A/N: A thousand apologies for this delayed chapter. For one, I had to integrate it with the original events of "Sea of Monsters". For another, a lot of crap has happened to me. And finally, I've been working on an original novel.

ANNABETH CHASE

Annabeth gritted her teeth and held on for dear life, while Percy and the Gray Sisters argued over the location Percy was seeking. Her Yankees baseball cap was scrunched in her hand, and she tried to stay calm as the car hurtled down the road. She wondered how the Grey Sisters could possibly pass a driving test. On the bright side, she was fairly certain they had left any monsters in the dust.

Except Tyson, she thought. It was rather uncomfortable, sharing a cab with a cyclops. But Percy said he was friendly, and Tyson didn't seem particularly menacing.

Up ahead, Annabeth spotted Thalia's Tree rapidly growing larger. Even from a distance, she could see how sickly it was. But she had known about that already. What concerned her were vague shapes moving around it… no, they were bronze shapes. Something was wrong.

The car screeched to a halt, and Annabeth nearly flew out of her seatbelt. "Camp Half-Blood!" one of the sisters called from up front. Annabeth's hand flew to the door handle, and she was out of the car in seconds. Percy and Tyson got out the other side.

Once she got out of the car, Annabeth's heart sank. Six massive bronze bulls, each the size of the car they had just gotten out of, were rampaging around the hill. The ground was scorched, and a few small grassfires burned. Worse, she could see several campers in armor scattered, obviously trying to regroup. Peter Coulson was leaning up against Thalia's Tree, obviously wounded.

"What are those things?" Percy asked, his eyes wide with fear and confusion.

"Colchis Bulls," Annabeth replied gravely. "Made by Hephaestus himself." She looked at Percy. His face was pale, but he nodded in silent understanding. He produced Riptide from his pocket, and it expanded into a bronze sword. He ran towards the hill, with Tyson in tow. Annabeth drew her dagger, and put on her Yankees baseball cap, following at a distance.

One of the bulls seemed to notice them. It belched flames from its nostrils, and charged down the hill towards Percy. Percy rolled out of the way expertly, and thrust his sword at the beast, only for it to clang off with no effect. Annabeth cursed herself for forgetting her Medea's Sunscreen, which would have protected her from the flames.

From the other side of the hill, Annabeth heard shouting. She ran up the hill to get a better look. Sure enough, a party of campers were charging up the hill. At the head of the group was Clarisse, magic spear in her hand. But she wasn't leading a squad of Ares campers. Instead, she had all the counselors with her – Charles Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher, even Silena Beauregard. Her half-brother, Michael Oversteegen, was also there. Annabeth felt much better. Their odds had improved markedly with so many veteran campers on the field.

But two of the figures were unfamiliar. One was a blonde-haired boy wearing a blue robe over his armor. He held a torch in one hand, which burned with a violet light. The other clutched a knife. Annabeth figured that he must be Joseph Regent, the strange new camper Chiron had mentioned.

The last figure wasn't human at all. It was, without a doubt, one of the most horrible things Annabeth had ever seen. She counted three gangly limbs sprouting from its misshapen pink body, before her attention was diverted from it by two bronze bulls charging down the hill at them.

Joseph, Lee, and Pinky broke off from the group. Annabeth saw Lee nock an arrow in his bow, and take aim at the bulls. Joseph pointed his torch towards the bulls, and shouted something Annabeth couldn't make out. A multicolored lightning bolt shot from the tip of his torch, striking one of the bulls. It staggered as the energy seared its metal skin. When the light faded, the bull's flank was warped and twisted, and seemed to be composed of different materials now. Blue flames flickered around Pinky's hand, and he flung a ball of fire that reduced a clump of grass to ashes.

Lee fired. His arrow struck the bull's wounded flank, blasting a hole in it. The bull swerved, then started to roll down the hill, leaving a trail of upturned dirt and twisted metal. When it reached the bottom, Pinky hurled another fireball into its face. The bull didn't seem to react, as the flames did nothing. It belched fire of its own right into Pinky. When the flames faded, where Pinky had been standing, two smaller versions of Pinky stood, only they were blue. The bull seemed confused for a moment, then it belched flames again, and the blue creatures were vaporized.

But Pinky had provided enough of a distraction for Joseph to move around, flanking the bull. He grinned, and sent more rainbow lightning into the bull's wounded flank. This time, the bull crumpled to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

"Good one!" Lee called to Joseph. He ran up the hill, already nocking another arrow in his bow. Joseph followed, but he wasn't as fast. As he neared where Annabeth was standing, he stopped, and looked directly at her. His eyes widened, and Annabeth realized that somehow, he knew she was there. He stared at her for a moment, then relaxed. "Let's go!" he called to her.

