AN: So here is the next chapter, and honestly I was lucky to get it out today. Like honestly, it is so hot right now, I am practically melting! Still, it's here and it's my third updated chapter this week, so I am pretty happy with that. That said I hope you all enjoy this chapter and leave a review.
Thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or Percy Jackson.
( - )
(Last Time)
"Yeah," Robin nodded, before after a pause he shrugged. "I don't think it was intentional though. He acted on instinct to protect the doctor, it was probably just as much Artemis and my fault for not stopping Black Spider before he got to the room, as it was Percy's.
"Accidents do unfortunately happen in our line of work." Kaldur nodded, his tone filled with understanding. "This why it's best not to dwell on what you can't change."
Robin nodded at that, even as he looked over to where Percy was still talking with Batman. Both of them standing opposite to one another, talking, like equals.
( - )
Chapter 13
( - )
(In the backstreets of New Orleans, several days ago)
It was warm in New Orleans that night, but despite the heat of the day still clinging to the land, an elderly man in a dark, black, old fashioned looking, suit still walked through the city's back alleys, a cane in hand a stoic expression on his face.
The old man in question, despite looking to be nearly ninety year old, still had a confident and strong gait, even as he came to a stop at a nearby door. His eyes roving over the plain looking door, before they moved up to look at the words displayed overhead; 'MADAM XANADU'.
Looking up at the sign, a wry smile played around the man's mouth, even as he dug about in his suit pocket and pulled out a pocket watch, his slightly misty blue eyes fixing on the black and white picture of a young woman that was contained within for a moment, before, with another wry smile, he entered the building.
Moments after he entered, his immediately gaze taking in the gaudy, silk draped, candlelit interior, an exotic looking woman also entered the room. The sensual looking woman pushing her way through a beaded curtain at the far end of the as she did so, her dark, almond shaped eyes locked unerringly on the old man, even as she sashayed towards him, her many jewelled necklaces and bangles clinking together, and her silk like skirt flowing out behind her as she moved.
Smiling coyly at the man, the woman gracefully sank into a nearby seat, her dark gaze locked unflinchingly on him.
"And how can Madam Xanadu help you." The now named Madam Xanadu asked in a lilting tone, before she paused and then continued knowingly. "Ahh I see, there is someone you wish to speak to..." With that said, her dark eyes flickered down to the watch in his hand. "Your… wife, I believe…?"
The man cocked his head to the side in curiosity as he heard that, his rheumy eyes fixed on the much younger woman, before he nodded. "Yes, my wife, my beloved Inza."
Xanadu nodded at that, gesturing for him to take the seat opposite her, a round table with a crystal ball upon placed squarely in between them.
Seeing the gesture, the old man sat down, even as Xanadu cleared her throat expectantly.
"Oh right." The man nodded, pulling out a wad of money from his pocket, before offering it to the woman, who in turn just took it from him and nonchalantly stuck it in her cleavage, after which she closed her eyes, her hands moving to hover above her misty crystal ball as she did so.
Suddenly, as if in response to her actions, a phantom wind blew through the room, and the table shook, even as Xanadu's hair started floating into the air, defying gravity.
The old man raised an eyebrow at these theatrics, even as he shifted back in his seat to watch the show, the wry smile once again on his deeply lined face.
"Oh… My darling... How I missed you." Xanadu suddenly intoned, her voice turning wispy and hoarse, and her eyes glowing and intense pure white as she did so. "I'm so lonely here... and cold..."
Instead of being impressed by this display though, or unnerved, as was probably the usual response, the man instead burst out laughing.
"Ha! That's the best you could do?" He chuckled, his dry, wispy voice holding a hint of both mockery and amusement to it.
Xanadu's eyes turned back to normal in response to the interruption, her dark eyes narrowing and her nostril flaring with anger. "You fool! You have broken the spell! Your wife is now forever lost!"
The old man, instead of being scared, just let out another dry, mocking chuckle. "That was supposed to be my wife? Ha, my little spitfire would have kicked my ass for throwing away good money on you!"
He was being rude, he knew that. But at the same time it amused him to mock these charlatans, these fakes who pretended to have mystic gifts, these scumbags that conned and manipulated vulnerable, grieving people.
Smiling darkly at that thought, the old man locked gazes with the young woman, only to pause, the smile sliding off his face as she didn't explode with outrage like he expected.
Instead the woman had frozen, her eyes wide and her posture suddenly very stiff.
"Oh come on, yet another trick?" The old man asked dryly. He would admit she was a better actor than most, and definitely had the commitment, but still.
