"Nico, what is going on?" Piper asked, worry lacing her voice.

She had just woken up and decided to go for an early morning workout. But when she got up to get ready, she noticed many of her cabin mates were gone. That was her first indication something was up. The Aphrodite children were not ones for early mornings.

She then exited her cabin, to find the camp near empty. While her siblings would not rise with the sun, her fellow campers would. By 7, the camp would be buzzing, but here she was at 7.30am, with almost no one around. That was when she ran into Nico. Honestly though this kid never slept.

"I don't know. I was on my way to see Will and couldn't see anyone about. It's... dead." Piper thought she could detect slight panic in his voice, which immediately set off alarms in her head. Nico did not like people and would go out of his way to avoid them. So, if he was on edge about the lack of souls wandering about (haha, pun. I'm sorry) there was definitely something wrong.

She frowned. "I'm sure there's a simple explanation. Maybe there's some big event going on that we didn't hear about, or maybe everyone decided to sleep in." Nico didn't look convinced, and Piper didn't feel very convinced either. "Let's head over to the infirmary. I'm sure Will will know what's going on." Nico nodded as they both made their way over.

"Will?" Nico called out once they were in range of the infirmary. No answer. They looked at each other, anxiety already edging into them. "Will, are you there?" Nico tried again. This time the door slammed open just as they were within ten feet of the building.

Will stood in the doorway wearing a medical face mask, gloves...and a contamination suit. They were in such surprise they almost missed what he said.

"Stop! Don't come any closer!" he yelled. They froze in place, glancing at each other briefly to see a shared look of confusion. "Will, what's going on? Where is everyone, and why are you wearing all that?" Piper asked from where she stood.

"Just stay there. I'll explain in a minute," he said before dashing back inside, not waiting for a response. After being inside of a minute, he returned in regular clothes, but still would not come too close.

"Something happened, something bad," he said before they could get a word in. He took a deep breath, then, "There's been an outbreak."

Silence. Piper frowned. "What do you mean, 'outbreak'? Outbreak of what?" Will looked at her, then Nico, before saying, "A plague."

The colour drained from their faces. "How? When did this happen?" Nico asked, looking at Will in disbelief. Will was about to answer when Piper realised, and her eyes widened. "The camp. It's empty. But...there's no way it's infected, all of them, right? Right Will?" Piper said, her voice on the verge of pleading.

Will couldn't look at her. Piper swallowed. "How long...since it started?" she asked, not really wanting to know the wished she hadn't asked when he answered her, the shock almost made her lose her balance.

"Yesterday."

...

"I have eyes on the target," Natasha said. She was sitting across from the apartment complex of Perseus Jackson, with a take-away mug of coffee and a newspaper when he exited the building. Alone. "Copy that, in pursuit. Stay on him, but don't intervene just yet," Steve said through his com.

Nat got up after waiting a few beats to ensure he didn't notice her following him before proceeding to do just of the corner of her eye she could see Steve looking through a shop window up ahead, and Tony silently flying a bit further behind, using the cover from the buildings. She couldn't see Clint, obviously.

As she watched Perseus pass Steve who was facing away from him, she noticed him falter slightly. It was so small and well covered up that she would've missed it were she anyone else. But she wasn't, and she saw it. There is no way he could be on to us already. She frowned but continued to look casually about her, as if she were just a lost tourist.

He kept walking but was slightly more guarded now. "I think he knows," Nat said lowly, barely moving her lips. "What? How?" Tony questioned. "I don't know, but be weary. If he does, this could be a lot more confrontational than we intend. Might not end well." "We are not hurting him, he's a child," Steve said firmly. "He could also be a terrorist, Steve, or even a murderer," Clint's voice said, crackling in Nat's ear.

Even Nat found that a little hard to believe, and she had read through the file multiple times, but his past seemed to back up the theory. With all the trauma he's been through; that could really mess someone up, for life.

She was shaken from her thoughts by someone talking in her ear. "Nat, you good? He's entering the park." Nat focused her attention back on the matter at hand and followed the boy into the park.

...

He was being followed; Percy knew it.

Not even a minute after he stepped out of his apartment and had started his usual walk down to see his mum at her sweet shop so they could walk home together, he noticed them. As he walked passed a shop, he noticed the man standing there, and how he was looking at him through the reflection of the window. He only reacted slightly, and hopefully covered it up enough for them not to notice. He then noticed a woman across the street, who briefly glanced up at him. He couldn't tell if they were monsters, but who else would they be? If they were, then a fight was going to commence. He had to make sure there were no civilians nearby, and so changed his course and headed towards the park.

...

