Jason and Percy stood side by side in the dark hall way that ran underneath the entry arch that lead into the Coliseum. Even from where they were standing they could hear the roar of the crowd as if it was right in front of them. They looked down the hall, through the arch, and towards the center of the stadium to see Thanatos who warming up the audience by making introductions and spouting off statistics in a dramatic tone.
From Percy's side Chiron said, "Just remember what we taught you and you'll be fine. Don't forget Perseus is inhumanly fast with that green blade of his."
"Also Jason maybe a tad slower than Perseus but he's half as strong as Hercules and that's saying a lot," Lupa added.
"Thank you," said Jason.
"I didn't mean you I meant the other Jason, the original," Lupa said annoyed.
"I was joking," Jason explained.
"Good luck Seaweed Brain," said Annabeth while hugging Percy,"and please don't die out there," she said merrily as she planted a good luck kiss on his cheek.
"Easy for you to say," Percy murmured.
"Yeah, good luck," Piper agreed after giving planting her own kiss on Jason's cheek.
"Thanks, we're going to need it," sighed Jason anxiously.
The group waited silently in the hall for several moments more listening to the crowd cheer and clap. They waited till Thanatos was finished with his opening spiel on how this event would be pivotal moment in history and generations would speak of this day for years to come.
From the center of the ring they heard Thanatos yell, "I give you your very own Jason Grace and Percy Jackson!"
"Here we go," breathed Percy while taking a hesitant step forward.
At the sound of their names the two young heroes marched down the hall and passed through the arches to the main floor of the arena. The Coliseum that they stepped in may not be as large as the original located in Rome but it was still massive in size. Jason and Percy looked around to see the faces gathered in stands that surround them. All the eyes were studying them intensely while and the mouths were screaming their lips off. This was going to be a once in a life time fight and they fighters knew and so did the onlookers which made the atmosphere in the building even more chaotic.
The two stood nervously as they waited for Thanatos to hurry up and finish his numerous speeches. They made silent prayers to the gods of their choosing and zoned out day-dreamily as they sought to conquer their nervous butterflies.
"We've fought Titans and Giants before. How hard will it be to fight against two of history's greatest warriors?" Percy whispered nervously into Jason's ear.
"No kidding," he agreed.
"So what are you thinking? What's our plan of attack?" asked Percy.
"I was thinking we just improvise like we young heroes usually do and hopefully we survive. Make sure we always remain in eye contact because if there is an opportunity we better be sure as hell that we take it."
"All-righty then," Percy nodded Percy. "Take your pic, dragon slayer or Gorgon slayer, or do you just want to go with fighting your own namesake?"
"Namesakes would be appropriate," Jason grinned.
"Now ladies and gentlemen let's give a nice warm welcome for two of Olympus's best, Jason and Perseus!" Thanatos shouted as he spun in circles, looking up at the crowd with his arms out stretched.
At the sound of their names the two men entered the stadium in a slow-according to Grover Underwood-badass walk. The crowd burst into cheering and chants as the duo entered. The crowd's volume increased now that both teams were assembled and the fight was about to begin in seconds.
"Who's side are they on anyway?" said Percy as he looked at his fellow demigods cheering for the wrong heroes.
Thanatos looked to the masses in the stands, "I hope you all are ready for your minds to be blown because this is going to be a duel that will be remembered for the ages?"
The crowds cheers shook the very earth.
"Here are the terms for this if fight: Killing will not be tolerated, no magical items, no use of demigod powers, no armor, no shields, no eye gouging, no groin shots, and no throwing sand in your opponents eyes. The weapons in use will only be swords and yes, maiming is permitted only if the maimed can be put back together again. A fighter is eliminated if they break the rules, they are disarmed, they can no longer fight wether it be from injury or exhaustion, or if they choose to dishonorably surrender. This fight has no time limit and it stops when both fighters from one team is eliminated," explained Thanatos.
"Fighters, to your starting positions!" cried Coach Hedge, the satyr, the official referee of the duel.
Grace and Jackson apprehensively walked to their starting position indicated by a line white in the sand drawn in by chalk. Perseus and Jason did the same and stood on the red chalk line opposite on the opposite side of the aren. They starred daggers at their opponents the whole way there.
Jackson was armed with his trusted celestial bronze sword Anakalusmos or Riptide. From the stands Hercules recognized the old sword in the hands of the young son of Poseidon. This interested him greatly and he wondered how this hero attained his old weapon but he quickly realized it didn't matter to him. What mattered was if this young hero was worthy of Riptide. All Jackson needed was a test and what better way than to perform well in this sword duel.
Grace wielded his imperial gold gladius that was given to him by Hera. Grace's weapon was the only sword of Roman design out of the fighters and he hoped it would give him an advantage in some way.