"Kent Nelson…" Xanadu spoke, her tone completely different that before. Her voice now holding a distinctly melodic note to it, as well as a confidence and power that wasn't there previously.
On top of that the atmosphere in the room suddenly felt much denser and warmer, the air within the room becoming almost stifling as the now named Kent Nelson stood up, his cane gripped tightly in his hands.
"What is this?" Kent demanded, all his previous amusement and condescension fading. This was really magic. On top of that it was of a type he wasn't familiar with. Sure he had witnessed and dealt with multiple types of magic before, including possession, but this felt different.
"You are not long for this world, Kent Nelson." Xanadu continued, her words blunt, and her face lacking any emotion as she spoke.
Kent scowled at that, standing a little taller as he did so. "Is that a threat?! I've been alive a long time, so you should know, I don't fear death! In fact I am ready for it! Your threats don't scare me!"
"This is not a threat, Kent Nelson, it is a statement of fact." Xanadu replied, a hint of amusement entering the voice now, though again her face remained blank and emotionless. "I am not here to threaten you Kent Nelson, nor to warn you. I have seen your fate, and it is inevitable. Instead I come with a message…"
"A message?" Kent asked cautiously.
"Things are in motion that cannot be stopped. Fate, that which was once set in stone, is now influx. The Son of the Sea has arrived from the realm of chaos, the balance between chaos and order, light and dark, good and evil has now shifted." Xanadu continued, the voice remaining calm, despite the content of her words. "This I have seen!"
"Why are you telling me this?" Kent demanded, his brow furrowing, and his knuckles turning white as he gripped the handle of his cane tighter. "If I am soon to die, why tell me? Why torture me with what is to come, when I can't change it!"
"Because you still have a part to play before the end, and not as Doctor Fate, but as Kent Nelson. Events will soon be in motion that will bring you into contact with the Son of the Sea. When that happens you will have a choice to make. And when that time comes, you must choose wisely." Xanadu replied bluntly, her tone firm and uncompromising.
"How do you know all this? What, no, who are you? You have the presence of a divine being, but you are not one, or at least not one I recognise. You are not a divine being as I know them, so who are you?!" Kent demanded, his eyes flashing as he met Xanadu's glowing purple orbs.
This being, she felt like a goddess, yet at the same time she didn't.
Kent, whilst in the guise of Doctor Fate, had met several gods and goddess before, from multiple pantheons, and this woman, she didn't have the agelessness nor the intensity that those ancient gods had. Nor did she have their overwhelming arrogance. Instead she felt almost youthful, or at least when compared to the gods he had interacted with previously.
"I have given you my warning, cryptic though it might be. It is for you to decide on what you do next." Xanadu replied softly, her voice for a moment holding a certain note of frustration and sadness, but only for a moment before it went back to being calm. "Goodbye Kent Nelson, I hope you find the peace in death, that you were not able to in life."
"Wait!" Kent shouted, his teeth clenching as he felt the presence suddenly vanish, even as Xanadu collapsed bonelessly back into her seat, her eyes no longer glowing, but instead rolling into the back of her skull.
"Damned gods!" Kent cursed, they were all the same, bound by the ancient laws as they were. They could help, but only so much, and only if they wanted too.
More often than not though, instead of helping, they instead deceived and manipulated, sometimes in order to work events so that they went in their favour, whilst at other times they just did it for their own amusement.
Xanadu stirred slightly at his curse.
Before she could fully awaken though, or before Kent could say or do anything else, another person appeared in the room and grabbed the old man. The newcomer's long, dark hair glinting in the light of the room, and his bared teeth glittering as he seized the surprised and off-guard Kent, after which he disappeared in a flash of light.
With Xanadu seemingly awakening moments later, her dark eyes glinting purple as they shifted around the room, before her gaze eventually came to rest on the elderly man's cane, even as it floated up into the air, and then disappeared in a flash of golden light.
( - )
(Mount Justice, in the present)
The main chamber of Mount Justice was busy that morning, as both Kid Flash and Superboy battled one another, both of them moving back and forth across the room as they fought. The both of them honing and practicing their hand to hand combat as Wally used his superhuman speed to go up against Superboy's superhuman strength and invulnerability.
For the last few minutes the both of them in bit of a stale mate, with Kid Flash blurring back and forth, relying on swift, yet powerful strikes to Superboy's joints, relying on hit and run tactics and precise, targeted strikes. Which was his only choice really as the Superman clone's body was otherwise too durable for him to cause any real damage.
