Hey. Guys! This is my first PJO/PR crossover! Fourth on the site! (Not that you wouldn't know that.) Whatever. This has some reference to "Pet Failures of the Demigod Gang", which is obviously on hiatus. But don't read that fic. It's...weird, and amateur, and very bad in general. ^^'
So I'm starting this in an AU of Prelude to a Storm. Like Dustin's with Tori at Storm Chargers, not dirtbiking or surfing, respectively. Besides, I can't watch the video, so I don't have the script. This is my best interpretation of the episode. (I got the summary from the PR wiki.) The rest, I hope, will be closer to the real deal.
LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!
Chapter One
Percy
It was official—Percy hated pelicans.
It may seem strange. Pelicans were somewhat sea creatures, but...well. He'll come to that later.
Right now, he was cursing under his breath as a certain daughter of Athena practically yanked his hair out of their follicles. Percy winced as another sharp bolt of pain shot through his scalp.
"When I said 'help me'," Percy said through gritted teeth, "I didn't mean for you to kill me!"
Annabeth let out a sound of distress, shaking some shampoo off of her gloves—those big, yellow floppy ones that OCD moms use to scrub the bathroom toilet, not their children's hair. But Percy had several big glops of stinky white stuff—a.k.a. pelican poop—in his hair. He supposed that this situation qualified, although it was still...ewww.
"Annabeth!" a voice irritably shouted outside the door. "I know you're in there!"
"I'm busy!" Annabeth called back, still vigorously scrubbing Percy's hair.
There was silence for a moment, and the door was kicked open. Thalia stood there, absolutely steaming. Percy didn't think it was because of the hot water in the bathroom, either. "You could have told me that five minutes ago—what in Hades are you doing?"
Percy spin around, splattering the mirror with shampoo foam. "Mind your own business, Pinecone Face!"
Thalia didn't even object to the pseudo-swear, she just smirked. "Aw, is little Percy so incompetent now that he can't even wash his own hair?"
Annabeth stiffly pointed a finger towards the sink. "Percy. Head in. Thalia, it's 'Seaweed Brain', not 'Percy'. You should know that!"
"You're right," Thalia said in mock shock. "How could I forget?"
Percy willed the water to wet him. He sat up when all the soap was washed off, and shook his head like a wet dog. Annabeth and Thalia ducked from the spray.
"I thought that you were my girlfriend!" Percy complained.
Thalia ruffled his hair and said as she stood up, "That reminds me. Percy, have you ever surfed?"
Percy felt his face contort.
"What's up with the grimace?" Annabeth asked curiously.
"Well..." Percy's voice faltered, and he answered honestly, "Look, if Thalia's a surfer, then I'm a dick."
Thalia shrugged. "You are a dick. But I wouldn't surf for control of the universe."
Percy looked at her weirdly, but said, "No, I don't surf. Why?"
Thalia exchanged a look with Annabeth, who cleared her throat. "Ahem. We...kind of placed a bet with Thalia's old Hunter buddy," she casually said. "She's heard about you. But anyways, she said that if you're better at surfing then her, she'll pay twenty drachmas to each of us. It's the other way around if you win."
Percy's mouth dropped open. "I—I told you, I can't surf!"
Annabeth ignored him. "Jackson, you better win this. I don't have twenty drachmas."
Thalia let out a snort. "And, Percy? Be nice to her. She may not look like it, but she's your half-sister. On your dad's side."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Percy said, holding up a hand. "First. Annabeth, I can't surf. Two, Thalia, I'm screwed, then. And since when did Poseidon have another child? Both of you, I can't surf."
Annabeth shrugged, smiling. "Then you'll have to learn, hands-on style. Not our problem. Besides, Percy, it's"—she checked her watch—"two twenty-six. Your appointment's at two thirty. We're going right now."
Percy swallowed. "And...where is this?"
"Ah...California," Thalia quickly replied. "Mount Othrys doesn't matter anymore, anyways, and Nico's going to take us there. Hey, Death Boy!"
In an unspoken agreement, Annabeth and Thalia grabbed either of Percy's arms and they both dragged Percy over to Nico, who was blowing a bubble. It popped as soon as Nico saw them. "Hey, Thalia," he greeted. "Annabeth. Percy's the lucky guest, huh?"
"Uh. I think you mean unlucky captive," Percy corrected.
Nico whistled, and Mrs. O'Leary bounded over. "Percy, Annabeth, on the hellhound. Lightning Girl's with me." [A.N./ That is not a Thalico reference! Just wanted to make that clear!]
Thalia made a face, but she took Nico's hand. Nico winced. "Augh! And I thought that my hand was cold—yours is ice!"
"Yeah, yeah, can we please go now? Let's not be tardy."
Mrs. O'Leary woofed joyously (which was the exact opposite of how Percy felt right now), and bounded into the shadows.
Percy and Annabeth reappeared on a street, and Percy's bet hellhound promptly disappeared again. Nico popped out with Thalia and instantly let go. "My hand is getting frostbite," he moaned. Thalia swatted him.
Nico stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked at Percy. "Good luck, Perce. You'll need it."
