Percy pulled on the command sticks feeling the bioship react to his command. The craft pulled back and away from the island overseeing it all as the island became smaller and smaller.
Can you scan for life forms? He tapped in morse code to the ship.
It gave him a simple no in response. Either the ship was incapable of scanning, or there were no life forms. Obviously, there were considering his team was on the island and the information he had already, so that left him to make his own scan.
He swiveled the controls and directed the invisible craft closer to the main warehouse that the reports showed housing the lethal enhancement on the island. The mission information told of increased amounts of humanoids amassing on the island around this place, so if someone were to cut island communication and signal traffic, they would have done it from here.
Red ants everywhere. From on high, like the Moon in the sky, he saw the red-cloaked individuals scurrying around below him like ants. They were not Bane's goons, for he did not boast of such maroon colors. This new faction had taken control. Opposites to Bane's mission. Why else would the brawler help?
He brought the craft closer to the factory as forklifts exited the warehouse toting wooden crates. The boxes were being assembled near a clearing. A clearing big enough to land the bioship or, more likely, a craft capable of vertical lift.
Someone would be coming to inspect this place, if not outright take it over. But why take Venom from Bane? Why not settle on a deal? What did someone else gain from taking the drug away from Bane?
Bane….
He was leading his teammates through the mountain in some manner, the same mountain this warehouse sat at the foot of. Were they taking an alternate route into the building? Plausible and likely. Bane probably wants to retake control of his facility, and who better to utilize than kids with powers that can easily take on a colony of men? They already effortlessly did so earlier to a small portion of armed assailants.
A small war was going to happen on this island with the kids caught in the crossfire on a recon mission.
What a mission…. Batman even knew that this wouldn't go right. That he needed Percy to be here to intervene against Bane. Why was this not a league mission, then?
Incoming. The bioship beeped out at him.
Percy navigated the controls once more, pulling back to observe what was incoming. He could see it in the distance under the Moon, approaching him and the island.
A helicopter.
The orchestrator of the plot against Bane had to be on that helicopter to oversee his new acquisition. Percy needed to be closer and ready to intervene. Whoever was coming in already wanted Bane screwed over, and Bane was with his team. He had to be ready to stop that and stop Bane too.
He needed out of the ship and into the fire.
The ship, on its own, descended to the top of the warehouse as a hole in the floor of the craft opened before him. A translucent line descended below to the roof.
How in the world did this ship just know?
Tapping a quick thanks, he grabbed quickly to the outline of the rope. It wasn't rope. At least it didn't feel like it under his gloves. It was more like a fireman's pole. It didn't matter. He descended as quickly as he could. His boots gave the softest thud as he reached the bottom.
He could hear the shouts of men below him to "Hurry up" and "He is about to land."
Percy slid to the edge of the roof. The loudest sound he made was his blood beginning to rush in his veins. He looked above him, the bioship was gone, and his comms were still out. He had to assume his friends knew nothing of what was happening out here.
He reached for his folding binoculars from a pouch in his utility belt to get a better view. By the gods, did it look hideous.
A creature with stretched skin and bulging muscles was hunched over as its upper body was too heavy to stand straight. It bore a poor resemblance to something once a man with its ginger hair. Whatever this thing was now: It would pack a punch. He wouldn't be surprised if it tried to bite also.
He glanced at the monster's companions while seeing only their backs.
He could identify a leader when he saw one. A singular-robed individual stood between the beast and a woman on his left. He stood facing the helicopter, unlike the grunts with guns forming the isle to and from. While he couldn't glimpse much more than that about the leader, he could see the female. She had the same ginger hair as the beast, siblings likely. Her half-shaved head gave way to a black tattoo. She wore a blue crop top with what looked to be a partial black undersleeve to the outfit.
Why did people never properly shield their lower torso? It is the most accessible place to punch. Oh well, not his problem.
Beyond that, she was holding something out front in her arms that he couldn't see. Not much more to gleam off them, but the goons… The goons always told you who was running the show. The superiority complex and narcissism behind the leaders of goons always had them dressed to resemble the motif of what they stood for, so as he looked closely at the red cloaks with coiled snakes on them, it became apparent who was leading in red and gold.
