A/N: I'm back. Odds are I'm still quite rusty, so please bear with me for a chapter or two, and please, please review. This chapter is the longest so far, and also probably the darkest. So far, that is. This is a floodlit stadium compared to some of the chapters I have planned. On that happy note, I present you - Chapter 10!

I was rudely awakened from my sleep by the sound of screams and the screech of metal being ripped apart. I snapped awake in a heartbeat, and blinked rapidly to regain my vision.

Before I could see what was going on, I felt gravity tug me down, and fell to theside of the bus. Pain flared up across my back, and then another jolt hurled me to the roof of the bus. I winced in pain as I clambered to my feet.

All around me, people were screaming and rushing to get out of the bus, which was upside down. A huge chunk of the side was smashed apart, tongues of flame licking at the jagged edges.

"Aaaaar!" a Cultist bellowed, sprinting towards me with a dagger.

I dodged and struck him in the side. Before he could recover, I lashed a kick into his stomach and he stumbled backwards, tripping on the battered roof of the bus and toppling over. I stomped on his head and he went limp. He would have a nasty headache when he woke up.

More Cultists poured into the bus. I looked around for my friends, and saw Kyle laying unconscious on the roof, no, the floor... I guess the roof was the floor now. Leah was nowhere to be seen.

I drew my pistol from inside my jacket and aimed it at the Cultists. One charged and I fired, ripping a hole through his shoulder. Another sprang at me from the side, and I span to face him. He crashed into me and I flew backwards, losing the pistol. He grabbed it and aimed it at me.

The world seemed to slow down around me as he fired. I saw the bullet fly from the barrel, a trail of smoke racing along behind it. I felt my body react, rolling to the side so that the shot pierced through the floor.

The world returned to speed as I got up, grabbing a broken bus seat and swinging it at the Cultist. He dodged backwards, and I turned the swing into a throw. The bus seat knocked him down and I pounced on him smashing his face in with two quick punches. I went for a third, but another Cultist grabbed me and threw me against the side of the bus.

"Sweet dreams, kid," the Cultist spat, smashing his fist into my face.

Darkness closed in around me, and I lost consciousness.

I had no idea how long I was unconscious for, but it can't have been long, because when I came to my face was still wet with blood, and it definitely still hurt like Hades. Dull pain throbbed through my skull, and my nose felt like it had been crushed in a vice.

"I swear, I am going to kill that fucking Cultist," I said to myself.

"Oh really?" a harsh, deep voice asked.

I looked around and saw that I was in a small, undecorated room with no windows and one door, which was closed and almost certainly locked. I was bound to a steel chair by metallic rope with a faint blue glow. My own clothes were gone, replaced by light grey, almost white pajamas with the words "PRISONER", "DEMIGOD", and "HIGH THREAT" written in bold black text. Joining me in the room was the Cultist who had knocked me out, a dagger in his belt and a scowl on his face.

"How do you plan on doing that, kid?" the Cultist asked.

I considered my options. Try to trick him? Bore him to death, or at least complacency? Goad him into freeing me? He looked like a man I could easily goad, so I chose that option.

"With my fists," I said.

The Cultist laughed and gestured to my bindings.

"My bindings? Are you such a coward that you won't fight me fairly?" I taunted.

"Not a coward," he said, "Just not an idiot."

I looked at him for a few moments, then chuckled.

"Not a coward. Good one," I said between bursts of laughter.

"You are not in a position to anger me, demigod," the Cultist growled.

"Oh really? What'll you do to me?" I said.

"I'll beat the fuck out of you, that's what," he answered, walking towards me, hate in his eyes.

"Beating up a bound up 'kid', yeah, that'll prove you're the bigger, braver man," I said.

He hit my in the face, and my head snapped to the side. I spat out a glob of blood, and chuckled.

"Think it's funny do you?" he shouted, hitting me in the stomach, "I'll break your body and spirit, you piece of crap!"

