Chapter 23 - Father’s Domains

Batcave

"Never thought I would see the mythical Batcave. How have you hid this from me for so long?" John inquired, browsing through Batman's collection of displayed Trophies.

"Fate put wards up for me to keep people like you out." He deadpanned, pulling up footage from the Bat Computer.

"Bloody Hell Bruce, is that a dinosaur? An actual dinosaur? How'd you even manage than one, chap?"

"Long story. Can you tell me what you know of Perseus? What is this unfinished business you have with him?" John sighed, really wanting to know how Bruce managed to get an actual Tyrannosaurus-Rex in his cave. He made his way down the platforms join Bruce by the computer and leaned against the desk.

"Where do I even start? Tell me, do you know who Etrigan the Demon is?"

"Demon who Rhymes, a demon cursed from Hell. I know the basics." John nodded while he took out a cigarette and snapped his fingers, another small flame igniting his thumb. "John, do not smoke in here." John rolled his eyes and sighed, extinguishing the flame and putting the cigarette away.

"Right, well anyways, I received a summons from him a few months back. A summons that I couldn't very well ignore."

"A summons from who?"

John had a knowing smirk on his face. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," Bruce held John's stare for a few seconds before shrugging.

"Alright. It was from Lucifer Morningstar."

"The devil."

"Yep. He wanted my help with a little problem that had happened. A problem, by all accounts, should've been resolved with some enchanted duct tape of all things. It was supposed to be easy, but of course nothing ever is with him."

"How exactly does Perseus fit into this?" Batman inquired, not knowing where this was heading. John pulled out a flask this time, ignoring the Batman's look as he opened it and too a swig.

"Well, tell me what you know of the Doors of Death?"

"From Greek Myths? It's a door that leads from the Under World to the mortal one."

John held up a finger and shook his head. "Ah, not quite. Close though. The Doors of Death are, in fact, Greek. However they don't lead from the Under World, the lead from Tartarus. Despite what many people believe, the Under World is not the Greek's version of Hell. It's just the afterlife. Tartarus holds the title of the Greek Hell." John rubbed his neck a little before continuing.

"You see, this world has its own Doors of Death, usually located in Themyscira, guarded by Amazons for all of eternity. But they relocate all the time, never staying in one place longer then a week. Lucy needed my help because a different realities Doors found it's way to this world."

"So there were two doors on this Earth?" John shook his head and scratched at his chin.

"No, not exactly at least. A different realities Door's had relocated to our world's Door's, sort of taking them over for a bit. This was a problem because while ours our regulated, usually, nothing was known about these. To top it off, they appeared out in the open, on a beach of all places. We went to go make sure they stayed closed, but needless to say, when we showed up something came out."

"That something being Perseus."

John snapped his fingers and pointed at Bruce.

"Precisely! We tried to get him to go back through the doors, but unfortunately for us we just pissed him off. After a brief fight with Lucifer, he made sure we knew who we were dealing with, and started blabbering on about all his titles and what not. Then he just turned into mist and vanished."

"He beat the Devil in a fight?"

"Yes and no. Lucifer can't exactly go all out on our plane of existence. In a fight, he has to constantly hold back or he could very well destroy this universe, and I'm pretty sure his dear old Dad wouldn't appreciate that very much."

Bruce nodded, pulling up a note pad on his computer. He started typing notes of everything he heard so far in this conversation, trying to use anything at his disposal so he could figure out a way to take him down. "What were his Titles that he spouted out?"

Scratching his head, John leaned back against the giant desk again, trying to remember. "Let's see, Bane of Kronos and Gaea. Destroyer of the Labyrinth, said he beat a couple Titans and Giants. Something about respect from a 'Man-Hating Goddess?' Whatever that one meant. Oh! He said he was Poseidon's son and heir. He also said something about New Rome? I'm not sure exactly what it was but that was there too."

Batman typed everything John told him into the computer and turned to face him. "How do you propose we take him down?"

"Listen, Batsy. What was your plan to take on that daughter of Zeus should she turn?"

"That's classified."

Shaking his head, John pulled out a note book and opened it. Showing Bruce, he just shook his head. "It's blank John."

John grinned, "Is it now?" John started chanting and writing started to appear on the pages. When he was done, he smirked and handed it back to the Bat. He slowly started to read, eyes growing wider and wider by the second. He slammed his fist on his desk and stood up, getting in John's face.

"How the Hell did you get this? It's in a classified folder on its own separate server!"

Join hands his hand up in surrender and slowly backed up. "Woah there Batsy, calm down! Noah Kuttler, the Calculator, hacked your computer and tried selling these Tower of Babylon secrets to Felix Faust. Luckily, I defeated Faust before he read this and used a spell to wipe the memory from Noah's already old mind. He wrote it down though, so I saved it for a rainy day."

Batman took a step back, still angry that someone had hacked his secret server and he had no idea. "Look Bruce, your plan for Wonder Woman is to have her fight until she dies of exhaustion."

"That's because she virtually has no weaknesses. Superman may be powerful, but at least he has kryptonite and magic still works on him. Wonder Woman, however, is a heavy hitter without those weaknesses. If she ever turned, let's just hope we still have heavy hitters of our own if that happens. If not, I can only hope for her to think she was fighting an endless swarm of enemies until she collapses."

"Right. Well I very much doubt she'll turn anyways." Bruce just looked at him before sitting down at the computer again. "Anyways, you have to realize something. She's this powerful as an immortal daughter Zeus. Zeus' brothers are just as powerful, and some even debate the other two are even more powerful. Rumor has it, Poseidon was even supposed to be King of the Gods, but he apparently turned it down, content with just ruling the seas, and apparently after offering Hades, he felt rejected and despised by his younger brother so he also declined. Zeus is King by default, it's not even his birthright. It's Hades."

"What are you saying?" John pinched the bridge of his nose and took a breath. "I'm saying, this Perseus is most likely an Atlantean version of Wonder Woman. An immortal son of Poseidon. No one on this Earth has even come across a living son of the Sea God. My best guess? Wonder Woman, Superman and maybe Shazam might be your best options to take him down. Personally, Her or Shazam, considering their powers are based in myth."

"Superman has defeated gods before. He may be vulnerable to Magic, but he can more than likely take him down."

