A/N: Hi! So someone asked me to do another one-shot like the other two, and another person asked me to do one where Percy/Nico were in trouble and only Dan could help them. This was the outcome. I hope you enjoy it even though it does lack murdering relatives, and concerned sisters. Dan also *spoiler* doesn't get to ride the monster, but he does make an alarming amount of references to various, random things (He may be hyped up on sugar…) and the ever faithful Saladin is there! I hope you guys like it. Do you have any ideas for other beings/monsters/things? Read, review, don't flame, and enjoy! Thanks!

Dan POV

This was different, I observed. I stroked Saladin, the fierce cat that doubled as my side kick. Saladin was Robin to my Batman, Kato to my Green Hornet, Bucky to my Captain America, or even Harley Quinn to my Joker. And, well, you get the idea.

Percy and Nico seemed to have popped up again during our clue hunt. This would make the third time I've met them while being chased by my extended psycho family. It's not my fault though! How was I supposed to know that Jonah could use his fan girls in a city-wide man hunt?

Amy and Nellie are each in the mall somewhere, putting on a disguise. I finished already. Honestly, why did it take girls so long to get ready?

Right now, I was standing on the dock waiting for a boat- more specifically, the boat that the three of us were going to take. The deck was a mesh of ragged, red wooden slates that were cracked and faded over time with use. The ships were big- cargo ships, I think. The sea lapped against them as they bobbed in time to some lullaby's beat. That was when the weirdness started.

I was having a conversation with Saladin (that's not weird, he's a very good listener) while surveying my surroundings for any sign of crazy fan girls, and then this gigantic, scaly thing rose up out of the water with two guys on its back. The two guys were Percy and Nico. They show up in the weirdest places. Are they stalkers? No, stalkers are more discreet than them. Asylum escapees? More likely, but they seem sort of sane. Well, as sane as one can be while frantically stabbing a gigantic water gecko.

"Will you just explode already?" Percy seemed to be yelling, frustrated.

It was hard to hear over the whipping wind and water that the sea monster (I had no idea what else to call it), but from what I did hear Nico's reply was somewhere along the line of "explode…we're on… stupid… kelp… need to think… what would…say…" The wind and waves picked up even more as that thing continued to thrash. Needless to say, things did not look like they were going good for our heroes.

Not really having anything else to do and against my better judgment, I shifted Saladin to one arm and picked up a rock with the other. I watched it fly closer and closer to the sea serpent. And then I watched it fall into the ocean about a foot away from the dock. Stupid rock.

So the rock did not work. Therefore, as a mature young adult, I resorted to taunts.

"Hey, fish face! Your mother was Nemo's cousin!" Maybe I need to work on witty taunts…

"Roar!" it, well, roared in return, rotating to face me. What was step two? Or would it be step three since the rock failed?

"Roar!" It bared its teeth at Saladin and me. Saladin!

I threw my side kick out in front of me. "Cat, fish! Fish, cat! Go get him, boy!"

Saladin looked back at me with his mournful, little cat eyes then back at the writhing sea monster. So maybe the fish connection was a little thin, but they both lived in water. My fearless sidekick disagreed, scooting back around me and cowering behind my legs. There goes step two and a half…

Apparently, the plan worked well enough, even with only two point five failed steps, because as soon as I turned back to the monster after looking behind me at my last failed plan, it wasn't there anymore.

Nope. Nada. Nothing. Not even Percy and Nico were there anymore. Did another one bite the dust? Annie, are you okay? Why do I know all these song quotes?

Suddenly, there was a groan off to my right side. I scooped Saladin up into my arms and cautiously made my way to the edge of the dock. Two hands appeared over the edge before I had even taken two steps, sending me stumbling backwards.

"Ah! Zombies!" Yeah, probably not the smartest thing I have ever said because, honestly, who has ever heard of zombies coming out of the ocean?

Percy's head and torso popped up next. Another set of hands, which I assume are Nico's unless the sea monster had some, gripped the edge of the red, chipped wood. Sure enough, Nico's head made an appearance.

Nico was soaking wet, but Percy seemed to be completely dry. He was, however, breaded like a slab of meat before it hits the heat in a gold powdered dust. Interesting, I mused, stroking Saladin.

They both collapsed on the edge of the dock. I resisted the urge to push them back over the side. They were just lying in the prime spot. If it had been Amy, I'd have probably done it, but these guys just fought off Godzilla's niece, so I thought that I would be nice for once. I should get a metal really.

I stood there for a bit, waiting for one of them to show a sign of life. That zombie theory was looking more likely the longer I waited, and then I got bored. "So, you guys chill at old boat docks often?"

They shot up into defensive stances quicker than the Flash. Suddenly, there were very pointy and dangerous looking objects that looked like they were going to give me more holes than Swiss cheese.

"Um," I started nervously. "Hey, guys, what's up?"

Percy blinked, slowly lowering his shimmering weapon. "You're Dan, right? What are you doing here?"

Nico scowled, lowering his own glinting blade. "How you keep popping up wherever we are is a better question."

Think fast. Don't lie, but don't tell the whole truth. "Yeah, Dan, that's me. Yep. No doubt about it. That is indeed my name." What were the other questions? "My sister and I are waiting for a boat. She went to go to the bathroom before we got on the boat." Better. Now, turn it back to them. "I was here first. Thank you very much. I should be asking you why you are stalking me!"

That made them pause. They shared one of those looks people accuse Amy and I of having. Eye conversations, every glance is worth a sentence. Maybe it's not as good as a picture, but far more effective.

They looked back at me, eerily in sync. Nico took a step towards me, raising his hand. My feet felt like lead. He took another step, and… and… and he snapped. A quick click of his fingers, that's it?

"You will forget you saw us. You are just waiting for your sister. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened," he told me.

My mind flashed through a couple of Star Wars quotes and a few questioning his sanity thoughts before settling to just pretend to agree with what he was saying. Obviously, they weren't going to give me a ride on their sea monster.

I nodded. Nico looked satisfied and turned back to Percy. "Let's go."

Percy grabbed him and pulled them both over the edge of the creaking dock. My last view of them was Nico's indignant squawk and Percy's grinning face as they plunged into the frigid water below.

Saladin meowed.

"I know. I wanted to ride that sea monster too."