Pandemonium

Wade had been scouting around in some place in the United States. He didn't care where he was. His life had turned meaningless anyways.

He was growing old but his body refused to grow with him. Deadpool couldn't live for ever. It shouldn't be possible. But alas, he was doomed for eternity. He could've atleast had a pretty face. But that wasn't possible either. He was sure he had the worst luck on the planet.

Wade was going through an existential crisis.

A long one.

In the middle of which he realised that he'd somehow wandered into Hell's Kitchen and was standing face to face with Daredevil.

Bloody Matt Murdock with his pretty face and beautiful body.

Wade had thought that maybe Matt had sensed him in the area and had decided to pay an old friend a visit.

Matt was growing old, after all.

Unlike Wade.

But something in Matt's face had told him that it wasn't a social call.

Soon, they were seated in Matt's apartment, drinking on his sofa as Matt told Wade all about Sally Jackson.

-

Matt was nearly the same age as Sally.

The first time they met, Matt was a college student. Sally was a pregnant girl on the streets.

Sally was shivering in the corner of a run down bar. Matt didn't recall why he was there that day, but he gave her his coat and she thanked him.

They ran into each other at a hospital next. They spoke a little and exchanged names. Neither of them had been willing to talk much and they had been ok with it.

He didn't meet her for many years after that.

Then he heard of her on the news. A kidnapping. Her son was being accused. Percy Jackson. 12 years old.

Matt had donned his suit and done some searching of his own.

Matt hadn't believed anything the media had come up with, but he knew that Sally would need a lawyer to sort out her situation legally. So when she resurfaced, he approached her and offered his assistance.

It had pained him to see her stuck with Ugliano. But it was her choice and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

Daredevil though, could help her.

In the end, he didn't have to. Ugliano disappeared. Matt had sensed her lie when she told him that she didn't know where Ugliano had disappeared to, but he kept quiet. Sally was a strong woman and a loving mother, she knew what she was doing.

Sally was never seen alone. Her son always accompanied her. Percy Jackson had been a curious kid. He had been wary and suspicious of Matt in the beginning, but had slowly come to accept his presence on occasion.

Many years later, Sally came to Matt again. Percy had gone missing. Then he resurfaced almost a year later, with scars littering his body.

Another couple of years passed. Sally had come to him to sort out some papers from a car accident that Percy and his girlfriend had been in. The girl had died.

Percy, who had been injured in the accident had still been under treatment at a hospital when Matt visited him to get his signature on some documents.

That was the only time that Matt hadn't sensed the charm that Percy Jackson exuded. Even in the gravest of circumstances, Percy Jackson had a way of looking at life with a sense of hope unlike any other. But that day, he had seemed defeated.

Matt hadn't seen the Jacksons again, not until two nights ago.

-

Wade had been bored by Matt's story. He had no interest in knowing how Matt had come to know of the Jacksons. Wade met Percy in a way more interesting manner.

Many years ago, he had been somewhere in California when he saw two women with snake hair chasing a guy down a hill.

"Why aren't you two dying!? I killed you three times in the last two minutes!!" The guy screamed at them while rolling down a hill and trying to maintain as much distance between him and the women.

This wasn't the first time he was seeing horrifyingly weird looking people but the absolute hilarity of the situation and the guy's comment about them not dying had peaked Wade's interest. He had followed them for a long time and occasionally helped slow down the women by putting random objects in their path.

At one point, the guy just got frustrated and pulled out a sword from thin air. He then beheaded the women in two smooth movements and Wade whooped as they turned into golden dust.

Then the teen had walked straight up to Wade and punched him in the face.

"Why are you following me?" He demanded with a deathly glare. Oh boy, Wade wanted to learn to do that glare.

The teen looked very very very handsome. Even with the half torn and dirty clothes. He looked like a Greek god. His face was the prettiest Wade had seen in forever. Especially the eyes. Such beautiful blue green eyes. If only he was a few years older and interested in disfigured men, Wade would've fallen at his feet.