"Stop it!" This time, Annabeth hit him. She nudged Thalia, who grumbled and tossed Nico some drachmas.
"That was the last bit of money I had," she complained at Nico vanished. "Are we going or not?" She jogged down the street without waiting for an answer.
Annabeth led Percy to a small-ish shop, and Percy glanced up, trying to read the sign. With his dyslexia, it looked like: TOSMR EHGRRCAS.
Thalia was already at the counter, talking to some dude with curly hair.
"—just saying," Thalia said. "So. Where is she?"
The guy shifted, glancing at Percy. "Don't worry, I'll get her. Don't freak."
"Yeah, Percy," Thalia smirked, turning around. "Don't freak. You'll love her."
Annabeth glared daggers at Thalia, who shook her head. "Annabeth, that is so wrong."
"That is—" Percy started to grumble, but the guy came back, this time with a girl with blond hair and...Percy couldn't tell. Blue eyes? Gray eyes? Blue-gray eyes?
She looked him over as if analyzing him for an extremely painful experiment. "I'm not going to eat you, for god's sake. Percy Jackson, isn't it?" she asked. She glanced at the guy and turned, mouthing, Hero of Olympus?
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh...don't pump up his over-inflated ego even bigger...don't say I didn't warn you."
Percy glared at his supposed girlfriend.
"Oh, come on, Annabeth," the girl said, lifting her head. "Percy can't be half bad. He's my half-brother, remember?"
The guy scratched his head. "Wait—you have a—"
The girl shushed him and turned back to Percy.
"Blood isn't everything," Thalia pointed out. "I thought you knew that."
"I do." The girl stuck out her hand, and Percy hesitantly shook it. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Tori. Tori Hanson."
Tori quickly let go of Percy's hand. "You're...hot."
Annabeth and Thalia both made gagging motions behind her back. Percy could feel himself blushing.
The curly-haired dude clapped his hands, a crazy grin on his face.
Thalia sighed. "Tori, I am so disappointed in you...are you falling in love?"
"Um, no," Tori said, ignoring Thalia's latest comment. "I mean that he was hot. As in temperature-wise. You're like a hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Do you have a fever?"
"I'm just gonna warn you," Percy said, "I can't surf. Just thought that you'd know that."
Tori raised an eyebrow and leveled her eyes with him, which was kind of funny, since Percy was a whole lot taller. "In that case. Tell Annabeth and Thalia to pay up."
"Whoa!" Thalia butted in. "Don't even think about it! Percy—go, or I'm going to gut you like a fish."
"I'm related to fish!" Percy protested.
"Exactly!" Thalia agreed. "Exactly why I used that simile!" She frowned. "Or is it a metaphor?"
Annabeth shrugged. "Sorry, Percy, but I'm with Thalia in this one. Remember? I don't have twenty drachmas."
If possible, the curly-haired guy looked even more confused. "What the heck are drachmas?"
Tori was waiting. Percy sighed. If he lost to a girl, albeit his half-sister, Travis and Connor Stoll would never let him hear the end of it. "Okay. Fine. Just...off with you other guys!"
Thalia had a devilish look on her face. "Percy, do you really think we would do that? I have to videotape this! I'm sorry, but I just want to see you get your behind kicked!"
"Glad to know you have so much faith in me," Percy snapped.
Annabeth opened her mouth to say something, but Tori's watch beeped. She glanced at it and smiled apologetically. "Maybe it can be another time. Dustin and I've gotta go." She threw a look at Dustin. "For once, we won't be late," she muttered under her breath. Percy raised an eyebrow, but underneath his demeanor was a thinly veiled layer of thick relief.
Annabeth and Thalia, on the other hand, looked very disappointed.
"Catch you later," Dustin called as he and Tori trotted out of "Tosmr Ehgrrcas". They got into a blue van and Tori stepped on the gas. They shot off way over the speed limit.
Thalia grumbled. "That was not cool," she complained.
"If I were you," Annabeth suggested, "I would drag Percy and follow them to see what they're up to. You know?"
Thalia smiled. Percy unconsciously backed away. He stammered, "I don't...I don't think that we can catch up with them."
"Who says?" Thalia asked. "I know for a fact that they're going to stop to pick up a friend, and then go off to wherever they go to."
"A skateboarder," Annabeth added.
"And where is this friend?" Percy challenged.
Annabeth looked at him weirdly. "A...skateboarding park?"
Percy inhaled. "And where is that?"
Thalia interrupted. "There can't be that many of them," she pointed out. "If we run..."
Percy snorted. "You really think that we can catch up with a car that's driving at a sixty-mile per hour run?"
Thalia pondered over it. "That is a real problem...well, Annabeth, you can drive, right?"
"Yeah, but where are you gonna get the keys?" Annabeth asked, albeit uncertainly.
"Why not me?" Percy asked. "I can drive!"
"We don't trust you to," Annabeth shot back.
"I'm offended!" Thalia said in a mock hurt voice, to Annabeth's first comment. "I think that you've forgotten about...you know. Just you wait." She marched off.
