AN: Here we are. Back again!

I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. As for the Poll, the winner is...

(Insert Drumroll)

No Stand Cry!

Which makes a bit of sense, as much as I would have been pleased for it to have been BORARA, because of D4C's already menacing striking power.

Right, enough talk.

Let's begin!

Disclaimer: I, Beowulf, do not own PJO or JJBA. I only own this plot, my OC, and the disappointing truth that I do not possess D4C. If I did, I'd be jumping around universes like a bunny on crack.

~Chapter 7~

Cyrus glanced around the room. "Right, I need two campers to take with me on this quest..." He thought to himself, pointedly ignoring the stare that a certain child of Zeus was boring into the side of his head.

He thought for a moment. The Apollo campers were unneeded on this quest, considering they had two hunters with (obviously) good archery, as well as one of said hunters being a healer. Plus, he was still a crack shot with his Last Word...

What was now needed? "I need close combat and more tracking skills. The hunters can track with the best of them no doubt, but we need something more. We are hunting after a Goddess after all..."

Cyrus glanced over at Grover, who was now nibbling on a cheese-covered ping-pong ball. "Perfect."

The Satyr froze as the boy's dual-colored eyes fixed on him. "Grover, what's the success rate you have on your tracking spells?"

"U-um. Probably around like eighty to eighty-five percent?" The nervous half-goat managed to stammer it out. "W-why do you ask?

The overcoated teen nodded in approval. "Because you're my first choice."

Grover's face drained of color as he slowly swallowed the ping-pong ball he'd been chewing on. Cyrus simply looked at him, before the satyr nodded hesitantly. "Alright good, for my next choice-"

"I'm going with you," Thalia butted in, her voice stern and unyielding as she stood up and glared around the room, as if daring someone to say otherwise. No one dared to meet her determined gaze.

Cyrus sighed, but nodded. He knew exactly how stubborn the daughter of the Sky could be, and he didn't feel the need to fight it. He looked around the room, his green-pink gaze scanning over the occupants before he fixed on one in particular.

"Why him?" A voice snarled out as its source stood up. Darius's angry brown eyes glared as Cyrus turned his gaze from Percy to the Ares camper, "Jackson's always the one who goes on these quests! He went on his two summers ago for the Master Bolt, and then he messed with Clarisse's quest last summer! So why are you picking him?!"

The centaur made to speak and calm the boy down, but Cyrus stopped him with a hand, before turning to the Cabin Five member with a frown. "Simple. It's because Jackson wants to prove me wrong."

Cyrus stood up, pacing a little as his gaze fell again on the son of Poseidon. "He's a rulebreaker, considering he did so last summer. Granted, for a just reason. He did it to save his friend Grover. But no, it's personal this time...am I wrong?"

Percy frowned, crossing his arms and looking up at the elder teen. "Yeah, you are."

"Are you sure Jackson? Are you sure you wouldn't have tried to sneak out and join us at all? I wonder, if it were Grover or Annie that had been captured, taken prisoner, etc etc...would you have done it then?" Cyrus raised an eyebrow challengingly. Percy's frown deepened. He knew for a fact that if his friends were captured or in danger, he'd be frothing at the mouth like a rabid dog to get in on a quest to help them.

But now, there was no reason to be involved. None of his friends were in any immediate danger, so why join...? "...But what if one of them gets hurt on this quest?" An unbidden thought spoke up in the corner of his mind.

Meanwhile, a pair of silvery-gray eyes stared at the raven-maned Stand User of a demigod, analyzing and calculating as they always did. Annabeth frowned a little as she tried to understand why Cyrus was pushing so many of Percy's buttons.

She knew all that Cyrus would need to do was just say who he wanted on the quest and that would be it. He would be able to leave and do the quest...but he wasn't. Why was he doing it?

It almost seemed like he was trying to get Percy to say yes to going on this quest on his own volition, and not just because Cyrus chose him.

While she personally wasn't very happy about the fact that Cyrus didn't pick her, she knew the dark-haired teenager well. After all, he had found her well before Thalia and Luke had.