Lord Kobra. A man who thought himself a god. Him and his Kobra Cult. The cult had been operating for some decades now, and Percy wondered if there was some merit behind the claim of divinity, even if that meant the man wasn't a god himself but more haps interacted with some deity who kept him alive. It wouldn't be too absurd; if he could be a Greek god, there could be other gods.
If things become more divinely inclined, he kept a celestial bronze dagger in his boot. A gift from Diana. The divine metal would best any monster that dared attack him. The gift didn't appease Batman, who cited his "no-kill policy."
But if there was one thing, Diana drilled into him above all. Above morals, above the law.
Monsters knew no remorse, and neither should he feel it for them.
The muscular hunchback and company came to a standstill as a side door on the helicopter opened. A metal hockey mask and stark yellow-blonde hair exited. With his sports padding on his body, it was a no-brainer who arrived. Percy has seen his mugshot enough during his time in the Batcave.
Sports-Master. Skilled assassin. It goes without saying that he would be trained in advanced martial arts and weaponry. Yet, why would a mercenary be getting the emperor's welcome on an island with little to do with his work?
He watched Sportsmaster approach the three of the welcoming party. Unfortunately, with the hockey mask on, Percy couldn't read the lips of the man to decipher what was being spoken. However, the woman shoved the item in her hands out for all to witness.
A small case opened, and Sportsmaster brought a vial from within to his gaze. Holding it high up, he gazed into the shimmering purple vial. Meanwhile, Lord Kobra gestured to the monster to his right, and Percy understood at that moment what it was.
In that tiny vial was a formula to create bulging muscular monsters that made Bane look small. Those cases weren't leaving the island unless it was in his hands to be given off to the League. The ability to turn a man into a monster invited danger the world did not need.
Whatever was said down, there must have pleased Sportsmaster as he juggled the vial into the air. Percy couldn't help but track the vial as it began to peak before it seemed to shimmer like a mirage before dropping back into Sportsmaster's hand.
The vial was real and tangible, he knew that, but something was distorting his line of sight at that moment. The shimmer was akin to the pole he slid down on from the bioship, the light displacement from going invisible.
If the Martian ship could, then the Martian girl could go invisible, also.
He checked his PDA for his team's location. They were mainly gathered behind him in the structure he was on, but one lone ping was way out in front of him near the helicopter.
Good. That meant his team was aware of at least something unfolding. He could regroup with them now and make sure that Robin understood what exactly was happening. Did Batman know a buy was going down? Is that why he expected trouble to disrupt their reconnaissance? He at least expected things not to work out….
He just needed to regroup before the chaos-
BANG! BANG! BANG!
-started.
Several guns began to fire off into the night as people shouted. It would seem the war for the island had begun.
He snapped his gaze back to the 'roid buy and the monster-man.
He watched as the thing cleared the distance from the helicopter to the warehouse in a single bound. A distance well greater than a football field. The roar that accompanied it did not bode well for the people caught in its way. The structure shook as the beast impacted the doors, crashing them inwards.
His time on top of the warehouse was up. With his trusty grapple in hand, he shot it forward onto the ledge of the building and watched it secure itself. Blood and feet pumping, he leaped from the roof.
For a moment, he fell before his grapple pulled him into a swing into the open doors right into the back of one Exalted Lord Kobra. How had that man also traveled the distance so quickly? It mattered little as the man crumpled to his stomach from the swinging kick. Percy let himself roll forward away from the leader as he came to a standing position.
He was met with the surprised stares of countless henchmen who began to aim guns at him but held their triggers. The good thing about goons, they held their fire until they were told to once a hero came onto the playing field. They always waited for commands.
So, as the Kobra Lord growled out and uprighted himself, Percy already recalled his grapple as he began to turn face and jump for cover. Not even a moment later, a smoke bomb exploded where he once stood. Robin always loved providing cover like that. He'd have to thank him later.
"Destroy the interlopers!" The cult leader shouted as gunfire began once more. The bullets blindly fired at the lingering smoke missed their marks as Percy took cover near Kaldur. Superboy was nearby battling the behemoth.
