"Come back alive, Seaweed Brain. Then we'll see." We turned and saw a giant furry man with a bull head. It mooed/yelled with ferocity staring me down like I did something bad to him. "Hey, Beef Boy," I yelled. "Didn't I kill you already?"

The monster threw his fist down on a car, crumpling it like it was made of play-doh. Some green snake like women with two snake tails instead of legs threw their javelins at me. Somehow I knocked them away, while dodging a giant dog-like creature. I hesitated but I stabbed it the next time it pounced. Several more monsters charged. A monster with a dog face and fishy flippers, giant muscular men with fangs, and more snake-women and giant dogs. The bull-man roared and the monsters halted. "One on one?" I yelled. "Just like old times?"

I guess I've fought him before then. Or is this "Percy"? The bull-man took a giant twin blade war axe and began to swing it around. The axe was adorned with clay beads, which for some reason made me very angry. I dodged the bull-man's first swing and cut his axe in half. "Moo?" he grunted.

"HAAA!" I spun around and kicked his wet snout, making him unbalanced. He charged me like a bull but I cut his horns off, something told me this wasn't the first time this happened. He tried to grab me but I rolled away grabbing half of his axe. I was surrounded by monsters in a circle. The bull-man roared and charged me again. I ran to the edge of the bridge I was on, breaking through some snake women.

The monsters cheered, probably thinking I was trying to run away. I braced the axe on the railing while the bull-man charged again. CRUNCH. He noticed the axe that was shoved in his breastplate. "Thanks for playing." I said.

I lifted him by his legs with amazing strength and tossed him over the bridge. Then I face the army of monsters.

I woke up on the street next to a bunch of garbage. It smelled pretty bad but I made myself more comfy, not even opening my eyes. The smell kept me from sleeping but it still felt nice to lay down and do nothing. Especially after yesterday. Then someone tapped my forehead. I opened my eyes and saw a girl with kaleidoscope eyes and long straight blonde hair. "Hey! Is it warm in the trash?"

My mind thought of many things but this was the basic war in my head. She's evil! Kill her! No you idiot! She's just a girl! By the way the trash is very warm. Kill her and then tell her the trash is warm. I shook the voices out of my head and whispered in a hoarse voice, "Yeah, but I don't think you want to sleep there."

She gave me a pouty face and stomped on the floor. I got up and studied her more carefully. She was about five feet and 8 inches tall. She was wearing a purple shirt showing off an SPQR logo and pajama shorts. It didn't seem too warm. I assessed my own clothing. I had bought a parka and basketball shoes the night before. Other than that I was still wearing the Demi Industries get- up. Even though it was a chilly morning I gave her my parka. She stared at me with wary eyes and took it, "Thanks."

She looked about 14 years old which was probably a sure sign that she wasn't just left on the streets. The parka was big on her but she seemed content anyways. I shivered and rubbed my arms. This girl had a home and for some reason I didn't want someone like me. Someone without a home. "So where are you from? What's your name? I'll take you home." I said.

The girl hesitated. "I'm Alexandra. But call me Alex. I don't wanna go back home." I stepped back, a little shocked. If I had a home I would definitely go back. She grabbed my hand. "You won't make me go home will you?"

Her kaleidoscope eyes got bigger and they bore into my heart. For a moment I was willing to let her go. I pulled the hood over her face. "Where's your home? Your parents must be worried." She pulled off the hood and glared at me. "I don't wanna go. It's the worst over there."

This girl was getting on my nerves. Why couldn't she just go home? "How about this. I'll let you take me home." I sighed in relief. "Only! If you take me to eat some lunch."

I rolled my eyes and looked around. If I was going to feed her I might as well give her something cheap. There was no need to waste my money that I stole. I spotted a Barnes & Nobles. I knew for a fact there was a Starbucks in there. I nodded to her and said, "Sure. I already know where to go."

In ten minutes I was buying dozens of cookies and breads. Alex had an appetite and she kept asking for more. I thought about stopping her but I figured she'd stop when necessary. I impatiently rapped my fingers on the table, waiting for her to stop. She smiled at me showing off her dazzling white teeth then said, "Thanks for the food. It was real kind of you."

I rolled my eyes and left to find a book. I picked one near the kid's section because I'm not exactly the best reader in the world. I returned to the table and surprise, surprise. Alex was still eating. I sat down and concentrated on trying to read the book but the words danced around the page. Alex had finally stopped eating and closed my book. "Are you a demigod? I feel a certain vibe from you."

My face must've been pretty funny because she laughed at my face. "It's alright" she said, "Most demigods don't know it. And it's pretty hard to find one that actually will get me some lunch. Even though it's from Starbucks."

