really. Diana made sure we did a lot of work outside of the states. She's actually in Berlin for some sort of meeting today."
"Oh, well let's get dressed and get going." Powergirl said before pausing as Percy snagged her arm.
"Well, first things first. We can't exactly go out using the name Powergirl for you right? So we need to decide on what to call you when outside of the suits."
"Well, what do you want to call me?" She asked. She didn't really care what her name was all that much. To her she was Powergirl after all. She doubted anything would feel as fitting as that name.
Percy hummed but honestly he didn't have any names that he expected her to be interested in. His mind was a bit hardwired for the ancient world, Greek and Roman to a lesser extent. He almost suggested Sally as the most normal name he could think of for an American girl but honestly it didn't fit Powergirl at all.
"Well, um what about Karen?" Suggested Megan.
"Karen?" Percy tested the name out on his tongue and nodded. Powergirl blinked before smiling.
She tested the name a couple of times herself before smiling over at Megan approvingly. "How did you settle on that?"
"Oh, uhm it's from the TV I think. Could have been anything really." Megan replied with a heavy blush and pronounced stutter.
Percy and the newly dubbed Karen exchanged a look and pair of shrugs before getting around and leading the way toward the path to Happy Harbor.
The trio cheated a bit and flew from Mount Justice to the outskirts of the town. Since they had none of the non-flying members with them it was kind of nice not having to worry about carrying them or slowing down for Robin and Aqualad. It allowed them to arrive much sooner than they would have if hiking the road down from the mountain.
"So, where to first?" Karen asked.
Percy turned to look at both girls. They were trying to take everything in. Happy Harbor would struggle to be labeled as a city, even a small one. It was a sizable town though and as they walked onto main street a plethora of large signs advertised all kinds of different shops.
Thanks to his sister, Percy enjoyed a nearly limitless expense account. All the Leaguers had managed to prop themselves up into some lucrative business or were compensated by Batman for anything they might need. He wasn't Percy's favorite on the Justice League roster, not after he had found out about the very brief failed relationship between him and Diana, but somehow he wasn't the one that Percy disliked the most either.
Paying for so much of everything earned the grim old man some leeway.
"Oh, there!" Megan cheered before snagging a hold of both Karen and Percy's wrists and dragging them toward a clothing shop, primarily geared toward women.
Percy realized about then that he may have made a mistake somewhere along the path that led to him taking two teenage girls on a shopping trip.
He just hoped Diana was understanding when she got the bank statement.
The trio spent the rest of their evening running from one shop to another until they decided to get something to eat at a decent diner near the center of Happy Harbor's dock area. It was altogether a pretty fun day, even if Percy was less than interested in spending so long shopping. It gave him a lot of opportunities to explain to both girls some of the things he had learned since coming here from Themyscira.
Things that had helped them get ready to integrate like they inevitably would have to. The huge amount of clothing and knick-knacks they had picked up took a while to put away and in the end the trio were a bit too tired to do much of anything and so Percy introduced the girls to the art of relaxation as they popped a couple bowls of popcorn and sat back to enjoy a few movies. Everything from comedy to horror.
Eventually they headed to bed for the night, expecting to spend the first day as a full team with their absent members the next day. As they each drifted off though, Percy, Karen, and Megan all happily anticipated the new chapter in their life.
Sadly the rest of their teammates were not as pleased with their current situation as the trio in Mount Justice.
Mount Justice
July 18
Percy and the girls had spent the early morning largely cleaning up the cave as they prepared for the others to join them. Megan had even put cookies into the oven, though Percy wasn't sure where she had gotten the recipe for them. He looked forward to trying them though.
Aqualad was the first to join them. He made some basic idle chatter with his new teammates but was clearly waiting for the others to arrive before really engaging in much team bonding. Something that disappointed Percy a little. It felt already like there was a small divide between the two groups of three on the team. Nothing that would be good as they continued on and actually began participating in missions.
Finally the zeta tube activated and both Robin and Kid Flash emerged wearing their more civilian clothes. While Percy was a bit anxious to get started on missions, just like the others no doubt were, it was rather nice at the moment for them all to be able to hang out together dressed as civilians and just acting their age.
The two newest arrivals seemed a bit more anxious to get started than Percy himself was though.
"Aqualad, did you ask him yet?" Kid Flash asked
"What did he say?" Robin joined in.
With a glance at the screen Percy realized they were waiting for Red Tornado to arrive. He had a pretty good idea of what they wanted to ask the android.
"He's arriving now." Aqualad replied.
"Come on then, let's go!" Robin said as they moved toward the hanger built into the base of the mountain.
Percy, Megan, and Karen shared a look. He couldn't shake that something was weighing on the other three boys. Likely something to do with Speedy, benign as they hadn't been this anxious in the past couple of weeks. They still followed after their teammates though.
The Leaguer settled onto the ground just as the team stepped out of the entry way. Despite being an android he seemed, to Percy at least, a bit baffled by the team's approach and their reasoning for catching him just as he landed.
"Greetings. Is there a reason you have intercepted me outside of the cave?"
"We had hoped you might have a mission for us." Aqualad replied.
"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility."
"But it's been over a week, and nothing-" Robin complained.
"You'll be tested soon enough." Red Tornado interrupted with a hand lifted to silence the teen. "For the time being, simply enjoy each other's company."
"This team is not a social club." Aqualad bit out with the most annoyed tone Percy had heard from him outside of the night that they raided CADMUS.
Percy felt a bit struck as Aqualad said that though. He might agree that they were not here simply to socialize, but for him, and at least a couple of the others he knew it was still an important part of the whole thing. He remained silent though. Whatever Speedy had said to the three boys the night before was definitely getting under their skin. Maybe trying to get them to talk about it when they went back into the cave would be a good idea.
"No, however I am told social interaction is an important team-building exercise." Tornado replied to Aqualad.
"Perhaps you can keep busy by familiarizing yourself with the cave." Red Tornado continued as he walked past them all.
