Fate/Heroes - Chapter 12

Every member of The Team went wide-eyed when they saw Rider catch Superboy’s bȧrė fist. The power behind said fist was something that no-one on the Team dared to face head on and yet….

“I don’t know what the Justice League sees in you guys. Anyone can see that you all have talent but you lack in intent behind your fist”.

Conner Kent, whose fist was currently wrapped around Rider’s larger one tried to pull back but found his hand tightly bound by Gray’s.

A cold, bone-numbing sensation slowly crept into Gray’s soul. His vision blurred for a moment, before becoming dimmer and dimmer with every passing moment.

“You haven’t seen what it’s like on the other side. To fight with your life on the line. To put everything you’ve got into a single chance. To face an insurmountable odds where the most likely outcome is death.

I understand that you all are still in your teens. Even Miss Zatara over there is only fourteen. But by the time I was your age I had already seen blood. Already dug my spear through my flesh and bone. I gambled with my life, and died relatively early….. but I did make a choice I suppose”.

The Team all took a step back at the sudden change in demeanor. Rider had formerly been rather annoyed by their presence but still possessed a quirky, witty quality to it. Gray’s voice had been replaced by more cheery, yet infinitely more battle-hungry one.

Zatanna whispered something under her breath, and her eyes glowed with a pale blue light.

More streaks of green appeared in Gray’s raven black hair.

“All of you are gifted with such immense powers, bar Robin, Batgirl and Artemis. You’ve never trained your hearts out to get where you currently are. You never tempered yourself, even if it meant breaking every single bone in your body to it”.

Gray stared at Conner’s sky blue eyes and threw his body towards Miss Martian’s Bio-Ship, making a large dent in the side of the alien spacecraft.

Countless bolts of green lightning came of Gray’s body as if he was the incarnation of a storm itself.

“Don’t worry. Today, you’ll see the difference between us. The difference between being a Hero, and being a-“.

“Guys! Don’t listen to him! Someone, or something has taken control of Rider’s body! It’s not the Rider that we were just facing!”.

Zatanna shouted out, ignoring the telepathic bond Miss Martian had created between the eight of them. Robin immediately looked at Aqualad and Artemis and they shared a mutual thought, not needing to use words to understand each others intent.

“Artemis, use your arrows. Whatever is in Rider’s body doesn’t seem to like Archers. Robin, you and Batgirl protect Artemis from Rider’s attacks. Zatanna, you, Kid Flash, Superboy Miss Martian and I will try and grab his attention. Hopefully we can push back this foreign entity and get the original Rider back”.

Aqualad demonstrated his superior leadership skills and instantly took command of the situation. The other members of The Team nodded silently and executed their leaders orders.

Gray, or Achilles who had taken control of Gray’s body, rolled his eyes at the group of teens as they slowly surrounded Achilles and he rolled his eyes at their formation.

“Despite being crowned a Hero after my death, I still crave the battlefield. I was immortalized in the annals of human history as a peerless warrior, only lesser in renown than Archer”.

A maniac grin grew on Gray’s face as he let go of his spear and watched in vanish into countless little motes of light.

“I was proud of my life. Proud to call myself a Hero! I member of the Achaean Army! I slayed countless foes, and became a Hero because of my ability to kill! To see the what humanity has called a Hero in this era, I am sorely disappointed…..”.

Achilles raised Gray’s arms in the initial style for Pankration, the hand-to-hand style of combat that was famous during the age of antiquity, taught to him by Chiron himself.

He smirked, earning the ire of Kid Flash and Superboy.

“Which is why I’m going to teach you brats a lesson you won’t ever forget”.

In a streak of green lightning, Gray vanished and reappeared directly in front of Superboy. His fist on a single centimeter away from his cheek, and the young clone of Superman didn’t even have the time to blink before the first blow collided directly with his face.

“Damn it! Kid Flash, distract him!”.