Her eyes danced around changing colors rapidly, disorientating me. Behind me someone whispered, "173." Except their seventy sounded like sssseventy. I turned around, panic rising, to see a young woman with green eyes staring at me. She was a Starbucks employee and she was holding a stir spoon to my throat. At first I was confused but the spoon quickly turned into a bronze sword. Then the woman began to change. Her skin turned scaly green and her legs turned into two snake tails. I knocked the blade away and punched her in the face. "Alex run!"

More snake women appeared in Starbucks aprons. They advanced, surrounding us. A deafening roar stopped them in their tracks. A giant bull-man crashed through the walls and knocked over several shelves, stopping in front of us. He sniffed the air and stared at me in remembrance. I nervously picked up one of the tissue boxes he knocked from the shelves. "Tissue?"

Apparently that was the wrong answer. He charged right to me but out of instinct I reached in my pocket and pulled out a pen. I ripped off the cap feeling very foolish but the foolishness disappeared when it turned into a three foot long bronze sword. The bull-man ran right into me. I dropped my sword and grabbed his horns while I was being pushed back. I felt my basketball shoes melt while I skidded across the floor. He pushed me back to the brick wall but I stepped on the wall, the pressure of the bull-man allowing me to walk on it. I ran backwards and flipped over the bull-man then ran to the sword.

Actually the correct terminology for the "bull-man" is the Minotaur. What the hell's a Minotaur? Can we kill it? Well chances are favoring that we will die. And the Minotaur is an ancient Greek beast of mythology. He was born from the queen of Crete as half human, half bull. Ew. That's nasty. I shook the voices out of my head again wondering what was going on in my brain. I grabbed the sword and slashed wildly. I cut off the Minotaur's horns but I dropped the sword again. He raised his fists and smashed the ground where I was standing a moment ago. I picked the sword up again, "Hey Beef Brains!" I yelled.

He turned and I shoved the sword into his chest. It went halfway through, not enough. I spun and kicked it in deeper, the force of my kick propelling him backwards. He dissolved before he stopped flying, leaving the sword to impale itself on the wall in front of me. The snake women slithered forward again, cornering me and Alex. An invisible force pulled my gut and cups of coffee suddenly spat out their contents into the air. The coffee formed into several balls of coffee and flew to the head of each women. They froze on impact, forming a ball of coffee-ice around each head. It took out at least half of them but what really finished them off was Alex. Arcs of electricity shot from her fingertips, exploding the snake women. "Whoa. That was AWESOME!" Alex yelled as she picked up the Minotaur's horns, "Souvenirs!"

I retrieved the sword and capped it. It was awesome and all but I didn't remember having a pen in my pants. The alarms finally began to blare, cueing our exit.

We took a taxi to Caldecott Tunnel where Alex apparently lived. She was tired out from all the excitement, but I was more weirded out by my new found power. She probably didn't have all she could eat but she told me where she lived. At least I would be getting rid of one problem. "Caldecott Tunnel. Now pay up." Said the taxi driver.

I paid him and we walked out the cab standing in front of the tunnel. Alex took my hand and took me down to a different tunnel, a tunnel I would not have seen. She yawned and fell on the ground, forcing me to carry her. Through the tunnel, two guards in Roman armor stopped us. "Who are you?"

I nodded to Alexis and the guards looked relieved. One of them abandoned their post to lead me. He took me to the river that was flowing right at the exit of the tunnel. "Hey?" Alexis asked, "It's weird but I haven't asked you what your name is."

I stared at her half open eyes. She stared back with curiosity. I cleared my throat, "I don't have a name Alex. The name I've always had was 173." She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "That's weird. Everyone deserves a name."

Her voice rang inside my mind. Everyone deserves a name. Was it true? Did I deserve a name? After all that's happened? My thoughts were shattered as the Roman guy screamed at me. I walked straight into the river but strangely I wasn't wet. Then I looked around me and saw that the water was being held back by an invisible force so that it looked like I was in a glass sphere. The guard stared in awe as I finished my way to the other side.

He ran along to the bridge and came to me, his jaw dropped. I noticed watch towers all around, blowing some kind of horn. A group of people ran from a building ahead. A middle aged blonde man took her from my arms. He had blue eyes and a scar near his lip like he had tried to eat a stapler. He nodded to me. A woman with choppy brown hair and Alex's kaleidoscope eyes. She hugged me and with a machine gun mouth said, "Thank you. I don't know what kind of trouble she would've gotten into. How can I-"

She stepped back and stared at me. Her eyes began to water. "Oh my gods. Jason." The man carrying Alex looked over. "He looks just like him."