Third Person POV
M'gann was in her bedroom alone, watching reruns of Hello Megan! While hugging her pillow, when she heard a desperate shout, "M'GANN!"
She jumped in place, before fumbling to pause the show. She then levitated off the bed and flew out the door. She headed straight towards the source of the noise, which happened to be the living room.
She arrived in an attack sense, looking around for the potential enemy, "What is it?!"
She only saw Superboy and Tyson sitting on the couch, with Tyson smiling at her, "It's about to start!"
She stared at them in confusion for a moment as her adrenaline went down, "What is?"
Superboy face palmed, "Sorry, the interview is about to start, and Tyson wanted you to watch it with us. I told him you had a TV in your room…"
M'gann finally found herself calm down, "Oh, well I mean sure, I'll watch with you guys."
Tyson threw his hands up, "Yes! Come sit next to me, it'll start soon!"
M'gann awkwardly sat down next to the Cyclops, who was leaning towards the TV intently. She looked behind his back at Superboy with a questioning look, but he only shrugged, saying that he didn't get why he was so excited.
She looked back at Tyson, "Are you really that interested in the interview? It seems like something that would bore you more than anything else…"
He looked at her with a shine in his eye, "I know! But Percy's debuting his new armor! He still thinks it's a bit silly, but I know everyone's going to love it!"
Superboy chuckled a bit, while M'gann smiled at him, "It's nice to see that you're confident in your work."
Tyson's cheeks turned pink at that, "W-well I wouldn't say that… half the design came from you and Robin…"
M'gann giggled at him, "True, but I doubt either one of us could have made it a reality as fast as you did. And I know your own personal touches on our ideas. Those bronze weights at the end of the cape are genius by the way "
He rubbed the back of his head at the praise, but that's when the show came back from commercial, "It's starting!"
The three grew quiet while they watched Konan and Flash looked at the camera, while the audience cheered in the background
Once the applause had died down, Konan spoke first, "Alright everyone welcomes back! Once again, I'm Konan, and with me today is everyone's favorite Scarlet Speedster: The Flash."
Flash chuckled, "You flatter me Konan."
"You know I can't help it! Ever since… you know what do we have the picture? Jeremy put the picture up there."
The screen changed to show a picture of The Flash and Konan standing in front of a burnt down house, both covered in soot and carrying two small bundles.
Flash shook his head with a big smile, "Konan you show that picture every time I come on!"
Konan shrugged unashamedly, "Maybe next time if you've magically not saved my daughters, I won't."
"How are they by the way?" Flash asked.
Konan leaned forward, "They just finished kindergarten, top of their class!
Flash clapped his hands at that. "Whaaaat? That's awesome! Are they still super into cheerios in Jell-O?"
"Cheerio in Jell-O?" Superboy asked in disgust, "Who could eat that?"
M'gann laughed nervously, "Ha yeah! I know right! So gross…" she glanced at Tyson nervously, but saw that he was too engrossed in the show to notice.
Konan beamed, "Of course, it's delicious and no one can tell me otherwise. Anyways we're off track. Today we're here to talk to a new superhero! He looked at the audience as they went wild.
Konan gestured for them to calm down while grinning slyly, "That's right, that's right. As you all know, superhero interviews are few and far between. apparently going on live television isn't "safe" or whatever. Today marks a historical moment however, as it is the first interview that also doubles as a heroes first public appearance." He waited for the crowd to applaud again before continuing, "Now Flash, if it were any other hero I wouldn't even ask, but you've been a consistent guest on my show, and if I may say so, a good friend of mine."
Flash nodded, "Very true, what's the question?"
"This guy comes out of what seems like nowhere. Nobodies heard of him, yet the League is already treating him like one of the League."
M'gann frowned at that, knowing full well that that was not the case as Flash backed her up, "I understand why you feel that way K, but he's not a full-fledged member, yet. As of now he's more of a subordinate."
Tyson leaned back on the couch with his arms crossed at that, "Brother won't like that."
Superboy grunted in agreement.
Konan continued with Flash, "Alright fine, but what did he even do to earn that positon? I'm no expert on the position but you don't just become a superhero in the span of one day right?"
Flash nodded quickly," You're absolutely right! The thing with him is… complicated. For now, I'll say that while I personally haven't spent a lot of time with the guy, he has the support of Batman himself, and that guy doesn't trust anybody. Along with that my protégé has had a lot of encounters with hi. Kid Flash has told me a lot, and so far, it's been 85% good news." '
Konan raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And what about the other 15?"
Flash chuckled, "Well you know how teens are. They get angry over the smallest things."
Konan chuckled "Well there goes the surprise. That's right folks! Our new hero is still in his teens, and I think that's enough talking behind his back." The camera switched to a view of the whole stage instead of switching between the two close ups. Konan gestured to the side of the stage and shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome Earths newest hero: Perseus!"
The crowd applauded as Percy appeared from the right, a bit suddenly in M'gann's opinion. However she soon forgot about it as he felt Tyson's large hands grab her shoulders and shake her excitedly, "Percy's on TV!"
M'gann chuckled nervously as he let go, "Yeah, it's… pretty cool." In actuality, she didn't understand the significance of it, only that Tyson did, so she figured she'd play along.
Percy quickly got a hold of himself and walked confidently across the stage to the interview couch. He was fully dressed in his new armor, including the three-pronged domino mask, which was now dark blue to match his suit. He smiled and waved to the crowd and cameras a bit before taking a seat to the right of Flash as the applause died down.
When it was quiet Konan started, "Now Perseus, let's start with— "
"Just a moment Konan?" Percy interrupted. The host looked a little confused but gestured for him to speak. Percy turned towards Flash and asked, "Subordinate huh?"
The crowd laughed and ohed at that while Flash chuckled nervously, "Well you know we try to avoid the word "sidekick". It's not meant to be offensive man."
Percy smirked, "Oh no offense taken, I just wanted to mess with you for a bit."
Flash blinked in surprise while Konan and the crowd laughed loudly again, "Wow, would you look at that!" Konan exclaimed, "Not two seconds in and already making jokes! I like that! Now, may I ask my first question?"
