Title: Dial H for X-Men
Premise/Rough Summary: A teen stumbles on the H-Dial as he watches a villain cause havoc, turning him into an X-Men.
Extra Info: Young Justice AU. He does not know other worlds; he is a resident of the world and thus does not know he is turning into heroes from another universe. When he transforms, he will take on their appearance, whether that be a male or female X-Men. The H-Dial will not be the one that takes the powers away from the hero being transformed into, nor will it give him a secret origin intro, or their memories. He will know what hero he's transformed into, name-wise and power/ability-wise, and he will know how to use their powers/abilities to a good level, but with time/experience, he will get better. The transformation has a time limit of an hour. I made a wheel with, as of now, 112 different X-Men/Mutants that will be rolled to determine who will be picked every time he uses the Dial.
MC Appearance: Percy Jackson
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Under the cloudy skies of Gotham, in an alley behind a corner store near a high school, a group of three teenage boys were bullying another boy.
The trio looked like your typical high school jocks, tall with athletic builds and attitudes that said they were riding high on life and their parents money. The lone boy, on the other hand, was just as if not taller than the jocks but skinnier with long, black hair, a typical skater.
The blonde jock, who seemed to be deriving the most amount of pleasure of the three bullies and seemed to be the leader, pushed the boy hard causing him to stumble backwards into a dumpster, the air leaving his lungs from the impact.
Not letting him catch his breath, the two minions grabbed the boy's arms before the blonde punched the boy in the stomach. They let him fall to his knees as he threw up, laughing as he did so. The blonde crouched with a nasty smile as he looked down at the boy.
"If I ever see you talking to my girlfriend again, I'll break your legs, freak." he said before standing back up.
As he was about to leave, the boy on the ground mumbled something, stopping the jock in his tracks.
"You say something, loser?"
"I ... said ... your girlfriend ... told me ... you have a ... small dick." said the boy, looking up at the jock with a smile while flipping him off.
Hearing his two friends snicker at that comment angered the blonde even more. He stomped his way to the boy, leg reared and aimed at the boy's head, his anger clouding his judgment. Just as his foot was about to shoot out, the blonde was tackled, the wind escaping his lungs as his back hit the pavement.
"Just in time, Percy." said the boy on the ground, smiling as he saw the person who tackled the bully.
"Lucky you. Any kind of blow to the head and your IQ would drop to dangerous levels." said Percy as he quickly got off the jock.
Percy Jackson stood at 5'9" (175 cm) and had tan skin, disheveled, jet-black hair swept to one side, and sea-green eyes with a lean build. He sported his usual sarcastic smile that made him seem like a troublemaker.
"J .. Jackson." said the blonde, struggling to speak as his two minions helped him up.
"You sure you're on the football team, Chuck? I barely hit you." said Percy.
"He's just a benchwarmer, that's why." said Percy's friend, Nico Angelo, as he stood up.
"You!" shouted Chuck.
What followed could only be described as an overall victory for Percy, who used his years of boxing training to fight two of the jocks while Nico struggled with the other.
"W-watch ... your backs ... losers!" shouted Chuck, his clothes dirty, covered in scrapes and bruises after the fight, while his minions looked much the same.
With those words, the three jocks hurriedly left the alley leaving a tired yet near spotless Percy and Nico, who was covered in scrapes and bruises and practically dry heaving.
"Thanks ... for the ... help." said Nico, leaning up against the dumpster as he caught his breath.
"Do me a favor. Next time you're about to get beat up, run away." said Percy, catching his breath.
"Why do you think there'll be a next time?"
"Because you're you." said Percy, the two laughing at that. "You must've done something to get beat up at the beginning of the school year."
"I may or may not have been flirting with his girlfriend." Nico said, but judging by the smile on his face, Percy knew he had.
"Should've let him beat you up some more. Maybe he would've knocked some sense into you." said Percy, shaking his head as he started walking.
"I didn't know. I swear." said Nico, jogging to catch up. "She didn't say anything about it either."
"She's a cheerleader, Nico. You should've assumed she was dating someone from the football team." said Percy, moving his arm around to try and ease the pain.
"I know, I know, but you know I like redheads. All logic went out the window." replied Nico, rubbing a big bruise on his face.
