Western Mongolia
October 1, 01:01
The Light rarely met in person. Usually, for safety reasons and logistics it was easier to conduct video-conference. But now, it was more dangerous than ever. Somehow this young heroes kept interfering with their masterplan. All started with this random fire at Cadmus laboratory. It took Savage years to prepare this all up to the smallest details. Secrecy was the key. He had to keep his enemies in the dark. He hoped that the deception would work, but it was only a temporary solution. Any more mistakes and interference and whole plan could fall apart. He really hoped that there was a way to rid the world of this sidekicks. Not only it would secure his plans more, but could also deal a severe blow to the justice league.
Most of the other members of the light went happy about their own business for now. They conveyed here to make sure none of them would get hurt during the whole ordeal, but they were supposed to actually discuss other matters as well. Right now they were only awaiting Ares, who was running late. Quite ironic for someone who could literary appear almost anywhere in a flash.
After about thirteen minutes, there was flash of burnt-red light and the God of War stood in front of them. Instead of apologizing, he pointed his clawed, armored finger at Klarion.
"If you ever put this kind of charm on me again, I will gut you and..." He really wanted to trail with the threat, but Lord of Chaos interrupted him.
"Yeah yeah. I get it. No more hexing the scary godling." Klarion said in mocking tone. Before Ares could response, Queen Bee joined the conversation.
"May I know, what was this 'charm'?"
The fires under Ares helmet started to burn stronger. "This immature kid here cursed me so that instead of arriving here I appeared in various fantasy conventions." His voice was dripping with barely contained rage.
Klarion was practically laughing in his chair at the moment. Some other members of the light also smirked, but nobody dared to say anything. Finally, Vandal just clasped his hands. This immediately silenced the group.
"Now. We have more pressing matters to discuss. I do not care what type of quarrel is there between you two, but it must stop now. We are after all striving toward the same goal." Savage made sure to sound as charismatic as possible. He accented each word in the last sentence to make sure they got the message. Reading between lines everyone understood that what he really wanted to say was 'Win together or Die divided'.
"Fine. But I didn't come here to get lectured on teamwork. My powers are growing weaker with each day. This 'Justice League' is quite effective at stopping large-scale conflicts. While feeding of lesser fights is enough to sustain me, I will need more than that to fulfill my part." Ares sent meaningful glare at Savage, who only nodded.
"You will get the conflict soon. Why don't you for now watch over the Injustice league. While I am certain that the league will be busy with the plants, Their sidekicks might pose some threat."
Queen Bee spoke from her seat. "There is also Perseus. He is a complete loose cannon. We have no idea what will he do, but his steady growth in power is concerning at least." She pressed some buttons on the panel and holo-video of his final fight with Kobra appeared. It was not the best quality, but they could all see the beating. "The girl that accompanies him is also interesting." She added seeing Zoe form a snowball out of high-tech machine gun and toss it at running crook with deadly precision and accuracy.
Ares scowled. "She is just an stuck up bitch. She is mine and I will have her once this sea-spawn is disposed off."
The vulgarity of the God of war repulsed Queen Bee. While she admired his passion and power that radiated off of him, He was also brutal and very... old-fashioned. His views on certain matters really did come from ancient times.
"It is reasonable demand, as long as you can actually kill him." Luthor chimed in. "Your last attempt was rather... unsuccessful."
It took Ares all of his patience and self control not to wipe that smug grin off of Luthor's face. He knew that for his plan to work he would need allies and the light served him well so far, so he managed to only slightly flare with power. Of course this slight flare was enough to send Luthor flying into the wall, but it was still better than assuming his true form and wiping out everyone. "Watch your tongue mortal. I was taken by surprise." Luthor was about to say something about how Ares gave a different description of the situation when he boasted about how he wiped the floor with 'squirming half-blood' as the god of war colorfully described it, but he reined himself. It was bad enough Lex had one overpowered nemesis. No need to add another. "He somehow accumulated more power than any demigod I know. This bastard can even wield trident of Poseidon and summon it like his own."
"From what little intelligence I got from Atlantis, the Trident is his own. Something about claiming it as his. A gift from Poseidon." Black manta explained, which earned a roar from Ares.