Jason was armed with his Celestial Bronze sword that he carried with him ever since he set out on the quest for the Golden Fleece. Perseus wielded his pale green adamantine sword that was given to him by his father Zeus.
Jackson wore a brand new orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt with blue jeans and Grace wore a purple t-shirt with black jeans. Jason wore a red tunic and Perseus a green one.
Thanatos made sure both teams were ready by shooting them looks that said, "Hurry up if your ready." The whole stadium went silent as the opposing pairs stared each other down from across the arena as they waited for Thanatos to start the fight. The heavy breathing of the apprehensive audience in the silent stadium sounded like a thunder storm and the sweat that dripped from impatient faces echoed as it dripped to the marble floors.
Finally Thanatos raised his hand in the air signaling the fight was about to commence. Everyone held their breath and somehow the tension in that massive arena seemed to increase. Thanatos held his hand in the air for a few moments more to build the suspense and then he let it drop. His hand seemed to move in slow motion while it dropped but it eventually reached its final destination. Thanatos shot upward to get out of the fighters' way and the cheer of the crowd screamed back to life with the force of rocket boosters on a space shuttle.
The two teams charged each other. Jason on course to intercept Grace and Perseus on his way to collide with Jackson. It was namesake against namesake. Grace and Jackson prepared for collision with their older counter parts but suddenly Jason and Perseus zig-zagged, crossing each others paths. By doing this they traded opponents and it was now Jason against Jackson and Grace fighting Perseus. This movement caught Jackson and Grace completely by surprise and it was only their demigod ADHD that allowed them to block the bulldozer of sword strikes delivered by their opponents.
Before Jackson and Grace could even recuperate from the swift attack; Jason and Perseus followed through from the previous attack and threw another quick strike at them. Then they zig zagged back to their original opponents. Once again it was Jason versus Jason and Perseus versus Perseus. This tactic was something totally new to the two young heroes had never seen before and had no idea how to fight it.
And so it went. Jason and Perseus would attack their current opponent with a flurry of sword strikes, then suddenly they would switch dance partners, and then they would commence in raining blows down upon their current enemy. This tactic left Jackson and Grace with barley any time to defend themselves and even less time for them think about the words "counter attack".
Perseus and Jason were truly experts with their weapons. One could describe them as revolving circular fans wielding razor sharp blades. They continued to advance on Jackson and Grace with no sign of slowing and no signs of tiring. They swung their swords with the same amount of strength and force as they did when the fight first began. They showed no mercy and both were barley breaking a sweat.
Grace and Jackson new the trouble they were in, they aware that they were getting killed, and they weren't even offering any signs of resistance. Jackson managed to barley dodge an overhand stroke from Jason but found he was only in time to avoid being chopped in half by Perseus.
Jackson knew they were going to lose, he knew this before the fight even started, and he knew that defeat was inevitable. From the get-go Jackson established he wasn't going down without at least putting up a fight. After blocking a stroke by Jason and Perseus at the same time, Jackson noticed that they had already performed this move several times in the past. One of them would attack him in one instance but sometimes Perseus and Jason would team up on him at the same time in hopes to catch him off guard. Jackson figured that this form of attack left them exposed on the side that faced Grace.
This gave Grace a crucial opening but in order for Jackson to give Grace enough time to utilize this chink he would have do something to occupy his aggressors. Jackson new it would have throw out the most daring counter attack he had ever performed in his life. Jackson blocked a few more blows, deflected a few more sword stokes, and finally Jason and Perseus used their tag team move on him again. Jackson parried this attack once more and then suddenly he lunged forward, lifting his body off the ground, and throwing himself wildly like a rag-doll into the two of them, risking getting cleaved into bits in the process. This managed to knock Perseus backward five feet knocking him on to his rear end. Jason was pushed off balance and luckily Grace noticed the opening and took advantage of it.
Jackson rushed toward the downed Perseus while Grace advanced on Jason. Grace swung his gladius at Jason who somehow blocked it while still recovering from his stumble. Although Jason managed to block the strike it gave way for Grace to land a front kick to Jason's chest that knocked him off balanced again. The tables of the fight were turned in the favor of Jackson and Grace.
For the first time that night they realized that these two men were not unbeatable. This fueled them with confidence that they needed to be victorious. It boosted their morale, gave them the courage, and stimulated the two young demigods. Grace unleashed a furry with his sword and rained strikes upon Jason. In these sudden turn of events Jason smiled gleefully as he blocked a viscous sword thrust.
"Come on!" Jason shouted at Grace.
After blocking Grace's sword another time he struck back but Grace did the same also. The true fight had finally begun.
