AN: So I put a poll up on my discord about which story to update next, and this one won. I think I'll do more of those polls in the future.
So yes, here is the next instalment, I hope you enjoy, and as always please leave a comment of a review etc. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to PM me.
Another thing while I am at it, is this. I am a part of a discord group, the Emerald Library, there's tons of others there, plenty of writers, admittedly mainly PJO, but other stuff too, including a growing number of writers. Feel free to pop along and say hi, I'm always happy to chat about the stuff I am writing. So if you fancy it please do to join by sticking this: discord .gg / elibrary into discord, with no spaces, or using the link on my bio.
Also I've had a couple of people PMing me about this, so decided why not. So, if you'd like to become a patron just head on over to Pat re on and add a /Greed720 after the . com. There's no real pressure for this, and there won't be a paywall or anything like that for any of my stories. Just giving the option if people fancy contributing. Either way, whether you do become a patron or just remain a casual reader it's appreciated.
Thanks for reading and please do leave a review, that or feel free to PM, I am usually much better at answering those!
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Young Justice.
( - )
(Last Time)
"The details coming in are still hazy, but from what we have been able to gather, a terrorist organisation had put in place plans to assassinate Lex Luthor, and disrupt the ongoing peace summit. After hearing of this plot, Aqualad and Red Arrow both moved to assist and provide protection, even as the security at the event was increased. Unfortunately, these provisions were not enough, and this as of yet unnamed organisation succeeded in pulling off their plan, though not successfully, again due to the heroism of Aqualad, Red Arrow, and Mercy Graves, Lex Luthor's bodyguard, as well as the tireless work of the security teams. This is Cat Grant reporting with the latest updates of the ongoing situation here in Taipei."
Hearing the news report come to an end, the tv remote fell out of Dinah's limp hand, even as she turned and looked at the devastated looking members of the team.
Kaldur was dead.
( - )
Chapter 26
( - )
(With Percy)
The atmosphere within Mount Justice was suitably grim that day.
The training room was empty, and the lounge and kitchen were deserted.
Instead, the entire team, along with a good portion of the Justice League - those that were not on patrol or on a mission - were standing in contemplative silence in a large cavern in the depths of the mountain.
They were all standing solemnly in a crescent. They were all wearing their costumes, only now they also sported a black armband around their right arms. Likewise, they also all had their heads bowed low as they silently listened to Aquaman's ongoing eulogy for Kaldur.
Kaldur's parent, recently arrived from Atlantis, were also in attendance. They were dressed in their finest and had their heads bowed low, even as Kaldur's mother clung onto her husband, quietly weeping into his chest as she listened to Aquaman's touching words.
In front of Aquaman in a cylindrical glass coffin, Kaldur lay in situ. He was dressed in his costume, and had had his wounds cleaned and artfully hidden. The expression on his face was austere.
It was almost painful to see how cold and lifeless he looked.
Kaldur had been a complicated person.
Outwardly, he had appeared serious and grim. But that was all a facade, a side effect of his own social awkwardness. In reality, he had been a kind, soft spoken man, and a good, generous and loyal friend.
He'd been a good hero, and an even better person.
Percy lowered his head at that thought, his hands clenched into fists at his side as he thought back on the Atlantean he'd barely even gotten to know.
He shouldn't have died the way he did.
Nor should he have died as young as he had, not when he had so much more life to live, and so much more to achieve.
He'd had so much potential, and there was so much he could have contributed to the world.
That was more than most could say.
But unfortunately, it was not to be.
All that potential and all that life yet lived had been cut short in a single instant.
Stolen away in a single reckless moment.
Erased from existence, by a single cruel decision.
Silver Banshee could have aimed to wound, but she didn't.
She could have continued playing cops and robbers and prolonged the endless stalemate the villains and heroes of this world seemed to exist in, one where all sides pulled their punches in fights. Villains were captured alive and sent to prison, and in return they didn't go for the kill when fighting heroes.
It wasn't perfect by any means, especially to the innocents that became collateral damage during the villain's crime spree, or the Joker's case psychotic rampage, but it still worked at keeping a status quo. The heroes weren't murdered in their beds, and through their work were then allowed to keep the vast majority of people safe.
