A/N: I don't own the rights to any of the Percy Jackson series or it's characters. That right goes to Rick Riordan. I also don't own the rights to Animorph including it's title.

I am, however, the person who posted 'The Tales of...' series.

This is not a crossover of the Percy Jackson series with the book/tv series Animorph, despite what you might think from the title. I just thought it be a proper name for the ability to turn into animals since that's why the tv/book series 'Animorph' was called that in the first place.

If you haven't read this yet, read:

Animorph Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Animorph Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters
Animorph Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse
Animorph Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth
Animorph Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Stolen Chariot
Animorph Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sword of Hades
Animorph Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Bronze Dragon

The Battle of Manhattan Begins

Mrs. O'Leary was the only one happy about the sleeping city.

We found her pigging out an overturned hot dog stand while the owner was curled up on the sidewalk, sucking his thumb.

Argus was waiting for us with his hundred eyes wide open. He didn't say anything. He never does. I guess that's because he supposedly has an eyeball on his tongue. But his face made it clear he was freaking out.

I told him what we'd learned in Olympus, and how the gods would not be riding to the rescue. Argus rolled his eyes in disgust, which looked pretty psychedelic since it made his whole body swirl.

Pollux crouched next to a sleeping policeman. "I don't get it. Why didn't we fall asleep too? Why just the mortals?"

"This is a huge spell," Silena Beauregard said. "The bigger the spell, the easier it is to resist. If you want to sleep millions of mortals, you got to cast a very thin layer of magic. Sleeping demigods is much harder."

"And since portion of Kronos' army is demigods it's easier to focus on just the mortals," Beckendorf added.

I turned to Argus who was still waiting. "You better get back to camp," I told him. "Guard it as best as you can."

He pointed at me and raised his eyebrow quizzically.

"I'm staying," I said.

Argus nodded, like this answer satisfied him. He looked at Annabeth and drew a circle in the air with his finger.

"Yes," Annabeth agreed. "I think it's time."

"For what?" I asked.

Argus rummaged around in the back of the van. He brought out a bronze shield and passed it to Annabeth. It looked pretty much standard issue-the same kind of round shield we always used in capture the flag. But when Annabeth set it on the ground, the reflection on the polished metal changed from sky and buildings to the Statue of Liberty-which wasn't anywhere close to us.

"Whoa," I said. "A video shield."

"One of Daedalus' ideas," Annabeth said. "I had Beckendorf make this."

Beckendorf grunted, looking rather proud of himself as he normally does when he forge something reliable.

"The shield bends sunlight or moonlight from anywhere in the word to create a reflection. You can literally see any target under the sun or moon, as long as natural light is touching it. Look."

We crowded around as Annabeth concentrated. The image zoomed and spun at first, so I got motion sickness just watching it. We were in Central Park Zoo, then zooming down East 60th, past Bloomingdale's, then turning on Third Avenue.

"Whoa," Connor Stoll said. "Back up. Zoom in right there."

"What?" Annabeth said nervously. "You see invaders?"

"No, right there-Dylan's Candy Bar." Connor grinned at his brother. "Dude, it's open. And everyone is asleep. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Connor!" Katie Gardner scolded. She sounded like her mother, Demeter. "This is serious. YOu are not going to loot a candy store in the middle of a war!"

"Sorry," Connor muttered, but he didn't sound very ashamed.

Annabeth passed her hand in front of the shield, and another scene popped up: FDR Drive, looking across the river at Lighthouse Park.

"This will let us see what's going on across the city," she said. "Thank you, Argus. Hopefully we'll see you back at camp... someday."

Argus grunted. He gave me a look that clearly meant Good luckl you'll need it. I thought of changing my mind and asking Argus to stay, but I reminded myself the camp still needed security while we're fighting here. Not that I don't trust Clarisse or her siblings to protect the camp, but even the entire Ares Cabin can't keep a better eye on things than Argus. At least with this shield we can focus on things here while Argus is at camp.

Argus climbed into his van. He and the two harpies swerved away, weaving around clusters of idle cars that littered the road.

Seeing the Harpy ladies gave me an idea.

"Castor, Pollux, I need you two to take Mrs. O'Leary and look for Grover," I told the Dionysus twins. "He might still have nature spirits giving him trouble because of Pan's death. I want you two to help him out."

"Sure thing Percy," Castor said.

"We'll give it our best," Pollux agreed.

I nodded. Like how some water spirits listen to me because of my dad, some nature spirits listen to Pollux and Castor because of their dad. I just hope that's enough.

