"RAWRR!" bellowed Polyphemus, dropping Annabeth as he barreled towards Percy.

"For Pan!" yelled Grover, tossing his bone blub which bounced off harmlessly the monster's head.

Clarisse opted out for a battle cry and ran in from Percy's left. She set her spear just in time for Polyphemus to step on it. The monster wailed in pain and Clarisse barely managed to dive out of the way to avoid being trampled. Polyphemus simply paused long enough to pluck out the shat like a giant splinter and continued advancing to Percy. Polyphemus made a grab at him, but Percy rolled to the side and stabbed him in the thigh.

When Polyphemus didn't disintegrate, Percy shouted to Grover, "Get Annabeth! And help Artie!"

Grover rushed over to Annabeth while Percy and Clarisse kept Polyphemus busy. Grover picked up Annabeth and went to Artie who was cradling his right arm with pained look on his face. Grover hoped Artie wasn't too injured, he couldn't carry two demigods and did not want to have to choose to leave one of them behind.

Artie was taking deep calming breaths when Grover reached him. "What's wrong?"

"Shoulder . . ." Artie grunted between breaths. "Dislocated . . . I think."

Grover set Annabeth down, "I can help."

"No!" Artie protested. "Get Annabeth out of here!"

"But you're shoulder, you can't use your bow with it like that."

"GO!" Artie commanded.

Grover yelped and ran, only pausing to pick up Annabeth. Despite being stuck for days with a Cyclops, Artie's voice terrified him ten times worse. It was as if something spoke using Artie as a mouthpiece. It was deep and powerful, like the voice could not stop growling even to form words. Artie had done this once before. When he nearly killed Clarisse and her friends four years ago, during his first capture the flag game.

Artie watched as Grover made his away across the rope bridge with Annabeth slung over his shoulders. Once satisfied Grover and Annabeth were out of harm way, Artie quickly went about setting his shoulder. He took deep breaths as he forced himself to ignore the fight happening only a few feet away. He had done this several time before and he knew the trick to avoid injuring himself further, was to relax and proceed slowly without tensing his muscles. He started by reaching the injured arm out to the side with his elbow away from his side, making sure his palm faced the sky. This was a very slow movement, he knew the pain would tell him to proceed slower. Once his arm was level with his shoulder, he rotated his hand behind his head. It looked like he was simply scratching the back of his neck or head. Once his hand was behind his head, he reached for his opposite shoulder. As he reached, he heard the sound of bone grinding against bone which was quickly followed by a slight pop. He instantly was relieved of the pain, though his shoulder felt sore and there was some discomfort as he carefully moved his arm around, but now he could use his bow.

No sooner than he opened his bow, Percy yelled, "Fall back!"

Clarisse didn't argue as she allowed a tree to receive a blow from Polyphemus. Artie watched as Percy and Clarisse ran for the bridge with Polyphemus hobbling from all the minor injuries they managed to deliver. Artie decided to buy his friends, and himself, some time. He drew an arrow from his quiver, aimed for the monster's legs, and fired. Artie gripped his shoulder as the muscles screamed in protest. He gritted his teeth and cursed his bad luck. While it was painful, it was worth it as the arrow exploded into a large net and tangled up Polyphemus's legs like a kid with his shoelaces tied together. While Polyphemus went about untangling himself, Artie ran up and over him as he rejoined his friends. Artie easily overtook Percy and Clarisse, running across the rope bridge, and joined Grover as set down an unconscious Annabeth.

"Grover! Artie!" shouted Percy. "Get Annabeth's knife!"

Artie drew an arrow as Grover began sawing the rope. Artie snarled in frustration, he couldn't risk a shot with Percy and Clarisse in the way. He could go for Polyphemus's head, but if his reaction when he fired the net was any indication, his shoulder couldn't sustain the multiple shots he would certainly need to hit such a small target from so far away.

The first strand went snap, quickly followed by the second just as Percy and Clarisse scrambled across the bridge — as well as Polyphemus.

"Failed!" cheered the monster gleefully, "Nobody failed!"

Clarisse and Grover tried to charge him, but he swatted them away like flies. Artie aimed an arrow which Polyphemus responded with another swat, sending Artie head over heels a few feet back only to be stopped by tree. Percy watched as each of his friends were defeated, growing more and more angry by the second. New found strength coursed through him as he attacked Polyphemus, forgetting he was outmatched. He jabbed the monster in the belly with Riptide. When he doubled over, Percy smacked in the face with the hilt. He continued like a madman, slashing, bashing, and kicking until he was out of breath and Polyphemus was at his feet.

"Uhhhhhh . . ." Polyphemus moaned.

"Percy," gasped Grover. "How did you — "

"Please nooo." moaned the monster as tears collected at the edge of his eye. "M-m-my sheepies need me. Only trying to protect sheep."

Percy hesitated as Polyphemus began to sob.

"Kill him!" yelled Clarisse. "What are you waiting for?"

"He's a cyclops." warned Grover. "Don;t trust him."

"An enemy deserves no mercy." said Artie as he stood up, quoting the Karate Kid.

Percy turned to Polyphemus, "We only want the Fleece. Will you agree for us to take it and leave?"

Polyphemus sniffled, "My beautiful Fleece. Prize of collection. Take it cruel human. Take it and go in peace."

"Kill him!" urged Clarisse.

