The Monster Quad Squad
Previously…
For millennia I have been imprisoned in this cage, but soon I will be free and when I am, I will plunge the world into endless and eternal darkness! The voice promised. It began to chuckle quietly before it grew in volume until it was booming with laughter, the evil in it making my skin crawl.
Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP! I mentally yelled at myself. I gasped awake, clutching at my chest where I felt my heart racing as I tried to gulp down as much air as I could. I was covered in a thin layer of sweat and my bed was soaked in it.
I turned to see I had woke up dad and Damasen, who were looking at me in worry.
"Son what is it? What's wrong?" He asked, concern shining in his silver eyes.
I shook my head, not wanting to tell them. "It was nothing. It was just…a nightmare." I said. They nodded their heads in acceptance, for they had seen me scream awake from many nightmares of my time with Kronos. They made me promise them to tell me if anything was bothering me before they went back to sleep.
I just lay down in my bed, thinking of my dream. I couldn't go back to sleep after what I just saw. What was that thing? What did it want? And more importantly, what did it want to do with me?
Sighing, I just laid in bed thinking all night long of what that thing was, not even aware that I stayed awake all night and the morning had finally come around.
Now…
Percy POV
I was in the training area, practicing on my powers and fighting skills. I needed to be in top condition for tomorrow's fight because I knew that Perses has something crazy planned for me. He is probably one of the only immortals that I fear. He personifies destruction, making him even more random and untamable than I am and I am of the sea! He visits me sometimes in my cell and I never know which Perses I will get; he could be the crazy, homicidal titan that wants to gut me and use me as his champion of destruction, or I get the almost normal Perses, who acts like he's my cousin and we are the best of friends. It really freaks me out.
I snapped out of my thoughts and got back to training. Twirling my spear, which I named Moon Fire due to the silver flames, I rushed forward and delivered a punishing thrust into the stomach of my dummy, disemboweling it. My spear goes all the way through the dummy, slicing it in half due to my boost in strength and speed. I wasted no time in engaging my other targets, spinning my spear in a circular motion, slicing through five dummies in one slice. Jumping up and away, I performed a few evasive maneuvers, simulating a real fight, performed a flying somersault and drove my spear through the top of the last dummies head, spearing all the way down its straw body.
I was breathing heavy and sweating from the strenuous training, my arms and muscles feeling incredibly sore. Unknown to me, I had an audience and they made themselves known by clapping.
I whipped my head to the left and saw my adopted father smiling at me, pride in his solid silver eyes.
"Well done Percy! Your skills over the spear have grown exponentially, surpassing and exceeding all my expectations." He said proudly, making me smile.
"Thanks dad. Though I do have to say, I think I'm gonna need some stronger stuff to practice with. These flimsy dummies keep bursting apart with my thrusts." I replied back.
It was true; I found out that whenever I absorb a monster, some of their power and abilities are present in my human form. I didn't notice until after my fight with King Hellhound. Now my strength and speed have increased to superhuman levels. They were nowhere near as strong when I shifted into my monster forms, but I guess that was to be expected.
'So dad, do you have any idea on who my opponents are going to be? Hopefully not as hard as King Hellhound cause that dude was a dozy!" I said.
He only shook his head in disappointment. "Sorry Percy. I have tried to gain information from Perses, but all he would reveal was that they are called The Monster Quad Squad, so it can be any ancient monster throughout all of mythology." He said in frustration.
My eyes widened at the revelation. "Are you serious? I have to go up against four deadly opponents at once? That's not fair!" I cried out.
"Perses isn't into fair, only winning. And besides, you did pretty fine against all those hellhounds." He said.
"Yeah, but hellhounds, while they are some strong monsters, most are mindless beasts of base instincts, so they have no battle plan. Only a rare few have intelligence, which is why fighting King Hellhound and a few of his minions was hard enough. Now I have to go against some incredibly strong monsters, who are able to think for themselves, and most likely hate my guts." I said indignantly.
He frowned at my tone. "So you're gonna give up?" He asked in a hard tone. I flinched at his tone. No matter if he was a prisoner here, he was still a titan and could be very powerful when they are angry and upset.
