Nico (Leo vs Nico)

Carrying Reyna back to the viewing area was an easier task than it should've been. I attribute that to the lack of armor she had as it was tossed aside when she fell towards the earth. It was an easy task for me, but not for Leo as he tried his hardest to carry Frank. Leo's tiny frame wasn't enough to carry a limp 6-footer a few steps forward. Chiron came along and put Frank on his saddle as Leo fell on his knees. He looked a little embarrassed.

"He was a 30-foot dragon a few seconds ago. Some of his dragon weight could've carried over, you can't disprove that." Leo said frantically.

Chiron put Leo on his saddle as well and we made it back towards the viewing area. There was a wave of demigods within the space. Many of them came from the stands and were looking for refuge from Frank's dragon form. One of the Apollo kids came up to Chiron and whispered in his ear. Chiron's booming voice came right after.

"I have heard that not a single camper was injured in the stands during the match. Leave the clean up to us and wait here for the next match.

Leo protested while riding Chiron's back. "Oh hell no. This space I created only has an occupancy of 200 persons. I'm usually ready to break the rules, but Terminus will have my head if I break building code."

Chiron picked the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Fine, can everyone here that is not needed find their way outside of the coliseum? We'll reconvene after clean-up is done.

With that, Romans and Greeks found their way outside. There should've been way more Romans, but many of them left out of protest before Reyna and Frank's fight. The Romans who stayed and watch didn't seem to have any protesting left in them. There was still around 20 people within the viewing area.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Hazel making her way towards us from the infirmary. Piper was beside her with her arm in a sling. Hazel looked good to me. She healed up nicely from her fight with Clarisse. I felt ashamed when I saw her. I been focusing so much on Will that I didn't take her health into consideration. I know Clarisse and I know the type of person she can be when agitated. I should've been there for her.

I ran up and gave her a hug. Hazel started to laugh a little before letting go.

I still held her shoulders as I greeted her. "Are you fully healed? Are you free to leave the infirmary?"

Hazel pushed my hands off her shoulders with a small grin forming. "I'm not fully healed but I couldn't miss this next fight. I already feel bad for missing Frank's fight." She looked towards Chiron's back and saw Frank getting up.

"Sorry Nico, but I got to see how Frank is doing." She said while rushing off towards him. I don't blame her. Frank was out of the tournament now which shocked even me. This whole tournament was ruthless. We had the fight of our lives in losers, and it wasn't even close to over yet.

Chiron made his way towards me. The excessive baggage of Frank was off his back, and he could move freely. "Well, it will take a considerable amount of time to clean the arena. This amount of damage within the arena hasn't been seen for some time." Chiron continued.

"Well, when a giant dragon falls towards earth at a blistering speed, you tend to accumulate some damage along the way." I said sarcastically.

Chiron slowly transformed back to wheelchair mode. "Quite observant of you, either way, I expect both you and Leo to ready yourselves. It will take less than 15 minutes till everything is cleaned up. Our cleaning crew are top notch, and I will remind you to thank them."

The combination of Camp Half-blood's children of Hephaestus and the Roman children of Hephaestus was a good collection of top tier builders. All the environment troubles caused each fight was quickly handed by them.

Leo came in bursting with energy, with Calypso on his side. "Wait I got less than 15 minutes to prepare?"

Chiron turned his chair. "That's the general idea. I know it's not enough time but —"

Leo put his hands in the air. "No no no, that's plenty of time. Just gotta make some adjustments to —"

Calypso shut his mouth quickly as Leo kept blabbing on. The muffed sound of his voice sounded like an alien trying to learn English.

"What's the point of a plan if you're just going to blab about it to the enemy? No offensive, Nico." Calypso added.

"None taken." I responded."

With that, Calypso took Leo away while giving him an earful. I liked the two of them sure, but something was bothering me, and I couldn't stay quiet.

"Leo!" I yelled to get his attention.

Leo and Calypso both turned as they were about to exit towards the practice range.

"I'm not going to go easy on you because you're a friend. Whoever wins this fights Kahale, and I need to fight him. I got a cause, but what about you? What are you fighting for?

