Lance: ...Who?

Me: Another author on the site! We're doing a co-op story with an idea he had, where basically the Percy Jackson series leads to the RWBY universe!

Lance: And how exactly does that happen?

Me: Ask Gaea!

Gaea: Why am I here? I want to go back to sleep!

Me: Not until you at least give the disclaimer! *points fingers at teleprompter offscreen*

Gaea: *sighs* Fine. The idiotic mortal author here does not own, nor claim to own, the Percy Jackson or RWBY franchises. There. Now can I go back to sleep.

Me: YUP! *blasts Gaea in the face with a shotgun*

Their swords clashed violently again, and sparks tossed around like a firework. Percy stood his ground, surrounded by the bodies of comrades and enemy alike. Their bloody forms were ignored by the stragglers, the ones who survived. However, this collection of dead was no strange phenomenon to a battlefield.

What was strange was that the golden dust of monster and giant and god flied upwards, straight as an arrow, up and up forever, disappearing into the sunset. Yes. Sunset. Maybe the sun was a giant ball of gas after all.

His attention was brought back to his so-called enemy.

Alabaster C. Torrington let out a weak blast of magic, doing nothing but blow back the demigod's hair.

"It's good to finally see you again, Percy Jackson."

"Come on Al. For old times sake, don't fight me. we-"

"You- don't you see? There's nothing left for us. No point in doing this anymore. We have to finish this."

Percy's emotion. Hatred, grief, and the endless suffering. Sometimes he would let loose a bit of stress, share it with a certain someone. Almost like the scarce few times he saw his mom. Well, meeting your parents did not usually result in sex.

He cackled at his mind's weak attempt to lighten the mood. Focusing the pain he felt in his throat, Riptide glowed sea-green, letting out an arc of energy that knocked Alabaster back. The wizard struggled to stand, clashing with Percy once more.

With every strike, he could feel a bit of his care and hope chip away. They fought and fought, steps becoming more labored, until-

PING!

His life shattered before his eyes. Riptide, still sharp, broke into decades of pieces. Over a thousand years of fine craftsmanship broken down. Percy looked down at his shaking arm, his emotions fully taking control of it. With his good arm, Percy grunted and shoved a broken fist into Al's jaw, sending the magician to the ground.

Al rolled around happily, anticipating his end.

"You know, there should be a group of demigods east…"

"W-what type?"

"Ciao, seaweed brain, type-Cs, of course."

"I don't even care anymore…"

He shook Alabaster again and again, again and again, again and again, again and again. His head roared back in maniacal laughter, falling onto his back.

I hope you found peace, Annie

Here on this Battlefield lies

Percy Jackson Annabeth Chase Jason Grace Piper Mclean

Leo Valdez Frank Zhang Hazel Levesque

Connor Stoll Chris Rodrigeuez Cecil Markowitz Julia Feingold

Alice Miyazawa Will Solace Austin Lake Kayla Knowles

Katie Gardner Miranda Gardner Meg Mcaffrey Billie Ng

Pollux Clarrise La Rue Sherman Yang Mark

Ellis Wakefield Josie Peretta Malcom Pace Drew Tanaka

Lacy Mitchell Valentina Diaz Jake Mason

Nyssa Shane Christopher Harley

And many more. We hope to one day recover all those that fell, and may the nameless rest in peace.

I stared blankly at the brown sky, eyes wandering to Riptide. Its mechanisms vibrated and shook, attempting to go into pen and sword mode at the same time. I sent a pulse of reassurance down the blade, and it stopped clicking. I knelt down and scooped up the remaining pieces, not caring that my hands bled.

The final battle was long. For three weeks, both sides prepared. All the different pantheons were called in to New York for the last stand. We were let in on secrets of our different pantheons, the good that did in saving all of us. Fuck, the whole "power thrones in Greece" was a trick to throw Gaea off. Speaking of the battle...

Slaying Gaea was a bad call.

As the battle roared on, the gods fought at another level- one which we could not understand. They weren't physical beings.

They were the force of nature.

The earth rolled and wreathed, swallowing entire city blocks, but leaving certain things… there. New York was now a collection of few buildings. I blankly rolled back the body of another demigod.

"Demigods! Behind me!" Poseidon roared, shaking the earth with his words.

His call to safety was ignored by the majority of us. Like a swarm of locusts, the black metal shards descended upon us- a spell designed to eradicate the demigods. Poseidon's glowing hands slammed into the ground, creating a bubble shield around those of us who were close to him.

I watched as Annabeth mouthed 'good bye' at me, swallowed by the black swarm.

