The pipes were slick with condensation, rattling underfoot as the boy took point with feral precision—leaping gaps Percy's mortal legs shouldn't have cleared, but did. Behind them, shouted orders echoed, followed by the unmistakable *click-hiss* of canisters rolling across wet concrete. Annabeth's curse was cut short as green gas billowed upward, stinging Percy's eyes like pepper spray and saltwater combined.
"Don't breathe—*move*!" The boy yanked Grover forward just as the satyr's hooves slipped.
Percy's lungs burned. His vision tunneled. Still, he laughed—reckless, giddy—because *damn*, this kid could *move*. Even half-starved and shaking, he flowed through the chaos like water, bare feet silent on the shuddering metal.
A gunshot ricocheted off the pipe beside Annabeth's head. The boy pivoted, snarling—then *hissed* as a dart sprouted from his shoulder. He ripped it out, but not before amber liquid oozed from the tip. His pupils dilated instantly, gold bleeding back into his irises.
"Go!" he barked, shoving Percy toward a vertical shaft. His claws scraped sparks from the ladder rungs. "Climb. I'll—*nngh*—hold them."
Annabeth hesitated. Percy didn't. He grabbed the boy's wrist—still too warm, but not blistering now—and hauled him upward. "Nice try, Sparky. Team effort."
The boy shuddered, fighting the tranquilizer's pull as they scrambled higher. Below, the gas dissipated just enough to reveal armored figures fanning out. One shouted into a radio: "*Subject X is compromised! Activate Protocol Hades!*"
The ladder ended at a rusted hatch. Grover headbutted it open, spilling them into blinding desert sunlight—and nearly into the outstretched talons of a massive gryphon. Percy barely registered Annabeth's scream before the boy *moved*.
Black bones split through his fingertips as he vaulted onto the gryphon's back. One brutal twist of its neck—*crack*. The beast collapsed, twitching. The boy landed in a crouch, panting, gold eyes wild with something between triumph and horror.
Annabeth sucked in a sharp breath. "*Hades' kid.*"
The boy flinched like she'd struck him. Before he could respond, the ground trembled. Sand shifted fifty yards away—*bulging*—as something massive tunneled toward them.
Grover whimpered. "Oh, *pinecones*—"
The desert erupted. Dirt and stone rained down as a skeletal hand the size of a school bus clawed upward, followed by the hollow sockets of a *Colossus*.
The boy's breath hitched. "*No.*" He backed up until his shoulder bumped Percy's. "That's—that's *my* skeleton."
Percy gripped Riptide. "Uh. You wanna elaborate—?"
The Colossus roared. The boy's claws dug into his own arms. "*Run.*"
Percy grabbed his wrist—still searing—and yanked him sideways as the skeletal fist cratered the sand where they'd stood. "Not without answers!"
The boy's pupils flickered wildly between gold and hazel. His bones *groaned*, shifting beneath his skin. "They *made* me," he choked out. "From his blood. From—*agh!*—*souls*."
Annabeth paled. "*Clone.*"
A tremor ripped through the boy's body. The Colossus froze mid-swing—*hesitated*—its hollow eyes fixed on him.
"*Control it!*" Grover bleated.
"I *can't!*" The boy's voice cracked. Black veins spiderwebbed up his neck. "It's *him*—he's in my *head*—"
The Colossus lurched forward—then *stopped*, skull tilting. Sand hissed between its ribs. Percy saw the exact moment realization dawned in Annabeth's eyes.
"They didn't just clone Hades," she breathed. "*They gave it his will.*"
The boy gagged, doubling over as the Colossus *mirrored* him. Its fingerbones twitched when his did.
Percy swore. "So *unmake it!*"
The boy's glare burned. "*How?!*"
Annabeth's dagger flashed. "Same way you'd stop *any* puppet." She lunged—not at the Colossus, but at the boy. Her blade grazed his forearm.
Blood welled black as crude oil.
The Colossus *screamed*.
The boy gasped, clutching his arm. "*Oh.*" His grin was all teeth. "*Strings.*"
He slashed his own wrist.
The Colossus' arm *shattered*. Bone shards rained down like hail.
Boots pounded behind them—facility guards cresting the dunes. The boy spun, golden eyes locking onto Percy. "*Go.* I'll—"
"*We're past that!*" Percy hauled him up. The boy's blood sizzled where it dripped on sand, smoking like dry ice. "*Move!*"
They ran. The Colossus writhed, half-collapsed, still dragging itself forward. The boy's breath came in ragged bursts, his skin flushing hotter with every step.
Annabeth skidded to a halt. "*Truck!*"
A military transport idled ahead, doors hanging open. Empty.
Percy didn't question it. They piled in. The engine roared to life—*how?!*—as the Colossus' fingers scraped the bumper.
The boy slumped against the window, watching his reflection warp in the heat. His claws retracted with a sickening *click*.
"...thanks."
Percy floored the gas. "*Don't mention it, Sparky.*"
Behind them, the facility exploded.
The boy didn't look back.