However, that wasn't what Percy was looking for. The goons were irrelevant compared to the leader. His gaze traveled back to where his team had likely emerged into the factory from within the mountain. He locked his eyes on his target.
Bane was watching everything happen as he stood near a half-opened door. The commander was watching his army and recruited heroes battle for his island. He wasn't even concerned about helping ensure victory for his side.
Superboy came crashing to Percy's feet.
Once more, the creature roared out. Kaldur lashed at it with some water whips, but they did little to the thing as it stomped its foot and charged at the three.
Percy and Superboy charged forward at it, each a fist swinging back before lashing forward. The resulting duo punch sent the beast hurtling head over end backward into a wall of the warehouse, causing the whole structure to groan.
"Nice punch," Superboy said before jumping forward to reengage the mammoth.
"Oof," two goons croaked as they tumbled to the floor after being tossed by something right in front of Percy. Percy once again noticed the refraction of invisibility just before him. Miss Martian was throwing people telepathically, he reasoned. Percy did his part to finish off the goons with swift kicks forcing them to stay down.
A chill went down his spine, and he instinctively turned around to where the main doors once were.
A javelin was soaring straight at him and the Martian. More importantly, it was aimed at her directly.
He forced his right arm forward and forced power into his hand. The resulting shot of plasmatic moonlight from his palm blasted into the tossed weapon causing it to bounce off course before missing and exploding some meters away. That could have been bloody.
"Thanks," the invisible girl said as the two maneuvered for cover once more. Percy looked back to the back of the warehouse once more.
Bane was merely watching it all happen, surveying the fight. The two locked eyes, and Percy could feel it in the stare…. The man knew that whatever happened here, he would walk away fine. Percy wouldn't allow that.
"Miss Martian, comms are jammed. Link us up!" Kaldur ordered.
"Linked. Everyone hears me?" The alien asked inside his head.
"I hear you loud and clear, babe," Kid Flash purred.
"Yes," confirmed Superboy.
"Got you," Kaldur and Robinsaid together.
"Orpheus?"The girl looked at him directly from her crouched position.
Can you hear me? He thought at her. Please hear me!
"He's here," she told the team, and Percy felt relief sweep through him, "but his mind is weird. It's completely silent."
The relief crashed in a single moment. He couldn't even speak with a telepath. He had to be cursed! Why? What did he ever do? What god damned him to silence?
"We can worry about that later. For now, we need to regroup," Kaldur commanded. "Robin, where are you at?"
"Busy. Kobra wants to leave."
Percy looked around to see where Robin was.
It didn't take long as the sister sibling fought Robin as Lord Kobra stood vigilant, watching the two mortals spar. Robin was dancing around the hits as he flipped and ducked. Agility was something the younger kid had in droves. One of the few things, physically, that Robin was better at than Percy.
Percy glanced back to Bane, only to find him missing. The door he stood near came to a shut. So, the man had fled.
"Robin, regroup."
"Would love to, but-ugh!"
Percy swung his gaze back to Robin upon his groan. He finally got hit and stumbled back, recatching his footing. Percy didn't hesitate to assist. His arm came forth; power building taunt in his arm before he sent it free.
A lancing bolt of formed moonlight streaked across the warehouse to the outer grounds. The light smashed into the woman present and sent her stumbling off balance. Lord Kobra turned to glare at the interfere, and Robin took the chance to drop a cloud of smoke and disappear.
A moment later, a panting Boy Wonder landed beside Percy, nodding thanks.
"We need a way out. This isn't what we are here for," The Atlantean directed to each of them. "Does anybody have an idea?"
"I can hail bioship?"
"Perhaps, but they could shoot it down."
"Oh."
"I could speed us to the forest one by one?"
"I'm not letting you carry me," Superboy said.
"What if we went out the way we came in?" Robin asked.
"That could work. Smart thinking." Kaldur responded.
"Orpheus' idea. Or, at least, he is pointing at the door we came through."
"It is a rather long tunnel. Kid Flash," Kaldur commanded. "Scout ahead for us, and we will be right behind you. We can make a proper plan once we are safe."
"Got it."