The soft 'thud' of me landing on soft ground from the top of the Empire State building landed on deaf ears of none. I jogged in a random direction, towards some shopping mall that still stood. Mother earth had literally taken over. There was no grass. Just the hard dust and earth.

What was I running away from?

What was I even doing?

Was I heading east, just like I promised?

I wasn't sure.

One thing that wasn't denied though, was this.

Olympus has fallen.

Camp was a no-go. Just what kind of surprise could await me there? Gaea had most definitely crashed the place she hated, a hate only rivaled by her hate for Olympus.

The black howls of the wolf in my hand- wait what?

It was a small 'werewolf' like thing, one I had instinctively grabbed by the head. It struggled and attempted to pry my hands away, but its whines fell on its pack- wait what?

I frowned. What were these things? Their bloody mouths and eyes brought no fear from me. I was merely curious. With a grunt, I lifted the short thing with both arms, and gouged its eyes out with my thumbs. The shrieks of pain I gifted it was silenced quickly when I ripped the thing in half from the head.

From what I could tell, these things weren't very protected. The twelve or so members of its pack had the same protection. Nothing. However, one of them had some kind of white plating on its arm. What they could do to me, wasn't important. What they could do to everyone else, though…

As the first one charged, I frowned. What kind of dumbass does that? They had large spaces to maneuver, and could easily trap me in a circle. Not that it would matter, mind you. I gave it a light tap to the face, and the creature flinched back in pain. I impaled the wolf in the stomach, riptide almost dropping and cleaving the entire thing in half.

As I drove it back, the others finally gained some sense, and two charged me at once. I slashed through its stomach, the cut killing the two chargers. I stepped back and waited. Charging into a group of enemies was never wise, added to the fact that I lacked ranged options that could take out all of them at once due to the disappearance of water. The first in line charged forward. I frowned again. Did these things really have no self-preservation? Opting to attack one at a time… Well, they were going to get it.

I punched it and stabbed a shard of Riptide into its face, and slashed apart the ones after it into ribbons. I stepped aside a lazy lunge, and decapitated it. Eight more. Needless to say, I got the gist of it really quick. They were quick to see through, with no ability to plan. Simply dodging their attacks left them open. I almost felt like I didn't deserve it. Almost.

The last of its pack's head was reduced to paste as I stradle/punched it. The black blood on my knuckles slowly drifted and lightened. No golden dust? Then where could these things have come from? I turned aro-

Oh.

The black mist slowly travelled east, covering the land with… something. The gathering of darkness was so big- so large, and so tall, even at the edge of my sight, I could see no ends. Well, it wasn't that tall. Like.. tsunami tall. It just felt kind of familiar, you know? Like something I saw in the old tar-tar jar. Couldn't remember it, though.

I was worried, sure. Just hoped that the cloud won't speed up and catch up to me, you know? Like, I'm pretty sure you would gain some evil, super cool power that transformed you into a monster of darkness. But, no, dear author, I wasn't going to fall for that trick again. Never again. Fuck you, Nekhbet.

"You hear that, you bitch?" I yelled. I didn't swear often, but this was… relieving.

I laughed merrily and walked towards the building.

"Getting over me this quick? I thought we-" Annabeth sat in front of me. I ignored her and kept walking.

That night, I slept on the hard, cold ground, feeling Gaea's body below me.

In the morning we packed our things.

I looked around and saw no one. I… just wasn't used to travelling alone. I was, in a sense, a pack animal. I prefered company when travelling, like all the quests I'd been on. But, outside of quests… I didn't interact too much. My sole purpose was the prophecy. Before, nothing really had meaning. Sure, I sort of loved my mother, but… I made an excuse about attracting monsters and stayed at camp, trained as hard as I could.

What a coward I was.

To see me, Percy Jackson, the supposed hero, have nothing. I just wanted to find purpose, find that lack of direction my life, or just about any of our lives had. To see it all fall down like this, it was fucking pathetic. My life was wasted in trying to achieve a fairy tale, one that I refused to believe was evil, even when the Titan Wars tried to show me.

Even if I survived, I still lost.

I gripped the shards even tighter, hissing in pain at the sharp cuts and drip of blood. I stared at my palms. Maybe I coul-

No. No. With an angered roar, I threw the handful of bronze into the ground, embedding the shards deep into the ground like a farmer.

"Fuck you, dad!" I punched the ground, creating a web of cracks.

"Fuck you, Gaea!" The next punch split the ground I stood on.

