εννιά

198 11 7
                                    

****

Elena felt stupid. She asked Leo Valdez to marry her. She felt even more stupid as he proceeded to build something, there she was, a more experienced Camper waiting for a seriously ADHD boy to finish making a remote. The Cyclops were going to eat Jason and Piper and she was just sitting there. She admired him, watching the way his nimble fingers moved fixing the last pieces, wiping away sweat as he worked-

​​"Stupid! She's tricking you again. Enough talk! Slay the boy first before he dies on his own. I like my meat fresh."

No! Leo's fingers flew, connecting the wires for the remote. Just a few more minutes! "Hey, wait," Piper said, trying to get the Cyclopes' attention. "Hey, can I just ask—"The wires sparked in Leo's hand. The Cyclopes froze and turned in his direction. Then Torque picked up a truck and threw it at him.

Elena moved quickly grabbing him in her embrace rolling them to the side, just half a second longer and they would have died. She looked at Leo who was squished under her, his eyes shut. In any other circumstances this would have been romantic but it wasn't instead she pulled him up hurriedly. The cyclops spotted them and began an assault. Leo frantically gunned the toggle on his makeshift remote. The first robotic arm came to life and a three-ton yellow metal claw slammed the Cyclops in the back so hard, he landed flat on his face. Before Torque could recover, the robotic hand grabbed him by one leg and hurled him straight up. 

"AHHHHH!" Torque rocketed into the gloom. 

The ceiling was too dark and too high up to see exactly what happened, but judging from the harsh metal clang, Elena guessed the Cyclops had hit something, she winced, her cousin's half-brother was a cyclops.

"Ma, I got the extra-spicy—" the voice never got to finish because suddenly another arm whacked the cyclops across the chest. A third crane arm whacked him down and he exploded like a sack of flour. She stared at Leo in amazement, he had single handedly beaten two cyclops. Things were going well until the mother cyclops, Ma Gasket, broke the arms, she swung them around nearly hitting Jason and Piper. Another arm made its way towards them as Elena pulled Leo away again. She was itching to get some action but for now she'd let Leo have some fun.

"Any more tricks, demigod?" Ma Gasket demanded. 

"Heck, yeah, I got tricks!" Leo raised his remote control. "Take one more step, and I'll destroy you with fire!"Ma Gasket laughed. "Would you? Cyclopes are immune to fire, you idiot. But if you wish to play with flames, let me help!"She scooped red-hot coals into her bare hands and flung them at Leo. 

He pushed Elena away from him which Elena didn't appreciate, Am I pizza dough? Do people just assume it's okay to toss me around? They landed all around his feet. 

"You missed," he said incredulously. Then Ma Gasket grinned and picked up a barrel next to the truck. Elena just had time to read the stencilled word on the side—kerosene —before Ma Gasket threw it. The barrel split on the floor in front of him, spilling lighter fluid everywhere.Coals sparked. Leo closed his eyes, and Piper screamed, "No!" 

Elena felt slightly guilty that Leo hadn't told them about his fire resistance but right then and there wasn't the place to tell him to confess. A firestorm erupted around him. When Leo opened his eyes he was bathed in flames swirling twenty feet into the air. Ma Gasket shrieked with delight, but Leo didn't offer the fire any good fuel. The kerosene burned off, dying down to small fiery patches on the floor. Elena got bored of standing around and in the cyclops's surprise she took advantage, she launched an attack on her. She brought out her scythe and ran towards her at full speed. The scythe had magically expanded in size as she swung at the cyclops. She sliced Ma Gasket in half just as an engine block fell from above. Had she been standing any closer, Ellie would have been crushed. The cyclops dissolve into golden dust that was blown away.

𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚊 (𝙇𝙚𝙤 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙯 𝙓 𝙊𝙘)Where stories live. Discover now