Percy / December 4th

We were only missing a few people to consider this the final battle. Seven demigods - Me, Jason, Piper, Layton, Ryan, Chloe, and the green-armored demigod - and one god - Bacchus - against two giants - Otis and Ephilates - and Xander.

"Killing demigods is one thing, but using leopards for your show? That's a line crossed" Bacchus said

"This... this is impossible" Ephilates said

"Someone told me there was a party" Bacchus replied

"You gods are doomed species!" Otis declared. "We will kill you all in the name of Gaea!"

Bacchus looked around the room, unimpressed. "This is all tacky, cheap, boring, and lame. Ephilates, you have no sense of style"

"Style? I have mountains of it! Literally too!" Ephilates denied

"My brother is style" Otis supported

Bacchus stepped forward and the giants stumbled back a bit. "And you two have gotten shorter"

"I am quite tall for your information. And just enough to destroy you, Bacchus" Ephilates retorted

"Lord Bacchus, are we going to kill these giants or what?" Jason asked

"Well, I hope so. Carry on" Bacchus said

"Aren't you here to help?" I questioned

"I do appreciate the sacrifice back at the sea - a whole ship of Diet Coke - though Diet Pepsi would have preferred"

"And six million in gold and jewels" I reminded

"Eh. At least you've gotten my attention. Go ahead and battle. If I'm impressed, I'll jump in for a grand finale" Bacchus explained

"Xander's mine" Ryan quickly decided. "The rest of you can take the giants"

"Then you'll have to catch me" Layton said

Layton lunged forward and vanished, suddenly appeared at back of the old wizard, who shifted into black smoke that teleported to the other side of the room.

Narrator

In an attempt for revenge, Ryan attempted to charge Xander multiple times, but his fight with Layton was not only confusing him, but was taking place in different spots. One moment, they would trading blasts of elements by the wild animals, and another they would be sword fighting with conjured up blades made of pure energy. Surprisingly, Xander was pretty skilled in sword combat and decently agile for his shape.

Jason, Piper, and Victor took on Otis, who continued to thrust his spear wildly. Piper would quickly roll and slash her knife while Jason and Victor mostly worked to keep him at bay. Next to them, Percy and Chloe attacked the strongest of the twins - Ephilates, who was more collected than his brother in his attacks.

"You've got strength for an old man" Layton said as his sword clashed with Xander's

"Strength comes in many forms, you should know that well" replied the old man

"So you're manipulating your strength with magic" Layton figured

"Yes, but the skill is all mine" Xander chuckled and then disarmed Layton, sending Funem Celer skidding across the floor a few feet away

Xander went to thrust his sword into his opponent's gut, but he was tackled by Ryan who kicked the side of his hip.

"I think it's time we switch" Ryan said as he slowly approached Xander, who was reorganizing himself

"So he's weak to physical attacks, if one can be landed" Layton thought to himself

Ryan and Xander engaged in sword combat, but it was clear from the start that Ryan was the better combatant, and doing better than Layton was. Xander realized that too, so he casted a spell momentarily turned gravity upside down, and then back up. The small delay would have resulted in Xander's blade striking Ryan's armor, but Layton quickly time-skipped in between then and blocked the incoming attack with his own sword, which he had retrieved.

There was a silent but existent understanding between the two fighters - the strategy to take down Xander. Funem Celer dissipated into thin air, for it would not be necessary for their plan. Xander, even being the evil genius that he was, could not figure out what they were up to.

Xander swung his sword and Layton grabbed onto the blade, being protected by his Vibranium glove. Ryan jumped over Layton and landed a big punch to the face on the wizard as he landed. Ryan swung his fist forward, and Layton utilized his time-skip to leave Xander unable to dodge - resulting in Xander smacking into the wall behind him.

"That's one spell you don't know" Layton said

"I may not be the most powerful opponent myself," Xander pushed himself off the wall and brushed dirt off his robe, "but, rest assured that Majin Kai will kill you both"

"You just hide behind your creations, but here you are, defeated" Ryan said

"I wouldn't say I'm defeated. No, not even close" Xander disagreed, waving his hand

A strong force of wind sent the two fighters rolling across the room, landing a few feet away. They stood up and Layton's armor dissipated into purple smoke, leaving him with normal clothes.

"Go help the others" Layton instructed

"I can't... He needs to pay" Ryan insisted

"What'd he do?"

