Nick didn't know what to expect after falling through, it definitely wasn't what he got. From eternal foreboding darkness to sudden eye splitting blinding light, Nick was more confused than ever. He winced and closed his eyes tightly while the whooshing sound of air filled his ears. Although he knew he was falling to his death there was a certain relaxing aspect of being in freefall, he almost felt at peace.

He was falling for what felt like an eternity. Anxiety started building up again knowing that any second he would finally reach the floor. Suddenly he felt a gravitational force pushing on him, gradually slowing his fall enough to yank him to a full stop. He opened his eyes and blinked them rapidly, trying to get used to the stinging brightness of the area. All he could make out was that he was inches away from a stone wall.

Nick was then dropped on the floor which he though was the wall. His headache spiked again as his muzzle crashed into the unforgiving hard surface for the fifth time. He grunted and groaned in pain.

"You alright man?" asked a familiar voice. Nick raised his head to look at Vern standing in front of him.

"No, my head hurts and..." Nick finally couldn't handle his nauseousness anymore. He threw up on the floor and wretched. Vern gave a disgusted expression.

"Ew, are you sick or something?" Vern finally noticed how bloody and tore up his face was. With the color of Nicks fur the blood blended in really well. "Concussion?" Nick gave a fatigued nod. Vern thought back to their previous fight. Surely he hadn't accidently injured him.

"Come on, lets get you up." Vern carefully picked Nick up again to search for shelter. Fortunately that would be easy this time. Nick got his first glance at the new world they were dropped in. The entire landscape was littered with run-down ruins of houses made with traditional building materials like wood, drywall, and brick. Most of these houses seem sound enough to enter and rest in. Overhead there was a grid of high powered lights that stretched over the entire expanse. Although distant he could see they were still trapped by walls of rock. They were still underground.

Vern kicked down a dilapidated door and walked in. No one was home, looks like no has been home for a while. He slowly laid down Nick on the floor and searched for any commodities such as blankets or pillows. The wooden floor creaked with every step he took. Upstairs each room was battered and broken down, as well as dusty from the crumbling ceiling and walls. The air was also dreadfully polluted with airborne particulates, but not as bad as the downstairs.

While venturing the old house Vern sought for any clues as to why everything had been abandoned. His first thoughts were, signs of radioactivity? Revolution? There were no obvious signs that anything went wrong, the inhabitants just left without a trace, leaving their lives and homes just as they left them.

After ripping off the blankets and pillows of some cleaner beds and shaking the dust off, Vern went back downstairs to tend to Nick.

"Alright, listen up. For a concussion to heal all you really need is loads of sleep and rest. I don't want you to move a muscle, ok." He threw down the blanket on Nick and put the pillow under his head.

"Find Judy. Make sure she's safe," he said drowsily. Nick had lost most of his strength. With his adrenaline rush now wore off his tiredness is now collecting its debts. His body was sore and every muscle hurt. His head ached, his paws were in anguish, and everything about his situation had drained him physically and emotionally.

"I'll try, but no promises," said Vern as he was walking out the building. He made sure to open all the windows on his way out to provide him with fresh air. Vern stepped down the porch and to the street. Taking another look of the surrounding houses, the next house was more run down than the last, as well as eerie. The whole neighborhood looked out of place, like it was heisted from a modern sunny suburban neighborhood, then went through multiple tornadoes after being plagued by termites.

He first turned right, walked down the street a little, then turned back to search the left side. He broadly glazed over and listened for any activity from the street. She couldn't have been dumped too far away from them, assuming she survived the fall.

"Judy!" he called out. "Where are you!" No response.

The sound of cracking and tumbling wood suddenly emanated from a nearby house. He had no doubts it was just the building falling apart, but he had to be sure. Vern decided to enter and investigate.

He kicked down another dilapidated door and strode in cautiously. He looked from left to right across the room, soon to finally set his eyes on a weird grey fury bunny being laying at the bottom of the stairwell. Seems she fell down the stairs, or rather the stairs gave out while she was walking down. Debris and chunks of wood surrounded her on the floor. She writhed on the floor grunting in pain. Vern stepped over to her.

