Chapter 1
Fury
Fury’s work wasn’t what you would call “fun”. Yeah, catching thieves, murderers and terrorists could be exciting, but the paperwork was still boring.
Fury sighed, running a hand through his face, before focusing his gaze on his computer. He decided that paperwork could wait.
He logged in and resolved that looking into strange events that didn’t involve the Avengers or any SHIELD agents would be not only interesting but also productive. Few minutes into his research, he found a pattern. A very weird, abnormal patter.
It wasn’t normal to find one single person involved in many explosions by chance, was it? In Fury’s daily life, it was. What wasn’t normal was for that person to be a seventeen-year-old.
Fury’s eyebrows rose as he went deeper into his research. How was it possible for SHIELD to lack someone’s information? They knew everything about everyone, courtesy of the Internet, then how could they have no information about the teen? The only possibility was that the kid didn’t use technology, but he was a teenager, it didn’t make any sense.
The director decided to go through the scarce information they had in hopes of finding something, anything, that could be useful. No such luck. They only had the name of his mother and two step-fathers, one which was missing. His photo had been taken from the news, back when he was twelve and had been part of a manhunt across the country.
The teen’s name was Perseus Jackson, and, according to the poor information SHIELD had on him, the kid was… something.
Perseus had been categorized as a possible threat since he was twelve and now he was about to turn eighteen. Nobody had ever gone so much time unnoticed, leading Fury to believe that this kid was, indeed, a threat. The matter couldn’t go unattended any longer.
He gave some agents the job to look for him and bring him in, but after the tenth came back without any good results, he decided to take the problem to a higher level: he called the Avengers. Why would Fury call the world's mightiest heroes only to bring him a kid? Well, all the agents he had sent were the best they had, just before the Avengers, and every single one of them returned with bare hands and a few broken bones, unable to recall how any of that happened.
So there he was Fury, in a meeting with his best agents (save Thor, who was meeting a family member of his called Magnus), telling them to kidnap a seventeen-year-old.
"You want us to do what?" Steve Rogers asked, completely horrified at the mere thought of it.
“I want you to catch a threat to society," Fury answered simply.
"What do you mean by 'threat'?" Natasha asked.
"Well, he blew up almost every school he went to, and that's to say a lot since he got expelled every year.” Fury paused so his words could sink in.
“That could still be a very unfortunate coincidence,” Steve defended, though doubt could be seen in his eyes now. Fury hummed affirmatively.
“Could be, but he also threw his class into a shark tank once, and blew up a school bus with a cannon. And then there are the multiple times he was seen carrying illegal weapons... And the numerous occasions in which he was spotted all across the country, even Alaska, causing trouble. The same later in Greece and Rome.” Fury told the team, who sat stunned at the man’s words. “If you want to know more, just look at his file or investigate him. I don't care what you do, I only want you to bring him here."
"But why us? We're the world's mightiest heroes, he's just a kid. It would be an unfair fight and I don't want to hurt a kid. Why don't you just send another agent?" Tony asked, genuinely surprised and not in a good way.
"I've already done that, Stark," Fury said, glaring at him.
"What happened, then?"
"All of them came back alive, but none of them unhurt. As you can probably guess, the kid escaped from them all. We learnt a few things, though, like not trying anything near his house, friends or family. It took six agents and fifteen broken bones to realize that."
"Six agents? How many did you send?" This time it was Bruce who spoke, his face filled with surprise.
"Ten more or less, but not even the best of them could get him so now it's your job. Inform Thor please."
As if his name had summoned him, Thor appeared flying with his hammer through the window.
"Hello, friends,” the god said happily before noticing the expressions on everyone’s faces. “Did I miss something?"
"We have to chase a seventeen-year-old terrorist," Steve replied, still in shock.
"Yes, and I want you to go right now." Fury paused, looking at his phone. "How convenient: he has just been spotted by a camera in Central Park. I'll send you the coordinates, Stark."
All of them starting preparing, gathering their things for the mission as fast and efficiently as possible.
"Before we go, I’d like to know who is the person we are going after," Thor said.
"Perseus Jackson" Fury told him. Thor's expressionless face morphed into of respect, admiration and a bit of fear.
What? Did Thor know this kid?
But what happened next had all jaws touching the floor: Thor squealed. Yes, you read correctly: Thor, the mighty god of thunder, squealed.
