Answers to reviews:
ThanosGaming: Yeah, no, Alex is just gonna be interested in Thalia.
sparda44: No.
SpringTrapLord: Heh.
Spiral-Voltron-Zero0Q1: Let's leave SDT for another time. He hasn't even awakened his DT yet.
Sheploo: Yep.
boogbryant98 phs2016: Thanks.
Disclaimer: I do not own Devil May Cry or Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I only own the OC Alexander Redgrave.
A Coast Guard boat picked them up, but they were too busy to keep the group for long, or to wonder how four kids in street clothes had gotten out into the middle of the bay. There was a disaster to mop up. Their radios were jammed with distress calls.
They dropped them off at the Santa Monica Pier with towels around their shoulders and water bottles that said I'M A JUNIOR COAST GUARD! and sped off to save more people.
Their clothes were soaking wet, even Percy's. He had made himself intentionally wet so as not to arouse suspicion with the Coast Guard. He was also barefoot, because he had given his shoes to Grover. Better the Coast Guard wonder why one of them was barefoot than wonder why one of them had hooves.
After reaching dry land, they stumbled down the beach, watching the city burn against a beautiful sunrise.
"I don't believe it," Annabeth said. "We went all that way—"
"I hate to say I told you so... but I told you so. Hades was innocent and we got played." Alex said, exasperated. "A strategy worthy of Athena."
"Hey," she warned.
"You know I'm right, Annie, don't deny it."
She dropped her eyes, her anger fading. "Yeah. I get it." She looked at Percy. "Percy... I'm sorry about your mother. I'm so sorry..."
"The prophecy was right." Percy said angrily. "'You and the son of the moon shall go west and face the god who has turned'. But it wasn't Hades. Hades didn't want war among the Big Three. Someone else pulled off the theft. Someone stole Zeus' master bolt, and Hades' Helm, and framed me because I'm Poseidon's kid. Poseidon will get blamed by both sides. By sundown today, there will be a three way war. And I'll have caused it."
"I'm sure that Ares has the Helm. The thief gave it to him." Alex snarled, looking down the beach. "In fact, let's give him a piece of our mind."
There he was, waiting for them, wearing his black leather duster and sunglasses with an aluminium baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its headlight turning the sand red.
"Hey, kids." Ares said, genuinely pleased to see them. "You were supposed to die."
A gunshot went off, followed by the headlight on Ares' motorcycle shattering to pieces.
"You little bastard." Ares snarled, glaring at Alex.
"I don't like being toyed with." Alex retorted, holstering his gun. "You may have tricked the others, but you didn't trick me. You helped steal the Bolt and the Helm."
Ares grinned begrudgingly. "You're right, punk. I didn't steal them personally. Gods taking each other's symbols of power - that's a big no-no. But you and Percy Jackson aren't the only heroes in the world who can run errands."
"Who did you use? Clarisse? She was there at the winter solstice." Percy said, making Alex glance at him, he himself knew who really did it.
But the idea of Clarisse having done it amused Ares. "Doesn't matter. The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort. See, you've got to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath will have Zeus' master bolt, so Zeus'll be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this…."
He pulled out from his pocket a ski cap - one that bank robbers wore - and placed it between the handlebars of his back. Instantly, the cap transformed into an elaborate bronze war helmet.
"The Helm of Darkness." Grover gasped.
"Exactly." Ares said. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn't know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three way slugfest going."
"But they're your family!" Annabeth protested, to which Ares shrugged.
"Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say."
"You gave me the backpack in Denver." Percy said. "The master bolt was in there the whole time."
"Yes and no." Ares shrugged. "It's probably too complicated for your little mortal brain to follow, but the backpack is the master bolt's sheath, just morphed a bit. The bolt is connected to it, sort of like that sword you got, kid. It always returns to your pocket, right. Anyway, I tinkered with the magic a bit, so the bolt would only return to the sheath once you reached the Underworld. You get close to Hades…. Bingo, you got mail. If you died along the way - no loss. I still had the weapon."
