Chapter 7: The Apple of Discord: Part 2

"Down girl!" I ordered between my laughter. She continued to ignore me as she continued to lick Raven's face, drenched in drool

"I'm going to kill it" Raven growled. From the way, her hands were clenched and her eyes twitching, I believe she would try.

"Aw, but she loves you" I teased. Raven glared at me once more with the promise of death and used her powers to push the towering hellhound off of her. She then proceeds to create a cage of dark energy. Trapping her. She stood up and proceed to wipe the drool off her face, purposely flicking a few at me when a laugh escapes my mouth. I looked over at our small audience and was slightly shocked at their reaction. They only looked at the scene with slight confusion and impatience in Batman case. Only one stuck out. Wonder Girl. She looked at the scene wide-eyed, her breath coming through in short gasp, trying to grasp what I assume is where a sword would be if she had one. Nightwing looks over at her and puts a hand on her shoulder causing her to jump up.

"You know, I thought you guys would have a bigger reaction to this. Good on you" I complimented with a smile.

"What are you talking about? And where did that poodle come from?" Nightwing asked. A poodle? I thought it would take a while before the mist takes effect.

"Poodle!?" Wonder Girl exclaimed.

"What wrong?" Batman asked not bothering to look at her.

"T-t-there's a hellhound in front of you" she stuttered. Everybody looked at her and Mr. O'leary and took a few steps back in caution.

"Huh. I thought some of you would be more resilient by now." I remarked. With a snapped my finger, I removed the veil of the mist from them. Right away the heroes stepped back and got into battle position. All except for Batman who didn't look phased at all. Knowing that they would escalate the situation, I stood in front of them, raising my hand up in a placating manner.

"Oh come on now. Let's be friendly. She's peaceful. Look at her cute widdle face" I said gently because they look way too high strung. Maybe just dropping a Hellhound in front of them was a bad idea. I just thought they of all people wouldn't be surprised or even phased by weird stuff anymore like I was when I was their age. Gods, I sound old.

They looked like they were still going to attack, just waiting for a signal but one glare from Batman put a stop to that. Slowly they began to relax and Batman turned to me with a nod to giving me the signal to continue.

"Bloody hell. A Hellhound" Constantine exclaimed putting a hand through his messy hair with a small grin on his face. "I only saw these in cages and guarding some unsavory blokes. How the hell did you get one?"

"It was a gift. Anyways Hellhounds are one the best trackers on all things supernatural related. Especially if it's Greek Mythology related." I explained.

"You want to use it as a bloodhound?" Nightwing asked.

"Bingo Nightduck. She will smell the apple stem and should get a magical scent and in theory, follow the trail of our assailant. Might make a few unnecessary stops like a Big Belly Burger or two but there is nowhere on Earth, hell anything in this universe this beautiful girl won't find." I explained. None of them looked convinced and Batman didn't look phased by my explanation "Raven take down the cage please". She first gives me a really good death glare that clearly conveyed the message 'I will gut you with the corpse of your dog', but I just smiled at that which I think made her angrier. With a wave of her hand, she collapsed the cage of black energy and instantly Mrs. O'leary bolted to the fountain. She started to drink the water extremely loudly, and eat the coins that were dropped in. Everyone in the area looked at the scene with slight disgust and curiosity. Personally, I don't even know that Hellhounds even drank water. Aren't they bred from the fires of Tartarus or something over the top like that?

"What!? Are you crazy?" Wondergirl exclaimed instantly flying up in the air.

"Oh come on. Trust me."

"And why should we? And it Nightwing. Seriously, it's not that hard to remember." he growled.

"Because Nightwing, I don't need your help. This isn't the first time I handled something like this and knowing my luck it won't be my last" I said in an irritated voice. I give them suggestions and they throw it back into my face as if they know what to do. "The only reason I'm still here is that I personally think that there is more to this than some rogue Demigod getting off from the chaos. Knowing this city, it's probably some super villain with some stupid gimmick or something. I don't want to jump into this blind without someone backing me up."

"The only reason you are still here is that we have all the exit covered and you'll have to go through us, and several League members surrounding the mall." Zatanna countered, giving me a glare with intense hatred. I guess being associated with Raven made me automatically evil in her eyes. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. I guess that 'uncanny ability' to make people like me that Hestia and Grover were on about was wrong. To be honest, I think it quite the opposite. The number of people that despise me without even seeing my face is ridiculous. Back at camp, the Stolls even put up a sign on my cabin door with a list of gods, titans, and monsters that specifically hates me. That made me a bit of a social leper to most of the new campers for a while. Especially when a new name is added every other month. To this day, I still don't know how I got Leto mad. Artemis and I are practically BFFL. Please don't tell her I said that.

"Kid, I could have left any time I wanted. I have at least four different ways to stroll out of here without a fight. One of which would destroy the mall. Don't want to though. Starfire would kill me."

"Kid!?" You're like what, three years older than me?"

"Enough!" Batman ordered, instantly shutting her up. "We're going with his plan. We don't have time to find an alternative and whoever is doing this could be picking a new target as we speak. Zatanna gets the others" Zatanna looked as she wanted to complain but one glare from Batman made her rethink. She then stomped away towards the entrance of the mall.

I moved back to my spot to the edge of the fountain with both Raven and Mr. O'leary at my side. Mr.s O'Leary moves her head out of the water and rested on my lap. Of course soaking my pants with drool, metal crumbs, and water. I then dug the apple stem out of my pocket and waved it in front of her nose. She instantly perked up and started wagging her tail. I guess Hellhounds have an appetite for the golden apple of death. Make sense.

