Willy Wilder - Delicate Steve
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PERCY TORE ACROSS THE HALL , not daring to look behind. He burst into the Air and Space Museum and took off the invisibility cap once he was through the admissions area.

The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled around, so anyone could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn't crowded, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids, probably doing one of those holiday school trips. Percy kept running. Any minute, the skeletons were going to invade the museum.

Percy ran into Thalia—literally. He was barreling up the ramp to the top-floor balcony and slammed into her, knocking her into an Apollo space capsule.

Before Percy could regain his balance, Zoe and Bianca had arrows notched, aimed at his chest. When Zoe realized who it was, she didn't seem anxious to lower her bow. "You! How dare you show thy face here?"

"Percy!" Y/N sighed. "About time." Zoe glared at him, and Y/N rolled his eyes. "I mean, whaaaat? You're not supposed to be here!"

"Luke," Percy puffed, trying to catch his breath. "He's here."

The anger in Thalia's eyes immediately melted. She put her hand on her silver bracelet. "Where?" Percy told them about the Natural History Museum, Dr. Thorn, Luke, and the General.

"The General is here?" Zoe looked stunned. "That is impossible! You lie."

"Why would I lie? Look, there's no time. Skeleton warriors—"

"What?" Thalia demanded. "How many?"

"Twelve," Percy said. "And that's not all. That guy, the General, he said he was sending something, a 'playmate,' to distract you over here. A monster."

Thalia and Grover exchanged looks.

"We were following Artemis's trail," Grover said. "I was pretty sure it led here. Some powerful monster scent... She must've stopped here looking for the mystery monster. But we haven't found anything yet."

"Zoe," Bianca said nervously, "if it is the General—"

"It cannot be!" Zoe snapped. "Percy must have seen an Iris-message or some other illusion."

"Illusions don't crack marble floors," he told her.

Zoe took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "If Percy is telling the truth about the skeleton warriors," she said, "we have no time to argue. They are the worst, the most horrible... We must leave now."

"Good idea," Percy said.

"I was not including thee, boy," Zoe glared at him. "You are not part of this quest."

"Hey, I'm trying to save your lives!"

"Percy's coming with us, whether you like it or not." Y/N said firmly.

"That is not thy decision!" Zoe snapped.

Thalia scowled at her. "You're not the boss here, Zoe. We need Percy anyway.

"You never had any wisdom when it came to boys," Zoe growled. "You never could leave them behind!"

Thalia looked like she was about to hit Zoe. Then everyone froze. A growl so loud it vibrated the floor. Below them, a few adults screamed. A little kid's voice screeched with delight: "Kitty!"

Something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pick-up truck, with silver claws and golden glittering fur.

"The Nemean Lion," Thalia said. "Don't move."

The lion roared so loud it parted everyone's hair. Its fangs gleamed like stainless steel.

"Separate on my mark," Zoe said. "Try to keep it distracted."

"Until when?" Grover asked.

"Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!"

Percy uncapped Riptide and rolled to the left, while Y/N and Thalia dived to the right. Arrows whistled past the two of them, and Grover played a sharp tweet-tweet cadence on his reed pipes. Zoe and Bianca were climbing the Apollo capsule. They were firing arrows, one after another, all shattering harmlessly against the lions metallic fur. The lion swiped the capsule and tipped it on its side, spilling the Hunters off the back. Grover played a frantic, horrible tune, and the lion turned toward him, but Thalia stepped into its path, holding up Aegis, and the lion recoiled. "ROOOAAAR!"

"Hi-yah!" Thalia yelled. "Back!"

The lion growled and clawed the air, but it retreated as if the shield were a blazing fire. For a second, Percy thought Thalia had it under control. Then he saw the lion crouching, its leg muscles tensing. The lion was going to pounce.

"Hey!" Y/N yelled, sprinting towards the lion. Aithon, quickly morphed into a sharp bronze spear, which Y/N thrust into the lions side. But the spear simply bounced off. The lion raked him with its claws, ripping off a chunk of Y/N's coat. He backed against the railing. It sprang at him, one thousand pounds of monster, and he had no choice but to turn and jump.

Y/N landed on the wing of an old-fashioned silver airplane, which pitched and almost spilled him to the floor, three stories below. An arrow whizzed past his head. The lion jumped onto the aircraft, and the cords holding the plane began to groan.

The lion swiped at Y/N, and he dropped onto the next exhibit, a weird-looking spacecraft with blades like a helicopter. The lion crouched on the airplane, preparing to jump, but its weight was too much. One of the cords snapped. As the display swung down like a pendulum, the lion leaped off onto the model earth's North Pole.

"Grover!" Percy yelled from the second balcony. "Clear the area!" Groups of kids were running around screaming. Grover tried to corral them away from the monster just as the other cord on the spaceship snapped and the exhibit crashed to the floor. Percy dropped off the second-floor railing and landed across from Y/N, on the other side of the globe. The lion regarded them both, trying to decide which of to kill first.