Before the protégé of the Flash could even try and push Gray off Superboy, the ancient Greek garbed warrior delivered several lightning fast punches to hist ċhėst, hitting his lungs and liver multiple times before spinning around to kick Superboy directly into the ċhėst of Kid Flash.

His golden-amber eyes radiated a thirst for battle.

“C’mon! First rule of pankration! Ignore all pain! Fight through it, regardless of any injuries you may sustain! If the enemy will not falter in the face of your attacks, neither shall you!”.

Achilles, who was still in control of Gray’s body turned to Aqualad and Robin, the latter of which was throwing batarangs at him and the former running straight at him.

He did the same, and ran straight towards the protégé of Aquaman, his fists covering his face with the exception of his eyes.

He smirk grew even bigger.

“Second rule of pankration! The most effective way to win is to force your opponent into submission. The use of chokes, holds and grapple techniques are all permitted”.

Aqualad’s face scrunched up into one of annoyed familiarity, before waving his water bearers at Achilles, creating two water swords with the excess water on the runway.

The Atalantean raised up his arms and brought them down over Gray’s head, but the water swords were blocked by the silver wrist guards on Gray’s forearms.

Gray threw dirt the dark skinned young man’s face and swept at his feet, knocking him off balance before raising his other leg and ax kicking him in the stomach.

“Third rule of pankration. Don’t be afraid to play dirty”.

The former Greek Hero stood tall on the cracked runway, gazing silently at Robin, Miss Martian, Artemis, Batgirl and Zatanna. All of whom where protecting the injured Kid Flash and Superboy behind them.

Zatanna held a ball of fire in the palm of her hand, and was ready to throw it at Gray, despite her earlier remark to help free him form the foreign soul taking over Gray’s body.

Batgirl and Robin both had collapsible staffs in their hands. Standing at the forefront between Gray and the rest of the Team.

Miss Martian was trying to talk to someone, obviously trying to get in touch with someone at the League.

Both Gray and Achilles raised an eyebrow to Miss Martian’s actions. The original owner of the body clashing with the will of the Heroic Spirit, making Achilles frown and wave his hand at the empty air in front of him.

“I know, I know, I went a little bit too far. But these guys were asking for it…. I’m sėxist? Brat, don’t yell at me for not hitting women, you know why it goes against my principles you idiot!”.

The still conscious members of the Team raised an eyebrow at the words Achilles spoke, and Zatanna whispered over their telepathic bond.

“It seems the foreign entity with Rider’s body is communicating with the original Rider. It doesn’t seem like from its words either that it’ll hurt us…..”.

Artemis gave Miss Martian a look and the latter replied with five fingers. Obviously indicating the time it’ll take for a member of the Justice League to get here.

Their attention returned to Achilles, still in control of Rider’s body. The one in control of their body directly looking at Batgirl and Zatanna.

“I can already sense a strong emotion coming off the Martian, and and every Archer reminds of Paris, that dog of Apollo…. one of you is a talented warrior who with enough training, may reach the same level of skill as someone like “her”. Someone I admire. The other is a Magus, but not the traditional kind. Your spells are old, even older than myself. I look forward to where to reach in the future…..”.

Rider winked at the two girl’s and the battle hungry feeling vanished, being replaced by Rider’s original witty tone came back, and the strange pressure exerted from his body disappeared also.

He sighed and helped Aqualad to his feet before handing him over to Batgirl, Artemis still pointing an arrow at his back.

The Pseudo-Servant gave the red head a profound look before heading back to the truck carrying the large sum of money.

Barbara couldn’t help but shout out at the young man’s figure, her brows furrowed at his actions.

“Why are you doing this? What are you?!”.

Gray’s body stopped right in its tracks, and he turned around to face the sixteen year old, as well as her fellow teammates.

He gave a wry smile and contemplated for a moment, before one of the Class Cards reached out and gave him an answer.

“Me?…. I’m just a man”.