Hey guys! So, I'm alive. Surprise!
Really though, I'm sorry for the excessive wait. Almost 5 months!
Anyways, here's the next chapter. I don't really have an update schedule yet, but rest assured, they will be quicker than 5 months. I have the same outline I've been working on since, gosh, September, so I won't abandon this story even if the updates are slow. Just a reminder, this story has spoilers for seasons 1-3 of the Flash and all the Heroes of Olympus/Percy Jackson novels. I have only seen one or two episodes of season 4 of the Flash, so as always, this story exists independent of that.
Special thanks to all who have favorited, followed, or reviewed this story. And, an extra special thanks for your patience with my updates. Enjoy!
Earth-1 was ridiculous.
First, there was the name "Earth-1". Like this earth was somehow better and more original than the others. The Leo-look-alike, Cisco, said something about it literally being the first earth and some sciencey stuff about the multiverse, but Nico didn't care. It was still egotistical.
There was also no McDonalds. Really? Almost everywhere on earth had McDonalds. Happy Meals were the constant of Nico's life. When he accidently shadow-traveled to China, Happy Meals were there for him. Need to summon spirits of the dead? Happy Meal. How was he supposed to summon the dead without McDonalds? The people of Earth-1 clearly had inferior taste. Instead they had something called Big Belly Burger. Nico was unimpressed.
However, the worst thing was Team Flash. Yeah, they were nice and saved the world and all that jazz, but they clearly didn't know how to best allocate their resources. Percy was running himself ragged fighting metahumans with the yellow kid. Will was holed away with Caitlin prepping the medical wing. Annabeth and Hazel were pouring over plans and books and maps. That left Nico to deal with Clarisse and Jason and Piper. Four incredibly talented demigods who were just sitting around, eating their food and pushing each other's buttons. Nico might be a good mediator, but at some point he got so bored he wanted them to fight. His friends were more entertaining than cable.
And then, lo and behold, these imbeciles couldn't even keep their villains in jail. The whole motley crew staged an escape and…well, honestly, that was the most fun part of this whole multiverse expedition. He got to chase that teleporter around and almost had her until they blew up a concert hall. That was significantly less fun. Nico could feel souls slipping away into whatever afterlife was present on this earth as the building burned. He tried to shadow travel to save more people, only to be grounded by Will for exhaustion. Nico was having none of that. His boyfriend such a hypocrite; Will hadn't slept more than four hours a night the entire time they had been here. Plus, the son of Apollo was not his mother. But he still didn't want to directly face an angry Will. So he shadow traveled back to the prison, following the tracks until he came to a mirrored surface. Nico had grinned. Two could play at this game. After discovering he could shadow travel to the next jump point, it was relatively easy to catch the man called Mirror Master. Of course he was a bit disappointed that his companion wasn't with him, but one was better than nothing.
Currently, they were back in Team Flash's lair (it's a base, Nico whatever Cisco it's a lair) around that dang white board again. Contrary to popular belief, Nico was extremely analytical. He liked plans and gathering information almost as much as the children of Athena. But there came a point in time when planning was moot and action was necessary. Heck, that was one of the arguments he had used to get his father into the Second Titan War. Most of the demigods agreed with him (except for Annabeth; the girl was more stubborn than Hades). ADHD and incessant planning didn't mesh well.
"Annabeth, please. The prophecy will make more sense once things start happening. Let's just go back to the prison, look around…"
"No good". The icy one, Caitlin, shook her head. "The CCPD has already been through there. Anything they found Joe has made available to us and any evidence not found by them is marred by their investigation and traffic after the fact".
"Come on, blondie. These meta-whatevers have already robbed two banks, assaulted a police officer, and tried to bomb a train in two days. I want to punch someone!" Clarisse was almost snarling, ADHD and barely controlled rage released by loud stomping and pacing.
"We need to find the pattern. I agree with Annabeth. Let's look at this for one more day. If nothing turns up, then we go and crack some heads". Barry was still sitting on the hospital bed, Will checking his vitals. The IVs and most of the medical equipment had been removed. Though the meta was pale, he was almost completely recovered according to Caitlin and Will.