"Why not the Amazon?" Bruce sighed and scratched his exposed chin. "She claims they are family. They're close. Closer then I would like them to be. If she found out I was planning to take him down, there's no telling what she would do. He has her under his thumb. Turns out, they really are family. Cousins by the sound of it."

"I'm guessing she doesn't have much family." Batman nodded. "Not any makes she approves of, at least. There's Hercules, but he's actually a god. She isn't a god anymore, plus she hates him. She probably sees Perseus as a family she never got to have. That's dangerous, John. Family clouds people's judgement, keeps them from making unbiased decisions."

John walked over to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "You sure you want to do this, Brucy? You'd be making two immortal super enemies. That's already more then most mortals make in three lifetimes."

Bruce nodded before pulling up the video. "Is there anything you could tell me about this video?" John stood back and motioned for him to hit play. After seeing the demon, he took a step back. "That was in Manhattan?"

Batman nodded and continued the video. "Bruce, pray I'm wrong, but you might just have another big problem on your hands. That's a demon I've never seen before, and I'm an expert on the matter."

———————-————————————————————

Manhattan

Percy was out patrolling the streets of Manhattan at night, bored out of his mind. After 2 Pirates movies, Kara had passed out on the couch and Percy decided to head out. He figured he would deal with the whole 'secret identity' thing later as virtually no one in the city knew him. He also planned to talk to Diana later about a uniform. Apparently, everyone in the League had one, and all Percy had was his now useless Nemean Lion jacket, boots, jeans and a T-shirt. He was still kind of iffy on the whole costume situation, but he'd cross that bridge when he got there.

Diana had once told him how some heroes patrolled their cities, how some jumped from rooftop to rooftop, some flew over the city to get a birds eye view, and others still just patrolled by running super fast, zooming all about until they came across trouble. She had also mentioned that they usually had a team, with a 'guy in the chair' so to speak. That person would normally inform said heroes about crimes in progress, villains lurking about, and other useful stuff a hero might need. Unfortunately for Percy, he had none of those. He might be able to float, but it was still hard for him to actually cover ground that way. So, for now he was confined to walking the streets at night, in regular ole human clothes. Save for his jacket of course.

After about two hours, Percy realized something. He had absolutely no idea what in Hades he was doing. In his mind, he figured he'd walk out, see some evil doers partaking in some villainy, and he'd step in.

Apparently, and nobody had told him this, there was not, in fact, crime out in the open every night. He supposed that was a good thing though, but still. He was bored out of his mind.

Percy walked by a Big Belly Burger and into an alley behind the fast food joint. From there, the dark alleys seemed to go on forever, almost like a labyrinth behind the skyscrapers that stood right beside the streets.

"Well, this looks sketchy," Percy mused, hands in pockets as he rounded a corner and came to an abrupt halt. At the end of the alley way, it opened up into a car garage. While it was mostly empty, there were about five vehicles there. Three white vans and two cars. Around 30 people in total stood behind the vans, their back doors open. Percy slowly creeped behind a dumpster to get a better view of what was going on, trying not to be seen.

Around 20 of the men were dressed in clean, crisp suits, armed with what looked like high tech assault rifles, each of them wearing an ear piece. Their leader, it looked like, was a bald man who had a woman beside him, also in a suit. The other people were all dressed as normal people, in jackets and shorts. Actually, that wasn't normal, but still better then suits, Percy thought to himself. He crept up to another dumpster, one that was even closer, and dangerously so, trying to hear what was going on.

"Mercy, show our potential buyers the newest prototypes," the bald man told the woman, now identified as Mercy, beside him.

"Of course, Mr. Luthor." Mercy reached into the back of the van and pulled out a black and red briefcase, setting it on the ground. She knelt down, opened the briefcase and stuck her hands in. Percy couldn't see what she was doing, but he tried straining his neck to get a better view. Needless to say, it didn't work.

"You gentlemen might want to step back," Mr. Luthor told the regular dressed folk. They all looked at each other before doing what the man said, taking several large steps back.

The briefcase started to shutter, and before Percy's eyes it started to transform. It started bending in on itself, latches sprang out over Mercy's shoulders and around her waist, and a futuristic looking canon appeared on her chest. The briefcase had turned into a weapon.

The guys whistles in appreciation, "What is that thing?" One of them asked. Luthor walked over to Mercy and put a hand on her shoulder, showing off the new weapon. "This, my friends, is a weapon from a distant planet, with some of my modifications, of course. A planet inhabited by gods, this will make you unstoppable!"

"Look, Mr. Luthor. That's all cool and all, but look at us, we just wanted some guns, we can't afford these!" This guy seemed to be the leader of their little gang, and everyone behind him nodded.

"Hm, perhaps you are right." He snapped his fingers like he just had an idea and turned to Mercy. "I know! Why don't we just give them these weapons."

"Sounds like a plan, Mr. Luthor."

The leader of the gang had a look of shock written on his face. He held up his hands and took another step back. "I'm sorry sir, what? What do these even do?"

"Ah, you bring up a fair point! Mercy, if you would, please." Without a word, Mercy pointed her body in the direction of the man who spoke and pressed a button on the levers that extended to her arms. To Percy's horror, a beam of read light shot out and instantly disintegrated the man, leaving behind just the smallest patches of floating ash. The man was erased right in front of Percy's eyes. The other guy's all scattered, trying to run away.

"Oh, calm down! That was just a demonstration you fools! The rest of you will each be getting one of these for free, go and cause havoc!" The men looked at each other and ran to the vans, each trying to get a case for themselves. Percy just knew he couldn't allow those weapons in the streets of his city, so he made a decision. A stupid one, but he didn't know what else to do.

He walked out from behind the dumpster.

"What's up guys, can you guys help me out? I'm looking for the bathroom." Luthor turned around and just gave him a cold stare. "What is a child doing out so late?"

"Oi! I'm not a child!" Percy's flicked his wrist and his sword Retribution appeared in his hand. He got in a stance, ready to charge the female, but Mr. Luthor just sighed. He looked as if he was bored! "Mercy, take care of the kid. I'm sure no one will miss this wanna-be hero, anyways." He waved his hand dismissively and Mercy acknowledged Mr. Luthor's command. The buyers now each had their own briefcases and we're trying their hardest to put them on.

