Chapter Fourteen
Percy's leather jacket flapped in the wind as he did ninety on the motorcycle. The cold air stung his face. Percy's face was set in stone, eyes focused on the horizon straight ahead. He followed the road into New York.
The streets were empty as people stayed in their homes, fearful for their lives. It wouldn't have mattered, Cletus was breaking in anyway, but to each their own Percy guessed.
Then he noticed a familiar red headed man entering a church in the distance. Percy recognized him right away. He sped up, before turning into the church parking lot.
The church was a traditional one, a long building with a bell tower on the front. There were probably two rows of pews inside with an altar in the very back. In the backyard was a graveyard. Like he said, traditional church.
Percy walked up the steps and pushed the large wooden doors open. Cletus stood, hunched over at the altar. He seemed to be in prayer. His voice resonated throughout the room. A priest stood nearby, shaking in his white robes.
"I freed them, like you asked me to. Like you called me to. I have done so, and will do more. I will feast on them, like the good little boy I am."
The wooden doors slammed shut behind Percy, alerting Cletus to him. The serial killer turned around and smiled eerily. "Look who it is. Percy fucking Jackson. Here to stop me."
Percy opened his mouth to speak.
"Stop there. No you're not. You don't have the guts to kill me. Because you, Percy Jackson, are a coward. You have done nothing but run. You ran from Tartarus, you ran from Zeus, you didn't even stop to think about your mom. She tasted delicious by the way. But you, are a selfish coward, running when things get too hard."
"How do you know this?"
"I have friends, Percy. We're closer than you think."
Suddenly Cletus turned inside out. A red, more lanky version of Venom stood in his place.
"OH SHIT!" Venom yelled.
"What? What is it?" Percy said.
"THAT IS A RED ONE!"
"What does that mean?"
"It's bonded to his blood. And he's a second generation, this is very bad."
"What do you mean Venom?!"
"He's more powerful than us."
"Not the first time. Get out here and help me. Come on, you took Tartarus!"
"Yes, come on. I'm going to kill you father."
The priest cried out in fear.
"Not you, father." Carnage said to the priest. It turned to Venom. "I mean you, father!"
"He's yours?!" Percy asked Venom. "Then you have even more of a reason to come out here!"
"No!"
"I will give you all the chocolate you can eat!"
Venom took over the body, the symbiote taking its bulky form. "Prepare to die!"
"That's the spirit."
"I mean us! We are going to die!"
Carnage screeched as tendrils came out of his back. Venom charged at the red symbiote. Carnage slashed at Venom, trying to hack its father to pieces. Venom grabbed the claws and pushed Carnage away.
Carnage landed on all fours and pounced on Venom. Venom fell on their back as Carnage tried to bite them. Venom kept their arm in Carnage's mouth, minimizing the damage done. Venom kicked Carnage, flipping it over them.
Venom got to their feet as Carnage stood on its. They charged at each other. Venom punched Venom in the side of the head. Carnage stabbed a tendril into Venom's chest, before pushing him away strongly.
Venom went flying into the wall, crashing through it. He landed in the graveyard. Carnage stalked towards him slowly. Venom got to their feet. The clouds above started to rain down, giving Percy a boost, and by proxy, Venom. Venom charged at Carnage, knocking them both back into the church. The strength boost wore off, giving Carnage the upper hand.
Loudly, the bell at the top of the church started to ring. The noise disrupted Carnage and Venom, causing both to leave their respective bodies.
Percy charged at Cletus and drew his knife. He slashed at Cletus, missing his flesh and only tearing the orange jumpsuit. Percy went for another slash, only for Cletus to grab his hand. Percy tried to move it, but Cletus brought his other hand down and broke Percy's wrist. Percy dropped the knife.
Carnage made its way towards Cletus, but the bell rang again, causing it to shudder and then freeze in place. Same for Venom.
Cletus uppercutted Percy, who fell back. The demigod stood up and ran towards the rain. He exited the church and felt the water give him strength. Percy looked at his broken wrist and grasped it with his other hand. He set his wrist into place and yelled in pain. The water started to heal his hand, giving him a little relief.