"Fuck everything on this fucking planet!" With a bruised fist, and a rapid heart, the earth responded to my anger, several human-sized spikes drove out of the ground.

I ran.

Ran as far as my legs would carry me, each step I left behind creating cracks in the earth, propelling this angsty teen forward faster than his legs could carry him. Riptide was thrown haphazardly in a general direction, no doubt taken by the earth, but at that moment I wasn't really focused on a broken sword. I was focused on living.

I ran. I ran as fast as my legs could go, as far as they could carry me. I didn't know how far it was, but I was back in the city I once called home. Home. That wasn't even a thing anymore, was it? Nothing but broken buildings and giant grave markers now. Mom's apartment was destroyed, the bridges were practically melted. Even the Empire State building was now just a glorified pile of rubble. But it was a familiar pile of rubble.

My legs burned, but I kept going. I wasn't going to let some random thing get me. I had to go on, even if everyone else was gone. Because if I died, who would remember them? Who would keep them from fading? At some point, I don't know when, I ran back.

If the outside of the Empire building was rubble, the inside could have been called a trash heap. Broken everything, chairs, windows, walls. Even the ceiling was shattered, giving me an Olympus-sized hole in the roof to look through. I hid behind what remained of the bellhop's desk. My lungs felt like bursting, my legs were jelly, and I'm pretty sure I was about to lose an argument with my stomach, but for now I had to rest, so I shut my eyes and let my exhaustion take me.

It was around noon when I woke up. The sun hung lazily in the sky, hidden partially behind clouds that looked like they wanted to choke the city. Zeus and the other gods had fallen, beaten along with Gaea in her final trick. The Apocalypse. Yeah, really fucking great victory we had there. Beat the oldest goddess in history - and even before that - and we still ended up losing everything. Hoo-fucking-ray.

Using what little leverage a half-broken desk could give me, I pushed myself to my feet. They argued, springing pain all along my legs, but I ignored them for now. It was bad enough I was alone, but now I know there are things out there, something like the monsters I once knew, but also something entirely different. Still, that meant I had to watch out, so I left. I had to get away from the ghosts, so I left. I made for the city exit, taking the now dead tollway as a sort of shortcut. At least I could get out of the city. And away from the pain. I looked at the mirrors, and my blood froze.

Gods Above

Grandpa K

It was probably six by the time I entered that dark hallway. Cars were all over the place, and a couple even had skeletons in them. Where the others went, I didn't want to know. Was it really wise to investigate? Kronos… I wasn't sure it was Kronos, but this was far too great of a coincidence.

My breath stopped as I peeked at the top of the building once again.

The scythe was just like how Luke had it: silver, edged in bronze, but with some… gold. And it felt wrong. Like even now, after everything had fallen apart, it wanted to be separated. And it didn't help that it just so happened to be stuck in a literal pile of bodies. Guess that's where the others went. I thought I would have been ready for anything, especially after seeing everything just die, but this. . . This wasn't something I wanted to see, even in a nightmare. The sight alone had me ready to vomit. I could feel bile in my throat. But the smell. . . Gods. That did it. My stomach emptied itself, right then and there. The sour, burning bile mixed with whatever was on the ground, and left a horrible smell after. Nothing like a mountain of corpses. The battlefield smelt horrible. But this? This was a thousand times worse, in size and shape. I couldn't put it into words.

Still, what was his end goal? What was Kronos' game plan? It wasn't like old Granddad Kronos to just leave his things lying about. No, there was a reason for this being here. I stood there, trying to figure out his endgame, which was going to be difficult seeing as how Kronos was Time incarnate. He wasn't on our side, like, at all. He had a whole plan spanning a few years that almost succeeded in tearing down Olympus, and every time we thought we had him figured out, he pulled another one of his tricks and we were back at square one. Not even Chiron or the gods, Kronos' own kids, could figure him out. The sticky note on the blade told that.

Have Fun

Grandpa K

I gripped the weapon's black handle, pulling it out of the pile, which I nearly slipped on. As quickly as I could, I left the area, not wanting to deal with the dead. At least the scythe didn't do this. The wounds on the corpses told their stories.

Immediately, instead of a regular weapon, the scythe shone in a weak golden light, filling me with not warmth, but satisfaction. The area around me shifted for the slightest bits, as if changed by time. The passage of time became clear to me.

18:42:34, July, 19th, 2012, (Human) UTC

11:42:34, July, 19th, 2012, (Human) PT

…

I pushed the extra info out of my head, feeling the unfamiliar cold power the scythe brought me. I waved it once, and it cut through the air, leaving trails of… shimmering glass-like things that reflected back. I realized what it was.

