Hey friends! A couple things real quick:
1. I know that the first episode of the Flash season 4 has dropped. Remember that this story is not following the season 4 storyline, just borrowing the anticipated big bad and samaroid idea from the trailer/comics. Just as a disclaimer: if there are any parallels between my story and season 4, they are not intentional, as I outlined the whole story about a month ago and am not watching season four in real time.
2. Points to anyone who catches the DC comics easter egg (other than the Samuraoids) or the Trials of Apollo character cameo. Leave your guesses in the reviews.
3. So just a general PSA: I accidently fell in love with protective Annabeth. I am now 300% convinced that most of the time, Percy is the cinnamon roll who tries (and fails) to talk his way out of fights while Annabeth stands against the wall behind him, twirling her knife and wearing a dangerous grin. That's all.
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to follow, favorite, or review. Enjoy:
Cisco knew this was a bad idea. He had told Julian that a month ago. He told Wally that a week ago. And he had told Joe this morning. Never go onto Percy's world unannounced. You were likely to get yourself killed.
But even Cisco would admit, he didn't have much of a choice. The stupid samurai guy with the stupid energy sword was throwing a wrench in their plans. Joe and Iris had asked, no, begged Cisco to get Barry out of the speed force. But Cisco knew that even if he was successful, he would never get Barry out without causing the same problem his friend prevented. No, Barry was stuck in the speed force and there was nothing Cisco could do. Joe had raged and then deflated, visiting Iris with the news only for her to refuse to believe it. She was amazingly resilient, focusing on her job and helping Team Flash. But her refusal to believe Barry might not come home would get her in trouble someday.
However, contrary to popular belief, Cisco was not giving up on Barry. The laws of the universe must be obeyed, but if there was anyone who could transcend those laws, it was Percy Jackson and the mysterious child goddess that helped them with Zoom. So with Julian, Wally, and occasionally Caitlin (because apparently she was just dropping in now, not that Cisco was complaining), he tried again and again to break through the dimensional barrier to Percy's earth. He logically knew that the way was sealed, that whatever protection the goddess placed on Percy's earth wouldn't just burn away with the death of Zoom. But it was Cisco's only hope, the only idea he could come up with. So he experimented, brainstormed, researched. He tried to vibe Percy to ask for his help, but either the barrier blocked all contact or Percy was just too far away. It didn't help that he had nothing of Percy's to help him focus.
And when he just couldn't see the next step, had no ideas and his brain wasn't working, he would sit and tinker. Nothing fancy, just stuff. A new suit for Wally, a new Flash suit for if (when) Barry returned. A better power diffuser for Caitlin that minimized her powers and gave her control of her mind (which she gratefully accepted), a very "Indiana Jones" vest for Julian that was also bulletproof. A powerful stun rifle for Joe that would tranq an elephant or whatever powerful meta decided to show their face next. New gauntlets for Cisco, a beautiful energy pistol for Iris. A retractable sword for Percy using Cisco's experimental metal; depleted promethium mixed with titanium and vanadium. He couldn't figure out how to get it into a pen yet, but the whole sword retracted into the hilt. A bunch of random stuff like a super powerful vacuum cleaner that could get into the dusty corners of the cortex, cell phones with holographic keyboards for work on the go, a Harry Potter-esque quill that wrote down dictations, a mopping robot for the speed track, and new arm bracers for the Arrow (who he couldn't get ahold of, which was concerning to say the least). He should really patent and sell some of this stuff. He could probably be a millionaire by now.
But that wasn't important. Because they may be (barely) holding down the fort between Wally, Caitlin, and himself, but they needed Barry. Not just as the Flash, but as Barry Allen.