The battle was going a little better. Clarisse had organized about eight people – five from her patrol, herself, Silena, and Michael – into a proper phalanx formation, with shields locked together. Beckendorf got behind one bull, and place his hand on its skin. He screamed in agony, and staggered back, clutching his burnt hand. But the bull collapsed, just like its companion had when Joseph had scrambled its mechanical guts. Annabeth smiled. The bulls were made by Hephaestus, Beckendorf's dad. At least Beckendorf had some power over them. Unfortunately, it looked like that was all Beckendorf could do for this battle.

Another bull charged Tyson, who was trying to follow Percy. It breathed fire, but not to Annebeth's surprise, Tyson was still standing. "Bad cow!" he shouted, and brought down both of his massive fists on the bull's head, which crumpled like cardboard. Percy, meanwhile, was still playing tag with his own bull. He was obviously tired, which didn't bode well. He was good, but there didn't seem to be much he could do. He couldn't get close enough to do any damage without getting burned…

Annabeth's head turned to Peter Coulson, who had managed to prop his spear up to defend himself. At his belt was an olive green canteen. Annabeth grabbed it. Peter didn't seem to notice – he was still too dazed. Annabeth noticed that his shield was gone, and his arm burned.

"Percy!" Annabeth called out. "Catch!"

She tossed the canteen to him underhand. Percy caught it in his free hand. He seemed confused, then the bull charged again. Percy's eyes widened, and he tried to use the canteen to shield himself.

It exploded.

Annabeth smiled. For once, Seaweed Brain had actually figured it out. The water flowed over Percy's skin, shielding him from the heat of the bull. When the bull charged, Percy shifted, and slid under the bull's head, thrusting Riptide into a chink where a normal bull would have its throat. Sure enough, the bull fell to the ground, although thankfully its momentum carried it a few feet further so it didn't crush Percy.

The final bull charged Clarisse and her phalanx. Joseph fired three blue bolts of energy at it, but they exploded harmlessly against its skin. When it got close, she shouted "Break!" and the phalanx parted in two. Their spears came down and stabbed outwards, taking the bull's legs and bringing it down. It belched flame, but no one was in front of it, so all that did was burn more grass. Tyson wandered up from where he'd defeated his own bull, and brought his fists down again, this time on the bull's hindquarters. He didn't kill it, but he did tear open its metal skin. Clarisse gave Tyson an annoyed look, and thrust her spear through the gap he'd made.

Annabeth took off her hat. Lee Fletcher was already tending to the wounded campers. Silena and Miranda had run off to summon more help. Joseph paced around the remains of the final bull, studying it. Slowly, she approached him, trying to size him up. His expression was mostly curiosity, mixed with concern. When she was about ten feet away, he looked right at her. It was rather creepy.

"You must be Annabeth Chase," Joseph said. "Daughter of Athena. Michael Oversteegen told me about you." He stepped around the bull, and extended his hand. "Joseph Regent, son of Tzeentch. Pleasure to meet you."

Annabeth took the hand. Joseph had a very firm handshake for someone that scrawny. It seemed practiced, like he'd done it before a lot. "Likewise," she replied. "Chiron mentioned you in his letters. He didn't say you could see through illusions." She showed him the Yankees cap. "It's a gift from my mom."

There was a momentary flash of sorrow in his eyes at the mention of Chiron's name, followed by a raised eyebrow. "I can't actually see invisibility," he explained. "But I'm a telepath. I sensed your mind. I knew you were trying to fight the bulls. By the way, good thinking with that canteen."

He turned his gaze back at the bulls. "This is not good."

"What makes you say that?" Percy asked sarcastically. "The fact that monsters are attacking the camp?"

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "They've been doing that for weeks now, Jackson! While you were off doing..." She hesitated, then drove on "...whatever it is you do, we've been fighting to defend this camp!"

Percy's mouth opened, about to deliver a retort. Then it closed. Annabeth looked at Joseph, waiting for him to continue. "You were saying?" she prompted.

"As I mentioned, I'm a telepath, so I can often sense monsters coming," Joseph explained. He walked over to Thalia's tree, and knelt to the ground. When he touched it, a strange runic design glowed in the dirt.

"What is that?" Percy asked.

"A tainted auspex spell," he answered. "These allow me to extend my senses to a degree. It's given us an early warning system. But these bulls, they're clearly automatons. No minds for me to read." He stood, frowning. "I think whoever's been sending these monsters has figured out that we have something like this, and tried sending monsters I couldn't detect."

"Speaking of monsters," Clarisse cut in, "what is that?" She pointed at Tyson.

"He's a friend!" Percy shot back. He was obviously tired from the fight, but he raised his sword and pointed it towards Clarisse.

"Really?" Clarisse sneered. "I would have thought even you'd have better taste in friends than that." She shook her head.

"We should get the wounded back to camp," Joseph said quickly, trying to stop the argument. He knelt and placed Peter's arm around his shoulders. But whatever Joseph's talents, he was clearly challenged in the physical strength department. He struggled to lift Peter off the ground, then grunted in frustration and turned to Percy.

"Any chance you could give me a hand?" he asked sheepishly.