"I'm sure it was the red hair that caught your attention." said Percy, rolling his eyes.
"Well, those too." said Nico, laughing as he slapped Percy on the back.
~
Once they got to the subway, Percy split ways with Nico and rode the train a few stops to Cherry Hill, a lower-middle-class ethnically diverse neighborhood with century-old brownstones. He was born and raised in Gotham and had lived his entire life with his mom in Cherry Hill.
Percy's dad had abandoned them before he was born, never to be seen or heard from again. As a young boy, he had been jealous of other kids having fathers and had asked his mother where his dad was, only to get vague answers. When he was old enough to understand, he realized his father was a scumbag and he never asked his mom a single thing about him again.
Percy's mom, Sally Jackson, was a hardworking single mom who had been working as a paralegal for the greater part of his life, and had put herself through college and law school, just recently passing the bar and becoming a lawyer. To Percy, she was the best mother anyone could ask for, being both his mother and father, taking care of him even when she was drowning in work and school.
Because he didn't want to add any more worry and stress to her life, he was the perfect student, consistently getting all A's, and he never misbehaved, except for when he got into fights. To his credit, however, his fights were always about sticking up for someone.
Ever since he was young, he had been getting into scuffles and fights with other people when he saw them bullying/hurting others. He couldn't stand to see people being picked on and would stand up for them, even when the bully was much larger. When he did stand up for someone, it didn't always escalate, but if it did, Percy was more than happy to fight.
Naturally, his mother scolded and reprimanded him whenever he got into a fight, but she had told him before that she was proud of him for standing up for people. Though she would be a lot prouder if he could use his words more often than his fists, which was easier said than done. That said, she knew he would continue to get into fights, so she signed him up for boxing classes so he could at least try and get hurt less.
As Percy walked home thinking about what he should eat, he heard some maniacal laughter along with what sounded like a kettle boiling, followed by a roar coming from above. Quickly turning to look, he saw one of the many reasons for Gotham City's poor reputation flying up in the sky, Firefly.
Firefly was a villain who flew on a winged jetpack and wielded a flamethrower, using his equipment to commit arson and murder. He had come to notoriety in the past year, and quickly became one of the more dangerous villains running around Gotham since he cared about nothing except arson. To date, he had burned down nearly a hundred buildings, murdered nearly a dozen people, and injured countless more.
Seeing the notorious villain raining fire on a building as people ran screaming, trying not to get burned, Percy's first instinct was to step in and do something. His rational brain, however, stopped him from doing anything stupid. He realized he could do little to nothing to a man flying in the sky wielding a high-powered flamethrower except get seriously hurt.
'Damn it.' he thought with gritted teeth, frustrated at his inability to do anything as a villain rampaged right in front of him.
Just as he was about to run away, he heard something that drowned out all the noise.
RING-RING
'A phone?' he thought, trying to locate the source.
RING-RING
Again, the ringing drowned out all the noise: screaming, running, maniacal laughter, the flamethrower, and crackling flames. It wasn't louder than the other noises, but it sounded like it was right next to Percy's ears.
RING-RING
Looking down the alley he had stopped near, he could see an old pay phone.
RING-RING
He entered the alley, approaching the old, dilapidated pay phone. Unexpectedly, the pay phone was older than Percy expected. Instead of buttons, it was a rotary pay phone.
RING-RING
He saw the phone vibrate with the ringing, confirming it was coming from the booth. Reaching out, he picked up the phone and put it to his ear. Nothing but the dial tone was heard, so he put the phone back on the hook, confused.
Just as he was about to chalk it up to an odd event, he saw something scrawled on the pay phone.
"Dial 4376." read Percy.
WOOSH
Percy saw a stream of flames streaking across the sky, landing on the building next to him.
He was about to run before Firefly could spot him and roast him to a crisp, but he glanced back at the pay phone, looking down at the number scrawled on there. For whatever reason, Percy wanted to dial that number. He knew he should run, but something in him was screaming at him to dial it.
Following his instincts, he picked up the phone and dialed the first three numbers, stopping as he was about to complete the fourth one. Even with his instincts telling him to dial it, he hesitated, but a scream from the building next door rang out, causing him to flinch and complete the rotation.