"Hi there," he said with delight. Judys first instinct was to draw her firearm. She painstakingly removed the gun from the holster and weakly trained the barrel at him. Telekinetically he wrenched the gun from her hand then brought it to his palm. It was so small, almost cute. He tossed it down into his pocket then turned his attention to the bunny girl.

"Judy I presume?"

"Mmhm," she grunted and slumped. Her body was battered and bloody. The severe discoloration of her bruises seeped through her fur. She was in pain and struggled to move. Vern telekinetically assisted her, hoisting her body in the air to gently lead her out.

Vern brought her into the adjacent house to Nick so as to not disturb him. She was lightly placed on the ground, and once again the blankets and pillow were taken from the cleanest bed he could find in the house, then thrown onto her. Getting comfortable was problematic, but once she could rest she dozed off to sleep.

Both their injuries are very serious and substantial. They'll need many weeks or months to fully recover, which was time Vern knew they didn't have. The chances of survival were abysmal. Although, he went this far already, he didn't invest all this time and effort into helping them only to fail. He would see to that they succeed and escaped safely. He wasn't going to get far anyway by himself, a little teamwork could go a long way, assuming they can stand on their own two feet anytime soon.

He sat in the corner quietly watching her as she slept, speculating about what these people were. They were curious beings, unlike anything he had seen before. He had to know their origins, to know what they are.

After minutes of sitting in the corner Vern himself grew drowsy. He fought his tiredness, he had to stay up and stand guard. He didn't trust his new environment, for a good reason. However, resisting the allure of sleep could result in his downfall, always having to be on edge, neglecting his need for sleep, but his inability to rest could also be his undoing. He slowly slumped over onto the floor, finally caving in and falling asleep himself.

It wasn't exactly the most comfortable sleep in the world. He woke up with a painful kink in his neck, his spine and body were stiff, and with every movement a joint popped and creaked. He tried his best to stretch silently to not wake Judy, only to realize she was stirring.

"Morning," said Vern. He got up to better stretch himself. "So, good news. Your still alive and your friend is safe."

"Nick? Where is he?" she said. Her voice was hoarse and pained.

"Next door. I'll go see if he's awake." After a short walk he came up the stair and peeked in. Nick was still calmly sleeping in serenity, until Vern came along. He banged his fist on the doorframe to startle Nick awake.

"Wakey wakey!" Vern exclaimed. Nick lifted his head up and glared at him. He then laid back down and rubbed his eyes.

"Did you find her? he asked.

"Yeah, but she's not looking too great. I mean...your not looking good either, but your better off than her." Nick threw off his blankets to sit up and stand. His burnt paws still hurt, but wasn't anything he couldn't endure. He took a sharp breath with every step, alongside managing his dizziness while Vern watched impatiently.

"Come on, we don't have all day." He telekinetically hoisted him off his feet and floated Nick beside him for the walk over to Judy.

"Knock knock, guess who's here," said Vern. Nick and Judys faces lit up once they saw each other. Vern placed Nick at Judys side.

"I'm so glad your ok," said Nick.

"Not looking...so bad...yourself," said Judy painfully. Nick gazed at Judys broken body.

"Don't worry carrots, Vern will get us out of here soon. You'll get patched up, good as new."

Truth be told, Vern secretly suspects they will die of their injuries far before they escape. With no medical equipment or attention to give they could die of any obscure symptom of their injuries. Such as Nicks concussion. He could easily develop a stroke now which would be fatal, and since his brain is already swollen from his initial injury if he hits his head hard enough again he almost certainly would die. Or Judys fall. Many of Judys bones were broken and she could be suffering from internal bleeding and organ failure, which Vern has no way of fixing without surgery. She could already be as good as dead. She is already so weak and in pain, all he can really do now is make sure they are comfortable and die happily together. Come to think of it, its a little surprising their still alive right now at all.

"Is there any water?" Nick asked. Vern shook his head.

"Nope," he lied. He had a small canteen of water in his coat pocket, but he wasn't willing to give his very limited water to the sickly duo. If he could find another source, then he would provide.

"I'll go look for some. Just stay here and catch up." He walked out the door as Nick started recounting his tale of how they survived. Vern really did feel sorry for them, but this is just how life tends to play out. He walked up and down the streets, invading vacant homes, searching for any stored water, but every house was empty.

