Luck of the Draw

by Takamura Rules

He didn't want a confrontation, but he knew it was inevitable. Maruki then happened to stumble upon another option: Send them to another reality. Stuck in another world, Joker and the Phantom Thieves must now contend with Gods, Monsters, and crazy people trying to sell them Nikes. Can Joker lead his team back and stop Maruki? Current Arc: The Lighting Thief or, A Phantom's Debut

8. Scourge Of The Furies

A longer wait than usual. Thanks for your patience in wanting to read my madness. Taka is now full-time at his job. And going back to school. And looking for a place to call his own. Needless to say, I've been busy. But you folks get to reap the rewards with the longest chapter yet, including not one but two fight scenes. Now, onto the disclaimer.

The essence that separates Persona from SMT is human-to-human interaction over human-to-demon interaction. However, what remains the same is that I don't own either. Or Percy Jackson for that matter.

Credit goes to my beta NJZGrasshopper and special credit goes to asdfo789

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NYAHAHAHA "You're a big sister now!"

Makoto cracked a weary smile "I think it's adorable," her smile faltered a bit, "It kind of reminds me how Sae and myself used to act."

"Anyways, I do have a couple more questions about the camp…." Ren tried to focus but Makoto's voice slowly faded into white noise, brought about by late-night fatigue. Ann was slumped against him, lightly snoring away. How envious. His ass was still sore from sitting in a tree all day, and the bra was starting to get itchy. Maybe he should have taken one of Makoto's sports bras instead?

At the news of what happened at the camp and the described conditions, Makoto seemed to have a laundry list of things to go over. Though both she and Morgana found it amusing when he told them the part about Annabeth, with the latter outright laughing, cylinders popping in the engine as they went back home. Ren just didn't have it in him to deal with the barrage of questions and taunting, so he gave non-committal answers to both, intending to go more in-depth tomorrow morning. For now, avoid and evade.

Ren didn't realize how tired he actually was until they made it back to the base late at night following the capture the flag game. Not the physical kind but emotionally drained. He chalked up the feeling of dread he got as he passed by the dormitory floor to this.

His body was on autopilot as he went to the kitchen for a late dinner with Ann. He pulled out the ingredients to make a simple turkey sandwich, passing them to Ann once he was done. Makoto and Morgana neglected to join them, stating they had eaten before they picked them up.

He brought his meal up to the 5th floor where the table was, and off to the side on the couch, he could see Futaba flipping through the channels as the blue glow of the screen illuminated her in the dark room. He took a chair from the table and turned it to face the TV.

"Recent uptick in public assaults—" *CLICK*

"Here's a recap of the record-breaking performance in the Winter Olympics Dav—" *CLICK*

"This summer is on pace to be the hottest for NYC in—" *CLICK*

"The stock market is up by—" *CLICK*

"Are Jackalopes real?! Find out—" *CLICK*

"The birth of a new grandmaster!"

Futaba then seemed to notice Ren's presence as he took a bite of his sandwich, "Ugh, all these channels and no anime! 2006 America blows!"

He licked some mayo off his thumb "Have you tried Toonami?"

"That's tomorrow night, and besides, it's close to midnight, it wouldn't be on this late anyway." She rebutted.

Ren shrugged, "Just trying to make a suggestion,"

"And I appreciate your effort, hot stuff," just then Futaba landed on another news station. Both her and Ren frowned as they looked at the report playing.

"—Covering the disappearance of Sally Jackson, who was last seen with her son Percy Jackson. The family's Camaro was found totaled in a ditch yesterday morning with traces of blood believed to belong to Sally and one other. The authorities now suspect foul play was involved. We now bring you to the husband who is desperately searching for answers,"

The scene then switched to the outside of a ratty apartment, in front of it was a man who looked more pig than human, with a bulging forehead and a greasy receding hairline. He was currently fake crying and huffing for the camera. The subtitle said he was Gabe Ugliano: Husband.

"Ugly is right, he looks like an Orc from a fantasy game!" Futaba said she adjusted her glasses. Ren gave a light chuckle at her words as he took another bite.

"His acting is so fake it's almost painful to look at," another voice replied as they came closer.

The TV glow had revealed that Ann had slipped in and taken the spot across from him, a sandwich of her own on her plate.

"We could say the same for you when we first started," Ren pointed out after he swallowed his food.

Ann looked away. "Don't remind me, it's like looking at some sort of jacked up, twisted mirror," she then aggressively took a bite of her sandwich.

"That boy was always causing trouble. Me and his mom just wanted what was best for him. He was violent with everything we tried to do. He had to have done this! I just want her back…." Gabe then trailed off into half-sobs, half-snorts.

Ann was visibly repulsed. "Ewww…. Gross." However, that did not stop her as she bit into her food once more, and the report continued cutting back to the lead anchor.

"The son Perseus 'Percy' Jackson is the prime suspect in this case and is considered potentially armed and dangerous. Please alert the authorities as soon as possible if you have any information on his whereabouts." The news then switched over to a commercial break.

Futaba let out a sound that was somewhere between a groan and a growl, "It's sad that someone who's supposed to take care of him just threw him under the bus like garbage. What is wrong with people!" Futaba said as she pulled her knees closer to her body.

"Futaba…" Ren could only say her name forlornly, for he was privy to her treatment at the hands of her uncle before landing in Sojiro's care. Ann could only look confused as she tried to guess the deeper meaning of the brief exchange. Ren wanted to tell her, but it wasn't his story to tell. Futaba would do so one day when she was ready.

"We'll make sure he gets what he deserves one way or another," Even though Ann didn't understand the full context of what Futaba meant, her words still put the younger girl at ease, her legs relaxing slightly.

Ren gazed at the two girls. One tense the other pensive. He looked down at his plate, he only had a corner left of his meal but didn't feel like eating anymore. Anything he said at this point would likely complicate things. He felt a burning inside over his lack of ability–that was weird. Maybe he should go to sleep at this point.

Ren stood up and brushed himself off "I think…I'm going to go to bed," he said as he turned away and picked up his plate.

"Night, Ren."

"I'm surprised you didn't need Mona telling you to go to sleep,"

He waved his hand as he ignored the jab, leaving the two girls behind to their nightly activities.

As Ren made his way through the kitchen that feeling of dread from earlier came back to him. He turned his head to see Yusuke making a late-night snack run, currently stuffing his face with mochi (The pack was marked with Sumire's name). While Yusuke did pose a danger to his wallet the feeling, he was getting felt closer to bodily harm than monetary.

Ren opted to pass by to the next stairwell, not bothering to say anything about the crime in progress.

He arrived at the next floor, which was arranged in a square overviewing the second floor with three rooms on each side of the square. Ren's was situated at the end door on the side adjacent to the one next to the stairs alongside Ryuji and Ann's. With each step he took, the feeling of dread got stronger, he had a good idea where it was coming from now…. If only he could make it to his room. However, he had to pass by Makoto, Futaba, and Haru's room in order to get to his.

Ren quickly breezed by Makoto and Futaba's rooms. All he had to do was turn the corner and he was home free. When he was about to adjust his body to make the turn, he heard a loud creek coming from behind him. Out of his peripheral vision, he could see a delicate hand grip the edge of the door that was just opened.

"Just ignore it. Keep moving." Ren thought to himself. He decided to take another step forward…only to find he couldn't. His body was caught in an unseen psychic vice. Even more worrying is that he was slowly being dragged backward. Ren tried to reach out to his personas, to nullify the hold on him, but he quickly realized that just like earlier today they had opted to abandon him and leave him to his fate.

He was slowly dragged to the open door and was allowed to glimpse the terrifying visage of hell and its demons that awaited him…. He was just exaggerating at that point, it was just Haru with Astarte behind her. Though it was still very concerning she jumped to such a forceful method.

"Ren…. I think we need to have a little talk," Haru's eyes were closed and there was a small frown on her face. Ren would've immediately asked why if it wasn't for the rope in her hands and the leather corset, underwear, and garters she was wearing. Behind her, Astarte wore a cruel grin on her blood-red lips. Ren mustered strength in his arms and did the only sensible thing that came to mind–He latched onto the door frame for dear life, body parallel to the ground.

Ryuji was finishing his late-night patrol with Akechi. Not many were willing to work with the bastard, but he had to admit he was good at monster analysis. Ryuji left him behind on the first floor as Akechi was doing inventory on the spoils they got, he had no interest in the boring number-taking junk. He simply wanted to take a hot bath and go to bed.

He passed through the second floor skirting by the beatdown disguised as a sparring session Makoto was giving Morgana. Anat currently had Mercurius in an arm bar as he furiously tried to tap out, blue wings fluttering weakly. Ouch. Whatever the cat did to bring that on himself, he certainly wasn't going to interfere. He was still sore from his match against Ann-the girl was finally starting to use her illusions in battle. Even though her fire couldn't hurt him much, the blonde's physical attacks did. Not fun trying to guess the real one.

He went up to the next floor to continue his journey and saw yet another strange sight. Female Ren was being dragged into Haru's room, enveloped in a psychedelic glow. One hand was desperately clinging to the door frame. The other was bound in what suspiciously looked like rope. Shit looked like it was straight out of a horror movie if he was being honest.

"No. Not here!" Ren exclaimed as he desperately fought to maintain his grip.

Before Ryuji could react to the bizarre scene. Ren's hand slipped from the frame, and with a brief scream, he disappeared into the darkness behind him, and the door slammed shut.

Ryuji blinked at what he just witnessed and walked until he was in front of Haru's room, where he discovered something even scarier: No sound came from the room at all. Not good since Ren was clearly screaming. He broke out in a nervous sweat at the implications.

"W-w-w-well he's our leader for a reason. If anyone can handle it, it's him." Ryuji then straightened his face and after coming to a realization began to shake his fist at the door.

"Either way. Serves that curly-haired, smooth-talking bastard right!" He had his suspicions about his best friend's romantic endeavors, but he didn't want to jump the gun when accusing him. If it was true, he was more disappointed that Ren didn't tell him than that it was happening in the first place. They were best friends, after all, partners in crime. They were supposed to tell each other shit like that. He then began to walk off, hands in his pockets. He turned his head back one last time as he started to climb the stairs. "Still need to talk with him though. Hope he survives… I wonder if that mochi Sumire bought is still there. I can probably sneak a piece and she won't notice…... Maybe?"

Ren was a mixture of impressed, terrified, and slightly aroused at Haru. Which was saying a lot since he was currently bound to a chair, devoid of all his clothes sans his boxers. At least that itchy bra was off though.

Her knot work was impressive; he wasn't able to steal any slack at all. Not to mention her control over her persona had vastly improved. But the fact she had a riding crop nearby and Astarte was sneering as she disappeared was a tad bit concerning.