"And Mercy? Hurry up, I'll be in the van." Mercy turned her body towards Percy, pressing the same button that shot the red blast. Percy barely managed to dodge the blast and ran over to the group of buyers, none of them having yet succeeded in putting on their new weapons. Percy used that to his advantage and proceeded to swiftly knock all of them out one by one with the hilt of his sword. He didn't stop to admire his work, however, turning around to face Mercy once again. However, as soon as he turned, he was hit with the red beam and sent back flying, crashing through several pillars before landing on the other side of the parking garage.

"Ow," Percy looked down to find he was still in one piece, his iron skin managing to coming in clutch against this weapon. That didn't mean it didn't hurt, though. His skin was supposed to be impervious to all attacks, but the blast had charred his skin, leaving a burn mark. He clutched his side and stood up, looking pissed. He glared at Mercy, taking out his pen. "You're dead." He quickly stretched out his senses and found a water line a few yards away from him. With barely a thought, the pipe exploded and water surrounded him, forming a personal hurricane, lightning striking within and winds picking up all around the parking garage. The water had also started to go to work on healing his body as well, though that wasn't what he had intended to happen. His eyes started to turn a cerulean blue, and they started glowing. Lightning started flickering all over his body, and he felt the electricity in his blood. He had no idea what was happening, but he just let it happen. He felt power circulating through him like he felt before, and he embraced it.

Percy willed his pen to form a trident, and he pointed it at the woman, who fired another blast. He launched himself forward, trident first, right towards it, the godly weapon absorbing the beam as he went. He reared back and at the last second, struck the weapon right where the blast originated. The whole thing took about 3 seconds. Mercy fell back, shocked that this apparent teenager had the ability to do what he just did. Mr. Luthor got out of the van and shouted to be heard over the wind. "Mercy, it's time to go!" He put an arm up to stop debris from hitting his face and slowly made his way over to the woman, putting a hand on her shoulder when he arrived. He looked at Percy now with newfound interest. "How peculiar," he muttered to himself.

"Where do you think you're going?" Percy snarled, pointing his trident at the bald man.

"Away from you, I'll let my body guards take care of this." The men all around him struggled to their feet and managed to point their guns at Percy, who didn't even flinch.

"If you think I'm going to let you just walk away-"

"Oh but I'm not walking." He pulled out a device from his pocket and pressed a button, instantly vanishing.

"Oh shit." Percy's eyes returned to their sea green color as he took a step back, winds instantly dying as he eyed where the two just vanished from in front of him. He wasn't even aware that the men were now shooting him, the bullets just bounced off him anyways. The reality of the situation sank in- he let those two get away, and they were giving away godly weapons for some unknown reason. He willed his trident to form a pen once more, and withdrew Retribution once again.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He definitely needed to talk to Diana after this. Weapons like that were dangerous in the hands of regular mortals, and Percy had no way of tracking them down.

Percy, irritated now pointed his weapon at the man closest to him. "Listen bud, if you tell me who exactly Mr. Luthor is and where to find him, I'll hurt you less then your friends. What do you say?"

The man responded by replacing his now empty magazine and continued shooting at Percy. "Now you're just being wasteful," he shook his head in disappointment, walking to the man who was cowering back in fear now. "Want to try this again?"

The man shook his head and fell on his glutes. "H-he-he'll kill m-m-me!" Percy turned around and noticed they all stopped shooting and were cowering in fear. 'Worth a shot,' he thought to himself. "Alright, listen up! Are any of you going to talk, or do I have to start hurting you one by one?" Percy slowly started to realize that while they may be scared of him, their boss obviously scared them more then he did. It was rather infuriating, and Percy wasn't one to torture mortals.

"Damn." He willed the water around the parking garage to form tendrils of water and wrap around the men, bringing them into a tighter group. The water then encased them all from the neck down and Percy willed the water to freeze, keeping them in place. Walking up to the group, he proceeded to bonk them in the head one by one until they were all out cold. He shook his head in frustration and walked a ways away, pulling out his phone. He dialed Diana's number and waited. After about 30 seconds, a tired Diana finally answered.

"Percy?" She yawned into the phone, causing Percy to almost yawn in response.

"Hey, stop that!"

"Stop what?"

"Yawning, it's contagious!"

"Perseus, it's three in the morning, did something happen?"

"Is it really?" He looked at the time on his phone and put it back to his ear. "My bad. I just have a question."

"You're alright. What's the matter?"

"So I came across some bad guys selling some really intense weapons, like I'm talking they shot someone and this person is now, quite literally, dust. The seller got away, but the men he left behind. What exactly am I supposed to do with them?"

"Hold on. Did you say they had a weapon that disintegrates people?"

"Um, yeah. I destroyed one of them, the rest are in a pile next to some unconscious dudes."

"What are you going to do with them?" Percy hadn't thought about that part yet, he was mostly concerned with getting these people arrested and tracking down this Luthor guy. "I don't know. Probably destroy them. The blast actually hurt, like really bad. Think the League would want to look into them?"

"Yes, I'll stop by tomorrow to take you and the weapons to the Watchtower. As for the men, call the cops? I'm sure they can handle it from there. They are tied up, right?"

Percy glanced over at the men encased in ice and grimaced. He then looked over at the other group of unconscious men on the ground, quickly willed water to bring them together next to the others, and made that ice as well. "Sort of?"

"Perseus."

"Okay, okay! I didn't have rope so they're encased in ice at the moment. From the neck down, of course." Percy heard Diana sigh loudly and he just knew she was shaking her head. "Perseus?"

"Yes?" He asked as innocently as possibly.

"Call the cops. I'll see you tomorrow." Percy winced and nodded. Then he realized that she couldn't see him, and felt like an even bigger idiot. "Yeah, right. Got it. See you tomorrow got to go bye!" He quickly hung up the phone and leaned back against one of the cars, grabbing his side again. It ached, but was manageable. 'Tomorrow it'll probably just feel sore anyways,' he thought to himself as he called the cops and waited.

"911, what's your emergency."

"Yes, hi. Uh, I got some evil guys with guns in a parking garage all unconscious. Can you guys pick them up?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Bad guys? You know, guys who do bad? Is this making any sense?"

"Sir, how many people are unconscious?"

Percy did a quick head count before answering. "27."

"Which parking garage are you guy's at?"

"The one that's a block away from Big Belly Burger." He looked up and saw a sign that read, 'Donnel Adams Parking.'

