VIDEO GAMES! (p. jackson) (#1)

- eight

THE NEXT TIME ROSE SAW PERCY WAS AN HOUR LATER IN MIDTOWN.

she was fighting a hyperborean with annabeth and two of annabeth's siblings when percy swooped down on blackjack and landed on the giant's head.

when the giant looked up, percy slid off his face, shield-bashing his nose on the way down.

"RAWWWR!' the giant staggered backward, blue blood trickling from his nostrils.

percy hit the pavement running. the hyperborean breathed a cloud of white mist, and the temperature
dropped. the spot where percy had landed was now coated with ice, and he was covered in frost like a sugar donut.

"hey, ugly!" annabeth yelled.

the giant bellowed and turned toward her, exposing the unprotected back of his legs. percy charged and
stabbed him behind the knee.

"WAAAAH!" the hyperborean buckled. rose waited for him to turn, but he froze. he literally turned to solid ice. from the point where percy had stabbed him, cracks appeared in his body. they got larger and wider until the giant crumbled in a mountain of blue shards.

"thanks." rose winced, trying to catch her breath. "the pig?"

"pork chops," he said.

"good." she flexed her shoulder. obviously, the wound was still bothering her, but she saw percy's
expression and rolled her eyes. "i'm fine, percy. come on! we've got plenty of enemies left."

she wasn't lying. the next hour was a blur. they fought like they'd never fought before—wading into legions of dracaenae, taking out dozens of telkhines with every strike, destroying empousai and knocking out enemy demigods. no matter how many they defeated, more took their place.

annabeth, rose, and percy raced from block to block, trying to shore up their defenses. too many of our friends lay wounded in the streets. too many were missing.

as the night wore on and the moon got higher, they were backed up foot by foot until they were only a
block from the empire state building in any direction. at one point grover was next to rose, bonking snake women over the head with his cudgel. then he disappeared in the crowd, and it was thalia at her side, driving the monsters back with her magic shield. mrs. o'leary bounded out of nowhere, picked up a laistrygonian giant in her mouth, and flung him into the air like a frisbee. annabeth used her invisibility cap to sneak behind the enemy lines. whenever a monster disintegrated for no apparent reason with a surprised look on his face, rose knew annabeth had been there.

but it still wasn't enough.

"hold your lines!" katie gardner shouted, somewhere off to the left.

the problem was there were too few of them to hold anything. the entrance to olympus was twenty feet
behind rose. a ring of brave demigods, hunters, and nature spirits guarded the doors. rose slashed and
hacked, destroying everything in her path, but even she was getting tired, and she couldn't be everywhere at once.

behind the enemy troops, a few blocks to the east, a bright light began to shine. rose thought it was the
sunrise. then she realized kronos was riding toward them on a golden chariot. a dozen laistrygonian giants bore torches before him. two hyperboreans carried his black-and-purple banners. the titan lord
looked fresh and rested, his powers at full strength. he was taking his time advancing, letting them wear
themselves down.

annabeth appeared next to rose and percy. "we have to fall back to the doorway. hold it at all costs!"

she was right. percy opened his mouth to order a retreat when they heard the hunting horn.