"So, I think it is time for you to explain why you thought it was okay to not tell me about your other relationships? Why did you do it in the first place? To lead me on? Hmm?" Haru had a smile on her face, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"H-Haru I can explain…"

Haru leaned forward and delicately gripped his head, running her hands through his long hair and kissed him right above his collarbone, biting his flesh, determined to leave a mark "I'm sure you can, and we have all night for you to talk," she slowly took a seat his lap, borderline straddling him, yet turned towards his face. Her violet eyes portrayed a myriad of emotions. Curiosity, indignation, and sadistic glee, but also mirth, warmth, and affection. Though the rest of her features betrayed none of that, settled into a stiff poker face. Her body itself was soft and supple against his, but her words were like stone against his heart.

Ren fruitlessly strained against his bonds. He would have wrapped his arms around her but was now powerless to do so. Ren now saw the point Haru was making. She wanted his words, not his touch. Her exposed body was meant to bring out his base instincts, waiting for him to slip up. Her every action had a meaning and was planned and accounted for.

Ren was truly reminded why Haru wielded the psychic element. She wanted to get into her target's mind and strip them until they were truly bare. He was used to ripping the mask off shadows, but now the tables had turned. She wanted to rip the mask off him, to leave him bare in his truest form.

"Listen I…. told Ann and Makoto. I didn't mean for it to turn out like this." Haru's eyes gained a glint of steel to the mix. "I wanted to keep you close because you girls are my treasure. I didn't want to lose you no matter what. I was afraid of our bond coming to an end once I had to go back home so I wanted to make it as unbreakable as I could. To keep you as a special someone in my life."

Haru rubbed her thumb along his jawline, bringing her face closer to his "Oh, Ren. You have no idea how much you also mean to me. When I first developed feelings for you, they were so strong I could only think of you towards the end of the company succession fiasco." Ren's eyes widened at her confession.

"When you said you wanted to be more than just friends my heart almost burst with joy, I was so ecstatic." Her hands then moved to his rope-covered chest where she forcibly pushed into him. "But then we came to New York, and we started piecing everything together. Do you know how much it hurts to find out like that?! I thought you were someone even worse than Sugimura, just someone who wanted a trophy wife for his collection!" In the middle of her tirade, she began to cry, which clashed with what she was wearing.

Ren struggled to not look away from her. With everything, she's been dealing with by coming here, from living poorly, to sharing space with her father's murderer, even her feelings of uselessness he figured this was the final straw for the normally composed girl.

"The worst part is…. that I still love you, Ren. So much…. it's almost like I'm suffocating…. my chest gets tight even thinking about you being away from me. Even more so since you've said that. I'll never ever leave you alone." she began to wipe her face with her arm.

Ren felt helpless in more ways than one as he looked at the scene. How could he be such a fool to do that to one of the women he loves? If Haru felt like this, he could only imagine what Futaba and Sumire felt like. Ren got lucky, Makoto, and Ann are the kind to jump to anger. Looking at her cry, he knew he was an utter scumbag for doing that to all of them. They didn't deserve it, not in the least. However, he resolved to make things right no matter what.

"Haru…You'll never be some trophy wife." Ren then paused to choose his next words carefully.

"You are…. The girl who showed me how to wield power with responsibility."

Haru tilted her head cutely and sniffed "How so?"

"Well, for starters we wouldn't be in this situation right now if I didn't trust you." He flexed his body straining the ropes for emphasis and Haru giggled as a result. "You always walk a thin line Haru. You are arguably one of the most influential people someone could know in our country outside a Kirijo, Naojo, or Diet Member. Yet, you want to use that money and influence for those less fortunate. You're compassionate yet enthusiastic in everything you do. I admire that, Haru."

Haru sniffed again "You're the one walking the thin line, Ren. One relationship is hard to support by itself, but you're going for five."

He smiled at her, "What can I say? I'm a greedy man."

"We wouldn't be thieves if we weren't." Haru agreed with him with a small half smile, as she wiped away the remainder of her tears.

"But know this Haru, no matter what happens, you'll always be special in my heart. I promise to love you and them with everything I have, even if it kills me."

She chuckled at the last part, "I'm flattered, but please don't let it kill you. That's the last thing we want since you agreed to take responsibility."

"I'll try my best."

Haru then leaned in close and captured his lips with hers. It lacked any sort of passion. It was a kiss that was a pure gesture of affection. She ended it as quickly as she had begun it.

"Now that's out of the way…It's time for the main event!" Haru sounded absolutely ecstatic to say that. On the contrary, Ren felt his heart fall into his stomach.

Haru pulled out a gag seemingly out of nowhere. "You really thought you were going to get away by just talking?" At Ren's silence, she wagged her finger, "You should really know me better than that."

Ren was about to open his mouth to retort, but quickly found the gag stuffed in it.

"Mpgh php rgph roe phis"

"Oh Ren, nobody is. Feel free to scream to your heart's content by the way. Nobody will hear you, I made sure of that."

Haru then started laughing and hugged him as if she was Alice clutching her teddy bear. A cold sweat ran down Ren's face as it dawned on him what type of situation, he was in. Tonight was going to be a long night indeed…...

X-X-X

The next morning Makoto was seated at the head of the table. She scanned the room to ensure everyone was accounted for before the meeting began.

To her left, Yusuke was currently getting chewed out by Sumire.

Morgana was nursing his bruises and sore muscles in the middle of the table.

On her right, Ann was staring at Futaba next to her who was typing on her laptop as usual.

At the other end of the table opposite her, Ren looked fatigued as he had his head face down on the surface, long hair splayed everywhere obscuring his face, not even bothering to have it in some sort of organization.

On the contrary, next to him was Haru. Who was absolutely vibrant and glowing with utter contentment. It didn't take much for her to guess why though she decided to put that thought out of her mind for now.

On Ren's other side Ryuji was staring at their leader with a visage of mild horror on his face, though that didn't stop him from poking and prodding an unresponsive Ren.

Akechi's face was blank as he stared alternatively between the storm outside, her, and Ren waiting for them to begin.

Makoto brought two fingers to her mouth as she let out a sharp whistle. Futaba and Morgana comically jumped while Yusuke, Akechi, Sumire, and Ann simply turned their heads. Haru smiled at her, and Ryuji covered his ears. Ren slowly raised his head revealing bleary silver eyes that had bags under them, and his hair made him look like he had just touched a plasma ball. Maybe he did since Ryuji was sitting right next to him and actively poking him.

"Now that I have your attention, let's begin," she gestured to Ren. "Would you and Ann like to tell us how the infiltration went?"

Ren let out a massive yawn and stretched his arms, which Morgana unintentionally mirrored. It was actually kind of cute if Makoto had to say so herself.

"Uh, gross! Can you yawn the other way?" Ryuji exclaimed, waving his hand in front of his face.

Ren blew a strand of hair from his face as it was finally starting to settle down. "Maybe you should think about that before you perform shock therapy on someone." His voice was still feminine, but it had a note of what could only be described as robotism that wasn't there yesterday. Makoto assumed Ishtar must've swapped out. She was glad he was adhering to the punishment she set but she also noticed he was bending the rules by wearing "gender neutral" clothing.

"Eh! So ya did feel it! Ya big bastard! Excuse me for trying to make sure ya were alive!"

"As amusing as it is watching you idiots go at it, will you two quit squabbling and get on with it already?!" Akechi cut in before Ren could respond further.

Looks like Akechi had done her job for her. Neat.

Both boys had the awareness and decency to look sheepish.

"Well, when we got to the camp…" Ren proceeded to report on the experience in the camp with Ann interjecting when necessary. She'd heard bit and pieces in the van, with both people dodging around the more personal issues of the demigod Luke and Ren's prophecy but now the full picture was coming into view.

Ryuji couldn't look more lost if he tried. "Wait, I'm confused? How did the guy know about Hecate? I've been tryin' to keep the shit secret so who blabbed?" Ryuji's eyes flitted between herself, Ren and Ann.

"Let's not go pointing fingers yet, senpai," Sumire cut Ryuji's train of thinking. "It seems both demigods and monsters have ways of identifying who belongs to whom such as physical traits, habits or probably even smell if just the monsters are to go by. We shouldn't jump the gun like that."

"What's more concerning is that he was trying to recruit Ann so quickly," Yusuke added.

"Either that or seduce me…" Ann shivered at the thought

Morgana looked angry at her statement and growled in indignation. It seemed to Makoto that even though he accepted the fact Ann was with someone else and he was truly a cat, he still harbored a soft spot. "That guy is definitely dangerous. It sounds to me like he's trying to put together some kind of revolt."

"Are you really surprised that's the case?" Akechi said as he let out a sigh.

"What do you mean Akechi-sempai?"

"From the way you have described the camp, discontent is festering just beneath the surface, yet not seen all the same." At his words, Ren's lackadaisical, sluggish front was replaced with something sharp, and Ann began to don a sad defeated look.

"The children of minor gods, while given refuge, are only treated a little better than the homeless. The parents have no respect to be found anywhere either." Akechi then laced his glove-covered hands in front of himself before he continued. "Speaking of parents, even among the major gods it seems only some of them have probably even met their godly parents, if only in passing based on Ren's encounter with the girl. And as most of you should know, an absentee or neglectful parent is enough of a cause for hatred to bloom."

Most of the members of the group let out some kind of noise that ranged from grim acceptance to rebellious anger.

Akechi then laughed. "It's honestly the perfect storm for a civil war to break out. Looks like Pomona was right: The Olympians are the height of arrogance in this part of the world. Especially since all of this is happening right under their noses, and they pay no noticeable heed to nip it in the bud."

"A Potemkin village built on a house of cards will inevitably collapse in the face of a strong wind," Yusuke said as he pulled a notebook out from…. somewhere.

"Aptly put Kitagawa," Akechi nodded his head

"The hell does that even mean?!" Ryuji exclaimed

"It means that the Olympians are making everything look nice to the outside, but the inner machinations are pretty bad, and the core infrastructure will not last long if nobody does anything about it." Haru supplied.

"Okay… So, if their system is gonna fail anyway, and war is gonna break out sooner or later, why are we even sticking our noses in it in the first place?"

It was a valid question Makoto had to admit, they were outsiders, and they technically had no claim to interfere. But it went deeper than that. "Besides it being our only lead of getting home, a war amongst the Gods would lead to a societal collapse in the mortal world." Ryuji's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, and it seemed he wasn't the only one as she saw Yusuke and Sumire were looking at her in the same way. Before she could justify her line of thought Ren chimed in.

"Think of it like this, the gods are the living breathing personification of their domains. That's why this is happening," he gestured towards the bay windows, where outside they could all see the thunderstorm raging over New York, and down below them the river churned and frothed as if it was an angry snake trying to gobble up all the land it could like prey caught in a vice.

"Now imagine this on a greater scale with everything you do. Inflation, artist block, random wars breaking out, more cheating and divorces, bad plotlines on soap operas and anime, the list goes on." He ticked off a finger for each instance he described. Futaba let out a squawk of realization at the last one. Makoto had to keep her hand to her mouth to prevent her laughter from being audible.

"So then, why wouldn't the other pantheons step up? They're real too, right?"