I just sighed. "No, it's just I am sick and tired of being down here. I know I have to fight to get us out of here, but I feel cooped up, ready to explode at any moment." I said resignly, looking down.
"The sea does not like to be restrained." Bob said wisely. I just nodded my head. He placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I know this is hard for you Percy, but don't give up hope. What would Hestia think of you losing hope like this? What about Hades? Better yet, what would ARTEMIS think?" Bob pressed me.
I snapped out of my depressed thoughts. "They wouldn't want me to lose hope. They would want me to claw and fight and do whatever it took to get out of here, and damn all who gets in my way." I said, feeling fierce determination to do just that.
I gave him a hug. "Thanks dad. I needed that little reality check." Bob pulled away, a warm smile on his face.
"You want a spar? I can always use the practice." He said challengingly.
I smirked at him and pulled out my spear. "Why not? Ready to get your podex kicked by your son?"
He chuckled and pulled out his own spear. "That'll be the day. I still got a few thousand years on you my boy."
We laughed as we ran at each other and engaged in a lively spar, the depressing thoughts already leaving my mind.
LINE BREAK
I was feeling better after that spar with dad. A good duel was just what I needed to get my mind focused and clear on what had to be done. Bob left the training area to go back to the cell to rest up, leaving me alone to clean up, which I really didn't mind.
I was putting the final dummies back in place when I felt a familiar tingle on the back of my neck. It screamed danger! Danger! Watch out!
I whipped around, drawing Riptide for defense. Walking into the arena, were a dozen of the biggest, nastiest looking earthborn I had ever seen. They were about seven feet tall, each made of clay and earth. They had six arms each, every one of them rippling with muscles. All of them had some seriously ugly faces too, and they were looking at me in hatred.
"Evening gentleman. Can I help you with something, or perhaps a nice shower to remove all that grime from your body? Oops, my bad, that IS your body." I said smirking.
A rumbling came from their throats. I guess that is their version of a growl. "You…defeat our mother…Gaea…You…Put her…back to…sleep." They said in their guttural speech.
"Oh yah? I sent your mommy back to sleep. Well, hate to break it to you, but she was a serious bitch bent on destroying the entire world. So I'm really glad I put her back to sleep." I snapped at them, grinning maliciously at their anger. They began shifting, their anger making them shake in rage.
"You…will pay…for HURTING HER!" They bellowed out, causing sharp rocks to erupt out of their palms, making crude knives.
I just smiled cruelly, pointing my sword at them. "You better be sure you want to do this."
They yelled and charged at me, brandishing their earthen daggers in all six of their hands. "So be it." I said, in a deep, sinister voice.
I called upon my strength from the giants, feeling my body and muscles grow in strength until I was half-giant. I now stood about a foot taller than the Earthborn, but they were either to caught up in their vengeance or too stupid to see that.
The first Earthborn lunged at me, trying to stab me, but I was too fast. Ducking under the pitiful swipe, I unleashed a devastating punch to his stomach, my fist going straight through him. He cried in pain before he broke apart and dissolved into mud. I swipped the dagger from the ground and threw it at another earthborn, hitting him in the face, punching right through his skull, as I spun and plunged my blade into another monster's stomach.
I began to laugh cruelly, my slitted eyes dancing with murderous glee. I didn't care about being overly cruel to these monstrosities. They were the direct spawn of Gaea and I hate her with everything in my being. SO destroying her children was a perk that I wasn't going to waste.
I ducked and dodged the pitiful swipes, the Earthborn were trying to land on me, while I was slicing them all over their bodies, but not giving a killing blow. I was playing with them and I relished the feeling.
"You know, right before you're mommy went back to sleep, she begged for mercy. Oh it was so pitiful to here." I taunted. That made them even angrier as they began to attack me furiously.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hit a sore spot? How mean of me." I said, driving my blade into another's chest, killing it instantly.
The rest of the Earthborn backed away from me and I thought they finally had some sense that they couldn't beat me. But they actually had some brains after all after growing more dirt daggers from their palms and they began throwing them at me. I ducked and dodged around the stone projectiles, but I felt one pierce my shoulder.
