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[ The boy who appears on the screen looks to be very far up in the air, right around he gathering of storm clouds, and on the move. Occasionally, a flash of gold metal can be seen in the video. He looks a little bit frazzled and a lot excited with a dash of terror. ]

Hey guys! I think it's time to saddle the wagons and circle the horses or whatever that saying is. There's monsters that seriously need to be made into monster mash! And I kind of miss the snow if this is the alternative.

[ There's a roar and a creak of metal before an entirely different sort of roar sounds. An arrow whizzes past Leo's face, just barely missing him. ]

Uh, this mostly for Percy & Annabeth (hi Annabeth!) but I'm multitasking a lot of things right now and maybe this can kind of be a warning that if you can't or won't fight, maybe you should stay inside! And don't worry, Percy, Festus and me, and maybe others, we've totally got this under control!

[ There's a crooked smile and another arrow whizzes through Leo's wayward curls just over his head before the feed cuts out to the sound of another roar. ]

Text to Sophie:
Uh... you safe? Because you need to stay safe and there's bad stuff going on outside.

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[ Oh man, Derek is absolutely going to kill her, but... ]

...doesn't really look like it's completely under control. Need a little help from the on the ground? I can take a hell of a licking and keep on kicking.

The battle's only just begun! [ It's just a little bit defensive even though Leo knows it's absolutely not under control. Yet. ]

But I can totally use some help! I'm mighty master Leo and this golden sidekick is Festus.

I'm Laura Hale, Nice to meet you. I don't know how mighty my powers are, but I'm pretty damn good in a fight. Plus, like I said, it takes a lot to take me down, so whereabouts in town are you? I'll come to you.

Oh hey. If I bring them to you can you, uh, you know, do what hero-types do? [ Kill them. He means kill them. ]

Cause... incoming! [ From up above there's a woosh of air. A massive golden dragon is swooping down with one of the creatures held in its metal jaws. Yes, the dragon is metal. At the helm, Leo waves excitedly to her. ] You ready to make some monster mash??

Uhhh, I guess that kind of depends on what kind of hero stuff is actually required. [ Because yeah, she totally gets it, she just...hasn't ever encountered specifically this sort of thing before and doesn't really know where to start...

But when she looks up and sees him waving at her from on top of one of the things, a surprised laugh escapes her and Laura runs a hand through her hair, shaking her head as she grins up at him. ]

Ready, sure. Able? We'll see. Bring it on.

You can do it! I have faith. Plus, you look totally hero-y. [ He knows better than most how kick ass girls can be. He's underestimated a girl exactly one time, many many moons ago, and learned that lesson pretty fast.

The creature roars and struggles in Festus the dragon's giant metal claws. The claws have punctured the creature's wings so that it can't fly. Leo brings Festus down lower to drop the beast just a foot away from Laura. Then Leo circles above, straining his neck to look down and hope he didn't just kill someone. It might not have operational wings, but it still has claws and teeth. ]

Come on... come on.... [ This is said to himself as he urges her to be heroic. ]

[ While Laura doubts the "hero-y" look of herself, she appreciates that at least he's not discounting her because she's a girl. That's a mistake a few too many people have made in her life and she's never really been all that shy about setting them straight.

She honestly has no idea how best to take this thing down, but her best guess is its underside. Everything is more vulnerable on its underside; it's the reason animals won't roll onto their backs until they trust a person not to hurt them. ]

Move. Make sure you get anyone around out of the way.

[ Because, for all she knows, they're surrounded by spectators; she's been paying more attention to the beast than her surroundings.

Laura sustains a pretty nasty swipe of claws to her shoulder, but as it starts to bleed, she looks more annoyed and put out than in pain, even though it hurts like a bitch. She swipes back, catching one of its eyes and her stomach turns as she makes a sound of displeasure at the resulting sensation under her fingers and the cry of pain that escapes the beast. It's not going to just roll over, she knows, so she's got to find a way to get close enough to flip the damn thing over. The strength to do it is there, but with the way it's flailing certainly isn't helping her cause.

Her shoulder is already starting to heal, the bleeding having stopped and even though the pain is still there, Laura fights through it and ducks her head to avoid claws to her face as she jolts forward and lifts the beast like it's nothing, tossing it a few feet away and flipping it onto its back. Its body shape makes it difficult for the thing to roll back over and Laura approaches again, this time with the upper hand. ]

Sorry, buddy. Killing people is not cool.