Superboy meanwhile kept his guard up, occasionally lashing out with his feet and fists when he saw an opportunity or an opening, but otherwise just weathering Kid Flash's onslaught. The two powered heroes having been battling it out for upwards of half an hour now, with Kid Flash looking all the more weary because of the length of the spar than the clone.
On the other side of the room both Artemis and M'gann could be seen also training, both of them again working on their hand to hand technique, as the Martian stayed on the ground, and didn't use her powers. With M'gann instead relying on her physical fitness, flexibility and strength as she fought with the far fitter, and better trained Artemis.
The blonde archer proving herself to be a far superior fighter in hand to hand than the Martian. Not that she rubbed this in though, as instead she offered pointers where she could, and deliberately lightened her punches when they were aimed at vital spots. Not so much so that they wouldn't still connect and hurt, but enough so that one of them landing wouldn't put the Martian out of the fight or hurt her too much.
Supervising this training was recently hero, Black Canary, or Dinah Lance, the blonde superhero having just recently arrived at Mount Justice in order to see how things were going, before she headed out on patrol.
At present, she was watching the ongoing fight from the side-lines her eyes fixed on both Artemis and M'gann, with her occasionally shouting out corrections to both of their forms. On top of which she also stop the fight every now and then, so as to correct M'gann's stance, or show her how she should, or could have blocked one of Artemis's punches or kicks. That or she turned to Artemis and pointed out flaws in her style, flaws that her opponents, those who were better than her, could take advantage of if she wasn't careful.
On the other side of the chamber to these two ongoing sparring sessions, Percy, Kaldur and Robin were all also fighting it out. All of them eager to stretch their limbs and train, especially since they had not been able to go on a mission since the one with Roquette, which again is why they were all blowing off steam at the moment.
With Robin and Kaldur both wearing their costumes, like the majority of the heroes present. With Robin having also extended his staff, the metal pole spinning easily in his hands as he danced around mixing acrobatics into his fighting style with seamless ease. Whilst Kaldur was a bit more reserved in his style of fighting, with him wielding both his water bearers with practiced ease, both of which he had currently manipulated into the form of cutlasses.
Percy meanwhile, instead of his usual kit, instead wore a pair of trainers, his shorts, a baggy T-shirt, and finally his intricately carved, Celestial Bronze cuirass. Both of his hands and forearms similarly clad in a pair of gleaming, bronze coloured gauntlets as he duelled both Aqualad and Robin in a two on one fight.
His chosen weapon for the occasion being an Amazonian halberd, an absolute beast of a weapon. One which had a five foot long, metal shaft, which in turn had a long, metal spike on one end, and an axe like blade, with a hammer like counter end, and another bladed spike on the other end.
Suffice to say the weapon was probably just as heavy as it was deadly, then again it was meant for Amazonians, all of whom were stronger than a normal human.
Not that this bothered Percy too unduly, as he too was much stronger than an average human, and as such he was able to swing the unfamiliar weapon around with ease. His face set in concentration as he focused on fighting off his two skilled opponents. A feat which was made all the harder by the conditions that he had agreed to before the fight began. Conditions which included him not being able to use any of his abilities which were related to controlling either water or earth.
"Hyah!" Robin shouted, twisting in the air as he leapt over the spiked end of Percy's weapon, even as he hit the ground with a roll, his arms already moving as he whipped his staff around, the weapon blurring through the air as he tried to know Percy's legs out from under him.
Taking a step back at this, Percy avoided the low sweeping blow, even as he swung the halberd through the air. The bladed end practically singing as he angled his hands, constantly manoeuvring them as he swept axe head in the direction of Kaldur.
Only for the Atlantean to back off, his blue eyes narrowing as he then rushed in moments later, no doubt hoping to get in close in order to limit Percy use of the heavy, two handed polearm.
"Nice try!" Percy called out, the shaft slipping through his hand as he swung it round, the spiked end swishing out behind him, nearly tripping Aqualad over, even as Percy then whipped it up and thrust it forward like a spear.
Raising one of his swords, Kaldur deflected the spike, and twisted, his body revolving as he swung his other sword at Percy. Only to hit nothing but air as Percy used the momentum of his deflected thrust to not only dodge the swing, but to also bring the hammer like end of the halberd around in a brutal strike.
Ducking low and rolling back, Kaldur dodged the hammer strike, even as Robin took the opportunity this created to dance forward and lunge at Percy's exposed back, his staff swinging down at the older teen's head.
Swivelling around though, with unnatural reflexes, Percy managed to raise the halberd in both hands and block the staff, a grin spreading across his face as he then unleashed a kick into the overextended Robin's chest. The blow knocking the younger teen straight off of his feet, and sending him smashing into the ground a few feet away.