"These people are tricky. This whole thing has been staged. Baron Katana wanted to be captured. We can't run off half-cocked to bring them in. They'll be expecting that". The blonde then turned back to her white board, "It seems sporadic, but it's not. Each of these crimes was in one corner of the city. They could be working their way inwards, or they could be gathering funds for some project. There has to be something I'm missing".
"Alright, if they were gathering funds for something, why not just steal the thing they're after?" Cisco questioned, looking up momentarily from his computer, a ring pop on his left hand.
"Upon this steel vision builds his church" Annabeth muttered, "They have to be building something. It's the only thing that makes sense. But is it actually steel? One of the bank robberies was near a steel mill. Or is it metaphorical, as in something really strong and unmovable?"
"They have someone who can literally manipulate molecules, I don't think anything is really unmovable for them". Nico wasn't sure about much, but he definitely knew their conversations were going nowhere. "I'm going for Big Belly Burger. Anyone want some?"
Annabeth and Caitlin rolled their eyes simultaneously, while Percy perked up at the mention of food. Gods, that guy had an endless stomach. Though it might come in handy right about now. "Percy, you want to come with?"
"Hades yes". The son of Poseidon was up and moving in an instant. "We'll pick up a meal for everyone".
They left through the main elevator, Percy bouncing up and down like a small child. The elevator dinged when the reached the main level. Nico took one step through the door, turned around to start telling Percy about his plans as he…fell on his butt. He glared up at the person responsible. "Clarisse".
"Death-breath". The daughter of Ares was brandishing the makeshift metal spear Cisco had provided.
"You mind moving?" Nico asked when the girl didn't move from the elevator door.
"Cut the crap. You hate Big Belly Burger. Always wining about McDonalds. Whatever you're really doing, I want in".
Nico was slightly surprised. Of everyone he thought would pick up on that, Clarisse was pretty far down the list. Of course she was also bored out of her mind, so maybe he should have seen this coming.
"Be my guest".
"You mean we aren't getting food?" Nico started a bit, having forgot about the son of Poseidon momentarily.
"No, Percy. Look, Annabeth is my friend, but sometimes she fails to see the bigger picture. She is obsessed with figuring out their plan, cutting them off before they get started. Which is fine except that they are already started. It makes more sense to leave her to work out their plans and have us hit the streets".
Percy thought for a moment. "Can't say I disagree. Though if I said so, she'd disembowel me. What's the plan, chief?"
Nico rolled his eyes, but answered, "The prison yard. The evidence may all be packed away, but I can track Mirror Master's movements through reflective surfaces. I'm wondering if I can do the same thing with their teleporter, Peek a Boo or whatever ridiculous name Cisco gave her".
Nico ignored Percy's muttered, "I kinda like it" behind him, focusing on Clarisse instead. "If we can track her movements, even as far as wherever she took them directly after the prison break, we could get a lead. Or find them and punch them in the face".
"Anything's better than just sitting around" Clarisse muttered.
Nico turned to Percy, who appeared thoughtful (will wonders never cease?!). "Nico, I don't know about this. It's a good plan, for sure. But what if we go to their lair and they're all there. Wally and I could barely hold them off before you guys arrived. I'm not sure the three of us could hold of six heavily armed metas on their home turf".
Nico sighed. "That's a possibility, yeah. But if I were them, I would teleport to a secondary location first to regroup, then teleport from there to their base. Especially because she had to come back multiple times".
Percy nodded. "Fine. I'm down with that plan on one condition: we get Big Belly Burger after".