Leo didn't answer immediately, but I doubt he had an answer. I love Leo, but he's been treating this whole thing like a joke, just like everything else. My fight had purpose, I'm the only one who can stop Kahale. Leo would fail just like Piper, and Reyna before him.

Leo gave me a blank stare. There was no humor in what he said next.

"What am I fighting for? This is a tournament to see who's the strongest, and it seems that you forgotten about that. I want to show everyone that I can win. I want to be the strongest. That's all there is to it."

With that Leo walked out. I wouldn't say I was shocked by his words, but Leo was right. I did forget the original purpose for this tournament, but that won't stop me from winning this fight for my own purpose either.

I was about to walk away until Chiron stopped me.

"One more thing, and I trust you can relay this to Leo as well. Keep the damage to the arena to a minimum please. The amount of damage from all the fights is ruining the structure of the coliseum. I trust that you can take it easy with this fight?

I gave Chiron a confident smile. "Don't worry, we'll keep it clean. You have my word."

15 minutes later.

I stood at the center of the arena. What was once a used and abused arena was a battlefield that earned the title of coliseum. It was completely fixed up in a matter of minutes. Chiron was right, I should give my thanks to those working in the back.

The campers made their way towards the stands. There was a huge amount of people that made their way back. Many of them were Romans that stormed out originally after Kahale's speech. Word must have spread on Frank's stance as a praetor. I was happy that they were giving the praetors another shot. The Romans were loyal to a fault.

I seemed to be waiting forever until I see the doors to the viewing area opening and Leo finally appearing. Leo wasn't one to armor up for the fight, but he did have some new accessories this time around. His tool belt and working clothes were cleaned up, but he had a large wooden board at his back.

At first, I thought it was a wooden shield on his back, but that wouldn't make any sense given his power of fire. Not only that, but it was too big for a shield as well. Besides that, there was nothing else on him. No sword or armor at his waist. I know that all his weapons came straight from his tool belt. How he fit everything in there was beyond me.

"What's that on your back, Leo." I asked.

Leo was smiled for a bit. "Lets just call it my surfboard for now."

Fine, keep your secrets. It didn't really matter to me. I didn't see Leo as a threat in the traditional sense. I knew what he could do, and he was an important member of the seven no doubt. However, I couldn't see a world where I lost to him. I know it was mean, but it was true. He put up a good fight against Hazel, he won't be able to the same against me.

Chiron raised his hand as the crowd noise hit a crescendo. Roman or Greek, it didn't matter. This was the final match of the night, and everyone was ready to enjoy it.

"Are both combatants ready?" Chiron asked.

I gave Chiron a nod as Leo continued to tinker with the wooden board on his back. He had no concern for anything.

"Then you may begin. Let the final fight of the night commence!"

I made a mad dash towards Leo and didn't give him a chance to dodge. With my Stygian blade in tow, I slashed at his legs to get the upper hand. Within a matter of seconds, Leo pulled out something small from his toolbelt and let it transform into a large shield.

Leo smiled with excitement. I paid no mind as I tried to avoid his shield and aim for his legs. All my strikes were blocked, and with each block the shield pulsated. As if it was absorbing every hit.

"Gods I'm an idiot." I thought to myself. I saw the fight between Hazel and Leo. I know what that shield can do and here I am still striking at it. Leo didn't even give me time to adjust as he pulled out his hammer from his tool belt and aimed for my sword arm. I quickly dodged but Leo wasn't done yet as he chased after me.

"C'mon death boy. If you can't beat me in a fight, then how are you going to beat Kahale." Leo asked while running after me.

I raise my hand in the air. "Like this." I spoke. Within moments, the arms of 20 skeletons appeared from the earth and grabbed Leo by the legs. Leo's face was that of pure terror as he tried to move out of the way to no avail. Not only that, but a couple of skeletons were able to take one of his arms. His hammer was virtually useless and all he had was his shield arm.

I took the opportunity and ran up with a slash. Ending it all with one sword slash was good enough for me. My plan was to not use too much of my powers moving forward. Wasting a massive amount of energy was not on my to-do list. Annabeth exploited that weakness, and every other opponent would do that same the longer I was in the tournament. Leo had to have the same plan as I, as his flames took a massive amount of energy away from him. One slash from my blade was enough, and it wouldn't leave me drained for top 8.

