Third Person POV
Jackson Kent was about to lose his mind.
If not for M'gann right next to him, he might have strangled the blue skinned teen across from him.
He found himself running through it in his mind and musing how it might actually work out. he was dressed as a villain after all.
This entire mission was annoying him to begin with. Mostly because it was based on the league doubting Percy.
So what if he put another criminal in critical condition? It was a prison, Percy was posing as a criminal, and the whole thing was Batman's idea!
Deep down, He had a feeling that Batman was miffed Percy had beaten down one of his bad guys, worse than he ever did, but he wouldn't dare say that out loud.
His mood was further ruined by the fact that he had his hair dyed blonde and trimmed for this mission, so he could best resemble Tommy Terror. M'gann on the other hand simply had to shapeshift into Tuppence.
They were currently chained up in the back of a prison transport bus, along with Icicle Jr. and Mr. Freeze himself. The first one had instantly taken a liking to M'gann, or Tuppence Terror, and had endlessly flirted with her. even going so far as to ask Jackson to put in a good word for him! He wasn't' sure if the kid was stupid or if he knew how much of a creep he was coming across as.
He had hoped it would all end when they got to the prison, but much to his dismay, he had the good fortune to be bunked with the little nuisance, not before an annoying speech from the warden of course.
Now he was walking through the rec center, playing nice with Jr. in the hopes that it would pay off alter on.
"Stick with me cell mate, I'll show you the ropes!" The teen boasted, while Jackson resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"Oh, who you kidding? You ain't been in Belle Rev before, you're liable to get me hanged with them ropes!"
Jr. did roll his eyes, "I may have never been incarcerated here Tommy, but trust me, I know whereof I speak. For starters," he gestured to a group by the bleachers, "we pay homage to the top of the food chain, the big dog, the prison… capo… my father is laughing?"
Jackson looked closer at the group to see what he was talking about. The group consisted of Icicle Sr. at the center, with Freeze and Captain cold on both sides, while they were flanked by Mammoth and Killer Croc, the two seemingly playing body guards.
The three ice villains were indeed laughing, because of the words of the one sitting a few rows below them: Percy.
Jackson and Jr. wordlessly walked forward to hear what they were talking about, and quickly regretted it.
Percy was chuckling as he spoke, "I still don't know how Perses got Khione down there, but it doesn't matter. The things he did with her ice… I still have nightmares."
How he said that while laughing was beyond Jackson and became even more mystifying as he began to describe one of the torture methods she used: "So first she froze a part of my body solid, before breaking it off, and breaking it into small chunks in front of me. then she would leave me in a pile of my own frozen body parts, completely naked, until I was near death from hypothermia. Now they had a magical healer to bring me back, so I wouldn't recommend going that far unless you want the person on permanent ice."
Sr. laughed loudly at this "I will keep that in mind. You know I've never been religious, but for a goddess like that… well I might just convert."
That was met with cheers of approval from Captain Cold, and a huff from Freeze, no doubt as he still held a candle for his frozen wife.
Jackson and Jr. were speechless for a few more moments, before Jr. shrugged, "Whatever, let's just go talk to –oof!" He was cut off as someone tackled him from behind by Professor Ojo. "Hello Jr.! I had warned you what would happen next time we crossed paths!"
Jr. immediately tried talking his way out while Jackson hesitated for a moment, before sighing and pulling the older man off, punching him away as he did so.
This proved to be a mistake as suddenly he was surrounded by convicts, all taking a turn at him and Jr. without his strength he found himself quickly outmatched, much to his annoyance, and could only grit his teeth and take it before a familiar voice called out, "Enough!"
Jackson watched in fascination as all his attackers froze, then moved away slowly, revealing a frowning Percy standing before them .
One of them, a large, muscular, rather reddish looking man growled out, "Don't tell me you're trying to save them."
He flinched as Percy looked his way, "Save? Well kind of, you do realize that's the capos son right? I mean granted he wouldn't lift a finger to save him, but if you actually did kill him what do you think would happen then?"
The villains all paled at the thought as Percy grabbed Jr. and yanked him to his feet, much to his chagrin, though he didn't have any luck at resisting him.
Jackson waited for him to walk towards him as well, for surely he recognized him, but when he didn't, the one to voice his confusion was actually one of the convicts. "What about Terror here?"
Percy looked back, looked him right in the eye, and for a moment Jackson felt hope as a flicker of familiarity appeared in his eyes.
"I don't care, go nuts."
Later
Jackson Kent was about to lose his mind.
It was bad enough that he had to go through a fucking therapy session with M'gann, while impersonating the twins, and that M'gann deemed it necessary to try to uncover his own insecurities, but the fact that he did so while covered in cuts and bruises really was the icing on the cake. That's not even mentioning the psychic conversation they held before and afterwards.
After Jackson had been thrown back into his cell, he was immediately contacted by a frantic M'gann, "Jackson are you okay?"
He rolled his eyes before answering. "Well I was just beat within an inch of my life so… yeah doing just fine.
"Sorry dude, I had to maintain my cover."
Jackson bristled at the familiar mental voice, but before he could say anything. M'gann beat him to it, "What the Hell Percy?! You better give us a good explanation right now, or so help me I will reach into your mind and extract it for myself!"
Jackson blinked in surprise. He had never heard M'gann get so assertive before, and especially not towards Percy, the most intimidating member of the team.
"…Like I said Miss M, I had to maintain my cover. 'Jackson' is tough. We all know that, he will be fine." Before M'gann could retort he continued, "Now do you mind explaining to me what the hell you two are doing here? Why today of all days?"
Jackson frowned at that last part, but answered anyways, "The League got a bit antsy when you broke Riddler's face. They figured today was when it was going down, whatever it is, and sent us in to assist you, as well as make sure you aren't reverting to bad habits."
M'gann chimed in, "We don't think that will happen, but… well you know how paranoid Batman is."
"I understand. Listen, they were right that it's going down today. I've already figured out their plans and have a plan to insure it doesn't work. All I have to do now is make sure it goes smoothly and help with any potential cleanup."
"How did you do that?" M'gann asked curiously.
