Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan does, I don't own the book Cyborg - Martin Caidin does, nor do I own the old TV Show Six Million Dollar Man. I just wanted to make that clear.

Story: Cybernetic Hero

Chapter 25: Guard Duty

Empire State Building – Manhattan, NY

Third Person POV

Clarisse, Jason and Thalia waited impatiently in the elevator as the song Blowin' in the Wind played over the speaker system.

Thalia eyed the speakers in the elevator as if they were a monster.

"Damn, I hate this music," she griped.

Clarisse laughed at the daughter of Zeus. "Is the great Hunter unnerved by a little easy listening?" she teased.

Thalia glared at the Clarisse as Jason tapped his foot nervously, looking between the two.

"Shut up hot head," Thalia said angrily.

Clarisse's eyes lit up in amusement. "Who's the hot head?"

Thalia just growled loudly as she pulled out her mace cannister. Jason stepped between the two of them. "Guys, we're almost there, save the violence for the enemy."

Thalia and Clarisse sighed loudly, but their eyes flashed with anger. The elevator doors opened on their floor as the three demigods rushed towards the window. Chris Rodriguez stood by the window looking down. The three newly arrived heroes followed his gaze and saw three zip lines attached to the wall just below the window. They followed the zip lines to the Chrysler Building that gleamed in the moonlight. They could see several figures slide down the line.

"How did they know that we wouldn't have guards on that floor?" Jason asked worriedly.

"I think we have a spy," Chris said.

"Who's guarding the throne room?" Clarisse asked.

"Silena and her cabin volunteered to stay in there to guard the thrones," Thalia said.

"It has to be one of them," Jason speculated.

"You're not implying that it's Silena, are you?" Clarisse asked, giving the son of Jupiter and angry glare.

"I didn't say that," Jason defended as he raised his hands to show that he meant no harm. "But it makes sense that the traitor would be someone that's guarding the thrones."

"He's right. We need to get up there," Thalia said.

"What about them?" Chris asked as he pointed toward the enemy demigods moving down the zip line towards the floor below.

"Chris, go down there and hold them off. Thalia, Clarisse and I will check on the throne room," Jason said. Chris nodded before running to the stairwell. "Let's go."

Jason, Clarisse and Thalia ran to the elevator. They used the guard's key to allow entry to the six hundredth floor. Another round of terrible music came over the elevator's speakers.

Jason eyed the speakers as Thalia and Clarisse grimaced at the noise.

"Maybe the music will drive the enemy nuts," Jason quipped as he covered his ears with his hands. Thalia and Clarisse both looked at each other before rolling their eyes.

The elevator doors opened to reveal the walkway to Olympus. The three demigods ran to the great temple of Olympus and the throne room. They all pushed open the massive doors and entered. Silena and Drew were arguing back and forth about something.

"Why are we here doing nothing?" Drew yelled.

"We're following orders, Drew. We were told to watch the throne room," Silena explained.

"Then why is it that you and I are the only ones inside while the others are outside milling around in the hallway?" Drew asked incredulously.

"We need to prevent anyone from getting inside. You and I are the last line of defense," Silena yelled back as her temper finally flared.

Drew rolled her eyes. "If we're the last line of defense, then we're screwed," she said cynically.

Silena moved forward angrily. She looked like she might punch her sister in the face, until she saw Thalia, Clarisse and Jason standing by the throne room door. "Clarisse, Jason, Thalia… is everything alright?" Silena asked worriedly.

"Our defenses have been compromised; we can expect some company soon," Jason said.

"How?" Silena asked.

"Some enemy demigods have zip lined over from the Chrysler Building. Chris is trying to stall them, until we can get the defenses set up," Jason said. "Where is the rest of your cabin?"

Drew and Silena looked at each other. "They should be right outside the door," Drew said.

"We didn't see anyone outside," Thalia said.

The four demigods ran outside of the throne room, but no one was there.

"I swear, I told them to stay right out here," Silena explained anxiously.

Drew huffed. "So much for your orders, sis," she said as Silena gave her the death glare.

"No time for bickering; we need to find them and get some sort of defense established," Jason said. They ran around the temple looking for the other children of Aphrodite.