He kicked yet another door to break in, except this door didn't budge. He kicked it again harder. Still nothing. Growing weary he kicked it one more time while imposing his telekinetic power, blasting the wood into chips. Immediately an arrow whizzed out and struck him in the chest. He stumbled back and cursed.

"Shit!" he exclaimed. Against his better judgment he opted to yank the arrow out of his chest. He quickly tried to put his hand over the wound only to find he was completely fine. Dumbfounded, he took a look at the arrow. The arrowhead was unlike any arrowhead he's ever seen, a glistening lustrous bronze.

A strange man and woman turned the corner of the building, both armed with swords. One of their swords were of the same glistening bronze as the arrowhead.

"And who the heck are you two?" Vern asked. He threw his arms up in exasperation. Part of him wanted to strike them down immediately, but he held back. The pair quietly conversed their next move, determining if it was safe to approach this new strange person who encroached on their home. A new figure with a drawn bow emerged from the doorway to provide backup, and took aim at Vern. Seeing this Vern was certain they were hostile.

"You know what. Frick it." With his telekinetic power he shoved his arms forward, violently launching the pair across the stone yard. The figure in the doorway shot his arrow which was immediately touchlessy deflected, then he himself was ripped from the house and thrashed onto the hard ground. He walked over to the now disarmed archer.

"You wanna talk now, or do I just have to kill you, or what." The archer laid there battered and bloody, unwilling to speak to him. Instead he called out a name.

"Frank!"

"Who?" he said aloud. Another arrow planted itself in Verns back. He grimaced and turned around to see a new foe, a man in a purple shirt and bow standing on the roof of their building. He turned his head and also saw the couple he launched, although beaten and hurt, were back up and ready to fight with their weapons drawn and proudly in the air. Vern reached around his back to yank out the arrow, it was the same weird bronze arrowhead as before. Once again, there was no wound in its place.

Frank stared Vern down from his perch while the blasted pair regrouped.

"You take left, I'll go right," said the woman. The man nodded. As they enacted their plan the pair was telekinetically lifted and thrusted into their building behind them, knocking them unconscious against the brick front. Vern couldn't help but let out a smirk. It was kinda funny to him that they still tried. Most people fled near instantly.

Another arrow was shot, but was easily deflected touchlessly by Vern. He gave Frank a smug smile. Frank appeared to be enraged. He fumed and glared at him. Vern didn't take his anger seriously of course. As Frank gritted his teeth he quivered his bow and drew a large sword. He still had a strong fighting spirit and the will to win. He was ready to fight for his friends, to fight to go home, to fight to the death if need be! He took his first step forward to begin the ferocious battle, only for the roof to creak and give out from under him. Vern could hear him crash through every floor of the house and chuckled. Vern turned his attention to the wounded archer, who was strenuously grunting, making an effort to stand up. Soon he came face to face with Vern.

"What do you want with us?" he asked. The archer seemed young, probably in his 20s. He had golden blonde hair, and his face had a streak of blood coming down from his nosebleed. His legs and arms were scuffed and bleeding as well.

All Vern did was shake his head. "I mean...nothing really."

"Then why are you here! Why cant you just leave us alone!"

Vern put his hands up sarcastically to 'surrender.' "Ok, fine. I'll go already. Just leave me alone" Vern started to walk off down the street. Before he went out of earshot he shouted, "but let it be known you started it!"

The archer stood there, shocked and processing what just happened. Suddenly a large grizzly bear ripped through the broken doorway of the house and ran towards Vern. Hearing a sudden crashing noise Vern turned to look back. He saw the six hundred pound grizzly barreling down the street at him.

"The hell?" he said to himself. He held out his arm. With his right hand he clasped his ring finger and pinkie to form a gun with his hand. He mimicked the action of firing his hand 'gun' while imposing his telekinetic power, he exerted a powerful backwards force on the bear itself. It was like running into an invisible brick wall, it crashed to a halt, dead in its tracks. It immediately fell unconscious, even one of its arms appeared dislocated. Vern didn't really care and turned back to continue his hike for water.

"You may be a bear, but don't be poking this bear," he gestured to himself. It took a second for what he said to sink in. "Wow...that was an awful joke." He glanced side to side. "Glad no one else heard that," he said while cringing at himself.