The different possibilities of time.

I looked at the bent reflective surface carefully, trying to see, but all I saw was my own reflection.

Anyways, scythes weren't really my rig. I asked for crash courses and studied scythe fighting at camp, hopefully to have a chance against Kronos if the need arises. Perhaps something more practical, like…

The blade bent forwards, bending space time with it. A war scythe? More practical, but still not the best weapon… The blade folded back, blades shifting and bending to a much smaller weapon.

The sickle.

Pretty much a peasant's weapon in medieval warfare, but the gods did live there at some point, which meant camp had weapons training for almost every weapon they were familiar with. Scythes and sickles and war scythes too. After all, did you really think demigods just trained with one type of weapon they picked? Hell no! How stupid do you think we are? It's not like in the real world, you'll come across ancient greek xiphos that you could use. Knives, farming tools, and guns were all taught at camp. Provided you weren't a year-rounder, of course. I was a year-rounder, but the frequent quests provoked me to at least learn some other common weapons.

"I don't suppose you could be carried easily?" I asked.

The sickle shrunk down to a translucent bracelet, with a mini scythe on the end.

"Ain't life convenient?"

The scythe agreed, humming with energy.

As I walked towards my original destination, the mall, I gave all the different "forms" a few swings. Apparently, the thing could switch to most things scythe-related. Khopesh was the easiest to use, it was almost like a sword, just with a scythe-like curve on the end. I remembered it once when Annabeth and I had to help these Egyptian magicians (I saw again at the battle). They were a bit weird, but they were cool enough. For a moment I wondered if they managed to survive this long, but I didn't get my hopes up. More than likely they probably died, or scattered, or disbanded and struck out on their own. That was all I could think now. Thinking that if someone was actually was alive, they either left on their own, or died somewhere in this... Hell. That's what the world had become. Hell. And I was 'lucky' enough to live through it.

After what felt like hours, I finally made it. The mall. It was burned, charred, and broken in a few places, but it was miraculously still standing. As I scanned the parking lot, looking for any nasty surprises, I spotted a biker. At least, I think he was a biker. Carefully, I walked over, tensing myself for anything that might have a bone to pick with survivors. That's what Al said. There were survivors, demigods. Type-Cs, I think he said. Ones like me. I could only hope they were friendly enough not to kill me on sight.

The body of the "biker" was covered in blood. It splattered all over the parking lot. Luckily, none of the inner organs were revealed. Just the tire iron in his heart… I retrieved the small shotgun in his left hand, sending my prayers that he made it to some kind of afterlife. His vehicle was smoking, broken beyond repair by claw marks…

"Behind me!" I heard a voice yell. Other survivors?

In the distance, I saw a group of people, unidentifiable at this distance. Their clothes were worn but still decent, and they wore masks of fear. The person in the front, no doubt a leader or fighter, was pushing back the black wolves I saw earlier, with… low success.

His arms were bleeding, like he had been scratched repeatedly. Bite marks were visible on his shoulders, and I'm pretty sure I had to step in. The first was cut down by the scythe, and the second was blasted by the shotgun. From the temporary cover the disintegrating beast gave me, the others were either cut down or stabbed with the war scythe "mode."

The battle only lasted for less than a minute, but once it was over I decided to greet the survivors. Thankfully helping slaughter some monsters helped me with a first impression. I offered a hand to the wounded blonde.

"Need a hand?" I know, bad greeting, especially when his hands were scratched and bleeding, but he took my offered hand nonetheless and nodded. "Thanks for the assist," he said. "The name's John Arc. Mind if I ask for your name?" He seemed friendly enough, but even so, I had to keep my guard up a little. "Percy Jackson," I replied. John smiled and shook my hand. "Well Percy, I'm glad you came along when you did. We've been having a few rough days with these things." He motioned towards where the black wolves used to be.

The group, of varying size, shape, gender identity, sexuality, eye color, whatever, didn't have that weird hero worship thing. Instead, they just looked glad to be alive. It was enough to ask for. I scanned the group for that thing. I was in luck! Looking for some light conversation, I asked.

"Do you mind if I join?" No one objected.

"Where'd you get that scythe?" Thank god, I remembered to cover it in some mist to make it look like a conventional farming tool.

"Grabbed it at Walmart for 75% off."

Seeing the unimpressed stares, I attempted to salvage the conversation.

"So, what's everyone's profession? You got a ring of leadership yet?"

John turned around, and motioned for everyone to follow.