Then the samuraoids came. Yes, samuraoids. Yes he made up that name. Hold your applause, please. Their leader, Baron Katana (which Cisco did not make up, thank you very much) stopped by to call the Flash out, then used his super awesome sword to blast them all back and pull a Houdini. The team redoubled their efforts to break into the speed force, but Cisco was still stuck on finding a way to Percy's Earth (Earth 12). He just knew that was the only plausible option. But a week passed and they were no closer to either of their goals. So an army of robotic samurai, the samuraoids, attacked in full force, overwhelming Team Flash's defenses and causing Cisco to desperately open a breach. Joe was the one who suggested Cisco try Percy's world again, then lead some of the samuraoids there. Divide and conquer strategy, hopefully with some backup. Cisco didn't like this plan, and unabashedly let Joe know he wasn't happy. He hadn't been able to get through before and it was never a good idea to jump onto a random earth without a guide or previous contact.
He was trying the same variation he had tried 326 other times, but the barrier shivered and melted into alignment right as he prepared to close it and try something else. He hastily yelled the situation through the comms and made to go through. Julian, the stupid stubborn man, made it clear that he was going through too. He wanted to see some hellhounds. Lord, what was it with that man and animals?
So with no time to waste, Cisco grabbed Julian by the lapels and threw them both through, leaving their team to buy them time. They appeared in a...dining pavilion? There were about two hundred teenagers staring back at them, plates dropping and pulling out all sorts of weapons. Swords, spears (that were electric apparently, Cisco had to get his hands on those), bows and arrows, and one very shiny shotgun shoved at Julian's chest. Yup. Percy's earth was a fun place. Cisco still hadn't forgiven those jerks for singeing his hair.
"Hey guys!" Cisco chuckled nervously, "What's up?"
"Put your hands up punk". A beast of a woman was standing next to him, said electric spear in hand. Cisco put his hands up real quick. "Who the Hades are you?"
"Definitely on the right earth" Cisco muttered under his breath. "I'm Cisco Ramon, this is my...associate Julian. We come in peace. Take us to your leader". Yup, there is no way Cisco was letting that opportunity slide.
Unfortunately, the very scary woman with the spear pointed at his face didn't appreciate a good movie quote. The spear moved closer, oh gosh, to his beautiful hair. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't gut you like a pig?"
"Umm..." Cisco stuttered eloquently just as he saw Percy run around the corner, bright shiny sword in hand.
"Good, you're here. Prissy, Annie". Clarisse sneered at him menacingly, then turned to allow Percy and the girl, Annie, through. Cisco sighed in relief. They didn't have much time, those things would be following them through any second now. "Percy? That you, man?"
He launched into a brief but vague conversation with the demigod, dodging his...girlfriend's?... glares. The demigod acted as quickly and decisively as Cisco remembered, organizing his people and settling in for a fight.
"Here, Percy. I made this for you. Prototype metal, really strong. It's better than "mortal steel", whatever that is". Cisco handed the hilt to Percy, then pressed the release button. "I haven't figured out pen form yet, but this is okay for now I think".
The demigod grinned, testing out the balance of the sword. "This is more than okay. Thanks man".
"What are we fighting?" A man...kid...stepped from the shadows, scaring Cisco and Julian half to death. Percy just shrugged and gestured towards Cisco. The inventor responded, "An army of samurai robots lead by a man who may or may not have superpowers. Not sure yet, but either way, we are going to kick their tin butts".
The kid, who was terrifying by the way, rolled his eyes. Percy gestured to the wicked sword hanging from his belt. "Stygian iron will work?"
"Yup. Comes in handy for times like this".
"Stygian what?" Cisco was already confused and he had been here for 2 minutes. When Percy had been on their earth, he had explained his powers and abilities, but had been frustratingly vague about his camp and the Olympians. He gave Cisco roundabout answers, half truths, and more often than not just answered with his signature "because Poseidon". Apparently his sword was not the only special metal that worked on monsters. And his sword didn't work on robots. Interesting. He was going to need a sample.
Cisco was saved from trying to figure out what the heck was going on when the first samuraoid nearly decapitated him. Percy reacted faster, blocking the enemy's sword on his new one, then stabbing it in the chest. The bot deactivated, slumping over like a puppet with cut strings. "I love this sword! Look out for yourself there, Cisco".
Cisco nodded, then prepared himself. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the blonde that had been glaring at him earlier rejoin them with what looked like a sword made of bones. Had he mentioned these people were scary?