I hissed in pain as I ripped the dagger out, my eyes blazing with anger. "Alright, enough games. Time to let loose." I growled. I raised my hands over my head and slammed them into the floor, sending my earth-shaker powers into the earth.
The ground shook violently as a wave of earth rammed right into the unsuspecting earthborn, sending them flying. I was on them in a flash, slashing and stabbing with killing intent until all but one remained. I manipulated the earth until earthen bonds wrapped around the monster. I had practiced with my adopted father's blessing that I could bend the earth to my command. Couple that with my natural, earth-shaker powers and you got a badass earth bender.
The Earthborn was struggling to release itself, but stopped when I plunged my sword into it's stomach, making it wail in pain.
I looked over it, thinking of the best way to dispose of this trash. I suddenly got a brilliant idea and gave the already scared creature and evil grin.
"Say, do you know what happens when vibrate stone to a certain frequency?" I said, sending a pulse of power into the monster, making it vibrate slightly. It shook it's head in pain as I increased the vibrations.
"When the rock gets hit with vibrations, the molecules start to break apart until the bonds holding them together snap. You know what that means?" I asked as the vibrations got even faster. Pain was obvious on the creatures face and it yelled in pain.
'"It means, that the stone turns into sand and for you, it will be a very painful process." I said, sending a lot of power into the creature's body. It wailed in pain as its body was slowly disintegrating and turning into sand. Parts of his body were beginning to fall off until all that remained was a pile of sand where the Earthborn once laid.
All twelve piles of clay suddenly oozed their way over to me as they coated my body and was absorbed. I felt my skin and organs harden until they were as strong as rock and just as dense. I didn't grow at all because I was already tall, but I felt a new rush of strength enter my body. I then felt a tingle and then a sharp pain in my abdomen. I clutched at my sides until two pairs of arms burst out of my skin, giving me six arms in all.
I looked over my new form, feeling a connection to the earth I had never felt before. It was like I was one with the earth and the earth was me. I looked at my hand and pictured a stone dagger in my hand. Stone began to push out of my skin until I was holding a dagger the length of my forearm. With inhuman speed, I turned around and threw it with dead accuracy as it hit a dummy in the forehead.
I smiled down at my new form, flexing my new limbs. This was gonna be fun.
LINE BREAK
I was preparing myself for my battle today, going over my weapons and powers again and again to make sure that everything was in order. Call it a nervous habit, but ADHD does that to you. I couldn't stop thinking about what I did yesterday and how I killed those Earthborn. I used cruel and efficient ways to kill and torture them. And what was worse was that I didn't have the monsters in my head egging me on; I was in complete control and I let my darker persona out. It scared me as I replayed over and over how I tortured that last Earthborn; the same way that Kronos tortured me.
I pushed those thoughts away violently, locking them away for latter use. This was the most important battle I had yet and I couldn't afford to let my emotions get in the way.
So I waited in the entranceway, looking out over the crowd of monsters, waiting to see me. Apparently, after my first two fights, I had become an icon and a favorite among the monsters. Female monsters would call out to me and yell what they wanted to do to me. Walking the halls, I would always get stopped by a woman monster that wanted me to 'take' her. To say I ran like hell would be an understatement.
"Ladies and Gentleman! Welcome once more to another fantastic fight in the Arena of the Pit!" Perses called out to the cheering crowd. "Our competitor today has taken the Arena by storm, besting the Nemean Lion as a Laestrygonian Giant and assumed the crown as King of All Hellhounds! You know him, you love him, her is Percy Jackson Monster Shifter!" Perses bellowed into his mike.
The crowd went wild as I stepped out into the Arena, the light reflecting my newest features; especially my slitted eyes that made the ladies swoon. I paid them no attention as I kept my eyes focused on Perses's demented ones.
He just gave me a cruel look, with a grin to match. "And the challenger, we have four of the most iconic monsters in all of Greek Mythology! Some of the best Heroes of old have fought them and won. Ladies and Gentlemonsters, may I present to you, The MONSTER QUAD SQUAD!"
Four gates opened and out stepped my opponents. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I saw who came out of the pens because I had faced all but one of these monsters before.
