A STORM IS BREWING | PERCY JACKSON

Chapter Twenty Four

Percy woke up to a weight crushing his chest and for a second he wondered if he was somehow holding the sky again. His mind caught up and he remembered the confrontation with Toomes, how the man had used his wings to take down the support beams of the building to crush him. The pain made it hard to think and the dust and debris in the air made it even harder to see. He ripped off his mask, hoping he would be able to better without it.

He slowly moved his arms, trying to brace himself against the ground. He struggled for a minute, pained groans escaping every few seconds. He barely managed to shift the concrete a few inches before he collapsed from the exertion.

He looked around his surroundings. His mask had fallen into a puddle of water. He stared at his reflection and the water shifted, covering half of the mask. The image distorted and for a few moments, it looked like he was wearing the mask on half of his face.

"If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it," The memory of Stark's voice flitted through his head.

"Even without the suit, I'm still Spider-Man," Percy realized, "And even without that, I'm still Percy Jackson."

He probably should have come to this conclusion sooner but as Thalia frequently called him, he was a Kelp Head (not that he would ever admit it). He had been so deep in his self-loathing that any mention of Percy Jackson or the Greek world made him recoil. However, it was like he told Hestia, he was Percy Jackson just as much as he was Peter Parker.

He reached out and stuck his hand in the puddle, the small amount of water revitalizing him a little bit. He was still tired, but the pain had dulled and he didn't feel like he was about to pass out. However, he could feel his glamour flicker and then fade. Percy guessed that he didn't have enough energy to subconsciously maintain it like he normally did. He pressed his palms down flat against the ground, using it as leverage. He took a deep breath and slowly started pushing up. He could feel the concrete shifting above him.

He let out a hiss of pain as the rubble shifted on his back. After a minute of trying to move the concrete, he managed to finally free himself. He got up, surveying the giant crater he was in. He scanned the skies and spotted Toomes perched on a billboard in the distance. The man launched into the air, flying towards the Tower.

Percy let out a shrill whistle and started climbing out of the crater. Once he made it to solid ground, he took off running. He heard a neigh from above him and glanced up to see Blackjack descending towards him. The pegasus had barely touched down before Percy was mounting onto his back.

"Follow the guy with wings," he shouted. Blackjack gave a neigh of acknowledgment and took off, going at his top speed. He managed to catch up to Toomes in less than a minute, lagging behind so they wouldn't be seen. They continued to follow Toomes and the city below them disappeared from sight as they flew above the clouds. The cold air bit against Percy's skin and the suit did little to insulate any heat.

Toomes finally stopped, his wings attaching to what looked like midair until it looked like the man had disappeared altogether. Percy squinted and he managed to make out the outline of something.

"Of course," he complained, "it's an invisible jet."

Blackjack neighed in disbelief. "Mortals come up with some crazy things."

"Come on, let's see if there's a side door I can break through," Percy said. He steered Blackjack towards the side of the plane. He groaned in frustration after he checked both sides and there wasn't a door like in normal planes.

Blackjack flew back to the bottom of the plane where the wings were still situated. He shot a web at the undercarriage and started using his feet to kick at the wings. After thirty seconds he still hadn't made any progress. He took a deep breath and gave another kick. The wings slid back a few inches and Percy almost let go of the plane to celebrate. Before he could try moving the wings any further they detached from the bottom of the plane.