The First Encounter

"Separate!" Zoe screamed out, and the entire group was diving in different directions before she was even finished. All of them scrambled to get as much distance between themselves and the Lion as they could even as it smashed down into the spot they had all just vacated from. “Try to keep it distracted!” She called out to them even as she sprinted over to the wall of the building.

Grover’s fake feet almost slipped out from under him as he quickly snatched his panpipes out of his bag and began to blow a rather jaunty tune into them. He took a quick stop to catch his breath, and turned to look at Zoe. “Until when!?!” He called, though the shouting almost earned him a tail the size of a boa constrictor slapping him in the face.

“Until I can think of a way to kill it!” Was all the response he got.

Even as their two ranged support options were moving away from the beast to get into vantage points, Percy and Thalia were stepping forwards, hands swiftly pulling free each of their respective concealed weapons. Riptide was lengthening into the sleek brass blade he was so accustomed to, and Thalia’s can of Mace was springing out into her trademark spear just as quickly. Together they ducked forwards on either side of the beast’s maw, his sword swinging right at the things front right paw, and Thalia aimed to stab into the left one.

Both of their blows struck true, only to fail completely, the creature's pelt resisting the blow easily, and sparks sprung up from their contact point as if the thing was made of metal. Grover’s music returned and the world responded to his tune, vine bursting out of the ground at the creature’s feet and beginning to wrap around it, managing to hold just long enough for the two of them to back away from the beast before it ripped free with a growl of annoyance. That annoyance was only compounded as moments later three arrows slammed down in quick succession, all of them aiming for the eyes.

An ill timed blink had the eye covered by the thing’s fur as the first arrow struck home and shattered against it. Then the Monster quickly ducked its head to make sure the others bounced harmlessly off of its mane. The truck sized beast swung one huge blindly out towards the exhibit Zoe had found her marksman's perch atop, and the display crashed over, sending her with it.

With her dealt with and the others giving it the slightest breathing room, the Nemean lion looked around the room and found the only member of the group who hadn’t moved. Bianca was standing almost in the exact centre of the lobby, sword out and clasped tightly in her hands as she stared up at the creature, hands shuddering. She’d barely even started training with the blade, and her handling of the weapon was all wrong to Percy’s eyes. Worse than that though, she was far too stiff and inflexible. She wasn’t prepared to dodge or move at all. Right now she was completely exposed. But that meant nothing compared to the fact that she was stood right in the Lion’s gaze.

The thing went right for her, bounding forwards, and Percy tried to match it but found himself moving far too slowly. Thankfully Thalia had been quicker off of the mark. She slid in between the two of them and in the same motion tapped her finger against her bracelet and it instantly snapped out, extending into her replica of Aegis, the visage of Medusa stamped right in the centre. The Lion recoiled away from the image, and Thalia put 10,000 volts into its muzzle for good measure, turning it back from their paralysed companion.

“Bianca.” He said, sliding to a stop next to her and grabbing her arm even while Thalia pushed forwards, aiming to capitalise on her success and drive back the Lion further. “You’re not ready for sword fighting yet. Go for the bow.”

“But what if I hit one of you?” She asked, looking at him concerned.

“It’s the size of a pickup truck. We’re not. You’d have to be as bad a shot as me to miss that shot.” He joked even as he pushed her back. Thalia was doing well holding her own against the Lion but it was not an easy opponent by any means, even with the recovered Zoe helping out by shooting a barrage of arrows that skittered harmlessly across its pelt.

The moment he felt Bianca back away from him, he rushed forwards to help Thalia. She had seemed to be holding her own perfectly well, but as he saw the thing’s tail go still behind it, and its hind legs begin to tense, he knew she was about to get punished. He had seen enough fights between the alleycats of New York to recognise one that was about to pounce, and he was just too late to stop it. Thalia’s head almost disappeared between its jaws, but she managed to get her spear and shield in the way of its gnashing teeth, and through pure strength was able to hold its mouth open long enough for him to get there.

He lashed at its mouth, cutting off the tip of one of its fangs and catching his blade in the pit between two teeth, adding his strength to Thalia’s in holding the mouth open, letting her slip herself out from between the jaws. She delivered a powerful zap to the inside of its mouth as a parting gift, and the Lion definitely didn’t like that, its claws rising up and he tried to roll underneath its attack, but ended up caught and claws raked down his back. That was going to leave a scar for sure. And it hurt like Hades.

It almost got worse right after, as the Lion showed surprising agility and spun in place to claw at Zoe, its tail snapping through the air behind it and severing the cords holding up a plane, and its wing almost slammed down onto him. He rolled out of the way just in time, but left a trail of blood from his back behind him. He was going to need a new shirt.

Still he dragged himself onto his feet again, and assessed the situation. Zoe was dodging back, her bow grasped in one hand and a hunting knife in the other which she was using to bat away the creature’s attempts to harm her currently, and he had to say she was surprisingly skilled at using the little thing to bat away blows that should have left her beaten and bruised. Thalia was tossing bolt after bolt of lightning from the tip of her spear trying to get its attention back on her, but that did nothing beyond make its fur stand on end wherever it struck. Grover was madly playing his pipes while also doing his best to back away the hapless mortals who had no clue what was happening before them, but seemed to understand that it wasn’t good. Bianca had managed to get her bow out, and was shooting the occasional arrow. They weren’t coming as quickly as Zoe’s had, and they were no more effective, but at least she was contributing now.

They were getting nowhere. Nothing they did could break through its fur..... But they didn’t need to get through the fur. Thalia had shocked it on the inside of its mouth, and that had hurt it for sure. That was how they could bring it down. They just needed to manage to hit it there. “Zoe! Bianca! Inside the mouth!”