"Well…"
Several days earlier
Percy listened carefully to his bunkmates hissing as it slowed and steadied, before determining that he was in fact asleep. Wary of the cameras everywhere, he hid himself under his blanket and reverted his body to water, carefully maintaining form as he shifted his pillow to take his place, before leaking behind the bed and spreading thin so as to blend into the wall and floor, before sliming around the room, staying out of the camera as much as possible, before slipping through a vent.
The prison had called in an "expert" to help set up his magic collar, i.e. Giovanni Zatara. As it was, it did subdue his magic power and physical strength, (not that it made much difference to him) but it did not stop him from using his powers.
From his room he made his way through the ventilation system, checking on various cells surrounding him before heading for Sr.
He reached the prison Capo just in time to see a small slip of paper fly through the vets. When he looked in he saw Sr. sitting nonchalantly on his bed. Percy wondered how he managed to get it up in the vent without seeming suspicious from the camera but was broken out of his wondering by the sound of someone making their way through the vents.
He quickly flattened himself to the floor and walls of the vent, before watching as a figure rounded a corner in the vents, and if he had actual eyes at the moment, he would be rolling them.
Of course it was Cheshire who picked up the note and quickly turned and crawled back the way she came. Percy silently cursed himself for not reading it before she arrived. He followed her silently as she crawled to the women's side of the prison, before stopping over the vent of what he later found was Killer Frost's cell.
Her job apparently done, he followed her back to her own cell, which he found to be empty except for her. He was beginning to wonder how she could have fit through the small vent in the cell, only to watch in absolute awe as she performed a graceful, yet slightly disturbing feat of flexibility that would make any contortionist jealous.
He followed her in right as she was fiddling with a device that he assumed had something to do with why she wasn't worried about the camera watching her. before she pressed the button however, he reformed on the bunk above her, in a lounging position. She still didn't notice until she spoke up, "You might want to hold off on that."
He struggled not to laugh as she jumped three feet in the air with a yelp, reminiscent of a startled cat hissing in surprise before running to the other side of the room and quickly held her hands up in defense, before looking even more surprised at who it was. "Perseus? What are you… Oh for fucks sake you are still a hero?"
Percy smirked, "And you're still doing missions it seems. Let me guess: you're here to assist in whatever evil scheme is going on here right?"
The assassin rolled her eyes and gradually relaxed her stance, "And you're here to stop me right? Well shit. Let me guess, the whole 'chopped Kid Flash's hands off' thing is a made-up story from the league?"
Percy grimaced, "Sadly no. I just wasn't in my right mind at the time it happened, and we used the situation to get me in here."
Jade raised an eyebrow, "That sounds like a story worth hearing."
Percy shrugged, "Maybe. Tell you what: you tell me the plan you guys are cooking up, and I tell you why I maimed my teammate. Deal?"
Jade sighed, "You're out of luck my lord. I'm just the messenger girl for this one. I don't actually know anything about the grand scheme.
Percy hummed thoughtfully, "In that case, what's to stop me from reporting to the league and getting you shipped out of here?"
Jade rolled her eyes, "Nothing I suppose. But it won't change much. The plan is already in place. It will still go on without me.
Percy closed his eyes thoughtfully, "I see… I guess I'll just go send the message then. See ya." He made to get up as her eyes widened.
"Wait!" the assassin snapped, eye twitching in annoyance as the former demigod had called her bluff, "You can't.
Percy smirked, "Why not?" In his mind he knew why not: his cover was too deep. Any form of communication with the league would blow it for sure if he was caught, and he was never a master of subtlety.
Cheshire glared, "Thanks to you I'm currently on thin ice with the Shadows. Failing a mission is one thing, it happens to the best occasionally, but being captured? That is unacceptable. They managed to swing it to their advantage this time, but if I fail here… I won't get a second chance."
Percy considered this calmly, "Why don't you just leave them then?"
She snorted, "There is no leaving them, they'll find me, no matter where I go."
"Okay, sure, but what if you were somewhere they wouldn't dare go?"
Cheshire looked at him curiously only to see a meaningful grin on his face, "What are you… oh no. No! You are not putting me in tights, that's not for me."
Percy shrugged, "Tights are not really necessary, but come on, you have a choice here: be free to do as you please at the cost of looking over your shoulder ever ten seconds, or knowing someone will have your back at the cost of having to fight on the hero side. You're not evil Jade, but you are selfish—"
"Hey—"
"And joining the heroes will be in your best interest. So what do you say? I can't let you succeed in this mission."
Jade glared at him for a few more moments before groaning, "Fine! Have it your way. But if someone's gonna have my back I want it to be you or Artemis."
Percy blinked, "I get your sister, but why would you trust me that—"
"It's not about trust Percy," Cheshire purred out, suddenly giving out an entirely different vibe as she stalked toward him, "It's about ability. I know what my sister can do, I trained with her, so I know there's very little chance of a knife in my back with her there to deflect it, she may even take it herself, we don't get along but we're still sisters. You on the other hand…" as she talked she approached the bed Percy was lounging on, her gait ever so sultry, causing him to sit up and look her in the eye uncertainly, "You're different. You're new. You're powerful. And from the looks of it, your power is still growing. I want that on my side." She leaned in, pressing her hands on the bed on either side of his hips while putting her face inches from his. Despite her being in an orange jumpsuit, the action was unbelievably alluring. "And I suppose… there may be other things I want from you,"
With a gulp, Percy found himself going liquid and slipping underneath her, reforming behind her, causing her to giggle and turn to face him, "I'm sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?"
Percy cleared is throat as he regained his composure, though reforming with a clear view of her bent over form was maybe not the best idea, "It-it's fine. But we should focus. If you really are in, then we should discuss the breakout, and what your role is in it."
The assassin rolled her eyes, but didn't lose her smirk, "Fine. So far I have been a glorified messenger girl for leaders of the boys' and girls' wings: Sr. and Killer Frost. When things go down, I will be just a bit more muscle."
Percy nodded, "And I assume you've been sneaking peeks at the notes your passing?"
Cheshire scoffed, "Of course! I'm not an idiot. Knowledge is power after all. The main gist of the plan is the ice villains are going to freeze the weakest part of the wall leading outside and use the muscle brains to smash through while it's weakened. Not a bad plan really. There's a lot of other parts but we can go over them in time.
Percy nodded before asking, "Can you show me where the weak point is?"