"I believe I can answer that, Yoshizawa," said Akechi as he raised his hand. "From my investigations, the Norse are limited to upper North Eastern America, and nobody has seen the hide or hair of a benevolent active Egyptian god in centuries. Simply put the Olympians are the dominant power here in the western world and the others have little to no say over the majority of the natural phenomenon that happens, such as the weather. Essentially, they are the backbone of order and without them, it would be anarchy and chaos–Not that I would mind it at all." Akechi then got a hungry gleam in his eye that distinctly made Makoto uncomfortable, she also pretended not to see him lick his lips.

"So, we have to keep the status quo in order to keep…," Sumire fumbled around a bit as she fruitlessly gestured her hands "Order!"

"That's effed up man. Every time the friggin' world is about to blow up, shit needs to be put back normal to appease a buncha assholes. How the hell does change even happen?!"

"It's the other way around Ryuji," Ren supplied. "It's because they don't want change to happen, they can threaten the world and take it hostage."

Futaba began to speak without looking up from her laptop "Yeah, what's the point of changing, if the way you've always done it for millennia still works? It's like they say, 'if it ain't broke, -'"

"Don't/Do not fix it," they all said in unison.

"Sounds to me like an excuse to eternally bully someone,"

Morgana stalked closer to Sumire, blue eyes shining with understanding. "It is, Violet. But unfortunately, that's the way things work over here. Anyways I feel we've gotten off-topic here. As much as I like waxing philosophy on the inner machinations and politics of this world, I do have things to do later."

"Like what, cat?! I don't think licking yourself counts,"

"Oh, what a primitive bonehead truly are. Maybe you'll figure it out one day when you're older."

"Dah-I-What?! What the hell that's supposed to mean?! I'm older than you!"

"AHEM" Makoto cleared her throat, and it quickly garnered the attention of her bickering teammates. Though unlike before with Ren, this time Ryuji and Morgana settled with giving each other the evil eye.

"The last item we need to talk about is Ren's prophecy."

"Hogwash."

"I hafta agree with Columbo over there," Akechi rolled his eyes. "Why should we believe it? I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed,"

"That's an understatement."

Ryuji ignored Futaba and continued "But, doesn't that second line basically say not to believe it?"

"I personally think it's exciting and mysterious," Haru said cheerfully. She then frowned at her next words "Though they didn't really say much we didn't already know about your powers leader."

"I would like to agree with you and Akechi, Ryuji. But in ancient Greek myth, the prophecy more often than not came true, usually in some strange and twisted fashion. It would be wise to pay heed to the parts we did get, like that 'past revisited' line. It could be interpreted in a number of ways."

Ryuji nodded his head at Yusuke's words "All I'm getting is a big 'ole wait an see here."

"Essentially, yes. It's out of our hands. One thing Inari failed to mention is that people have also gone insane trying to explicitly interpret what they said or end up making it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ever hear of Oedipus Rex?"

"Which one was that again, Futaba? Was that the one where he got lost for 10 years?"

"No, Sumire, that was the Odyssey. Oedipus was the one where the main character Oedipus gets a prophecy, he'll kill his father and then marry and have kids with his mother. And in trying to do everything to prevent it, he causes it to happen anyway. As atonement, he stabs his eyes out in an irony of how blind he truly was." Makoto informed her

Futaba stopped typing and leaned back in her chair, gaze turned up towards the ceiling. "Though it still bugs me that they seemed to know who Ren was, and they appeared as his former Personas. On the other hand, it is proof that there is still a connection to our world, so it's worth looking into either way."

"Do you guys really think we'll make it back home somehow?" Sumire's look was forlorn as she shuffled in her seat.

Ren turned to look her in the eye "We will. You always have to have hope and faith we'll succeed…. Even if that hope is coming from a cosmic force nobody fully understands right now."

Sumire blushed and nodded her head at Ren's assurance and the others followed suit with their own grunts and head shakes of approval.

"Well, if that's everything we need to cover… I think we're done here for today?" Makoto surveyed for any remaining questions among the group, however, no one raised their hand. "Alright then…Dismissed!"

Futaba immediately bolted toward the TV, and Akechi went towards the stairs.

"FINALLY! I've been meanin' to go to the store to buy some more Ramen." Ryuji exclaimed with a big stretch of his arms.

"Can you get me some more mochi while you're out there too Ryuji-senpai?"

"Where the hell would I find that?!"

"Check the international isle maybe?" Ren weakly offered his suggestion.

Ann crossed her legs "Didn't you just buy a big industrial-sized pack last week, Sumire?"

Sumire's red blush of embarrassment before was now replaced by one of vivid anger, "Yes, I did! However, someone decided to eat them last night while I was sleeping! Do you know how hard it is to find one in America?!" comically frustrated tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, her fist clench in fury.

"Then why didja ask me to find it?!"

Yusuke tried to sneak away but, as quick as a viper, Sumire's hand snagged the back of his shirt. "That someone has also offered to pay for a new pack, right?" It was clear to everyone that it wasn't so much a question but a demand. A demand that Yusuke could only nod weakly too.

Makoto sighed. Sometimes this group could be exhausting to deal with and mother all the time "Do you have anything to say, Yusuke?"

"It was delicious."

---

SCREECH

Another training session was underway, as the sound of metal on metal rang out in the hideout as Joker's dagger parried the long slash of the katana off to the side. His opponent's side now unguarded, Joker let loose a kick at his ribcage that sent the taller boy sliding away.

Joker was proud at the sight. This was a testament to Fox's progress since coming to this world. In the past, that same kick would have sent him flying through the air, but now he remained sturdy and planted on the ground. Not unmovable, but upright and able to react. His diet, or as the others would say eating in general, had massively improved his body's composition and physique. He wasn't buff by any means or even close to Queen, Joker, Skull, and surprisingly Noir, but he wasn't the bean pole that even Oracle wouldn't struggle to knock over anymore.

Fox sheathed his blade as he appraised Joker for any openings he could exploit. He frowned as he saw that while Joker's clothing had numerous cuts and tears, the man himself was nearly devoid of any injury whatsoever. Anything he had done was because he coated his blade in ice.

Joker waved his hand in a 'bring it' gesture, and Fox charged forward toward the leader of the Thieves once again.

To the normal eye, Fox blurred as he approached in a zig-zag pattern to throw Ren off. Being one of the team's scouts, Fox naturally was the fastest among them all outside of Mona. But still, it was nothing Joker wasn't used to, eyes swiveling as he constantly tracked Fox's movements.

He pulled out his pistol and fired experimental shots at the teen to try and throw him off-balance. (They were rubber bullets of course) All it served was to make Fox's moves more erratic as he started randomly moving backward in addition to the side to side, he was already doing. The ones that did manage to hit simply phased through the speedster some of the time annoyingly enough. Ren was reminded that Scoundrel Eyes was truly an impressive ability, though random in its activation.

Though Joker knew Fox couldn't win at range. He was forbidden to. He would eventually have to get into Joker's range….and then he'd strike

As he zoomed closer Joker waited….and waited as if he was the hawk waiting for the salmon to leap.

As soon as Fox entered the perfect distance, Joker dashed forward and unleashed a slash of his own. The suddenness of the lunge forced Fox on the defensive as he used his still sheathed katana to block the strike, hands on either end of the scabbard. Fox's eyes gleamed golden behind the kabuki mask he took his codename after.

Both teens struggled to push back the other in a contest of physical strength.

Above them, Athena and Susanoo traded lightning-quick blows, cape and chiton fluttering wildly. Spear poking and prodding while the double helix sword sought to cleave and tear.

In many ways, despite having increased sentience, their fight still resembled the ones their summoners were having below. Athena was using her shield to force Susanoo into close range, where his giant sword was weakest. An arctic pressure cascaded off of them both. Athena's cold, calculating tactics collided against Susanoo's frigid nature and mastery over ice. Frost began to creep over Athena's shield and Joker's dagger.

Joker had challenged Fox. In this new world, it was only a matter of time before they had to fight in constricted space or an opponent with a bad weapon match up. He wanted to give Fox the experience of fighting against someone who denied him his range….and this was his answer.

"Impressive. You're forcing me to either let go of my weapon or have my hand get frozen."

"One must come up with unorthodox tactics when facing one such as yourself, leader,"

Joker flashed his signature cocky smirk and did the unexpected. With another kick to Fox's midsection, he disengaged via back-step and threw his dagger at him, Fox deflected using the thick part of the scabbard. He then backflipped to create more distance.

Above him, Athena mirrored his action. The belt of her shield clicked open in the back and folded into the shield, and Athena let go of the protectorate. Before it could fall to the earth, with a sandaled foot she kicked it and by extension Susanoo away from her while also propelling herself back.

Joker glimpsed that Fox wore a smirk of his own, reflected on Susanoo. His danger sense kicked in at the eerie visage. At the height of his flip, with a twist of his ankle, Fox sent a pillar of ice right below him. It was an action so fast that Joker only had time to slightly adjust himself to prevent from catching the full pillar in the chest, but it still had landed a sizable hit on his side.

Athena, delayed in her movements from Joker, slammed her back into the pillar that extended to the ceiling. In front of her Susanoo's blue hand gripped the rim of the shield and fully encased it in ice. He then turned it back, so the Medusa imagery was now facing her. Susanoo had claimed her shield to wield for himself.

As Joker landed next to the ice pillar, he clutched his side. He looked over and saw that Fox had picked up the knife and was now wielding it in a defensive posture along with his sword. It was horribly mismatched, but Joker thought that the idea might have merit. He pulled out his gun and began firing and Fox barreled toward him, a subtle green glow fading off the blue-haired boy.

To Joker's pleasant surprise and even to Fox's own he was skillfully deflecting the bullets headed his way using the two blades. A feat the common man wasn't capable of, but Fox's speed combined with the durability of the metaverse forged weapons gave him the edge he needed.

"So that was his plan. To take our weapons for himself"

Athena's spear was halved in effectiveness now that Susanoo had a shield, one wrong move and he could easily catch and snap the spear. While Joker had experience using his gun as a melee weapon, he didn't like the odds of not using it without his dagger against a dual-wielding opponent. So, they decided to practice tried and true avoid and evade tactics.

Fox and Susanoo used their increased speed to quickly arrive at their counterpart's location and with blades coated in ice promptly began the twisted waltz of one side rapidly striking in savage brutality and the other dodging with a graceful almost arrogant flow. Athena and Susanoo looked as if they were playing a deadly game of ring around Rosie with the ice pillar as the center.

Seeing as he was going nowhere, Fox and his persona decided to end the engagement. With a swing of their swords, two frost waves forcibly created distance, and Joker and Athena were forced backward to dodge the wintery air scythe.

Athena gently floated down closer to Joker's side, just above him with her spear in hand. Susanoo did the same for Fox.