As he did so Kid Flash turned to Robin and jabbed him slightly muttering 'keep busy' under his breath. Obviously in reference to something that Percy hadn't been a part of.
"Does he think we're falling for this?" Robin demanded rhetorically.
"Falling for what?" Percy asked.
"This…this-" Robin muttered, unsure of how to label the situation he was agitated by.
"Being treated like sidekicks once again. Put onto the sidelines." Aqualad grumbled out for the younger boy, getting Robin to motion toward the Atlantean and nod.
"Well, it's only been a week. Like you said earlier." Karen said.
"Yeah, but there is something always happening. Always." Robin argued.
"Let's all try to relax a bit here." Percy said. The team as a whole was starting to get worked up and he was pretty sure if he wasn't careful he would have them snapping at each other in annoyance.
The others began to calm down a bit as Megan invited them all to take a tour of the cave led by the three residents. Kid Flash didn't miss an opportunity to flirt, despite it falling flat, but still the team was soon being led along by the energetic and friendly Miss Martian.
They had shown the trio of boys around for a bit until Megan realized she had burnt the cookies she was baking. The group headed into the kitchen to see the damage done to her treats, finding her levitating the tray of blackened disks out while pouting. She had hoped to make them for everyone since this was the first time they were spending a full day together at the cave.
"I was trying to follow the recipe from- you know what nevermind." Megan said awkwardly.
"I bet they would have tasted great. I mean they're burnt now and he still doesn't seem to mind." Robin said motioning toward Kid Flash.
The speedster blushed faintly as he chowed down on the burnt black cookies. "What, I have a serious metabolism."
"I'll make more?" Megan said awkwardly.
"It was kind of you to make any at all." Aqualad reassured her. That caused Percy to grin. This was the side of Aqualad he preferred to the clearly annoyed one from earlier. He might have had a bias toward the other boy being as he was an Atlantean though. They were his father's people.
"Thanks Aqualad." Megan said with a sigh. She was still pretty awkward even with Percy and Karen who she had been living with for a little while. With the other three it was a bit worse.
"We're off duty, you can call me Kaldur'ahm. Actually my friends call me Kaldur."
"I'm Wally." Kid Flash said as he stopped eating and leaned forward to appear more suave to Megan. "See I already trust you with my secret I.D. unlike mister dark glasses over here."
Robin clearly rolled his eyes from behind the aforementioned dark shades.
"Batman's forbidden boy wonder from telling anyone his real name." Wally said condescendingly toward his friend.
"Well mine's no secret. M'gann M'orzz, but you can call me Megan. It's an earth name and-" She paused as she realized she'd had a very similar conversation before with Percy back at the Hall of Justice.
"Oh, uh Powergirl has an Earth, er I mean normal name now too. Karen." Megan rambled a bit.
"Yeah." Karen finally chimed in as she risked a taste of Megan's burnt cookies. They might have been unpalatable for most people but they weren't too bad for her as she began to dig into the treats alongside Wally.
"And, I'm Percy Prince. Legally speaking. The last name was kind of made up by my sister." Percy said with a shrug.
"How does that work exactly? I mean I thought Amazons were only women." Wally asked.
Percy waved a hand as if he was shooing away such a notion. "Despite being a bit stronger and healthier than normal women, and longer lived thanks to the blessings of the gods. Most Amazons are normal women so when they give birth they typically have as much of a chance of giving birth to a boy as they do a girl."
"Wait, but how…" Robin blushed as he kind of waited for the older boy to explain further.
Percy sighed. He hadn't really expected to be explaining things like this today but he might as well. It was their first true introductions after all.
"So when an Amazon several Amazons want to have children they go out into Man's world and usually find a strong healthy sailor and uhm, enjoy some time together. In ancient times they would kidnap them, bring them back to the island, use them to make sure they were with child and then kill them. Back then boys were also thrown into the sea if they were born."
Percy shielded his face with his hand as Wally choked on his cookie and began coughing and hacking to try and clear his air way. The team helped him by slapping him roughly on his back to dislodge the dry crumbs caught there. Finally settling down they turned their attention back to Percy.
"That's horrible!" Robin exclaimed.
"It's ancient history. If you think that the Amazons are the only ones to do awful things like that back then you are naïve." Percy said harshly causing the boy wonder to raise his hands up placatingly.
"They don't do that anymore, obviously if you are here." Karen commented.
"Yeah. Well that's because of Lord Hephaestus."
"The Greek god of fire?" Robin asked in a bit of surprise.
"And Craft. He made a deal with the Amazons in the time of Ancient Greece and in exchange for them giving him the male children he gave them weapons and armor that he and the boys he now raised forged. He taught the boys many skills and most stayed with him from there on to work the forges alongside their adoptive father. Others learned skills and left to make a life for themselves in man's world. Sworn to never speak of their origins. That's all in the past though. My sister has made many changes, so much so that now, boys can be raised by their mothers on Themyscira until they begin puberty as they aren't really men when they are children. There is a small peninsula off of the island that Sons of Themyscira were allowed to make a colony on as well. Although now Lord Hephaestus and Poseidon have made a smaller island nearby that the Sons live on if they do not go to man's world or reside with Lord Hephaestus."
The group digested everything Percy had just told them. Some of them simply taking his words at face value, or in some cases, like Wally construing it through a more 'modern' mindset.
"Still, that doesn't give any real detail on how you are Wonder Woman's actual brother. I heard Batman say that she was actually the demigod daughter of Zeus and Queen Hippolyta. That's why she is the princess of the Amazons." Robin pointed out.
"You're the son of Zeus?" Wally asked.
"No. Technically Diana is my half sister. Hippolyta is my mother but my father is Poseidon." Percy admitted with a bit of awkwardness. He hadn't really known his father beyond legends. Though his mother, in her typically blunt fashion was certain he knew the modern legend of his own conception. Not something he was exactly thrilled to learn about as most could imagine.
"The Poseidon, god of the Sea Poseidon? Then how come your powers let you fly and everything?" Wally asked.