Cheshire smiled mischievously before moving to the vent. Percy never really would figure out how she fit through, except that it involved a lot of advanced acrobatics and stretches that he didn't know were possible in either man or woman. It left him with a jaw dropped until she called down, "You coming?"
He came to his senses and turned liquid again, flowing into the vent, and, accidentally, flowing over Cheshire's body in the process as it was in the way. He had done something similar to superman so didn't think much of it until he heard a restrained gasp from her. he reformed ahead of her and looked at her with concern, "You alright?"
She looked at him with a flushed face, though it was stern, "Don't do that again."
"But I—"
"Don't!" She hissed, before crawling past him, the small space causing her to have to rub her lithe body against his, whispering in his ear as she passed: "Unless I ask you to."
That began several days of collaboration between the two prisoners. During this time, Percy learned everything he could of the villains' plan to escape and devised a simple one to counteract it when the time came. He had wanted to report his findings to the league right away, but Cheshire assured him that if he did, and the plans were stopped before they began, the Shadows would know she betrayed them, and take her out before he could figure out how to get her out of the prison legally.
He also found himself growing closer with Killer Croc, strangely enough. The man was vastly misunderstood, and bitter, something he could somewhat relate to. He couldn't risk telling Croc his plans, but he had a feeling that when the time came, he could sway the overgrown reptile to his side.
Most interesting however, were the occasional advances from Cheshire. At first, he figures she was just keeping him off guard, as she was known to do, but it soon became clear as more than that. Of course, her interest wasn't emotional in the least, she didn't want to go steady or something, but something about him seemed to, for lack of a better phrase, turn her on.
From what he could tell, the attraction was mostly to his power, which got him wondering if this was related to his supposed godhood. If so, the gods constant relations with mortals were beginning to make more sense.
That aside, Percy's time in prison was going surprisingly well. Until, that is, he started hanging out with Sr. and his gang.
If the gruesome and despicable stories they shared about their own criminal life weren't enough, the stories they coaxed out of Percy were enough to do it. In order to gain an edge, he found himself digging into his memory of over a century of torture, sharing these experiences with the villains, in the guise of "giving each other pointers". He never even touched on the worst of them, but he still swore to himself he would make sure this group never got out with the knowledge he gave them.
The worst part however, was that since the inhibitor collars monitored the prisoner's vitals, he was forced to sleep every night, lest they have guards posted outside his cell all night. And of course, with sleep, came nightmares, reliving past tortures with the villains did nothing to help that.
It was one such night when he was supposed to be going on recon with Cheshire to find out which guard was helping the villains in the escape. In the long run it might not be important, but Percy didn't want the guy doing it again.
Unfortunately, he had to wait for Cheshire, as his pillow trick would only work so many times, and she had the tech to set his camera on a loop.
He was sweat profusely when she arrived, tossing and turning in his sleep with gritted teeth, yet he didn't utter a sound. Normally such a sight would mean nothing to Cheshire, but word of Percy's past had spread through the prison, and she found herself curious to see how much was true.
After looping the camera, she quietly made her way to his bedside, staring at his distraught form with interest. She noticed his uniform was opened slightly, and gently reached over and pulled it back.
Her eyes widened at the sight of his scars. She found herself reaching out to touch one when a hand grabbed her arm with a snap. Her eyes met the slightly crazed ones of Percy. "What are you doing?"
She ignored his question, "So it's true then? You really were in Hell?"
He shoved her hand away, though not as angrily as she expected, "That's one name for it."
He began to sit up, "Well let's get going.
"Oh no." Cheshire chuckled, "You really think I'm letting you go out now?"
He looked at her irritably. "What? I'm fine.
She chuckled, "Sure you are. Do me a favor and look at your hands."
He glanced down and noticed his hands trembling slightly. He grimaced and a moment later they stopped completely, surprising Cheshire, as it was clear he had done that with nothing but sheer willpower. "There, all better.
She narrowed her eyes, before lighting up with mischief, "You know… back in the shadows, every assassin has a way to deal with the things we see, the things we do on a regular basis. We're professionals but we're still human. Do you want to know one of my favorites?"
Percy leaned back as she began tracing her hand up and down his thigh, "Uhhh… not really?"
Cheshire giggled, "Oh don't be like that. Come on, we're both adults here, you several times over if I've heard correctly…"
Percy tried to stand up, but with practiced grace befitting her occupation, he found Jade straddling his waist, pushing him down. "Come on, what's the matter? Don't tell me your saving yourself for marriage or something?"
Percy gulped, now thoroughly out of his depth, "Well no but uh..." He trailed off as Jade started running her fingers up and down his chest and abs hungrily.
She hummed for him to go on, "But what?"
"I haven't actually… ever…"
He didn't need to finish, as Jade went stock still. In a calm, quiet voice, she spoke, "You must be joking. aren't you like a century old?"
Percy cleared his throat, "Something like that, but I… what's so funny?"
The assassin was now giggling uncontrollably, "A century old virgin?! Come on, how is that not funny?"
He found irritation rise up in his chest, pushing her off of him, causing her to yelp, "Yeah well I was only 17 when I was thrown into Tartarus, and there isn't exactly a lot of opportunities to get lucky when you're being tortured 24/7!"
The giggling had stopped, and now a guilty look had fallen on Cheshire's face, "Sorry, I guess that makes sense… let me make it up to you?"
Percy looked at her suspiciously, "Why are you so set on this?"
Cheshire frowned, "Why are you so against it? It's just sex! What you think I'm a whore for having a healthy sexual appetite?"
Percy raised his hands defensively, much to her amusement, "I did not say that. Hades I can't even say that word, I'm related to Zeus after all. Really no one in my family are good at keeping it in their pants but…. Why are you set on me? Just because I'm powerful or something"
Cheshire stared at him for a moment before rolling her eyes so far back he wondered if she were fainting, "Dear god man. Have you seen yourself?"
Percy glanced down at his scarred chest peeking through his jumpsuit. "That just reinforces my point doesn't it?"
Cheshire smirked at him, "Didn't anyone ever tell you that women like scars? Granted not all of them may able to handle yours but that's why I'm special."
Your special alright almost came out of Percy's mouth, but he held it back for fear it would be taken the wrong way. "Alright well... I still don't think this is a good idea…"
Jade deadpanned, "Really? You've spent a century without sex and you're turning down your first chance? Don't tell me you're gay or something…"
Percy frowned, "Not that I know of."