Alex frowned. This didn't sound like Ares. he was all about raw, brute strength and violence. He wasn't Athena, so he couldn't come up with a plan like that.
"Why didn't you just keep the Master Bolt and the Helm for yourself? Heck, you could've sent it to Hades and stirred the pot." Alex pointed out.
Ares got a twitch in his jaw. For a moment, it was almost as if he were listening to another voice, deep inside his head. "Why didn't I ... yeah... with that kind of firepower..."
He held the trance for one second... two seconds...
Ares's face cleared. "I didn't want the trouble. Better to have you caught redhanded, holding the thing."
"You're lying," Percy said. "Sending the bolt to the Underworld wasn't your idea, was it?"
"Of course it was!" Smoke drifted up from his sunglasses, as if they were about to catch fire.
"You didn't order the theft," Alex said. "Someone else sent a hero to steal the two items. Then, when Zeus sent you to hunt him down, you caught the thief. But you didn't turn him over to Zeus. Something convinced you to let him go. You kept the items until another hero could come along and complete the delivery. The Crooked One is ordering you around."
"I am the God of War! I take orders from no one! I don't have dreams!"
"Who said anything about dreams, asshole?" Alex asked with a smirk. Got you.
Ares looked agitated, but he tried to cover it with a smirk.
"Let's get back to the problem at hand, kids. You're alive. I can't have you taking that bolt to Olympus. You just might get those hardheaded idiots to listen to you. So I've got to kill you. Nothing personal."
He snapped his fingers. The sand exploded at his feet and out charged a wild boar, even larger and uglier than the one whose head hung above the door of cabin seven at Camp Half-Blood. The beast pawed the sand, glaring at Alex and Percy with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill.
"Oh, I've been looking forward to this." Alex said, taking Wolfsbane off his back and leaning it on his right shoulder
Percy stepped up with him. "Fight us yourself, Ares."
He laughed, but they heard a little edge to his laughter ... an uneasiness. "You've only got one talent, Percy Jackson, running away while your friend there takes on the big boy stuff. You ran from the Chimera, leaving your friend to take care of it. You ran from the Underworld after your friend offered to stay behind. You don't have what it takes."
"And here I thought you couldn't resist a fight or a challenge." Alex said, shrugging his shoulders. "Guess the God of War is nothing but a great, big bitch."
Ares' teeth gritted into a snarl at the insult, his sunglasses were starting to melt from the heat of his eyes. "No direct involvement. Sorry, kid. You're not at my level."
"Percy?" Alex asked.
"Yeah." Percy looked at him.
"Let's kill this fucking boar and kick his ass."
"You got it."
As the boar rushed them, they both uncapped their swords and side stepped on either side of the boar. Percy slashed upward while Alex slashed downward, severing both tusks that fell at their feet while the now disoriented animal charged right into the sea.
"Wave!" Percy shouted.
Instantly, a large wave surged up from nowhere and engulfed the boar, wrapping it entirely. It squealed in terror before it was gone, swallowed up by the sea.
They then turned back to Ares.
"So, you gonna fight or are you gonna keep hiding behind your shit?" Alex asked.
Ares's face was purple with rage. "Watch it, kid. I could turn you both into—"
"Cockroach," Percy said, bored. "Or tapeworms. Yeah, I'm sure. That'd save you from getting your godly hide whipped, wouldn't it?"
"Just like when you got ass kicked by Hercules." Alex smirked.
Flames danced along the top of his glasses. "Oh, man, you are really asking to be smashed into a grease spot."
"If we lose, turn us into anything you want. Take the bolt. If we win, the Helm and the Bolt are ours and you have to go away." Percy gave the terms of the fight.
Ares sneered. He then swung the baseball bat off his shoulder.
"How would you like to get smashed: classic or modern?"
Both demigods showed their swords.
"That's cool, dead boys. Classic it is." Ares said, his baseball bat changing into a large, two handed sword with a hilt that had a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth.