But Silver Banshee had broken that status quo. She had torn up the unwritten rules that seemed to guide the superhuman community.
But then again, so had he.
Percy closed his eyes at that thought.
Perhaps in some sick, twisted way this was all down to him?
He'd broken the unwritten rules first, partly because he hadn't even known they existed to begin with, and partly because they just didn't mesh well with his own principles, nor with his own philosophy of how to deal with threats.
But still, his connection to Kaldur was probably known by this point, after all they'd gone on a number of missions together, and had poked and prodded quite a few villains and groups.
He honestly didn't know. Which in some ways made things worse.
If he hadn't escalated first by killing, then would things have been different?
Would whoever was behind the failed assassination attempt to have sent someone else to carry it out? Someone less trigger happy? Or would Silver Banshee have felt less threatened, and so wouldn't have resorted to lethal action as quickly as she had?
It was all academic at this point.
What was done was unfortunately done, and now they would all have to live with the consequences.
The game had been irrevocably changed, and from what he'd seen, Kladur's death had already had a massive impact on the rest of the team. It had certainly had an effect on him.
Opening his eyes as Aquaman finished speaking, he looked up again.
They had all gathered to say goodbye.
This would be the last time they ever saw him, as after this memorial Aquaman, Tula and Kaldur parents would be taking his body back to Atlantis to have a traditional Atlantean burial.
This was their last chance to pay their respects.
Looking sideways at the rest of his teammates, Percy watched on bleakly as Barbara and Batman placed supportive hands on Robin's shoulder. Only for Robin to angrily shrug off Batman's hand as he instead moved closer to Barbara.
The younger hero had taken Kaldur's death hard.
He hadn't wept or cried.
No, if anything, that would have been healthy and normal.
Instead, his reaction was worse.
He'd just shut down.
In the days that had passed since Kaldur's death, Robin had done nothing but train himself to the point of exhaustion. For hours at a time he had worked himself to the bone on the training mat, practising with the sword, with escrima sticks, with a staff, with anything and everything he could find. He'd already destroyed at least six training dummies.
It had gotten so bad that he had had to step in several times to stop Robin from doing himself real harm by overworking his muscles, and instead send him to get some rest. He was obviously struggling. For all he tried to put up a cold, tough front, deep down he was still very much human, and in pain.
Shifting his gaze further down the line, his eyes came to rest on Wally.
He was standing with Flash, Green Arrow and Artemis. His head bowed, and his eyes scrunched shut.
Wally had also taken Kaldur's death hard, and like Robin, he wasn't dealing with it well either. Only, unlike Robin, he didn't channel his anger and grief into his training, but instead kept it all bottled up inside, allowing it to stew and build up. The kid was a ticking time bomb, they all knew it, but unfortunately none of them were quite sure how to disarm him.
The only thing Percy could think of was to provoke a fight and let him get it all out. But when he mentioned that to Diana, she had cautioned him against such an action.
Apparently, mortals dealt with their emotions differently to demigods.
Which meant that he was left hoping that Black Canary could do something with them, because at the moment the way they both were acting was not sustainable. Something was going to have to give, and when it did, it would be messy.
Grimacing at that thought, Percy's gaze fell onto Tula.
The redhead looked miserable.
Like Robin and Wally, she hadn't taken Kaldur's death well.
Fortunately, unlike those two, she at least was willing to talk about it and vent. From what he had heard, she'd had multiple sessions with Black Canary over the last few days, and had also spent a lot of time with Kaldur's parents, comforting them over the loss of their son. She was being strong for their sake, he could admire that, just as he could admire the fact that she knew she needed help, and thus sort it. He only wished Robin and Wally had done the same.
Holding back a sigh, he turned his attention to Artemis and Caleb.
Both of them were thankfully dealing with Kaldur's death better than the other two.
They were obviously saddened by his passing, but he wasn't worried about either of them falling to pieces over it. If anything, they seemed to have embraced his passing as a reason to grow stronger and get better.
Their reaction, or at least in his mind, was far healthier.
Watching on as Kaldur's parent walked up to the empty plinth behind Kaldur's body, with walking Aquaman alongside them, Percy felt a hand slip into his own, and a head rest gently on his shoulder.
