A/n: In Mark of Athena, after they've blown up new rome, Percy, Annabeth and Frank need to get roof tar and they fight a 'tar monster'. So of course I needed to write this. All of this belongs to Rick Riordan. Enjoy!

Percy squeezed Annabeth's hand, glad to be back with his girlfriend. Leo and Hazel had gone to find their other supplies, Jason had been shipped with a brick, and Piper was looking after him. So it was only him, Annabeth and Frank going to get the tar. A simple task. Fly Frank the dragon to the nearest store, get tar, get out. Simple.

As they were flying Frank, Percy thought about his promise to the Romans. He said he'd fight the Greeks like he fought the giants, but instead he'd joined them. But once they explained the whole 'possessed' thing he would be forgiven... right? And he'd still have a place there? He hoped so. But now he just had to focus on getting the tar for Leo. Nothing could go wrong there.

When they landed on the edge of the town, Frank turned back to human form. But as soon as he was standing, he nearly collapsed and had to sit down on the nearest rock to catch his breath. He was exhausted. Percy realised that and said, "Why don't you sit down and get your energy back, while me and Annabeth go get the tar? Shouldn't take too long and we need your strength to fly back to the ship."

Annabeth agreed, but Frank looked was worried. It look a few minutes of convincing but he finally let them couple wandered into the town until they came across a hardware store that advertised tar. They walked in to a large warehouse with few people dotted around, and a wall filled with different kinds of paint and building supplies. Percy was stunned for a second but Annabeth lead them to the front desk where a bored looking attendant was sitting. He addressed Annabeth, saying, "Welcome to Matt's hardware and housing, how can I help?"

"Hi! Just wondering if you can show us the roof tar?" Annabeth said.

The attendant gave them a suspicious look and Percy quickly added, "For a school project."

His frown only deepened, and Annabeth poked him. "We have a very...hands-on school," she filled in. The guy didn't look convinced but slowly lead them to a shelf packed with buckets of tar. He gestured lazily to a bucket behind the many rows of road tar. "That's the one you want."

"Thanks."

Percy reached over to try tank the red bucket out, but it wasn't coming. Annabeth reached over to try help him, but when it finally pulled out, half the other buckets crashed down as well. The attendant looked mad, and only became more so when one of the containers split open and dark sludge leaked out.

But then more spilled out,and more, and more, until there was a giant puddle of black, thick tar that was bubbling and growing.

"Oh dam, this is a monster, isn't it?" Percy sighed.

The growing black mess seemed to gurgle in agreement. Percy took his pen out of his pocket and saw Annabeth doing the same with her dagger. They drew closer together as the attendant back up against the wall, eyes wide. "A raccoon is in the tar!" He screeched, and the few people around them screamed and rushed out the store. He also soon scrambled away as though there was something much worse than a racoon.

The tar rose up until it was almost seven feet tall, and roared. It had no eyes but it seemed to be able to sense them just fine. It lunged at Percy but he managed to dive and regroup with Annabeth.

"WHAT IS THAT THING?!" He yelled.

" I DON'T KNOW, A COUSIN OF THE HYDRA?! "

The tar-dra seemed to have something against him, and it came at him again. Percy swung his sword where it's head seemed to be but it sunk in without hurting it. It became more angry when Percy couldn't pull Riptide out. He became increasingly desperate when the tar started climbing up the hilt and onto his hands. Annabeth saw this and threw a bucket of tar from the side. This didn't seem to hurt it, but it was distracted long enough for Percy to pull his sword out.

While the monsters attention was off him, he tried to think of ways to kill it. "Water? No, that wouldn't work.I could burn it? But I don't have blowtorch big enough. The only way I know to get rid of tar is drying it in the I don't think that thing would stay still long enough." The tar-dra oozed closer and closer to Annabeth. Percy shook his head,trying to think. "First, let's get the monster away from the mortals, and into the sun. Annabeth will know what to do."

Percy ran around to Annabeth,and they both started for the door .The tar followed,although much more sluggishly than them. Once they were outside, Percy started jogging and talking. "How are we going to stop this? Swords won't work, and only the sun can dry tar."

" I was thinking the same takes a few hours to dry, so I think we just need to weaken it long enough for it to dry. Let's first get to Frank. It's away from the mortals, and he can help us. "

Annabeth and Percy started running to the edge of the town, the tar-dra following them. Thankfully the roads were empty, and they soon got to the rock where Frank was resting. They ran towards him, and Frank noticed the monster. He pushed himself up, trying to help, but immediately sat down again.

"Hey, Frank," Percy said. "Do you know how to kill tar?" Frank shook his head with a puzzled expression. Annabeth looked worried. Percy turned to her. "How can we dry this tar? The sun is setting so we need to do it fast."

"The monster has been in the sun for a few minutes. Maybe the swords will be more effective?" Annabeth said. Percy saw she trying to up with a desperate idea while facing a monster they knew nothing about. It wasn't a great idea, but it was all they had. Percy and Annabeth turned to face the monster, un-leashing their weapons.

The tar monster roared again, and attacked. It seemed slightly wary of Percy now that it had encountered riptide, so it went after Annabeth. Big mistake. Annabeth lunged at it, but instead of stabbing it, she used the hilt of her dagger to pry a some tar away from the rest. The tar was dryer. She flung the bit away, and it became still, separated from the rest of it's body.

"Percy!" She called out, " Try separate chunks of it from it! " Percy saw what she was trying to do, and began attacking it.

Annabeth and him were ripping pieces and sending them flying. The tar-dra fought back, trying to consume whatever it could find. Their hair and skin was sucked in, and got covered in tar, but they used the monster's drying skin to their advantage. At one point, Percy's whole shirt was stuck, but with some vicious janking, he managed to pull it out.

It was working! The monster was getting smaller, and the landscape was covered in tar. But the sun was fading. Annabeth noticed this too, and yelled, "Pull faster! Soon ther'll be no sun to slow it down!"

Percy tried. He was taking as much as he could, both of them were, but it was too much to get rid of. The monster seemed to know this too, and fought harder than ever. Percy's whole hand was sucked in, and as much as he pulled, it wouldn't come out. Annabeth tried to help, but had to let go once she got sucked in as well.

The exhausted Frank, who had been struggling to get up since the fight started, finally rose to his feet. He stumbled over them, and in a sudden burst of strength, he turned into a bear. He sliced the smaller monster away from Percy. He then cut it's drying skin in half, and in half again. Percy and Annabeth easily ripped the small chunks apart. The last remain of tar shuddered weakly, before curling up in the sunset. It was dead.

Percy, Frank and Annabeth stood around panting. They were covered in tar. Frank was back as a human, and looking much better than he first was. Percy smiled. "Well done guys. The hardware store is now a much safer place to be!" Frank chuckled, and the tired group walked into town to get the real tar.

The store was abandoned,so there was no one there to see their messy state. Annabeth grabbed the bucket they needed, checking inside to make sure there was no monster. The group walked outside, feeling much stronger. Frank changed into a giant eagle this time, and flew them home.

Percy breathed in the cool wind as they flew back. He felt peaceful for the first time in ages. It was good to back with Annabeth, and even better to feel the reliable rhythm he had with her while fighting. He saw their bronze ship and smiled. No matter what chaos was down there, he knew he was prepared. The people around him were worth fighting for.

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