Joker tugged on his glove and a smile that would be more appropriate on Crow graced his face. It was time for him to bring out that power. Though this was a practice session to train, and he wasn't meant to take it seriously, Fox had been recently pushing that border with his growth. And hey? He needs to practice too, just like everyone else.

A black flame, though small, started to burn in the hem of Athena's chiton, near her sandals. It didn't bother her one bit. Matter of fact, a rare smile came upon the wisdom goddess's face.

Fox's jaw hardened and he gripped his weapons tighter as he instantly spotted it. Susanoo hefted the shield in front of himself, obscuring his jagged, scarred body.

Of course, he would have that reaction. He had seen this power before but never thought it'd be used against him. Then again, only three members of the team had stood in the face of what Joker was about to do.

Queen, because she insisted, she know firsthand everything Joker could do as his acting vice leader.

Crow, when they met on the battlefield in Shido's palace. Joker took secret joy in seeing his shocked expression.

Skull, because he was the most adept at taking hits. He was confident his best friend could take one and deal out punishment right back.

Fox would soon be added to that list.

The dark fire began to make its way up the cloth leaving black and red in its wake.

"JOKER! FOX! A NEW PROPHECY JUST HAPPENED!"

The sudden shrill voice of Sumire rang out over the upper railings, attracting the attention of both summoner and Persona alike. Sumire then ran back up the stairs.

The flames on Athena died out as quickly as they began, her chiton going back to its beige color.

The two personas seemed to have reached a silent agreement. Susanoo tossed the shield to Athena, which as soon as it neared her, stopped in mid-air and entered orbit around the goddess and the belt from the shield unfold and strapped around her akin to the rings of a planet.

"We'll finish this later…." The cold monotone voice boomed. Susanoo then disappeared in a blue flame, the promise left hanging in the air like an incoming ice storm.

Athena nodded in response, performed a spear salute and disappeared in a flame of her own.

Joker promptly grappled up to the next floor via the railing. He was swiftly followed by Fox who ice pillared his way up.

"Were you really about to use that against me, leader? I don't think I'm nearly strong enough to handle something of that caliber." Yusuke asked as they ran up the stairs.

"Don't underestimate yourself, you've grown since we've got here, and you're the next oldest member after the original four. You should be proud."

"Thanks, leader, I appreciate the sentiment. Though I always thought you would use it against Noir before me."

Joker sweat dropped "She's….A special case. You know how 'loose' I get when I use that power."

"Yes, I do. But I don't follow. What is the point you're making?"

"She would reply in kind."

The visible lower portion of his face under the mask lost all color. "I must respectfully ask that you please don't."

Ren ran his gloved hand through his hair. "Yeah, probably never going to happen. We'd destroy the hideout and maybe a good chunk of Brooklyn in a heartbeat. The only way is if we have a wide-open plain or something. The girl does not know how to hold back when given a reason to cut loose. I'd end up summoning Satanael and…."

"I get the picture and it's a truly horrible painting."

Joker then looked over his current companion, "Also, dual wielding huh? It fits you. Have you looked into maybe getting a wakizashi for defense?"

Fox's face went slack as he put a blue gloved hand to his chin in thought "Hmm, profound inspiration. It would give me more options. I shall consider it."

They entered the meeting room and discovered they were the last ones there. Not opting to sit they stood around the end of the table not even changing back to their civilian wear.

"I see you two are finally done beating the crap out of each other," Morgana acknowledged their presence by gesturing to their battle-damaged outfits.

Ryuji smiled at the two, "I saw the end there, it seems Ren-Ren finally decided to get serious, eh? Bet you wouldn't last as long as I did Fox,"

Futaba was practically vibrating in her chair. "Save the shows of masculinity and dick measuring contests for later, we've got eavesdropping and wiretapping to do." Sumire fanned herself, scandalized at the vulgar language.

"I would appreciate it if you would refrain from mentioning illegal acts so casually…"

"Makoto, I'm pretty sure our entire existence is illegal at this point." Ann rightfully pointed out.

"Anyways listen to this! Percy got a prophecy," Futaba then turned up the volume on her laptop and pressed play.

"You shall go west, and face the god who has turned,

You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned,

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend,

And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.

The %#$ $% is now intertwined with the ^&$^#% voice.

Your own tale of &%#$ begin if you take his choice"

"It was going rather well until those second two lines," Fox commented.

"But wait! There's more!" Futaba said in her best sleazy saleswoman voice. She then clicked a button and the warbled voice of a boy filtered out the laptop.

"So let me get this straight," The voice Ren assumed was Percy said, "I'm supposed to go to Los Angeles, go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead. Not to mention I can't fly there and have to deal with any nasties on the way."

"Sounds about right." An older voice confirmed. Futaba then clicked another button and the voice stopped.

"So, am I right to assume this conversation just recently happened?" Akechi asked.

"Joker! That was the general gist of it but they're planning to leave today via the bus terminal on the east side. What's your call?" Futaba had purposefully ignored Akechi entirely which he scoffed at.

"I think we should follow them."

"Hmph," Morgana huffed indignantly before he stalked over and lept onto Joker's shoulder. "I figured you might say that…. I, for one, am all for it. I generally don't like the idea of sending a 12-year-old to hell so callously."

"I don't think any of us do Mona-chan. A couple of weeks of experience isn't enough to begin to even think about tackling a place like that. It would be like if Sumire's first foray into the metaverse was against the god of control." Haru reasoned.

At the mention of her name, Sumire looked hesitant. "I-I-I'm still not too sure. The first two lines say everything will work out. So maybe we shouldn't stick our nose in their business after all."

Ryuji slammed the table, as he turned towards the redhead, agitated, "You can't possibly know that, Sumire! We talked about it last week! It's almost impossible to predict how it's gonna turn out. The kid wouldn't stand a chance if something like the Lion-Lady-"

"Sphinx," Morgana corrected

"-Sphinx showed up! Not to mention those last two lines obviously have something to do with us since he's,"—Ryuji thumbed at Joker— "the only other one who got a prophecy full of static."

"Wow, you actually made a really good point Ryuji! You sure showed me! Anyways I'm in, and I suggest the rest of you decide quickly, we're on a timer remember?" Futaba interjected.

"Hell yeah, I'm in! Time for a road trip!"

Sumire still looked a little shaken at Ryuji's outburst. "I guess…. When you put it like that…. I'm in."

"I've been wanting to visit L.A, especially since our school trip got canceled. Not to mention a chance to sketch the underworld and its hellish scenery in comparison to that of mementos. Count me as part of this journey."

Ann put a finger to her chin "That's right Fox, Kosei high was supposed to go to L.A. I personally think you came out ahead going to Hawaii but considering all we really did was eat at Big Bang Burger, I don't blame you. That aside I'm in, I'd feel bad towards Sally if we didn't do anything."

The team then looked towards the last two members who had yet to answer.

"Is it even a question?" Makoto spoke up first "I can't abide by a kid being used to stop a war of this level."

"I don't give a damn either way. If Joker says we're going, then I'll play by his game… For now. However, I will not hesitate to leave any of you behind if you slow me down." Akechi's statement was met with either frowns or neutral impassiveness.

"Well on that note…It seems as if we're in agreement." Morgana said. "Anything you want to add, Joker?"

"We move out in 30. Pack lightly, only the essentials, we won't have that much space in the Mona-Mobile. If we need anything extra, we'll pick it up on the way." Joker surveyed his team and saw each wore an expression of determination that he was sure matched his own.

"It's Showtime!"

At his catchphrase, almost every member of the team transformed into their phantom attire as if it was a honed instinct. In a blur of motion, they each headed down either of the staircases intent on making their own preparations.

"Look at them go. I'll never get tired of that," Morgana said, the only member of the team who remained behind with Joker.

"The catchphrase or the team?"

"Both!" He chirped "I wouldn't trade either for the world!"

Joker allowed a smile to creep on his face, "Neither would I…." he then turned to face the stairs "Shall we, Mona?"

"Let's!"

X-X-X

One hour later they were sitting outside the greyhound bus stop, waiting for their quarry to pass by the rain pattering incessantly against the vehicle.

"If I knew you had this many bags I wouldn't have agreed to come!" Crow exclaimed as he tried to create space for himself in the very back among the luggage "Honestly where did you get all this stuff? Last I checked there wasn't this much shit in the hideout period!"

Joker let loose a laugh "You think I'm going to let you that far out of my sight? You being in Boston is one thing, us in L. A is another."

"Also, what do you know anyway? You're not even there half the time!" Panther countered.

"He does have a point. Mona is a pretty god damn small van,"

"Hey! Watch it bonehead before you end up walking!"

"I'm just sayin'! Most of us really did pack the bare minimum. Hell, I only have one complete change of clothes for an almost two-week trip." Skull scratched his head. "Maybe since we're in America you can change into a full-size van, like a Ford or a Chevy? Ya know? Fit in with what everyone else is drivin'?"

Joker could sense a begrudging acceptance from Mona "I've… never tried before….But I'll consider it."

"Please do," Crow rasped from behind a bag.

"Are we going to skip over the fact that Skull-senpai probably packed only one pair of underwear?" Violet blurted out.

"Just like the other fact that Percy is about to get on the bus, and he's being followed by three monsters?" Oracle adjusted her goggles.

"Did not! I'll have you know I packed 5 pairs!"

"I must say, I only packed two pairs myself. How about you, leader?" Fox asked.

"Uh TMI!" Panther's face was scrunched up in disgust.

"Violet brought it up!" Skull tried to defend himself.

Queen's eyebrows raised "Is this really what you want to be talking about in front of gir–Wait for a second, Oracle say that again."

"Look for yourself. Percy and his friends are about to get on the bus. "Oracle then gestured to the front of one of the massive greyhound buses.

Near the doors, it was Percy, the satyr Grover, and one other, who Joker was surprised to see was Annabeth. They were finishing up a hackysack game via Grover eating the apple they were using whole.

After a brief spell of laughing, they then made their way onto the bus.

"I see the kids, where are the monsters?" Panther asked.

"I would assume it's that old lady who looks suspiciously similar to the teacher from the museum," Fox said, then pointed to a trio of old ladies, not far behind Percy and his group. One of whom sported straw-wheat blonde hair in a high ponytail, with a penchant for leather jackets and the color red. Though her face currently had wrinkles, it was without a doubt, Alexis Dodds.

"It's surprising that he didn't notice her presence. I can feel her bloodlust from here." Haru said as she shivered. Whether it was from fear or excitement, Joker didn't dare to ask, and it seemed like nobody else was willing to either.

Joker put a palm to his forehead "Isn't the first time there have been awareness issues. At least he's still new at this," He eyed the three old ladies(?) cautiously as they boarded the bus as well.

"What's with the two other old bags next to her?"

Queen sent Skull a hard glare, "Rudeness of your statement aside, Skull. According to our description of Alexis' true form, Oracle has ID'd her as the Fury, Alecto: The Unceasing Tormenter of Passions. Following that logic, the other two are her sisters Megaera: The grudging first of the furies, and Tisiphone: Tormenter of Murderers. Together they are essentially Hades' toughest wardens…. Outside Thanatos of course"

"In other words, shit is gonna hit the fan real fast." Skull summarized as the bus began to pull off.