Percy nodded quickly, "Yeah of course."
Konan nodded, "What kind of name is Perseus?"
Percy smirked, "He was one of the greatest Greek heroes. I chose him because out of all of Greek mythology, he was one of the few heroes with a happy ending."
Konan was listening intently and hummed when he was finished, 'Alright then, well I'm sure everyone's wondering, where the heck did you come from, where did you get your powers, what's your motivation for being a superhero, you know the basics."
"Sure." Percy nodded.
Konan continued, "Now I'm just going to take a wild guess here, but I'm thinking you're some sort of water based superhero."
Percy chuckled as he adjusted his bronze fins, "That's a good guess."
"Am I right to assume you're Atlantean?"
"Actually no." Percy replied, earning raised eyebrows from the host, "I'm a bit different."
"This is where the complicated part comes in." Flash added.
Konan nodded thoughtfully, "Alright then, what are you instead? If you don't mind me asking."
Percy closed his eyes for a moment before answering, "Greek demigod."
Konan looked at the camera with an incredulous look as the crowd went wild again. M'gann however was confused. "Why is he lying?"
Tyson answered, "Brother hates worship. He takes every step he can to avoid it."
Superboy hummed with interest, while M'gann looked at the screen with concern. She wasn't sure if lying was the best way to go about this, but judging from Flash's lack of reaction to this, the League was okay with it.
Konan finally spoke again, "You know I probably should have guessed that by the name," Percy chuckled, "So you're a son of Zeus? Like Wonder Woman?"
Percy shivered, "Oh gods no. Poseidon. And further than that, I was born from the gods of a different dimension."
Konan deadpanned, "Wow… that is complicated. Am I still handsome in your world?"
Percy shrugged, "I'm not certain if you even exist to be honest. My world is way different than this one. for one there's no crazy superhero's or villains. Just regular people."
"And gods." Konan added.
"Right, though mortals don't know it. Anything that happens with the gods is covered up by this magical energy called The Mist, so that it looks like something they can explain."
"I see, makes total sense." He turned to the camera and shook his head, earning another round of laughs.
Percy chuckled as well, "Don't worry I don't really get it either, but it works. I didn't even know I was a demigod until I was twelve."
"Really? How did that go?"
Percy shrugged, "I got over it pretty quick, I had a lot of more important stuff to deal with."
Konan raised an eyebrow, "Really? Such as?"
"Oh you know… world ending consequences, the devil stole my mom… just a lot of stuff."
Konan stared at him, "Right… and you said you were twelve?"
"Yeah I had a late start."
Konan deadpanned, then looked at the camera meaningfully. "Yeah… so how did you come to our universe?"
Percy shrugged, "Not sure. There was a bright light and suddenly I was here. It's been pretty nice so far, aside from all the criminals. They're pretty annoying."
Konan laughed, "Indeed. So, being a son of Poseidon must come with some pretty cool powers, right? I mean We all know Wonder Woman has lot of them."
Percy nodded, "Yeah well… I have few tricks. For example." He waved his hand, and a glass of water on Konan's desk was emptied of its contents. The water floated around aimlessly in front of Konan before going back in the glass, while everyone ooed and awed.
"Interesting, very interesting. Well this has been great so far, but now it's time for the serious questions."
Percy nodded slowly, while Flash frowned a bit, but kept quiet. That's when the screen changed to show the footage of Tyson fixing the bridge in metropolis. "Know anything about this?"
Percy smiled thinly, "Yes actually. That's my brother."
That got quite the reaction from the audience, as the camera went back to Konan, whose jaw had dropped, "Wow… you know I only asked cause the reports of you and this thing started around the same time but—"
"He." Percy corrected firmly, "Not it."
Konan nodded slowly, "Right… sorry it's just… he's a Cyclops, right? I don't remember a lot of good stories about them in Greek mythology."
Percy shrugged, "Yeah they get a bad rep. I mostly blame Polyphemus."
"Alright… how exactly are you siblings?"
"Same dad, different moms. Poseidon has a history of fathering Cyclopes, it's not that surprising."
Konan nodded thoughtfully, "So you could say you're both demigods?"
Percy didn't answer right away. M'gann glanced at Tyson to see him not smiling, but not frowning either. he just stared at the screen as Percy answered, "In a way yeah. only difference between us is that his mom was a nature spirit and mine was a mortal."
"And the eye." Konan added.
Percy narrowed his eyes, "Look, if you have some sort of problem with him—"
"Oh no far from it!" Konan exclaimed, surprising Percy and the three watching, "I mean come on people! Look at what he's doing in this footage! How many heroes do you know that save the people and then stick around to fix the collateral damage?"
M'gann nudged Tyson with a smile, while he blushed and hid between his shoulders.
Percy smiled at that, "That was actually his idea too. To be fair though, not all superheroes have the skill level to do what he can."
Konan nodded, "But you have to admit that they could learn. I mean Flash, you know that I love you man, but you could probably fix that bridge by yourself in like five seconds."
Flash chuckled nervously, "I mean probably… but you know— "
"There's always another crime to stop." Konan nodded, "I get it. But there are other ways of being a hero besides beating up bad guys. Don't get me wrong buddy I still think you're the best but the money spent on cleaning up after you guys gets larger every year. This guy is a nice change of pace am I right?" The crowd cheered to indicate that it was.
Once it died down however, Konan stopped smiling, "That being said. We do have some rather concerning footage that I can't not address. Let's watch."
Before Flash or Percy could say anything, the screen changed to what looked like someone's iPhone footage. It showed footage of Tyson in his giant form, insane with rage as he fended off the justice league.
M'gann and Superboy watched the video in disbelief, as the sweetest person either of them had met fought against the strongest people they knew, and looked to be winning. M'gann had never seen Tyson in such a state, but could guess why he was in it. She had erased a lot of what she had seen in Percy's head, both to respect his privacy, and to retain her sanity but she was pretty sure that this was when Percy and Tyson first came to this universe.
Tyson hung his head in shame while Superboy whistled, "Dude, remind me to never get you angry."