As thundering footsteps echoed in the old mineshaft inside the mountain, the team fled from stray gunfire that smashed into seemingly everything in the tunnel but them. Dirt would explode into everyone's face encouraging them to keep their head low and run faster. So, they kept running forward into the darkness, the scant light from the doorway of the warehouse fading behind them.
Percy kept going forward, trusting his gut to lead him the way Kid Flash had already traveled.
A groan of wood collapsing and a shuddering of rocks hitting the ground behind them roared into the dark of the tunnel as dust kicked up from behind the team and blasted out before each of them.
A part of the tunnel behind them had collapsed.
"Everyone okay?" Kaldur called out, coughing on dust.
Robin cracked something in his hands, and a vibrant green glow bathed the nearby area in light. Glowsticks are a handy thing to have.
"Thanks, Rob," Kaldur said as he overlooked his team.
"I think we are all fine," Robin responded.
"What happened?" Miss Martian asked.
"Tunnel collapsed behind us. Wood support gave out. They likely shot it by accident," Robin supplied, as he put his hands over his head to catch a breath before coughing on the lingering dust in the air. "Ugh. We need to keep moving."
"Wally, where are you?" Miss Martian asked into the mental link.
"Almost out. I can see the light."
"We will be there soon," Aqualad told his friend.
"I cannot believe my first mission leading a team has fallen apart like this," Robin complained, exasperated with himself.
"Who said you were the leader?" Superboy scoffed.
"Obviously, it was to be me. Batman gave us this mission, and as his protégé, it is only right I lead."
"Then shouldn't Orpheus also be a leader?" Miss Martian asked, glancing at the other Gotham hero present.
"Mute there cannot speak up, so that liability disqualifies him," Robin responded.
Percy could only stare at him. A wave of anger bit at his tongue. His inability to speak did not make him irrelevant. His inability to speak did not make him unworthy. He had been on Olympus, and he had seen the disfigured Hephaestus and where he sat in the throne room of the gods.
A disability does not make one unable to be on the same level as another.
It was only the fact Percy was too new to the group that he did not desire to replace whoever was the leader, but if they didn't have a leader after already doing their own mission in Happy Harbor, it was not his place to pick up their slack in order.
"What? We all know I'm right. Don't have to glare at me behind that mask," Robin griped.
"Perhaps, the shortcomings so far are from a lack of communication from you then. Ironic considering you can speak to us," Kaldur responded.
"How is it my fault you guys don't know what to do? This is a pretty simple 'warehouse takedown' mission. The only one who was doing fine was Orpheus."
"Yet you forget, one of us hails from another planet, I the sea, and another is new to life. Your experience clouds you from understanding that we are all not on the same level. Yours and Orpheus' experiences with Batman have made you entuned with another, and you need not communicate.
"However, this team," Kaldur gestured to the others, "us, we are new. We are individuals acting under one banner because all we have ever done is be individuals. If you wish to prostrate yourself as the leader, you must be clear, explicit, and open to us all. Not disappearing the first moment you can 'do as you please'. The leader must be direct and knowledgeable for the others to proceed."
"So, am I supposed to hold everyone's hands then?"
"If that is what must be done to succeed, then yes."
"But-"
"Bomb! Bane lined th-"Kid Flash's mental voice trailed off into silence, interrupting Robin's rebuttal.
The team looked at one another before Kaldur responded.
"KF? Kid Flash, are you there? Do you copy?" He practically shouted into their minds. It somehow made Percy's ears hurt despite no words being vocalized aloud.
"He isn't conscious anymore. Bane must have gotten to him," Miss Martian worried.
"We need to move quickly, then," the Atlantean directed.
"What if they are placing tripwire? My glowsticks work, but if we want to see things like a small wire, we would have to go slow and scan."
"We must get out there before he detonates any bombs. Unless someone has an alternate solution, we scan everything."
"I do," Percy signed to Robin. While his versatility with this power was limited for now, he was not without options. It is just that he had never actually found a point for this ability as he can see very well in the night, but if the others couldn't, he would step up to help them.
"Orpheus does."
"What is that?" The team turned to look at him.
So, Percy stepped away from the others to give himself some space to breathe as he took a few deep breaths and channeled the Moon.
He could feel power building in his veins, in his blood. The blood of divinity, the power of the gods, the power of the Moon. He could feel it warm his very being.