Crow then laughed maniacally, "Quite so, I doubt they'll even make it to Jersey, given the impulsiveness of the boy from what I hear," he rubbed his claw-like gloved fingers together on one hand. The other casually perched on a bag. His legs were crossed. From Joker's perspective, he looked as if he was the demented king of the luggage.

Crow then turned his head back towards the front, red eye gleaming through the slit in the mask, "Even though it's so obvious the monsters can't make any overt moves in that crowd of people, he'll panic and do something extreme."

"... I really hope you're wrong, Crow," Violet said, though she seemed to more so trying to convince herself, as the Mona-Mobile pulled off in pursuit.

Crow was promptly proven right as not even out of the Lincoln tunnel the bus started swerving and intermittently scraping against the wall.

"Whoa, that was fast!" Mona exclaimed.

"Wow, we're not even half an hour in! That has to be some kind of record!" Oracle agreed.

"Could you guys not?! I have to stay focused on the road here, so we don't get accidentally crushed!" Makoto chastised them.

The bus continued to swerve and accelerate far into New Jersey, where it eventually tipped over on its side and skidded to a stop after hitting a tree in a rural area between the Hudson River and a forest.

As the Mona mobile skidded to a stop itself on the slick road. Joker got out just in time to hear a cracking sound, and then to see Percy get launched out of a window back first. His wrist was entangled in a blueish-purple ribbon-like whip. A soft thud could be heard as he landed in the grass on the side of the road.

"I have to hand it to him, he sure can take a hit. He might be up here with Ryuji when he's older," Panther's voice came from behind him. Joker couldn't help but agree with her words after witnessing the Minotaur encounter.

To Percy's even greater credit, as soon as he hit the grass, he pulled out a sword and cut the whip holding his wrist.

As the whip was pulled back into the bus akin to a reel on a fishing line, Percy looked around frantically, torn between wanting to bolt into the forest and go back to the bus.

Just then a chorus of shrieks and the rumblings of movement came from the bus, followed by a hand, as another person reached up and grasped the edge of the door frame as they hoisted themself up from the wreckage of the bus. Joker could tell from the small figure and blonde hair that it was Annabeth.

After she got to the top of the bus, she crouched down over the opening and helped pull up a third boy who was flailing as if he was a fish out of water.

Percy then ran up to the two and assisted them down, afterwards they dashed off into the woods together at full steam.

Joker looked back at his team which had now fully assembled "Fox, Oracle," the two stood at attention. "You're on tracking duty. Don't let them get too far away. Don't be seen. Update us if anything happens."

"By your orders, leader," Fox said

"Rodger, Let's hop to it, Inari," Oracle said lazily. With a huff from Fox, the pair dashed off in pursuit of the pre-teens.

Joker then turned his attention to the bus where the first civilians were beginning to climb out. Most were littered with various scrapes and bruises

"That was very reckless of them to leave uninvolved civilians like that. Not to mention if Crow was right, they're responsible for tipping over the bus in the first place!" Queen said.

"Can we really blame them? They're kids suddenly thrust into their first foray into the world. Survival is the first instinct. We can't really be too hard on them for that," Noir countered

"I–"

Whatever Queen was about to reply with was suddenly cut off as triplet slashes of purple, green, and teal, tore through the bus from the inside as if it was a hot knife through butter. The bus was left a smoking wreck, threatening to catch on fire any second. Joker guessed they had sliced through a gas line or the engine.

"I could learn a thing or two from that," Panther said, eyes slightly wide.

With the belly of the metal monster cut open, its equally monstrous occupants were now free to rise into the sky. Each was a blue-skinned lady with a singular wing. They also were all wearing single strap chitons, fitted with golden shoulder pads, and had ponytails. However, the similarities stopped there.

Alecto looked the same as she had in the museum encounter, wearing her ruby red toga and leggings accented with silver. The only difference now is that she wielded a greenish-blue whip and had on green lipstick to complete the look.

Sister #1 had on a sapphire blue chiton and leggings accented with gold. Her hair was straight and silky, resembling a stream of water. A stark contrast compared to the other two's bushier hairstyles. In her hand, she had the blueish purple whip from earlier, indicating she was responsible for Percy's "sudden exit" from the bus.

Sister #2 looked the most different out of the three. She lacked a nose, only having slits. She also had sunken eyes, giving her the overall appearance of her entire face having sunk into her skull. For clothes, she had on a dark emerald green chiton and leggings accented with lavender. Her hair had an ethereal quality to it. It looked almost as if smoke had gathered together and attached itself to her head. In her hands was a yellow-green whip.

The three sisters remained steady in mid-air with slow beats of their wings, ignoring the carnage and screaming they caused below. For a moment they looked as if they were conversing with each other before they all turned to a single direction as if someone had called them.

Joker's battle instincts kicked in right then, "Noir!"

"On it leader!"

The moment the three sisters had decided to dash off, Noir had summoned Astarte and caught them in a psychic hold from behind. The three sisters struggled to move, to even turn to see their attacker but Noir's grip was too strong for them to make much headway.

With a sharp flick of her hand, the furies were thrown into the forest, a direction away from where the others had dashed too. The sound of branches and logs snapping in the distance could be heard even from the area somewhat near the bus where they were at.

"Mona, Violet, Noir! With me!" Joker cried as he dashed off towards the crash site, his three selected companions in tow.

"The rest of you are with me on rescue duty!"

"Why me!?" Crow exclaimed at Queen.

"One. What Joker is doing is containment. As in, not being seen, which I doubt is your style in a fight. Two. You have a talent for gaslighting and manipulation which will be more useful here. Three. Along with Skull and Panther, you have experience in dealing with fire. Four. Noir might 'accidentally' attack you. Any other questions?"

Crow muttered obscenities under his breath as he marched to the hunk of metal once called a bus.

It didn't take long to reach where Noir had flinged the furies. It helped that they were able to cover massive distances with each jump through the thick canopy.

Soon enough they spotted the three sisters in a small clearing, who were starting to shake off the dazed stupor brought on by the surprise attack. Joker, Mona, and Violet landed in front of the three intent on drawing their attention. However, they seemed to be more interested in each other at the moment.

The one in blue held a hand to her head and she staggered back to her feet "This is why I don't associate with you outside of work. You never give any explicit details."

Alecto frowned at her sister "C'mon Meg, I'm trying. This was going to be my big break to get back into the house. I'm certain the demigod has it. It was supposed to be an easy snatch and grab. Though…." She suddenly put a hand on top of her skirt where her groin is "He's a child of the big three. He's almost guaranteed to be more of a fight than the perverts and murders we usually deal with. Imagine the look on his face as I made him…. bleed" The words that came out of her mouth had a clear sultry undertone to it that Joker wasn't sure if he liked. He was damn sure he didn't like the face he was making. An image of Noir started to overlap with Alecto in Joker's mind, but not even she was that…. explicit in what she was implying.

"Mmmmmuuuurrrrrdddddeeerrrrrrrreeeeerrrrr" The sister in green said. It was only one word, but it sounded eerily like a moan.

Alecto turned back to the other sister Joker now knew was Megaera. "See!? She gets it! You can't deny it Meg. Even you have been itching for a good fight. I know you've been champing at the bit since the trash god stopped his regular escape attempts centuries back. He just doesn't scratch that sacred spot he used to, doesn't he? But this Demigod? A new toy to break in. So many new methods of punishment brought by battle in the modern world, however, no one to try them out on. Especially since I haven't forgiven him for beating me last time."

Megaera bit her lip in response, unable to refute her sister's words. "That's not…. untrue. It is rare that a mortal makes us work at our jobs. Skills eventually rust without a proper opponent….But when did you start caring about getting into the house?"

Alecto's look of sexual pleasure quickly contorted into a guarded sneer. "Don't worry about that, dear sister. You worry about helping me with this task. It does affect us all."

"Durer"

"That's right Tis. He won't escape us. No one does." Alecto assured her sister.

"AHEM" Joker cleared his throat. Three pairs of eyes focused on him.

"Sorry to interrupt your family drama," He then focused his eyes on Alecto, "Or in your case, foreplay. But I believe we have business here."

"What business would that be, red-blood?" Alecto said as she eyed him.

"You see, it's in my best interest that the kid you're after survives his quest," All three sisters rolled their eyes perfectly in sync. "Preferably torture-free." Joker then summoned his dagger and held it in a reverse grip. Behind him the sound of metal cutting through air let him know Mona and Violet had done the same "With that being said…...You have to die. But I'm sure you'll live."

Alecto and Tisiphone laughed while Megaera remained passive but gripped her whip. "Bold words from two kids in costumes. And I don't even know what the hell that cat thing is," Alecto ignored Morgana's indignant yell of hey and continued. "But I'm not sure you understand the concept of dying, or of who is going to be killing who."

"Careful, Alecto. I think we got more than we bargained for here." Megaera advised.

"Murr?"

"Yeah, what she said. The hell does that mean?"

"Take a good look sisters. I think we've bumped into the masked demigods,"

Alecto looked them over "The ones the monsters have been groaning about when we went to see mother?"

Megaera nodded her head "The very same. They both look and smell powerful. If they're interested in the boy, there's a good chance they're involved in the theft of it."

Alecto and Tisiphone sent Megaera a disbelieving look. "Didn't expect two kids and a cat."

"I'm not a kid!" Violet squeaked back.

Cartoonish smoke came out of Mona's oversized head "How about you expect my blade in your body!"

Alecto then flashed a smile full of teeth "You've got fire in you, cat. I look forward to breaking you. All three of you." All three then brandished their whips, then raised a couple of feet in the air. "For the remainder of your now miserably short lives, try to provide the spark the trash god left behind. Now then….Hope you live up to your hype."

Tisiphone then flashed a smile that looked as if the death god had descended from the moon. "Red Rum."

The three sisters then charged the three thieves in a streaking blurs of motion. Mona and Violet immediately splintered to Joker's left and right while he himself flipped backward. Each of the sisters following a separate target.

After he had created space, Joker casually pivoted and avoided the giant fireball headed his way, akin to a matador performing the Suerte de Capote, complete with his tailcoat acting as the cape. The fireball then burst open to reveal Alecto.

"Olé," Joker taunted with his signature smirk.

"Not many can dodge an attack like that. I knew I made the right choice. You're obviously the leader, therefore the strongest. I'm going to enjoy torturing you for the location of what was lost, red blood."

"Mind informing me what 'It' is?"

"You naughty boy. You know exactly what you took from the master. Why put a name to the crime? Now eat this!" She then threw a flurry of miniature fireballs at Joker.

