"This is just too perfect. Perfect!" Cronus doubled over as he watched his spying whirlpool. It showed Atlanta and Archie talking at a skating ramp after finishing their movie, revealing the fact that Theresa decided to cap her powers. She still had enough to help the team end Cronus and fulfill the prophecy, but not enough to overpower ALL the gods and extract their abilities. Persephone apparently had only agreed to it because such a thing could seriously harm, even kill Theresa, if it were to happen again.

"The fool! So scared by her last eruption of power.." Cronus looked to Agnon, who was standing awkwardly not too far off.

"Don't you see Agnon? With Theresa being a lesser threat, it will come in most useful for when you kidnap Jay. Her anger will fuel her power no doubt, but not enough to break my other lounge's full forcefield. It should be enough to stop her seeing anything going on behind closed doors… though, I WILL be sure to send them a homemade video or two later, hahah."

The giant was still hung up on Cronus's second sentence. He pointed a finger at himself with a curious grunt.

Cronus rolled his eyes. "Yes, YOU. You will bring me Jay, understood?" The giant groaned, but nodded.

"Good!" He clapped once. "Well, there's no time like the present, so go on! Get him." The giant jumped, unsure.

Cronus summoned a scythe. "NOW."

Agnon fled the lair and went leaping out. Cronus returned to his pool, rubbing his hands together in anticipation, a twisted grin plastered across his face.

"Hera?" Jay poked his head into her main common room where they all went to return sacred artifacts, or brainstorm.

"Yes Jay?" She walked into sight. "Is something wrong?"

"Not really? I mean, yes, but it's not about Cronus or anything." He sat down on her circular couch as Hera joined him.

"I see. Tell me what's bothering you Jay." She smiled, taking his hands into hers. She often saw him not only as a mentee, but as a son. Even admired him at times, as he did her.

"Well, you already know that me and Theresa are together, right? Um, some things have changed and I realize that I don't.. don't really love her that way anymore." Hera nodded.

"Hm… and I take it that you worry it will damage the overall synergy of the team?" Jay nodded solemnly. She thought for a minute, then stood up.

"Perhaps you should go confront Aphrodite about this. Love is more her area of expertise, and I'm sure she'll be able to help you come up with a good way to resolve the relationship."

Jay nodded quickly. "Right. Thanks Hera." He got up to make his way to Aphrodite's lounge.

"And Jay?" Hera called. He turned around.

"Thank you for coming to me about this regardless." She smiled. Jay grinned back, and left the room.

Soon enough, he was in an unwilling massage with Aphrodite.

"Oof!" Jay croaked as a nymph elbowed into his back. "U-uh, as much as I appreciate this Aphrodite, I just want your thoughts on my little.. problem with Theresa?"

"But you're so tense!" Aphrodite rebutted. "Your spine is just chock full of stress. You gotta be able to treat yourself and relax before making any good decision." She giggled, waving about a floating fan.

"I guess." He sighed. "But can't you tell me a way to break up with Theresa without hurting her AS I get massaged? OW!" He glared at the nymph, who sheepishly shrugged. He shook her off and sat up.

"Oh honey, if she still loves you very much, which I KNOW she does, then it's almost impossible to break up without hurting any feelings."

Jay slumped over. "Darn… then how SHOULD I tell her?"

"Mm, a break up's always real tricky darling." Aphrodite switched over to filing her nails. "My advice is to just be honest with your reason and feelings. And make it very known that you want to return to the way things were before, where you were both really close teammates-"

"-with a crush on each other?"

"Sure!" Aphrodite laughed.

"You sure you can't just make me a potion to make it all go away?" He smiled narrowly.

Aphrodite stared at him, a sharp brow arched up.

"Heh, worth a try."

"You don't hafta do it tonight or anything, but I also think you shouldn't put it off for too long. Faking a relationship is never healthy, not for you or her."

"I know." Jay sighed. He walked over to the exit curtains. "I just don't want to mess things up with her real bad.. Well, thanks anyway Aphrodite. See ya."

"Buh-bye Jay!" She waved.