"You need to practice caution, never fully commit to a strike, not unless you know for certain that it's going to land." Percy lectured, bringing the halberd down, and resting it on his shoulders as he then pivoted, his hands then lifting the weapon using the momentum of the pivot to swing the axe head at Kaldur.
Dancing back to avoid the blow again, Kaldur then once again rushed forward his eyes fixed on Percy's momentarily unguarded left side. Percy's body having naturally twisted to one side due to the strength of the strike, and the weight of the weapon.
"You should take your own advice." Kaldur called out as he closed in on Percy, both blades flashing in the air.
"And you shouldn't get ahead of yourself." Percy replied quickly his arms shifting as he released the halberd with one hand, allowing the staff part of it to swing around his body, using himself as a pivot, even as he swung it around for another strike.
Seeing this Kaldur used both his swords to block, even as he gave ground. He didn't want to try and block the full force of that weapon.
Shattering the blades, Percy's arms then jerked a little as he took a step forward, stopped the halberd near the end of its swing, after which, using inhuman strength, he then swung it back around for another strike.
"Shit!" Kaldur hissed, his eyes narrowing as he saw what Percy was doing. Even as he rushed forward, the water bearers reforming their blades as he did so.
Only for a grunt of pain to leave his lips as the halberd hit him. Fortunately though it wasn't the deadly, bladed end, nor the hammer, instead it was just the metal pole of the weapon smashing into his side as he moved in too close. Not that that meant it didn't hurt, as honestly the force of the blow nearly knocked him straight off of his feet, and it would definitely leave a bruise.
Fortunately though he could bare the pain, as he instead continued his assault, delighting in the fact that he had gotten in close, even as he closed in on Percy, his blades raised.
Seeing this Percy dropped the halberd, taking a step back as he did so, his eyes fixed on the oncoming Kaldur. Only for him to then throw caution to the wind and take a step forward, his now free hands rising to catch Kaldur's wrists, even as his head shot forward.
"Gah!" Kaldur gasped, wincing in pain as he felt Percy grip his wrists in an iron like grip, even as the team leader full on head-butted the Atlantean in the face, his nose crunching, and spewing blood as he did so.
Releasing Kaldur's wrist, Percy then lashed out with his foot, and in a similar move to how he dealt with Robin, he landed a hard kick to his gut, knocking him clean off of his feet and sending the groaning, bloody Atlantean hurtling backwards.
Smiling slightly, Percy turned his head and glanced back at Robin, his smile widening as he saw the younger teen was once again on his feet, though noticeably he was still using his staff as a crutch of sorts whilst he regained his breath.
The kid was persistent, that was good!
"Oi Percy, we're tagging in!" A familiar voice suddenly called out, even as Percy slipped a foot under his fallen halberd and kicked it up, catching it in both hands as he did so.
"Who is we?" Percy replied, turning to Wally as he did so, only for his eyes to widen as he saw a grinning Superboy thundering towards him, even as the costumed Kid Flash blurred away in a red and yellow blur.
By this point, Dinah, Artemis and M'gann had all also noticeably paused in their own training session to watch as the clone and speedster rushed the team leader, even as Aqualad pushed himself back to his feet. His enhanced Atlantean constitution having already allowed him to recover from Percy's kick, though noticeably his face was still quite bloody. With Robin likewise on the way to recovering enough to continue the fight.
"Oh shit!" Percy muttered to himself, swinging his halberd around as he did, putting all his strength into it as he met Superboy's head on charge. The hammer portion of the halberd smashing into the Kryptonian's head with a loud crunch. The force of the blow knocking Superboy clean off of his feet, even as it dented the head of the hammer.
With a loud thud Superboy hit the floor and rolled, the three watching heroine's all groaning and grimacing at the sight and sound from the collision.
Ignoring them and the clone though, Percy instead swung his now partially ruined weapon around, his eyes on the red and yellow blur as he tried to hit him. Only for Kid Flash's speed to be too much as he landed several hits on a row on Percy, each one making him grunt as Wally aimed kicks at the joints of his legs, and punches and punches to his unarmoured head.
The force of Kid Flash's punches, although much weaker than Superboy's, and both Aqualad and Percy's too for that matter, still having enough force behind them to sting, even as one of his punches to Percy's face bloodied his lip.
With Percy absentmindedly spitting out a gob of crimson, gold dusted liquid from his mouth and onto the chamber's floor, even as he wiped his mouth with his hand and used the moisture from his own spittle to heal the small cut on the inside of his mouth.