"Over here," Clarisse yelled in the small park just on the other side of the temple. Jason, Silena, Drew and Thalia ran to join her. They came to a sudden stop when they saw the dozen or so kids sprawled out on the ground.

"Oh my gods, are they-" Silena cried before Clarisse cut her off.

"They're alive, but they were drugged somehow," Clarisse said as she held up an empty pitcher. Thalia pulled the pitcher from her hand to inspect it closely. She put the pitcher to her nose to sniff the contents.

"Lemonade… but there's something else," Thalia said.

"Some type of knock out drug. Who gave them the lemonade?" Jason asked Drew and Silena.

"No idea," Drew exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at Silena, but somehow she had already disappeared.

"Silena," Clarisse yelled for her friend.

"It was her, that lying little-" Drew ranted.

"Shut up, Drew. We don't know for sure," Clarisse chided, but by her tone it was clear that she understood perfectly.

"We have no time to waste looking for her. We need to get in the throne room and prepare," Jason said.

Suddenly, the elevator doors opened revealing Chris Rodriguez. He was bruised and bloody; his left arm hung at his side with a bullet hole in it.

"Six of them… they've got guns… couldn't hold them," Chris said between breaths as he winced in pain from the gunshot wound on his left arm.

"Let's get him into the throne room. Clarisse, take care of him. Drew, Thalia, let's get ready for some company," Jason ordered.

"How do we hold off six people with guns?" Drew asked in disbelief.

"Thalia, you and I will need to use our powers. Drew, can you use a bow?" Jason asked. He handed the daughter of Aphrodite a bow that he picked up off the ground.

Drew looked at it carefully before taking it from Jason. "Yeah, I'm not great, but it sure beats a sword." Jason looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "You can't break a nail with a bow." Jason nodded and went to help Clarisse get Chris into the throne room.

Clarisse and Jason pulled Chris behind a large statue of Hermes, and Clarisse began to give Chris medical attention. Jason ran to his sister. They both knocked over a few stone tables and a pillar or two. That would have to be enough protection.

"Drew, stand between those two columns," Jason ordered, as he pointed towards a pair of columns just off to the right of the thrones. Jason and Thalia readied themselves for the fight to come.

First Floor – Empire State Building

"Hold those doors, we have to keep the building secure," Travis Stoll yelled at his fellow campers.

"Travis, we have a clear shot at them," Michael Yew said over the radio.

"Michael, we can't hurt them, do whatever you can to keep them at bay without hurting them," Travis answered.

A loud crackle of static could be heard over the radio. "I know, we'll do what we can," Michael said. "Apollo cabin out."

A tall girl walked up to Travis dressed in a hunters outfit. "We have our positions set up in case they get through the doors," Phoebe grumbled.

Travis looked up at the tall girl. He gulped. "We can't hurt them, they're just mortals. They're under a spell," Travis said.

Phoebe huffed loudly. "If they get through the doors, we're taking them out, boy," Phoebe warned. Travis just nodded his head, his eyes wide with fear.

Suddenly, Travis's radio crackled loudly. "Who's there?" a familiar voice said over the radio.

"This is Travis Stoll, Hermes cabin."

"Travis, radio everyone on at least the first three floors; they need to cover their ears," the voice ordered.

"Who are you?" Travis asked.

"It's Percy."

"Percy, when did you get here?" Travis asked curiously.

"No time to explain, just do what I said."

"Yeah, Travis out." He looked at Phoebe and the others behind her. "You heard that, cover your ears, and pass it on to the two other floors." Everyone nodded before running off to warn the others.

Suddenly, they all felt a strange vibration. It seemed to permeate everyone's body. Most of the campers and hunters felt sick to their stomachs for a moment before the sensation finally subsided.

"What in Hades was that?" Travis asked. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Phoebe asked irritably.

"Nothing—it's so quiet outside," Travis said. Phoebe looked at the son of Hermes before walking towards the door.

"Are you going to give me a hand or not?" Phoebe asked angrily. Travis gulped before he ran over to help the hunter move the barricade from the doors. They removed the final board from the door and peered outside. On the ground outside the door on the sidewalks and in the middle of the street were mortals. They were all sleeping peacefully and more importantly, they weren't sleepwalking.