"That stupid barnacle bearded rascal! He gave him the first trident!" the condensation of power in the room suddenly spiked. Most members of the light were really tired with the short temper of their associate. Soon enough, Ares regained his composure. "It is the most powerful symbol of power. It can harness the power of all the oceans and it is supposed to control magic itself, just as lightning controls the might and helm of darkness controls the emotions. But the trick is only someone with Poseidon's blessing can wield it effectively."
Vandal sent Ares a questioning look. "What do you mean the first trident? Is there more of such weapon?"
"No. It is the first trident ever forged. He gifted it to some dude name Altis or whatever, leaving it here and asking elder cyclopes to forge him a new one. They agreed, but the replacement didn't hold that much power. Otherwise Barnacle beard would be able to overthrow my father ages ago." Ares finished.
"Whatever. Don't you have some fake secret society to oversee or something? I want to have some fun!" Klarion acted like spoiled brat, which earned him a scowl from Ares. God of War flashed away.
Vandal was left to wonder. In the past he always respected Ares for his might. He used to be one of the greatest champion of war. But now the world has changed, evolved. The question is can Ares evolve to match the new world. It didn't matter. The time for revelation was coming soon...
Jump City
October 1, 13:13
Percy was not enjoying this day. He planned on having nice, calm day before patrolling at night. He went to park. Zoe actually wanted to go with him, explaining that 'it's not like she had any other friends in the city'. He didn't mind. Truth to be told neither really did he. After the fiasco with the team and Bialya mission he cut any contact with Justice League and Associates and what happened to Wally only solidified the deal. They let him be and he didn't cause troubles. He regretted avoiding Diana, but he couldn't bring himself to talk with her. It wasn't her fault what Batman did, but she was part of the Justice League and he didn't want to talk to them now. The fact that he dropped on the team was also painful. The teenage heroes actually showed him each more respect than whole Justice League combined. They deserved more than a cold shoulder, but Demigod couldn't look any of them in the eyes after what happened to Wally. Somehow he left this ambrosia there and poor kid suffered for it. He had no idea how it could find itself there, but no matter that it did and he was to blame.
Percy and Zoe walked through the park side by side, discussing strangeness and marvels of this world. It was more technologically advanced than their, but also full of aliens. Public seemed strangely calm with the fact that there are beings able to kill almost any single person in the world in matter of seconds.
"Wait!" Zoe laughed in disbelief. "You are telling me that in place of Poseidon's palace there is a whole thriving civilization?" She remembered how he told her about storming the palace, but she assumed it was just some mermen living there, not entire civilization the size of large continent. "And they even have a representation in the UN?"
"Yes. Why is it so hard to believe? You are eternal maiden serving the goddess of the moon and hunt living for almost four thousand years..." Percy chuckled, but he quickly noticed that Zoe's mood changed. She was no longer laughing, instead opting to look to the ground. She didn't even want to meet his eyes. "Did I say something wrong?"
"It's just that... I failed. I failed my mistress. The oath binds us only until our deaths. Technically, I am no longer a hunter of Artemis. And even if I wanted to, I can't become again. That is the rule. Once you leave the hunt in any way, there is no return." She tried to look strong, but Percy felt she was holding back a cry. "And it wouldn't matter anyway. In this world... In this world there is no Lady Artemis." Here he wanted to interrupt and tell that he knows more than one, but neither can be called a lady, but he stopped himself. It wasn't time for jokes. And Zoe had mean left hook. "Right now I am just a nymph of stars, because that is the only thing left for me. I am not even a hesperid anymore. The only thing left... are the stars that my lady put me among. *sob* I have no one. *sob* I am alone. I am just a broken... Useless... I..." Zoe couldn't convey in words how she felt. She was covering her face with hands, but Percy saw some tears get through and fall on the ground. She was crying, but she still did her best not to show any weakness. It was still too much for her. Last four thousand years gone without trace. As much as she tried to resent that thought, the dam broke. Her whole previous life was gone and could never return.