"You and I will take point, Cisco. If you're okay with that?" Cisco nodded his agreement as Percy continued. "Nico and Annabeth, we're going to let some past us. Each of you take a flank and cut them down. Place Cisco's friend in the back middle, assuming he can shoot?" The demigod raised an eyebrow at Julian, who scowled and flicked the safety off his energy rifle. "Good. When campers start coming back, Annabeth can organize them. That sound okay, Annabeth?"
The blonde nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah. I will shift to center middle once we get reinforcements. You can then open up the middle and Julian can be the last line of defense. He should get up on the table for a better vantage point". Percy nodded in agreement, then turned to face the first wave of samuraoids.
"Looks like our distraction didn't keep them for long". Cisco grumbled, shooting energy through his gauntlets at one of the samuraoids. Percy was slashing with his sword like a maniac to his left, kicking or shoving some to Annabeth when he was starting to get overwhelmed. The girl whipped around with skill and finesse, turning them into scrap metal before Cisco could blink. Cisco had improved as Vibe since the last time they fought, but he found himself funneling more and more to the kid (Nico) to his right. Cisco's energy didn't do as much damage as swords, and he was pretty sure the kid was scaring even the robots. Dark and gloomy could handle himself.
Every once in awhile, he heard the discharge of the energy rifle behind him. But for the most part, Cisco was focused on the shoot grab kick blast of battle. Not only that, but he had to keep a part of his mind focused on holding the breach open as the bots charged through. It felt like they were trampling his head with every step they took. He was vaguely aware of Percy yelling at him, "Open up the middle, we have reinforcements". He heard the crack of lightning and whipped around looking for Barry or Wally, but saw a girl wearing goth clothes and a silver tiara call lightning from the sky. He would have to ask Percy about her. A big dude in a purple t-shirt was using a bow to shoot the robots with deadly accuracy rivaling even the Green Arrow, a smaller girl with brown hair and constantly shifting eyes finishing off his kills with a small dagger. These people were good, but their weaponry was pathetic. They obviously all used and practiced with those shiny weapons (that apparently wouldn't work on robots, another thing to ask Percy), and while they were skilled with the ones they were wielding, their balance was off and the weapons weren't exactly top of the line. They desperately needed an upgrade in "mortal steel" weaponry. Cisco would have to rectify this. If he survived, that is.
And that was an "if", because the waves of samuraoids just kept coming and Cisco had seen no sign of Baron Katana. Which meant that he probably hadn't been drawn away by Cisco and Julian, but was still attacking Central City. Crap.
"I don't think the Baron took the bait! I haven't seen him come through yet". Cisco yelled to Percy, who was currently executing a backwards flip over the top of a samuraoid, causing them to deactivate each other. "Hold on a second, Cisco. I can't hear you". He was surrounded, the programing in the robots recognizing that he was currently killing the most of them. Annabeth maneuvered so she was back to back with him, seemingly determined to prove the robots wrong, unleashing a blur of destruction on them.
"We don't have time for this" Cisco muttered, turning to the kid next to him instead. Standing back a couple feet to let the large, threatening girl he had met earlier take his place, he picked up a bunch of the discarded samuraoid swords from the wreckage. Throwing them to the back of the dining hall, he yelled, "Nico! The campers can use these swords!" The kid nodded, parrying a samuraoid's stab towards his eye with ease. "I'm going to go close the breach. I need your campers to finish off the rest that get through".
"I thought you didn't want to close the breach!" The kid made to grab his sleeve, but Cisco was already on the move. He tapped his ear comm, relieved to see it was still working. "Julian?"
"Yeah, I can hear you Cisco".
"Get down here. We are going to go back through. Baron Katana hasn't made an appearance yet and it is making me nervous".
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" The CSI jumped down from the table and met Cisco in the middle of the dining hall. Covering each other, they made their way to the breach.
"Do you have a better one?" Cisco snarked, using just the right angle to snap a samuraoid's head off with his energy beam. And kids said math wasn't practical. "Plus, I can't hold this thing open much longer. Let me clear a hole with Percy and then we can jump back through. We should take him with us, we need an advantage".
