Spartan: Son of Themiscyra

by Titan900

When a boy who has lived on Themiscyra for all his life is offered a new path by a goddess, he sets off on a journey to become a hero and find his place in the world. With the power of the gods, he will face down supervillains, aliens, Amazons, and everything in between as he joins a team where he can belong and grows into who he was always meant to be, Spartan: Son of Themiscyra.

1. Chapter 1: Today’s the Day

Happy Fourth of July! I wanted to release something special in honor of Independence Day, so I looked through my planned stories and found one that not only begins on the Fourth of July, but is also centered around freedom. I hope you all have an incredible day and enjoy the first chapter of my new story!

--

Chapter 1: Today's The Day

I finish threading the wires through the new configuration, welding them together with a bit of precise fire. Stepping back, I take a second to look over my work to ensure I didn't make a mistake in my haste. I only have one shot at this. If this doesn't work, I will be trapped here until my will breaks and I give up or until I end it all to escape them. This has to work.

The only way that I can get the Zeta-tube to function without a valid authorization scan is by messing with its short-term memory storage. By rewiring the system within five minutes of an authorized passage, I can theoretically reroute the successful authorization data back through the portal before it is erased by the system. This would allow me to temporarily duplicate the credentials for a single trip. However, if this doesn't work, the portal is fried. It is an all or nothing gamble.

When I feel my will waver, I remember back to my conversation with Hecate.

"Son of Themiscyra," the goddess' voice rings out through the fog of my dream. "You are at a crossroads."

She appears from the fog as it flows around her and out of her way. She had the grace and confidence that only a god could possess as she strode forward. She was dressed in a dark purple robe that clung to her figure along with a hood that covered her head. Sandals adorned her feet as each step brought her features into greater detail. Curly black hair cascaded around her face from beneath her hood as a pair of deep brown eyes that spoke of millennia of knowledge and power. Her tanned skin paired well with her regal features to give her the appearance of either a queen or a high priestess.

I knew there was only one goddess who dealt with crossroads and appeared in a field of mist, so I immediately dropped to my knee and knelt before her. "Lady Hecate," I say as I fix my gaze on the ground in front of me. "It is an honor to be graced by your presence."

"Rise, young hero," she says, her voice kind but tempered by seriousness. "If I desired supplication, I would have visited a mortal mage. I came to talk to you."

"What can I do for you, my lady?" I ask. "Any task that you have for me would be a pleasure to fulfill."

"I seek not something for myself, but for you," Hecate replies. "I have come because it is time for you to consider the crossroads that you have found yourself approaching."

"What do you mean, my lady?" I ask. "What crossroads will I encounter?"

"Do you wish to remain on Themiscyra forever?" she asks. "At the very least, as you live now?"

My blood runs cold at the idea. "No, my lady," I admit. "I could not endure for much longer. I am but a man, and my hope grows weaker by the day."

"There are paths you can walk," Hecate says before she gestures behind me. "You can go to your sisters and give in. Be who they want you to be. Give in to their vision for you. Let go of who you are and finally stop resisting."

"I would sooner die," I say, knowing it to be true with all of my heart. "I would rather die as who I am than be twisted into something else."

A small smile crosses Hecate's face for a moment. I guess I gave the right answer. "As it stands, there are three paths I can offer you instead," Hecate says three roads through the fog opened. "The first is to journey to Atlantis. Use your friendship with their king to seek asylum. You could love their in peace since the Amazons would not be willing to go to war with the armies of Atlantis for you, no matter how much they would like to."

"As much as I admire the beauty of Atlantis and would enjoy living there, it would be exchanging one hell for another," I admit. "I would not know true peace if I settled there."

"The second path is to New Genesis," Hecate continues. "For one so blessed by the gods as yourself, they would be quick to welcome you into their society. You would be with others who could understand you."

"I would have to leave Earth though," I say. "Despite everything, I am not willing to leave the planet I call home."

"Then, that leaves the last path," Hecate says. "A journey of pain and loss, but one of happiness and love as well. More than anything it is the path of justice."

I take a deep breath and shut the panel. There is nothing else I can do but try. At the end of the day, this is still just a leap of faith. I just have to have faith that this is will work out. I press a button set against the wall and the portal hums to life as power flows through its systems.

A voice rings out from the structure. "Scanning," it says. "Confirmed. A-03, Wonder Woman. State destination."

"Hall of Justice," I say, trying to keep the relief out of my voice as I am still not out of the woods yet.

The Zeta-tube initializes as its metal components shift into position and it glows with a yellow light. I take a deep breath as I take a step back. This is my last chance to back out. I have no idea if my modifications are going to make the Zeta-tube collapse partway through my trip or drop me halfway across the universe. However, in my heart of hearts, I know I made my choice a long time ago.

"Today's the day," I assure myself.

With my newly hardened conviction, I rush at the glowing gateway and into the next chapter in my life.

--

(Sidekick POV)

As much as they hated to acknowledge Roy's words, they couldn't help but feel that they had been lied to by their mentors. They weren't taking the next step in becoming heroes that could join the League. They were just being invited to be the zoo exhibit that normal people could pay to see. Like Speedy had said, all they really got was to be on this side of the glass.