He was her big brother in everything but blood. And while he was always enigmatic and secretive, he always had his reasons for why he did things...but it didn't mean she had to like the things he did.

At this moment, she was not a fan of how Cyrus was poking at Percy.

"I'll say it again. You, Percy Jackson, are naive and foolish." The Stand User approached the son of the Sea, speaking calmly, "You took the quest for the Master Bolt not for the sake of the world, but to save your mother, being naïve enough to think that you could pull a fast one on Hades himself. And after that, you left your camp in danger in order to save your friend, not even thinking of the consequences. Simply put, you are naïve, foolish, and rush in without thinking twice about the cost of your actions."

Percy was definitely gritting his teeth, looking like he was going to fly out of his chair and throttle the elder teen.

"However," Cyrus continued, "You also managed to not only escape the Underworld with all of your friends, and get your mother back with the return of the Master Bolt, but you managed to battle Ares to a standstill. You made the choice for Clarisse to return with the Fleece in order to save the camp and managed to outwit the traitorous son of Hermes. I must admit, you have three of the traits I prize highly. Determination, at least a little bit of Cunning, and most importantly, Resolve."

Cyrus's voice was strong and measured as he spoke, like a leader or a ruler giving a speech. "The will to move forward with your decisions, even though it may invite pain and suffering onto yourself. You moved forward with your quest for the Master Bolt, leaving your mother behind even though you could have never seen her again, and you did the same when facing the son of Hermes, risking your own life for your camp. Impressive, to say the least. And that, is the reason why I know I can trust you to stand at my side in this quest."

He turned to the son of Ares, Darius, who was calming down and was looking at Cyrus with a hint of awe in his eyes. "As to the reason why I do not take any others..." He began as he turned his gaze upon every single person in the room. He got blushes from Silena, Bianca and Katie (who each got glares from Thalia), nods of respect from Charlie and Lee, understanding grins from the Stolls, and a disappointed but resigned frown from Annabeth, "It is because of one reason, and one reason only. You must defend this camp and the lives of the children," at this he looked out of the window at the many cabins that were in the distance, "that call this place home."

All of the gathered demigods straightened a bit at that, an aura of pride about them, as Darius finally sat down, having been satisfied with the response. Chiron sat with a pleased smile on his face as Mr. D sipped on his coke, both looking at Cyrus with glints of approval in their eyes.

"Now then," Cyrus sat down once again, his mischievous grin once again at home on his face. "I believe our meeting is adjourned?"

The meeting had ended after that, with Cyrus headed back to the Hermes cabin to get some shut-eye...except he couldn't sleep. His eyes cracked open as he felt a buzzing in his pajama pants.

Quickly using D4C to disappear from his sleeping bag, he reemerged from the side of the cabin, flipping open the phone. "(Make it quick. It's late here)."

"(Boss, it's me)."

"(Illuso. What do you have for me)?"

A sigh could be heard on the other side of the line. "(Not as much as I would've hoped. All we know is that the Old Blood have hired some mean fuckers to deal with you. We're talking some of the big hitters, some could even give us a run for our money)!"

Cyrus cursed, his eyes narrowing. If Illuso was praising the work of these guys, they had to be good. "(We should have bled the Old Blood dry after I took command, how the hell are they able to hire people like that)?"

"(I don't know. All I can find is that they have this...mysterious benefactor or some shit)." The voice on the other end grumbled in irritation at not having as much information as he'd hoped.

"(Mysterious benefactor? Do you think you can look into that)?" Cyrus asked, scanning the area for any harpies that might have decided to make their rounds.

The voice paused for a moment. "(I'll be on it Boss. Razione's already working on decoding the guys after you right now. We haven't gotten much, but we've got this much: They're all Stand Users)."

Cyrus swore as he rubbed his forehead before running a hand through his mane of hair. "(Oh fuck me sideways...)"

"(My thoughts exactly Boss)."

"(Whatever. I'll figure something out. Keep me posted on whatever you find Illuso. And remember to use that method to contact me if you can. I'm trying to keep off the phones as much as possible)."

"(Got it Boss. You can count on us)."