Growling inwardly at this, Percy swung his halberd in a three sixty degree arc, driving Wally back even as both Robin, Aqualad and the newly recovered Superboy moved forward, all of them looking charging at him as one.
"Everyone attack him at once, we'll overwhelm him!" Kid Flash shouted, coming to a stop between Aqualad and Superboy as he did so.
Scowling as he heard that, Percy hurled his halberd at the trio, putting as much force behind it as he could. The action making both Aqualad and Kid Flash dodge, slowing them down, even as Superboy caught it without issue.
"Throwing away your only weapon! That was stupid!" Robin crowed from behind him, lunging forward at the same time, his staff swing towards Percy's unprotected head.
Only for it to never make it, as Percy, with almost preternatural reflexes, turned and caught it in one hand. Wrenching it forwards as he did so, even as his other hand shot out to land a punch to Robin's gut.
Robin though was ready this time, as without a seconds thought he released the staff and jumped backwards. His eyes flicking over to his three other teammates, all of whom were charging at Percy from behind. A cocky smirk spreading across his face at the thought of their leader finally being taken down, as, although he was on better terms with Percy now, he still didn't enjoy being kicked around in training by the other, older, and significantly more powerful teen.
"We've got him!" Superboy shouted, throwing away the halberd as he rushed Percy, relying on his super strength and fists instead as he did so.
"He's surrounded, he cannot fight all of us off!" Aqualad added on, his water bearers having taken the form of hammers as he charged at Percy too.
"Don't count him out yet though, he's a trick bastard!" Kid Flash added on, regulating his speed so as to not get too ahead of the others as he did so, after all there was always the chance that Percy could catch/ hit him, and then use him to slow or distract the others by knocking him into their paths, if he got too far ahead.
Percy grinned as heard their words, his grip on the staff tightening as he saw them charging him from four different directions, cutting off any chance of escape. They thought they had him, and honestly, without using his hydrokinetic based abilities, or his geokinetic based ones, they were almost right.
Only they hadn't factored one thing in, he had a trump card.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Percy concentrated on one of his less used domains, a tugging sensation spreading out from his gut, even as he raised his staff in the air, before, without a word he then slammed it into the ground beneath him, cracking the floor.
His eyes flicking open as he did so, even as a lightning exploded from his body and spread out in a crackling dome, the air in the chamber suddenly whirling around Percy like a hurricane. The gale force winds picking up detritus and flinging it out in all directions.
"What the hell!" Kid Flash shouted, even as the dome of lightning hit him and hurled him backwards through the air, bolts of lightning running up and down his body, making his limbs twitch and his body smoke as he struck the floor some dozen or so metres away. His costume managed to protect him from the worst of it, but still, it was still stung quite a bit!
At the same time Superboy, Aqualad and Robin were all treated to the same shock treatment. The lightning holding enough power to it, to jolt all the heroes, but not enough to kill them, or to stop their hearts or anything like that.
Groaning on the ground all around him, Aqualad and Superboy were the first of the group to make it to back their feet. Both of them looking over at Percy warily, even as the older, dark haired teen twirled Robin's staff through the air, bolts of lightning visibly trailing over his body and along his staff, even as eyes became two orbs of glowing, crackling lightning. The wind around him intensifying in its strength with every second that passed, even as the lighting continued to arc off of his body, scoring the ground around him with dark, sooty patches.
"You're kidding me! He can control lightning too!?" Robin groaned, shakily pushing himself to his feet as he did so, his gaze flicking over to the other three. "Did you know that?"
All three of them shook their heads in the negative.
"Come on, this shouldn't stop us!" Aqualad cut in, his voice steady as he pushed down his surprise and focused on the task at hand.
"You got that right!" Superboy growled, his face twisting in a scowl, even as his hands twitched. The clone had actually been hurt by the lightning show just now despite his Kryptonian invulnerability.
"Wait, Superboy, did it effect you?" Robin asked quickly, focusing on the clone's twitching hands as he did so. "Because if it did, then that means, well that means that either Percy is carrying some Kryptonite, which is unlikely. Or his abilities are magic in nature!"
Aqualad's expression didn't change at that statement, he had already suspected that such was the case.
Percy however just smirked slightly, his gaze flicking to Robin for a moment.
As for Superboy, he just growled and shrugged the comment off, his attention instead on Percy, his hands clenching into fists as he prepared to deal out some pain!
Kid Flash however just snorted with laughter. "Come on Robin, what crap are you smoking?! There is no such thing as magic! Percy's powers are biological, either from a mutation of some sort in his genes, or due to the mixing of human DNA with alien!"
