Hi, I'm ArcaneTrickster542. Though you know that. From the summary thing.

If you're curious about anything, I put a ton of info at the end of this chapter.

Identities:

Leo: Repair Boy

Percy: Atlantic Guy

Annabeth: Wise Gal

Piper: Princess Charming

Jason: Electric Current

Hazel: Gem Girl

Frank: AniMan

Chapter One: The Art of Confusion

10:49 pm. Corner of some street.

The kidnapping was a total cliché.

I silently dropped down in a shadowy corner near the scene. The criminal didn't even look up. Guess that How To Be Ninja video I'd seen on YouTube was useful after all.

From what I could see, Bad Guy was holding some lady hostage, probably looking for ransom. Cops weren't here. Another cliché when Bad Guy thinks he's alone and Good Guy shows up, says some cool one-liners and kicks butt.

I was pretty sure my one-liners would be more confusing than cool, but whatever.

"When the cops get here," Bad Guy threatened the lady, "you'd better keep it down."

Lady's eyes widened, and she nodded. That's my cue.

"Oh, I wouldn't say I'm a cop."

As dramatically as possible, I stepped into the light. "But you're welcome to surrender anyway."

Bad Guy sneered. "Who are you, then? Another wannabe superhero?"

"Nah," I fingered my awesome war hammer, "I'm completely un-wannabe as people wanna be."

He gave me a confused look, but recovered. "Oh, so you are a hero. What's your name, pretty boy?"

Sarcasm was my thing!

He was going to pay.

I gave a grand bow and tried to imitate the voice of Alfred the butler from Batman. "Thank you, good sir, for calling me pretty. It is a most wonderful compliment." I stood up straight, losing the accent. "And the name's Repair Boy."

He snorted. "Repair Boy? Seriously?"

"Hey, I lost a bet. With Princess Charming. You'd think after I gave her an awesome name, she would do the same, but no. Hey, that rhymed!"

Now he looked as confused as if I'd just told him the planet Mercury was made of green eggs and ham.

Wait, that's a good one.

"The planet Mercury is made of green eggs and ham," I announced.

Wow, guess I was wrong. He could get more confused.

Wait, wasn't I here to do something important?

Oh yeah. Kick butt.

Without warning, I leaped into action. My awesome hammer, now on fire, hit Bad Guy's shoulder with a sickening crack! Not fatal, but painful. Wow, I was really good at this rhyming thing!

He fell to the ground.

The lady looked at me, her eyes growing wider. I untied her and ripped the gag off her mouth so she could talk to the awesomeness that was me.

"Who are you?" She whispered.

Right. She had no idea who I was. Though I'd hoped she'd remember after I literally just told the bad guy. Was she not paying attention or something?

I gave her a wink and adjusted my mask. "I'm Repair Boy."

And without another word, I ran off into the night.

Dramatically.

10 minutes later, Heroes of Olympus Headquarters. Or, for short, HOOH.

And yes, Wise Gal came up with the acronym.

I hate owls.

"Repair Boy?"

I looked up from writing in my notebook, where I sometimes write down when and where I was as if I were in some cool movie. "Wassup AG?"

He sighed. "For like the millionth time, it's Atlantic Guy. Not AG.

"Your superhero name is too long, and I'm feeling lazy."

"At least it's not as long as Electric Current."

Said lightning-themed superhero frowned. "Hey!"

I fiddled with some wire. "If I can't call you AG, then can I at least call Electric Current EC? His name is long and sucks."

"Well, you try to find a cool superhero name." EC crossed his arms.

"Batman."

"Something that isn't taken."

"Superman."

He face-palmed. "Sometimes I swear you live just to annoy me."

"How'd you figure out my retirement plans?"

"YOU'RE FIFTEEN!"

Wise Gal put her hand in between us, and we shut up. "How about Repair Boy tells us how the rescue went?"

AniMan sat up straighter. Always one for actionny stuff, he was. "Yeah, what happened?"