It was strangely comfortable, going on a side quest with Percy and Clarisse. Nico expected fighting and grumbling, particularly because he was under the impression Clarisse hated Percy, and vis-versa. But either they had both matured into adults (unlikely) or they had buried the hatchet sometime when Nico wasn't looking. He suspected perhaps after the whole "Percy gets kidnapped and disappears for six months" fiasco. They weren't best friends by any means, but here they were ribbing each other and joking. Clarisse almost seemed fiercely protective of both of them (which now that Nico thought about it, she was secretly protective of most of Camp Half Blood). Nico was glad for that. He definitely didn't have feelings for the son of Poseidon anymore, but he considered him a close friend. And holy Olympus, that demigod was a danger magnet. Yeah, he was a great fighter. But the dude had the worst luck ever. An extra set of eyes never hurt.
Nico was currently crouching in the prison yard, searching this earth's version of the shadow-world for traces of the teleporter. Nico wasn't sure if it was something with this Earth or his deathly powers, but this girl left a hot rod red trail wherever she went. Nico grabbed his companions, ignoring their token complaints, and jumped from one point to the next, following the girl's tracks until her movements brought them to an abandoned warehouse. Next to him, Clarisse was rubbing her head and Percy was clearing his eyes.
"Man, what is it with villains and warehouses?" The son of Poseidon's eyes scanned the area at his bequest, but came up with nothing. Nico thought no one was there, but an extra set of eyes never hurt. His head was pounding and his mouth was definitely full of cotton. He felt himself swaying, steadied by Clarisse on his left. Percy looked at him with concern, "Dude, if you faint or get sick or die, Will is going to kill us. Actually, I think either way he's going to kill you".
Ouch. Will. Outwardly, Nico shrugged, "I can handle Will". His companions looks of disbelief and doubt echoed his true thoughts. Will was going to be pissed. Nothing he could do about that now though. "Come on guys, let's look around".
The demigods needed no further prompting, anxious to get moving and do something. They quickly and efficiently cased the building, looking for personal effects or remnants of their plans or anything. All they found were six prison uniforms and a bottle of bleach.
"I guess they cleaned out the whole place. Like they knew someone would be here eventually". Clarisse prodded at the container with her metallic spear, clearly disgruntled.
Nico just shrugged, "It's a logical assumption. This warehouse isn't that far from the prison yard or the concert hall. The police sweep will get here at some point".
"They must have had clothes waiting for them here" Percy muttered. "I mean, we knew this was planned, but this must have been weeks in advance".
Nico nodded in agreement, "The prison break itself, the bombs under the concert hall, the clothes and bleach waiting here. They had to have someone on the outside coordinating this. Which we already knew, but this person was smart. They knew exactly where to teleport to in order to avoid notice, but someplace that would get noticed eventually".
Clarisse shrugged, "Could be smart, could not be. One of the goons could have a stooge that just follows instructions really well".
"As Annabeth said, the way the bombs were arranged speaks of someone with structural engineering or construction experience. That narrows our field, and none of the escaped metas fit that profile". Nico knew this prison break had to include multiple outside men to go off without a hitch. "We should report back to Annabeth and the rest".
"Um, question? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of sneaking out in the first place?" Percy was raising his hand like he was in class, face scrunched up in his confused expression.
Nico sighed. "Yeah, you're right. We didn't find anything very interesting anyways. If it comes up, we can offer the information. There is a Big Belly Burger close to the prison after all, we can say we got…sidetracked".
Clarisse picked at her nails with the spear tip, clearly unenthused by the conversation. "I was expecting some action. You know, I thought for sure we would get into some trouble".
"Don't say that" Percy groaned. "Don't ever say that".
"Why not, plankton breath?" Clarisse jeered just the wall exploded next to her head. Nico tucked and rolled as Clarisse dove to safety, spear at the ready. Percy sputtered next to him, Riptide snicking open.
"That's why! You never tempt the Fates!"
Nico had to admit that sounded like a sound strategy. But they had more important things to worry about right now. "Where are they?"
The daughter of Ares grunted, piercing eyes roaming the area, "I don't see anyone. Could have been planted in advance. This whole blasted thing seems to be planned in advance".
Percy nodded, "I agree. There isn't anyone here right now, or we would be dodging a lot more than one stray bomb".