"It's the Donnel Adams one."

"We'll send our available units right away sir. Sit tight."

"Right. Well, bye?" Percy hung up and looked around. He didn't want to stay and talk to the police, but he figured he had to be close by so that when they did come, he could unfreeze them. He walked over to the briefcases, picked one up, and destroyed the rest. Now he just needed a place to wait for the cops. He looked back towards the alley and saw the dumpsters he had first hid behind. Deciding that that was his best bet, he made his way back over there and hid. Needless to say he was very annoyed at the moment. He heard a lot of sirens in the distance, and after five minutes, a bunch of squad cars and vans came into the garage, sirens blaring. Percy waited until they all stopped and got out before willing the ice back into liquid form, then dispersing the water so the officers could easily get to the men without getting soaked.

"The water-"

"Did you see that?"

"Is Aquaman around here?"

Percy scowled and slowly crept away. Once he rounded the corner of the alley way he made his way back the way he came and headed home. "Aquaman? Seriously? I'm nothing like that guy!" He started muttering about how much of a disaster this night had come too and didn't even realize that he had made it home. He pulled out his key, unlocked the door and walked in. Looking around, he saw that Kara wasn't asleep on the couch anymore. He dismissed the fact, figuring that she must've went to her room.

He went to his room, set the briefcase beside his dresser, got some clothes and headed to take a shower. Standing under the water had helped him relax a bit and clear his mind. After fifteen minutes, he decided it was finally time to get out and head to bed. He turned the water off and willed himself dry, then got dressed. Once he was in his room and he finally laid down, he looked at the time. "It's seriously 6:30? I'm so screwed," he grumbled. He flopped from his side to his back and stared at the light that was out, his dark bulb being the last thing he saw before he drifted off into the realm of Morpheus.

———————————————————————————

Percy awoke to the sound of knocking on his door. "Percy, there's a woman here to see you." Percy looked at the time and groaned. 9:45. He barely slept three hours!

"Yeah, tell her I'm coming." He heard Kara walk towards the living room and he managed to sit up, grimacing as he did. His side was in fact sore, and it did not feel good. "Great. This should be fun," he mumbled as he contemplated just going back to sleep. After deciding that he probably shouldn't just leave Diana waiting, he made his way to his door and walked out, somehow making it to the living room without falling. All he wanted was sleep!

He saw that Diana and Kara were sitting on the couch awkwardly, so he sat in the recliner and put it back all the way, relishing the feeling of laying down again.

"Perseus-"

"Hey Diana, does the phrase 'sleeping in' not have meaning to Amazons?" He popped an eye open to see Kara stifle a laugh and Diana glaring at him. "What? I'm tired."

"Are you going to introduce me to your friend, Perseus?"

He sighed and sat back up, already missing the momentary comfort it had given him. "Kara, Diana. Diana, Kara. She's the cousin I was telling you about."

Kara nodded and stuck her hand out for Diana to shake. "It's nice to meet you, Diana."

Diana returned the gesture, "You as well Kara. That's a very pretty name you have." She glanced over at Percy, who was sitting back with his eyes closed. "How exactly did you two meet?"

"She fell out of the sky and woke me up," he nonchalantly said, not even opening his eyes. "Right." She glanced at Kara, who didn't object to the explanation. Diana raised an eyebrow at both of them. "You're serious?"

"Deadly. She's been staying with me ever since. She's pretty cool. I'm trying to help her find her cousin."

"Cousin?"

"Yep. But that conversation can be for a later date. Can we head to the Watchtower now? Kara's also coming by the way."

"I am?"

"Yep."

"Percy, where did you go last night? I woke up and you were gone and you weren't in your room either."

"Patrol."

"Perseus. A word?" Percy opened his eyes and saw that she was serious. He groaned and got up, motioning for her to follow him to the kitchen.

He poured himself a glass of water, took a sip and leaned back against the counter. "What's up?"

"We can't take her to the Watchtower." Percy set his glass down and crossed his arms.

"Why not? I don't want to leave her alone here. It's not like she's a bad guy or anything. I already told her about me anyways." He saw her give him a look and quickly added, "Well, some parts. She knows I'm a hero and have powers, that's about it."

"And you trust this girl?"

"Yeah I do. Her planet was destroyed and her family sent her here, but she got locked in a place where time doesn't exist for like 27 years before her pod escaped and she eventually made it here, crashing on me in the process." Diana stared at him in shock and glanced over at Kara, who was playing with Small Bob and Mrs. O'Leary.

"Percy, are you sure?" She asked him carefully. If she was right, and she knew who her cousin was, well let's just say he was going to be in for a surprise.

"Yeah. To her it feels like it just happened because of some Phantom Zone she was in. She was devastated."

Diana's mind started reeling. All the details were slowly adding up, and she felt her stomach drop.

"What was the name of the planet?"

"Krypton, why?"

"You're right, she is coming with us. I know who her cousin is." Diana turned to walk out but Percy grabbed her arm. "Wait, you do? How?" Diana turned back to Percy, stealing one last glance at Kara. "Percy, her cousin is Superman. Kal-El, the last Son of Krypton."

"Wait, the dude who has super everything?" Diana nodded, and now it was Percy's turn to steal a glance at Kara. "Woah, I have to admit, I did not see that coming. That's good news though! She'll be excited to meet him!"

"As will Kal. He's spent so long thinking he was the only survivor, save for Zod and his officers."

"Who?"

"Doesn't matter. Grab the weapon and let's go." Percy nodded and headed to his room to grab the suitcase before meeting up with Kara and Diana. "Kara, you ready?"

"I guess? What is the Watchtower anyways?" She asked as they headed out the door. Percy just grinned, "You'll have to see it, it's the coolest thing!" They walked out the building and followed Diana down an alley where there was an abandoned Port-a-potty.

"Recognize, Diana Prince. Authorization for female passenger, Code: 1941 Sierra Charlie." The group stayed silent before a melodic female voice responded.

"Recognized: Diana Prince."

Diana turned to Kara and motioned for her to step in with the Amazon. Kara glanced at Percy, who nodded, signaling that she was going to be alright. She took a deep breath, and followed Diana in. A flash of light later, and they were gone. Percy followed shortly after, joining Kara and Diana in the next instant as the hidden Zeta Tube teleported him to the Watchtower.