"Guys." Annabeth said. "Don't do this. He's a god."
"He's an asshole is what he is." Alex told her quietly.
She swallowed. "Percy, wear this, at least. For luck."
She took her necklace off and tied it around Percy's neck.
"Reconciliation. Athena and Poseidon together."
"Thanks." Percy said.
"Take these." Grover told the two boys, handing them flattened tin cans. "The satyrs stand behind you."
"Thanks, Grover." Alex said gratefully. Grover then patted their shoulders as they stuffed the tin cans in their back pockets.
"You all done saying goodbye?" Ares came towards the, his black leather duster trailing behind him and sword glinting like fire in the sunrise. "I've been fighting for eternity, punks. My strength is unlimited and I cannot die. What have either of you got?"
Alex was thinking about that as he and Percy split up to either side of Ares, Percy backing into the water up to his ankles. For one thing, they don't have big egos. Secondly, he's all strength and no wisdom. This can be used to their advantage. And Alex has his speed and strength.
Ares cleaved downward at Percy head, but he wasn't there. Using his power of the water, Percy catapaulted himself over Ares, whose eyes followed him which allowed Alex to rush in with his speed, swinging his sword but Ares was quick to block and fought back, Alex blocking each of the God of War's attacks, before he directed their blades to the ground, stomped on them and then drove both feet into Ares' face before rolling back to Percy's side.
"Not bad." Ares complimented, wiping a bit of ichor, the blood of the gods, from his lip. "Not bad."
He then slashed again, forcing Percy onto dry land and for Alex to flip over the blade.
Alex tried to keep Ares busy for Percy to get back in the water, but Ares knew what they were thinking as he outmanoeuvred them, forcing them to back away from the surf.
They had to find an opening to attack, despite Ares' sword being several feet longer than each of their swords.
The two demigods shared a nod before they rushed at Ares. Alex ducked a swung of Ares' sword and got a hit into Ares' left knee before punching the War God in the stomach and backing off to avoid Ares' second sword that he had summoned.
Percy stepped inside with a thrust, but Ares was waiting for that. He knocked Percy's blade out of his hands and kicked him in the chest. The son of Poseidon went airborne—twenty, maybe thirty feet. He would've broken his back if he hadn't crashed into the soft sand of a dune.
Ares turned and Alex slid on his knees underneath Ares' sword, getting a slash along the knee as he passed the War God, then got up, quickly blocking Ares' sword.
"You're good, kid." Ares complimented.
Alex smirked, then punched Ares in the face before he jumped up and brought down punch after punch on the God of War's face which further angered him. Ares growled, grabbed Alex by his shirt and threw him across the sand.
"Shit! Ow! Fucking! Sand!" Alex grunted as he bounced off the sand, then slid to a halt.
"Guys!" Annabeth yelled. "Cops!"
As Alex and Percy regrouped in the shore, they saw red lights flashing on the shoreline boulevard. Car doors were slamming.
"There, officer!" somebody yelled. "See?"
A gruff cop voice: "Looks like those kids on TV... what the heck..."
"That guy's armed," another cop said. "Call for backup."
A second cop car pulling up, siren wailing. Spectators, people who had been wandering the streets because of the earthquake, were starting to gather. Among the crowd, seemed to be disguised satyrs, others shimmering spirits, as if the dead rose to see the battle. There was flapping of leathery wings circling above.
Seconds later, more sirens.
A police voice on a megaphone said, "Drop the guns. Set them on the ground. Now!"
Guns?
Percy and Alex looked at Ares's weapon, and it seemed to be flickering; sometimes it looked like a shotgun, sometimes a two-handed sword. Who knew what the mortals were seeing.
Ares turned to glare at their spectators, which gave the kids a moment to breathe. There were five police cars now, and a line of officers crouching behind them, pistols trained on them.
"This is a private matter!" Ares bellowed. "Be gone."
