Catastrophe

Piper McLean was currently sitting outside a cafe in Beverly Hills. She'd gotten permission from Chiron to leave Camp Half-Blood to meet her father for his birthday. Piper had been a little worried about her father lately. But then what demigod doesn't worry about their mortal parent then their godly one? Still, the daughter of Aphrodite squirmed in her seat.

She'd cleaned up nicely with a little help from her mother. Normally Piper didn't care about her looks. Finding it the most embarrassing moment of her life when her mother claimed her and gave her a makeover. Still considering it was the first time she saw her father in ages, plus it being his birthday, she figured she could stand being made up for one day.

Checking her watch, she frowns. Her father was half an hour late. It did little to calm her nerves. Suddenly Katoptris started to feel very warm. She hoped the Mist made it look like a compact mirror and not a dagger.

She looked at the blade and was confused by what she saw. She saw a young blond woman, likely a college student, being held hostage as someone she couldn't see was holding a syringe. She couldn't hear what was being said, but the girl was pleading with whoever held her hostage. The girl screamed as the needle was driven into her. The looking glass dagger showed no more.

The daughter of Aphrodite for a few moments contemplated ignoring the vision and wait for her father. But given she was a hero and all she'd faced, she knew she couldn't ignore anyone in trouble.

So she sent a text. Telling her father, she was the one running late. But try to get to the cafe as soon as possible. Then she got up and ran, which wasn't easy in the designer shoes her mother had gifted her. Looking at her dagger again, she got a little more information. From it, she figured out the girl was being held hostage in an abandoned sanatorium.

She finally reached it. Her kaleidoscope eyes taking in every detail. "OK, Piper, you know someone in trouble. All that training from all your hero quests should be able to help you now. So how do I get in? I don't see anyone I can charm-speak at the moment. Guess I'll have to do this the old fashion way," as she started to scale the gate with great proficiency.

Camp Half-Blood had many crazy things, but it sure made you physically fit and take on most of the world. So scaling a 20-foot high iron fence was no big deal. Once inside the gate, she looked for a way inside. Seeing an open window, she again used her climbing skills and got inside. Once inside, she was overwhelmed by the stench of litter boxes. It was enough to make her gag a few times.

Despite it being hard to breathe properly, the young demigod continued to make her way through the building's confusing corridors. Until finally, she could hear voices. One voice was young and spoke like a valley girl. The other was older. It sounded like some crazy old cat lady they way they're talking. She still couldn't make out all the words.

Pressing herself against the shadowy wall, she heard someone leave. Taking a deep breath, she allowed herself to see if the coast was clear. Seeing it as she entered the room. The young blond hair woman looked up, expecting her captor again. Not a teenage girl. Though the first thing the blond said had nothing to do with whatever was going on.

"Wow! Where did you get those shoes?! They're even better then my favorite shoes, Yves Mont Blanc!"

There was one minute of silence, then Piper answered, "You are being held hostage in an abandoned building, and your asking about my shoes?"

"Well, they're always time for fashion!" the blond replied in her valley girl accent.

"You know, I don't think my magic dagger led me here to talk about fashion. So let's start over. I'm Piper, and you are?"

"Clover."

"Okay, Clover. Now tell me who is holding you hostage, and can I get you out of here before they come back?"

The blond was quiet for a few moments, then gave the short version. "I was sent here by my boss Jerry to investigate reported monsters in the area. My friends Sam and Alex, are investigating other locations throughout California."

"Monsters? Like monsters from myths?" Piper asked with panic in her voice. Could this girl see through the Mist? If so, they're in trouble.

"I think someone is being inspired by Greek myths and is biologically engineering monsters. At least that was what that old cook was talking about. I didn't get her name. But she seemed to be ranting about monsters. How they're suddenly everywhere, and she wants to get on the action. So she is using splicing to do it."

"Oh, great! As it wasn't bad enough, we do have actual monsters running amok!" Piper groaned. "So what is she trying to turn you into?"

"More like she was retrieving traces amounts of cat DNA from me to use in her experiments."

"Cat? You know I don't want to know. Let's get you out of here. I need to send an Iris-Message and find out how to get rid of this problem. And make it back in time for lunch with my dad!"

The demigod managed to get the spy out of the trap. Then they scrammed as fast as they could outside. While Clover talked things over with her Compowder, Piper sent an Iris-Message back to Camp Half-Blood.

Comparing notes, they agreed the two girls had to work together to defeat this crazy lady. From what Chiron stated, it must be a woman who could see through the Mist. Though likely, she'd been diagnosed as crazy.

Given how mental health institutions had only started to get better, it made sense this person had truly gone insane. Now wanting to create monsters herself to prove to people she wasn't crazy. The two girls realized they'd to take this woman on their own. Once again, consulting her magic dagger, the pair tracked the woman down to an outdoor area. An impossibly large net had been thrown over all who'd been inside the arena. They're screaming as the crazed woman started shooting them with her splicing darts.

"Okay, what do we do?" Piper asked, trying to figure out the situation. "I'll deal with the hostages," Clover said quickly, "You sweet talk that crazy lady!"

Piper watched in amazement as the spy used extraordinary gadgets to help aid in the rescue. Meanwhile, she did manage to use charm-speak to calm the lady down. She further used it as a tool to wipe the poor woman's mind of all the terrible memories she ever had. Then a large black helicopter showed up. A guy in a suit showed up and talked to the blond.

Piper didn't want to stay around, but Clover vouched for her. So after the baddies were taken away, Clover drove her back in style in a Woohp car. Piper made it back in time to spend the day with her dad.

The last time she saw Clover was, she gushed over who Piper's dad was. He gave her an autograph and told him he should really be proud of his daughter. Then the spy left to get back to her normal life, and so did Piper. Another catastrophe averted!