Click. Cyrus leaned back against the cabin wall with a groan. "Fucking 'Gravity'..." The boy grumbled to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose before using D4C to slip back to his sleeping bag.

He failed to notice a black pegasus flying off somewhere, bearing a certain son of Poseidon on its back.

The next morning, Five of the six meant to go on the quest were gathered near the entrance to camp. The Hunters sat on the ground, glaring impatiently at their quest leader while Cyrus, Grover, and Thalia idly chatted and caught up with each other.

"And then she said," in a high voice, Grover said, "'You drool in your sleep'. Percy had such a horrified expression!"

The three friends laughed, smiles on their faces.

Thalia smirked as she chimed in, "I bet ten drachma that he confesses when he gets back."

Cyrus laughed a little, before making a confused expression on his face. "Confesses to who about what? You wouldn't mean...Annabeth, right?" He asked innocently, quietly summoning the aura of his Stand behind him.

Thalia and Grover froze mid-laugh as the form of D4C slowly took shape starting with the cold fuchsia eyes. They looked at each other, their eyes making a silent (panicked) conversation.

Way to go Goat boy! You know how protective he is over Annabeth! Thalia half-glared at Grover. The satyr may have been passed out when the Stand User had mentioned what he would do to Annabeth's exes on Apollo's bus, but even she remembered, and shivered. Oh she could only imagine the torment that awaited a certain sandy-haired son of Hermes.

It slipped my mind! Help me here, I suck at lying! Grover screamed out mentally at Thalia.

Cyrus laughed heartily as he stopped manifesting his Stand, letting it disappear. "Oh Gods, your faces were hilarious! Ah, I needed that." He chuckled as he cracked his neck a little bit as well. "Mmm, glad I showed you guys D4C, always feels weird not letting it out like that for so long."

"And relax Grover, I know it. Hell, I'm sure a blind man could see the signs." Grover sighed in relief, his satyr heart slowing from it's beat-per-picosecond pace.

"Could see what signs?" Annabeth and Chiron said as they strolled over. The satyr paled again as the daughter of Athena approached while Cyrus stifled a laugh at Grover's expense. "Out of the frying pan and into the fire, huh G-guy?"

"Oh nothing, just the signs of how my cutest little sis grew up!" He said with a laugh as he wrapped his arms around the surprised Annabeth. He spun her around before setting her down, a huge grin on his face. "I remember when you only went up to my thigh! Ah, the old days, when you pretended to be tough when you were actually shaking like a leaf. There were those other times too! When I'd tell you bedtime stories, those cute widdle gray eyes wide with wonder, always begging for one mo-"

"Cyrus!" The daughter of Athena protested, her face blushing bright red with embarrassment as Thalia grinned at the new blackmail material. "Quit it!"

"Unless you want me to talk about that time in Nevada with that minor Goddess!"

Cyrus stiffened for a moment, a painfully bright rainbow appearing in his memory, before laughing it off. "Okay okay, I'll lay off on the teasing." He conceded as he let go of the young blonde, ignoring the curious glare from his raven-haired best friend.

Looking over to Chiron, he raised an eyebrow in question. "Water boy nowhere to be found?"

The centaur shook his head with a sigh. "I'm afraid not. I've checked everywhere, even in his cabin, with no luck."

Cyrus hmmed thoughtfully, his gaze falling on Annabeth, who seemed to be beaming a little bit optimistically. Like she wanted something...

"So...you're one man short for your quest?" So that's what it was...Cyrus frowned a little.

He grabbed Annabeth's shoulder gently, leading her away as he called over his shoulder. "Give us just a moment." After walking a bit further away from the group, he turned to face her, a sad look in his eyes.

"You aren't coming with me Annie." He said quietly. The girl's smile turned upside down, her gray eyes tinged with hurt.

"Why not?" She asked, her voice steady, but holding a hint of the same hurt he'd seen in her eyes.

Cyrus sighed, looking her in the eyes. "C'mon Annie, you know why." And she did. That didn't mean she was happy with it.

"Besides, I've chosen six, but now we're five. This is what the prophecy said, so why tamper with Fate's design?"

"But I could help!" Annabeth stomped her foot childishly, her voice pleading. Cyrus sighed. He really wasn't the best with crying girls like this...