Wade decided to be nice to the pretty teen. The punch was a non issue. He extended his hand, "Hello, darling. I'm Deadpool."

And that had been the start of a tentative friendship with an amnesiac who had disappeared on him within two minutes because the women who had turned to dust had risen back up to try and kill Percy Jackson. Again.

Wade met the guy a few years later, at a graveyard. He was playing some card game with two other guys, both dressed in black. They had very definitive emo vibes going on, and Wade loved it. He decided to approach Percy Jackson and his friends.

That evening, he learnt to play Mythomagic with Percy, Nico and Anubis. Percy was the first one to leave, saying, "Apollo wants to go shopping. I lost a bet."

Wade's eyes had widened, brain working furiously to confirm whether Percy was speaking of the famous musician Apollo.

Nico and Anubis had confirmed it for him as soon as Percy had left. "They've known each other for years. They are also extremely gay for each other but just haven't realised it. Half of Apollo's songs are about Percy."

Wade understood perfectly well.

He saw that Nico and Anubis understood perfectly well too.

They had spent the rest of the evening talking about how perfect Percy Jackson was.

"And that's how I know Percy." Wade ended his narrative with a flourish.

Matt looked unimpressed.

"Accept it Murdock. My story is way more interesting and award worthy than yours!"

"Award worthy!? You're drunk, aren't you?"

"Am not. You just don't want to accept the fact that I have a more interesting relationship with Percy Jackson."

"You spent half the time explaining why he was the symbol of perfection among men!"

"You're just jealous."

That banter had continued for hours until Matt finally remembered why they had begun the discussion in the first place.

He told Wade all about the kidnapping of Sally Jackson and the weird things that Murdock had seen and heard that night.

He then proceeded to show Wade the media mayhem around Percy and Apollo off late. Everything was connected somehow, and the utter weirdness of it all had Wade excited to get involved.

He had all the time in the world after all.

-

A part of Apollo reached the Underworld to a respectful reception from skeletal guard dogs.

Cerberus sent a happy bark his way, and Apollo waved at him, tossing him a red ball that he materialised from thin air. His heart twinged as he watched Cerberus snatch it up. Percy had been the one to acquaint him with Cerberus. They had both played fetch with him and the other guard dogs whenever they visited the underworld.

"Brother." Persephone greeted him.

She had appeared at the door in a dark floral georgette gown.

"You haven't visited in a very long time." She noted as she leaned against the open doors and raised her eyebrows at him.

He knew what she wanted him to say.

"Visiting without Percy would've leached the little tolerance I have for the Underworld."

"And yet, here you are."

"Here I am."

"Has this got to do with what the flowers have been telling me about?" She asked, as she turned her back on him and started leading him into the palace.

"Depends on what the flowers have been telling you."

"That you and Percy are talking again, and that you're the topic of discussion among all mortals now. And also ofcourse, the disappearance of dear Nico and your demigod friends. Your son too is missing, yes?"

"Yes." Apollo said to all of that.

Persephone swirled dramatically to meet his eyes. A cold fury in her own.

"Why are we always the last resort, I wonder. Because the flowers also told me that the Olympians have been convening meetings and discussing said matters. The Ghost King went missing and we were the last ones to know. We were also the last ones to know that apparently, grandfather has risen again."

"I-"

"I thought you and Percy were on our side! You didn't think that maybe we'd have liked to know too. You visited so much! We were friends, Phoebus." She sounded so genuinely hurt, Apollo wanted to comfort her right then and explain everything.

But with every passing moment, Percy was spending more and more time in the hands of their enemies. Enemies who had the luxury of manipulating time.

It had only been a few hours since Percy was taken, but Percy could've experienced entire days of torture by now.

Apollo could sense Percy's pain and thankfully, it hadn't lasted long after Percy was taken. But not knowing if he was safe or not was torture.

Explaining to Persephone could wait.

He told her the short version instead. It included the important bits of information. Like the fact that Percy and Nico and Will were all being held captive and Apollo has an idea that might help find them easier.