"Can you find where this came from, girl?" I asked. She started sniffing the apple and began to wander the room, sniffing the air. The heroes instinctually moved back whenever she went up to them. She stood in front of Batman for a few seconds and amazingly enough, he didn't flinch and kept eye contact with the towering beast. Suddenly she opened her mouth and her long tongue licked the entire length of his body. She barked loudly a few times, almost destroying my eardrums, before continuing her search.

The room was silent, except for the sound of Mr. O'leary sniffing the air. Suddenly a person from the distance began to laugh, which caused a domino effect with the other heroes, who tried and failed to cover up their laughter. A few more heroes slowly started making their way towards us led by Zatanna, and Aqualad.

"Dude that was hilarious! Where did the dog come from? Is that even a dog? Ugh, Batman, you smell like dog breath. Hahaha" a short green-skinned boy said through his laughter. I guess he's the one they call Beast Boy. The one that can shapeshift into any animals. From the videos I saw of him, he had Frank beat at the speed of his transformation. At least Frank can turn into a dragon, which is always a plus for me.

"I guess she likes you," I said between chuckles. "Maybe because you smell like you lived underground your whole life."

"Wait you can smell him?" Raven asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a family thing. I tell you about it later." I said, hoping she got the underlying message. She nodded at me and continued to glare at the group of heroes gathered, who started to group up and speak to each other in hushed tones. Mrs. O'leary was still stiffing around and somehow got to the second floor. I hope she's not looking for the food court.

"I don't like this" Raven muttered.

"Yeah well, you don't like a lot of things" I muttered.

She gave me a small glare "I mean, even if we work together to solve this, it will only make the League more determined to either capture us or put us under surveillance. The last person that was assigned to look over me is still in a mental hospital."

"There too many variables. I don't believe a Demigod would do this." I said.

"Why, because all of you are destined to become heroes?" She asked sarcastically.

"No. Well technically. It's kinda in our nonexistent DNA to help, protect, and do the right thing. The theory back at camp is that we're supposed to be the antithesis to the monsters or something " I said trying to remember one of the dozens of lectures Annabeth gave in the new school recently built at camp.

"Do you even know what an antithesis means?" Raven asked deadpanned with slight amusement in her eyes.

"Shut up. Anyway, there are a lot of things that aren't adding up and it's making me think that this is just another weird convoluted plan the 'bad guys' in this world loves to do." I said.

"What are you going to do if there is a Demigod doing this" Raven asked.

I already thought hard on that subject and decided that I will just improvise. Hey, it worked for me in the past. "Don't know, I'm hoping to pull something out of my a-"

"Wait" Raven interrupted with her right hand raised.

"What?"

"Someone outside of the mall just attempted to bypass our mental block" Raven informed while glaring at the roof. A while ago, a few weeks after I started doing some jobs for the GCPD, Raven gave everyone at the Sanctuary some sort of magical mental block to prevent people from being snooping around in your head. Personally, my mental block is already quite strong. I guess having an Egyptian goddess running around in there gave me some sort of resistance to anymore tampering.

I looked up and sighed. "Give them a present"

With a small and slightly disturbing smile, her eyes glowed with power "Done. Whoever it is just briefly witnessed what really goes into my head. Just a taste of what will happen if she goes in my mind again."

"She?" Before she could elaborate Batman and his merry band of teenage heroes came back to us.

"How much longer would it take for her to find the scent?" Batman asked.

"Don't know. Way more magical interference than she used to from different sources around the city. I'm hoping since the apple is of Greek origins, it wouldn't take too long" I explained.

"Alright. Wondergirl, Zatanna, and Nightwing will go with him to the source of the magic. Call for backup before engaging." Batman ordered.

"Whoa. Hold up a sec. I know she looks like she could eat a garbage truck for lunch if she wanted to, but it would drain all of her stamina if she carries too many people. Only two people can come with me. Raven here will just transport the rest after we arrive at destination" I interjected.

"What do you mean carry?" Constantine asked.

"Well, you saw how she came here. She can go anywhere in the world with a shadow."

"Nightwing and Wondergirl will go with you then. How will the girl find you?" Batman asked.

"'The girl' has a way to track Percy" Raven growled out. "It would only take a few seconds". Just then with a loud bark, Mrs. O'leary jumped off the fourth floor right into a cell phone kiosk stand, completely destroying it. To make matter worse she then started rolling around in the debris. One by one the heroes and Raven looked at me while I scratched the back of my head with a grimace. I forgot how destructive she is in a public area.

"I'm not paying for that" I stated. I stood up from the edge of the fountain and made my way towards the Hellhound who seemed ignorant of the world. "Hey, girl. Did you get a scent?" I asked. Mrs. O'leary stood up from her mess and lowered herself. She barks twice which I guess was her way of telling me that she's ready to go.

"She's ready," I said to the heroes. Batman nodded to both Nightwing and Wondergirl, and they made their way to me. I climbed on top of Mrs. O'leary back and brought my hand down for them to grab onto, which they ignored and either flew on top of her or jumped on.

"Rude. You know, from what I saw from comic books, I always thought Superheroes were always nice, corny and a bit cliche but you guys act like you've been waking up from the wrong side of the bed since you started wearing those ridiculous outfits" I said.

"Hey! I'll have you know my bed is extremely comfortable. My pillow is even made by my own feathers" Beast Boys exclaimed.

"Can we go now?" Raven asked annoyed.

"Alright passengers, hold on tight and don't fall down. If you accidentally see the souls of a dead relative, please don't go towards them. You may experience nausea, heartburns, existential crises, and the feeling of your eyes popping out. Please keep your hands and feet within the vehicle and enjoy the ride. Which you'll probably won't" I said in my best imitation of an airplane pilot voice. Before either of them could ask what the hell I was talking about, I jabbed Mrs. O'leary sides with my foot and she stood up and started to run towards the darkest corner of the room. Under a staircase.