Hesitantly, Percy hugged her. Seeing as he was not punched, he deepened the embrace and pulled her to himself just like she did a week ago when he opened in front of her. "There there. You are not alone. We are in this mess together. I brought you here and it is my fault. You are not broken. You are strong, independent and brave. You are the bravest person I know. Well, right after Annabeth but she faced Arachne and walked with me through... that place." He tried to reassure her, but his own tormenting memories flashed in front of his eyes for just a brief moment. Deciding that it is not the time to break down, he focused on the crying woman in front of him. She was sobbing and covering her face, but she slowly calmed down. "Even if Artemis is gone, you are here. You are not useless. Remember how you hit that thug with a squashed gun? I would never make that shot. You are someone special. You are. Never forget that." He did his best to calm her. As much as some of it sounded cheesy to him, Percy understood that she just needed to hear it.
They stood there in the shadow of weeping willow for some time, shielded from the outside world. Neither knew when they got there, but they didn't mind. It provided them with some shelter from the world. After some time Zoe calmed down and wiped last tears. She luckily didn't wear any makeup so the only trace of what happened were red eyes as Percy dried her without leaving any strains.
"Thank you. For being there for me. I didn't know there was so much emotions pent up in me." She hugged him. Percy was so surprised he forgot to breath. Zoe Nightshade, the greatest man-hatter was hugging him from her own free will for the second time in one week. He wanted to make sure that he is alive, but before he got any chance, earth shook violently. From the ground sprouted large plant thingy with three tentacles ending with deep pink flowers.
"And I hoped for calm day in a park." Percy sighted as he pressed the buckle of his miracle belt. He wanted to thank Hephaestus for it the first chance he got. After slapping him of course. He didn't forget the deception, but the anger was slowly going down. "You wanna join me?" He asked Zoe.
"And how exactly am I supposed to do that? I don't even have a mask!" She pointed out to him. He just smiled and detached the back pouch (largest one) from his belt. He handed it to her and nodded for her to open. Inside, there was an outfit similar to what Roy gave her the first day, but painted silver. there was also simple domino mask, but she could tell that it was more advanced than it looked. "What is this?"
"Consider it a gift from me. Your very own superhero suit. It temporary solution. I will try to get you something better later on. For now it should work." He explained with a chuckle.
"And a weapon?" She asked startled.
"Well, I had the gauntlets infused with Kevlar. You know that your punch is enough to probably level a building, right? Small note: try not to kill villains. It's really frowned upon and can land you in jail if you are not careful." He finished. It turned out that as a daughter of Atlas Zoe was actually quite strong. After she arrived into this magic ridden dimension, her strength only increased. Just like her agility, speed, reflexes and aim. Everything about her got better. There was no telling what power she might possess because when she was a special case. She wasn't a demigod, but rather a nymph. If there were any in this world, they did dam good job at hiding. "You don't need to do it if you don't want to, but in case you want to help, here you go."
Without waiting for the answer Neptune dashed out. He summoned the water from nearby pond and created a hurricane around himself. At the same time he infused his jump with tremor power to launch himself in the air. Civilians were running away from the plant but he could sense some still alive and trapped inside. Hurricane only increased, responding to his raging emotions. This was not something natural at all. No shit Sherlock!. He could practically feel the magic pulsing out of it. He landed on top of the plant, his hurricane tearing it to shreds in multiple places at once. Neptune used his trident to cut through the plant, but it constantly regenerated. People trapped inside screamed for help, but he couldn't get there. He started to slash with greater speed and failed to notice one of the flowery tentacles fly at him, ramming into his back before grabbing him and tossing him in the air. He was grabbed by two more tentacles and they slowly started to try and tear him in two like some sheet of paper. He tried to fight, but this thing was actually strong. Somewhere in the air he let go of his trident that now laid embed into the ground below him. He tried to control the water, but the pain of his muscles being torn made it hard to focus. He slashed one of the tentacles with water, but it had mediocre effect at best because it immediately healed. He had to think faster. His mind was already in combat mode, but it was just not enough. Suddenly one of the tentacles jerked and was snatched from him, letting him go. Now with one hand free, he recalled his trident. Like always, his weapon dissolved into watery mist and reformed in his grip. Neptune used it to slash the other tentacle and more or less gracefully landed on the ground fifteen feet below where he was held, involuntarily creating small crater as he released the accumulated energy into directed earthquake, hoping to damage the roots.