Kid Flash had come to the resolute opinion that Percy's was some kind of cross between an Atlantean, an Amazon and an alien.
Robin frowned at that, and opened his mouth to retort, however before he could Superboy threw caution to the wind and charged at Percy.
Roaring as he did so, the clone quickly closed in on the older teen, his hands clenched into fists as he bull rushed him, hoping to get in close so he could use his far superior strength to bring Percy down.
Seeing this, Percy swung his staff around and thrust it forward like a spear, lightning rushing down it as he struck Superboy in the chest. The staff acting like a supercharged cattle prod as it blasted Superboy back again.
Ignoring this though, the other three also leapt into action. With Robin hurling three bird-a-rangs at Percy, while Wally blurred away and attempted to hit his legs out under him, with Aqualad using Robin's attack as a distraction whilst he charged in clos from the front.
Unfortunately for them though their makeshift plan was not good enough to catch Percy off-guard. As, without warning Percy raised his freehand and then used his limited Aerokinesis to create a gust of wind which in turn altered the trajectory of Robin's projectiles, making them miss him as they instead shot past him and towards Kid Flash, forcing the speedster to break off his predicable attack as he stumbled to one side in order to dodge the unexpected bladed projectiles.
Following on from that, Percy whipped his staff around using his enhanced strength to knock Kid Flash's legs out from under him, even as he then whipped his staff up and then brought the lightning infused weapon down on the partially airborne speedster, lightning still crackling along the staff as he followed through with his attack and slammed Kid Flash into the ground.
Not pausing for a moment, Percy pivoted on his foot, his staff swinging out for Aqualad this time. His sea green eyes narrowing as he saw how close the Atlantean had gotten whilst he was dealing with Wally.
With the dark skinned Atlantean having lunged for him, both hammers raised and the tattoos on his arm glowing brightly as he aimed to bring them both down on Percy's head.
Twisting Percy raised his staff to block, grunting for a moment as Aqualad's water bearers hit his staff. But only for a moment though, before he grinned, yet more lightning arcing off of him as he did so.
In response the water making up Aqualad's hammer dispersed. But instead of crying out due to his close proximity to the lightning, Kaldur instead grinned. The lightning flowing down his arms, even as his tattoos glowed even brighter.
"What?" Percy muttered, completely taken aback himself now, a look of both surprise and curiousity spreading across his face as he locked eyes with the white haired youth.
With Aqualad having taken advantage of the surprise he caused, as he lunged forward and rammed his fist into Percy's face. The force of the Atlantean's punch snapping his head to one side and making him grunt, his lips smashing into his teeth even as he felt the cartilage in his nose crunch. His cloak of lightning dispersing at the, due mainly to his loss of concentration, and only limited control over the element.
Following through with his attack, Kaldur then gripped the front of Percy's armour with both hands, and thrust his leg behind Percy, even as he knocked him to the ground. With him once again following through with his attack, his legs wrapping tightly around Percy's waist, even as he used his arms to put lock the older teen's right arm and neck.
Sliding down low, Robin then took that moment to kick Percy in the chest as he tried to push himself up, once again knocking him back down, after which the Boy Wonder twisted around and gripped Percy's other arm, pulling it out straight and to him, even as he used his legs to keep Percy in place, putting the older teen in yet another lock.
"Superboy!" Aqualad gasped out, struggling to hold Percy as he bucked and struggled, the veins in the older teen's arms and neck bulging, even as lightning once again began to crackle over his body. The Atlantean's apparent resistance to lightning, and Robin's costume, protecting them both from being electrocuted even as they held him in place. "Get him now!"
"This isn't over!" Percy gritted out, struggling now as he tried to throw both Aqualad and Robin off of him, only for his struggles to stop when the pissed off Superboy leapt at him and landed flying elbow into his gut. The force of the blow creating a loud clang as the punch smashed into his armour, knocking Percy into the ground, and knocking all of the air out of his lungs too, even as the force of the blow almost folded him in two.
"Do you give!?" Kid Flash asked, zipping over now, Robin's staff now in his hands as he pointed the tip at Percy's head, even as the other three kept him down.
"Urgh, yes, fine! I give!" Percy grunted, his voice coming out strained now as Aqualad maintained his arm lock around the Demigod's neck and right arm, even as Robin kept his left arm outstretched and useless, whilst Superboy stood on his armoured stomach using his super strength to keep him on the ground.
In response, the moment he admitted defeat, all four of them backed off allowing Percy to struggle to his feet. Even as M'gann and Artemis whooped and cheered for the victors from the other side of the chamber.
"Yes, victory!" Wally cheered, thrusting both arms into the air in celebration as he did so.