One thing that threw the sidekicks for even more of a loop is the fact that the League wasn't even based out of the Hall of Justice. They had a space station that only Green Arrow bothered to tell his protege about. Well, technically Batman told Robin about it, but it was the principle of the thing!

After all didn't they all say, 'Today's the day'?

They were all sulking around the lounge room in the Hall of Justice while trying to ignore the looks from the tourists watching from behind the security glass above. However, almost like their prayers had been answered, the Zeta-tube powered up.

A million things raced through the sidekicks' minds. Was it their mentors returning to invite them on the mission? Would they get a chance to prove their growth and skill?

Their excitement turned to confusion once they heard the user being announced as Wonder Woman. While none of them had anything against the Amazon since their interactions with her had been polite, albeit cold, they couldn't think of a possible reason why she would be coming here. Did their mentors send someone to babysit them?

Their thoughts were sent for a loop upon seeing not a statuesque Amazon warrior walk out of the light of the Zeta-tube, but instead a more masculine figure covered head to toe in bronze and leather armor. His face was covered by a bronze Spartan helmet with pitch black glass covering the gaps in the metal surface. The surprise quickly shifted to amusement as the man had been running through the portal at full speed and wasn't prepared for the ground to change to carpet. This caused him to immediately tumble and crash to the ground in a mess of clanging metal and curses.

"It worked!" the man cheered as he lifted himself up off the ground with another chorus of clattering. "Suck on that science door! Mortal technology ain't got nothing on me!"

Aquaboy politely clears his throat to signal that the man was not alone at the moment. Wally internally sighed because it would have been funny to see the victory dance the newcomer seemed about to pull off.

--

(MC POV)

I freeze at the sound of someone clearing their throat. I slowly pivot on my heel and turn to see three guys in colorful costumes all staring at me with varying expressions of amusement. A black haired kid with a face mask and dressed in red and black was hiding a snicker behind his hand. A white haired guy with dark skin and a red suit tried to suppress his smile, but the corners of his mouth were traitorously quirking upwards. The redhead in a yellow suit was clearly barely holding his laughter inside.

"So," I say, trying to play off my embarrassment. "You guys come here often?"

The redhead loses control of himself and bursts out laughing at my attempt to casually recover my dignity. The black haired kid followed quickly behind as his snickering devolved into full-on cackling. The other member of their group just rubbed his eyes at his friends' lack of manners.

"Wait a second," the black haired kid says as he finally overcomes his own laughter to actually focus. "Who are you and how did you get here?"

The other two colorfully dressed guys also sober up after their friend's words. Their eyes narrow slightly as I can see their bodies tense in preparation for a fight. Alright, time for some random bullshit.

"Tis a good morn, my friends!" I shout jovially. No clue why I chose this accent or old timey speech, but I decided to run with it. "I am known as Spartan. I was invited to this august hall by the man of bats on this most glorious of days where we celebrate the birth of this beautiful nation! May we engage in valiant battle and honor our ancestors!"

The guys clearly don't know how to process this and ultimately just try to go along with it. "It is a pleasure to meet a fellow hero, Spartan," the white haired guy says. "I am Aqualad and these are my friends, Robin and Kid Flash."

"Well met!" I say. "It fills me with joy to be able to join a brotherhood of warriors such as yourselves. "I was the last of my brethren, slowly fading into the dust of history, when the man of bats found me and offered me passage to this esteemed dwelling of champions! I hope to be worthy of his gracious assistance!"

The black haired kid, Robin, doesn't seem to buy what I'm selling based on how he seems to scrutinize me from behind the white lenses of his mask. To be honest, it is starting to make me sweat a little.

"Batman must have given you something to prove he invited you," Robin says. "How else would we know you are telling the truth? It would have been a passcode or something that would leave no mistake."

"Hey, cool it, Robin," Kid Flash says. "He seems pretty chill so far."

"It is a likely precaution," Aqualad agrees. "We should not take everything he says for granted, even if that is easier to do."

"The man of bats did tell me something to convey to his apprentice," I say, lying straight out of my ass. I had to wrack my brain to remember that a guy named after a bird worked with the bat guy. That must be Robin. There was something else that I head mentioned about him. It was some kind of insulting joke about his real name that Diana had told everyone once when she had a few too many cups of wine. Eh, I'll just wing it. It will come to me in a second. "He told me to say, 'Thou shoulds't endeavor to not be a stick.'"

I think we all knew that definitely was not a correct answer since they all had blank expressions when I said that. "That wasn't right," I admit. "My mind cannot grasp the term he coined, but it is as though it is on the tip of my tongue. I believed it to be a cruder term. Prick? 'Thou shoulds't not be a prick?'"

"Oh, I have dredged the morsel of knowledge from the caverns of my thoughts!" I say victoriously. "Dick! The man of bats bade me tell thee, 'Thou shoulds't endeavor not be a dick.' That was it! Your master impressed on me how important the final word was. I cannot begin to say why, but it seemed to be the crux of the message. It wouldst take a wiser man than me to find the meaning of his message."