He had to stop himself from chuckling, Kara reminded him of himself when he had first arrived on the secret space station. She was in awe, taking in the sights around her. Percy smiled to himself and walked to where his cousin was standing, off to the side.

"Where do you want this?" He held up the briefcase, motioning around for a place to set it.

"I'll take it. I'll have Cyborg analyze it to see if he can find anything. He should be on duty right now."

"Duty?" Percy handed her the briefcase as they made their way to where the monitoring room was.

"Yes, duty. A 12-24 hour post that members of the League take to maintain watch over everything. After you're fully integrated, you'll also be put on the roster."

"What? Aw man, that actually sounds horrible," Percy groaned, not at all wanting to do this so called 'duty'. Diana just shrugged. "It's just one of the responsibilities of the League that you'll have to get used too."

"Diana, we're both immortal, right?" She gave him a questioning glance before nodding. "So do we really have to do 24 hour posts until the end of time?" She reached over and flicked his head, causing Percy to glare at her. She just laughed.

"I doubt it, but for now, yes."

"Immortal?" They both turned around to see Kara giving both of them questioning looks. The two children of the Elder Gods looked at each other before looking back at the Last Daughter of Krypton.

"Um, it's a long story Kara. But hey, I got some good news! Want to talk about it real quick?"

"Uh, sure?" Percy released a breath he didn't even know he was holding and turned to Diana. "Take this to Cyborg, and see if you're able to get Superman up here. I'm going to let Kara know what we discussed."

"You sure about this?"

"This was your idea?"

"It was yours first to bring her here."

"Diana."

"Perseus."

"Gah. I got it, don't worry. Just focus on getting Supes here and I'll handle the news." Diana smiled, she loved getting on her cousins nerves. She turned and headed to where Cyborg was and Percy turned back towards Kara.

"Are you two always like that?"

Percy wanted a hand dismissively. "She loves getting on my nerves. Come on, we need to talk." Percy led a nervous Kara to the Ball Room where he first met the members of the League. He sat down at an empty table and motioned for Kara to join him.

"Listen, I found something out today. I know who your cousin is."

Feeling her heart drop to her stomach, she sat forward in anticipation, feeling nervous and excited at the same time. "How do you know my cousin? Who is he? Where is he?"

"Um, well. Here's the thing." Percy scratched his head and tried to figure out the best way to phrase what he was about to say next. "Apparently, he's the strongest being on this planet. The world knows him as Superman, and he's a founding member of the League, according to Diana at least."

"Wait, back up. Superman, the strongest being on this planet? My cousin is a superhero?" She just shook her head and sat back, staring at the glass window that gave a great view of Earth. "Percy, I need to tell you something."

He raised an eyebrow, but let her continue. "Ever since I got here, something has been happening to me. I feel like I can hear everything, and sometimes when I'm looking at something like a wall, for some reason I'm able to see through it. It just keeps coming and going, but if I focus on zoning it out, I'm able to forget about it and it goes away. Do you have any idea why that's happening? Do you know if this happens to my cousin?"

"Well, yeah actually." Percy rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. "I remember when I met him for the first time. I had asked what is powers were, and the guy basically said super everything, including x-ray vision and super hearing. He also said he had laser vision and something called super breath? Top that off with being able to fly, having super speed and super strength? It's no wonder he's the most powerful being on this planet. The dude is stacked!"

Kara moved a piece of hair behind her ear and smiled. "It's good to know that he's able to take care of himself. Guess my job doesn't really matter anymore, right?"

"Well, um. Honestly? I have no idea. I would assume not?" Percy honestly didn't know how to answer that question without seeming like a jerk, so he decided to opt for a different direction. "Look, Kara. You have a rare opportunity here, an opportunity to start a life for yourself, to make your own choices. You don't have to worry about anything anymore except living your life."

Before Kara could respond, Diana came over to the both of them. "Superman will be here any second." As though summoned by name alone, the Zeta Tube lit up and the Man of Steel walked out, scanning the room until his eyes landed on Kara.

"Great Rao, it is you! You look exactly the same as you did on my pods family archives."

Kara stood up nervously, her hands fidgeting about.

"Kal-El?"

"Kara?" After a hesitant second, they both flew to each other's arms, Kara stifling a sob.

"I'm so glad I found you," she whispered into his chest. Superman gently rubbed circles on her back and looked up to Perseus.

"I hear you found her and have been looking out for her since she arrived?" Percy nodded, not sure 'looking out' was the right word, per se. Apparently that didn't matter to Superman. He slowly let go of Kara, walking over to Percy and holding out a hand. Percy reached out to shake it. "Thank you, I'm in your debt, Perseus."

"It was nothing, really. She needed help and I wanted to help her. I'm just glad you two found each other, family is important." Superman nodded and looked back at his long lost cousin. Percy let go of his hand and took a step back, motioning Diana out of the room. "We're going to give you guys a minute to catch up. We'll be in the monitoring room with Cyborg if you need us." As he turned to walk out Kara ran up to him and hugged him right. "Thank you, Percy. Thank you so much!"

He gently hugged her back before pulling away and putting a hand on her shoulder. "You ever need anything, I'll be here. Don't be afraid to ask."

"Actually, there is something I want to talk to you about, but is later alright?" He nodded before gesturing back to Superman. "I think your cousin is waiting, go get to know him." She smiled and nodded before turning around and making her way back to her only family left in the universe. Percy watched her for a second longer before turning around and meeting back up with Diana. As they headed back to the monitoring room, she gave him a pointed look.

"What?"

"You like her, don't you?" He felt his cheeks flare up and he turned to look down.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She laughed and put her arm around him, shaking her head. "Your cheeks are golden, you're blushing!"

"Am not!"

"Gods blood is gold, and we can see the real color of their blood. You're face is literally gold right now." He huffed and muttered to himself and Diana just enjoyed the moment, leading Percy to where Cyborg was working.

Percy only ever met the man once, and he had to admit, despite being 90% machine, the guy was pretty chill. He seemed easy going, and he smiled and laughed a lot. Diana had took him out for coffee one morning to meet him and Red Tornado because they weren't at the League meeting. When Percy had met him, the guy seemed like a carefree, go with the flow kind of man. So when Percy saw him with a concerned look in his face, he immediately forgot what him and Diana were discussing the minute prior. They came up to him and Diana looked at the giant display screen on the wall.