"Listen, can we stop with the twenty questions already? I think I've explained enough don't you?" Percy asked, though it was clear he was done discussing the topic. This was already a rather private conversation for six people to have. Percy was beginning to feel awfully exposed.
"He's right, perhaps there is something else we can do." Aqualad genially said, pulling the focus off of Percy's lineage. He was interested in Percy's ties to the sea, but he didn't wish to keep digging and making his friend uncomfortable.
"I might have an idea. Uncle J'onn brought my bioship to earth earlier this week. We could take it out to get a different view on Happy Harbor." Megan suggested.
"A different view?" Wally asked.
"The girls and I sort of spent most of yesterday excploring the town together. Megan can transform herself to look human so we could do it without drawing any real attention to us or our base of operations." Percy said.
"It's honestly a pretty boring town. Could be cool to show you guys around though. Keep the tour going." Karen shrugged.
"Lead on, babe. Wherever you want to take me I'm happy to follow." Wally happily cheered as he flicked a couple more burnt cookies into his mouth.
"Then it's decided. Megan, lead the way." Aqualad said with a content smile toward their resident martian.
"Here she is." Megan said as she drifted into the hangar and settled onto the floor just in front of the large black and red orb shape.
"Oh, it's really cute, uhm not so aerodynamic maybe, but totally cute. It fits you." Wally said as he shot a smile at Megan.
"Let me wake it up." With a simple wave of her hand the red and black craft shape shifted and formed into a much more sleek look. Almost reminiscent of a science fiction fighter from a few movies that Percy had watched since coming to man's world.
Megan and Karen showed no hesitation as they stepped forward to board the craft. They had gotten closer and closer since the team was formed, and Percy was beginning to think that perhaps Megan had kept a mental link active with Karen for some time now. As long as they were both comfortable with it, he wasn't going to interfere.
Percy followed after a moments hesitation but Megan had to stop and egg the rest of the boys on to get them to board. Clearly they were not entirely comfortable with the thought of riding within. Especially since the craft was technically organic and therefore alive in some sense.
They warmed up to the idea soon enough as the interior transformed to better fit them all with Megan in a captains chair and each of them being benign strapped in by belts that nearly resembled tentacles. Percy likened it almost to being embraced by someone. Odd but not entirely uncomfortable.
"Red Tornado, please open the bay doors." Megan called over the ship's communicator to the Mount Justice control room.
Slowly the ship drifted out of the large doors opening at the base of the mountain along the shore. It launched into the sky and began flying down the coast toward Happy Harbor. The team relaxed and enjoyed the incredibly smooth ride of the aircraft as it flew over coastline and forests.
"Having your own ship is incredible." Robin said as he looked out of the windows to the water below.
"She sure is incredible. The uh, ship. As all ships are female." Wally stammered.
"That's going to get old fast." Percy groaned as Megan either ignored or didn't catch Wally's words toward her. He didn't mind the idea of the team members looking at one another in such a way. He wouldn't step into the middle of that sort of thing. Wally's methodology was grating as could be though and he already could tell it would start annoying him soon.
"Fast with his feet, not so much with his mouth." Robin teased his friend.
"Dude." Kid Flash complained.
The team fell into silence after that. An awkward one. They still were not comfortable enough all together to simply enjoy time with one another and make idle conversation. That would only comet with time.
"What else can the ship do?" Karen asked trying to start some sort of conversation.
"It's abilities are somewhat based on my people's. It can shape shift, as you saw, but also it can turn invisible." Megan replied.
"Oh, can you show us some shape shifting?" Robin asked curiously.
"Sure." Megan chirped back, a bit excited at showing off.
She stood from her seat and quickly altered her appearance, clothes and all, to look like Robin. Or rather a female Robin. Then with a spin she changed again. This time she took a pose of flexing and showboating a bit as she suddenly looked like Kid Flash.
"Is it wrong to think I look hot?" Wally asked while staring at the martian girl dreamily.
"There's probably some kind of condition for it." Percy snorted.
While Wally shot Percy an annoyed look and Percy, Kaldur, and Karen tried not to laugh at the pouty look the boy had, Robin and Megan spoke more about her powers. She was a bit disappointed she wasn't yet skilled enough to fully shapeshift into a male form. At least not easily. The more Robin asked the more she realized she had a long way to go as well. Many of her uncle's trademark abilities that made him invaluable to the league, like density shifting was out of her reach still.
She hoped she would be able to advance into abilities like that soon. Coupled with the new training Karen and Percy intended for her, she hoped to make an excellent heroine. Any conversations or thoughts the team was beginning were abruptly interrupted as Red Tornado's voice loudly came over the ship's communications.
"Red Tornado to Miss Martian. An emergency alert has been activated at the Happy Harbor power plant. I suggest you investigate covertly. I'm sending coordinates." Red Tornado announced.
"Received, altering course." Miss Martian said. "Perfect time to show off camouflage mode."
With a mental command the ship disappeared from the skies, bending light around its form and becoming invisible to the naked eye.
"Tornado's keeping us busy." Robin complained.
"Just like with touring the cave." Wally grumbled.
"It's better than sitting around doing nothing and I doubt they would activate the alarm for nothing. We were just flying around anyway so what are you complaining about?" Percy asked the two, causing them to huff slightly and cross their arms.
The Amazonian prince shared a look with Kaldur who gave him an apologetic look on his friend's behalf. There wasn't much to be said. Percy and Kaldur could both understand the frustration the two younger boys had but Percy in particular wasn't terribly bothered by having time to get their bearings as a team.
"Woah, that's not normal." Karen said pointing out the window at the rapidly approaching tornado.
Megan quickly maneuvered the ship away from the deadly funnel and set the ship down in one of the parking lots of the powerplant. The team rushed outside only to pause at the sight of a tornado tearing a path along the far side of the building and dozens of powerplant workers scrambling to flee from the incoming freak storm.
"Robin, are tornadoes common in New England?" Kaldur asked. Only for the team to turn and find that the boy wonder had gone on ahead without them.