They finally process the message to mean, 'Try not to be a dick,' to varying reactions. Kid Flash began to laugh while Aqualad's lips twisted into an amused smile. The biggest reaction was on Robin's part, even though his reaction was the smallest. His eyes widened a touch before he regained control of himself.

"I guess you weren't lying after all," Robin says. I immediately perform a mental victory dance after a successful bullshitting. I've still got it. "Sorry to say that our mentors all left to stop a guy from blotting out the sun. Not much for all of us to do except bum around here for a while."

"Well, there was that laboratory fire," Wally suggested. "No one would know if we hopped over there real quick and hopped back before they all return. I mean, it would be a great way to bond with the newbie."

"It might be a wiser decision to remain here as my king and the others ordered," Aqualad says, clearly waffling between lounging around for hours on end or doing something risky and cool. "They might take issue with our departure, especially since they have yet to greet Spartan."

"Well, I mean, it's not like anything too crazy will happen," Robin says. "It's what, two or three stories? We could search it all in twenty minutes and be back in time for a snack. It would be the perfect mission on easy mode to bring a rookie along."

"This modern world perplexes me still," I say, not completely lying since I have never actually stepped onto dry land besides Themiscyra before today. "It would be a true pleasure to be able to witness it alongside you all as we rescue the imperiled and avert calamity by our own actions."

All of us joining in got Aqualad to finally concede and agree to go. Putting out a fire, rescuing a couple scientists, and exploring a lab? How hard could it be?

--

(Later underneath Cadmus)

As it turns out, it was extremely hard.

The fire was simple since it just required rescuing the people and quenching the flames, all things that the other guys completed like a well-trained unit. The main issue came when Robin noticed that the elevator was out of place in such a small building. Apparently, the model was only installed in tall buildings where it would travel long distances up and down. Once we saw that the elevator shaft went deep within the ground was around where the whole outing turned upside down.

We soon encounter a bunch of weird genetically engineered things that are apparently called Genomorphs or something. To be honest, I was only half listening since science was never my cup of tea.

We got noticed by the security and ran around the base for a while until we ended up at a door with this S symbol on it. The guys seemed to think it was important, so we ended up going inside. Behind the door was a lab with two large white tubes with black S symbols on the opaque glass. The tubes were connected to a computer terminal that Robin proceeded to quickly hack into and access.

He flipped a switch and the tubes turned transparent to reveal a boy and girl resting inside each with multiple of the little goblin things with glowing red horns above them. They were both dressed in white skintight suits with the black symbol on it.

The guys seemed shocked by this, but I was still kinda in the dark. "May I enquire as to the source of your awe?" I ask them with a hint of confusion coming across in my voice. "Thine appear bedazzled by the two siblings. Couldst thou convey the reason for such ensnarement of the mind?"

"They look a lot like Superman," Kid Flash says. "Especially when you look at them with the symbol too,"

"I may err due to ignorance, but is Superman not one of the greatest warriors in your heroic alliance?" I ask. I remember hearing Diana refer to him with grudging respect if only in concerns to his strength, similar to her view of Batman and his mind. "Could these be his heirs?"

"He's not exactly old enough to have kids our age," Robin says. "The system records say that they are comprised of DNA acquired from Superman mixed with human DNA. From the logs, they were force grown in just a few months with data ingrained in them through the telepathic gnomes. I can't find anything else in this part of the database. So, why don't we just ask them ourselves?"

"Robin, don't!" Aqualad shouts, only to be too late since Robin presses the button on the terminal and triggers the capsules to open.

"Oops," Robin says sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders like, 'What can you do?'

The capsules open up to release the two subjects into the open air. The little goblins above them notice us as their little horns stop glowing red in surprise. However, they overcome this quickly and their horns light up red in a quick burst.

"Watch out!" I shout to the others right before the brother and sister open their eyes. The boy's gaze locks onto me, his piercing blue eyes filled with burning anger. He shoots out of his pod with a roar and tackles me into a wall. The metal structure is badly dented from the force of the leap, but I am a little more distracted by Superman's son knocking the wind out of me as his shoulder digs into my gut.

I notice his sister rushing to attack my friends, but I focus my attention on my own opponent as he tries to send a punch hurtling into my head. Luckily, his attacks are all just instinctual brawling. He doesn't understand how to properly throw a punch, so he fails to properly leverage his strength and his strikes are slower than they would otherwise be. I bat the punch away with my forearm before I send a hook into his jaw.

The force of the attack sends his flying away from me as he crashes back into his pod, completely demolishing it and rendering it a pile of twisted metal. I turn to see the others barely holding the girl off.

"A little help would be nice!" Kid Flash shouts as he barely avoids one of her frenzied punches.

"Tis against my honor to fight a maiden, even one such as uncouth as she!" I shout back. "My battle is with her brute of a brother! I believe you will come out victorious!"

"Asshole!" Kid Flash replies.

I don't hear anything more before I am forced to focus on the Superman guy again. He comes at me with a viscous string of punches that attempt to overpower me with sheer volume and power. However, I am in the same level of strength as him so I easily control the pace of the fight with superior technique. Each haymaker is either blocked or redirected as I prioritize counterattacks instead of adopting an aggressive style as well.

