Handy Things to Know Before this Begins:

I made some changes to power levels to make this scene cooler.

Gohan's back to the same level of power he's got in the main continuity.

Ares is buffed: Bit weaker than Perfect Cell level, pre-zenkai. True Ares gets a bit stronger than PC. I also gave him a new ability, for cool's sake.

Percy, under certain circumstances, is buffed: A bit lower than Gohan's level in attack potency around water. Celestial Bronze still negates divine durability to an extent tho, so that's good.

R. E. O. Grover is still confined to the Speedwagon role. Annabeth... somewhat. Massive apologies, CHADabeth deserves better, but still. She'll maybe make a play.

I only read HoO, so uh, banking on Caldrin's PJO knowledge and my stupid love for DB to make this work. Hate me all you want, I won't hear you over my ear-deafening sobs, so good luck.

Kind of a cliffhanger, but the real thing in Gohan and the Lightning Thief already exists, so, yeah. Read it. It's good. Caldrin's a good writer.

This is just something sporadic I wanted to do in my freetime, when I'm done with a chapter for the serious story I'm making, but I'll probably come back to this. Some day.

Without further adieu, SHOWTAIMU!

{Gohan and Percy vs Ares: The Subtype}

"Hey, kids," Ares greeted with an offputtingly-pleasant tone. "You were supposed to die."

Gohan sneered. "Could've fooled me." Annabeth paid the halfbreed a baffled glare, questioning his audacity.

"Or you could NOT agitate the war god, Gohan!"

Ares snorted in response. "Cocky little punk as always. Don't worry, otherworlder, I'll get the humbling soon enough."

"HOLD IT!" Percy shouted, much to Annabeth and Grover's distress.

"Percy, tone-"

"You're the one who set me up... if it weren't for YOU, my mom would still be here!" The sea blazed within the demigod's eyes as he seethed. Ares simply shrugged.

"Red-handed, kid. Though, it's not like I stole 'em myself... you'd be surprised, how many heroes are just as capable as playing courier."

Percy's mind raced to Clarisse, as did Gohan's. The prideful personality of the girl, second only to the blonde behind them and an uptight Saiyan prince he knew, crossed her off the list of the latter.

"But who in Tartarus cares right now?" added the conflict deity. "No, what's IMPORTANT is that you ankle-biting brats are botching the war effort."

He continued as he whipped out a ski mask. "Here's how this was gonna work. Ol' Seaweed finds his boy's corpse in Corpse Breath's living room, the one that Daddy Dearest still thinks his boomstick is hidden in."

Splaying it over his bike's handlebars, it morphed into-

"The Helm of Darkness?" Grover gasped, eyes practically bulging out his skull through shock.

Ares grinned sinisterly, patting a key piece of his chaotic puzzle. "Add this into the fray, Hades's investment along with it, and boom. Bloody dominos start falling." The god began chuckling in excitement. "Like the good ol' days after Paris took Helen!"

Hopelessly confused and concerned by the snide war god's enthusiasm, Annabeth spoke out. "But they're your family! How could you want to start a war between them?"

"BECAUSE THAT'S THE BEST KIND OF WAR, STUPID!" Ares cackled, wounding the girl and mentally driving the other two halfbloods up a wall.

"Infights are amazing! Who doesn't love a bit of drama in their bloodbaths?"

"SHUT UP!" It was Gohan's turn to interject. Ares decided to humor the dimensional drifter's outburst, rolling his eyes in comically-exaggerated fashion. "You don't know what it's like to watch people kill each other, and be powerless to do anything about it! ESPECIALLY when it's you own family! That's why you're so rotten! And you WILL take back what you said to Anna-"

"Make me, jackass." Ares was getting bored. "Zeus's beardhairs, kid, why can't mortals ever shut up about that? You all get sentimental over every little conflict, it's not MY fault you're all weak!"

Gohan grimaced at the callous remark, aura beginning to flare, but was suddenly called off with a hand.

Percy, given time to further reflect, wanted more puzzle pieces from Ares. "The backpack, in Denver... it held the bolt, too, didn't it?"

"Half-right, I'll give you some credit. See, just like that pocket of yours stores your sword, so does that backpack, the lightning bolt. Need I elaborate, or d'ya need me to explain THAT, too?"

Percy glared.

Ares nodded.

"This is where Handyman Ares walks in. Don't wanna risk losing the bolt off a couple of pawns biting it, so I spent some time tinkering with it. Fun night. End result is that the bolt returns to it's 'sheath' upon reaching a certain destination. C'mon, guess."

