Chapter 3: The Day It All Fell Apart

A.N. Jessica Jones will be in this story as Percy's ally (she has her powers from magic...and she's a legacy)


Percy woke up and ate some toast for breakfast before he wore a black shirt, brown jacket, and shades to go with his jogging pants and white shoes. He walked back to his bedroom and walked into the closet. He slid the false back panel to the right and stepped into his secret lair before closing the panel.

His lair was pretty big for something so hidden. It was the size of a studio appartment, with computers and police radios sitting on the tables in the center. The walls were lined with incandescent white lights and racks of guns and tables of other weapons, from knives to even a bow and arrow set, from handguns to rifles of different functions. Percy pulled something out of his satchel...it was a ridiculously large pile of assault rifle ammunition that could never have fit his satchel, which he put in the appropriate box in the corner.

Sitting in the middle of the table with the computers and radios...was a photo of a certain couple.

"Mom...Paul..." Percy muttered, sitting down on his office chair after refilling his ammo.


The gunshot didn't kill Percy...it merely put him out for hours. Before getting shot, Percy felt his vision turn red with rage. When the Sokovian HYDRA operatives began yelling at him to use his powers on the dummy, his mere reply was to kick one HYDRA soldier in the chest so hard he went flying. Strucker sic'ed his men on him, prompting him to fight back with a surprising display of superhuman strength, speed, and overall athleticism.

Strucker took his handgun and shot Percy in the head moments later, leaving his "corpse" in the snow.

He got up once the sun set in Sokovia. Percy groaned as he pulled the bullet out of his head, the resulting wound slowly healing itself as he sat there.

Percy had two choices: sneak in the base and save Pietro and Wanda, or escape. He chose the latter part and ran off to the direction of Novi Grad, Sokovia.


After going country hopping for a full day, Percy finally got back to Manhattan, New York. He was able to switch out of his white jumpsuit to a hooded black jacket, white shirt, camo pants, and black shoes. He had no problem hopping countries all the way back to the US, the only problem was walking around in public. Even with the hood over his head, Percy could still hear people talk about his partially disfigured face behind his back. Among those words they spoke were,

"What happened to him?"

"Poor guy."

"He looks weird."

"Looks like someone wants to be the next Freddy Krueger."

It didn't bother him that much, but it did remind him of his former "friends" from Camp Half Blood, especially what they did to him: They sided with his...ex half brother and blamed him for things he didn't do, like flooding the strawberry fields, or breaking the arrows the Apollo cabin use for target practice.

Finally, Percy arrived in his old apartment building, to meet with his mother and Paul. He walked up the stairs only to run into a black haired woman in a trench coat.

"AH!" the woman screamed in fright before regaining her composure. "I'm sorry. Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Paul Blofis and his wife, Sally Jackson-Blofis. Have you seen them?" Percy asked.

"They left for Goode High School hours ago. Who are you?" the woman asked.

"I'm Perseus Jackson, I'm Sally's son and Paul's stepson." he replied.

"You're THE Perseus Jackson? I'm Jessica Jones, legacy of Dionysius." she extended her hand for a handshake, which Percy hesitantly accepted. "I'm a friend of your mom's. Helped her and Paul with some counseling ever since she got pregnant."

"How'd you know you were a legacy? Swear on the River Styx." Percy told her.

"I swear on the River Styx that I am a legacy of Dionysius, I'm your mother's friend...and I still believe you're a hero even if many don't."

Thunder crackled in the air, sealing the deal. One...two...three...nothing happened to Jessica.

"Well, I suppose we can be great friends."

With those final words, Percy ran out of the apartment building to take a taxi to Goode.


Percy smiled at the memory as he finished what he was doing: searching for any leads on criminal gangs in New York. He shut off all power in his hideout and exited through the secret door in the cabinet. He then went outside for a walk in order to collect his thoughts.

Thoughts on the day he lost everything.


Percy arrived in Goode in the nick of time, around three o'clock. He still got some looks from nearby students and teachers as he entered the school, but he didn't mind. He ran into the principal: a tall, average built African American man wearing glasses and a two piece suit.

"Excuse me, but have you seen Mr and Mrs Blofis?" Percy asked the principal.

"Mr Blofis left early so he can go on a date with his wife at Central Park. Sorry about coming here for nothing. By the way, what happened to your face?"

"It's...kind of a long story. Thanks and goodbye."

Percy growled in annoyance at the thought of coming to Goode for nothing as he stepped out of the school campus. That was alright. At least he knew where his parents were.

He another taxi to Central Park, and the sun was already setting by that time. It didn't matter. Percy had to find his mom and stepdad.

Then he heard wild gunfire from deep inside the park. Percy paled at the possiblity...

"MOM! PAUL!" he called out as he ran deeper into the park, the gunshots getting louder as well as incoherent yelling, like there was a major gun battle going on. He ran...and ran...and ran...until he found his mother, six months pregnant, trying to escape the gunfire.

"PERCY, HELP!"