Leo was struggling and was trying his hardest to make it out of his skeleton prison, but it wasn't enough. I got up close and personal and let my sword fly towards his legs. Not a lethal hit, but a brutal one as Leo wouldn't be able to walk away from this.

Instead of hearing a bone cracking sound, I heard mental colliding and looked down. Leo still had his shield up and protected himself perfectly. Leo grin was ear to ear as his shield pulsated harder than it ever did before and sent out a shockwave that sent me flying. The amount of damage that accumulated within the shield came flying out and destroyed most of the skeletons on the floor. The rest of them fell limp as I lost all control.

I slid past the center of the arena and fell on my side. That shockwave had me seeing double as Leo walked towards me with hammer in hand. I lost in the weapons department and that was my only plan from the get-go. I could move, but I couldn't stand up.

"You saw my match against Hazel, what did you think was going to happen?" Leo said squatting down next to me.

"C'mon now, say uncle just for me. Heck, call me Uncle Valdez for the one time."

Leo was annoying me on purpose. He wanted me to fight back. Leo was a showman first and foremost, which means he wants to put on a show instead of an all-out slaughter fest. Fine then, I'll put on a show for him.

I reached deep down and pushed my hand outward as Leo's focus changed. With all my strength, I caused the ground to erupt all around us as an earthquake took over the arena. It wasn't like Hazel's earthquakes. She had better control to throw off opponents, but not enough power to break the world apart. I was more into the latter as Leo couldn't even stand properly. Fissures were starting to form all over the arena as I tried my hardest to avoid any issues with the stands themselves. The campers in the stands were disoriented sure, but they weren't in any imminent danger which was enough.

I stabilized the ground beneath me and created a picture-perfect balance for myself. With that, I got up and tried to find Leo in all the chaos. The ground was swelling up and took over the entire arena. Jagged earth was pointed out in all directions. It took a considerable amount of energy, but I still had enough in the tank. Leo had no way to stand during this earthquake, but I did. I just have to find his body and this match will be over.

"Yo death boy!" I heard from above. I thought it was someone from the stands, but I saw instead was something far more ridiculous.

On top of a jagged edge of earth at least 10 meters in the air was Leo Valdez. He was unfazed by the occurring quaking and mayhem. Instead, he was standing on top of a wooden table with three legs and a pull-out drawer in the middle. Not only that, but there was a bottle of Windex in his hand as well. It was by far the most bizarre thing I've seen since the war against Gaea. Bar none.

"Nico meet Buford, Buford meet Nico. You two probably met before but there's just so many tables in the world, I wouldn't blame you for forgetting." Leo said with a wicked grin.

Leo was standing on top on the table and was perfectly still. The earthquake wasn't affecting him at all. It seemed that Leo knew of my confused and cleared things up.

"Oh sorry, remember those fifteen minutes we had before our match. I took that time and devoted it into transforming Buford into a stabilizing device. The legs of the table perfectly mimic every quake and adjusts to them, so I don't have to. Thus, perfect balance on my end!"

"You did that in fifteen minutes?" I asked in astonishment.

"I did that in five. The rest was spent with a certain Titaness, but let's keep it PG." Leo added stretching his arms.

I would be impressed if I wasn't so pissed off. I spent some much energy on that attack, and it was for nothing. Leo wasn't fighting, he was showing off his toys. I couldn't afford to lose my edge, but my angry was rising.

Leo's hand extended and flames started to appear. "I'm taking this seriously you know, in my own silly way. One of the reasons I lost to Hazel was because I didn't factor in her powers over the earth and Mist. You really think I wouldn't have a countermeasure to you after fighting your sister?"

With that, Leo threw a massive fireball my way. It was a cheap shot and it almost worked as I summoned the bodies of skeletons to protect me. The bodies of skeletons formed a dome around me as the fireball had a direct hit. I would've been cooked if I didn't prepare for it.

The skeleton dome didn't last however as they all fell towards the earth and were swallowed back to Hades. I couldn't believe it, but Leo jumped off the edge and let Buford slide down the jagged rock towards me. This table could do everything it seemed, as Leo stood on top and the table ran towards me with only three table legs.

