LEO.
——- Seeing his friends helpless at the mercy of monsters made Leo's day somehow worse.
And he was already having a pretty rotten day, which just emphasized the situation he was in.
Hanging from robotic arms, wrapped in chains was two of his friends. Piper was struggling, wriggling around trying to get free, with her mouth gagged. At least she was alive.
Jason didn't look as good. He hung motionless, passed out with a huge welt above his eyebrow.
On the conveyor belt, the bed of an unfinished pickup truck was being used as a fire, lit by the emergency flare. And by the smell of it, it'd been doused with kerosene. A metal pole rested over the flames, a spit, which meant that this was a cooking fire.
What terrified Leo the most was the cooks.
The single red eye logo, Monocle Motors, should've been a red flag.
The three monsters huddled around the fire, stoking the flames. The largest one was facing away from Leo, crouching in front of the fire. The two he could see were easily ten feet tall, glowing red in the fire light with their strong, hairy bodies. One wore a chain mail loincloth (which looked really uncomfortable), and the other wore a fuzzy looking toga made of ragged, fiberglass insulation. The two looked similar, but not in the way Cal and Zethes did; these two were built the same, with a single giant eye right in the middle of their foreheads. They were Cyclopes.
Leo started shaking again, and Y/n let out a quiet sigh from next to him. Leo had seen some weird things lately, but these ten foot monsters really took the cake. All he had was a backpack, tool belt, and a giant hammer — he was terrified. He turned to the girl beside him. She was glaring at the Cyclopes with a weird kind of fire in her eyes. She looked a hell of a lot braver than Leo felt. Her hand tightened around her sword.
Leo realized that this is what that earth lady was talking about. She wanted him to abandon Piper and Jason to be eaten by Cyclopes and leave Y/n in the frigid winter all by herself. He decided then and there; no way he would ever let her make him feel powerless again.
Leo slid the backpack on his shoulders off and started to unzip it as the Cyclopes in chain mail walked up to Piper. Her head flew up as she tried to head butt him in the eye. "Can I take her gag off now? I like it when they scream."
The crouching figure, the leader, Leo guessed, grunted and chain mail ripped the gag off Piper's mouth. She didn't scream, but she drew a shaky breath like she was trying to keep herself calm.
Leo had found what he wanted: a stack of small remote control units he found in Bunker 9. Well, it's what he hoped they were. The crane's maintenance panel was easy enough to find, and once Leo got a screwdriver from his tool belt, he went to work. He had to go slowly, since the Cyclopes were only twenty feet ahead of him. They obviously had amazing senses which made pulling off his plan without making noise seem impossible, but he didn't have much of a choice.
The Cyclops wearing insulation poked at the fire which was now spewing thick, black smoke. The one in chain mail glared at Piper, "Scream, girl! I like screaming!"
Piper steadied herself before speaking, "Oh, Mr. Cyclops, you don't want to kill us. It would be much better if you let us go."
The Cyclops scratched his head and turned to the one wearing insulation, "She's kinda pretty, Torque. Maybe I should let her go.
Torque stood "I saw her her first, Sump. I will let her go!" The two began to argue, until the third one shouted, "Fools!"
Leo flinched and his screwdriver almost fell from his hands. The largest Cyclops was a woman, multiple feet taller than the other two and packed with even more muscle. She was wearing what must have been several pounds of chain mail in the shape of a dress. She had greasy, black pigtails woven with metal washers and copper wire. The lower half of her face was smashed together and thick, like she spent most of her time ramming face first into walls. Her single red eye shone with a wicked malevolence.
She walked over to Sump and shoved him, knocking the conveyor belt over in the process, and Torque backed up quietly. "The girl is Venus spawn. She's using her charmspeak on you." The big lady Cyclops stated.
Piper begged, "Please, ma'am — "
The lady Cyclops growled, and grabbed Piper by the waist, "Don't try your pretty talk on me, girl! I'm Ma Gasket! I've eaten heroes tougher than you for lunch!"
Leo was afraid she'd crush Piper to death, but she let go and let Piper hang from the chain again, before turning to yell at Sump for being stupid.
Leo continued to let his hands work at a furious pace. He barely thought about what he was doing, allowing himself to turned switches and twist wires effortlessly. Y/n stood off to the other side of Leo keeping watch, making sure the Cyclopes didn't notice their presence. Leo finished the remote and crept over to the next robotic arm while the monsters spoke, Y/n following behind.
" — eat her last, Ma?" Sump questioned.