"He wouldn't give you the chance." said Artie. "So don't give it to him." When Percy continued to hesitate, Artie snatched the sword from his hands, "Allow me."

Percy stopped him, "He surrendered. Give me back my sword."

Artie paused, sword hovering over the monster;s head, and locked eyes with Percy. "Listen to me well Percy. When it comes to enemies, Give them nothing and take from them everything."

Quick as a cobra Polyphemus snatched up Artie and Percy in each hand, "Polyphemus agrees with No One. Take my Fleece? Ha! Polyphemus eat you first."

"If we live through this Percy," said Artie. "You're gonna watch 300 till eyes bleed."

Before Percy could even think of retort or even consider how Artie could think of movies at such a critical time, something went past his head with faint whoosh that was quickly followed by a solid thunk. From his angle, Artie saw a rock the size of basketball sail into the back of Polyphemus's throat. Naturally in his surprise, the monster dropped the two demigods in his hands and staggered backward — forgetting the bridge was out. Artie had to laugh as Polyphemus made chicken wing motion in a hopeless attempt to pull out a several hundred foot free fall.

Everyone turned to see where the rock had come from.

There, standing right in middle of the flock of killer sheep and tossing a rock up and down like baseball, was Tyson. "Bad Polyphemus. Not all cyclops are as nice as we look."

Tyson gave them the short version. Rainbow the Hippocampi had followed him and pulled him from the burning wreckage of the CSS Birmingham. They had been scouring the Sea of Monsters ever since. It was only when Tyson caught the scent of sheep when they headed for Polyphemus's island.

"Not that I'm not grateful." Artie interjected as he knelt by Annabeth and examined her head wound. "But unless this story ends with Tyson finding a med kit, it can wait."

Percy got an idea, "Tyson, the Fleece! Can you get it?"

Tyson looked around at the sheep surrounding him, "Which one?"

"In the tree!" said Percy. "The golden one!"

Artie may have not been a child of Apollo, but experience had taught him plenty. The bleeding was beginning to stop which was good, but not fast enough. It would have child's play to clean and stitch the wound but it was nearly impossible without any supplies. Then Artie understood why Percy had Tyson retrieve the Fleece from the tree. He mentally sorted what he knew about the fleece. It could cause the plant life in an area to grow faster than normal, and bear more produce. He also knew they needed to cure Thalia's Pine since it could It can cure anything natural, like trees and plants. But more importantly he remembered that when wearing it, demigods are healed much faster than normal. So he wasn't surprise when Tyson tossed the Fleece to Percy and he draped it over Annabeth, covering everything but her face. Instantly her skin regained its natural color and the wound on her head began to close.

Her eyes fluttered opened and she saw Grover, "You're not . . . married."

Grover smiled, "No, my friends talked me out of it."

"Yeah." said Artie. "Turns out he was less than faithful. He wanted to elope with Clarisse here."

Clarisse punched Artie in the arm, "You got something say?"

Artie rubbed his arm and locked eyes, "And if I do?"

Clarisse returned Artie's look, "Do I need to remind you what happened on the Birmingham?"

Artie raised hand and slowly extended a claw, "Do I need to remind you what happens when I get angry? Here's a hint, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Clarisse's eyes flickered fear for half a second, but she simply said, "This can wait until later."

"Agreed." said Artie.

Percy did not stop the argument because he was bust instructing Tyson to lead the killer sheep away from the meadow. And Grover did not stop them because he had no hope of stopping Artie or Clarisse if it came to blows. Annabeth was, of course, still too far injured to interject.

Percy draped the fleece over her, "Keep it around you. Just in case you're not fully healed. Can you stand?"

Annabeth tried, but her face turned pale again. "Ohh. Not fully healed."

Clarisse knelt by her and placed a hand on Annabeth's chest."Broken ribs. They're mending, but definitely broken."

"How can you tell?" Percy asked.

"Because I've broken a few myself, runt." Clarisse threw Annabeth on her back. "I'll have to carry her."

Together they all made their way to the beach. Once they reached the edge of the water, Percy willed the ship underway. The anchor raised and sails unfurled. A minute later the Queen Anne's revenge rounded the edge of the island and sailed to them. The wind blew and Grover and Artie caught a whiff of monster mixed with sheep. Grover yelped while Artie growled in annoyance, opening his bow and reaching for an arrow. They're fears were for nothing, because they saw Tyson bounding down the path.

"Incoming!" Tyson shouted with the flock of man eating sheep fifty yards behind him, bleating in annoyance to their lack of food.

"Swim for the ship!" Percy told the others. "They won't be able to follow us in the water."

"With Annabeth like this?" Clarisse protested.

Artie rolled his eyes, "Eu tenho que fazer tudo?"

Artie dived in and swam, surprisingly fast for someone who was not a child of Poseidon, to the ship. They all wondered what Artie had said when something orange flew out and landed with a slight splash. It was an old looking, but still working, life vest. Artie watched from the ship as Percy quickly rushed to wrapped the life vest around Annabeth. Because of that, it was Artie who spotted trouble.

Polyphemus was battered and bruise with his blue wedding outfit in tatters — roaring in rage with a boulder in each hand as he charged through the water.

Of all the things that could possibly go through Artie's head, his mind settled on quote from Austin Powers : Spy Who Shagged Me. "Why won't you die?"