Percy Jackson: Retrieval Expert

By Joseph Kanonik A.K.A CallOfNeptune117

Things like this didn't happen to Percy Jackson often. I mean, it's not everyday a bus driver turns out to be a troll. Him and Grover didn't stop running.

"Percy! He's gaining on us! Where do we go? Where is the kid we-"

Grover Underwood was interrupted by a soaring hot dog stand.

"ROOAAAARR" The troll yelled, shaking the pavement beneath their feet.

Percy turned his head to look at Grover who was barely keeping up, "We'll talk about the kid later! Quick, down 39th!" They both skidded round the corner and onto 39th street. Percy had no idea where he was going, but him and Grover had to get away from this Troll before they were flattened. They sprinted down the street, and out of the corner of his eye, Percy caught a glance of an alleyway. "Grover, do exactly what I do and whatever you do, don't stop running!"

What happened next was a blur for Percy, but he remembered running into a road of traffic and springing off a bonnet of a Renault Cleo, right onto the pavement on the other side. Grover didn't have the flexibility Percy had, being a Satyr and all, but he did his best to copy his companions actions. After nearly getting flattened by a Vauxhall, Grover made it to the other side. They could both hear the Troll trampling cars and knocking over trash cans and overall making a huge mess which, inevitably, Percy would get the blame for.

"Into the alley, stay low behind that Skip!" Percy exclaimed, panting like a dog. They barrelled into the alleyway and crouched behind a yellow skip the size of a truck.

"WERE IS DEMIGOD?" they heard the Troll shout, mostly out of anger, but also out of panic, like his life depended on bringing back a half-blood. They saw the Troll bound past the alleyway, all the way down 39th street, until he disappeared from view. Percy wasn't sure what the mortals saw, with the mist and all, but he was pretty sure it was just as horrifying.

"Percy! What the hell were you thinking?" Grover complained, still trying to regain his breathe. "We could've been Troll soup! And I'm sure Satyr's don't taste good in soup!"

Percy looked looked at Grover and said, "What did you expect? Did you really think I had time to think of a better plan?" It was a few minutes before either of them spoke, both of them trying to regain their breaths. After a few minutes, Percy stood and started pacing the alley. He had a lot on his mind, with him and Annabeth finally going out, and the last thing he needed was a quest.

"okay, so about this kid, Grover. Any ideas on where he might be?"

Grover looked up at Percy, and shook his head. "All I was told is that he goes to high school in the Bay County, Michigan. And please Percy, no more buses!"

It wasn't the first time they were attacked on a bus. The last time was when they were on a quest to retrieve Zeus' master bolt, and they were attacked by his maths teacher, Mrs Dodds, who turned out to be a fury. They luckily they remained in one piece, they

couldn't say the same for the bus though. Percy chuckled.

"No more buses."

They found a café just down the road went inside. They both bought a can of coke and sat at a table with a window view. Grover wasn't often chosen to retrieve demigods, but it was a satyrs job to do so, and most of the other satyrs were busy replanting the forest around where a fire started back at camp. It was a spontaneous accident, but one that really angered the nature spirits. The last demigod Grover retrieved was Percy. It went well, aside from Grover being badly injured in a car crash, and Percys mum being kidnapped, and Percy having to fight a Minotaur on his own, un-armed. Other than that, Percy made it safely, and all went well. Percy only thought it necessary to join his companion on a retrieval.

Minutes passed, and finally Percy spoke. "So, you're telling me we have to walk all the way to Michigan from New York? That's like what… 800 miles?" he pointed out, taking the last sip of his coke, "and we have two days. So, what's the plan, Mr Retrieval Expert?"

Grover was chewing on his can. He looked up at Percy with anxiety. "I'm thinking. We need a form of transport. not buses. Planes are a bad idea, I guess we could take a cab, but-"

"Yellow car" Percy interrupted.

"Don't you dare." Grover warned.

"No, yellow car! Look."

Grover glanced out of the café window, and surely enough across the road, there was a yellow car just sitting there. It looked like it had been through quite a bit, and as far as Percy could tell, its owner had discarded it in the middle of New York.

"Well," Grover stammered, "that sorts travel"

"I'm driving!" Percy agreed.

It was only logical that there was no gas left. Who leaves an abandoned car with a full tank of gas? There was just enough to get them to a gas station, where they re-filled the tank. The paying was the awkward part. Percy had lost his wallet while trying to avoid traffic and a Troll back on 39th, and Grover spent the last of his mortal money in the café. It was just purely luck that they found a ten dollar bill under a pile of old CD's in the glove compartment of the beat up yellow car. It took a while before they were all set to leave for Michigan, but they got into the car and were off.

Percy shuffled in his seat. It was uncomfortable, but it was going to have to do for now. "We should take this opportunity to make a plan." Percy decided, "He goes to school, right? I'm guessing high school. There are what… 10 high schools in the Bay County, we have about…" Percy looked out of the window. The sun was setting, "another full day until our deadline." He looked at Grover, who looked wrecked.

"we're gunna fail this perc." Grover replied. "We should already be half-way to Michigan by now. It's just our luck the bus driver turned out to be a murderous ogre!"

"Troll."

"Whatever." Grover yawned. "I'm gunna catch a few Z's. wake me up if something happens." He was fast asleep in a matter of seconds.

They were both exhausted from the day of non-stop running. Ever since they left camp, things weren't going too well for them. Before they left, Cabin Nine had made them a special chariot. It ran on oil, and didn't need to be pulled by anything. Everything was fine until the chariot crash landed after a malfunction in the engine. It was only a prototype, but it worked pretty well for what it was. It had been made especially for their journey, and it got them a good four miles before crashing and burning. Luckily for them, it was fitted with airbags at pretty much all sides. They survived of course, but the impact didn't go un-noticed. They had to run away from the police, and managed to make it to New York without being arrested. Then there was the Troll bus driver. They had caught a bus to make up for the lost time. The initial journey would've taken them to Ohio, where they would've taken a train to Michigan. But of course, the driver had turned out to be a monster, who stopped the bus, and chased them off. Percy was tired. He pulled over on the side of the motorway to rest. He of all people deserved it.

Percy's dream was strange. He dreamt he was in a school hallway. It was a long time since Percy was last inside a public school. People were mingling all around him, walking right through him as if he wasn't there. They were all wearing blue and white.

"Hey, loser!"

Percy turned, and caught sight of a group of kids (twelfth graders?) crowding around a little boy.

"Gimme your lunch or I'll introduce your face to the toilets!" a buff guy with a short buzz cut had said. Percy already wanted to punch him.

"Leave me alone…" the little boy said. The group of boys burst into laughter.

"Listen twurp, you'd better give me your lunch or I'll-" He didn't get a chance to finish.

"I SAID, LEAVE ME ALONE"

What Percy saw next was… scary. He'd had a fist fight with a minotaur. He'd been blown several thousand feet into the air by an eruption. He'd walked through hell itself- but nothing came close to this. The little boy grabbed the buff kid by the neck and he instantly disintegrated. Percys dream started to shift and fade. He woke with a start.

"Grover! Grover wake up now!" Percy urged as he shook his companion.

"huh wha- Percy?" it took Grover a few seconds to register the urgency in Percy's expression. "Perc? What's wrong?"

Sunlight was peeking through the clouds. It was sunrise- they had one full day left.

"I know where this kid is. We need to hurry."

End of draft.