I whistled for Mrs. O'Leary and she came bounding forward.

"Hey, girl," I said. "You remember Grover? The satyr we met in the park?"

"WOOF!"

I hope that meant Sure I do! And not Do you have more hot dogs.

"I need you to take Pollux and Castor to them," I told her. "Find Grover!"

Mrs. O'Leary gave me a sloppy wet kiss, which seemed kind of unnecessary. Once the twins climbed on her back she raced off north.

"Percy," Annabeth called. She wa still looking at the shield. "Y ou'd better see this."

The bronze image showed Long Island South near La Guardia. A fleet of a dozen speedboats raced through the dark water toward Manhattan. Each boat was packed with demigods in full Greek armor. At the back of the lead boat, a purple banner emblazoned with a black scythe flapped in the night wind. I'd never seen that design before, but it wasn't hard to figure out: the battle flag of Kronos.

"Scan the perimeter of the island," I said. "Quick."

Annabeth shifted the scene south to the harbor. A Staten Island Ferry was plowing through the waves near Ellis Island. The deck was crowded with dracaenae and a whole pack of hellhounds. Swimming in front of the ship was a pod of marine mammals. At first I thought they were dolphins. Then I saw their doglike faces and the swords strapped to their waist, and I realized they were telkhines-sea demons.

The scene shifted again: the Jersey shore, right at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. A hundred assorted monsters were marching past the lanes of stopped traffic: giants with clubs, rogue Cyclopes, a few fire-spitting dragons, and just to rub it in, a World War II-era Sherman tank, pushing cars out of its way as it rumbled into the tunnel.

"What's happening with the mortals outside Manhattan?" I said. "Is the whole state asleep?"

Annabeth frowned. "I don't think so, but its strange. As far as I can tell from these pictures, Manhattan is totally asleep. Then there's like fifty mile-radius around the island where time is running really, really slow. The closer you get to Manhattan, the slower it is."

She showed me another scene-a New Jersey highway. It was Saturday evening, so the traffic wasn't as bad as it might've been on a weekday. The drivers looked awake, but the cars were moving at about one mile per hour. Birds flew overhead in slow motion.

"Kronos," I said. "He's slowing time."

"Hecate might be helping," Katie Gardner said. "Look how the cars are all veering away from the Manhattan exits, like they're getting a subconscious message to turn back."

"I don't know," Annabeth sounded really frustrated. She hated not knowing. "But somehow they've surrounded Manhattan in layers of magic. The outside world might not even realized something is wrong. Any mortals coming toward Manhattan will slow down so much they won't know what's happening."

"Like flies in amber," Beckendorf's brother Jake Mason murmured.

Annabeth nodded. "We shouldn't expect any help coming in."

I turned to my friends. They looked stunned and scared, and I couldn't blame them. The shield had shown us at least t hree hundred enemies on the way, and since I send Pollux and Castor to go help Grover, there was only forty of us now. All we can do is hope by some miracle Grover and Chiron pull through in getting us help, but until then, we're alone.

"All right," I said. "We're going to hold Manhattan."

Silena tugged at her armor, "Um, Percy, Manhattan is huge."

"We are going to hold it," I said. "We have to."

"He's right," Annabeth said. "The gods of the winds should keep Kronos' forces away from Olympus by air, and only Hestia can give the okay of any exceptions, so Kronos will try a ground assault. We have to cut off the entrances to the island."

"They have boats," Michael Yew pointed out.

An electric tingle went down my back. Suddenly I understood Athena's advice: Remember the rivers.

"Leave the baats to me. I'll take care of them," I said. "We need to guard the bridges and tunnels. Let's assume they'll try a midtown or downtown assault, at least on their first would be the most direct way to the Empire State Building. If you find any stores near your location with supplies you can use, get it but leave money behind. Michael, take Apollo's cabin to the Williamsburg bridge. Katie, Demeter's cabin takes the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Grow thorn bushes and poison ivy in the tunnel. Do whatever you have to do, but keep them there! Connor, take half of Hermes Cabin and cover the Manhattan Bridge. Travis, you take the other half and cover the Brooklyn Bridge. And no stopping or pillaging for anything you can't use against the monsters

The whole Hermes cabin groaned and complained.

"Silena, take the Aphrodite crew to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel."

"Oh my gods," one of her sisters said. "Fifth Avenue is so on our way! We could accessorize, and monsters, like, totally hate the smell of Givenchy."

