Chapter 46

Every man for himself

At the Institute

Jean was fast asleep in Dean's bed. She was so tired from last night that she slept all the way till noon.

Jean slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room.

Dean was nowhere to be found.

Jean yawned and stretched out, 'What happened last night?' She looked underneath the sheets and realized she was naked.

Jean smiled, 'Oh right'

Dean opened the door and walked in. He just came back from his daily workout, which meant at the moment, he was sweaty and shirtless.

Jean couldn't help but lustfully lick her lips.

Dean closed the door behind him and looked at her, "Hey you woke up"

Jean pulled Dean towards her with her telekinesis and gave him a deep kiss.

When they separated, Dean smirked, "Someone woke up happy today"

"I know something you can do to make me even happier" Jean said hinting at something.

"Now?" Dean asked, "It's Saturday, everyone's up and about, and I need to go to camp soon"

Jean thought about it for a second, "Damn you're right" she didn't wanna get caught with her clothes off...but then again, "Let's make it a quick one"

"I can live with that" Dean said hurrying to undress.

At Camp Half-Blood

Tim was watching Billy and Jon practicing on the logs.

Billy went to sweep one of his legs.

Jon raised his foot, avoiding the sweep, and swung his staff down at him.

Billy hopped to the log next to him, avoiding the attack, and swung his staff at Jon's head.

The wooden staff broke over Jon's head and seemed to have no effect.

Tim laughed.

Billy looked at his broken staff, "Aw man look what your big head did"

Jon threw his staff at Billy out of frustration.

Billy ducked underneath it.

Chiron caught the staff as he trotted towards them.

"Oh shit, you almost took Chiron's head off" Billy said.

"Sorry" Jon said sincerely.

Chiron passed the staff back to him, "I suppose an outburst is expected when sparring with Billy"

Billy hopped off the logs, "There's no one in this world I can't get a reaction out of"

Jon also hopped off the logs, "Let's see how you'll react when I squish you" he threatened.

"Dean isn't here?" Chiron asked looking around for him.

"No, he would have been here by now if he was" Tim said.

"He's usually always here by Friday" Chiron said.

"He's been dealing with a lot lately, he probably got caught up with his team or his brother or something" Tim assumed.

Chiron nodded but then did a double take, "Wait, did you say brother?" He suddenly looked gravely concerned.

"He didn't tell you?" Tim asked.

Coincidentally Dean arrived on the scene.

Chiron shook his head, "No he didn't"

Tim noticed Dean walking towards them, "Speak of the devil"

"Did I miss anything?" Dean asked.

"Why didn't you tell me you met your brother?" Chiron asked with a worried expression.

Dean suddenly remembered that he never mentioned it to Chiron, "It must have slipped my mind"

"When did this happen?" Chiron asked.

"About a week ago" Dean said recalling his first encounter, "He just showed up one day, challenged me and my friends, and beat us all"

Chiron was shocked, "What do you mean he beat you?"

"He beat us all at the same time. And we barely even hurt him" Dean said.

Chiron stroked his beard as he thought, "What weapons did he use?"

"Two short swords, made of an extremely powerful metal. He broke my gladii" Dean said.

"His weapons were most likely made of adamantine" Chiron said.

That explains why the metal seemed familiar to Dean.

"But from the looks of it you need to step up your training to catch up to him" Chiron said.

Dean sighed heavily, "Yeah I know"

"Assemble the campers, I have a new training exercise" Chiron went to leave.

"Wait Chiron" Dean stopped him.

Chiron stopped and turned around, "What is it?"

"My brother, Kratos, he showed me a mark he was born with and I have one too" Dean lifted his sleeve, "Is this something all half-bloods are born with?"

Chiron trotted closer and examined the mark, "How peculiar, with the exception of Percy, I've never seen demigods with marks before"

Billy's face lit up, "Hey I—"

Tim bashed Billy in the head with his staff.

"Hey what the hell?!" Billy said.

Tim shrugged as he smirked.

Chiron raised an eyebrow in confusion, "I'll see you all shortly" he trotted away.

"You're gonna pay for that" Billy zipped at Tim.

Billy went right through one of Tim's illusions and ran into a tree, "Fuck!"

"Let me see the mark" Tim said.

Dean lifted his sleeve again and showed it to him.