Dodging through the volley wasn't really an issue for Joker, there was so much he could hide behind and use as a shield. The problem was that Alecto had seemingly no regard for collateral damage. Behind him, he could hear the cries of the other four combatants complaining at Alecto for her carelessness. Various flora became engulfed in fire from the wayward magic. Pillars of fire littered the battlefield as the flames licked up the trees, turning the area into a hellscape. At this rate, she'd burn down the whole forest. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. Not that it looked like she cared.

"Use me ho-he. It's my time to shine."

Joker shifted his mask and summoned his Persona. The inky black snowman with the purple cap: Black Frost appeared in front of him.

"A monster summoner," she remarked as she lazily flew around him. "How rare. Though I don't see how that little imp is going to help you against me. I honestly pegged you for a pyro like me given your smell and gloves,"

"Oh, I think you'll be in for a nice surprise." Joker ignored the groans inside his head "Now, Frost. If you will?"

"You got it boss hee-ho!" Black Frost replied. With a petulant stomp of his foot, ice raced out from beneath him and began to encase the whole area in a layer of frost and snow, instantly suffocating the fire.

Mona and Violet had to jump to avoid being caught in the attack. The fury sisters simply took to the air, right below the canopy. Each one wore a look of pure astonishment at Alecto's devastation not only being stopped, but out matched in sheer scale. The forest now looked as if winter had set in early—On the Siberian Tundra. The temperature had gone from hot and humid to cold and dry in an instant. The light rain was now replaced with snow in the area.

"Do you like it? It's called Diamond Dust. I figured you ladies would like to take a moment to cool off." Mona and Violet groaned at Joker's pun.

Megaera held out a hand tentatively as light flakes fell onto her palm "Amazing. Such raw power. Like I said sister, you may have underestimated the scope of this task." Her voice was flat and monotone but still managed to convey a subtle sense of mocking.

"Murderer."

"I agree the other two aren't slouches either," Joker inspected the other two sisters and saw faint nicks and scratches on Megaera, while Tisiphone sported various charred spots in her chiton.

"It would be prudent to retreat, the son of the sea god is the priority. We do not have time for a drawn out encounter. If he doesn't have it, then we'll hunt down these demigods again. Not to mention there's a Norse and Roman demigod among them. Reckless engagement could lead to an unnecessary inter-pantheon conflict. We do not want a repeat of World War II."

Alecto held her hand in a mock talking gesture "Blah blah blah, paperwork. Blah blah blah, meetings. Blah blah blah, new overpasses for asphodel. You've made your point, Megaera. Let's beat it." She then eyed Joker "As for you. We're not finished here, not by a long shot."

With a flap of their wings, they began to soar at full speed deeper into the forest. However, they only made it about 100 yards away before they ran into a large wall of interwoven branches and vines, curving around the immediate area. They reach upwards towards the canopy effectively creating a cage. Dumbfounded, the sisters turned around as the sound of soft footfalls on fresh powdered snow attracted their attention.

"Did you really think I'd let you get away that easily?" Joker said as he casually approached them, Black Frost riding on his shoulders, covering his mouth in stifled shrill laughter. Mona and Violet trailing behind him. Boots and paws crunching in the snow.

"And did you really think that plants would stop us? You must be some kind of idiot, Red-blood. I just burned down a section of the forest!"

Alecto then formed a ball of fire in her hand and turned to face the wall. Before she could throw it, a soft voice echoed from above her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. These branches and vines are made of various poisonous plants and compounds. Burn it and you'll release a cloud of toxins and other fun surprises I planted," The sister looked up to see Noir. She was crouched on top of the wall of vines one hand petting the foliage lovingly.

All of a sudden, a purple whip lashed out at Noir, who nimbly dodged by performing a flip in the air feet first, hand on her hat. She landed next to Joker, one leg bent the other extended to the side.

"Blech. Did you have to get snow on me, Noir?" Mona said as she shook violently.

"Sorry, Mona-Chan." Noir replied as she looked at her attacker Megaera who was staring at the wall of foliage that was currently repairing itself.

"It seems that we will have to fight after all. And a Mesopotamian demigod has joined the fray. I honestly thought that your breed went extinct." Megaera said after the barrier had fully repaired itself from her whip strike.

Alecto waved her off "So the brats are itching for punishment by forcing a fight. Doesn't make any difference to me, since I was going to spill their blood anyway. Adding another one to the mix will make it all the sweeter."

"Derer"

"Mmmhmmm. With that said…." Alecto then suddenly swung her whip and Joker held out his wrist allowing it to be caught. Despite the sleeve of his coat smoking, he flashed a smile that Black Frost mirrored. He then grabbed the fall hitch and with a mighty tug, he yanked Alecto to his position.

The red fury sister had no time to react as she lurched forward, and her feet left the ground. Noir, however, did as she had her ax in her as if it was a bat.

With perfect timing, Noir swung her blade and connected the flat side against Alecto's face. The enforcer went flying about fifty yards before crashing into a log hidden in a snowbank, according to Joker's estimation.

"Home Run!" Both Noir and Black Frost cried out.

"Allow me to reply in kind!" Violet shouted before she sent out her ribbon, where it was met in an entanglement with Megaera's whip, forcing the two to play a deadly game of tug-of-war.

Tisiphone lunged to help her sister but found herself blasted away by a gust of wind and smacked into the wall from Mona's now summoned Persona.

Both Tisiphone and Megaera's eyes went wide from the sight.

"The Messenger God?!"

"Seems we're overdue for a partner swap, eh Violet?"

Violet gritted her teeth and dug in her heels as she began to gain ground on the pressed elder sister of the trio. "Sounds…. good…..to….me…..Mona!" suddenly she let go of the ribbon, causing Megaera to stumble back and fall over from the given slack.

Mona and Violet then turned to each other and with a nod jumped in the air

"Let's dance!"

Tisiphone managed to snap out of her shock and swiftly kicked off the vines to meet Mona in the air using the thick thong of her whip to block Mona's scimitar.

Meanwhile, Violet fell through the air, rapier in hand towards Megaera, who was scrambling to get out of the way.

Joker looked away from the ensuing sounds of the scuffle and at Alecto who was starting to stir. "Are you sure you're okay to fight? You can sit this one out if you want."

Noir reached out and started to pet Black Frost who cooed in response, "What gave it away?" She asked

"You were crouching when we first saw you. Then your landing, while flashy, was very very sloppy…for you.

She giggled in response, "I'm touched you notice and look at me so," a stony and tired expression quickly eclipsed her face from her normally bubbly visage "To be honest leader, that was me and Astarte's first-time magically growing plants after seeing you do it. It was…. draining. I could fall asleep at any…." Noir then yawned, and her ax slightly slipped from her hand "... any moment now. But I can still fight!"

At this point, Alecto was almost to her feet. Joker frowned and then addressed Noir, "Okay, then. But I want you to stick to physical attacks. No magic or Persona at all. I don't want you to pass out mid-battle."

"Got it!"

Joker then dashed towards Alecto sliding under her whip strikes. Black Frost reached up and slid his stubby finger along the length of the whip as Joker slid, freezing it. Behind him Noir chopped up what she could of the icicle before Alecto could channel her fire magic through and melt the ice.

Before long Alecto had lost over half of her whip. As his slide came to a stop, Joker then pulled out his gun and fired a precisely aimed shot, knocking the handle out of her hand and out of reach. It landed near Noir who promptly hacked it into pieces.

"That was my favorite whip, Red-blood! You'll pay for that!"

"If I had a nickel for every time, I heard that line,"

Alecto snarled at the loss of her weapon. She lunged at him, flaming claws extended, intending on gouging him in revenge. Joker didn't care in the slightest.

"Hee-ho!" Black Frost said the catchphrase of his kind and jumped off Joker's shoulders, meeting the claw with a glowing fist of Miracle Punch. A shockwave reverberated in the air as a result of the collision. Miracle Punch continued to overwhelm its counterpart and eventually connected with Alecto's body and sent her flying back.

Alecto managed to keep both feet underneath herself as she skidded to a stop. She wasn't given a chance to recover as her instincts kicked in, and she was forced to leap to her right. A dull boom sounded out as the blade of Noir's ax was now buried in the ground where she was standing a moment ago. She shuddered at the mere thought of taking that hit. Whether it was in fear or pleasure was anybody's guess.

She summoned and launched a gigantic pillar of hellfire at the girl, intent on capitalizing on her recovery period from the attempted blow. However, seemingly instantaneously, in a show of speed, Joker materialized in front of the girl casually standing with his hands in his pockets.

Alecto couldn't be happier, she'd get to hear his delicious screams first as he burned and writhed. She watched as the hellfire approached and connected. Then she saw a sea of red and orange and she heard screaming. Only….it sounded odd to her, more feminine. It took her a second before she realized that she was the one screaming.

How? Why? She couldn't comprehend. Why was she the one burning, when she was certain it connected with the teen?

"Looks like you can't take what you dish out, how about you cool off for a bit?" she heard from behind her as she felt a hard force connect with her back, propelling her into the snow face first.

Alecto spluttered and sighed in relief. Hellfire was no joke even to a fury. Only Cerberus remained completely immune to the stuff. While she was reveling in the sensation a hand grabbed her by the neck, hoisting her up as if she was a mere kitten.

Joker brought her face to face with himself. "Looks like it's time to punish the punisher,"

Alecto's eyes narrowed into a scathing glare "You think you're so funny, huh?"

"I know I am. Noir, will you do the honors?" Joker asked as he tossed the She-demon at her.

"Certainly leader," Haru said as she expertly snagged the back of Alecto's chiton with her Ax and spun her in a circle before launching her where she collided with her other two sisters, who were thrown from their fight as well, and collapsed in a heap.

Vanadis and Mercurius disappeared, their job completed.

All four thieves quickly dashed in and withdrew their weapons as they surrounded their downed opponents.

"I suppose you're going to finish us off," said Megaera as she stared down the barrel of Violet's antique gun.

"Joke's on you then, I happen to like dying. Try harder." Alecto said defiantly with a smile.

"Then you'll find this one hilarious," Joker said. "Percy wasn't the one to kill you in the museum,"

"What?" Alecto's smile faltered a bit. "What do you mean? He's a child of the big three. If anyone could slay me, it would be him!"

Joker let loose a madman's laugh not too far from Arsene's. The three sisters leaned back in alarm. "Didn't you feel it Alecto? That numbing sensation in your body? That was me. You signed your own death warrant the moment you bare your fangs against the innocent. You even dragged your sisters into your mess. Tsk Tsk, for shame." The dichotomy at his sudden switch to his smooth velvety voice only served to further unnerve.

"What is he talking about?" Megaera asked with a note of hesitancy in her voice.

"Th-that was you? Just what the hell are you?!" Fear had finally started to leak through Alecto's confident facade.

"We're the phantom thieves lady!" Mona exclaimed, slingshot in paw "Now it's time to send you three back to hell…. The painful way!"

At Mona's words, all four members backflipped or jumped backstepped giving the furies a moment of peace, although it was short-lived as the Thieves lunged forward with weapons in hand. The next thing the women knew, they were being assaulted by a flurry of slashes. Too many to keep count of as they were randomly flung against each other, further adding to the confusion.