He ran a hand through his mane of hair, absently letting D4C out. Annabeth stiffened at seeing the still strange figure appear, before she looked at it for a moment. The Stand's eyes were generally just a cold gaze, but now it felt...sad.

"I know Annie, believe me, I do. But I need you here! You're the best strategist Camp Half-Blood has to offer, with all the things I've taught you since I met you! I'm trusting you with their lives Annabeth, and I know you can do it."

Annabeth sniffled a little, still stubborn. "B-but I'm stronger now! I'm not a scared little girl like I was back then, I can do this!"

Cyrus hugged her gently, patting her back. "Shh, it's okay. I know, I know it sucks. I don't want to leave you alone either, but you and I both know how important this is. Even Ms. Hoot up there doesn't know everything." He quipped at the end, succeeding in making her giggle a little.

"Oh Gods, don't let her hear you say that." She said with a small laugh, before wiping away a few tears. She took a deep breath. "It's not fair...but I get it. Promise me you'll come back though? This time in less than seven years?"

"I promise my little owl-brain," he teased as she hit him playfully. "And tell that old Lobster Head that he's missed his chance to earn some brownie points with me when you see him okay?"

Annabeth laughed at the new nickname Percy had now, before nodding. As she dried her tears and calmed down, the two walked back over to the remaining quest-goers. Cyrus looked over at Chiron, who looked a little agitated. His tail was flicking back and forth and he was shuffling on his hooves.

"Something the matter Chiron?"

Chiron grimaced a little before he spoke, "I forgot to mention at the meeting that the Winter Solstice is in eight days. All the Gods will be there, which means Artemis must be rescued by then."

"A little over a week then huh? That should be enough time..." Cyrus mused before turning to the old teacher with a nod. "We'll get it done."

Turning back to his group, he clapped his hands together, "Alright, lets get this show on the road. Any ideas on where to start?"

"West, obviously." Phoebe snapped, glaring at Cyrus openly, "You should have known that. After all, you got the quest."

The boy turned to her with a deadpanned stare.

"Yeah, no shit. We need a bit more to go off of than a single cardinal direction." He sniped back, getting a scowl from the hunter.

He looked at the satyr of the group, "Grover how about you? Any ideas on where to start our search?"

"I just told you male, we should start by going we-" The huntress flinched as D4C appeared right in front of her, the face of the humanoid figure materializing inches from her own.

"Phoebe, I understand your concern for your matron, but if you talk condescendingly to me one more time, I swear on every deity I can think of, that I will show you how much strength D4C can strike with." Cyrus hissed out icily, making the two hunters take a step back before they scowled at him. He frowned. If they wanted to be annoyances like that, fine. D4C floated back a bit towards its user, hovering near his shoulder but still remaining out, ready to defend.

Cyrus cleared his throat, "As I was saying...Grover, any suggestions for a starting point?"

Eyeing the Stand hovering menacingly over his quest leader's shoulder, the satyr spoke up hesitantly. "Uh...well the last spot we saw her was in D.C. right? Maybe we can pick up her trail there?"

The Stand User grinned and gave a thumbs up with both hands. "Sounds like a plan to me!" He turned to Chiron, "Right then, we're going to need a car if we want to get this quest done before the Solstice. I-"

Cyrus cut off, his eyes going wide as he stared at the Thalia's tree.

"...Cyrus?" Chiron asked with a hint of concern as the boy seemed to step closer to the tree, completely ignoring everyone around him.

The boy's eyes were still bulging in shock as a figure only seen to him appeared next to Thalia's tree. Its facial features were decently obscured, but he could see the Crown of Thorns on its head, along with Stigmata on its hands and feet.

"Brace yourself." The words echoed in Cyrus's mind for a moment as he stood transfixed in shock. At least until the sound of skin slapping skin echoed loudly and a pain blossomed on his face.

"Ow!" He cried out as he held his cheek, looking at his attacker with an annoyed pout. "That's just rude Thals!"

"Not as rude as you staring off into space and daydreaming while we're talking to you!" Thalia scolded him as she raised her fist.

