Percy Jackson & The Mutant Demigods

Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Introductions

Sam

I woke up feeling worse than I have ever felt before. Wait, never mind. Remembering Charleston, this isn't that bad. When I could see clearly, I realized I was in a dog crate in a strange room with other crates. I groaned, and Percy called out, "Sam?"

"Here," I moaned, "wherever here is."

Someone else said, "You're at the School."

I tried to find who had spoken, but all I could see were the other cages. Then I saw six dog crates shudder, and their occupants were revealed: three boys and three girls, the oldest about sixteen, the youngest about eight. "What is the School?" Percy asked.

While the oldest girl talked about the School being a scientific lab where they experiment with DNA, and how the wolf man thing was called an Eraser, blah blah, I felt a strange sensation, like someone was in my head. I looked around, trying to find who it was. Everybody else was looking at Percy. Duh! He's the good looking one! Then I got to the youngest of the six. She was staring at me. Not at Percy or the others, but at me. I returned her gaze and thought, Get out of my head, please.

She shot to the back of her crate, staring at me, awestruck. How? She thought to me. How did you know?

You were in my head, I thought back simply.

The girl was finishing up. "And by way of introduction, I'm Maximum Ride, leader of the flock."

The guy next to her introduced himself. "Fang." Sweet name. Strange, but cool.

Next was a guy about Fang's age, with dull, blue eyes. "I'm Iggy."

Percy interrupted, "Are you blind?"

I glared at him, but Iggy just sighed. "Yes, I'm also blind."

A girl about my age piped up. "Hi! I'm Nudge!"

"Nudge," Percy said. "Your name is Nudge?" Nudge blushed and nodded. Does she have a crush on him?

Next up was the girl who had read my mind. "My name is Angel, and I can read minds." She stared at me. At least some minds, I heard in my head. I grinned.

Last to go was a boy a little older than Angel. "My name is Gazzy, or the Gasman, and Angel is my sister."

"Wait," Percy asked, confused. "You and Angel are the only two who are actually related?"

"Yeah," Gazzy answered.

Max asked, "Who are you guys?"

Percy said, "I'm Percy Jackson."

My turn. "I'm Sam, Percy's half-brother."

Max looked between the two of us. "So, you two are related?"

I nodded. "We look nothing like it, I know."

Fang asked, "Who is she?" He pointed to Annabeth.

Percy said, "She's Annabeth Chase. My girlfriend."

Nudge looked crestfallen. She does have a crush on him! I mean, what's not to like?

The door opened and an Eraser walked in. "Project X," he said, taking Percy's cage, "you're coming with me for some experimenting."

Percy grumbled, "I'm not a 'project' or whatever." The Eraser slammed the door behind him, leaving me with an unconscious Annabeth and six other kids.