"Grab the perfumes but leave the accessories alone," I told them.

Six Aphrodite girls kissed me on the cheek in excitement, not caring that I told them to only grab perfumes.

"All right, enough!" I closed my eyes, trying to think of what I'd forgotten. "The Holland Tunnel. Beckendorf, take the Hephaestus Cabin there. Use Greek fire, set traps. Wherever you've got."

"Sure thing Percy," Beckendorf said.

"The 59th Street Bridge," I said.

"We'll take that," Annabeth reassure me. She turned to her siblings. "Malcolm, take Athena Cabin, activate plan twenty three along the way, just like I showed you. Hold that position."

"You got it."

"I'll go with Percy," she said. "Then we'll join you or we'll go wherever we're needed."

Somebody in the back of the group said, "No detours, you two."

There were some giggles, but I decided to let it pass."

"That just leaves the Lincoln Tunnel," I said before realizing we don't have anyone to send there due to the fact Clarisse and the rest of her cabin were back in camp.

Then a girl's voice called from across the street. "Leave that to us, Percy!"

I'd never been happier to hear anyone in my life. A band of thirty adolescent girls crossed Fifth Avenue. They wore white shirts, silvery camouflage pants and combat boots. They all had swords at their sides, quivers on their backs, and bows at ready. A pack of white timber wolves milled around their feet, and many of the girls had hunting falcons on their arms.

At the lead was a girl with spiky black hair and a black leather jacket. She wore a silver circlet on her head like a princess tiara, which didn't match her skull earrings or her Death to Barbie T=shirt showing a little Barbie doll wit h an arrow through its head. Next to her was an olive skin girl with silky black hair wearing a green cap and eyes similar to Nico's.

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried.

The daughter of Zeus grinned. "The Hunters of Artemis, reporting to duty.

There were hugs and greetings with Thalia. Most of the ot her hunters didn't like being around campers, especially boys, but they didn't shoot any of us, which for t hem was a pretty warm welcome. Still Bianca, daug hter of Hades and sister of Nico, greeted us too.

"Hey Bianca, good to see you," I greeted.

"Thanks Percy. Where's Nico?" Bianca asked looking around.

"In the Underworld," I said. "I'll tell you later-after we survive tonight."

Bianca nodded

"So where have you two been?" I asked. "You got like twice as many Hunters now!"

Thalia laughed. "Long, long story. Lady Artemis send us a message a while back saying we're needed in New York to defend Olympus. We made it to Manhattan just as mortals started passing out."

"Good time as any for the new age for children of the Big Three to leave their mark," Bianca said.

"Oh, definitely." I agreed.

Last winter after retrieving the sword of Hades, Thalia Bianca and I passed around the idea that the three of us and Nico started a new age for children of the Big Three can work together-something our fathers have a hard time doing themselves. Really it was more evolved from an earlier joke Thalia and I told each other about two of us-daughter of Zeus and Son of Poseidon working together like our late brothers FDR and Winston Churchill-to now where we include children of Hades who never seem to work with Zeus' and Poseidon's children before.

"After this is over, you, Annabeth, and mee cheeseburgers and fries at that hotel on West 57th."

"Le Parker Meridien," I said. "You're on."

I turned to the rest of the campers who seemed less anxious than they were before the Hunters showed up. Not that I can blame them. Most of them know how good the Hunters of Artemis are. Every time the Hunters visit Camp Half-Blood there was a Hunters-vs.-Campers game of Capture the flag and the Hunters had a long winning streak over the campers until two winters ago when we manage to pull off a tie.

Unfortunately this also reminded me that we were about to stop an invasion.

I cleared my throat. "So, um yeah, Thalia and Bianca you two take the hunters to guard the Lincoln tunnel. Castor and Pollux of Dionysus Cabin are their way to help Grover out, so hopefully we'll have Nature Spirits fighting by our side," I explained. "You all know Annabeth's number, right? If you need to contact us, pick up a random phone and call us. Use it once, drop it, then borrow another one if you have to. That should make it harder for the monsters to zero in on you."

Everyone grinned as though they liked this idea.

Travis cleared his throat. "Uh, if we find a really nice phone-"

"No, you can't keep it," I said. "I don't think I need to tell you hunters this as I'm sure each of you are good to earn Artemis' approval to join her. But for all the campers here today, you are the greatest heroes of this millennium. It doesn't matter how many monsters come at you. Fight bravely, and we will win." I raised Riptide and shouted. "FOR OLYMPUS!"