Joker, Mona, and Violet then decided to end it with a gigantic slash, bifurcating the sisters as they exploded into dust.

Black Frost gave a victory Hee-Ho and then disappeared as well.

Joker then leaped over to Noir whose Ax had slipped from her hands and into the snow below, where it disappeared in a blaze. He wrapped an arm around her waist just as she was starting to fall forward, all tension leaving her.

"Easy there…." Joker said as he brought her against him for support.

"I'm sorry leader…That I wasn't able to do more."

"Don't say that Noir. You were the star here."

"Thanks…... I…." Her eyes were slowly fluttering closed.

Joker then reached one hand behind her legs and scooped her up bridal style. "Don't worry you can leave the rest to us," Noir didn't respond as she was already slowly breathing, sleep having claimed her. Her costume slowly vanishes being replaced with her jeans and blouse, Noir leaving and Haru taking her place. "Sweet dreams," he said.

"Is she okay, Joker?" Mona asked as he ran over.

Joker nodded his head and looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms "She's just exhausted. It was the first time using her powers in that manner."

"Pretty impressive if I do say so myself," he said, "Those vines she made immediately repaired themselves after they got ripped through," He looked at the wall of foliage that was slowly wilting away, "I was skeptical when you two were talking about it on the way, but you sure proved me wrong. Too bad it knocked her out though."

"Too bad?" Violet asked as she caught up. "More like too good. She's so lucky Joker gets to carry her like that in his strong arms."

"Uh, doesn't he carry you in the showtime attack you guys have? Not to mention you almost make out in it too," Mona pointed out.

"It's not the same. She's in a bridal carry," She admonished. "That's like, so romantic. It's almost straight out of the novels I read," she finished with a dreamy sigh.

"O—kay? A…Anyways, we should really regroup with the others, then catch up with Fox and Oracle."

With a nod, the three then leaped back the way they came. It didn't take them long until they ran into the rescue group who had various soot and ash stains on them. The real bizarre sight of the day was that, similar to how Joker was carrying Haru, Skull had Crow draped backward over his shoulder as the trio leaped through their own branches. Joker's team seamlessly melded into the group with Queen taking the lead.

"You know where we're headed?" Joker asked Queen as he followed slightly behind her.

"Yeah, Oracle gave me an update. She said you were busy, so she gave it to me since we finished on our end. They're further into New Jersey, about a mile and some change,"

"Any monsters?"

"Hmm, just some Stymphalian birds from what Fox said. Those things are like pigeons."

"Good. Also, care to explain what's up with that back there?" Joker said as he jerked his head at Skull who was jumping with the unconscious Crow.

Skull gave Crow a good-natured pat on the ass. "He did his job savin' the civies, but he kept bitchin' about not being able to fight, so Queen knocked him out." Skull supplied as Queen looked away from Joker in embarrassment.

"Uh, you totally skipped the part where he threatened to drive people psychotic if they didn't stop screaming!" Panther added on.

Joker turned his head to look at Queen, "Makajamon?" he asked.

"Makajamon." Queen confirmed, "Now what happened to Noir?" she said while looking at the sleeping girl in his arms.

"Oh, since our powers have been changing in this world, we decided to work with Astarte's domain over fertility, but…"

"It drained her." Queen finished.

He shrugged his shoulders "Yeah, what can you do?"

Queen then gestured in front of them at the familiar fox tail hanging off a branch, its attached person sitting and sketching, letting them know they reached their destination.

"Ah you have finally made it," Fox said without looking at the team.

"The rookies went into that diner over there a couple of minutes ago. I wanted to go in, but Inari said we shouldn't. We'd be needlessly exposing ourselves,

Oracle pointed across a dirt road that divided the forest to a lone diner.

The diner itself was very ostentatious in design, with a variety of lawn ornaments ranging from flamingos to gnomes and an old gas station next to it. If you asked Joker, it looked like a cross between a '50s coming of age movie and a horror movie waiting to happen, given how deep they were in the woods.

"You made a good call Fox," Joker said sitting on a nearby branch, cradling Haru against his chest. "Why don't we wait here and eat dinner too while they're in there?"

"I'm game," Skull said as he unceremoniously dumped the unconscious Crow onto a branch. The rest of the team followed suit, picking out various branches as Panther pulled their bags out from…. somewhere. Joker didn't question it as he made sure his and Haru's bags were secure, before looking at the setting sun and wondering what would happen next.

---

Artemis was annoyed. Though she could say that about a lot of things lately, this year was shaping up to take the cake all things considered.

It started with the theft of her father's master bolt as a horrible way to ring in the new year. She held little love for her both king and parent, but she recognized the dangers of one of the most powerful weapons in creation going missing. (How the Norse dealt with Thor's antics of his hammer going constantly missing was beyond her.) To make matters worse Zeus blamed his brother—even though all twelve Olympians were in the same place, on top of the action being forbidden. Except for Zeus, they all agreed there was no way Poseidon could have done it…. Right?

However, Zeus threatened war on Poseidon if it wasn't found, and he was king of the gods so whether they liked it or not, his threats would be backed up by force.

So, ever since the solstice, almost every(non-suspected) Olympian god and goddess on hand were out searching for it. Even the more lazy and carefree gods such as Aphrodite and Dionysus had sharp eyes on the prowl and kept their ears to the ground for rumors. Artemis didn't care much for the seafoam pile or the drunkard dealing with a prohibition, but if they were stirred to some kind of action things were getting serious. Not even her twin brother had time to irritate her with his visits he was searching so hard.

In June they had come to find out Poseidon had sired yet another bastard demigod. Whether it was a desperate move or a foolish one to claim him with only weeks to go to the summer solstice was anybody's guess. Zeus demanded him to be brought forth to the counsel for suspicion of stealing the bolt. Poseidon immediately argued against it, but Zeus ordered Dionysus to bring him in any way.

In a surprising show of defiance, Dionysus denied the request. Though he was in his now usual slobbish appearance and words had a tone of unmindful laziness, they were clear, nonetheless. As long as the demigod was at camp half-blood they'd be under his and Chiron's protection until they said otherwise. Or in other words: Zeus has no current jurisdiction over the camp. He then argued that when he'd seen the kid in person, he wasn't able to steal a game of cards, much less the bolt. Ergo, Zeus was wasting his time.

The action caught most of the council off guard. The fact that the most slothful, hedonistic god of them all was the first to choose a side, and against Zeus no less. Her respect for the wine god grew that day at the pair of brass balls he showed he possessed. Though Artemis suspected it was primarily born of simply not giving a fuck anymore. He was already on punishment and effectively stripped of his domain in all but name. So, what else did he have to lose? He was free to indulge in petty rebellion. It did not appeal to her, not in the slightest. What was the point of rebellion if no change was brought about? Dionysus would eventually return to the same duties as they all did, and the status quo would return. Why act out when it would only meet further retaliation? She'd much rather be on Zeus' good side than his bad one; Apollo was the prime example of that.

Following Dionysus', the other gods were forced to pick sides. Ares immediately planted himself in Zeus' camp, no doubt to fan the flames of war. However, she didn't like the expression plastered on her half-brother's face, it was that of someone who already won. More fitting to be found on the face of the wisdom goddess, who was sitting next to her on the left.

Aphrodite was the next to speak up in support of Zeus, obviously following her godly lover Ares. She appeared carefree filing her nails (not that she needed to), her tone did have an undercurrent that showed she understood the severity of the situation.

Athena, astonishingly supported Poseidon, stating they didn't have all the facts and a third party was at play. Not to mention his claim to the great prophecy.

Hera scoffed at Athena saying it was a daughter's duty to support her father, but she couldn't expect much from a child born out of wedlock. Nobody paid her any mind at this point, considering about half the council was composed of Zeus' bastard children. As expected, she stood with Zeus even though she didn't fully agree with him.

Perhaps emboldened by Dionysus and Athena, her twin brother sided with Poseidon. Apollo took every opportunity he could to bend the rules if he thought he could get away with it. The definition of passive-aggressive. Artemis still remembered his nervous smile with sweat rolling down his face as they focused on him for an answer. She was certain if he was asked first, he would have sided with Zeus out of fear.

Herself and Hephaestus claimed neutrality. Better to do it now than risk it being viewed as a cop-out to be won over.

She spied Athena sending her a curious glance, analyzing how to best approach her later no doubt. Artemis sighed as she knew what that look meant. She loved her sister, and all her robotic-like tendencies she made fun of, but the last thing she needed right now was a lecture.

Hephaestus followed her lead purely out of not wanting to be bothered with the whole ordeal.

The last two, Hermes and Demeter, took opposite sides. Demeter out of spite against Poseidon for last year's averted famine. Hermes with Poseidon over the fact if a theft did happen, it would have been the heist of the century.

Thus, they had reached an impasse of a 5-5-2 tie. Not good if a war was going to happen. Everyone eyed each other warily as the meeting dispersed for the time being.

Whether for good or bad the news of a prophecy was delivered to them in the oncoming week. It was just the opportunity her father was waiting for. Despite Poseidon's plea to wait until the quest was completed, he had ordered her to bring him in for questioning. She agreed. Not because she agreed with her father's agenda, but because it was her job. Hunt down the threats to Olympus. Besides, from the details she had grasped, it was a veritable suicide run. A child of the sea in the underworld? She almost laughed out loud.

Better for him to be judged by twelve than to be torn apart and carried by six. At least, that's what she thought.

She quickly gathered her hunters where she had left them in Maine. They had heard rumors of a manticore in the area. However, in the face of a direct order from the king of the gods, rumors would have to be left as just rumors as they swiftly made for the northeast sector of the country.

Artemis snapped out of her reverie and refocused on the task at hand. She and her hunters were currently in the forests of New Jersey. It wasn't hard to pick Jersey as a starting point, you had to go through it to head west.

Color her not surprised that as soon as they stepped in the state, some big fiery bus accident was on the late news. Miraculously everyone survived. She knew divine mischief was afoot when all of the victims couldn't remember a damn thing. Only some mentioned a giant bird, and the older passengers seem to have a strange need to listen to KISS music. Even the camera inside the bus was nothing but static after a certain point.

What she did see was that someone had a photo of Poseidon's son on the ground near the bus right before it exploded. And that was more than enough proof for the general public to paint him as a terrorist. What a sad fate, to be rejected by both worlds. Didn't change the fact she still had a job to do, so she pushed her personal feelings aside.

They had quickly converged on the forest next to the accident and fanned out to find traces of the rogue demigod on his doomed quest. It didn't take long until Phoebe had called over her and Zoe.

"No wonder thou found here Phoebe," Zoe said.

"Yup, my kin can always find a leftover battlefield no matter where it is."

Phoebe was a daughter of Ares. Such things were in the realm of the war god's children. They had the nose of bloodhounds when it came to finding battle, in progress or not. It came in handy when tracking particularly violent quarries such as the Caledonian Boar and the Teumessian Fox, who tended to get into fights with other animals.

