Hunter of the Hunted

"Any idea on where we should start?" Annabeth asked. It was easy for her to defer to you- your intellect had been growing and with her link to you, she could feel it doing so. Even so, in this place, that was a dangerous mindset. You were more than well aware that you were going to need her as much, if not more, than she needed you in this place. Finding the answers you both sought would take both of you working equally in tandem.

"That's where you come in, you're our diviner, our dowsing rod," you state as you take her face in your hands, positioning your thumbs at her temples. Impulsively, you peck her lips. "This is a world of our creation. I control it, you know where everything is- in theory."

"I-I've never done anything like this before..."Annabeth comments.

As much as you tried to resist, your inner smartass overpowered your impressive willpower. Smirkingly, you reply. "I've had dreams that started out like that."

Annabeth lightly punches you in the stomach- not anywhere near enough to hurt, it was, in truth, more of a tap. "Asshole." Despite her words and actions, she was smiling widely, though was sporting a cute blush. "Technically, we are dreaming so..." She then sinfully presses herself against your body. You lean your face down to kiss her again, more fully this time, when she pulls away. Her grin widens when you groan in pained frustration. "Work now, play later."

"Bitch," you call her, though there is no bite to it. You close your eyes and concentrate, forming a shield around the two of you.

"Whoa!" you hear Annabeth exclaim as the sphere lifts itself from the ground, leaving the two of you floating inside of it- not even disturbing the ground you were standing on. In the physical realm, this trick is well beyond you and your level of control. Here, on the outer fringes of the Astral Plane, it's almost as easy as breathing.

"Tell us where to go," you direct her.

"I... I don't know how," she admits. You can almost see her nervousness even with your eyes closed. However, all this time you haven't been idle, you've been very carefully opening the connection between the two of you.

"Concentrate, extend your senses, FEEL everything around you," you tell her.

Mentally, you are nudging her mind to match your words. Her eyes close, but just as quickly, they open back up again. She only says one word, but you already knew what she knew, and vice versa, due to the connection between the two of you. "THERE!"

It was almost as if the two of you were using sonar. Annabeth, using you as a conduit, extended her senses beyond what she would normally be capable of and the two of you both registered the psychic ping your destination gave off. Even as she said the word, your bubble was already making it's way there.

As the two of you floated over the dystopian version of New Liberty, Annabeth couldn't help but comment. "It's so sad..."

You open your eyes to the devastation, your orb slowing to a halt. "Definitely not how it should be." As you say this, everything around the two of you begins to mend and repair itself. As you sweep your gaze around the city skyline more and more buildings begin to do that same.

"James!" you hear from far away. You ignore the voice, as you concentrate on the devastation and wrongness you feel about seeing the city like this. "James! Snap out of it!" The voice shouts once more before your gaze is forcibly made to meet the eyes of your companion, whom you legitimately forgot was there. Her emerald green eyes were filled with concern and worry as buildings crumple around you, reverting back to their crumbled and damaged states. She looks you in the eye and pleads with you. "Come back to me, James..."

You do snap out of the trace you suddenly found yourself in. It was jarring because you didn't expect yourself to lose yourself so easily and without knowing. You suspected that if it did happen, it would be gradual- subtle. This occurance was anything but subtle or gradual. You would have to be extravigilant. It was then, as you returned to yourself that you noticed Annabeth was clutching you desperately and you noticed that when you snapped out of your trance, your concentration was broken completely. It was only due to a subconsious need that the shield hadn't completely collapsed and even still it was failing- flickering in and out of existence.

"Sorry," you apologize as the shield slams back into place.

"That was... What the hell happened James!?" Annabeth asked with a massive amount of fear induced anger.

"The Astral Plane is MY domain, I control everything in it," you explain. "Everything in it is a part of me, an extension of my will, subject to my whims. It exists because I allow it and it would end if I demanded it. But this place... It would typically be beyond my reach- being here, immersed in it, my mind wants to subjugate, tame it, make it mine in a way it can't or shouldn't be." You take a deep steadying breath. "I can lose myself easily here. You are going to have to watch me, make sure I don't ever extend myself. The more of my will I exert in this place, the more it becomes a part of me and I'm already exerting my will more than I should be."

"You mean..." she inquired, gesturing towards the bubble.

You shake your head. "This is just a parlor trick, my will is what's stabilizing this vision of yours- holding it in place. Making it tangible so we can interact with it. Doing something like this isn't something we should ever do lightly and without a helluva lot more practice because it's taking everything I have to both stabilize and not integrate this into my metaphysical being."

"Th-then... Then we better hurry then," Annabeth replied as you begin to make the sphere move once more towards the destination she subconciously was directing you towards.