"When Xander first lived, he had a cult of followers that believed in his ways - that society was incomplete and the gods were terrible rulers. Throughout generations, they've come less in numbers, but deadlier, and more quiet" Ryan explained. "They're the ones who killed my mother. I know it. I saw the symbol of the Majin on their robes"

"That was a nice history lesson, and very accurate" Xander said. "However, they only takes out prominent figures in society"

"Well, my mom was the chief of police for New York" Ryan replied. "And it's also part of the reason I got good with this"

From the strap on his side, Ryan pulled out a technologize-d pistol - a blaster that had a white trigger and magazine, with the rest being the same shade of red as his armor.

"Your mom was a fan of Star Wars?" Layton questioned

"Ares and Hera were able to convince Hephaestus to make me this. It uses highly advanced technology, and works on monsters just as it does demigods and humans" Ryan said. "By extension, evil wizards"

"Do you seriously believe that could kill me? If you do, go ahead and try it out" Xander mocked

For any normal eyes, the events that unfolded would have been too quick to see. Ryan fired the blaster and a laser shot out. Xander vanished into smoke and appeared behind them, but Layton time-skipped to freeze him for a moment as the laser bounced off the wall. The demigods made way and the laser made direct contact with the sorcerer.

Xander stumbled backwards and clenched his chest where the laser had made contact, and where smoke was arising.

"Lucky shot" Xander claimed. "But it won't happen again"

This time, Xander vanished into dark smoke for sure. In his place, an army of about twenty or so skilled and armored skeletons stood, ready to charge and attack with their swords.

"Each of those are dead members of the cult" Ryan said. "And there's a lot of those"

"Comforting" Layton muttered as Funem Celer reappeared in his hand

The skeleton warriors marched forward and the two demigods prepared themselves for the exhausting and tough battle ahead

Percy

"Ever fight a guy like this before?" Chloe asked as we rolled out of the way from Ephilates's spear

"A couple of times" I answered

Ephilates raised up a plaster mountain and was about to throw it, but I caused a water pipe to burst at his feet. The giant lost his balance and toppled backwards, dropping the mountain and landing on his back.

Chloe fired a silver arrow from her bow-sword which landed at the giants foot and exploded. The bow was silver but the edges were golden and made of the same material as a sword, so it could be used as either weapon depending on the situation.

"I said you cannot kill me" Ephilates grumbled as he stood back up. "Your efforts are a waste, give up demigods"

"This is where our powers will mix quite nicely" Chloe whispered

From the sides of the vicinity, smoke began to roll in from nowhere in particular. Ephilates looked around in confusion, and we all watched as the smoke surrounded us in one large box. The ground beneath contorted into sand, and on the left, one-third of it became water. Above us, the roof turned into the vast night sky.

"An illusion?" I questioned

"Basically, but it's like were actually here - on a beach in the middle of a cold night" Chloe explained

"A cool trick indeed, but a change in scenery won't help your favor" Ephilates dismissed

The giant charged in but I willed a large wave of water to crash down and momentarily stop him. Chloe fired another arrow that exploded against his chest. We charged in and began to slash away at his legs until we had him backed up in the water.

Suddenly, the ground shook and the illusion broke off from one of the corners. Otis came stumbling in through the waters until he slashed his spear, me and Chloe only barely being able to move out of the way. Behind him, Jason, Piper and Ryan came running in after him. We met up along the shore, and the giants remained in the water.

"They're definitely tough" Piper said

"Nothing like I've ever faced" Chloe agreed

"Where's Xander?" I asked

"Gone. His army of skeletons are being dealt with by our friends" Ryan answered

"Have you given up demigods?" Otis exclaimed

"Not yet!" I shouted back

Otis scowled and charged forward, but Jason summoned the wind to stop his momentum. I called on a large waved to rise up and crash down onto him, knocking him over. Ephilates charged in but the others quickly rushed over to deal with him. Me and Jason attacked as one, launching at Otis and brining our swords down onto his head, and he exploded into powder on the waters surface.

His essence tried to reform, but Jason blasted him with lightning and he turned to dust again. Something exploded behind us and we turned to see Ephilates charging towards us, the others laying on the ground. Jason called another lightning strike but Ephilates deflected it with his spear.

Once the giant was close enough, we ran around Ephilates and slashed at him, a blur of gold and bronze attacking him, but the giant continued to parry each strike.