Annabeth's eyes widened, recalling the way in which it appeared out of nowhere upon encountering Hades. "The Underworld..."

"BINGO. Guess you're not as dumb as you look, blondie!" Instead of losing it, Gohan snapped back.

"Apparently, neither are you, you schemer."

"... I'll address that later. For now," he directed attention to Percy, "Any last questions from our junior detective before I knock that curious head clean off ya?"

"... Yeah, one. You've been treating the master bolt like a puzzle piece this entire time... but apparently, it dwarfs any man-made weapon in power."

"What's your point, kid?"

"Instead of scheming with it, if it's so strong, why not use it for yourself?"

Ares lost his smug composure. He held onto the question, and even started asking it himself.

During the pause, Gohan confronted Percy. "Why would you even give him that idea? Who knows what he could do to the world if he used it?"

"Ares knows. I don't think he's known for rationality, regardless... yet he's planned this far ahead? Something's off."

Annabeth stared inquisitively at Percy. "What's he thinking?"

The respite suddenly ground to a halt. "Too much trouble, duh. My ass is grass if I'm caught with that thing."

"So? I thought you liked fighting? Why mind a bit of trouble, war god?"

Between the daughter of the wisdom goddess and a lifetime bookworm, Percy seemed the least intelligent of the group.

But with barebones, outsider-looking-in knowledge of the gods, not enough to make his own educated guesses on motive, yet enough to know basic tendencies, he was able to get somewhere.

"You trying to say something boy?" Ares hissed, growing more agitated.

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself that something was a good idea. Either you're more 'mortal' than you care to admit, or you followed an order! Either way, I figured gods would have a bit more conviction than humans, but you're regretting not using it as intended, aren't-"

"I AM THE GOD OF WAR!"

A subconscious wave of pressure suddenly rushed at the four, Gohan just-barely countering with his own as the ground briefly thrashed.

"I serve none! Not Zeus, not him, not anyone! I don't have dreams to follow, nor do have any need for them!" his sunglasses concealed smoldering orange irises; any mortal pair would've been steaming goo, at that point.

Gohan's at his front and Annabeth behind him gave the boy an indestructible bravado, but the former's staggering quickly brought him back down to Earth. Nevertheless...

"... Dreams? 'Him'? So you've had them, too, haven't you? That's why you're going through with this?" Ares almost exploded, but...

"Ah... ah, I get it now. Oh, you're TRYING to rile me up. Knowing you'll die either way's given you nerves of steel, huh? Well... it wouldn't've been personal if you'd just shut up when you needed to."

Before the god, a massive boar erupted, ear-piercing howls and ravenous eyes directed at the sea god's spawn.

"Now, you're getting eaten alive. Hope it was worth it."

Percy looked at Gohan.

Gohan looked at Percy.

"Dig in, boy!" Ares commanded.

The son of the sea god grinned and the son of the monkey king scowled at the long-toothed bacon mound sent to kill them.

"If you insist," the two said in sync.

The boar and Percy charged at the same time, only for the bull to stagger at the abrupt loss of its horn. No time was allotted for it to writhe, however, as Gohan sent it seabound with an uppercut, bounding into the air along with his fist as the mammoth boar flailed weightlessly. On cue, Percy threw his hand upward, thrashing it to the ground.

"WAVE!"

A tidal wave devoured the boar, ending the fight then and there.

"Nice," Annabeth stoically stated from the sidelines, as Grover gawked.

Percy's sharpened eyes turned to Ares. "What was that supposed to be? C'mon, I bet even Aphrodite could put up a better fight!"

This upset Ares.

"One more word, Jackson. One more word, and I'll turn that tongue into a centi-"

"Losercowardsayswhat?"

"WHAT-"

The oncoming snickers from the two children were the last straw.

Ares slowly disembarked his motorcycle. He, with all the shaky restraint he could muster, took off his sunglasses.

His pupils were the size of pen dots.

"You're dead, kiddo."

"WAIT!"

The war god turned to the wisdom goddess's daughter.

"By Ancient Law, a god cannot directly fight a hero!" she nervously recited, still antsy around gods. "It's unbecoming for a god to lose themselves in anger due to a mortal, even if anger happens to be their dominion!" Ares ground his teeth and stared, as Annabeth felt the sensation of being inside a closed furnace, before his gaze redirected to the defiant pair before him, his anger cooling.