Glancing down, he saw it was M'gann.
Her eyes were red rimmed, and there were tears streaming down her face as she openly wept. Her lip was quivering, and her eyes were missing that usual sparkle of excitement that he had become accustomed too.
Smiling weakly, he gently extricated his hand from her grip, garnering him a teary look of surprise, only for that surprise to turn to shock as he looped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a sideways hug.
Sinking into the hug, she clung onto him as they watched the plinth light up and saw a holographic figure of Kaldur, in his Aqualad costume, appearing on the plinth.
Lowering his head, Percy took a deep breath as he once again closed his eyes.
There was no shroud to burn on a ceremonial fire, but in many ways this memorial to a fallen hero was just as fitting.
Kaldur had been a great hero, and was more than worthy of his place in Elysium.
( - )
(The next day)
Standing in the kitchen, Percy absentmindedly monitored numerous frying pans as he fried up several pounds of bacon, some chopped mushroom, two dozen sausages, a dozen eggs, several bunches of tomatoes and a sliced up blood sausage, all while he kept an eye on the large pot of beans he had on the go on another hob, and the four trays of hash browns and toasting bread he had in the oven.
It had been a long time since the last time he'd cooked, and he couldn't even remember the last time he had cooked this much.
But with everyone else still in bed following Kaldur's wake the other day, he had taken it on himself to do something nice for the rest of the team.
Looking back on the last couple of months, he'd not been the best of leaders.
He'd certainly not been the most open and transparent of people. In fact, he'd been pretty cagey on the details about himself, and had often dissuaded or completely shut down any further questioning into his past.
Grimacing at that thought, he continued to go about making up breakfast.
Kaldur's tragic death had been an eye opener for him.
He hadn't even known that he was in Taipei on a mission, and as leader, that was an unforgivable oversight.
He should have kept a closer eye on the team, and kept more abreast of where they were and what they were doing.
He shouldn't have been as cold and hands-off with them as he had been.
A part of him wanted to blame his time in Tartarus and his ongoing recovery, for his lapse in judgement.
But he didn't, there were no excuses, not really.
A member of his team had died under his leadership, and he had to take responsibility for that.
He had to be better.
He couldn't let something like this happen again.
Flipping the bacon on the frying pan, Percy ignored the spitting fat as he instead concentrated on not burning anything.
"Woah, what smells so good?" Wally asked, as he wandered into the kitchen in his dressing gown.
At his invitation, the entire team had spent the night at Mount Justice.
It had been Diana's suggestion that he invite them to do so.
Which is exactly what he had done.
He'd wandered into Happy Harbour and bought some food and drink, rented a few films, and had put on an impromptu film night, all light hearted comedies.
It was intended as something to distract them from their misery.
Just how well it had worked, though, he wasn't sure.
But the important thing was that they'd all come along, and that was something at least.
"Breakfast," Percy replied, looking up as he saw some of the others following Wally.
Robin looked tired, but unlike Wally, he was fully dressed and ready for the day. He already had his mask on, and his identity firmly covered up.
Artemis and M'gann meanwhile were still in their pyjamas, which consisted of a small pair of short shorts and baggy t-shirt.
As for Caleb, he wore what he always wore, jeans and a black t-shirt. A part of Percy suspected the clone slept in that ensemble too.
"Well, this is unexpected." Artemis said, idly slipping into a seat at the counter and pouring herself a mug of freshly made coffee.
"Smells good." Caleb nodded, taking his own seat after he snagged the coffee off of Artemis.
"Aww thanks," Artemis winked at him, "I do try."
Glancing up, he saw Caleb flush slightly at Artemis's words, even as he stuttered a denial.
Smiling to himself at Artemis's obvious flirting, Percy began to dish out the food into some glass bowls.
"Damn, a girl could get used to this!" Barbara grinned as she too swooped into the room, her long red hair tied back in a ponytail.
"I'll get some plates." M'gann chirped, some of her good humour reappearing as she flicked her hand and used her telekinesis to pull out a bundle of cutlery and enough plates for all of them. Her mood seemed to perk up even more as the others all took their seats, and began to chat, even as she donned an apron and started helping him dish out the food.