He attempts to mix it up by slamming both of his hands into the ground and shattering the floor. I avoid this change in footing by leaping through the air where I proceed to grab onto his head and slam my knee into his face. He reels back from the blow, a trickle of blood coming down his nose after the impact broke a capillary.

I was about to follow up the attack when I feel the equivalent of psychic screaming playing out in my head. I collapse to my knees trying to block out the pain, but the psychic attack refuses to let up despite my efforts to counter it. I am so distracted by the mental agony lancing through my skull that I don't even notice when my opponent slams my head into the ground and knocks me out. I was just wondering why everything got quiet again.

--

I wake up with a jolt as I crash into a wall. I look around to see that a new battle is raging now between us and the super siblings against this giant blue guy. Half of my vision was lighter than the other side which I realized was due to my helmet cracking badly when the guy introduced my skull to the ground. Running a finger over the gash, I realize it runs down across the left eye of the helmet and exposing a sliver of my face.

"What transpired in my slumber?" I ask Robin as he skids to a stop beside me and hides behind a column.

"Oh, nothing really," Robin says. "The twins are on our side now since we are going to show them the moon, the monsters are actually nice, and the head scientist drank something and turned into big blue over there. Besides that, you are pretty much up to date with everything."

"So, we are to vanquish the alchemist turned barbarian?" I ask as the Superman boy gets knocked through a concrete column.

"Pretty much," Robin confirms. "I have an idea. Could you help take out the columns?"

"Oh," I say, understanding where he is going with this. "You seek to bring the fool's temple of sin down upon his very head. Fitting retribution for a knave of his ilk."

"Sounds good," Robin says, already having translated my old timey speech. "Make sure you aren't too obvious about it. We need it to be a surprise for the last moment."

"Thou art my favorite breed of trickster," I say, nodding my head. "Conquest shall be most assured through this manner of guile and deceit."

"Cool," Robin agrees with a thumbs up. He was clearly getting tired of my weird way of speaking, so he made his way to the others to inform them of the plan.

I rush over to the guy with the Superman suit as he is pulling himself out of a concrete wall. "My apologies," I say as I grab him by the arm and spin him around before hurling him at the blue giant. The massive monster dodges out of the way at the last second which causes my ally projectile to crash into a column before ricocheting enough to take out a second as well. "Sweet," I mutter under my breath. "A double first try."

As luck would have it, he didn't seem to have any hard feelings after I saw Robin whisper into his ear. Even so, I could still definitely his eyes burning a hole in me from across the room. It might have been a bad impulse decision, but that dude fucked up my helmet. I think he can handle a little concrete massage.

Since I was the heavy hitter in the main group along with the twins, we did our best to hold off the big guy while positioning ourselves to take out columns whenever possible. I caught Robin placing explosives on the last few out of the corner of my eye as I dodged a punch from one of the huge fists. It seems the fight is just about over.

Once we manage to get the guy in the center of the room, a sharp whistle cuts through the air. The twins and I leaped back to the edges of the room along with the others right as the explosives glowed with red lights for a moment before detonating in bright bursts of light that collapsed the few remaining support columns. The giant finally realized what happened in time to look up and see the entire ceiling falling down onto his head. I thought I heard a faint whimper right before he disappeared under an avalanche of concrete and metal, his form completely encased by the copious amount of debris.

Once we see that he isn't going to get up, we all release a collective sigh of relief. That guy was by no means a light weight. Some of those hits stung to block. He couldn't match the power of the strongest fighters I have seen, but he definitely ranks fairly high.

"Oh hey," Kid Flash says as he looks up through the hole made in the ceiling. "There's the moon, just like we promised. What do you think?"

The twins walk over and look up at the orb overheard bathing us in its silver light. I feel a smile cross my face at their awestruck expressions until I notice that there is something in front of the moon. It grew larger as it pulled closer until it was finally revealed.

It was the Justice League. They descended from the sky like the gods of this world that many believed them to be. Those that could fly hovered above the ground of their own power while the other members stood on green energy platforms created by a few of the flyers.

Despite the majestic image in front of us, my attention is drawn like a magnet to one figure. Her pose was regal and elegant as she floated in the air above. She was dressed in her traditional red, blue, and gold armor that fit her like a second skin. Her lush black hair fell over tanned shoulders and framed divinely perfect features that could only belong to a goddess. The gaze of her cold blue eyes took in all before her analytically and without emotion.

It was like a switch was flipped in my mind the moment my eyes fell on her. Everything around me faded to black until my vision tunneled and she was all that I could see. Sound distorted into a dull roar that filled my ears. It felt like a cold hand had reached into my chest and was squeezing my heart until it would burst. My blood ran cold as my veins felt like they had turned to ice. My breaths ran shallow as my lungs kept pumping air but I felt like I was suffocating. Cold sweat began to trickle down my body as I began to shiver across every muscle in my body. I tried to move, but it was like I was paralyzed.

Voices began to whisper in my ear. They couldn't be real, but it felt like they were right next to me.