Cyrus grumbled as he rubbed his cheek. "Personally, I just think you wish I'd stare at y-ow! What is it with you and hitting me, woman?!" He yelped as she punched him in the arm.

Annabeth and Grover smirked in unison as the two elder teens flirted with each other, though the punk girl would deny it every time. The blonde leaned over to whisper into the satyr's ear. "I swear you'd better tell me if they kiss."

Grover smirked and nodded, "I bet ten cans that they kiss in the next two days after we leave."

The blonde smirked right back, "Fine, twenty drachmas say that they kiss after they find Artemis."

"Deal." And with that, they shook on it, with the two hunters watching the strange interaction.

"What art they speaking of?" Phoebe rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Probably some stupid romance." She replied to her superior hunter, getting a minor glare from Annabeth. The blonde huffed. Sue her, she wanted her older 'siblings' to be happy!

Chiron rolled his eyes as the Stand User and the demigoddess bickered with each other. "Alright that's enough. Here are the keys to the van Cyrus. I believe this is where we part ways. I wish you luck on your quest."

And so, with a final farewell and a poorly concealed threat from Zoe regarding the protection of the Hunters, the five quest-goers clambered into the...fairly decent looking black van. Cyrus however frowned at it, before sighing and climbing into the driver's seat.

A few hours had passed as they were on the road. It was a fairly narrow one as well, one that ran parallel to a cliffside overlooking the ocean. Cyrus sighed a little as their van puttered along. The van was...okay, but he kind of wished they had something with a bit more speed in it.

"Would it have killed Chiron to have a less conspicuous car for us to use?" He grumbled mentally as he kept his eyes on the road. A black van? Seriously? All they'd need is some candy and there would be Amber Alerts all around the area.

"Everything okay up there Cyrus?" Grover asked from the back as he sat next to Thalia and Phoebe. Thalia sat behind Zoe, who managed to grab the shotgun seat, glaring and occasionally kicking the back of the seat. Meanwhile Phoebe was staring out of the window, pointedly refusing to look at either Grover or Cyrus.

"Its nothing Grover-Thals, would you quit it back there?" He gave a small glare of irritation in the rearview at having heard the daughter of Zeus kick at the back of Zoe's chair yet again.

Thalia glared back for a moment, before crossing her arms and relenting. Cyrus sighed, running a hand over his face. Why did he have to be the one in charge of such a motley group...then again he supposed it wasn't as bad as his crew in Italy...

He shook his head, trying to get back to the task at hand of focusing on the road.

There were a solid fifteen minutes of silence before Thalia spoke up. "So Cyrus, how about you explain more about these...Stands, to us?"

Having been bored of the silence, Cyrus shrugged a little. Why not? "Well, what is it you want to know?"

"How can we harm them?" Zoe asked out of the blue, looking at the Stand User dead on.

"My my, so direct Zoe! I might have thought you were looking for ways to hurt me." Her eyes hardened as she glared at him, and he chuckled.

"Well, it's complicated." Cyrus began, slowly letting D4C's form materialize inside of the car, just above his form. By now, the group had already begun to become (sort of) comfortable with the presence of the strange humanoid. "Stands are, like I said, manifestations of the User's psyche and their soul. This is essentially my Soul given a physical form."

"Regarding how to harm it...well for starters, normal mortals can't even see Stands ninety-nine percent of the time. Usually only another Stand User can see them. For you guys though...you're not mortal. That's the main reason you guys can see my D4C."

Thalia nodded a little as things began to fit together. "So it's kind of like the Mist huh?" Cyrus grinned at her through the rearview. "Yep!"

"Does that mean that Stand Users that are mortal can see through the Mist and see us?" Phoebe cut in. The gray-clad teen grimaced a little and nodded. "Yeah, they'll be pretty clear-sighted. But back to the topic at hand. Grover, go ahead and reach forward?"

A bit taken aback by being put on the spot, the satyr obliged, reaching out with his hand. His jaw dropped as his hand passed right through D4C's chest as if it wasn't there.

