Narrator
"Glad that's over with" Hazel wiped the sweat off of her forehead, admiring the red sky that she had helped create. "Thanks so much for helping us, Lady Hecate. We couldn't have done it with you"
"It's no problem at all. After all, we're on the same team" the magic goddess replied
"So what? We can kill the dragons now?" Annabeth questioned - Hecate had healed her up after she had taken significant damage from the ship crashing
"I'm afraid that it won't be that big of a help" a loud, but familiar voice said
"Poseidon?" Annabeth said. "Lord Zeus and Hades too"
In fact, the demigods found that all twelve Olympians had gathered before them, which was strange; they had never seen all twelve of them together outside of the throne room.
"Syn's already turned on his comrades and absorbed their power" Hermes informed. "His fight with Percy could destroy the world, no, the entire galaxy if it continues"
"He's fighting Percy?" Annabeth asked in surprise
"The punk is doing pretty good, but I don't expect him to last much longer" Ares said
"It seems he's acquired the Spirit of Vengeance, which is the only reason he's survived thus far" Hera added
"Come, and let us watch this battle" Zeus said
In an instant, Annabeth and Hazel were transported to the beach that Percy and Mera had gone off too, and they spotted a raging battle in the distance.
"It seems the Olympians have come down from their high horse!" Syn exclaimed
"Is that Layton's body?" Hazel asked
"He's become too powerful, so he needs a human vessel to interact with our world" Athena explained
"Seriously, I don't mind taking you all on at once" Syn said as he knocked Percy down, picking him up by the throat. "It's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of battling an Olympian, so why not fight all of them with my new power?"
Syn tossed Percy into the ocean, and Annabeth wanted to go after him, but she held back, knowing that she could easily die by getting any closer, and that Percy would heal in the water anyway.
"I heard you want to destroy the entire universe" Hades said. "That's quite the goal"
"It sounds to me like you're doubting my ability to do" Syn replied. "My negative energy will tear down the universe, reducing it to atoms, and then forming me a new world of my own will"
"Why haven't you done so then?" Hades inquired
"I'm just having a little bit of fun before sending my farewell" Syn answered. "But it seems that playtime is over"
"Hecate" Zeus instructed
"On it"
The ground began to shake immensely as Syn's body faded in and out of existence, as if he struggling to stay in their world; moments later, Layton and Syn were separated from each other, which somehow set off an explosion around them.
"It seems you've separated me from my vessel" Syn said, he was on his knees in the crater of the explosion
Only his silhouette was visible, but was so was Layton's; he stood up behind Syn, having been unfazed from the explosion due to his armor.
"Magic won't be enough to stop me now, even if you kill me"
The smoke form the explosion cleared out with a strong gust of wind; a light ring of fire ran around the crater, encircling the two in it.
"It's game over for you, Syn" Layton said, gripping the horns on Syn's head tightly
And then, it had to have been the most horrific thing that Annabeth had ever seen; it was saying a lot considering everything that she had been to, but in terms of pure disgustingness, there wasn't a moment she could think of that topped this one.
Layton tore Syn open in half, spilling all of the dragon's internal organs - which looked surprisingly human - blood, and bones; they littered the ground beneath the demigod, making a pool of pure gore.
"That was an impressive feat of strength, but I told you that killing me would have no effect" Syn said from above - his presence, processed as red and purple lightning, floated around them. "I've become one with eternity, infinity, and everything that there is"
Red thunderbolts began to shoot down into the forest, igniting multiple explosions that tore trees off of their roots.
"It seems that this truly is the end times" Demeter said
"Is there really nothing that we can do?" Hazel asked
There was a small burst of water, and Percy emerged from the water next to Annabeth, most of his injuries having been healed.
"Did I miss anything?"
"Apparently only the beginning of the end" Annabeth said, taking hold of his hand
"Hades can stop this" Layton insisted, walking over to the group. "The Reality Stone could fix everything and destroy his presence"
"Gods cannot use Infinity Stones, and Demigods wouldn't be able to handle their power, especially on this large of a scale" Hades pointed out
"Percy doesn't have a limiter, which means he should be fine handling it" Layton said
"A what?" Percy said
"I suppose it's only our choice" Zeus admitted. "Hades, hand the boy the stone"
"I'm lost. Could someone fill me in maybe?" Percy asked
Hades held up his hand to the sky, and a red stone that shone as bright as the sun appeared, floating above his hand, which he presented to Percy.
"Take the stone and try to imagine what everything would be like normally" Layton instructed
Percy took the stone from Hades's hands; it felt like seeing, touching, and smelling everything at once, if that was possible. He closed his eyes to concentrate, and in the darkness, he could see all of the destruction that Syn was causing around the world.
"You're not turning back time," Layton reminded, "you're just cancelling out everything Syn is doing"
The stone began to shine every brighter, and the multiple craters that had been caused by the explosion were being filled in with dirt; trees began to stand up on their own, and Syn's loud, cackling voice began to fade into the distance.
