Hey friends. Another chapter is here! If you couldn't tell, the pacing of this story is a bit slower than the Hurricane of Lightning, partially because I am developing a brand new villain (at least a brand new version of the Thinker) and trying to give each character some screentime and personal development. This story will be longer than the Hurricane of Lightning, so don't worry that our characters are still just meeting up in chapter 4. Also, from the last chapter, the easter eggs were:
Trial of Apollo: the kid standing next to Leo's Flaming Flame Thrower™ was Harley, who is described as "cute but scarily buff little kid".
DC comics: the material Cisco uses to create Percy's sword is experimental Promethium, the metal used to for Cyborg. I think it is also used by Deathstroke at some point in the comics but I'm not sure. Believe it or not, I'm really not that familiar with the DC comic universe.
And that's all! Read, review, and enjoy the chapter!
Percy hated breaches. It was what started the whole Zoom mess, what forced him to lie to his friends, and what ripped him away from them again. He was going to have words with Cisco when this was over. He flipped over on his back, ears ringing and stomach churning. The transition had felt different this time, like walking through molten lava. Tendrils of the multiverse pulling and pushing him in different directions. He was a compass that couldn't find north. But Cisco had improved as Vibe and Percy was nothing if not stubborn, so he had made it to Earth-1. Perhaps it was the remnants of Hestia's protection, which was apparently gone. Percy was relieved that he was no longer bound to silence, but nervous about the multiverse having open access to his earth again. It was hard enough to defend the camps from monsters, much less metas from other worlds.
How the barrier was broken was a mystery, but Percy was certain Nico had something to do with it. Not intentionally of course, but it couldn't be a coincidence that a breach had opened so quickly after the son of Hades "drew from the air and atmosphere" to shadow travel. It was funny, just after his friends understood he couldn't talk about his time away, he was released from his oath. Percy felt much more free than he had since his last adventure on Earth-1. He could tell his friends everything now, and Zoom, the monster that haunted his nightmares and sent chills down his spine, was dead. He didn't feel the sickening whisper of disloyal, hurting your friends whenever he saw them now. Of course, now that he could talk to them and right the wrongs his oath had caused, he was swept away into the multiverse and probably wouldn't see them again for months. You know what? The Fates were going to get an unpleasant visit from Percy after they solved the latest threat to the multiverse.
Something was tapping his shoulder incessantly, a muffled voice. Cisco, probably. But Percy was focused on not puking right then. Breathe in, breathe out. The world was tilting dangerously from side to side. So this was what seasickness felt like. Eventually the tapping stopped but the voices grew louder. Forcing himself to crack open his eyes, he saw Cisco being threatened by...Annabeth? Thank the gods, she had followed him through. He wasn't sure what he would do without his angry, brilliant Wise Girl. Somehow her presence just made everything better. Though, to be honest, her ability actually execute well thought-out plans probably had something to do with that.
"Annabeth. I'm fine" Percy called, attempting to sit up. His stomach lurched for a few seconds, then settled. Annabeth dropped Cisco (unhappily if he had to guess) and strode over to Percy. "You good, Seaweed Brain?"
"Ugh, yeah. What happened? Did Cisco push us both through?" Percy took Annabeth's offered hand and got to his feet, head clearing.
"The guy, Cisco apparently, grabbed you after the Greek fire was put out. I tagged along for the ride. Like you said, you're not getting away from me. Never again".
"Together" Percy finished, giving his fantastic girlfriend a crooked smile. He glanced at the city for the first time, noticing the army of samuraoids dashing about. They weren't very smart or organized, just as liable to set themselves on fire as they were the city. But their sheer numbers were overwhelming. Percy saw Cisco and Julian looking up at the courthouse, where a man was standing with an energy sword. There was Joe and Iris (who apparently now was out fighting with the team), a blur that must be the Flash, and Caitlin who was...shooting ice out of her hands? When had that happened?
Turning Cisco's sword in his hands, he looked at the engineer as he walked over, Julian running out to help the rest of the team. Cisco nervously shifted as Annabeth ran her fingers along her drakon sword. "Look, Percy. I shouldn't have just pulled you through like that. But we really need your help. We have to take this guy down before he uses his army for something really destructive, like using that energy sword or blowing up buildings, instead of setting shrubbery on fire and issuing threats to get the Flash to face him".
