102Again, this is based off of works created by Rick Riordan and Oda Eiichiro. Citations in MLA are on the first chapter.
Yeah, sorry about the long time. I was going to get this out way earlier, but then I got started on the Seven Deadly Sins. And then Black Clover. And then I read HunterxHunter. So, expect random works from those.
Also, the poll will only be open till next chapter, so if you want to vote do it quick. Also, new rule(sorry), but if two characters get voted into the same universe, then the one with more votes gets to go to that universe, and the other I get to choose whatever I want. Never shall the One Piece characters meet, except when dead. Though, I could maybe be persuaded on crews such as the Whitebeard Pirates(Hint Hint, Wink Wink).
And yes, some of you guessed the new character, congrats. I was going to mention some of the reviews that I got, but I am lazy and don't want to open another tab.
Chapter 9
With Zoro
It was actually getting kind of late. Team Zoro(or Team Meathead as Annabeth had decided to 'affectionately' nickname them) had split away from the rest as soon as they got into the city. Heading to one of the more well-off neighborhoods and then waiting for a definite jerk to park their car and leave hadn't even taken twenty minutes, and then Luke had broken into the car and hotwired it in a ridiculously short time. Then, once he'd driven it into some kind of 'blind spot', the guy had switched out the license plates and did… something… to the paint job.
"It'll work for getting us out of state," Luke had said, "And if we're lucky he won't notice his car's missing for several hours. And once we hit Maryland, so long as we don't do anything suspicious, this car should be good for the rest of the trip."
And so the extremely boring car ride started. Yeah, they had snacks, and they could talk to each other, but no monsters even tried to attack their vehicle. Not even when they were filling up on gass.
Luke was really feeling the strain, having to both drive as well as put up with the pouting and grumpiness from his friends. Zoro especially had been grumpy.
They had a long trip to go…
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
Team Percy
Taking a bus out of New York City to reach a train station (hopefully), Team Percy(or Team Brainiac as Clarisse had dubbed them) were having far worse luck on the monster front than Team Zoro.
Because of course their bus had to be followed by a group of giant death birds(or, as the vanilla mortals called them, vultures).
The screaming birds had already torn a hole off of the roof. Percy, being the closest to the front of the bus had taken control of the wheel from the now cowering driver and was now putting the pedal to the metal.
Ethan was probably having the most fun out of all of them by shooting the birds down, though that wasn't all that hard considering Annabeth didn't really have any long ranged techniques and Grover was more interested in using his saxophone to both slow the birds down and speed up the bus up(oddly enough, it sounded a lot like that old fashioned chase music found in movies…).
Eventually all of the birds either gave up or turned to dust, and they had reached the next bus stop.
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
Team Zoro
"Get some snacks while you're in there," Clarisse grumbled, "I want beef jerky."
"Any chance you could steal some booze before we leave, I'm in the mood," Zoro wondered.
'And,' Luke thought somewhat depressively, 'It might make them less volatile and angry, even if giving alcohol to teenagers is illegal.' (Luke was conveniently forgetting that he himself was a teenager, or that he'd be stealing the alcohol anyway. Being a son of Hermes made things such as laws seem much less confining than they did to other people).
Really, Luke was also very close to murdering them himself. Or murdering someone else, he wasn't picky. Not only had their journey so far, managing to hit Tennessee through judicious use of speeding, been lacking in any sort of monster or conflict, it had also pretty much been a car ride from… well, Hades.
Probably because of the aforementioned lack of monster attacks.
Honestly it was a bit weird how quiet all of the monsters were being. Maybe they were scared of the general bloodlust coming from the vehicle?
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
Team Percy
Medusa? Really? Were they just that unlucky?
Yeah, Grover got to finally get closure on a member of his family, but she was a legendary monster, one of the named ones. It was not, needless to say, an easy fight.
It was pretty lucky that Grover could smell something wrong and that Ethan could tell that she wanted revenge upon Annabeth so that they weren't fooled by her for very long, but the way she treated Percy was downright creepy. Cutting her head off was almost a relief to the poor guy.
He decided to sacrifice it to Hades though, with a message requesting a meeting or at least passage to the Underworld once they got to LA, along with the assertion that the demigods believed he hadn't committed the crime.
Hopefully Team Zoro was having better luck in their quest.
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
Team Zoro
After nearly two days of almost nonstop driving, they were in Dallas, and Luke was very close to commiting murder. Most likely of his friends, though hopefully a monster would come along soon and volunteer as tribute. Or better yet, a small army of monsters.
He really needed some stress relief if he was hoping for an army of monsters.
"Okay, that's it!" Luke suddenly shouted as his two friends began trying to fight in the car. For the seventeenth time. Within the past hour.