You thought you could run away from us?

You thought you could abandon us?

We will never let you go.

This time you won't be able to run away.

Get those silly little ideas out of your head.

We know who you are supposed to be.

Just stop struggling and listen.

This is how it was always meant to be.

Can't you see how we were right all along?

You just need to stop resisting.

Why are we doing this?

That's simple, silly.

We love you, of course.

Why wouldn't we love our-

Cute-

Little-

Sister?

--

(Justice League POV)

The sidekicks were introducing the two clones of Superman to varied reactions.

Batman gazed at them critically, his mind racing to understand how they were made, why they were made, how great a danger they could pose if they turned evil, and whether there was a chance of turning them to the League's side.

Wonder Woman looked them over as well, gauging their strength as potential combatants. She had a moderate interest in the girl and would offer her the chance to gain training on Themiscyra. She hoped that the girl was not too closely bonded with her brother as it would give her a better chance of converting her to the teachings of the Amazons.

Superman himself did not know what to think as he tried to sort through his own feelings. Any children he thought he would ever have were supposed to be with Lois. As he looked down at the teenagers possessing the same Kryptonian genes as him, he didn't know how he was supposed to fit them into his life and if he even wanted to. The idea that they were created with stolen DNA from him made his skin crawl and made him want to put space between himself and them.

Aquaman, on the other hand, had had his eyes focused completely on the figure hidden for the most part behind his own protege, Aqualad. A figure he immediately identified based on the armor he helped design. 'Oh, shit!' thought the King of Atlantis. As he saw the signs of a panic attack from the shaking of his body and the dilation of his revealed eye, the Atlantean knew he had to do something quick.

The king immediately began to use discreet hand signals to attract the attention of the two other Leaguers that he was good friends with, Green Lantern and Flash. He began to convey his message once he saw their eyes slip over to him.

'Guys!' he signaled. 'We are going to need a massive distraction!'

'Why?' Flash replied. 'Shouldn't we be focused on Superman suddenly having kids?'

'Forget that!' Aquaman answers. 'This is ten times worse! I need us to draw the entire League's attention for a few minutes. I can explain later.'

'How big of a distraction are we talking?' Green Lantern asks. 'There is big and then there is BIG. Which one are we going for?'

'Bigger than the Christmas party of '18,' the Atlantean replies with his serious tone conveyed in his subtle hand signals.

'Jesus!' the speedster exclaims. 'Are you are you want to do this?'

'We don't have a choice,' Aquaman confirms. He receives a nod from his green and red clothed compatriots which tells him that they are in.

"Before anything else, I have something I need to say!" Aquaman shouts to the surprise of the League and the sidekicks. "This cannot wait any longer. The fate of the entire League rests upon this."

There is a murmur of confusion that passes through the crowd at that. "What is it, Aquaman?" Batman asks. "Is it a danger from Atlantis?"

"Worse," the king replies with a scowl. "It comes from within this very team. Flash abandoned me when we were supposed to get tacos last Tuesday."

"What?" the caped crusader asks, lost for words for the first time in years. A million plans and he never expected this.

"It has been a long-standing tradition between the two of us to get tacos from our favorite food truck on Tuesdays," Aquaman explains. "We call it Taco Tuesday. Despite this bond between men, I found him getting burritos with Green Lantern instead!"

"You really want to do this right now?" Flash asks in outrage. "In front of the rest of the League. Okay, if that's how you want to play this. You are damn right I got burritos with Green Lantern. I didn't want to have to sit next to you and your barnacle breath while you ate those disgusting fish tacos for another goddamn week."

Aquaman gasps in shock. "You take that back!" he exclaims. "Those tacos taste and smell delicious. Also, I'll have you know I use mouthwash regularly. There is no way my breath smells terrible."

"What scent is the mouthwash?" Green Lantern asks. "Low tide?"

"I am not going to listen to a man who can't even keep a girlfriend who became a hero literally powered by her love for him," Aquaman retorts. "I think you can keep your opinions to yourself."

They continue to transmit their hidden messages the entire time that they argue.

'We need to incapacitate Wonder Woman as soon as possible,' Arthur signals. 'She is the thing that will set everyone off if she gets a chance.'

'How will we do that?' Green Lantern asks. 'She is one of the Trinity along with Batman and Superman. She is easily one of the strongest members of the League by far.'

'We will all gang up on her,' Aquaman answers. 'We don't need to beat her. We just need to keep her in one place and hold everyone's attention for a little bit longer.'

'We are so going on probation for this,' Flash says. 'We will all be on monitor duty until the kids replace us in the League.'

'Nothing for it,' Aquaman responds. 'You are up first Flash. You rattle her a bit before Green binds her up and I hold her down. Ready?'

The others confirm right before Flash disappears in a burst of lightning-cloaked speed. He reappears beside Wonder Woman before he sends a kick into her stomach that sends her through the air. Green Lantern forms a straight jacket construct around her to pin her arms to her body before Aquaman uses the shaft of his trident to put her in a chokehold.

