Speed Demons

Part 2

Percy P.O.V.

As I blocked an incoming slash from my teacher, I couldn't help but smile. This was fun. I jumped as my opponent swept the leg, and countered with a strike to the gut, and he jumped back just in time. He swept at my throat and I dodged. The man overextended, I sliced at his wrist, causing him to drop one of his knives. He punched me in the gut with his other hand, stealing the wind from my lungs. I growled, knowing it would only get harder from here. As the fight went on, both of us started to tire, but I wouldn't give us so easily. With one last burst of strength, I dropped the knife in my left hand and caught the man's wrist just before he would have stabbed my chest. I redirected the blow, causing him to overextend, and I rested my other knife on his shoulder.

"Do you yield?" I asked him.

The man smiled with pride, "I yield young student." I let go of his wrist and pulled my knife off of him. "though, it seems the student has become the master."

"I hardly see my first win in two years as becoming the master, Odysseus, though it does feel good. That, I'll admit." I said, "may I go?" The man nodded and I took off in a light jog at just below the speed of sound toward Hades palace with my super speed. I waved to the Wright brothers as I ran by.

Only Wilbur waved back, but I didn't take it personally, Orville had always been shy. Oh, I guess I forgot to mention, the Wright brothers were sons of Zoran. They were the ones who taught me to use my powers properly. They taught me how to use my super speed and basics in engineering.

Our father, Zoran, was quite the mechanic, after all, he was most known for creating machines that could move as fast as he could run. Thor's chariot being the best example of this. Eventually, though, I had learned all of the engineerings they could teach me, so I started learning from Nikola Tesla instead.

Not long after I started, I was a master at mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as physics.

It took less than a second in real-time to make it to the palace. When I made it there I stopped at the gates and started walking at human speed. As I was walking in one of the Furys, Alecto, appeared in front of me.

"Lord Hades wishes to speak with you, Perseus." She said in her usual, growly voice.

"I was already heading there, but thank you anyways Alecto," I told her, she gave a small smile. I continued walking into the palace. When I walked into the throne room, I immediately knew something was up. My grandmother, Hel, was here. "Hey, Grandma, Lord Hades," I bowed.

They turned to look at me, Hel gave a warm smile, which looked kind of strange since half of her face was a skeleton. "Percy!" She exclaimed, then she ran over and hugged me. "It's good to see you."

I grinned, "it's good to see you too."

Hades rolled his eyes, "if you two are finished with your little reunion, can we get started?"

Hel let go of me and cleared her throat. "Of course." She said, "Percy, the best way to tell you this is... you've done fantastic in your studies! You're an outstanding engineer, and you can run almost as fast as the Wright brothers, and they're more than twice your age!"

I chuckled nervously, not used to the praise I was getting. "While I appreciate the compliments, why are you talking in the past tense?"

"Perseus, your training is complete. Your mentors have nothing more to teach you." Hades said with a small smile. I took a moment to think about that.

"Then," I started, "what do I do now?"

Hades urged me to come closer, so I walked up the steps in the room and stood next to his throne. The god reached into a shadow and pulled out a photo. He handed it to me. It was a picture of a boy, perhaps my age or a bit older. He had a black mullet haircut, and he wore a red and white leather jacket. "This is one of Thanatos' descendants." He said, "He's a legacy by a couple of generations, but he is well aware of his godly heritage. Previously, he went to school at the Galaxy Garrison, it had top-notch education and it doubled as a space force base. Not only was it designed to launch shuttles into the far reaches of the universe, but it was also meant to train the next generation of astronauts. But, he was recently expelled from the Garrison for disciplinary reasons."