"We are going straight to the Toyota Stadium, and we are going to fight whatever we find there, whether it's Clarisse's half-brothers or civilians playing soccer, and you two are going to give me some peace when we are done!"
"No plan, and half-cocked, I like this new Luke," Zoro grinned with anticipation at fighting some monsters.
"We do to have a plan," Clarisse grumbled, "Kill every monster we see, simple and effective."
Luke just groaned inaudibly, before finally giving in and embracing his inner bloodthirst, "I blame you guys if this goes wrong because we didn't get a hotel room first or anything."
"You were the one who said we should just do this, not me," Zoro shrugged.
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
Team Percy
Annabeth suddenly jerked up from where she was dozing on their train to St. Louis, and began looking around.
"What is it?" asked Ethan who was sitting next to her.
"I get the feeling that Team Meathead has just done something very stupid," she muttered with a frown creasing her forehead.
Percy looked up from where he was looking outside in the row behind them, "They probably just decided to throw away any kind of plan that they might have come up with. I mean, Zoro and Clarisse don't have any other plan than attack on the best of days, and Luke is probably too sleep deprived after driving down there to be any kind of moderator."
Annabeth looked horrified, "Luke does tend to want to pick fights without thought of consequence when he's sleep deprived, and knowing those three they'll probably head straight to the Dallas Burn's stadium without resting and get into a fight with two sons of Ares unprepared!"
"It'll be okay, Annabeth," Grover said earnestly, "They're strong enough to survive even in the worst case scenario, and we'll send them an Iris Message when we stop just to be sure."
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
Team Zoro
"At least we're on the right track," Clarisse stated with a wild grin as she tore through more of the skeletal zombie warriors that crowded the stadium.
"That is not a good thing, besides it's obvious that even if your half-brothers were here, they aren't anymore," Luke sounded resigned and a little bit bored. While zombies had the advantage of numbers, not even zombie warriors were that difficult of a fight.
Zoro was in agreement with the ease of this fight, while zombies were good for letting off steam the weren't anywhere near a challenge. Add that to the fact that he had to run them down to kill them, because the undead feared Thanatos a lot, and it was almost more trouble than it was worth.
That, however, was when a scream sounded in the distance. The trio redoubled their efforts, moving even quicker. That scream sounded very young, and was coming from the direction of the greatest zombie concentration.
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
Team Percy
"I told you we shouldn't have come to the Arch," Ethan shouted, "But no, you had to see the engineering marvel. I could smell the reek of vengeance from a few hundred yards away, that usually means a monster with a general grudge against demigods that knows we're in the vicinity!"
"Fine," Annabeth shouted back, "If we all make it out of this alive, I promise to listen to your warnings more. I thought we could trust Grover's nose just as well, and miscalculated."
"Hey," Grover nervously stated in a much quieter tone, "Maybe you should tone it down a bit, people are starting to notice. And, um, Percy is fine."
Annabeth looked at him like he was crazy, "What are you talking about?"
"Ahh," Ethan cheerfully announced, "The hero returns, none the worse for wear! How did you survive again?"
Percy scratched the back of his head, seeming kind of nervous, "Well. I might have jumped into the river after that Chihuahua melted a hole in the arch."
"Are you insane!" Annabeth grabbed him by the front of his shirt and shook him a little, "The fall should have killed you! Honestly, what were you even thinking!"
"Ahh, here's the thing. The tail bit me, and as a son of the sea god water heals me pretty well from most poisons and venoms. I'd already gotten the vanilla mortals out of there so I just kind of jumped. No harm done, see?"
After a scream of general frustration and redoubled attempt at throttling from Annabeth, Grover worriedly checking Percy over, and a smirking Ethan snickering quietly to himself, they once more set off on their journey.
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
Team Zoro
After hacking their way through most of the monsters, they finally found the source of the screaming. It was a tiny kid, shaking and lost in his own mind, not even paying attention to the zombies.
"That kid is stuck in a waking nightmare. I'd say that this is the work of Phobos…" Clarisse said, before grimacing as she got a closer look, "His ability only works so long as he is present, but it seems whatever fear he showed this kid sent him back into some kind of flashback."
They all looked at the silent sobs the kid was now producing, curled up in a ball, before Zoro reached out to touch him.
The reaction was immediate, the kid skittered backwards and seemed to focus on them ever so slightly before he started mumbling, "No…. Stay away… don't want to… hurt…" and it ended with a sob.
"Hey kid, it's okay," Zoro said, softer than either Luke or Clarisse had ever heard him, "You wont hurt any of us, I promise. See, we took out all of those monsters easily, and we're all really tough. You can't hurt us, I promise." As Zoro said these things he slowly grabbed the kid and held him(it reminded him of all those times, as the first mate, he'd held and comforted other members of the crew, particularly Chopper who was much younger than the rest of them).