"So I'm just not hot enough huh?"
The god jumped at that, "What? No! that's so not what I…" he trailed off at the sight of her smirk, "Look, Jade, I'm grateful and flattered and all of that, but… it just feels wrong…"
Jade frowned as he looked away awkwardly. She hadn't actually planned on having sex with the guy that night, but now that he was playing hard to get she felt like she had been issued a challenge. She'd rarely been rejected in such a way. Granted she wasn't so naïve as to think it impossible, but it still felt annoying.
Thinking for a moment she smirked again, reaching out to caress his cheek, "Don't you want to stick it to all those people who had you locked up? They took years of your life from you, now you can start taking it—"
She was cut off as his arm shot out, her arm was now caught in a vice, "Don't try to manipulate me Cheshire, I guarantee it will not end well for you."
He turned to look at her, his steely gaze meeting her worried eyes. Jade considered dropping the subject then and there, but instead found a new approach in his eyes, a genuine one, which surprised even her.
"You're hurting Perseus, "She spoke softly, "I can see it, all that pain locked in your eyes. I used to do the same, Artemis does it to, but you, you hold so much that I'm surprised you haven't exploded yet."
Percy winced as he remembered his rather "explosive" outbursts.
Jade continued, "You need a release, so to speak. I don't know why you haven't found it yet, but I'm offering a simple one for you right here. It's not wrong, it's human. Endorphins. Sure you can pin a whole lot more to it, but at the end of the day the only one who can do that is you and me, and I'm not planning on it.
Percy Looked uncertain now, so she went in for the clincher, "Look the truth is I need this too. Being imprisoned and knowing your boss can kill you at any moment isn't exactly stress free.
That did it. Percy sighed before slowly nodding, "I guess…. It won't hurt anyone."
Jade smiled, "That's the spirit. Now, Mr. virgin, surely you have some idea of how to go about this? I'd rather not work from scratch…."
Percy considered that for a moment, before suddenly it was like a lightbulb went off in his head.
He held his hand up, pointing one finger in the air and concentrated. He wasn't sure if what he was trying to do was even possible, which was why he was as surprised as Cheshire when his finger started vibrating rapidly with earthquake power.
He turned to the girl, feeling a bit more confident as he looked at er, "Think I could do something with this?"
A grin grew on her face large enough to rival her namesakes, "Oh yes. I think that has a lot of potential."
Present Day
Of course Percy didn't mention that last part to Jackson and M'gann. It wasn't their business after all.
He waited till after their therapy session to continue, "The breakout will happen soon," Percy explained over the mental link, "The ice villains should be getting a shipment of their tech later today and will use it to fight their way into the control room and deactivate the collars. I can't prevent this without blowing my cover early, so I will focus on preventing Casualties while Cheshire sneaks into the control room to reactivate the collars. Since you two are here, you can help me with that."
Percy sighed and leaned his head against the wall of his cell, watching idly as Waylon did his daily pushups. All that bulk wasn't from his mutation it seemed. "Now that that's out of the way… how's Wally?"
There was a silence for a moment before M'gann answered, "We haven't seen him since the accident, but Artemis has. It's… not good."
Percy winced, but shook his head, "I didn't really expect anything more. Any breakthroughs on treatment?"
"No." Jackson responded gruffly, "The League said their working on Prosthetic designs, but I have a feeling that our resident cyclops will top whatever they come up with. He's been working nonstop after… oh yeah we got a new teammate."
Percy raised an eyebrow, "Oh? How did that happen? When?"
M'gann chuckled nervously, "Well…"
Several days earlier
The group of super teens gave Caroline, the owner of Puzzles, their thanks before leaving her restaurant. The Gordonians were still patrolling for Koriand'r on the ground and in the skies, leaving them little room to hide. Luckily however, hiding wasn't the plan.
A group of patrolling Gordonians were harassing a few terrified New Yorkers, when several shadows fell across them.
They looked up to see the group hovering above them: Raven, Kara, M'gann, Kori, Tyson, and Jackson, who was hovering with the aid of M'gann's telekinesis.
M'gann spoke up with a smile, "Hi! This may be backwards but could you take us to your leader?"
When the first group refused to comply, the group simply beat them unconscious and secured them deep in central park until they could decide what to do with them. This continued with a few more groups until the aliens realized that things weren't going well. The next group, having heard what happened to the others over their radio presumably, quickly offered to bring them to the ship.
The ride up was a bit awkward, with a few glares at Kori that were quickly silenced by a disturbingly bestial growl from Tyson, that shut the all up. When the others looked at him curiously, he blushed brightly and said, "Sorry… it just came out…"
They arrived on the mother ship to be greeted by a much larger gordonian, who looked down on them with utter hatred.
He spoke in a gruff, rumbling voice that reeked contempt, "Earthlings! Have you finally come to your senses and decided to hand over the prisoner?"
Jackson stepped up to speak, but was beaten to the punch, "Hey, just because we're currently on Earth does not make us earthlings!"
Jackson slowly turned to look at Kara with utter disbelief and irritation. The huffy Kryptonian seemed to get the message, much to his surprise, and lowered her aggressive stance and backed away for him, whispering, "Sorry."
With a heavy sigh, Jackson started, "Here's the deal. We Earthlings don't take too kindly to things like kidnapping, or slavery, or… I don't know… blowing up planets! So as of now, we will be taking Kara off your hands, as well "
The giant Gordonian stared at him for a moment, before breaking out in a bellowing laugh, joined shortly by the other Gordonians surrounding the group.
When he finally settled down, the leader of the aliens looked down at Jackson, looking very amused. "You come on to my ship, allow yourself to be surrounded by my men, and then start making demands? What exactly is your plan?"
Jackson shrugged, "I figured we'd just punch you all until you agree."
That earned another round of laughter, that was not shared by the few gordonian squads who had already encountered the heroes.
The leader's laugher stopped abruptly as he glared down and ordered his men, "Kill them."
Jackson smirked, then launched himself forward.
He tackled the oversized alien, slamming him into a control console, causing parts and sparks to fly. While they wrestled, the other heroes started tearing through the soldiers with relative ease.