"I'm sorry." Tyson said, and by the sound of his voice, M'gann realized he was near tears, "I didn't mean to— "
M'gann, not sure what else to do, grabbed one of his hands and squeezed gently, "It's okay Tyson, we know it wasn't your fault."
He seemed to calm down at that, as the footage ended and the screen went back to Konan, Percy and Flash. Flash had a look that said, "oh shit" look, while Percy remained calm. Konan then asked, "What brought that on?"
"A misunderstanding." Percy replied. "Before we were somehow brought to the new universe, we were in the middle of a battle. It just took him a minute to calm down from it, and as powerful as he is, that caused a bit of trouble. As you can see. I know for a fact that he feels bad about it."
"Does he always go into such a rage while fighting?" Konan asked.
"K…" Flash warned.
Konan sighed, "Flash you know this is my job. What if he does this while fighting a villain? He might cause more damage."
"This was a different kind of battle." Percy stated, eerily calm.
Konan didn't take the hint, "Oh? What kind was it."
'
Percy kept a smile while he answered, "The kind where you see friends die in front of you."
There was an awkward silence then, before Konan stammered, "I-I didn't— "
"You didn't know." Percy stated, "I get it. However, I suggest that we move on."
Konan nodded quickly, "Yes right! Uh… Well I guess there's only one question left right now: What city will you set up shop?"
Percy blinked, "Huh?"
"Well most superheroes have a certain city they stick to, you know patrol there at night, or day whatever floats your boat. Flash as Central city, Superman has Metropolis, Batman has Gotham, and so on and so forth. What about you?"
Percy frowned, "I haven't really thought about it. Though I suppose I've had enough time to adjust."
Konan waved his arms, "Hey no one's forcing you to make a decision right now."
"No it's okay. I guess I'd have to say… Manhattan."
A few New Yorkers in the crowd let out a hoot, while Konan raised an eyebrow, "The big apple huh? Any particular reason or just like the hotdogs?"
Percy shrugged, "It's my hometown, well not this one, but as close as I'm gonna get."
Konan smiled, "Well there you have it! Well folks I think that's as much as we're going to get today. People of New York, it looks like you're getting your very own superhero! Tune in next time for an interview with Olive Queen, another one of my favorite guests. Good night everybody."
The show ended with the three waving to everybody, before it went to commercial
"Well," Superboy spoke, "That was— "
"Awesome!" Tyson exclaimed.
Superboy squinted, "That seems like a bit much."
"I think it went very well," M'gann commented, "It definitely could have one much worse."
"No way!" Tyson said proudly, "Percy wouldn't let it."
Superboy and M'gann just looked at each other while Tyson stood up off the couch and walked away. M'gann turned and called out, "Where are you going?"
He had already turned the corner, but poked his head around when she asked, smiling, "Wanna see?"
M'gann was entirely unsure if she did want to see, but she found herself following the Cyclops anyways. She froze however when he opened the door that led down to the forge.
He noticed her no longer following him and frowned at her, "Are you okay?"
She nodded nervously, "Yeah it's just— "
Tyson gasped, "Oh right! The magma! Give me a second!"
He then slammed the door in her face and ran down the stars. M'gann waited patiently and slightly confused until she heard his heavy footsteps run back up. He opened the door, slightly out of breath and said, "Come on! It's fine now!"
M'gann was skeptical, but took his word for it and followed him down the stairs. She got downstairs to find the familiar cave now shrouded in darkness, as the magma pit appeared to have disappeared.
Tyson walked through the room confident, while M'gann was a bit more cautious as she asked, "What happened to the magma?"
Tyson went to a certain section of the floor and found a handle. He lifted up to reveal the molten rock going strong under the trap door. Instinctively M'gann flinched away from it, but Tyson closed it a second later, allowing her to calm down, "Installed it a while ago so you could come down here."
M'gann raised her eyebrows, "Really? Why didn't you tell me?"
He had turned away towards the background, but paused at her question, "I guess… you didn't really have a reason to come down here until now."
M'gann felt the urge to say something about that, but kept her mouth shut as Tyson walked through another small tunnel in the back of the room, that she hadn't even noticed. She cautiously followed him, and saw that it went on for quite a while it was a long set of stairs heading down to who knows what. Tyson looked up at her, "Come on, it's this way!"
She as unsure at first, but then her eyes met with Tyson's big brown eye, filled with nothing more than good will.
She followed lose behind him. It was very dark, so she found herself resting a hand on Tyson's back to make sure she didn't fall or anything. In hindsight that was a silly thought, as she could fly, but she did it all the same.
They soon saw a light at the bottom. They exited the tunnel to reveal another enormous cavern, bigger than the forge, bigger than a football field. only this one was half filled with water, and had a large exit leading to the ocean.
M'gann stared at it in wonder, "How do you build these things so fast on your own?"
Tyson shrugged, with a slight blush, "I don't know… practice I guess."
"What is this for?" M'gann asked, though she had an idea.
"It's for Percy's ship!" He replied happily, "Although I made it big enough for about four other ships, just in case."
M'gann nodded as she looked around, "Yes well… I suppose it would be interesting if Percy ended up with a fleet or something."
She meant it as a joke, albeit a weak one, but Tyson simply nodded seriously, "Exactly! It's almost finished, I just have to fortify the entrance to make sure it doesn't collapse or anything while I bring the ship in."
"I see… do you need some help?" M'gann offered.
Tyson smiled down at her, "Nope."
M'gann frowned… "Oh…"
"I would like some though!" Tyson corrected happily. "But first let me show you my secret project!"
He then led her along the small strip of land lining the walls of the cave. As she followed M'gann asked, "Uh… why have a secret project?"
Tyson nodded back at her, "So people don't know about it."
M'gann deadpanned as he came upon a large boulder. He rolled it aside with ease, revealing a small cave with a table in it. on the table were several drawings and blueprints.
As M'gann walked into the room after him she asked, "In that case… why are you showing me?"
He looked up from over the table, "Well… it's mostly a surprise for Superboy… you won't tell him, will you?"