"Samwise here, our old guy, is the guide. He knows this city the best, even after all those earthquakes. We're staying at this… probably walmart for a bit for supplies, and then moving on. Gwen is the… Gwen, what do you do again?"

The Asian woman behind him snorted and stayed quiet.

"Bran… helps with stuff. Jessie is our wisdom, taught a bit of first aid." At least they had some useful skills.

"Anyways, we're heading inside the mall for supplies. You can tag along. If you could teach us some of those moves, that is." I smirked at the early days of my career as a combat instructor.

This was going to be fun.

Line Break here?

The fire cracked slightly under the shattered-wait shattered moon? I looked up, not believing what I was seeing. The moon was literally shattered. Chunks of moon were already floating away, with only the largest staying behind. How did I not notice that before? If there was ever a sign that the gods were truly gone, that was it. Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and Moon, would have never let her literal sphere of influence break, especially like that.

"Quite a sight, ey?" Samwise chuckled.

"What happened?" I asked, wanting a mortal explanation.

Some other people were happily chatting as they chewed on cans of food. They motioned Sam over, and tossed him a can of beer. He apologized, and left to join the group. John and Gwen sat around me, eating silently.

It was Jessie who finally answered. "Armageddon happened. When the world was ending, the moon shattered apart, just like that. Once that happened, the whole city began to tear itself apart, and when the dust settled, almost everyone else was dead. But I guess you saw that, didn't you?"

I winced. I was ON Olympus when it happened, but the alternate dimension did offer great views to the world. The entire world rolled up like a mat, swallowing everything and becoming part of the earth again.

"It was like an environmental activist gained superpowers or something…" Oh boy, he had no idea how correct he was. It was definitely someone who cared for the environment, I thought, though I neglected to tell them that instead of a raging environmentalist, it was my great-great grandmother fighting my dad, uncles, aunts, and cousins in an all out power slug fest. That probably wouldn't have earned me any points with them, anyway.

I looked back to the moon, wondering if anyone else made it. There had to have been some other survivors, somewhere in the world. War or not, there was sure to be some demigods who weren't in the radius. If that was true, though… then there was a good chance monsters survived. Hell, I've seen telekhines swim in lava.

Jessie looked over at me, apparently noticing how crappy I looked. "You best get some rest, sweetie. We'll be needing all of our strength for the trials ahead." It was almost cryptic enough to make me believe she was the Oracle reborn, but she was right about sleep. My legs were still burning from all the craters I made, and my arms felt heavy after today, so sleep sounded pretty damn good right about now.

I told them all good night, found myself a spot close enough to the group, but far away enough to be kind of secluded, and let sleep take me.

It was dark when I woke up. I thought I was still in the mall, and that the sun hadn't risen yet, but something told me I wasn't. Maybe it was the fact that there was a carpet under me, or that there was something squelching in the darkness. Feeling around blindly, my hands came across what felt like wet paper. It gave away easy enough, and I felt myself tumbling downward. It didn't hurt like it should have, so that either meant I had died in my sleep, or I was dreaming. I was willing to bet I was dreaming.

Once I stopped rolling like a stone, I actually had some light in my dream. It was a lantern, an old one like they used back when mining was still a cheap labor work in the mortal realm. I took the lantern, and began to walk, not really knowing where I was going, but my dreams were usually like that. After what seemed like an hour or so, I thought I heard something. Percy. Yep, I heard something alright. Seeing as how this dream didn't feel like it was ending anytime soon, I decided to go towards the sound. Percy. It was a whispered voice, but it was louder now, like I was getting closer.

Finally, I found it… whatever it was. It looked like a person at first, made entirely of a dark green light, before it slowly changed, the dark green light shone brightly from two orbs now sitting on a table. Does this mean I'll become a desk in the future? Suddenly, a creak and a groan was heard. Look behind. I did, saw something… weird. That was the only way to describe it. Dark water was puddling before me, yet it sounded like an ocean from where I was. I happened to look down, thinking I would see whatever my dream was trying to show me. Instead, I saw myself. And on the other side of the puddle, two other sea-green orbs stared at me. PERCY!

I sat up with a jolt, panting heavily as I looked around, hoping I wasn't still in the dream. Thank the [un-immortalized] gods, I was back in the mall, coated in sweat and shivering, but alive. But what the actual fuck was that? Was that me? My evil time-travelling doppelganger? I honestly didn't know what to make of that. It was horrible, and it felt wrong. It was like I was looking at a corrupted reflection of myself. Please don't make me fight doppelganger, I pleaded, not really sure to who. Just pleading, I guess.