"Just like at CADMUS. We need to stop for a moment and actually make up a plan people!" Percy growled. Sadly Wally had other ideas as he took off after his friend.
"Come on, they can't fight a storm or whatever is causing it all alone." Karen said as she shot into the air and followed after Wally and Robin.
Percy groaned as the team scrambled forward but joined with Kaldur and Megan as they hurried toward the building to lend support to their more reckless team members.
By the time Percy arrived, Robin had been thrown aside by a large red and black clad villain using wind and Kid Flash had been forced into tripping face first into a wall and was slowly recovering from the sudden and violent stop.
Powergirl was doing slightly better. However her direct attacks hadn't given her the chance to land a direct blow on the opponent as they maneuvered easily with their control over wind and kept pivoting out of the straightforward assaults.
"I wasn't looking forward to you children coming to face me, but I recognize a few of you at the least. Allow me to introduce myself. You may call me Mister Twister." The villain said as he created a series of wind gusts that culminated into a small but incredibly powerful cyclone. It tore Powergirl out of the air as she tried to fly and slammed her into several objects before sending her skidding across the floor. Dizzy and stunned by the fact she hadn't easily dealt with her opponent.
Miss Martian and Aqualad joined the fray attempting to charge straight into the villain themselves.
"Hey, guys wait!" Percy called out, but the adrenaline was already pumping and each member of the team was too set on their path.
They rushed in, just as Wally and Robin rejoined the fight. Wally was thrown fully out of the building and both Aqualad and Miss Martian were batted aside like flies. They slammed painfully against the concrete flooring of the power plant and had to take a moment to regain their breath from the sudden blows.
Robin made some progress at the least. Like Percy he realized that a head on assault was in their enemy's favor. This Mister Twister could keep them at bay with gusts of wind and maneuver to escape nearly all of their attacks. If he had time to see them coming and react they would never get an upper hand against him.
Unfortunately, while Robin had realized that as well and launched his attack with a second one hidden directly behind it, Mister Twister's armor proved more than a match for his small explosives.
Miss Martian had recovered by this point and began attempting to rip a portion of the plant's equipment down onto Twister with her telekinesis. Only for Percy to stop her.
"No, we are here to stop the destruction of the power plant remember. Everyone listen to me. We need to get him outside. Miss M, try to trip him up, Powergirl you hit him from the air, Robin you and Aqualad have the flanks, I'll take him straight on." Percy called out. Wally was still outside the building somewhere.
"It seems foolish to discuss your plans so openly in front of your opponent." Mister Twister mocked.
"Yeah well, not much choice, right?" Percy asked and launched forward.
The plan worked well enough. At least it achieved his goal of forcing Twister out of the building. The villain kept him at bay just like it had the others, but the combination of the group attacking together forced Twister into a retreat from the building and out into the parking lot away from the important equipment.
"As long as he knows what you're trying to do he is always prepared for it." Robin complained as he pitched a few shuriken at Twister who simply sent them careening away with a gust of wind. The boy wonder cringed faintly when the weapons detonated amidst the parked vehicles of the plant workers.
Percy paused at that before glancing toward Miss Martian. He seemed to know what he was thinking as suddenly everyone on the team felt a push in their head.
"Nicely done Megan." Percy said with a smile.
"Woah, Xiphos is in my head. Not a fan of that really." Kid Flash complained.
"We can all hear each other's surface thoughts this was Kid Mouth." Robin said, causing Wally to glance at the Amazonian on their team with a bit of embarrassment.
"Err, not that having your voice in my head is really all that bad Percy." Wally said.
"Focus guys. Wally I want you to start circling around Twister. Karen like before you are coming in from high up, but I don't want you to hit Twister, I want you to cave in the ground behind him. Just like back at CADMUS Megan. You put him under the moment you can. The rest of you with me, We are going to put him in the whole and hold him down while Megan does her thing." Percy commanded.
"Always so bossy man." Wally complained but complied with what he had been told.
Twister paused in his attacks as the team seemed to change up their strategy mid stride. He watched as Kid Flash began to quickly circle him at increasingly faster and faster speeds, turning his own wind against him and placing him at the mercy of a blinding tornado.
"So you have some way to keep your plans a secret from me after all. No matter. Though I have to say trying to use wind against me in such a way is rather offensive." Twister said only to narrowly move aside as Powergirl rocketed past his head and slammed a fist into the ground causing it to crater around them as she let loose more than she normally would have.
"Now!" Percy mentally shouted to his teammates.
The Amazonian shot forward first and planted a fist into Twister's gut that sent the armored figure backward. Both Aqualad and Robin were waiting, as Aqualad quickly used his water bearers to form restrains and Robin used a cable they held Twister down as Megan moved in to make contact and knock Twister out of the fight.
As she placed her hand on his head though she realized a major flaw in their plan. The villain was inorganic. Nothing more than a machine, and as another shock, literally, he could control lightning as well.
The three heroes connected to Twister screamed in pain as electricity coursed through their bodies and the villain broke free. He shot off and away from them into the air while the three electrocuted teens collapsed into the crater.
"What they heck just happened? That should have worked. We had him dead to rights!" Wally panicked slightly.
"Inorganic…" Miss Martian stammered out as her body convulsed from the currents of electricity still playing hell with her nerve endings.
Percy narrowed his eyes and took off after the villain as he fled toward the dock areas of town.
"Powergirl, Kid Flash. Get the others back onto the Bio Ship then follow after us. I'll try and limit the damage he can do until then." Percy commanded.
"Seriously, who put you in charge?" Wally bemoaned but did as told anyway.
Percy ignored him, instead intending to get Twister out near the water and ending the machine as quickly as possible. It was the best way to mitigate whatever damage he might do otherwise. He caught up the machine just as it passed alongside the beach and Percy slammed into him with his full force.
Both plunged out into the water and Percy wasted no time in tearing the armored villain to ribbons as he controlled tendrils of water to rip the plates of metal away. Shocking to him though, was the sight of a man within. A pale scrawny one clearly piloting the armor.