Neptune turned to see Zoe Nightshade dressed in what he prepared for her. She wore roughly the same outfit as original speedy, but without the stupid hat. It was all silver, but boots and gloves were a bit darker shade of silver to contrast with her normal look. She also lacked utility belt for time being, with it replaced with simple dark belt. Of course he had it prepared for her, in nice shade of black, but he couldn't fit it into the pouch in his belt, as much as he tried. The fact that this thing got there was already a miracle (or some enchantment made to expand the insides of the pouch).
"You didn't think I would let some male have all the fun, did you now?" She said in playful tone. While usually when she said male, it was as an insult, this time it was light-hearten as if she was making fun of her own way of being. Who was this girl?
"Well, I considered this possibility. Glad you proven me, an inferior male wrong." Percy joked back.
"Less flirting, more scouring. We must get rid of that weed." Yet another voice joined the fray. Roy came in running, shooting several exploding arrows at the monster plant. Percy and Zoe blushed slightly at the mention of flirt, but while his face was covered by full mask, her was visible. She jumped into battle to make sure no one noticed. Luckily for her Percy, as much as he improved, was still as dense as demigodly possible.
With newfound help, Neptune once again summoned a hurricane and launched himself at the plant, this time landing lower. His hurricane was slowly tearing through the plant fast enough not to let it regrow. With support of Red Arrow's explosives and Zoe's incredible strength the three young heroes managed to actually destroy the plant to the point when it just withered.
The people they saved scattered immediately, but one small girl walked over and hugged Zoe before her mother snatched her and run, giving heroine a very glad look. In this moment former huntress understood why there were so many heroes in this world. This little girl would probably die if not for her. While Zoe joined the hunt with much more selfish motives, trying to outrun her past, now there was nothing to run from. She could have a normal, mortal life without fearing for her life. But this one look at little girl thankful for this and the mother happy that her child is safe was enough to melt another layer of ice that over the years settled around her heart. She knew now why Perseus did it. Why he was so eager to return to this life, even if it was full of danger.
Their triumph was very short lived. Another plants were sprouting all around the city. Behind the mask Percy sighted. "It's gonna be a really long day..."
For the next two hours or so they were going all over the city saving people. Percy was starting to get tired from constantly keeping up the hurricane and had to drop it. While in normal combat it came almost natural for him, during prolonged period of time while at the same time using all of his other power could drain him. There was also that the plants seemed to be resistant to the cuts created by hyper-accelerated water particles in the wind. He had to boost his normal tornado by freezing the hurricane. He had now pretty much a snowstorm. It was a pain to concentrate on and limited his use of other powers, but he was practically a weed wacker. Crazy lawnmower moving through the plants. From time to time he would send a concentrated pulse of tremor energy to damage the roots, but it wasn't that effective.
Three heroes traveled all over the city until on every single screen appeared group of villains. While Percy recognized Joker, Poison Ivy and Black Adam, the others were a mystery. He did not really dwell into villains database during his stay with Amazons or the team. They did typical villain speech and demanded ransom. It struck Percy as strange that while they practically held the world at their mercy all they wanted was ten billion united states dollars. He could in theory pay it himself, but that was besides the point. There was more to it than money. If they used the plants to just ripe open one bank, they could get even more. Then he noticed a figure standing in the back. He would recognize this horned helmet anywhere. Ares. With his involvement, this suddenly got dangerous. Worst thing was that he seemed to be using some lesser form of mist to hide from the view on camera. He turned to Zoe
"You see him too, right?"
"Yeah. He is hiding. It's a trap, but not for us."
"The team!" Percy screamed. "With the league busy, I am almost certain bat will want to send his covert squad to sabotage 'injustice' league. They will walk straight into the trap. What better way to cause conflict than to have League hell-bent on revenge. It was all carefully planned..." He analyzed while slashing more and more plants that tried to kill him.
"That seems like overdoing to deal with a bunch of protegee." Roy chimed in while firing three arrows and detonating a set of tentacle plants. He had to refuel his quiver like six times already, but he was managing. His muscles pained a bit from constant shooting. While Percy and Zoe had near-infinite condition, he was just a human. Being vigilante in the world of gods and aliens is a really hard task.