Jackson could tell that he was a great deal stronger than his opponent, but to his annoyance, he once again was faced with the problem of his opponent being far more skilled than him. The alien seemed to be using some form of martial art, reminiscent of judo, to throw Jackson around, which was easy do to his smaller size.
Jackson's mind raced as he charged towards his opponent again. He knew he would just get thrown again, but he needed time to think of a new strategy, and he couldn't just stand there thinking about it while his enemy pummeled him.
What would Percy do?
By the time his enemy had thrown him into another wall, he had come up with a semblance of a plan.
As he charged again, he kept his eyes on his opponents' arms, waiting for them to lash out. once they did, he tapped into his natural speed and easily dodged under, throwing himself at the gordonians right leg. After knocking his legs out from under hm. He still had a firm grasp on the creature and began spinning him around, ignoring the curses and protests. Once he had nearly reached enough speed to create a tornado like Wally, he released.
He put the leader through the wall.
The other heroes, having just finished the last of the soldiers, all peered through the hole at the groaning leader with interest.
"...that WAS AWESOME!" Tyson exclaimed, clapping Jackson on the back hard enough to make him wince, though he tried to hide it as he was swarmed by the others.
Kara smiled as well, "Seriously though! I thought you were just the "punch it till it stops moving" type. No offence."
Jackson suppressed a scowl, "I'm trying something new."
"It was very impressive Jackson!" M'gann said with a genuine smile.
"It was quite an efficient takedown." Raven stated in her usual monotone.
Jackson was starting to get uncomfortable with all the attention. "Look it's not a big deal! I just took down the bad guy, that's kind of our job."
Kori stepped forward with wide eyes, "That is untrue friend-Jackson! That was general Korgram! He had a pivotal role in the fall of Tameran, including the defeat of my own father. To take him down so quickly is exactly as Friend-Tyson said, full of awe."
Jackson blinked, "Oh uh… thanks?"
Before the girl could respond, a loud explosion sounded somewhere else in the ship, knocking the few heroes not hovering off balance.
A moment later a red and blue blur shot up from the floor, leaving a sparking hole in its wake. "You all have five seconds to explain what your intentions are for… earth."
A hovering Superman trailed off as he surveyed the scene of the control room the battle had occurred in. eventually his eyes landed on the teen supers, and his eyes narrowed, "What are you all doing here?"
Kara huffed and refused to meet her cousin's eye, M'gann and Tyson both looked too Nervous to speak, while Raven pulled her hood closer over her head, edging towards the shadows a bit. Kori just looked confused.
Jackson on the other hand, felt nothing but anger. He started walking towards his DNA source, intent on getting right up in his face, but settling for close, as the Kryptonian was hovering above him. "Our jobs! What does it look like?"
Superman seemed taken aback at the open hostility for a moment before regaining his composure. "It looks like you kids just took on an alien invasion without even contacting the League about it first. What on earth were you thinking?"
Jackson was about to tell him exactly what he was thinking, but then realized the answer. Contacting the League would have been the smartest thing to do, but instead they handled it themselves. One might see that as a bit arrogant. However, there was no way Jackson was going to admit that.
"We got the job done, didn't we?" He growled back, gesturing to the fallen aliens.
"You might have just started declared war on this species in Earths name!"
Before Jackson could yell back again, Kori stepped forward. "If I may, Friend-Jackson… may not have put much thought into his actions, but they were well intentioned, efficient, and successful. Also, I can assure you that the Gordonians will not start another war so soon after the last one…"
Superman took a deep, steadying breath, before smiling at her. "Thank you. Sorry but, who might you be?"
Kori stood up straighter, "I am Koriand'r, rightful princess of Tameran. Judging by your features, might I be correct in assuming you are Friend-Jacksons fa-"
"No." Jackson stated quickly.
"Well—" Superman began.
"No." Jackson stated with more force.
Superman didn't seem to react, Instead scrunching his face up in sudden confusion, "Wait, Jackson?"
Jackson tensed up. "Yeah, that's my name now. Jackson Kent. Got a problem?"
For a moment it looked like there would be a problem, but much to everyone else's relief, the conversation was cut short by the arrival of the rest of the League.
The rest of the day was kind of a blur for Jackson, The League pretty much took over the situation, dismantling the ship's "planet destroying" weapon. Jackson still wasn't convinced that that was for real, but it didn't matter. The League sent the Gordonians on their way with a message of peace from earth, as well as a warning from the Justice League: this planet is protected.
They also talked extensively with Kori, getting the full story of her arrival, and eventually agreeing to offer her asylum on Earth, which made Jackson scoff. Who were they to deny it to her? Half of them were aliens as well.
Much to no one's surprise, the teen princess was given a room in the Mountain. She expressed great interest in "serving her new home however she could". She was now the newest member of the Team.
Jackson was fine with that, but he found himself a bit uncomfortable after they all settled down back at the cave. He was in the middle of a solo workout in the Gym, as Tyson was working on the Stables. Usually he would be with him, but even Tyson needs alone time, and Jackson definitely does.
He was proud to see that he had increased his weight limit to 700,000 tons, instead of his usual 500,000. He was trembling as he lifted it back up but knew he would be fine.
"Oh! Hold on let me help you with that!" a newly familiar voice sounded
In the next instant, a pair of slender, orange hands grabbed the barbell with him. He glanced up to see Kori, a look of intense exertion on her face as she struggled to help him. To be fair, he did find the weight lessen for him, and quickly got it on the stand, before sitting up.
His first instinct was to get irritated at the Tameranian, and insist that he had that., but he squashed that instinct down with a vengeance. She was just trying to help.
He turned to say thanks but stopped as he saw her leaning on the weights, panting and staring at the weight in confusion. "You alright?"
She gulped in a breath of air before answering, "Yes, thank you."
"No problem. thanks for the help. I would have gotten it eventually, but you didn't know that, so thanks."
She looked up even more bewildered. "How? I've never felt so much weight! How much does this weigh anyway?"
He told her and she took a moment to figure out the conversion from tons to her home worlds weight classification system. When she was done she looked at him in awe. "That is most awesome! How do you lift such weights?"
Jackson rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, well my Kryptonian physiology makes me stronger. I absorb energy from the sun to gain power. Other Kryptonians like Kara can use it better though, they're stronger, and can fly along with a lot of other things… but that's not important."