Percy frowned. "But he's right there. Why doesn't Ba...the Flash want to fight him?"
Cisco looked at him like he was stupid, slowly stating, "That's not the Flash. That's Kid Flash".
"The who now?" Percy was pretty sure he wasn't a thing last time he was here.
"Dang, I forgot that he wasn't around when you were here last. Just, he's the Flash's...protege, but Dr. Evil here want to talk with the original Flash. Who, by the way, is stuck in the speed force. Yeah" Cisco caught Percy's complete and utter confusion "I'll explain that one later. For now, I just need your help to get that idiot down from the courthouse before he realizes that the Flash isn't going to show".
Percy nodded slowly, glancing at Annabeth. She didn't look happy, but he could tell she was already constructing a strategy. "Alright Cisco. We are going to have a long conversation about this later". Turning to his girlfriend, Percy inquired, "What's the plan, Wise Girl?"
Annabeth bit her lip and scrunched her eyebrows. "Alright. Cisco, can you open up a breach right behind him on the roof?"
Cisco thought for a moment. "Yeah. I'm not sure what kind of defenses he has against that. Whenever Wally gets close, he is repelled by some sort of energy force from the sword".
"Worth a try then. Percy, you and I will go through. He may not be expecting us. You distract, I'll subdue".
"Why do I always have to be the bait?" Percy winned.
"Because you are oh so good at it, Seaweed Brain" Annabeth teased. Yeah, unfortunately Percy couldn't argue with that. Annabeth accepted a pair of meta-cuffs from Cisco. "Theoretically, if we take out the leader, we take out the robots".
"Samuraoids" Cisco corrected, slipping his goggles on again.
"Yeah, I'm not calling them that". Annabeth fixed Cisco with one of her best glares, then her and Percy readied their weapons. When the glowing breach opened up in front of them, they jumped through without hesitation. Percy could still feel the pull of something else, but Annabeth's presence kept him centered, focused on the goal. Tightening his grip on his sword, they were spit out right behind the evil Baron samurai dude. When they were not electrocuted or thrown off the building, Percy figured their plan had worked. Now for part two. Sneak attack.
Percy was pleasantly surprised, shocked even, when the plan worked. Of course it was Annabeth's plan, so the probability of success was 100% higher than any of Percy's plans. Distracting the samuraoid leader (Yes, the title isn't original. He'd had a long day. And there isn't much you can do with "Baron Katana"), he tried really hard not to get electrocuted by the sword as Annabeth donned the invisibility hat she always kept in her back pocket. With a few well timed kicks and a sword hilt to the back of the head, Annabeth subdued the man. She instantly shackled him in the anti-meta cuffs Cisco had given her. He didn't seem like a meta (other than a possible super-engineering power), but you could never be too careful on Earth-1.
Pulling off the man's helmet, they were greeted with the image of an older, dark haired man. He was unconscious now, but Percy figured he had to be pretty smart (and certifiably insane) to build all those robots. Annabeth reached inside his ear, pulling out something electronic. She instantly smashed it, a brief whirring sound before she crushed the thing into a pile of parts.
"Percy, the sword" Annabeth held out her hand impatiently. Ah, yes. That was his role. Scooping up the sword by the hilt, he handed it to Annabeth.
"It looks like he was using this to interface with the robots, typing in commands using some form of morse code. Clever, the computer can convert that to binary faster than vocalization". Shifting the handle back and forth, Annabeth stated: "I think I can trigger a self destruct code. But I need all the robots somewhere where they won't blow holes in buildings".
"Got that". Percy stood on the edge of the roof and waved the Flash...no, Kid Flash, over. The man skidded to a stop next to Percy in seconds. He noticed that this Flash wore a yellow suit instead of a red suit. So he was the Big Bird to the Flash's Elmo. He was blurring his face so that Percy couldn't see who he was, which was ridiculous since the only people Percy knew here were already out fighting.
"What?" the man's voice vibrated strangly.
"My friend and I can trigger the self destruct on the Feudal Terminators, but we need civilians and structures out of the blast zone".
Kid Flash nodded slowly, looking over the city center. "I think the best option is to get them all in the park. I can get them there but can't keep them all there for long.
"We don't need long". Annabeth cut in, sounding sure of herself. "I'm ready whenever you are".