Campers and Hunters shouted in response, echoing across the buildings of Manhattan.

...

I morphed into a horse and Annabeth rode on my back as we cross through Manhattan which was a good thing because the streets were too clogged from cars being bumper to bumper in the streets. None of the engines were running, which was weird. It seemed the drivers had had time to turn off the ignition before they got too sleepy. Or maybe Morpheus had the power to put engines to sleep as well. Most of the drivers had apparently tried to pull to the curb when they felt themselves passing out, but still the streets were to clogged to navigate by most vehicles.

I galloped down Broadway with the only sounds were occasional cellphone ringing-like they were calling out to each other, as if New York had turned into a giant electronic aviary.

Even with the speed of a horse, our progress ended up being slow. Every so often we'd come across pedestrians who'd fallen asleep right in front of a car, and we'd moved them just to be safe. Once we stopped to extinguish a pretzel vendor's cart that had caught on fire. A few minutes later we had to rescue a baby carriage that was rolling aimlessly down the street. It turned out there was no baby in it-just someone's sleeping poodle. Go figure. We parked it safely in a door way and kept moving. Either way some of the stops ended up helping me catch my breath, others not so much.

We were passing Madison Square Park when Annabeth said, "Percy, over there."

She pointed toward the park. I don't know why she wanted me to go that way, but I didn't argue as I turned that direction. She led me to a bronze statue on a red marble pedestal. I'd probably passed it a million times but never really looked at it.

The dude was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed. He wore an old-fashioned suit-Abraham Lincoln style-with a bow tie and long coattails and stuff. A bunch of bronze books were piled under his chair. He held a writing quill in one hand and a big metal sheet of parchment in the other.

Annabeth slid off my back as I morphed back to human form.

"Why do we care about..." I squinted at the name on the pedestal. "William H. Steward?"

"Seward," Annabeth corrected. "He was a New York Governor. Minor demigod-son of Hebe, I think. But that's not important. It's the statue I care about."

She climbed on a park bench and examined the base of the statue.

"Don't tell me he's an automaton," I said.

Annabeth smiled. "Turns out most of the statues in the city are automatons. Daedalus planted them here just in case he needed an army."

"To attack Olympus or defend it?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Either one. That was plan twenty-three. He could activate one statue and it would start activating its brethren all over the city, until there was an army. It's dangerous though. You know how unpredictable automatons are."

"Uh-huh," I said. We had our share of bad experiences with them. "You're seriously thinking about activating it?"

"We need the back up, and I have Daedalus' notes," Annabeth said. I think I can...Ah, here we go."

She pressed the tip of Seward's boot and the statue stood up, its quill and paper ready.

"What's he going to do?" I muttered. "Take a memo?"

"Shh," Annabeth said. "Hello William."

"Bill," I suggested.

"Bill... oh shut up," Annabeth told me. The statue tilted its head, looking at us with blank metal eyes.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Hello, er, Governor Seward. Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-Three. Defend Manhattan. Begin Activation."

Seward jumped off his pedestal. He hit the ground so hard his shoes cracked the sidewalk. Then he went clanking off toward the east.

"He's probably going to wake up Confucius," Annabeth guessed.

"What?"

"Another statue on Division. The point is, they'll keep waking each other up until they're all activated."

"And then?"

"Hopefully, they defend Manhattan."

"Do they know that we're not the enemy?"

"I think so."

"That's reassuring." I thought about all the bronze statues in the parks, plazas, and buildings of New York. There had to be hundreds, maybe thousands.

Then a green light exploded in the evening sky. Greek fire, somewhere over the East River.

"We have to hurry." I said. I morphed back into Horse form and we raced off.

I didn't stop until we reached Battery Park, at the lower tip of Manhattan where the Hudson and East River came together and emptied into the bay.

"Wait here," I told Annabeth.

"Percy, you shouldn't go alone.

"Well, unless you can breathe underwater..."

She sighed. "You are so annoying sometimes."

"Like when I'm right? I should be fine. I've got the curse of Achilles, and even without it I'm strongest in water."

Annabeth didn't look convinced. "Just be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you. I mean, because we need you for the battle."

I grinned. "Back in a flash."

I clambered down the shore line and waded into the water.

Just for you non-sea-god types out there, don't go swimming in New York Harbor. It may not be as filthy as it was in my mom's day, but the water will still probably make you grow a third eye or have mutant children when you grow up.