"Idiot!" Ma Gasket yelled, and Leo realized the other two Cyclopes must be her sons. He felt sort of bad, having her for a mom must suck.
"I should've thrown you out in the streets when you were babies like proper Cyclops children. Then you might've learned some useful skills, curse my soft heart that I kept you!" She continued.
"Soft heart?" Torque muttered.
"What was that you ingrate?"
"Nothing, Ma. I said you got a soft heart. We get to work for you, feed you, file your toenails — "
"And you should be grateful!" She bellowed, "Now, stoke the fire, Torque! And Sump, you idiot, my case of salsa is in the other warehouse. Don't tell me you expect me to eat these demigods without salsa!"
"Yes, Ma — I mean, no, Ma. I mean — "
"Go get it!" Ma gasket picked up a truck chassis from nearby and slammed it over Sump's poor little Cyclops head, and he fell to his knees. Leo was sure it'd kill him, but Sump was apparently used to it. He pushed the chassis off his head, and ran off after staggering to his feet.
Now's the time, Leo thought, while they're separated.
He finished wiring a second machine and moved onto the third, when Piper saw him and Y/n. Her expression was, at first, terror, then disbelief. She gasped.
Ma Gasket turned to her, "What's the matter, girl? So fragile I broke you?"
Piper thought quickly and looked away from the two, "I think it's my ribs, ma'am. If I'm busted up inside, I'll taste horrible."
Ma Gasket laughed loudly, and her and Torque reminisced over a son of Mercury they had eaten a while back. What fought Leo's attention, though, was how they described him; wearing a purple shirt and speaking Latin. Piper caught onto this too, and asked them about it. "Purple shirt? Latin?"
"Good eating," Ma Gasket said calmly, ignoring Piper's question. "Point is, girl, we're not as dumb as people think! We're not falling for those stupid tricks and riddles, not is Northern Cyclopes."
Leo's mind raced as he worked. A kid who spoke Latin, wearing a purple shirt, just like Jason's, was caught here? He decided to leave the interrogation to Piper and continued messing with the controls. If he had any chance of defeating the Cyclopes he'd have to hurry and finish before Sump came back with the salsa.
His eyes gazed up at the engine block suspended above the Cyclops campsite, and wished he could use it. It would make a great weapon. But the crane holding it was positioned on the other side of the conveyor belt, far too close to the Cyclopes for him to get it undetected. Besides, he was running out of time.
This next part — the last part, would be the trickiest. Leo summoned a screw driver, some wires, and a radio adapter from his belt and started to build a universal remote. Leo, for the first time ever, said a silent thank you to his father for the magic tool belt. Get me out of here, and maybe you're not such a jerk.
As Piper laid on the praise and made conversation with Ma Gasket, Y/n kneeled next to Leo, "Are you close?"
"This is the last step, I just need a couple minutes." Leo said.
"Good. You've got this."
Sparks flew from the wires Leo was messing with and caused a bright, short flash. Damnit! I got distracted —
Before he could finish that thought, a truck came flying his way. Y/n pushed him the side and he rolled further behind the crane's body, and Y/n jumped the other way into the Cyclopes vision.
"Torque, you pathetic excuse for a Cyclops, get her!" Ma Gasket shouted. Leo watched as Y/n put her hands up in defeat. He had to pry his eyes off her to continue working on the remote.
"Alright, you got me. I have no plans so you might as well take me peacefully." She said calmly. Leo had no idea how she could be so calm as the Cyclops barrels towards her. Fifty feet. Then twenty.
Y/n started to lose her composure and looked to Leo, "Anytime would be nice," she gritted through her teeth nervously.
"Wait, Torque! That's — " Ma Gasket started, and Torque faltered and stopped his pace, turning to his mother just as Leo got the controls working. Before Ma Gasket could finish, the first robotic arm whirred to life, and knocked Torque with three tons of force, forcing him onto his face. Then it grabbed him by the feet, and hurled him straight into one of the metal support girders, given by the sound. He never came back down, instead, golden dust rained from the ceiling.
Ma Gasket stared at the two in shock as Y/n went to join Leo, with her sword drawn. He guessed she was there to protect him while he controlled the cranes. "My son... you... you.."
On cue, Sump staggered into the light with a large case of salsa, "Ma, I got the extra spicy — "
Before he could finish that sentence, Leo spin the remote's toggle and the second robotic arm smacked Sump in the chest, exploding him and the salsa into a million pieces; he had crumpled to dust.
