Hello there, gods, half-bloods and friends, welcome to the First chapter of Book 2 of The God Hunter.

I know I said I would slow down a bit on this story, but this was the only one that had a chapter ready.

Hope you enjoy and now story time.

It was the last day of the school year, and the last time Matt would go to middle school. It had gone by so quickly that Matt couldn't believe it. He had gotten so many memories, one of the best was the first day of the year when he found out Percy had transferred to Midtown, though a year below Matt.

Matt had been spending most of the year with Percy and Tyson, another kid from their school and in the same class as Percy. Of course he had kept in contact with Annabeth, mostly through e-mail, something his dad enjoyed teasing him about.

In the time school had started, Matt had signed up for Kickboxing lessons. While he kept up with his sword training and while he liked fighting with his sword, there was something satisfying about just beating his opponents up with his fists.

He might have taken a liking to it because he unlocked his Gauntlets and Greaves after he first met with Asherah.

The voice in his head wasn't much for small talk nor did she help him cheat in school even if he asked her many times. But then again, he refused to give in to her request to clean his room.

Though it seemed Asherah was quite surprised how mortals could survive and how crafty they could be, even those not blessed with any special abilities.

But it was the holidays in particular, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, which had been celebrated with both the Hauer and the Jacksons and of course Tyson. Over the year, Matt had gotten to know Percy's mom, Sally Jackson, very well because of him spending so much time with her son.

As strange as it sounded, together with his dad Jack Hauer, the four of them almost seemed like a normal family. If it wasn't for the two sons being half-bloods and with one of them having some sort of entity living inside his head.

Even after all those months, Matt still didn't had an idea what Asherah actually was.

During the lunch break that day, the local school bully, Eugene Thompson, was pulling wedgies on other students.

Eugene wasn't big or strong, but he acted like he was. He had eyes like a pit bull, and shaggy black hair, and he always dressed in expensive but sloppy clothes, like he wanted everybody to see how little he cared about his family's money.

Anyway, Eugene was giving everybody wedgies until he made the mistake of trying it on Tyson.

Tyson was six-foot-three and built like the Abominable Snowman, but he cried a lot and was scared of just about everything, including his own reflection. His face was kind of misshapen and brutal-looking. His voice was deep and he talked funny, like a much younger kid. He wore tattered jeans, grimy size-twenty sneakers, and a plaid flannel shirt with holes in it.

Unfortunately, most of them couldn't stand Tyson. Once they discovered he was a big softie, despite his massive strength and his scary looks, they made themselves feel good by picking on him.

Percy and Matt where the only once one could consider Tyson's friends, though Matt prior reputation made them the only friends each of them would have.

Though it did offer some benefits when Matt was around, which would go in effect as he just walked in.

Anyway, Eugene snuck up behind him and tried to give him a wedgie, and Tyson panicked. He swatted Eugene away a little too hard. Eugene flew fifteen feet and got tangled in the little kids' tire swing.

"You freak!" Eugene yelled, "Why don't you go back to your cardboard box!"

Tyson started sobbing. He sat down on a seat so hard he bent the bar, and buried his head in his hands.

"Take it back, Eugene!" Percy shouted.

Eugene just sneered at him, "Why do you even bother, Jackson? You might have friends if you weren't always sticking up for that freak."

"He's not a freak." Percy said as he balled his fists, "He's just..."

But Eugene wasn't listening. He and his big ugly friends were too busy laughing. Though it seemd more goons hanging around him than usual, like half a dozen more.

"What's going on?" Matt said, walking over so he was standing between, Percy and Eugene.

But he didn't wait for an answer as one glare of him send fear into the local bully. Who was at least smart enough to pick a fight with Midtown's resident 'psycho', who had won the national champion for Kickboxing.

"Just wait till PE, Jackson. When your bodyguard isn't around." Eugene called, "You are so dead."

Guess he isn't that smart.

"Tell me about it." Matt thought as he made a fake out move towards Eugene, who flinched at once before quickly making his way out of the cafeteria.

"Hey, Tyson." Matt said, kneeling next to the tall kid, "You okay, buddy?"

"I..." he cried turning to his two friends, "I am a freak?"

"No." Percy promised, gritting his teeth, "Eugene is the freak."

Tyson sniffled, "You are a good friends." his voice trembled as he looked at Matt, "Miss you next year when..."

"Don't worry, big guy. Even if I go to high school next year, we will still hang out." Matt assured him, "Things will work out, they always do."

Tyson gave him such a grateful look.

"I forgot to ask, but what are you doing here, Matt?" Percy said, "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Last class has fallen out, I'm about to head home." Matt told him, "Just wanted to let you know so you don't wait up at the end of the day."

"Right." Percy said before his voice turned to a whisper, "About this morning, that dream I told you about."

"About Grover? I'm sure he's fine." Matt whispered, "If there were a problem, I'm sure we would've heard from camp."

Some time later, Matt opened the front door of his dad's place. It was in the living room sitting in his recliner, where Jack was watching a sports game on the television, his usual mug filled with his favorite blend of tea, Corsican pear spice, sitting on the nearby table.

