Hermes shakes his head a bit as he says, "Black-Ops? What's that, a shoe company?"
Ares the war god huffed as he said, "No, Black-ops is short hand for Black Operations, more or less an elite unit of special forces soldiers who answer directly to a nations intelligence service and conduct off the book operations such as assassination's or out right helping over throw a nations government to replace it with a puppet government." He leaned back into his seat, looking at the ceiling. "They were very popular during the Cold War and still see limited service today. However, that raises another question for you." He leveled his gaze at the overseer as he asked. "What does an off the books black operations unit have to do with us?" He was honestly curious as he does remember one of his children doing some covert operations during the Vietnam War.
"That, my dear Watson, is a great question. One that will be answered... Right now." Nick snapped his fingers and pointed to the fireplace which exploded before turning into a theater-like screen so everyone could watch.
Hades just raised his hand and pointed at what he did. "I gotta learn that trick."
To which Athena raised an eyebrow as she asked. "Did you just do a Sherlock Holmes reference?"
Hermes muttered, "At least it isn't JoJo."
Poseidon tried to refocus the entire room and asked, "I must ask, who among us will be mortal in this viewing?"
Nick turned to Athena, "Yes I did." Before turning towards Poseidon, "That, I will leave for you to discover."
That got some of the gods to be a little nervous. "Well, lets get this show on the road then." Said Ares.
The screen was a blinding light with someone coughing and breathing heavily before the light faded to show a bunch of TV's with a window above. There were primitive medical devices strewn about, and a person strapped to a chair. But the screen was shown from the person's point of view.
"Wake up. Wake up!" A deep filtered voice said from the window.
"Where am I... Where's Nemesis?" The person asked. A TV nearby showed his face. It was Poseidon.
Said god was shocked as he asked quickly, "What is this!? What is going on!? And why am I strapped down to a chair!?" Ares was stroking his chin a bit as now this viewing had his attention.
"You'll find out." Nick said.
Athena watched and while she would be filled with glee for seeing her rival humiliated, this wasn't the right time. She was a little too curious about the view.
"Nemesis? What does she have to do with this?" Aphrodite asked.
Apollo nodded in agreement, "As do I. Why is she connected to our god of the sea?"
"You will see as we progress through this little series. Now please be patient." Nick said.
The gods were not happy but watched the screen. Nick sighed internally as he thought to himself, 'So impatient.'
Two shadow figures were seen in the window as one of them said, "You will answer our questions. Do you understand?"
Poseidon asked, "Who the hell are you?"
"That's not important. What's important is who YOU are. What's your name?"
"Fuck. You!"
Everyone was shocked at him using such language. Said god was fighting his urge to snort as that would honestly be his response to being in such a state.
"I've never known you to be a user of such language, Poseidon." Athena said.
Ares snorted, "I thought I'd be the one to do that."
Apollo chuckled a bit. "Well not what I would say, but I mean it gets the point across."
That's when Poseidon finally asked, "What am I in this world?"
Nick sighed, "You're a soldier in the CIA. You used to be a Marine Force Recon Captain. Several of you are soldiers."
Ares whistled as he looked at the god of the seas. "Here I thought you'd be in the navy, but a marine? OH! The irony!" He barked out loud in laughter.
The interrogator ignored the insult and asked, "Where were you born?"
Poseidon shouted, "Kiss my ass!" This was the wrong thing to say as he felt electricity course through his body, making him scream.
The interrogator then said, "Your name is Alex Poseidon. You were born in Fairbanks, Alaska. In 1961, you served in a CIA assassination team known as Operation 40. Is that correct?"
When Poseidon didn't answer, he was shocked once more which made him scream even louder. The interrogator then repeated in a raised voice. "Is. That. Correct!?"
"Yes..."
The new information was honestly a shock to the god as he honestly never expected to be in this deep, it honestly gave him a small chill up his spine. "Well, well oh the god of the sea is an assassin." Ares joked as the others were processing the information.
Poseidon glared at Ares, making the God of War stop slightly. Zeus narrowed his eyes slightly. He thought he was hearing his own voice, but couldn't tell.
Apollo soon asked, "Uncle, what did you get yourself into?"
"We will find out, so shut up and watch." Artemis said in an annoyed voice.
"Where's the broadcast station?" The interrogator asked while the TV showed flashes of different numbers.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"The numbers, Poseidon. What do they mean? Where are they broadcast from?"
"I don't know anything about any numbers!"
The TV in front of Poseidon showed a picture of a familiar Titan, "What about Atlas? Do you remember him? Give us what we want, we'll guarantee your safety."
Poseidon didn't say anything again so he was electrocuted once more.
The God of the Seas all of a sudden had a minor headache as he saw the numbers on screen. However, Ares was very intrigued as he was leaning forward in his seat. "So conditioning? Brainwashing?" He was now invested.
Athena looked at Poseidon with narrowed eyes at his behavior.
"This is getting dark." Hephaestus said.
Aphrodite shivered in fear.
"Let's start at the beginning. Cuba, 1961. The Bay of Pigs. We know you were there." The Interrogator said.
The screen faded to black before showing many different images of syringes, gloved hands, before being injected into a person's arm, all with the red numbers being shown. Poseidon responded, "No."
"DO NOT FUCK WITH ME, POSEIDON!! I know when you're lying! '61, the Bay of Pigs! What happened!?" The screen then showed America and Russia with their respective flags. Before showing old time footage. Including Fidel Castro and John F. Kennedy.
Poseidon laughed bitterly, "We all got killed."
"There's no use lying, Poseidon. We know you went in with Ares and Hermes." The screen then showed the two and brief clips of their missions.
"Ares... And Hermes."
Two said gods were shocked as Ares started small at first with a few chuckles, then burst out laughing. "OH THE BAY OF PIGS! HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
The others looked at Ares, "What are you laughing about, brute?" Demeter asked.
Ares just grinned as he said. "Sorry, but that's a spoiler." However, Apollo stepped in, "That aside, can we focus on the fact that Hermes and Ares both are working alongside Poseidon?"
"I don't know how I feel about that." Hermes shivered. Having a bad feeling about this.
"It's a strange combination of gods to be on excursions." Hera commented.
The screen continued to show classified reports with old war pictures and footage before the interrogator asked, "Atlas. Do you remember Atlas?"
"Castro. We went in to kill Castro." Poseidon said before the screen ended with a picture of him and faded to black.
"I take it Atlas is mortal as well?" Artemis asked.
"Possibly, if Poseidon and the others are mortal, they'd have to be." Hephaestus said.
Ares had to fight to contain the absolute manic glee he was having over this. The fact that the three of them were going to conduct the failed operation back in the Cold War made it all the more sweeter.
Hermes however, was more shocked, "Hold up! We're going to kill the leader of Cuba!?"
"Well this could end very poorly for them. Better make sure they eat plenty of cereal." Demeter said, eating her bowl of cereal.
The trio looked at Demeter before paying attention to the screen, unsure of their fellow goddess. Athena sighed as she put a hand to her eyes, just waiting to see their failure. "This is not going to go well."
Ares' voice was heard, "The police are going to be here soon. Let's make this quick." A single flame was shown before smoke appears to fade into a Cuban bar with Ares and Hermes sitting down at the counter.
"Ares, it's been awhile." The bartender, Carlos said.
"Not enough, Carlos. You know Hermes, right?" Ares nudged his head towards Hermes who nodded. "Carlos."
"And this is Poseidon." Ares introduced him."