The rest of the League bursts into action upon seeing one of their founding members attacked by three other founders. They try to interrupt the capture, but Flash's speed and Green Lantern's constructs help them run interference while they keep the Amazon trapped.

The plan was working well until Aquaman caught sight of Batman giving a second look at the sidekicks and noticing that there was now one less kid there. From the way Superman looks as well, Batman must have whispered it under the commotion and Superman heard it.

"Superman, don't!" Aquaman tries to shout before Wonder Woman uses his distraction to break out of the construct binding her and slam an elbow into his ribs. He loses his grip on her before she sends him flying with a punch.

Green Lantern could do nothing to stop the freed Amazon or the departing Kryptonian since he was busy smacking Captain Atom away with a giant green baseball bat before following it up with a barrage of energy missiles. Flash had been caught by a time bubble created by Zatara to keep him locked in the same moment to prevent him from using his speed to escape.

They could ultimately do nothing to stop Superman from racing away to find the missing member of the group that had been inside of Cadmus. The outcome that Aquaman had been dreading soon came to pass when the air thundered with the sound of a lightning strike that came despite the clear night outside. Moments later, Superman's body crashed down nearby. He was dazed and relatively uninjured besides a scrape on his cheek, but his suit was scorched from the electricity that he had been hit with.

"Shit," Aquaman says as many League members break away from the fight and pursue the guy that could hit hard enough to stun Superman of all people. He tried his best, but it looks like the League is in for one hell of a fight.

--

Moments before

(Superman POV)

He sees the guy who was standing with the others earlier as the armored figure was running at a sprint down an alley. With his x-ray vision, he sees that underneath the Greek-inspired armor the man is actually around sixteen. Wanting to take a peaceful route since the kid had helped his friend's protégés, the Kryptonian flies down behind him and grabs onto his shoulder.

"Hold on for a moment, son," Superman says. "We want a chance to talk with you."

The kid turns to look at the alien with an expression that sent a bust of alarm through the hero's body. The eyes weren't something that he had ever seen on a normal person. They were the frenzied eyes of an animal with nothing to lose. The few opponents he had with the same eyes would always attack him with everything they had, even at the expense of damaging themselves in the process.

The rabid kid drew back his other arm before throwing it forward in a punch. The fist flew through the air fast enough to break the sound barrier, the sonic boom trailing behind the strike as it cut across the distance remaining between them. Superman raised his arms to block the blow on reflex, but this prevented him from seeing the true danger behind the attack.

Lightning coursed along the boy's arm, the electricity crackling and concentrating on his hand. The energy was released into a powerful bolt the moment that the fist struck the hero's blocking arms. He was thrown violently away as the lightning raced through his body and seemed to circumvent his invulnerability completely. As he flew through the air propelled by the heavy strike, he realizes that the boy must have been strengthened by magic. That was one of his only two weaknesses besides Kryptonite. As his vision begins to blacken, he hoped that the League would be able to handle the kid when he could deck a Kryptonian with a single blow.

--

(Narrator POV)

Something that none of the heroes could have known is that the boy known as Spartan had entered a feral state due to an intense fight or flight response triggered by his panic attack. This defense mechanism had manifested in the boy after years of collective trauma caused him to subconsciously manifest it in preparation for a severe enough threat. In all of the time since it had formed, it had never been activated and went unknown even to the boy.

The way that it functioned is that it protected his consciousness inside of a mental panic room buried deep within his own mind. This served to shield him from further stressors until he reverted back to a normal state away from the danger that triggered it. With his conscious mind hidden, this left his instincts to function unrestricted.

The primary danger behind the nature of this defense is due to the degree of power that the boy naturally manifested when conscious. Due to having only sparred against the Amazons who raised him, he had reflexively put limits on his strength to prevent himself from hurting them. This protective impulse became ingrained in his mind and served as a subconscious limiter that continued to function even after his connection to the Amazons fully soured or when he was fighting a different enemy. As such, his typical released power was only a fraction of what his body had the potential to achieve.

However, when in this instinctual state of self preservation, he loses all self imposed restrictions as his entire being is focused on escape and freedom. This means that blows that would once only shatter boulders could now collapse mountains.

His inherent potential was also connected to the divine blessings that he received as an infant. Many of the Greek gods thought it was amusing for a male to grow up on the island of the man hating Amazons. To help ensure his survival, they gave him larger measures of their power than they had given to any of the Amazons that earned their favor, even princess Diana herself. While these were typically dormant within him, the instinctual nature of his current mental state allowed him to easily draw on them without focused training. This is the reason that he was able to conjure the divine lighting gifted by Zeus while before he had only ever managed shapeshifting and limited pyrokinesis.

While this state made him lose all rational thought and become unfazed by combat, it was not inherently violent. Its purpose was to help him escape from a threat as quickly as possible. If left to his own devices, he would have left the city without incident within a few minutes. However, once Superman attempted to slow him down, he reacted by removing the hinderance as quickly and judiciously as possible. His logical mind would have realized that this would attract more enemies, but his instincts did not understand the consequences and just saw it as the quickest way to return to running full speed.

