Sunny days at the Tower

Fingers nervously drummed a rhythm against her leg as she waited in the large foyer. To say Percy was nervous was an understatement, it was her first day on the job at Wayne enterprises as a security guard. She rechecked her short hair was in a ponytail as she prayed desperately to the gods that she did not mess this up because there weren't many opportunities out there for a 20yr old college dropout with her extensive record for trouble.

At long last a large bearded man with a scar running over one glassy eye in a black suit identical to her own stepped out of an elevator and made a beeline for her. Percy quickly straightened her posture and halted the tapping of her fingers as he approached. When he made it to her he gave her a quick once over and held out a hand to her "I take it your the new hire Percy, names Jorge and I'll be the one you primarily report to and the one you'll shadow for the day" Percy quickly adopted a confident smile as she shook his hand" yes sir, and thank you for the incredible opportunity to be here, this place is amazing" it was never too early to start laying on the flattery... She desperately needed this job. Jorge chuckled like he knew what she was doing and started towards the lifts at the back "come on then let's get you orientated and given a tour"

Orientation was...interesting, OK it was kinda boring. whilst there was a video orientation on the do's and don'ts of the tower and where the exits were for emergencies that went on forever. There was a more interesting part which was the equipment check out, the finger print/eyeball scan and the CQC and firearm efficiency test. While Percy didn't think she'd ever even try to turn on the company issued phone she was thankful for the radio, modern enough to communicate but not overly so like a phone that it would send up a signal to every monster in the area. "just to make sure you didn't lie on your resume and to get you access to all rooms or floors with special locks in place" Jorge said with a smile as they left orientation and started the tour.

The tour was alright, definitely more interesting than the orientation, she was introduced to some of the other security guards that were on break in the lunchroom and some of the more important assistants or secretaries that helped run the place. "you'll largely just be rotating and patrolling a couple floors a day, some of them will be switched occasionally each shift just to make sure you learn the layout of the building" Jorge said as they walked through a corridor with windows and door that looked on into a science lab bustling with activity. Percy was already cataloging rooms to be extra careful in, she didn't think she'd be able to pay back some of the things in those rooms in her lifetime if she broke them. As they came back around to the foyer to end the tour Jorge said "last bit of info while Mr Wayne and his charges are generally polite, they can be a bit standoffish in the mornings so don't take it to heart if they seem off to you" Percy just nodded along politely and the two parted ways, Percy to her assigned floors and Jorge back to wherever he was needed.

As Percy slowly walked the floors trying to keep herself awake she was interrupted by a small, balding middle aged man with glasses struggling to balance a multitude of coffees on two trays. "hey would you like a hand" Percy said as she carefully took a tray from the man before he dropped it "thank you, I was not looking forward to getting more if I dropped them" he said with a smile "are you new I don't think I've ever seen you before, I'm Simon by the way, part of the research and development department" he said as he rebalanced himself and the coffees "yeah I'm Percy the new security, nice to meet you" she said as they started down the hall. "well Percy since your new would you like to take a look at what you'll be guarding today" Percy looked at him startled but quickly smiled "sure! but it has to be something cool" she said laughing lightly

Simon smiled "cool it is indeed" he said as he opened the lab door just in time for a bright beam of red to carve through a block of stone in the middle of the room as if it were butter. "woah!" Percy exclaimed as she instinctively flinched back "is that a laser"

"indeed it is my dear" Simon said as he held the door open for her to pass through "we've been working on a prototype laser to be used for mining and stone work, make things easier you know" Percy nodded along, enamored by what she'd just witnessed, she looked over at the source of the beam and was surprised by the arm-like design of it and how it was being guided by a glove covered in electronics worn by another scientist. When she pointed this out to Simon he could only nod encouragingly "we designed it to act like an arm as we want it to feel like another extension of the body and the laser to be emitted from the so called palm of the bot" As Percy left the room, coffees delivered and a promise to come back tomorrow to Simon, she continued on to wonder down the halls of the tower.

Wayne tower after dark was in Percy's opinion quite nice, the halls were quiet and empty although she was beginning to rescind that thought. It was so empty she was starting to get paranoid, was that shadow moving, we're those footsteps in the other corridor, she was beginning to feel insane.