Jay walked down the empty streets, hands in pocket. He just got out of the school and was making his way to the center of the park. Perhaps a midnight jog would help him think of some brilliant way to tell Theresa without hurting her?

He rubbed his face. "It's no good. I just have to tell her outright. Tonight." He abruptly changed his mind and turned back around, making his way to Brownstone with rejuvenated determination.

He stopped in his tracks however, when he heard a cry. For help.

Jay spun around, grabbing his sword, but not yet unsheathing it. It was of a little boy and it sounded close by.

"Hello? Are you okay?" He followed the source of the sound, running toward the "help me!"s and "somebody? anybody!"s.

He burst through a bushel of trees, looking around. "Help is here! Where are you?" The voice kept on going. He walked forward, then jumped back after he'd stepped on something hard. The voice suddenly glitched, and went on a looped repeat of "-elp me!"

He looked down, lifting his foot. It was a broken recorder.
It was fake.

"A trap!" He pressed the blade out of his sword, instinctively grabbing at his PMR. But before he could call anyone, a sudden brown sack came over him.

"Hey! Let me out of here!" He struggled, feeling around for his sword or PMR, but he couldn't find it. No! It fell out.

He fought against the thick bag, trying to make his way to finding the hands holding him. But his movements became lethargic. Slower.

What... why am I getting so tired? Wait… what's that smell? He gasped. This bag, it's doused in-

"Sleeping gas!"

He wiggled around some more, before finally succumbing to a faint sleep. The giant, now carrying a limp sack, guffawed in his rare victory as he took his prize back to Cronus. Jay's PMR laid intact back in the outskirts of the park, next to the looping recorder and a retracted sword handle.

"Ack!" Theresa grabbed her head. She was alone in her room, scrolling through her phone, when she suddenly got attacked by a vision. It was blurry, but it involved snap shots of Jay in distress, tied up and gagged.

"Jay?" She lied down deep in thought. Usually my visions show trouble… why…

After some more contemplation, she set her hands down with a nod.

"Well... I didn't know Jay was into that sort of stuff, but now I bet he's ready to take the next step!" She squealed, grossly mistaken. She made a mental note to herself to buy some cuffs the next morning, before slipping away to dreamland. And she danced along with her fantasies, until she was shaken awake by Atlanta.

"Wake up. Theresa!" Atlanta shouted into her ear. Theresa sat up, holding her head. Morning rays filled her bedroom. Peaceful, if it weren't for the sudden wake up call.

"Atlanta? What's the big idea?"

"Jay's gone. He's, he's missing!"

"What. How?!"

"Not sure, but when me and Archie were jogging in the morning, we found some squashed recorder crying for help. Right next to it was Jay's PMR and sword. We.. we think he was kidnapped or something."

"Oh gods!" Theresa covered her face. "I had a vision last night about Jay being tied up, but I didn't think he was being captured."

"Huh? Why not? What else could it possibly have been?"

Theresa curled her hair around a finger, turning a bit red.

"Er… well. Let's just say.."

Atlanta got it quickly, raising her hands. "Ew! Gross."

"Hey! It's not like I've never heard you and Archie before at nigh-"

"Aaalrighty! How about we all just shut up now and head on over to HQ?" Atlanta was turning into the shade of her hair. Theresa nodded to the truce, and hopped out of the sheets.

"Let's go."

"This can't be." Hera covered her mouth at the news.

"It must have been Cronus." Odie muttered, clacking away at his computer. It was hooked up to Jay's PMR. "It looks like he pressed several buttons at once, including the record button. I'm gonna try to extract the half processed recording. Maybe it'll give us some clues."

"Great, our leader's gone." Archie groaned. "Too heroic for his damn self. Of course he went out to investigate the voice."

"Wouldn't you?" Atlanta rolled her eyes, sitting next to him.

"U-uhm.. yeah I guess you got me there."

"Could you try and sense him Theresa?" Hera suggested.

"I'll try. I did get a vision last night about something like this, but I didn't suspect it was about Jay being kidnapped or anything… I'm sorry." She hung her head. Hera raised it up.

"Don't be. Visions can be very distorted at times, and confusing. It's fine. We'll find him, I'm sure."