Once he struck one of the leaders of the Justice League, every member that wasn't actively hindered by Aquaman, Flash, and Green Lantern raced to stop their newly identified opponent. This was the exact outcome that Aquaman had tried to avoid. He had met the boy beneath the Spartan persona enough times to get a measure of the true power hiding behind his kind heart. He knew the power could challenge even the gods that bestowed it upon the boy if he was left to grow. However, the king knew the die had already been cast and there was no way to stop what was about to happen. He could only distract as many of the League as he could manage and hope that no one pushed the boy too far. The weight that comes from taking a life is a heavy one and Aquaman prayed that it wouldn't find its way onto the boy's shoulders.

--

(Fight POV)

The first League member to find Spartan was Red Tornado. The android attempted to ensnare him with a cyclone of winds, but he just slashes his hand through the air in response. A massive burst of wind clashed with the cyclone before they canceled each other out. Spartan ends Red Tornado's part in the fight with a blast of lightning that shorts out the android and causes its sparking form to drop to the ground.

The next to arrive was Guy Gardener, the third human chosen from Earth to become a Green Lantern. His cocky attitude was balance by a strong will that earned him his ring and a position in the League. However, he was not known for his tactical mind. Since Jon Stewart was still attempting to get Hal under control, he was left to his own devices and he wanted to show up the other Lanterns by catching the enemy on his own.

He rushes forward, his ring generating a massive boxing glove that slams Spartan into the ground. He follows it up with chains that lashed around Spartan before dragging him inside of an iron maiden. While the chamber lacked the spikes of a traditional iron maiden, it made up for it with copious chains designed to restrain anyone trapped within. At least, it was supposed to.

As Guy was mentally patting himself on the back, the iron maiden explodes as the hard light construct crafted from pure will energy shatters like glass. Spartan leaps forward at the Lantern, his fist reared back to send a devastating punch.

Despite Guy's arrogance, he had trained instincts when it came to fights. He immediately begins to fly backwards to hopefully bleed off the energy of the punch's impact while simultaneously hardening the force field around his body and generating a medieval shield construct in front of him.

Spartan's punch collides with the shield before obliterating it into shards. The fist is barely slowed as it continues into Guy's crossed arms and sends the Lantern crashing into the street where he plows a furrow into the ground. From the way his arms were twisted where he blocked, they were both broken despite the intensified force field that had been protecting his body.

An arrow flies towards Spartan only to be caught inches from his face. The tip was a small cylinder which explodes a moment later in a flashbang that temporarily blinds Spartan from the light striking his exposed eye. Another series of arrows land across his body before they expand into massive balls of containment foam that hardens in seconds.

Green Arrow looks down on the pile of rock hard foam containing Spartan with a chuckle. "Guess he wasn't too strong after all," he comments to his companion. "All it took was a couple of arrows and he is down for the count."

"I wouldn't bet, Ollie," Black Canary replies as she looks down at the street as well. "He was able to knock away Red, Guy, and Superman without breaking a sweat. I don't know if con foam is going to be enough."

True to the blonde's words, the mass of solid containment foam is torn apart from the inside as Spartan rips through stone-like polymer faster than it had managed to cover him. His gaze landed on the rooftop where the archer and canary were perched.

"Shit," Green Arrow mutters. "R just finished up this batch. It's supposed to have been tougher than reinforced concrete and he shouldn't have been able to get any leverage."

"I think it's a little late to blame your techies," Canary replies.

Spartan leaps up to them and crashes down in front of Green Arrow. His hand lashes out to grab the bow which the archer dropped not a moment too soon. The high-spec bow capable of pounding solid steel for hours without a crack is crushed like a tin can in Spartan's grip before he sends a front kick into Green Arrow's chest. The layers of shock absorption gel in Green Arrow's chest plate were the only thing that saved him as he collided with a brick wall with only several broken ribs instead of a hole through his torso.

Black Canary immediately lets loose the most powerful Canary Cry she could manage as she focuses more on the frequency of the sound instead of any concussive effect. She knew that there was no way her cry was strong enough of a physical blow if Guy couldn't scratch him, so she tried to debilitate him instead. The sound cut into Spartan's ears and caused him to clutch his head in pain. He dropped to his knees as blood began to drip out of his ears from his bleeding eardrums. A roar of rage and agony left his mouth only to be drowned out by the blonde's sonic assault.

Despite how well it was working, the biggest drawbacks of Black Canary's cry reared it head before long. Not only was the time she could maintain it entirely dependent on how much air she had in her lungs but it also strained her voice to sustain the cry for so long and with such focused intensity. She usually relied on bursts to maintain her vocal stamina, however, this was impossible given Spartan's unrelenting force.

As soon as she ran out of air, she took as deep a breath as possible before she began again. Spartan barely had a moment to recover before he was struck by the piercing sound once more. Black Canary knew this wouldn't last since her cry was already weaker than the first time. Her voice had begun to grow hoarse with the constant usage of her cry and it was already starting to take its toll on her output.

By the time she was releasing her third cry, Spartan was already beginning to resist its effects. He pushed himself onto his feet and began to slowly close the distance between them. Black Canary knew that her only hope was holding out for as long as she could. Sadly, this was not for very long as Spartan cleared the last stretch of distance with a jump that allowed him to close his hand around her throat and choke the sound off.