Perseus was now on his feet again while Jackson started to hone in on his attacks. The two were equal in skill even though Perseus had thousands more years of experience. They took turns swinging at each other, ducking under slash's, deflecting hacks, and side stepping lunges.
The audience started to cheer louder from the sudden rapid turn of events. At first they were witnessing a slaughter as one team totally dominated the other but now both teams were neck and neck causing the fight to cap with excitement. They were practically watching two duels going on at once. The onlookers found their heads swiveling back and forth to watch Jackson roll under Perseus's legs and stab at his unprotected back, but Perseus spun around just in time to divert it aside and in the he process return fire. Then the crowd would the turn their heads in the other direction to see Jason just barley miss Grace's head by centimeters. In retaliation Grace leapt in the air while hacking away and barley missing Jason's face but cutting off a lock of his hair in the process.
Grace and Jackson managed to force Jason's and Perseus's backs into each other. Perseus and Jason ducked under the gold and bronze blades at the same time and then replied by lashing out at their assailants' ankles. Jackson and Grace managed retract their feet in time and just as quickly as they evaded they would come back in with more attacks. Jason and Perseus stood in between the two, defending themselves from slashes, and then attacking with strokes of their own. From the outside, Grace and Jackson did the same. At one point Jason and Perseus pulled off this impressive move where Perseus ducked under Jacksons' sword and he went for Grace's legs while Jason jumped over Grace's attack and went for Jackson's chest. Both missed, but barely, and the crowd responded with a breathless gasp.
Grace and Jackson exchanged a sidelong glance, nodded, and started to do what Perseus and Jason did to them in the beginning of the fight. They mimicked the zig zag technique exactly how Jason and Perseus did. The traded back in forth between opponents and took turns dealing strikes. This caught Jason and Perseus entirely off guard and first they didn't know how to respond to their own tactics being used against them but eventually they regained their bearings and decided to mimic the mimickers.
The fight turned in to one of utter confusion as both teams' members traded off opponents. It became a whirlwind of clinging metal. Adamantine meet celestial bronze, imperial gold meet adamantine, and bronze meet imperial gold.
Then finally Jason Grace managed to sweep Perseus's legs out from underneath him causing him to land flat on his back. Grace stomped down on Perseus's unexposed stomach and pinned him down by holding the tip of his gladius to Perseus's throat. Upon noticing his downed partner, Jason abandoned his duel with Jackson entirely, charged Grace, jumped in the air, extended his legs, and landed both of his feet into Grace's chest. Grace went flying backward and at the same time his sword flew out of his hand.
"Jason Grace has been disarmed, he is eliminated!" Thanatos screamed and the crowd started to go insane.
After getting up, Jason made the mistake of trying to help Perseus to his feet. Jackson came bounding in with his sword held high and when he came into striking distance he brought it down like a hammer. Jason just managed to block it but Jackson kneed him in the stomach. As Jason hunched over in pain, Jackson grabbed him by the back of the head, and pushed his face downward as he brought another knee upward into Jason's nose. This knocked Jason upwards and then made him fall over backwards. When Jason felt his back hit the sand floor of the arena he also felt a foot ram sharply into his wrist knocking his sword out of his hand.
"Jason the Argonaut has been disarmed, he is eliminated! It is now down to Percy Jackson and Perseus!" The crowd was already out of their seats but now they were going ballistic and started to jump up and down.
Perseus now stood slowly to his feet as Jackson took a few steps backward allowing him get up so he could continue the fight. Perseus adjusted the grip on his sword, twirled it experimentally a few times, gave Jackson a slow nod, let loose a wild yell, and charged forward wielding his sword in a double handed fashion. Jackson also yelled as he charge forward. The two met in the center of the arena, their swords crossing making an "X" formation, they pushed forward on each other till their foreheads touched, their blades between them as they struggled for dominance. They broke apart for a moment forcing each other backwards. They came together again with their swords revolving in circles around them. Their blades moved so fast it was they were composed entirely of liquid. The hands, arms, and swords became a blur of green and bronze.
Somehow Perseus managed to land a lucky blow that cut Jackson's inner leg which made him sink to one knee. Before Jackson could stand up Perseus went in for the finishing disarming stroke. Jackson knew it was over and in last ditch effort he attempted the disarming technique that he learned from Luke on his first day at Camp Half-Blood.
Their swords clanged together and twisted in their grips. They both felt a tug on their arms, then the sensation of the sword handles leaving their fingers, and then the feeling nothingness in their open palms. In disbelief they stared dumbly at their empty hands and then to their swords laying ten feet away. Realization finally dawned on them, the had both just been disarmed.
"I don't believe it! Both Perseus and Percy Jackson are disarmed and eliminated. Team Jason and Perseus tie with Team Jackson and Grace! I don't believe it-IT'S A DRAW!"
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