"You alright?" John asked. I nodded, and we started work.

There was light breakfast, where the lighter dishes were opened up. Mostly canned fruits and granola bars. There was a short patrol to scavenge supplies in pairs. I picked up a few… blunt instruments, showing some people basic stances and mistakes commonly made.

"Yeah. Just don't spin. Never spin to attack. Yeah, don't kick if you're not confident, either."

A primary lesson in self-defense was not that you had to win. Most times, getting help was the best choice. That's why everyone travelled in pairs, of course. Just make sure you can run faster than your partner!

Fuck, nevermind. As long as there were none of the traditional monsters I fought, these guys would prevail. The black monsters weren't that much trouble, mostly dangerous due to their claws and speed. If they had more of that white armor, though… that would be a different story.

I stared at the group as they organized their new supplies, thinning out a few potential fighters. Gwen could use a stronger build, John needed a real weapon (with practice), and Samwise needed ammo. Bran? I remember he learnt grappling or something. Seeing nothing new, I wish I had brought some of the demigod weapons. They weren't all celestial bronze, after all. There were a few firearms, knives, and swords that were made of mortal steel.

"Hey," I asked. "You guys got any water?"

I grinned and put the plastic bottle away in a satchel they gifted me. Finally, some magic healing juice! Vitakinesis was one of the best abilities to have. You could cheese through tough enemies like nothing if you could heal by DRINKING WATER. Which made me wonder what the fuck I was doing on all those quests and battles. Why didn't I bring water?

The next few days, we hanged around the mall, until the supplies started dwindling, and we planned our next destination.

"There were a lot of earthquakes a while ago. Not sure if that's why everything on this map is fucked up."

Of course, earthquakes were a correlation with tectonic plate movement. What? Earth is part of MY domain, after all. I mean, someone had to take over, right? And unless Dad hid any siblings as a backup plan then I was on my own. Just what kind of other plans did the other gods have… Athena must have predicted this.

It hit me then, just how alone I was. Everyone I knew was gone, either dead or missing. The gods were dead. Or, as dead as a god could get without coming back ever again. Did gods actually go to the Underworld? Was there even an underworld anymore? What about Annabeth? Gods, now that I actually had time to think about this… fuck, this hurts. This pain, it's worse than any other pain I've felt before. It's worse than holding up the sky, worse than the pit scorpion venom. Hell, compared to what I was feeling Tartarus felt like a vacation, for a demigod anyway. Nothing was worse than loneliness. Even with all my solitude training habits, I still had people surrounding me. It was made worse by the fact that I didn't know what fate they had. Were the Fates still around anymore, or was everything now just winging it?

"Hey, you doin' alright?" Samwise asked. It took me a moment to realize that I had zoned out and my body just went to autopilot while my mind was being hit by an emotional bag of bricks. "Yeah," I lied, not wanting to have to first explain the concept of mythology being real and then telling that everything and everyone I knew just died, and I only now just realized it. I'd rather not cry just yet, not until I was alone at least. Samwise gave me a look that practically screamed 'You're lying," but he left me alone enough.

After that, the day passed quickly, with Samwise, Billy, and myself scavenging for supplies while the others scouted out a place for us to stay for the night. We were now starting to reach the fringes of New York, so places like malls and supermarkets were more scarce, but what we did find was a bunch of canned goods from one of the smaller local places. Guess no one bothered with a small grocery store in the Apocalypse. It was a good haul, at least two bags worth of canned goods. I felt accomplished when we came out of that store, thinking things were about to look up for once.

"Get down!" Samwise whispered harshly, taking cover behind one of the broken down cars. It wasn't a second later that we were behind him. Billy and I carefully peeked over the car's door to see if maybe we could catch a glimpse of whatever scared Samwise.

It was another one of those creatures, pure black with light white bone armor on its arms, but this one wasn't a werewolf. It was a bear, and a pretty big one at that. I've seen bears when I used to go to the zoo, seeing the grizzly bears stand up on two legs looking like the biggest thing around. This bear easily dwarfed any grizzly. On four legs it was as tall as I was, and each of its legs was about as thick as a tree. It was chowing down on what looked to be a pile of meat, and I really, really didn't want to know where that meat came from.

Grrrrrr… (Zombie much, bear?)

Samwise nudged me, and pointed to the store, motioning for Billy and me to split up and cover ground. I nodded, and soon Billy and I were doing our best ninja impressions as we snuck around the literal black bear. It apparently loved whatever meat it was eating, since we were able to take up positions on either far side of the bear. I looked at Samwise, and hoped he wasn't thinking about attacking it.