"Sup, Carlos."
Transmission# 15-18. Designate: X-RAY
OP 40 team inserted with Bay of Pigs forces in Cuba
Target: Fidel Castro
Ares, Hermes, and Poseidon meeting contact at Santa Maria
0500 hrs April 17, 1961
Poesiden was looking at his other self and if he was honest with himself, he cleaned up pretty good for a mortal in the 1960s, "Well, well Poesiden, aren't you handsome?" Was all Aphrodite said with a wink to her fellow god.
Ares grumbled that Aphrodite wasn't complimenting him. After all, he cleaned up just as well. Hephaestus grumbled as well, but at this point, he was used to it.
A woman was dancing while looking at Hermes with a smirk. Hermes shook his head in amusement before looking at Carlos.
"So you got what we need?" Ares asked, to which Carlos pulled out a map.
"He'll be in here. Plantation. My old plantation. Our attack on the airfield should distract them enough to... Get you inside." Carlos explained.
"What about the evac?" Ares asked."
"We will have transport waiting for you. Just be there."
"Excellent." Ares put the map in his back pocket before cars pulled up and doors were opened and closed. Ares looked at Poseidon with a smirk. "We got company."
The doors opened to reveal the Cuban military.
Ares smirked, "Oh this isn't good, our cover has to be kept in order for the missions to go off without a hitch." Of course he knew how bad the operation went, but how did they play into it. Hermes and Poseidon weren't worried. If they were anything like their real counterparts, this would be nothing for them.
"Always plan for when your mission goes wrong." Athena said while putting her leg over her other one. Artemis sighed as she rested her head on her fist, looking bored. Hephaestus wasn't really that interested either as he simply fidgeted with his mechanics.
The militia commander began speaking in Cuban to everyone in the bar, before a soldier grabbed the girl's arm who was speaking in their native tongue in fear. One soldier looked at Poseidon and began speaking to him before talking in English.
"I said where you from?" The soldier asked, before walking towards him and Ares.
"Just be cool, Ares. Wait." Poseidon said."
"I'm talking to you!" The soldier grabbed Poseidon's arm before Ares pulled a knife out and stabbed the soldier's hand. He screamed before Ares smashed a bottle against his head.
Poseidon quickly pulled out a pistol and shot a soldier twice with the Hermes also shooting a soldier.
"Alright, everything is ready." Carlos said.
Carlos tossed an M16 with multiple attachments including a grenade launcher to Poseidon. Ares shot the soldier he stabbed before catching a rifle from Carlos.
Apollo spit out a drink as he exclaimed, "That went from zero to a hundred real quick! Also WHAT THE HADES, ARES!?"
Hades glared at Apollo for using his name as a swear. Ares shrugged, "Our cover was blown, and it's clear that the operation needs to be done."
"Now their entire military knows that there are Americans inside their country during a war filled with tension." Athena said with a glare at Ares, Poseidon, and Hermes.
Poseideon just looked at her as he quickly said, "This is not our fault."
"It doesn't matter who did what first, your mission is at risk and Castro now knows who is here." Athena argued back.
"Enough! Let's just watch the bloody thing." Zeus said, sighing deeply as he paid attention to the screen. Hestia watched and sighed before shaking her head as she poked the hearth.
"Gear up, boys." Poseidon said as Hermes pressed his shoulder up against the wall near the door. The local police started talking through a megaphone.
"Sorry about the bar, Carlos." Ares said, pulling out the knife.
Carlos dismissed it. "No problem. My men will dispose of the bodies."
Hermes took a look through the window before announcing, "Occupants leaving their vehicles- armed with shotguns."
Ares and Carlos pressed themselves to the other side of the door while Poseidon stood by Hermes. "Hermes, Carlos, lay down covering fire. We fight our way through the streets. Poseidon, on me."
Ares nodded at the screen, "Not bad, M16s against basic shotguns would be a bad thing. But in the hands of trained marines." His grin turned blood thirsty, "Will be a slaughter for the local police."
Artemis was seen deep in thought as she was looking at the situation. "So far, good strategy." But she was honestly worried for her fellow gods.
Hera watched and couldn't help but be bored, as carnage was not something she cared about watching. Poseidon was still weirded out by everything. Him being mortal, in the military, killing a dictator like Castro with his nephews. Hermes looked at Poseidon as he said, "Hey, will make it through this." Even though he was unsure himself.
Poseidon looked at him with a nod before turning back to the screen. So far, only half of the gods were watching. Demeter was focusing on her cereal, Hephaestus was meddling with his mechanics, and Aphrodite was more or less working on her make-up, however she did watch from time to time. Dionysius wasn't even in the throne room to look.
"Good luck, brother." Hades said under his breath.
"Let's go!" Poseidon said before Ares opened the door while Hermes and Carlos smashed the glass with the butt of their rifles.
Ares and Poseidon began firing at the police while stepping out of the bar. Hermes and Carlos laid down covering fire before Poseidon fired a grenade into one of the parked cars. It blew up and killed several of the police officers.
Hermes and Carlos made their way out of the bar as well before Ares ordered, "Clear 'em out! Move up the street! Hermes, take the right!"
"On it!"
Ares' grin never left as he nodded, "Good! Good! Fields of fire, controlled kill zones, and superior training against communist coppers. Dear Chaos, I love it." More than a few looked at Ares weirdly. Aphrodite looked at Ares like he was weird, despite her attraction to him.
Poseidon, however, was shocked at how easy his other self, a marine, was going about just killing Cuban police. Everyone else either weren't watching or had a contempt look, as they had no care for mortal lives. This made Nick sigh as he shook his head in disappointment.
More police cars began to show up as the four of them ran down the street. Two police cars drove past them, prompting Ares to shout, "Behind us!"
Poseidon loaded in another grenade before firing at the car, exploding in a giant ball of fire. Hermes and Carlos fired at the second car, killing all the officers, with Hermes announcing, "Hostiles down!"
"Let's keep moving!" Carlos said.
Hades just raised an eyebrow as he said in a deadpan voice, "Well, you think you could make more explosions because I think the country next over couldn't hear you."
Ares was just laughing, "Oh Chaos! This is like those funny action movies… Who was that director who did those again?"
"Typical of mortals. On an assassination mission, and just have to go in with guns blazing." Athena shook her head with Artemis agreeing.
"This way- Into the alley!" Ares ordered when a bunch of cop cars showed up and the police began firing at them. A Cuban voice began speaking on a megaphone.
"Reinforcements!" Hermes shouted as he backed up against a wall as bullets went flying. The others were backed up against the wall as well and tried firing back.
"Fuck, there's too many of them! Get to the alley!" Ares shouted. Poseidon loaded another grenade before firing, destroying at least three of the cars.
"Go!" Poseidon shouted, running into the alleyway. The rest of them ran in as well. In front of them was a car. Poseidon got into the driver's seat with Ares in the passenger's seat and Hermes in the back.
"I will see you at the airstrip! Suerte, my friends!" Carlos shouted as he ran off.
Ares was on cloud nine as his blood was pumping, he hadn't had this feeling since the second Titan War. Hermes was honestly a little scared as he was saying with a bit of a rapid pace. "Drive! Drive now! driving now would be good! Drive!"
"Retreat is never a cowardly tactic. It will always potentially be your salvation to fight another day." Athena commented.
Ares ordered Poseidon, "Hit it! Go!"
Poseidon put it in reverse before backing up and putting it in drive. Two civilians ran as Ares shouted, "Get the fuck out of our way!"