"What's wrong Vic? You seem troubled." Cyborg had the briefcase open, cords plugged from the briefcase to the computer, and from the computer to his wrist.

"Diana, you're not going to believe this. Whatever Percy found, it's made from the practically same tech that I'm made of."

"Wait," Percy interrupted, holding a hand up to the screen. "Why would that be hard to believe? I'm not trying to be rude, exactly, but aren't you just made out of a machine. No offense "

"No, not really. And a little offense taken." Percy cringed a little, realizing how rude he sounded. Vic just grinned, though. "I'm messing with you man. But back to what the weapon is made out of. The machine part of me that's keeping me alive is a piece of technology called a mother box. It's a sentient, living computer. This is so similar, it's eerie. Like if I'm part mother box, I guess this would be a father box. It's so similar, yet almost exactly the opposite in certain key components."

"So it's both exactly the same yet exactly the opposite? How does that even work?" Percy wondered out loud before a piece of Luthor's speech sank into his head. "Wait, baldy was saying something about how the planet this weapon originated from was inhabited by gods and these were their weapons. Does that mean you're created by godly tech? Is that even a thing?" He glanced a Diana who pondered the question for a while before responding.

"Perhaps, you have the God Hephaestus, who not only deals in blacksmithing but also creates new inventions for the Gods, then you have the Cyclopes, who basically just create weapons and whatever the Gods need. It's possible." Cyborg glanced at the computer before turning to Percy. "You said 'Baldy' did you by any chance catch his name?"

"Yeah actually. Some chick named Mercy kept referring to him as 'Mr. Luthor." At the mention of his name the Cyborg and Diana shared a glance that seemed to say a thousand unspoken words between them. "This isn't good, if Lex has somehow gotten his hands on weapons of this nature, we could only begin to comprehend what his end game is."

"Wait, you guys know this jerk? Who is he?"

Cyborg opened up a search engine and typed in 'Alexander Luthor Jr.' and the same bald man that Percy had seen was on the screen. "This, my good friend, is Lex Luthor. Billionaire by day, super villain by night. He always finds a way out of prison time and the most punishment he's had was house arrest, which didn't help because his house is technically his entire companies building. Since his penthouse was at the top, he's been able to maintain control over Lex Industries, which isn't good."

"Correct," Diana interjected. "He disguises his company in the premise of saving the world, but his actions have shown us that they're doing anything but."

"Alright then, why can't we just take him down exactly if we know what he's doing?"

"I wish it were that simple." Cyborg pulled up some documents and blueprints and sat down. "He always has an alibi that checks out somehow. He probably pays them off to cover for himself and plus, whenever they do search the building they can never find anything. The only time the man doesn't participate in criminal activity, we noticed, is when he knows Batman is in town."

"You mean, the only way he stops is when the only guy on the team with no powers shows up? Well that makes sense," Percy deadpanned. Vic and Diana just smiled and looked at each other. "If there's one thing I know, it's that powers or not, Batman is the most terrifying person I know. No matter what, he always wins in the end."

Diana nodded along with his words. "He is a rare mortal, one that persists until the bitter end."

"Okay then. It's a little weird how much you guys fan girl over him, not going to lie."

"It's not fan girling, it's respect. As super powered beings, the most powerful on the planet, he has the respect of the entire league. Not a light feat, to have no powers and stand beside beings of power, let me tell assure you." Percy just stared at Diana before motioning back to the screen.

"Okay, that's cool and all, but we kind of got to figure out what Luthor is planning, right?" Percy studied the briefcase and noticed the inside has virtually no seams, giving no indication that it could transform into a machine of death and carnage. "I saw this thing vaporize a man in an instant, and when it hit me, it left me disoriented and managed to burn me. My side is still sore from the encounter."

Vic pulled up an ever changing schematics chart of the weapon, his internal processor able to update in real time as he figured out just what this machine was truly capable of. "I'm going to be honest Perce, I don't know everything this thing can do yet or how it all works, but I'll figure it out."

"Why would Lex Luthor just give these away?" He muttered mostly to himself, but the other two Leaguers in the room were able to hear him still.

"What do you mean, give them away? He wasn't trying to sell them?"

"At first he was, but the guy he vaporized had made a point that they couldn't afford them and that they just wanted guns. After, he was just going to give these away with the only condition for them to cause as much chaos as possible."

"Perhaps Luthor wanted to accurately test his weapon against the League?"

"Or," Cyborg interjected, "This is a distraction. Maybe with these in the streets, he figured we wouldn't realize what he was really doing." The three pondered the statement in silence before Vic stood up. "Look, I'll analyze this to the best of my ability then get back to you. You guys are good to take off."

"Thank you, Vic. I really appreciate it." Dianna patted his back and left, Percy following after he also echoed his thanks to the man on duty. They two cousins made their way back to the ball room in silence, trying to figure out what Lex Luthor could possibly have planned. As they were about to pass the training room, Percy had a thought. He stopped and grabbed Diana's shoulder, halting her progress.

"Perseus?"

"I'm getting weaker." He let the statement hang in the air a moment, giving her a chance to let it sink in. He had tried to ignore it, but he was growing acutely aware of the fact that he was getting drained. Like something was forcibly pulling his power out of him.

"What do you mean? How can you be getting weaker?"

He hesitated, not knowing how he should describe it. He had figured he could power through it, but he wanted to know what was happening. "Let's go to the training room. I don't want someone to hear us."

Diana followed him without a word, and Percy could feel her anxiety rolling off her. They walked into the room and headed towards the benches, each sitting across from each other.

"Diana I should probably explain something to you. When I was made a god, I didn't receive any training or tutelage, I just immediately started my one man war path and it didn't last long on my Earth. My Father had told me that when a mortal gets granted godhood, they go through something called a metamorphosis. My metamorphosis was supposed to be by my Dad's side, so he could train me, get me prepared. But I left, and soon enough I was back in Tartarus."

Diana let that information process, trying to see where this was going. So far, she couldn't tell what was happening, though. "So you never finished your metamorphosis, then?" Percy laughed at her question and sighed, laying back on his bench and interlacing his hands behind his head.