"Of course not!" She assured him. "I was just wondering… So, what's the big project?"
Tyson brightened and gestured her over to look at the drawings. "You know how Superboy can't fly?"
M'gann raised an eyebrow, "Yeah… I heard he was pretty disappointed when he found out."
Tyson nodded, "Exactly! That's why I'm designing…" he pulled a blueprint out from all the others, "This!"
M'gann looked at the blueprint curiously, and froze at what she saw.
Tyson continued talking as she stared at it, "I got the idea from seeing that hawk lady, and Robin's cape. I know it doesn't look plausible, it in my world I know for a fact that Percy used some, and they worked great! With a few adjustments…"
M'gann was barely listening as she stared at the drawing. The device appeared to be a pair of man powered wings. The wings looked to be attached to the wearers arms, but the design wasn't what had M'gann speechless. The model the wings were attached to was distinctly feminine, with a face M'gann remembered vividly from Percy's mind. Not only that, but the feathers attached to the device were colored a bright red. Not to mention that everything was drawn with artist level skills.
After a moment of staring, Tyson noticed she wasn't listening, "M'gann? Is everything alright?"
She nodded quickly, "Yeah! Yes! It's just… the feathers are red…"
Tyson nodded, "Mhmm, it's to match Superboy's symbol! Do you think he'll like it?"
In reality, M'gann didn't think the clone would go for it at all. She doubted his pride could take strapping on prosthetic feathers. But she didn't think that's what Tyson needed to hear right now, "I know he'll appreciate the gesture."
Tyson smiled widely, "Really! Great! I can't wait to start making prototypes. It would be easier if I had some of Daedalus' original blueprints but…"
M'gann stared at him as he went on. Right now, he was all smiles and laughter, but she's seen the moments when he's been near tears. She knows what he went through too. She was also starting to see an unfortunate family resemblance between him and Percy, in the sense of bottled up emotions.
She put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to stop his explanation and look at her, "I'm sure they'll work out great. Why don't we go work on that entrance for now?"
He seemed to think for a moment before nodding, "Alright!"
As he put the blueprints down and walked out the door, she could only watch him go, struggling not to let her tears fall. She sucked it up though and followed through the entrance.
As Tyson rolled the boulder closed one more, she stared at the blueprints littered across the table inside. She couldn't bring herself to speak up about what she saw, but she knew that one day, should would have to. For the moment however, she cleared her head of those thoughts, as the boulder rolled to a close.
Percy POV
I groaned loudly as I stepped through the teleporter, "Di immortales that was weird. Seriously are we sure that guy didn't have some sort of hair-based superpower? No amount of gel could—Woah."
I stopped my rant as I saw the people standing in the teleporter room. It consisted of Batman, Green Arrow, and my teammates, excluding Tyson. I stepped forward cautiously, "What is it this time?"
"A mission." Green Arrow responded.
I deadpanned, "Really? I thought you were throwing me a surprise party."
"Is it your birthday?" Batman asked.
I shrugged, "Not for a couple weeks, that's what would make it a surprise. Anyways I got sass tracked. What's the mission?"
Green Arrow came forward, "My… friend said he had a mission for us. We're waiting for him to come deliver it."
I raised an eyebrow, as right on cue the voice sounded, "RECOGNIZED: SPEEDY."
Out of the teleporter strutted yet another archery based hero, with red hair and a bad attitude to match. Not to diss Wally but I've had a history of bad luck with gingers, Rachel included. He wore a similar type of body armor to Green Arrow, only it was mostly black with some red on the chest.
"The names not Speedy anymore." He stated angrily, "Call me Red Arrow."
As he said this he walked right past me like I wasn't even there. Green Arrow looked at him in shock, "Roy… you look— "
"Replaceable." 'Red Arrow' concluded as he scowled at Artemis.
"It's not like that." Green Arrow sighed, "You said you were going solo."
"So why waste time finding a sub? Does she even know how to use that bow?"
Artemis, having had enough, stepped forward and looked up at him defiantly, "Yes, she can."
He looked at her angrily, but before he could say anything, I decided to speak up, "Hold on a second! Let me get this straight: you left Green Arrow to become your own hero, which you did by basically copying him with a few changes I mean seriously? Red Arrow?"
Artemis snickered a bit, along with some other teammates, though they seemed to be trying harder not to, while Red Arrow turned to glare at me, "You have something to say newbie?"
I shrugged, "I was actually in the middle of saying it. Look don't get me wrong, I have mad respect for what you do, I mean I can't shoot a bow to save my life. But you can't just leave, then come back and complain that he found a new protégé. What are you a jealous ex-girlfriend?"
He got up real close to my face, like a classic fraternity jerk, only he had to look up as I was a few centimeters taller than he was, "I suggest you watch your mouth new blood. I've been doing this since I was 15."
I snorted, "And Robin's been doing it since he was nine. Don't make something a contest if you can't win it."
He sneered at me, "Why do you even care? She's just some bitch he found— "
He was interrupted as he was yanked into the air. It took him a minute to realize what did it. the segments of my cape each had water running through them in tubes. In addition to that, the material was partly made with M'gann's Martian designs, making it capable of stretching out up to fifty feet in length if wiled it too. It was originally one of Robin's jokes, suggesting I had something akin to octopus tentacles, but after we talked more and more about it, I began to like the idea.
That's why Red Arrow now found himself bound in four of the strands from my cape and held in the air above me. no matter how hard he struggled he couldn't free himself.
Of course, the others grew tense at this, but had thankfully decided to wait a moment before overreacting.
I willed the strands to pull him closer to me and said, "I don't know you, and you don't know me, but you also don't know her. granted neither do I, but I do know that she is member of my team as of now, and I get a little overprotective of my teammates. So, watch. Your. Mouth."
He could only glare at me defiantly as I put him back on the ground and let him stand on his own two feet.
After that it was another awkward silence of him glaring at me, and me staring at him unmoved. Eventually Kaldur broke the silence, "You came to us for a reason…
The ginger huffed and walked over to the briefing screen. After a moment, it showed data and images of a blonde woman, "Yeah, a reason named Dr. Serling Roquette."