"Whoa! We're going to crash!" Nightwing exclaimed. Wondergirl screamed behind while I just laughed. It will be fun to see these heroes scared out of their minds.

Almost 20 blocks away from the mall

"Oh come on now. It wasn't that bad" I said. When we arrived, both Nightwing and Wondergirl fell off of the Hellhound in their haste to rush the nearest bush and puke their hearts out. Mrs. O' Leary slowly walked to a house in front of us and lay down on the lawn, chewing on a lawn gnome. We seemed to arrive in one of the nicer neighborhoods in Gotham. Two blocks full of moderately large houses with big lawns, and nice-looking cars parked in their driveways. What's really weird and out of place in this neighborhood was the squads of men in the distance that were clad in bulletproof armor and assault rifles.

"Not that bad?" Nightwing groaned. Wondergirl seems to have collapsed on the road, just staring at the stars above, breathing heavily. I thought I was joking about the existential crises.

"So what with those people. They're packing serious heat" I asked. Nightwing instantly straightens up and followed my gaze.

"It's Gotham. There are a few gated communities that only people with a lot of money could afford. Everything is insured, and they are protected by a private security company" Nightwing explained.

"So instead of the neighborhood watch, it's the neighborhood militia? Cool, I guess"

"Is this the source of the apple?" he asked.

"I guess. Mrs. O'leary ran towards that house while you were doing your business." I said moving towards the house. I gave Mrs. O'leary a nice pat on the head and waited for Nightwing to catch up. I guess vertigo hasn't worn off yet, as I see him wobble a bit. "How about you hide out here and recuperate while I'll go and see if anyone is home"

"Wait we should wait for the others " Nightwing objected.

"Unless you want to have a conversation with the nice guys armed with assault rifles, be my guest. I have a feeling they are ordered to shoot first ask questions later to anyone wearing anything spandex or a mask" I said pointing at a patrol that was slowly coming towards us. Luckily they haven't noticed us yet. Nightwing glared the patrol and nodded at me before moving to Wondergirl and helped her stand up. Slowly they came up to the door I stood in front of, using each other to hold the weight of the other.

"I'm never doing that again" Wondergirl groaned. "Uhg, way too fast"

"I don't think anyone is home. The lights are off and there are no cars in the driveway" I said.

"What happens if there are kids in there?" Wondergirl asked.

"Don't think that there's any. No toys out here, or even a basketball net over the garage. The lawn looks like they haven't been mowed in a long time either" Nightwing deduced. I guess we're hoping this house doesn't have a lazy kid.

"Well let's go find out," I said. Wondergirl grabbed onto the doorknob and twist it but couldn't turn it.

"Locked. Should I break it down?" She asked. I like her style.

"No. I got it handled" Nightwing said while taking out some sort metal object with a small display out of his utility belt. He put it up against the lock and a skinny metal pole came out in inserted itself into the keyhole. The display screen flashes green and the Nightwing turns the doorknob, opening the door.

"Now that's cool. You can make a killing off that" I said. We shuffled our way in and closed the door behind us. The house was a very atypical home complete with a large living room filled with a black leather sectional couch, big screen TV mounted to the wall and a coffee tabled with dozens of mail, and a pile of research papers on top. Other than that, it was extremely bare. No photographs, carpets, or even lights installed. Whoever lived here was not one for comfort I guess. Nightwing moved towards the coffee table, grabbing the research paper off the table and Wondergirl starts opening random doors on this floor. I make my way up the stairs quietly just in case, someone was still inside. There was one dark hallway with red walls and a window at the end of it. Only four rooms were visible from my angle and they had their doors off their hinges except for one. I'm hoping it's the bathroom. Don't want to walk in on someone doing their business. I walk past two of the rooms and they were all bare, just like the living room. I opened the bathroom door to reveal a large silver and black themed bathroom with a shower in one corner and a bathtub under a window. Unlike the other rooms, the hygiene products and towels showed evidence that someone actually lives here.

I make my way the sink and opened the medicine cabinet above it. Damn, there were enough drugs in there to start a drug store. Dozens of orange pill bottles and eye drops filled the cabinet with names way too complicated to pronounce. I picked up a few and stuffed them in my pockets. Maybe brainiac downstairs could tell me what they are for. Exiting the bathroom, I hear multiple voices downstairs. I make my way down to see Batman, Constantine, and Raven have arrived. Nightwing had his head down and his wrist out, staring at a blue holographic display hovering above his wrist. I can only see some letters and a profile pic of an old man.

Batman noticed me first "What did you find?"

"Not much. Whoever lived here didn't plan on staying for long. All of the rooms are bare, except for one where there was a suitcase full of clothes and a used bed. No identification found."

"No need. Found out who this house belonged to. It was a bit difficult. This house is owned by a shell company and has exchanged hands over time. Luckily there's a security camera on a street lamp outside and it caught the owner's face. Facial recognition identifies him as Dr. Franklin Reeds. Sixty-four years old. Has a Ph.D. Bioengineering, genetics, and neuroscience. Currently under the employment of-" Nightwing stopped talking and quickly looked at Batman.

"Who's he working for?" Raven asked.

"W-Wayne Enterprises biomedical division," Nightwing said in a quiet tone. Batman's fist clenched and he stared at the hologram display as if he wanted to burn it with his mind. I guess these two are friends with Bruce Wayne. Made sense. The guy is one of the few richer people that spends more than a quarter of his company earning on helping the city. Because of his efforts, the number of young adults and teenagers in gangs have decreased due to community centers and colleges being built for low-income families. He was dubbed the 'White Knight of Gotham'. I will probably feel a tinge of guilt when I rob his mansion.

