Title is from the Bazooka Bubblegum song.

IMPORTANT: The sentences separated and in italics are bits and pieces of the outside battle. Translation of the Greek sentence at the end.

And Percy would be dam(n)ed if he was killed in his own mind.

Percy cried out in pain when the spear, fashioned from darkness, nicked his side. Tartarus was on him in an instance. The celestial bronze sword met the blade of darkness, emitting horrible screeching sounds. Percy blocked and parried, locked in a deadly dance with the primordial of the Pit. He felt himself weakening but ignored the creeping fatigue.

He just needed to buy a little more time.

Riptide glanced off Tartarus' black armor. Percy's instincts hummed in warning, and the god rocked back on his heels—barely missing an upward slash aimed for his head. Percy recovered and before he even realized, his sword slashed Tartarus' arm. The primordial howled and swung wildly at Percy, who easily deflected the blow. Unfortunately, Percy missed the shadows forming behind his feet. Pain shot up his leg. He fell to a knee.

Anytime now, Loki.

Percy dove to the side, Tartarus' sword clanging on the rocky ground behind him. The raven-haired god brought Anaklusmos up just in time to prevent his head from being cleaved in half. Tartarus leaned forward, putting all of his weight onto his sword.

"You will fall, Perseus. And I will rise from your ashes," Tartarus hissed, coal eyes glowing.

"A little dramatic don't you think?" Percy huffed, gritting his teeth. His arms shook, and his heel dug into the ground.

Just a little bit more.

"You made a mistake, Tartarus," Percy gasped out. A dry chuckle emerged from his chapped lips.

Tartarus shifted and, when Percy said no more, took the bait. "I do not make mistakes. I am a primordial. I have lived thousands of years longer than your meager life. I am the abyss, the never-ending pit of darkness, hell incarnate!" Tartarus roared. "So, tell me, boy. What mistake could I—a deity older than time itself—have possibly made?"

Percy grinned, eyes dark. "You killed my family."

A soft sound filled the cave. Tartarus glanced around wildly before his eyes finally alighted on the spell-casting Loki. "No," he ground out.

Percy used the immortal's distraction to slam him backwards. Tartarus stumbled back with a snarl, but Percy was on the offensive before the primordial could blink.

"Where do you think you're going?" Percy asked, slashing upward. "The fun's just beginning."

Loki's whispering slowly grew in volume.

Tartarus picked up his speed, desperate to stop the spell. Percy panted, barely able to keep up. His world zeroed in, focusing solely on blocking and parrying—on staying alive.

The sword went through his shoulder. Percy stumbled, slashing wildly to keep Tartarus at bay. The primordial wasn't focused on him, though.

Tartarus lunged forward, shadows and rock already springing into action to stop Loki.

Loki grinned at his attempts, mouth still chanting the words. His eyes spoke where his mouth couldn't.

Too late.

The final word echoed through the chamber.

Tartarus howled as he slowly dissolved into ashes. Percy stared at the swirling embers, blessed silence filling the cave.

"That's some Supernatural schist if I've ever seen some."

"Code Green! Code Green!"

Lightning crackled, bolts slamming into the ground wildly.

"Di immortales—"

Percy's statement broke the quiet that had fallen. Loki cocked his head.

"Did you, uh, did you kill him?"

Loki stared at Percy like he'd lost his marbles. "You look smart enough until you open your mouth." Percy huffed, and Loki shook his head. "While I appreciate you thinking I'm strong enough to destroy a primordial, that's not the case here. I simply banished him to a deeper part of your mindscape. Forewarning: it won't hold him for long."

Loki stalked towards Percy. "Hopefully long enough for you to gain control of your mind."

"There's too many! I'm going down! I'm going"—static—"Fu—"

"Hulk, Thor! Someone catch Tony!"

Percy sighed and said bitterly, "Then it better last a lot longer than you claim."

"Concentrate the same way you use your seiðr or your godly powers," Loki instructed, before changing his destination and sitting heavily on a small rock against the wall.

"Are you going to hit me with an energy ball thing again?" Percy questioned warily.

"No."

Percy nodded absently at the clipped reply. "Cool." He blew out a breath. His body felt like it had been run over by a diesel. And then reversed over. "Cool," he repeated vaguely. Percy held his shoulder and limped over to the wall, slumping against the gritty rock. He decided to copy Loki and closed his eyes. He assumed Loki was amassing his power; it wouldn't hurt for him to do the same.

Okay, Percy. You're in your mind. You should be able to control it, make stuff appear out of thin air and Harry Potter schist like that. Right, let's see. I want... a machine gun.

He opened his eyes.

Nothing.