A blinding light consumed Percy's vision before he felt his body changing. His stature shortened, his frame slimmed in some parts and expanded in others, his hair grew longer, the tips of his ears became pointed, and he felt something grow from his back. His clothes similarly changed; his orange t-shirt, jeans, and black sneakers became a blue and yellow form-fitting suit. The transformation was instant and painless, but he certainly felt the changes happening to him.
As the transformation was completed, new information entered his mind. It told him who he had transformed into, along with their powers/abilities, and a grasp of how to use them effectively, but along with that came an irresistible urge to shout something out.
"I am Pixie!" shouted Percy, his voice no longer his own but a female's with a Welsh accent.
"W-what the hell just happened?!" Percy said, his attention first turning to the small rotary dial that had appeared on his left hand, like a watch. "And what the hell is this?" Then his focus turned to something he saw as a more pressing matter, his hands shooting to his chest, feeling two objects he did not have before. "And why am I a girl?! And why do I have wings?!"
Turning his head around, Percy looked at the two big, fairy-like wings on his back, but before he could make heads or tails of his new situation, he heard a scream that reminded him of the situation at hand.
"Damn." he said, frustration building until he realized something. "Wait. I can help now."
He recalled the information he received about Pixie when he transformed. Pixie was a hybrid mutant and fairy. From her mutant side, she had the power to generate hallucinogenic dust with her wings, and from her fairy side, she had an innate magical aptitude allowing her to cast spells. She could also summon a Souldagger which could be used as a weapon on mortals and the supernatural.
"What the hell is a mutant?" said Percy, but as curious as he was, it could wait for later.
He flapped his wings and took off into the sky, using them as if he had been born with them. If not for the fact that there was a madman burning down buildings only a couple of dozen feet away from him, the feeling of flying would've made Percy scream in delight. Still, there was a smile on his face.
He flew out of the alley, stopping as he cleared the building. Straight ahead of him was Firefly flying with his jetpack as he rained fire down at the building, laughing like a maniac as he did so. Thankfully, his back was to Percy, which allowed him time to think.
'The hallucinogenic dust - whoa, even my thoughts sound like Pixie, weird - the dust won't work on him since it has to be breathed in or touch skin.' Percy thought, noticing that Firefly had a mask and had no visible skin. 'But I could use the Souldagger to cut the gas supply to the flamethrower and then overpower him. I am stronger than the average person, not crazy strong, but enough to pack a good punch.'
Plan in mind, Percy thought about summoning the Souldagger, and the next moment an intricately designed silver dagger appeared in his right hand. Without a second thought, he took off.
In two seconds, he had closed the distance between them, and as he passed below Firefly, he used the Souldagger to cut the gas line, the flamethrower no longer spewing flames. Before Firefly could react, he stopped himself mid-air, taking off the next second and uppercutting the villain with enough force to crack his mask.
"Argh!" shouted Firefly.
Still in his space, Percy began releasing dust from his wings, flapping them faster to spread as much of it on Firefly as he could. Naturally, Firefly wasn't going to stay idle.
"Who the hell are you?!" he shouted, swinging his flamethrower at Percy, who dodged backwards. "And what the hell is that dust?!"
Angered, Firefly pointed the flamethrower at Percy and squeezed the trigger, only for nothing to happen, but before he could do anything else, he suddenly stopped moving. He let go of the flamethrower, dropping it on the roof of the burning building, and then he started pawing at the air.
"W-where are you going, Teddy? Come back." he said, grabbing the air.
Though Percy knew what Pixie's abilities could do, seeing Firefly go from manic to calm at essentially the drop of a hat was still surprising. But he didn't have time to admire his work. He dusted Firefly with another good amount of dust to make sure he didn't snap out of it any time soon before flying down.
As he hovered in front of the burning building, having to shield himself with his hands due to the heat, he saw that three buildings were on fire. On the street across from the buildings, people watched in morbid fascination while some were covered in soot, coughing from the smoke, and others just looked on in tears. Seeing the tear-stained and soot-covered faces made Percy clench his fist.
"Is there anybody left in there?!" he shouted to the crowd, quickly gaining their attention.