Robin stepped forward, "The nanorobotics genius at Royal university in Star City. Vanished two weeks ago."
"Abducted two weeks ago." Red corrected. "By the league of Shadows."
"Woah! You want us to rescue her from the Shadows?" Robin asked, as Wally fist bumped him and whispered, "Hardcore…"
"I already rescued her. Only one problem: the shadows had already coerced her into creating a weapon."
The screen showed tiny mechanical insect things, "It's called the FOG. These powerful nanobots can eat through anything. Stone, metal, flesh, bone, nothing can stop it. however, its true purpose isn't just destructions. They are designed to infiltrate high security locations and eat data from their monitors, storing it and returning it to whoever sent them."
Wally whistled "Something like that…"
Red Arrow nodded. "Blackmail, state secrets, even nuclear codes. It's potentially unlimited access to the world's most sensitive data, and in the hands of the shadows, it will be sued to bribe, blackmail, bully, and otherwise cause chaos for their cause."
"Yeesh," I said, "And what exactly is their cause?"
The others didn't seem affected by my ignorance, but Red Arrow looked at me like I was an idiot, "Are you an idiot?" See?
I shrugged, "Pretend that I am for the sake of it"
"They're a terrorist organization, claiming to work for the eradication of evil." Batman explained, "Only they work towards those means through the same violence and treachery that the people they claim to hate use, only on a larger, more deadly scale.
I nodded, "Bad guys, got it."
Red rolled his eyes. As Kaldur asked, "What do you need from us?"
"The Dr. Says she can create a virus that will disable the nanobots, permanently, but to do so she will have to go online. This will put a massive target on her, as the Shadows already have agents searching for her, trying to end her life Before she can complete the program."
"Alright, what can we do?" Robin asked.
Red sighed, "Rescuing her was hard enough, I don't have the resources or ability to keep her safe on my own. I need this team to guard her while she does so."
Green Arrow nodded thoughtfully, "I see. It was smart of you to bring this to us."
His former protégé just glared at him, "I don't need your validation."
He then walked back towards the teleporter. "Where are you going?" Batman asked calmly.
"Home." He answered, "My job here is done." As the teleportation tube started up he looked up and said, "And the name is Red Arrow, update."
When he finally teleported away, I sighed, "Wow, what a douche."
"He… wasn't always like that" Robin sighed.
"He was just tired of the way us "sidekicks" were treated like children." Wally stated, "I can relate."
"Please, that guy was a jerk, through and through," Artemis said, "and I'm not just saying that because he called me a bitch. Though you didn't have to get so defensive about it." I noticed the slight blush on her face as she said so.
"Oh, don't worry, that was more about putting an asshole in his place than defending you. No offense."
She shrugged, but she seemed a bit more slouched afterward. I decided to ignore it for now.
"So, where's the Doctor?" M'gann asked.
Batman pulled up a map of Philadelphia, "She's being kept in the computer lab of the local high school."
I raised an eyebrow, "So she's alone?"
"I'm sure Sp—Red Arrow made sure she was secure." Kaldur stated.
"What about Tyson?" I asked, "I'm assuming you don't want him on this one."
Batman nodded, "He's currently patrolling alone in Manhattan, since that is where you "claimed"."
I narrowed my eyes, "Is that a problem?"
Green Arrow shrugged, "It's just that you never mentioned any plans for that."
"I didn't have any plans for that." I stated calmly, "It was something I decided on the spot. Let me guess, you wanted me to check with you first?"
"We can't control where you live or who you protect." Batman stated. "We don't have a problem with your decision."
Arrow's eyes widened, "But— "
"We don't have a problem with his decision." Batman stated firmly, shutting the archer up.
He held up his hands in defeat, "Whatever, don't look at me when you know who complains."
He then whispered something to Artemis, which I couldn't hear, before giving her a hug and exiting via the teleporter.
With that done, we all looked back at Batman who turned off all the screens. "Time to get to work.
Later.
I shivered as I walked through the halls of the high school, scanning for enemies. "Gods I hate high schools."
Over the psychic link, Wally responded, "Oh please tell me that the mighty Perseus wasn't bullied."
"I wish. I was more worried about trying to stay in school. How's the perimeter?"
"Good so far." Kaldur responded.
"No sign of any enemies." Robin added.
"What a surprise." Roquette chimed in, "I haven't even started yet. And I likely never will with the constant sound of teenagers in my brain!"
I rolled my eyes. Ever since we'd gotten there our charge had been incredibly unpleasant, despite the fact that we were here to keep her alive. I hadn't met someone so ungrateful since Ethan Nakamura, and even he ended up pretty okay in the end.
Everyone came to the same conclusion to ignore her and continue their conversation. "Did you have trouble with academics?" M'gann asked
"You could say that. Being a demigod has its ups and downs. You have heightened battle reflexes, but they don't really turn off, resulting in what the doctors could only diagnose as serious ADHD. And also, my brain is "wired for ancient Greek" resulting in dyslexia for everything except the Greek alphabet. And of course, there's always the monsters trying to kill you."
"Yeesh." Wally commented, "And I thought school was bad enough by itself. Has any of those problems changed since you… you know."
I breathed a sigh of relief, as for a moment I thought that he was going to blab about my godliness. "The hyperactivness is definitely still there, but I know how to deal with that. The ADHD… I hadn't really thought about it till now but it hasn't given me any problems. I've been on the internet for hours at a time without even a single headache." s
"Well at least that's good news!" Artemis said happily. As I was walking through the halls however, I heard a loud thump outside. I only realized it was Superboy when Artemis said, "Mmmm, that boy…"
"He can hear you!" M'gann exclaimed, "We can all hear you!"
"Oh, I know."
I let out a snort as Superboy remained silent. "Seriously Artemis does not suit you. You're way more of an Apollo. It's actually kind of scary… you don't like Haikus, do you?"
"…No."
I sighed in relief, "Thank the gods."
"Why do you still say that?" Superboy spoke up, surprising me, "Didn't they treat you like shit?"