"Yes! I will finally meet the grand Perseus! Loki will be so jealous!" he exclaimed, excited, before stopping moving all of a sudden, confusion clear in his features. "Why do we have to chase him?"
"Because he’s dangerous," Fury answered him, coming out of the shock.
"Him, dangerous? Ha! Of course he is dangerous! But only to his enemies."
"I don't care what you think. I only need you to bring him here alive, using force if needed." At this, Thor actually shivered.
"I will go with you, but if it comes to a fight then I will stay out of it, for I do not wish to die yet. I won't help him either, only because he doesn't need my help to defeat you."
"What? Thor, he's just a kid. Plus, we have him outnumbered," Tony said, actually believing the god had gone crazy.
"But he has you outpowered." That was all reply, coming out as a rather loud whisper. It sounded as a threat, as if he was daring anyone to say otherwise. Nobody did.
Percy
Percy was utterly tired. All that people coming after him, threatening the people he cared about. Who were they? What did they want? As much as he asked them, he never got an answer.
At least they are mortals, Percy thought. It was something good since it didn't take long for him to knock them out.
What was really funny was the way they all believed themselves super spies, thinking he was completely clueless of their presence. Of course, he was not.
In that moment, Percy was sitting in a bench in Central Part, near the lake. He was alone, taking a break from life without disturbing anyone, so he got really annoyed when he felt people hidden again. He noticed by sensing the particles of water in the air, a trick he learnt during the Second Giant War and mostly what had kept him and his friends alive.
Percy decided to test if the six people were really stalking him. He stood up and went to another part of the park, still near the lake but far from civilians. If the situation ended in a fight, he didn't want to hurt innocent people. He wouldn't be able to use his powers because they were mortals, but he could use the extra strength that the water provided him.
But no, one of them wasn't mortal. They had a godly aura.
Well, that was definitely new.
These people followed him, confirming his suspicions. He was quite surprised to sense six of them, as the maximum before had been three. He concentrated a little, locating them. There was one in a tree, one flying and four in the bushes, divided in groups of two.
Percy turned around, now facing the trees instead of the lake. His face showed how irritated he was.
"Come out," he ordered, the command in his voice rivaling charmspeak and leaving no place for disobedience. As a response, two surprised persons came out of the bushes. One was a red-haired woman wearing an entirely black suit. The other person was a blonde man wearing a... flag? Alright, a blonde man wearing a flag and holding a shield.
"Perseus Jackson?" the blonde asked.
"Yes, do you need anything? Wait, don't answer that and let me guess: you want me to come with you peacefully or you’ll be required to use force.” Percy crossed his arms. “Bad news, guys, I won’t be going anywhere with you.”
“Yes, you are,” the red-haired spoke this time.
“First tell the others to come out." Slight shock crossed the stalkers' features, but they signaled the other two in the bushes to join them. This time, a kind-looking man with curly hair and common clothes showed, accompanied by a burly man. The latter had shoulder-length blonde hair and was wearing a weird red cape. He also carried a big hammer and seemed quite excited.
"How did you-" the red-haired was interrupted by Percy, who pointed at the man with the hammer.
"Who’s the god?" the astonishment in all their faces (save the god's) made Percy struggle to contain a smirk. Maybe it was the fact that he recognized a god, maybe it was the fact that he wasn't bowing in his knees, maybe it was the fact that he seemed more annoyed than admired. Nobody knows.
"I am Thor, Norse god of thunder," he replied, stepping forward and bowing his head in respect. This action had everyone, including Percy, widening their eyes.
A couple of seconds went by in which Percy processed the answer. "Good, Norse too," he muttered under his breath so nobody heard him. "And please, I told everyone to come out. Tell that to the one in the tree and the other flying" the red-haired, almost immune now to surprise, told them to do what he told by her earpiece. She seemed doubtful to do so, but could obviously recognize she wouldn’t get anywhere with Percy if she didn’t comply.
A blonde man with a bow and a quiver jumped down a tree, still at a fair distance. Percy guessed it was so his weapon remained useful. Then, another person came flying down in a strange red and gold suit, landing on one knee. All Percy did was raise one eyebrow. So that's how the mortal could fly.
"Alright. Now, what do you want?"
"We need you to come with us," Natasha said.
"We already discussed that. I’m not going.”
“You have no option,” the archer replied, now leaning on a tree.