[ The words come out quietly and almost apologetically as she tears at its stomach with clawed hands of her own. It's clearly in pain and it's slowing its fight, but in spite of the pool of blood forming around it, gushing from its chest and stomach, it doesn't seem to want to give up. ]

Oh, come on, are you kidding me?

[ The good news is that Festus's metal claws have punctured the beasts' wings enough that it can't fly away from Laura. The bad news is that it's hard to play crowd control when you're on top of a giant metal dragon flying the skies. So any spectators are going to have to use their brains and run.

Although, Leo doesn't see many people milling about. Most have holed up inside, thank the gods.

Leo both is and isn't surprised to see her heal so quickly. He likes people with super powers. That means he doesn't have to worry about them so much. ]

It's usually the head or the heart! Sometimes hearts and heads, although not in this case. You can do it! I'm gonna get another one!

[ Leo and Festus are flying upward and upward toward the hoard of beasts. Festus's fire can burn their thin wings off but that would send a number of them tumbling to the ground. He needs to wait and see what happens when Laura finds the sweet spot. So Festus clomps another of the beasts in his metal jaws and they begin to descend again. Leo cranes his neck to check on Laura. ]

[ Laura looks up when he says he's going to get another one. She hasn't even finished off this one and she still hasn't figured out how. Is he suggesting she ought to just reach into the beast and drag out its heart? Because that feels very...villain in a fairytale to her; she's not really sure she's got the stomach for all that. ]

Killing me, here, kid...

[ That's more muttered to herself than aloud specifically for him to hear, but it's still aloud all the same. Here goes nothing...

Laura closes her eyes and wrinkles her nose as she tears further into the beast, a gag reflex being choked back when she can feel more fleshy bits catching under her claws. The beast, finally, goes still and Laura staggers back, shaking her arms in a jerking motion, sending excess blood flying off of her. ]

Gross...

[Here Percy thought he was ahead of things when he was half out the door and holding his phone to dial Leo or Annabeth up.

But (of course) then his attention was drawn to this...]

Leo, man! I'm not worried [okay, that was a lie, but it was really Festus flying up there that made him worry.] but did you have to start without me?

[ Percy! Leo was trying to be all heroic just like you! Never fear, he can be a team player too. ]

I'm just being the overachieving early bird! This place needs us! [ And it's so nice to be needed. ]

Want us to come down and pick you up? Do you have Riptide on you?

[Way to make it sound like a contest, though there's no question he is in...even if he's second to the fight.]

Yeah, good call. How's it going up there? [Bad, he imagines. As their luck always is. But still a Festus' eye view on the matter is a plus.]

You tell me: do we need to attack these things from the sky or the ground? I have riptide right here. [At that moment, he fishes riptide out of his pocket and uncaps it to show off it off in its entire bronze sword glory.] We should see who needs our help, but first I have to check on Annabeth.

[ He's not trying to make it sound like a contest, really. Mostly he's just glad that life here isn't always boring, that heroes are sometimes needed. It makes him feel less down in the dumps. ]

Well, Festus is trying to light these guys on fire but their skin is thick! [ Which means he has a 50/50 success rate - not enough. ] You could tip the scale though! I just need to get you up here. We have to fight them on their turf - which is the skies!

[ Festus swoops down low, circling twice - lower and lower - until he's hovering over the ground. Leo murmurs something and Festus's wing creeks and folds to create a stair for Percy to get on. ] Percy and Leo! Together again! With Festus, their loyal companion. It sounds like a good story for the ages.

[There's always that, too. Monsters aren't exactly at the top of his list to defeat his boredom, but they help. Already Percy can feel his heart pumping faster as he sets into action. Annabeth doesn't answer at her apartment, so he continues to where Leo is. His hope is that she's out there already and he'll find her soon.]

Fire doesn't work on them? [He is not sure if he should feel surprised or disappointed.] We can fix that! Just promise me one thing: you'll watch how high you go. The sky isn't exactly my turf.

[And to Hades if he wanted to push his luck on how many times Zeus would let him have a free pass, even in another dimension or whatever, where ever this place was again. Seeing Festus with Leo swoop down from the sky, he pockets his phone and walks up the stair-wing before him, a contagious grin on his face because sometimes the things out of Leo's mouth were just right.]

Glad you're here, man. They'll write about how it wouldn't have been possible to fight them without you or Festus. It'll take all of us, I think. And Annabeth when we find her.