"Any ideas, Percy?" Y/N muttured. As if in response, the lion roared loudly, showing it's bright pink maw.

"The mouth." Percy muttured. He looked up at Zoe and Bianca. "Zoe, target the mouth!"

"No clear shot!" Zoe yelled. "Get it to open up more!" The lion snarled from the top of the globe. I looked around. Y/N gripped Aithon tightly. Percy glanced at him.

"Y/N," he said, "keep it occupied." Y/N sighed, but nodded anyway. He quickly morphed the spear into a electric cattleprod, zapping the lion in the tail.

"ROOOOOOOAR!" The lion turned and pounced. Y/N rolled out of its way, and Percy ran for the gift shop.

"This is no time for souvenirs, boy!" Zoe yelled.

He dashed into the shop, knocking over rows of T-shirts, jumping over tables full of glowin-the-dark planets and space ooze. The sales lady didn't protest. She was too busy cowering behind her cash register.

On the far wall were loads of glittery silver packets. Whole racks of them. Percy scooped up every kind he could find and ran out of the shop with an armful.

Zoe and Bianca were still showering arrows on the monster, but it was no good. The lion seemed to know better than to open its mouth too much. It snapped at Y/N and Thalia, slashing with its claws. It even kept its eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

Thalia jabbed at the monster and backed up. The lion pressed her.

"Percy," she called, "whatever you're going to do—"

The lion roared and swatted her like a cat toy, sending her flying into the side of a Titan rocket. Her head hit the metal and she slid to the floor.

"Hey!" Percy yelled at the lion. He hurled Riptide like a throwing knife. It bounced off the lion's side, but that was enough to get the monster's attention. It turned toward him and snarled. There was only one way to get close enough. Percy charged, and as the lion leaped to intercept him, Percy chunked a space food pouch into its maw—a chunk of cellophane-wrapped, freeze-dried strawberry parfait.

The lion's eyes got wide and it gagged like a cat with a hairball.

"Zoe, get ready!" he yelled.

Behind him, he could hear people screaming. Grover was playing another horrible song on his pipes. Percy scrambled away from the lion. It managed to choke down the space food packet and looked at me with pure hate.

"Snack time!" Percy yelled.

It made the mistake of roaring at him, and got an ice-cream sandwich in its throat. Before the lion could stop gagging, Percy shot in two more flavors of ice cream and a freeze-dried spaghetti dinner. The lion's eyes bugged. It opened its mouth wide and reared up on its back paws, tryingto get away from Percy.

"Now!" He yelled.

Immediately, arrows pierced the lion's maw—two, four, six. The lion thrashed wildly, turned, and fell backward. And then it was still. Alarms wailed throughout the museum. People were flocking to the exits. Security guards were running around in a panic with no idea what was going on.

Grover knelt at Thalia's side and helped her up. She seemed okay, just a little dazed. Zoe and Bianca dropped from the balcony and landed next to Percy.

Zoe eyed me cautiously. "That was... an interesting strategy."

"Hey, it worked." Y/N shrugged.

She didn't argue.

The lion seemed to be melting, the way dead monsters do sometimes, until there was nothing left but its glittering fur coat, and even that seemed to be shrinking to the size of anormal lion's pelt.

"Take it," Zoe told Percy.

He stared at her. "What, the lion's fur? Isn't that, like, an animal rights violation or something?"

"It is a spoil of war," she told him. "It is rightly thine."

"You killed it," Percy said.

She shook her head, almost smiling. "I think thy ice-cream sandwich did that. Fair is fair, Percy Jackson. Take the fur."

He lifted it up; it was surprisingly light. The fur was smooth and soft. As they watched, the pelt shifted and changed into a coat—a full-length golden-brown duster.

"Not exactly my style," he murmured.

"We have to get out of here," Grover said. "The security guards won't stay confused for long."

"You did that?" Y/N said.

He nodded, looking a little embarrassed. "A minor confusion song. I played some Barry Manilow. It works every time. But it'll only last a few seconds."

"The security guards are not our biggest worry," Zoe said. "Look."

Through the glass walls of the museum, they could see a group of men walking across the lawn. Gray men in gray camouflage outfits. They were too far away to see their eyes, but Percy could feel their gaze aimed straight at him.

"Go," he said. "They'll be hunting me. I'll distract them."

"No," Zoe said. "We go together."

Percy stared at her. "But, you said—"

"You are part of this quest now," Zoe said grudgingly. "I do not like it, but there is no changing fate. You are the fifth quest member. And we are not leaving anyone behind."

A/N: About time I updated this, huh?

Getting back into the swing of things, so I should have more chapters coming out soon.