Pain consumed my abdomen, but I forced myself to keep thinking.

"Tough talk from a man too scared to fight a kid," I said.

He hit me again and again. I tensed up and weathered the brief yet excruciatingly painful beating. He stepped back, and I gathered the energy to speak for a few seconds while he barked insults at me.

"Your mummy would be so dissapointed in you, a coward who won't even fight a kid fair," I goaded.

He stormed up to me and grabbed my restraints. He muttered a few words and they loosened enough to let me slip out of them. I did so, thanking the gods my plan worked, and took up a fighting pose.

"Now we'll see who the cowa-" the Cultists started, before I interupted him with a kick between the legs.

He doubled over, and I rammed into him with all my remaining strength, knocking him onto his arse. I bent down, grabbing the restraints and hurrying behind the Cultist as he got to his feet. I slipped the restraints around his neck like a garrote wire.

"Give me the key," I said.

"Never!" he roared, struggling against me.

I tightened the restraints, and he started coughing. He sent his elbows back at me and one slammed into me. I gasped and staggered back. He ducked out of the restraints and threw a punch at me, but missed and hit the wall. I swung the restraints like a whip, striking him across the face.

A kick blasted into me, and I lost my footing, falling to the floor. Strong hands gripped my collar, wrenching me from the floor and pinning me to the wall. Ignoring the pain, I thought fast, and grabbed his dagger from his belt. I plunged it into his side and he gasped in pain. I pulled it free and stabbed him again, this time in the stomach. Blood sprayed over me and he went limp. I pushed the corpse over and leant against the wall.

"I just killed someone..." I said to myself, feeling nauseous.

The scene kept replaying before my eyes. The blade sliding in to his chest. The spray of blood... His grip fading... The corpse slumping to the floor... I had stolen his life from him. My mind was reeling, and already guilt was begining to creep up on me. I forced it to the back of my mind. My friends were still in danger, and that was all that mattered.

I checked the corpse for a key, and found it in its back pocket. I headed over to the door and left the room.

The door led to a corridor, where there were five simmilar first cell I tried was empty except for a chair. In the next, a bored Cultist was playing on a smartphone, paying no attention to Kyle, his prisoner, who was unconscious. I grabbed him and slammed him into the wall, then threw him to the floor and kicked him in the head. Pain flared up in my side as I stretched one of my wounds.

I turned to Kyle, who was wearing the same as me and bound in the same way. I spoke the command word that had freed my from my bonds, and the restraints loosened. I slapped Kyle in the face and he woke up, immediately glaring.

"Come on," I said, my voice devoid of emotion.

He got up and started asking questions.

"No time, let's move," I said, moving to the next door.

I opened it and saw Leah bound to a chair, blood trickling from her nose and a gash across her forehead. A Cultist was standing over her with a bloody knife. Rage consumed me. How dare that bastard do that to her?

I charged, raising the knife. The Cultist turned to face me, and I plowed into him, slamming my blade into his knife arm and roaring in fury. The knife fell from his numb fingers, and I kneed him where it hurts, then hit him in the face. He fell to the floor, and I threw my hardest kick into his torso. I felt ribs crack beneath my foot. I lashed another four kicks at him, before knocking him out with a final one to his temple.

My eyes returned to Leah, and instantly my rage was replaced by concern. I tossed my dagger to the floor and rushed over to her, kneeling down beside her.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'll be fine, Alex. But... You just..." she said, lost for words.

"That bastard tortured you. He deserves far worse," I said before unlocking Leah's restraints.

Leah didn't look entirely convinced, but she stood up anyway, and, after a moment's hesitation, hugged me. I hugged her back, then broke from the embrace. Leah hugged Kyle, and a flash of annoyance passed through my mind. I ignored it. I wasn't exactly thinking straight, after all. Killing someone does that to you...