"Is he sick?" I asked.

"There are a few medical bills charged to his bank account, but I'll need to hack the hospital records to see why"

I dug the two pill bottles I found in the medicine cabinet and passed them to Batman "I found these in the bathroom. There are about a dozen of these filled inside of the medicine cabinet. Don't know what they are though"

"Cytoxan, and Bisphosphonates. These are used for common cancer treatment." Batman explained while examining the labels.

"Great. Some bloke with nothing to lose. That always ends well with these crackpots" Constantine muttered sarcastically.

"How is this guy connected to what happened at the mall?" Raven asked.

"Don't know. Let us ask him" I decided

"Wait. I think we should take it from here. This is League business now. Wayne Enterprises is one of our biggest benefactors. Discretion is key if their company is involved" Nightwing said looking nervously at Batman.

"Hey buddy, I'm going to keep on investigating with or without your help. I don't care how much they pay you to keep quiet." I accused.

"Hey now, it not like that. We should just be careful. If we accused one of the most loved companies in America with no evidence, this will not go well for any of us. Having a rogue element such as yourself will only complicate things" he defended.

"He's coming with us. Whatever Dr. Reeds were researching is still unknown to us. We might need his help." Batman said effectively shutting Nightwing up.

"Now how do we find him?" Wondergirl asked.

"Give me something that belongs to him and I'll use a simple tracking spell." Raven offered up.

"Oh, I know just the thing," Wondergirl said before dashing to a door next to the entrance. She ducks her head in and comes out with a pair of loafers in hand.

Raven levitated the show out of her hand and started to chant her three magic words "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos". Her eyes glowed with power and the shoe started to disintegrate. "I got him. He's at the edge of the city. Near Bludhaven. There's a bit of interference though" With that, a portal opened up in front of the four of us.

"Wondergirl, fly back to the mall and inform the team. I'll activate my tracker for you to follow." Batman ordered. Wondergirl nodded and without another word she ran out the door and flew off. Nightwing stared at the portal, unsure if it was safe to go through.

"Oh for crying out loud" Constantine exclaimed and without any hesitation walked through the portal. Nightwing looked at Batman who nodded and followed suit.

"What did you mean by interference?" Batman asked.

"Don't know. Could be magical in nature" Raven said. Without another word, he walked through. I was about to follow but Raven grabbed my shoulders first.

"Percy. I think the interference was the mist. Can't be sure though" Raven revealed before going through. This is getting more interesting. A mortal scientist having an Apple of Discord, hidden by the mist. Something about this whole thing makes me feel that I will dread whatever the answer is to all of this. At this point, I just hope that this is just some rogue demigod. With that thought, I stepped into the portal dreading the worst.

Wayne Enterprise Biomedical Lab - Restrictive Area

Creepy seems to accurately describe where we have arrived. We were in the woods next to a large dirt road with the multiple tire track showing that it was still well used. It was still the night and it's obvious that we're outside of any cities, with no light pollution hiding the beautiful starry skies. Raven stood to the side watching the trio of heroes walking down the path up ahead. Mrs. O'leary burst out of a dense bush, pushing her head under my hand to

"They seem to know where they're going," Raven remarked, narrowing her eyes at them. We begin to follow them on the dirt path, with every step feeling as if I'm walking through jello. My years of demigod training and experience are warning something bad is going to happen, but oddly enough I don't have the urge to run away to safety. Maybe the gods are guiding me to wherever we are going. That did not make me at ease at all. I looked over at Raven and wondered if she felt the same thing. She is half-divine or demon whatever. She must have her brain wired like us. But Raven isn't one to show any sense of what she is feeling. In some odd way, it's comforting.

"Hmm. I just have a really bad feeling about this and the urge to investigate is strong. Demigods rarely feel like this." I confessed.

"I know what you mean. The demon side of me is also itching for the pain it smells in the air. Whatever it is, we will not like what we'll see" Raven revealed. I still get a bit unnerved that she speaks as if her 'demon side; had its own mind.

"The fact that Bruce Wayne company is part of this makes things complicated. I don't trust that the League will stay 'neutral' on this. Especially since-"

"Since anti-league sentiments are rising and them accusing their biggest supporters puts them in a difficult position" Raven interrupted. I nodded to her and looked ahead at the heroes with a frown in silence. I hope they will do the right thing. They looked like they were deep in a conversation. From the look of Nightwing's face, he was getting annoyed at Constantine taking a swig from a flask. "Percy?" Raven spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"You said that demigods have the urge to do the right thing with, and rarely evil. With some exceptions."

"I did?" I asked. Raven looked at me an irritated look that I came accustomed to being on the receiving end of.

"You alluded to that. Anyway didn't you tell me stories of some unsavory people from your world that had a hand in trying to destroy your home?" she asked.

"Well, that's complicated," I said

"How so?"

"It's not always black and white. For example, Luke in his misguided ways was fighting for demigods to gain recognition" I said. A brief unpleasant memory popped into my mind when Luke stabbed himself.

"By working for an evil immortal being?"

"Hey, I didn't say it was a good plan. But when you think about it, no immortals are either good or bad. If you think the Olympians are the 'good guys' you should pick up a history book. Every 'evil' demigod did what they thought was the right thing to do for their family when going against powerful people. They were pushed in those situations." I said bitterly. I took a deep breath, trying to get rid of the angry emotions.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a hint of concern.