Percy blinked in surprise, but only momentarily. He pulled the man free from the armor and swam back to the docks. With a grunt he tossed the apparent pilot onto the sand and stared down at him with anger. Not only had the man attacked civilians and the infrastructure of civilians, his lightning had seemed to severely hurt three of his teammates.
"Who are you and why did you attack Happy Harbor?" Percy demanded. He planted a foot in the man's chest causing him to wheeze, though Percy noticed it seemed a bit odd the way the man gasped for his breath. He wasn't sure why though.
"Ugh, no. I'm not saying anything to you. Just call your boss to take me to jail or whatever it is you heroes do when you win." The man said only to groan in pain as Percy applied a slight bit more pressure to his foot.
"Fine then. I have other ways of finding out, I think." Percy said darkly as the Bioship appeared over his shoulder and the team, including the slightly singed and twitching members jumped down to join him.
"Woah. Xiphos where is Twister. Who the heck is that guy?" Kid Flash asked.
"That must have been who was piloting the suit we thought was Mister Twister. Right?" Robin asked.
"Yeah. Miss Martian. See if you can look into his memories. Figure out why he was attacking the town at all." Percy motioned for her to come over.
She placed a hand on the temple of the pilot and closed her eyes to focus. They sprang open a moment later in surprise. He was a machine as well.
"Another android." She said in surprise.
Percy grunted as he twisted the small 'man' around to push his head forward. Sure enough there were slots in the back of the villain's neck for various connections and memory chips. Percy released the chips and let the lifeless form of his opponent drop as he held up the chip for the team to stare at in interest.
"That will probably have a lot of little secrets to look at." Robin said cheerfully as he looked forward to digging through it for information.
"I just want to know what he had to gain, really." Powergirl said as she prodded the android on the ground with her foot.
"Well, I suspect he wanted a member of the League to show up and face him. He even said he wasn't expecting us to be the ones to come and face him." Percy said.
"Still, the Justice League would have ate him for breakfast. Why would he want one of them to come after him?" Wally asked.
"Because they wouldn't be coming after him. He's just an android. A puppet for the real villain. Wherever he is." Aqualad joined in.
"Exactly. We'll take this all back to the cave. Maybe we can find something useful. But after realizing that Mister Twister was probably supposed to be wrecked by a member of the Justice League all along…I can't help but think we won't get anything truthfully useful from him." Percy sighed.
With that, the team packed up and headed back home to the cave. An odd, and still almost random attack having acted as their first true trial as an official team of superheroes.
Caribbean Sea
July 22
As he had expected. The chip did not reveal much for the team. Besides the fact that the android was created specifically to target not just a member of the League but Red Tornado specifically. They weren't able to trace the equipment back, though the fact that the android piloting the larger suit was a copy of someone surely, though their leads ended at the name Bromwell Stikk. The man seemed to have disappeared some time prior to the Mister Twister incident entirely.
The League had taken over the investigation of Stikk and his androids. Something that would have normally angered the team, however Batman undercut any sort of reaction by providing them with their first official team mission. An actual covert hero mission, the kind they had been formed into a team to complete in the first place.
They were being sent to Isla Santa Prisca. An island that acted as the central hub for the production of the neo-steroid commonly referred to as Venom. The boss of the illegal operation was one of Batman's many foes, Bane. The facility and production itself wasn't that odd. It was known about by the League, but due to international red tape, they couldn't strike directly at the facility.
Recently however the facility had stopped sending out the usual shipments that the League would try to intercept. The factory was still producing at full capacity according to satellite and infrared monitoring, but none of the Venom was leaving the island. Normally that would be a good thing, but when villains or criminals in general began acting oddly it usually meant something worse than normal was coming.
The objective of the mission was to observe and report. Remain hidden and not to engage the criminals on the island. Percy had to admit, he wondered if that was going to be possible. Things among the team were a bit twisted up at the moment. Batman had made it clear that the team needed to appoint it's own leader and they had failed to do so before taking the mission.
Kid Flash and Robin were already beginning to make snide remarks toward one another while putting themselves forward as leader. Miss Martian wasn't interested in the job in the slightest and Powergirl seemed completely uncaring herself. Aqualad had also remained silent on the topic, like Percy had, but the demigod could see him watching the others on the team and seemingly evaluating them.
"Drop Zone A in thirty." Miss Martian reported.
Both Aqualad and Xiphos stood and prepared themselves to drop into the tropical waters below.
"We're ready." Aqualad said, getting a nod from the martian.
"Putting the bioship in camouflage mode."
Soon the ship skimmed closely to the surface of the ocean and both boys dove out into the waters below. They quickly swam forward, Xiphos slicing a hole through the steel net used by the island as a defensive barrier, and made it to the beach. Ahead of them a series of surface to air missile batteries kept the Bioship offshore and away from the danger, but with a few well placed devices the sensors on the weapons were blinded.
"Sensors are patched. It's clear for you to move in." Aqualad said over the radio.
The invisible ship did just that and quickly made its way to drop zone B where the rest of the team disembarked and began their side of the operation.
"Lets move. We need to regroup with the others. I don't feel confident leaving Robin and KF on their own at the moment." Percy said as he began a steady pace toward the interior of the island.
Aqualad hesitated as if he wanted to argue on his friends' behalf, but he stopped himself and instead simply followed after Percy. They ignored the light rain and made for the rendezvous point, starting to climb the steep cliffs that were common on Santa Prisca.
"Xiphos, Aqualad, drop B is a go." Miss Martian called over the radio.
"Good, head for the rendezvous point nearest the factory. We'll meet you there." Percy replied.
They continued on, inadvertently listening in on the idle chatter of their teammates as both groups converged on the rendezvous point. They overheard them pause as Powergirl heard something moving with her enhanced hearing. Group B paused at that only to find that Robin had disappeared, like usual.
"Ugh, I hate when he does that." Kid Flash complained.