Okay, that was fine. It wouldn't have been much help unless it had blessed metal bullets anyway. He shut his eyes again.

Okay, well... what about some water?

Nada.

Um. Okay. Third time's a charm. What about a flamethrower?

He cracked an eyelid open. Nothing.

Hades, I'll take a bazooka at this point.

Nothing.

Can I at least have some Bazooka gum?

Zilch. Zip. Nada. Diddly-squat. Percy had absolutely nothing. Percy groaned. He'd really wanted that gum.

Unfortunately, his pep talk didn't seem to have worked.

The cave rumbled. Percy yelped. "Uh, Loki? That was you, right?"

Loki opened his eyes, a haunted look shadowing his eyes. "We're out of time."

Dread coiled in Percy's stomach, tight and palpable.

Suddenly Percy couldn't see. The whole cave descended into darkness.

He barely had time to think 'Who turned out the lights?' before cruel laughter drifted through the inky blackness.

Tartarus was back.

And Percy still didn't have his gum.

"Conner! Behind you!"

The Hulk roared.

"We've got incoming!"

The lights flickered back on. It was made even creepier by the fact that Percy didn't see any sources of light anywhere. Tartarus stood in the center of the cave. Darkness swirled around him, and Percy could feel his power thrumming through the air. It was oppressive, like a physical force pressing in on Percy from all sides. The god had trouble breathing.

He looked at Tartarus' face and suddenly he couldn't breathe at all.

Tartarus was angry. Anger couldn't begin to cover the amount of fury radiating from the primordial. Alarm bells rang in his head. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and goosebumps speckled his skin. Percy's instincts were going crazy, shouting at Percy to run like Hades and not look back.

Percy couldn't help but edge away from the raging deity. He slowly back up to Loki. "We're so screwed," Percy muttered, wide-eyed.

Loki stayed silent.

Percy looked over to see the god watching Tartarus with an unreadable expression. If Percy didn't know any better, he'd say he saw fear swimming in Loki's green eyes.

"Loki?" Percy asked softly, his voice wavering slightly.

Loki's jaw muscle twitched. "If you can't control your mindscape, then we'll just have to fight—and die if that's what the Norns decide."

A chill ran down his spine. The only thought that came to his mind was 'Dramatic much?' It didn't make him feel any better.

"Did you enjoy your little respite?" Tartarus sneered angrily. "Because soon you'll have a long one. I hope it was worth it."

Nope. Not at all.

"Oh, it was." Loki smirked dangerously, spinning a knife.

"Ah, trickster. Valiant try. But I don't need to be the god of lies to know you're bluffing."

The hand gripping the dagger turned white. "Is that so?" Loki purred.

Percy gathered himself. He spun his sword slowly, eyeing the angry primordial.

That didn't stop him from missing when Tartarus vanished.

"Man down! Man down!"

"Thalia!"

An arrow whistled through the air.

Percy's instincts barely prevented the heavy sword from decapitating him. Percy's mind took another second to catch up—Tartarus had appeared behind him.

Loki was on the immortal in an instant, forcing him back a step. Percy joined the mix. This went on for what felt like hours—but was probably only a few minutes—before Loki stumbled. Percy dove forward and blocked a swipe aimed for Loki's head. Unfortunately, that left his back open for the dagger that had just appeared in Tartarus' hand.

Tartarus stabbed Percy.

Well, he would have. If Percy hadn't taken a page out of Tartarus' playbook, that is.

The son of Poseidon vanished.

One minute he was in front of Tartarus, and the next, he was slashing at the primordial's back with all of his might.

Riptide cleaved through the black armor and gashed Tartarus' back. Tartarus bellowed and spun. Percy blocked the swing, and Tartarus flew back.

Loki panted beside him, and Percy realized the Asgardian had used his magic to push back Tartarus. "Impressive. You managed to imbue your weapon with power."

Percy blinked at Loki. "...right, yeah, thanks. Totally meant to do that," Percy muttered, coughing awkwardly.

"Interesting," Tartarus' scathing voice drew the pairs attention. "You learned a new skill. But it will take more than a little parlor trick to defeat me."

Power slammed into Percy, throwing him back into the wall. Percy gasped, pain radiating from his back.

What was it with people and throwing him into walls?

Loki groaned beside him.

"While this has been fun, it's time to die, little godling."

Cracks cleaved the ground, skeleton hands clutching the edges.

"—too many! We're being pushed ba—"

Blood splattered the ground.

No thank you.

The reply popped into Percy's head abruptly, but—for once—Percy kept his mouth shut. He had a feeling declining nicely wasn't going to get him anywhere.