He kept walking until he found a spot that was quite secluded. It was still rather open-spaced, but there was nearly no one around, possibly because it was a bit later in the day, and mid-week. He sat down on the bench and waited. He didn't have to wait long, as he saw a bush moving beside him. He sighed. Here we go again.

"You can come out now." Nothing. "I know you're there, so you might as well come out so we can get this over with," he said a little louder when there was no , then the man he saw at the shop window emerged. Wait, he knew that guy. Percy squinted at him as he approached. That's that superhero guy from school!

"Perseus Jackson?" he asked, as someone else entered the clearing. A red-haired woman. The one he saw earlier.

"Who's asking?" Percy said, leaning back in the bench to make himself appear at ease. "We need you to come with us, son," the guy said. The woman stepped closer. Okay, she looks kind of scary.

Percy sucked in a breath through his teeth, "Yeah, I would, but I'm really busy right now. Homework to do, friends to see, the usual. So, if that's all you need, I'll be on my way," he said before standing up. They both immediately took a step forward.

"I'm afraid we can't allow that," the red head stated, beginning to close the gap between them. "Please don't make this difficult, kid, we don't want to hurt you," the America guy said. In fairness he did look sincere.

Just then, the iron dressed guy (honestly his suit reminded him of a onesie a child might wear, seeing as it was a one piece outfit made to look like a superhero costume) Percy also recognised from school landed on the ground, with his hand extended out towards Percy. It was beginning to glow.

"You also don't have a choice in the matter, so might as well just come quietly," Iron Guy pretended to look like he was thinking really hard about their demands before saying, "Nah. Thanks, but no thanks."

"Guess we're doing this the hard way," Iron Guy said before flying lightning fast towards him. Percy just jumped out of the way in time.

He quickly got to his feet as a fist flew towards his face. It was Ginger. He blocked and sent one back, which she also dodged. They went back and forth for a few seconds before Percy finally managed to punch Ginger in the face hard enough that she fell to the ground. But his victory was short lived; as soon as she was down, she swept her leg under his feet bringing him down, but Percy rolled with it, coming up face to face with Mr America as Percy decided to call him.

He threw his shield at him, a non-lethal hit Percy noticed, but he managed to dodge. Mr America tried to grab him, but Percy evaded, ending up behind his back. He kicked him, knocking him forward slightly, but he recovered quickly and sent a punch to Percy's stomach. He let out an "oof" before sending one of his own in return.

These guys were good, better than Percy guessed they would have been, as the fight was lasting longer than he originally thought it would.

He exchanged blows with Mr America, each of them getting a few good hits in, but not enough for either of them to be taken down. He couldn't even use Riptide, seeing as it wouldn't work on mortals, and he couldn't let them see him use his powers, so Percy had to rely on his hand-to-hand combat skills.

Eventually, the guy seemed to tire a bit. It was a good thing demigods have a higher endurance than mortals, otherwise Percy probably would be tired too, but he wasn't, and that gave him an kicked the guy back a good few feet, causing him to fall to the ground, but was immediately caused to jump out of the way as a blast hit the ground he was just standing on. He looked up and saw Iron Guy hovering above him, hand pointing at him, glowing again.

He ducked behind a tree as another blast shot down. He looked desperately around for some kind of weapon to use; something he could throw, something like-

his eyes landed on the shield Mr America threw at him earlier. He smiled and grabbed it.

He studied the angel the next blast landed, then jumped out from behind the cover of the tree and threw the shield with such force that Iron Guy spun a few times in the air. It bounced off him and flew back into Percy's hand.

"Okay, now I'm mad. You scratched my suit! Do you know how long it takes to get the paint job exactly right on this?!" Iron Guy exclaimed, gesturing to his armour after he stopped spinning.

Percy prepared to throw the shield a second time when he felt a pinch in his neck. He suddenly felt drowsy, and his vision became a little unfocused. He looked around before his eyes landed on a man perched in the midst of a treetop. It's Robin Hood from school! I thought these guys said they were heroes, why are they attacking me?

He reached up and pulled out a dart. It looked like it had some liquid in it. They were trying to drug him. How rude!

"Seriously, dude?" he said, waving the dart aggressively in front of guy looked confused. Percy rolled his eyes before tossing the shield in his direction. He was caught off guard, only narrowly avoiding it. Percy thought he would, which was why he was glad he ducked down, as the shield bounced off the tree and ricocheted towards Iron Guy. A sound of metal on metal filled the air before he fell to the ground. Now for Robin Hood.

He then felt another pinch in his neck. This time he couldn't stay on his feet. He fell to one knee, putting his hand on the ground for support. His vision was swimming. He tried to get up but fell back down instantly.

Just as darkness edged into his vision, he saw four figures looming over him, as he tried in vain to reach out to the water he could feel in a nearby lake.