He swept his hand, and a wall of red flame rolled across the patrol cars. It collided with the cars, blowing them up as the officers jumped out of the way. The crowd behind them scattered, screaming.
The god turned back to the demigods, both of whom still exhausted. "Now, little demigods. Let's add you to the barbecue."
"I'll try and keep most of his attention on me, you get in close and do what you can." Alex whispered to Percy, who nodded. "Wait for an opening."
Alex then ran at Ares, who smirked and swung but Alex jumped over it and landed behind Ares, swinging his sword only for that to be blocked but Alex quickly redirected their swords aside and swung again making Ares jump back a little to avoid being slashed across the chest, then he lashed out with a kick to Alex's chest, sending him rolling back but Alex flipped right onto his feet, his bow in hand this time and three arrows lined up.
"Smile asshole." Alex smirked before releasing the arrows.
Ares managed to block two, but couldn't get the third which lodged itself in his shoulder.
"You son of a-!" Ares was cut off as Alex leaped onto him, then drove his boot into Ares' face which cracked his sunglasses.
Ares' grip tightened as he snarled, "Those were my favorit—" Alex didn't listen as he stomped his face again. "Argh! At least let me finish my li—" Stomp. "That's it!"
Before Alex could go for a fourth stomp, the God of War slammed him into the sand. Now, if that had been solid ground, Alex was sure his spine would have snapped.
He was glad for that, since it would have very much hurt and his healing would be a bitch trying to snap his spine in place.
"Seriously, let a guy finish his line, fucking hell…That's just common courtesy." The god grumbled.
"You might want to look, behind you." The son of Artemis coughed out.
"Oh please, like I'd fall for tha—" The god began to sneer, only to cut himself off and turn around as he heard the telltale whistling of metal being swung, just in time to block Percy's sneak attack.
"Told you, but I meant it both ways." Alex grinned wildly, firing another arrow at the God of War's back, who snarled at the hit.
"That's it!" Ares spun around, summoning a shield, and bashed Alex in the face before throwing Percy aside. He targeted Alex who got to his feet, swinging with heavy strikes that forced Alex to back up until Ares kicked him hard in the chest which made Alex's sword fly from his hand, only for Ares to grab it...
And plunged it straight through Alex's chest.
"NO!" Annabeth screamed in horror, her hands going to her mouth as Grover went wide eyed.
Percy looked and his eyes widened in shock and horror.
Blood gushed out of the wound in Alex's chest, as blood gurgled up from his mouth. "Ah... f-fuck." He coughed.
"To your credit, you did good, kid." Ares complimented, then sneered. "But I'm better. Don't worry, I'll be sure to comfort your mother really well."
Ares drove the sword deeper, pinning Alex into the sand, and left him there to focus on Percy.
Percy stared with wide eyes as he saw his friend go limp. Memories flashed through his mind, the day he first met Alex, the friendship they had, Alex dealing with Smelly Gabe, Alex having his back through everything. He was like the older brother Percy never had.
"Aww, don't cry, brat." Ares smirked. "Any luck, Artemis will try for another kid soon... maybe it'll be mine when I'm done."
Percy felt hot anger fill him, he hadn't felt anger like this since he had thought the Minotaur killed his mom.
He wanted to hurt Ares, more than ever before, he thought as the water healed him.
The ocean churned and shifted at his raging emotions, and Ares' aura was only adding to his anger, making the tides fiercer, akin to a sea storm almost.
Back with Alex, the son of Artemis' eyes were closed, but he was far from dead for a change was happening within him. His sword, Wolfsbane, was created with the demonic and godly energies of Dante and Artemis, meaning it was sort of a Devil Arm in it's own right like Rebellion. And just like when Dante was first stabbed with his sword by Vergil atop the Temen-Ni-Gru all those years ago...
An awakening occurred within the son of Artemis.
Alex's body suddenly began to pulse, beating like a heartbeat. Feeling something happening, Ares turned away from Percy and looked over to Alex, causing Percy and the others to look over as well.