"Stands can't be harmed directly or even touched unless it's by another Stand User, or something that can directly affect souls, but they can attack and harm other things, as you've seen. The only other way to deal with a Stand is by dealing with the User." At this, Cyrus took a hand off the wheel, which made many in the car flinch a bit. Inwardly laughing at the response, he bit the skin on the side of his finger, tearing it open and drawing blood.

"What art thou do-" The boy interrupted the huntress by gesturing over to D4C, and looking closely, everyone stared as the same wound on Cyrus's finger appeared on the Stand's.

Cyrus continued. "Nine times out of Ten, any damage done to the User, will be dealt to the Stand, and vice versa. They are, after all, a part of us."

He dismissed D4C as the wound on his finger began to heal rapidly. He sent a silent 'thank you' to the Saint for that one. "I'm not sure if any of the Gods or beings on that scale can attack and harm a Stand, but then again, I'm not exactly in a rush to find out. I do know that most monsters can't."

"So, what do Stands look like then? Do they all look like yours?" Thalia asked, curious to know about the bizarre world of her best friend.

The Stand User smiled and shook his head as he looked back onto the road. "No. Remember, Stands are based on their users. Every person is different, so every Stand is different. Different strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. A Stand could be anything, and a Stand User could be...anyone..." He trailed off as he noticed a car behind them. His eyes narrowed.

It was a nice, antique car, a dark red 1950s Cadillac. A Coupe DeVille,(1) if he had to guess at the model. An interesting vehicle no doubt, but that wasn't the strange part. Cyrus could have sworn that no one had been on the road behind them until now. Hell, they hadn't seen anyone on the road up until now.

Menacing...

"Bamf-boy!" He looked back at Thalia, who was glaring at him through the rearview. "You were saying something until you zoned out?"

Cyrus nodded, dismissing the thoughts from his mind. Maybe he was just being paranoid... "Right, sorry Thals. As I was saying, basically anything could be a Stand because of the infinite potential. They could look like my Stand, a humanoid, or a swarm, or sometimes it just doesn't even manifest as something with an actual form. Sometimes it's just a power that the User has, or something that has to merge with something...physical..."

He looked back up into the rearview mirror to check on the car that had been behind them. His stomach dropped.

The car was about to ram them.

"Shit! Hang on!" He floored the accelerator as whoever was behind them tried to slam into the van from behind with a sudden burst of speed.

"Hey! Cyrus what the hell?!" Thalia shouted as everyone was thrown back into their seats. He tuned her out as he focused on their would-be assailant, glancing at over his left shoulder as the Cadillac began to gain on them.

The car pulled up beside them, the windows all tinted and lacking any way of looking inside. Cyrus scowled as he couldn't see the driver's face. Zoe reached the same conclusion as he had and steeled herself. She grimaced. All their bows and arrows were in the trunk of the van along with the rest of their supplies.

As Cyrus tried to push the van faster, the Cadillac slammed into them from the side, pinning them against the guardrail keeping them from going off the side of the cliff.

Chaos ensued very quickly. Thalia yelled as she grabbed her disguised spear, the two hunters grimaced, and Grover was bleating in outright panic. The young Stand User gritted his teeth as the screech of metal scraping against metal grated on his ears.

"What's this guy's problem?!" Grover yelled over the sound of screaming metal. Cyrus shook his head before growling and looking back at their assailant's window. "D4C!"

The horned Stand burst into existence outside of the van, pulling back a fist before letting it fly.

A brutal crunch came from the car as the Stand's fist struck it, making a sound like a shotgun blast.

The side of the Cadillac crumpled like a coke can under a foot as the car spiraled out and away from their van. Cyrus just kept flooring it as eventually the car vanished from their sight.

The hunters and the satyr gave a small sigh of relief, as did Thalia as she saw the driving maniac careen away from them. Looking back at Cyrus, her eyes widened slightly.

Unlike everyone else, Cyrus did not relax. His eyes were hard, filled with a dark determination that...honestly almost scared her about as much as it made her blush.

"Was that a monster or something?" She asked, her hand hovering over her bracelet in case she had to bring out Aegis.

