Criminal Legend - Chapter 1

AN: So, for now just some backstory. 2-3 Chapters later we'll actually see some present- day action.

Percy POV:

"Get over here boy" Gabe's slurred voice called out from the couch in the living room. Walking in, I had no doubt that the room would be trashed, beer bottles and cans thrown all over the place, waiting for me to clean up for him.

"What do you want?" He flinched at my voice and annoyed expression. Under usual circumstances, I would meekly come and pick off his trash and tidy up the mess, but I was in the middle of doing something important right now. Narrowing his eyes, he pointed at me.

"Is that how you treat your father boy? I'll teach you." He stood up, and raised his belt, ready to strike. I braced myself for the crack and pain that would result in the contact, but he thought better of it, instead optimizing for a kick in the ribs. I fell down in pain, clutching my injured bones. Then, he tossed me to the middle of the pile of trash.

"Clean it up, or next time I won't put down the belt." Winded, I could only manage out a choked wheeze, before climbing out of the rubbish heap. Brushing myself off, I quietly returned to my room and continued what I was doing.

I woke up to hands shaking my shoulders back and forth. Jolting upright, I whipped my head around and my gaze met the cold eyes of my step-father.

"What do you think you're doing here boy?" Petrified, I slunk even deeper into my chair, trying to make myself invisible to the abusive man. "Looks like you doing some programming, eh?" I mentally cursed myself for not shutting off the computer before I took a nap. He shook my shoulders again. "Programming more important than taking care of your father?" I winced at the use of the title. In truth, Gabe didn't deserve to act like he was my parent. My own father, I had never known. My mother, on the other hand, was a master criminal who died in an explosion.

No one else knew, of course. But it didn't take long for me to connect the dots. I had been found the morning on the day Sally Jackson, notorious criminal and hacker, had died. No one had heard of me, and I wasn't born in any of the local hospitals. The only thing I didn't understand was who had picked me up and found me in the basket outside the pier. The note had the words "Percy Jackson" scrawled onto them, and there was no doubt he or she knew that I was the spawn of a wanted criminal, but instead they turned me into the orphanage, saying that I was just "Percy".

"No" I replied shakily.

"Well you better not, what are you doing anyways?" He squinted at the screen. "And that text at the bottom, what's that mean?" Realizing with a jolt at what he was implying, I spun around and saw a final line of text in printed, bold letters, flashing at the bottom. Heart jumping in my throat, I scanned the words over and over again.

"It's nothing."

"Nothing eh?" Quick as a flash, his arm shot out and grabbed the monitor, throwing it to the ground. I heard a sickening crunch as it made contact with the hard ground. Then, he grabbed we and threw me against the wall, stars swimming around my eyes. "You think I'm stupid you little shit? Nothing wouldn't be important enough to sneak off to your room after I told you to clean up."Kicking me, he spit in my face. " I know what you're doing. You think I didn't notice all those times you snuck up to your room as well?" Another crunch, except this was his fist against my face, before he left the room. I heard him throwing things downstairs, and a clatter as something well on the ground. Even in my grieving state for the hack I had worked so hard to program, and the computer I had worked endlessly, I knew I would never forget the words on that screen, the gateway to my freedom.

Today, I would escape the clutches of my abusive father.

A couple hours later, I was scrambling around the mall in glee, bags flailing about as I jumped from floor to floor. Most people would question a person like me, a teenager, spending thousands of dollars like I was some rich CEO. But they didn't.

They should've.

Even with all the fun I was having buying new gadgets for my use, I had this sinking feeling in my stomach, like I would get caught. Shaking my head, I pushed my cart further ahead of me into the electronics store. Today would be a day for celebration, and I was going to do just that.

Two teenagers stared up at the gigantic mall logo, watching as clusters of people entered and left the complex in haste, carrying bags upon bags of goods. The pair slowly scanned the mall for any sign of a dark-haired and green eyed person matching their photo. Looking upwards, they spotted a young man with disheveled black hair walk into an electronics store. One of them, a blond haired and blue eyed man, pointed upwards to his companion, and together they followed him.