"My mother! She's still in there!" said a tear-stricken middle-aged lady, pointing at the third floor of the last building to be lit on fire.
Percy looked and saw that the third floor had not yet been engulfed in flames but was well on its way to being so.
'I'll have to move fast. Don't want to find out what'll happen to my real body if I get third-degree burns as Pixie.' he thought.
With a quick flap of his wings, he flew through the broken window and into the building. Immediately, the heat was nearly overwhelming, making breathing hard, but he took a second to adjust and started moving.
Thankfully, the smoke wasn't as bad as it appeared on the outside, but he could tell the fire was on its way up any minute now, so he had to hurry. He flew through the apartment, shouting for anyone who could hear him. It wasn't until he searched through the third apartment that he could hear some coughing.
"I'm on my way!" he shouted, following the sounds of the cough through the apartment until he reached a closed door from which he could hear the sound of a shower running. "Ma'am, are you okay?!"
"H-help me." he heard an old, feeble voice say.
Opening the door, he saw an old lady sitting on a shower chair, her mouth covered with a towel, and a blanket wrapped around her, drenched from the shower.
"Are you decent?" he asked, not wanting to whisk away a naked old lady and expose her to everyone on the street.
"Y-yes. P-please help me, dear. I-I don't want to die." she said
"It's going to be okay." he said, entering the restroom with a reassuring smile.
"O-oh my." said the old lady, eyes wide in fascination. "A-an angel. My angel."
Percy was about to correct and tell her he was a fairy, but decided against it.
"Here we go." he said, gently scooping her up after turning off the shower. "Take a deep breath. There's a lot of smoke out there."
After having her take a deep breath, he flapped his wings and flew out of the restroom, making his way out through a broken window in the living room. Right as he exited the apartment building, an explosion was heard, and flames shot out of the third-story windows.
'Just in the nick of time.' he thought, internally breathing a sigh of relief as he flew down, gently placing the old lady next to her daughter.
"Mom! Oh, thank god you're safe!" she said, hugging her mother, relief evident on her face.
"She saved me. An angel saved me." said the old lady, pointing at Percy.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" said the lady, hugging Percy, awkwardly pulling back after her hands touched his wings. "W-what's your name?"
Percy hesitated for a split second. He didn't see anything wrong with having helped save the old lady, nor was he ashamed of it. That said, since he took down a villain, he was worried it could lead to danger for him, but more importantly, his mother. Then he remembered that he was not himself at the moment but Pixie, a Welsh female with fairy wings.
"Pixie." said Percy.
"Thank you, Pixie. For saving my mother and for taking down that scumbag." she said, reminding Percy that Firefly, while in a hallucinogenic state, was still free.
"Be back in a jiff." he said.
Flying up, he saw Firefly had flown about a block over and was still pawing at the air. Glad he hadn't escaped while he was saving the old lady, he flew over to him, but before he could reach him, he saw an object fly through the air, hitting his jetpack. Electricity sparked out, short-circuiting his jetpack and taking him out of his hallucinogenic state, evidenced by his screaming, before he crashed into the alley.
Percy was surprised at the chain of events, but was even more surprised when he was clotheslined by a wire that then wrapped around his arms and wings, causing him to fall to the ground with a groan.
"Who are you?" said a deep, stern voice.
Looking up, Percy saw Batman and his jaw went slack.
Batman had been Gotham's protector for the better part of a decade and had been a member of the Justice League for nearly seven years. He had fought the nastiest villains that Gotham had to offer and come out alive and on top. Just the thought of him was enough to send goons and thugs running.
For someone like Percy, he might as well have been meeting the President. Hell, he'd be more excited to meet anyone on the Justice League than the President, but he held even more respect for Batman, what with him being a Gothamite.
"Batman." he said, swallowing to moisten his dry mouth.
Batman simply stared at him with a quiet intensity that made Percy want to spill his guts just for it to end. He felt like he was being analyzed, his secrets laid bare for Batman to see.
"You didn't answer my question." he said.
"Pe- Pixie. I'm Pixie." said Percy, so star-struck he almost said his name.
"You're not human." Batman said, his eyes on Percy's ears and wings.