"Guys, switch to infrared." Xiphos called out.
"Check and make sure you aren't being tracked." Aqualad added.
Both boys picked up their pace. If their teammates ended up in a fight or captured they needed to be there to help them.
"Got a squad of armed bozos incoming." Kid Flash called to the rest of the team.
"Two squads. But they'll meet each other before they see us." Powergirl chimed in.
The team flinched slightly at the sound of gunfire erupting in the jungle. Both Percy and Aqualad grimaced at that. While the guns weren't pointed at their teammates they were still a ways away from group B and they didn't like being separated like this when dangerous events were occurring.
"Swing wide and steer clear." Aqualad advised them.
"Yeah, as soon as I find Rob." Kid Flash said.
"No, KF stay away from the firefight. We have to remain covert, remember? Observe and report." Xiphos tried to tell him.
"He already took off Xiphos." Powergirl replied with a sigh.
"Dammit, come on Aqualad. We're gunna have to pull him out of the fire." Percy said to his fellow member of Group A. The Atlantean nodded and allowed Xiphos to grab his arm and shoot through the air at far greater speed than they had used while running. It wasn't exactly subtle, even if they stayed just above the tree line, but it was fast.
"Guys, Kid just slipped into the middle of the creekbed right between the two groups of gunmen." Powergirl said over the coms. The whoosh of wind on the mic told Percy and Kaldur that she was rushing ahead to help him.
"We're on our way, tracking you GPS now." Xiphos replied while internally groaning at the actions of the two youngest members of the team.
The pair arrived to find the rest of the team in the middle of a fight with two groups of heavily armed thugs. Powergirl was handling Bane easily. The musclebound crime lord wasn't juiced up on Venom like he normally was, making him an easy opponent for her. The others bickered among themselves while Xiphos and Aqualad dropped in and finished the last handful of enemies.
After beating the criminals down, they tied them up securely. All while remaining silent as the various team members stewed in their thoughts. Whether about themselves becoming the team leader, being more or less called out for having telepathy, or from the team acting so disjointed and childish. When they had finished restraining them however Robin filled in the others one what he knew about the guys they had just beaten.
"I definitely recognize those uniforms. These guys are from the Cult of the Kobra." Robin explained.
"I am certain that Batman would have mentioned it if he knew that a dangerous extremist had taken over Santa Prisca's Venom operation." Aqualad said.
"I'm betting that Kobra came in recently and tossed Bane and his goons out. It must have been recently too since both sides are still on the island." Robin agreed. "Probably why the normal supply has been cut off, too much fighting to ship it out."
"Too much fighting to ship it out but not too much to stop production?" Xiphos asked, causing Robin to pause. He had a point.
"So there is another reason." Robin muttered quietly.
"It's pretty obvious, right? Kobra wanted super cultists so he kept the Venom for his people. Lets just radio Bats and call this a mission accomplished. Job done." Kid Flash said with a bored tone.
"These cultists aren't on Venom. They are hoarding the stuff. We don't leave, not until I have answers." Robin said with narrowed eyes.
"Until you have answers?" Kid Flash asked.
"This team needs a leader." He simply replied.
"And it's you?" KF asked while jabbing a finger toward Robin's chest. "Dude you are a thirteen year old kid. One who ducked out on us without a word."
"And you're a mature fifteen?" Robin laughed in the older boy's face. "You blew your cover the first chance you got."
The others watched the pair with growing levels of exasperation and annoyance. Miss Martian and Powergirl began muttering back and forth about neither wanting to be leader while Percy tried to suppress his growing anger with the younger boys. Aqualad wasn't willing to step between the two of his friends as they fought, which was a problem because they were more likely to listen to him than anyone else on the team when it came to breaking them up.
"Percy." A voice slipped into his mind.
"Yeah?" He replied, knowing that it was Miss Martian.
"Powergirl and I keep a mental link on pretty much all the time. She just told me that Bane and his crew were whispering about attempting to break out. He's planning on trying to manipulate us into helping him reclaim the facility."
Percy glanced toward her and nodded. It was time they stopped messing around like a bunch of kids. First issue, dealing with Robin and Kid Flash.
"Yeah well you don't even have super powers!" Kid Flash raised his voice.
"Neither does Batman!" Robin also shouted.
"Duh, you're not Batman." Kid Flash scoffed.
"Duh, the closest thing we have." Robin mocked back.
"By the gods, shut up!" Percy roared, causing both of them to step back a bit.
"You're quite clever children. But you only know half of the story. I can get you into the facility through my secret entrance." Bane laughed, interrupting them just after Percy had stopped the fight between Kid Flash and Robin.
"Miss M. Check his mind. See what you can do." Xiphos ordered.
Megan crouched near to Bane and focused on his mind. She grimaced slightly at the unexpected resistance he had to her probing, but she managed to push through. To an extent.
"The secret entrance is real, but there is something else. He's hiding something."
"Ah, ah, ah. Bane is not that easy." Bane mocked her with a broad grin.
"He's mentally reciting futbol scores in his head all in espanol. This could take me a while to get anything useful from his head." She said, glancing back at the others.
"It's not complicated. The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Bane tried to sway them.
"Not in this case. You're just another enemy. Even without the secret entrance we'll move on the factory. I'd rather we take our chances then trust you." Xiphos said before nodding to Miss Martian who placed a hand on Bane's forehead and put him to sleep.
"Dude, he could have been useful. What are you doing?" Kid Flash demanded.
"I'm taking charge. Rather than arguing like children, we have a job to do. I'm sick of the attitudes you two have. You want to be treated with respect by the League you need to act worthy of that respect." Xiphos reprimanded the two younger boys.
"So what you are the team leader and just make all the decisions and we just follow you because…" Robin snidely remarked. Percy glared before sighing.
"Fine, we vote now. All in favor of myself as leader?" Percy asked with both girls and himself voting for it, and slowly Aqualad joining them.
"I imagine you won't vote for each other, right?" Percy asked the boys.