Percy wheezed from his slumped position against the wall. His vision blurred, and he was in so much pain that he was almost numb.

Almost being the key word.

He forced out a breath. His vision slowly came into focus. But instead of focusing on the angry primordial, he zeroed in on the swinging pendant that had slipped out from under his shirt.

Her one.

Percy squeezed his eyes shut, a memory rising unbidden.

"Hold on, Seaweed Brain. You're not getting away from me that easily."

"Come on. Take my hand."

Annabeth's lilting voice, soft and with a hint of laughter, reverberated through his head.

I can't lose, Percy realized. If he failed, it wasn't just his friends outside his that were in danger, or even the rest of the world. Everyone, on the earth or in the underworld, was in danger.

His friends. His family. His fiancée.

"Marry me, Seaweed Brain."

In the end, it had been Annabeth that had asked. She'd never been one for traditional methods.

Everyone had already given so much—Hades, they'd given their lives!

Percy was not going to let Tartarus ruin their happy afterlife.

I won't fail.

Power grew in his gut, slowly pulsing throughout his entire body. He stumbled up and gripped his silver necklace.

I won't lose, Annabeth. I swear on your grave.

Percy kissed the half-heart and slid it back under his shirt. The throbbing power reached the outer edges of his body, and his eyes turned white with energy.

Beside him, Loki inhaled sharply.

Tartarus cocked his head. The primordial oozed power. It grew and grew, seeping into the cracks and crevices of the cave, like crude oil leaking from a barrel. He leered, sable eyes glinting cruelly. "I see you've finally developed a backbone, Perseus. This makes the fight so much more interesting."

Percy growled. His power exploded outward, similar to what it felt like when he creates his own hurricane. Except this time, Percy wasn't in the eye of the hurricane.

He was the hurricane.

His body dissolved, merging with the storm's energy. He was everywhere and nowhere. He could see every nook and cranny of the cave but had no eyes. He felt everything but had no nerves. He no longer hurt but felt an odd tingling sensation.

Black power slammed into Percy, sickening darkness that grappled with Percy's own, much lighter, power.

Loki drew on the last vestiges of his seiðr and attacked Tartarus. Percy's mind raced. Tartarus needed to be more distracted for Percy to land a blow. The second he thought that, the ground crawled up Tartarus' leg, holding him immobile. Percy didn't have time to question it and used the immortal's surprise to his advantage. Percy reformed behind Tartarus and slashed, aiming for the weeping wound on his back. A blast of power forced him dissolve before the blow hit.

It became a dance. Distract, attack, vanish. Percy's control over his mindscape grew quickly, giving them an advantage.

Loki was tiring quickly. Unlike Percy, whose body was sucking in the water from the tank and replenishing itself, Loki couldn't rejuvenate himself. Even with the water, Percy's stamina was faltering.

Tartarus smirked, barely even looking like he'd worked up a sweat. "I'm drawing power from you, child, along with the underworld. As long as you keep rejuvenating, so do I."

Percy hesitated and glanced at Loki. A curt nod confirmed Tartarus' declaration.

Tartarus smirk grew. "Now do you see why you can't beat me?"

Percy gnawed on his lip, Riptide hanging limply from his hand.

This took their connection to a whole new scary level. If their connection was already this strong, breaking it would be practically impossible.

Percy swore in Greek. And then Latin for good measure.

Wait... connected. They were connected. A connection goes two ways.

Percy might have had trouble in the past if he had tried to find and use the connection. But now...

Percy spun, taking his partner by surprise. "Loki!"

Loki glanced over. His raven hair fell near his eyes, and he had a few cuts littering his face. "Hmm?"

"Buy me some time."

Loki nodded and summoned two more knives.

Now... Percy was a completely different person.

Percy closed his eyes and delved into his mind. Well, his mind's mind.

He found his thread much quicker this time around. The blue-gold thread was there, pulsing vibrantly and warmly. But the deeper he went, the more the cord lost its luster and warmth. The gold became faded and turned darker and darker, until it was jet-black. The air lost its heat and shivers ran up Percy's spine. Percy realized it wasn't his cord, but another strangling his diminished one. A few tugs proved the strings too interwoven to separate.

He would have to cut it.

At this thought, Anaklusmos appeared in his hand. Percy stared at his hand wistfully. The white silence mounting around him as his emotions went into turmoil. Percy took a few breaths, settling his shifting feelings into a steel of determination.

The god sighed and lifted his arms, Riptide raised above his head. Flashes of his friends and family—alive and dead—raced through his mind.

"Συγχώρεσέ με, αγάπη μου."

The sword dropped.

Translation: Forgive me, my love.