"Damn semantics..."

"What if they're challenged to a duel?"

Annabeth creaked her head toward the voice.

"Percy... just... JUST HOW STUPID ARE YOU!?" she roared. To he and Gohan, she had become the second scariest person in the vicinity.

The sea green-eyed boy suddenly found himself unable to usher his challenge, everything coming out as a stuttery mess.

So Ares made it easier.

"I ACCEPT!" he bellowed without hesitation.

Grover sighed. "I'll go get the picture frames and incense." Annabeth's miraculous gorilla grip prevented Grover from going anywhere.

"(Moron...)"

Percy swallowed his fear (despite grey daggers now at his throat) and continued. "Glad to hear it. You just accepted that, if I win, you have to give up the helm and the bolt."

Ares simpered. "And if..."

"Turn us into whatever you want. Go wild. I don't care."

"Us?"

Gohan leapt beside Percy.

"There's no choice. So I'll fight, too."

"Hold on," Annabeth said, calmer.

Before anything could transpire, she and Grover approached the two.

"This is stupid, guys." The grey-eyed child of Athena desperately clenched Percy's shirt. "This is likely the stupidest choice you'll ever make in your lives."

The boy maintained. "It's our only shot at preventing a war. Besides, if the two of us fight together, that coward doesn't stand a chance." Annabeth searched for any doubt in Percy's eyes, only to find none.

"So you're sure about this."

"Definitely. Besides, I'd like my tongue without a hundred squirmy legs, so I'm pretty intent on winning."

Annabeth chuckled a bit; if nothing else to ease herself. She proceeded to take off her necklace, the culmination of her ability, complete with her father's ring in the middle..

"Here, wear it. For luck... and reconciliation. Poseidon and Athena, uniting to save the world. Now, there's no way you can lose."

Percy blushed, but washed down the embarrassment and smiled affirmingly.

"Count on it."

Annabeth directed attention to Gohan, unsheathing and flipping her dagger.

"You'll need this more than I will. Take it."

Gohan was initially hesitant to take something of such value to her. "Annabeth, I can't..."

"I SAID," she growled impatiently, "Take. It."

Without hesitation, he grabbed the blade - still tight in her hand - and after a second, she let go.

"I'm still lost on where you came from, or why you're here, but don't die until I've learned more about you."

Gohan fiercely nodded. "Right!"

Two tin cans appeared before the pair.

"Uh..."

"Wha..."

Grover confidently extended them. "Here! It's my sign of faith!"

Percy took one. "I... I don't know what to say, Grover. Thank you."

Gohan took the other. "I will never forget this moment... Once this is over, Grover, I swear that I'll let you name my first born!"

"Whether it's on the battlefield, or by your caskets, most likely by your caskets, the satyrs stand with you!"

Percy and Gohan gave an agitated glance.

"Gee, thanks, Grover."

"We sure needed that."

Annabeth hauled Grover off by an ear to a safer viewing area. "He believes in you, and so do I. Crush our doubts, guys. Win."

Percy and Gohan nodded, as the war god before them continued leaning on the peculiarly-large baseball bat he'd brought with him.

"Done with the farewell ceremony?" he bellowed, focused.

"Yours? You bet," Percy snapped back, before noticing Gohan's weary eyes.

"Gohan... are you scared?" Gohan hesitantly nodded.

"Yeah... but not of him. I'm scared that if something happens, that I'll lose myself, I'll become something I'm not, and then I'll end up dooming everyone. That's... part of the reason I'm here now."

Percy gave an assuring smile. "Don't worry, you won't. We'll pull through, and we'll end things. Without a doubt." He turned to him.

"If you'll put trust in me, I'll put faith in you."

Gohan's resolve returned full force.

"Got it!"

Ares pointed the bat at them. "So then, ya want it Classic, or Modern?"

"Whichever you think will give you a chance!" Gohan retorted, to Ares's enraged chuckle.

"You're a hoot, kid! Alrighty then, Classic it is!" With that, the colossal bat morphed into a monstrous sword, complete with a large silver skull harboring a ruby in its mouth upon the weapon's hilt.

"Hey, Percy? Are you scared?" the demigod smirked in response.

"Yep, I'm terrified and I wanna go home."

"That's how I know I can rely on you!" the half-Saiyan smiled, as both gathered themselves in a back-to-back stance.

Gohan took a deep breath.

And...