Suddenly, the jaw of the wolf head on the sword's guard shot open into a vicious snarl, the eyes glowing red with a mix of silver. Then, there was a blast of energy that threw the blade into the air, causing everyone else to follow the sword, Ares completely missing the fist that suddenly connected with his face, sending the God of War flying back, causing him to bounce across the beach before coming to a stop. Grunting in pain, Ares looked towards Alex, where it saw white aura pulsing around his body with each step he took, and his breathing was heavy.
Ares, not wanting to give Alex the chance to do whatever he was doing, charged with a roar, rearing his sword back to decapitate Alex's head. However, before it could land the attack,
"ARRRGGHHH!"
Alex gave out a powerful roar as he released a powerful blast of demonic energy, sending Ares away. When he and everyone else looked, they saw, standing in Alex's place, was a humanoid devil. The devil somewhat resembling Dante's devil form, however, instead of just red, the scales had some silver in them along with a pair of horns coming out of its forehead and were brushed back, almost resembling an angry wolf.
"That's not possible!" Ares snarled in anger.
The demon Alex locked eyes with the God of War and smirked. "Let's agree to disagree." He said, his voice demonic and dark, his eyes glowing silver and red, a perfect representation of his parents.
He opened his hand, And Wolfsbane appeared in a flash of silver and red which caught everyone off guard as Alex couldn't do that before. What they didn't know is that the sword had awakened in a way, it was as much of a godly-made weapon as it was a demonic one. And because of this, because of it's own awakening, the sword was now bound to Alex's will, able to be summoned into his hand at a mere thought.
Digging his feet into the sand, Alex burst at Ares with a massive burst of speed that was almost supersonic, and the God of War quickly raised his shield but Alex drove his fist right into it, denting the shield and creating a crack that ran right down the middle, splitting the shield in two, and send Ares flying back into the water.
"Percy, do it now!" Alex shouted to his friend, before rushing at Ares, punching the God of War repeatedly to keep him in the water.
Percy, taking the surprise that Alex had turned into a demon aside for now, dug deep into the anger that he felt when Alex was stabbed and thought to be dead. As Alex said, nobody hurts their friends. Friends stick together to the very end... like a pack.
And right now, Ares had threatened that pack. And Percy wanted to hurt Ares really, really badly, and was letting his instincts and powers make it happen.
With a wave of his hand, Percy summoned a massive tidal wave and centered it on striking Ares. Alex saw this and flew back with his wings spread, landing on the beach as the wave came crashing down on the God of War.
Percy stumbled out the water and onto the beach, and Alex willed himself back into human form before falling to his knees. "Oh... that was different." He groaned, then crawled over to Percy and helped him up.
"You... you... you're alive." The son of Poseidon breathed in relief.
Alex shrugged. "Getting stabbed with my own sword? Happens to be a family trait on my dad's side."
Percy didn't want to question how crazy that sounded, so he just laughed and hugged his friend, making Alex chuckle and hug him back. The two then turned their attention to the sea, waiting to see if Ares would come out.
Which he did.
And he didn't look so good.
Ichor, the golden blood of the gods, flowed from the gnashes the demigods left on him as well as ones resulted from the tidal wave. The expression on his face was beyond hatred. It was pain, shock, complete disbelief that he'd been wounded.
He limped toward the demigods, muttering ancient Greek curses.
Something stopped him.
It was as if a cloud covered the sun, but worse. Light faded. Sound and color drained away. A cold, heavy presence passed over the beach, slowing time, dropping the temperature to freezing, and making Percy and Alex feel like life was hopeless, fighting was useless.
Alex knew who was responsible for it; Kronos.
The darkness lifted.
Ares looked stunned.
Police cars were burning behind them. The crowd of spectators had fled. Annabeth and Grover stood on the beach, in shock, watching the water flood back around Ares's feet, his glowing golden ichor dissipating in the tide.
Ares lowered his sword.