Out of one gate came a fire-breathing monster with the body of a lion,, with a blood-soaked mane, with a goat's head growing out of it's back and a ten diamond-back rattlesnake as a tale. My leg started to throb as I remembered the pain of the poison that coursed through my veins when I was twelve. Before me stood the Chimera, who was glaring at me with intelligent, hate-filled eyes.
Off to the right was a giant of a monster that was over fifteen feet tall. It had a massive dragon body with a large taloned legs and a strong tail. Erupting from its torso and neck was a mass of writhing snakeheads, each one spiting fire and acid, its sharp teeth gleaming in the torchlight. This was the Lenaearn Hydra, the biggest and strongest of all the Hydras.
Next to the Hydra was a man that I recognized from Westover Academy. The monster had the body of a lion, the tail of a scorpion with a ball filled with sharp poison spines and the face of a man. It was good friend Dr. Thorn, glaring at me furiously with his mix-matched blue and brown eyes.
And last and most certainly most hated was an old buddy of mine. He was the second monster I killed and I felt anger well up in me when I remembered him nearly killing my mom and killing my friend Michael Yew at the Battle of Manhattan. My good friend the Minotaur was glaring at me murderously, brandishing his giant omega ax at me. Beer for brains must have been working out because he looked even bigger, beefier, and nastier since the last time I saw him. His horns were longer and sharper, looking like spear tips.
This was gonna be one hell of a battle. I looked up to se Perses giving me a cold smile and knowing look. I had a hard beating these guys alone; now I got to beat all four of them at the same time?! This was going to suck!
"Son of Poseidon! You and that old drunkard of a wine god has humiliated and killed me! For that I will make you pay!" Dr. Thorn yelled in his French accent, scorpion tail waving madly.
The Hydra and Chimera snarled at me, spitting flames and acid. But what shocked me the most was when the Minotaur pointed his ax at me and SPOKE!
"Son of Poseidon, You have killed me twice now. You shall not kill me a third time. I will chop your body into pieces and pull you head from your body and see how you like it!" He bellowed at me.
As one, they charged at me, all with the intent to kill me in very painful fashions. Quickly summoning up my hybrid-hellhound form, feeling the fur, claws and teeth grow from my body, along with the extra muscle, I used the hound's superior speed to dodge their attacks.
Dr. Thorn was shooting poisonous spines at me from a distance, which I was able to dodge with a mixture of incredible agility and shadow traveling.
He yelled out in fury. "Hold still you little brat!" He yelled releasing g a volley of spines at me, one of them actually hitting me in the thigh. I grunted in pain, feeling the spine sink into my flesh and deliver its painful poison.
Growling, I ripped the spine out of my leg and rushed towards Thorn. I pulled of Moon Fire, jumping and slashing at the Hydra and Chimera, who spit acid and fire at me. The fire did hit me, but thanks to my dad's blessing, it didn't hurt me. Running till I was a blur, Thorn's cocky attitude quickly was replaced b y fear as I reappeared behind him and stabbed him through the back.
He howled in pain and shot of all of his spines at once, hoping to hit me in his desperate attack. Luckily, he tried that trick before and I fell into a shadow to void the poison projectiles. The same cannot be said for Thorn's allies. The Hydra and Chimera got shot full of the Poison spines, making them roar in pain. I knew how much those poison hurt because I was feeling it right now. It gave me time to encounter Thorn one-on-one.
Leaping out of the shadow, I was like death from above as I drove my spear straight through Thorn's Spine. He yelled in pain as his back half collapsed, obviously paralyzed. I was in a state of bloodlust and I wanted him to suffer. The monsters in my mind were calling for his blood and I intended to give it to them
"No please Mercy!" Thorn shouted in fear, only to be cut off as I pressed the button on my spear, having the trident blades shoot out of the sides while still buried in his back. The blades cut through his flesh as I smiled cruelly at his screams of pain.
"Does that hurt Dr. Thorn? Well let me tell you a secret." I said as I leaned close to his ears. "That was nothing compared to the pain I went through at the hands of you master." I whispered in a sinister voice.