To say they were on the battlefield wasn't a true statement. The battlefield was gated off. A ring of trees connected by thick branches, and now browning and wilting vines. If one wasn't looking actively for it, it simply appeared as heavy undergrowth and a couple of fallen trees brought about by a strong storm. It was clear that this was a dome meant to trap someone inside.

Artemis slid her knives out from underneath the sleeves of her jacket. She walked up and swiftly sliced through the vegetation, cutting a path in the thicket. Zoe and Phoebe fell in line behind her.

When they reached the inside of the dome, she felt a familiar crunch under her feet. She looked down and saw it was….snow? She then looked in front of her and saw the inside was a pure winter wonderland. The dome made it look as if someone had shaken up a snow globe and the contents were finally coming to rest and starting to melt.

Zoe and Phoebe fanned out from behind her, struck in awe at the unnatural occurrence at the cusp of summer.

"Who the hell…."

"The snow goddess haply?" Zoe mused.

"The North Wind and his brood would never venture this far south during this time of year." Artemis counters as she makes her way to an oblong patch of ground.

"Completely melted through here…Someone must be skilled with fire, or someone burned to death at this spot." Poseidon kids sometimes did show affinity for the snow. Possibly through dumb luck, the child had awakened some lost branch of his power. Or maybe what Athena said had some merit. She wasn't ready to put money on it just yet. She was more willing to believe that the sea spawn got into a fight with a fire-attributed monster, got burned, and awakened power over snow. Though that didn't explain the vines. Maybe one of Demeter's brood is with him? Quests are usually done in groups of three.

A voice brought her from her musings "Lady Artemis, there are pieces of a whip to us too, and footprints," Zoe called from further down. "Seven combatants. One got thrown very damn far, as thou quoth a big fight befell hither 'twixt two parties,"

From near the wall, Phoebe responded, "Yeah, here too. Strange thing is, they straight disappear. Unless they hopped into a tree like acrobats, I got nothing."

Artemis looked up to the branches. Some were slightly out of place, a trail of them heading southwest towards Pennsylvania. Barely noticeable to the average person but to her eyes, it was clear as day. Maybe Phoebe wasn't that far off.

Whoever it was, while skilled, they weren't aware they were being followed. The third member of the group is probably experienced.

"Zoe. Phoebe." Her oldest hunters stood at attention. "Gather the others, we're heading south towards Philadelphia."

"What is thy resolve, lady Artemis?"

"The demigod is most likely heading for a train. Here to LA is too far to cover in the time allotted. If he was able to survive this encounter here, I also wouldn't peg him as being foolhardy enough to take a plane. That leaves a train as his fastest option."

"Thou desire us to set up an ambush 'i New Brunswick?" Zoe asked.

"Princeton too. Phoebe, I want to take a group to that station. Zoe, you're with me to New Brunswick. Big three children are known for being unpredictable."

Zoe shook her head "I still remember the great San Francisco earthquake by the son of Neptune."

Phoebe raised an eyebrow "What about Philadelphia and Trenton?"

"I most much doubt he would turn back to New York," Zoe said.

Artemis nodded "Or slip past us to Philadelphia. At least I hope not, I really don't want to enter my brother's sacred city here in America." Both her hunters grimaced at that. Most of her hunters shared in her annoyance with Apollo. Except for Britomartis, she was a special case.

Since the '90s Apollo would serenade them with the Will Smith songs every time they passed through the city. Last time she was this close to tearing her hair out if she had to listen to 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' one more time, or worse yet, watching him 'getting jiggy with it'. Some things were not meant for even divine eyes to see.

With orders received, the three members of the hunt dashed off to make preparations, kicking up snow in their wake.

By the next morning, the moon goddess and her hunt found themselves in position at New Brunswick. Phoebe had taken a little under half of the hunt to the station further down. Artemis was confident the demigod would come to this one, but it didn't hurt to have a backup plan. Around mid-morning, she saw the familiar orange shirts and blue jeans that separated Grecian demigods from the rest, enter the town.

He was accompanied by a satyr and a daughter of Athena if the gray eyes were anything to go by. They looked nervous and lost, then again most twelve-year-olds left unsupervised did. As Artemis watched them, for some reason for a fleeting moment, she felt an unearthly sense of dread. As quick as it came, it left, replaced with the feeling her brother was nearby. She guessed he must be looking at her currently. He tended to do that. After she was done here she intended to teach him a lesson about invading her personal space…. Again.

She waved behind her to cue Zoe and her hunters to get ready to apprehend. She stepped out of the forest intent on dashing in and taking him down before anything unexpected could happen, such as sudden snowstorms. Zoe and the others could take care of the girl and satyr. Athena would have to forgive her later if her daughter got roughed up a bit.

Artemis took a couple of silenced steps forwards. Seeing as the coast was clear she was about to break into a dash but then.

DANGER

DODGE

As a warrior deity, she was never one to shirk her instincts. She quickly kicked herself back, as a gunshot rang out, accidentally slamming into Zoe in the process who was directly behind her. She was confused, why did she fear a bullet of all things? Unless they were made of celestial bronze, but that was highly impractical. Only someone crazy would try something so bold.

She surveyed the now smoking spot where she had been a mere fraction of a second before. With narrowed eyes, she followed the trajectory of the bullet to a rooftop. No one was there except for the smokey gray mist brought by the overcast day. Whoever it was, they were fast. Fast enough to avoid her eyesight.

"Come out. Show yourself. If you do so quietly, I'll give you an honorable death for the offense of attacking me." Artemis' power thrummed beneath her skin. The surrounding temperature dropped at least ten degrees. Thankfully her hunter's parkas were well equipped for such a situation.

"We both know there isn't anything honorable about the deaths you give. At all." A rich velvety smooth voice echoed in the morning mist. Both everywhere and nowhere at once.

"A smartass huh? What exactly do you know about me?"

"I know enough. Enough to know that we have a wayward goddess here, performing unjust acts far away from home. A mindless lapdog who can't think for herself and will only do what she's told. A puppet through and through. How sad, I can almost see your strings," the voice replied. The blood rushed to her ears, and her hunters paled that someone had the death wish to insult her.

"Unnecessary self-righteousness can get you killed swiftly, especially insulting a goddess. Someone I'm sure is far above your station."

"I always told you to keep that shit to yourself. It's going to get you killed one day." A second voice rang in agreement with her. The voice sounded raspy and slightly unhinged.

The first voice laughed heartily at the claims being thrown his way. "Kill? I would like to see her try. And we both know I will never be able to look away from those unjustly treated by society, whether they be demigods or mortals."

"Are we confident? Why not put it to the test?" Whoever the mystery person was, talked big, and she wanted nothing more than to shut him up.

"Very well." The voice answered. A figure then appeared, obscured in the mist. He got slowly closer. Artemis took the opportunity to instantly summon her bow and notch an arrow. With the ease millennia of experience brought her, she let the arrow fly.

Khryselakatos: her bow, her symbol of power, made of pure moonlight. When she fired an arrow from it, whatever she was aiming at, died. It always found its mark. Only her brother's own golden bow and Odin's Gungir boasted similar levels of accuracy.

It was overkill. It was an underhanded tactic, one Ares would disapprove of, but she wasn't one for battle tactics and honor. She'd leave that to Athena. Her job was the hunt, and she'd complete it by any means necessary. And frankly, this guy pissed her off.

She heard the sound of metal on metal along with a meaty thunk. Artemis frowned, that wasn't the sound a human target getting hit sounded like.

Suddenly her senses whispered to her again and she spied a familiar silver blur heading back at her. She half-stepped back as the same arrow she fired landed at her feet.

The figure clicked his tongue "Now, now, that wasn't very nice, but you've allowed me to bring the last player we needed." Her eyebrow raised at the statement.

The figure fully emerged from the mist. It was a teenager wearing a long black tail coat, arms splayed outwards with blood-red gloves. An extravagant waistcoat and cinched pants adorned his body. A white domino mask kept his identity hidden.

Artemis' jaw went slack. Not at him but what hovered slightly above him. A woman in a chiton with a Corinthian helmet and a shield with the eerie visage of medusa on it. This could only be one person.

"Athena…." The name unconsciously slipped from her lips.

"Now then, let us start the game."

---

Oracle's Bestiary

#20, #21 #23: The Furies

In birth order it's Megaera, Alecto then Tisiphone. Together they're Hades' strongest mooks aside from the death god. Thanks to their relatively large popularity in Greek myth, they have rather low respawn times. Being Hades' lapdogs doesn't hurt the process either.

Unsure if they have reproduced or not, spawning more of them. Hope not. Although according to those who did battle with them, they give off heavy Noir vibes, chances are a likely yes if they didn't kill the poor guy first. Given who we're talking about the answer could easily be a no if pain=pleasure.

Also, unsure if you can even classify them as monsters. They explode like them but are sometimes called chthonic deities. Maybe one day we can ask them. They seem like the quirky miniboss squad our luck would be crap enough to constantly run into.

Tips for fighting them? Split them up. Tisiphone is a close-range wind user. Alecto is the backline fire magic caster. And Megaera is the mid-range water user, jack-of-all-trades. In short, they cover each other's weaknesses. Therefore, if you split them apart they are easily taken advantage of.

If you can't split them up, I'd recommend pitting them against one another. Their relationship and communication skills aren't exactly the best. A bit of friendly fire could have them turning on each pretty quickly.

Common:

Claws

Fangs

Wing

Uncommon:

Furies' whip

Drachmas

Rare:

Titan's blood

Super Rare:

Skull Earrings

First real cliffhanger #sorrynotsorry

Anyways, a very dialogue-heavy chapter mainly because I'm juggling 10 characters here. Nine friends to boot so dialogue is bound to go off track here and there as (teenage) friends do. I hope I put out something appealing. Mad respect for all of you MHA 1-A writers now.

I had fun writing Fox vs Joker there, and I want to do more training battles in the future so if you have any suggestions on whom you want to see, I'm all ears. Doesn't even have to include Joker either.

Unfortunately, we won't see it from Percy's perspective but, yeah, I'm taking some liberties with Lighting Thief's plotline here. But would it be fanfic if I didn't? The furies are Hades' top dogs, so I wanted to make them a little more threatening instead of going down rather fast in every encounter. I wanted to give them some of that punishment factor, which is also why I opted for their Hades design and personality, rather than the cannon wrinkly old hags. Guess I should add that as a tag huh?

One other thing. Since the last chapter, Riordan has said PJOverse takes place in a sliding timeline. I won't dispute it since it came from him …. but it sounds like a total cop-out answer since he has so many pop-culture references across all his books and the ones in the present series as well. This story starts in 2006, don't worry about me changing it. Though it does give credence to us fanfic writers telling a longer story.

As always remember to Follow, favorite, kudos, and most importantly comment/review. Good or bad I love reading/responding to everything you guys put.