I morphed into a sailfish-my go-to form when it's just me needing to get somewhere underwater quickly-and swiftly swim down to the bottom. Once there, I tried to find the spot where the two rivers currents seemed equal-where they met to form the bay and morphed back to human form. I figured that was the best place to get both of their attention.

"HEY!" I shouted in my best underwater voice. The sound echoed in the darkness. "I heard you guys are so polluted you're embarrassed to show your faces. Is that true?"

A current rippled through the bay, kerning up plumes of garbage and silt.

"I heard the East River is more toxic," I continued, "but the Hudson smells worse. Or is it the other way around?"

The water shimmered. Something powerful and angry was watching me now. I could sense its presence... or maybe two presences. I just hope that since they're New York River gods, their instinct would be to get in my face and not blast me.

Sure enough, two giant forms appeared in front of me. At first they were just dark brown columns of silt, denser than the water around them. Then they grew legs, arms, and scowling faces.

The creature on the left looked disturbingly like a telkhine. His face was wolfish. His body was vaguely like a seal's-sleek black with flipper hands and feet,. His eyes glowed radiation green.

The dude on the right was more humanoid. He was dressed in rags and seaweed, with a chain-mail coat made of bottle caps and old plastic six-pack holders. His face was blotchy with algae, and his beard was overgrown. His deep blue eyes burned with anger.

The seal, who had to be the god of the East River, said, "Are you trying to get yourself killed, kid? Or are you just extra stupid?"

The bearded spirit of the Hudson scoffed. "You're the expert on stupid, East."

"Watch it, Hudson," East growled. "Stay on your side of the island and mind your business."

"Or what? YOu'll throw another garbage barge at me?"

They floated toward each other, ready to fight.

"Hold it!" I yelled. "We've got a bigger problem."

"The kid's right," East snarled. "Let's both kill, him, then we'll fight each other."

"Sounds good," Hudson said.

Before I could protest, a thousand scraps of garbage surged off the bottom and flew straight at me form both directions: broken glass, rocks, cans and tires.

I was expecting this though. I shrunk down and my back hardened as I turned into a sea turtle. I turn until my back face the bottom. With the combination of sea turtle shell and the Achilles Curse, the debris bounced off my shell harmlessly.

The two river gods stared at me as I morphed back to human.

"Son of Poseidon?" East asked.

"Yep, and I also took a dip in the Styx," I said.

They both made disgusted sounds.

"Well, that's perfect," East said. "Now how do we kill him."

"We could electrocute him," Hudson mused. "If I could just find some jumper cables-"

"Listen to me!" I said. "I only insulted you because I need your help and I didn't think you would come if I just simply call on you. Kronos' army is invading Manhattan!"

"Don't you think we know that?" East asked. "I can feel his boats right now. THey're almost across."

"Yep," Hudson agreed. "I got some filthy monsters crossing my waters too."

"So stop them," I said. "Drown them. Sink their boats."

"Why should we?" Hudson grumbled. "So they invade Olympus. What do we care?"

"Because I can pay out." I took out the sand dollar my father had given me for my birthday, hoping this was the kind of thing he was talking about when he told me to spend it wisely. "I can break it in half and give half to each of you. In exchange, you keep all Kronos' forces from using your waters. Do we have a deal?"

The river gods eyes widened.

"Oh, man," Hudson whimpered, reaching out for the sand dollar. It's been so long since I was clean.

"The power of Poseidon," East murmured. "He's a jerk, but he sure know how to sweep pollutions away."

"They looked at each other.

East flicked his hand. "The invaders just got sunk."

Hudson snapped his fingers. "Bunch of hellhounds just took a dive."

I broke the sand dollar in half. A ripple of clean fresh water spread out form the break, as if all the pollution in the bay were being dissolved. I gave them each half of the sand dollar, which they held reverently.

"Stay clean," I said as I morphed into a sailfish and and swam to the surface.

"Curse of Achilles," I heard Hudson snorted. "They always think that'll save them, don't they?"

"If only he knew," East agreed. They both laughed, dissolving into the water.

Once I was close enough to shores, I morphed back to human form. Annabeth was talking on her cellphone, but she hung up as soon as she saw me. She looked pretty shaken.

"It worked," I told her. "East and Hudson will keep Kronos from using their rivers. If Kronos wants to cross the rivers he'll have to use the bridges."

"Good," she said. "Because we've got other problems. Michael Yew just called. Another army is marching over the Williamsburg Bridge. The Apollo cabin needs help. And Percy, the monster leading the enemy... it's the Minotaur."