"Got it!" Odie shouted. "Quiet everybody, here's the recording."

The team leaned in over Odie's laptop as he clicked play. There was some sounds of rustling, then Jay shouting,
"Hey! Let me out of here!"

"So he was contained in something.." Odie mused. Everybody shushed him. "Whaat?"

There was more sounds of a struggle, some quiet, then him exclaiming in dismay, "Sleeping gas!" The gang groaned. After some animal-like grunts, which confirmed it was from one of Cronus's giants, Odie ended the audio.

"Of course." Odie groaned. "There were some trace amounts of halothane in the area where Jay's PMR was found."

"Think you can track a trail of... whatever that is?" Theresa asked.

"A chemical with sleep-inducing properties. And no, by now it would've disappeared." They all sighed. Then, one by one, turned to face Theresa. She noticed.

"Umm.. what?"

"Can't you use your theatrical psychic powers to find where Jay is right now? Maybe lead us to Cronus's secret lair?" Archie poked.

"Uh, I can try but I can't guarantee an exact location."

"And why not?"

Hera stepped in. "Because just as we have a protective shield here and at Brownstone to prevent any godly powers finding us…"

"Ohh, Cronus probably did the same thing to wherever he's taken Jay." Herry finished.

"Indeed." Hera nodded. "But do not fret. I'm sure we'll find him soon, or Theresa might receive some hint as to where they are."

"And if we don't?" Archie inquired.

"Then.." Hera paused. "Cronus would probably let us know eventually."

"Huh? Why would he do that?" Neil looked up from his mirror, somehow having paid attention to the whole thing. "That's pretty stupid."

"Cronus likes to boast. He'd probably send some sort of message of what he's doing with Jay in about a few days, give or take." Odie said. "I'll device a program that can track down the frequencies to try and pinpoint the source if or when he does it."

Atlanta nodded. "That's a good idea. But until then, what do we do?"

"Beats me." Neil commented. "Jay's usually the one to group us off and tell us what to do."

Hera nodded and looked around. "For now, we'll need a temporary leader."

"Please don't pick Neil again." Archie begged. She chuckled.

"Alright. Then it falls to you." Hera turned to leave the room.

"H-huh? What? ME?" Archie sputtered.

"What's the problem?" Atlanta elbowed him. "I thought you said that you'd make a great leader."

"Y-yeah but, uh.." Archie pulled at his jacket. "It's different now, since we gotta rescue Jay and whatever.. Plus it's a lot of responsibility."

Atlanta touched his arm. "Hey. I think you'll do just fine. Have some confidence will ya?" Archie gulped with a nod.

"I guess. Uh... Okay. I guess while Odie does his thing, we should all go and search the city. For any hints?"

They all nodded. "It's a start." Theresa said.

"Oh no, not you." Archie clarified. "You can stay here with Odie."

"Huh? Why?" She demanded.

"You should stay here and try envisioning something, or, whatever you do. Just- try to get one of your dramatic vision moments and see if you can find out if Jay's doin alright."

Theresa, thoroughly annoyed with his description, crossed her arms and puffed. "Fine."

"Cool!" Archie got up. Then he called out to Hera. "Where are you going?"

Hera looked back. "I'm going to inform the other gods about this. Odie? Perhaps you should go to Hermes and work with him to try track down Jay?"

Odie gave a thumbs up.

"Yeah, what she said. I was gonna say that too, before she-"

"Sure you were." Atlanta breezed past him with a doting smirk.

"I was!" He followed her out, as did Herry and Neil. Theresa sat down on a pillow, crossing her legs.

"Alright then." She closed her eyes. "Here goes."

Fading back into consciousness, Jay had to blink multiple times before adjusting to the warm light of the room. He looked around groggily, trying to take in any details as to where the hell he was.

Where… what is this? A couch? Am I on a couch? Did my friends already get me back? He tried to sit up, but couldn't. He looked down at his restraints, dumbfounded.

"Oh great." He felt weak, and his arms couldn't rip apart the rough rope holding him down to the couch.
He looked up. It was a fancy, well lit ceiling. Which was strange, considering the rest of the connected walls looked like it was made of jagged stone. Almost like a cave.