Growling in rage, I leaped behind the immobilized monster and grabbed onto his tail. With a mighty yank I ripped his tail from his very body, pulling out his lower spine. He whimpered in pain, but I felt no sympathy for him. I was a cold merciless monster and he must suffer for the crimes he committed and the friends of mine he has killed.
I tossed his tail right in his face, making him retch in horror at the severed appendage. "Looks, like you had a bit of an accident Thorn. Let me…Help you." I said, retrieving my trident.
With a single, deadly thrust, I stabbed my trident directly into his eyes, piercing his brain. A look of pure horror was etched on his features before he burst into dust and was absorbed into my body.
I was so caught up in my battle with Thorn, I forgot about my other opponents. The Minotaur took this moment to ram me in the side, sending my body flying like a rag doll. If it wasn't for my enhanced monster body, I would have died. But it did come as a shock to me when my hybrid form was forcibly dispelled from me. I landed in a heap and struggled to my feet. I tried summoning my hellhound form, but found I couldn't. I looked into my mind to see that my hellhound form had taken serious damage and needed to head. Seeing as I wouldn't be able to use him them anymore in the fight I called upon a new power: The Six arms of the Earthborn.
The extra limbs erupted from my body as my own arms were coated in earth. My opponents were shocked for a moment and I used that to my advantaged. Growing stone daggers from my palms, I launched them at my foes, four of them striking the hydra in the throat and two hitting the Chimera. They roared in pain trying to paw the stone out of their bodies.
Remembering the Myth of how Bellerphon killed it by forcing a lead ball into its throat I rushed forward. The Chimera recovered and shot a white-hot blast of flames at me, but I just ran through them, much to its surprise. I would have to be quick if my plan was going to work.
Jumping behind it, I had to take out one of its biggest weapons: The tail. The Snake tail tried to whip around and sink its fang into my leg, but reacting with quick reflexes, I grabbed the throat of the Snake. The Snake tried to struggle, but I held it with four of my arms while I took my sword, Riptide, and sliced the tail off.
The Chimera roared in pain and I used that moment to jump in front of the monsters.
"Open wide!" I yelled, pulling out four celestial bronze balls and shoving them down the monsters throat, just as it released a massive blast of fire.
My stone arms were blasted apart as I screamed in pain, being blasted back as I landed on the ground.. The broken arms turned to clay and returned to my body, in desperate need of healing. I looked over to see that the fire blast had melted the Bronze Cannonballs and was suffocating the Chimera. Said monster was clawing at its throat, eyes bugging out of its head. It couldn't even roar with the melted metal in its mouth.
"Maybe you shouldn't chew with your mouth full. Metal is hazardous to your health!
With a final spasm and twitch, the monster burst into dust and was absorbed into my body.
I just shrugged. "Tried to warn him. Now whose gonna tell his mother that her little sonny, is dead?" I asked nobody in particular. Two down, two to go. I thought as I winced in pain.
My body was taking a lot of damage and I was in serious pan. The poison from Thorn's spines was running its course in my system, slowing my reflexes and speed. But I had to preserve and push the pain aside. I had a duel to win.
My next target was the Hydra, who rushed me and slammed its heads into my body. I felt like I got hit by train as pain exploded in my chest. Despite the pain, I managed to grab onto one of the heads and cling on for dear life. The Hydra tried to dislodge me by flinging its head about, but I summoned up the Claws of the Nemean Lion and dug them into its skin.
"Whew! Man your breath stinks! Ever heard of breath mints!" I yelled out sarcastically. That cause the crowd to crack up.
Pushing off I landed on the Hydra's back and pulled out my sword. Dispelling the claws, I called upon one of my newest powers in order to defeat this monster. Swinging my sword I chopped off the closet head to me.
The audience was laughing at me, thinking that I was stupid enough to cut off a hydra head. They were shocked into silence as I took a deep breath and shot out a burst of white-hot flames from my mouth. The flames burned and cauterized the wound, keeping the heads from regrowing.
The Hydra yelled in pain, but I ignored it and focused on my task. Cut, slash, and burn. Cut, slash, and burn. I kept the process up until I was down to the last head. With a final roar of flames, I burned the Hydra as it screamed in pain as the flames turned its body to ash.
