Fighting Time

Disclaimer: I do not own Class of the Titans, or any of its characters. Studio B. Productions does.

Chapter 1: Minds

"No, no, no, Theresa!" Persephone scolded. "You're not concentrating! You must make me do your will with all your mind power!" Theresa, fiery-haired, and a great fighter, sighed in frustration. "It's too hot to concentrate," she complained. Persephone frowned at her. "It should never be too hot to practice with your powers. You never know when they'll come in handy saving theworld."

And Archie though I was the drama queen, Theresa thought. "Please, Ms. Persephone, can I take a rest?" she begged pleadingly.

"Fine." Persephone waved her hand dismissively.

Theresa bolted out of the solarium and through the janitor's closet. She ran to her dorm room and collapsed on the bed, sighing in contentment as the cool air washed over her.Her sheets were cool and clean, and she felt so refreshed already. She thought of Jay, Archie, Atlanta, and Herry working out in the gym and grinned wickedly. Hmmm, she thought. Maybe it isn't too hot to be practicing my powers.

She got up and walked casually through the dorm, over to the school, and to the gym. She stood leaning against a pillar watching her friends exercise under the guidance of Jay, who was so serious about Cronus he was almost like Persephone. She smiled. The others would owe her a lot of pizza after this.

"Hey guys!" she called, waving. Jay turned towards her smiling. They made eye contact. That was all she needed. Her brow furrowed as she concentrated hard. Jay's eyes widened, but Theresa already had him under her control. "Let them rest the remainder of the day," she said slowly and sweetly.

He nodded mindlessly and turned to the others. "You may rest," he said, his voice empty and hollow.

Atlanta and Archie turned and stared at Theresa, their jaws dropped in astonishment.

Theresa shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably. "What?"

Jay shook his head to clear it. "What- what just happened?"

Herry, Archie, and Atlanta looked at one another and came to a silent agreement. "Nothing," they chimed, and rushed out of the gym, Atlanta in the lead of course, leaving an astounded Jay and smirking Theresa.

"What did you do?" he demanded. Theresa grinned. "As if I'd tell you," she teased, and began to flounce away. Jay caught her hand. Theresa froze. Jay realized what he'd just done, and rubbed his neck uncomfortably. "Come on, spill it," he said lamely. Theresa blushed. "Um, uh- not right now,' she stuttered, then hurried away. Wow. That was awkward.

Back in her dorm room, Theresa was visited by an ecstatic Atlanta, who bounced into her room with questionable energy. Theresa was so hot she was sweating through her clothes, even with the air conditioning on, and here was Atlanta, bouncing around like a jackrabbit. She sighed. Lucky her.

"What the heck did you do? Hypnotize him or something?" She halted her exuberant ramble as the answer struck her like one of Mr. Suez's lightning bolts. "You did, didn't you?"

Theresa shrugged in embarrassment. "What's the big deal? You guys knew I had strange powers before."

"The big deal is that you're finally using them more!" Atlanta exclaimed. "We'll be able to use your abilities against Cronus a lot more now!"

"Whoa! I don't think I'm good enough for that yet!"

Atlanta stared at her, and then put her hands on her hips. "Don't be stupid," she snapped. "You fought against Hecate, goddess of sorcery, and won! You can obviously defeat Cronus."

That's what I'm afraid of, thought Theresa.

"Aaaah, how relaxing," Cronus sighed, lounging comfortably on Miami Beach, white sand between his toes, and a pink umbrella shading his eyes. He was trying to decide whether or not to take a dip in the turquoise green ocean, or to just stay there and sleep. But suddenly he got the feeling that something was wrong. He groaned and got up, stalking away to a private part of the beach.

He raised his grey, chalky hand, creating a large void in the air. Suddenly an image appeared, and voices became clear. He glared as the figures of two girls came into view. One, short, red-haired, and frowning, was standing over a taller, fiery red head, who was staring right back at her.

Atlanta and Theresa, he thought, deciding to listen in on their conversation. It might prove to be vital in his conquest to take over the world once more.

"Don't be stupid," Atlanta was saying. "You fought against Hecate, goddess of sorcery, and won! You can obviously defeat Cronus."

WHAAT?! He wanted to yell. How dare she- a mere mortal- even SUGGEST that Theresa, whose physic powers were not even developed fully- could defeat HIM, the god of time?!!

"Shhh!" Theresa warned. "You shouldn't say things like that."

You got that right, Cronus thought.

"Why not? It's not like Cronus is going to suddenly show up and hurt me," Atlanta taunted. "He's been beaten by us numerous times already. He's pathetic."

"Then explain why he's gotten away from us time after time again," Theresa hissed. "Shut up, before you get us both killed because of your big mouth!"
"I'm just saying that you have a power that's getting greater by the minute. You could be our key to defeating Cronus, Theresa. Don't underestimate yourself. If you could make grumpy old Jay do what you want, anything's possible."

Cronus was flabbergasted. He watched as Atlanta left the room, leaving a fuming Theresa behind. "Arggh!" she roared, pounding her pillow viciously with her fists.