"Yeah but it's just an expression. Not everybody who says, 'oh my God' actually believes in the big G."
Roquette's voice made my cringe and hold my head as she exclaimed, "Would you stop talking about gods for five seconds? I've just started scripting, they could already be on the way!"
I shrugged and kept up my patrol through the halls, however after exactly five seconds Artemis spoke again, "Speaking of Apollo, was it true what you said before about being terrible at archery?"
"Ugh!" Roquette groaned, though we ignored her.
I strolled by the computer lab and peaked in to see Wally and Kaldur looking very uncomfortable around the very angry doctor, as she typed furiously on the computer. I couldn't help but snicker, but ducked away as she looked up angrily.
I began another round, "It's sad but true. I can't shoot a bow to save my life. One time I managed to hit my teacher instead of the target.
"Oh!" was the consecutive response from everyone listening.
I sighed, "And he was standing behind me."
"Yikes." Artemis responded, "And here I thought demigods were supposed to be better at everything."
"I don't know where you got that idea. Although I did make a shot once. There was this rancher guy, had three torsos."
"Three torsos?" M'gann asked. incredulously, "Even for martians that's a bit much."
"I know, right? So, he had three torsos and three hearts to go with it. Every time I stabbed one chest it would heal instantly— "
"Uh, Perseus." Kaldur spoke up, "Perhaps you shouldn't talk about such things where our charge can hear…."
"Oh please, I don't care. As long as you don't kill me." Roquette said nonchalantly.
I blinked, "OOOkay. Well long story short I couldn't defeat him with my sword, cause you had to stab all three hearts at once. I ended up making the greatest, and only, shot in my life by shooting an arrow through all three torsos. Of course, it ended up being due to some godly assistance, but I still say it counts."
I could practically hear Artemis snort through the psychic link, "Sure thing pal."
"Not to be all judgmental," Robin chimed in "But what exactly was your reason for killing this guy?"
I smirked, looking back at the memory with fondness, "Oh he was trying to sell me and my friends into slavery. Plus, he was breeding and slaughtering dozens of nearly extinct species."
"… Okay Fair enough."
"Guys!" Artemis said, sounding urgent, "Superboy's down!"
I stopped in my tracks, "What?!"
"He's alive but unconscious. I found a broken pellet near him, he must have inhaled some kind of toxin."
"Who has a toxin that can take down a Kryptonian?!" Wally asked in bewilderment.
I sighed and started jogging back towards the lab, "I'm guessing the League of Shadows." I switched to the comms "Everyone outside converge on Roquette, Aqualad, Kid Flash, hang on, I'm heading your way."
I waited for a moment for their response, and began to run faster when they didn't. Things really went to shit quicker than I thought it could.
I arrived at the lab entrance to find Wally laid out on the floor, near the entrance, and Kaldur passed out further in, with a few shurikens in his chest. Roquette was being held aloft by a slender figure, with long black hair and a dark green outfit. She was holding a Sai blade ready to stab the terrified woman.
I gritted my teeth and shot out my cape strands, wrapping them around the weapon hand first before lifting the entire body off the ground and away from the doctor. I turned her around to see that her face was covered by a creepy smiling mask.
The assassin looked at me silently for a moment before saying, "Somebody's watched to much hentai."
I noted that her voice was sultry and sweet, alluring in a strange way. However, I paid it no mind and asked, "What's hentai."
She chuckled and moved something in her hand. Suddenly her hand exploded with black smoke. Remembering what M'gann said about Superboy, I quickly willed some water from my pack to cover my face, blocking anything from entering my system, whiles still allowing me to breath. Somehow the assassin had slipped out of my strands during the confusion, leaving me to look around cautiously, waiting for the next attack. However, a soon remembered that I was not her target/
I burst out of the smoke just in time to see her raising two short swords above her head, ready to strike down the now unconscious doctor. On instinct, I drew Riptide from my suit pocket and lunged forward, blocking her strike just in time.
She glanced up at me, "Well, you're an interesting one, aren't you?"
I ignored her and easily lifted her swords and her away from the doctor, before getting in front of her and activating my shield for defense.
She kept her distance and stare walking around me leisurely, "So, you're that new demigod I heard about from the news, aren't you?"
I smirked as I kept the stunned doctor behind my back and my face to the enemy, waiting for my friends to arrive. "Guilty. You must be the assassin sent by the Shadows."
"Guilty," She replied coyly. "So, what now?"
"Now you either surrender or retreat before my friends get here. You aren't getting to the doctor."
"What?" Roquette exclaimed, "You can't let her get away!"
We both ignored her as the assassin shrugged, "Well what if I just go through you?"
I snickered, "You're welcome to try, but I have 8 more limbs that you do, as well as my sword and shield, you don't really think you stand a chance, do you?"
She sighed sadly, "You have point… I don't suppose you'd even the odds a little? Sportsmanship and all that?"
I narrowed my eyes at her for a moment before shrugging, "Alright."
"Seriously?!" Roquette exclaimed. Again I ignored her as I put away my shield and sword and got in a fighting stance.
The assassin put a hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side, "Well, someone's over confident… and adorably NAÏVE." She finished the sentence while shooting her arms out to throw a barrage of shurikens and knives, straight at my face. I only smiled and held up my arm to block them with the bronze fin jutting out of my gauntlet, completely covering my face with it.
I lowered it just in time to see her five feet away from me, ready to swing both swords at my neck. Luckily, I was expecting it. I expertly deflected them with my right fin and followed it up with a right kick to her side, twisting my body to add extra oomph.
And oomph it did, sending the assassin flying into the left wall before falling to the ground, coughing and clutching her side. I relaxed my stance a gain and chuckled at her, "I prefer recklessly brave."
She looked up at me, and I could feel the glare through her mask. "Really? Martial arts? Isn't that a bit out of the sphere of the whole "Greek" theme?"
I shrugged, "I could go back to the sword if you like?"
She growled and charged at me again, this time wielding a pair of Sai instead of her swords. She got in close and began unleashing a barrage of stabs and slashes at all my vital spots. I dodged, weaved, blocked, and occasionally let my armor take the hits, trusting in Tyson's work to protect me.