Percy nudged Annabeth. "She really is determined, isn't she? Why?"
Annabeth's lips contorted into a half-smile. "Um...you know, Tori used to be a Hunter. When me, Thalia, and Luke ran into them the first time, Zoë sent Tori, who was just a little twelve-year-old at the time, to try and convince Thalia to join. There was a fight. The usual. And then, Zoë and Thalia got into their infamous argument. They made up later, though." Annabeth sighed.
"Then, how come I didn't see her when the Hunters came at Westover?" Percy asked.
Annabeth shook her head. "She quit by then. I don't know why. Besides, she's like seventeen now."
"I'm back!" Thalia sang, and flipped a pair of car keys and catching it. "This belongs to a silver Volkswagen. Step on it!"
Annabeth took them without another word and jostled an unwilling Percy to the car. Thalia clambered into the back, while Percy was forced into shotgun. Annabeth backed out of the parking lot and peeled down the highway with a loud screeeeeech!
"Ouch." Thalia winced as Annabeth swerved. "That sounded nasty."
Tori
"We're going to get caught by the police for speeding!" Dustin yelled in Tori's ear. She leaned away from him. "Gods. I don't want to be prematurely deaf or crash, so shut up? Please? Besides, aren't you a daredevil?"
"We all are," Dustin pointed out. "Aren't we all extreme sports people? You've got your surfing, I've got motocross, and Shane likes skateboarding. And why do you say 'gods'?"
Tori pulled over to the side, and killed the engine. She leaned back and crossed her arms. "You've got to be kidding me. The one time when I set an alarm, and Shane's late? Great timing." She paused. "I say 'gods' because I feel like it."
Dustin frowned, and then punched her arm. "Oh, come on, Tori, lighten up. You're lucky I wasn't coming alone."
Tori hit him back. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," she mumbled.
They must have waited for another five minutes before Shane skidded around the corner, pulling on a red sweatshirt.
"Took you long enough," Tori grumbled.
Shane slid into the back seat and pulled the door shut. "Where's Dustin?"
"Hey, bro!" Dustin indignantly said. "Right over here!"
Tori gunned the engine and they shot down the road again.
"I suggest that you put on your seatbelt if you don't want your head to be taken off," Dustin told Shane, who was slammed back by the sudden acceleration of the car.
Tori rounded a sharp corner in a squeal of tires, and they shot down a mountain road.
Dustin leaned back, his trademark crazy grin on his face. "Dude. What d'you think it would be like to be Power Rangers?"
Shane and Tori both looked at him weirdly, but Tori decided to drop it.
"How the heck can both of you guys be late every single time?" Tori grumbled, changing the subject.
"Maybe that's because you're the reliable one," Shane stated, making Dustin laugh.
"What does that mean—'the reliable one'?" Tori asked skeptically.
"Look, in any group, there are different kinds of people," Shane explained.
"Totally true," Dustin continued. "Think about...um..."
"The Power Rangers!" Shane joked, slapping the headrest in front of him—which happened to be the driver seat. Tori nearly swore as she jolted forwards into the wheel. "Quit it!" she barked. "I'm trying to drive here!" She rolled her eyes. "You've got to be joking." She privately thought that they sounded a lot like children of Hermes at this moment.
"No," Dustin said. "Okay: so there is always, like, the mellow-like reflective dude."
"And then there is the rich taker," Shane smiled. "The adrenaline guy. That would—of course—be me!" Shane turned the rear view mirror so it could face him as he fixed his hair.
"And you Tori, you're just...you're the logical one!" Dustin laughed.
"You guys have to lay off the comic books, seriously," Tori grumbled. "Power Rangers? Whatever. Can we lay off this conversation? It's seriously giving me a migraine."
She stopped in front of a huge forest, killed the engine, and got out, slamming the door behind her.
"This place always creeped me out," Dustin whispered.
"I heard that, bro," Shane agreed, walking into forest with his friends behind him.
"You guys are so lame!" Tori smirked. They came into a clearing, jumping over a fallen tree trunk and walked up to the lake.
"It sure is quiet out here," Shane pointed out. "A little too quiet."
As soon as he said that, a twig snapped behind them. All of them whirled around, but none of them saw anything. Dustin shrugged. "Could be nothing."
Tori sincerely doubted that it was nothing.
They continued to walk towards the lake when something zoomed by. Shane turned his head to see what it was.
"Hey...guys...did you see and hear that?" he uncertainly murmured.
"I think—" Dustin started, but a big black blur pushed all three teens to the floor. As they got up, nine ninjas appeared out of nowhere.
"I knew it," Shane grumbled. Tori frowned. She was sure that the snapping twig hadn't been caused by the trainees; they were too careful for that.
"Uh, guys," Tori started, but Shane and Dustin had already thrown off their street clothes, revealing the outfit the ninjas had on. Tori figured that she would look stupid if she just stood there, so she followed suit—literally.
Being a daughter of Poseidon has its perks. This, Tori thought as she ran straight for the lake, was exactly why she chose to master water. Running across the top of it as if it was solid ground was sure...fun. Not.