"It's not about them. They are the trigger. Imagine what will Batman do when Robin is killed. What would happen to Flash. Or even Green Arrow. This might break them, or worse..." Percy said as he plunged his trident into ground and sent tremor at the plant, pulverizing the roots and causing the plant to wither. Neptune took a vial of nectar from his belt and drank it. Immediately energy coursed through his veins. His whole body revitalized and he felt like ready for another round. Nectar served like ultra powered coffee or energy drink in this case. He tossed another vial to Zoe who gladly took it.
"I need to go. If my predictions are right, Batman is already dispatching the team. I must help them before they all die. Ares will pulverize them."
"Oh! And you are so much better than them?" Red arrow asked, irritated by Neptune's arrogance. He thought that demigod would actually respect the team, not look down on them.
In response to his accusations, Percy channeled a bit of his energy into the trident and shot a powerful lightning blast at yet another plant, which withered from overload of mystic energies. "Is that answer enough?" Roy only scowled.
"Okay, but still don't look down on them like that. They deserve more respect that league ever showed them." He added after a moment.
Percy wanted to answer, but the plants suddenly sprouted red buds that exploded with yellowish green gas. It got to people running away. They wall walked slowly, laughing maniacally before launching themselves at others and maiming them. It seemed like whatever plants released made humans crazy and violent.
"Don't breath it!" Neptune shouted. He lunged in front of the other people, his mask protecting him from the poison in the air. He grabbed his trident in both hands and plunged it in the ground. A giant wave of sea water rose from the crack and pushed forward, stopping the gas and tearing other plants apart. It didn't help, because more plants came, but at least the gas was dealt with. Downside was that the hero was now drained of the power. Wave traveled across the streets like it had mind of it's own, leaving citizens unharmed but tearing the plants to sheds in not exactly clear way.
"It's not working!" Roy shouted as more buds appeared on newly sprouted plant. "they seem almost magical!"
"They are magical!" The realization dawned on Neptune. He did constantly sense this, but in whirlwind of battle he forgot. Pulling his trident from the ground, he instead pointed it at the plant. The tip started to crackle with lightning when he slowly drained the magic. Once he got the grip, he intensified it. Slowly, the plants all around the city lost their green color and instead turned grayish before withering. The trident was now really heated and overcharged with energy. "That should slow them down. You think you can manage now?" Without waiting for an answer, he shadow-traveled to the closest zeta tube to travel to the cave. With this much extra energy he could try and get directly to the cave, but something inside told him that he would need this energy later.
Inside the cave team just listened to Batman's instructions. Realization dawned on them that they will be fighting the big guys while league minimize the casualties. Zatarra was working on the locating spell, but it was hard. Wotan did his job well masking the location.
Recognized: Neptune B0-7
Computer voice announced as hero stepped into the cave.
"Percy! It's good to see you!" Garth shouted, a bit overly excited for the perspective of being on a real mission.
Neptune only waved to him before walking to batman in energetic steps. "You must cancel this mission. It's a trap set by Ares." This earned a grasp from the team. They were familiar with myths and war stories Wonder Woman told them from time to time.
"Negative. This is the best course of action. Besides, what proof do you have?" Batman asked. The moment demigod stepped into the room, his blood pressure increased.
"For once, he is on the video, hidden behind cloaking spell. Two, the ransom doesn't make any sense. They could just as well rob some banks with this plants and get more."
Zatarra wanted to lower the tension. "What do you suggest then? We don't have many options."
"Let the team handle the plants while some leaguers go and destroy this control panel. Shock and awe tactic. Make sure they don't even know what hit them." Percy said without missing a beat.
"That was the plan, except the team will do it." Batman retorted, angry with him. "If all the leaguers are suddenly pulled out from their posts, Injustice league will know there is an attack incoming and might put some more defenses."
Percy pondered the matter for a moment before nodding. "Fine, but I am going with them." He turned to the team. "With all due respect, but you won't be able to handle Ares. I have a really hard time fighting him now. And he is not bound by the ancient laws. He can do as he please in this world." Percy explained, hoping that the team would understand his reasons and not think he is patronizing them.
"What is it about Ares that makes him so dangerous anyway?" Megan asked.
"Well, he is stronger, faster and tougher than Wonder Woman. He is also really powerful in terms of magic, but he prefers to just use his weapons of war. His only weakness is his temper and paradoxically lack of blade prowess. In direct combat, he fights with pure might and without tactic. He believes that because he is a god, he is invincible." Percy explained to the best of his abilities what he figured out during fighting Ares.