"Hmmm, it's kind of like an alpha" Tim said.

"That's one way of looking at it" Jon said.

"I actually have one too" Tim said turning around and pointing to the base of his skull.

It resembled an atom symbol, except in the center instead of a nucleus there was a brain.

"So it's not just me then" Dean said.

"Now that you brought it up" Jon said lifting his right arm. On his inner bicep were crossed axes, "I was always curious what this was"

Billy walked towards them rubbing his forehead, "If Einstein here hadn't interrupted me!" He glared at Tim, "I was gonna say I have one too" he lifted his pants on his left leg.

Right above his ankle was a mark that resembled a feather, "I'm in the same boat guys"

"That's strange" Dean said, "Why are we the only ones who have it?"

"Plus this guy Percy" Billy said.

"It's probably just a coincidence" Jon said.

Tim shook his head, "I don't think so, but until we know more there's nothing we can do"

"Hey why didn't you let Billy say something before?" Dean asked.

"I feel like Chiron knows way more than he tells us" Tim said.

"You don't trust him?" Dean asked.

"It's not whether I trust him or not, it's whether he trusts us with the truth" Tim said.

"The truth of what? What could he be hiding?" Jon asked.

Tim looked troubled, "I don't know what it is, I just get this vibe from him that tells me he's hiding or trying to avoid speaking about something"

"Based on what facts?" Dean asked curiously.

"Like when he convinced Mr. D to stop just by mentioning your name, or when I brought up your brother to him and he wouldn't stop asking questions, or how just now he practically ignored you when you asked about the marks and their significance" Tim said.

"I would have known if he was lying, I can hear his heartbeat" Dean said.

"Would you?" Tim asked, "Are you familiar with a centaur's physiology?"

"Well...no" Dean said sheepishly.

"Also, having lived for thousands of years, wouldn't it be practical to master the art of lying?" Tim asked.

Dean thought about what he said, "You've got a point there"

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Jon asked.

"What we should until he decides to tell us. Train" Tim said.

Everyone had gathered by the sandpits.

"I've decided to make some alterations to my training methods" Chiron announced.

"We're not gonna be in teams of 2 anymore?" Clarisse asked with a smile. She hated having a partner that wasn't a child of Ares.

"No, everyone will keep their partners to train with on their own" Chiron said.

Clarisse frowned, "Great" being pared with a half-blood from the Aphrodite cabin was a drag.

"To further prepare you for missions, I'll put you in teams of four" Chiron said.

Tim looked at Dean with a cocky grin, "I suppose this is coincidence as well"

Dean rolled his eyes, "Whatever"

"Each team will decide who its leader will be, but if a unanimous decision cannot be made I'll choose" Chiron said.

He began announcing the teams one by one.

Of course the four troublemakers were paired together.

"So I'm obviously going to be the leader" Billy said cockily.

"The day I can't squash you is the day I'll take orders from you" Jon said.

"Jon, the leader doesn't have to necessarily be the strongest fighter" Dean said.

"Right, that title belongs to the smartest of the group" Tim said with a smirk.

"You mean the one with the biggest ego?" Dean asked staring at him.

Tim raised an eyebrow, "I don't have an ego"

Dean laughed, "Are you kidding me? You think everyone but you is a moron"

"Everyone but me is a moron" Tim insisted.

Billy smirked, "Let's decide with a dance contest"

"Screw that, let's arm wrestle for it" Jon said.

"See what I mean?" Tim asked.

They all started arguing amongst themselves.

Chiron heard their loud voices and trotted over to them.

"What about you? You never take a fight seriously! You almost lost twice because of that" Tim reminded him.

"I don't wanna accidentally kill anyone" Dean said with a straight face.

"Bring it on!" Billy shouted at Jon.

Jon picked up his axe, "I will shove this thing straight up your—"

"BOYS!" Chiron yelled.

The whole place went silent from the roar of his voice. No one ever heard him raise his voice before.

Billy, who was behind Jon, peaked his head out a little bit to see, "Is he gonna hit me?"

Chiron gave them a stern look, "What seems to be the issue?"

"No unanimous decision here" Tim said crossing his arms.

Chiron looked at them, "Each of you tell me who you think should lead"

"Me" Billy said.

"Me" Jon said.