"If that is the case, then we should flee. Artemis has a higher priority than dealing with whatever that would have been." Zoe argued. Cyrus grimaced a little, having the sense that something was wrong here, but nodded.

Her argument was a reasonable one. And with a crushed car like that, there was no way this guy would be able to pursue them.

"I don't think so!" A voice scratched out, filled with static. Cyrus flinched while everyone else jumped in shock. "Huh? What is-" Grover's eyes widened as he found the source of the sound.

The radio of their van crackled to life as a cruel laugh roared out from it. "You five will never reach Washington D.C.! I will make sure of it!"

Cyrus's eyes narrowed as he snarled at the radio. "Who the hell are you? And what do you know about us and D.C.?"

"That knowledge will mean nothing when you're dead!" The sound of an explosion echoed from behind them. Cyrus cursed as he looked behind him.

The Cadillac was perfectly fine! Not a single dent or scratch remained from when his D4C had struck it, and it seemed like it was glowing with a dangerous aura about it. The car rushed forward towards them, Cyrus only just able to keep ahead by keeping the accelerator down to the floor.

"But since you're as good as finished, I might as well tell you brats what's up!"

"How about you piss off? Scram, or I'll fry you!" Thalia snapped, a growl in her voice as a bit of thunder began to rumble above them.

The voice on the radio laughed once more, making the daughter of Zeus grit her teeth in anger. Cyrus just scowled. "Can I assume you're the one in the car behind us?"

"You are correct, Cyrus Khan!" The boy's eyes widened, as did everyone else. Whoever this was knew him?

"I've been hired to kill you and your worthless group of brats! Such a shame, I heard some of the girls you got had some nice bods!" The voice laughed out from the radio, taking on a more lecherous tone at the end.

Thalia, Zoe, and Phoebe bristled with righteous fury at that, gnashing their teeth in anger. Cyrus's eyes narrowed, his dual-colored irises glowing with rage. His hands gripped the steering wheel harder as he tried to contain himself.

"Thals? Do me a favor and blast him." He said bluntly.

"With pleasure!" A lightning bolt arced down from the sky, striking the Cadillac behind them dead on.

"Did you get him?" Grover asked as he turned to peek through the back window.

As the smoke and dust cleared, his question was answered...in the negative.

The car chasing them was still completely intact. It skidded left to right for a moment, but the driver quickly seemed to regain control as the car got right back on their six.

"HAHAHAHA! You stupid fuckers! You'll never reach your destinations alive!"

Suddenly, the Cadillac burst into flames.

The metal twisted and screeched as it changed shape. The grill expanded out into something like a dragon's maw with two beetle like mandibles on either side, spewing fire from the front, and the entire car seemed to bulk up and grow in size until it resembled more of a massive hulking monster truck that was closer to the ground. With 'monster' being the definitive word. Fire seemed to wreath itself around the impossible vehicle as it gained a speed that definitely did not belong on something that big.

"W-what is this?!" exclaimed Phoebe with wide eyes of horror.

Cyrus grit his teeth. "Just our damn luck. It's a Stand!"

Rumble..!

The grating sound of their enemy's laughter crackled through the van's radio as the vehicle behind them opened its mouth and roared.

"HAHAHAHA! My Stand, Hellrider will crush every last one of you into mincemeat!" (2)

AN: Phew, and that's that! Our quest members are decided and we meet our first enemy Stand User! Plus, we also got more information on how Stands work in this crazy world of Gods and monsters.

But what's this about Illuso being involved with Cyrus and calling him Boss? Who are the Old Blood and does that mean that there are even more enemy Stand Users after Cyrus? Questions, questions, questions...

Notes:

(1) Basically Death's car from Supernatural, but colored red instead of pale.

(2) Right, so some of you might recognize this as the Stand "Wheel of Fortune" And you'd be right to think so, because it is inspired from that. Specifically, it's inspired by that, and a touch of Ghost Rider. The name is a reference to Judas Priest's song "Hellrider," which I am honestly surprised has not become a Stand yet.

Not too many notes this time around, but I hope you guys have enjoyed the chapter!

Remember to leave solid reviews if you would be so kind. The criticism and feedback sustain my mind.

Cheers,

Beowulf