The rest of the team gasped as Herry clutched his stomach. Their eyes widened as a boy from the opposing group took the knife from the girl's hand and held it at Herry's throat. It wasn't so close that he couldn't talk, but it was close enough to alert them that he knew what he was doing.
"No closer," he told them. "Or this one's dead."
He pulled out another pocketknife, and threw if at the girl. She caught it and strode towards Jay. She lifted him up and held the knife at his throat.
"Same for this one," she said. "He'll die if you do anything."
The rest of their group came up behind them. They too looked determined.
Archie took charge of the gods and heroes. "Fine." He said. "Just let Herry go. He's injured. We need to get him to a doctor, pronto."
The other boy considered Archie's point. He released Herry, and shoved him towards Archie. Hercules picked him up and carried him into the cave, where they had a portal set up. "No need for these kids to know about us," he thought.
Meanwhile, the scouts tied the rest of Jay's group to trees outside the cave with rope that they got from a bag in the clearing. Cal, the knots expert, over saw this. They wouldn't be getting away from the trees now, unless they had a knife.
Alistair stood in the middle of the clearing, his face showing a mixture of emotions. He was surprised that they had found people in the caves. He was angry that the group of teens and adults had attacked his patrol.
And he was shocked that they had hurt one of them.
Never before had they had to resort to stabbing someone. Often in their skirmishes they had fights with injuries on both sides, but never had they used weapons.
"Skirmishes," he thought. It seemed so long ago that they were all innocent little kids. That was so long ago now. It was before… before the training. Before they had become what they were now.
There was something that none of them told anyone about themselves. Something that they had been sworn to secrecy about. No, they weren't secret agents. They were sort of the opposites in fact.
It had all started with Belle. Someone had approached her when she got her black belt. The person told her that she could achieve powers beyond her imagination if she worked for him. Naturally, she refused. But, she was only human after all. Greed got the better of her, and before she knew it she was working for the guy.
Her job was to be an informant, but not like an ordinary one. Like a spy, she was sent around Australia to find out information about people. And she was paid extremely well.
Alistair and the rest of the scouts got involved after Belle told them about what she was doing. They too refused, but ended up joining. And that's when it all went wrong. They had started hurting people, and it was something that he did not enjoy.
Alistair sensed someone approaching. It was Belle, and her face mirrored Alistair's. Clearly she wasn't happy about what they had done either.
"I've checked on the person that I… that's in the cave," she said. "It's not too deep, and he'll be fine. It was just shock, that's all."
Alistair nodded. He didn't feel like talking.
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New Olympia Recreational Park, New Olympia
Theresa checked her PMR for perhaps the thousandth time. Not surprisingly, it was still blank, the same as the other nine hundred and ninety-nine times she had checked. Not that there was anything wrong with checking, after all, if she missed the call from Jay then she wouldn't be prepared for Cronus. And that would not be pleasant.
She dropped down on one knee and checked that Artemis was still under the control of Persephone. He was sitting cross-legged at her feet. Sure enough, his eyes were glowing blue, but only faintly this time. Persephone said that glowing blue eyes would be a dead give-away, and Cronus would leave before he set off any of the traps.
Theresa got back up, clearly bored. Well, as bored as you can be when you're about to face an evil god and escape a trap that could kill her in the blink of an eye and get Artemis out without getting him killed either. No pressure, eh?
"Is Cronus coming yet?"
"That was Artemis," she thought. Persephone had told her that while she was controlling him, he could still talk freely, but movements were up to her. Naturally, when Cronus came, she could release him from the spell and leave him feeling fine. It was a sign of how skilled Theresa's mentor was.
"Not yet," she replied to him. "But soon, I hope."
She turned to him. "Do you regret it?" She asked. Artemis raised his eyebrow, not sure of what she meant. She corrected herself. "I mean, do you regret joining Cronus?"
Artemis looked downcast. "Sometimes I do," he replied. "Especially when he makes me get other people involved."
It was Theresa's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'get other people involved'?" She asked.
"Well," said Artemis. "He just tells me to do something for him, so I do it. He asked me to talk to this girl, and get her and her friends to work for me. They live in Australia, sort of near where Cronus' hideout is. They are sort of our spies around the place, and they make sure that no Australians know about Cronus."
Theresa's eyes widened. "So they know about Cronus?"