"Me" Tim said.

Dean looked at the others, "I don't know"

Chiron looked at Dean with curiosity, "What don't you know?"

"I don't know who should lead, more importantly I don't know if we should be a team" Dean said.

The three teens looked at him, "What?" they said in unison.

"Why do you think that?" Chiron asked.

"C'mon guys, we're still good friends. We're just too different to be on a team" Dean said.

Chiron stroked his beard, "I think Dean should lead"

Tim looked insulted, "Why?"

"He may not see the answer, but he recognizes the problem" Chiron said seeing potential in him.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, I'm more of the ace in the hole not the shot caller" Dean said not feeling comfortable with that idea.

"Given that you've been here the longest and since you have experience operating with a team you're clearly the most qualified" Chiron said.

Tim stared at Chiron with his mouth open, "What?!"

"That's such bullshit" Billy said crossing his arms.

Jon chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Billy asked.

"At least it's not you" Jon said feeling a little better.

"Smart kid! Right here!" Tim pointed at himself.

"Until all of you can agree on a decision Dean will assume command of this team" Chiron trotted away.

Dean sighed and his three teammates looked at him wearily.

"I guess that's that" Tim looked disappointed.

At the Institute

The Professor was in his study reviewing all of his student's grades. It was his job after all to make sure they were keeping up with everything.

He picked up the paper with Jean's grades, 'Nothing less than A's as always' he thought with a smile. His prized pupil was always making him proud.

Charles then picked up Scott's, 'A's and B's, excellent' he went to Rogue's and saw B's and C's, 'Our little runaway could use some improvement, but not bad'

Then Charles looked at Evan's and frowned, 'I think I need to have a talk with Evan about his use of spare time'

Just then his phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was Dean, "Hello?"

"Hey Prof, I wanted to get some advice on leading a team" Dean asked.

"Really? What for?" Charles asked.

"Chiron has put me in charge of a group and I think some friendly advice might go a long way" Dean said.

"Well being a leader involves being proficient in using tactics, and tactics are about clearly grasping a tough situation and formulating the best plan" Charles said.

"Ah ok" Dean said and then heard his team calling his name, "Ok I gotta go, thanks again for the advice" he hung up.

Charles smiled as he put his phone down, 'He must be advancing quickly if he's already been assigned a team' he then looked at Dean's grades and saw all A+'s, 'His grades have changed since he first got here. He went from decent to a straight A student, remarkable'

At Camp Half-Blood

The 4 teens stood by the sandpits.

Chiron had already explained the training rules to everyone.

Each team would choose a person to fight a 1v1 battle. The loser would be eliminated and the winner could either choose to keep fighting or tag in a teammate. The only way to win is to eliminate the entire team.

Jon was the first to go.

"Do your best buddy" Dean cheered for his teammate.

"Don't fuck up" Billy reminded him.

Jon looked back and glared at Billy for a moment before looking back at his opponent.

Richie stood across from him with his shield up and his spear on top of it ready to strike.

The first team they would fight would be the Apollo Cabin team.

Jon made the first move by swinging his axe downward.

Richie stepped to the right, deflected the attack off his shield, and thrusted his spear forward.

The spear pierced Jon's left hip where there was no armor to protect, "Ah!"

"Ooh what a shot" Tim winced.

Richie pulled back his spear and raised his shield once again.

Jon touched his wound and saw he was bleeding pretty fast. He then charged as he swung his axe horizontally.

Richie ducked underneath the axe and tripped Jon with his spear.

Jon fell on his back.

"C'mon Jon you can do it" Dean cheered for him.

Richie swung his spear downward.

Jon blocked the attack and swung his axe forward.

Richie blocked with his shield and thrusted his spear forward until it was centimeters away from Jon's throat, "You lose"

"Damn" Dean said.

Richie went back to his teammates while Jon did the same.

"Dude you got owned!" Billy said laughing at him.

Jon was about to charge at him when Dean stopped him, "Hold on Jon, let's see how Billy does next"

Billy shrugged, "Aight, watch and learn" he stepped onto the sands.

The youngest of the group stepped onto the sands.

Will Solace, noted as having Apollo's surfer-body, shaggy blond hair, and blue eyes, and having an athletic build. He typically dressed casually in a t-shirt and shorts.