Kid Flash nodded and ran down to the city center. Recruiting Cisco's help, he gathered the samuraoids and shuttled them to the park in less than a minute. He skidded to a stop on top of the courthouse, and Annabeth entered the sequence. The horizon lit up like magnesium as the samuraoid army burned up and disintegrated into dust. Of course the majority of the park did too, but that was better than the city. The yellow speedster ran Annabeth and Percy down from the building, where the rest of Team Flash were waiting.
"That seem too easy to anyone?" Percy asked, retracting the very cool mortal steel sword into the hilt.
"Easy? We have to have fought hundreds of those things!" Joe complained. "Not to mention the level of city property destroyed by the samuraoids".
Percy held up his hands in surrender, "Not trying to make light of the situation, Joe. Just, the bad guy had a self destruct sequence".
"What is it with villains and self destruct buttons?" Cisco wondered aloud, checking the restraints on Baron Katana.
"Is that a thing on this earth? Because on ours, they don't tend to do that. It's more of a 'bring your own bomb' situation".
"Yeah, they do that. I guess it comes with the supervillain territory". Cisco took off his glasses, folded them up, and placed them in the pocket of his jacket.
"Leo?" Annabeth asked, squinting at Cisco as if he was a hallucination. Without the Vibe glasses on, Cisco looked a lot more like his doppleganger.
"No, Cisco. C-I-S-C-O". Cisco (un)helpfully spelled out, pointing at himself. Percy rolled his eyes.
"No, he's Leo's doppleganger. You know, like..."
"I know what a doppelganger is, Percy". Annabeth interrupted, sheathing her drakon sword. "It's just...weird to see in person. Wait, that means that we are on another earth. Which means the theory of the multiverse..."
"Is true". Cisco answered, grinning at Annabeth. Caitlin sidled up next to him followed by a draft of frosty air. She placed a chain with a silver snowflake on it around her neck, white hair instantly turned darker, not quite her usual brown but close. The air around her shimmered and then returned to its normal temperature.
"We have a lot to catch up on". Percy said warily. Because Caitlin definitely wasn't like that last time he was here. "Let's start with..."
"Percy!" He was interrupted by a flurry of dark hair running up and hugging him. He timidly hugged the person, Iris, back. "Hey Iris! Good to see you again". Which it was, but when did they become close enough friends for hugs?
"It is great to see you. Thank goodness Cisco finally found you! I told you". She bounced away from Percy and directed the last statement to her father, who was standing next to Caitlin. "I told you Barry would be coming home. We just had to keep trying, keep looking for a way through the barrier..."
"Whoa, slow down, Iris". Percy held up a hand to stop the words flooding from her mouth. "I will help you in any way I can, but I have absolutely no idea what is going on. And before anyone does anything, Cisco is going to take Annabeth and me back to our Earth so that our friends don't plan a full scale invasion. Because with the Hephaestus and Athena cabins combined, they will find a way to make a breach".
The reporter's excitement diminished. "Oh. Cisco didn't explain?"
"We were a little busy with the robot invasion..." Cisco trailed off almost timidly, clutching his glasses again and making some adjustments with a screwdriver.
Annabeth glared at Cisco. "He didn't explain anything. Like who the Hades you people are, where we are, how you all have powers without being demigods, and who the heck Barry is".
"Erm". Cisco for once looked at a loss for words. Percy grinned, enjoying the engineer's discomfort a bit after having been unceremoniously dragged through a breach. He finally took pity on him when Joe started to finger the safety of his rifle. "Alright everybody, calm down. We are all on the same side here. We obviously need to exchange information".
"Yes, and we will do so right now, back at the cortex" Joe insisted, one arm protectively near Iris. Well that was unnecessary and a bit rude, to be honest. Percy has just been dragged through a breach and helped save their city, not to mention their previous history. And Joe didn't trust him? Tough luck, because there was no way that they were going back to the cortex before heading back to Earth-12. The debrief would take a long time, and the campers needed to be there to hear it. The son of Poseidon rushed to answer before Annabeth could threaten Team Flash anymore or Joe used that tranquilizer gun.
"No. I'm sorry, but I'm putting my foot down. Last time I was here, my friends were worried sick. You are welcome to come with, but Annabeth and I are returning to my earth. Now".
"I don't think you are in any position to be arguing. You're trapped here until Cisco lets you back". The yellow (Kid) Flash answered in his vibrating voice, crossing his arms. Okay, he wanted to play it this way? Percy could do that.