The truth was, she didn't want to anger Zeus by walking on air, or Hades by travelling underground. Tori had no desire to die at the age of seventeen, especially since her birthday was only about one, two months away. [A.N./ Okay, okay, I'm just estimating. Her birthday was celebrated at the end of Shane's Karma, Pt. 3, and it had eighteen candles on it. 'Kay? Good.]
Tori was so absorbed in her thoughts that she looked up too late. Surprised that her opponents already in the air and jumping at her, she lost her concentration and fell into the lake. And because it would look strange if she emerged dry—even ninjas weren't waterproof—Tori shot out of the lake, spluttering and choking up water.
This was so embarrassing. As Tori glumly came out of the water, she hoped that Poseidon wasn't watching her little "falling out". She grumpily wrung out her hair.
Dustin's curly hair was askew, and his half below his chest was all covered in mud and dirt. Shane had this huge, dusty footprint smack in the middle of his clothes, and the jacket was ripped a bit, too.
All of them turned to the sky as a falcon was heard. Tori winced.
"Oh, man!" Shane sighed. The falcon swooped down and transformed into Sensei.
"That's enough for today," Sensei said to all the other ninja. As soon as he did, the trainees sprinted away so fast that they were a blur, while leaving Tori, Shane, and Dustin alone with Sensei.
Sensei walked up to the teens, disappointment written all over his face. "Shane, Dustin, Tori. I will expect a visit from you, so we may discuss your lack of commitment to your ninja training." He walked off to the waterfall, just on the other side of the lake, and disappeared through a portal.
"Well, that wasn't so bad, huh?" Dustin smiled, trying to cheer up his friends.
"Not that bad?" somebody else called. "He totally chewed you out! You three are toast!"
Thalia had this extremely crazy smirk on her face as she stared at them. "Well, actually, you boys—Dustin and what's-your-name—are toast. Tori can't be toast because water can't be cooked in a toaster. It would short-circuit it. Oh, well. You can be in hot water instead."
Shane harrumphed. "'What's-your-name?'"
Tori glared at Thalia, aware that her ears were feeling hot. "Shut—shut up, before I put you in some hot water! Why did you even follow us? And where's Annabeth?"
"No worries," Thalia said. "I can use Percy as a shield. Annabeth...left. Something about building a temple for Ni—" She stopped, noting Tori slicing a finger across her throat. Percy was adamantly shaking his head. "Um. She has work to do."
"And I'll splash the water straight into your head, Pinecone Face!" the said boy muttered.
Dustin's eyebrows shot up. "'Pinecone Face'?"
"What?" Percy asked, a smile playing around his lips. "She was a pine tree for six years. Or, you can call her Bolt Head, Lightning Girl, Bark Face—"
"—And I'll call you Seaweed Brain, Mermaid Man, Barnacle Beard Junior, Kelp Head, Coral Brine, Shark Bait, Aqua Boy—"
"Are you two dating or something?" Dustin asked before Tori could clamp a hand over Dustin's mouth.
Shane sliced a finger across his throat as both demigods turned to look at Dustin.
"Are you a son of Aphrodite?" Percy retorted.
"Did you think I wanted to be locked up in a basement with him that had pink wallpaper full of hearts and Cupids and pink lemonade with heart-shaped sandwiches that were spiked with love potion?" Thalia asked incredulously.
"Capture the Flag was horrid!"
"Yeah, because somebody decided to dump a couple hundred mackerel on me!"
"But you nearly electrocuted me to Mars! Fish isn't such a big payback!"
"You don't know what it feels like when one of them slides down the front of your shirt!"
They were nose-to-nose now. Tori sighed and wedged herself between them. "All right...we don't want any nasty objects flying into the guy's faces."
Dustin looked confused. "Who? What?"
"The bottom line," Percy loudly said, "is no. Where were you going, anyways?" He shot a nasty look at Thalia, who stuffed her hands into her pockets and looked innocent.
"Um..." Dustin looked at a loss for words.
"A school," Shane suggested.
"Right!" Dustin exclaimed brightly. "School! It's really fun!"
Tori clapped a hand to her forehead. "That comment was really unnecessary."
"School," Percy repeated. "Fun." He looked unconvinced that the word "school" would ever mix with the word "fun".
"And we have to get going to the fun school!" Shane remarked.
"Great!" Percy said brightly. Tori groaned until she heard Percy say, "Then me and Thalia will be going off now! We'll catch you later!"
"Nosy, much?" Shane grumbled as they walked off.
Tori squirmed. "Yeah. Sure. Are we going or not?"
Shane opened his mouth to say something when the yelling started. Tori slowly turned around to look at the lake, where a disturbance had bubbled. A second later, a huge wave erupted from the lake, narrowly missing Dustin's head.
Dustin prodded Tori nervously. "I'm guessing you didn't do that?"
Tori pulled away and sprinted after the water.
Thalia
"Can we go back to Camp Half-Blood?" Percy pleaded as soon as they stepped foot out the forest. "We can steal their car!"