I was so tired after using so much power and didn't think I could use any more forms. I was exhausted. In my daze I didn't see the Minotaur sneak up behind me and strike me with a meaty fist. I flew through the air like a rag doll and this time, I landed hard.
I felt some ribs crack from my crash landing and my body explodes in pain. I felt a foot press on my upper left chest, my left arm spread out.
I looked up though the daze to see the Minotaur looking at me in triumph. "For the humiliation of stealing my horn, I shall now steal something of yours!" He bellowed in insane glee.
With that he brought down his ax. I didn't know what happened, but in the next few seconds, I felt a deep, agonizing pain explode in my wrist and a numbness in my hand. Looking to my left, I stared in horror at the sight before me.
Laying to my left was my severed left hand.
The Minotaur was laughing evilly as I gaped at my severed appendage. I tried to reach for it, but the monster was too fast as he brought his ax down again and again on the hand, reducing it to a pile of sliced meat and bone.
Seeing that, I felt something snap in my mind. All the monsters in my mind gave one massive roar as they screamed in primal fury as I threw the Minotaur off my body. My eyes gained a dark light as I felt my body began to expand. I felt all the hellhounds in my body burst free as they all combined and gave me an ultra form of the King Hellhound. I watched in fascination as a paw grew from the stump of my hand. But what surprised me was that the form was definitely a hellhound form, but it had golden Nemean Lion fur. I had finally managed to combine two forms into one due to my unbridled savagery, forming the Nemean Hellhound.
I glared at the now small form of the Minotaur who was looking gat me in fear. I raised a paw and smashed in down on him, breaking many bones in his body.
"You thought you could take something from me that wasn't yours to take. For this insult, I will kill you slowly, painfully and take you entire essence. Never again shall you reform to terrorize the world above." I snarled in a deep, evil, animalistic voice.
I started my sliced his skin to ribbons until his entire body looked like mincemeat. Then I slowly broke every bone in his body as he cried out in pain again and again. It was music to my ears. Then I ripped of chuck of his body and threw them into the crowd, where my fellow hellhounds began to eat them. Taking my claws, I sliced the horns of his head. Karma is a bitch! Looking down at the once terrifying monster, he was now reduced to a pile of flesh, meat, and bones.
With a final growl, I lunged forward and tore his head from his body, giving him a painful death. He burst into golden dust as his entire essence was absorbed into my soul, his powers and body now mine.
Completely spent and pushed to the max of my abilities, I slowly changing back to my original form. I looked at my left arm in despair as I saw that my hand didn't grow back. Looks like the essences in my body could regenerate, but the scars and wounds on my original body could not be healed in the same way. I looked down at my spoils of war: The Minotaur's horns and his Omega Ax.
Reaching down, I grabbed the Ax with my right hand and hefted it up into the air. The crowd went wild and many were screaming at the top of their lungs. I had won and this Ax was now mine. I felt the connection between me and the Ax form and it shrank down to a more manageable size.
I placed the Ax by my side, took to steps forward and promptly fell to the ground where I just laid there.
I saw Damasen and Bob rush through the crowd of monsters and jump into the Arena, dropping to my side. Damasen immediately began to heal my body and try to stop the bleeding coming from my stump. I was in a daze I looked into their concerned faces.
Utterly exhausted, mentally and physically, I gave them a weak smile to show I was okay, before I fell into unconsciousness.
So there is chapter 11. Percy got five new forms in this Chapter and had an epic fight!
The forms he absorbed are: The Earthborn, Original Hydra, Minotaur, Chimera, and Manticore, some of the most well known monsters in all of Mythology.
Percy managed to combine to of his forms in his rage creating a whole new monster: The Nemean Hellhound. Is this a one-time thing or has he learned the secret to combing all his forms into a hybrid? We shall see.
So yeah, The Minotaur cut of his hand and it cannot be reattached or healed. The essences in Percy's body can heal over time if they take significant damage, but any wound sustained to Percy's human form, will stay, like all his scars from Kronos.
So what did you guys think? Hope this chapter was good for all of you!
If you liked it, please leave a review and thank you for all the views and reviews from you guys, It makes writing this story worth it!