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Both were surrounded in an intense aura, as Gohan pulled forth every ounce of latent power he could get his hands on. The world shook, and every nearly cloud departed, leaving a clear sky above for the heavens to spectate upon. Percy gave in to the urge, roaring alongside Gohan as futile as it seemed, every ounce of fear being expelled from him in that instance.

Annabeth and Grover each hung on to something for dear life.

Ares simply watched on.

Once the dust settled, Gohan had become a Super Saiyan. Back-to-Back with Percy, they shared a sharp, focused glare at the god before them.

"Still flashes in the pan, and yet you've both got the eyes of grown men ready to die. I'm gonna remember this fight for at least a millennium."

"Oh, you will."

"In your nightmares!"

The two charged.

Ares stood motionless as Gohan appeared before him, readying a strike at an unearthly speed. In the blink of an eye, he'd grabbed the blades of both Gohan and the flanking Percy by the edges with pinches, throwing them both in opposite directions. The two quickly rolled back to their feet, dashing back in with constant swings and thrusts at every angle, yet not one breached the war god's guard as he both weaved through, parried, and blocked the limbs which brought down the sword and dagger clawing at him. Gohan began adding to his assault, bringing forth kicks as he jumped; Ares took the brief window of vulnerability and bashed the back of the Saiyan's skull with a spun backfist after a successful well-timed dodge, forcing him to the ground arms-first. No time was given to attack his downed adversary, as Percy suddenly jumped atop Gohan's back like a stone. The latter forcefully pushed himself upward, launching the former high into the sky before recovering to his feet. Faced with a simultaneous attack from above and below, as Percy spun downward and Gohan began to lunge, Ares suddenly plunged his sword into the ground, obscuring Gohan's direct attack and making its hilt the victim of Percy's slash. Ares wasted no time as, in one motion, he kneed Gohan in the face from around the blade, grabbed Percy's leg, and slammed him into the Earth. With still a firm grip on the demigod's leg, he sprinted toward Gohan and literally thrashed him with Percy's body as if he were a weapon, knocking more than wind out of the two before slinging the demigod into the hybrid and calling back his sword. Gohan was just barely able to skid across the water, dropping Percy into it as he witnessed a charging war god gunning for his head, Herculean sword blocking out the sun and a torrent of bloodlust sending chills down his spine.

But he was familiar with that feeling.

So, he blocked it with Annabeth's dagger, contesting Ares's brute strength with his own. The water below them violently splattered and rippled, Gohan grit he teeth to the point of bleeding, as Ares grinned ear-to-ear, loving every second of displaying how the otherworlder's strength compared to his own as his upper body began sinking backward. Suddenly, the water around them began seeping back in, inch after inch until it came up to Gohan's knees. A force from behind him suddenly gave the sturdiness to maintain his posture. Once again, Percy and Gohan were back-to-back, and just like that, Ares slowly became the one desperately pushing back. Gohan did not miss this opportunity.

"KAAAAAH!"

A kiai knocked Ares off his footing, and instantly, Gohan and Percy made their move. Two slashes formed an X across Ares's chest, the sharp sudden pain and subsequent sense of humiliation causing even the war god to loosen grip on his sword. Once again, Gohan did not miss this opportunity. He bolted in before rage could refortify the grip, spin-kicking the hulking slab of metal from the deity's hand and following up with a punch, one that Ares caught with a fury-charged grip meant for the hilt of his sword. Ares's punch was thereby caught by Gohan's free hand, as they both struggled against each other in another test of strength, both squeezing out every ounce of power to counter the other's. Percy did not miss this opportunity.

But he'd come across a startling discovery.

"...!?"

This opportunity did not exist.

A shield, from thin air, deflected his blow.

Shock and confusion iced Gohan's body, as he saw his friend's celestial bronze-laced sword bounce off what looked like Ares's own hide, complete with sparks.

"You little runts. You're actually gonna make me go all-out."

Ares seized the moment and sent both boys flying.

When they recovered, they bore witness to the air around Ares getting sharper.

"The last set of eyes that've seen this little trick belonged to a Titan, so I guess you could say that it's been a while. Then again, kids, you couldn't wrap those squirrel brains around that 'while' if you tried all week."

Weapons began appearing in the space around Ares; some as primeval as a stone club, others as recent as a MAC11.

"I'm gonna have you both screaming Thanatos's name when I'm done. Then again, cockroaches can't scream."

The calm demeanor was a lie. He was angrier than he'd ever been before.