They made their way back to the breach, where Percy and Annabeth had left a ring of wreckage around them, and the intimidating woman was shaking a spear and ripping the samuraoids' heads off with her bare hands. She was also glowing red. Cisco wasn't sure what was up with that. His confusion seemed to be a common theme today.
"Percy, I need a hole! Help me out here, man!" Cisco screamed, finally drawing the demigod's attention. He tapped Annabeth on the shoulder, then cleared the way to the breach. "What's the plan?"
"Their leader is still on the other side. Let's make a hole, create some wiggle room for us to slip through".
Percy nodded, then made some sort of signal to the back of the mess hall. "Watch out. Need something blown up? Leo's your man".
Cisco jumped out of the way, then glanced at the back of the room where someone looking suspiciously like himself was loading a catapult with something green and glowing. Percy's eyes went a bit wider, then shooed them back even further from the breach. The demigod yelled, "Flaming Marshmallows!" and the rest of their group (the Magnificent Seven, no the Seven Samurai Slayers) practically ran from the breach and took cover behind the tables.
"Oh yeah, take this evil Japanese robots! Feel the wrath of the Super-Sized McShizzle and the Flaming Flame Thrower™!" The boy then proceeded to light the catapult on fire with his flaming finger, then send volleys of the green substance towards the breach. The fire sailed through, then created a massive explosion on the other side. The Cisco look alike whooped and danced spastically, along with a cute but scarily buff little kid next to him.
"Oh man. Where can I get me some of that?" Cisco wanted that explosive. He could make flaming green arrows for the Green Arrow. Oh yes.
Cisco was pulled out of his thoughts when Percy stepped forward, using water to completely cover the flames on their side of the breach and smother it. So it was petroleum based then, needed complete absence of oxygen to extinguish. On second thought, those arrows might cause a bit of collateral damage.
"Aren't we supposed to be doing something?" Julian muttered beside him. Right. The plan. Cisco strode forward, dodging little fires that were hadn't been extinguished yet. He nodded and Julian jumped through, gun up and ready. Grabbing Percy's arm, he threw them both into the breach and out onto the other side. He then quickly closed the breach, gasping in relief as the throbbing headache went away.
"What the Hades!" A female voice was screaming in his ear. Who was she and why was she yelling?
He figured it out real quick when he was violently hauled to his feet, a sharp sword pointed at his neck. Oh.
"What the Hades did you just do? Were you trying to kidnap Percy again?" Annabeth snarled at Cisco's look of confusion and, let's be honest, a bit of fear. "Didn't expect me to come through, did you?"
"Not kidnapping. Needed his help. We're friends. Which apparently he hasn't told you. Was going to bring him back". Cisco wheezed. Trying to breathe with a sword made of bones pointed at his neck wasn't fun.
"Sure you were. You're not taking him from me again, you slimy..."
"Annabeth. I'm fine". Percy voice interrupted his girlfriend's rant. Cisco looked over and saw the demigod hunched over, face very green. The blonde gave Cisco one last glare, then dropped him to the ground and strode over to Percy. Julian gave Cisco a hand up, eyebrow raised. "You didn't warn him before dragging him through the breach?"
"In hindsight, that wasn't my best idea". Cisco rubbed his head ruefully, then looked at all the battle raging around them. Shrubs and greenery were on fire as the samuraoids dashed around, too many of them for Team Flash to fully contain. They were doing a decent job of keeping them away from civilians and out of buildings, but there seemed to be a limitless amount of the samurai robots. "On the other hand, bad ideas seem to be the order of the day. Holy cow. I'm glad we came back though".
Cisco adjusted his glasses and tightened his gauntlets, preparing for a fight. "Well, Earth-12 may only get a 2-star rating for friendly, but Baron Katana definitely gets a one star for fun, 4 stars for destruction of city property. Oh look" Cisco pointed at the imposing figure standing on top of the courthouse with his energy sword raised high. "Found him".