Once they were in the clear, Poseidon began driving extremely fast, passing cops and their vehicles. They ducked as the window glass shattered, "Roadblock ahead!" Hermes shouted.
"I see it." Poseidon acknowledged to which Ares shouted, "Floor it, Poseidon!"
Poseidon began ramming through the police, smashing through the cars before the screen turned white.
Hermes just looked at the sea god as he said, "No offense, but your driving SUCKS!"
Ares shrugged, "I thought he was decent."
"In a life or death situation, my driving was the only thing keeping us alive." Poseidon looked at him.
"He's no Evel Knievel, but he got the job done." Hephaestus said who looked up to watch the car chase.
"Why is this important? We already know their assassination attempt failed. Why are we watching this?" Artemis asked, a fist to her cheek and her elbow on her armrest.
Ares grinned as he looked to her, "Ah but the question you should be asking is "Why did it fail." and What happened as a result. Did one of us die? Did one or all of us get captured?" He left off on that to try and be vague.
Artemis' eye twitched as she glared at Ares. "Leave the intelligent questions to Athena, brute."
He just shrugged as he wasn't bothered by her insult. However for Hermes and Poseidon, those were honest questions which was why both were glued to the screen.
The screen went back to the interrogation room, showing Poseidon with a bloodied and bruised face with blood all over his shirt.
"He's fading away! Poseidon, you escaped from the police. The Bay of Pigs invasion had begun. You were heading for Castro's compound." The interrogator said, before realizing that Poseidon was beginning to faint.
"We're losing him! Do it again, we have no choice!" A different voice has said before Poseidon was shocked back consciousness. He screamed in pain before shouting, "What the... Fuck..."
Poseidon shivered at seeing himself so weak. Ares chuckled, "I'm rather surprised at how strong willed you are. I wonder if you would be so strong if such an interrogation were to be conducted on you now."
Poseidon glared at his nephew to which Ares stopped his chuckle, not wanting to piss him off. However the goddesses seeing this just looked at each other as if to say the one single word they were all thinking. 'Men.' before looking back at the screen.
The screen went back to white before fading back into Cuba where Ares, Hermes, and Poseidon looked over a warehouse near the compound. It was starting to become morning time.
"This is it. Carlos and his men should be hitting the airfield any... Minute." Ares said, before a flare shot up into the sky.
Ares nodded, "Not bad timing Carlos."
"There's the signal! Now, hook up! This is it!" Are and Hermes shot harpoons at the warehouse. Before hooking themselves to the rope. Poseidon followed close behind and hooked up before they slid all the way across to the front of the warehouse. They dropped down where Ares and Hermes killed two guards stealthily.
The three walked up towards the inside where a guard was speaking on the radio. "It's on you, Poseidon." Hermes said. And so Poseidon, through his eyes, walked behind the guard before using a thing of rope to wrap against his throat and choke him out.
Artemis was pleasantly surprised by the use of stealth that she had to give praise for her uncle, "Nice use of stealth and good teamwork. So far, so good."
"Perfect, they're all focused on the airfield. Convoy ahead, do not engage." Ares said, turning off the radio before they all pressed against the wall and knelt down before Hermes opened the door. They walked out and hid behind several large rocks. They watched as several military trucks and soldiers drove through the dirt road.
"Sit tight. Let them pass."
Ares said with a hint of sass, "What? We could take them, theirs not that many." Only for both Hermes and Poseidon to look at Ares like he lost his mind.
Athena was breathing through her nose to try and calm down from the stupidity of the God of War. Zeus was bored as he placed his elbow on his armrest and his fist was on his cheek.
Once the trucks and personnel had left, and the trio were sure that there weren't any more, Ares ordered, "Hermes- left flank. Move out!"
The trio made it through the road and into a shed-like area where they killed several of the military personnel there before making it up the stairs of the compound. "Move quickly! This way up the stairs."
"Got it." Hermes acknowledged.
"Castro's paranoid. With good reason. We've been trying to get him for three years." Ares commented.
"But today's the day we succeed." Poseidon said with confidence.
Hermes shook his head, "Don't get ahead of yourself, gotta make it to the objective first." Athena found herself agreeing with the God of Messengers.
"But you can't help but admire a man with confidence in his ability." Aphrodite commented with a smirk.
The trio could hear Cuban soldiers shouting at each other before Hermes stood in front of the door. "Stay close." Hermes said with Ares behind him and Poseidon in front of him.
Hermes opened the door before the trio shot every soldier in a second. "Clear!" Hermes shouted. The opening revealed the compound with several soldiers.
Ares just nodded in approval, "Still impressed with our teamwork." He started stroking his chin with a grin slowly forming. "Ya know, maybe going mortal every so often to fight in their militaries might be good for me."
Only for a collective "NO!" To be shouted at Ares. Say what you will about the gods, but even they know that a warmonger like Ares being mortal and a soldier on earth was a bad idea because he might try and cause World War 3.
"I forbid you from doing anything of the sort." Zeus said, gripping his lightning bolt.
Ares looked at his fellow gods as he said with a raised eyebrow. "I have a feeling you think I would do something very bad if you're not watching me.
There was a honest second before the whole place erupted in an explosion of voices pointing out everything he did if THEY WEREN'T watching him. "You caused the last two World Wars!" Shouted Athena to which Hermes added, "Not to mention the mess which was Vietnam!" Ares tried to correct him that technically that wasn't his doing, but they weren't gonna let him have a word as they continued.
"Now wait a minute! World War 2 was between Father and our uncles!" Ares pointed out to her.
Poseidon spoke up, "Can we just all agree that if Ares is not watched he will do something horrible that we have to clean up."
This got nods of agreement as Ares looked at them before having a curious face. "I have a distinct impression that you don't trust me." That was met with every god and goddess having a deadpanned face just staring at him.
"You helped frame me and my son by helping that son of Hermes steal Zeus' bolt. No god in their right mind would trust you." Poseidon glared at him, his sea green eyes glowing at Ares with rage.
"Alright everyone, calm down! Enough bickering, we're here to watch and learn. Not argue with each other. Do that on your own time." Nick called out, bringing the argument to a close. Everyone grumbled slightly but paid attention to the screen.
The trio of soldiers fired on the troops, exclaiming about the targets dying and reloading. They quickly made their way uphill when they reached the compound. The three got to the side window next to a double set of doors. Hermes was on the right side while Ares and Poseidon stayed at the left side.
"Inside, go!" Ares pushed the door open and they quickly fired on the troops. Poseidon pulled out a KS-23 shotgun and blasted a man through a door. There was a loud explosion which rocked the building. "Hermes, take the roof! Any trouble, give us a yell." Ares ordered.
"Got it!" Hermes acknowledged before breaking off from the team.
"Splitting up. When exactly has that ever been a good idea?" Hermes asked, exasperated by the command.
Ares chuckled, "Oh ye of little tactical knowledge."
Hermes sighed as he looked at Ares and asked, "Ok. I'll bite, WHY are we splitting up the band?"
"You don't want to be blindsided by the enemy. You're on lookout when trouble comes. That's why." Ares said with a smirk.
Hermes blinked a bit as he went to retort but just nodded his head slowly, "Huh… Ok… That's actually a good point." Ares had a smirk of triumph on his face which made Athena and Artemis roll their eyes at him.
Poseidon and Ares kept to the hallway, firing at the soldiers while Ares yelled out. "Poseidon, on me! We search room to room until we find Castro!"
