ANTI-HERO, j.grace

TWENTY EIGHT

"But-"

"No."

The Grace boy was in no way amused by the way Klein was cutting him off. Nor was he amused by the way she held her hand up, offered him a lazy smile, and said, 'I vote Jason as team leader'.

Leo quickly seconded, and Jason glared at the two like gee thanks. But finally, he sighed. "I hate to say it, but Coach Hedge is right. A distraction is Piper's best chance."

"Alright then. Let's boogie." Leo pulled a hammer from his belt, "Before I come to my senses."

Klein did not appreciate the way that the group's eyes seemed to fall to her neck. She rolled her eyes from where she was crouched in the ground, tossing her hands up by her sides and reaching back to pull the silver bow off her back.

"You heard the man, 'let's boogie'."

They did not 'boogie' well. In fact, like most everything else in her life, things went wrong almost immediately.

Piper ran off first, scrambling along the edge of the forest while the rest of the group marched right into the center of the clearing.

Jaosn summoned his golden lance and raised it over his head. And then, leaving everyone baffled, he yelled, "Giant!"

Klein's eyes widened and she turned to him with murder glowing on her face.

"That was your whole plan?" She hissed.

If they survived this, she was going to kill Jason Grace herself.

Enceladus stopped chanting at the growing purple flames, turning to face the demigods with a dismayed grin that brandished tiger-like fangs.

"Well, what a nice surprise."

"That is such a lame line." Klein's grumbled.

Hedge stepped forward as Leo inched the opposite way towards the bulldozer, "Let the movie star go, you big ugly cupcake! Or I'm gonna plant my hoof right up your-"

"Coach." Jason snapped. "Shut up."

Enceladus roared with laughter. "I've forgotten how funny satyrs are! When we rule the world, I think I'll keep your kind around. You can entertain me while I eat all the other mortals."

"Is that a compliment?" Hedge glanced back at Leo with a frown, "I don't think that was a compliment."

Klein was about to inform the satyr that it was absolutely not a compliment, but Enceladus beat her to it. He opened his mouth wide, and his fangs started to glow.

Her eyes widened, "Oh, fu-"

"Scatter!"

Truthfully, they did not succeed in chattering very well. Leo made a mad dash to the right, avoiding the flames behind the construction machinery. Coach Hedge went right as well, though it didn't seem like his canary yellow jacket was going to survive either the stray spray of flames or the mud on the ground.

Klein, thinking nothing but 'please don't get lit on fire again' lunged to the left, bow tossed aimlessly ahead of her as her arms came up to try and cover her head. Jason, in his stupid heroic nature, dove to the left. He did so with little regard to his own safety, and he practically tossed himself on top of the Maddox girl like he was hoping to act as an extra barrier between her and the flames.

When he finally rolled off of her, Klein lifted her head with a groan. "Ouch."

"You okay?"

"Yea-" Klein cut herself off when she noticed the smoke coming up form behind Jason, eyes widening as she practically launched herself at him. "Oh my gods, were you trying to get barbecued?!"