There was a moment of strained silence before I spoke up "How many lives could have been saved if I just knew better and had the skill that I have now? Or how all of our troubles could have been avoided if demigods just talked it out with the God of Therapy for Olympus sake"

"What is it that you always tell us back home? 'Why change the past when you can own this day?' I like to think that one of the most important things that have been ever been spoken back home. I hope you take your own advice." She stopped in front of me, putting a hand on my shoulder "You can't save everyone, Percy. Everyone has a choice and they made theirs" and with that, she flew off towards the heroes who stopped in front of a large fenced-off area. Did she just comfort me? Although that was strange, it didn't stop a grin from growing on my face. Moments like these make trying to break Raven cold facade worth it.

I caught up with the others and saw that Batman was off to the side of the road fiddling around with some sort of touchscreen that was attached to a concrete post. Up ahead was a large fence with barb wires on top and behind was some sort of large white facility that stuck out like a sore thumb in the dense woods. Off to the side, there was a small shack that was giving off weird vibes "No security?" I asked.

"According to Batman, there should be nothing in there, only useless storage, a few cubicles, and offices. So, from the way you were talking earlier, I assume you had some experience with the damn fruit eh?" Constantine asked.

"Oh yeah. Not something you'd forget about." I said, chuckling at the memory.

"What happened?" Nightwing asked.

"It was a year ago I think. Back at this summer camp that I used to work for, there was a little girl that was a daughter of Eris. Very sweet and hyperactive. One night she got a bit hungry and accidentally created an apple slightly larger than a pea. She dropped it and its area of effect was luckily only two cabins." I said with a soft chuckle. Of course, nobody in her cabin was affected but the civil war within the Hermes cabin was hilarious. Relationships were destroyed, hairs were dyed, and a few poor Athena kids caught in the crossfire of the rubber spider barrage. We were all glad that the Hermes cabin idea of chaos was a prank war against each other. Injuries were only a minimum because there were barely any unclaimed children in there anymore. "So what are we waiting for. Let get in there and ruffle a bunch of nerds jimmies."

"We just need to wait for the others" and just on cue, the feeling of the air pushing down on us appeared, and above us was a large red airplane thingy. You know at this point, I'm not even phased by all of the weird things that I keep on seeing. Just last week, I thought I saw a giant clown balloon. The weird ship thing landed next to us. in a small opening and a large ramp was lowered onto the grass. Five more heroes came out of the ship, with Aqualad leading them.

"Percy" Raven whispered grasping my shoulder and pointing me towards one of the heroes. She was a green-skinned girl in a long-sleeved black suit with the red X and a blue cape attached. Miss Martian, I suppose. She looked at us with slight apprehension and a bit of fear for Raven "She the one that went into my mind. I don't think she liked what she saw". I tried to ignore the slight sound of glee from her voice because I knew that isn't the type of person Raven is. Her attention then shifted to another girl who was wearing a green costume, with a bow in her hand. She froze at the sight of Raven and gave a barely noticeable nod and smile. Raven nodded back and looked back at me.

"What was that? Who's she?" I asked.

"An old resident back at the sanctuary. I wondered what happened to her." Raven explained.

Before I could comment, Aqualad went up to Nightwing and spoke: "What do we have?"

"This is where we tracked the suspect. It's a Wayne enterprise Biomedical lab facility. State of the art equipment, security, and research."

"Speaking of security, where are the guards?" Miss Martian asked.

Nightwing eyes narrowed "That's what I'm wondering. There's no communication coming from the facility, and we haven't run into anyone yet."

"It's a trap," Raven remarked.

"Totally a trap" I agreed.

"Doesn't matter. There might be hostages in trouble." Batman said. He looked at Aqualad and nodded at him. Aqualad looks at his team and through some sort of communication, they all headed towards the facility except for Constantine.

Constantine leans back against a large rock next to Mrs. Leary and held a newly lit cigarette. "I don't have much luck in hostage situations, so I'll stay out here"

"How about us?" Raven asked

"You'll stay here. Both of you are unknowns and that is not a risk I'm willing to take. If anything happens, Kid Flash or impulse will get you." Batman said before walking away towards the facility. Before Raven could argue, a sudden shockwave of magic swept the area. Constantine, Raven, and I stood in attention, looking around to see the source.

"You guys felt that right?" Constantine asked. We both nodded as we surveyed the area. My eyes were naturally drawn to that odd shed once again.

Raven's eyes glowed for a few seconds before she sighed. "Yes, but I can't find the source. Too much interference"

"No need. That's our target." I said pointing at the shed. "So, Constantine, wanna join our adventure and disobey Batman?"

Constantine shrugged his shoulder and flicked his cigarette away. "Meh. More exciting than staying out here."

The shed wasn't special exactly special from the outside, especially from the inside. The room was filled with lawnmowing equipment, generators, and other groundskeeping equipment. Something felt very off. It was the same feeling as when you walk into your house and noticed instantly that something has been moved. I looked at every inch of the room and finally noticed what was missing.

"It's too clean," I spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Raven asked.

"He's right. This is a groundkeeper shed, where they store all of their sites. So where's all the dirt, grass stains, hell even soil?" Constantine confirmed. He picked up one of the rusty lawnmowers and flipped it revealing clean blades. "Even the equipment is squeaky clean."

"So obviously a cover. Since we're close enough to the magical source, maybe I could scan the room to get a good idea of where it is " Raven suggested. Her eyes and hands glowed with power and she started moving her hand around the room. Her hands point to the ground below us and she frowns. "It's...below us. Ugh, I hate the underground."

Constantine looked down and tapped his feet on the wooden floor. He smirked as it made a hollow noise. "Would you be a dear love?" he asked Raven, gesturing at the floor. She nodded and her hands glowed once again. Constantine and I stepped out of the shed as the floor began to crackle with black energy. Raven floated above the ground and raised her arms. Instantly the floor brook apart, showering the room with splinters, revealing a metal hatch beneath it. With a wave overhand, the broken pieces stacked themselves off to the side. Constantine and I stepped back into the room and examine the hatch.