"Dude, it was four on one!" Robin laughed, rolling his eyes as Wally continued to cheer and preen, even as he began collecting up his equipment. "And he was handicapped, it wasn't exactly a fair fight…"
"A victory, is a victory all the same." Aqualad nodded, reaching out to help Percy up as he did so.
"Thanks." Percy nodded, massaging his stomach as he did so. "But yeah, you got me. Then again I wasn't expecting Wally, and you, Superboy, to get involved."
"Seemed like a good idea at the time. Expect the unexpected." Superboy shrugged.
Wally rolled his eyes at Percy's comment too. "Yeah and we didn't think you could go all Thor God of Thunder on us! I mean come on man, what was with the whole lightning thing, since when could you do that, and why haven't we seen it before!?"
"I will admit, that took me by surprise too!" Dinah spoke up now, approaching the group with both Artemis and M'gann as she did so. Her eyes fixed on Percy, her expression curious, if also a little cautious.
Black Canary had been one of the heroes, along with Batman, who were initially not too pleased about Black Spider's death in the last mission. Though thankfully she, like most of the other naysayers, did accept that it was accidental. With the authorities confirming such when they collected Black Spider's body, investigated the scene and the circumstances, and interviewed Roquette, and several others, all while under the watchful eye of Batman.
"Are you alright?" M'gann asked Percy in concern, walking past Black Canary as she did so, as she instead offered him a bottle of water, even as she looked him over.
"Fine, thanks." Percy nodded, taking the offered water and downing half of it, before moments later tipping the rest of it over his head, delighting in the re-energising feeling that came with doing this, even as he felt his aches and pains being rapidly healed. "And yeah, I have limited Electrokinetic and Aerokinetic abilities. I have nowhere near the same control over them as I do with water though, or even earth. That said, I am able to do some pretty basic tricks with them." Percy then shrugged easily.
"You call those things basic?!" Superboy muttered, looking down at his charred shirt, and massaging the area that Percy had jabbed with his lightning covered staff as he did so.
"In comparison to what I can do with water and earth, yeah." Percy shrugged.
"Dude, has anyone ever told you that you're seriously overpowered!" Wally grumbled.
Percy shrugged at that. "It's in my nature."
"You do like being cryptic don't you!" Robin sighed in exacerbation, not missing Percy's little smirk at his comment.
"Still, that was a pretty awesome fight!" Artemis cut in, changing the topic slightly now. "I'm kinda jealous we didn't get stuck in too!"
"There'll be time for that later, for now the focus needs to be on perfecting your individual techniques." Dinah replied. "Honestly, that whole spar got out of hand. You're all lucky no one got hurt!"
Superboy, Kid Flash and Aqualad shifted uncomfortably as they heard Black Canary's words.
Percy meanwhile shrugged. "We were in control of the situation."
"Hmm," Dinah hummed, a slight frown on her face now. "Still, you need to be careful. The team could be called out at any moment, you lot shouldn't be beating each other up, not when you might need to head out on a mission at any moment!"
Percy paused as he heard that, before a few moments later he nodded. "Right, yeah, sorry, I didn't think of that."
Dinah smiled a bit at that. "But still it was an impressive fight. You really do have a lot of tricks up your sleeve Percy."
Percy grinned at that, accepting the praise, even as he turned to the others. "The rest of them are pretty good too. They're all improving. I mean several of them took me by surprise, especially you Kaldur! Since when were you immune to electricity?"
"I'm not immune," Kaldur shrugged, putting his water bearers away as he did so, after which he gestured at the tattoos on both his arms. "However I do have a high resistance, in part it is because I use lightning in conjunction with water to create my weapons."
Percy blinked in surprise as he heard that. "Really? I never knew that. I just assumed you did the same thing I did and used pure water manipulation to form your weapons?"
Kaldur shifted uncomfortably as he heard that. "No, that is not what I do, that kind of magic is not common. Though there are some in Atlantis capable of such feats, my friends Garth…, and Tula, they study under Queen Mera and are both far more talented with that form of Atlantean magic then I!"
"And yet again about the magic!" Kid Flash groaned, throwing his hands up as he did so. "Can't we just call it what it really is, you know, science."
"You have super speed, and you're on a team with aliens, clones, Atlanteans, and whatever Percy is, is the idea that magic is real really that out of the realms of possibility?" Artemis asked mockingly, rolling her eyes at Wally's continued scepticism.
"Yes," Wally replied bluntly, before opening his mouth to say more, only for him to pause. A slight frown on his face, before he quieted down.
