DON'T BLAME ME! (p. jackson) (#2) (ON HOLD)

- twenty eight

THINGS WENT WRONG IMMEDIATELY.

the giants vanished in twin puffs of smoke. they reappeared halfway across the room, each in a different spot. rose sprinted toward ephialtes, but slots in the floor opened under her feet, and metal walls shot up on either side, separating her.

the walls started closing in on her like the sides of a vise grip. rose jumped up and grabbed the bottom of the hydra's cage. she caught a brief glimpse of piper leaping across a hopscotch pattern of fiery pits, making her way toward nico, who was dazed and weaponless and being stalked by a pair of leopards.

meanwhile jason charged at otis, who pulled his spear and heaved a great sigh, as if he would much rather dance swan lake than kill another demigod.

rose registered all this in a split second, but there wasn't much she could do about it. the hydra snapped at her hands. she swung and dropped, landing in a grove of painted plywood trees that sprang up from nowhere. the trees changed positions as she tried to run through them, so she slashed down the whole forest with her sword.

"wonderful!" ephialtes cried. he stood at his control panel about sixty feet to rose's left. "we'll consider this a dress rehearsal. shall i unleash the hydra onto the spanish steps now?"

he pulled a lever, and rose glanced behind her. the cage she had just been hanging from was now rising toward a hatch in the ceiling. in three seconds it would be gone. if rose attacked the giant, the hydra would ravage the city.

cursing, she threw her sword like a boomerang. the sword wasn't designed for that, but the celestial bronze blade sliced through the chains suspending the hydra. the cage tumbled sideways. the door broke open, and the monster spilled out—right in front of rose.

"oh, you are a spoilsport, hart!" ephialtes called. "very well. battle it here, if you must, but your death won't be nearly as good without the cheering crowds."

rose stepped forward to confront the monster—then realized she'd just thrown her weapon away. a bit of bad planning on her part.

she rolled to one side as all eight hydra heads spit acid, turning the floor where she'd been standing into a steaming crater of melted stone. rose really hated hydras.

the hydra lashed out. rose ducked behind a giant hamster wheel and scanned the room, looking for the boxes she'd seen in her dream. she remembered something about rocket launchers.

at the dais, oiper stood guard over nico as the leopards advanced. she aimed her cornucopia and shot a pot roast over the cats' heads. it must have smelled pretty good, because the leopards raced after it.

about eighty feet to piper's right, percy and jason battled otis, swords against spear. otis had lost his diamond tiara and looked angry about it. he probably could have impaled jason several times, but the giant insisted on doing a pirouette with every attack, which slowed him down.

meanwhile ephialtes laughed as he pushed buttons on his control board, cranking the conveyor belts into high gear and opening random animal cages.

the hydra charged around the hamster wheel. rose swung behind a column, grabbed a garbage bag full of wonder bread, and threw it at the monster. the hydra spit acid, which was a mistake. the bag and wrappers dissolved in midair. the wonder bread absorbed the acid like fire extinguisher foam and splattered against the hydra, covering it in a sticky, steaming layer of high-calorie poisonous goo.

as the monster reeled, shaking its heads and blinking wonder acid out of its eyes, rose looked around desperately. she didn't see the rocket-launcher boxes, but tucked against the back wall was a strange contraption like an artist's easel, fitted with rows of missile launchers. rose spotted a bazooka, a grenade launcher, a giant roman candle, and a dozen other wicked-looking weapons. they all seemed to be wired together, pointing in the same direction and connected to a single bronze lever on the side. at the top of the easel, spelled in carnations, were the words: HAPPY DESTRUCTION, ROME!