With hammer in hand and a height advantage thanks to the table, Leo and I fought as the earth around us was shaking. Every hammer strike was strong enough to break concrete as Leo hammered away at me. One slip up and he would've down major damage, but I didn't let that happen. I parried each hit meticulously and let him tire himself out. It wasn't easy for me as Leo also parried every hit. I made sure to strike fast enough so he wouldn't be able to pull out his shield, but his parry skills were far too clean.

We were at a stalemate with no hope of changing things up. What cards did I have left? Summoning more skeletons seemed to be the right call. Shadow traveling was a no-no, as Leo probably had a plan for that just like Annabeth did. I was ready for the former until Leo pulled out the Windex from table's pull out drawer and sprayed me in the face.

Leo started to laugh as I landed on the floor. The earthquake around me stopped as I tried to wipe the chemicals away from my face.

Leo swung the Windex as if it was a handgun and pretended to holster it.

"Seems like you hate Windex just as much as Buford does." Leo laughed.

That's it. I had enough. Leo was always annoying but in a lovable kind of way, but right now? I wanted to shut him up for good.

I put my hands towards the ground and summoned fifty skeletons. Ten of them were durable and strong. It took a lot to create just those ten. The other forty were good enough to take one or two hits. That's all I needed.

I willed them all to attack Leo as they all ran for him. Leo started to panic before throwing the bottle of Windex towards one and gunning it back to Buford. Leo got on top of the table and ran for it. Oh, you not running away from me.

Leo focused his aim and threw out a massive about of flames towards all of the skeletons. I could feel the intensity of the fire as more than thirty of them burned. Leo was throwing fireball after fireball and forty skeletons all turned to ash, but not the final ten. Ten durable skeletons still had flames lingering around their ribcages, but they were all fine and they all started to rush Leo.

There were no options left as Leo was getting jumped at from all sides. The skeletons dogpiled him as they burned. Leo had flame resistance, but the number of skeletons on him were enough to cause trauma in any adult.

I walked towards them ready for the final blow. I summoned a couple more skeletons around me just in case and made my way towards him. With Stygian sword in hand, I was ready to finish him off and end the night.

In that split second. I felt the air around me shift. As if a rocket was about to fly off to space. I didn't know what would happen next, but the hairs on my arm all stood up. My instincts told me one thing.

"Run"

I ran as fast I could towards the walls of the arena but that wasn't enough. There was a huge screech coming from the pile of skeletons as a blinding light was starting to form. Within that moment, Leo exploded into white hot flames and exterminated everything in his way. The skeletons were ripped apart until they turned into pure white ash. It was as if a supernova went off within a small radius. Leo had all the power and all the control as only the heat reach the stands and the flames reached me.

The skeletons next to me formed a circle and protected me from harm, but that wasn't enough. They all turned to pure white ash as I was attacked by Leo's outer flames. When the dust settled, my leather jacket was burned into a crisp, there were no skeletons in the arena left, and both Leo and I were shirtless with scars all over our bodies.

I breathed in and out. I knew the end was near and it wasn't going to be pretty. I took one look at Leo and saw him walking straight to me.

The smile on his face was gone. "Thanks to you, I killed Buford."

I could barely talk thanks to the smoke. "I wasn't the one who exploded, and it's just a table anyway."

"Doesn't matter, a friend is a friend. I even lost my tool belt; do you have any idea of how many items I had stored in that magical tool belt?"

I stood up and picked up my sword. "I don't care about your stupid table, or your stupid toolbelt. Let's end this."

Leo went back to where he was and picked up his hammer. It was almost molten and was burning white hot as well. Getting hit by that was not on my to-do list today.

"All I got left is this hammer, but I really don't feel like using it." Leo looked straight at me with a grin forming. He had a plan and was ready to execute it.

"We've been dancing around our powers this whole time." Leo added. "You relied on your swordsmanship instead, and I relied on my genius but enough is enough. I think it's time I went all out with my real gifts."

Flames were starting to form on both of Leo's fists. The colors shifted quickly. From red, to orange, and almost to blue. He wasn't playing around.

"Remember that question you had for me. Why do you fight? It's because I got a power comparable to a child of Poseidon or Zeus, yet people always underestimate me. I'm the one who took out Gaea remember? I think it's time I show who's top dog around here."