"Okay..." Robin actually gulped. This was bad. "So how are you supposed to beat him then?"
"Like I said, he fights with brute force. He can't be overpowered, but he can be outsmarted and outskilled. Also, my weapon is the only thing that can do any real damage to him as far as I can tell." His trident was still crackling with power. "It's made of Imperial Gold, which can hurt immortals. I am surprised it can also hurt mortals and aliens in this world, but I guess there is so much latent magic that everyone is in some way mythical."
Zatarra, who left the conversation and focused on locating the Injustice league finally broke through the magical firewall and pinpointed the location. "There! There you will find the Injustice League. Now get going!"
"Team dispatched." Batman said. They all left toward the ship, but Neptune stayed behind for a moment.
"I hope you made the right call bats." He said before running after the team.
Bayou Bartholomew
October 1, 18:52
Team flew in the camouflaged bio-ship. They were really nervous. While the justice league was trying to deal with the plants, they were supposed to combat seven heavy-hitters. Their chances were small.
"What is in the bag Kaldur?" Tula asked her friend, noticing a sports bag next to his chair.
"Plan B." Was the only answer.
"We are almost at the coordinates. Prepare for landing. " M'gann said, establishing the mental link. Garth slightly winced hearing the voice in his head. He still couldn't get used to it. Percy also winced, but for other reason. Miss M forgot how he feared people getting into his brain. The images of Tartarus, while buried deep down could resurface any moment.
Suddenly, something jerked the ship and M'gann cried in pain. "What's wrong?" Superboy asked.
"Someone's hurting her. She is trying to shield us, but I don't know how long we can actually keep this up." She explained. Soon enough, camouflage mode shimmered before disappearing. They fell down crashing into the bayou. Plant tentacles sprouted and grabbed the ship, pulling him underwater. Bio-ship tried to fight, but something shook it, sending him further down and tearing the top. The face of Black Adam showed in the hole. Immediately, Superboy launched himself in the air, punching the villain and letting Bio-ship close the hole. Water tried to pour down, but Neptune stopped it. They got pulled underwater and Tentacles slowly crushed the ship causing more cracks to appear.
"They want to play with pressure? I will show them pressure." Percy said, controlling the water and increasing the pressure around the tentacles to the point when they just exploded with green goo. He created a bubble of air around Bio-ship moving them onto the surface.
"She will be okay, but for now she must rest. We must cover rest of the way on foot." Megan explained. They got onto the dry land and started creeping through the murky swamp. Suddenly, a painful wave of dizziness knocked them off their feet. From the shadows walked count Vertigo and Ultra Humanite. Before the team had a chance to analyze situation Superboy crashed near them, sending a wave of water and mud in every direction. Black Adam landed on him, both his feet digging into the stomach of the clone. Conner released a loud grunt. The rest of the team had hard time concentrating. Miss M. Already passed from the overload this put on their psychic link. Tula and Garth managed to grab their hands. "Symbiosi!" They screamed and sent a pulse of lighting at Count Vertigo. It broke his concentration and psychic attack stopped. Kaldur jumped onto his feet first and using his water bearers summoned two maces. Next to him Garth and Tula stood up. Both Tempest and Aquagirl prepared for battle. Neptune was tending to M'gann who was still knocked out. Vertigo, ultra humanite and Black Adam, who carried Superboy like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder stood in front of the group.
"Pathetic. League sent their lapdogs to do the dirty work." He scowled at their last attempt to fight back.
"Surrender Vertigo!" Kaldur threatened. "We might not be full members of the league, but we will beat you."
"yeah! Spare yourself embarrassment!" Tula shouted. She sounded almost overconfident, but Garth knew that she is trying to cover for her fear.
"Shut up peasants. It's count Vertigo to you!" Villain was angry at the lack of respect. "I will sho..." He wanted to say something more, but lightning-like energy blast hit him square in the chest, sending him flying away. Neptune stood straight, behind him M'gann slowly woke.
"For your information, I am a demigod, prince of the oceans and seas. So it is you who is lower in the hierarchy." He mocked. Vertigo tried to use his powers, but the headgear he wore was fried by two consecutive energy strikes. Angry, he pulled a sword from his cane.
