Penny Ranger and the Lightning Thief

Chapter XXV: Annabeth Panics

As it turns out, my suspicions about the Cupid statues were correct. No sooner had Percy held up the hand with the piece of golden string, the statues began to move with the sound of grinding gears.

"Look out!" I shouted to Percy and Annabeth.

But the Cupids didn't shoot at them. Instead, they shot at each other. Trailing behind the arrows were strings of gold, much like the one Percy had removed. I was confused for a few seconds, until I realized what was happening. They were forming a net.

"We have to get out!" Percy yelled.

"Duh!" Annabeth replied.

I was too worried about them to worry about getting them to stop fighting. Percy grabbed the shield and they began making their way towards us. Grover and I made an effort to hold up a part of the net up so they had a way to pass through towards us. But it was like the golden string had a mind of its own. It began wrapping around our hands, threatening to trap us as well.

As if that wasn't enough, the statues' heads popped off, revealing video cameras that locked onto us instantly. A powerful spotlight nearly blinded me as it illuminated us.

"Live to Olympus in one minute. Fifty nine seconds. Fifty eight..." a loud booming voice announced.

"Hephaestus! I'm so stupid! Eta is H. He made this trap to catch his wife with Ares. Now we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"

I wanted to tell Annabeth that we had other things to worry about other than embarrassment, but like I said, we had other things to worry about. Still, the thought of her mother seeing her on the Thrill Ride O'Love with the son of her biggest enemy among the Olympians seemed to give Annabeth an extra burst of motivation. She quickly ran past Percy towards Grover and I. I held out my hand, ready to pull her out of there. But she never grabbed it.

Just before she got within reach, a swarm of mechanical spiders came pouring out from behind the mirrors. Annabeth's eyes widened in pure horror.

"Spiders! Sp-sp- aaaaaahh!" she shrieked.

She slipped and began scrambling backwards, screaming her head off. I mentally cursed at Athena for making so many enemies. Say what you want, but Athena can't blame any other god for Arachne other than herself.

I would have reached over and simply pulled Annabeth towards me anyways, if the mechanical spiders hadn't begun attacking me. Their metallic pincers stung like needles as they bit at my hands and arms. I was forced to drop the portion of the net I was holding up, unsheathing Radiance and slicing in an arc, cutting several robot spiders. But they weren't after me. They were after Percy and Annabeth.

I turned Radiance into a bow and unzipped my backpack. I began shooting at the spiders, attempting to cover Percy as he grabbed a screaming Annabeth and dragged her back towards the boat. I was relying less on my accuracy and more on the fact that there so many spiders that, as long as I shot in the general direction of the swarm, I was guaranteed to hit at least five with a single arrow.

"Thirty. Twenty nine..." the speaker announced.

I tried to keep covering Percy as he struggled to keep the spiders off the boat and away from Annabeth, but there were just too many. I could shoot all the arrows I had and it still wouldn't be enough.

"Penny, Grover! Get inside that booth and find the button to turn on the water!" Percy yelled at us.

I wasn't sure if there would even be water anymore, or if the control booth still worked. But it was worth a shot.

Grover and I quickly ran over to the booth. We ran into an immediate problem: we had no idea which button would turn on the water.

"Great! Now what do we do?" Grover whined.

"We think outside the box, goat boy." I told him.

I proceeded to push every button in the console. Not the most refined or ingenious of ideas, but I really didn't care. I just wanted my friends out of there.

Unfortunately, none of the buttons did anything. None of them turned on the water.

"Five. Four..."

Percy had stopped fighting the spiders and was now standing there with his eyes closed as if he were trying to concentrate. Suddenly, water burst out of the pipes.

"Two. One. Zero."

The water slammed into the boat as the cameras began filming. The spiders were washed away as the boat began to rise with the water level. I was afraid for a moment that the boat would end up pressed against the net, turning my friends into demigod slices. Just as I thought they were done for, the boat shot off down the tunnel at lightning speed.

Grover and I stood there for a few seconds, shocked at what we had just witnessed. Then, it occurred to me that this ride hadn't been used in a long while. That probably meant the exit of it wouldn't exactly be in the best state.

"Come on! We need to catch them on the way out." I told Grover.

We ran outside and sprinted around the ride towards the exit point. We rounded the corner just as Annabeth and Percy were coming up on the Gates of Love. Only those gates were closed and there were already two boats wrecked in front of them, effectively building an impassable barricade. They would end up smashed against them.

Luckily, Annabeth had an idea. Just as they were about to hit the gates, they jumped. Of course, I didn't get to enjoy a sigh of relief, because now instead of getting smashed against the gates, they were going to get smashed against the road.

"I've got them!" Grover said, taking off with his flying shoes and dashing towards Annabeth and Percy.

He grabbed Annabeth by the arm and Percy by the shirt, attempting to slow their descent. But they were too heavy and they were going too fast for him.

I had to do something quick. I spotted a board with a hole in it, the kind you would take photos in, hanging from a rope on a nearby post. It wouldn't be the smoothest landing, but it would be better than the tarmac.

I wouldn't be able to get there in time. As such, I knocked an arrow and aimed. I took a deep breath and released the bowstring. The arrow sliced clean through the rope, letting the board drop. Just as it touched the ground, my friends crashed into it. Grover's head went through the slot while Percy and Annabeth skidded along the floor.

I smiled in relief when I heard them groaning and complaining. They might be hurt and not that happy with the landing, but they were alive.

I ran over to help them get Grover's head out of the slot.

"Nice shot, Penny." Annabeth told me with a smile.

"Thanks."

"Red Baron." Grover said proudly, grinning as he and Percy bumped fists.

We all turned back towards the ride. The cameras were still filming, pointed at us.

"Show's over! Thank you! Goodnight!" Percy yelled at the cameras.

The Cupid statues turned back to their original position, the cameras covered by the heads. The bright spotlight turned off, returning the water park to its previous dark and creepy state.

Percy was angrier than I had ever seen him. It made me realize just how powerful he really was. I was glad not to be on the one his anger was directed at. But I definitely shared his feelings towards Ares. We had just gone through yet another near death experience because one god was too cowardly to risk embarrassment in front of the other Olympians.

"We need to have a little talk with Ares." Percy said.

I was inclined to agree with him.