Mystery POV:

I beckoned Thalia to come over as I noticed a male teenager enter an electronics store. Although we couldn't see his face from this distance, he had a mop of black hair that seemed to match what Nico gave me. Following my gaze, Thalia nodded and we took the escalator to the electronics store. At first upon walking in, we tried acting like customers, grabbing a couple of items off of the shelves that Nico would probably appreciate. However, in our act I noticed how this store wasn't your typical Best Buy. There was technology I didn't even know existed, and some I doubted were legal.

"Psst. Jase." I heard Thalia call out to me.

"Mhm?" I was currently busy searching up what a "Wifi Pineapple" did.

"I think this is the guy."

"How come?"

"Look at his eyes." Pulling away from the shelf, I turned and took a quick look at the suspect's face, mainly looking at the eyes. They were a brilliant shade of sea green, which only confirmed our suspicions.

"Alright, we'll wait outside." Nodding, she followed my lead as we abandoned the shop and loitered around the store entrance, sipping coffee from the nearby Starbucks. Finally, a black-haired man walked out of the shop, carrying mountains of bags full of expensive equipment that made my eyes bulge.

"Hello." His head whipped around, and I could tell his eyes were alert and ready.

"Hello." His voice was monotone, showing no emotion, but there was fear swimming in his eyes. "What do you want?"

"I'll cut to the chase and say it. You know as much as I do what you did." I crossed my arms, signaling Thalia to come behind him in case he tried to escape.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He started to step back, eyes flitting to the nearest exit.

"Bullshit, we all know what you did. All you need to do is come with us-" I advanced on him, trying to grab his arms, when he darted towards the exit.

Percy POV:

I ran as far as my legs could carry me even throwing my bags at the blonde, but I didn't make it far before some punk-girl came out of nowhere and tackled me. Grunting, she hefted me onto her shoulders and carried me out the mall

I sat in the back of some vehicle, pondering on what was happening. Right now, my emotions mainly consisted of confusion, relief, and fear. However, I was mostly relieved due to the fact that if these teenagers could find me, then local police forces would easily do the same. I was suddenly greeted by a sudden brightness flooding into the van and was hauled out, and tossed onto the sidewalk. I was then taken into a large apartment.

"Nico, we found him!" The blonde one yelled to some person upstairs. I heard feet shuffling upstairs, and a black-haired teen came down. He was dressed in all black, dressed very emo-like. He looked me up and down, before nodding and gesturing for me to sit down at the table.

"So you're the one who hacked Olympus Airlines." I gulped and nodded. "Now you may be wondering why you're here. You see, we are in the need of more people like you-"

"Wait, we? You mean there's more of you?" I started to feel a sense of panic rising in my chest.

"Shut up." To emphasize his point, he slapped me and continued. "You did very well, especially for your age. Hacking into a big company like that. So, we have decided that with proper training, you could join our group." There was a silence, like this was a huge moment for them.

"And what do I get for joining your group?"

"You get good clothing to wear, edible food to eat, and a safe building to cover your sorry ass."

"Honestly, I have that back at home." That was a lie, since I knew Gabe would not be very happy if I came back to the apartment, but I knew Nico didn't know that.

"No you don't. Your step-father abuses you every day ,no?" I froze, and a chill went down my spine, however Nico seemed to find this amusing. "And before you ask, yes
I do know this. The protection you put around your webcam is atrocious. And shortly after you breached Olympus Airlines, I easily hacked into your computer and saw your step-father come in, before the computer was torn down." I knew I was cornered and had nowhere to go. "So, what's your decision. Move in with us, or get thrown out onto the streets?" I opened my mouth to protest, but he quickly answered. "And the money that you earned? I returned that all to the company, minus the thousands of dollars you spent. But, I did cover your tracks for you so no one will be coming after you anytime soon." I thought about it, long and hard. I had nothing to lose, so why wasn't I accepting this offer? It provided everything I wanted, for the price of working with them. And in that one moment, I knew what I would have to do.

I gingerly put my arm out and shook his hand. Smiling, he stood up.

"Good. This is a choice you most definitely won't regret." I tried forcing out a smile, but it came out more like a half-wince-half-stretching my lips upward smile.

"I hope not."

AN: Thank you for reading. I will probably be uploading every 5-7 days, due to multiple times having tearing down a large chunk of the story.