The two of you held each other tightly as you floating in the air. Already, your resolve to not fix the world around you was starting to crumble. In a place where you were a literal god, acting the part of the mere mortal was difficult. You arrived a short while later and slowly lowered you and Annabeth to the ground. Taking stock of your location revealed nothing obvious.

Annabeth frowns. "It's just a run down warehouse..."

"It's not as damaged as the rest of the area. This one's seen use," You comment looking around.

"And we're not alone," Annabeth states as she steps back, pressing herself into you. You turn to face the denizens of this dark mirror world and position yourself between Annabeth and the approaching group. What you see is something you don't like- not one bit.

At the forefront of the approaching group is Beastman, who is more feral looking than ever. Others you recognize- locals from various hero groups and petty meta-thugs that regularly appear on the news. There are also the occasional big time player. However only a select few look to be fully healthy as if something had infected all the others...

Corrupted them...

Your eyes widen in realization and you send out a shockwave of psychic power at the group, vaporizing a great many of them.

Annabeth gasped. "You can vaporize people now?"

"Theoretically, yes; technically, no," you respond. "These are just mere constructs of the Astral Plane, where I am a god-like being." You sweep your arm disintegrating more attacking metahumans. However, they keep coming and begin to reform. Seeing ****, you take to the air, summoning up every ounce of power you possess.

"ENOUGH!" came a shouted command from an old woman. Everything at once freezes in place.

"Prophetess?" Annabeth asks warily.

You touch back down, once more interjecting yourself between Annabeth and a potential threat.

"Hello, Delphi, Mastermind," She greets warmly.

"How did you do that?" you ask.

The old woman snorts. "I gained my powers at the same age Delphi gained hers. While she is potentially a far more powerful diviner than I am, my skill will outstrip hers for quite some time." She then looks around the area. "Impressive... The first solid glimpse of the future in weeks and I get to witness it, even if the vision isn't mine."

"How...? How did you find us here?" Annabeth asked worriedly.

The Prophetess looked amused. "Child, do you think you are the first to have such a connection? There has been one other pairing that I know of- perhaps two, if what I'm sensing in this vision is accurate. Your bond is the only one to occur naturally. Once I knew of it's existence, seeing you and your bondmate was mere child's play."

Annabeth cringed slightly. "As one of the founders of the Conclave, I should have guessed that you might figure it out."

"You give the Oracle's Council far too much credit," The Prophetess replied. "At current, the only ones who know for sure, the nature of your bond, are the three of us- though I suspect that Tank of the Justice **** might be able to make an educated guess."

Your eyes narrow. "Why him, the Founder of the Justice ****, specifically. As far as I know, the Jay-Eff doesn't have any dedicated psychics and he doesn't have any psychic powers either."

"As far as you know," The Prophetess said pointedly. "The Founding of The Diviner's Conclave is very much a part of the founding of The Justice ****."

"Yet, they're separate," you point out.

"An army of Diviners at the beck and call of a single organizations..." Prophetess said leadingly with a shake of her head. "As much as I trust Tyrone, that's a lot of temptation for any one person to deal with and he is one of the most self-less and most honorable people I know. My worries are more about who might replace him once he is finally killed or retires."

The Prophetess's milky gaze takes in ever detail it can. She is obviously seeing that there is more to subdimension than you or Annabeth could possibly perceive at the current point of time. "We should leave. The danger here is far more than you realize."

"I can realize quite a bit," you reply cheekily.

"No doubt," she smirks, taking in your form and Annabeth's- the first and only psychic to fully see both you and Annabeth. You can't help but wonder what she sees. She waves her hand and psychic energy washes over both you and Annabeth.

You instinctively got to counter attack, when Annabeth grabs your hand, looking frightened. It's only when looking at her that you realize she's somehow brighter, less grimy looking than before.

The Corruption...

"W-We'd b-better go..." You say shakily.

This was a world of your's and Annabeth's creation, one with a corrosive taint that in the real world was threatening the Diviner's Conclave and possibly other metahumans as well. Outside, on the physical plane, you and Annabeth were practically immune. Here, on a metaphysical plane, you both were startlingly susceptible to it's influence. Much like before, you had no idea you were being affected.

Annabeth also nodded.

"The day after tomorrow, Mastermind, at the coffee house," The Prophetess told you. "I have much to inform you of, much to teach the both of you. But here it isn't safe." With those ominous words of parting, she faded.

You grab Annabeth's hands, and the two of you link your minds together, fading as the world collapses on itself.

You are startled awake on your sister's couch once more. After everything that happened, there was no way in hell you were getting back to sleep. Grabbing two mugs from the cupboard, you go to Jen and Allie's coffee maker, and start brewing two mugs of coffee. One for yourself and another for the guest you'd no doubt be seeing in the very near future.