"Just the opposite. Most of my metamorphosis happened in Tartarus. I never thought anything of it until now. I spent so long down there that I grew accustomed to the environment, the atmosphere. I became a God in the pit. And I thrived. Sure, I had a spat where I was captured and tortured by some Titan who had it out for me, but after I escaped? I was nigh-untouchable down there. I even made some friends, believe it or not." He smiled fondly at the memories he made in Tartarus, fully aware that most people would call him crazy if he said he had occasionally had fun in Hell.

"So," Diana said, interrupting his train of thought, "You finished your transformation into a God in the pit. What does that have to do with you saying you're weaker now, though?"

"Hm. I guess, because my body and mind got used to it down there, I sort of made it my home. I still hated the pit, don't get me wrong. But most of my life, and practically all of my life as a god, had been down there. The air, the atmosphere, the food, it became what I needed to survive, to thrive. I grew stronger, defeating more and more powerful beings. But then I found the Doors."

Diana leaned forward and motioned for him to continue, eager to see where this was going. "I got out, appeared on a beach, actually. Feeling that nice breeze, smelling the sea salt of the Ocean. I never would've left that spot, had their not been people waiting for me. Looking back, I felt it even then. The Ocean, calling out to me, like it was begging me to come home."

His cousin nodded at his last statement. "If I remember correctly, the Atlanteans have a saying. 'What belongs to the sea will return to the sea.' Sounds the same."

Percy glanced over, a smirk on his face. "My Father told me that once, on my birthday, actually. Weird."

"Not if you think about it. The Atlanteans Patron is your Father, after all."

"A version of him, anyways," Percy muttered under his breath. He still didn't know what to think of this world's Olympians yet. Apollo and Hestia were the only ones he liked so far. "Anyways, ever since then, it felt like the Ocean was begging me to take control, to claim my Dad's domains. And it feels like it's trying to forcibly put me in that spot. Does that make sense?" He looked over to Diana to see she had also taken to laying on her bench as well. She looked over and nodded.

"It does. The Olympians, save for a few, abandoned Earth. They left this realm of existence, and perhaps the Ocean's feel betrayed. He did, after all, give away his godly weapon. No other God has done that except Athena, when she gave me her sword. But there were specific circumstances that led to that event. Maybe, the seas see you as their hope and future. Perhaps you shouldn't fight that sensation next time it comes."

Percy groaned and sat up, putting his hands in his head. "Wouldn't that just make me more powerful? I didn't become a god for power, you know."

"I know. Still, it might be better to claim the domains then to grow weaker until it eventually kills you."

Percy rolled his eyes and flopped back onto his bench once again. "Great. The Olympians are really going to hate me if I do that. Go me, for somehow getting myself involved in another seemingly unavoidable war. The Fates love me." He held his hand up to the light and studied it. "What would happen to Poseidon if I took his Domains?"

"I'm honestly not sure. He'll probably still remain an Olympian, the faith of the Atlantean culture alone should keep him strong, and I would assume he would still have control. He just wouldn't be the Ocean's master should he return."

Percy made his hand into a fist and turned it around, examining his knuckles. "You really think I should do it? I still haven't even mastered my other domains yet."

Diana got up and knelt by him, putting a hand on his arm and bringing it down. "You don't have to be afraid of your power. No matter what happens, I'll still be by your side keeping you in check until the end of time. And I expect you to do the same for me as well."

He visibly relaxed and closed his eyes. "Thank Diana. When we get back to Earth I'll take my claim over the domains." He yawned and stretched out, popping his back in the process. "Until then, I think I'm going to take a nap." The last thing he heard was Diana's chuckling as he lost consciousness for the second time that day.

————————————————————————————

Percy was vaguely aware of someone shaking him, but he absentmindedly swayed their hand away, not wanting to move from the floor he was on. 'Wait, floor?' Percy bolted up and hit his head on the bottom of the bench.

"Ow, Holy Hades that hurt!" He rolled from underneath the bench and sat up, looking at his surroundings. He was still in the training room, and Kara was in front of him, worry written on her face.

"Diana said you would be here." She held out a hand to help him up and he accepted. He glanced around and noticed it was just the two of them. "Where's Diana and Superman?"

She looked at the doorway and started walking towards the exit. "They left awhile ago. Cyborg has been keeping me company until you woke up. They thought it would be better if I let you sleep for a bit. You're up now though, so we can go home." Percy had been following her but stopped when she said that.

"Wait, I thought you were moving in with your cousin?" She turned around and glanced at the floor. "I talked to Kal about that. I told him how you let me stay with you, gave me a room and everything. Kal lives with his girlfriend and they weren't exactly expecting someone new. I just thought-" she trailed off and kept staring at the floor, her cheeks flushing from embarrassment.

Percy chuckled and walked over and hugged her. "It's alright. You moving in made life a lot more interesting. I was kind of sad to think you were going to be moving away already anyways."

She hugged him back and squeezed tight before separating. "You're sure you don't mind?"

Percy waved his hand dismissively, "Nah. Mrs. O'Leary and Small Bob really like you also, and they'd be sad if you left without saying goodbye anyways." He slung an arm around her shoulder and they headed to the Zeta Tube. "By the way, how was meeting your cousin?"

"It was interesting. When he left he was a baby, and now he's a fully grown man. He says Kryptonians age significantly slower on this planet, so I'll be around with him for a long time. And during his spare time, he's going to teach me about my powers, help me bring them out and control them."

"That's awesome!" Percy exclaimed, raising a hand to fist bump her, which she returned. "Maybe when you learn your powers we could spar." She laughed and an playfully shoved him. "Know that I won't go easy on you."

Percy grinned like a dork. "I don't expect you too. My cousin doesn't hold back against me, and he wave some fun during sparring sessions." They arrived at the Zeta Tube and Percy walked up to the platform.

"Recognize, Perseus Jackson, Authorization code Female passenger Romeo Romeo 2005." A second later the melodic female voice range out.

"Recognize: Perseus Jackson. Authorization confirmed."

He turned around and held his hand out. "Ready to go home?" He asked her. She smiled and grabbed his hand, raising her onto the platform with her. In the next instant, they were back in the abandoned port-a-potty. They stepped out and Percy noticed that the sun was about to set soon. They had spent most of the day at the Watchtower, and in less then 24 hours, Percy somehow had managed to mess up his sleep cycle. He internally pouted, before turning to Kara.