The two cleared out the first hallway. The building shook with rubble falling while the sounds of explosions and gunfire filled the air. They turned a corner and continued to move in, inch by inch, calling each time they got a kill.
A huge explosion caused the building to shake aggressively. "What the fuck!?" Ares exclaimed. "Hermes, what's happening!?"
Hermes' voice could be heard through the radio. "The B-26's! They're dropping all over the place!"
The two soldiers made their way to a large room as Ares responded. "Sit tight. We'll be done in five!"
"You sound very confident for an assassination attempt that failed." Athena commented to Ares.
"Who knows? Maybe it didn't fail in this universe." Ares shrugged.
Hermes nodded, "I mean yeah but at the same time it doesn't hurt to be a little skeptical, I remember how you lost sleep over the Cuban Missile Crisis."
Ares all but shouted at Hermes, "For good reason! Don't get me wrong, I am the God of War and I do love war, but total nuclear holocaust is something I don't want and I think everyone here can agree we all don't want it to happen. Ever."
"Look at that, Ares does have a sense of tact." Hephaestus snarked.
"Enough. Let us continue the viewing." Zeus said with a grumble which made everyone silent.
After clearing out the large room, Ares and Poseidon joined up and made their way to a door at the end of a hallway. "Target should be up ahead." Ares said.
"Roger." Poseidon acknowledged before standing right behind Ares who grabbed the doorknob. "Stack up." Ares ordered. Poseidon placed his hand on his shoulder before patting it.
Ares bursted the door open and everything went in slow motion as the two shot up the room which held about three to four soldiers. Each bullet struck a soldier in success as the room was quickly cleaned up of hostiles.
The gods were mildly impressed by the quick way the two handled themselves. It was Ares who smirked and placed his hands behind his head, acting smug. "We've got this, Uncle. Castro is as good as dead with us taking him out." Ares said.
Apollo couldn't help but point out, "So in this timeline the Bay of Pigs Invasion worked thanks to us and we were able to end Castro's brand of communism in Cuba which would stop the missile crisis… Huh I guess this version of the CIA actually did something good with us on the ground."
Ares nodded with his smug grin never leaving his face, "Yep! We are heroes who stopped an event that could have led to World War 3."
Athena's eye twitched at the arrogance that was being displayed by Ares. While Poseidon was silent, she assumed he, too, was basking in a victory that had not been earned yet.
However, she looked to the side, and saw their guest, Nick. The Overseer of their Multiverse, had a smirk on his face. As if he knew something. This made Athena question, did the invasion still fail in this timeline?
Ares and Poseidon took a quick second to gather themselves, reload and search for any more hostiles. That's when Ares called to Hermes. "Hermes, nest is empty. We're moving on."
Hermes replied on the radio, "Better make it fast. B-26's are about to begin their bombing run."
"Copy that." Ares said before making his way to the next door. "Target should be up ahead this time. Into position."
Poseidon stacked up once more and placed a hand on Ares' shoulder again. "Ready to make history?" Ares asked.
"Let's do it." Poseidon said before Ares busted the door open. On the other side of the door was Castro, along with a woman in a white nightgown.
Castro grabbed the woman and used her as a human shield while pulling out his side arm. Poseidon had his pistol out and fired once. Putting a bullet right between Castro's eyes, leaving blood and brain matter all over the bed.
Ares made a finger gun and said with a grin, ''Bang. And like that we just help liberate a nation from the evil of communism."
Apollo nodded with an honest smile, "Is this what it feels like to be an unsung hero? Cuz it honestly feels great."
Poseidon smiled softly as he added, "Maybe, maybe it wouldn't hurt to do something like this when we're in the mortal world. Help out with taking down tyrants and despots."
That got some honest nods of agreement as Apollo looked at Zeus as he asked, "Unless you got a problem with us ACTUALLY doing some honest good to make the world a safer place?"
"You mind your tongue, boy." Zeus growled.
"Hey. No fighting." Nick called out as he stepped up to them. "You're all seeing these things so you can learn and be better. Especially you, Zeus."
"How dare you!" Zeus shouted.
"I dare because everything that has happened in the last six to seven years happened because you were complicit! You abandoned your children! All of you did!" Nick said, looking at all the gods that did have children. For the most part, many of the gods looked guilty.
"This is your chance to be a better parent than your own father. This isn't Ancient Greece where your children were excited to follow your demands. Your children right now grow up in a world where they are not wanted. Not by the normal world because of their mental disabilities, not by your world because either A. They're killed and eaten by monsters. Or B. You just use them as pawns to repeat quests that have already happened. And let's not forget the one person that is the sole reason that all of you are still alive at this point. So for once in your life, think of people other than yourself!" Nick shouted at them.
It was silent as the gods looked at each other in silent contemplation. "He's right." Poseidon said. "I have not done right by my son. Not even when I first claimed him. I claimed him out of desperation, not because I was proud of him... I did not do right by the boy's mother..." Poseidon then thought about it. "Or by my wife."
"Neither did I. I'm the reason Luke turned out the way he did. Or why his mother... Why she went mad." Hermes said, a pained look on his face.
Ares looked at Nick and gave him an honest smile, "Not gonna lie. Happy someone had the balls to say what needed to be said and now I know I'm an asshole. But I'm not an asshole."
Nick looked at him, "Uh huh..." Nick didn't believe him for a second, considering the way Ares treated his favored daughter, and framing Percy as the Lightning Thief. But now was not the time for that.
"We're almost at the end, so hold everything until the end. Then you guys can talk about how colossal of fuck ups you guys are." Nick said before walking off to sit back down.
Apollo nodded, "Our host is right, we need to see if our other selves make it out of this operation intact and be welcomed as heroes."
Ares sighed as he added, "Or not make it home at all and be seen as unsung heroes in the cluster that was the Cold War."
"I'm hoping for the latter." Poseidon said before adjusting in his seat.
Castro fell onto the bed while the woman out of nowhere grabbed a KS-23 shotgun. Before she could fire. Poseidon quickly put her down with a shot to the head.
Ares quickly fired a couple rounds into Castro's body, before looking at the woman. "Crazy bitch! He uses her as a human shield, and she still protects him!?"
"Castro's supporters are fanatical in their devotion to him." Poseidon said with a sneer before they quickly moved outside onto the balcony.
Ares snorted as he asked with a bit of snark, "Isn't that all communists?"
Apollo nodded, "Yep."
Poseidon chuckled slightly, "Without a doubt, the reds are fanatical to their 'glorious word' of global socialism." He stressed the phrase glorious word until one goddess surprised the trio.
As Artemis stated with clear hate, "The only good communist is a dead communist." Which caused the three, even a few of her fellow goddesses hell. Even their host Nick looked at her in slight shock.
"Woah, Artemis…" Aphrodite said in surprise.
"Jeez sis, I didn't know you felt that way about Communism." Apollo looked at her, unnerved by her surprising hatred.
Artemis blinked and shook her head before asking in confusion. "Wait, what did I say?"
Nick decided to file that away for later. 'A bleed through?' He asked himself.
"Perhaps you need some cereal, young lady." Demeter said, conjuring her next bowl of cereal.
Athena cleared her throat slightly, "Well I mean… She's not wrong but..."
Ares chuckled a bit as he pointed a thumb at Hades, "Oh please I think even the Lord of the Underworld over here can agree that no one among us supports such a stupid ideology."
Hades scoffed with his arms folded, "Why do you think Stalin and all the other Communist leaders are in the Fields of Punishment?"