"I wonder what's behind door number 1" Raven muttered.

"Let's find out" I grabbed onto one of the door handles and pulled. The loud screeching noise the door made hurt my enhanced ears but I got the job done. I threw the door to the side and looked down. It was a deep dark hole that seemed to go on forever, and the metal ladder connected to the side. You know, in my experience, I usually try to stay away from scary holes with no end in sight. Especially after Tartarus. After Tartarus, I guess you could say I have a phobia.

"Well let's not dilly dally around here," Constantine said before going down the ladder. Raven was about to follow but I guess she noticed me hesitating.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Y-Yeah"

She raised an eyebrow at that obvious lie. "You stuttered. You're lying."

"Everything is fine Raven," I said firmly. Now is not the time for a heart to heart conversation.

"Percy you look scared. No, not scared,...terrified. I never saw you scared of anything before. Except for Starfire's cooking"

I sighed and looked down the hole again. "I'll tell you one day but for now, we have a job to do" Taking a deep breath, I maneuvered myself onto the ladder and descended. In hindsight, this fear is a bit ridiculous. I always prided myself on being the only child of the big three not being afraid of their uncle or father's domain. Well, after Zeus promised not to try anything.

The ladder down was unbelievably long and I had to suffer through Raven complaining about her thighs and arms burning. Yeah, I'm gonna start her physical training right after this. Finally, we came to a stop and I looked down to see Constantine opening up a large metal door, and bright white light immediately started streaming through.

"There go my retinas" Constantine groaned, as he went through the door, both Raven and I followed closely. Something didn't feel right. My demigod senses were telling me to avoid this place at all costs, and my hand was gripping Riptide tightly. It felt as if there was a monster stalking near me.

"Be careful everyone. I have a bad feeling." I muttered, loudly enough for the others to hear. We were in some sort of corridor that burns your eyes. The walls, ceiling, and lights were pure white. Standing here felt like I was contaminating the place. We walk down the corridor, past dozen of an empty room, office space, and a few labs. The complex was practically abandoned. We turned a corner, through some doors, to see a large cafeteria. Just like the rest of the complex, this room was empty as well.

"This place is rather unsettling," Raven remarked, as she floated in the air, surveying the room. "I can sense at least a hundred life forms, but we haven't run into anyone."

"Yeah. Where the bloody hell is everyone?" Constantine asked. A loud crashing noise comes from the kitchen, catching all of our attention.

I took out Riptide, while the other got into a defensive position. The crashing noise only increased more as if someone was someone who was fighting for their life. I tried to look into the kitchen from behind the buffet table but it was too dark. Suddenly there was a small explosion and a large black mass flew towards us. Raven quickly threw up a barrier, stopping the object from squishing us. Raven lowed the shield and I took a closer look at the thing and jumped back in surprise as a giant mouth tried to take a bite out of me.

"Everybody move back" I commanded. The monster stood up and bared its teeth at us.

"Percy is that a..." Raven trailed off.

"A Hellhound, yes" I took out Riptide and the Hellhound growled at the sight of it. I'm guessing monsters in this world aren't used to demigods fighting back. I caught sight of women standing behind the monster, on top of the buffet counter, with a bow and arrow in her hands. It was the hero from earlier. The former 'resident' Raven mentioned. She let loose an arrow but it just bounced off its fur. The Hellhound growled in annoyance and tried to jump towards the archer, before a blast of black energy threw it across the room, into a cluster of lunch tables. Raven flew towards the Archer and started healing some minor wounds on her arm.

"Raven? Why are you here?" the girl asked.

"Don't have time for a reunion" I interrupted. The Hellhound stood up shakily and growled. It started pacing side to side, trying to determine who to attack first. This an odd behavior that I rarely see with Hellhounds.

"He looks a lot bigger than yours" Constantine commented. I looked at him to see that his hands were on fire. I guess that normal around here.

"It's older. Very old. I'm guessing a demigod haven't sent you to Tartarus in years, eh big boy." I asked the monster. It just snarled foam and drool dripping out of its mouth. "He seems smarter than most Hellhounds"

"Nothing I did to it even scratched. I even shoved an explosive arrow in its mouth" the archer said.

"You need at least Celestial Bronze to harm them," I said.

"Celestial Bronze? One of the rarest mystic metals in the world. So rare, that nobody in the past three hundred years has found any," Constantine asked.

"Yep. Raven retrained it, please. I don't want to waste any time" Raven nodded and raised her hand. Black energy rose from the ground, surrounding the monster, A giant raven claw formed over the monster and slammed down on top of it. The Hellhound struggled to get up, but more pressure pushed it down on its belly. I looked back to see Raven on one knee both hands glowing and facing the beast. I quickly made my way towards it, careful not get in the way of its snapping maw. I noticed that the giant raven claw was flickering and the Hellhound was starting to stand up, pushing against the claw. With one swipe of my sword, the old monster turned to yellow dust.

"And that's is that" I looked back to see Raven on her hands and knees, trying to catch her breath. "You alright there?"

"Yeah...that...was. a lot harder...then I thought" she said between gasps. The Archer went to Raven and helped pick her up.

Constantine came up to me, his hands now extinguished, staring at my sword. "Is that what I think it is?"

I brought up the sword in front of me and gave him a good look "Yep. Pure Celestial Bronze, perfectly made for kicking ass."

"Damn. You and your descendants for the next 500 years would be set for life if you sold that"

"Never thought of that. Although rare, where I come from there's an abundance."