Fortunately for me, Samwise only wanted us away so he could throw a can back at the store, actually shattering a window. That got the thing's attention, and it charged for the store. Samwise rolled under the car just as it passed, and left out the other side, quietly running over to Billy. Once he made it, we ran like a hellhound from Hades. We needed to put as much distance between us and that thing as possible so we ran far. My legs were once again screaming at me when we made it back to the others. We probably ran for most the way back, so you can imagine how tired we all were. Jessie noticed us first, and told us to find a place to sit while they get shelter set up. I wasn't going to argue, and just plopped down on the ground where I was standing. I was sure, with enough time, that I could have taken the thing head on, but the safety of these people came first.

By the time dusk came around, we were situated in a well enough place, an abandoned house that managed to survive mostly intact. Sure, there were holes in the ceiling, and the walls looked like a blender came through and went nuts, but it was stable, and it was safe. So there we were, all resting comfortably while we ate, mainly in silence while twirling Kronos absently.

Once we were done with that, I said goodnight, went to one of the empty rooms, and curled up on the floor, using what little remained of a mattress for comfort. I didn't even have to wait to fall asleep this time.

I was brought to the home of the gods, Olympus. The once blank white marble no longer reflected sunlight, instead shining in the presence of dead celestial bronze. I turned around, nothing in hand, but hiding. Hiding from the dark. The primordial fear of night all beings held rushed through my bloodstream, foreshadowing our impending doom. The darkness crept up the thousand stairs, up the golden doors, over the million-mile fountains, and past the titanic thrones.

I was hiding behind my father's throne, once glistening like the sea, but now dulled like rusted iron. The darkness seeped the hall, covering nearly every inch of it, except for the thrones themselves. Fearing for myself, I scrambled up the throne of Poseidon, not feeling any energy coming from it. In a few seconds, I was surrounded, completely entombed by darkness. The throne began to sink, and my heart raced faster.

"You will fear, for the night has returned, and the day will never come." I heard a voice whisper from all around. I sounded so familiar, yet I had no clue who the hell was talking. The thrones were now halfway submerged in the liquid darkness, tendrils of the stuff practically clawing the thrones downward. I tried to climb on top of the back rest, but my foot slipped, and I fell. The darkness had me, and I sank like a rock, pulled by some unknown force down, down, down.

I couldn't feel anything. It was like I was numbed over. There was no heat, no sound, not even the feeling of me breathing. There was nothing here. Not even time dared trespass this plane of darkness. Finally, I felt something. Cold. Like ice had taken over and swam through my veins, pulling me in as I plunged ever down. Then a light, ghostly green and burning in a small sconce. Then another. And another. And another, still. Fires burned in two lines in front of me, showing me where I was. I had been here before, once. I knew this place, even when I ran through with my eyes closed.

Nyx, and her house of darkness. The voice whispered again. "Beautiful, isn't it? The darkness hides all things, and yet it doesn't consume, not without purpose." It wasn't Nyx talking, but it sounded pretty much like her.

"There is no purpose. Not anymore. All that is left, is the dust of the world and darkness." The tendrils pulled me through the halls, once having been alive with nightmares I didn't even see, but now were empty, and dormant. I was pulled along, passed walls covered in more inky black tendrils, passed what looked like a throne of bone and darkness, and into an antechamber. There was nothing in the circular room, except for a nest of this stuff. That was the only way I could describe this place. It was a nest, with thick tendrils pulling from all over, sticking to walls, clining to themselves.

"It's a gift, one I left for you."

I looked around to see what it meant. One of the tendrils pulsed, released itself from the wall, and dropped to the floor. The next second, something crawled out. It was… a baby werewolf?

I was about to ask if the voice planned to kill us with cuddles, when the room went berserk, tendrils from all over clinging and strapping to the baby thing. I could hear its screams over the crawling wetness, and damn near pissed my dream pants. A few moments later, the hulking mass of darkness retreated, leaving behind a nightmare. It was a werewolf, kind of like the ones I've faced before, but worse. It was bigger, nastier, and was… corrupted, having none of the white armor. It took one look at me, and then it roared. Its face split into four appendages, its tongue slapping out like it wanted a piece of me. The smell it gave off made me want to vomit, but I was more focused on the fact that it was coming towards me.

Whatever was holding me in place kept me there, even as it approached. Me and four-mouths stared at each other for hours, before my heart returned to its usual beating, and four-mouths retreated, as if it could not see me.