"It won't matter once you all die!" He shouted angry and lunged at Aqualad. At the same time, Black Adam dropped his burden and jumped at Neptune. Ultra-Humanite started to fire rounds at remaining heroes. In the midst of battle no one noticed that Robin and Miss Martian disappeared.
Auqalad blocked the blade with one of his maces, using the other to deliver a hit to Vertigo's midriff, but the count dodged it. This got Kaldur off balance and allowed the villain to deliver a painful blow with the cane/sheathe. Count then tried to slash with the sword, but Aqualad reformed his maces into twin falchions and stopped the overhead slash by crossing both his watery blades in front of him. He then proceeded with kind of Bladed dance, trying to push Vertigo back. His hands worked in perfect sync with one another and his body, but villain was far too experienced in the art of sword fight. After less than three steps back he managed to throw Kaldur off balance again, breaking the sequence and regaining the upper hand. Seeing that the duel was not in his favor, Aqualad instead focused on the water in the swamp and created a strong wave that knocked Vertigo down. He jumped on the occasion and kicked the cane-sword away, putting the blade to count's neck. He was surprised to see his enemy smile. It was the last thing Kaldur saw before something knocked him out.
Aquagirl and Tempest found themselves at defensive. They didn't have a chance to formulate a counter-attack while being constantly shot at by large monkey. Tula tried to form a shield in front of them but it was destroyed with explosion of another round from Ultra-humanite. The villain then proceeded with another series of large shells, causing more explosions. Two atlanteans barely managed to block them by shooting watery bullets and causing rounds to explode earlier. The kick from explosion was still enough to fly them back and knock them off their feet. They got back, but Tula had some burns and Garth's arm pained him. Ultra-humanite only laughed.
"you can't win. Look at you. You are outgunned and outmatched." He then fired two more rounds. The pair tried to shot them out as well, but instead of detonating like all others, this ones released a green cloud of gas. "It is not joker-venom, but still should rend you pretty useless. An extract from certain flower from the depth of the ocean." Monkey mocked them. In response they wanted to shot him with more water, but their powers were turned off. "Some might say it is a waste, but oh well..." He then jumped at them and knocked them out cold with his fists.
Neptune was having hard time with Black Adam. His opponent was hell'a strong and fast. His attacks still couldn't get past hero's guard, but it took all his attention to get there. After every blocked blow came another, fast enough not to give him time to counter attack, leaving him at defensive. They were both aware that if this continued, it would take hours to get either of them to tire. Both had access to godly amounts of stamina. Finally, Percy formed a plan. It was reckless, dangerous and stupid. Exactly the way he liked his plans. Seeing Adam go for straight punch into his gut, Percy actually let him land the hit. Because villain half-expected Neptune to stop the attack, he put quite the amount of strength, which hero used to launch himself backward. He created a distance and slightly confused his enemy. This short opening was enough for him to land and use one of the most powerful abilities of his trident: drain the magic from Black Adam. A stream of lightning-like energy connected and snared the villain. It was not enough to force the transformation. Black Adam was connected to Zeus, which allowed him some resistance to the attack. Still, the energy rejuvenated Neptune and partially healed his wounds. Black Adam was slowly weakening, but this moment of rest gave Percy time to look around. He noticed a large plant was binding Kaldur, making it impossible for young hero to move. Similar plant, but thicker was tying Superboy, who now conscious tried to escape. Wolf was down cold, his paws also snared by plants. Two other atlanteans were just getting sprayed by some gas, which would most likely put them out of battle. He only hoped that they bought Robin and Miss Martian enough time to complete the mission. The worrying thing was that Ares was nowhere to be seen. With a sight, he turned his attention to his enemies. Suddenly, he cut the connection feeling the trident was already charged to the max. Black Adam looked tired, which was good thing. Before his opponent had chance to react, Neptune released the energy in form of a strong, directed blast at the ancient wizard, knocking him out. He was about to go save his companions but through the mind-link he heard a scream.
Without thinking twice he sent remaining extra energy at Ultra-humanite and Vertigo, knocking them out. He sent a tremor wave killing the roots and freeing Wolf, Aqualad and Superboy. He did not have time to check on them because something told him that Miss M. was in worse condition. Probably the scream he heard, but one can never be sure. He dashed toward where base was supposed to be located, hoping to either meet them on the way or at the place. He didn't even care how fast he was going.