"Yield! For I will not! You may have ruined my show, but Gaea will ruin your world!" Ephilates roared

I slashed my sword with all my strength and sliced the giant's spear in half, but Ephilates used the lower end to knock me down. Jason stepped into his guard and stabbed at his chest, but the giant parried that strike too and sliced the tip of his spear at Jason's chest before kicking him back.

Ephilates picked both me and Jason up and then tossed us over to where the rest of our friends were laying. If the ground hadn't been soft sand, we most likely we could have died from the fall. Up at the spectators box, Bacchus continued to watch.

"You demigods were troublesome, but like all others, you fall" Ephilates said as he slowly began to march to us, looking like he was deciding how to end us

Once he was about ten feet away, three giant vines erupted from the ground behind him, wrapping around his neck and both his arms, keeping him in place. The vines caught fire and Ephilates roared in pain as the sand around his feet began to spin rapidly. A sandstorm shot up and blocked the giant from view.

"Bacchus?" Piper asked

"No" Jason pointed over to the far left

Over by Ephilates, Layton stood with green-armored demigod. The left-half of his suit was torn to shreds and he didn't look too happy about it. The sandstorm over the giant came to a stop and the vines retreated into the ground, leaving an unhappy Ephilates.

"Who dares?" The giant bellowed, looking around until he stopped his enemies

"That's Victor. He's the best of the three of us" Ryan said

"I hope it's enough to make a difference" I mumbled

Ephilates charged, still welding the bottom half of his broken spear. Layton and Victor rolled out of the way but the giant quickly stopped in his tracks and picked them both up in his fists, squeezing them tight. Identically to before, he tossed the two of them over to us and they landed with an explosion of sand.

"I don't think this guy understands how sand works" Victor said

"We only need a few more minutes" Layton said, looking up at the sky momentarily "Jason, I need you to lend me a hand for this"

Jason groaned. "What?"

"One last correctly timed lightning bolt. Just like last time" Layton answered

"I'll try" Jason nodded

"I think I've figured out just how to torture you all" Ephilates said as he stood ten feet in front of us

I lifted my finger up. "In case you were thinking about waterboarding us, It won't-"

"No!" Ephilates interrupted. "I think I'll feed you to the leopards, just to show Dionysus"

"I still think it would be cooler to let us go" Piper charmspoke

"Yeah. That would show Dionysus" Chloe added

Ephilates and Piper engaged into some kind of conversation as the others got whatever plan they had going.

"Just what are you going to do?" I whispered

"I've never tired it before, so I'm not sure if it'll work. If it doesn't, the worst is that Ephilates gets even angrier then he already is" Layton explained and nodded over to Jason

I noticed his left fist had a dark purple outline of energy that was gaining brightness. The lightning bolt came crashing down and cut off Ephilates as he preached about Gaea again. Using the momentary delay, Layton got up and lunged, hitting the giant's leg with his fist.

For a couple of seconds, nothing happened and the giant looked down, bursting out into laughter and the absence of harm. I also thought it didn't work, until Ephilates attempted to step forward. As he did, he quickly froze and the same purple outline that covered Layton's fist earlier covered his entire body.

Ephilates gritted his teeth. "C-Can't... move"

"What happened?" Chloe asked me

"I'm not sure" I said

A few moments later, a dark oval shape began to descend upon the beach. In the lake, Otis yelled out, trying to warn his brother, but it came out as a bunch of gibberish.

"What did you do foolish demigods?" Ephilates demanded

The Argo II landed and settled on the sandy floor. Leo stood by the helm, and Hazel and Frank stood next to him.

"Here just in time!" Coach Hedge said

Suddenly, Bacchus was standing next to us. We all got up and brushed sand off our clothes, knowing we wouldn't be harmed if we did.

"I have decided that you all are worthy partners for combat" Bacchus announced

"Partners? But you didn't do anything!" Jason retorted

Bacchus walked to the shore and the mist rolled out, leaving us back in the original room, and Otis gone. He then strutted over to Ephilates, who was still standing in place with one leg forward. The purple glow faded around the giant and he toppled forward, landing with a loud clang.

"Bacchus, you foo-"

The Roman god smacked Ephilates across the face with his pinecone-topped staff and the giant crumbled to ashes.

"Now that, is how you kill two giants" Bacchus said