Kori frowned as she studied the clone, "Why can't you do it." At the look on his face she covered her mouth in horror, "Many apologies! I did not mean the offense, I was just curious. It seems to bother you…"
He sighed, "Long story short, I'm a clone. I was grown from Superman's DNA in a test tube. Unfortunately something went wrong in the cloning process, so I don't have full Kryptonian powers. I only woke up recently, I'm technically not even a Year old.
That made the newcomer quiet for a moment as she mulled that over. Eventually she said, "My species absorbs what you call Ultraviolet radiation to sustain us and give us our powers, so you could say we are similar to Kryptonians. However, I have a sister with a rare defect. She is unable to fly as the rest of our kind do. However, she does not let it stop her! She is still a mighty warrior, much more so than I… I've always looked up to her." She looked to Jackson with a smile, "You remind me of her."
Jackson felt a flush of heat to his face, "Uh… thank you…"
The Tameranian smiled at him for a moment more before a look of realization came over her. "That's actually what I wanted to say to you. Thank you for what you did for me, despite our first meeting."
Jackson shifted uncomfortably, "You know I was only a small part of that right? The others did a lot—"
"And I've already thanked them for their part." She assured him in an amused tone, "But you were the one who called them and led them into the fight. Not many males I know find it easy to admit when they need help."
That made him frown. "I didn't really need help. I just figured it would be less of a pain with…" he trailed off as the princess filled the gym with melodious laughter.
She patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. "I will keep that in mind Friend-Jackson.
He grumbled a bit before speaking up, "You know, no one on earth talks like that. If someone's your friend you just say their name."
The girl blinked, "Oh. My apologies. My language absorption may be powerful but some things still slip through…"
Jackson raised an eyebrow, "Language absorption?"
She nodded, "It is how I am able to speak your English. I absorbed it from you when we were fighting."
Jackson thought back to their fight, and went a bit pink as he realized what she was talking about, "Oh, right… the kiss."
At that, Kori had the generosity to look embarrassed as well. "Yes… that. I'm sorry for doing that out of nowhere, but it is the quickest way to absorb languages. Of course, it would have been quicker if you didn't know so many. I must say I am impressed, for only being awake less than a year."
He blushed while rubbing the back of his head. "Uh… that's not what happened. Those languages were psychically implanted into my mind while I was still sleeping.
She looked at him with interest, "I see… that sounds very convenient."
Jackson's eye twitched. "Yeah. I'm real lucky aren't I?"
Koriand'r's small eyebrows rose at his slightly hostile tone, "Is something wrong? I did not mean to offend—"
"I'm fine." Jackson almost spat while standing up, "I'm just a bit tired. I think I'll head back to my room for the night."
With that he walked off, leaving a very confused Kori. "Oh…. Well…. Good night!"
Present
Jackson felt a twang of guilt as he remembered how he lashed out at the girl. In hindsight, he knew she meant nothing by it, but he still didn't like his potential brainwashing being described as "convenient".
"Interesting." Percy commented over the psychic link. "I look forward to meeting her. Alright, now that we're done playing catch up, let's get ready for the break out. which will begin in three…"
"Wait what?" M'gann exclaimed in confusion
"Two…"
Jackson got irritated, "You can't just—"
"One!"
Alarms started blaring as the collars all deactivated at once. Jackson and M'gann had long since returned to their respective cells, and now began joining the other criminals as they stormed out of the cells. M'gann noticed as she passed that Jade's cell was already empty.
Jackson, much to his chagrin, was conscripted by Icicle Sr. to help Mammoth in punching through the outer wall. He was annoyed but went with it, if only because he was in eyesight of the prison staff, which the prisoners had locked up across the room.
As Jackson hammered away with Mammoth, Percy nodded to Icicle Sr. and walked over to Jr., "Come on shrimp, let's go. We're busting the ladies out."
Jr. flinched at the contact, thinking of what he'd heard of the guy, but tried to sound upbeat, "S-sure thing! Does that mean you're a strength type as well?"
Percy smirked while closing a fist and channeling earthquake energy through it, "Something like that."
Jade was already halfway to the control room, but the crawl through the vents had to have been the longest in her life. She was wondering if Percy would pull through. the guy claimed he could get her out of jail time as long as she worked with his team, though now she was trying to figure out how he planned to do that. Did he even have the ability to make it happen? Would he be able to protect her from the shadows?
Then again, did she really want to betray him? Considering that he had already dismembered a teammate on accident, she didn't want to see what happened when he was really pissed off. The man was scary… and sexy. That night they shared together was still ingrained in her mind. Percy was gifted in more ways than one, and he was a quick learner, despite his claims of ADHD and dyslexia as a child. If going with him meant a chance of more nights like that…
She found herself crawling towards her destination at a much faster pace.
M'gann was not having a good time.
It was hard enough watching the prison guard getting kicked around before getting locked up. Those would hurt in the morning but they wouldn't be fatal. She kept reminding herself of that as she struggled to maintain her cover, until Killer Frost pulled one woman aside, claiming she wanted to have a little "fun" while they awaiting the guys to break through.
Frost was about to bring down an ice mace on the poor woman when she shattered it with her telekinesis.
She gritted her teeth as all the villainesses turned on her with glares.
"Guys! I think my cover was just blown! I—AAGH!"
"M'gann!" Jackson exclaimed.
"Keep your cover!" Percy ordered the younger hero. He was around halfway through with the wall, "I'm almost to her, you make sure the staff isn't hurt."
Jackson frowned but did as he was told, and soon he was grateful he did. Brick, the red skinned villain, had Amanda Waller by the throat. He sighed and went to talk him down.
Percy looked at the half broken wall with annoyance, before charging his fist up with as much energy as he could, before unleashing the most powerful strike he could muster, screaming in the process. The wall didn't stand a chance.
Jr. blinked in awe as the dust settled, "Dude… that was AWESOME!"
Percy ignored him and walked through, only to be met with the sight of a Frozen Tuppence Terror, AKA M'gann, along with three villainesses: Shimmer, some burly tattooed lady he didn't know, and Killer Frost.
As Percy Walked towards the ice, Jr. followed him through, "Aloha chick central! If you just step right this way you can…" he trailed off as he noticed M'gann, "Woah what the heck? What'd you do that for?!"
Killer frost scowled, "This bitch isn't who she says she is. She tried to stop me from icing a guard, with her mind."