As Percy made a pass through the lab Simon had shown her the laser earlier that day an explosion rocked the floor she was on. In a burst of speed she was out the door and heading where she heard the explosion coke from.

As she passed around the corner into a new hall she saw one of her coworkers 'jax' she remembers stumbling out of a doorway along with smoke pouring out into the hallway. As she got closer though something seemed off about jax and the smoke, he was stumbling towards her trying to talk as he suffocated in the smog.

He also appeared to be deteriorating as he moved through the fog, it looked as if he was being stripped of skin and muscle as he moved towards her.

Percy pulled up short as Jax continued to stumble towards her but the smoke seemed to follow and keep him cocooned in his own personal cloud. Percy backed up now as a stumbling jax finally lost his head as the smoke cloud seemed to eat through his neck. As his body fell the smoke seemed to condense more onto his body stripping it to the retreated back as fast and quietly as possible only to bump in the corner of the hallway. The response was instantaneous: the smoke broke off from the body with unnatural speed making a beeline for her.

Percy broke into a dead sprint back down hallway after hallway till she took refuge in the science lab she started in. Percy quickly checked for cameras and seeing none started pulling water to her from the emergency shower in the corner of the room. As she did this smoke started filtering in the doorway, Percy was quick to send the water to cover it and keep it contained however the smoke seemed unperturbed and started to eat through the water molecules.

Percy started to panic as she looked for a way to fight the smoke or find another way out, pulling more and more water from the shower to slow the smoke down. As Percy quickly scanned the room she saw the laser still sitting in place on one of the tables on the side of the room, she quickly crossed over and started looking to power it up like she'd seen from the demonstration earlier.

With the controller glove on and power running through the machine, the metal arm-like appendage moved as a copy of her own hand movement. As smoke started to break through the water Percy aimed her hand at it and closed her fist. Instantly a hot beam of energy raced past her and punched a hole through the smoke cloud. A metallic screech of pain coroused through the room, which confused Percy to no end as she lined up the laser again. With another squeeze of her fist more of the smoke was disintegrated, however more of it seemed to leak into the room, enraged and desperate to put an end to the pain.

Percy began to back up as the doors fell open, the hinges turned to dust by the smoke. Percy turned more to dust through her continuous beam of heat when suddenly the smoke collapsed to the floor. Percy stayed rooted to the spot unsure of what was happening when the sound of footsteps sounded from the hallway. "I think I found it" a voice exclaims as they finally reach the open door Percy just stares at them, a small boy in spandex with a cape standing in the doorway.

"ahh hello little boy are you lost, I don't think it's safe to be here right now" the boy scowls at her before opening what appeared to be a computer on his wrist.

"it's robin and your welcome for saving you by the way" Percy gave a little huff and continued on "ok robin, wanna explain just what you saved me from then" Robin without even sparing her a glance (rude) said "I think any info worth sharing is above the paygrade of a security guard, an old one at that" Percy felt her eye twitch at that comment 'this little shit' she thought "and if you want to be helpful could you disintegrate the rest of the nanobots with that laser" Grinding her teeth Percy reactivated the laser and started the process "nanobots huh what where they after here at Wayne tower"

STILL not looking up robin continued

"obviously classified documents pertaining to a project located in the rooms central terminal, I thought you worked here why would you not know this" Stopping the disintegration to throw both hands in the air Percy yelled "OH MY GOD it's my first day can a girl not go a day without having to know all the secrets of her workplace" Robin finally looked up smirking "nope"

Percy was gonna tear her hair out or his, definitely his, her hair didn't deserve such treatment. Luckily for robins hair another boy, a bit older though with black hair and blue eyes, appeared behind him distracting her "hey Robin are we good to go" Robin looked up at him and nodded "were good Superboy let's go" as they turned to start back down the hall robin said to Percy "finish destroying the bots then go meet the authorities downstairs, they should be on their way" Percy huffed in agitation at being bossed around by a kid but obliged and destroyed the rest of the bots after they left.