"You have made an enemy, Perseus Jackson." He told Percy, probably because he was the one to make him bleed... maybe. Who knows what is going through the God of War's. "You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson. Beware." He looked at Alex and begrudgingly had to give his respect for the fight he gave. "Fight well, Alex Redgrave."
His whole body began to glow.
"Guys, don't watch!" Annabeth shouted, causing Alex and Percy to look away from Ares, who was revealing his true immortal form. If they looked, they would've disintegrated into ash.
The light then died and when they looked back, Ares was gone. The tide rolled out to reveal Hades' Helm of Darkness. Alex picked it up and they walked back to their friends.
But before they got there, the flapping of leathery wings was heard and three evil looking grandmothers with lace hats and fiery whips drifted down from the sky, landing in front of the two.
The middle Fury then stepped forward. Her fangs were bared, but not threateningly. She looked like she was disappointed.
"We saw the whole thing." She hissed. "So… it truly was not you?" She asked Percy.
"Alex was right. I'm completely innocent." Percy replied as Alex tossed her the helmet, which she caught by surprise.
"Return that to Lord Hades." Percy then told her. "Tell him that Alex was telling the truth. Tell him to call off the war."
She hesitated before running a forked tongue over her green leathery lips.
"Live well, Percy Jackson and Alex Redgrave. Become true heroes. Because if you do not, if you ever come into my clutches again…."
She cackled, savouring that idea, especially with Percy. She and her sisters then rose on their bats' wings, fluttering into the smoke filled sky and disappearing.
Alex and Percy turned to join their friends, only for a blond missile to slam into Alex's chest and hug him tightly and also take the air out of the son of Artemis.
"Jesus, Annie." He grunted.
"Shut up!" Annabeth said, tears streaming down her face as she hugged him tightly. "i thought you were dead! J-Just like..."
Alex's expression softened and he hugged her back. "Like hell was I going to die today, Annie."
"That was amazing though! Both of you!" Grover praised, looking between Percy and Alex. "Alex, you... you got stabbed... and then-!"
"I know, Goat Boy, I was there." Alex chuckled, keeping his arm around Annabeth's shoulders and rubbed her arm. He felt guilty for making her cry, but it's not like he expected Ares to stab him with his own sword... but he can't deny that he liked the results of it.
He felt stronger than before.
He had awakened his Devil side, his Devil Trigger.
"Alex... what happened to you?" Annabeth shook her head. "I know you explained that you and your family hunted demons, but you never mentioned you could become one!"
Alex grimaced at her words but knew they deserved to know. "I'll tell you later, I promise."
"You better." Annabeth warned him.
"Did you guys feel that... whatever it was?" Percy asked.
They nodded uneasily.
"Must've been the Furies overhead," Grover said.
"No." Alex shook his head. "No, it wasn't. Only one being could muster such a feeling. Someone that doesn't want us dead yet."
Percy reclaimed the backpack from Grover and looked inside. The master bolt was still in there.
"We must get to New York as quickly as possible. Tonight." Alex said. "I could transform into my Devil Trigger, but I don't think I'll be able to carry three of you."
She stared at him. "Fly? But Zeus would blast you out of the sky just to hit Percy."
Alex grunted, not disagreeing with her. "We need to do something. Let me have a chat with my grandfather."
He turned to look at the sky, wiping a bead of sweat off his brown. God, that fight was intense.
"Hey, Lord Zeus, grandpa. Alex Redgrave here." Alex began. "Listen, we need to get to New York quickly so we can give you your boom stick-" he ignored the sharp rumble of thunder. "-so we're going to take a plane and I don't want you destroying it just so kill my friend, Percy." He glanced back and then muttered in a low whisper. "But that doesn't mean you can't scare the shit out of him. Just a hint."
Let them ride a plane to New York, but also scare the shit out of Percy.
Was it cruel? Maybe. But it was just good fun. Long as Zeus stays the temptation to kill Percy.
And that's it for this chapter, folks. We are nearing the end.