Eventually I had enough and delivered a powerful kick to her chest, sending her sliding back, once again gasping for air. "Hey look! Spartan kick! That fits with the theme, right?"
Instead of returning with a witty remark of her own, she started laughing quietly. I raised an eyebrow, "That can't be good. "
She suddenly reached under a desk she fell near and pulled out Dr. Roquette. I cursed silently, having not realized that she had moved there.
The assassin raised her Sai, and I knew I wouldn't make it in time. Before she struck however, she said, "Looks like you really are naïve."
She drove the blade into the doctor's chest, eliciting a pained scream, before she fell limp on the ground.
The Assassin sheathed her blade before looking at me. "Well looks like I win."
I sighed, "Dang it."
She laughed again, "Really? I just killed the innocent woman you were guarding and that's all you can say? What kind of hero are you?"
"The kind that didn't lose."
She stared at me for a moment, so I smirked and said, "Notice anything missing?"
She looked around in confusion, before realizing what I meant. The unconscious bodies of Kaldur and Wally were nowhere to be seen, "Where did they— "
"They were never there." I explained with a bit of a shit eating grin, "It was an idea I got from an old friend of mine. She was great at casting illusions, so I figured, "Why shouldn't Miss Martian be able to do that."
The assassin tensed, "Martian? There isn't any… oh shit."
I nodded, "Oh shit is right."
The assassin sighed as she was lifted into the air by an unseen force. In front of her, the lifeless body of Dr. Roquette suddenly lifted into the air as well, morphing and turning green to reveal the smiling face of M'gann. "At first, I wasn't sure if I could do it, I hadn't even heard of such a technique before, but after some brainstorming it was easy enough to extend my mind to a small area so whoever enters it would see whatever I wanted them too."
Our opponent slumped in the air, "How? Was the doctor ever here at all?"
I nodded, "Of course, she was in the front office. I mean why wouldn't she be, everyone knows the computers are always better there. Of course, she's long gone now, the others took her and/ Superboy to the next location. Did you really think that it was taking them that long to get here?"
I didn't really expect her to respond, so I was a bit surprised when she said, "Well done. Honestly, I haven't had my ass handed to me so well in years. And what do you plan to do to me now?"
I gestured to M'gann, "She'll take you to the authorities, and that will be that."
The assassin cocked her head to the side, "Well that won't do at all."
Before either of us could react, she pressed something on her palm and a what appeared to be a ball of fire shot out of it, right into M'gann's face."
The Martian shrieked instinctively and lost her concentration on the assassin. As she fell to the ground she drew a couple pellets and threw it on the ground, shrouding the room in darkness.
I looked around anxiously, not expecting her to use a common magicians trick as a tactic, and felt a chill run down my spine as I heard a voice mere inches behind me, "We wouldn't get to play anymore."
I whirled around, but no one was there. I might have looked some more but I knew I wouldn't find her.
I sighed and ran over to M'gann where she was still trying to focus her eyes, "You alright?"
She nodded and groaned, "Did I mess it up?"
I helped her up, "You were fine, you followed my orders perfectly. I shouldn't have underestimated her. You good."
She nodded and blinked a few times, "I'm fine now, should we meet up with the others?"
I nodded as we started making our way out of the school. "Can I get a lift?"
She replied by lifting me up telekinetically and flying into the air towards the next location. I struggled to hold in my lunch as I soared through the air without Blackjack. M'gann only noticed this when I became as green as her. "Should I slow down?"
I struggled to man up and swallow it down so I could respond, "No! She might not have been the only one, we should…ugh… get there as soon as possible."
M'gann frowned but nodded and kept going. We eventually made it to the internet café where the others had the doctor set up. Usually It would be full of people this time of night, but we made sure to clear everyone out beforehand. It was so much easier to deal with mortals when they knew and respected you.
I entered to find Robin, Kaldur, Wally and Artemis surrounding Roquette as she worked on one of the computers. Superboy was still passed out, lying on the floor
M'gann went straight to him to check on him while I headed to the others, "Got an update for me?"
"Doctor Roquette has already completed 67% of the program." Kaldur responded.
"I could have been done sooner without the pressure of assassins hunting me!" our charge exclaimed, "So tell me, did you catch them?" she looked at me expectantly, along with everyone else in the room.
I sighed, "She escaped."
Roquette cursed while the others just slumped in disappointment "Could you describe the assailant?" Robin asked.
I nodded, "She seemed to be human, relying more on tools and skills than any abilities. She has a knack for sharp weapons and even sharper wit, and wore a creepy smiling cat mask."
Robin typed the details into his gauntlet before speaking, "Got her. Definitely one of the Shadows, codename: Cheshire. She's ruthless, efficient, and has never been captured."
"Oh great!" Roquette exclaimed, "So I have the female terminator on my ass!"
"Relax," I told her, annoyed by her complaining "She's likely not the only one."
"How is that supposed to make me relax?"
I was about to answer when Artemis spoke up, "So what now? The first plan worked but we still have a while before the program is finished."
I nodded, "They won't fall for the same trick twice…. For now, we'll cover all the entrances and exits, conventional or not. You guys fan out and do that while I stay by her side."
They all agreed and went to follow my orders, while I stood by the doctor with my sword and shield out. Of course, the sword wouldn't be useful for anything but defense, but It was added defense all the same.
After a few minutes of silence, filled only with the doctors typing, she spoke up,
"So, you're the leader of this little group?"
I glanced over at her, 'The group that you've been nothing but rude towards, despite the fact that we're only trying to save your life? Yeah I'm the leader. You should really focus on the program."
She huffed, 'Can you really blame me for being in a bad mood? People trying to kill me and all the Justice League could muster to help me was their sidekicks!"
"They're not sidekicks!" I snapped at her.
She looked at me in surprise, "Alright geeze, sorry."
I shook my head in exasperation, "I don't know where that even came from! Just because they're younger than their mentors? If anything, that should label them as even greater heroes!"
"Hey I didn't say anything..."