"What happened?" Travis asked.

"Hello Travis," a voice said from above. Phoebe and Travis looked up in the air to see Percy Jackson slowly lowering himself to the ground. His legs were now rocket engines. Right before he landed on the ground the lower half of his body became two legs. He landed softly on the ground.

"Where's Thalia?"

"What happened to them?" Travis asked.

"They're unconscious," Percy said. "I used a high frequency pulse to throw off their equilibrium and that led to complete paralysis, but they will recover in a few hours." Phoebe and Travis just stared at the cyborg hero in front of them. "Now, where's Thalia?"

"She's on Olympus. There are some trespassers headed for the throne room," Travis said as he regained his composure.

Percy nodded before he ran into the building at super speed. He entered the elevator, but he didn't have a key. He placed his hand on the control panel and the elevator began to move at incredible speed.

The doors opened to reveal Mount Olympus. Percy didn't have time to admire the view as gunshots rang out from the throne room. Percy burst through the throne room doors to see a horrible sight in front of him. Thalia and Jason were pinned down behind a few knocked over pillars while Drew was firing arrows one after the other at six black-clad demigods with assault rifles.

Percy slammed the doors open all the way. The six enemy demigods turned to face the new threat. They opened fire, but the bullets just bounced off of Percy's skin. Percy's right arm began to glow and turned into a long blade, while his left arm turned into a machine gun. The six enemy demigods stopped firing as soon as they realized their bullets had no effect on him.

Percy fired the machine gun, the bullets pierced the chest of one of the enemy demigods, sending him flying into the wall. His lifeless body hit the ground with a dull thud.

Another enemy demigod ran forward with a sword in his hand. Percy ducked under the swing of his enemy's sword. Percy pushed his bladed arm forward and into the abdomen of his enemy. Blood poured from the enemy demigod's mouth before he fell to the ground dead.

The last four demigods decided to rush Percy all at once, but they didn't get far. They managed to make it about ten feet from their target before Percy reacted. Both of Percy's sea green eyes turned into balls of white light that glowed with the power of a star. Two bursts of energy erupted from his eyes and engulfed the last four enemy demigods. Their screams could be heard echoing around the room as the white hot energy burned them to ash.

Percy's eyes stopped glowing and returned to their sea green color. Thalia, Jason and Drew were frozen in shock and fear. Percy had just killed six demigods without mercy in just a few seconds. Percy's arms returned to normal as the three other demigods approached their friend.

"Percy, you killed them," Thalia said in disbelief.

"They were the enemy," Percy said. "They deserved no better." His voice seemed stiff and emotionless.

Jason looked at the son of Poseidon warily. "You could have incapacitated them," Jason said. "You didn't have to kill them."

Percy looked at the son of Jupiter with an odd expression. "They tried to kill you," Percy said as he tilted his head from side to side as he analyzed the three demigods before him. "Why do you care if they live?"

Thalia stepped forward. "What happened to you? You're not the Percy I know." It was clear that Thalia knew that something had happened to the son of Poseidon during his time under the sea.

Percy analyzed the daughter of Zeus. It seemed like he was trying to process her words, but for some reason he didn't answer her. His head turned around as he looked into a dark corner of the throne room.

Suddenly, hellhounds erupted from the shadows along with Nico and Bianca. Mrs. O'Leary sprung from the darkened corner with Nyssa and Annabeth on her back.

Thalia and Jason ran to them when they saw them appear. Percy just stood off to the side away from the other demigods. His face showed no emotion, but it appeared that he was thinking or focusing on something in his mind.

Thalia and Jason met Annabeth and Nyssa as they climbed off of Mrs. O'Leary, but the two siblings faltered when they saw Annabeth and Nyssa pull an unconscious figure off of the hellhound's back. Thalia gasped at the sight. The light showed a blonde haired boy with skin that was burned severely, but that wasn't the reason for Thalia's surprise. The boys face had a long scar on the side, a very familiar face.

It was none other than Luke Castellan, son of Hermes.

AN: Thanks to Starlit Reader for another great job of betaing (if that's a word) this chapter. Stay tuned more to come.