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The Titan 18
🕑 Added 2024-12-23 03:32:19 +0000 UTCChapter 18:
A golden blast of divine energy came flying toward me. I threw my hands up instinctively, channeling the divine power flowing through my veins, and fired my own blast from both hands.
The two beams collided in mid-air, crackling with raw energy. Hera, my beautiful alternate reality step-grandma, was gritting her teeth, putting everything she had into her attack. I wasn’t even going full throttle—just about 70% of my power—but I was still slowly overpowering her. The beams struggled fiercely against each other over the plains of Themyscira, but the outcome was inevitable. I was going to win.
“That’s enough, Titus,” Hera huffed.
She lowered her arms, and the golden energy faded away. I dropped mine too, letting the divine power dissipate. The tension in the air vanished.
Hera sauntered toward me. Sweat glistened on both of us. Even super beings like us weren’t immune to exhaustion, though I had to admit the sweat made her white toga a little… more see-through than usual. From my perspective, it was a definite plus.
She rolled her eyes when she caught me staring. “Men…”
“Hey, if you don’t want anyone staring, maybe wear something other than a white toga that’s completely see-through when it gets wet. Pretty sure you’re not wearing anything underneath it, either,” I pointed out.
Hera’s cheeks turned slightly red. She crossed her arms and turned away with a huff. “It’s not like I find myself in situations where I have to exert myself very often. Also, gods and goddesses have no need for things like underwear… useless mortal inventions.”
“Whatever floats your boat,” I said with a shrug. I got a little more serious, though. “Thanks for teaching me how to channel and control the divine power inside me. Seriously.”
“Thank you for being such a good student,” she replied. “I can’t think of anyone else who could have mastered this on your scale in such a short amount of time. Even demigods like Hercules, who’s been on Olympus for 3,000 years, haven’t reached your level of control over their divine powers.”
“Sounds like a skill issue to me,” I said with a cocky grin.
Hera snorted. “Or he just inherited too much of Zeus’s bloodline and has spent the past 3,000 years philandering with every skirt instead of training his powers.” She paused and gave me a pointed look. “Although it’s clear you’ve also inherited his bloodline, judging by the way you’ve been… how do mortals say it these days? Oh yes… checking me out.” She smiled faintly.
“I can’t help it if the Queen of the Gods is super hot,” I said honestly. That made her cheeks turn even redder. “Besides, it’s not like we’re related.”
Hera scoffed. “Oh, please. Even if you’re not from this world, as a descendant of Zeus I know that excuse wouldn’t matter in the first place.”
This time it was my cheeks that turned red. “Okay, fair enough,” I muttered. She caught me there.
I noticed a familiar figure flying toward us. Power Girl touched down a few feet away, her arms crossed, looking more than a little annoyed. “Are you done yet?” she asked. “We’ve been left to rot while you’ve been playing ‘let’s shoot lasers’ with step-grandma over there.”
I chuckled. “Left to rot? Come on, this place is literally an eternal tropical paradise. I’m sure you found something to keep yourselves busy.”
She hesitated, looking like she wanted to argue, but then sighed. “Okay, fine. Maybe you got us there. We’ve been playing at the beach! But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to spend time with you! Especially when Rachel went and snuck into your bed before I did!”
I laughed, amused she even brought it up. “Can you blame her? My bed’s pretty comfortable.”
Power Girl jabbed a finger at me. “You’re impossible. And Billy won't stop asking awkward questions because he's ten and no one's ever given him the talk!”
Before I could respond, Hera stepped forward. “Your training is complete, Titus. You’re free to spend the rest of your time here as you wish. Though I can’t say how much longer that peace will last...”
As if her words summoned it, the skies above us rumbled ominously. A sleek, black, bat-shaped plane appeared, cutting through the clouds and heading straight for the island. I glanced at Power Girl, whose shoulders slumped.
“Great. So much for a date,” she muttered. “Batman showing up means more drama. It always does.”
She wasn’t wrong I supposed.
Themyscira’s magic barriers had kept us blissfully cut off from the outside world for the past few days. Even her Kryptonian phone hadn’t been able to pull up any news while we’d been here. If Bruce was coming all a sudden, it had to be serious.