Dealing with the authorities went easier than Percy thought it would, Jorge was still there albeit in another part of the tower but when he arrived he was able to sort the situation out and dismissed Percy for the rest of the night. As soon as Percy got back to her dingy little apartment she kicked off her shoes and immediately flopped onto her bed. She had to be in at lunch the next day and she needed all the sleep she could get after the day she just had.

When Percy arrived at Wayne tower the next day Jorge was there to greet her in the lobby. "hey rookie how are you after yesterday, a bit too much for a first day in my opinion" Percy have him a reassuring smile "yeah it was a bit more than I expected, and I'm sorry about what happened to Jax" Jorges small smile stuttered for a moment before he recomposed himself "it's a shame he was good man, I know that a card is being sent around for everyone to write something about him before we send it to his family to let them know they aren't alone in their mourning" Percy nodded solemnly before they turned to go up the lift.

As the lift doors opened a tall handsome man in a blue suit strolled out followed by a younger boy in a suit "Mr Wayne good to see you" Jorge nodded towards him Percy involuntarily straightened at the mention of the owner of the company "good to see you too Jorge, I hope the clean up from yesterday was easy enough though I am saddened to hear about Jax" As the two lightly conversed Percy did her best to be silent so as not to give herself the opportunity to put her foot in her mouth. Noticing the boy behind Mr Wayne Percy raised a brow, the kid was staring at her with a frown almost like he disapproved of her. 'What's shortstacks problem?' she wondered as Mr Wayne and Jorge finished their conversation. As both parties departed she noticed the kid whispering to Mr Wayne while both glanced at her, man she hoped the kid didn't hate her enough to complain about it, surely Mr Wayne wouldn't take the word of a kid on personnel hiring seriously, right.

The rest of the day was much the same as her first, patrolling and checking in on the work spaces, Simon was ecstatic that the laser his team had been working on had helped her. She watched him run off down the hall to brag about it to the other departments.

the rest of Percy's week was pretty relaxing and she was finally beginning to think that her first day was truly just a random occurrence. That all changed on the weekend, she was lounging on her bed reading a comic and in her pajamas when a voice loudly pounded the inside of her head

"DR FATE REQUIRES YOUR ASSISTANCE"

before she knew Percy was falling from an unseen portal that had opened up underneath her on the bed.

Cold...IT WAS SO COLD and wet, looking around all Percy saw was white "snow, why am I in snow"

"WOAH, who's the babe" a voice sounded out from behind her "wally shut up" another said, Percy twisted around to see who was talking and was just a tad surprised to see who it was.

A group of five teens, two girls and three boys. The two girls, one green skinned and red-haired the other tanned and blonde with a deep frown 'kinda reminds me of Annabeth' Percy thought.

The three boys where a red and freckled teen who looked like talking out his ass was a skill he wielded with grace, the next teen looked the oldest closer to Percy's own age, he was dark skinned with light hair with what appeared to be webbed hands in a surprisingly weather appropriate jacket 'the others must not have got the memo' she thought. He was looking at her oddly, for what reason she didn't know. Now the last one she was familiar with, tall, dark haired and blue eyed with a stony look on his face. Yeah he was totally the one who backed up tiny on her first day at the Tower.

"you again" he spoke up "wait, you know her. Superboy knows a total babe and kept it from us" the redhead interrupted only to receive a sharp smack to the back of the head courtesy of the Annabeth look alike.

Before another comment could be made the oldest teen stepped forward and offered a hand to help Percy to her feet "apologies, I am aqualad these are my teammates kid flash" the red head winked and shot finger guns at her "miss martian" the green skinned girl waved happily "Artemis" Percy for a second could almost believe this was her Artemis what with the continued frown and disapproval of the now named kid flash. "and this is superboy, who you appear to already know" aqualad finished.

"Yeah, she was at Wayne tower when Robin and I went to deactivate the fog" this caused Kid Flash to frown "first the fog and now the tower of fate, who are you?" said with an accusing tone that Percy was not ready to deal with.

"Percy and I work security at Wayne tower, can someone please tell me where we are and how do we leave because it is freezing" she said, teeth chattering as she hugged herself for warmth.