I sighed, "Whatever, just finish the program."
Another few minutes passed before she spoke a bit softer, "Look, maybe I have been a little obstinate towards you all."
I chuckled "You think?"
"I mean you all are risking your lives to save mine. I should be rewarding you, not complaining."
I raised an eyebrow at this as I kept a look out, "Uh, I wouldn't know if I would go that far, but—whoa!"
I jumped away after feeling something brush against my thighs a little too close to my waistline. I turned around and looked at the doctor in alarm, and saw that it was in fact her hand, "What are you doing?"
She had certain glint in her eye that gave me a bad feeling, "Sorry, I couldn't help it. You're just so… well…"
I backed away uncertainly, "Um… don't you think you should be more focused on the task at hand?"
She giggled, giggled. "Right, silly me. Although, if you do manage to keep me alive, I wouldn't mind going out for dinner, or maybe…"
"Lady I'm barely 17!" I blurted out, causing her to freeze.
It wasn't technically a lie. I didn't physically age since I entered Tartarus, I still had my body from before I fell, well most of it. I really just didn't know how else to handle the situation at the moment. Unfortunately, Roquette wasn't buying it, "What? No, you're like, 21 at the least."
I raised an eyebrow, did I really look that old? "No… I'm pretty sure how old I am."
She looked at me in disbelief for a few more moments before looking dropping her head in her hands, "Oh god… I'm a cougar!"
I wasn't really sure what a cougar was in that context, but It didn't sound good. I tentatively reached out a hand to pat her on the back, unsure of what else to do, when I was saved by someone outside yelling, "Yo! Tall, Greek and handsome!"
I sighed in relief, and walked to the front door, opening to meet any villain who was there. It was much more preferable. I noted M'gann floating just above the entrance, perfectly still and camouflaged. I then looked across the street to see what we were dealing with.
At the forefront was the same smiling assassin as before, staring at me intently. On either side of her was a man covered in purple spandex with a spider on his forehead, and a guy with a hook. Just… a hook.
I cracked a grin, "Okay so we got the lady whose ass I kicked, the Human Spider, and a low budget Captain hook. Do you really think that's going to be enough? We have the strength and numbers advantage."
"Strength isn't everything." She responded, "And I know for a fact that your Kryptonian friend is still knocked out. That toxin was made specifically for people like him."
Robin chimed in, "I just got an alert that the nanobots have begun an attack on WayneTech! If that get that data… a lot of bad things could happen. Do not Let them get to the
I narrowed my eyes at her, "Fair enough, the odds still say that you will lose."
She chuckled sinisterly, "Maybe. But you've made a major error in this equation."
"And that would be?"
She spread her arms out, "We're not the main attack force. We're just dog walkers." She then pulled out some type of remote and pressed a button.
I looked around curiously, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did, "Is your thing broken?"
She simply waited, for a moment I thought they were having some sort of brain issue, before I heard Robin shout over the psychic link, "Guys… somethings heAA— "
"Robin!" I called out. There was no answer. "M'gann! Is he…"
"I don't know, I don't think so!" M'gann sounded as confused as me, "He's no longer in my telepathic range…"
I looked at the assassins in confusion. The woman hummed, "So you can tell? Interesting, must be the work of the Martian. I'm sure you're wondering what this is.
I kept my eye on her, "Kaldur, Wally, Artemis, converge on the doctor, watch your backs!"
"I didn't think I'd need it to be honest, but the top brass insisted I take it with me just In case."
The three made it to the doctor. I backed up, keeping my eyes on the assassins, but they just stood where they were. I backed into the café and headed towards them, signaling M'gann to follow. "Did anyone see it?"
"Where did Robin go?" Wally asked frantically, "Is he— "
"We think he's fine." I assured him. "Right M'ga— "
I turned around just in time to see the Martian girl getting tackled upwards by a very large, very dark shape, before disappearing into the dark ceiling above.
I had to blink a few times, wondering if what I saw was real. I got my answer from Artemis exclaiming, "What the hell was that?"
I shook my head in disbelief, "It can't be… everyone! Get away from the shadows! Find the light switch we need light."
Wally dashed to the light switch to illuminate the café while I worked on clearing away the desks and chairs, or anything else that could cast a shadow with my cape strands. I made clear circle around the doctors' desk and had the others crowd around her.
"What's happening?" Roquette asked fearfully.
"Just keep working!" I told her. she complied while Kaldur asked, "Perseus, what exactly are we dealing with here?"
I shook my head, "I…I'm not sure…"
I then heard the woman outside, "Keeping away from the shadows won't save you. Though don't you think it's fitting? The League of Shadows having a creature that can travel through shadow?"
As if on cue, several desks were thrown into the air as something flew out of the shadows beneath them. I felt my friends tense as it walked forward on all fours. Its massive size forced its head to scrape the ceiling. Its enormous claws put deep scratches in the floor. A deep rumbling emanated from its chest.
Before I realized it, Artemis had already started firing arrows at the creature, but soon stopped when she saw the tools going right through the creature like it wasn't there. She gulped, "Percy!'
"Those won't work…" I stated numbly as I stared at the creature. I held up Riptide, "Only this will."
"Okay then use that!" Wally exclaimed.
"No." I responded.
"What?!" Roquette shouted.
"Perseus, we do not have much choice!" Kaldur pleaded.
"I can't!" I shouted back.
"Why?!" they all asked.
I looked up at the creature. She looked similar to when I last saw her, with a few major differences. A patch of fur on her chest, stomach, eyes and the tips of her ears were now white, but otherwise she had the same glossy black fur as before.
The other difference was her eyes. Instead of the deep, loving black eyes I remembered, her eyes were filled with hatred, rage, and murderous intent, and those eyes were staring straight at me.
With a weak voice, I answered the others question, "Because that's my dog."
Mrs. O'Leary let lose a thunderous howl, shaking the building and shattering a few windows, before baring her teeth and charging straight at us. .
You know I was really up in arms about whether to stop right there, I was like, yes it would be awesome, then known that would be mean, then yes mean is fun! Then no be a good person, and now we see which one won out.