The atmosphere was still slightly tense and dour, but with every minute that passed, at least some of that tension seemed to bleed away.
"This is surprisingly nice of you," Robin said mildly, as he too took a seat, his brow furrowed as he eyed Percy curiously.
"Well, I thought we could all do with a good breakfast. Plus…," Percy trailed off, his brow furrowing as he bit his lip. "Well, plus, I feel like we need something like this. The team has been separated for quite a while, and well, I think this is something we should do more of going forward. Eating together, you know, and spending time together. It'll be good for all of us to spend more time together."
"You mean it'll be good for team building?" Robin asked slyly, his eyes sharpening behind his mask.
Several of the others looked up from dishing out their breakfast at his words.
"Yes," Percy said after a moment of thought, a slight smile playing around his mouth as M'gann handed him his own plate. "I think it'll be good for us as a team to do more things together, and bond. Admittedly, this is something we should have been doing from the start, but… well, that's on me. Going forward, I'm going to try to be a better leader."
"Hey, don't put yourself down like that, you're a good leader!" M'gann erupted, her eyes widening at his self-deprecating words as she immediately rushed to defend him, from himself.
"I have no complaints about you being the leader in the field." Robin said after a moment, his eyes narrowed. "I can't say I was initially happy about you being appointed. But looking back, I think it was the right decision."
"You're not bad," Caleb nodded. That was probably going to be the best he could get from Superboy.
"Well, I can't say I know you that well, but from what I've seen, you're not a bad leader when we're on a mission. But off mission, you are pretty distant." Artemis added her own thoughts, her eyes on him as she absentmindedly pushed the food around on her plate.
"Artemis!" M'gann looked scandalised.
Several of the others looked surprised at her words too, but didn't verbally refute them.
"No, M'gann, she has a point." Percy interrupted with a weak smile. "I've been distant, and haven't acted like a proper leader should, and I want to change that."
"By making breakfast?" Barbara asked cheekily, shoving a fork full of beans and egg into her mouth as she did so.
"By making a step in the right direction," Percy shot back, a slight smile playing around his mouth again as he finished stacking food onto his plate. "And going forwards, I'll try to be more open, and less distant."
"Sounds cool," Wally said, shifting some of the food around his plate. "It's just a shame it took Kaldur dying for you to realise you needed to step up as leader."
The tension within the room ratcheted up at that comment.
"That was uncalled for," Artemis said, her eyes narrowed. "Percy had nothing to do with what happened."
"He wasn't there." Wally said bluntly.
"Neither were you." Robin shot back.
Wally's shoulders tensed, and his grip on his knife and fork tightened.
His eyes were burned with anger for all of a moment, before with a sigh he looked down. "I know. I wasn't there. None of us were there for him, not when he really needed us."
"That's because we didn't even know he was out on a mission, or what he was doing until it was too late. The only people that knew were Red Arrow, and probably Batman." Robin snapped, his hands were clenched into fists.
Barbara sent him a sideways look of concern.
"Yeah, well, I'm going to be having words with Roy about that." Wally said, bitterly.
"Enough," Percy said, his voice loud and firm as he cut through the argument before it could escalate further. "This kind of talk is not helpful. What's done is done, and Kaldur…, Kaldur is dead, and there is no coming back from that. It is tragic, and we will all miss him, but what has happened, has happened. All we can do now is learn from it, remember him fondly, and do everything we can to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."
Wally sent him a mutinous look.
While Robin just scowled down at his plate.
"Percy's right-" M'gann began to speak, only for Wally to cut her off.
"Of course you'd say that. All you ever do is support him and chase after him! You do know he'll never…" Wally spat, only for him to trail off when he saw the look of hurt on M'gann face. At the sight of it, he went silent, his cheek red, and his eyes now downcast as he looked both angry and ashamed at his outburst.
"Stop snapping at everyone and everything, Wally. It's not M'gann fault, it's not your fault, nor is it Percy's, what happened to Kaldur is no one's fault." Artemis cut it, her tone hard.