Jr. looked conflicted for a moment before sighing in dejection, "What a shame, she was such the total babe!"
Percy had his hand on the ice, studying it silently, thinking of a solution. Ice was frozen water. Water was his thing wasn't it?
Frost glanced at him with interest. "Well if it isn't Mr. Immortal. I've heard good things about you from Sr. Maybe when we get out of here, you can tell me about this so called "snow goddess" of yours, as if that title is suited for anyone other… than… me…"
She trailed off as the ice started melting around M'gann, from where his hand touched the ice." Hey what are you doing? I told you she's a traitor!"
He ignored her and focused on thawing his teammate. He was halfway through when a blast of ice froze his arm, sending surprisingly white-hot pain through his body.
Killer Frost glared at him as her hand smoked like liquid nitrogen, "I don't know how you're doing that, or why, but you're going to stop now."
Still silent, Percy narrowed his eyes at her, and willed the ice on his arm to disperse, like he did when people around him got wet. He then went back to thawing out M'gann.
Frost snarled and looked at the stunned Jr. "What are you standing around for? Help me stop him!"
Jr. gulped as he looked at the raven-haired teen, "I don't know if—"
"Oh for Christ sake!" Frost exclaimed, "Don't tell me you've got cold feet! No wonder your daddy can't stand you!"
With that Jr. was properly incensed, and started blasting Percy wit Frost, causing her to smirk. Unfortunately, instead of capturing the god in ice, the streams of cold seemed to dissipate before it even reached him. M'gann was halfway out, but still unconscious.
With a growl, Frost stopped blasting him and turned to the girls beside her, "This isn't working. Devastation, you're up!"
The woman grinned savagely and lunged at Percy, only to get tackled midair by something big, green, and scaly.
"What are you doing!" Waylon hissed after he and Devastation were on their feet.
Frost's eye twitched at the new interruption, "God-boy over here is switching sides!"
Waylon turned to look at Percy, who was now holding the unconscious, but unfrozen and unharmed M'gann, still in Terror form. "Is that true Percy?"
Percy looked up at his cell mate, and shrugged, "Once a hero, always a hero. You gonna try and stop me?"
A series of hissing noises gave Frost hope that the mutant was about to attack, until she realized the truth: Killer Croc was laughing.
"No way kid, I ain't that stupid. Tell you what, if I help, you think you can get me a reduced sentence?"
Percy smirked, "I can do more than that."
Waylon grinned, baring his sharp teeth as he turned to Killer frost and the others, "I was getting tired of being the bad guy anyways."
Before anyone could attack however, the women all screamed as their collars electrocuted them, unlike, some they had not had the sense to remove them when they were deactivated.
All over the prison, prisoners were being knocked unconscious by their collars, while the ones who had taken them off were getting swiftly knocked out by Either Jade or Jackson.
When M'gann came to, she was greeted by the sight of Percy staring down at her with concern, while Killer Croc punched Jr. unconscious in the background.
She got up to defend herself, but a comforting hand from Percy pushed her back down, "Relax. He's a friend."
She blinked, still a bit fuzzy, "Percy… why are you friends with a supervillain?"
Percy smiled down at her mischievously, "Why not?"
Later
The cleanup was mind numbingly tedious, but Percy managed to get through it in the end. The prisoners were rounded up, the Justice League, debriefed him, and he was released from prison, though not before a long lecture form the League.
Despite the fact that no one was killed, a few guards were left pretty bruised, something thee League believed he could have avoided if he had reported his findings sooner.
That led to a lengthy discussion on his promise to Jade, and to a lesser extent Waylon. Batman in particular was overtly against letting them out of prison, but Percy met his bat-glare without faltering yet again, something that irked the dark knight to no end.
Eventually there was a compromise: Killer Croc and Cheshire would be under Percy's supervision, but will be constantly monitored by the league through custom inhibitor collars. Batman only relented to this when Percy described their side switch as: unorthodox community service.
Convincing the Legal system to go along with this was pathetically easy. Percy suspected the judge was elated at the idea of two less hyper-dangerous criminals his guards would have to worry about.
He escorted them to them Mountain personally, but left soon after, not stopping to chat with anyone. There're was someone he had to talk to first.
The West residence was quiet, unusually so. Both Wally and his parents were naturally energetic and boisterous, but after the recent developments, the energy had seemed to have drained from the house.
Percy, dressed in civilian clothing, took a deep breath before knocking on the door.
A minute passed before the door was opened by a solemn Mary Allen, "I'm sorry, now is really…" She trailed off as she realized who it was.
Percy sighed, "Look ma'am, I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now, so let me start off by saying how sorry I am that this happened. I was not in my right mind when it happened, and—"
"Get out." Mary whispered, her eyes barely readable.
Percy blinked, "Look I know—"
He was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of a pump action shotgun, before the door was pushed open fully, revealing Rudy Allen beside his wife, leveling a shotgun at the teen. "Don't make her ask twice boy."
Percy was speechless for a moment before gritting his teeth, "Please, I just need to talk to Wall—"
This time he was cut off by a shotgun blast. Percy had noticed the man's finger start to pull back and had to fight the urge to activate his wrist shield, it would have protected him, but it might have deflected the shot into the West's, which he was unwilling to do.
He also squashed down his urge to dodge the shot. After all, he was in a family neighborhood, a stray shot could hurt somebody.
So he set his jaw, raised his arms over his face, and stood his ground, hoping that he was Bulletproof like all of his gods claimed to be.
He wasn't. Figures.
However, he wasn't completely vulnerable either. the shot broke his skin but didn't seem to get very far past it. Instead of being sent flying back, he only stumbled back a few steps, clutching his bleeding abdomen with more surprise than pain, as Ichor spilled onto the Wests front porch.
He took a few deep breaths to calm down, before looking back up. Mary was long gone now, only Rudy stood in the doorway, his shaking hands fumbling to reload his shotgun.
Huffing in annoyance, he walked forward, "Fine then, I'll just let myself in."
He turned into water again, before flying past Rudy, and quickly making a beeline to Mary, who was trying to dial 911. He relieved her of her phone before rematerializing holding it. "That's a bit rude don't you think?"
Rudy had run back in at this point, and was about to shoot Percy again, when everyone's attention was drawn to: "What's going on! Hold on I'm—agh!"