I spat out the shit that had been gathering in my mouth due to my lack of sanitation. I downed a few gulps of water, letting it flow and forcefully rub my mouth to clean it. When I was done, I spat out the remains on the hard ground, waking up a couple of others. John wiped the sleep from his eyes, and Samwise was mumbling something in his new patio chair.

I chuckled at our group of ragtag survivors, loading the shotgun again. I kept it clean with a few pieces of cloth and water that I'd been given. Due to the son of Poseidon thing, I can constantly "breathe" through my skin, reducing the amount of necessary water intake. Feeling refreshed, we froze at the sound of a large howl. The survivors' eyes turned to the front door, where several heavy thuds landed.

We could hear the light growls and breaths, slowly. Every time someone whimpered, the breathing grew louder. I slowly took out Kronos, bringing out the war scythe mode.

Slowly, I approached the door.

I stabbed through it.

A howl of pain emitted on the other side, followed by several other grunts of surprise. Another thud was heard, and I fired towards it. With a pained shriek, the wolf clutched its head in pain. I stabbed it, Kronos easily cutting it in half. To my right was another. In a swinging motion, the wolf was hit in the face with the butt of a scythe, and immediately decapitated. I twirled the blade again, finishing off the rest of its pack.

"Watch out!"

I sidestepped a claw swipe from a bear, turning the scythe into a khopesh. The blade sliced through, like there was nothing there. The bear had retreated back, a low growl humming through the air. Guess now was as good a time as any to learn how to fight this thing. I began to circle it, and it circled me, both of us stalking around, waiting for the other to strike. I was trying to get the bear in between myself and the doorway, seeing as how my new friends would be able to attack from behind.

"Come on, big guy," I mumbled, twirling the khopesh in my hand. The bear swiped at the air in between us, trying to threaten me. Fat chance of that happening. BANG! A gunshot rang out from behind the bear, said beast rearing up as much as it could and roaring in pain. Samwise had take the initiative and shot it from behind, giving me an opening to rush forward and slice at its chest. I managed to make a deep cut before having to retreat back, the bear bringing all its weight down in a slam attack.

I glanced at the blade in my hand, and was actually surprised to see the same black, oily substance from my dreams instead of blood. That was interesting to say the least, but I had bigger things to worry about than what this thing was made of. I needed to kill it. BANG! Another gunshot, this time from Jessie. I don't know where she got a pistol, but it was enough to draw the bear's attention long enough for another strike. This time I went for a slash at its eyes,

I slashed sideways, hoping to get both eyes in one swing, but it was faster than I realized, and tried to swipe at me, forcing me to twist and get only a grazing shot at its right eye while it gave me a five-line pattern across my stomach. The wounds weren't fatal, nor were they deep, but I didn't want to drag this on for much longer in case I might get an infection. Yeah, I remembered enough from the Apollo cabin's survival care class to keep myself alive, even if most of the stuff I learned wasn't going to help me, anyway.

The bear was now trying to circle me again, forcing me to move unless I wanted to become bear chow. That wasn't exactly highest on my list of priorities, so I decided to do something crazy. I rushed the bear, swiping Kronos in a feint to its face again. The bear took the bait and swiped at me again, but this time I was ready. I rolled under the swipe, brought my shotgun to its mouth, jammed the barrels in, and pulled the trigger. BOOM! The black blood was everywhere, covering everything behind the bear in a show of gore. My arms felt heavy, my chest burned every time I breathed, and I felt like taking a nap right then and there, but I was alive.

I looked over to everyone else, seeing their expressions were either complete joy that we beat one of the bear monsters, or awe that I had the balls to try something so insane. Guess that was me in a nutshell. "So, anyone up for lunch?"

Me: And there you have it! The first chapter of the newest crossover! We're currently working on the next chapter as you, my dear readers, read this!

Lance: Uh huh, and will it be like the Certain Scientific Railgun 'rapid' updates that has you spewing insane scribbles that make me look like a loon?

Me: But you are a loon.

Lance: *looks down* What th- How th- When did you put me in a loon costume?!

Me: When you weren't looking! And you'll get to be in this story too!

Lance: I will?

Me: YUP! It's going to be fabulous!

So anyway, I hoped you all enjoyed the story, and be sure to check out Goodsir of Achoo and his stories (A-mai-zing~). We'll be working on the next chapters right away, and don't worry about the other updates (*cough* Certain Scientific Railgun *cough*) because I'm still working on them, just doing some damn heavy final drafting before they get released.

Until next time: DEUCE!