Percy desperately ran over to help her...but was helpless from stopping a bullet from finding its way into his mother's head...followed by a rain of bullets hitting her everywhere else. Percy watched in horror as Sally fell down on the ground, bloody and unmoving.

"MOM!"

He got hit with a stray bullet right in the head and fell into the Reservoir.


In the present, Percy found himself sitting down on a bench right in front of a carousel, watching several parents play with their kids, laughing and smiling. He managed a fake smile, but deep down, his thoughts were lost as he was about to replay the horrible memories. Instead...

"Still down?" a familiar voice spoke to him. Percy sighed and turned to see none other than Jessica Jones, wearing a brown coat, white tank top, jean shorts, and black shoes, holding some cotton candy.

"Yeah. Why?" he asked her as she sat next to him.

"Nothing. Just checking in on you after everything that's happened." Jessica told him before offering him cotton candy, which Percy refused.

"By the way, got any leads?" he asked her as they sat up from the bench and walked away from the carousel. Jessica nodded.

"The guy you murdered with the zamboni is a guy only known as Ricky. He's a member of the Aryan Brotherhood. Not much is known about him, other than the fact he was once arrested for assaulting three men in broad daylight just because they're Latin American." she explained.

"Anything else?"

"While I was managing the dummy e-mail we use for...comedy reasons, a fellow by the name of Diamondback is calling you out to fight him at this very spot, tonight."

"What's he got?"

"Don't know, just Hammer Industries products, according to him."

"You think the Avengers will get involved again?"

"No, Percy. Something else is happening in the Greek world." Jessica told him grimly. "I don't really know what's happening to be specific, something to do with the Titans returning. Fury might send them to investigate."

At that convenient time, she drank from her hip flask.

"I see. Tell our next victim Deadpool accepts the challenge." Percy told her, a maniacal smile on his face. "And tell him winner gets all the loser's cash. And while you're at it, find out what Hammer prodcuts he's possibly got."

Jessica nodded and walked off, leaving Percy in the park to reminisce about what happened after the massacre.


Flashback

Percy awoke in the Reservoir and pulled the bullet out of his head. He quickly swam out of the water and ran all the way back to his mom's apartment to cry his heart out. He heard the door swing open and he looked at who it was. It was none other than Jessica Jones. She had a look of guilt on her face.

"I'm...I'm sorry about your mom and stepdad..." she spoke. "This is all my fault, I should've protected them."

"Jessica...there's nothing you could've done." he told her.

"What's the point of these damn powers if I can't used them to stop people from dying?!" Jessica snapped, throwing her fist down on the nearest drawer,...breaking it in half.

"You have powers?" Percy asked her, standing up from the floor.

"Umm...yeah." she answered sheepishly. "I was caught in a car accident with my parents and brother. None of them survived, only me. I survived because before the crash, I prayed to the gods for protection. One of them answered my prayers: Lord Pan. He gave me powers to survive and turn my life around. Ever since, I've been working as a private investigator with my money mostly going to either helping my adoptive sister's radio show or drinking. That's how I met your mother."

Percy sighed and sat down in the dining room. Jessica followed.

"What happened? Why was there a shootout at Central Park?" Percy asked. She shrugged.

"I don't have the full details." Jessica admitted. "Something to do with the Aryan Brotherhood and the Dogs of Hell."

"What?"

"Aryan Brotherhood's a white supremacist gang while the Dogs of Hell are a motorcycle gang. From what I've researched, they've been rivals for a long time."

"I want to hurt them. Make them pay." Percy said coldly, making the black haired woman gasp.

"Percy, you may be a legendary hero in the Greek world, but here in the mortal world, you're outnumbered and outgunned." she pointed out.

"I'm no hero, Jessica, but I am super."

"What do you mean you're super?" she asked.

"I have powers...from a machine I got rigged in in Sokovia. Long story, and I'm gonna need your help with this."

Jessica eyed Percy and his tempting offer. "Your mother was my friend...I suppose I'm in."


Back in Stark Tower...

"Avengers...we have a new problem." Nick Fury called them over to the minibar and were now discussing something. "Strange supernatural anomalies have been occuring around the world recently. Their origin? We sure as hell don't know. Thor checked it out and confirmed it wasn't of Norse origin."

"Are Tony and Dr Banner doing research on this?" Natasha asked. "And what about the Deadpool issue?"

"That can be solved by our recruits under my guidance. The rest of you need to investigate these anomalies because for sure, they will become a lot more dangerous as the time passes. Dismissed."

All the Avengers got out of their chairs and left, leaving Fury alone. With the entire roomto himself, he didn't wince when a familiar woman flashed into the room.

"How's my son?" Nemesis asked sweetly, but the SHIELD director's face didn't brighten up one bit.

"I thought the whole magical world bullcrap was under control." Fury snorted. "Now, I had to send some of my best agents out there to possibly get in dangers they don't know shit about. Well, Agent Barton and Thor don't count, but you get what I mean!"

"I'm sorry." Nemesis spoke sadly. "Something bad has happened: the Titans have stolen Pandora's Jar from the Marianas Trench."

Fury's eye widened at the thought.