"Let's get back in track. Put your Communist hate boners away." Nick said to which everyone nodded and kept their eyes on the viewing.
Ares immediately radioed to Hermes. "Hermes, target is down!"
"The word from Carlos ain't good! They're barely holding out down there. They got half the Cuban Army down there! And the B-26's ain't hitting shit." Hermes reported.
Poseidon and Ares quickly cleared the outside balcony of enemies. "I'm moving to the main hallway!" Hermes reported.
"Copy, we're on our way." Ares said before they made it back inside the building. The main hallway had two stairways that connected to the top. Poseidon and Ares watched as Hermes was pushing a Cuban soldier towards the stair rail while continuously firing his pistol into the soldier. The hallway was filled with fire and bullets as the building was beginning to burn while soldiers shouted to each other in Cuban.
"Hermes, take the right!" Ares ordered, pointing to the right side of the hallway. "Roger that." Hermes replied.
Poseidon and Ares took the left side, shooting and moving as they took out the remaining soldiers before they came across the entrance to the building. Several soldiers were hiding behind the pillars near the entrance. Poseidon pulled a grenade and pulled the pin. "Grenade!" He called out to his team and dropped it below. It exploded and killed the soldiers.
The building shook more and wooden boards and the chandelier collapsed. "GODDAMN IT! Let's get the fuck out of here before those damn planes blow us to pieces!" Ares shouted as the trio quickly made it out of the building and pressed themselves against sandbags. Meanwhile more vehicles and soldiers started pouring into the courtyard.
A truck pulled in with a 50. Caliber machine gun mounted to it. "Fuck! Take out that 50. Cal!" Ares ordered. Poseidon poked his head out before pulling out another grenade and pulled the pin. He tossed it over to the truck before it exploded. Destroying the truck and the soldier.
"Carlos' men should be here!" Hermes shouted, taking cover.
While Ares was calm, believing that they can get out of this situation, Hermes was nervous. Poseidon, being one of the eldest gods, was calm but also alert.
"Quite the pickle you three are in. Having to rely on a mortal that may be dead." Hephaestus said.
Ares stated simply, "No plan survives first contact, this is a fact in all warfare."
"Yet you seem perfectly fine. You think they can get out of this situation?" Athena asked her brother.
Ares slowly cupped his chin and nodded, "I do, the three of us in this timeline are clearly CIA operatives and the CIA only chooses the best of the best to carry out their… less than legal wetwork operations such as this."
"Uh huh..." Athena said, still unsure of everything.
"Carlos, what's happening!?" Ares called out in the radio, only to receive silence. Prompting him to call out again, "Carlos!?"
That's when multiple men over a wall showed up. "Here they come, over the East Wall!" Hermes pointed to them.
"You think I'd let you down, Ares? My men will cover your escape!" Carlos' radioed to Ares as his soldiers rained rockets down on the military.
Hermes let out a sigh of relief, "Always nice to receive a bit of help from others every now and then."
Ares couldn't help but laugh slightly as he exclaimed, "That Cuban truly has a sense of timing."
"Well, perhaps it's smooth sailing from here." Apollo said, unaware of the pun he made. Which made his sister groan.
The trio stepped out from behind their barricades, only to immediately change positions when a giant 6 wheeled BTR showed up. "BTR!!" Ares shouted as it started firing on the courtyard, leaving small craters due to it's superior firepower.
"Good job, you idiot. You jinxed them." Artemis said with a glare to her brother.
"How was I supposed to know!?" Apollo exclaimed.
"You tempted fate by simply saying such tripe." Athena said, pinching the bridge of her nose. This caused Apollo to cross his arms and pout like a child which made his sister roll her eyes while sighing in exasperation.
Hades also was a little annoyed, but wanted to see how they would get out of this situation.
Several of Carlos' soldiers fired RPGs at the BTR which managed to demolish the vehicle. Exploding in a giant ball of fire. "Now! Hurry my friends!" Carlos shouted in the walkie to the trio.
"God bless you, Carlos!" Ares radioed back before they continued their way. "This way, into the sugar fields!" Hermes said.
As they ran through the sugar fields, Ares noticed the familiar landscape through the sticks. "There's the air field!" Ares said.
"Let's hope Carlos secured that evac!" Hermes responded.
"He ain't let us down yet."
They reached a hill where the airfield was in sight and it was not looking good. The rebels were losing men while more Cuban soldiers started pouring in. "The rebels are getting their asses kicked!" Hermes commented.
"Better get down there, hook up!" Ares ordered. The trio hooked themselves to their rappels and started sprinting down the hill.
"Are we really not going to help the rebels?" Hermes asked to which Ares shook his head.
"We've already completed our objective. Trying to help them would just end up with us dead." Ares replied.
"So much for no one gets left behind." Artemis said with a cross of her arms.
"Hey, we did our job, they're doing theirs." Ares glared at the Moon Goddess.
Poseidon soon said in a voice not of contempt, but sadness, "Not everyone makes it back from war, double goes for those who work in special forces or as spies."
Ares looked at the God of the Seas and nodded, "The unsung heroes."
"Our children deserve to be among them, for what they've done for us." Demeter said before paying attention to the screen.
The trio touched down and started sprinting. Carlos spoke to Ares through the radio. "Ares! It's all falling apart. You need to get out of there!"
They sprinted out of a warehouse as Ares asked, "Did you secure our transport?"
"The plane is ready, but we'll be torn to pieces on takeoff."
"One problem at a time, brother. We're leaving! Move it!" Ares shouted as the trio sprinted onto the airfield, dodging bullets and explosions.
An explosion happened in front of Poseidon, which caused him to become disorientated, with blurry vision. However, it cleared by the time he made it inside the warehouse with a plane inside. Carlos as the pilot. "We can't wait any longer!" Carlos shouted.
Hermes was on the edge of his seat as he was repeating, "Come on, come on, come on, come on, you can make it!"
Poseidon gripped his trident in anticipation. While he wasn't nervous, he certainly had his concerns for his other self.
Poseidon made his way inside of the plane, and grabbed a 50. Cal machine gun before unleashing on the soldiers that tried to advance on them. The plane began to drive out of the warehouse and pick up speed. Meanwhile Poseidon kept unleashing bullet hell on everything in sight. Once the plane turned to get on the runway, ZPU turrets, designed to take down large aircraft, began to shoot at the plane's propellers. "Poseidon! Take out those ZPUs!" Ares ordered.
Ares couldn't help but smile, "Good shooting! Clear the way and were home free back to the good ole US of A!"
Hermes nodded in agreement, "And a hero's welcome!" His smile was huge, however the Goddess of the Hunt couldn't help but see the devilish smirk of their host and his clear attempt at holding in his laughter at a joke none of them knew.
Athena saw it as well and it was clear it was not going to end well for them. Zeus rolled his eyes at the trio's boasting simply for killing a mere dictator.
Poseidon turned his aim towards the turrets and fired upon them, causing them to explode. Just when they were prepared to get out, Hermes shouted, "Ares! We got a problem! Those fucking vehicles are blocking the runway!"
Poseidon looked out the door to see the trucks at the end of the runway. "I hear ya, Hermes!" Poseidon replied.
"Fuck! There's not enough time for take off!" Ares said.
Poseidon looked at a ZPU turret and his eyes were filled with resignation. "I'll deal with it."
"Wait, what does he mean?" Apollo asked with worry.
"No, what is he doing?" Aphrodite asked.