He walked up slowly, allowing Joe and Julian to train their weapons on him. Gods, you'd think after their last adventure, there would be a little more trust. Percy, drew up level to his mask, talking slowly and seriously. At least he hoped it was coming across seriously, though he thought he might have crossed over into the menacing category. Great. Way to make friends, Percy.
"I don't think you want to do that, kid". Yeah, mocking was probably not the way to go here, but this was Percy. Mocking and sarcasm were his default setting. "Did you see that back there? That was my friend and I saving your city. You're welcome. Now, I want to part as friends again. I want to come back and help Barry out of whatever mess he has landed in this time. But Cisco has already strained my trust by throwing me into a breach with no warning. The guns pointed at my face are straining relations even more so. My girlfriend, the one standing behind me with a large sword, is not going to take your refusal well. So listen carefully, friend. We are going back to Earth-12. If you and your friends want my help, you will let me go".
"Alright, children, back down. Percy, they didn't mean that. Things have been...tense around here since Barry left". Caitlin placed a cold hand on both Percy and Kid Flash, pushing them away from each other. "Cisco's going to open a breach for you and your girlfriend. We are appreciative of what you both did here, and would like the opportunity to catch up and hopefully work together to retrieve Barry".
Percy's temper died down again, tension rolling away from him like a current. He nodded, smiling at Caitlin before glancing expectantly at Cisco. The engineer nodded, pulling his glasses back out and opening a breach. Annabeth tugged at his hand and Percy obliged, ready to head back. They stepped forward to go through the breach and...
"Wait! I'm coming with you". Iris's voice rose over the whirring of the breach. Percy turned back, took one look at the determination in her eyes and knew that nothing could stop her. "Of course. Anyone who wants to come is welcome to. I would holster your weapons, thought. My family is a little twitchy around strangers".
"You don't say" Percy heard Cisco mutter under his breath. He grinned as the whole team sheathed their weapons and the metas tried to look less intimidating. He turned to Annabeth, "We have to be ready to mediate this meeting".
"You're on your own, Seaweed Brain. I'll keep them from killing each other, but I'm not going to stop the inquisition squad".
Percy grinned. Yeah, this meeting was going to be all kinds of crazy. Considering how Percy met Team Flash, and that the Flash himself (who was generally a calming influence) was missing, he didn't have high hopes to avoid a fight.
"Well then. Let's get this show on the road". Stepping into the breach, Percy tried to focus his brain. Perhaps he hadn't been fixed on where he was going the last couple times through the breach. "Home" he thought, picturing images of Camp Half Blood, his friends, capture the flag. The tendrils reached for him again, some more insistent than others, but a thin strand the color of the setting sun wrapped itself around him and his companions, the multiverse directing him home to Earth-12.
They appeared in the mess hall again, which was filled with campers sorting and sharpening the samuroid swords, cleaning up the broken pieces of the robots, and gathering around one of the tables, the Poseidon table, with maps. All of them were now staring at their group and the breach that closed behind them, grasping any mortal steel weapon they could find. Great, they were already planning for war. It was nice, but at the same time it would make his job much harder.
"Guys! His tracker just went online again!" Leo exclaimed, tugging on Calypso's sleeve when she didn't respond. The demigod was fiddling with the PPS (Percy Positioning System) monitor, the tracking system he implemented when Percy got back from Earth-1 last time. All of the seven plus most of the older campers had a tracker now. Nico was one of the only holdouts, insisting that he "did not need another way for Solace to mother-hen him". Leo looked up in annoyance when no one acknowledged him and then saw their group standing there. "Oh. Nevermind".
Piper was standing next to Leo, her face as close to rage as Percy had ever seen it. Charmspeak heavily laced her voice when she demanded, "Let my friends go".
Team Flash stood there under the spell of Piper's voice, no one moving to stop or help Percy and Annabeth. Kid Flash was unfortunately the first one to break free of Piper's hold, running over to her and in a blink he held Piper against the wall, hand covering her mouth. The rest of the seven drew samuraoid weapons, nearby campers wielding table legs, silverware, and dishes for lack of mortal steel. Percy looked around in pride. His camp, his family, were truly something. Of course they were also going to attack an innocent man. For attacking an innocent woman who was one of Percy's best friends. Gods, this was getting too complicated.