He might only be 12 years old but he was exceptional for his age.

Billy looked unimpressed, "Really? I have to fight a kid?"

Will held a sling in his hand, he placed a bronze pellet in the pocket and started swinging it.

Billy chuckled and bent his knees so he could be eye level with the younger half-blood, "Aw, what you got there little guy?"

Will flashed him a devious smirk before he threw the bronze pellet at Billy.

The pellet flew at Billy faster than he could react. It hit him square in the face and knocked him out.

Jon laughed hard.

Tim smirked and stared at Dean.

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, 'god help me'

Will skipped back over to his team.

'I hope you're referring to me and not that silly Christian god' Zeus randomly said.

Dean looked up in frustration, 'It's not my fault I was raised Catholic'

Jon dragged Billy back over to them.

"Ok then, I think I should go next" Dean said assessing the situation.

Right as he said that Tim grabbed his staff and stepped onto the sands.

"Hey hold on!" Dean called out to him.

Tim ignored him and gave him the middle finger.

Dean clenched his fist in anger.

On the other side, Michael Yew stepped onto the sands.

Michael stood at 5'6 but with an extra 2 feet of attitude, with black hair and brown eyes. Like his brothers, he has musteline features, with a pointy nose and scrunched-up features – either from looking down the shaft of his arrow or from scowling too much. He held a shield and a single edged blade with a curved tip.

Michael is often bad-tempered, but is a good fighter, and quick on his feet and his mind. He has a smart mouth, and gets into fights a lot because he always seems to have a chip on his shoulder. He is a solid friend though.

Michael charged first, going for an early attack.

Tim pole vaulted over him, turned around, and brought his staff down on his head.

Michael's helmet took the brunt of the attack but that didn't stop it from ringing like a gong, deafening him for a few moments.

Tim then thrusted his staff forward a few times.

Michael instinctively covered himself with his shield, blocking the attacks.

Tim then thrusted downward towards his legs.

Michael brought his shield down at the right moment, knocking the staff out of Tim's hands and onto the ground. He then pushed the staff away with a swing of his sword, spun around utilizing the momentum he built up, and went to cleave Tim in half.

Tim ducked underneath the blade then jumped over Michael.

Moving too fast for him to react, Michael lost sight of his opponent.

Tim, while he was in midair, looked like he was about to make a move but then he glanced at Dean and hesitated.

Dean took note of that.

Tim landed behind Michael and backed away.

Michael looked behind him and turned around cautiously.

Billy looked at him in shock, "What the? You had him!"

Tim kept his eyes on his opponent and ignored Billy.

Jon just watched and looked uninterested.

Billy looked at Dean, "Did you see—"

"Tim can make his own decisions" Dean said with his arms crossed.

Tim eyed his staff on the ground not too far from him. He wiggled his fingers in the direction of his staff, almost blatantly.

Michael saw his fingers and realized his next move.

Tim cartwheeled across the ground towards his staff.

Michael, having predicted his rash attempt, was standing in front of the staff.

As soon as Tim came out of his cartwheel, Michael placed his blade at his throat.

Tim put his hands up, "You win"

They both went back to their teammates.

"You could have easily won if you wanted to" Dean said to Tim.

Tim chose not to say anything.

Dean sighed, "Alright then" he grabbed his sword and shield, and stepped on to the sands.

From the other team, Lee Fletcher stepped onto the sands.

Lee was the head counselor of the Apollo cabin. Being 19, he was one of the oldest people at camp, and one of the most experienced. He held a duel edged sword with both his hands.

Dean remembered one of Chiron's lessons. Fighting two-handed with a sword gives you more power, but fighting one-handed with a shield gives you better defense and versatility. There are more moves, more options, more ways to kill.

Dean and Lee approached each other slowly.

Dean slashed horizontally.

Lee backed away, dodging it, and spun around for a diagonal slash.

Dean blocked with his shield and slashed vertically.

Lee blocked with his sword.

They pushed against each other's blade in a test of brute strength.

Lee had an advantage because he was using two hands, so he began to push Dean back.

Dean brought his shield up, knocking his sword off his, and slashed his calve.

Lee instinctively backed away. He looked at the wound on his leg and saw it wasn't too bad. Realizing this wouldn't be an easy battle, he charged at his opponent with all his might.