"I am! Well, half, anyways, but that's only temporary! I think." said Percy, unsure if he would even turn back to himself.
It seemed like Batman would continue interrogating Percy, but before he could, Firefly groaned, stirring awake. Batman walked over to him, lifted him by the collar, and punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious before letting him go and walking back over to Percy.
"Y-you're not going to do that to me, are you?" asked Percy.
"Depends." replied Batman, and Percy swore he saw a tiny, near imperceptible smirk appear on his face before it was gone, like it had never been there. "What do you mean, temporary?"
Percy then explained everything that had happened since Firefly first appeared. He told him about the phone booth, the message, the number, the transformation, all of it. While retelling his story, Percy noticed that Batman's expression did not change once, and whether he believed Percy, he could not tell.
After he finished, Batman looked at Percy for a few seconds, his eyes glancing down at his left wrist where the dial watch had appeared after his transformation, before looking back at his face.
Even if he didn't believe him, Percy didn't think Batman would do anything to him since he hadn't done anything bad. He had just recklessly rushed in to help. Still, he was nervous after all, it was common knowledge how rough Batman could be.
As he waited with bated breath, he felt the wire go slack, making it a bit easier to breathe and allowing him to stand up.
"You believe me?" Percy asked.
"Dial the number again." said Batman.
Percy nodded and brought his wrist up, dialing 4376, closing his eyes to ready himself for another transformation. A few seconds passed with nothing happening, so he opened his eyes and saw he was still Pixie.
"Nothing happened." he said, surprised.
"Try it backwards." said Batman.
When he dialed the 6, he knew something would happen when he finished dialing the four numbers. The same feeling as when he first dialed appeared again, and with the final turn of the dial, a blinding light consumed his vision, and he felt his body revert to his normal self.
"I'm back." he said, smiling as he looked himself over, quickly making sure all of him had returned.
"Dial it the way you did the first time." said Batman.
"Do I have to? I just got my COUGH back." joked Percy, only to be met with a stare that made him start dialing.
"That's weird." he said, eyebrows furrowed.
"What's wrong?" asked Batman.
"The dial's not moving." said Percy, using all of his strength to try and turn the dial to no avail.
"It needs further testing. The League will safekeep it for now." said Batman, holding his hand out.
It was clear to Percy what that meant, but he was a little reluctant to hand it over. It had been fun having powers, a thing that very few people in the world have, but more importantly, it gave him the ability to help people in a way he never thought possible. He could actually make a difference in the world.
Still, he knew that in the wrong hands, the dial could be dangerous, and he couldn't keep it safe.
Reluctantly, he tried to remove the watch, but couldn't. He felt and looked around for a clasp of some sort, but found nothing. He pulled on it and it didn't even budge, as if it had fused to his skin, and he began to freak out a little.
"I can't take it off." he told Batman as he tried to remove it.
"Let me see." said Batman, grabbing Percy's wrist and inspecting the watch.
He turned it every which way, even using a tool from his tool belt to check it out. He then resorted to pulling it off, but the only thing that came out of that was Percy's arm nearly being dislocated.
"So what now?" asked Percy as he rubbed his arm.
Batman was quiet for a few moments, seemingly in thought. Before he could say anything, he put a hand to his ear and turned around.
"Batman." he said, going quiet as he listened. "On my way."
"You're leaving? What about the dial?" asked Percy.
"It can't be removed and is currently not operational. In the meantime, don't show it to anyone and don't try to use it. We don't know what it's capable of. I'll contact you."
Without another word, he turned around and picked up Firefly with one hand before turning onto the street, leaving Percy alone.
As soon as Batman left the alley, a tension that Percy did not know he had left his body. He put his back against the wall, taking a moment to calm himself.
'This is the weirdest day of my life.' he thought, rubbing his temple. 'What the hell have I gotten myself involved in?'
For a few minutes, Percy rested, thinking about anything other than the past hour. The rumbling of his stomach took him out of his thoughts, reminding him that despite being involved in events so far removed from his everyday life, he still had a life to live.
"Guess I'll get some pizza." he said to himself as he began the walk home. "How the hell is he going to contact me? Not like he knows who I am or where I live."