Annabeth was standing beside him, her face glowing with pride and poorly concealed anger. He wouldn't be getting any help from her. "Stay here, Annabeth. Keep an eye on the rest of Team Flash. Please don't make this any worse".
"Define worse" Annabeth muttered. Percy ignored her, the crowd of demigods parting for him. He arrived at the scene just as Jason launched himself at Kid Flash. The speedster merely redirected the Roman with a speedy push to his shoulder, sending him launching into a table instead. That seemed to break the dam, campers flooding forward cautiously but with protective fury. Percy could almost feel the tension in the air. He had to end this. Quickly.
"Stop!" He yelled, having to forcibly push Clarise away. The daughter of Ares bared her teeth at him, but stayed back. WIth a bit of room between the campers and the irate daughter of Aphrodite, he moved in. Deciding that adding more fuel to the fire wouldn't help anything, he stood in Kid Flash's peripheral vision and crossed his arms. "I thought we talked about this. You know, not attacking my friends".
"She attacked first". Kid Flash's vibrating voice sounded a bit uncertain.
"She was merely ensuring you wouldn't do, well, this". Percy gestured vaguely to Piper and the rest of the campers. He softened his voice, "Please put her down. This isn't what Barry would want. If he were here right now, we would all be laughing and catching up".
"But he's not". Kid Flash growled, though he let Piper go. Percy waved Piper back, who gave him a look that said she was not happy, but let him handle the situation anyways. "He's trapped because of me. But he's not back because of you".
"I told you, I will help however I can. I just needed to come home first. As you can tell, my family don't take kindly to one of their own being threatened. And from their perspective, Cisco and Julian just stole their co-leaders, then returned with a small army".
Kid Flash nodded slowly, understanding dawning in his eyes. Percy clasped him on the shoulder, directing him back towards the rest of the team. "Come on, Big Bird. Let's introduce everybody".
Earth-1
Iron Heights Prison: Metahuman containment sector
"Baron Katana" The guards jeered, shoving the broad man into his containment cell. They still hadn't ran a metahuman test, so they were taking precautions. Useless, but amusing. "What a horrible name. Horrible name for a crazy old man".
"How about this? When you can build an army of robots, then you can make fun of my name". The Baron sneered as the snickering guards walked away.
"Yeah, well you won't be building anything in here. Have fun staring at the walls, psychopath".
Their footsteps receded down the hallway, the clang of the reinforced door signalling their exit. The Baron grinned, pulling out a small device hidden in his teeth while he banged on the wall. Oh he wasn't going to get through the cell, he knew that, but it didn't make the effort fruitless. He hit the button on the device, effectively cutting out the cameras in the sector just as his next door neighbor stated: "Not going to work, buddy. Tried that already".
"Yeah, well, I'm not giving up". The Baron placed his ear on the wall, listening to the woman. "I'm going to make the Flash pay. He wouldn't even face me himself, the coward".
"Good luck, buddy. Word on the street is that he's dead. Or missing, anyways". The man in the cell across from him crossed his arms, scowling. "Plus, if we get out of here, I get first dibs".
"Oh, we're getting out of here". The Baron smiled a cruel, twisted smile. "Someplace like this can't contain me".
The woman next to him snorted "Really? Trust me buddy, if this thing can neutralize my powers, it can neutralize yours".
"I'm not speaking of the containment, which is very impressive. But only while inside the cell". The Barron showed them his little device, a predatory smile curling on his face. "No, I've already figured out how to eliminate the cameras and it has been 2 minutes. It is only a matter of time before I find a way to get out".
The man gave him a look of utter disbelief. "You do that, buddy". He turned on some sort of music speaker. The Baron was frustrated. These neanderthals didn't understand. But they would. And then, then they would help him find the Flash. Everything was proceeding according to plan.
Oh yes, his samuraoids were a work of art. But they were intentionally stupid. You couldn't play all your high cards in the first round, could you? Poor Baron Katana. Brilliant engineer, stupid man. Calling and calling for the Flash, who would never come. No, the fools saw only what they wanted to see. The man giggled, a high pitch shadow of a laugh. They even brought the son of the sea to play. Oh yes, this was going very well.
Using the small device, he turned off the power on the speakers and turned the cameras back on. When the man exclaimed angrily, the Barron merely placed a finger to his lips. "Shhhhhh" he intonated, a wicked smile flitting across his face, "I'm thinking".