He continued his stroll, now being extra cautious of any other people, but still coming up empty handed. He went back to check up on Nick and Judy. He walked in on them while they were chatting about something of their hometown.

"Ok so...no water," he said, braking the bad news to them. They didn't seem too upset, only letting out a soft sigh.

"Yeah, we kinda expected that," said Nick. "Thanks for trying."

"Yeah," Vern said halfheartedly. He was starting to blame himself. He knew all this was beyond his control, yet he felt that if he did something differently they might not be in this position.

"So...what were you talking about?" He said trying to change the subject.

"Oh, just some things back home," said Nick. "I'm a mentor for some troubled kits in a poor neighborhood."

"Hmm, you sound like a good guy. All the worst stuff always happens to the good guys..." 'Dang it! you were supposed to lighten the mood!' he scolded himself mentally.

"Don't worry about it. You did everything you could. There's no shame in failure." Vern rolled his eyes at that. He really is some kooky mentor.

"So how does your hometown work exactly? I'm still trying to wrap my head around how you exist."

"We're from a place called Zootopia! It's a place where anyone can be anything," Nick said with feigned wonder.

"I take it that's not accurate."

"No, not really. Like any civilization we have many problems, flaws, and many social barriers, but it is a place where mammals seek new opportunities."

"Kinda sounds like America, my home country. There's been this whole concept of 'The American dream' that anyone can accomplish their dreams like starting their owns businesses and stuff like that. I guess it was true a while ago, but for as long as I've lived its been nothing other than another dumpster fire."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?

"Losing your home." Vern scoffed at him.

" I didn't lose anything. America is just a place, a place that's been falling apart since before I was born. Soon as I ditched it I never looked back. No regrets."

"So you tend to run from all your problems?"

"What, no. I just didn't like America. It was boring, mundane, ordinary. I wasn't born telekinetic you know, I had to learn it, earn it, and the only way I could do that was to leave. Since then I've had the time of my life. Like I said, no regrets."

"Don't you miss your family at all?"

"Eh, kinda, not really. Most of my family was dragged down with me actually, most are all dead now. We aren't on good terms anyway, still aren't

"I'm so sorry" Nick said solemnly

"Don't be. My siblings lived nice long happy lives, had kids and everything." Nicks face was ridden with confusion

"What do you mean by that, exactly?

"What else could I mean. They grew up, grew old, had kids, and died."

"But...are the youngest?" Vern let out a soft laugh

"Guess I should clarify. I am the first born of five siblings, I'm also extremely old at two hundred and something years old. See, the telekinetic powers that I acquired have a unique side effect of drastically slowing my aging process. Since my siblings never went down the same road I did, they remained normal with a normal aging process. I wanna say biologically I should be about nineteen-ish."

"Hmm, so...what's it like, you know, outliving your family and everyone you cared about. I can't imagine living through that." Vern rolled his eyes again.

"I'm completely fine of course. Everyone always says how awful it must be to outlive everyone. Truth is its no problem at all. You just have to stop holding onto pointless emotional ties." Nick fell silent for a moment, coming to a realization

"Then why are you helping us at all? What's your agenda." Vern let out another sigh.

"Truth is I don't really care if you die. In fact, I bet Judy has already kicked the bucket." Nick turned his head and saw Judy passed out on the floor. She was shallowly breathing as Nick rushed to check her pulse. Her pulse was weak.

"I'm helping you because despite what you might think I'm not selfish, and I do have common decency. I just see the bigger picture you won't look at. Right now that picture shows me she will die, I cant do anything about it. It also shows you'll most likely die, I still can't do anything about it. I just don't linger or stress about peoples deaths that I have no control over because its pointless to mourn, it's pointless to beat yourself up over an uncontrollable tragedy. In the moment I'll do anything and everything I can to protect and help you, but ultimately all I can do is let you pass, and I accept it." Nicks eyes began to water.

"And it's time for you to accept it. The sooner you do, the better off you'll be."

"I'm sorry Judy!" he said through a sob. Vern rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Alright, guess I'll be back a little later," he said while walking out of the house, leaving Nick to sob in the house alone.