Persephone seemed to understand that reasoning with Apollo wouldn't lead her anywhere.

So she just sighed and lead him to the throne room.

Hades was seated on his throne, dosing off with his forehead resting on his left palm. He was wearing a pitch black suit and had his long black hair tied into a ponytail.

He jolted awake, with marginal dignity when Apollo and Persephone walked in.

As soon as he spotted them, his eyes seemed to get clear, his posture got straighter, and the slightest hint of worry seeped into his demeanor.

"Nephew." He greeted Apollo. A chair materialised beside his throne. Uncle H seemed to be in a hospitable mood. Apollo needed to use that.

He walked over and settled into the chair. It was the darkest shade of blue. Percy crossed his mind again, and he opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the god before him.

"My wife tells me you have an idea to find Nico."

"Yes, Uncle. I do indeed have an idea, but I require a favour. I need to speak with a departed soul."

"A mortal?"

"Yes. His name is Andrew Loris."

"And how will this help us find Nico?"

"We found this man beheaded by our enemies. His background shows that he might've been one of the mortals they have been recruiting. That would imply that he knows at least some information regarding the whole operation."

"So you're hoping on a bunch of possibilities and to test whether it's right, you want to waste my time and break a bunch of ancient laws?"

"Uncle, please. Grandfather is back, and he has allies. Ares has defected. They have tricks under their sleeve, we have yet to see. I'll repay you in any way you want. Please allow me an audience with his soul. Just this once."

"You're desperate." Hades stated calmly. "Something has happened hasn't it? Something that's gotten you all worried."

Apollo's chest hurt. He couldn't do this. He couldn't keep telling this to people. Each time he says it, it seems to cement itself, like an irreversible fact. Apollo did not like it one bit.

"They took Percy."

A silence seemed to engulf them. The entire Underworld seemed to come to a standstill.

Then abruptly, Hades stood up and gestured for Apollo to follow him.

Apollo couldn't read his uncle's emotions. He was the most unreadable of his family members. Apollo figured that Hades was probably surprised, angry, internally ecstatic but not showing it or sad that Percy was taken.

They walked through what looked like a secret corridor behind his throne.

Darkness swallowed them as they entered, and within seconds Apollo found himself in a circular room made of stone. The ceiling was pitch black and extremely high. The only light came from two dimly lit torches, one near Apollo and another near a terrified young man.

They were the only ones in the room.

"Andrew Loris?" Apollo asked the trembling youth before him. He was wearing the same clothes as the decapitated body now resting in a lab in Avengers Tower.

"Y-yes."

"What do you know about Percy Jackson?"

"I don't-"

Apollo sensed the lie even before he managed to speak.

Pathetic, he thought. If he weren't dead, Andrew Loris might as well have been the first person to be smited by Apollo in over a century.

A more hands on approach was necessary.

Apollo took a split second decision and threw morality and the ancient laws out of the window.

His eyes glowed gold and the spirit before him screamed.

"Where is the King's lair?"

"In Washington DC."

"Where in Washington DC!?"

"I don't know."

"Where are the kidnapped ones being kept?"

"In Washington DC."

"WHERE IN WASHINGTON DC!?" Apollo was getting really frustrated now.

"I don't know."

The spirit disappeared and Apollo was back outside the palace, standing before the guard dogs.

A clear dismissal from his uncle, but at least the trip was partially successful.

-

Percy opened his eyes after what felt like a very long time.

And immediately panicked.

All he saw was darkness.

Pitch black all around.

Had he lost his eyesight?

He carefully brought his hands up to touch his eyes.

They were open.

But he hadn't been able to see his hands.

Percy's heart was hammering in his chest.

Where was he?

All he felt was cold.

He extended a hand in the darkness, only to find that he was in the middle of a box with less than an arm's length on each side.

He banged the walls. No sound emerged.

He tried to scream. No sound emerged.

He spent what felt like hours trying to do something, anything, to feel like he was alive. To get rid of the darkness and the cold that was creeping on him.

Was he dead?