Artemis shook his head. "No, they don't. They only think that I'm the one employing them, not Cronus. For some reason, Cronus said that I can't tell them about him, even though they're working for him in the long run."
"So why does he want more kids working for him?" Theresa thought aloud.
He shrugged. "He doesn't tell me why; he just says its part of the bigger picture. And because I'm only the one that helped him create the Time Virus and find a new hideout and work for him, I'm not told these things."
"You guys don't get on too well," she said sympathetically.
"We're only working together, nothing more. Believe me, Cronus doesn't believe in friends."
Theresa heard the note of sadness in his words. Jay had told her that Artemis had very few friends, mostly due to the fact that he had grown up so quickly, and spent all of his childhood as a criminal. And, of course, criminals not have friends.
"You've had it really rough, haven't you?" Theresa felt sorry for Artemis. She could relate to having few friends as a kid.
"What's it to you?" Artemis asked angrily. He didn't like people asking to many questions about him. He was a bit paranoid, as you might have already guessed.
Theresa was surprised at his outburst. "Sor-ry," she said. "Just trying to be nice."
"Well don't," he said irritably. "I don't need you to be nice. I don't need people looking out for me."
"Whatever. I can see what you're going through, that's all."
Artemis snorted. "As if you are anything like me. You don't even know the meaning of pain."
"You think?" She said. "I was brought up in England, but we always moved around because of Dad's work. I've lived in Canada, America, France, Germany, Australia, Scotland and England. I never made friends because we were always moving. I was always lonely, and I never had any brothers or sisters.
When I was four, Dad decided that he didn't want me moving around all the time, so I was sent to live with my grandmother in England. She was the meanest old lady ever. I had to behave or I got smacked. She expected me to be a proper young lady, and so I had to learn everything from decorum to elocution.
This went on for two years. I got so fed up with living her, I stole money from her and bought a ticket to England, where Day was at that time. I got in so much trouble, but I was allowed to live with Dad.
Barely a year later, Mum got cancer. She was so sick, but she still managed to teach me martial arts, horse riding and all the other sports that she wanted me to do. She died a few months later. I was eight."
She coldly stared into the boy's eyes. "So don't you dare say that I don't know pain."
Artemis actually took a step back. He had just assumed that Theresa was the typical rich girl that she looked like. "Note to self," he thought. "Don't cross this one."
Naturally, it was in this moment that Theresa's PMR rang. "Theresa," said the voice from the small communicator. "Cronus is on his way."
Then, a millisecond later, a starry portal appeared two metres from the two teens. Cronus had arrived.
He stepped out, his face in his trade mark evil grin. Theresa felt a wave of fear wash over her. Cronus had that effect on her. "Relax, and stick to the plan," she told herself.
She pulled Artemis to his feet, and pushed him behind her. She reached into her pocket and retrieved her nun-chucks. She had the feeling that she was going to need them in the near future.
Cronus stepped towards her. "Theresa, my dear." He said to her. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stick up. Cronus' voice had that effect on everyone. "How are you? It's been a while hasn't it?"
"It has been a while," she agreed. "Thank god."
Cronus mockingly looked sad. "Come now my dear, there's no need for sarcasm."
He glanced behind her. "And I see you've met my dear friend Artemis. I hope that he's informed you about our dealings."
"He's told me about the Time Virus if that's what you mean."
Cronus frowned. "I rather hoped that he wouldn't. Because, you see, it's a top-secret plan. That means that no one can know about it. And if people do find out, things could get… messy."
He lunged at Theresa, his scythes appearing as he swung. She blocked his weapon with her nun-chucks, and aimed a kick at his legs. Fast as a cat, he stepped aside and took another swing at her. She rolled out of the way, and barely avoided another jab from his scythes. She noted that Artemis had started to carefully make his way out of the traps. He would only been in the way of her fight.
Soon, they fell into a rhythm of fighting. They would circle each other, trying to find a weakness. She would attack; then he would block and deliver a counter-attack. She would block this, and they would go back to circling each other. It was tiring, and she didn't have an everlasting endurance level. One of them would tire, and the other would have the upper hand. And guess who would tire first out of a fight between a god and a mere human teenager?
Theresa grimaced. She had abilities beyond normal humans, and above some heroes. But she was well below the skills of a god. But she could hold her own, and she would have to until she got the chance to get out of the trap zone.