“Might as well go meet him and whoever he brought,” I said, brushing some dirt off my shirt. “No point in delaying the inevitable.”
Power Girl sighed. “Fine...”
We all took off into the sky and flew after the plane.
We landed near the bat-plane, the sleek black jet sticking out like a sore thumb next to the ancient stone capital of Themyscira. Batman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary were already outside, surrounded by a group of hostile Amazons with weapons drawn.
“What are you doing on our Island intruders!?”
“Leave or die! You have not been invited!”
The tension in the air was thick.
Hera stepped forward and raised her hand. "Stand down," she commanded. The Amazons immediately lowered their weapons, backing off but not retreating entirely. They didn’t look happy about the uninvited guests.
Green Arrow crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Hera. "And who the hell are you supposed to be?"
I smirked. Not the best way to greet the Queen of the Gods.
Hera, unfazed, stood tall and proud. "I am Hera, Queen of Olympus, Goddess of Marriage and Women, and the one ensuring Themyscira remains untainted by the chaos of Man’s World."
Green Arrow let out a low whistle. "Alright, Got it."
As she spoke, I noticed something amusing. The sweat that had covered Hera after our days of training had completely vanished. She looked pristine, her white toga spotless. She could have done that at any point, which meant she’d probably allowed the see-through look earlier for my benefit. The Queen of the Gods was a bit of an exhibitionist, apparently…
Hera caught me smirking and shot me a quick pout.
It didn’t stop me from grinning at her.
She turned her attention back to the newcomers. "Why are you here? What business do you have on Themyscira?"
Batman stepped forward with his cape swaying dramatically behind him. "We could ask you the same thing. We’re here to make sure the Amazons aren’t joining Superman’s regime."
Before Hera could respond, I decided to clear things up. "Hippolyta’s been thrown into the dungeons. She was planning to send the Amazon army to help her daughter, Wonder Woman, and Superman’s regime. Hera took care of it."
Batman nodded slightly, clearly relieved. "That’s good to hear. But it doesn’t change the fact that Superman’s already recruited the Atlanteans."
Power Girl turned sharply to Hera. "I thought you said Poseidon was handling that!"
Hera grimaced, a rare crack in her usual composure. "I didn’t want to say anything while Titus was training, but… Poseidon did not succeed." She let out a heavy breath. "Aquaman has renounced Poseidon as the god of the seas, with Superman’s backing. Aquaman now rules as the regent of all the oceans, while Superman continues to tighten his grip on the surface."
Power Girl’s eyes widened. "Are you kidding me? What happened to Poseidon?"
Hera’s expression darkened. "He tried his best, but he was outmatched. Superman’s regime sent nearly their entire force after him. Even in the ocean, Poseidon barely escaped with his life. He’s returned to Olympus to recover, but his influence over the seas is gone."
Green Arrow muttered some curses under his breath, which was pointless because we all had super hearing. Black Canary didn’t say anything, but her jaw tightened.
I crossed my arms and looked at Batman. “So, is telling me all of that the reason you showed up here?”
Batman shook his head. “No. I have a plan to take down Superman, but to pull it off, we’re going to need help.”
“You’ve been sitting on the sidelines for too long, kid. It’s time for you to step up,” Green Arrow said. The way he said it rubbed me the wrong way.
“I was only on the sidelines because this isn’t my world, and it’s not my fight,” I shot back. Then I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “But since Superman’s apparently going after my new friend Billy, it looks like I don’t have much of a choice. If I have to take him down, so be it.”
“Who’s Billy?” Black Canary asked, clearly confused.
“He means Shazam,” Power Girl said.
Green Arrow raised an eyebrow. “His real name’s Billy? Huh. I never knew that.”
“You also probably never knew he’s actually a ten-year-old child,” Batman added.
Both Green Arrow and Black Canary stared at him, their disbelief obvious.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Green Arrow finally said. “A ten-year-old? Why the hell did we let a ten-year-old join the Justice League?” He threw his hands up.
“Because he’s surprisingly responsible and good at his job,” Batman said. “He’s earned his place more times than I can count.” He turned to me. “Is Billy all right?”
