Prologue

A fist smashed into his face and he was nearly out.

Only nearly. The twelve year-old boy had been through worse, and he hung by a thread.

His hair, once clearly blond, was matted and covered with blood, as was his face. Not that that would last, they would make sure of it. They always healed him, always strove to make him look as handsome and presentable as they could- what better way to hide the facade of a hardened killer?

The boy straightened, and looked at his torturers in the eye.

It was a classic scene: getting beaten up bloody whilst being tied to a chair- in a room with a dingy ceiling lamp hanging high above you. Only you don't expect twelve-year-olds to outlast grown men.

But these guys were rooting out the weak from the strong. This boy, obviously, was stronger than they thought. He was one of the strongest, they had no doubt.

One sapphire-coloured eye glared hatefully at his attacker. The other one was bruised and blackened beneath all that blood. He would be healed of course. But with four-finger rings helping them at their punching, and being already wounded and tied up, you can't deny it would be a long road to revenge.

"I think this one has had enough, don't you?" A guy with a Sokovian accent walked in the room. He wore a dark jacket, not a lab coat, and trousers, but he also had one of those ridiculous comb-overs that evil scientists seem to prefer in movies.

"Yes, sir." Without further adieu, they retreated, leaving the guy in charge, pulling up a chair to seat himself opposite of the young boy.

"Well, I think you've had enough for one day."

"How long are you planning to do this?" The boy's words took him by surprise.

They were slightly slurred but that was barely noticeable. He sounded strong. But then the good doctor supposed that once you've beaten a dog for so long, eventually the dog gets used to it.

He should have realised that someday, the dog would bite back.

The doctor smiled and stood, walking over to the table at the other side of the room. He poured a glass of water from a jug. "Someday, you will understand. We plan to make you strong, Alex. We're making you stronger than you can ever imagined. Than anything your father can ever possibly imagine."

"My father's dead!" The boy spat, leaning sideways on his chair. Somehow, he managed to keep upright, with great effort. "Either that or he's at a resort somewhere, drinking Scotch or Collada, and laying his hands on a waitress or bar-girl."

The doctor chuckled. "Well you may be right for the second bit, but not for the first." He sounded amused. He knew it mocked the young boy, but he had other concerns for now. He turned around. "Your mother knew the truth of it."

"DON'T," Surprisingly the boy had enough strength to scream in loathing at the mention of her. "EVER. MENTION. HER. AGAIN!"

He sighed. "Alex." He knelt down. He produced a glass of water for the boy. "You can see this the way I do: you're stuck here, trapped and you have no choice." He held out the glass. "None of us have any choice but to live under the power of those who are stronger than the rest. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but once you've taken the medicine, it gets better. Once you go for surgery, you get rid of the tumour. I know about you, and above everything else, I admire how unshakeable you are, your morals and strength. You are probably the strongest one we have right here. But you aren't the only one." He knelt closer to the boy. "There are others here, and they're strong too. The problem is, they're the lucky ones: they're protected- by your parents."

"Even if I did believe you," Alex snarled. "I don't care. I've stopped caring ages ago."

"I don't believe that," the doctor remarked softly. "Otherwise, this wouldn't work, now, would it?"

Alex froze. The doctor had stood and the door opened. In, they dragged a girl, only slightly younger than Alex, a beautiful girl with black hair and green eyes. It was clear she would grow to be an outstanding beauty once she was a woman. Already she shamed models in their twenties.

Just the way they liked them. The doctor ran his hand on the girl's face. She struggled, while Alex watched wide-eyed with horror. He thought he had no more to lose...

But he was wrong.

He had this one. This last one.

"She's beautiful, isn't she, Alex?" He said softly, stroking her long black hair. "So very beautiful and so very talented. I can understand why you have an attachment for her, despite your young age."

The girl squirmed. "Now," the doctor said slowly, dangerously. "I was the one who rescued her from the Black Widow Programme and Madame B. They said it was a shame to let her go, she had such potential that was why I had to have her. She had too much potential. Those damned former K.G.B had absolutely no idea what they had, they wanted another Black Widow. But I couldn't have that, not when this girl had the potential to be so much more."

The girl glared at him. Alex wanted to kill him. He had begun to struggle in his chair and bonds, worsening his injuries. Blood oozed onto the floor. Red blood tinged with gold.

"Anyway, they discovered an anomaly in her blood, that was the same as yours. With ichor as well as red blood cells, they knew that she could be an asset to them- something far, far more than the average, enhanced super-spy. Anyway, they lost control of their super-spies ages ago. At least one of them is with HYDRA, another works for S.H.I.E.L.D and is their best killer. This one was lucky enough to slip under her father's radar, but especially after what I've seen her brother capable of, if the reports of the Triumvirate are correct- I just couldn't let her go. So it will be such a shame, Alex, if we were to let her go to waste."

A pair of fingers snapped. The girl was dragged, kicking and squirming. She met Alex's eyes- or rather his one good eye- as they dragged and strapped her to a table. "Now," The doctor had removed his jacket, putting on his lab coat, a pair of safety glasses and latex gloves. "If you would sit still."

The girl kicked at one of her assailants. The man glowered and prepared to aim a punch at the girl, when the doctor took hold of his arm. "Now, now," he warned. "I'll kill you," Alex vowed. "I'LL KILLL YOU!" He shouted.