The two of them went back and forth, slash, block, slash, counter, slash, dodge, neither gave the other any ground.

Dean ducked underneath a horizontal slash and smacked Lee in the face with his shield opening a gash on his forehead.

Lee shook off the hit and saw some of his blood on the sand. He furiously charged at Dean moving even faster than before.

Dean blocked a diagonal slash and stabbed forward aiming for his shoulder.

Lee ducked underneath it and sliced deep into Dean's thigh as he spun.

The slice made Dean drop to one knee from the surge of pain.

Then as Lee spun he hit Dean with the pommel of his sword and knocked him down.

Dean felt lightheaded and for a moment almost lost consciousness but he managed to resist the urge to close his eyes.

Lee was about to bring down his sword to his throat to end the fight but Dean blocked with his shield and kicked him in the chest, making him skid backwards.

Dean got on his feet and Lee was already charging again.

Dean blocked a downward slash with his blade.

Then Lee spun his blade in his hand and stabbed forward.

Dean moved a few inches to avoid being cut and slammed his shield against himself, grabbing hold of his opponent's weapon. He then spun around, tossed Lee's sword behind him, and came up slamming his shield against Lee's jaw.

Lee fell on his back, out cold.

Dean dropped his guard and took a breather, he was a tough opponent.

Lee's teammates helped him back.

"Yeah!" Billy raised his hands in triumph.

Jon smirked, "At least one of us won"

'At the very least he's leading through example' Tim thought.

Richie stepped onto the sands.

Dean raised his guard, 'One down, three more to go'

"Ready when you are Dean" Richie said pointing his spear at him.

Dean briefly glanced at his thigh wound, it was bleeding fast, he had to hurry. He began by approaching his opponent.

Richie thrusted his spear forward a few times.

Dean dodged the thrusts and quickly tried to close the gap between them.

Richie then swung his spear horizontally.

Dean stopped and braced himself as his shield collided with Richie's spear.

Richie then pushed on Dean's shield with a powerful thrust that made him skid backwards.

'He's trying to keep his distance to drag this out' Dean noticed.

He can't allow his wound to zap all his strength.

Dean ran towards his opponent as fast as he could.

Richie once again went to thrust his spear.

Dean leaped over the spear and raised his shield as he flew towards Richie.

Not having enough time to avoid it, Richie also raised his shield and Dean slammed into him with enough force to send them both tumbling across the ground.

Their weapons scattered, leaving them unarmed.

Richie immediately snatched his spear then went for his shield.

Dean, being farther away from his weapons, was only able to grab his sword and threw it at the shield.

The sword hit the shield and knocked it farther away from Richie's grasp.

Once his opponent's defense was eliminated Dean charged at Richie.

Richie stood his ground and thrusted his spear holding it with both hands.

The spear sliced his left ribcage but he managed to grab the end of it with one hand.

Dean then karate chopped it, breaking it in half, before he spun around and stabbed Richie's shoulder.

Richie dropped to his knees and winced from the sudden burst of pain.

As blood gushed out of Richie's shoulder he looked at Dean with a goofy grin, "Was that necessary?"

Dean frowned, "I'm afraid so, you wanna keep going?" he asked respectfully as he entered a fighting stance.

"No way, you're too much for me" Richie tried getting up as he held his shoulder.

Dean helped him up as his teammates came to assist.

"That looks pretty bad, we're gonna have to treat it immediately" Will said helping him back.

Michael Yew was next to fight.

Dean grabbed his weapons and as he raised them he felt a little dizzy. He looked down and saw his armor and clothes were dripping red from his wounds.

'It's nothing, just a scratch' Dean thought.

Michael stared at Dean and patiently waited.

Dean noticed this, 'He wants me to make the first move, and waste me energy. That's exactly what I shouldn't do but I can't stand around here all day' he charged.

Michael blocked and countered a few attacks.

Dean went for a low slash.

Michael jumped over it.

As he did Dean spun around and shoulder charged with his shield, knocking Michael backwards.

Michael tumbled backwards a few feet and then stopped himself. He looked up and saw Dean in the air coming with a downward slash.

Michael moved to the side and slashed at Dean's fingers that were holding his shield.

Dean let go of his shield at the last second, saving his fingers, and rolled across the ground before he faced his opponent again.