Kid Flash let out a disappointed sigh while Robin clenched his jaw, but neither could argue the point anymore. It was official, Xiphos was the leader of the team now.
"Miss Martian see if any of Bane's goons know about the secret entrance as well. Powergirl use your X-ray vision to look for any sort of tunnels." Xiphos commanded before turning back to Robin. "See if you can get us linked into the communications used by Kobra's people. We can switch to mental communication and use our gear to monitor the enemy if you can."
"If I can? Please this is my bread and butter." Robin replied as he opened up his wrist mounted computer.
"Xiphos, they know where the secret entrance opens up within the factory, but only have a general idea of the part of the island where the other opening to the tunnel is." Miss Martian reported.
"You and Powergirl work together to try and find it, if you can't we'll have to move through the jungle."
The team got to work as instructed and before long they were on the move again. They soon found themselves on the cliffs overlooking the factory below. The area was buzzing with activity and the cult members were moving the crates of Venom into position near the helipad for obvious transport and transaction.
"A buy is going down soon." Robin said as he scanned the area with binoculars.
"But not with any of the usual suspects." Miss Martian chimed in.
"So we need to identify the buyer and stop the sale." Powergirl agreed.
"Exactly. Did you two find the secret entrance?" Xiphos asked as he turned to the two girls.
They simply smirked as Powergirl stepped over to the hidden doorway and pried the rock away and tossed it aside.
"Easy." Powergirl grinned.
"Nicely done you two. Let's get a move on." Xiphos said as the team moved into the passageway.
Robin had to hack into the final security door at the end of the secret tunnel, but the team infiltrated the factory incredibly easily. They quietly moved through the building until they found a position overlooking much of the factory floor where large amounts of Venom were stockpiled while new Venom was being manufactured and moved with the other crates being readied for sale.
"Aqualad, take Robin and Powergirl up to see what you can get from their computer systems and files. Kid, Miss M, you two are with me. We're going to focus on finding out who the buyer is and getting a sample of the product. I have a suspicion on why they are separating the two batches of Venom." Xiphos said over the mental link.
"Got it." Aqualad replied as he led Powergirl and Robin up the stairs to the office portion of the building.
The rest of the team stalked out to a position overlooking the helipad and waited. Soon helicopters were inbound and moving to land on the small airfield just outside the factory.
"The buyer is coming direct. How nice of him." Percy smirked as it put both the producer and buyer into the same place letting them possibly round all of them up at once.
"Hey, guys. We just found out something kinda big." Powergirl said over their mental link.
"Yeah?" Percy asked.
"The new Venom is combined with the Blockbuster formula from CADMUS. It's way stronger and permanent." Robin replied.
"That means Kobra has a connection to whoever was behind CADMUS then." Percy said, noticing the faint fluctuation in Powergirl's link as her emotions were a bit tumultuous. He was happy to see her keep it in check but clearly CADMUS was still a painful subject for her.
"Grab everything you can and rendezvous with us. We'll call this in to the League and be done with this mission." Percy said.
"Eh, that's a problem." Robin said, causing Percy and the others to stop.
"What do you mean?" Kid Flash asked.
"Kobra has jammers somewhere on the island. They aren't connected to this control center, or the factory system at all. All our comms and theirs, are jammed." Robin replied.
Percy watched as the helicopters set down on the airfield while formulating a plan. As he watched the new group exit the aircraft. Miss Martian cloaked herself and moved over the deal sending mental images of the group as she did.
"Kobra and Sportsmaster. Both here at once and both thinking they can take on the League with some drugs. Idiots." Percy remarked as he viewed the images and words sent back to him by the Martian girl.
"Alright. No comms means we need to take out the jammers to get a hold of the League. Robin, you and Aqualad find those jammers and disable them. Powergirl, join back up with us. We need to stop this mix from leaving the island." Percy commanded.
The group did as instructed and soon Xiphos, Powergirl, Miss Martian, and Kid Flash were gathered just outside the doors to the helipad.
"Kid, I want you focused on the grunts, take out their weapons and disable them as fast as you can. Powergirl, you get Kobra, whoop his ass a couple broken legs shouldn't kill him. I'll take Sportsmaster one on one, and Miss M, you'll start us out. I want you to ghost up to the big guy and put him to sleep. They see what you can do about the girl beside Kobra." Xiphos explained.
"Sounds like a good plan. Let's just hope it goes the way you want it too." Kid Flash commented.
"Miss M, keep us linked up. If we need to alter the plan as things go, we can do it better if we're still linked up." Percy advised.
Megan nodded before turning invisible once again and silently flying up behind the mammoth cultist that was clearly on the new variant of Venom. The moment the massive lug dropped tot he ground unconscious chaos ensued.
Kid Flash shot past the others, crashing into the armed cultists and tearing their weapons from their hands and disassembling them in impossible speed. Powergirl suckerpunched Kobra as she shot across the space between him and the door, but the cult leader was more durable than he should have been and she had to up the amount of power she was putting into blows as the first one wasn't enough to beat him.
Percy clashed sword on Javelin as he and Sportsmaster squared off.
"Well if it isn't Wonderboy." Sportsmaster growled. He wheezed a second later as Percy leaned out of the way and a rock was hurled into his stomach by Miss Martian's telekinetic abilities.
"Close enough." Xiphos said as he cracked the villain over the head with the flat side of his blade and knocked him out. Why fight fair after all.
"Nicely done Megan, the girl didn't give you any trouble?" Percy asked.
"She was too surprised by the big guy going down out of nowhere. I just hit her against the helicopter until she passed out." The Martian replied.
"Brutal and effective. I like it." He replied before he turned to Powergirl as she floated over and pitched the unconscious Kobra down beside Sportsmaster.
"All that hype and taking them down was easy." Powergirl commented.
"Yeah but only because we worked together and took advantage of everything." Xiphos replied.
"Guys comms are back, message sent to the League already. How are things on your end?" Robin called over the mental link.