Hermes started to shake his head slightly, "No, no, no, no, no, nononononono! Poseidon! Are you mad!?"
The God of the Sea just gave an answer with a gentle yet wise tone, "It's like Ares said, not everyone makes it back."
Athena looked at him in slight surprise, "You're willing to sacrifice your freedom and possible life to ensure they escape?"
Poseidon looked back at her, "It's what a good man would do."
Poseidon dropped the 50. Cal and waited for his moment while Ares shouted, "POSEIDON! ARE YOU CRAZY!? THEY'LL CHEW YOU UP OUT THERE!"
The soldier jumped out of the plane and ran towards the ZPU. "POSEIDON, WHAT'RE YOU DOING!? POSEIDON!!"
He made his way to the ZPU and fired on the trucks, which made them erupt into a fiery inferno. "Runway's clear!" Poseidon called out.
"DAMN YOU, POSEIDON!" Ares shouted as the plane finally took off into the air.
"No choice, Ares. I knew what I signed up for. I'll be fine, just go! Get out of here!" Poseidon said, panting as he watched the plane fly away.
Hermes couldn't help but tear up a bit as he rubbed his eyes, "You selfless fool."
Ares looked at Poseidon and gave him a proud smile, "This version of you… if he does die, will die a hero and a patriot to a grateful nation for whom will never know his deeds."
"It... Certainly feels strange. To do something for others, and yet will not be recognized for it." Poseidon said, uncertain. "I wonder... Is this how my son felt, when we achieved victory against our enemies."
Hestia smiled slightly, seeing that at least her brother was realizing what his son was going through.
Athena heard this and couldn't help but think of her own children. Especially Annabeth, and the way she's treated her achievements. Perhaps the way she has treated her daughter… wasn't right.
Ares couldn't help but chuckle as he says "I guess so, if we were like the mortal CIA then it would be double cause no one would know what we do behind the scenes to keep the world safe."
"Really weird thing to say about an organization that's done nothing but shady stuff the entire time." Hephaestus commented.
"Enough, there's still more to watch." Zeus grumbled.
That's when he was suddenly ripped away from the turret and got knocked out by the stock of a shotgun. The screen went black with ruffling and the sounds of a truck's engine was running. That's when Poseidon's vision returned to the sight of three men. A very familiar looking dictator that somehow isn't dead, and two men in brown leather jackets.
"You're dead... We killed you." Poseidon said, shocked at the sight of Castro.
"No. You killed a double. You think we didn't know your plan?" Castro said with a smirk.
"We always know." One of the men said, a smug smirk on his own face. His accent was noticeably Russian.
The jaws dropped, as did a drink or two as Hermes started to stammer, "No… No way, all of that death, one of our own getting captured… the missile crisis. All for nothing!?"
Ares growls as he slammed a fist down on his throne. "THOSE DAMN TRICKY COMMIES!"
"So it was a trap. I knew something was wrong." Athena more said to herself, than to everyone.
"And now our very own God of the Seas is a prisoner of Atlas." Hades said with a cross of his arms. Poseidon growled while tightening his grip on his trident. It was humiliating, that he wasn't even worthy of being killed in action. Instead he's taken prisoner to whatever Atlas had planned for him.
"Brother…" Hestia whispered in worry.
Artemis slowly looked at the host as she asked in a leveled voice, "You knew… You knew didn't you?"
Nick looked towards her and nodded, "I did. I have documented every event in this universe, and others. I know what will happen in their future." She would have stood up if a hand of Hestia stopped her with a slight shaking of her head.
"It's not worth smiting him. We need him so we can learn about everything else in this universe." Hestia said gently. Easing Artemis' anger.
"Well there's just a small bit left and then we'll be moving on." Nick replied.
Ares looked at Poseidon and said, "Your other self is strong, he won't break no matter what those Communist do to him." But his eyes were burning with rage even if he was calm.
"I appreciate your confidence in my other self, Ares." Poseidon replied.
Castro looked towards the Russian and said, "Do with him what you wish, General. This is my gift to you, in honor of our new relationship. Just... Make sure that you suffer."
The General looked at Poseidon with a sinister smirk. "He will know suffering beyond his darkest fears." He knelt down and got into Poseidon's face. "I have plans for you, American."
The screen then changed into Poseidon back in the interrogation room filled with TV monitors. "Oh he did... Atlas sure did..." His eyes were dulled, with no light in them as he looked down.
Hermes looked at the screen then to Ares, "If you're sure he didn't break, why are they doing this to him?"
Ares huffed "It's the CIA, imagine if one of us was captured by our enemies and we held vital intel. Wouldn't you do all you could to make sure neither of us broke? That none of us let said info slip?"
Hades sighed as he ran a hand down his face, "I hate to admit it, but he's right."
"Well he shouldn't be right!" Aphrodite commented.
"But the way they're treating him, it's torture. To one of their own." Apollo said.
"This is unjust." Artemis said, agreeing with her brother while glaring at the screen and at the state of her uncle.
Poseidon sighed "It's the CIA during the height of the cold war. What do you expect?"
Artemis all but shouted towards her uncle, "Maybe to care! Not treat you as some sort of enemy!"
That's when Nick joined in with a singular clap of his hands. "AND YOU FINALLY GET IT!!"
This caused everyone to look to their host. "How many of you have treated each other god's children as enemies? Especially your own?" He asked that last sentence with a look towards Athena.
"How many of you were very much ready to kill Percy after he saved Lady Artemis from Atlas? Or how many of you just didn't care enough to include yourself into that conversation?" Nick asked.
Hermes let it sink in as he put his face into his hands, "Holy Hades… We're worse than the CIA and the KGB… and all of the other governments."
"Well no shit! After all, it was because of your meddling in having May Castellan become the next Oracle that caused Luke to go down the road that happened! Everything that happened in the last few years could've been avoided if you all just gave a shit about your children." Nick said, looking to each of the gods.
"And let's not forget your own problems with each other! Poseidon, Athena! Your rivalry is legendary for selfish reasons! It nearly caused your children to not be friends. But they managed to look past that to become friends, later on, lovers. You both need to put the past behind you, and be better. Learn from your children."
That's when he turned his attention to Zeus. "Oh... Oh boy! Let's talk about the absolute fucking mess that is Zeus himself!"
Zeus growled and was about to stand if not for an invisible force that forced him down which caused a lot of shock from the others, "What?" Was all they could say before they looked back at the clearly angry host who was more than he seemed.
"You caused EVERYTHING! You tried to kill the Di Angelos after making the pact, knowing full well that they were born before that pact was made. Causing Hades to create the curse on the Oracle which then in turn made May Castellan insane! You broke the pact TWICE! And tried to murder Percy multiple times and denied when Kronos was awakening!" Nick started to pace in front of Zeus.
"You didn't even punish him for having a hand in stealing your bolt." Nick pointed to Ares who chuckled slightly and tugged on his collar. "And you fired Chiron, simply because he shares the same daddy as you! And left your camp with someone infinitely worse! You didn't completely hold up your end of the bargain when Percy made you all swear on the Styx! You practically abandoned your children when Gaia began to rise, and blamed Apollo for Octavian's actions! Oh and let's not forget, you cheat on Hera at every given second, AND SHE'S YOUR FUCKING SISTER, DUDE!"
It was silent as they all looked from Nick to Zeus only for Nick to continue. "If I wasn't bound by rules, I would show you the worst possible future that can happen to you. So let this be a lesson, asshole. Everything wrong that has happened is because of you. The world would be better off if one of your brothers took the throne and you just retired. And believe me, that's the best case scenario for you. Want to know what's the worst case?"