Michael kicked away his shield and attacked Dean.

Dean blocked and countered as best as he could but his movement had become sluggish, allowing some attacks to go through.

On the sidelines his teammates watched in anticipation.

"You think he can do it?" Billy asked.

"Maybe" Jon said not knowing for sure.

"I don't think he can" Tim said flat out.

"Why not?" Billy asked.

"He's starting to get sloppy, those wounds are taking their toll on him" Tim said.

Dean raised his blade to block a downward slash.

When he blocked it Michael bashed his shield against Dean, knocking him back a few feet, and went for a horizontal slash.

Dean managed to move but not fast enough, the curved edge of the blade cut him right underneath his chest piece.

Dean grunted, it may be just a flesh wound but that still hurt.

Michael kept on attacking hoping to end things quickly.

Dean grabbed his sword hand as it was coming down.

Michael struggled to free his hand.

As Dean held his hand he looked upon Michael with an expression of pure intensity.

Michael went to bash him with his shield but Dean dropped his sword, grabbed that as well, and held it back.

Michael grit his teeth as he tried to push back Dean.

Dean held Michael close and head butted him in the face as hard as he could.

Michael would have been knocked back but Dean held him close and head butted him again.

Michael dropped his shield and went to free his other arm but Dean caught it and head butted him again even harder with enough force to give him a concussion.

"Brutal!" Jon said as he watched in excitement.

Michael struggled to keep himself standing, his whole sense of gravity was thrown off.

Tim watched with a sour expression, "I think he's had enough"

Michael may have a concussion but he looked like he was slowly regaining his bearings.

"Not yet" Dean said before head butting him one last time.

Michael's nose was smashed, letting blood run down his face.

Dean let go of Michael, letting him drop to the ground like a ton of bricks. He was out for the count.

Dean suddenly felt the recoil of that last head butt, lost his balance, and fell on his ass.

"Jon, I think our leader needs some help getting off his ass" Tim said.

Jon walked on the sands to help Dean up while the other team helped Michael back.

Jon pulled Dean up, "Nice finish" he commended him.

"But that last fight drained you, this match is over" Tim said.

Dean let go of Jon and stood on his own, "I never said I give up"

"Dude it's fine, losing one match isn't a big deal" Billy said.

Dean picked up his sword, "Bring out the last guy"

Jon went back to his teammates, "He doesn't like losing does he?

"Does anyone?" Tim asked with a tiny bit of regret in his voice.

The last remaining opponent, Will, stepped onto the sands.

Dean didn't even bother getting his shield, the weight would slow him down.

Will loaded his sling with a bronze pellet and started spinning it around.

Dean blinked a few times, he was seeing three Will's in front of him, 'I'll just go for the one in the middle'

Will launched the pellet at Dean's head.

Dean swung his sword like a baseball bat and hit the pellet sending it flying back.

In Dean's eyes the pellet went through the Will on the right, 'Damn, I was aiming for the middle'

Will put another pellet in his sling and started swinging it again.

Dean boldly charged at Will, charge being a figure of speech, he was moving at less than half his top speed.

Will rolled out of the way in time to avoid the first blow but Dean kept the pressure on him with his heavy swings.

Will went to block a heavy swing but was knocked back from the force of it. He went to get up but as he did Dean swung again.

This time Will braced himself for the incoming force behind the attack but was once again overwhelmed and was pushed back.

Dean was panting, and his eyes were starting to feel very heavy, he had to end this now.

Will moved his shield to peak and see what his opponent would do next but Dean knocked the shield out of Will's hands with the heaviest swing he could muster.

Will went to throw his pellet but Dean kicked him in the chest knocking him on his back.

Dean raised his sword for the finishing blow.

Tim watched closely, "No way" he whispered in disbelief.

As a last resort, Will made a high pitched sharp whistle-like sound that made Dean clutch his ears in pain.

To a regular person, the sound would merely be annoying but to a person with sensitive hearing it was deafening.

As he maintained the whistle, Will grabbed his shield, and smashed it over Dean's head as hard as he could.

Dean was knocked out cold.

"Aw man, he was so close" Jon said sounding disappointed.

Tim sighed in relief, "A little too close"

Author's note: Geez, looks like the team is off to a rough start. Hopefully the next match goes better