"Done and Done." Kid Flash replied, as he pretended to clap dust off of his hands. A pile of thirty or more cultists piled up behind him.
"Mission success." Xiphos happily said over the mental link to the whole team.
Mount Justice
July 23
Back at the cave the team was lined up by Batman as he gave his debrief. He applauded them for most of their actions, though Bane had managed to awaken while in the jungle and he and his thugs had escaped with a surprising amount of Venom. Likely enough to restart operations sooner rather than later.
Still they had managed to uncover the start of some sort of organized mission by a group of villains. Once that had the influence to bring not only Sportsmaster, CADMUS, and the Cult of Kobra under their sway but to reengineer the Blockbuster formula and combine it with Venom, and do all of that while remaining hidden.
The team had also halted that portion of whatever organization was hiding from them. Kobra and Sportsmaster as well as the many members of Kobra's organization were all apprehended, the factory secured, and most of the product destroyed.
"This was supposed to be a simple recon mission. Observe and report. You will each receive a written evaluation detailing your mistakes." Batman sternly said as the team wilted slightly under his words. That changed as his words became more approving.
"You all did well. How you handle opposition and adapt to situations will decide how successful you are as a hero and as a team. As will who you choose as your leader. Get some rest. You have a day off from training tomorrow but you will be back into it sooner rather than later." He said with a nod toward the team.
With that the Dark Knight pivoted and stalked back out of the cave.
The team smiled at one another before quickly celebrating slightly at a job well done. Their first official mission really was a success. Even if it had kind of gone off the rails from the original parameters.
Unknown Location
Several monitors glowed ominously as the various members of the organization known only as the Light congregated for a long distance mission. At the center of the monitors Lex Luthor sat, communicating with his fellow members of the Light.
"Our agents managed to steal a few samples from those taken to star labs, but the rest of the product is lost to us." One of the screens reported.
"We can reverse engineer the drug once more. We'll reconstruct the factory in a safer location, perhaps Bialya." Another, more feminine, voice said.
"It is more secure than most. I agree, begin construction immediately. Now, what about Sportsmaster and Kobra?" Another voice asked.
"Sportsmaster was liberated while being transported to Belle Reeve. Kobra will be as well once the Justice League surrenders custody to the US government. It will be a delay in things, nothing more." Lex replied.
"We must discuss this band of Junior Heroes. They've interfered with CADMUS, then Mister Twister, and now on Santa Prisca. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, but three times is enemy action." One of the voices stated.
"Agreed, and the enemies of the Light must not stand." Lex replied darkly.
Themiscyra
July 31
A half dozen cells lined the walls of one of the most secure buildings on Themyscira. Few Amazons ever found themselves imprisoned by their sisters but there had been times when such measures were required. They were not incarcerated here though. A small jail in the lower levels of the palace were enough for the usual crimes that needed to be punished on the island. More severe crimes were usually punished by exile or execution.
This place however was special, as it was designed specifically for it's prisoners and had been built in the last century unlike most buildings on the island. It was here that the likes of Donna Troy and her followers languished. Punished for upholding the old ways of their people. Imprisoned for murder of men, their so called brothers, the Son's of Themiscyra.
Donna glared out the small barred window of her cell, up to the palace on the hill. She hadn't been there in decades now. Despite having once been considered family by Diana and Hippolyta, now she wasn't even visited. That didn't mean Donna hadn't heard of the changes Diana had made since Donna and the others had been imprisoned.
It was a mockery of their way of life. It burned Donna to the core. The little male children running around and playing alongside the young Amazons across the island, even worse the settlement that had been built for those that reached puberty and didn't leave to join man's world. Donna knew it was only a matter of time before the males showed their true colors and usurped control. After all, the second in line after Diana was no longer Donna anymore…it was a man. Once that had smitten his sister and mother the moment he had been born from the seed of the Sea God.
For decades, Donna had stewed in her outrage in the magically strengthened prison here on Themyscira. Her powers remained with her, meaning she still had the blessings of the gods, and she knew that meant she was right in her judgments and actions. No matter the outrage Hippolyta and Diana had at her and her loyal followers wiping out the first settlement of the Sons of Themyscira when Diana had allowed them to first move onto their sacred island.
Tonight however, her punishment ended. Not by the ruling of the Queen or Princess. Simply because Donna had finally agreed to a deal offered her in the past. It would forever mark her apart from the Amazons. It would even strip her of the blessings of the Olympians, but that mattered little. She had been blessed by greater beings. Beings that recognized the need for her to cleanse Themyscira properly.
As one of her fellow true Amazonian warriors opened her cell and knelt in reverence as she stepped free of the foul prison that had held her for so long, Donna sucked in a breath of fresh air and smiled.
A smile from Donna had once been a beautiful thing, much like that of Diana's but now her face twisted into a mockery of the woman she was made in the image of. Her eyes held nothing but cold hatred and the promise of death.
The band of fifteen warriors, led by Donna silently stole away to the armory and seized weapons for their work before falling upon the sleeping city below. They didn't move to attack any of their former sisters. Rather they quietly did the work they believed themselves chosen to complete.
By morning, Donna and her true sisters had slipped away into the sea and away from Themyscira on a stolen ship. When the first mothers found their sons murdered and the wails and screams of pain began echoing across the waters, Donna felt a smile spread onto her face once again.
She would return for the older boys and men later. A far more important male remained somewhere out there in man's world, and she intended to end his life just like it should have been the moment his mother laid eyes on him.
Perseus would die by her hand and his death would secure her position as the chosen of her new gods.
So, that is that. I hope you enjoyed.
I need to be honest with you all. I had initially had only three girls planned for Percy in this fic. I had the storylines surrounding them pretty well planned out as well. However as I have worked on the concept more and more I can't help but find myself drawn to the addition of Diana as well. So after some thinking the harem has been extended to a fourth person, and will not change any further than this. Diana will be in it along with the three girls closer to Percy's age.
Wonder Woman is just too great to pass up I guess.
Anyway, that's all for today
Till Next Time