"Doesn't mean there isn't anyone coming" Nico muttered, his senses (no Leo, not a death sense, and definitely his Spidey sense) on high alert. "And they just blew a really nice entrance into the warehouse".
"Something wicked this way comes" Percy muttered, gripping Riptide until his knuckles were more white than tan. When Nico and Clarisse looked at him sideways, his face contorted into something Nico assumed was hurt, "What, I read! Or, I listen to Annabeth read".
Nico rolled his eyes fondly and pulled out his stygian iron sword. Moments later, the three empousas crossed the threshold into the warehouse, fangs bared and claws extended. Nico growled in response, singling out the middle one as his prey. He danced nimbly away from her claws and ducked her extended fangs. His sword sang toward her neck, but it was blocked by the monster's two claws. Her fangs contorted into a monstrous smile as she stared him down. Well, that was her mistake. Nico never lost a staring contest.
Behind him, he could hear one of the empousas shriek as Clarisse's electric spear grazed her side. Percy was quickly dodging the last one, poised to cut the monster down in three moves. He heard the familiar clatter of harpies, their feet clicking on the concrete and wings brushing together. These harpies would be more the "demonic curfew patrol" they saw at Camp Half Blood and less the "Tyson's girlfriend" variety. Time to move on.
Nico shifted, his sword gaining a bit of wiggle room before kicking at the monster's knees. As she stumbled back, Nico used every bit of leverage to recover his sword and slice through her neck. With a wail, the monster disappeared in a pile of dust. Good riddance.
The harpies shrieked, excited about the possibility of a demigod meal. Clarisse electrocuted the last empousa, sneezing as it turned to dust. Percy was already brushing empousa remains off Riptide and glaring at the harpies. The chicken-demons hesitated for a moment, clearly recognizing their prey was well trained. But in the end, they apparently didn't care. Clarisse launched herself off an overturned metal desk, war cry loosed as she impaled one of the harpies. Nico and Percy took her flanks, turning harpy after harpy to dust. It wasn't a particularly difficult battle, just enough to make the son of Hades sweat. His sword sang in time with Percy's, an electrical jab followed by an inhuman shriek punctuating their harmony with a staccato melody. It felt great, after days of inactivity, to return to something as simple as turning monsters to dust.
As the last of the harpies fell to their assault, the three demigods hummed, eyes scanning the area for monsters or metahumans. When nothing came, they allowed themselves to relax, Percy leaning over to put his hands on his knees. Clarisse sat crosslegged on the ground in a pile of monster dust, looking over her spear. Nico shrugged off his jacket and used the lining to clear the dust and sweat off his face. Percy and Clarisse did the same, cleaning their weapons in suit and generally trying to hide the evidence of a battle. The trio then stepped onto the abandoned street, heading for Big Belly Burger.
"Well that was fun" Clarisse stated. She didn't even sound sarcastic, eyes lit up like it was Christmas, or the WWE championship or whatever.
"I think the real question here is, where those monsters sent? Or did the explosion draw them in?" Nico turned the corner and the three instantly blended in with the crowd. "They looked…hungry. It could have been planned so that the explosion would draw them in".
"Guys?" Percy asked, voice hesitant and wary. That tone had Nico automatically swiveling around, searching for threats. Percy just shook his head and whispered, "There aren't any monsters on Earth-1".
"What? Then what the Hades were those, Jackson?" Clarisse hissed, her eyebrows furrowed.
"When I was here before, all the monsters that appeared were brought over by Zoom. From our Earth. This Earth didn't have any monsters".
Nico drew in a sharp breath, looking at the son of Poseidon, "So where were those monsters from?"
Percy shook his head, unconsciously gnawing at his lower lip. "They didn't get through when we did. We would have noticed that. So either these metas can make portals and know a lot more about us than we thought, or we broke something by coming here again".
"Broke what?"
"Either whatever form of the Mist exists here, or…" Percy trailed off.
"Or we broke the barriers between Earths" Clarisse finished, glancing at the two of them.
Nico huffed, lips pressed into a thin line, "Well, crap".