NEVER BE THE SAME . . . percy jackson

eighty four: the garage battle.

THINGS WENT WRONG immediately. The giants vanished in twin puffs of smoke. They reappeared halfway across the room, each in a different spot. Percy sprinted toward Ephialtes, but slots in the floor opened under his feet, and metal walls shot up on either side, separating him from everything else.

"Well then," Brooklyn muttered, sprinting to Ephialtes.

Near her, Piper was leaping across a hopscotch pattern of fiery pits, making her way toward Nico, who was dazed and weaponless and being stalked by a pair of leopards.

Meanwhile Jason charged at Otis, who pulled his spear and heaved a great sigh, as if he would much rather dance Swan Lake than kill another demigod.

In front of Brooklyn, a grove of painted plywood trees that sprang up from nowhere. The trees changed positions as she sprinted through them, hearing someone slashing them down behind her, but she didn't turn back to look. It was probably Percy, anyway.

"Wonderful!" Ephialtes cried. He stood at his control panel about fifty feet to Brooklyn's left. "We'll consider this a dress rehearsal. Shall I unleash the hydra onto the Spanish Steps now?"

He pulled a lever, and Brooklyn glanced behind him. The cage with the hydra was now rising toward a hatch in the ceiling. In three seconds it would be gone.

She made eye contact with Percy, then she ran toward Ephialtes. Sadly, before she could, the lion that was in its cage was deposited right in front of her, and it turned toward her and growled at her.

Brooklyn laughed nervously. "Here, Kitty Kitty . . . nice, Kitty Kitty . . . note to self, don't become a zookeeper anytime soon."

She slowly looked behind her to help, only to see Percy release the hydra by breaking the cage with Riptide.

"Oh, you are a spoilsport, Jackson!" Ephialtes called. "Very well. Battle it here, if you must, but your death won't be nearly as good without the cheering crowds."

Brooklyn stared at the lion in front of her, her mind screaming: oh god, oh god, oh god . . . but she kept her head up and her posture straight as she slowly backed away.

"Brooks!" Percy yelled, "give me your weapon!"

"I'm kinda preoccupied right now!" Brooklyn responded, screaming as the lion charged at her. A lightning bolt struck the ground in front of her, and the lion backed off.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Piper at the dais, standing guard over Nico as the leopards advanced. She aimed her cornucopia and shot a pot roast over the cats' heads, arcing above Brooklyn and to the other side of the room. The leopards raced after it, and so did the lion.

"My savior!" she called to Piper. "I love you."

Piper just blew her a kiss, winking at her.

About eighty feet to Piper's right, Jason battled Otis, sword against spear. Otis had lost his diamond tiara and looked angry about it. He probably could have impaled Jason several times, but the giant insisted on doing a pirouette with every attack, which slowed him down.

Meanwhile Ephialtes laughed as he pushed buttons on his control board, cranking the conveyor belts into high gear and opening random animal cages.

Brooklyn cursed under her breath and bolted after him, yelping as she ran by the hydra and having to roll to avoid some goo mixture that Percy made using the hydra acid and Wonder Bread. It reminded her of the disaster that was their freshman year science project, but at least it was stopping the hydra from seeing shit.

She continued running over to Ephialtes as Percy bolted away, keeping the hydra on him.

"I know!" Ephialtes cried out happily. "We can start with explosions along the Via Labicana! We can't keep our audience waiting forever."