“Yeah,” I said. “He’s shaken up with everything that’s happened, but he’s fine otherwise. He’s been playing on the beach for the past couple days with Raven and Power Girl. Honestly, he’s been handling it better than I expected.” I paused, then asked, “How are you holding up? I’m sorry about what happened to Nightwing. I never thought the regime would kill him like that. I figured they’d at least try to get information out of him first.”
Both Green Arrow and Black Canary grimaced, and Green Arrow reached out to pat Batman on the shoulder. Batman’s jaw tightened, but he nodded. “I didn’t think they’d do it either. But don’t blame yourself for what happened, Titus. Everyone who joined me on the Watchtower mission knew the risks. We all knew there was a chance we wouldn’t make it back.”
Hera stood tall, her eyes narrowed as she addressed Batman. “As devastating as the loss of a single mortal life is,” she said, dripping with sarcasm, “why don’t we get to the real reason you’re here, Man of Bats? What plan do you have to bring down Superman, especially now that he’s gained the army of Atlantis and dozens of soldiers from the stars, all wielding those dangerous yellow rings powered by fear?”
Batman’s fists clenched, but he didn’t respond to her comment about Nightwing. Instead, he pressed on. “We’ve recently acquired blueprints for a machine. A machine that can connect to different parallel dimensions.”
My eyes widened. Was this a chance to get back home? Though, to be fair, I wasn’t sure if that was even necessary. Raven had already been trying to find my Earth after absorbing some of my essence. The thought made me smirk.
I glanced at Power Girl, who looked like she was thinking the same thing. She gave me a sheepish look. “I know what you’re thinking, Titus. Yeah, it’s true that Raven should be able to find your Earth eventually, but she told me it’s proving more difficult than she thought. She thinks the chaos magic that sent you here in the first place doesn’t want to let you go back easily. It might take her a full year to find your home.”
“A year?” I groaned internally. I couldn’t wait that long. My mother, Kara, and probably even Grail were all worried sick about me. Okay, maybe not Grail, but definitely the other two.
“It always seems like magic fails at the worst times, doesn’t it?” Green Arrow said with a smirk. “That’s why we’ve got technology to save the day. I’m not as smart as Batman, but if he says this machine can work, I’m sure it will. The plan is to connect to another Earth and get help from their Justice League. Hopefully, they haven’t turned evil too.”
“If you want a League that hasn’t turned evil, your best bet is obviously my Earth,” I pointed out. “That’s where you should connect.”
Batman smirked at me.
“Ah, so that was the plan all along...” Now I knew why they were here.
“We need a bit of your DNA to calibrate the machine,” Batman explained.
I was about to agree when Hera placed a hand on my shoulder. “I sense no malice or betrayal from them, Titus. But as your teacher, even if only temporarily, I advise caution. Be mindful of what you hand over willingly. Anything given can be used against you.”
I nodded, taking her words to heart. That was solid advice.
With a wince, I plucked a couple of hairs from my head and handed them to Batman. He took them and placed them in a tiny plastic bag before slipping it into his utility belt.
“There’s one more thing,” Batman said. “This machine will require a tremendous amount of power, which means we’re going to need to hijack an entire power plant to get it operational. During that time, Cyborg will probably detect the activity and send members of the regime—or Superman’s new soldiers—to investigate.”
I nodded. “Got it. You can count on me, Power Girl, and Raven to guard the machine and the power plant while this goes down.” I hesitated for a second before adding, “Billy will probably want to join in too.”
Batman shook his head. “I’m not putting him in a risky situation. Not after we’ve already lost Nightwing. I’ll have Shazam guard a safer location.”
Suddenly, a crack of thunder echoed across the sky. I glanced up, confused. There wasn’t a cloud in sight.
Hera’s eyes glowed golden for a moment, like she was talking to someone in her mind. When she focused back on us, she said, “Olympus will help with this plan. Hercules and a few other Olympians will join you to guard the machine.”
That was unexpected but welcome news.
I asked Batman how long it was going to take for him to build this machine but he just gave me another one of those infamous smirks.
“It’s already been built hasn’t it…?”
“We wanted to be sure you would help before we gave you all the information,” Batman explained. “The plan is to activate the machine tomorrow in a remote power plant up in Alaska. Hopefully, it's out of the way enough that it’ll take Cyborg longer to realize something is wrong with the power grid.”
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