Thanks for reading! This will begin the actual storyline; the previous chapter was Doctor Who exposition. Sorry it's up so late. I'll try to be more regular.
Remember, Ninth Doctor. The short-haired, black-jacket guy played by Christopher Eccleston?
I don't own either of these franchises. Why else would they be posted under fanfiction?
New York.
Twenty-First Century.
Yancy Academy, a "private school for troubled children", is on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A wise-looking man in a wheelchair and an extremely strict-looking woman lead about thirty middle schoolers out of the large, white building to a small park for lunch.
As Percy went outside, he noticed the dark, ominous clouds outside. Light flashed rhythmically inside them, but no thunder could be heard. Percy wandered over to a fountain and sat next to Grover.
"Detention?" asked Grover.
Percy shook his head. "Not from Brunner, you know that. Just wanted me to try harder."
Grover was quiet, looking at the clouds above. "Can I have your apple?"
Percy grinned ruefully and handed it over. He didn't have much of an appetite anyway. He looked down the street. He could imagine exactly how to get home, or to the candy store where his mom worked. He sighed and reached into his lunch box. As he did so, however, Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of Grover and dropped a cup of applesauce on his pants.
"Oops." She grinned maliciously.
Percy tried to keep calm. The last thing he needed was a fight right now. Nancy always got on his nerves, though. Her blaze orange freckles, her impudent grin…Percy could feel his pulse pounding.
Suddenly a man appeared behind Nancy. He was tall, dressed in a tweed jacket, bowtie and had a head full of shaggy black hair. He grabbed Nancy by her shoulder and spun her around.
"Who are you?" Nancy asked.
"You know who I am." The man held up a wallet with a piece of paper. Nancy peered at it, then paled. The mysterious man in the suit leaned forward, said in a British accent, "Don't let me see you around here again," and shoved her into the fountain.
It was hard to tell who was more shocked; Nancy or Percy. Percy gaped a moment, then repeated Nancy's question: "Who are you?"
The man straightened, overextended and wobbled for a moment, then steadied himself and pulled a face. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough. Now off you go! Things to do, people to see!" He made a shooing gesture with one hand.
Percy blinked, taken aback. He turned and started to walk back over to Grover, who was still trying to clean the applesauce off his pants, when the man grabbed his shoulder.
"Percy: everything is about to go wibbly. Trust Grover; he knows what he's talking about. Oh, and be nice to a man with a blue box, will you?"
The man smiled as if laughing at a shared joke, spun on his heel, and vanished into the ever-present throng of people walking on the sidewalk.
"That was weird…" muttered Percy.
"What?" yelled Grover, looking up.
"Didn't you see any of that?" Percy asked dubiously.
"Nah, I was trying to get this applesauce off. Heard a splash. Did you push Nancy in?"
"No, it was this weird guy with a bowtie and a piece of paper and he—" Percy trailed off as Grover looked at him incredulously. "You really didn't see any of that?"
"Nope. I was concentrating on this applesauce. Applesauce is the worst."
"Percy Jackson!" Percy turned to see Ms. Dodds stalking over to him. This wasn't going to be good. Ms. Dodds was a leather-clad, sadistic Algebra teacher who hated Percy with a passion and adored Nancy.
Percy groaned. If Grover didn't buy his story, there was no way Ms. Dodds would.
"Percy Jackson, come with me." Ms. Dodds turned and stalked towards the museum. Percy had to jog to keep up.
"Ms. Dodds, I swear I didn't—"
"Silence, Perseus Jackson." Percy blinked. He hated it when people used his full name, but Ms. Dodds spat it like a curse. He turned back towards Nancy, who was now trying to towel off and muttering to her friends. Percy gave her his best I-will-kill-you-later glare.
Turning back to follow Ms. Dodds, he found she was waiting impatiently at the door. She moved quick, for an old lady. Percy hurried after her, hoping she would just make him buy Nancy a new shirt in the gift store. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed as Ms. Dodds strode purposefully through the museum, heading to a storage room. She shoved Percy in roughly and slammed the door behind him.
Percy looked around. The room was large, with statues covered in both dust and sheets. Besides him and Ms. Dodds, the room was abandoned. He turned back to the door to ask what this was about—but Ms. Dodds was gone.
Percy ran to the door, trying to open it. No good; it was locked from the outside. Was Ms. Dodds going to leave him in here? Suddenly, he heard a shriek from behind him.
Ms. Dodds stood atop a shelf full of crates, glaring at him as if he were the spawn of Satan.
"Ms. Dodds? What are you doing up there?" Percy sputtered.
"Where is it? We know you have it!" spat Ms. Dodds.
Percy's mind raced. "If you're talking about my secret stash of soda, it's under a loose floorboard in my room…"
"Insolent mortal! Where is it? It was only a matter of time before we discovered your little…secret." Ms. Dodds hissed like a snake, the shadow behind her growing and the temperature dropping. Her jacket melted into a tar and spread over her body, making skeletal bat-like wings. Her eyes glowed like molten lava and her hands stretched into claws.
Percy wasn't the spawn of Satan. Ms. Dodds was.
An eerie calm had settled over Percy. He knew he had been ADHD for a while, and he knew his dyslexia was pretty bad, but he had never had full-on hallucinations. This must be a dream.
Mr. Brunner, who had been eating outside last Percy saw him, wheeled into the room and glared at the demonic Dodds. "What ho, Percy!", he yelled, throwing a small ballpoint pen.
Percy caught it out of reflex, then stared at it. "What do I do with this?"
"Guard yourself, Percy! It is a fearsome weapon!"
"This is a pen."
Mr. Brunner looked exasperated. "Click it."
As Percy complied, the pen suddenly elongated and grew heavier, turning a shining bronze color and growing a keen edge.
There was a moment of universal surprise.
"Well go on, then!" Mr. Brunner encouraged Percy, waving at the demonic Dodds, who had been watching this exchange in complete consternation.
She shrieked and flew at Percy's head. Percy dropped to the floor, letting go of the sword-pen. As she passed, Ms. Dodds lashed out with her talons, slicing open Percy's cheek. Percy touched his cheek as the blood welled up. Whoever she had been before, Ms. Dodds meant to kill him now.
Percy rolled out of the way of Ms. Dodds' next strike, scrambling for the sword. He snatched it up, whirling to face Ms. Dodds. Where had she gone? Percy turned in a slow circle, holding his sword out in front of him. Had she fled?
A cackling sound from above drew his gaze. Ms. Dodds was clinging to the ceiling vampire-bat style.
"Die, honey!" she cackled and fell straight at Percy. Out of sheer reflex, he swung the sword at her. The blade slid straight through her shoulder to her hip, and Ms. Dodds burst into a yellowish, foul-smelling powder.
Percy blinked. He was standing alone in an abandoned room, holding a pen. Ms. Dodds was nowhere to be seen, nor was Mr. Brunner nearby. He scratched his head.
As he wandered outside, Percy looked back up at the storm, which had now spread to titanic proportions. No rain dropped yet, and no lightning flashed, but he heard a strange, rhythmic reverberation.