"You glow?" Superboy asked in shock.
He did, in fact, glow. A discovery he made when trying to channel his powers to form a light shield around his body akin to that of a Green Lantern. However, defense was never his strength; the light never hardened but radiated from him. It emitted from him, forming a coating of soft light on the outside of his bat-armor.
Percy nodded to the others and began jogging forward, ignoring the "walking glowstick" remark made by Robin behind him.
"Once this is over, if you are to be a part of this team, it would be beneficial to know what all you can do," Kaldur said, matching Percy's pace.
Percy only nodded back as he kept forward.
"Once we recover Kid Flash, we need to make a plan to prevent the shipment from leaving the island."
"I already delayed the helicopter," Robin told the rest.
"Smart thinking. Let's get Bane, then, quickly."
"I can take him," Superboy commanded.
"I'm sure you can match his strength, but let Orpheus tackle him."
"Why him, Robin?" Miss Martian asked, looking between Superboy and Orpheus.
"It's why he is on the mission, to begin with."
"What?" Superboy said.
"I hacked and translated his PDA. His reason for being here is Bane."
"Are you sure that is why Batman brought him along?"
"Batman doesn't make mistakes," Robin said to Kaldur.
"So, Orpheus will combat Bane. We will recover Kid Flash and dispose of the bombs as needed."
The team responded with various affirmations.
The team fell into a silence, only broken by their feet and Robin typing away at his PDA on his arm.
"It doesn't make sense," Robin began. "Sportsmaster is muscle, mercenary for hire. He isn't one to combine the Venom and Blockbuster formula. Especially in bulk."
"Combining blockbuster and venom? Why didn't you mention that earlier?" Kaldur interrupted.
"KF and I knew, didn't have time to share till now, honest."
"If someone were to mix the two," Kaldur said, the horror dawning on him. "They would be monstrous."
"Like that mammoth back there in the warehouse?" Miss Maritain asked.
"Exactly," affirmed Robin.
"Whoever hired Sportsmaster," Kaldur began to reason, "is likely planning to create an army of muscled behemoths."
"Behemoths that can take a punch, too," Superboy added to what Kaldur said.
"They could overrun the league with brute force."
"All the more reason to stop the deal and find out who the real buyer is."
"My money is on Luthor," Superboy growled.
"Feels more of a Ra's move," Robin said. "Take his legion of highly trained martial artists, give them super strength, and then some. I mean, Batman struggles with Bane, and by these numbers, this juice makes Bane look small."
Percy came to a sudden stop, forcing the team behind him to stop, also.
The light at the end of the tunnel….
"Remember, the bombs could be anywhere."
Percy exited the tunnel and into the clearing where the luchador awaited him. A detonator was clenched in his raised hand. That would explain the lack of trip wire….
"Ah, amigos!" Bane greeted him and the team, "I have been waiting for you! I set up a surprise for you all! One, Gonzalez," Bane pointed to the tied-up and knocked-out speedster, "was all too eager to discover, so let us all take a moment to pause before things explode out of hand."
"I can't believe you betrayed us," Miss Martian started, and Percy could only turn and look at her, dumbfounded. He was glad his mask hid his face.
"I'm a villain, Chica. You should know better," Bane laughed. Yeah, even Percy knew that. It was like villain 101: always out for themselves. Bane then turned to him and stared him down. "But what I'm really curious about is why Silent is here. You, little amigo, don't fit in with these other ones. You weren't even here at the start. I am surprised Batman even set you free from Gotham."
So was he, to be fair, yet Percy kept his eyes on the detonator in Bane's hand as he awkwardly signed to Robin behind him.
"Keep him talking."
Bane followed the hand movements and looked at Robin. "What did he say, Birdie?"
"He said he doesn't think you are even worth his time." Ok, not what he said. Not even close.
Bane turned back to him, "Oh? Do you think you can amount to anywhere close to Bane? Even Batman dares to fight me."
Now or never.
"I challenge him."
"He challenges you," Robin spoke. "Mano on mano."
"Orpheus, are you sure?" Kaldur uncertainly asked, taking a half step forward.