"Alright. I'm gonna scout ahead. See what Katniss over there knows" Constantine said. I nodded at him and made my way to Raven.

"Percy, this is Artemis. She was a resident at the Sanctuary a few years ago." Raven introduced. "Artemis, this is Percy Jackson. Our new resident."

"Wait. Percy Jackson. This is the guy Hestia and Grover were always on about" Artemis asked surprised.

"Yeah. Meeting a hero is always disappointing huh?" Raven said with a smirk, causing the archer to chuckle. She then obviously started checking me out and my face suddenly started feeling hot. For once, I'm glad Annabeth isn't here.

"I thought you would look bigger. More Herculean" she observed.

"Well, I take that as a compliment. Hercules is a bad model." I said,

Her eyes widened. "You met him?"

Before I could answer, Constantine ran back into the cafeteria, his clothes slightly burned. "We got a problem" Without another word he ran back out through the doors. I looked at the other and Raven just shrugged before flying after him. We went through a few more abandoned corridors and rooms before finding our selves in front of a catwalk that was above a giant room three times bigger than the cafeteria. At the center of the catwalk was Constantine, looking down. We quickly made our way to him and followed his gaze. What I saw made me think I drank something unsavory earlier.

The room was large, filled with typical office cubicles that were abandoned, and boxes. On one side of the room was a large steel bulkhead door. By the looks of it, I assume it's very thick.

What made me doubt that I was awake, was the group of robots and monster in front of the steel door.

There were three fully grown Hellhounds clawing at the door, its claws cutting through it like butter. A bit further away was these large spiders like robots that I think had a laser gun instead of a head.

Yeah.

You know, I think I'm at that point in my demigod life where I can safely say, 'I saw everything'. Met all-powerful gods, held up the sky, met Superheroes, eat breakfast with an alien, and now giant laser robots. "So. I'm guessing what we're looking for is behind that door?" I asked my companions.

"That what Batman thinks," Artemis confirmed.

"What was your plan anyway? Where's your team?" Raven asked.

"Kid Flash and I were supposed to check out the area for any hostages, but we got into an argument and he left to join the others at the other entrance," she said with an annoyed tone but I can sense the hurt in her voice. "Why are you here?"

Raven looked at me briefly looking for permission, and I nodded. "We think it has something to do with Percy extended family"

Constantine looked confused at that, while Artemis nodded, catching on what Raven was hinting, "Makes sense with all of these monsters. I should have brought my special arrows then. Haven't taken them with me since I left."

"Alright. Here's what we'll do. I'll take care of the Hellhounds, you guys handle the spider robot things." I said, taking out Riptide.

"You don't need my help?" Raven asked, creating a black platform to takes us down safely.

"No. You had trouble holding them down before and you could probably easily crush those robots like an empty can" We all step on the platform and Raven lowered us slowly.

"Why aren't they fighting each other?" Constantine asked.

"Don't know. Maybe the mist is hiding the monsters from the robots and to the Hellhounds, the robots could be viewed the same way as cars." We made it on the floor and instantly every robot and monster turned their attention to us. The monsters growled at the sight of me, while the spiders started making mechanical noise and its glowing green eyes turned red.

None of us hesitated. Raven flew into the air grabbing two of the robots in black energy raven claw, while Artemis and Constantine started shooting arrows and magical spells. Using my superspeed, I rushed the monsters and made quick work of them. Having super-speed and a sword makes monster killing a whole lot faster. Sucks that it doesn't work that often. Eli and I have been scratching our head on that problem.

I turned back to see two of the robots crushed like scrap metal, one with a head full of arrows, and the last one in pieces on the floor. Artemis moved towards the robots and pulled out the arrows from the robot head.

"Ok, what behind door number 2," I said, looking at the large steel door.

"Batman was very tight-lipped about this place. I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be here" Artemis said. She walked towards a console embedded to the wall next to the door.

"You're disobeying the Bat. Quiet ballsy" Constantine said

"Family is involved." Artemis simply said. Family? I shot Raven a look and she had a slight smile on her face. "I think I could hack into the door. The security is not that hard." She takes out an arrow from her quiver and stabs it into the hardware.

"I've seen enough movies, and hacking does not look like that," I said.

She shrugged and started messing around with a computer attached to her wrist, similar to the one Nightwing had. "I skipped a few steps and those movies are exaggerated."

"Are you hacking the mainframe now?" I asked.

She looked up for a second. "The what?"

"The Mainframe. In the movies, they always mention the mainframe and the firewalls and other technobabble. Annabeth always gets annoyed with them."

She gave me a weird look before looking away. "I'm just looking for a simple lock. Nothing that complicated."

"That sounds boring."

"Tough."

A few seconds later the large steel door began to shake and slowly slid up. One by one, we all move closer in to see a large room with the same aesthetic of the whole facility, white walls, floor, and sterile. Once my eyes became accustomed to the bright white light, my stomach dropped, and for the second time since coming to this world, I felt the rage again. The pure, unadulterated, burning rage that makes me want to tear everything apart.

The room was much larger than the cafeteria but still had the same sterile white aesthetics. Instead of the kitchen and lunch tables, there were computer stations, labs, and offices that lined the walls. What made the sight horrifying and rage-inducing was the dozens of people tied down to metal slabs, hooked up to machines.

"Jesus," Constantine muttered. "None of them could be older than 18."

"What is this?" Raven asked.

"The nail to Bruce Wayne coffin," I growled out. I made my way to the closest examination table where a little girl lay. Every inch of her face and arms had scars from surgical tools and needles. She couldn't be older than 12 years old. Her face was pale, sunken, and scrunched up in pain. Her hands were folded upon her chest, clenching something that was glowing gold, tightly. I lightly moved the hand away to see a small Apple of Discord, the size of a peanut.