What happened next was mostly a blur, but when Percy opened up his eyes again, the world looked as normal as it could get - even though they were standing with all twelve olympians.
"That should get rid of the pest" Demeter said
"I'm afraid not" Zeus replied. "As the boy pointed out, we haven't turned back time, only canceled him out. The Shadow-Dragons still live, which means they'll need to be captured and returned to the archives"
"So we still have to hunt them down then" Percy figured
"That's correct" Zeus confirmed
"I can do it myself, that is, under one condition" Layton said
"I believe I know what it is" Hephaestus announced. "You want what we confiscated back, don't you?"
Six Months Later (July 4th)
Fireworks exploded up ahead, displaying images of the different battles in ancient times, but also including the more recently fought ones - Camp Half-Blood figured it was important to celebrate their hard-fought and well-deserved victories.
"I'm not trying to jinx anything, but we've had six whole months without any problems" Leo said
"That's totally jinxing it" Victor sighed
The Great Seven demigods had gathered at Camp Half-Blood to celebrate July 4th, along with Nico, Grover, and Hera's Trio Brigade - they had come up with the name themselves, thinking it would be better to have one.
"There must still be Shadow-Dragons out there though, considering, you know..." Annabeth said
"Poseidon told me that every dragon had been released, so that could be why" Percy replied
Following Syn's defeat, the Demigods had gone through a lengthy process to revive Jason, who had been killed by Toxicus early on in the battle; he was grateful to be alive again, but was also sorry that he was unable to help them out by dying so easily.
"If only things could always be like this, and then nature would have to stop getting hurt" Grover said, chewing on a tin can
"No one should have to get hurt anymore" Jason agreed
"But if there is problems, we'll be there to stop it" Ryan said, though he didn't like the idea. "I don't think any of us have the greatest pasts, which means having this responsibility is kind of a bummer, but it is what it is"
"You guys are so depressing, why can't we just enjoy the fireworks" Chloe pointed up to the sky, where another firework was set off
"Anybody hear that?" Leo said a couple of moments later
"Hear what?" Piper asked
Loud bells rang through the vicinity, raising the demigods' hairs and chilling them to the bone - the bells sound old, and as creepy as they could get. On top of that, it also sounded like there was an old clock playing in reverse, which added to the creepiness.
Next, the demigods were hit with a strong nausea, as if something was compelling them to go to sleep.
"My head's killing me" Frank grunted
By now, all of the demigods were on their knees in pain from the sound of the bells, and their vision was hazy, as much as it was spinning all over the place.
Footsteps approached from the forest, and they spotted a heavily-clothed figure coming towards them. They wore metal armor, a black cloak over it, a navy-blue bandana, and a beanie-like headwear over their hair, which hid their identity, with the exception of their barely visible eyes. On their back, they carried five different shaped staffs, which ranged from a double curved question mark to one that had a horned-skull on it.
He waved his hand, and the demigods felt their senses returning to normal, as if nothing had happened in the first place. Percy focused hard on the identity of the figure, and he recognized the unique silver eyes and hair that was sticking out.
"It's been a while, but you guys haven't changed one bit" Layton lowered down his bandana and removed his beanie
"I would have thought you were an enemy based off the magic you casted" Ryan rubbed the last bit of tiredness out of his eyes
"That was your magic?" Leo asked
"It's just the initial effect of being so close to all five of my weapons" Layton informed
"You mean the staffs" Annabeth said. "They look familiar, but I can't put my finger on it"
"Their the Sacred Staffs of Babel. I was in possession of all five of them at one point before, but the Olympians confiscated them for whatever reason" He explained. "I needed them if I was going to clean up the dragons"
"So did you do it?" Percy said
"As far as I know, they're all gone, but there's another problem" He said. "Majin Kai and Syn both went down relatively easily, but they left a pretty bad mark on the world"
"I don't like the sound of this" Leo narrowed his eyes
"The Mist is slowly crumbling down, and it has been ever since Kronos was defeated" He revealed. "It's exposing pantheons to one another, and soon enough, we'll be facing even greater threats"
Elsewhere
"Fury's getting impatient. Six months ago, New York was half-destroyed, but it was suddenly repaired out of the blue" Mr. Stark, one of the richest men in the world, said. "Yet, the people who died in the incident remain dead"
"There's only one force I know of that could do such a thing" Thor said
"You mean the Infinity Stones that you were talking about" Mr. Stark nodded. "I ran tons of tests on the radiation left over in that half of New York, and its unlike anything that I know of"
"It does have a bit of gamma radiation in it, but other than that, it was unearthly" Doctor Banner added
"I want to move in on these special people of teenagers that have been eluding me for a while now, maybe I can get some answers there" Mr. Stark said. "A few of them have access to Vibranium, which means I know just the person to bring them in"
