Chapter 2

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Just want to say thank you for the good reviews and comments I got for the first chapter! Y'all are awesome!

Just a reminder that I have a Pa Tree On under the same name that I have here and a Discord with the code https JtsBGHP. We discuss my stories, we share memes, and we generally just chill. Also, I stream on Twitch under the name suspicious_cactus. Yes I changed my name since the last time I promoted it.

Now, to answer a few questions before we start:

No, Benjamin is not a pyrokinetic. That's Leo's gift and if the MC takes it, it would go against canon, and while yes, this is fanfiction, I like to abide by the canon laws of the universe… I think that makes sense… Basically there is one Pyrokinetic child of Hephaestus every few hundred years. Leo is the next one because of his place in the prophecy of seven. Ben is not apart of that prophecy, and as such, he doesn't have Pyrokinesis. Also, if he did have it, he'd be even more OP, and I think giving him engineering is enough.

Yes, we will be seeing more inventions than just guns. We will be seeing teleporters at some point, Dispensers, everything and anything the Engineer has built in the TF2 Universe, you will probably see a version of it here. There will also be stuff from other universes as well and unique stuff that I come up with, but you get the idea.

No, There will be no pairing for Ben, at least… Not in the first book, as I have plans on splitting this story up into several parts. One book per… well, book. So this story will take place during the Lightning Thief. The next one will take place during the Sea of Monsters. Etc. So I may pair Ben with someone in a later book, in this one, that will not be the case.

And Finally, Yes. I do have plans on him making a team of Demigods to fight monsters and Titans and such. However, I have yet to decide if the team will be a next generation of TF Mercs, like how TF2 Mercs are the next Generation after TF Classic and how the TF Classic team is the group after the 1890's team, or if they will just be regular demigods and such. This team will not be made til, at the earliest, in between the Titan's Curse and Battle of the Labyrinth, so I have some time to decide what'll happen,

Anyway, that's that. On with the fic.

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"Wait… So let me get this straight. When a boar the size of a truck starts charging you, your first instinct was to get it's attention and lead it into a trap, where you then decided to cause an explosion big enough that I heard it from here?" Mom asks in exasperation with a slight Texan accent in her voice as we stand in the junk shops office. Turning to Henry, she just points at him with a wrench that could probably double as an RPG melee weapon. "Why didn't you stop him? You said you'd keep him out of situations like this!"

This is Francine Conagher, my mom and one of the nicest and also one of the most badass people you will ever meet. She had curly, dirty blonde hair tied back with a Texas flag patterned bandana with a pair of goggles resting on her forehead. She had streaks of grease and oil on her face and overalls and at her waist was a toolbelt holding stuff like a hammer, pliers, and a variety of different types of wrenches.

"Oh come on! You know how stubborn he is! What was I supposed to do? Knock him out and drag him here? Chances are, he'd wake up on the way and knock me out with whatever the hell he has in his pockets!" Henry replies before sighing. "Regardless… what's done is done, and we saved the other people at the festival. Right now we're a bit in a hurry and we need to get moving if we want to get to Camp without attracting too many monsters."

"In his defense, Mom… I didn't really give him much of a choice or even a chance to argue." I step forward and gently push the very large wrench away from Henry. "We're both okay and we saved the other students. What's done is done. We can't really go back and change anything now."

Sighing, she slips her wrench back into her belt and pulls me into a hug before pushing me back and holding me at arms length.

"I'm just worried about you… I heard the explosion from here, and… well, the last explosion of that size in the area was because you wanted to see how fast a car can go on jet engine fuel. The neighbors are still finding bits and pieces of that old Mustang in their yards, and I still have no idea how you were able to find jet engine fuel." She says with a small smile. Pulling me back into a hug, she sighs. "Your dad told me that one day you'd have to leave for camp… That it would be the safest place for you. I was hoping you wouldn't have to go for a few more years, but it looks like there isn't much of a choice left."

"I'm sorry to cut this short, Ms. Conagher, but we do need to get going. The boar wasn't the only monster in the area, and I can smell some of them getting close. We need to get moving." Henry nervously interrupts as he glances out the windows. "Ben, where was that car you were talking about?"

"Car?" Mom asks questioningly before her eyes went wide. "Benjy, you didn't?"

"Only a little bit?" I reply with a nervous chuckle.

"Am I missing something?" Henry asks as he glances between us.

"Well… You know that Explosion she was talking about?" I rub the back of my head as Mom crosses her arms over her chest and raises an eyebrow at me.

Oh boy… That was her 'This better be good.' look.

"The one where you tried using jet engine fuel in a mustang?" Henry asks as he takes a stance similar to my mom.

"Well, I had actually tried upgrading the engine before I did that, assuming, correctly mind you, that it would just mess up a regular engine. The Explosion was because while I had modified the engine, I had modified it a bit too much, making it work a lot faster than it was intended. Add that to highly flammable jet engine fuel… you get an explosion." I explain as I lead them out of the office and into the backyard of the shop.