Wally's voice from upstairs was cut off as he started to fall down them. Percy one again turned into water and shot across the room, just in time to catch the armless hero before his head hit the ground.
Wally, dazed and unfocused, didn't realize who was holding him for several moment. Once he refocused however, he yelped and scrambled away, bumping his head on the stairs railing in the process. "P-Percy?! What are you doing here?"
For a moment Percy's heart sank at the frightened behavior, until he noticed the red tint to Wally's cheeks. He sighed in relief; wally wasn't scared, he was just too macho to be held in another man's arms.
"I came to see how much you hate me." Percy answered simply.
Wally's eye's widened, "I don't! I mean I don't hate you man, I know you were not yourself…"
Ignoring the irony of that statement, Percy rolled his eyes, "Right, but there's a difference between what you know and what you feel. For example, I know your parents were just trying to protect you from what they saw as a threat, but I still feel very hurt that they shot me."
Wally's eyes widened as he finally noticed the large hole in Percy's shirt, revealing his golden abs (golden from the ichor flowing out of them). "Oh shit! Dad!"
Wally's parents had been frozen as the two heroes conversed, and only now moved as Rudy made a sorry attempt to hide the gun behind his back, "Uh... I was just trying to protect you son!"
Wally scoffed, "Looks to me that it's him who needs protection from you! Come on Percy, I'll take you to the sink."
Percy complied, eyeing the parents passively as he followed Wally to the kitchen. Once he was past he returned his attention to Wally as he walked, his arms, which were cut off at the elbow, seemed unsure of what to do with themselves. They mostly kept themselves locked to his sides as he walked. Though occasionally they would make a movement only Percy could recognize, as they came with a pain expression on Wally's face.
Percy stopped and grabbed Wally's arm, "Hold still for a moment."
Wally looked at him in irritation, "What are you—oh come on DAD! PUT THE GUN DOWN!"
The parents had indeed followed them and did not seem to like Percy touching their son so suddenly. He couldn't blame them.
Percy ignored them however and positioned his arm alongside Wally's, making it seem that his forearm was coming out of Wally's Stump. "Look at the arm and imagine clenching your fist."
Wally gave him a look, "But I can't—"
"Just trust me?" Percy pleaded. Wally faltered for a moment before nodding. "I'm imagining it…"
AAs he said it, Percy clenched his fist, "Now imagine opening it."
Wally did so as Percy did in real life., Wally's eyes widened comically.
Percy smiled as he saw it working, "Again, with the other arm."
Wally did so, and when it was over, he was noticeably less tense than before. As they walked into the kitchen, Wally whispered something to his parents before asking for privacy. To Percy's surprise, they gave it, but not before sending him some suspicious looks.
Wally returned to Percy who was running the sink and directing the water over his would, chuckling a bit as the shrapnel was pushed out of his skin. How fucked up was he, that this actually tickled in comparison to what he'd been through?"
As he did this, Wally asked, "How did you know? A-about the uh…"
"Ghost pains?" Percy supplied, "At least that's what I called them. Without getting into too much detail, I was dismembered a few times when I was "down there". So, I know from experience. when I came back up I researched it a bit, and apparently a lot of amputees experience it. People with one arm can usually relieve it by putting his hand in front of a mirror and looking at the reflection as if it's his other arm , this tricks the brain into thinking it's getting relief. I don't really understand it, but it worked didn't it"
Wally nodded, smiling a bit, "I've been trying to ignore it for days.. I think I might have ended up acting like a jerk…"
Percy nodded simply, "Yeah that's what I heard… but seriously Wally. If you resent me for this, I understand, but we have to get it out of the way now. I don't want it building up and exploding sometime important like a mission."
Wally looked at him in surprise, "how do you. know I'll return to the team?"
Percy actually laughed, "Come on man, we aren't that close, but I know a hero when I see one, and not just because of powers or costumes. It's a certain look in the eyes. You won't be able to help yourself."
Wally grimaced, "I can't help myself now, how will I help anyone without arms?"
Percy waved him off, "That's easy, the League is working on a prosthetic for you, and Tyson is undoubtedly coming up with something much better. You'll be fine, the only thing that can stop you from coming back is you. So, how soon can I expect you back?"
Wally looked at his leader for a long moment, before smiling, "Percy… I did resent you. I probably always will a little… but you were the first one to come to me without pity and—"
"I'm going to stop you right there." Percy held up a hand, "If you are irritated at your friends for pitying you then that's your problem. the only reason I don't feel pity is that it's replaced with empathy. Pity is natural for them to feel, and they only feel it because your important to them. Getting mad at them for it isn't fair. We clear?"
Wally looked angry for a moment and looked ready to yell but stopped with his mouth open as his sped up thought process processed his words. Instead of answering he just took a deep breath and said, "the doctor told me to take it easy for a few days, but when I can I'll report to the cave."
Percy smiled, "Great. Of course, we won't be going on missions first, we'll have to get your prosthetics set up and you used to them. Do you mind if Tyson comes over to take your measurements? I heard he was having trouble with that…"
Wally smiled, "Of course, I was wondering why he hadn't visited…"
"He'll probably come wearing a mask of some kind."
Realization came across Wally's face, "Oh… right. Thanks."
Percy stood up, no problem. Anyways that's all I really came for. See how you're doing and all that. I still haven't caught up with the rest of the team, and I have to get used to having three new members."
Wally blinked, "Wait, three?"
Percy smirked, before walking out the door , giving a friendly wave to Mary and Rudy as he passed.
He chalked that up to a successful visit. He did what he came to do, and learned without a doubt that he was not bulletproof. Just bullet resistant.
Now how to break the news about Jade to Artemis?
Chapter 17
I'm alive!
Long story short I've been really busy/tired lately, too tired for writing. I've been working my first real job, at a very popular fast food restaurant, 40 hours a week, every week for several months. I've finally gotten to the point where I will try to write a thousand words on every day off, but THEN again I only have two to three of those each week. I am taking my first week off soon though, if I can get it approved, so I'll definitely get some stuff done then.
It's been a while since I was working on this, so if you find any inconsistencies let me now. I'll try to fix them.
Thank you for everyone who continued to show support even though I disappeared like that, it is because of you that I managed to get back into this. I won't make any more promises however, as I always seem to break them.