"What… is… that…" Paisley's mouth fell open. The demigods, however, were unfazed. Paisley assumed it was because they had seen far worse things. But still, this was pretty crazy. Even MIles was shocked. And the thing was that they had no idea what it actually was.
On the long, flat roof of the school sat a large machine. There were metal hands and arms sticking, whirring around as if on a mission. The scary-looking machine was covered in levers and buttons and screens. The worst part was not the machine, though. It was the monsters surrounding it.
Lining up by the machine in single file were a ton of large creatures. They all looked like something straight out of mythology. Among the monsters there were also humans, consumed by their own grief and rage, waiting to be turned into a weapon. Backstabber's weapon.
The heroes hopped out of the car, slamming the door shut behind them. Aunt May stuck her head out of the window. "Good luck!" She cried to them, before pulling out of the parking lot and driving away. Paisley frowned. Why would she just leave them there?
The six of them headed toward the building. They stayed low to the ground so as not to be spotted by the enemy. The school was large, but luckily nobody was around. It was just the demigods, spider-people, and monsters. Backstabber the man himself was nowhere in sight, though they had no idea what he looked like. So he could really be any of the monsters.
"We need to get up there," Percy whispered. The heroes all had their backs pressed against a wall as they peered upward at the sky. They couldn't see the roof from where they were.
"Any ideas?" Reyna asked in the same hushed tone.
"There!" Paisley pointed to a ladder at the corner, which led all the way up to the roof. It was clearly old and rusted and probably not that strong, but it would have to do. They ran for the ladder and each started to climb up. Miles scrambled up last, grumbling some petty nonsense about the demigods.
They stayed hidden by the edge of the rood, scanning the monsters from a distance. "What are they doing?" Annabeth hissed.
"No idea. But we should find out," Miles replied.
Paisley narrowed her eyes at the crowd of monsters. They seemed to be going through some sort of archway by the machine. It was big and metal with glowy blue lights. When they went through the light would scan over them and—Paisley sucked in a breath. It would turn their eyes blue. Just like hers.
"That thing is doing something to them." Paisley explained quickly, pointing to the machine. "I-It's controlling them. Taking over their minds."
"Backstabber," Annabeth agreed. "It's him. He's using them."
Suddenly Leo perked up, pointing to one of the monsters. "I recognize that one! It's a… gosh dangit, I can't remember what it's called."
Miles raised his eyebrows. "You know what those monsters are?"
The demigods nodded. "We fight them all the time. They must be Greek, and that's why Backstabber has been disturbing Camp Half-Blood and hurting demigods."
"Oh no!" Paisley exclaimed. "I hope he doesn't bring the gods into this, then." Paisley, of course, had an A+ in all her classes at school. So she knew practically all there was to know about mythology. Except the demigods probably knew more than her.
Reyna sighed. "Don't worry, he won't. Even if he tries, they won't intervene."
"Okay." Miles squared his shoulders. "We need to do something."
"But we're not ready to fight yet," Annabeth pointed out. "We need to come up with a strategy."
"Not everything is about planning, Wise Girl." Percy smirked.
Annabeth elbowed him in the side and he yelped. "But in this case, Seaweed Brain, we do need to plan. Any ideas?" She asked, directing the question mainly at the spider-people.
Paisley shrugged. "We should probably confront Backstabber first. And he's clearly not here at the moment."
As if on cue, a large man barged out of a hole in the roof and skidded to a stop by the machine. He was big and bulky, with broad shoulders and a head that could only fit the tiniest of brains. He was wearing a red suit with an even redder tie and a white shirt underneath. His head was pale and bald.
The heroes shrank down lower, but Backstabber whirled around and saw them.
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