"Caves… nice to know Cronus's taste in homes didn't change." He scoffed.

"Why thank you. I think I did a good job in sprucing the place up." Jay gasped as he looked further back. He was greeted by an upside down Cronus arching over him.

"Of course." Jay humphed. "What do you want?"

"Now is that any way to greet your caretaker?" Cronus feigned hurt.

"Caretaker?" Jay laughed. "You're anything but."

"You wound me Jay." Cronus walked around the couch and sat down beside him. "You see Jay, I will be your overlord for the next… mm, well I don't exactly know how long. But I can assure you, it will be for a long, long time."

"What're you saying?" Jay looked confused. Cronus didn't answer outright. Instead, he moved his hand, an orange glow encapsulating both his palm and Jay. He lifted him up from the couch, and carried him over to a nearby king's bed. Propping him down on the soft sheets gently, Cronus joined him from there.

Jay tried to roll away, but Cronus soon connected the ropes to the bedpost.
Wonderful. Jay groaned and gave up in trying to escape for the moment, and just awaited for whatever long speech Cronus was about to go off on.

Maybe if I just keep him going for long enough, it might be enough time for my team to come busting in to kick his butt. Jay mused.

"You know it's always been just between you and me Jay." Cronus grinned at Jay's scowl.
"Without you, they're practically nothing." Cronus stroked Jay's chin, gleeing in the way Jay shrank away. He shook his chin away from Cronus's grasp.

"My friends? That's not true. I may be their leader, but they're not incapable. They can handle themselves, and I know they can end you."

Cronus chuckled some more, flashing a scythe in his hand. "Ah-ah Jay. The prophecy said seven. Not six." Jay bit his lip as he eyed the weapon.

"The.. the oracle never said just the six CAN'T defeat you. Even if you do kill me, I know them. They'll never surrender. Never."

Cronus only laughed some more, unnerving Jay. "Ohoho Jay, please! Don't you think I've already fact checked that with the oracle?" Jay gulped. Darn… guess I can't get into his head that way…

"Besides... who ever said anything about killing?"

Jay cocked his head. "Huh? You.. you're not going to kill me?" Not that I'm complaining or anything but…

"As tempting as that would be, I've already tried my luck on that. If I try to or DO kill you, I know your other brats will interfere, mortal or no. Fate will have their way with you, I've already learned that."

"So.. if you've accepted that, why even bother then?" Jay was confused. "Destiny can't be altered."

"Nonono dear Jay, I DO believe I can break the prophecy. Just not… through conventional means. Tell me Jay, what sort of damage is more damning, more burdensome, than blood and bones?"

"More dangerous than... I-I don't understand. What are you trying to pull here Cronus?" Jay squinted his eyes, a suspicious edge on his voice. Cronus waved his hands up, landing them on either side of Jay's arms.

"Jay.." Cronus murmured in a singsong way. He leaned in closer, prompting Jay to snort.

"Don't say my name like that." Jay shifted, trying to sound angry and not disturbed. He was starting to get really uncomfortable. He's gotten somewhat used to Cronus's antics by now, but the way he was staring at him? All the other times he looked Cronus in the eye, it was full of hate and pure evil. This time… well it was still definitely evil, but there was something new now. There was some sort of excitement. An eagerness. And it wasn't to kill him.

"I think you'll grow to like having your name on my tongue." Cronus only moved closer. "You see Jay, I'm going to kill you, but not in the way you believe."
Cronus let a few, long seconds tick by, just to get to Jay. He remained silent, unsure of how to reply.

Finally, Cronus spoke.
"I'm sure you already hear this enough, but Jay. You're quite the handsome young man, aren't you?"

Jay nearly sputtered at the sudden, absurd compliment, by Cronus of all people.
"A-uh.. wha…" He got shocked enough to just automatically respond with something sardonic.
"G-Gee Cronus, I didn't think you swung that way."

Cronus laughed again.

"Oh, I don't. But you see…" Cronus trailed a nail down Jay's jaw, making him shiver.
"…Lust. From power. Is blind to sex, and any gender."

His eyes widened impossibly large.

Cronus chuckled within.
There. There it is.