"Trust me, if there is anything I trust him to do, it would be this. Orpheus can handle himself," Robin spoke up to Kaldur as he rested his hand on his shoulder. Then he nodded to the rest of the team, that looked unsure. "He's got this."
"I can take him too," Superboy added, trying to step up, but Robin used his other arm to stop him.
"Ahh, but if you move to interfere, I blow all you up," Bane intervened. "So how about you four take some steps back into that tunnel there, and one of my men holds the detonator for me? Anybody moves or so much as interferes, well, the League will be having a few funerals."
Percy nodded as he stepped forward.
"Back you go, amigos," Taunted Bane as the team slowly stepped back. He, in turn, gave the detonator to a henchman who came forward.
This was why he was on this mission.
Orpheus rotated his neck to both sides, hearing it pop, then popped his knuckles.
He had his mark.
The reason Batman brought him out of Gotham. Whatever test it was, it was now. He wasn't here for the drug trafficking. No, he was here for Bane. The man who once broke Batman's body. A caliber of villain Orpheus had never been allowed to throw hands with, but now, now, he was his sole target.
This was to prove he could handle more than just the thugs. This was to prove he could be a superhero. This was to prove he could be worthy of being extraordinary.
"I'll make sure to break you just enough," Bane taunted, cracking his knuckles.
"Be careful, Orpheus," Miss Martian thought to him.
He could feel his heart beating rapidly as the adrenaline began to pump through his veins.
Percy took the offensive.
He wasted no time closing the distance with his demigod speed, jumped, and landed a right hook across Bane's face, making the masked man stumble to the side from the momentum of the hit. He shook his head off as he came back to his senses before grinning at Percy.
"That was your free hit, amigo. Now it's fair game."
Jab after jab came flying at Percy. In that moment, he realized why Batman kept both him and Robin from fighting people like Bane. He wasn't just a steroid-bulked fighter. He was a bullet train. Each punch was fast and powerful. If it wasn't for his enhanced physique from being a demigod, he likely would have folded in pain.
Yet, Percy dodged as many as he could, dancing around the clearing. His left forearm already stung from just tanking one punch, hopefully, the only punch he would take, but he wasn't naïve to put stock in such thought.
The two clashed again as both dodged out of the other's way. They separated just as quickly to circle the other. Both glancing up and down the other's form. They clashed again and again. Neither willing to relent.
So, when the eighth blow of the fight landed, unblocked, Percy staggered back to catch his breath as he tasted blood on his tongue and pain in his jaw. The taste was invigorating. The blood on his lips felt like fuel to keep fighting. A second wind. A surge of power.
"Again," Bane demanded, and Percy obeyed, throwing his weight at the man. A lesson from Batman. If you fight above your weight class, you have to use your smaller frame to reduce how much they can manage. So, he went to pin the man down.
He took Bane to the ground, and he went for an arm bar to try and break the man's arm. That all went to Hades as Bane used his other arm and grabbed his leg, and he pulled the kid free with force. Realizing he didn't want to be pinned beneath him, Percy scrambled to his feet just to get tripped by a leg sweep. His face met earth, and he felt the world shudder for a moment as Bane took a steady step towards his prone form.
Losing sucked.
He rolled away and quickly got back to his feet in time to move away from Bane swinging at him.
Yet, Bane was fast and recorrected his momentum to land a nasty haymaker on the front of Orpheus' face causing the lower portion of the mask to disengage from the lock that kept it connected to the top part, but that didn't concern Percy as much as the pain from breaking his nose.
Blood trailed down from his nostrils into his mouth and down his chin for all to see.
The taste of blood was fresh once more on his tongue.
He swung back at the man. The blow connected to the man's chest, forcing him to stumble back, clutching his sternum. Percy followed through with another hit to the jaw this time. Bane's head snapped back as he wavered. Percy went for a third hit… that never connected.
Percy's feet left the ground as Bane's hand tightened around his neck suddenly. The man, still slightly dazed, brought his focus to Orpheus with a smirk. Percy's feet struggled for footing, searching for the missing earth below him.
"You were never a challenge, but you will serve well as a reminder of what I can do to a man," Bane taunted. "When your back is broken, and you are covered in the blood of your team, Batman will know who did this. When he comes for me, I will finish him just as I will break you."