Thalia yawned. "One. I don't have the keys. Two, I don't have any drachmas left to pay Nico, and your hellhound's bound to be tired. Three, Annabeth assumed that we would be with...you know, them for the whole time. So she ditched us." Thalia slyly grinned at Percy, who looked thunderstruck. "Don't let that thought cross your mind, Percy. Don't break up with her. You know you love her."
Percy grumbled. "For a Hunter of Artemis, you sure are a—"
"Don't even say it," Thalia threatened. "If we're stranded here, we might as well make good use of it."
Percy threw his arms up in the air in exasperation. "Oh, and what are we gonna do? Waltz around the place, looking like total dorks? I don't even know what city we're in!"
"Blue Bay Harbor," Thalia answered. "And stop hyperventilating. It isn't doing any of us any good."
They walked slowly around the perimeter of the forest, when Percy stopped so abruptly that Thalia crashed straight into his back, smashing his nose effectively. "Shit!" she cried before she could stop it. "Percy! What was that about?" She gingerly rubbed her nose.
"Maybe it's just me," Percy muttered so softly that Thalia almost couldn't catch it.
"It's always just you, Jackson," Thalia grumbled. "What the Hades?"
Percy spun her around so that she could engage in a staring match with a...tree. "Tell me if you can see anything."
Thalia threw a glance at it and growled, "I can't see anything wrong with it!"
"You didn't even properly look at it!" Percy reprimanded.
Thalia got mad. So mad that she swore. "What the fucking Hades is there with a tree!"
Percy narrowed his eyes and spat out a bad word himself. "You know what? Fine. Be that way! What's with your damn tree, huh? You were its spirit for well over five years! I wouldn't be surprised if it decided to drop down dead 'cause you inhabited it!"
Thalia pushed him away. "You did not just go there," she snarled. Like she asked to be a tree? Along with it came so many damn stupid questions.
"Did you smell like pine needles?"
"Did you develop claustrophobia while in there?"
"Was the bark itchy?"
Was the bark itchy? Ha. To Tartarus with Will. Even now, he teased her with that question.
"Was the bark itchy?" Percy taunted, voicing the question on her mind. "Were you green?"
"ARGH!" Thalia could smell ozone in the air; no doubt it was because of her. Percy obviously smelled it too, and he raised his hand. There was a vague thundering in the distance, no doubt a huge wave just waiting to be released.
Sure enough, a huge wave of water unfurled behind Percy, quivering as it waited to be released.
Thalia felt lightning jump and curled around her arms. "You want some of it, Seaweed Brain?"
"Bring it, Pinecone Face!" Percy retorted, thrusting out his arms. The water roared towards her in a tsunami wave. Thalia crouched down, and when the crest of the wave was on her, she dropped to the ground, pressing herself against the grass as the water washed over her. Nevertheless, the force was strong as to blow her off her feet and smash her into a large boulder.
The wave died away and Thalia stood up shakily, shaking the water from her hair and breathing hard. She hacked out some water. "You'll pay for that, kelp-for-brains."
Thalia sprinted straight towards Percy, hoping that for once, the winds would help her move faster. Or at least make a miniature tornado.
Percy moved aside from her confrontation, until Thalia spun around and grabbed him by the shoulders. She was still wet, and that water soaked into Percy's shirt. Percy frowned as the water touched him. "You know that water makes me stronger."
Thalia glared at him. "And you know that water conducts electricity." She sent a huge charge through him and felt Percy stiffen underneath her. There was a clap of thunder, and Percy stumbled back, smoke curling from his shirt. He had several sizzling holes in his shirt and his hair was sticking up like a torch.
"HEY!" a girl's voice yelled. Tori ran out of the forest. She looked between Percy and Thalia.
"What was it this time?" Tori crossed her arms. "Thalia, you look like you've just been underneath the Arctic Sea for a week, and Percy, you look like you've exploded."
Thalia didn't even try to talk with her. She snarled at Percy. "He has a ridiculous notion about this tree."
Percy glared back at her. "Since when have you seen a tree pulsating out of the blue?"
"Never," Tori interrupted. "You two have arguments over the pettiest things. Why don't you two just make up?" She glanced at her watch. "Work it out, won't you?" She trudged into the forest.
"Well. That was awkward," Percy shrugged.
Thalia ground her teeth. "Let's try this again. What. The. Hades. Is. Up. With. Your. Freaking. Tree?"
Percy vaguely indicated towards a large oak tree that was clearly not glowing. "Look at it. Isn't it glowing?"
Thalia looked harder at the stupid tree. "Um. No. Nuh-uh."
Percy sighed exaggeratedly and he stuck a hand through the bark of the tree as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do. Thalia's mouth dropped open.
"Well, hey," he said proudly, walking over with two little gadgets in his hand. "Check it out."
He had already claimed the gold colored one, leaving her with silver. Thalia uncertainly took the little thing, which was a long black thing with a silver coin on top. On the center of the silver coin was a blue lightning bolt.
"See?" Percy asked.
Thalia shook her head and looked at Percy. "Tell me one thing. What is it?"
"I don't know," Percy shrugged. "Trade? I want to see yours."
Thalia frowned and tossed over her chunky object while catching Percy's. It was similar, but the coin on the top was gold with a green bolt in it.