"She is right," Percy added, once again trying to regain control of the conversion. As he did so, he reached out and gave M'gann's hand a comforting squeeze. She smiled at him weakly in response.
This wasn't going the way he had intended it too.
He couldn't remember having this much trouble dealing with teenagers in the past.
Then again, he had also been a teenager back then. That, and the teenagers he was dealing with were also demigods too, and so had a very different thought process to angsty mortal teens.
"I've been where all of you are." Percy continued, his tone low and slow, and he let go of M'gann's hand and gently placed his fork on his plate. "It was a long, long time ago now. But I can still remember how I felt the first time I lost one of my friends. I was only fourteen and on a mission. The girl who died, I'd only known her a short while, but she was a sweet girl and only a few years younger than me when she was taken. She'd only been in the life for a week when her team leader brought her on the mission. Even now I don't know why she made that choice, maybe it was to help her build experience, I don't know. I never got a full answer, as her mission leader was killed only a few days later."
Looking up, he could see he had the attention of the entire team.
Coughing into his hand, he looked around at each one of them. "The point is, that was the first time I truly lost someone. I was not unfamiliar with people dying, nor was it my first… mission, but even so, that was the first time someone died on one of my missions. It was a shock. At the time, I blamed myself. I thought to myself that I could have done more, I should have done better. I should have put up more of a fight when she was picked to go. I should have kept a closer watch on her when the fighting started. All I could think of at the time, was how I could have done things differently. Even after the mission, after we had won, and I had to tell her younger brother what had happened to her, it was all I could think about. It was a shit feeling, and a self defeating one. It was only as time went on, and as I lost more and more of my friends, that I realised that sometimes shit just happens. Sometimes, nobody's at fault, and people just get unlucky."
No one said anything.
Laughing bitterly to himself, Percy looked up at the ceiling. "And even now, all these many years later, I still struggle with the same thing. Ha, I started the story in the hopes of it helping you realise that you can't blame yourself for every bad thing that happens. But now I realise I'm a hypocrite, because even today, this morning as I was making breakfast, I was thinking on how I could have done more as the team leader. I was thinking that if I had been more open from the start, and had put more effort into my team relations, then maybe Kaldur would have told me what he was doing. That, or he might have asked for help and advice. I don't know. Like I said before, it is self-defeating to dwell on what could have been. It's better to always move forwards."
M'gann put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a squeeze.
"Well, I wasn't expecting that." Artemis said into the silence that followed the end of his little speech.
"Sorry," Percy said with a wane smile. "I didn't mean to ruin breakfast."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry. I think the atmosphere was already ruined well before you started sharing some of the more horrific parts of your past." Barbara said dryly.
Percy's smile turned slightly bitter. "That was barely scratching the surface."
Artemis and Barbara winced.
M'gann's hand tightened on his shoulder, even as she moved around to give him a gentle hug. "We've all got darkness in our pasts, and things about ourselves we want to hide. You should never feel guilty or ashamed, nor should you ever feel like you have to hide things from us. We won't judge."
"Thanks," Percy said, and he meant it.
"Well, isn't this all getting lovey dovey," Robin muttered, before with a sigh he pulled his mask off and threw it away. "And damn am I getting sick of always wearing that mask."
Barbara's eyes widened.
Artemis meanwhile frowned. "Wait, I recognise you!"
"Yeah, that's because we go to the same school," Robin rolled his eyes.
The blonde archer looked momentarily poleaxed, even as Barbara let out a snort of laughter at her expression.
"Huh, you know, I think this is the first time I've ever seen you in person without a mask," M'gann said, with a smile.
"What do you mean in person?" Robin suddenly scowled.
"In Biayla I might've snuck a look at your memories." M'gann replied guilty. "But in my defence, I had no idea who you were at the time!"
Robin scowled for a moment, before with a sigh, he let out a slight chuckle. "Well, there goes some of the impact of my dramatic face reveal."
"Poser," Barbara muttered.
"Kiss my ass," Robin snarked back.
Smiling at the byplay, Percy felt his mood beginning to perk up.
The atmosphere was once again lightening.
"I have a question, Percy." Caleb suddenly spoke up, cutting through the ongoing conversation.
"Oh?" Percy glanced over at him.