With that Leo ran towards the tallest jagged edge of earth that I created. I tried to follow him but the pain from Leo's previous fireball was getting to me. I had near second-degree burns. I know I shouldn't have, but I let him get to the top. I had no other choice.

When Leo got to the top, he was at the center of the coliseum, and he yelled to the crowd.

"This is going to be a big one. Hades, it gonna be way worst than Frank's big fall. I suggest you all leave. Now!"

With that, it was a mad dash out of the stadium for everyone in the stands. Chiron tried to make an orderly line, but it nearly failed. He looked at me with a face that said, "You had one job." He wasn't wrong, this was supposed to be clean fight, but things change.

The Romans were organized enough to make it out first, but it was everyone for themselves on the Greek side. It took some time, but the stands were empty and only few people were in the viewing area, far from the balconies as they have been closed.

Leo inhaled deeply before exhaling with a smile on his face. "It's sucks that the crowd won't see my victory, but you do what you gotta do."

With those final words, Leo used all his energy in one shot. His right arm was burning white hot while his left was cooler shade of orange. Why he balanced it out is beyond me as I had no time to think. The air around me shifted again and it looked as if it was over for me, but I had one gambit left.

"You won't be able to dodge this. Say uncle now and I won't incinerate you." Leo screamed.

I tried my best to breathe it all in without inhaling smoke. I yelled towards the heavens.

"I won't yield. You know I can't afford to."

Leo looked mad for the first time in a long time, as he let it all out. Columns of white-hot flames exploded from his right hand and flew straight towards me. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. This was the end and I had to bet on my last card in order to survive.

Before I did what I did, I took one last look towards Leo and had a moment of clarity. His arms were building up flames, but only one of them was white hot. Only one of them had enough power to incinerate me.

I knew of his plans; I wasn't going to fall for it a second time.

The flames were inches away from my face before I shadow travelled away. I used all my energy for this last jump, and I needed it to work. When I reappeared, I saw Leo's plan come to fruition. Leo knew that I would shadow travel towards the other side of the arena, and he extend his left hand towards there. With that he sent another fireball towards that area while still letting out white hot flames from his right hand. The flames from his left hand weren't as strong and was as close to non-lethal as it could've been. Leo blasted both sides of the arena with tremendous power and let loose for the first time since the battle against Gaea. If I was on the other side of the arena, then I would've been cooked, and Leo would've been the victor.

However, I didn't shadow travel there. That moment of clarity allowed me to see through his plan. The same plan Annabeth used against me.

I shadow travelled ten feet above Leo and came crashing down. I yelled with all my heart as Leo stopped the flames and looked up. He didn't have any time to react as I punched him square in the jaw, with all the power given to me by gravity itself. Leo and I went tumbling down the jagged edge and landed on the ground with a thud

We both laid there for minutes. Unable to move, but I knew the difference between us. I looked towards Leo and saw him completely unconscious. The amount of power he used in his attack was far too much, and my punch sealed the deal in the end.

I got up and walked towards him as the campers in the viewing area made their way towards me. The rest of the campers made their way towards the stands.

I rested my hand on Leo's head. "You didn't see my match against Katie, did you? I don't blame you; it was a bore." I said with a smile.

Before Chiron could reach us, I took Leo and gave him a piggyback ride back towards the viewing area, as every camper clapped for us in unison. If only Leo could see this.

"I know you can't hear me, but I acknowledge your strength, Leo. The rest of the Camp does too. You annoy me sometimes, but you also inspire me to be better. I'm going to win this whole tournament for you." I said all with a grin etched on my face.

I looked at the crowd one more time and saw the First Cohort, rejoicing at my victory. I was an honorary Roman at this point. My lazy gaze stopped at on man at the center of the group. He wasn't clapping and he wasn't celebrating, but he was smiling just the same.

Michal Kahale watched from the bleachers. Staring straight at me.

"Sorry Leo." I whispered. "But there's one more thing I got to do before winning this whole thing."

Sorry for the late chapter, BUT IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT THO RIGHT? The next chapter is the Epilogue of Part 2. After that is the final part of the story: Part 3. We're at the final stretch