"I have to go to the beach real quick. Want to come with?" She nodded so he held out his hand for her to grasp. "Make sure you close your eyes." He closed his eyes and visualized the beach he went to the night before meeting Kara. He felt his body turn to mist, and within a few seconds felt it rearrange itself back into one piece. He looked down, noting that he was ankle deep in the water. He looked over to see how Kara was doing to see her on her knees, throwing up.

"Please, let's not ever do that again. I prefer the last time you teleported," she managed to get out between gags. He knelt down and patted her back, trying his best to soothe her.

"My bad, it's my favorite form of travel, but I don't have it down yet. Honestly I wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to bring you here in one piece." She glared at him, causing him to laugh and hold up his free hand. "Kidding! Anyways, give me a minute, yeah?" She gave him a thumbs up, and Percy turned towards the vast Ocean. He felt it calling to him, begging for him to be its new master. He remembered telling the Poseidon of this world that he would take his domains, but it had been in the heat of the moment. He didn't actually think it would happen, yet here he was.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and held out his hand, trying to feel the Ocean's desire. He felt a little tug in his mind, and he let it slowly envelope it. It was a comforting feeling, reminding him of all the good in his life, his home, friends, family. He latched onto that feeling, the feeling of familiarity and comfort. Deep in his gut, he felt a tug similar to what he felt when he controlled water, only stronger. Letting it happen, he offered himself up to the Ocean, giving it the chance to reject him as its master if it so chooses.

It didn't, however, and a searing pain flared in his mind. It took him a split second to realize what was going on and he yelled at Kara, "Close your eyes now!" Not having time to check if she complied, he was enveloped in a bright golden light, the pain never leaving his head. Dropping to his knees and grabbing his head, he screamed in pain.

"Percy!"

"No! Keep your eyes closed!" Taking in deep breaths, he managed to get his ragged breathing under control when suddenly, the pain stopped. The light faded, and he felt everything in the Ocean at once. A vast well of power, now under his command. As he was marveling over the fact, the sensation of power was gone as soon as he came. He knew that he would be able to feel it if he tried, so he didn't bother. He stood up and turned around, spotting Kara with her eyes shut tight, sitting in the water. He walked to her, knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's alright to open your eyes now." Kara slowly opened one eye, and seeing that it was safe opened the other. She shakily stood up, brushed herself off then glared at him.

"What was that?" She pointed to him the gestured to the water, looking angry. Percy held his hands up and took a step back. "I didn't know that was going to happen." He laughed a little before continuing, "But now that it's over, we should go home. You probably need a shower anyways."

She looked down at her soaked clothes and sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Are you alright though?"

"Of course. It was something I needed to do, and that was just a side effect. In fact, I feel better then ever if I'm honest." She gave him a curious glance but didnt question it. "If you say so. Can we not teleport back? I've had enough of that for one day." He smiled and motioned for her to follow him out of the water.

"Sure, we'll take a cab home. You can go ahead and shower when we get there, I'm probably going to go on patrol when we get back, anyways."

"I might not be home when you wake up tomorrow. Kal is picking me up tomorrow to teach me about my abilities." They made their way into the road, and Percy whistled for a cab. The nearest yellow car pulled up and he turned to her.

"Thanks for letting me know. Let's go home, alright?" She nodded and they both got in the cab, both anxious to go home.

———————————————————————————

Unknown Location

A red headed man in yellow walked through a hellscape, ignoring the demons that growled and snarled at him. He whistled to himself, walking past lakes of fire, lamenting in the sounds of souls of conquered worlds and dimensions being tortured. To him, it was like music to his ears. He headed towards a bridge that led to a huge castle made of brimstone, with fire seemingly coming from random points in the walls.

He had good news, he had finally found her! Granted, there was some supers protecting her, but they wouldn't be a problem. He hadn't failed like Greed had. He hated that his younger brother got a chance to prove himself before he did, but it didn't matter now. His brother just showed what a loser he was, the failure of the family. He stopped at the bridge and looked up at the castle once more, unable to wait any longer. He decided to take his hosts body for another spin, and he sped across the bridge at the speed of sound, causing a sonic boom. He sped through the giant doors of the castle, down the hall that led straight to the throne room.

He stopped at the feet of a giant being and took a bow.

"Gluttony," the giant man said, "why do you return so soon, and in another's body, no less?"

"My Lord, I have located the girl. I know where she is staying, and discreetly took over this one's body without being detected."

The giant man had been lounging in his seat, but when he heard Gluttony's report, he sat forward in his giant throne. "Oh really? Rise then, my son, and tell me everything." Gluttony slowly stood up and looked at the giant man. He was blood red with long white hair, and in his current form was around 50 feet tall. He had black markings covering his body, horns coming out of his head and four glowing yellow eyes. He wore only a loincloth, made of the skin of gods he defeated eons ago.

Gluttony bowed once more before speaking. "The girl is living in a mountain, it appears she's part of a team of superheroes, one that is overseen by a more powerful group of so called heroes, if this ones memories are anything to go on. His memories show powerful beings, some magical in nature." The large man seemed to ponder Gluttony's words for a moment. He sat back on his throne with a grin. "Beings of this world, magical or powerful as they may be, will be no threat. I've killed Gods, what could these beings possibly bring to the battlefield?"

Gluttony grinned, excited at the concept of leading his own battalion of forces. If his father let him, of course. "Shall I go get the army's ready, My Lord?" "Tell me Gluttony. Do these beings know of my presence, or of the girls true heritage?" Gluttony shook his head. "Not that I am aware of. We still maintain the element of surprise, Your Greatness." The giant man lounged back in his chair, a plan formulating in his head.

Gluttony started to get anxious, growing desperate to prove himself as an equal to his older brothers. This was his big break, after all. He had located the girl when his brothers, five of the six of them, had yet to even return. "The armies, My Lord?"

"Yes, do prepare them. But do not engage just yet. Gather your six brothers, before we engage we will dismantle the so called heroes protecting the girl from the inside. Wrath and Pride will be the ones to lead this little side mission. The smaller the amount of casualties my force of Hellions receive, the greater the use for them will be after all." Gluttony bit back another curse and bowed. He knew better then to voice his opinions to his Father. The consequences would be disastrous, and he knew his older brothers beating would also he just as bad. "As you wish, Lord Trigon."