After a brief rest, we got going, checking the last cell on the way out of the corridor (it was empty). Luckily for us, the first door we came across had a red cross on it. We headed into it and, sure enough, the room was full of medical supplies, including some nectar. All three of us drank the divine liquid. I took a long sip and sighed with pleasure as my wounds faded and all pain left my body.

"So what happened? The last thing I remember is sitting on the bus?" Kyle asked.

"The Cultists attacked the bus, and flipped it over. Then we all got captured," Leah said.

"Yeah, but how did Alex get free?" Kyle said, for some reason asking Leah and not me.

"How the Hades should I know that?" Leah said.

"Ummm... By the power of... The forces," Kyle said.

"Which forces, Kyle?" Leah asked.

"The one the old guy told Luke to use in Star Trek," Kyle said.

"That was Star Wars," I commented.

"There's a difference?" Kyle asked.

"Apparently," I shrugged.

"So how did you get free, anyway?" Kyle said.

"I taunted the Cultist into letting me free to fight him, by calling him a coward and stuff," I said.

"And then?" Kyle asked, "You looked like you'd taken a beating, so how did you beat him?"

"I took his dagger, and I..." my voice cracked as the guilt flooded back into my mind.

There was silence for a few moments.

"We should get going," Leah suggested.

"Good idea," I said, grateful for the distraction from my thoughts.

I grabbed a flask of nectar and put it in my pocket as we left. We headed aimlessly through the corridors, not knowing where we needed to go. We got seen once, but Leah hurled him against a wall with her powers before he could shout out. After a minute or two, we came across a door labelled 'STORAGE'.

"Reckon our stuff's in there?" I asked.

"Let's find out," Leah said, thrusting her palm at the door, which flew open.

"Showoff," I muttered.

"You're just jealous because you've got no powers," Leah said as she walked into the room.

I followed her in. There were shelves lining all of the walls, holding just about everything you could think of; food, drink, clothes, weapons, ammo, tools, books, and more filled the shelves. At the far end of the room, three bags had been shoved messily into the corner. Leah flicked her wrist and they flew over to us. I slung my bag over my shoulders and passed Kyle his.

"Thanks, Alex," he said.

"Truly, I am a paragon of generosity," I said.

"You what now?" Kyle asked, confusion clouding his features.

"Nevermind," I sighed.

We moved on again, and came across an elevator, that was probably the only way down. It was guarded by two Cultists with automatic rifles, but they were talking to a larger group of five Cultists, who were armed with a mixture of swords and pistols. We were just around a corner, leading into one of the three corridors connected to the elevator room in a T shape.

"Can we get through them?" Kyle asked.

"I have an idea," Leah said.

She snapped a handle off of a door, then blasted it over to one of the over corridors, where it bounced off the wall with a loud THUNK.

"Jim, go check that corridor," one of the Cultists ordered.

"It's obviously a trick," 'Jim' replied, "Let's check the other two."

"Shit," Leah said, "That backfired."

"No shit, Sherlock," I said, taking my sword from where I had strapped it to my bag.

'Jim' and two other Cultists headed down this corridor, weapons at the ready.

"Leah, can you get him to drop his gun?" I whispered.

"Yeah, probably," Leah said.

She darted out into the corridor and splayed her palm at the Cultists. Jim's gun rapidly increased in mass and he dropped it. The other two Cultists charged, swords at the ready, as Jim scrambled after his gun. I rushed out into the corridor, Kyle a step behind me.

I swung my sword at the first Cultist to reach us, and he blocked. I lashed a kick into his chest and he gasped, dropping his blade. Kyle slammed the flat of his blade into the Cultist's head, and he dropped to the floor.

The next Cultist pounced Kyle, who dodged back out of the way and responded by elbowing his attacker in the throat. A quick strike later and Kyle had won the fight.

I sprinted forwards, towards Jim. He raised his rifle and I leapt through the air. I felt my momentum increase and noticed Jim start to struggle to keep his gun aloft. Leah was clearly helping. A flash of starlight burst in front of Jim's eyes, and his shots missed me. Kyle was helping too.