Vern milled around the streets for a while, bursting into other vacant homes in hopes of finding any clues, food, or entertainment. All he found was dirty sheets, dust, and a few small plastic childrens toys. While he was raiding the cabinets he heard a startling knock on a door. Turning his attention to the sound he spied through a window. He found that the source was a familiar strange woman at the backdoor. He went over and opened the door slowly.

"What do you want?" he asked coldly.

"Well, I want to say hello, and sorry. I think we got off on the wrong foot and we'd like you to join us." Vern stared blankly at her.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the sword girl, remember? Me and my friends attacked you moments ago." He stared blankly at her some more.

"Oh, right! I remember now. Your the girl who I threw into the front of the that brick house."

She nodded. "Yep."

"Say, why aren't you seeking revenge. Usually anyone I come across swears vengeance."

"We're not like that," she said while putting her hands up. "We completely understand it was just a misunderstanding."

Vern didn't trust these people, he didn't really trust anyone. What's to stop them from stabbing him in the back at any time? First he would need to make sure that they thought they absolutely needed him.

"So I guess your struggling alot then if you went off to find me."

"We're just stuck, same as you. Its best we pool our resources and powers if we're to make it out alive."

Vern nodded. "True...true. Alright, I guess it would be fine for me to join your group." She smiled.

"Great! Welcome to the team," she put her hand out to shake hands. Vern took a slight step back.

"Ok, not very fond of handshakes I see," she awkwardly put her hand back down.

"So how did you find me anyway?"

"Oh, our friend Frank is a shapeshifter. He's been sniffing you out. Me and Percy had to talk him out of a frontal assault."

"Likes to hold grudges then, doesn't he."

"Not exactly. He is fiercely protective of his friends though. You also wounded him quite a bit when he started to rampage." Verns face lit up.

"Wait a second! He was that charging Grizzly wasn't he."

"Yeah. He says it was the most painful and embarrassing way he'd ever been defeated."

"Eh, being defeated by me is no embarrassment."

"Right...?," she said awkwardly.

"What's your name anyway?"

"My names Annabeth. Annabeth Chase. We'll start introductions when you meet the other guys. They should be fully healed any minute."

"Healed?"

"Yes, you did quite the number on us. It's taken our healer a minute to patch us up."

"A healer? You have an actual healer?"

"Well, yes. Is anything wrong?" Verns eyes widened.

"Its not too late," he said to himself. "I need you to get your healer now!" Vern took off and grabbed her hand, leading her to his house down the street. An eagle noticeably flew over and circled them.

"Here! This house here!" They came to thudding halt in front of the house. "Go bring your healer here now! Go!" Annabeth took off up the street. The eagle still flew overhead, watching him.

"Hey, you feathery dipshit! Go get your healer!" He yelled at the bird. It turned off course and flew up the street overhead Annabeth. He waited several minutes outside for them. Soon he could see figures running frantically towards him. Vern waved his arms in the air while calling out. "Over here!" In a short moment their whole group finally arrived, except for the eagle that remained in the sky.

"This way," Vern dashed into the house. Nick was sitting by Judys side, only to be ripped away telekinetically by Vern to make room. "Over there. She's in the most critical condition."

The golden blonde hair guy was the first on the scene, and knelt next to Judy. Nick was still held by Vern to ensure he wouldn't get in the way. He levitated next to Vern while protesting his containment. The blonde guy rested his hands on Judys belly. He grunted and strained as he healed her, although there was no apparent sign she was being healed.

The rest of the group came in and surrounded Judy soon after. Vern peered out the door to see the eagle flying to swoop to the ground and morph into another familiar person, the guy in the purple shirt. He was scowling and stared intently at Vern. He made sure to stay close with his hand at the hilt of his sword at all times, almost as if he was guarding Vern for his friends. Usually Vern wouldn't tolerate this threatening behavior, but for the sake of Judy it was imperative to stay on his good side, then Vern would make sure they knew to stay on his good side.

Character Glossary. This is meant to familiarize readers with characters used in this chapter for their benefit.

Franchise: Percy Jackson.

Percy: demigod, son of Poseidon

Annabeth Chase: demigod, daughter of Athena

Frank Zheng: demigod, son of Mars (Roman version of Ares) Due his other Ancestry and heritage with Periclymenus he also inherited the ability to shapeshift.

Will Solace: demigod, son of Apollo

More to come!