Leo felt like Commander Tool Belt after knocking out two Cyclopes in a minute when Ma Gasket locked her eye on Leo and Y/n. She grabbed the nearest crane arm and ripped it off easily, "You busted my boys! Only I get to bust my boys!"
Leo punched a button and the two remaining arms fired into action. Ma Gasket caught one and tore it in half, but the other one whammed her in the head. Unfortunately, it only seemed to make her angrier. She grabbed it by the claw and swung it like a baseball bat, missing Piper and Jason by an inch. She spun and threw the arm at Leo, and he yelped and dove as it demolished the machine next to him. Y/n had dived in his direction too, and they quickly stood next to each other.
Ma Gasket was obviously more focused on Leo, so Y/n crawled away from him quietly and stepped into the shadows. He was just happy she was out of danger. For now.
Ma Gasket stood twenty feet in front of him, teeth bared and fists clenched, with a murderous glare in her red eye staring at Leo from twelve feet up. "Any more tricks, demigod?"
Leo glanced up at the engine block suspended on the chain — if only he had time to rig it. If he could get Ma Gasket to take in step forward... Leo noticed the chain; that one link; he shouldn't have been able to notice from so far below, but he knew there was metal fatigue.
"Hell yeah I've got tricks!" He raised the remote, "Take one more step and I'll destroy you with fire!"
The Cyclops laughed, "Will you? Cyclopes are immune to fire, you idiot. But if you wish to play with flames, let me help." She turned and scooped up red hot coals with her bare hands and tossed them at Leo's feet.
"You missed." Leo teased. Ma Gasket smirked and grabbed a barrel next to the truck, a barrel that read "kerosene" just before she threw it at his feet and it exploded onto the coals, igniting them into a bright blaze.
"NO!" Piper screamed as a storm of flames billowed around him up to twenty feet in the air. Ma Gasket have a delighted shriek but as the kerosene burnt out and was reduced to small, simmering, fiery patches on the floor, her face changed into astonishment.
"Leo?" Piper gasped.
"You live?" Ma Gasket took a step forward; right where Leo wanted. "What are you?"
"The son of Hephaestus. And I warned you I'd kill you with fire." Leo lifted his arm and pointed one finger at the engine block, summoning the largest amount of fire he'd ever tried to do. A bolt of white hot flames shot out from his finger and aimed directly for the weak link.
The fire died down — nothing happened.
Ma Gasket chuckled, "An impressive try, son of Hephaestus. It's been many centuries since I saw a fire user, you'll make a spicy appetizer!" The chain snapped.
Leo melted that chain link beyond its tolerance point, and the engine block fell, crushing the cyclops into dust.
Tilting his head slightly, Leo smirked, "I don't think so."
Leo fell to his knees in exasperation. His head was buzzing, and it took him a minute to realize Piper was calling his name. "Leo! Are you alright? Can you move?"
Y/n emerged from behind some crates and ran to his side, helping him stand. She walked him over to the footstep of one of the bodies of a crane and sat him down before she went to struggle to get Piper and Jason down safely.
Jason was still unconscious as Piper fed him some nectar. The bump in his forehead began to shrink as the color came back to his face. "He's got a thick skull, he'll be fine." Leo reassured.
Piper sighed, "Thank gods." Then she looked at Leo with a look of confusion mixed with fear. "How did you— the fire — have you always..?"
Y/n sat next to the curly haired boy. His head hung low, "Always. I'm sorry, I should've told you guys sooner — "
Piper punched him in the arm, "Sorry? That was amazing, Valdez! You saved our lives! What are you sorry about?" She grinned.
"Yeah, it was awesome!" Y/n added. Leo looked at her; he smiled. But it wore off quickly when out of the corner of his eye, he saw yellow dust — the remains of one of the Cyclopes — shifting across the floor next to Piper's foot, like it was putting itself back together.
He pointed to it, "They're forming again. Look."
Piper stepped away from it, "That's not possible. Annabeth told me monsters dissipate when they're killed. They go back to Tartarus and can't return for a long time."
"Well, nobody told the pile of dust that." Leo watch does it collect it into a pile, very slowly forming a shape with arms and legs.
Piper turned pale. "Oh gods. Boreas said something about this — the earth yielding up horrors. 'When monsters, no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades.' How long do you think we have?" She questioned.
Leo thought back to the potty sludge woman who definitely counted as an earthly horror. "I don't know, but we have to get out of here."
(unedited)
a/n: i've been working on another leo fic, should i post it?