In a city used to weekly villain attacks, a powerful person was mad, and everyone knew it.

The majority of people, the grunts or average citizens, felt unsettled. Like something or someone was breathing over their shoulder, waiting for them to make a single mistake.

Those with power in the criminal underworld were more observant than most, a skill gained from years of criminal activity, noticing the shifting shadows and the sparks of green fire that lingered around lights. Many of these villains slammed their doors closed and started talking, trying to find the power that could cause this much panic. Of course, rumors of the Ghost King began to spread.

The police were equally as concerned as the villains, but for many different reasons. Very few of them recognized the dangers in the shadows, writing it off as paranoia. They were much more concerned as the underworld went dead silent, ceasing all operations and pulling everyone off the streets.

Meanwhile, two figures stumbled out of the harbor, both perfectly dry.

"Gods dammit."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm gonna need so many fucking sand dollars to get this river clean," Percy replied with a groan.

"That's not the issue here Seaweed Brain."

"I know Wise Girl. We've got to go help Nico first."

"Think we should fly over or walk?"

"Fly. We need to get to Neeks before he kills someone."

"Are you sure it's that bad?"

"Wise Girl. Toss me my mask and then take a good look at the city."

"Gods be damned," Annabeth said, pulling a dark grey half face mask over her head while tossing a black mask at Percy.

"I hate wearing this thing," Percy grumbled.

"Well who's the one who got our faces plastered over national news?"

"It's been like 8 years since that happened. Everyone should've forgotten by now."

"Percy. We're in Gotham right now."

"Yes... And?"

"Which superhero is known for operating in Gotham?"

"Bat- Oh."

"Yeah. The World's Greatest Detective. If anyone will recognize us, it'll be him."

"We need code names then."

"I'll go with Tawny."

"Cobalt."

Annabeth pulled her mask up, covering her mouth, and arched her back, a pair of light brown owl wings extending.

She jumped into the air, soaring up before diving down and catching Percy by the wrist, taking them both into the sky and flying through the city.

The pair landed on a tall roof, only a few feet away from a distressed teen, who wordlessly tossed a vial at Percy.

Percy uncapped the vial, pouring the water into his palm before it formed a small replica of the mall bathroom.

A tall figure with a hood pulled over their face enters the bathroom, standing in the middle of the room before turning their head.

They flip a single coin, looking at the result then cleaning the bathroom over a 5 minute period.

The figure seemingly reacts to a noise, likely footsteps outside the door. They carefully walk to the door, slamming it open and dragging Will into the bathroom, a hand covering his mouth, and a hand on his throat.

Will struggles for a moment, before going limp in the figure's arms. As they remove their hands, a bruise can be clearly seen on Will's throat.

The figure stares at Will's body, beginning to tremble as they pulled a piece of paper out of their pocket, first writing with a firm hand before having a slight spasm and scrawling the rest of the message.

The paper is left in the sink, and Will's unconscious body is picked up. While being placed on the figure's shoulder, Will's hand lightly hit the faucet, turning it slightly on.

The figure, still carrying Will, leaves the bathroom a mere minute before Jason and Nico could be seen bursting into the bathroom.

"... Well. Shit. Tawny?"

"Already on it."

A moment later, her phone pinged, having received a text.

"Bronze said that we're looking for a villain called Two-Face. Male, about our age, and intense scarring on his left side."

"Well. I guess it's time to go villain hunting. Thank Bronze for me, if you could?"

"Already did Cobalt."

"Okay. Ready to g- Ghostie?"

Nico's hands were darkening, his eyes sparkling with hints of emerald fire.

"I don't know who this gods forsaken man is, but he hurt what's mine, and HE. WILL. PAY."

Published 5/27/2020

Word Count: 724

—————...Author's Note...—————

*snickers evilly* WE'VE FINALLY MADE IT TO THE GOOD STUFF!!! As a warning, it's going to get much worse before it gets better.

Things I'm addressing for this chapter

1. The water thing is based off that thing in Frozen 2. Kinda. (I still haven't watched Frozen 2, so...) The water formed a small replica of the room that acted as a camera, showing the trip what happened in the room without sounds or colors. It's all greyscale but blue (bluescale?)

2. Annabeth is Tawny and Percy is Cobalt. While being addressed in hero costume, they will be addressed as such.

3. Annabeth and Percy are here to deal with one villain then they are gone. They will not be staying for long, and they WILL NOT take over the story by being here. They are here for one (1) story arch, then they may make minuscule cameos as I consider if I want the demigods to help fully clean up Gotham.

3. YES THE DEMIGODS ARE OP. I know it, I meant for it to be that way, and I am fully aware that they should be able to destroy any enemy in their path. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE THEY HAVE IN ADDITION TO LOTS OF SHEER POWER?!? Trama. Lots and lots of unresolved trama that comes from participating in two wars and who knows how many quests without counseling or good coping mechanisms. (They've done minor quests between the Giants War and start of the book)

4. Be aware that I WILL be changing the backstories of certain characters in order to have the story cover what I need it to cover. So if you want a story that has perfectly portrayed, canon compliant backgrounds for every character, go find another fan fiction.

- Kat

PS, here's Tawny's and Cobalt's current hero costume boards. Their theme is whatever they were wearing when they showed up because this is their umpteenth quest and they're done with effort.