"If you don't mind, Alex," the doctor ignored his threat. "The resulting mixture I've come with is rather crude. I'd rather not waste her on this, especially as the cruder the serum, the worse it will be, but, you've given me no choice... Or have you?"

Alex froze.

"You need to make your choices, Alex." The doctor said softly. "You too, young lady. You need to make the right ones. Now, you can save yourselves and each other... If you so choose."

In another room, in a claustrophobic cell, a girl of Asian descent listened. She nudged another, a girl who was vaguely Middle-Eastern, but not Arab. An unspoken signal ensued.

The first girl looked across her cell to another where a blond girl with blue eyes and a boy with grey eyes sat or stood. An unspoken wave of communication passed through them. From the lower levels, a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, watched them. Determination and ferocity glinted in their eyes. They had had enough.

"Make your choice, Alex." The doctor said casually. "You... Or her."

"Me!" He shouted, desperately. The girl squirmed, trying to cry out to him, but one of the thungs, pressed his hands over his mouth. "Just take me." He said, his strength finally breaking.

"No one will remember me, anyway." He murmured, but the girl with the beautiful green eyes would. And those eyes said it all.

"Very well then," the doctor moved towards the door, putting the syringe down on a tray. "Take them: both of them."

"NO!" Alex roared, as the girl was wheeled out of the room on her and something knocked him cold.

A boy looked on with grimness, as he heard a girl screaming. They were carrying her off to the surgery room, he had no doubt about that. He wondered when they were going to take her. They must have seen it, he decided. They must have seen it all.

Nothing went past them.

He had elvish features, blue eyes, upturned eyebrows and sharp nose, a crooked grin that once appeared but had now faded. Those features had hardened now. Torture and brutal training had knocked them out of him. Killing too. Mishcief was no longer such a merry thing.

But now it was time for revenge... And escape. Naturally they had prevented every measure of escape known to one such as him, but they weren't infallible. Especially as that Iranian girl from across the room had rolled out a tool carved from bone for him.

Natural, organic. No metals. How else would it get past detection?

Now was the time. They could not afford to wait any longer, not when she was being wheeled into the room and currently fighting for her life. If they tortured her beforehand, there was a likely chance that she would be too weak to survive. They couldn't afford to wait.

Unfortunately, whilst working on the lock, it would take time. Even with the Iranian girl tinkering away at her project. It wasn't easy to begin with, getting those bits in place, making something that could work with organic materials running the risk of being found out- and suffering a worse fate. But they had long given up hope of rescue and depending on others.

"Now, now, Alex." The doctor said breezily. He held up a different syringe. "The resulting serum is undoubtedly fine, I just wanted your cooperation though. Not for this: but for something else. You see the one who sold you here, wasn't as... Fine in her works as we would have liked. There was a young boy in New York, around your age, and once this is done, we would like you to introduce yourself to him- and to us. He shouldn't be hard to find- once you know how. Like her, he has green eyes and black hair. Like her he shows a lot of potential, though unfortunately he attracts a fair amount of attention, particularly from gods and mortals. And we cannot have that. Once this is over with, I want you to bring him to us. And don't try to refuse, it will make things far less painful. His name," the doctor paused. "Is Percy Jackson."

Alex struggled, staring at him with loathing in his eyes, but he was gagged and strapped down.

"Wheel him into surgery," the doctor ordered, "begin preparations."

"Yes, doctor." They had already gotten started on the girl, and her screams had ceased once they tranquilised her- a small mercy compared to what was coming ahead.

They wheeled Alex into the room, and the boy did not remember his instructions: he remembered only the face of his enemies and vowed that he would eliminate them all.

Alarm bells sounded. "What was that?" The doctor snarled, finally breaking his composure. "What was that?"

"Sir, alarms have gone off," a soldier came running, huffing.

"I know that, fool!" He shot at him. "Why have they gone off? What is-"

An explosion rocked the place. "Sir!" Another guy screamed. "There's been a leak! The facility-" Another explosion drowned out his words. "Go!" The doctor shouted. "Get those children out of the surgery room," he ordered. "The rest of you- tranquilise and carry as many of them as you can!"

"Yes sir!" They started shooting at the children in the cage. Boys and girls gasped and cried out as they began shooting them with powerful tranquilising darts. In no time at all many of them were being carried out.

Except one. A big burly boy smashed into one guy, and another. Nearby, a the blonde-haired girl sharing a cell with the grey-eyed boy, shot something from a maekshift sling. It knocked out the other guard and she shot something at the boy with the elvish features who was in the same cell as the strong boy. He took it and began working it- the final piece of the lock. The doors swung open.

They began opening as many cells as they could. Time for the contingency plan.

The girl's screams had long-since faded, but her beautiful face and form were motionless, as if dead. The boy was also unconscious. The surgery room was covered with steam. It was completely thick.

"Come on- before the explosions gets to us- we have to-" a fist smashed at his face, fully healed. The man crumbled. Its owner was currently unseen as the fist pulled back and a soldier nearby aimed his gun and fired.

Only for him to be hit on the face. Alex emerged, his golden hair glowing his sapphire eyes glaring. His features were clean and fully healed. He strode over to the table where the girl lay.

It was time to leave. For good.

As the building exploded around them, the children escaped and never looked back. Not once. Not for many years.