"Hey, I would expect yours to have a trident," Thalia pointed out. "Why do you have a lightning bolt? Can I have mine back?"
Percy put her own rectangular thing back into her hand, and she handed over Percy's. Thalia felt something press down on her, and she felt woozy for a second. She straightened, and almost on impulse, doggedly strapped the boxy thing to her wrist. She saw Percy do the same thing, and her foggy mind registered that there was something wrong. But a bright flash totally killed her eyes and she slipped into unconsciousness.
Tori
Tori was watching the tiny TV sputtering out some skateboarder flipping upside down when Shane leaned forwards with a whoop.
"Kick flip two hundred fifty-fifty!That's what I got to learn for my video!" Shane exclaimed, watching a professional skateboarder on the small TV. Suddenly the alarm on the clock went off, scaring Dustin. He turned the clock off, and all three of them raced out of the door.
"Dustin!" Tori called, making sure he was actually coming.
"Yo, heads up!" Dustin yelled to his boss, throwing a dirty rag her way.
"Dustin!" she sighed, "You're not going to leave me here to clean up the shop!"
"Have I ever told you what a cool boss you are?" Dustin smiled innocently. "Bye, Kelly!" he yelled, running out the door with his friends.
The radio announcer was talking pointlessly in the van as Tori drove her friends once again to the academy that the boys called a "fun school". "Are we on time?" Dustin asked.
Tori grit her teeth. "Well, Dustin, maybe if you don't scream we might." She sighed. "You're early numbskulls," she grumbled. "We could have stayed a few minutes longer to watch some more TV! I wanted to see the skateboarder fall on his butt!"
Dustin smiled. "Dude. Maybe you should come watch Shane sometimes then."
"Hey!" Shane swatted him.
She then passed by a car that was smoking from the engine. The couple trying to fix it were elderly. Because they were early, Tori thought it would be nice to help them out.
"No way, Tori! We can't!" Shane argued. Tori got out of her car.
"We can't just leave them here," she snapped. Shane turned to look at Dustin.
"C'mon, it'll just be two minutes!" Dustin argued, getting his tool box from the back of the van.
It took a lot more than two minutes when Dustin finally emerged, his face sooty and smeared with grease. "Finished."
The couple thanked him, and Dustin clambered back in the car, hopefully saying, "Well, what if his alarm clock didn't go off, and he doesn't even miss us?"
"He's a ninja master, Dustin! They don't oversleep!" Shane corrected his air-headed friend. Tori rolled her eyes.
Shane, Dustin, and Tori appeared through the portal in time to see everything being sucked up into the sky. Tori sucked in a panicked breath. As they looked over the ruins, Shane stammered, "It's—it's gone!"
"I'm thinking...earthquake!" Dustin suggested, as a cause for the school's disappearing act.
Tori snorted. "And pigs will fly."
"When was the last time you heard of an earthquake sucking buildings and people into the sky?" Shane asked his friend a bit hysterically.
"Who would do something like this?" Tori protested.
Shane looked around. "Are we the only students left?"
They all surveyed the broken landscape. A couple rocks fell down from this huge boulder, and Shane turned. "Who's that?"
Somebody groaned, pulling himself out of the debris. Shane looked at him and yelled, "It's Cam! Help me pull him out!"
They all ran to the son of Sensei. Shane grabbed his arm and hauled him out. Tori hovered nearby, uncomfortably glancing around. She felt that something wasn't right. She saw nothing, and turned to help Cam. "We've got you."
Cam coughed, which sounded like the last breaths of a dying man. Tori pushed the thought from her mind. That wasn't a scene that she needed to see.
"Cam, are you okay?" Shane concernedly asked.
Cam nodded, hauling himself up. "Yeah, thanks. I'm fine."
Tori looked up and yelped. A red laser blast that had come out of thin air pulverized the ground in front of them, and all four of them slipped down the rocky hill.
Tori got up. "Go, go, go!" They all scrambled for cover as another blast sounded from behind them. Tori was sure that she heard mocking laughter, but she couldn't dwell on that now when some kleptomaniac dude was trying to fry her to death.
She began to hyperventilate when Cam snatched a rusty chain from the ground and yanked on it, hard. A trapdoor opened up, and Cam yelled, "In here!"
Nobody need to listen to that twice. They scrambled down the shaft after Cam.
"Cam, what is this place?" Shane asked. He winced as another blast sounded above them.
"Just follow me, and stay quiet," Cam murmured.
"Ah!" Tori flinched as she was hit by falling pebbles. (Well, hey, they were sharp!)
Cam placed his hand against this holographic panel, and the wall in front of them slid open.
"No way," Shane breathed.
"It's amazing!" Dustin admitted, smirking.
The door slid shut behind them—just in time, too, as footsteps slowly descended down the stairway. There was a loud crash outside, and all of them waited with bated breath.
Somebody snarled, a girl, at the other side of the door. "Stupid thing. I can't get through."
"Go figure," a guy's voice answered. Tori couldn't help but think that they sounded familiar. "You didn't think that we could just waltz in there, eh?"