Percy felt Bane's other hand grab his waist as he was lifted and maneuvered over the man's shoulders high above everything. He couldn't escape the iron grip of Bane, who was manhandling him like the child he was.
Percy felt powerless. The world ripped from right under his feet as he struggled. He knew what would happen. Next, he would be smashed down over the man's knee, and while Percy believed he could take a hit to his body from a man, any damage to the spine would be life-altering. It could never be risked, no matter how sure he was.
He had to break free.
"Orpheus!" Someone shouted, but it sounded dull as Percy stared at the night sky, feeling Bane shift his weight in his arms.
Millions of stars littered the night sky.
"You see, Little Bat! I am the Breaker! You are nothing before the extraordinary!"
The moon stood so proud and bold before the millions. Unbothered by all. The moon was not nothing. It was not ordinary like the million other stars. It was more….
He is not nothing. He could never be. He had to be more, to be something good enough, to be someone good enough, for her.
Power surged through him as his veins became magma. The divinity in his very blood flowed from his seams as the world went white….
Percy rolled in the dirt for a moment before righting himself in a kneel and facing Bane down. He was personally breathless at the expenditure of such power.
"Ah, you little… my eyes," Bane groaned as he stumbled back.
The human-bullet train clawed at his eyes after experiencing what was a practical flashbang right in front of his retinas. Added by the fact that his eyes had likely adjusted to the ambient night and previously running through the dark tunnels, Percy was blinding to anyone who looked at him.
Lunar energy pulsated off of him as he glowed like a floodlight in the night. Bright enough to bathe the surrounding area to look like the sun was shining. Because, at a non-mystical level, that was what moonlight was. Percy made himself the day in the night.
He made himself radiate moonlight to such a degree that he was the light.
So, as Bane rubbed his eyes, Percy launched forward, retaking the man to the ground, but this time he wasted no time trying to injure the Spanish brawler. He went for the power hits as he felt the power surge in him. He aimed for the temple. He aimed for the neck.
He aimed to defeat Bane.
He was rewarded with a gasping and choking Bane, who spluttered for air as his throat was brutalized. That did not deter Percy, though. If anything, he reveled in the power he felt. As he kept wailing on the man's head even as Bane stopped fighting back and instead only tried to shield what he could.
Percy did not relent.
Percy found the gaps or made an opening. He ignored the brutal sounds of breaking Bane's arm from the impact force. He wailed on the man until Bane's head fell to the side and stayed there. Percy saw the injector tube that would feed the man his venom, and he ripped it free. Leave no chance of a second fight.
Finally, seeing his opponent defeated. He staggered away a few steps till Bane lay before him.
Percy stood victorious over his target. He had done it.
"Are you alright?" Kaldur suddenly laid a hand on his shoulder now that the fight was over.
Percy felt the light fade from the environment to what it was before he grasped at the tides of power from the pools of the Moon.
He took a deep breath as his heart pounded out of control.
Taking a step away from the beaten man, he glanced around the clearing to see that the team had rounded up the rest of Bane's men as Kid Flash zoomed around, emptying their pockets of anything that would help them escape.
Percy turned to the Atlantean as he panted and nodded.
Revealing his bloodied mouth and bleeding nose, he smiled at the other superhero.
Nothing beat the adrenaline rush he was feeling after that fight.
That rush in his system made him feel like he could topple skyscrapers, dance with the devil, or even best a god. He was addicted to it, the drug of being a hero.
AN: Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for all the follows/favorites/reviews!
Already building on some themes of the story here that will be reoccurring and foreshadowing. Not everything is supposed to be known, like the alluding to Olympus, but we will get there soon enough. Also, this one episode I adapted has already turned into 3 chapters, but don't expect that to happen to every episode/arc adapted.
If you want to reach out to me or other Fanfic authors, come join the Emerald Library on Discord. You can find me and others there. My handle is the same in both locations. Also, I don't have a beta or someone to nitty-gritty proofread me, so I do as much as I can with what I have available. Apologies if it isn't perfect, but if someone wants to put up with my busy body and forgetful mind to help out, reach out to me on Discord.
That's about it.
-Manke