Something flickered in the corner of his eyesight. He turned there and got into small clearing where in circle of fire laid M'gann, surrounded by the ring of fire. Robin was next to her, also surrounded by fire but also bound by energy rope. About three feet above ground floated a man. He had light blue skin and red eyes with black sclera. His hair was black, with a devil-horned hairstyle, and a pointy black beard. Man's clothes were pure red-colored, and he wore a black cape with gold accents. Neptune recognized him as Wotan, the dark sorcerer Zatarra mentioned. He hoped he would have an element of surprise, but Wotan easily sensed all the magic pouring from him. Before Hero had a chance to attack, a white-hot ball of flames flew at his direction. Instinctively, he dodged. Small explosion pushed him away, but it was not enough to even pierce his armor. He immediately jumped onto his feet and then used a directed tremor shock to launch himself high in the air. Wotan created a shield of magic around himself to stop the slash of the trident, but godly weapon easily pierced through the shield. Warlock managed to partially dodge, but three-pronged spear made a deep cut at his right arm. Percy expected some blood to pour, but instead a bit of dark dust came, much like the one that was left after monsters.
"Ah! Foul weapon!" Wotan screamed before firing a quick series of eldritch bolts at the hero, but his target skillfully dodged each and every one of them.
Noticing that fighting warlock is only distracting him, Neptune turned to the other heroes and created a wave of water that put down the flames and being at that somehow tore through the energy rope that tied robin. It carried them into the forest. Wotan wanted to chase after two members of the Team, but Percy threw his trident at him like a spear. He hoped to pierce his shoulder, but dark sorcerer dodged in time. His enemy proceeded with counter attack, hoping to take out the unarmed hero, but Neptune summoned his trident in time. When his attack failed, Wotan retorted to launching a condensed magic bolt. Demigod answered by channeling some of his power through the trident and firing lightning-like discharge at the warlock. Two attacks met in the middle and locked onto one another. It now became pure battle of skill versus natural talent. Only recently Percy figured the logic behind this particular attack. Before he could only do it after draining the magic from others, but he finally noticed that he can also channel his own power into the trident. It was a bit draining, but that was to be expected. This actually gave him more control over the magnitude and power of this type of attack. Right now he was pouring quite a lot. After about three minutes of stalemate he heard an explosion and saw smoke from behind some trees, where large plant was before now there was only a charred husk. This distracted Wotan enough for his concentration on spell to break. Neptune sent the villain flying in the general direction of explosion, following him on the ground.
While the team managed to detonate the main plant, they were now being pushed back by combined efforts of the Injustice League. Count Vertigo was once again locked in deadly combat against Kaldur, slowly gaining more and more ground. Black Adam was facing Superboy and Wolf. Albeit being drained, he was still a deadly opponent for the kryptonian, especially because of residual magic in his body. Ultra-Humanite did his best to take Bio-ship piloted by now-powerless Garth and Tula and was slowly making progress, landing every fourth shot or so. Robin faced against Joker alone and was loosing badly. He was on complete defensive. In even worse situation was miss martian who had to avoid attacks from both Poison Ivy and Atomic Skull. They kept attacking and she was left only to dodge and try to camouflage herself. It was not looking good for the team.
"Tempest, Aquagirl!" Kaldur shouted through the mind link. "Time for plan B!"
A dark-green sportsbag dropped from the ship right in front of Kaldur. He managed to create a wave of water that pushed Count Vertigo back and pulled something from air support. A golden helmet shined in his hands. He was about to put it on when dark-red flames hit him in square in the chest. He was launched back and hit the tree, loosing consciousness.
"Enough of this foolishness. You will all die here and now heroes!" In the middle of the battlefield stood Ares in all his glory, a twin gold blames covered in burnt-red fire glowed in his hands. Suddenly, team found themselves in chains surrounded by aura just like one emanating from the weapon god of war held. Villains just picked them and moved in front of Ares. Garth and Tula tried to escape, but Bio-ship was shot out of the sky and suddenly some force teleported them in front of deity as well, binding them in similar chains. "Now who do I start with?" Ares asked in voice that gave creeps even to Black Adam.