Cronus was also grimacing. Whenever he sparred with the teens, he would usually fight Jay. Actually, he would seek out Jay in their fights. Now, fighting the girl, he saw why we would choose to fight Jay. The girl obviously was clearly a capable fighter, due to her ancestry and clearly had years of experience in martial arts.
But he had been fighting for much longer than her. He was a god after all.
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Cooleman Caves, New South Wales, Australia
Jay did certainly not enjoy being a captive. In fact, he despised it. They had held hundreds of baddies prisoner since they had arrived at New Olympia, but they had very rarely been the prisoners themselves. If, on the off chance that they did get captured, it was always by gods, heroes or monsters that were well above their fighting skills.
So, it was quite ironic that five scouts had tied him and his team to trees outside of the caves.
One of them approached him. It was the one that acted like a leader. Jay searched for his name. "What was it?" He thought a bit more. The girl had said his name- Alistair, that was it!
Alistair checked that Jay's rope was still secure, and tightened it a bit more. He too knew that Jay was a leader of some kind, and expected some sort of an escape. Jay hadn't tried anything, and Alistair was disappointed. "Leaders usually had plans," he thought. "So what's wrong with this one?"
But, unknown to Alistair, Jay had a plan. Well, half a plan. It basically consisted of him somehow over powering the younger scouts and miraculously freeing his team. Somehow, he doubted this would work. Some leader he was. After all, Theresa was expecting him and the rest of his team to destroy the Time Virus while she distracted Cronus. If Cronus were to beat her and return to the caves, he would easily discover and overpower the cluster of teenagers that had taken over his 'secret hideout'.
There was another option. He could explain the situation to Alistair and hope that the scout would see the bigger picture and release them. It would be considered begging, but Jay didn't have too many other plans.
"Alistair," he said. The other boy turned around. "What?" He asked. "I'm not going to untie you, if that's what you're about to ask. I'm not that gullible."
Jay explained his situation to Alistair. He saw realisation dawn in the other boy's eyes. He sensed that maybe, just maybe, they might be getting out of the pickle that they were stuck in.
"So," said Alistair when Jay was finished. "You want me to let you go because you have to destroy a Time Virus that will kill everything that was created by an evil god that is currently fighting two others from your team in a mine field of traps so that you can trap him."
Jay grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, that's pretty much it."
Alistair smiled. "Alright," he said. "But on one condition."
"What would that condition be?" Asked Jay.
"Only you, me and the rest of my patrol will be going back to New Olympia. The rest of your group will stay here and destroy this Time Virus."
"Alright," said Jay. "Sounds fair to me."
With that, Alistair slashed through the rope that tied Jay to the tree. He helped Jay up, and motioned for his patrol to come over. They did, and he explained what he and Jay had arranged.
After this, Jay told his team what was about to happen and untied them. Odie quickly got to work and ran into the cave to find the Time Virus. The others waited for Jay and the scouts to get back.
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New Olympia Recreational Park, New Olympia
Artemis carefully made his way around the traps that circled around the park. One wrong move and he would be caught, hurt and unconscious. Not a good way to be, especially for an ex-criminal teenage genius like himself.
He glanced over his shoulder at Theresa, who was sparring with Cronus. A shame that he had tricked her. They could have been friends.
For Artemis was not the hunted in the situation. He was living up to the goddess that he had been named after. He was the hunter. He had set the biggest trap of all, and Jay and all of his team had unknowingly fallen into it.
He had approached Cronus; that was true. But Cronus had shown him the future, and how he would approach the scouts and how they would trap Jay. He saw how Theresa would fight Cronus, and how Jay wouldn't be there to interfere. And he had saw that one of the team would die, and the prophecy would be broken.
They had planned everything. Cronus had given Artemis powers that would make both Theresa and Persephone unable to read his thoughts, but he would be able to act like they were. Cronus had created a false Virus, and made the hideout at the Cooleman Caves. Artemis had approached the scouts, and laid the false trail of information. It had all gone to plan, and Jay hadn't suspected a thing.
He was Artemis the hunter, and he had hunted them.
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Hey again.
I had fun writing this, I think I like writing action/plotting scenes. Maybe I've found my genre….
Anyway, the next chapter will be coming soon, hopefully by the end of the weekend. I'm also writing a one shot that will be up in a week or so. It's a JxT, my favourite type of story.
Thanks to all my reviewers, you know who you guys are. Please please please review if you haven't already. I try to review all the stories that I read, so return the favour and review mine!
Little Miss Illusional