Zeus wanted to speak only to lose his voice as their host continued on.
"You, knelt before Percy Jackson. He has your Master Bolt in hand, his sword in the other. He might just destroy Olympus himself if you continue your bullshit. And he won't be alone. He'll have every demigod behind him, quite a majority of the gods behind him. Minor and major." Nick said in a low voice as he looked at Zeus right in his eyes.
The King of the Gods was silent as his brother spoke up as he asked the most important question on everyone's mind, "Who, are you? What are you?" Because it was clear their host is more than meets the eye.
Nick turned towards Poseidon before allowing a smirk to appear on his face. "I'm just an Overseer of your Multiverse. I work for the Dimensional Administrative Containment Agency. Or DACA. I work for powers that far exceed any and all of you. So believe me when I say, you don't want to piss me off. Because I can make you go mad with all the shit you will see in regards to what can happen to you when you don't change." Nick then had a smile as he said, "NOW, be good children and pay attention, and think about what you've done. While you do that, we're gonna move on to the next viewing."
"And what can you tell us about our next viewing?" Hephaestus asked.
Nick replied with a question. "How about we watch your children be British and in a rom com?"
It was silent as the gods looked at him weirdly. "... What?" Hades was the first to ask.
Nick then adopts a thinking face as he adds "Ooorr. You could see your children again and be like actual parents instead of that person who fucked off to the store to get milk and cigarettes never to be seen again."
The gods looked at each other before Poseidon was the first to stand up. "I want to see my son."
This prompted Apollo, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Hades to stand up as well.
"Then if everyone will follow me, we will relocate to a more... Spacious environment." Nick said before tapping on his wrist, and several beams of light shot down on everyone in the room.
Soon as they were 'beamed up' as a certain space captain would say, all the gods got their bearings while Hermes ran to the nearest trash can to lose his lunch. Ares thankfully kept his down. "Ok… did… Did you just 'beam us up Scotty' in the worst way possible?" Apollo asked, dry heaving.
"How… How are we affected… by this form of teleportation?" Athena asked, leaning against her spear for support.
"Your molecules were literally split apart and put back into place. That's what separates our fast travel, from yours." Nick explained.
"That's… quite the difference." Hestia said, standing up from her hands being on her knees.
"Bloody hell… I never want to experience that again." Hephaestus groaned while leaning against his cane.
"Anyway, welcome to my Observatory."
The gods gained a view of the far reaches of space, where they saw a giant vertical stream of light with branching strings, like tree branches. "What is this...?" Athena asked with widened eyes.
"That is the Multiversal Strand of the Percy Jackson universe. Every stream you see is a different universe, creating its own story." Nick replied. Everyone marveled at the beauty, as if they were looking into the very source of the Big Bang. It was breathtaking and humbling to see.
"Great Chaos… it's beautiful." Aphrodite said, a hand over her chest in amazement.
A series of beeps were heard before a lady with blue skin appeared next to Nick. "Good afternoon, Nick. I see the plan is coming through." The woman said.
"Indeed it is, Cortana. Now, if you can show our guests around for a bit while I go grab our other guests, I'll appreciate it." Nick said before giving the gods a dramatic bow and walked away.
Cortana nodded as she observed the gods who haven't even moved an inch from where they stood.
Nick soon arrived at a part of the station where the kids were. He stepped through a false wall to see the demigods watching an argument between two of their own. The loudest being poor old Percy. While on the other side was Leo, who was staring back. "DAD WOULD NEVER BREAK! He's stronger than that!" Clearly the ending must have caused an argument between them.
Nick stepped in between the two, "What's going on here?"
Percy, who was clearly upset, stayed silent as he joined his friends before Leo spoke up, "It's nothing just, just a disagreement about the end is all..." He looked away with huff, backing down from the argument.
"Oh really? And what's the disagreement about?" Nick asked with a tilt of his head. Looking towards Percy. He mumbled out a reply, "My dad is not a traitor. He's not."
"Ah, I see. Well I can tell you this much, Poseidon is not a traitor in this universe. But put that away from your mind. I think it's time we had a change in scenery. Please follow me." Nick said before phasing through the wall.
"Wait… What the Hades? That was a fake wall the entire time!?" Leo exclaimed.
"We have to follow." Annabeth said, walking through the wall. As soon as the rest did, everyone was met with a sight they never thought any of them got to see in their lives. Space, honest to gods space.
Jaws dropped one by one as each of the children walked to the window as Percy couldn't help but remember an old tv show he watched once as he repeated the words that seem to resonate with the young child now more than ever. "Space… The final frontier."
Nick couldn't help but smile at the childish wonder as he stepped forward with a soft smile as he spoke, "Oh no, space isn't the final frontier. It's something much grander than that."
The children turned around as Piper asked with childish wonder, "Are we… Are we on the Enterprise?"
"We are in my Observatory. Where I observe and document your Multiverse." Nick replied.
"WE'RE ON A SPACE STATION!?" Leo and Percy exclaimed, looking out at the stars. Annabeth was beside her boyfriend, looking out with wonder.
"They're like... Jewels, floating across the sky." Hazel said, looking at the stars.
Sally and Paul just looked on in amazement while holding hands. "I always wanted to go to space when I was a kid..." Paul said, breathless.
"Now, as much as I would like for you guys to oggle the stars, we've got a schedule to keep, and I have some very important people I want you to meet." Nick said, clapping his hands together.
This brought everyone's attention back to him. "Wait, how did you get this space station? Is this part of some organization?" Annabeth asked, curiosity overloading her brain.
"I will explain everything to you all in a short while. If you all could just follow me, everything will start coming together." Nick said, before leading the demigods and two mortals off further into the station. "And do try to stay together, don't stray from the path."
A tour through the station showed androids cleaning the walls, floors, and ceiling. Posters and tapestries of Percy Jackson and his friends facing off against the Titans, the Giants, the Gods, and most shockingly, the Roman demigods. Then they passed by posters of some of the universes they viewed, like Percy with the familiar facial hair of Dracula. Another poster showed Percy with half of his face encased by Venom.
Percy in a curious time, asked, "So why do you not want us to wander off?"
Nick chuckled nervously, "Well I had some of the station recently renovated and sadly some of the airlocks haven't been labeled yet and well..."
This caused everyone to look at him nervously as Sally asked, "That is… do you at least have a sign that says not to enter these unlabeled areas?"
"Oh look, we're almost there!" Nick quickly said, avoiding the question.
"So... How many universes of us have you seen?" Hazel asked to which Nick replied.
"Countless. It is literally limitless with potential. Many plausible, a lot of others downright ridiculous."
"Like what?" Nico asked.
"Let's see, genderbent versions of you, different parents, and yourself as monsters. Like I said, limitless potential." Nick said.
That got everyone present to say in a confused unison, "What?"
"Ah we've arrived." Nick said, arriving at two large doors. The host opened them before looking at the guests. "Welcome to my Theater room! Here is where we will be viewing the Multiverse for now. And I've brought over several guests that I think you all will have an interesting time with." Nick then looked to the ceiling and called out. "Cortana, you can bring the rest of them to the theater room."
Cortana's voice rang out much to the surprise of the kids and two adults, "Of course, in fact some of them are very eager to see their kids, be there in two shakes."
"Excellent." Nick said with a smile.
"Wait, their kids?" Percy asked before they all realized who their host was talking about.