Wait, was actionny a word? And am I turning into Yoda?

No time to think about that, there is.

I described the fight (and I'm using the word 'fight' generously) as best I could. When I finished, Princess Charming grinned.

"So is that your strategy? Confuse and Conquer?"

I shrugged. "Seems to work, it does."

Now she was confused.

Fun, talking like Yoda is.

Wise Gal rolled her eyes. "Not the point right now. Is there a chance the bad guy was working for the Titans?"

The Titans were our arch-nemeses. Those guys weren't just petty criminals. They're like the Boss in an incredibly hard video game. Almost invincible. Luckily, we, the Heroes of Olympus, are pretty awesome ourselves. Seriously, when was the last time we were defeated? Other than fighting the Titans? That's right. Almost never. I say almost because there was once this mouse that got into Headquarters and we still haven't found-

Wise Gal waved her hand in front of my face. "Earth to Repair Boy. You in there?"

Gah, ADHD could suck sometimes. Though it makes life more interesting!

I leaned back in the orange massage chair I'd made a little while ago. The whole team had them, just in different colors. "Yes, I'm here, and no, he was taken down way too easily. You know how the Titans never hire doofuses."

She relaxed. "Good."

"So, are there any more emergencies?" Gem Girl, who'd been quiet the entire time, spoke up. "Because I have a huge math test tomorrow and my mom thinks I'm studying."

No, you are not seeing things. Mutant superheroes can go to school too.

Wise Gal shook her head. "I think we're good for tonight. But just in case, keep an eye on your watches."

We all checked the awesome watches I'd made so that in emergencies, they would ring at a frequency that only we could hear. I know, awesome.

"Well, I'll see you next time." She stood up, us following her lead. Everyone left the building as inconspicuously as we could with superhero masks on.

Princess Charming and Electric Current headed left.

Gem Girl and AniMan headed right.

Atlantic Guy and Wise Gal went straight ahead.

When they were all gone, I peeked out from an alley. After checking to make sure nobody was there, I took off my mask. The magical disguise faded so that once again, I was just a random teenager in a normal outfit.

I was the only person in the universe to know my true identity. Atlantic Guy and Wise Gal, the two leaders, knew each other's. So did Princess Charming and Electric Current, as well as Gem Girl and AniMan. It was a system Wise Gal had invented: we could tell only one other person our identities so if we were kidnapped and forced to tell the truth, the entire team wouldn't be in jeopardy.

I had elected to tell nobody my secret.

Finding my little hole in the wall, I looked around my little home. One family photo, beaten and cracked from time. One tiny makeshift bed with a scratchy blanket. One set of spare clothing.

Yes, I was homeless. But at least I was one of the luckier ones. Some had absolutely nothing.

I tried to sleep, but my eyes refused to close. It was too bad I couldn't be a superhero all the time.

Then again, was anyone?

Every hero had a secret identity. So, I guess I'd just have to live with being me for a while.

Me, Leo Valdez.

...And that marks the end of chapter one! Let me know what you think.

Some things you should know:

-They all have their powers, but not because of their parentage. They're mutants, I guess.

-Wise Gal / Annabeth is the leader of the group.

-I didn't name her Wise Girl because she's the oldest there and I feel like she'd prefer not to have that as her superhero name. How would Spider-Man like to be called Spider-Boy?

-Gem Girl / Hazel has her name because she's the youngest there.

-I am planning on Leo christening Jason as Strike later in the story since I already have a bit on how stupid the name Electric Current is.

-The masks are important. They completely disguise you just by putting it on, costume and all. Even if it just covers the area around your eyes, the inner workings of it turn away any thoughts of the hero and secret identity being one and the same, even if you're their best friend. It works in any situation other than you seeing them transform or them telling you themselves. Leo, Annabeth, and Piper worked together to make them.

Anyway, thanks for reading! I have no scheduled update times, so just keep an eye on the story alerts.

Until the next chapter,

~Totalfangirl542