Bring Your Secrets, Bring Your Scars

Oldest Trick in the Book

Black Panther’s POV

    Thor and Percy were going to spar.  The boy had done better than I’d expected so far.  Bruce and the rest of the primary Avengers looked nervous at the pairing.  I wondered why?  Bruce stressed that the match was friendly.  He was nearly begging them not to kill each other.  No, not them, Percy.  He was looking right at Percy when he was talking.  I thought about all I’d seen of Percy.  He did seem to have some kind of grudge against Thor.  

I leaned forward, I wanted to see how this played out.  Percy asked if Thor wanted to go with weapons or without.  Thor left the choice up to him.  I noticed that his sword, Undertow, was on the other side of the room. He pulled a pen out of his pocket.  Thor seemed to accept this and grabbed his hammer.  

So, I guess his weapon was a pen.  I turned to Natasha and asked, “What's with the pen?” 

She looked at me and said, “You’ll see.”  

Percy must have heard our conversation, he turned and flashed me a smile before uncapping the pen.  It turned into a three-foot-long bronze sword.  The look in his eyes was terrifying.  I can see why the others were worried.  Thor looked unhappy about the fight but lifted his hammer. The pair circled each other.  Tony lifted the shield.  We shouldn't need it, we only use that when guns are around.  

Bruce called into the ring, “Remember, this is a no-powers spar!”  I wondered why he needed to remind them.  

I turned to Natasha again and asked, “Does the boy have powers?” 

Natasha paused before saying, “We aren't sure, but we think so.  He’s only been here for four days, the first three he was pretty well doped up.”  I looked at her questioningly.

“It was just an accident,” she defended, “We were going to give him some mild sedative so he would calm down and answer some questions.  He was really stressed.  He had like four panic attacks.  Seems like they’re a pretty common thing for him.  He’s had a couple more but nothing quite as severe,” I nodded while Natasha continued, “We think he has water powers, 1. Because he is the son of Poseidon and 2. He jumped out of the 42nd story window, and survived.”  

“Why?” I asked.  

Natasha looked at her hands, “Well, he was supposed to stay in the tower.  We had FRIDAY tell us if he did anything suspicious, or if he tried to leave.  So, at 2 a.m. she told us he opened the window.  We pulled up his feed and ran into his room just in time to see him jump out the window.  He came back at 4 a.m.  He said he’d been visiting some friends.  Ever since then, he's been taking better care of himself.  Apparently, his friend was really upset about his weight.  Percy told us that his friend would be by in a week to kill him if he didn't gain weight.  He’s eaten science then.  It was really surprising.  Before this, we had to force him to eat anything.”

I nodded and watched the fight.  Thor and Percy circled each other. Percy swung his sword at Thor's left arm while trying to swipe his legs out from under him.  Thor barely dodged the sword. He stumbled over Percy’s legs, falling.  Just before he hit the ground, he threw his hammer at Percy's chest.  

The hammer threw him on the shield.  His hammer was planted on his chest.  I stood up.  Well, that was a short fight, he won't be able to stand with Thor's hammer on him.  Thor was starting to stand up.  He looked and saw Percy pinned and looked relieved. He walked over to retrieve his hammer and help Percy up.  But then I heard Natasha gasp.  

Percy had stood up, Thor’s hammer in his hand.  Thor looked stunned.  Percy raised the hammer and threw it at Thor.  Thor stumbled and Percy was on him.