Percy Jackson and Maximum Ride

Chapter One: Hybrids on the Beach

Percy looked around at his friends, and sighed in content. The demigods were having a picnic on the beach. More specifically, they were having a picnic on Montauk. He took a deep breath of the clean sea air and looked around at his friends.

Annabeth's head was on Percy's lap, and the rest of her bikini-clad body was laying on the warm sand as she immersed herself in a book of architecture that was written in Ancient Greek for the benefit of her dyslexic stormy grey eyes.

Leo was currently chasing Jason around the beach, screaming at him in an interesting and rather amusing mixture of Spanish and Greek for dumping a gross mixture of sand and sea water in his open mouth while he was dozing in the warm summer sun.

Piper, Hazel, and Frank were laughing at the pair, and Jason was screaming for Frank, who had his arm wrapped around Hazel, to help him.

Percy grinned at the scene in front of him and snapped a picture of it on the camera he had brought with him for moments like these. Annabeth heard the click of the button and looked up to gaze at him, her stormy grey eyes swirling with mirth when she realized what he had done.

"Think we should stop them before someone gets hurt, Seaweed Brain?" she asked him.

Percy grinned down at her. "Sounds like a good idea, Wise Girl."

Annabeth picked her head up off Percy's lap and stood up to stretch, and he took the oppurtunity to enjoy the view, not even bothering look at her discreetly. She caught him looking, and raised a honey-blond eyebrow.

"See something you like?"

He cheekily pretended to think about the question. "Hmm. I don't know . . . ."

Her stormy grey eyes glinted with a dangerous but playful light, and Percy quickly stood up, raising his hands in a 'calm down' gesture before he took off, running for all he was worth. Percy grinned as he heard Annabeth behind him , giving chase and promising him that he wouldn't escape her.

Percy ran up to Jason, and spared a glance behind himself. Leo had b now stopped screaming, and Annabeth was by now running next to him. Percy looked nervously at Jason. "I have your back, you have mine?"

Jason glanced behind them, and he paled slightly at the sight of Annabeth and Leo working together. "Deal." 

"Run towards the ocean, I have an idea." Jason glanced at Percy, faux-worry and amusement swirling in his sky blue eyes.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Perce, because if you get us killed, I'm going to bring you back and kill you again."

Percy looked back at the pair behind them. "I think if that happens, you'll have some help doing it."

Together, they turned and ran as fast as they could for the sea, kicking up warm, cream-colored sand as they ran.

When they got to the water, Percy grabbed Jason by his arm and dove in when they got deep enough, forming a bubble of air around Jason's head so he wouldn't drown. When they got a safe distance away from their pursuers, Percy turned to look at them, and was distracted by the sound of a helicopter over head.

Percy and Jason looked up and saw a black helicopter making its way to the beach. Percy had a wave carry him and Jason back to the others. By now, everyone had their weapons out and, even though the ladies were all clad in bikinis, and the young men had nothing but swimming trunks on, collectively they made a rather intimidating picture.

The helicopter landed, and they all tensed as someone . . . no, something stepped out of it. It looked like a cross between a wolf and a man, and it had wings grafted into its back. It spoke, and its melodious voice was oddly laced with pain.

"Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase, we only want you two. Come quietly or we will not hesitate to maim and kill your friends."

Percy and Annabeth, who had been standing next to each other, exchanged glances. Neither of them wanted their friends to be hurt, and even as the couple watched, more of the hybrids stepped out onto the sand.

They made a quick decision.

"Well?" it growled, "Will you come willingly or does this have to get difficult?"

Annabeth and Percy stepped forward. "We'll go quietly" Percy answered. Immediately, their friends started protesting, but Percy silenced them with a look.

The hybrid stepped forward. "Smart decision, little demigod. Now both of you lay down your weapons - slowly! - and walk over here."

They did as it asked, but Percy wasn't too concerned about their weapons. Riptide would reappear in his pocket sooner or later, and their friends would take care of Annabeth's dagger. They walked towards the helicopter, and the hybrid spoke up, addressing their distraught friends.

"They are at our mercy now, and even though we can't kill them yet, we won't hesitate to hurt them  if you try to stop us or follow us." He then turned to face the son of Poseidon and the daughter of Athena. "Tell your friends not to follow."

Reluctantly, they turned their backs to the hybrids, and as Percy opened his mouth to tell them to stay, he felt a sharp and sudden pain in the back of his head, and he fell limply to the ground, realizing that he and Annabeth had been clubbed from behind. The last thing Percy saw before he fell unconscious was the outraged expressions of their friends.