They could feel it.

Before anything else could be said, a massive tidal wave appeared above Ares, seemingly enveloping him. Despite the sight, Percy didn't crack wise. He waited impatiently, gripping his sword as if - and because - his life depended on it.

Ares appeared behind him, Sengoku-Era spear in hand.

Gohan screamed, firing a full-power Masenko at the god. Archaic shields, each holding Ares's power, appeared to his side, obstructing both Gohan's his target and his sight. Though a bit of the attack made it through, to Ares's subtle surprise, most of it was wasted on the defensive barrier. The Saiyan sprinted toward them, hoping to prevent the worst.

Percy suddenly shot from the barrier, bloody trail following him. He lifelessly flung into the water, sinking.

Gohan flared.

He blinked toward Ares with a sped that dwarfed his previous paces, though in the process... he'd dropped the dagger.

His punches still hurt, regardless. Battering Ares silly with blow after blow, he mindlessly raged against the deity, roaring all the while.

"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!" Ares howled, before being fiercely knocked away. Gohan's subsequent ki blasts were blocked by shields in an ancient Spartan-esque formation. The enraged hybrid bolted toward them with the intent of ripping them apart to get to his adversary; instead, they quickly departed, revealing Ares with his own sword mid-thrust. In his rage-induced stupor, Gohan only had a moment to dodge, leaving him with a gnarly slash across his chest before being knocked away by a Nordic morning star, sending him into a limp tumble. Gohan recovered, sliding across the ground hand in soil as he sent his ki across the surface, creating a massive eruption underneath Ares. He waited, anger searing and ready to instantly rip apart the first instance of divine flesh that emerged from the spiritual geyser.

He was not expecting minigun hail.

Had it been any Earthly weaponry, he could've swallowed the bullets whole, nevermind simply shrugging them off. But this ammunition was something else entirely. Several times, it was able to breach and tear through him, despite having surpassed sound at an age fit for kindergarten. The boy roared in agony, as Ares tossed aside the clicking harbinger of firepower and whipped out his personal, massive sword, making a B-line for him.

"ENJOY YOUR STAY IN TARTARUS, OTHERWORLDER!"

In his current state, he was too slow to avoid it, too weak to catch the blade.

And they were so close.

But the blade would not reach Gohan.

Riding a wave, Percy brought down his sword hard enough to parry the blow to the side. He landed in front of Gohan, heaving.

"I'm not letting you... run off... with that bolt!"

Ares's eye twitched a bit. "Was wondering when Ol' Seaweed's ability would kick in for ya."

Percy cooled off for a moment. "Hold," he said under his breath. He turned to Gohan, whose eyes almost begged him not to face Ares alone, and gave a thumbs up.

"That was awesome back there."

Then, he charged. Applying pressure, he beat against the opposing blade with the savagery of a cornered animal.

"You dense little shit," Ares mocked, "You don't think I see what you're doing?"

"That's exactly what I think!" Percy yelled. "But that won't stop me from trying!"

Upon the next swing, Ares knocked the demigod far enough from the ocean's edge that he could easily punish any attempt to regain closer proximity.

"What now, my little lightning thief?" He laughed.

Percy slowly stood, and took a running stance, blade in hand.

"REALLY? YOU'RE GONNA TRY IT?" Ares pulled out a Desert Eagle from the air. "BE MY GUEST, YOU HALFWIT-"

"Explode."

Ares hadn't considered his own proximity to the ocean, nor was he concerned with the depths of Percy's control over it.

He didn't even question why the water hadn't so much as rippled.

Now he knew.

A pressurized wave shot out from the sea, fast enough to genuinely hurt the god of war. But even more so, it knocked him clean off his feet and disorientated him to a swirl-world degree. Percy would use that.

He ran faster than he ever had while being chased, making contact with the still bearings-collecting Ares.

He twisted around, and with all the force he could muster, swung his sword.

The third wound had been inflicted.

Percy huffed, his downward slash too shallow for his tastes, yet still hit deep enough for his sword's lower edge to drip with ichor.

At that point, he was beyond spent.

"Stay down..." he begged.

But Ares ignored him. The god of war, the ancient ruler of all conflict, of violence itself, had been wounded by two mortals...

No, two children.

But wounded as he was, he was still a deity. The brats were still part-human. And they were both tired.

"Maybe... I should've... aimed for the heel... or something..." Percy said to himself as Ares slowly turned.