"I'm home." Matt said as he headed towards the kitchen.

"Hey champ. Your home early." Jack said looking to the clock hanging on the wall to his son, "How was your last day of school?"

"Class fell out." Matt said as he walked to the kitchen, "And fine, I guess.", helping himself to a can of coke in the fridge.

"Hey, Matt." Jack said, picking up his mug as he followed his son, "We need to talk."

Matt leaned back so he could look at his dad, something in his voice bothered him. "...This isn't going to be the talk, right?"

"What?" Jack said surprised, "No!"

"Good, because I already know where babies come from." Matt said seriously, "Annabeth told me Zephyr the West Wind bring them to their parents in a golden cradle."

The tone of voice made his father unsure if he was serious or not. "...Okay, lot to correct there. But that's future Jack's problem." he muttered before turning serious, "Sally got an message from Chiron last night."

"Oh, really." Matt said, closing the fridge, "What did it say?"

"He thinks it might not be safe for you and Percy to come to camp just yet." he said, "We might have to postpone."

"Postpone? Than it must be serious." Matt said, "What's going on over there? What's your detective intuition saying?"

"It's a bit complicated." Jack said, "But my intuition is saying you should go. You killed a god last year, if anyone can solve the current crisis, it's you."

Matt gave his dad a smile, happy to have this much confidence put onto him.

"This problem at camp." Matt thought, "Does it... Could it have anything to do with Percy's dream about Grover?"

Probably. Also, someone is at the door for you.

Just when Asherah had spoken, the door bell rang.

With hands in his pockets Matt went to it and when he opened it he saw his friend Annabeth. Her face was grimy and scratched. She had a ragged backpack slung over her shoulder, her baseball cap tucked in her pocket, and a wild look in her storm-gray eyes, like she'd just been chased a thousand miles by ghosts.

"Annabeth..." Matt said surprised, "What happened?"

"Nice to see you too, Cow Eyes." Annabeth said, "I came to ask for your help."

"Yes, of course!" Matt said with a cheeky grin, "Anything in my power is yours for the asking. You just name it."

"We need to get Percy and get to Camp." Annabeth said, "Something's wrong. Monsters have been chasing me all the way from Virginia, trying to stop me. Have you had a lot of attacks?"

"None all year..." Matt said, noticing his dad peeking around the door, "Oh, right. This is my dad."

"Oh, so this is the Annabeth." Jack said as he introduced himself, "It's nice to put a face to the stories my son told about you."

"Happy to meet you, Mr. Hauer. Matt has told me a lot about you as well." Annabeth said a she shook his hand, "He always speaks fondly of you."

"Are you really talking about my son?" Jack said with a laugh, "And please, just call me Jack. So we need to save Percy?"

"We as in, me and Annabeth. Right?" Matt said, a bit worried, "Right?"

"Don't worry champ." Jack said, picking up the keys for his Porsche, "Can't do much against monster, but I can still give you a lift."

Matt kicked in the gym door, where screaming kids had been banging against, calling for help. Pushing his way through with Annabeth following him, he saw the ruins of what was once the gymnasium of Midtown.

The floor had turned into a sizzling crater and his eyes fell on the cause of the destruction. A group of giants.

My, my. This should be fun.

"It will be." Matt said, calling his sword to his hand.

"What did you say?" Annabeth said.

But he ignored her as he transformed his sword into it's bracelets form, using them to zip around the room. One of the giants hurled a ball straight at Percy. Zipping over, Matt swung around with enough momentum as his bracelets turned into his gauntlets and graves, as he kicked the ball right back to sender.

The surprised giant was hit hard enough that he was send flying straight through a wall. Locker doors, socks, athletic supporters, and other various nasty personal belongings rained all over the gym.

Matt landed in a crouched position that wouldn't look out of place in a comic book. He looked up just in time to see Tyson punch a giant in the face. The giant crumpled. But the last giant had wisely held on to his own ball, waiting for an opportunity. He threw just as Tyson was turning to face him.

"No!" Percy yelled.

While everything around Matt moved at a normal pace, to him everything moved in a crawl. The moment giant realized that his ball had been caught, Matt had already thrown it back with the power of a meteor, turning the giant to dust upon impact.

"You might have overdone it." Annabeth noted as she ran up to him.

The gym was in flames. Kids were still running around screaming, sirens wailing and a garbled voice over the intercom. Through the glass windows of the exit doors, the headmaster was wrestling with the lock, a crowd of teachers piling up behind him.

Nonsense, I think you have done well.

"Thank you, Asherah." Matt thought.

"Matt... Annabeth." Percy stammered, "How did you..."

"I can explain later, let's just get out of here. And him." Annabeth said, she pointed to Tyson, who was still looking around confused, "You'd better bring him." she gave him a look of distaste.

She put on her Yankees baseball cap, and instantly vanished.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Matt said as he jumped through the gaping hole in the side of the building.

There you go, another chapter and the first one of Book 2, hope you enjoyed. Many thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, favorite, or follows this story.

Take care of yourself, get some rest, drink plenty of water and I will see you people next time.