"I guess we found our apple maker," I muttered.

"Who would do something like this to a little girl?"

"Unfortunately, these aren't a rare thing," Artemis said, looking very grim. "Corporations, supervillains, hell even Aliens, would pick up kids off the streets that slightly stronger than regular humans, and push them to their limits, all in the name of science and power."

"All for the advancement and betterment of humanity" An older man voice interjected. We turn to the side to see an old man with a cane, struggling to walk over to us.

"Dr. Franklin Reeds I suppose. Look like you've seen better days." I snarked. He looked nothing like the image Nightwing showed us earlier. His hair was completely gone, eyes sunken, skin an unhealthy grey with a sheen of sweat.

He coughed into a rag in his hand and gave me a small glare. "The price of being human in a world full of gods and monsters."

"Meaning, some of his sick experiments backfired against him," Artemis said.

"Sick Experiments! These are hope givers against the growing horde of Villians, gods, aliens, and god knows what." He exclaimed.

"They're children that you ripped from their home and violated them," I yelled, cutting through whatever bullshit this madman had.

"They are the future. What are a few sacrifices for the greater good!"

In a burst of speed, I appeared in front of the doctor and slammed him to the wall by his throat. "Who the hell do you think you are? Some sort of god?" I came closer to his face that was slowly turning blue and hissed out. "Well buddy, I have experience killing them."

"Percy, don't do this. You don't kill people." Raven said.

"I kill monsters for a living. I don't see how this guy is any different."

"You know the difference. But if you kill him, it will stain your soul, and follow you forever. Please don't. I can feel that your emotions are not you're own." I continued to glare at the man when suddenly I felt a hand on my back and all of the anger drained out of me. I am calm. I feel like I'm back in my cabin, with my head on Annabeth's lap, talking about our future. I turn to Raven, to see her eyes glowing.

"What did you do?" I asked softly.

"You're emotions were being overwritten by something else. Something very angry. So I temporarily removed them. Now, please. Let him go." The scientist continued to paw at my hand, in a sad attempt to escape, and I let out a sigh.

"We need to get these people out of here, especially the demigods. Raven, transport as many as you can to the sanctuary. We're getting guests." I ordered. Raven hesitated briefly, before flying up into the air towards the center. She took a meditative position and started chanting. I looked back at the old man and lessen my grip. "And you. If I ever hear from you again, if I get a hint that you're going to continue your experiments, I will hunt you down and drag you to Hades myself." I threw the coughing man to the ground and with a flick of my finger on his temple, he was knocked out.

"The League will punish them right?" I asked Constantine and Artemis.

"Of course. I'll make sure that." Artemis promised.

"Good."

Constantine stood next to me as Raven slowly levitated all the victim's into the swirling portal. Artemis moved to the side and was staring blankly at a wall. He lit up another cigarette and let out a low chuckle. "I'm surprised this place isn't a crater in the ground."

I scrunched up my nose at that. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"You have a bit of a reputation.

I turned to the man and gave him a look. "I've been meaning to ask. How on Earth do you know me?"

"You're name is known to the magical community. I'm pretty sure I saw your face on a. darts board, at a demon bar. Percy Jackson. The Slayer."

"Well, that's new to me." I mused. "Thanks for the help by the way. If you need anything, within reason, just call me." I pass him a drachma. "Just throw this into a rainbow, and ask for me."

He looks at the drachma in interest. "Damn, this could settle most of my debt," he said with a chuckle. "I'll keep that in mind."

"You guys got to go," Artemis said, coming back. "The others are coming any moment now."

"Are you going to be ok?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'll just say I came alone and knocked the guy out because he was reaching into his coat. Luckily the security cameras are off. Now go." I gave her my thanks and said goodbye to the two heroes. After the last victim was sent through the portal, I went in, with Raven close behind.

I stood in the main dining room where the victims we saved were placed. Like magic, the Sanctuary provided dozens of beds,and blankets for everyone. Raven was examining each of them, with glowing hands covering their foreheads and chest. Once in a while, a glowing symbol would appear above their heads, and Raven would record it on a clipboard.

The gods claiming their kids. A bunch of useless-

"You ok?" Eli asked next to me.

"Yeah. Just a little pissed." I said. "How're things going on your end?"

"Fine, I suppose. I set up an algorithm to try and identify everyone here. We should know more soon, and contact their families."

"They can't protect them. "Jesse said, entering the room. "The minute they come back home, they'll get kidnapped again." She looked a bit pale, and was fidgeting a lot. Jesse has been taking this whole ordeal hard since we brought them here. Hell, all of us have.

"We'll keep them here for now, but we're still going to tell their parents. I can't imagine the hell they're going through."

"Then what?" Eli asked.

"Then we accelerate your plan, Eli," I said firmly. "Creating a home for these people, and train them to protect themselves, and others from these sick bastards. But for now, we help them heal."

AN: To be honest, I did not expect to release another chapter for this story. I've been absorbed into other fandoms for so long, and kind of left Percy Jackson behind. However, I wrote 90% of this, a month after the last chapter was released, and I just had the urge to finish it. You can guess that it's a bit rushed in a few areas. That what happens when you run out of ideas, and jump into writing years after the last sentence.

Now, am I continuing this? I don't know to be honest. I barely remember canon YJ, and. I haven't watched the latest season. Though this story is more of a cross with the general DC Universe, then Young Justice. Maybe I'll continue it if I have ideas, but don't hold your breath.

Currently, I'm writing/focusing on other stories. Mostly all of them are for the Worm fandom. If you're into Worm, I hope you give my stories a chance.

I hope you enjoy this. Please Review, Favourite, and Follow.