Snapping his fingers to close the portal, Cronus strolled back to his lounge chair on the beach, but he did not sleep. Instead he mulled over what he had just discovered. Theresa was more of a threat to him now than ever. If that stupid Atlanta was right, Theresa could possibly be the most powerful of the seven, and the largest obstacle in his way to conquering the world. He smiled wickedly. A challenge. He was good at facing and defeating challenges. He would watch Theresa, and strike like an eagle at the best time.

Then she'd be gone forever, and the Oracle's prophecy would never be fulfilled. The rest of her friends would be left to mourn their loss, and he would have his revenge, especially on Jay, Hera's pet. He grinned. This would be fun.

He would have laughed his evil laugh, but he might have been kicked off the beach, and for once in his eternal, immortal life, Cronus just wanted to relax.

It was just after midnight when Atlanta called the meeting. Jay, Herry, Archie, and Odie showed up as planned , fully dressed and quiet, Atlanta frowned as she studied the faces outside her dorm room door. Neil was missing. She motioned for her friends to follow her, and as they tiptoed throughout the dorm, Atlanta couldn't help feeling excited. This was how she felt when she hunted deer: anxious, excited, and nervous. She loved the stealth and the challenge of not getting caught, but she was wondering if this was worth the risk.

I mean, it's not as though Theresa can't handle her powers, she thought. But then she had a disturbing thought: could she?

She shook her head. It was time to get Neil, go to the park, and talk about Theresa's growing abilities and powers, not for second thoughts.

She gulped, praying to any gods that would listen that they wouldn't get caught. She wasn't afraid of Athena's wrath, but Theresa's. Them holding a meeting without her would be like battling Cronus without weapons. But it had to be done. If Theresa couldn't accept that she was more powerful than ever, they had to come up with a plan to make her accept it.

But Atlanta was puzzled. The way Theresa acted was strange, almost like she knew she was changing, and accepted it, but was AFRAID to fight Cronus with her powers. Atlanta had a gut feeling that something was wrong, but she ignored it as best she could.

Then she realized that she's stopped right in the middle of the hallway. Archie, who had been close at her heels, walked right into her, causing her to stumble. She gasped, preparing to hit the floor, make a lot of racket, wake up Theresa and Athena, and get into twice the amount of trouble. But Neil's luck was on her side. Archie caught her around the waist, helping her to stay on both feet. Just then Neil came out of his bedroom door. He squinted at his friends, then seeing Archie with his hands around Atlanta's waist, raised his blonde eyebrows.

"Did I miss something here?"

"No, of course not!" Atlanta whispered, blushing furiously. She felt Archie's hands slide off her waist, and she knew that his cheeks had two little pink dots on them, like he always did when he was embarrassed. As Neil and the rest started off down the hall, she and Archie lagged behind.

"Thanks, for, uh, catching me," she stammered.

"No problem. Anytime." He grinned. He was glad that Atlanta and him were at least more comfortable around each other than Jay and Theresa were. Every time something between them happened, they tried to pretend it didn't. With him and Atlanta, they accepted it and moved on with their lives. He was seriously starting to think about giving Jay a little bit of advice about how to handle girls.

"Umm, Archie, comin'?" He looked to see Atlanta on the other side of the hallway already. He grinned. "Yep," he whispered.

Just as he joined Atlanta, he heard something. They were outside Theresa's door now, and he thought he heard snoring.

"What the-"

Atlanta's hand snaked out to slap across his mouth.

"Shh," she whispered I his ear, her warm breath tickling his eardrum. "And she's not snoring, I don't think. It sounds more like crying. You go ahead to the park. I wanna see what's up with her. I'll catch up later. Okay?"

Archie nodded, and Atlanta's hand dropped, and she gave him a subtle push towards the stairs. Then she knocked on Theresa's door, pretending to yawn with exhaustion.

"Come in,' Theresa sniffed.

" I was trying to sleep when I heard you crying," she lied. Theresa looked up from her tear-soaked pillow. " You sleep in your day clothes?"

"What? Oh, yeah, more comfy, you know?"

"Righht. What's really going on?" Theresa asked. "Or do I want to know?"

"Don't know what you're talking about," Atlanta said hurriedly. "Why were you crying?"

Theresa sighed. "I don't think you'd be able to help."

Atlanta was getting a bit annoyed. "Well, of course not if you don't tell me what the problem is!"

"Okay. Well, you know how my dad treats me like a princess, showering me with gifts and stuff?"

"Yeahh…" Atlanta wondered where Theresa was going with this.

"Well, he just called me today and said that for my 18th birthday, he was going to enrol me in an all-girls boarding school in London, England!"

"Whaat? When did you learn about this?"

"Just now. Daddy forgot about time zones."

"Just say no," Atlanta said desperately. Suddenly they had a much bigger problem on their hands.

" I can't. Daddy doesn't take no for an answer. He would come here and get me if he had to. But I can't leave! I have you, and, and…"

"Jay…" Atlanta hinted. Theresa blushed.

"And Odie, Herry, Neil, and Archie. And I have to help defeat Cronus. Don't I? It's not like I'm not needed, right? RIGHT???" she cried despairingly.

"Of course you're needed," Atlanta said hurriedly. Theresa covered her face with her hands, beginning to cry again. "What am I going to do? My birthday's next week!"

"Um, I'll think of something, don't worry," Atlanta assured her, although she didn't know if she could.