I slammed my feet into Jim, knocking him off his feet and sending him crashing to the ground. His head cracked against the ground and he didn't get back up.

The rest of the Cultists hurried into the corridor, weapons raised. An assault rifle and two pistols opened at, hurling lead at me. Trails of smoke raced along behind the shots, and, on instinct alone, I dodged them.

I kicked open a door and dove through the open space before my luck ran out. Bullets whizzed past the door, slamming into the walls outside. My eyes swept the room. The walls were close in on all sides, and a boiler hummed next to me.

I tried to think of a way out of the room that didn't involve getting ripped apart by gunfire. Despair enveloped me in moments. I was going to die here, get gunned down cowering in a boiler room. My friends were going to die too, led to their deaths by an incompetent quest leader. No. I couldn't let that happen.

"For Olympus!" I shouted, charging out of the room and straight at the Cultists.

Bullest whizzed past me, but none seemed to hit. One hit my sword and bounced off. I swung the blade at a bullet and the round ricocheted away from me. The gunmen were all together, and those with melee weapons were fighting my friends. Good. That gave me a clear shot at the firearm wielders.

I came up to the nearest Cultist, one of the two pistol users, and slammed him into the machinegunner. The other pistol user fired at me and a round slammed through my arm. I roared in pain, but forced myself to keep on going. The extreme pain that was devouring my arm. I had to ignore it.

"Shit!" the Cultist cursed as his pistol clicked.

I sliced the barrel off of his pistol, then kicked him twice in rapid succesion. I span to face the other two Cultists. A quick slash carved a deep cut into the pistol user's arm, and I shoved him away.

I headbutted the machinegunner, but my follow up slice passed straight through his mortal body. A laugh accompanied his kick, which sent me slamming to the floor, breath knocked straight out of me.

I kicked out, knocking the gun's barrel off course, but I was too slow. Raw agony flared up across my side, and I screamed in pain. I clasped my hands over the bullet holes, and felt them grow wet and sticky with blood. I was dimly aware of the Cultist flying off down the hall at a dangerous velocity.

I began to feel dizzy and tired. My eyelids grew heavy. Closing my eyes would be a bad idea. I tried to sit up, but the pain instensified and I collapsed back to the floor.

I remembered the flask of nectar in my pocket, and took it out. I fumbled with the cap, managing to get it off after a few seconds. I brought it to my lips, and took a sip.

The pain in my side faded from agonising to managable. My thoughts cleared a little. My vision cleared slightly. I took another sip, and the pain faded a little more. My fingers started heating up, and smoking slightly. If I took another sip of nectar, I would probably combust.

Kyle appeared over me, stretching out his hand. I took it and he helped me to my feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

"I've been worse," I said, "Thanks for the hand."

"You can't keep it," Kyle said, "I need them both."

I supressed a laugh as Leah joined the conversation.

"Kyle, you say weird stuff sometimes," she said.

"True," Kyle admitted.

Shrill wailing filled the air as alarms burst into life across the building.

"We need to get out of here," I said.

"No shit, Sherlock," Leah said, mimicking my voice.

Part of me wanted to retort that that was my phrase, but there was no time.

"To the elevator," Kyle said.

Leah and I followed Kyle into the elevator, and he jabbed the button for the bottom floor. The door hissed open at the bottom floor, revealing three Cultists waiting for us.

"Surrender, demigod scum!" one of them demanded.

"Hmmm... Nah," Leah said.

The Cultists moved forwards, but Leah flicked her wrist and they collapsed to the floor, struggling under intensified gravity. She ran forwards, beckoning for Kyle and I to follow. We jogged after her, moving through a small patch of regular gravity.

Leah barged through the door and we followed, out of the Cultist HQ and into the open streets of Columbus, Ohio. We were free.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you enjoyed, and if you didn't, well, all the more reason to review!