At that moment a golden glow to the side drew everyone's attention, a cane with a gold handle hovered in the air 'that has to be it' Percy thought as kid flash vocalized it. Percy took off after it as fast as she could followed closely by Artemis and kid flash after an indignant "hey"

Percy felt a tug on her singlet as her hand closed on the cane the same time as kid flash appeared next to her hand also on the cane and in a bright flash of light Percy felt herself get pulled forward in a dizzying motion.

Percy hit the ground hard and it was made even harder when a body landed on top of her. Groaning she pushed herself up, rolling the other body off her onto the floor, the brick floor...THE WARM BRICK FLOOR "YES HAHAHA I DID IT" Percy yelled in triumph. This cheer quickly melted away as she took notice of her surroundings, she was in a room of stairs that defied logic, running up the walls, across the ceiling and criss crossing through the air. Next to her Artemis and kid flash were groaning and getting to their feet, while across on another platform stood three people.

A lame looking magician holding a really old man hostage and some skinny creepy looking guy petting a cat.

"well would you look at that" the old man said as he dissolved his bonds and teleported over to them "quickly in here" he said, ushering them into an elevator that appeared behind them. "now" he said eyeing the trio as the lift rose "I'm Kent nelson and I know of these two young supers but who might you be miss" he said as he focused in on Percy

"Percy and no I don't know why I'm here, I was at home when a voice requested my help and rudely dropped me into the snow" she answered.

"ahahaha that sounds like something Nabu would do"

"who" interrupted kid flash

"why a lord of order and someone we will desperately need, unless the three of you are equipped to take on an opponent with tremendous mystical power"

The three looked between each other in confusion "um what's this about tremendous mystical power" Artemis asked

"klarion, that little freak with the cat out there is an actual lord of chaos the ultimate enemy of a lord of order like Dr fate"

"you're a lord of order" kid flash said with a raised brow

"oh not me, I'm just an old coot who used to put on the helm" Kent replied cheerfully

"OK well where is this helm" Percy asked with a seriousness that she did not often display

"this way" Kent said as the doors opened up to a whole new area that still looked exactly the same as the last.

As the group made their way further into the room two doors opened, one depositing the rest of the team and from the other out walked Klarian and the lame magician.

"hurry this way" Kent said as a giant bell was summoned in front of them

"GIVE ME THE HELM OLD MAN" screeched klarian as he dove at them. Percy was first to react, racing forward and knocking herself and Kent into the bell before klarian could reach them.

When Percy helped Kent up she saw they were on the roof of the tower and there floating in front of them was the helmet of fate. As Kent took a step towards the helm a bright hot beam hit him in the chest knocking him to the ground.

"KENT" yelled Percy as she dropped to her knees beside him.

Kents lips moved as if trying to tell her something but all Percy could hear was the sizzling of his melted chest and klarion cackling in the background. In a bout of frustration and desperate to stop the inevitable she slammed the helmet down on Kent's head. The effect was immediate Kent was absorbed in a golden flash of light and when it died away there lay a shriveled Dr fate on the ground.

"NOOOOOOOOO WHAT HAVE YOU DONE"

klarion screeched

"I need time" Dr Fate said as he slowly started to right himself

"You'll get it," Percy nodded, turning to face klarion. Percy stepped forward taking a small ballpoint pen that had been sitting in her pocket and flicking off the cap. Klarions frown instantly turned into a smile as he watched Percy's pen transform into her sword, riptide.

"ahhh a demigod oohhhh I haven't had such a fun play thing in century's, teakl go take a seat I'm going to enjoy this" he giggled.

Percy rushed klarion with a burst of speed, as he raised his hand to fire a beam she feinted left before moving right causing his shot to go wide "STAY STILL YOU MEANIE"

Percy made it to klarion and swung from the right hoping to lob his head off and finish this quick, only for her arm to bounce back as it hit an invisible force. Percy watched the air turn red in a dome shape around klarion and ripple from the point of impact before she had to dodge back and roll to the side to avoid the follow up swipe and beam of energy.

Her follow up swipes and lunges were all blocked the same way infuriating her to no end. "how we doing Dr fate" Percy called out

"I still need more time, use the tower, think clearly of what you need and it shall provide" she heard weakly from behind her.