"In your story you said you were fourteen, and that had been a long, long time ago… aren't you only seventeen now?" Caleb asked with a frown.
"Maybe demigods age differently, kind of like Martians?" M'gann said, her head tilted curiously to one side.
"What do you mean by that?" Barbara asked, curiously.
Smiling nervously, M'gann started to play with her hair as she looked around at them all. "Well, I think I mentioned it before, but Martians' mature at a different rate to humans. So while I'm still a teenager on Mars, in earth years I'm over fifty…."
Barbara's eyes widened. "So what, you're like an old lady?"
M'gann giggled in response. "Being able to shapeshift helps."
Artemis snorted with laughter at that comment, even as Wally looked part amused and part shocked.
Caleb meanwhile kept his attention on Percy.
"Is it the same with you, Percy?" Caleb asked.
"Not quite. Most demigods don't tend to make it to adulthood. As for the ones that do, most of them age at the rate of normal humans. But not all, some I've met find ways to avoid ageing." Percy replied, carefully.
"So which one are you?" Caleb asked.
The others all looked interested now.
"I'm somewhere in the middle. I don't age, but I didn't have much of a choice in the matter," Percy said bluntly, his tone turning slightly colder, as his teammates began to tread on dangerous ground. "But that's my curse to bear, and as much as I am prepared to share certain aspects of my life. I'll admit there are some things that I am not willing to talk about, or at least not right now. So, yeah, tread carefully."
"How long?" Caleb asked into the silence that followed. "How long have you been alive?"
"I was born in 1993," Percy replied, honestly.
Robin frowned. "But then that would only make you nineteen? That's not exactly old."
"Yeah, if you're nineteen, why were you put with us and not inducted into the Justice League? You're a grade A badass and can kick the shit out of half the league already." Artemis added, before a slight smirk flickered across her face. "Including Batman."
Barbara and Robin both rose to their feet at that statement. They looked to be on the verge of tearing into Artemis with reasons for why Batman could kick his ass, even Robin, though noticeably he caught himself halfway and dragged himself back to his seat without comment.
Before anymore could be said, or Artemis could continue trying to provoke a reaction, Percy interrupted. "I am only seventeen, that's not a lie."
The rest of the team looked confused.
Percy smiled in spite of himself. "Well, let's just say I'm from another version of earth, and have been seventeen for a very long time…"
Absolute silence followed that statement.
Smiling, and happy that he had shared this little titbit about himself, Percy picked up his cutlery again and once again dug back into his breakfast.
He had no doubt they would have a lot of questions about the bombshell he had just dropped on them.
But whatever those questions were, they would have to wait until later, or until he was feeling more amenable about sharing some of the darker aspects of his history.
After all, another reason behind the big breakfast was also the fact that Diana had warned him ahead of time that they would be getting a briefing about their next missions later that day.
Though, from what he heard, the mission was optional this time. Which meant that those who didn't feel up to a mission at the moment, in light of Kaldur's passing, had the choice to not go if they wanted, while those that wanted the distraction and felt up to a mission could go along.
He'd already been told that both the missions would be tightly monitored this time by experienced Leaguers.
( - )
(At the Watchtower)
"So, we are all agreed." Batman said, looking around the table at the rest of the League. "Artemis, Superboy, Red Rush, Batgirl and Miss Martian will be working on the undercover operation at Belle Reve. Superboy and Miss Martian will go undercover as the recently arrested Terror Twins, and investigate what Icicle Senior and his gang is up too. Artemis, Red Rush and Batgirl will be taking support roles, and will be on hand to act if the situation changes."
Looking around, he could see that no one raised any objections.
"At Black Canary's recommendation, Artemis will be put in charge of the team. This mission will be used as a test of her ongoing leadership training." Batman pressed on, his brow furrowing at the thought of putting Artemis in charge of the team. Not that he was planning on opposing the decision right now, he was self aware enough to know not to burn all his bridges at once. "Both Black Canary and I will be supervising this mission closely."
"Are we sure it's the right time to send them on a mission?" Superman asked into the silence that followed. "It has been less than a week since Kaldur'ahm was killed. Don't you think this might be rushing it?"
