A/n:

I am very, very, very, very, very, very, very sorry for my prolonged absence. I've been crazy busy and, sadly, just not gotten around to writing (sorry). And, even worse, I have my end of year assessments coming up so I'm going to be revising more than is strictly healthy so I apologise in advance for any more late updates.

I would also like to say that from now on I should update AT LEAST once a month and if I do fall behind BADGER ME. Send me comments and messages and posts, anything. As long as I'm reminded I will get around to it. Promise. :)

Now I hope you like this chapter (I have to say I'm quite proud of the title). :D

Percy P.O.V

I couldn't believe those cosplay wannabes are considered 'the world's mightiest heroes'! I mean come on! I knew seven-year-olds who were harder, stronger, braver and who had saved the world more times than those ignorant mortals.

It took me a disappointingly long time to deal with them though. Since A- they -died I'd let my training slip slightly, nothing drastic but enough to bother me, I'd have to rectify that.

They knew where to find me in New York so I moved out to Montauk to try to evade them for a while. I was on the beach when I saw them. Well, sensed them.

After the war and my...promotion, my powers had gotten much stronger. I'd decided to ignore and lock away my godly side mostly, I had such strict control over it that my powers only showed themselves when I was really emotional. But back to the point (becoming a God had not gotten rid of my ADHD), with this increase in power I could sense the water particles in the air and through that I could tell where everything was. For instance, I was lying by the sea with my eyes closed, yet I still knew exactly how far away the cabins were and where the trees were, even the crab scuttling along the shore front 3 metres to my right.

Anyway, I used this power to sense if anyone was approaching. The aftermath of the war had, among other things, greeted me with slight (OK, not so slight) paranoia, so I always had this 'sense' up just in case. That day on the beach, my paranoia was proved necessary.

I kept my eyes closed as I addressed the approaching cos-players, "You lot really don't take the hint do you?" They hesitated in their approach when I spoke. "If it didn't work once, do you really think it will work this time. I mean, I know I wasn't at my best the other day, but really? This is just desperate." I almost laughed when I sensed them glancing at one another nervously.

'The world's mightiest heroes' being intimidated by a teenager lying on the beach with his eyes closed!

"We don't want to hurt you, kid." I didn't bother suppressing by laugh as the one who I remembered wore an American flag called out to me.

"Judging by your performance last time, I doubt you can." I could feel the one in the air getting annoyed and moving about more.

"Please, kid. Just come quietly and nobody has to get hurt." He spoke as if he was addressing a wild animal who was likely to change moods and lash out at any moment.

That was pretty accurate.

"Go away quietly and nobody has to get hurt." I sassed back. They didn't need to know my fragile mental state. For Olympus' sake, I even hid it from the Gods themselves, although the ones who knew me better had probably guessed.

The American flag sighed.

"OK. I tried, sorry Kid."
 I almost laughed again at the tone of his voice. It seemed those 'super heroes' still believed I didn't stand a chance. It was time to prove them wrong.

They charged and the fight basically went as it had last time, except I toyed with them more. That is, until Thor decided to try to reason with me again. He'd shown up half way through the battle.

"Perseus, they mean you no harm. Please come with us. We can offer you protection against your foes and relations alike." Foes.... "The ones of the pit wont be able to get to you." Wont be able to get to me..... "You'll never have to see your family again unless you want to." Never see them again......

And just like that Thor's words echoed in my mind, or what was left of the battered place, morphing into Tartarus' with each repetition. He'd told me so many times.

"They wont be able to get to you. They'll never find you. You'll never see them again." He accentuated each statement, each condemning fact, with a strike of the vicious, steel-hooked whip.

My mind and emotions were torn  with the words, just as my back was with the whips. I could feel chunks of skin and muscle being torn off with each hit, dark blood splattering the walls, but I could no longer muster the necessary emotions to care.

"You'll never see the sun again. You'll never see your precious camp again. You'll never see Annabeth again." That one managed to pierce my numb veil and feel like yet another stab in the heart, ripping me apart more than the instruments and weapons ever could. "You'll never see any of them again and as we speak your precious Annabeth is being punished right next door. But she'll never hear you and you'll never be able to save her. She doesn't even know you're still alive." My salty tears mixed with the crimson blood covering my body.  The rusted manacles around my wrists tore t my skin as they hung me,"Make no mistake, though you are taking the brunt of her punishment for her and more besides so that she remains ignorant of that, she is still being punished and she will still know pain and despair."  Which was all my world was made of.

Cap's P.O.V

I didn't understand this kid. We'd reluctantly started fighting him again (well I was reluctant) this time going at him all at once. But it was going about as well as it had last time. That is to say, terribly. In fact, it seemed as if he was toying with us.

Then Thor tried to speak to him again, I expected him to ignore Thor and attack (that was the weird thing about his fighting style, he didn't seem to want to attack, to fight at all unless he had to defend himself. Despite the arrogant persona he had tried to present early by taunting us), instead however, he seemed to stare at Thor as though he was seeing a completely different world, his eyes glazed over and his knees suddenly buckled.

"What?!" We were all shocked and confused when the boy, Perseus, fell. Luckily for him, Thor caught him before he hit the ground. But it just didn't make sense, he'd been fighting fine, in fact he's rendered about half of us unable to continue with sprains and the like, never anything too serious though. I got the impression he was really holding back and being careful, as if afraid he's brake us. But as soon as Thor spoke to him he crumpled to the ground, now he was flinching in his unconsciousness. We all rushed over (if we could) to look.

"What happened?" I asked the Asgardian holding our target. Thor's eyes were misted with regret and guilt.

"Warrior Perseus has seen, done and been through terrible, unspeakable tragedies. Some such events still haunt him no matter how valiantly he attempts to mask it for the sake of those he cares about. Some words or conditions can open doorways for such phantoms to assault his mind and they will not relinquish their control until their mission is complete. I am most regretful to have caused such a monster to invade his mind so." Thor looked really sad for the boy, needless to say it didn't help our confusion at all.

Surprisingly, it was Tony who deciphered Thor's archaic words first.

"You mean like flashbacks, as in PTSD?! He's just turned eighteen! There's nothing he could've been through to cause that!" How wrong he was.

Thor's expression remained grim as he shook his head sadly.

We discussed it for a while, but eventually, as Perseus didn't show any signs of waking, we decided to just take him back to the tower and to Fury. We weren't going to get another chance like this and, as much as we hated to admit it, we wouldn't be able to beat him fair and square.

So we loaded him onto one of the helicarrier's beds, tied him down for good measure and set off for Stark Tower.

A/n:
And there you have it! The long awaited next chapter.

I hope you enjoyed it as always please comment and tell me what you liked/disliked and any sugestions you might have. Your contributions are ALWAYS appreciated. :D

-Samantha2611