There was silence, and then the first voice growled, "You just wait. We'll get you three sooner or later." Their footsteps faded.
Dustin let out a low whistle after a few minutes. "That was all too close," he murmured.
He turned his attention to the room. "Dude!"
Cam walked after them. "Don't ask any questions, 'cause I can't answer them."
"What?" Shane asked with a small laugh. "This is like something secret?"
Cam answered with a roll of his eyes, "Yes, Shane. It's like some big secret."
"And there are times when secrets must be revealed, Cam," a voice that was remarkably similar to Sensei's said. A cart wheeled into the room, and on it stood a...guinea pig.
Tori blinked twice to make sure she wasn't going senile.
"Whoa." Shane walked over and indicated to the guinea pig. "That big rat sounds just like Sensei."
Tori slapped him. "It's a guinea pig, Shane. Get your animals straight."
"Doesn't really look like him though, huh?" Dustin laughed, bending down to examine him. "Except for the clothes, though."
Cam huffily said, "My father is not a rat. Like Tori said, he is a guinea pig."
Dustin looked thunderstruck. "Uh. Did he just explain why, and I just, like, missed it?"
"Yes, Dustin," Tori muttered. "You did."
"He got stuck," Cam said as if that explained everything.
Shane looked bewildered. "Stuck?"
"Yes, Shane," Sensei/guinea pig said. "Stuck. Observe." The guinea pig did what must have been ten consecutive flips in the air, something that, until now, Tori didn't think that furry rodents were capable of doing.
A screen popped up, showing a man with a bad mask and a huge ponytail protruding out of the back. "This is Lothor, once a great ninja. He was banished from the Earth when his hunger for power turned him to the dark side. When our energy fields collided, I was transformed into what you see before you now. Now, he has returned, and has brought an army that will do anything to take our planet for their own. Unless they are stopped—"
Dustin extended a hand towards the screen, and Tori and Shane looked at him. "Who is going to be dumb enough to stop him?"
Sensei nodded his rodent head in approval. "An excellent question, Dustin." He turned to his son. "The morphers, Cam."
Cam looked stunned. "Father, you're not serious!"
Sensei bowed his head. "We have no choice."
Cam gestured towards the trio. "But these guys? Them?"
Tori exchanged a glance with Shane.
"They're—well, they're—" Cam stuttered.
Tori crossed her arms. "We're what?" she demanded. "Incompetent, lazy, not-on-time students of this academy?"
"Well..."
"Yes," Tori retorted. "You're going to say, 'yes'. I thought as much."
"Yeah," Shane agreed, "I didn't like the way that sounded." He turned to Dustin. "And you?"
Dustin shifted. "Actually, dude, I'm kinda lost here."
Sensei interrupted the banter and said in a final tone of voice, "Now, Cam."
Cam grudgingly turned to retrieve whatever these morphers were. He came back, carrying a case with white carvings on the top. Standing in front of Dustin, Tori, and Shane, he opened them and said in a serious tone of voice, "These are you Power Ranger Wind Morphers."
Tori was the first to recover. She laughed. "Yeah, right." But she felt unsure.
Dustin took it completely differently. He slapped Shane across the chest, saying, "Pst! 'S—I knew it, dude! I was right! Power Rangers are real..." He took the Morpher with the yellow coin on it.
Tori was rolling her eyes inwardly, but she took the blue one, and laughed, "Whatever."
Shane took his, a red one, while chuckling, "No way."
"Dustin," Sensei said calmly, "child of the earth—"
Tori smirked. No way Hades would have a son like Dustin, he was too easygoing.
"—true to your heart—"
Tori shifted. With all the jokes and pranks? Nope.
"—you will embody the powers of the Yellow Wind Ranger."
Dustin finished strapping his Morpher to his wrist and looked up with a smile on his face.
"Tori, fluid and graceful, like the water," Sensei said, turning to her. Tori almost raised an eyebrow at the irony of the statement.
"You will become the Blue Wind Ranger."
"Shane, reaching for the stars—"
Tori privately thought that Artemis wouldn't like that. Artemis...the thought of the moon goddess sent a pang through her.
"—you will command the powers of the Red Wind Ranger. From this point, you will be known as the Wind Power Rangers, protectors of the Earth."
Tori thought, They already have demigods to do that.
Shane looked around. "So...what exactly does this thing do?"
Tori looked up. "Where's the switch?"
"D—does it have any games on it, or what?"
"No, it doesn't have games," Tori snorted, and she heard Cam say in a very sarcastic tone of voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, the defenders of the galaxy."
A beeping sound caught their attention.
Sensei said, "Quickly! Lothor's army is attacking! You must intercept him! Call on your powers by saying, 'Ninja Storm, Ranger form'."
All of them nodded, and they rushed out of the room.
They arrived at a rocky cliff, where some monster dude was rallying a bunch of things in black suits.
"Hey!" Dustin cried. "Looking for us?"
The lead monster glanced up and roared in a hoarse voice, "It's them!"
Shane glared down. "Okay!" He held up his Morpher. "Ninja Storm...what was it again?"