Percy was tackled from behind. His head just barely missed a tombstone as he fell to the ground. He rolled over to see Cletus. Percy punched him, knocking the serial killer off of him. Percy climbed on top of him. He whaled on Cletus's face, drawing blood from him.
Then Cletus turned inside out again, revealing Carnage. Percy cursed as he was stabbed in the back by Carnage's claws. The symbiote must've bonded with Cletus while he was punching him. Cletus got up and stood over Percy.
"I got you." Venom said as he took over. The cuts on Percy's back healed. He swept Carnage's legs, knocking him over.
There was a flash of silver through the sky, though both opponents missed what caused it. But a second later, the church bell rang again.
Venom shrieked as he was separated from Percy again. Percy kicked Cletus in the side, causing him to curl up. Carnage stayed near Cletus waiting for the shock to wear off. Venom was the first to recover and bonded with Percy again.
They went to grab Carnage, to keep it from bonding to Cletus, but they were too late. Carnage bonded with Cletus. Venom tackled Carnage, crashing back into the church. They crashed into a couple of pews, breaking them. Venom grabbed a piece of broken wood and stabbed Carnage with it.
Carnage pulled it out of its chest. It swung the wood at Venom, knocking them over and breaking the wood into splinters.
The bell rang again. Venom left Percy, who got up. Percy was breathing really heavily. So was Cletus. They eyed each other before charging again.
Percy missed Cletus's hands, which wrapped around his throat. They started to squeeze. Percy closed his eyes. This must've been how it felt to that one huntress when he choked her.
That huntress. Thalia. Artemis. Percy opened his eyes. He had a reason to fight, unlike Cletus, who did it for the fun. Percy dropped to his knees, unbalancing Cletus. He swept Cletus's legs, which knocked him over.
His neck free from being squeezed, Percy took a step forward. He felt something throw off his balance slightly and saw that his foot was stepping on the knife. He picked it up and approached Cletus.
He saw Carnage quickly approaching Cletus and he felt panicked. He kicked the red symbiote, sending it flying into the wall. Cletus started to scoot backwards. Percy gripped the knife and pounced on Cletus. He stabbed the knife through Cletus's heart.
Percy kept the knife in his heart, hugging Cletus to him to make sure that it stayed in. When he felt the final breath leave Cletus, he pulled the knife out. Cletus dropped to the ground dead.
He felt Venom bond to him again. They walked over to Carnage, who was sitting on the wall, shocked. Venom grabbed the little bugger and ate him. It took a couple of bites, as Carnage tried to cling to life by trying to crawl out, but Venom managed.
Venom retreated back into Percy's body. He cleaned the knife off with his shirt, before sheathing it. The bell rang again, causing Venom to unbond again. Percy picked up the symbiote and walked out of the church.
Across the street, on the roof of a building stood two figures. One had a bow drawn and fired an arrow at the church's bell tower. Venom went into shock in Percy's hands again. Percy approached the building and sighed.
The two on the roof of the building were none other than Artemis and Thalia. They took notice of him as Venom bonded to him again. Artemis let down a rope. Percy assumed he was supposed to climb it, so he did.
He rolled onto the roof, standing up. He was brought into a hug by his girlfriends. He hugged them back. He was still breathing heavily. He wasn't bleeding, and his wrist was fixed, but still, he had almost died.
"Hey, you're alright." Thalia said.
"Yeah. Thanks to us." Artemis said. "Admit it, the bell saved you."
Percy nodded as they all separated. "Yeah, I was saved by the bell. Literally."
Thalia lightly punched Percy's arm at the terrible joke.
"Ready to go back to the hotel? We'll have to check out in the morning, otherwise Zeus will find us." Artemis said.
Percy shook his head. "I'm done hiding from Zeus. If he wants me, he's going to have to fight me, and then it's in the Fates' hands."
"So where would we go?"
"Back to the Hunt. Home."