Percy smiled as he noticed this. Ever since the mission to protect Roquette, Wally had been acting differently. Sure he could still be annoying and immature at times, however Percy had noted that he was making an effort not to be. He was even holding back on antagonising Artemis now, though he did noticeably struggle at that at time, especially when the archer deliberately needled him.
Fortunately, before Artemis could do just that, they were all distracted by the oval door in the roof of the chamber opening, even as the red, android, hero, Red Tornado, flew down. The large robot landing without a word, it's empty robotic eyes surveying all of those present, including the costumed Black Canary for a moment, before it then turned and made to head off and go about it's business.
"Hey," Wally called out, his attention now fully on Red Tornado as he blurred over to stand in front of him, even as the rest of the team turned to the robot. "Do you happen to have a mission for us?"
"Mission details are Batman's area." Red Tornado replied in his usual metallic voice.
"True, but Batman isn't here right now. He's out with Green Arrow, so you couldn't you help us out? You know, if you are not busy." Robin replied, the Boy Wonder knowing exactly what the Dark Knight was up to today, after all he had been supposed to join Batman on patrol. Only for him to get out of it by instead coming to Mount Justice in order to train, and create stronger bonds with the team.
"We can be of help." Kaldur added in, giving a slight bow as he did so.
To the side Dinah rolled her eyes, pulling on her coat as she prepared to head off out on patrol. "Don't worry about it Red, they tried the exact same thing with me when I came in to give them some training earlier."
Several of the others turned to her at that.
"That said, I leave them to you." Dinah then continued, smiling now as she headed for the Zeta tubes, giving the team a final wave as she did so. "I need to head to work soon! So I'll see you all later!"
"Bye Dinah!" M'gann waved, a bright grin on her face, even as the rest of the team also waved, or said their goodbyes.
"Oh, and remember to behave!" Dinah laughed, giving them all that light-hearted warning before she stepped through the Zeta Tube and vanished.
"So anyway what about it, do you have anything we can help with?" Artemis asked enthusiastically.
Red Tornado, paused as he heard that, before he turned and walked up to a nearby console. Quickly opening up a large holographic screen as he did so, upon which an old man in a suit, and with a cane, could be seen.
"This is Kent Nelson, he is one hundred and six years old." Red Tornado then said, turning away from the console and looking at the team as he did so.
"Doesn't look a day over ninety." Robin muttered, Wally grinning slightly at the comment, even as the others ignored it.
"Kent Nelson was a charter member of the Justice Society, a precursor to your mentor's Justice League," Red Tornado forged on calmly, reaching out to the console again as he did so. The image on the screen changing as he did so to reveal a man in a blue and gold costume, with matching, gold cape and an odd looking, gold helmet.
Percy frowned as he digested this information. He didn't even know there was a precursor to the Justice League, let alone who this Kent Nelson guy might have been.
Kaldur however, seemed to recognise the image immediately. "Of course, Nelson was Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. He was Doctor Fate."
From the side, Wally couldn't help but snort with laughter, even as he leaned over to Artemis. "More like Doctor Fake. Guy knows a little advanced science and Dumbledore's it up to magic."
Artemis rolled her eyes at that, before ignoring him.
Percy meanwhile just shook his head. Wally was probably in for a big shock in the future, as magic was very real, just as it was also very dangerous.
"Kent could be on one of his walkabouts but he is the holder of the Helmet of Fate. It is unwise to leave such power unguarded," Red Tornado forged on unperturbed.
"He is like the great priests and priestess of Mars. I would be honoured to help him," M'gann spoke up, her own eyes wide with excitement.
"Me too! Magic totally rocks," Wally grinned. In response to which, Artemis rolled her eyes. The speedster walking over to M'gann as he did so, his smile widening as he saw the excitement on her face. "What are the chances we are both so into the mystic arts?"
Once again Percy shook his head in amusement. Yes Wally was slowly but surely growing gup and maturing, but it was an ongoing process and as such he could still act pretty juvenile at times.
Red Tornado ignored him, and instead handed Percy a golden key. "Take this, use it to unlock the Tower of Fate. You will need to take a leap of faith."
"Right," Percy nodded, not all too enthusiastic about the upcoming errand. After all, it didn't take an entire team to check up on an old man.
In fact a part of him was tempted to delegate the task to one of the others. That or he might just take one or two of the others with him on this errand, and then leave the rest back here so that they could continue their training whilst they waited for a real mission to come up.
( - )
AN: So what did you all think? I hope you enjoyed it and leave a review! If you have any questions please feel free to PM me, I am usually good at responding.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you later.
Greed720.