"You are considered a danger to society so we need to interrogate you," Thor explained, looking sorry.
"I'm not, so please leave."
"You don't get to determine that," the blonde guy with the shield said. "If you don't cooperate, we will use force." Percy only laughed, startling everyone.
"No. Who are you, anyway?" Disbelief was clear in all the stalkers faces. So he was supposed to know them. Interesting.
"We are the Avengers," the person in the suit said, proud.
"The who?"
"Earth's mightiest heroes?" the seemingly normal man said, the statement sounding more like a question. But Percy still didn't recognize them.
"We saved the world some months ago," the one in the suit spoke again and, even if Percy couldn't see their face, he was sure they were surprised and offended that he didn't know them. Percy smirked.
Must have been when I was in Tartarus, he thought, the smirk falling. Bad memories.
"Okay, but I still won't go with you." He shrugged.
"Fine, then."
And the guy wearing a flag threw his shield.
Thor
Thor was delighted that he had met the hero.
I can’t believe I met Perseus Jackson, was one of the things that kept repeating on Thor's mind.
The best part for him was that he would see Perseus in action. It was so exciting.
Thor had already stepped aside, waiting for the fight. The Avengers seemed so sure about themselves. They were in for a surprise.
Captain America threw his shield, which the demigod easily caught and used to protect himself from the arrow Clint shoot him, quickly changing his position to avoid being hit with one of Iron Man's beams. Perseus then threw Captain's shield to Tony in the blink of an eye, leaving no time for him to reject it. He flew backwards, not expecting that movement. Thor could see Tony trying to regain control of his suit, which had shut down and kept him moveless.
Next, Bruce turned green, leaving the job to the Hulk. Nobody else intervened, believing their mission was already successful. Thor knew that wasn't true, though, because Perseus had been able to defeat the god of war at age twelve with almost no training. With years of experience now, a big green rage monster wasn’t a big deal. Plus, Hulk's size was nothing compared to the giants he had killed.
Thor was right, Perseus just side-stepped every punch seeming bored. It was blatantly obvious how the demigod was keeping the fight just as a way to train. It was crystal-clear that, if he wanted, he could beat the Hulk in a second.
Perseus got bored quickly and realized that that fight wouldn’t help him much. For that, he decided to end it, taking advantage of the clumsiness in the violent punches. He grabbed the Hulk's arm after it missed its target and judo flipped him.
Yes, he judo flipped the Hulk.
Thor watched with amazed eyes; the legendary son of Poseidon was much stronger than the legends stated.
Perseus then grabbed the Hulk and, with some effort, sent him flying to the lake. Thor could see how the currents kept him from going up again until he lost consciousness, shifting again to Bruce and finally floating. However, if you didn't know about the boy’s powers, you wouldn't notice it was him who caused that.
Then, Natasha and Steve attacked together, none of them using weapons other than their own bodies. Natasha sent a precise kick to make Percy fall while Steve tried to punch him in the face to distract him. It was a simple but effective strategy, but this was Perseus Jackson. All he did was grab the fence of the lake behind him, using it as a way to jump higher than he would be able to without the added impulse given by his arms. And so Perseus jumped, avoiding all the attacks, and he even kicked Steve in the face on the way up, sending his head backwards and making the man faint. Natasha, dumbfounded, stayed still for 1 second, enough for Perseus to punch her solar plexus. Caught off guard and not being able to breathe, she couldn’t defend herself against the demigod’s kick. She was sent flying backwards.
Clint was trying to climb higher in a tree while all this happened, looking for a better angle to shoot. Perseus, waiting, crossed his arms and rested all his weight in one leg, his ADHD showing in the way his fingers and feet wouldn't stop moving as his eyes scanned the area.
When Clint finally shoot, he found that it was useless. The son of Poseidon easily avoided all the arrows, except for the last one, which he caught. Its point was wet with a tranquilizer. He frowned at it, looking annoyed. Then he sent it flying back to Hawkeye, the arrow becoming a blur with its speed. The next thing Thor was aware of was Clint's unconscious body hitting the floor with the arrow sticking out of his shoulder.
All the Avengers laid there, moveless. Perseus had barely broken a sweat.
"Are you going to attack me too?" he asked the awe-struck god. Thor shook his head, his mouth still open. "Good. Say hi to your boss for me.” And he left.
Perseus Jackson really did that.