Percy dodged back a few paces to put some distance between her and klarion before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a split second to focus. She then thought of her desperate need for water, lots of it. With the slow release of her breath she felt it, liters and liters of water pooling underneath the floor.

"oh look look teakl, the little demigod has a plan, '' Klarion laughed gleefully from within his dome.

"You're about to find out," Percy said as she plunged her sword into the floor, unleashing a geyser of water to crack through the floor and flood klarion inside his dome. "AAAHHHHH BLASTED CHILD OF THE SEA" klarion screamed, struggling to find purchase in his dome of energy "CURSE YOU CURSE YOU, THIS IS NOT FAIR" 'ahhh sweet music to my ears' thought Percy as she watched him struggle to breath. After a few moments of klarion seemed to fold in on himself, a red light starting to build from his torso "I WILL NOT BE TOYED WITH" klarion threw his arms out and an explosion from within him rippled through the water turning it to steam and shattering his dome of energy.

As soon as that dome shattered Percy was on him, slashing and stabbing with riptide praying that whatever damage she dealt would be enough, klarion however took great pleasure in dancing around her blade and occasionally blocking with his arms, strengthened by demonic energy. Starting to tire Percy once more went through a combo of hacking and slashing at klarion and finally what seemed to be a decent opening thrusted her sword towards his stomach, only for klarion to catch the blade with both hands and pull her towards him dealing a heavy kick to her sternum sending her skidding across the roof.

As Percy started to lift herself back to her feet she watched klarion laughing maniacally as he threw riptide off over the edge. Percy watched as klarion stalked towards her that whatever injuries she had inflicted upon him slowly started to heal eventually leaving him unharmed, Percy on the other hand was covered in a multitude of scrapes and bruises and sweating profusely.

Back on her feet Percy entered a boxers stance ready to step forward when a gloved hand gripped her shoulder halting her and making her look up over shoulder at Dr Fate as he said "you did well godling, now let me finish this", Percy was tempted to argue that she did more than well for one person facing off against a lord of chaos but managed to hold her tongue. Dr Fate moved forward with grace and slowly started to hover off the ground "your time here comes to an end witch boy, lords of order and chaos need an anchor to bound themselves to the physical plain and much like how i use the helm, you use something else" klarion raised himself to meet him at the same level "you're babbling Nabu" Klarion said hands glowing

Dr Fate cocked his head amused "am i" and with a sudden thrust twin bursts of light flew through the air, Klarion in self preservation threw up a red shield of energy only to never be hit. A strangled meow was heard as Teekl was blown across the roof

"NO, you would hurt a poor defenseless kitty, how low of you Nabu" klarion flew down to scoop up the cat "we both know that creature is no defenseless cat, and once your familiar is gone so too will you be" Dr Fate's hands started to glow again "NO NO NO MEANIE, BULLY, KILLJOY, I'M OUT OF HERE" and with a snap of his fingers a red portal opened up behind him to back into and out of existence.

As the danger had passed Percy collapsed to the floor huffing and ready to sleep for a week, she weakly turned her head to watch as Dr Fate slowly lowered himself to the ground in front of her his body slowly disintegrating into flecks of golden light. "This body has reached its limit, I require another" he looked down at her, a silent demand to relinquish her body to him. Percy frowned "ummm no, no way I'm being the new puppet" she said as she sat up.

"Dr Fate has been gone for too long and has allowed the darkness to grow, I need another" Dr Fate repeated. Percy tired and well past caring for the consequences offered up the team below her "Look I'm not going to be your new host but why don't you leave the helm in the hands of the super teen squad down below" after pondering the suggestion for a few moments Dr fate hummed in acceptance "Hmmm that is acceptable" he said as he vanished in flash of golden light leaving Percy alone on the roof.

"HEY" she yelled "AT LEAST SEND ME HOME" a moment later a portal opened beneath her again, getting a surprised yelp out of her as she fell backwards landing on her bed, in her room.

Tired and sore Percy's last thought before sleep caught her was 'Thank the gods that's over'.