"I think it was—" Tori started, but she was cut off by Dustin. "Ninja Storm, Ranger form!"
Dustin held up a hand. "Dude. Just watch and learn."
He raised his right arm, sticking two fingers into the air like he was about to go one-on-one. "Ninja Storm"—he spun his hand in the air—"Ranger form"—he stuck his fist out—"HA!" In a flash, his clothes were replaced by a full yellow suit with his coin insignia in the middle. His helmet appeared, and his black visor closed over his eyes.
Tori nodded, impressed.
"Power of earth!" His voice echoed across the canyon.
He looked over his getup and clapped his hands. "Oh, oh, yeah, baby! Yeah, ha!" He pointed at Tori. "Well, no one's laughin' at the comic book geek now, are they?"
Shane and Tori smirked at each other, and shook their heads.
"Ninja Storm, Ranger form, HA!"
Within seconds, Tori was decked out in full gear. Shane was in the same position.
"ATTACK!" the lead monster bellowed. The little ones under his command hopped towards them.
Tori spared a glance to her left side and was shocked. She saw two little figures on the canyon floor, staring up at them. One was gold, another silver. Tori blinked hard, and when she looked at that place again, they were gone. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her.
"Wind Rangers! Ninja swords!"
Tori drew her blade, feeling a familiar grip. She glanced down and smiled to herself. Maybe it was just her, but it was like an elongated, non-curved version of her former hunting knives.
Tori meant to sprint, but instead, she went super fast—ninja streak? Cool.
She decided to convert the sword into laser gun mode. How she knew that, she had no idea, but it was handy. She jumped into the water and ran on top it of while shooting. All of the black suited eyes screamed like little girls and fell down.
"Wind!"
"Power!"
"Rangers!"
"You're impressive against the Kelzaks," the monster admitted. "But you really didn't think that was all we had, did you?" A bunch of red confetti-like things flew at them, which promptly exploded.
Shane pressed something on his belt, and Tori's mouth dropped open as she saw a huge hang glider erupt. He flew through the air: "Hey, guys, check this out! It's called getting some air!"
Tori didn't want to go into Zeus's realm, so she hung back as Dustin followed Shane's example. He yelled, "We've got you covered!" Then, he seemed to realize that Tori wasn't in the air. "Hey, Tor, c'mon!"
"I really couldn't," Tori murmured to herself. It turned out that she would have wanted to risk flying and invoking Zeus's anger on her than what happened to her next.
"Hey!" Tori turned around, startled, just in time to get whacked in the chest by a figure in gold. She flew through the air and rolled on the ground, gasping and clutching her chest.
"Not so tough now, aren't you," the voice from before said.
Tori had never heard of a gold Power Ranger before, but that's exactly what she saw. A guy in a gold helmet, with a gold suit, and a green lightning bolt emblazoned across the middle of his uniform.
She gasped as another force whacked her helmet. Sparks flew, and the other voice sneered, "You're crow food."
Tori stood up and turned around to stare at a similarly dressed girl to the guy, but in silver and blue, not gold and green.
There was a loud crash behind her as somebody howled, "I'm afraid of heights!"
Tori rolled out of the way as the two evil Rangers' swords flashed down the spot where she had been a second before.
"I said that we would get you," the Silver Ranger said, walking towards her. "It would be nice to get all three of you to Lothor, but we can settle with one, I suppose."
"Lay off!" Shane and Dustin dropped to the ground as the lead monster exploded behind them.
"No!" Tori yelled, but the Gold Ranger had already moved. Shane and Dustin went flying, and they crashed to the ground besides her.
"That's better," the Silver Ranger cheerfully said.
"Yes," her comrade agreed. "We..." He suddenly dropped and clutched his head. A second later, the Silver Ranger did the same, and they both writhed on the ground. For a second, the one in silver twitched and dazedly said, "What the...?" The Gold Ranger mumbled under his breath, but they both staggered upright and sprinted away.
"Hey!" Shane yelled, pulling himself up. "After them!"
They all ran after the two corrupt Rangers, and they almost ran over Percy and Thalia in the process.
Thalia groaned when Tori accidentally stepped on her hand. "I'm so sorry!" Tori gasped.
Only the whites of Percy's eyes were showing, and he muttered something.
Thalia opened her eyes, looking dazed. "What...I don't..."
"Did you see two people pass by?" Dustin interrupted. "In gold and silver uniforms?"
"No," Thalia muttered, "I'm sorry...I'm not feeling right..." And she promptly fainted.
Back at Ninja Ops, Shane sighed. "We lost them. Who are they?"
Cam shrugged. "I don't know, I've never heard of them."
Tori had a bad feeling about this, and she definitely knew that they would be encountering those two metallic Rangers again. And a small theory was forming in their mind—their identities.
"Tori, you fought them first. Did you recognize them?"
Tori turned her helmet in her hands. "They were the same people knocking on the door," she said hollowly. "I don't know who they are, though."
Sensei was silent all throughout this.
Whew. That took quite a while...thank the GODS for break.
R & R! I know that PJO/PR fics aren't all that popular, but...still.