The heroine struck at his arm and kicked at his body as he held her up with a single hand in a choke. Her attacks did nothing as she could only stare into that cold blue eye gazing out from the crack in his helmet. He lifted her up before slamming her down to the ground in a choke slam that knocked her out instantly from the resulting concussion.

Spartan resumed his rush away from the League only to be struck by a red and gold blur that sent him flying off of the roof. He crashed down near the Potomac as the blur revealed itself to be Captain Marvel. "You shouldn't throw around the power of the gods so carelessly," the hero says as Spartan rises from the impact crater.

The only reply that he received was a growl before Spartan dashed forward his punches and swipes enhanced by the lightning flowing across them. Captain Marvel dodges each attack with ease as he utilizes the Speed of Mercury. With the Wisdom of Solomon, he could tell that the boy possessed many of the same powers as him. The main difference between them was that his ability to use them was more refined through practice than Spartan who used them all instinctually.

Captain Marvel countered Spartan's lightning with some of his own as they traded punches. For every one of Spartan's blows that missed, Captain Marvel landed two or three hits that began to accumulate as time went on. He could tell that Spartan was also utilizing enhanced speed given how he sped up as well, but it was not as polished so the captain still left him in the dust.

As the battle raged on, torrents of lightning arced off the combatants and scorched the earth around them. Seeing the damage that was spreading from their fight, Captain Marvel decides to end it quickly. He uppercuts Spartan with a hit that sends him flying up into the air before he flew ahead and sent him crashing down into the Potomac with a hammer blow that released a powerful bolt of lightning through the smaller fighter. Spartan crashed down into the river with a massive spray that helped to put out the few fires that had lit from the excess lightning.

As Captain Marvel looks down into the river to see if Spartan was finally subdued, he sees the surface of the river roil before water surges up from the surface to slam into him. He recovers in midair only to see a massive coiling dragon formed of muddy water had emerged from the river and had Spartan riding on its head.

The hero knew he was too impulsive in thinking that Spartan was limited to the same powers as him. Just because he was only using a few didn't mean that they were the only ones he had. Despite this, he never expected Spartan to be blessed by Poseidon as well.

The air over the river was filled with lightning and water as Captain Marvel used his aerial advantage along with his control over his lightning to combat Spartan who was using his water dragon to move throughout the air and spray high pressure water that cut into the hero like a laser whenever it manages to connect. Captain Marvel was just thankful that the water spray was relatively short range which limited its damage to the environment.

In the end, Captain Marvel knew that he had to pull out his trump card if he wanted any hope at finishing this fight without endangering more people. He rushes straight at Spartan and ignores the pain lancing through his body as one of the water shots cut across his chest. With the opening that this sacrificial decision provided him, he grabbed Spartan before flying directly up into the sky. Captain Marvel held the boy's arms to his sides as Spartan thrashed against his grip. He just held on with all of his strength until he felt that they were high enough to be safe. Right before he unleashes his attack, he says to Spartan, "Sorry for this. There was no other way."

Captain Marvel flew so Spartan was pointed towards the sky as he held him from below. Then, he bellowed out the magic word that gave him the power of the gods and the ability to be a hero.

"Shazam!"

The bolt of divine lightning came arcing down from the sky before it struck the two with Spartan taking most of the impact. Captain Marvel was reverted back to his true form of Billy Batson, a normal preteen kid, as both of the divinely blessed fighters began to fall towards the ground. Billy let enough distance grow between him and Spartan before he summoned the lightning once more and returned to being Captain Marvel.

He caught Spartan before he collided with the river and set down his body on the ground. The savage fighter had been reduced to a normal teenager as his breathing had leveled off into a deep sleep.

Captain Marvel just gave a sign of relief. If he had been fighting an opponent with the same strength who could still think, he didn't know if he could have managed to win like he had. As he watched the teenager resting peacefully despite the bloody battle he had just been a part of, the hero wondered where he had come from. The gods did not give their favor easily and to see someone with easily as much power as he had was as surprising as it was worrying. Captain Marvel knew how hard it was to carry the burden of power and hoped that Spartan could follow the same path that he tread. Despite all of the insight that the Wisdom of Solomon granted him, he knew that only time would tell.

--

Author's note:

That's it for the first chapter! I want to thank everyone who took the time to give this story a try. I really wanted to try something new with this one and I hope you guys enjoyed the way I decided to go.

Believe it or not, this story idea originally started off as a My Hero Academia crossover with Percy Jackson where Izuku would have spent time with Artemis and the Hunt. However, I felt this version had more potential overall and could fit better.

Feel free to write a review and let me know your thoughts on the story. Did I write the characters well? Were the fight scenes any good? I am fueled by reviews since they help keep my motivation up. I try to take all reviews to heart when writing and I will do my best to address any questions you might have.

If you enjoyed the story and want to keep up to date, favorite and follow to receive notifications when the next chapter drops.

Lastly, I just want to wish everyone a happy Fourth of July.

A pleasure as always,

Titan900