“I’m busy!” Zoe replied angrily, though she still took his advice, and the next time the creature tried to lunge for her she hurled her knife right inside of its maw. He couldn’t see if it did anything, but the yowl the Lion let out was like thunder. They were definitely onto something now. They just needed a better shot.

Thalia had heard what he’d said, and she lashed out at the mouth even as the Lion continued to roar in pain. It reared back just out of reach and her jab sparked ineffectively off of its chin. Zoe took the chance to back off and get her bow ready again, but the Lion had taken the lesson to heart that she knew how to hurt it, and clamped its jaws shut in response, depriving her of a clear shot.

He rushed it, ducked under the paw strike the thing through at him, and tried to drive Riptide into the gap between its claws, hoping to hit something not covered in fur, but the slit was simply too small. He only narrowly avoided a second strike for his trouble, and the Lion decided to take its frustration out on the huge model of the Earth nearby, raking its claws all the way down through Russia, and with a tug hurled a chunk of the planet at Thalia, and while she got her shield up to block the blow she was tossed off of her feet and back against a wall.

They needed to act fast, or this thing was going to win just from attrition. He glanced around again, and his eyes caught on something. The Gift Shop. He’d had a trip here as a kid with his Mom, and there was the vague memory of begging her to buy him some of the astronaut food. That had been something he immediately regretted. Well if it had ruined his day, it could definitely ruin the Monster’s.

“Grover. I need a minute!”

“I’ll try my best!” He returned, and he changed his tune, the sound that now rang out across the room sounding like some sort of baroque cover of Bohemian Rhapsody. Immediately the vines from before returned, but this time they sprouted not from nowhere, but from the broken shafts of all of the arrows Zoe and Bianca had broken against the beast’s flank. The wooden sticks remembered the trees they used to be, and Grover’s woodland magic enhanced that memory, making them grow and desperately try to return to the grand and powerful things they had once been.

The Lion had significantly more trouble with these new trees than with the vines, and even as it ripped its paws out of one layer, they were regrowing and binding it down anew. Then Thalia joined in, lashing out with more lightning and waving around the horrific vista engraved upon her shield to keep the thing tamed as they could get it.

“Hey!!” He shouted at the thing as he rushed back into the room with his hands stuffed full of the packets of space gunk, but it was far too angry right now to be distracted by his petty taunts. What it was doing was growling very loudly and angrily as it step by step stalked its way toward Thalia. The branches grew over its paws with every step, but it ripped its way free every time to keep moving forward. It’s jaw was dropped to expose its teeth, but it was keeping its head hunched forward to avoid giving Zoe a clear shot. That just meant he needed a different tactic. “Thalia!! Batter up!”

She glanced his way, and seemed to immediately realise what he meant. As he launched the first packet right at her she swung her spear with perfect form and smashed the packed space food right down the Lion’s throat.

He’d been right, because the thing almost immediately started trying to hawk up its guts like an especially foul hairball, gagging frequently. Zoe was immediately capitalising on that small weakness and three arrows found its tongue and lower jaw. But it apparently wasn’t enough. He threw Thalia another, but the Lion batted the packet right out of the air and then nailed her right across the shield for good measure, its claws raking down the shield’s front letting out a horrible shriek through the air.

If it had caught on, then he had absolutely no clue how they were going to get its jaw to open again and finish the thing off.

But then an arrow slammed right into its left eye. The Lion roared louder than ever before, and its mouth split open as far as its jaws could manage. Zoe’s bowstring twanged, and an arrow found its way up through the underside of the great cat’s jaw and into its brain. It went silent, collapsed forwards, and went still, before slowly beginning to dissolve into gold dust, leaving behind only a glittering fur coat.

His eyes turned to Bianca, stood up on the second floor balcony, her bow raised in her hands held perfectly as if she had just let loose an arrow, and her eyes were wide with shock. That was quite the shot. Unfortunately they didn’t have the time to celebrate. The museum alarm was blaring through the entire place, and the security guards were running around like headless chickens.

He ran forwards and grabbed up the fur. He’d give it to Bianca later, for now they needed to get away from here. “I hope thee dost not plan to keep that. It is a rightful spoil for the Huntress whom slew it.”

“Bianca can have it. But we need to get out of here.” He replied snippily.

“My spell on the guards won’t hold long.” Grover added as he jogged over, then his eyes went wide as he saw the rivulets of blood running down Percy’s back. “Percy.”

“Later.” He said, this time more forcefully. His eyes were looking through the glass walls of the museum, and the dozen grey coloured men in grey coloured suits, all of their gazes fixed angrily on him. “They’re coming. I should go, they are hunting me.”

“No. For better or for ill, thou art now a part of this quest. I may not like it, but I shan’t chance challenging Fate on the matter. You are the fifth of us now, and there shall be none left behind.” She snatched up a t-shirt from the gift shop and tossed it at him. “But thou shall dress properly, that I command.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

They sprinted back to the van, and cut across lanes repeatedly as they tried to get away from the helicopters that weren’t even trying to be subtle as they tracked them through the streets. Bianca’s local knowledge had come in incredibly useful, letting them ditch the van and escape into the subway, before catching a train south out of D.C. Two more times changing trains and they were finally in the clear.

By nightfall they were all on edge and exhausted, and the cold winter winds were biting. Which meant that when the world’s most incredibly nice and helpful hobo had offered them a piece of advice, no one was really in a position to argue. Especially when he pulled a disappearing act a few moments later.

His advice happened to be an automobile-carrier train with three decks of cars all shiny and gleaming, completely free of the snow that coated everything else around. They all turned to look at each other at the incredibly suspicious boon they were granted. But with a shrug, all of them were jumping aboard and hopping into the soft seats of the various cars.