After a while the fear and panic bled from his eyes, and the kid fell asleep. Zoro picked him up and said lowly to his two friends, "We should get a hotel, and bring this kid with us."
Luke nodded, "Yeah, I couldn't tell at first, but he's a pretty powerful demigod. If we leave him alone, monsters will attack him for sure, and he's in no condition to defend himself or run."
And so they left to get a room for the night, with Clarisse claiming the kid as a little brother(Being that they both had brown hair, and the kids face was hidden in Zoro's neck).
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
Team Percy
A golden coin flipped into a rainbow spray in a car wash.
"Camp Half Blood."
"Are you guys sure this'll work," Percy said dubiously, before the rainbow rippled and left the image of Chiron before them.
The centaur blinked at them before adopting a worried look, "Ah, is everything all right?"
"Yes, Chiron," Percy replied, before going on to say, "We just thought we'd check in and see how things were going at Camp."
"Of course," He sighed, "Have you heard any word from Luke or the others? I know you were planning on meeting in Nevada somewhere."
Annabeth immediately frowned, "No, and we tried them first. They might be busy fighting, though so I wouldn't worry too much yet. But what's wrong with you? You look upset."
Chiron grimaced, "Mr. D isn't back yet. He was called away soon after you left, but hasn't returned yet. It's highly unusual for him to be called away for so long. It can't be helped, I suppose. He'll probably be gone until after this mess has been cleared up."
"Mr. D's tough, Chiron, I'm sure he'll be okay," Percy said sympathetically, "And hey, at least he'll be able to give us a ride back to camp."
"Maybe he'll give Zoro a ride back, but the rest of us'll have to walk," Ethan snickered.
"Yes, you're right," Chiron seemed to brighten up a little, "Try and contact me again soon, it was good hearing from you, but I need to go now."
And with that, the Iris Message dissipated.
"Well," Ethan said with only minimal sarcasm, "What do we do now."
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
Team Zoro
They ordered in a pizza.
And also apparently a fight. A couple of minor cannibalistic spirits had been using pizza delivery as a cover for finding people no one would miss and consuming them. It was a quick fight, but pleasing to take care of them nonetheless.
The kid didn't wake up through the noise, or even the smell of delicious pizza. It took Zoro(the kindest looking of the bunch… not that that was saying very much), gently shaking the kid awake to bring him out of his unconscious state.
The kid did scramble away from them at first, but after gentle reassurance from the three teens, the offering of a slice of pepperoni, and proof that they were not monsters(via cutting themselves and bleeding red) the kid finally calmed down enough to be willing to speak.
After he'd eaten his pizza, though.
Food is the best bribe, especially to a starving person. And the kid was probably starving, being that he was definitely homeless and far skinnier than a kid his age should be. Nine year olds shouldn't be skin and bone hobos on the run(though sadly, this happened to far too many halfbloods.).
"So, kiddo," Clarisse says after the pizza has been demolished, "Who exactly are you."
The Latino looking kid hesitated for a bit before quietly saying, "Leo Valdez."
Zoro nodded slowly before bluntly asking, "You do know that you're a demigod, and that monsters are real, right?"
Leo just looked confused at his words.
"Geeze, I guess this falls to me," Luke sighed, "Well, monsters are…"
"I know what monsters are, I just… The other part, demigod, that's new."
"It means that one of your parents was a god," Zoro frankly told him, "In your case a Greek god. It also means that the monsters think that you're a chocolate bar in a world full of broccoli, and all want to eat you."
A bit of hesitation and then Leo nodded.
"What, no disbelief?" Clarisse said while regarding him, "Normally new demigods are in way more denial."
"I don't want to believe you, but. It makes a lot of sense. And explains why… "
Luke nodded sympathetically, "A lot of weird and scary things happened, huh."
"So," Clarisse said, changing the subject a bit, "Do you have anywhere to go? Because if you don't you can stay with us, though there'll be a lot of monster fighting."
"But we won't let you get hurt," Luke added hastily.
Leo shook his head, saying in a tone with… way too much guilt, "My mother's dead."
The three teens simply shared a look while Leo seemed lost in his own head. Because a nine year old orphan should either have other relatives, or be in foster care somewhere, not wandering the streets as a vagrant and vulnerable to monster attacks.
And the the air in the hotel room simply froze as Leo looked at them, so heartbreakingly lost, and said, "Is there a… goddess… that is made of the earth, and sleeps when talking to you?"
"I don't think so," Luke said slowly, "It doesn't sound familiar, though that definitely sounds like something supernatural. Why do you ask?"
"She… is the reason… I killed my mother." And the kid buried his head in his hands, and started sobbing quietly.
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
:Don't worry, the Meatheads are nice. Also, most of next chapter will probably be Zoro's Team centric, with brief interlude to Percy and Co. due to Ares.