[ While Leo can't even begin to compete with the likes of Percy or Jason, he does have his own strengths. Getting Percy up into the skies, that's a good little boost. From there, he can keep track of Percy and make sure his friend doesn't fall to the ground without he and Festus there to catch him. ]

That's what Festus and me are here for. We'll keep you safe, Percy, so you can do your Percy thing! [ He's played witness to Percy leaping from monster to monster and kicking ass and taking names the whole time. Percy can treat them like a jungle gym and dispatch them. Leo will be there in the in-between to make sure Percy has something to leap onto in between these horrible creatures.

With Percy on board, Leo gets Festus to fly up into the sky. ] She's probably taking care of these things somewhere. I've been... trying to give you two some space for... you know, whatever it is you two do. [ Oh no, now his brain is going to places he doesn't want it to go. Monsters! Right. ]

We're better in numbers. I mean what would you do without me???? [ His way of saying he's glad that Percy is here too. Really, he is. One of the beasts swoops in close all teeth and claws and flapping wings. ] Incoming! Festus and me will be on the other side to get you to the next one!

[There's definitely more ways Percy could think of Leo being of use in battle than that, but his head isn't thinking about how just yet. His head is trying to focus on making sure their ascent skywards is made first. The rest of the plan would just have to be made up as they go along.]

All right. I'll fight them off my way, and you keep me alive. I trust you. [It'd be a nice if he didn't feel a little scared handing off some responsibility to his life to a friend, but one) these situations always were scary and 2) Leo had more than proven he was reliable with the whole sacrifice-himself-to-kill-Gaia-thing. He was sure the other demigod could handle it.]

Still, if you could get Festus here to fire more of fireballs at them, too, and not hit me, that would be knock their advantage down more.

[It doesn't seem smart to be standing when Festus flies up, but Percy doesn't listen to that little bit of sense in himself. He knows monsters will be wanting to attack them at any moment so he takes sort of a crouched position, ready for them the second they swoop close.

He is caught off guard by what Leo adds though, face maybe brightening a shade of red or two.]

What? ... Yeah, she probably rushed ahead of us. And it's not... You don't have to... you know, you should just keep an eye out for her. [Gods, he shouldn't be explaining this right now or...ever! It's far from just not being the right time or embarrassing, it's pretty weird. Right. Moving on.

He is just about to compare how the three of them make it official and answer Leo's other question, but he is distracted by the sound of wings fast approaching. Claws and teeth threaten to rip at them, but he lets his instincts take over and do what they do best. His legs push him back into a standing position, and he brings up Riptide to deflect and slash at the claws at the same time.]

Holy Poseidon! They're fast. Let's get the next one to fly further out so we only have to deal with one at a time.

You got it, Percy. Festus is the flame breath king!

[ But then there's one attacking them and Leo has to trust that Percy is going to do his thing and keep Leo from being monster food. He'd honestly much rather make monster mash of them rather than the alternative, thank you very much. Percy wielding Riptide seems to hold up his end of the bargain though. ]

They're like winged ninja monsters!

[ Festus breathes an arc of fire at a group of them coming at them from the front. Their skin is so thick that it only singes them while completely burning the thin skin of their wings so that they can't fly. This means they just sent about a dozen of the beasts falling to the ground below where innocent people are. ]

Uh... not the plan. Not the plan! Hold on, Percy!

[ Festus swoops down and catches two of the falling beasts in his jaw and two more in his claws. ] How do we wanna play this? [ They're still descending after the falling, but still very much alive, creatures. ]

Counting on you, bud. [He says almost absent mindedly, trying to keep his focus on the monster attacking them. It isn't any less true, though. They got each others back. Riiptide feels like its sending pulses into his hand urging him to jump, to strike, to everything to finish, or maybe it's his mind telling him that, but he holds back as the jump is nearly suicide when creature flies past them. He knows it's just a matter of waiting for the right moment.]

No kidding! Those were some serious moves, even for monsters.

[His attention doesn't know which way to turn as more head towards them and the one that shot past them circles back. It's a weird twist of fact, he finds, when Festus does his Festus thing and he doesn't have to figure out which to turn. The swoop down decides it for him and his attention shoots between his stance and the ground where the monsters were toward people.]

Hold on to what? [He complains as he slides a little from place and stops himself only by putting some weight and balance into holding himself in place.]

Gods... uh- [His brain was really working overtime now, trying to think of any good ideas. But there probably wasn't much time before one of them wiggled free or more came at them. What they needed was just to land them and put them down. Preferably one at a time. Oh. That was it.] I guess we find a safe place to drop them? Get close enough to the ground where I can jump down too and I'll deal with them one at a time.

Edited 2017-02-20 01:53 (UTC)

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