Carefully avoiding the piles of random junk like old dishwashers and refrigerators, piles of car parts and wiring, I lead them over to a pile of tarps. Grabbing a fistful of tarps, I quickly pull them off, revealing what looked to be for all extents and purposes like an old Chevy pickup truck from the 80's

"Ben… What did you do?" My mom asks with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing as serious as the jet fuel incident!" I quickly try to placate. "But I did kind of gut the engine and replace the inner workings of it with an entirely electric system, so we won't need to stop for gas. Also, I've basically made it a self recharging battery, wiring the battery into the tires, so that as long as the tires are rotating, the truck's batteries will recharge. It's basically like one of those crank flashlights, but it cranks itself."

"I have several questions." Henry finally says after a moment. "For Ms. Conagher, was his dad a bit on the ugly side? Maybe he smelled of grease or smoke? Maybe he had a limp?"

"Yes his dad was Hephaestus. I recognized him right off the bat." She replies flippantly before turning to me. "When did you do this? When did you have time for this?"

"Mostly while you have me out here sorting through the junk piles." I reply with a shrug.

"So that's why you take so long…" She nods. Shrugging, she gestures to the tow truck with a sigh. "I have so many questions, but I know you need to get going. The both of you. Remember, I expect a call from one of you when you find a place for the night."

Pausing for a moment, her eyes get wide as she remembers something and gestures for us to stay put for a moment.

"Wait right there, I have something for you." she says before running back into the shop, leaving us to just stand there and glance at each other in confusion.

After a few moments she returns with a small ziplock bag filled with what looked to be around two hundred dollars in small bills.

"It's dangerous to go alone, take this." She says with a smile as she hands Henry the cash. "It's most of today's earnings. If you want to get to New York, you're going to need to stop for food and a place to sleep, and for that, you'll need cash."

Now it was my turn to pull her into a hug.

"Thanks Mom." I say simply as I hold her tight. Pulling back, I gesture for Henry to hop in the truck. "One of us will call once we get to a stopping point."

"Alright. Stay safe!"

"We will!"

With that, I grab the keys from the sun visor, start the truck, and Immediately turn it back off again.

"Yeah, Henry? You're gonna have to drive. If we pass by a cop with me driving, we're screwed." I sigh as I start scooting over to the middle seat.

"Oh, yeah. Right!" He replies as we climb by each other. After a few moments, we were both in our respective seats again, this time with Henry at the driver's seat and me in the passengers.

With another turn of the keys and the near silent purring of the engine, we were off.

Glancing at the mirrors, I see my mom waving at us as we leave… As I leave her and Texas behind.

She may not have been my first mom, nor was this my first life, but it still felt weird.

Yeah, I was definitely going to come back at some point. Maybe not immediately, but I will definitely come back here eventually.

She is my mom after all. New universe or not. She did raise me in this life.

But first, I need to survive getting to Camp Half-Blood.

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"So… Your dad's Hephaestus. That's cool." Henry starts awkwardly.

"Yeah, God of the Forge, blacksmiths, fire, and stuff like that, right?" I reply as we drive down I-10 East, watching the landscape bored out of my mind.

ADHD sucked ass.

"Yeah, you got it. You know, if I'm being honest, I had you pegged for an Athena kid. Your Blonde hair and quick thinking being a staple of Athena kids." He points out. "But as soon as you started talking about this thing, I knew there was something more to it than that, that and your hair is a bit darker than most Athena kids."

"What's my hair have to do with who my godly parent is?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, about nine times out of ten, demigods tend to take heavily after their godly parent." he answers as he glances at me. "Children of Athena tend to have blonde hair and grey eyes with a sharp wit. Children of Aphrodite are all incredibly beautiful, both the girls and the guys. Children of Hephaestus tend to have brown hair and brown eyes, normally stocky, and they're really good with their hands."

"Huh." I reply simply. "Anything else we take after our godly parents? Or is it just looks and some skills over their domain?"

"Well, you may have some of their fears as well. Hephaestus was thrown from Olympus as a kid, so you may have an issue with heights. Umm… Children of Athena have arachnophobia because of that whole weaving contest with Arachne."

"So that's why I hate heights… Well, at least I know I can blame it Heph- Wait. No. I can blame this on Hera. She's the one who threw Hephaestus off Olympus for being an ugly baby." I think out loud. In the distance, the rumble of thunder could be heard, as if the sky had heard my complaint and was trying to warn me.

Now that I think about it, that was probably the case.

As if responding to my thoughts, Henry glances at the sky for a second before glancing at me in worry.

"I wouldn't point out any of the God's previous actions, especially not any that could be perceived negatively." He warns carefully. "They tend to believe that they are blameless. Which they are!"

"Don't piss off the extremely powerful beings who can and will smite me if I do so. Gotcha." I reply with a nod.

With a slightly nervous chuckle, Henry just keeps his eyes on the road and keeps driving, leaving me to my thoughts and the small pile of junk scraps at my feet.

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And that's that. Hope you enjoyed it, and It's like… midnight here when i finished this so… adios.

The Nameless Scribe.