"You brought our parents here as well?" Piper asked in shock.
Nick nodded, "Yep! No worries if they happen to want to use their powers, I've given them a tiny bitty wittle nerf." Bringing up his hand he brought his trigger finger and thumb just close enough where they just barely touched.
"Wait, you're going to turn them mortal?" Sally asked.
Nick looked towards her and brought a finger to his lips. That's when he replied, "Well I can neither confirm nor deny it." He then leaned a bit to the side as he added, "Buuuuut, I'm also not, NOT saying that if you wanted to slug one of your parents and not face anything more than a return punch then..." He doesn't finish as he can see more than a few of the kids considering it.
Especially Thalia and her brother. While Percy wouldn't punch his father, he had a few gods and perhaps a goddess or two on his mind. The doors opened once more and Nick said, "Ah here they are now." That's when everyone turned around to stare at the gods who stared back in shock. Both parties seemed to stare each other down as neither moved. They both tried to consider what move to go for.
Which prompted Nick to say in a sarcastic manner, "Well don't all of you go showing emotions all at once."
That's when Thalia glared at both her father and Hera before she marched up and punched Zeus in the nose, "THAT'S FOR ABANDONING US!" Then she turned towards Hera and punched her in the face twice. "THAT'S FOR TAKING MY BABY BROTHER FROM ME! AND FOR TAKING PERCY AWAY FROM ANNABETH!!"
Jason quickly ran up and grabbed Thalia before pulling her away, "Thalia! Thalia! It's not worth it!"
"The hell it isn't! Everything we went through is their fault!" Thalia shouted, tears blinding her vision before wrestling herself out of Jason's hold and walked deeper into the theater to find a seat and calm down.
Everyone just stood in shock as Hermes couldn't help but quote a kid from a little town in Colorado, "Holy shit dude."
"Man… she got to him before I could." Percy commented to Annabeth who slapped his chest. "Ow!" He cried out.
Zeus and Hera glared at Thalia and were about to shout at her when they felt liquid on their face. Once they touched their noses, they looked at their fingers and their eyes widened at the sight of blood. Mortal, red blood.
"I-Impossible!" Zeus exclaimed.
Cortana couldn't help but chuckle as she pops in from behind Zeus's shoulder, "Impossible no. For while you may claim to be all mighty gods, you're not the first we have dealt with nor the most dangerous. That honor goes to some Yokai and even some others of the far east."
"But they don't need to know. All they need to know is that they are guests, and that they will learn their manners. If they do that, then nothing bad will happen. The same applies to you as well." Nick said, turning his head to say the last sentence to the demigods.
"By all means! Remind your parents of their failings, show them just how much you wanted them to be in your lives, but let me be clear, there will be no fighting, no beating up. At least, not without my say so. Are we all in agreement?" Nick asked.
The demigods present all nodded their heads still in slight shock at the sight of two gods bleeding.
"If everyone could choose a seat, we may continue on with our viewing process." Cortana spoke.
This prompted Annabeth to look at Cortana and ask, "I'm sorry, but what are you? Some advanced intelligence system."
Cortana smiled and bowed her head, "Hello Annabeth Chase. My name is Cortana, a sentient intelligence system assigned to Nick. We have been working together for approximately four years, six months, and two days. I assist him in the normal duties assigned to an Overseer."
"I think we're gonna need some context on who you people are and what you work for." Paul said, still baffled by everything that has been going on for the past hour or so.
"Of course. Please take a seat, because this may take a bit." Nick spread his arms to the chairs.
Everyone took a seat with Percy sitting with Annabeth, Sally, and Paul. Jason sat next to Thalia to give her some comfort with Piper next to him. Leo, Frank, and Hazel all sat together and Nico decided to sit by himself. The gods wanted to sit next to their kids, but they knew they wouldn't be accepted, so they opted to sit at their own chairs in the theater.
"Now, as you all know, my name is Nick. My assistant is Cortana, and we are part of an organization that documents, studies, and monitors the Multiverse. This organization is called the Dimensional Administrative Containment Agency. Or DACA for short. I was assigned to your universe around 5 years ago and I have monitored many various strands of your universe." Nick explained.
"What you have seen was simply a small taste of the Multiverse. You have seen a preview of Percy getting cybernetic enhancements to walk and get revenge for his wife. You've seen Thalia play a song in a band. You've seen Percy Jackson as the King of Vampires, enacting revenge for his wife's unjust murder. Then how he became a vampire. You've watched Hazel and Percy bond in the Old West. A dystopian underwater city filled with mutants and freaks, and listened to sea shanties. You watched Percy be taken over by an alien entity, and also watched a version of Percy become a victim of war and beg for death. And now you watched the gods become soldiers hellbent on assassinating a dictator." Cortana listed off before having a smirk on her face.
"Why don't we move on to something a bit more... Friendly?" She then asked.
"Oh yes please! I've been bummed out because of all of these things. I need something to lift me up." Leo said.
"Agreed. I need something... Funny." Hazel added, laying her head on Frank's shoulder.
"I don't know… I could afford to be depressed some more." Nico commented before having his arm be smacked by Hazel.
"As long as it involves Zeus or his bitch being humiliated, I'll enjoy it." Thalia commented with a cross of her arms. Which made Zeus growl in anger, but a look from Poseidon and Hades stopped him from saying whatever he was going to say.
"So what are we watching?" Sally asked.
"How about a British rom-com?" Nick asked.
"Ooh, a rom com? I love rom coms!" Aphrodite exclaimed, much to the annoyance of her fellow gods and to the surprise of no one.
Hermes then commented, "I could go for that, the British do have a nice bit of dry wit."
"Oh no... Romantic comedies..." Hades groaned.
"Is there anything we can learn from such a universe?" Athena asked with an unamused tone.
Hephaestus answered with a question, "Outside of better understanding interpersonal relationships?"
"He's got a point there." Apollo said, to which Artemis rolled her eyes.
The kids agreed with that statement. "I wonder if it's gonna be us or the gods in this one." Percy said. "Imagine us talking with British accents?"
Ares just stares at Hermes before he asked, "Are we sure you're not a little gay...bmaybe bi with the fact you actually ENJOY rom-coms. What's next you enjoy soap operas?"
Hermes looked offended, "How dare you! I'll have you know that just because I also happen to like soap operas doesn't make me gay!" Which of course resulted in Ares just having a face of 'what?'. Only for Hermes to continue "And FYI! Telemundo is very entertaining! I mean the fact that Ernesto is not only Hernando's long lost brother but also the leader of the rebels!"
"Uhh… What does this have to do with rom-coms?" Frank asked, a little uncomfortable at Hermes' outburst.
"Literally nothing…" Nico said with a roll of his eyes.
Before another bickering match could happen because of Hermes, Nick brought the attention back to him. "Uh hello! You're all pretty much gay or bi! How many people have you guys had intercourse with?" Nick asked which made the gods look at each other. "Recorded history, remember? We know every advance you've made on people. Including you, Zeus. I mean, really? A shower of gold? A swan?"
Nick took a deep breath, "Ok... Calm down Nick..." He said to himself before looking back. "I do hope you guys enjoy this next one."
Cortana snapped her fingers and said, "Beginning playback."
"This is just too weird for me to enjoy…" Paul said with a sigh. Sally gently patted his back.
"You get used to it, Paul." Sally said gently.
"I really don't think I want to."
"I wish I was back home now…" Percy said which prompted everyone to agree.