"I agree," Aquaman nodded, his tone hard. "They are all probably still reeling after what happened. We shouldn't be pushing them into going on another mission this soon."
"And I disagree," Batman said. "They need to be kept busy. They can't just sit around and wallow in misery. I think this will be the best way to help them. We need to give them a goal to strive towards, and keep their minds and bodies occupied."
"The therapist in me wants to disagree," Black Canary chipped in. "But in this case, every single member of the team is a very physical person. I think it is worth giving them the option. Those that don't want to go on a mission right now, can take a step back with no issue, I can organise some additional sessions with them, and Batman can supervise the mission to Belle Reve alone. If they all want to go, I will still be there to lend a hand or pull them out if things get too much. It might seem a little radical, but I think this approach would be far more effective than coddling them."
Aquaman scowled, but didn't refute her words.
"What about the rest of them?" Green Arrow asked. "Riptide, Aquagirl and Robin?"
"They'll be coming on another mission, with me." Wonder Woman said, drawing all eyes to her. "Or rather, they'll be coming with Zatara and me."
Zatara nodded his head, and leant forward in his chair, his fingers steepling in front of him as he rested his arms on the table. "I will also be bringing my daughter, Zatanna, along. I think some carefully controlled, real world experience would do her some good."
"And just what will you be doing?" Green Arrow asked with a frown.
From beside him, he could see Captain Marvel was practically bouncing up and down in his seat with excitement. "Can I come too?"
"No," Wonder Woman shot him down in an instant. "With so many of us out in the field, we'll need you and the others to cover for us."
"Aww," Captain Marvel grumbled.
Ignoring him, Wonder Woman returned her attention to the rest of the table. "The Helmet of Fate has chosen a new champion. A man named Steele Maxum. Not much is known of him, other than the fact that he is a former… exotic dancer, and that he went missing not long after he was chosen to be the next Doctor Fate…."
"I investigated the Tower of Fate and found it locked down. Wherever Maxum is hiding, it is not within the Tower." Zatara added. "I have tried scrying for him, but the Helmet of Fate is actively stopping my attempts at finding him using magic. What I have discovered through my scrying, however, is that we are not the only ones searching for him. He is also being hunted by two groups of villains."
"I think we all know what would happen if a villain got a hold of the Helmet of Fate?" Wonder Woman said into the tense silence.
The question was rhetorical, as everyone at the table knew the damage and mayhem that would be caused if a villain took possession of such a dangerously powerful magical artefact.
The others nodded.
"That's why we need to act quickly. Zatara and I will be leading a fast moving team, and will track down Maxum as quickly as possible and bring him to safety, hopefully before one of the other groups finds him." Wonder Woman said, seriously.
"At the moment he is doing a very good job at escaping detection, aided along I believe by the Helmet, but he can only run for so long before someone finally catches up with him." Zatara added.
Looking around, Batman could see the grim expressions.
They all understood the importance of the mission.
Just as they likely understood why Wonder Woman and Zatara were the only Leaguers going. The situation was important and dangerous and needed a swift response, but at the same time the rest of the world also needed protecting. There were only so many League members they could spare for any one mission, which is why they were drafting in some additional help from the Team.
"Are we all agreed?" Batman asked the room at large.
The response was unanimous.
( - )
AN: So a bit of chilled chapter, more so than I was intending. But it is setting up the next two chapters will be more balls to the wall as two mission run concurrently, a canon-esque one, and an additional one involving magic and psychotic villains. There will be a lot of action, and over the next two chapters, and the aftermath of Kaldur's death as touch upon in this chapter will become more apparent, even as the young heroes get to test out their growing abilities and Percy's missions answers some questions and raises even more. It'll be fun, and it'll be chaotic so stay tuned.
Thanks for reading, and hopefully you enjoyed it and continue to do so. If not then please tell what you didn't like, or what you thought could have been done better? Please leave a review, comment etc. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to PM me.
Also I am on a discord with a load of other writers, a bunch of them are PJO writers, so if you fancy popping over to ask questions or offer suggestions about this story, or any of my other ones, or to find new authors you might not have come across yet, please feel free to use the link in my bio.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you later.
Greed720.