Penny Ranger and the Lightning Thief

Chapter XV: Zeus Has Terrible Timing

I'm just gonna come clean: I was terrified. All my energy was focused on attempting to keep calm while the furies walked closer to us. I subconsciously started tapping my right hand nervously on my knee, my fingers eager to grab my sword so I could have at least some protection.

My breath hitched when they stopped and sniffed around for a bit. I thought for sure that they had found Percy. Luckily, they didn't find him and moved on.

On the other hand, Annabeth was wrong. They did notice us. In fact, their eyes immediately locked onto us.

The demonic screeching began as soon as they realized Percy was gone. Reacting on instinct, I pulled Radiance out of my hair and turned it into a sword. I would have preferred the bow, but I didn't think I'd have enough room for a proper shot.

Unfortunately, that only seemed to anger them more. The three of them began to change, their bodies becoming even more horrifying than before, their fingers elongating into claws and leathery wings unfurling from their backs. As if that wasn't enough, their bags also changed into flaming whips.

Needless to say, I was feeling outclassed and outmatched in pretty much every relevant category.

"Where is it!?" one of them inquired, lashing her whip at us.

"Where?!" another added, shredding the back of our seats.

"He's not here! He's gone!" Annabeth replied defiantly.

However, despite how convincing she sounded, and she sounded pretty convincing let me tell you, the furies didn't believe her. They raised their whips to attack us while we braced for the blow, Annabeth drawing her knife and Grover holding a tin can.

But the blow never came. The bus suddenly lurched to the side and sent us crashing into each other. The movement was so sudden that for a second I was afraid I'd chop Annabeth's head off. The furies were also caught off guard as they were slammed into the seats. I would have taken the opportunity to attack them, if the bus hadn't made another sudden turn. This time we hit the side of the Lincoln Tunnel, throwing us off balance again. It was getting really annoying now.

I wasn't entirely sure what was happening but I had a strong suspicion that it was connected to Percy. Mainly because it didn't seem like the driver had been drinking.

The furies were still trying to clamber to their feet. Two of them had almost made it, when Annabeth and I kicked them away, shoving them towards the third one and knocking them all down again.

The bus was filled with screams as we shot out of the Lincoln Tunnel. Suddenly, someone pulled the emergency brake. I barely had time to grab hold of one of the seats, my voice joining the cacophony of screams as the bus spun out of control. I was thrown against one of the furies when we crashed into a couple of trees. I immediately scrambled away as the passengers nearly trampled each other to escape the bus. The fury got up as well and locked her demonic eyes on me.

"Penelope Ranger. Give up your accomplice and I will ease your punishment." she snarled.

"Not a chance!" I replied, raising my sword.

She didn't seem to like that at all. I was really starting to wonder if I had made the right decision in antagonizing her. The sparring sessions with Max had helped improve my swordplay, but I had no idea if I could stand up to a demon from the Underworld with millions of years of experience. I glanced at the others to see if any of them were in a position to help me. That was not the case. Annabeth was busy trying to hold off Mrs. Dodds and Grover was throwing his entire supply of cans at the third fury. I turned back to my opponent, preparing myself to fight.

"Hey!"

I turned to see Percy standing at the front of the bus. Good news: the fury was no longer focused on me. Bad news: she was now focused on Percy, which was what we were trying to avoid all along.

All three furies immediately focused on Percy and began advancing towards him.

"Perseus Jackson. You have offended the gods. You shall die." Mrs. Dodds snarled.

"I liked you better as a Maths teacher." Percy replied, uncapping his sword as he did so, unleashing a double edged blade of deadly celestial bronze.

The furies paused for a bit. I imagined a teenage half-blood waving a blade in their face wasn't a very nice sight. They certainly didn't seem to like it.

Annabeth looked at me and signaled for us to move in closer while the furies were distracted. I nodded and we began our approach, me being absurdly careful where I put my feet.

"Submit now, and you will not suffer eternal torment." Mrs. Dodds threatened, freeing her whip.

"Nice try." he replied, seemingly unfazed.

He was too busy talking to notice the whip. Annabeth did though.

"Percy, look out!" she warned.

But she wasn't fast enough and Mrs. Dodds managed to wrap the whip around his wrist. The other two furies leapt at Percy. Despite his restrained sword hand, he managed to knock one away into the seats and slash the other across the throat, turning her to dust.

That was when we made our move. Annabeth jumped up and trapped Mrs. Dodds in a chokehold while Grover pulled the whip out of her hands. It must have been made of actual flames or something like that, because he began juggling it like he was trying to take something out of a deep fryer.

"Ow! Ow! Hot! Hot!"

Meanwhile, I scrambled over the seats to reach the remaining fury. When I got to her, I made a quick slice with my sword, chopping her head off before she could stand up.

While I did that, Grover managed to get over the pain and began tying up Mrs. Dodds's legs with her own whip while Annabeth attempted to hold her down. Once they were done, Percy and I kicked her down into the aisle, where she stayed tied up and unable to reach us with her wings trapped by the seats.

"Zeus will destroy you! Hades will have your soul!" she roared at us.

"Braccas meas vescimini!" Percy replied.

I was extremely confused as to where the Latin had come from, or why the fury would want to eat Percy's pants. I didn't have time to wonder though, as the bus shook with the loud rumble of thunder. The air around me held a static energy, as if a lightning bolt was about to strike. And I wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Get out! Now!" Annabeth shouted.

We all quickly scrambled out of the bus and found ourselves in the middle of the crowd. Most of them were shaken and disoriented. I think I saw one of them snap a picture of Percy.

"Our bags!" Grover remembered.
"We left our..."

BOOOM!

Grover was cut off by the largest bolt of lightning I had ever seen as it struck the bus. It tore through the vehicle, destroying it completely and leaving behind a burning wreckage. Now I was really happy that I kept my backpack with me. But I was also now the only one with a bag.

Suddenly, a loud wailing filled with rage and anger sounded from within the crashed vehicle, making my blood run cold. I had no idea how she had survived that. But I also knew I didn't have time to wonder about the answer.

"She's calling reinforcements. We have to get out of here now! Run!" I warned.

Annabeth nodded. She looked over at Percy, who still seemed in shock about what had just happened, grabbed his arm and pulled him along as we all disappeared into the woods, running for our lives as fast as we could.